Just You | Sunnew

Chapter 9

Despite Sunwoo's greatest efforts to keep Chanhee warm in the car, the frail boy still shakes and shivers every few seconds as he leans his against against the glass window. Sunwoo even turned on the heat, the seat warmers, and everything to the highest temperature: but to no avail did anything do well. As much as Sunwoo tries to keep his focus on the empty streets, he occasionally gets too concerned and looks over to Chanhee.

He can still feel Chanhee crying flush against his chest as if it were just happening, but it happened about fifteen minutes ago. He hates to admit that he loved how Chanhee gave in, cracking and falling into Sunwoo's arms like a missing puzzle piece that he's been searching for like a needle in a haystack.

Although the car ride was silent with the occasional sounds of crunching clumps of snow and pellets of sleet pattering against the windshield, he finally got Chanhee home safe thanks to the GPS navigator synced into his car dashboard. It breaks his heart to see Chanhee so down and glum.

"Thank you, Sunwoo. I appreciate it." Chanhee gets out of the car and bows politely, then closes the car door gently. Suddenly, Sunwoo feels an urge of confidence and jumps out of the car before Chanhee reaches the front door of his house.

"Chanhee!" Sunwoo calls out to Chanhee, just like Romeo called out to Juliet. Chanhee's arm freezes before grasping the doorknob and he looks back at Sunwoo.

Sunwoo jogs up to the porch and places his hands gently on Chanhee's wrist, slightly rolling up the sleeve to inspect the bruise; however, Chanhee pulled his arm away before he could see it.

"It's fine, Sunwoo."

"I was just concerned. You'll put ice on it, right?"

"Of course. I'm not a child. I can take care of myself." Chanhee retorts and unlocks the front door to his house.

"Chanhee!" Sunwoo slightly raises his voice before he closes the door. Chanhee winces slightly at the slight elevation in Sunwoo's voice, but ultimately waits for him to talk.

"Come outside. Just for a second." Sunwoo begs with puppy dogs eyes and cutely furrowed eyebrows. Chanhee drops his head and steps back onto the front porch, a foot or so away from Sunwoo.

"Come here." Sunwoo gently orders.

"What?" Chanhee asks, tilting his head in slight confusion.

"Come here, in my arms." Sunwoo repeats himself. Instead of him waiting for Chanhee to leap into his arms like in the romance movies, Sunwoo snakes his hand around Chanhee's waist and pulls him into his embrace.

Chanhee's eyes pop open as his cheek squishes against Sunwoo's chest. It's slightly uncomfortable because of the wetness of their outfits, but it somehow makes Chanhee feel safe. Indeed, Chanhee rarely hugs more than three people, only: Hyunjae, Juyeon, and Changmin. There would be more if his parents were to be around, but that's a story that lies unwritten due to their absence in his life.

"Chanhee, I want you to know that I'll keep them away from you. They won't bother you." Sunwoo promises with sincerity in his voice.

"You don't understand, Sunwoo. He has bullied me since the beginning of school, I just don't want to deal with it again. It died off this year because my friends finally found out what they've been doing behind their backs-,"

"You kept it a secret from them? You told no one?" Sunwoo asks in disbelief. He knows for a fact that Juhyun and his gang are terrible people, especially since he was friends with them last year and at the beginning of this year. He sees Chanhee as such a strong soul for pretending like he wasn't bullied.

"I didn't want to cause any drama, I just let it happen." Chanhee's voice cracks and another tear escapes from his left eye.

"I understand," Sunwoo nods his head and wipes away the tear from Chanhee's cheek. All thanks to the dramas and romance book Sunwoo has dove into the day he met him, he feels that he's a more suitable candidate to fill the empty spot in Chanhee's life: his boyfriend, or husband. He's been trying very hard to change his ways to click well with him since the two of them are considerably polar opposites.