end of the day | seongjoong

chapter twenty four

seonghwa entered the school building tuesday morning just like any other day. there was nothing special or exciting about the day, but he continued on nonetheless. he walked towards his locker, waving hello to his fellow classmates and friends as he passed them by.

"hwa!" san greeted his friend, pulling him into a quick side hug.

"what's up san." seonghwa smiled at his friend who shrugged in response.

"nothing much, but honestly i really gotta head to class now. i didn't finish last night's homework, so i have to do it before class starts." san shook his head and seonghwa laughed at the boy.

"didn't i send you the work at like six last night? you couldn't complete it? i know for a fact you don't sleep before midnight." seonghwa asked.

"well maybe you did... i didn't want to do it, ok! give me a break." san sighed dramatically, flipping his friend off as he walked towards his first period class alone.

seonghwa laughed to himself as he headed to hs locker. he began putting in the combo, but was approached by a frantic jongho before he could open the locker door.

"i gotta tell you something, but you have to promise me you won't tell my brother about it." he frantically spit out.

seonghwa furrowed his eyebrows, "um, ok? what's up?" he answered while leaning against his locker, sounding confused.

"ok... so yesterday after school, hongjoong told my mom and i that he had something really important to tell us. after a while of trying to pry the information out of him, we finally got him to admit what he wanted to say." jongho paused, leaving seonghwa even more confused than before.

"aaand...?" seonghwa dragged out, moving his hand in a circular motion for the boy to continue on.

"oh yeah." jongho laughed, "so pretty much, hongjoong told us that he has a really big crush on you. but don't freak out, i already have a plan for you. hongjoong tends to lose feelings just as fast as he gets them, so my idea is to get someone else to babysit him from now on. i can tell him you have a girlfriend or something, or maybe a family problem. possibly spo--"

seonghwa cut him off mid rant, waving his arms in the air for jongho to stop talking.

"woah woah, wait a minute. first of all, i already knew hongjoong liked me." seonghwa stated.

"you what?" jongho dropped his arms
in disbelief.

"yeah, i did." seonghwa chuckled and jongho shook his head.

"and you didn't feel the need to tell me?" jongho crossed his arms, sounding extra annoyed.

"why do i need to tell you about his feelings? that's personal to him, i don't want to expose him or anything. also, how was i supposed to know he was out to you or the rest of your family? if i told you and he was closeted, i'd be outing him and that's not right." seonghwa explained and jongho nodded his head in understandment, agreeing with his friend.

"i guess that's right, but still... you don't think it's weird? you don't have a problem with babysitting someone who has a crush on you?" jongho asked and seonghwa began thinking.

in all honesty, seonghwa didn't care that hongjoong had a crush on him. in a way, he sort of liked knowing that hongjoong admired him. he thought it was adorable, kind of like a little kid having a crush on their older sibling's best friend.

"no, it doesn't bother me at all. it's only hongjoong anyway. it's not like he'll force himself on me or anything." seonghwa shrugged.

"well that definitely went different than i expected." jongho sighed, sounding defeated and seonghwa laughed.

"so, anything else you need to tell me?" seonghwa said as he moved his body off the lockers, finally opening his.

"yeah, i actually do have something else to tell you. my fucking mother made things worse and told hongjoong that i'd help him get you!" jongho raised his arms, annoyed.

"so what did you say to that?" seonghwa asked.

"i didn't know what else to say besides ok! what was i supposed to do, tell my brother i wouldn't help him get my best friend? i can't do that to him." jongho shook his head and seonghwa's heart began racing a bit.

he didn't know why the thought of being with hongjoong made his heart race, but he didn't like the feeling at all.  it felt weird, extremely wrong to him.

no way i could like him, right? no, that would be weird, wouldn't it? yeah, it's definitely just racing because... because...

seonghwa was quickly shaken out of his thoughts from a pair of hands waving in his face.

"hello? earth to seonghwa?" jongho called out, making seonghwa blink rapidly and turn to face the younger once again.

"oh, sorry ho. um, but yeah, i understand why you said ok. but what should we do about it now?" seonghwa asked and jongho raised his arms up in defense.

"that has nothing to do with me, you're the one who would need to talk to him about it." jongho said and seonghwa furrowed his eyebrows.

"woah, totally not fair! because you said you'd help him, now it's my problem? hell no!" seonghwa said, raising his voice a bit.

"well if you wanted to deny him, would i be the one talking for you or would you say it for yourself?" jongho questioned and seonghwa rolled his eyes.

"i guess you're right, but i already denied him not too long ago. now i have to do it again?" seonghwa asked, placing his hands on his hips as he spoke.

"well you don't have to do it today or anything. do it when you're ready, when you feel it's appropriate." jongho explained, "maybe one day when you're watching him, if he gets a little close or something, explain the boundaries. tell him what he can do and what he can't do with you. he might be a little slower than the average sixteen year old, but he's far from stupid."

"you're right, he is far from stupid." seonghwa smiled at the thought of the young boy, "i guess i'll figure it out as time comes."

"yeah, you're right. i just wanted to warn you. well, actually i was going to tell you you didn't have to watch him anymore, but for some reason you're ok with watching him." jongho laughed and seonghwa laughed along with him, making a sort of uncomfortable smile.

"well, i got to get to class now." jongho slapped his friends arm as he began walking off, "i'll see you later."

"bye bro!" seonghwa called out to the boy who was walking away from him.

when seonghwa was left at his locker alone, his thoughts ran wild. he didn't understand himself why he said he'd continue watching hongjoong when jongho gave him the opportunity to leave.

wasn't that what i wanted? wasn't he annoying? wasn't it a waste of time? i thought i hated being there with him, but i chose to stay...

he was so confused with himself. on top of choosing to stay, why was his heart racing? why did he like the thought of hongjoong having a crush on him? shouldn't he be weirded out with it?

seonghwa shook his head, ridding his mind of the thoughts. he needed to get to class, to forget about it all... but he knew it wouldn't be as easy as he wished.

really thought comeback was gonna be announced this morning... clown of the year!!!🤡

-vic