Unconditional Feelings (Heesun)

18

It was finally Monday, the day Sunoo despised. He would have a hard time getting up from his peaceful slumber. Despite all that, he looked forward to meeting Ni-ki and Sunghoon. Over the past few days, Sunghoon had mustered up the courage to approach the younger, he seemed quite the opposite of what he had imagined.

"Sunoo hyung! It's finally Monday! Don't we all love Mondays?" Ni-ki skipped joyfully toward the older, in an attempt to annoy the older. "Why do you look like you went through shit last night? Did you fuc—"

"Oh shut up for fucks sake, it's too early for this." Sunoo smacked the younger's head, cutting him off, rolling his eyes in exasperation. He wearily trudged inside the school hallways, directed to his first period. He tightened the grip on his bag when he reached his class.

"Hyung, are you going to eat with us today? Or do you have to go to the job after school?" Ni-ki grabbed Sunoo's shoulder and asked. "I can't, not today, no—but, I'll pay for the food next time we eat." Sunoo ruffled Ni-ki's hair, finding the younger one adorable when he unknowingly pouts. "I'll go now, I'll see you in the second period. Bye Riki!" Sunoo winked and walked away.

"Oh god..." Ni-ki felt that warm sensation again. He shook his head and paced away. He knew he had feelings for the older, yet he was still somewhat confused. He was scared. His cheeks were colored with a tint of light pink, his heart was blooming with fondness while imagining Sunoo smiling; how his pretty eyes would always have the brightest glimmer of light shining through them; how he would gleam with contentment every time he tasted his favorite ice cream flavor, mint chocolate. Everything about Sunoo was beautiful—adorable— nobody could hate such a kind, charming boy.

Ni-ki wasn't paying attention to his surroundings while walking, completely spacing out, daydreaming about Sunoo. He felt his face collide with someone's body, and instead of falling, the guy backed up and hit the lockers, pulling Ni-ki along with him—and both of the latter felt something off right that exact moment.

Their lips touched.

Ni-ki shot his eyes open due to the sudden contact and regretted everything he had done in life.

It was Sunghoon. He kissed Sunghoon. Ni-ki had his palm slammed on the locker, blocking the older, and Sunghoon was in quite an uncomfortable position; his hand was wrapped around Ni-ki's waist and his other was tightly clenching onto Ni-ki's blazer.

Ni-ki instantly backed up, flustered, and so did Sunghoon. How exactly did this happen? Well, it was quite coincidental.

A few minutes ago

Sunghoon plugged in his earphones and opened Spotify to shuffle his playlist. He was always early at school due to his ice skating practice.

He's been skating since his childhood years, he fell in love with skating when he first saw a teenage guy ice skate in front of everyone. Sunghoon's eyes followed the turns, the swift movements of the boy, how his hair flew—he imagined himself one day, skating in front of a large crowd, feeling the gentle breeze comb his hair. "Mom! He's so cool! I wanna learn how to move like that!" Sunghoon gripped his mom's dress, pointing at the boy flowing through the wind. "Look, mom, look!"

"Sunghoon-ah, ice skating is hard. Do you know that? It takes a lot of effort and tries to be perfect at it—and if you wanna be like him, it'll take you years." Her lips formed into a thin smile as she told the boy. "But, if you want to learn, then I'll make sure you learn it. You're an intelligent boy Sunghoon, and I believe you can do anything with that pretty smile of yours."

Sunghoon placed his phone back into his blazer pocket and turned the doorknob, perceiving emptiness, the faint humming inside the rink buzzed through the hollow room. He stepped inside and plopped his bag beside the bleachers. "Nobody is here right now, should I practice?" He asked himself though he already knew the response. "Okay! I'll practice!" He walked to the locker room to grab his blue skates from his locker.

After properly wearing the skates, he trudged outside, heading straight for the ice rink. Since he was wearing skates, he struggled to stay balanced for a while but got the hang of it once he stepped on the concrete floor. He walked toward the rink and skated passionately for an hour.

He liked the silence. He hated unwanted attention. He had no choice, it was his "role" as the oldest in the family. Though his mom supported his dream, his father hated the idea of his son ice skating. Instead, he wanted Sunghoon to take over his business. Mr. Park agreed to let Sunghoon skate and fulfill his dreams, but on one condition.

"You can skate, Sunghoon, but make sure you get everyone to acknowledge your existence. They should who you are, and what's your life purpose," Mr. Park leaned back in his seat. "And I think you know exactly what that means. Lee Heeseung, and Park Enterprises. Never forget their heirs—you must exceed them, you need to be better than them."

After skating for almost an hour, he skated back to the concrete floor and heaved a weary sigh. His life was also fucked up, though he may seem different—maybe fake—it was just a facade, a play.

He trudged over to the bleachers and situated himself at the button row, placing leaning on both arms. He gently took his skates off, staring at them in admiration.

'Sunoo.'

He thought of the mellow boy while observing the glimmering blue skates. Sunoo shines even in the dark, he always beams. 'No—no—no, Ni-ki likes him, I know he does. I shouldn't interfere. I shouldn't catch feelings for him.' He removed the other pair of skates and wore his sneakers. He shuffled inside his bag to find his phone to check the time, and it was around 7:42 a.m.

He headed back to the locker to store his shoes in his locker and walked out of the ice rink, his heart thundering upon the thoughts of Sunoo. The thoughts swirling in his head distracted him, he was spacing out and staring at the floor while walking. He felt a sudden push in front of him, and his back hit the locker, and instead of facing the floor—he kissed the person.

"S-sunghoon h-hyung..." Ni-ki stumbled upon the sight. He backed away, face beet red. "I—what the fuck—"

"D-did we just...k-k-kiss...? On...the...lips?" Sunghoon spluttered, standing still, almost like a statue. "Uh, yeah. We did." Ni-ki answered after collecting his brain together. "I-I'm sorry, I should've watched where I was going.." Sunghoon added, leaning away from the locker, standing more comfortably. "It's fine, it was an accident—seemed like we both were consumed by our internal thoughts," Ni-ki added.

Both latters hesitantly walked beside each other, the awkward tension enveloping both latters. It was never like that for the both. Both were actually quite too comfortable with each other. They would fight and argue all the time, they were the Tom and Jerry of the friend group, but who knew that a simple kiss would change how they would perceive each other in the end...

The kiss left a stained mark on each other's hearts. There was a slight spark, something incomprehensible.