Unconditional Feelings (Heesun)

14

The next morning, Sunoo's body felt stiff for some reason, a reason Sunoo couldn't quite comprehend. He groaned in pain while holding onto his stomach. "Should I buy something to eat in the morning?" He heaved a heavy sigh and enveloped his face in the crook of the pillow. "I don't have enough money–like maybe $12 for savings...? I need to get back to working at the convenience store now." He laid flat, faced down on his pillow, not fretting about the time and how late he was.

His eyes felt heavy, and he felt as if he was floating in his dreamland again—but the ringing of the phone interrupted his drowsy state. "AH, SHIT!" He jolted up, panting heavily while clutching onto his dear heart, which was beating uncontrollably. "Damn it!" He irritatingly snatched the phone from his charger and glared at the call screen.

"Riki? Why the fuck–wait–shit, I'm late! I'm late for school!" He accepted the call and opened the speaker to hear him while rummaging through his clothes and brushing his teeth at the same time. "YAH! RIKI IMN LWATE FWO SCHOOU TELL THE TWEACHAR THE BWOS WHAS LWATE!" Sunoo yelled, his voice was muffled and the younger didn't seem to interpret a single word the older had said.

"Uhh, what? I have no idea what you just said." Sunoo could imagine Riki rolling his eyes behind the screen. Sunoo grabbed his uniform from the dresser and hung up, not wanting to deal with an annoying ass Riki in the morning.

"Gah! How did I not notice the time today?" Sunoo gargled and washed his face, not forgetting to apply his one and only lip balm. "Great, I'll have detention after school today" Sunoo rolled his eyes and rushed out of the house, making sure to lock all the windows and doors. He ran to the bus stop to catch the late bus–which was basically his only hope in the situation, and to his luck, the bus had just left. "NO! WAIT!" Sunoo shouted, catching the passerby's attention. The bus driver seemed to have noticed the desperate boy, so the bus came to an abrupt stop, calming the anxious boy down. Sunoo paced to the bus entrance and thanked the driver, situating himself in his usual seat.

一一一一

"Thank you, sir! Have a good day!" Sunoo bowed to the driver before running out from the bus, straight to his class. He was mentally preparing to be scolded for his second-period class. Yes, he had missed the first period.

"Sunoo hyung! Wait!" Sunoo halted, surprised at the familiar voice. He turned around and saw Riki pacing toward him. He stopped in front of him and smacked his back. "I waited for you–I even missed my first period because of you. What took you so long to get to school?!" Riki yelled at his hyung and heaved frustrating sighs.

"Sorry~I just kinda forgot to wake up in the morning..." Sunoo replied, patting the taller's back. Riki felt butterflies rummaging inside his stomach. 'I hate this.' He internally groaned and faced away from the older. They both walked to their class, ready to be scolded.

"Okay! I'm gonna open the door and we're gonna try to tiptoe inside as quietly as we can." Sunoo hushed the younger and the taller nodded. "One, two, three—"

"Move."

The two males were cut off because of the deep, croaky voice of Heeseung. They faced the older and Sunoo gulped. "What are you two doing here?" His eyes traveled down to the connected hands. "And why are you both holding each other's hands?" He glanced between both males and felt irritation and jealousy growing inside of him.

Sunoo gasped and immediately released Riki's grasp and fixed his posture. "W-we're trying not to get caught by the teacher. If we do then we'll have detention..." Sunoo answered feeling feeble under the older's piercing glare.

Meanwhile, Riki felt somewhat threatened by the older. He glared at him, not wanting to seem weak. 'What's his problem with Sunoo? Does he think he owns him or something?' Riki lightly scoffed and spoke up.

"Don't mind us, you can head inside first. We'll come afterward." He gently grasped Sunoo's wrist and pulled him closer and away from the door so the older could get through. "There." He gestured, still holding onto Sunoo's wrist.

