Dark Night [Sequel to 'White Night']

Chapter 7

The last practice came fast and Wooseok had insisted on coming to watch them. Dongyeol knew that arguing wouldn’t get him anywhere in this case and since Wooseok had rested all week he didn’t see a problem in letting him come along.

They decided to head to their favorite diner to get milkshakes after practice. “Okay, if you play tomorrow like you did today, I have no doubt that you’ll win”, Wooseok told the team. “And I will personally beat your asses if you don’t!” he joked. Dongyeol caught Hwanhee’s gaze but the older looked away the very next second.

“We’re going to watch the game between the Steels and the Barons on Thursday evening. Are you coming along?” Gyujin asked Wooseok. The older took a sip from his strawberry milkshake before nodding. “I’ll be back for the final game so it only makes sense if I come along to check out our final opponent”, he replied.

“I just hope it’s not the Steels...”, Kogyeol said absent-mindedly. That caught the team’s attention. “Why not?” Wooseok questioned. Kogyeol sighed and sipped his vanilla milkshake. “Their captain is going to be my stepbrother soon”, he announced. Eight pairs of eyes widened and stared back at Kogyeol to determine if he was joking or not.

“Choi Suwon?! Wait, didn’t he and Jin-” “Apparently, his Mom is getting married to Choi’s Dad”, Jinwook interrupted Sooil, fixing him with a glare that shut his slightly younger teammate up immediately. Kogyeol looked from Sooil to Jinwook, obviously taking notice of their silent conversation.

“Well, Steels or not, I’m confident that we can actually win this season!” Wooseok spoke up, successfully directing the attention back to ice hockey. He caught Jinwook’s grateful glance in his direction. “Now, we should probably all go home and rest before tomorrow’s game”, he announced when he saw that everyone had finished their milkshakes.

~

Jinwook dropped off Dongyeol and Wooseok at their respective homes – Wooseok decided to actually sleep at his own place tonight – before driving to his place with Kogyeol. They didn’t talk much on the way. Jinwook hoped that his boyfriend hadn’t caught on to Sooil’s almost-slip-up back at the diner. That was something Kogyeol didn’t have to know.

They reached the apartment and went inside, still without talking. Jinwook had a weird feeling in his stomach. He knew how sharp Kogyeol was. He’d probably really figured out what Sooil had tried to say, which meant that Jinwook had to talk about it.

“I’m going to take a shower”, Kogyeol announced. Jinwook took a deep breath, bracing himself for the conversation to come. “Wait!” he called out. Kogyeol stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. “You’ve barely said anything to me since we left the diner...”, Jinwook pointed out. Kogyeol’s jaw tightened, like he was contemplating whether to say what was on his mind.

“You caught on to what Sooil was trying to say, haven’t you?” Jinwook questioned with a lowered head. There was a long silence in which Jinwook didn’t dare to meet Kogyeol’s eyes. He should have just been open about it but the younger had already been upset about his mother remarrying. He didn’t want to add to that pile with his messy past.

“Was there something between you and Choi Suwon?” Kogyeol asked suddenly, causing Jinwook to jump at the sound of his voice. He finally looked up and saw the younger staring directly at him. “Yes...”, he admitted. Kogyeol exhaled, his face unreadable.

“I’m going to take a shower”, he repeated and disappeared to the bathroom before Jinwook had the chance to say anything else. The older flinched at the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut. He let himself sink down on the bed, burying his head in his hands. He didn’t know what to make of the fact that Kogyeol didn’t want to talk about it.