How it Feels to Be Replaced

Chapter 2

A disoriented groan came from Jinho's lips as he stirred, awakening from the previous night cold and halfway off the bed. He hugged his pillow to his naked body, and his covers were strewn everywhere, but his hand rested gently on his phone that remained in its place. Ignoring the fact that he never got dressed after his shower and was completely exposed, Jinho climbed back on his mattress and nervously picked up his phone to look at it. Disappointment filled his eyes as he did, as there wasn't a single notification there. He just stared at the blank screen for a moment before turning his phone off and dropping it beside him.

Only now noticing his lack of clothing, he got up off his bed and ambled over to his closet, choosing a random, but decent outfit for the day, as he wasn't quite sure what he'd be up to quite yet. Jinho was lucky that he hadn't been called in to work today, since he'd gotten up so late. Curious as to how late, Jinho paused what he was doing and carried his shirt over to his bed and looked at his phone again, ebony eyes widening in surprise at the time.

1:36 PM.

"Shit." Jinho had to curse aloud, wondering how long he'd slept. Shaking it off, he slipped his shirt on over his head, tucking the front into his pants before heading to the bathroom to straighten the hair that had kinked up in strange, unwanted directions from sleeping on it and rolling in his sleep while it was still wet.

Jinho put minimal effort into straightening his black hair, just keeping it parted wherever it wanted to be. It only took him about five minutes, and when he went back to his bedroom, he thought for a moment before picking up his phone and opening up his messages. He found the most recent conversation with Seungho, a good friend of his, and began mindlessly typing a message.

"Hey, you busy today?"

Within moments, unable to even put his phone down, he got a reply.

"Nope! What's up? :^P"

"I need to get out of the house. Woke up real late. You wanna meet me at the park or something?"

"If I get to bring Seunghee, I promised I'd be with him all day today"

"That's fine, I just need someone to hang out with. Meet you in ten?"

"Be there in five :^)"

Jinho rolled his eyes a little, letting out a small scoff. Shoving his phone in his back pocket, he searched around for his keys, not wanting to forget them inside and lock himself out of his apartment. He found it on the floor near the bathroom and his work uniform, and picked it up, shoving it in a front pocket as he walked over to the door to the hallway. Hand on the doorknob, Jinho was about to leave, before he thought about whether he'd end up going anywhere else, and after a moment of contemplation, went to go grab his credit card in case he needed to pay for anything and walked right out the door. He locked it behind him, struggling with the awful lock again, before finally getting it to cooperate.

After struggling with the door, Jinho left the building as quickly as possible, headed towards the park he would be meeting his friends at. He arrived in no time, paying no attention to his surroundings as, at the moment, they were uninteresting to him. Not seeing Seungho or his other half anywhere, Jinho just decided to lean up against a tree, keeping his head on a swivel. After a minute or two, Jinho eventually saw a head of black and pink hair waltzing up the path with a small black-haired boy on his back, who just hugged the taller guy for support as he was being carried as if it would kill him to set foot on the ground.

Jinho raised an eyebrow at the pair, amused at their behavior. Seungho took a hand from one of Seunghee's legs to wave at his friend, before putting it right back where it belonged as they approached the heavier guy.