It felt wrong to be doubting Soonyoung, he was the first one to show Jihoon some hospitality after all. And didn't they say the dangerous ones are in a different block? Yeah; so no need to worry Jihoon. Chill out.
Jihoon was so lost in thought by this point that he didn't even realise Soonyoung calling out his name. By the time he finally snapped out of his dream-like state Soonyoung was grasping Jihoons arm, shaking it and giving him a concerned look. "Hey Hoon, are you okay?" He questioned.
"Oh, Yes! Sorry. I-I'm okay." He answered, not sounding as confident as Soonyoung would have liked. Still, Soonyoung decided to let it go along with Jihoons arm, giving Jihoon a sense of relief. Together, they walked back to their cell and sat next to each other, making some small talk here and there. The air seemed tenser than it once had been and this began to bother both Soonyoung and Jihoon.
"If there's something wrong you can let me know, you know that right?" Soonyoung soothed. It was that moment that Jihoon realised how foolish he had been for even suspecting Soonyoung could be in some way a bad guy. I mean, surely a dangerous guy doesn't act so friendly and kind all the time, right? So he decided to confront him about what he had been told.
"Listen, during leisure two guys came up to me- I only remember that one of them was named Wonwoo; anyway, they said you were dangerous?" Jihoon started, frowning over at Soonyoung. "I don't believe it! I was a little scared at first, not gonna lie. I think you're a good guy though. I just want to know why."
When Jihoon looked back up to see Soonyoung's face, he noticed his expression had changed completely. His eyes were narrowed and dark in a way that alarmed Jihoon. Soonyoung shifted, clearly in thought. It took him a moment before speaking. "What did you say to them?"
Jihoon was startled, hesitantly answering the question. "What do you mean?" This answer clearly wasn't enough for the boy, his dark expression making it evident. Before Jihoon could give any other answer Soonyoung stood up, his fists clenched tight enough to show the whites of his knuckles.
"Wait here, I'll be back" Soonyoung ordered, not waiting for any sort of response before he stomped off. Jihoon watched, left in a deep confusion as to what just went on. He was sure that he hadn't done anything to anger Soonyoung.
Meanwhile, Soonyoung had been chasing down the halls to the one place he could think the two men could be. The moment he found them he stopped in his tracks, his cold glare beaming right through them. "What the fuck!?" He growled.
Wonwoo gave a grin, replying in a sour tone. "What? Can't we have a little fun and mess with your new boy-toy?" This was enough to make Soonyoung shake. His nails dug into his palms, the pain not bothering him. "You punch me and you get locked up, don't you remember? Then who will protect your precious Jihoon?"
"He's not my fucking boy-toy and if you lay so much as a finger on him I will land you right in the infirmary!" Soonyoung shouted, now drawing in attention. Seungcheol grew fed up with standing in the background, letting out an irritated sigh and rolling his eyes.
"You're being too loud, don't you think? What if Jihoon heard you. He'd just believe it more. Anyway, we're done here." He replied, a strange calmness in his voice. It was unusual for Seungcheol to be acting like this. So much in fact that Jihoon almost stepped back, nervousness bubbling up in his stomach. But he wasn't going to back down so easily.
"Hey, calm it down boys! Don't make me come over there!" One of the guards yelled, clearly not standing for the loud yelling that had been echoing through the halls. Soonyoung was trapped in a sense, with no other option but to walk away without a fight. He let out a sigh before turning around, shaking his head.
"Just stay away from him, alright?" He demanded, making sure it was loud and clear enough to be heard by the two. He walked off, sparing no time. The two watched with arms crossed, laughing at the request.
"No promises." Wonwoo whispered quiet enough to not be heard by Soonyoung. Seungcheol looked at Wonwoo, chuckling before leaning on the wall. The two boys quickly returned to the conversation they had been having before Soonyoung interrupted, playing it as if nothing happened.
When Soonyoung finally came back from wherever he had gone, Jihoon waved over to him, stopping when he saw the blood on Soonyoungs hand. A small frown made its way to the boys face. "What happened to your hand?" He questioned, pointing out the blood.
Instead of giving an answer, Soonyoung dodged the question, shaking his head and smiling. He sat down and sighed. "Nothing, don't worry about it." Letting go of his frustrations, he smiled. The mood of the room changed almost instantly, as if it were dictated by the black haired boy.
Jihoon felt that if he were to push the issue any further Soonyoung would get angry once more, so instead he decided to let it go and laid back on his bed. Today has been a long day, it kind of shocked him to know that so much has gone on within one day. Is it like this everyday?
He felt the weight of the bed shift, letting him know that Soonyoung had gotten up. "I'm just going to take a nap, let me know if you need anything alright?" He explained, jumping onto his bunk and laying back. Jihoon hummed in response, already falling asleep himself.
The next morning Jihoon woke up to loud yelling and a cramp in his now stiff back. Those beds are practically slabs of concrete with the tiniest pad of bedding. It felt more like hell than Prison itself. Soonyoung shook him and smiled. "Rise and shine buddy, it's breakfast time. You may not want to eat it now but give it time." He laughed, patting Jihoons back. What's that supposed to mean?
Not long after making it into the cafeteria and grabbing some of what he assumed was supposed to be food, he realised. Jihoon let out a heavy sigh, stabbing a fork at the rubbery chunk of "meatloaf." His appetite was gone since the moment he set his eyes on it. "Seriously dude, you should eat that. You'll be wishing you did later on. Most of us would kill to take yours too so if you're not going to eat it, give it to me alright?" Soonyoung explained, giving the short boy a stern look.
So Jihoon obeyed, a hesitant thought popping in his mind as he took a biteful of the so called breakfast. Who knew meatloaf could even be a breakfast? It must have been the leftovers from last nights dinner in which he missed from coming in too late and being dragged around to become an official prisoner, wooh!
It tasted more bland than 'bad' but it was nothing like the food at home, and this bothered him greatly. It felt almost as if there was nothing here to remind him of home. Not even a simple picture. He knew he wouldn't be getting one either, he wasn't on very good terms with his family or anyone in fact. Just before he was arrested he had gotten into a huge argument with them and just lost it. But that didn't matter anymore, he broke a law and whats done is done.
That night was still a messy blur. Between the tears clouding his vision and the alcohol blocking them out, his memories of it just became a total mystery. Almost like amnesia. Bits and pieces played through Jihoons mind but overall the most he had to work with was what everyone told him about that night. It was like all Jihoon could do was regret things now.
He hadn't even realised he was already walking back to the block, side by side with Soonyoung, until someone bumped into him, rushing by. He watched as the person scurried by, trying to push away the hurt he was holding in. That's when he noticed that this whole time Soonyoung had been telling a story and he wasn't even listening. How terrible can he get? He had hoped that if he just pretended like he was listening all would be well; and to his surprise, it was. Soonyoung hadn't even noticed. "Anyway, what are you thinking about? you've been distracted." Or so he thought.
Jihoon shook his head smiling, "Nothing, just a bit tired that's all." Which wasn't completely false. He was in fact tired, and maybe that was why he had been so easily distracted and hurt. Soonyoung decided to let it go, not wanting to push Jihoon too far. But things grew quiet, and it felt like hurt was radiating off of him, and Soonyoung wasn't sure what to make of it. What he did know was that he wanted to know more about Jihoon, and he wanted to be closer.
