I'm Not Cold; Just Scared

~~\(T_T) Chapter 43 (T_T)/~~ <Out of the ordinary>

Once he had finished, there was a general aura of surprise filling the room. None of them could've imagined Jinyoung's mom to be that evil.

"To be honest" Kuanlin whispered to his boyfriend. "I always knew something was off about that woman"

"I know right? I thought she was just overprotective at first, but turns out she's actually pretty darn crazy" Jihoon hissed back.

"By telling you this, I'm not trying to tell you that it's not my fault. I was really stupid...I shouldn't have gone in the first place. And yes, I'm completely shameless, I know. I wanted to be humiliated like this, just to show you that I truly am sorry. I apologize....for everything" Jinyoung mumbled, hanging his head low.

A silence followed. Jisung bit his lip. From what Jinyoung had said, it really did seem to be his mom's doing and not his own, unlike what he had initially suspected. But then again, he wasn't really sure what to do given the matter.

Yes, maybe Jinyoung truly was sorry for all that happened, but now what? Would he take better care of Daehwi and make sure that he never got hurt again? Jinyoung would make Daehwi happy, he was sure of that. But would he finally be responsible and not act out of fear, the way he had done last time?

He felt everyone's eyes on him, waiting for what he had to say. He cleared his throat. "First of all...Jinyoung, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier...but....are you sure you can be more responsible? Are you sure that you can take better care of him?"

Jinyoung looked up slowly. "I can, hyung. I know what I did wrong. I can be more responsible. You guys...don't have to believe me, but I'll show you someday." 

Jisung nodded. "Then if you're both sure of what you are doing...who am I to stop you, hm?"

It took them all about 5 seconds to completely understand the meaning behind Jisung's words. Jinyoung's eyes widened, and he looked at Daehwi, who bore the exact same expression. Sungwoon was smiling at Jisung.

"For a second I thought you were gonna be an ass, not gonna lie hyung" He whispered.

"Hey c'mon I'm nice okay" Jisung scoffed.

Meanwhile Jinyoung's heart was beating even faster. The hyungs had actually supported him! He felt a sense of elation, but at the same time, he knew he had to prove it to the hyungs that he really was responsible. He also felt a surge of awkwardness. Seeing your friends after one whole year felt really weird.

His friends all surrounded him. "Yah Jinyoung hyung where tf did you come from?" Kuanlin asked.

"From Jindo? Didn't I explain all that earlier?" he replied, confused.

"That's not what I meant" The boy said, facepalming. "He's still dumb. Nothing much has changed"

Jihoon snickered. "Pretty sure what he meant was, how the heck are you here all of a sudden"

"Exactly!" Somi chimed in. "Just this morning Daehwi was all like 'ahHhHhh I wish I knew what had happened and now look at how things turned out exactly 4 hours later! I mean some warning beforehand would've been nice, I almost had a fucking heart attack when you appeared, oppa"

"Yah, you make it sound like I knew Jinyoung hyung was going to appear" Daehwi spoke up, shaking his head "Believe me, I almost passed out on the spot"

Jinyoung smiled to himself. He felt his old self returning to him, little by little, washing away the cold exterior he had built up over the past year. He felt happier than he had ever been in a while. 

He glanced at the younger who still had a bright red mark on his cheek. He felt so guilty that Daehwi had to get hurt instead of him, when the boy had actually done nothing wrong. He really wanted to talk to Daehwi alone but that could wait, he had to catch up with all his friends first.