NIGHTMARE

30 | love knows no limits

it was finally the day of changkyun's graduation, and he was on edge with nerves. just in case kihyun hadn't heard him the last night they'd been together, he'd sent the older the same deal in the form of a text message, and then deleted his number so he wouldn't keep thinking about it all the time.

standing around in his cap and gown, he couldn't stop wondering whether kihyun would even show up or not. what made him even more anxious was the fact that he'd actually been accepted into the college in kihyun's town - but he hadn't told him that yet. it was a good college, and changkyun had been overly optimistic when sending out his college applications.

he was really hoping kihyun would come back.

"changgy! there you are." soonyoung came to a stop beside him, catching his breath, "the ceremony's going to start soon, aren't you coming?"

"huh? oh, yeah, of course," changkyun told him, nodding at his overexcited friend.

to be fair to him, soonyoung was going to study sports science at the same college as his brother jooheon, which meant he would be playing baseball 24/7. changkyun could understand why that grin wouldn't leave soonyoung's face.

"come on then!" soonyoung grabbed his hand and led him back into the graduation hall.

inside, it was crowded; students, parents and teachers hurrying about to get things ready in time for the graduation ceremony. changkyun's mom was already seated, relieved that he was actually graduating and not repeating the year instead. mr. son was somewhere in the audience too, cheering him on, and changkyun had to admit he'd become his favourite teacher recently, with all the time he'd spent in his weightlifting club.

but kihyun was still nowhere to be seen, and that made changkyun's stomach twist with worry.

maybe he wouldn't show at all.

"hang on, i'll be back in a minute," soonyoung promised then, looking off in another direction, "wonwoo's calling me. you know where you're sitting, right?"

"yeah," changkyun nodded, "go and see what he wants then, soon."

soonyoung flashed him a grin and darted across the room to where the other players on the baseball team were gathered. changkyun was reluctant to join them, since he didn't really speak to them much except during games.

"oh, hey, changkyun!"

sewoon approached him cheerfully, with jiyeon in tow. they'd been together a lot recently, and jiyeon had almost entirely left changkyun alone in the past few months. it was kind of refreshing to see her get over her obsession with him and grow as a person, and hanging out with jeong sewoon must be doing the trick.

"hey," changkyun smiled back in return, "are you guys nervous?"

"nah, not really," sewoon told him, "i'm more nervous about actually going to college and realising i'm starving and can't cook anything. i'll be eating pot ramen for years."

"i think we all will," changkyun agreed, but his mind was still preoccupied with his small ex-literature teacher to really process anything sewoon was saying.

"it's okay, i'll just get jiyeon to cook for me," sewoon joked, nudging the girl beside him gently.

"why am i going to the same college as you?" jiyeon grumbled, but she was laughing too, smile spreading across her cheeks. "i think we have to sit down now, changkyunnie... are you coming?"

"hey, can't i be sewoonie?" sewoon objected, doing his best to catch jiyeon's gaze and pull a face, which made her giggle again.

"nope."