Dares and Heartbreaks: TaeJoo & KangGook

Chapter 1

Things had changed drastically between the two, the moment they were seniors in College. To Tae Joo, Kang Gook was still the person he loved the most. They still had no label for their relationship. It was just different, and no word could explain it. The problem was Kang Gook had been neglecting Tae Joo. All he could think of was winning bets and getting rewards among his group of friends.

Everything had gone wrong the moment Tae Joo got involved.

It was one beautiful Friday afternoon, Tae Joo was sitting at the stone benches in school doing his assignment, when a girl approached him and sat opposite him on the bench.

"You're Kang Gook's boyfriend, right?"

"Gookah and I are more than that, we are brothers not by blood" Tae Joo corrected looking intensely at the girl.

"Really? It doesn't seem like it with the way he acts." She replied, a knowing smile on her face

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The only excuse he makes in class when he is asked to do more hours is that JooJoo is waiting for him. At first, we thought JooJoo was his child and then maybe a girlfriend only to realise it's a boy. Most people were shocked by this discovery and till now some others think you are dating because you're always together."

Yeah, we used to do that a lot. Tae Joo dreamily thought about the first days they had started school; Kang Gook wouldn't leave his side. He would escort him everywhere, afraid that he might get lost in the enormous building.

"He has changed right?" The girl went on to ask as if she was reading his mind. Her pointed look daring him to say otherwise. Even the stranger had noticed the changes in their relationship.

"He has changed in class too. His grades have dropped, and he is getting Fs for late submissions. He hangs out with bad company. They're a pretty famous group of boys who are known for pranking people" The girl was having a monologue

It was disheartening hearing about Gook's performance from a stranger. His thoughts are interrupted when the girl went on to say,

"He was given last chance. On Monday the assignments are going to be submitted and this is a core module, if he gets another F he is going to be banned from class and he won't be able to graduate."

"why are you telling me all this?" Tae Joo was curious. There was no such thing as good Samaritan in a survival of the fittest environment.

"He used to help me with my assignments, and we used to be study partners too. I tried to talk to him, but he won't listen to me. I'm just hoping that maybe he will listen to you."

"Thank you so much for letting me know"

As soon as he reached their shared room at the end of the day, Tae Joo searched for one of the Kang Gook's gang's phone number and he got Pil Hyun's number from his notebook.

"Hello, who is this?" Pil Hyun answered the call

"uhm Hello can I meet you and the others without Gookkah, I have something to discuss with you and he must not know."

"Is this Tae Joo?"

"Yes"

"Ok where do you want to meet?"

"Let's meet at the basketball court in an hour. Please let the others know" He finished and ended the call.

One hour later, he went to the court and saw all four of them waiting.

"Is everything ok? I hope we're not getting scolded again" Seung Ho said as Tae Joo approached them.

"aren't you used to my scolding now?" Tae Joo answered trying to make light of the situation