Redamancy

48

Sunwoo aimlessly trailed his gaze along the width of the shelf, internally reading all the titles shown that he could catch. They were all arranged in order, starting with the first series to the last according to the title.

He paused at one which he assumed was new because he'd never seen it there every time he was in this room.

Pulling it out, Sunwoo glanced over his shoulder, the owner had been watching him from the bed. He was supposed to scroll on his phone, checking out new updates but all eventually halted upon seeing Sunwoo's weird behaviour.

"Can I... lend this?" Sunwoo proposed which for a brief moment Eric was thinking, a raise of his brow was seen.

Then the latter nodded before resuming scrolling the phone, "Go ahead. You've never asked for permission either."

Sunwoo pursed his lips and nodded at the comment. It was true, no doubt but somehow he felt bad. Either because it was awkward to be in Eric's room after some time not talking with each other or the misery inside his head needed to be blamed.

Carefully, he scooted closer to the bed, sinking himself in the softness of the mattress at the edge. He wanted to talk to Eric about something, he wanted his friend to advise him on what he should do. But, he didn't have the courage.

Because he knew that Eric probably would give him an earful.

"Bro, being serious doesn't suit you," suddenly Eric said, Sunwoo whipped his head to the headboard of the bed where his friend was leaning.

The latter was still scrolling his phone but from the corner of his eyes, he saw the piercing stare. So, Eric tossed his phone aside, giving his friend all his attention.

"We've been friends for so long for me to tell that you're disturbed. What is it about?" Eric questioned.

At that, Sunwoo let his head fall forward, a heavy sigh was then escaped as he trailed his fingers all over the comic's cover.

"I did something."

Three words were enough to make Eric's heart stop beating. The neurons inside his system had jerked his body forward, trembling at what he heard and would hear.

"It's not something terrible, right?" Eric asked, internally praying that it wasn't. "Sunwoo, what have you done?"

Sunwoo groaned as he messed with his hair. Now only he felt the misery after doing something he thought was the best.

"I reported Juyeon to Soobin's father."

"What?!" Eric shrieked, his loud voice almost sent his house underground. "H-How? What did you do?"

Sunwoo fished out his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and went into the fake email he created to send all the tips to the Chairman. When Eric reviewed it all, he was in disbelief.

First: Sunwoo knew well with whom he was playing. Juyeon's household also wasn't nobody. If the older found out what Sunwoo had done, he would've crushed Sunwoo too.

Second: Soobin's family. And Eric had no explanation for it. He was speechless.

But, in one email Sunwoo had sent, he'd typed 'Please do everything within your power to protect your daughter.' It simply made Eric smile. For, it was a genuinely hopeful request.

"I thought you said you wanted to stop liking her?" Eric questioned with a smirk as he passed the phone back to its owner. "But, you did all this."

Sunwoo blinked. How should he describe this situation? Perhaps, he felt embarrassed? He was too certain that his feelings for Soobin were over but out of a sudden, here he was doing something unexpected.

"You caught me there," Sunwoo exhaled, once again letting his head fall forward. "Do you think she will forgive me?"

"Huh?" Eric flinched, his brows furrowed in confusion. "W-What do you mean?"

Suddenly, the air became tense, and the silence ringing was too awkward. Eric was at a loss for words when Sunwoo was heard sniffling. He was sobbing.

The clench of Sunwoo's hands on his lap had urged Eric to crawl closer, rubbing circles on the boy's back. It was rare to have Sunwoo at his lowest like this, never mind it was about a girl.

"Now, I understand why everyone was so angry at me. You and Haechan are right. I have to be blamed," Sunwoo started as soon as he calmed a bit. "And I've broken a promise, Eric."

"What promise?"

"She'd hinted to me so many times about this. She'd told me how she was scared that I would be disappointed in her." Sunwoo chuckled, finding it funny that he was unable to remember any of the hints after this mess happened. "She knew this would happen and I promised her that I would not turn my back on her. But, I still did."

The confession was full of purity. Every word thrown out was so sincere that it managed to touch Eric's heart. Tears started brimming under his lids when Sunwoo looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Do you think she will forgive me? Will she accept me back in her life? I don't think I can forget her. What should I do now, Eric?" The boy's lips quivered, it made Eric want to cry as well.

Eric had no experience in dating yet this story of his best friend made him believe that true love did exist. No matter what happened, no matter how far the distance separating two single souls, they were still connected by a string tied to their hearts. And nothing could cut the string attached.

Even if the timing was wrong, they belonged to each other. They would come back to each other.

"Let her see your effort," Eric said, draping his arm over the boy's shoulders where he gave a slight squeeze at the end. "Our plan hasn't disbanded yet right? Should we resume it?"

Wiping the remaining tears staining his cheeks, Sunwoo amusedly looked at his friend. With the soft wriggle of his brow and the sly smirk on his lips, Sunwoo was sure he didn't feel good about this. He saw craziness on Eric's face.

But, shrug them off! He wouldn't care anymore. Even if he ended up going to jail - though it was exaggerating, at least, he had done a good deed to bring things back to their original place.

"What is the plan?" He eagerly asked Eric which the boy smirked.

"Plan A: I'll be collecting pieces of evidence directly from Juyeon, and you will send it to Soobin's father."

"Woah..." Sunwoo jolted up, cupping his waist as he looked down at his friend. "It's risky for you, Eric. How do you want to do that?"

"I'm still hanging out in his house, bro."

"And if you get caught?"

"Then it will be Plan B."

"What is the Plan B?"

"Both of us will go to prison," Eric remarked rather too calmly with arms crossed over his chest.

The leisure he portrayed made Sunwoo gulp, his lips dried up. This was so different from Eric whom he knew would always be meticulous. This seemed to be a different person.

"So, you are saying that we have to succeed no matter what it takes. Right?" Sunwoo reconfirmed and Eric clicked his fingers excitedly as if telling that Sunwoo had found the conclusion.

"Exactly. It's only Plan A, Sunwoo." Eric rose to his feet, both hands pocketed. "We have to stop Juyeon from being wild and save Soobin from all this misery. And, you will light the precious diamond up."