You and your friend group have been friends since you guys started middle school, you were known as the classic comedic friend that made everyone laugh, though you were always hurting behind the scenes, but no one knew that.
You and your friends are now in your 2nd year of high school, the friend group still somehow intact. It was early in the afternoon, you were walking around the school hallways with your friend, Khye, as you guys were also slowly making your way to the cafeteria, lunch was just about to start and you guys wanted to make it there quickly
"And get this! she wasn't even involved in it since the beginning!" Khye exclaims, she was telling you about the latest gossip roaming around the school, letting you in on the details as you listened carefully
"You're kidding! She was literally the number one person everyone thought was at fault?!"
"Exactly! If I wasn't as nosy as I am, I would've continued to believe the fact that she did whatever she did" Khye laughs
You and Khye continue to giggle at the jokes you guys were throwing around before finally making it to the cafeteria, you guys immediately spot your big friend group sitting at your usual table with food scattered out for you all to share. Both you and Khye approach the group as you greeted some people already seated there, you quickly make your way to the seat you usually sit in but was quickly caught off guard by an unfamiliar face sitting in the exact spot
"Oh...who's this?" you question, the people around you look up at you as they exchanged glances with each other
"Uhm, this is Chey, she's someone we've been friends with for a while" Byeol, another one of your friends answers. You shake your head slowly as you give a smile to the new female
"Hi Chey, I'm Y/N" you introduce yourself, Chey gives a dead smile as she nods her head
"Hi Y/N, it's nice to meet you" Chey answers dryly. You were now standing awkwardly in front of her as you watched your other friends give you weird glances, you debated on opening your mouth to ask where you could sit or just leave it alone but they seemed quite bothered by your presence
"Oh sorry! Is this your seat? I can leave if you want-" Chye says quickly standing up from her seat as she tries to innocently ask you the question, though she was pulled back down by a hand beside her
"It's okay Chye, Y/N can sit somewhere else today! She always roams around and never eats anyways! Right Y/N? Since Chye is just gonna sit with us today I hope you don't mind her sitting here" Byeol says avoiding eye contact as the words were forced out through her teeth
You stay silent as words were stuck in your throat, you didn't know what to say.
"Uh..yeah that's fine! I'll just go back to class, I'll eat with you guys tomorrow, cya!..." You laugh awkwardly. You wave your friends goodbye as they all gave you blank stares and a tiresome wave back, you give a forced smile before exiting the cafeteria, your heart slowly breaking down.
Jungwon looks across the room as he spots you leaving the cafeteria quite earlier than usual. He tilts his head slightly in confusion before getting snapped back into reality by Sunoo
"Jungwon!" Sunoo exclaims, Jungwon looks back at the older male as he still had his eyes lingering toward where you had exited, Sunoo seemed to notice Jungwon's distress as he shook his head, a small sigh escaping his mouth
"Jungwon Jungwon, stop staring, you're gonna scare the poor girl!" Sunoo sighs referring to you. Jungwon ears perk up by the sudden mention of a girl, he starts laughing nervously as he averts his eyes elsewhere
"Girl? What girl? Are you talking about Y/N? That's crazy I could never like her! Girl! Psh! No way! Ahahaha..." Jungwon stammers. Sunoo raises an eyebrow as he gave Jungwon a 'really' look, he was aware of Jungwon's some sort of crush on you, Jungwon had always told Sunoo about his short interactions with you during class, but he never really thought Jungwon could become so delulu over a girl. Jungwon continues to laugh maniacally as he starts breathing out little by little, he sighs as he smacks his head on the cafeteria table as he realizes how stupid he just sounded like.
"Do you not hear yourself right now?" Sunoo laughs
"Better yet, SEE yourself now!" Sunoo adds, snorting at Jungwon's meltdown
"Shut up Sunoo!" Jungwon demands, Sunoo rolls his eyes as he looks back at where Jungwon was looking at. He quickly presses his lips together as he notices you looking quite sad, he averts his eyes back at Jungwon as he begins to look at you and Jungwon. Sunoo clears his throat as he turns his body back towards the other male, his eyes showing a hint of worry
"Hey, is Y/N? She seemed kind of down" Sunoo sudden questions
"Huh? How would I know that? I barely talk to her if you haven't already noticed??" Jungwon answers, though his expression slightly changed from the sudden question Sunoo had just asked. Just as Sunoo was about to carry the conversation further, the rest of their friend group arrives, a whole lot of them carrying trays of food
"Aye Jungwon, Sunoo, wassup" Jake says, putting down his tray of food before slipping into the seat next to Sunoo.