Heeseung seemed to have noticed the menacing aura Riki reflected, so he glared at him one last time and opened the classroom door, catching the attention of all the students and the professor.

"Why are you all late?" The teacher placed his marker down and walked toward the three males. The students were whispering and murmuring at the sight. Riki held onto Sunoo's wrist, and Heeseung somehow was involved with both.

"Do I sense some kind of love triangle?" One of the girls murmured but was clearly heard by the other students.

"Yeah–but like, doesn't Heeseung bully Sunoo?" One of the boys added, peering at the scene in front of the door. The three boys were just standing at the door conversing with the teacher. " All three of you will have detention after school today." The teacher declared and strode off.

Ni-ki removed his gentle grasp from the older and walked to his desk. Sunoo glanced at Heeseung one last time and sat beside Ni-ki.

_________

The ringing of the bell had woken the drained students from their trance. All the students rushed to lunch like hungry zombies to feed their starving stomachs. Sunoo packed his bag and headed out to the lunch cafeteria to see if he could eat something.

He was suddenly pulled toward someone, and he faced the latter. "Riki?" Sunoo questioned, his arm wrapped around the younger's waist. "Aren't you supposed to be at lunch?" Sunoo cocked his brow and leaned back.

"Yeah, but I always see you peering at me through the cafeteria door–so! Today you're eating with me!" Riki cheered, pulling the shorter along with him. Sunoo was astonished at the sight. 'Jungwon, Jay, Jake–Sunghoon, Heeseung! Everyone was there like usual, but now they know I actually exist.' Sunoo felt a rush of anxiety; his face turned beet red, and he felt his palms getting sweaty upon the sight.

"Hey! You must be Sunoo!" Jungwon directed, waving to the older. "Ni-ki talks about you all the ti–" Riki ran to the older and smacked him, causing the older to groan in pain and shut up. Riki pulled Sunoo and situated him between him and Sunghoon. Sunoo glanced at Heeseung, who seemed to be busy on his phone. His mind wandered off to last night, he felt nervous around the older. He didn't know what to feel.

"Hyung! Wanna go to the arcade after school?" Jake asked Heeseung, peering over at his phone. "I have detention after school, sorry." He toned plainly and for a second, Sunoo felt as if the older had peered at him, but he might be wrong.

"So, Sunoo hyung! I've heard a lot about you...from some people..." Jungwon's voice trailed off as he glanced between Heeseung and Ni-ki. "I see you standing over there, by the cafeteria door every day, and I find that so cute." Jungwon giggled and gently pat Sunoo's head. Jay, Heeseung, and Ni-ki glanced at the scene, and while both males glared at Jungwon, Jay glared at Sunoo.

"Ahem! Jungwon, don't you have after-school activities with me?" Jay sternly spoke up, tucking his hands into his pocket. We have to meet with Mr. Cho right now, so c'mon." He stood, ignoring the confused stares from the others. "Yeah, but shouldn't we stay with Sunoo because he's here? Jungwon stared at the figure towering over beside him. "He has the others here. C'mon." He gently grabbed Jungwon's wrist and dragged him along.

"Wait–is Jay into Jungwon or something?" Sunoo let his curiosity spill, he immediately covered his mouth and lightly gasped. "S-sorry, that was too abrupt."

"It's fine, and yeah–I guess. Jungwon actually likes him back, but Jay is stupid. He doesn't know to reciprocate his feelings directly." Jake shrugged and continued eating. Ni-ki glanced at the short boy sitting beside him, a small found its place upon his lips. He used one of his chopsticks to feed Sunoo. "Here." He spoke up, catching the older one off guard. "You couldn't get lunch today." Sunoo hesitated, but smiled at the younger and took a bite.

Heeseung absolutely could not stand this anymore. He tightly clenched his fist under the table and glared at the both. "I need to use the restroom." Heeseung jolted up from his seat and strode away, seething with anger.

'When is he going to learn to understand his feelings? He's so stupid sometimes.'