i'm your a to z | jihancheol

extinction of the heterosexuals

chapter 7

"Why'd you leave?" Jun asked the second Jeonghan left. Joshua had been hiding from that exact question.

"Because..." Because I killed a guy. "It was a personal thing."

"Oh, okay then." The boy smiled as he watched the sky begin to go orange. "Are you going to come back? After the lawsuit has been resolved, of course."

"I'm not so sure..."

"Why not?" Junhui pouted and looked over. "Did you get bored after the first day?"

"No, it's not that." Joshua chuckled but then paused. "Did you say lawsuit?"

"The night you disappeared, a man was found dead with a large cut in his throat," Junhui explained. "His family sued Mingyu because the detectives couldn't figure out who killed him."

Oh, shit. Joshua felt bad for causing such a mess but it was self-defense.

"I'm sure it'll be over soon though. When it is, we'd love to have you back."

Joshua looked to see the boy was smiling widely, genuinely meaning what he said. The American couldn't help but smile back. No one ever said anything like that to him. Of course, he'd gotten used to it but it surprised him. Never had anyone said they enjoyed having him around.

"I'll think about it."

"Yay!" Jun cheered and hugged Joshua.

The two walked back inside to see Mingyu shirtless on the floor with his wrists held together by Seungcheol, who had on a black sleeveless shirt. Curse those sleeveless shirts for making Joshua question his sexuality.

"What the-"

"Mingyu thought he could beat me in a fight," Seungcheol explained with a grin. "Just because he's taller and has bigger tits."

"What the actual fuck," Joshua muttered in English.

"What's that English phrase again?" Junhui asked. "Tall ain't..."

"All?"

"Yes, that!" He clapped his hands together. "Hansol always said that to me."

"Fucking Hansol," Seungcheol said as he let go of Mingyu's wrists to put his shirt on. Both went to sit on the couches and the foreigners followed, Junhui sitting on the arm of one next to Joshua.

"Is that Joshua?" Mingyu asked.

At the same time, Hayoung walked into the room. Why was she still here? All morning, she had been throwing glares at Joshua and complaining about how he couldn't clean (even though she made the biggest messes).

"Cheollie, I'm hungry," she complained and held onto the man's arm. She annoyed Joshua by being so touchy towards Seungcheol but he didn't know why. It didn't even affect him.

"What do you want to eat?" Seungcheol stood up to walk to the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Junhui asked.

"Hayoung," Joshua said. "Anyways, where's Jeonghan and Chan?"

"They said they were going to the garden in the park," Mingyu said as he checked the time on his watch. "We should be going."

"Already?" Jun frowned. "I didn't say bye to Jeonghannie or Channie."

"Do you want to visit them at the park then?"

Junhui nodded as both of them stood up. Joshua did the same.

"Could I also come?" He didn't want to be alone with Seungcheol and his hookup.

"Sure, why not?" Mingyu smiled. "If you explain why you went missing from the restaurant after your first day."

On the way, Joshua gave him the same reason he'd told Jun. Mingyu believed it and said the same things Jun had. Joshua was happy that he was invited but at the same time, he didn't know how Jeonghan would feel. He told him they'd work at the same place and he didn't want to disappoint Jeonghan. But when he thought about it...

If Jeonghan was Mingyu's cousin, why didn't he work at the restaurant?

When they'd arrived at the garden, Jeonghan was sitting alone on one of the benches. Chan was talking to another boy, not very far. Mingyu and Jun went to Chan first as Joshua went to sit on the bench. He must've caught him by surprise, seeing Jeonghan practically jumped in his seat.

"Oh, hey, Jisoo" Jeonghan greeted in a quiet voice. It was surprising that he'd said Jisoo's real name. Something seemed suspicious.

"Who's Chan talking to?"

"His crush." Straight people were going extinct, himself included.

Both watched as Mingyu and Joshua talked to Chan and his crush. They must've known his crush, seeing how much they were laughing.

"Oh, also," the American began. "I might go back to working at Mingyu's restaurant and I wanted to ask if..."

"If I wanted to work with you?" Jeonghan finished.

The other boy nodded. He was nervous to hear the answer -what if Jeonghan had a personal grudge against one of the employees? Or worse?

"Well, there's just one reason I haven't worked there yet..." Jeonghan looked nervous. "I'm scared I'll see my parents because they love-"

His sentence came to an abrupt stop. He looked scared. It was then when Joshua understood Jeonghan had problems with his parents. Was it why he was drunk and suicidal the night they met? Was he running away? People didn't usually like to open up to others about that. Especially not to someone they met three days ago.

"I understand," Joshua said and held onto Jeonghan's hand. "I get it if you don't want to say anymore and I get it if you don't want to come to Mingyu's. Though I'd love if you did, I fully understand. When you're ready, if ever, you can."

Jeonghan looked up at the boy who was smiling. A soft smile appeared on his face as well.

"Thank you."

Mingyu and Junhui walked over to them and the boys who were sitting stood up.

"We'll be leaving now," Mingyu said as he hugged Jeonghan. "It was nice to see you both again."

"Nice seeing you too," Joshua replied.

"Bye, Junnie, bye, Mingyu." Jeonghan smiled.

"Bye!" Jun smiled widely. "Oh wait, I have a question!"

"Hmm?"

"Are you and Joshua dating?"

Joshua felt his face heat up and looked away.

"No, Joshuji's straight," Jeonghan answered. Joshua didn't know how true that was anymore.

Joshua waved as the two left.

"Wanna walk back together?" Jeonghan held out his hand.

"What about-"

"Chan told me to go without him but I don't want to get lost by myself."

"Then let's walk." Joshua chuckled and held Jeonghan's hand.