The Hideout I Need

Chapter 23: One bottle of soju for each person at the table!

Content warning: alcohol

And then Friday arrived. A day Hyeong-jun had both been very excited and nervous for. It was quite the late dinner they were having, the table was booked for 9 PM. He stood in front of his mirror looking at his outfit. It felt weird. You know that one outfit we always save for "a special occasion" that we just never use? He decided to finally wear it. But it just fit him weird. Or at least he felt like it did. He hadn't ever worn it before. He softly tugged at the turtleneck, wondering if it was too tight for him or if he felt suffocated because of how nervous he was.

He never felt like he was good at meeting new people. In fact, he rarely met people at all. He met Min-ki and Se-rim in elementary school and basically just stuck with them throughout middle school. In high school, well... let's just say he was lucky that Se-rim was outgoing enough to befriend Jung-mo, Se-kwon, and Won-jin. And Hyeong-jun just didn't have money to go to after-school academies so he never met anyone outside of school. So the idea of having to meet four people he barely knew scared him. He wanted to look good, to at least give them a good impression. But he just felt like he looked stupid.

"You look fine, don't worry," Hyeon-ah said, tired of him lingering in front of the mirror. She chuckled, "I bought the jacket for you years ago anyway, it's a miracle you can still fit it. It's about time you use it."

"Oh, come on, you know I stopped growing at 15," Hyeong-jun laughed, directing his focus away from the mirror and down to Hyeon-ah. He quietly stretched out his arms, the feeling of the leather jacket still seeming stiff. He asked shyly, "Are you sure I look okay?"

"You look great. I'm glad you're wearing it. If you weren't gonna use it for a date, when were you ever gonna use it?"

"Hey, it isn't a date," Hyeong-jun playfully scoffed, fully knowing she knew what went down the day he came out to Tae-young. He looked back into the mirror. The leather jacket was split into two colors, one half being army-green and the other being black. It was indeed a very nice jacket and he always felt guilty about never wearing it, but he just never felt like any time was right. But seeing Hyeon-ah's smile as he wore it, he decided to keep it on.

Suddenly, he got a text from Tae-young. He was waiting down in front of Hyeong-jun's apartment building. His eyes widened, hurrying to put his shoes on after replying he'd be down in just a second.

"Have fun!" Hyeon-ah yelled before Hyeong-jun sprinted out the door.

Luckily the past few days weren't too awkward between Hyeong-jun and Tae-young. Not much had changed other than Tae-young being less affectionate than he used to be. Hyeong-jun would internally joke to himself that he was too scared to catch a case of the gay. However, Tae-young told him something on Wednesday. And it really stuck to Hyeong-jun. It kept replaying in his head.

"I think... I think I projected some buried-down feelings I still had for Hye-mi and pushed them onto you," Tae-young said as they were walking home from the bus stop. He had a genuinely sorry expression on his face as he looked Hyeong-jun in the eyes, "I'm sorry if I led you on."

Hyeong-jun couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't tell if it was better or worse that Tae-young told him that. On one hand, it was nice to know why he felt like there was something more between them than friendship. That it wasn't all in his head. On the other, it just made Hyeong-jun's heart drop. It felt like a punch in the gut that he was some sort of second choice, even though he was fully aware that he was never even a choice to begin with. But he tried burying these thoughts. Tonight he wanted to have fun.

Hyeong-jun came jogging out his apartment door, instantly seeing Tae-young who also came dressed well. He was wearing a blazer over a t-shirt that fit him very nicely, Hyeong-jun fearing he already started blushing. But he wasn't the only one stunned.