Friday, December 25
Choi Hanbyul had literally never felt this stressed her entire life. It was the day she had to go to the party with Haruto, and she still hadn't told her friends about it.
The boys were all downstairs, watching a movie, enjoying their Christmas. The brunette sat in front of her dressing table, practicing her speech as she looked at her reflection In the mirror.
"... I owe him one, so I can't really back out of this. I'm sorry I couldn't say it sooner, but I was scared about what you guys might say." Hanbyul maintained a solemn face, but covered her face, feeling the stress catch up to her.
Gathering all the courage she could muster, Hanbyul walked downstairs, making her way towards the boys. The boys sprawled across the floor, couch and loveseats, and seeing the girl, all of them made space for her. Hanbyul didn't sit down, and observing her hands, Junkyu paused the movie, wondering what was wrong.
"I need to tell you guys something," the brunette announced, clenching and unclenching her fists, which all the boys noticed and figured whatever she was about to tell stressed her.
"Tell us, Hani." Mashiho attempted to speak, seeing half the boys look at him, as he was always considerate no matter the situation.
"There's this Christmas party ..." she trailed off, letting out a deep breath.
Junghwan furrowed his brows confusedly. "What's this party that I didn't get an invitation to?" He partially joked, but the other half wanted to know which classmate of theirs didn't invite him.
"It's a formal dinner event of sorts. Ruto ..." Hanbyul puffed her cheeks, observing the reactions of her friends.
Asahi and Jeongwoo immediately starting shaking their heads, not needing to hear the rest and already opposing. Yedam, Junkyu and Doyoung looked shocked. Their eyes widened as they stared at the youngest for more information. Junghwan, Mashiho and Yoshi looked disappointed, having an idea about what she was going to say — knowing well she had already agreed to whatever it was.
And Jaehyuk ... well, Hanbyul felt her whole body freeze in fear as soon as their eyes met.
"Haruto asked you to be his date," Jeongwoo stated, realising the girl was too scared to speak.
Hanbyul nodded silently, shutting her eyes when she saw Jaehyuk get up from the couch and approach her. "Open your eyes," he ordered, his eyes darkened in anger. "Tell him no, that's it." Jaehyuk's tone startled most of the boys, not used to seeing that side of the usually cheerful boy.
"I can't." Hanbyul played with her fingers, shutting her eyes again when Jaehyuk turned around to look at her.
"Why?"
"I owe him."
Asahi scoffed, not believing his ears. "You owe him a date to a party?" He inquired, forcing a laugh that scared everyone in the room. The MAGNUM boys were usually scared of the hitman, but this was a new fear.
"I owe him," Hanbyul repeated her words, feeling her knees go weak as soon as Asahi spoke up. She heard enough horror stories about Asahi's wrath from the boys, enough to send her into cardiac arrest.
The female couldn't seem to form any more words, or proper phrases, cracking like a scratched CD. This angered two boys more while the rest of the seven laid back, knowing it wasn't looking well for Hanbyul.
Though Asahi kept quiet, Jaehyuk had lost it. There was no controlling his anger now. "Why do you always have to be around him? Why is he so important to you now? What are we to you?" He yelled, and all the boys immediately sat up, ready to pull him back — if anything were to happen.
"No, that's not true. I –"
"Bullshit!" Hanbyul's head lowered at his curse, wringing her hands. "You are always with Haruto! You keep saying study sessions and hang out with him. Even when you are with us, he always comes and you leave us and go! You say you'll come back, but you never do!" Jaehyuk held back on some words, knowing it wasn't the right place or time to say. But he knew it deep down. Hanbyul had taken a liking to Haruto.
"I'm sorry," she apologised, raising her head to speak Jaehyuk's gaze. Her glossy eyes pulled at Jaehyuk's heart, but he could only think of Haruto whenever he saw her, and that didn't do any good for his rising anger.
"Okay, then. Call him and say you can't go!" Jaehyuk crossed his arms, waiting for the girl to take her phone out.
"I can't do that, Jae. I owe him. I gave my word, I can't go back on that." Her words clicked something in the boys, but Jaehyuk wasn't having any of that.
"Haruto or me?" He suddenly asked, startling Hanbyul. She looked over at the boys, wondering if her best friend was being serious, and looked at him, looking into his eyes. Yeah, he was serious.
Hanbyul shook her head. "I can't –"
"Me or Haruto?" Jaehyuk repeated.
"I can't!" The brunette yelled, unable to control herself.
MAGNUM's messenger chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "It's Haruto, I see. It's alright." He put his hands in his pocket, a blank expression on his face. "But let me tell you one thing, Hani. If you go with Haruto to that party, I'm walking out. Not out of this house, but I'll walk out on our friendship."
"Jae –"
"If you can make someone you just met two months ago a priority rather than your best friend of eighteen years, I can sure as heck walk out on you," Jaehyuk stated, and Hanbyul looked up at his words, immediately grabbing onto his sweater sleeves.
It was something Hanbyul did when she was scared — even when they were kids; holding onto Jaehyuk's sleeves. The boy looked away, trying not to get carried away by his emotions because he needed to stick to his ground.
She shook her head, her lips trembling at the thought of it. "You wouldn't throw away our friendship like that, Jaehyuk. You can't." Hanbyul placed her hand under his chin, lifting it to maintain eye contact. "Please understand, Jae. I gave him my word. I can't break my promise. You know me, I never break a promise."
The others observed the exchange, not even remembering how the argument started. Was Jaehyuk being reasonable? Hell, no. But was Hanbyul right? Not at all. They were broken between who to choose, especially when MAGNUM's code automatically tied them to Jaehyuk's side.
But Hanbyul was right too. She gave her word, and she can't go back on it. The pledge of loyalty. It was something the boys lived by, so they understood why Hanbyul was persistent.
Jaehyuk stayed silent, thinking of any way to stop her from going. "Is the promise bigger than our friendship?" He quietly asked, knowing the girl wouldn't be able to answer.
Hanbyul stayed silent, biting her lip as she felt Jaehyuk remove himself from her grasp. There was no way he could stop her from going, and if she was going, Jaehyuk didn't want to be there to see it.
"Okay, then. I guess it's decided. Try not to give away your actual identity," Jaehyuk spoke, the widest smile on his face. "Enjoy the party with your brother's fucking rival, Miss Choi Hanbyul." He bowed, shoving against Hanbyul's shoulder as he walked towards the door.
Junkyu and Jeongwoo followed the boy, knowing he was in no state to be driving. They knew he wanted to go to their base, preferably to punch the daylights out of some punching bags in the training room. And Jeongwoo and Junkyu had to be there to ensure the black-haired male exposed nothing to their boss.
Hanbyul watched the boys get up and walk away from her, leaving the house. She knew they were just looking out for each other, and it wasn't a personal grudge against her. Though she wasn't sure about Jaehyuk, she knew the others wouldn't leave her alone.
"Stay safe," Asahi muttered, and after getting no response from the girl, he held back the urge to pat the girl and left. If he touched her now, she would completely break down. And no matter how ruthless Asahi was, he didn't want to see that.
Hanbyul saw some boys rush down the stairs, giving her sad smiles as they left out the front door.
What have I done?
***
wah, we have reached the fight.
ah, our bestie duo. whose side were you on? team jae or team han?
show the love! please remember to vote and comment!