『Close』▷ hajeongwoo。

①⑤ f i f t e e n

When Yoonbin left the group, that was when Jaehyuk found out. Yoonbin, mature and sure as he was, had been Jeongwoo's pillar during the hard times. And by hard times, it meant the times where he was afraid— whether it was both of himself and Haruto, or perhaps the whole world, he didn't know. So, when the rapper left, he crumbled.

He grabbed Jaehyuk and pulled him into a hug, tears wetting the older's shirt. Jaehyuk didn't know who or what made him cry but he nonetheless held him too, wrapping his arms around Jeongwoo's shoulders.

That was the first time Jeongwoo cried over Haruto.

(And, after that first, many more came.)

It just so happened that the day his only pillar of support left was also the day that Haruto decided to tell him that he loved him. As a friend. And a best friend, at that. He wondered why, of all days that he could get friendzoned, it had to be when he was all defenseless and alone.

He was lucky to have Jaehyuk as his roommate. Out of everyone in the group, Jaehyuk was the most amiable. He was easy to talk to, warm-hearted and exactly everything that humans needed. Having Jaehyuk by his side made him feel secure and he just knew that he could trust him with his secrets.

So he told him. The tale of how a wolf fell for a sheep.

(Or a llama, since that was what Haruto was actually supposed to be.)

The wolf had many friends. He was happy, energetic and surrounded by many people who loved him. He wasn't lacking anything except the fulfillment of his dreams— to get to the top of the tall mountain.

Thus, the wolf set on a journey towards the apex. However, on his journey, he had to go through numerous battles against his own friends for survival. Nevertheless, he didn't give up. One day, after losing to one of his friends, the wolf met a certain sheep. The sheep was crying because he lost to a friend, too. The wolf asked him if he was mad at his friend and the sheep answered, [No.]

[Then why are you crying?]

[I'm crying because I fell from my spot up high in the mountain.]

The wolf found the innocent sheep amusing and thus decided to befriend him. The two of them decided to climb the mountain together. However, just as they were halfway through, humans talked to the sheep and said, [Why are you with the wolf? He's just going to eat you!]

The wolf felt sad when he heard this. He had befriended the sheep because he genuinely liked him, not because he wanted to prey on him. He thought that the sheep would listen to the humans and leave him, so he became very distressed. But then the sheep told the humans, [The wolf is my friend. He will not eat me, so I will continue climbing up with him.]

Because of this, the wolf felt extremely touched. He continued to hike up the mountain with the sheep, and even as many challenges came against them, they always worked together in order to win and survive. In the end, the two of then finally got the top of the mountain, together with other animals and something that was neither a human nor an animal.

Of course, the wolf had long realized that he had fallen for the sheep. However, he knew that humans wouldn't let him be together with the sheep and that the sheep didn't feel the same way. So, he chose to hide his feelings for the sheep. The only one who knew was the little chick, but the chick ended up leaving the mountain soon enough.

"And so the wolf told the lion?" Jaehyuk softly asked, a small smile decorating his face.

Jeongwoo nodded.

"That's such a cute story, Jeongwoo," he spoke. "But I feel really sad for the wolf. His love cannot be told because of the cruel humans."

Jeongwoo remained silent. His tears had long stopped flowing, all that was left were the soft sniffles that he couldn't help but let out. He didn't know what else to say. He knew that Jaehyuk had understood his story and he was just glad that he older didn't judge him. It was more than enough for him to know that Jaehyuk didn't feel disgusted with him.

"But do you know what happened after the wolf told the lion, Jeongwoo?"

He snapped to attention when Jaehyuk spoke. The older looked at him with the softest gaze he had ever seen and a smile that seemed to tell him that everything was going to be fine.

"The lion told the wolf that he will gladly support whatever decision he wanted to make," Jaehyuk said. "Because the little chick told him to support the wolf no matter what he says."

Finally, a bright smile lit up Jeongwoo's features, and he pulled Jaehyuk into a another hug. Jaehyuk shook his head dotingly, rubbing the younger's hair with gentle touch.

The little chick was very wise. Perhaps the lion should pay him a visit in the future to say his thanks—  and bring along the sheep and the wolf, too.