STUDY BUDDIES. | hajeongwoo

27.

looks with several meanings landed to one individual, park jeongwoo who's looking at them back in forth with a confused look, "what?" as he uttered for many times.

he scanned them for a moment, fairly judging them just like how the others also did, wondering why they were looking at him; suspicion, disbelief, and the other just plain uinterested and well known for the case.

"haruto, huh? the one you had a crush since high school? so he's the one you're tutoring?"

jihoon started, news completely foreign to his ears but didn't seem to be so startled unlike junkyu who stopped munching on food that wasn't even his in surprise. "and you didn't tell us? what kind of friend are you?"

jeongwoo rolled his eyes at his remark, almost chortling at his whines despite being older than him yet being so immature.

"yes, because you're busy and now you're causing chaos inside my aparment!" he retorted, arms rested at his hips to gesture an annoyed expression.

"back then you were only whining about tutoring him and now you're bringing him to your place? i think we deserve an explanation," doyoung stated, bringing up the fact that indeed haruto went and hang out inside his apartment.

flopping down on the couch in defeat, jeongwoo heaved a sigh before deciding to tell everything including the confirmation of his feelings. who would've thought that telling them would be this aggravating?

"i..." jeongwoo started, looking down to muster all the words he needed to inform them.

in that case, he wondered if his so-called friends would accept the fact with no teasing or whatsoever. would they judge him?

suddenly all the negative thoughts rushed up inside his head, trying to find a gateway to take control of his own sanity. get yourself together and stop being a dastard, park jeongwoo.

"i—i like haruto..."

silence, and a few more minutes of silence. agitated and anxious, jeongwoo looked at the three with desperation, wanting to know the thoughts that rushed up inside their minds and spill them.

he wanted to know so bad, knowing that he had to allot most of his time into mustering his courage to spit all the words he needed to describe his situation and then getting nothing but silence? unbelievable for his case.

suddenly, doyoung's laugh echoed the whole room, jihoon chuckling while junkyu continued to grin while holding a plate of tteokbokki.

jeongwoo, as perpelexed as he could be, crossed his arms as he closed his eyes. what the hell are they laughing about?

"you're funny, jeongwoo. you still didn't realize that?" doyoung stated, breaking from his laughs that seemed to slowly cease, with jihoon nodding at the background.

and what was that supposed to mean? was his statement jocular for them to laugh about? jeongwoo suddenly had the urge to kick their ass out of his territory to attain the peace he wanted to have.

"we knew already, you're the only one who didn't know!" doyoung continued, looking at jeongwoo with proud visible on his eyes.

finally after all the years of being away and being in denial, his friend finally admitted the fact that he liked the same guy after all those years. what could that possibly mean? he won't habe to listen to all the chicaneries and self deception.

"even if you won't tell us the truth by yourself, we already knew," jihoon added, nodding in approval to his own statement.

soon after, junkyu sat beside the male with his mouth full of the foods he's currently devouring.

after a few moments of chewing before swallowing the meal, he opened his mouth and said, "yeah? then are you sure that he won't hurt you just like back th—"

junkyu wasn't able to finish his statement when jihoon playfully smacked his head, causing him to shut his mouth and discontinue his sentence.

heaving a whine, he looked at the other with visible annoyance. "don't say that, stupid!" the other defended.

"what? see, he'll end up running to us and cry because haruto caused him pain again! im just being a concerned friend here," junkyu rolled his eyes, slowly getting tired of always getting misunderstood by these people beside him.

jeongwoo looked at the older male, flashing a small smile to thank him for being a concerned friend.

"point taken," he stated, looking down as the memories of what happened during his high school days entered his mind the moment it got mentioned.

"see what you did? gosh kim junkyu," jihoon whispered, shaking his head in disbelief and disapproval.

seeing the other's sudden change of mood the moment junkyu brought up the same topic, he couldn't help but feel guilty and let jihoon scold whenever he wanted. "sorry, jeongwoo."

silence suddenly engulfed the atmosphere, having nothing left to say and resorted to just keep their mouth shut.

it continued like that for a few minutes, until a certain ring broke the continuous silence. taking the phone, jeongwoo landed his gaze at the caller id, smiling after seeing the name.

he looked up, looking at the three as the hope scintillated on his eyes once again.

"i'm not gonna cry anymore, junkyu hyung."