"how come i can't bring up any courage though?"
"the time will come, ok? trust me on this. it may be in a few months, or it could be tomorrow. you're brave, but these feelings are confusing. you need to let them do their thing."
jeongwoo looked up at jihoon confusedly. "let them do their thing? what do you mean?" he asked, squinting his eyes in the bright sun. "what i mean is that you have to be patient. the time will come when you realise that that's the perfect moment to tell him. but in the meantime, be patient. crushes are confusing, trust me, i know."
jihoon giggled slightly as jeongwoo let out a sneeze from the pollen floating around them. "i had a huge crush, remember? everyone knew, and i had no idea." jeongwoo nodded at the older, turning his head to face him.
"wasn't it your crush on hyunsuk-hyung?" jihoon nodded, smiling. "and you know how i said that the time would come? well, i waited, and it came. and you know how that story ended."
"yeah, i was there." jeongwoo smiled. "you confessed and then you two kissed in front of everyone. then hyunsuk went bright red and you just hugged him while laughing."
jihoon sighed at the memory, before turning to jeongwoo. "it was brave of you to ask for my help, you know? i kept it in and it burned me inside. but i'm sure he likes you just as much as you like him." jeongwoo hung his head low, exhaling roughly.
"i'm not so sure. he's the perfect guy - all the girls are head-over-heels for him at school, and i'm just his clingy friend. i'm pretty sure he wants to get rid of me." jeongwoo said with a tired tone. "he's part of our friend group, yeah, but he's never there at our reunions. and i cant help but think he's not there because of me."
jihoon quickly moved to rub circles in jeongwoo's back with his hand in a relaxing manner, while jeongwoo placed his head in his hands.
"hey... don't think like that. you're literally so much fun! he's probably just busy, ok? it's not your fault he doesn't show up."
jeongwoo looked up with his eyes glittering slightly from tears beginning to form.
"aw shit i'm crying again-" he rubbed his eyes quickly, drying the tears and looking away in embarrassment. "crying over a guy, again. dammit jeongwoo." he scolded himself, whacking his head lightly a few times.
"hey, why don't we invite everyone over to mine for a sleepover on the weekend? he's sure to come. then we can see if he's really sick of you or not." jihoon suggested happily. "i'm sure he's not, he's probably just tired or grumpy, so don't worry about it." jeongwoo let out a small hum to show he agreed.
"thank you, jihoon-hyung. this really helped." he smiled weakly. jihoon quickly moved to bring the younger into a hug, wrapping his arms around the boy's torso and the younger burying his face into the older's chest.
"you can ask me any time, ok? i'm always here."