friday the 13th » meanie

- 006 -

"seungcheol," wonwoo musters up all the courage he has and approaches the elder as he exits from his advanced calculus class.

"oh, wonwoo!" seungcheol greets. he says goodbye to his friend, jeonghan, and walks to wonwoo.

"i still haven't told you what i wanted to tell you the other day," wonwoo says.

"oh, okay. we have time now, don't we?" seungcheol smiles. wonwoo's heart flips.

"i like you," wonwoo blurts out, without thinking (as usual).

seungcheol doesn't look surprised. in fact, he laughs good-naturedly. "i know."

"i really like you," wonwoo persists.

"can i ask why? how long?" seungcheol asks with a grin. he doesn't seem to take wonwoo too seriously.

"we've known each other since we were learning how to walk," wonwoo says, reminiscing. "ever since then, i guess."

"seriously?" seungcheol's eyes widen.

"well, there was one incident that triggered it," wonwoo says thoughtfully. "that one time in primary school when i wet my pants during assembly because i was nervous," he felt incredibly embarrassed admitting it out loud. "you gave me that jar of cookies to make me feel better. that was really sweet."

"oh, that!" seungcheol exclaims. "yeah, that wasn't actually me. it was mingyu's idea."

wonwoo tilts his head in confusion.

"don't you remember? mingyu was in the class next to yours," seungcheol says, oblivious to wonwoo's ignorance. "but then he had to move away because of his dad's job. he moved back here last year when his dad got transferred again."

wonwoo's brain couldn't process what he just heard.

"mingyu felt really bad for you, but he was too shy to give those cookies to you," seungcheol sighs. "that idiot. he made me give them to you since we were friends. and he made me swear not to say it was from him."

"those cookies were mingyu's idea?" wonwoo repeats.

"yeah," seungcheol laughs. "he really likes you. i'm sorry, but i can't accept your feelings... but maybe mingyu can," he adds with a wink.

"are you seeing someone else?" wonwoo asks emptily.

"no, but i just can't like you that way," seungcheol says quietly. "you're a great friend, but so is mingyu. and i'd never get in the way of mingyu's feelings for you."

"oh," is all wonwoo can say. he doesn't feel as devastated as he expected, though.

he isn't sure what else to do, now that seungcheol has given his answer. his thoughts are interrupted by a loud thump.

behind him, in the bushes, is mingyu himself. he's rubbing his head as he stands up sheepishly. seungcheol facepalms.

"if you want to run away, make sure you're not in the path of a tree," seungcheol sighs, walking over to help mingyu up. it seemed like mingyu had run straight into the tree and fell over into the bushes. wonwoo wonders if he overheard the whole conversation.

mingyu stares at wonwoo, a scared expression distorting his handsome features. wonwoo feels like bolting out of sheer embarrassment and confusion.

but mingyu bolts before wonwoo can.