i'm your a to z | jihancheol

from a home to a hotel to a party house

chapter 8

Everyone hated Hayoung, which Seungcheol was well aware of but couldn't understand. Sure, she was a bit clingy but besides that, she was a really nice person. It's not like Seungcheol was any different with his friends. Hayoung had told Seungcheol it made her sad and left out.

But when he tried to tell the others, no one took him seriously. Instead, everyone claimed he was "whipped" for Hayoung, which wasn't true. He didn't have any romantic feelings towards her. They didn't believe him, which led to them being distant. Joshua and Jeonghan were always happy and full of laughter when they were talking to each other but stopped whenever they knew Seungcheol was around. His cousin always stayed closed off in his room and only ever came out to eat or talk to Jeonghan.

It annoyed Seungcheol how he was being ignored in his own house but it probably ignored Hayoung more that she was always getting dirty looks.

So to make it up to her, Seungcheol had asked her out on a date. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to leave the house with Chan and Jeonghan but he decided Joshua was responsible enough.

"I'm sorry about the boys," Seungcheol said while waiting for their food. "I doubt they hate you, just really unused to you."

That was a lie. Chan hated new people, especially if they were taking Seungcheol's attention away from him. Jeonghan was what you'd call "heterophobic." He didn't know much about Joshua but he knew he had a strong dislike for Hayoung.

Hayoung didn't need to know that.

"It's alright." She smiled, which Seungcheol found beautiful. She was already pretty but her smile had nothing on her usually expressionless face. "I just wish they wouldn't ignore me all the time."

"They're mostly nice people, they just have to get used to you." He paused. "Not that they'll be staying for long anyways."

Chan was going to be leaving in a couple of days when his father came back from work. He didn't really know about Joshua or Jeonghan. He didn't mind Joshua and enjoyed his company but Jeonghan was different.

He didn't hate Jeonghan but he didn't like him staying either. To avoid it being awkward, he had to act like he didn't know the boy. Though he stopped being annoying ever since Hayoung came along, just his presence bothered Seungcheol.

He didn't know if it was just himself but he was always annoyed with old crushes. And he was more annoyed by Jeonghan than the rest for a reason he still didn't know. Was it because Jeonghan was the first person who reminded Seungcheol he had feelings but then destroyed them? Was it because after him, Seungcheol couldn't crush on anyone anymore?

"When does the lazy one leave?"

"Excuse me?" Seungcheol blinked twice before processing what she said. I know she's not calling any of them lazy.

"The gay one."

Seungcheol didn't like how she said the word 'gay' as if it tasted bad in her mouth.

"Jeonghan?" he frowned.

"Yes, him. All he does is sleep all day."

"Because he doesn't sleep at night," Seungcheol remembered. The boy had the most messed up sleep schedule for as long as he could remember. Even now, he'd see Jeonghan awake at two in the morning and he'd have to tell him to go to sleep. Every night, he always gave the same explanation: "He stays up helping Joshua with work without Joshua actually knowing."

"Oh, I just assumed..."

"Then stop assuming before knowing the full story." Why was he so defensive all of a sudden? Wasn't he just thinking about how much he didn't like Jeonghan?

The rest of their lunch was silent but both soon forgot about what happened. Seungcheol took her around the neighborhood, which she seemed to enjoy. He found it cute how interested she was and all the questions she asked. When they passed by the museum, Seungcheol learned she was one of the few people who enjoyed history, just like him.

Even if she wasn't perfect, Hayoung was amazing.

When it began to grow dark, Hayoung said she had to go home. On the way, they talked about how both wanted to stay as friends-with-benefits since neither really wanted a committed relationship. They held hands until Seungcheol dropped her off and went back to his own house, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while.

The second Seungcheol opened the door, that feeling was immediately replaced with chaos. Young Blood by Five Seconds of Summer was blasting and Soonyoung's screaming could be heard.

Soonyoung?

When Seungcheol walked in, he saw Soonyoung and Chan jumping around and screaming, cushions all over the floor. It made him wonder when his house had gone from a home to a hotel to a party house. On the couch, sat Joshua with the laptop and Lee Jihoon.

Why was Jihoon here?

Jihoon and Seungcheol were best friends since they were nine and ten. They even tried dating when they sort-of liked each other but it didn't work out well. After that, they'd grown distant, which left Seungcheol upset for a long time.

But then he made new friends. One day, one of them introduced him to Jeonghan, making him forget Jihoon. Love was a strong word but Seungcheol was very close to falling in love with him.

Until he walked into Jeonghan and Jihoon making out. On the day he was going to tell Jeonghan he liked him.

After that, Jeonghan began ignoring Seungcheol.

To this day, Seungcheol was still salty.

"What is the meaning of this?" Seungcheol raised his voice and the music stopped.

All eyes were staring at him, Joshua and Soonyoung's full of fear, meanwhile Chan and Jihoon didn't care. It was the reaction he'd expected.

"Welcome back?" Soonyoung said.

"We told them not to," Joshua said, pointing to himself and Jihoon.

"I tried calling you to ask if I could invite them over but you wouldn't pick up," the youngest said.

"As long as you didn't break anything, you're fine." Seungcheol sighed when the music began to play again. He couldn't stay mad at Chan, no matter how much it annoyed him.

"Oh, by the way," Joshua said. "I made mac and cheese dinner and only you and Hannie haven't eaten yet."

"Where is he?" Seungcheol asked, putting aside the fact he didn't know what kind of food Joshua was talking about.

"Sleeping."

Seungcheol went up the stairs to wake him up, seeing he was the only one who could actually accomplish such a difficult task. After pulling the sheets off of the whining boy, he dragged him down the stairs. It reminded him of the amount of times he had to do that in high school on days they were partners for a project -which was a lot.

"Why are you playing music so loud?" he muttered and began to look around. "It's good music but-"

His eyes widened when his eyes made their way to the couch.

"It really was you," he whispered. "Jihoon."

He ran back up the stairs and the slam of the door could be heard.