part two
"You wanted to talk?" Seungmin asked, his question more of a rhetorical one since he already knew the answer. He just wanted Chan to spit it out.
Chan had regained his lost breath now, no longer being slumped against the back of the gazebo but still leaning on it for support as he stared at his shaky hands.
Ah, where to start?
"You're avoiding me, aren't you?" his voice was stern. He saw no point in cutting corners. He saw no point in sugarcoating it. And he knew Seungmin saw no point in Chan being obscure about it either.
They've already had this sort of talk before. They had experience.
Seungmin sighed, his demeanour deflating slightly.
Ah, where to start?
"I'm surprised you noticed." Seungmin replied, just as stern. God knows why this conversation had become so serious. Perhaps the two boys were both just expecting answers: answers to questions that you had to handle with care.
Or else something would break.
"How couldn't I notice? You've been avoiding me since three weeks ago!" Chan exclaimed, his hands automatically coming up to form elaborate hand gestures that translated his pent-up frustration into physical movement. Something he did when he felt passionate about a subject.
"Hm. Well maybe I'm just surprised that you haven't figured out why I've been avoiding you yet." Seungmin folded his arms over his chest, calculating Chan's expression for any signs of an angry outburst.
But Chan just sighed, his breath shaky and his eyes downcast.
"Do you still like me...?"
That question made it feel like Seungmin had just been stabbed.
"Chan..."
Dammit, this wasn't what he wanted. He originally distanced himself to show Chan that he wouldn't put up with having Sunhee around, he also just so happened to make some new friends in the process, but poor Chan obviously interpreted the entire situation wrong, and that pained Seungmin to think that Chan thought it was all because of himself.
He carefully pulled Chan into a hug.
The hug was warm, and Chan softly let his head rest in the crook of Seungmin's neck; his arms wrapped loosely around the brunette's waist. It was a safe hug.
Chan always felt safe in Seungmin's arms, no matter the situation. But this one was extra safe. He felt like he was in his own little safety bubble, protected by his best and only friend.
"I'm not avoiding you, Chan..." Seungmin softly muttered, not releasing the boy from his hug. "At least, I'm not doing it intentionally."
"Then why haven't we talked in over a week?" Chan's voice was muffled against Seungmin's shoulder, but it was still audible to the brunette.
"I was just trying to distance myself. And before you ask why─ it's got nothing to do with you." Seungmin assured him.
"Then who?" Chan mumbled skeptically, still believing that this distance between the two was his fault, despite being in the middle of a hug with Seungmin in that moment.
The brunette sighed, his hand coming up to start absentmindedly etching small shapes and patterns into Chan's back. "Sunhee..." he voiced into thin air.
Chan groaned, sinking further into Seungmin's arms and letting the warmth consume him. "I should've guessed that." he replied.
"Sorry. I just felt a bit isolated with her around, but I didn't wanna say anything because you seemed to like her." Seungmin frowned.
But Chan just stayed quiet, deep in thought and reflecting on how the situation had been the past few weeks.
Now that he really invisioned it, he could see how upset Seungmin looked beside Sunhee all those times that they were together as a three, but Chan had been so caught up in trying to keep up appearances that he barely even noticed Seungmin's silence. Especially since it had always been so quiet between the two of them normally.
Now he felt guilty. Now he felt like it was his fault, but this time because of his ignorance towards his best friend's feelings.
He buried his face further into Seungmin's neck, his voice muffled. "I'm sorry." he said.
Seungmin responded with a gentle ruffle of Chan's hair. "It's okay." Genuine. "You don't have to apologise for somebody else's actions."
"Yeah, but I'm sorry that I brought her into the group." Chan replied.
Seungmin didn't respond to that. He didn't know how without sounding rude, so he just continued to draw shapes on Chan's back, occasionally giving his hair a short ruffle.
And the two boys must've stayed like that for a while, because it startled them both completely when they heard a shrill and tinny voice exclaim
"Chan! There you are!"
Cha Sunhee. Speak of the devil.
So Chan had to remove his grasp around Seungmin's waist, slowly leaving his safety bubble, and turn to look at Sunhee with exhaustion painted all over his features.
"What do you want?" he deadpanned.
"I was still wondering if you wanted one of my rice cakes!" she giggled, completely ignoring Chan's bored facial expression as she extended her arms out towards him, offering said item.
Chan could feel himself about to decline, but a frustrated Seungmin beat him to it as he let out a rather loud and sarcastic scoff from behind where Chan stood.
"I don't think he wants your stupid rice cakes, Sunny. It baffles me how you haven't clocked that yet after he told you 'no' three times now."
But Sunny just laughed to herself; an evil sort of giggle that only a villain could master.
"Nobody asked you, you stupid baby." she teased, and Seungmin felt like he had finally lost his rag.
In only a matter of seconds he had felt his legs driving him forwards to stand directly in front of the girl, who sneered at him with a patronising grin.
And, in only a matter of seconds did he let his rage boil in the pit of his stomach so much, that it overflowed inside of him and caused him to lift his hand up, taking a swift movement to the side of Sunhee's face and knock her to the ground.
That's right.
Kim Seungmin slapped a girl.
# •°彡
heyyy
it's half term here in england, and i completely forgot it was wednesday, so i'm uploading this chapter at 11:24 at night.
kill me.
but hey. what better way to battle your sleep schedule than with updating your wattpad fic with new drama (what has my life come to?)
either way: hope i did good. hope you like. me go sleep now.
adios
─jen