Dandelions ⭒ Jaywon

10. sticky notes

Heeseung and Sunoo shared a look between them of apprehension.

Oh holy fuck…

"Right, hey, guys…" Sunoo grimaced
"Hi," Jungwon and Jay chorused, keeping their faces as expressionless as possible.
"Yeah, so I suppose you can guess why we brought you here," Heeseung stated with crossed arms.
"Hee, let's do this over a drink. Guys, what do you want? I'll get your orders," Sunoo asked while he cracked his knuckles obsessively.
"Vanilla latte for me," Jungwon smiled softly.
"Americano?" Jay asked.
"I'll have the same," Heeseung said.
"Alright. Start talking, I'll be back."

Sunoo was so bloody smart. Anxiety had completely overcome him and so he casually escaped with the excuse of ordering drinks.
"I hope shit goes well…"

"Good morning, sir. What would you like to order?" The woman behind the counter asked cheerfully. Sunoo noticed that she had a black eye, half hidden behind her mask, and felt like asking if she was okay. But he gave his order first.
"Hi, I'd like two americanos, both iced, one vanilla latte, and one café creme, please."
"Okay, your name, sir?"
"Sunoo."
A moment of silence followed in which Sunoo asked about the bruise as gently as possible.
His voice softened as he probed, "Um, hey, the bruise on your eye– are you alright?"
"I'm fine. A victim of domestic abuse, but I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
"If you need to escape a situation, ever, I'm here for you. Okay?"
"Thank you. Really, this means a lot..."

Sunoo walked back, four drinks in hand and sat next to Jungwon again. Heeseung shot him a death glare as he recieved the drink offered to him but sighed and shook his head.

“So, they’ve figured out why they’re here. They know we’re going to talk them out of there hopeless states, and after a bit of persuasion, they’re ready to listen,” the oldest stated exasperatedly.

And so they stayed there for three whole hours, trying to rationalise between their sides of the story like it was a courtroom. The couple made it as if Heeseung was Jay’s lawyer, and Sunoo was Jungwon’s lawyer, and eventually it was havoc.

“That still doesn’t rationalise his lack of attention towards me—” Jungwon began, eyes widening.
“For the millionth time, who was the one who stayed up at the hospital, took you to the bloody hospital, advised you against going out, made breakfast for you every day despite having to go to college, supported you with literally everything you wanted to do—” Jay sighed, fists clenched on the table.
“Guys, cut it out. This isn’t working. You aren’t ready to listen to each other,” Sunoo interjected.
“But have we at least established that there is a problem? When was the last time you looked into each other’s eyes without guilt or flashbacks? When was the last time you kissed because you wanted to, and you felt the pull, and not because you thought it’s customary, or appropriate to do so in the situation? A formality? How much do you talk to each other on average these days? How much do you talk to everyone other than each other every day? What’s the ratio?”

Heeseung paused and thought for two minutes before saying what he was about to. A tear pooled in his eye as he realised how he was pretty much describing the situation with his boyfriend as he rattled off.

No, Heeseung, this isn’t about you. It’s about them. It’s not always about you, you’re not the centre of the universe.

“Do you even love each other anymore?” Heeseung whispered, airways choked up with tears.

The words hung heavy in the air like a dark raincloud, casting shadows on their sunlight.

Jay and Jungwon shared a long look between them. A look of unspoken truths, of carefully concealed lies, of love and detestation, of trust and betrayal, of longing that clawed and gnawed at you from within, of regret that washed over you like acid; scorching pain with each drop, that corroded you bit by bit with time.