SARANG 사랑 | EOY After Story ✓

23

"I THOUGHT I ASKED YOU TO CLEAN THIS PLACE UP BEFORE I COME BACK."

Do-hwa stirs on his bed; squinting in the dimly lit room and looking at him. "It is clean," he mumbles, still half asleep.

He clamps down on his jaw, not trusting himself enough to speak without letting out a scream. He doesn't turn around to validate the implausibility of the statement and settles with sending a kick to the chair instead. "There is a half-eaten box of pizza on my table; the wardrobe is ransacked. And one of your fucking socks is on my table. Not to mention the trash covering the entire floor. And you call that 'clean'?"

Do-hwa rubs his eyes before opening them. He pushes himself up to a sitting position and before he can complain any further or whack him straight on his head, he lunges at him.

"Ha-ru! You're finally back!" His arms coiled around his neck tightly, to a point where he feels like his circulation is being cut off. "Do you have any idea just how much I missed you? It's so lonely without you here. Ahn Soo-chul doesn't remember anything I tell him. All he kept saying was 'Ha-ru will be back,' and I kept asking him 'When?' but he didn't know. He never knew anything! And Baek Kyung is always with his brother. Always." And like the mature guy he was, he pretends to sob on his shoulder. "No one has time for me now, Ha-ru. I feel so left out ."

He remains silent, letting his doofus roommate shed fake tears until he realizes he isn't moved by his pathetic performance or responding to his pitiful act in any way whatsoever.

He finally pulls away. He doesn't know what his face looks like at that very instant, but whatever his roommate sees in it doesn't look good. Do-hwa seems to read his mind and he quickly says, "I can explain."

His words seem to pull at his last thread of composure. "I don't want an explanation," he grits his teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Do-hwa was his best friend and he loved him like a brother, but damn, he knows how to test his patience.

"I didn't know you were coming today," he pleads. "Seriously, it's the middle of the night. Why are you back so soon? Won't your parents be worried if they find you gone?" And then he raises his brows, his mouth rounding off in an O-shape. "Wait, did you tell Dan-oh? Won't she be worried if she finds out you're here?"

He has him there.

But can't let him know that, of course.

"Don't try to change the subject," he says, watching Do-hwa's face fall. "And you don't have to worry about her." He grits his teeth slightly at the name not liking the way the mere mention of it was enough to dissipate his agitation. "This room looks like it got hit by a fucking tornado. Do you expect me to live in this mess?"

"Geez! What crawled up your ass and died?" He mutters under his breath before his expression does a whole one-eighty. "Wait. Wait!" He clamps down on his shoulders; peering at him as if he is trying to see his soul or suck it out, whichever favored him more. "Did you lose your awareness again? Do you remember me? Do you remember Eun Dan-oh? Do you remember Seuli High? The Butterfly Effect?"

And testing the last ounce of patience left in him, he begins to fake cry again. "Ha-ru, did you become Baek Kyung's sidekick again?"

"Shut up!" He finally lets out and Do-hwa takes a small step back. He didn't even speak that loud and the sheer exaggerated response ticks him off even more. The pressing headache comes back in full force and he almost misses his next words.

"I'm going to call Dan-oh to save my ass."

He slips out of his reach and runs out of sight, disappearing inside the bathroom before he has a chance to respond.