"Hi Jake" Jungwon greets. Once the rest of the group settled down, Heeseung was the first one to spark another conversation, though it wasn't too much different to what Sunoo was just talking about
"You know Jungwon, you know that girl you're always talking about?" Heeseung asks, Jungwon cheeks turn red as he turns towards Heeseung
"Yah! I don't talk about her that much!" Jungwon exclaims
"Haha hyung! You're so red!" Niki teases, Jungwon rolls his eyes as he continues to eat his food, allowing Heeseung to continue whatever he was gonna say
"Jungwon..you know what, anyways, I heard some pretty sad things at her table when we passed them, do you know anything about that?" Heeeung adds, Jungwon looks at him confused as he gave a shrug
"I know as much as you right now, but something must've happened for her to leave lunch early, she usually stays until the end before heading back to class." Jungwon answers, everyone then glances at the male with surprised looks, all equally confused
"What?" Jungwon questions
"I don't even want to know how you know that" Sunoo shudders
You continue to make your way towards an empty classroom, you were disappointed, yes, but everyone saw you as an easy going friend who somehow was 'okay' with everything and never had any sort of 'trauma', well ain't that funny. You sniffled in cries as you tried to choke back tears, you'd by very much lying if you said you did not feel an ounce of betrayal. The friends you so dearly cherished didn't even try to hide the fact that they tried to replace you, and it was so stupid of them to think you wouldn't notice.
After a while, the sound of the school bells rang throughout the school, you didn't move a single inch tho, feeling numb as your mind was blank.
"I'm okay, I'm alright..." you whispered to yourself, tears were still flowing down your face as you hugged your legs, you continued to repeat these words, unaware of the new presence entering the empty classroom you were in
"Where's my folder?-"
Jungwon went silent at the scene of you crying to yourself, his heart broke into pieces watching you sob, your hair was covering your face yet he was still able to recognize you
"Y/N?" Jungwon calls out. You stop crying as you heard his voice, you quickly wiped your tears as you got up from the floor
"Uh..sorry..yes? did you need something?" you say, you look up from the ground to see a familiar yet unfamiliar face, it was Jungwon, you didn't know the boy that much, but you knew enough to know he was a nice classmate of yours.
"Oh um, class started a couple minutes ago" Jungwon says, avoiding the fact that you were crying so he wouldn't question anything sensitive to you
"Oh did it, got it, thanks for telling me" you reply, you then make your way to the classroom doors, you keep your eyes away from making eye contact with the male as you passed him, though you were suddenly yanked back, startling you ever so slightly.
"Hey-"
You widened your eyes in confusion, Jungwon had engulfed you into a hug, his arms wrapping around your shoulders as he had dropped his bag on the floor. You were speechless, what was he doing?!
"Excuse me...-"
"Y/N it's okay"
You stay silent, your breathing began to fill the classroom as your heart raced faster and faster
"It's okay to cry Y/N, its okay to yell, don't worry, I won't judge" Jungwon says, his head was on top of yours as you continued to stand still, you didn't know why but you did feel a small feeling of comfort in between his arms
"I'm sorry but I don't what you're talking about" you lie, you knew exactly what he was talking about, but you'd rather lie than admit that.
"If you don't want to say anything it's fine. I saw what happened at lunch tho, I don't blame you for being sad, I would've left too" Jungwon says, you scoff at his statement
"Okay Jungwon tell me then, how is it to be replaced? I know damn well you've never felt that, you've always had a great friend group since childhood, I barely know you but yet you're the one comforting me? What about my other friends? Friends I've known longer than you? How are you any different Jungwon. Tell me, tell me and I'll see if I accept this comfort you're so freely giving to me"
You didn't want to deal with it anymore. You may not know the boy in front of you, but if he was so committed in knowing what was happening in your life, this was your test to see if he would leave you like your other friends or not, this was the final decision.
"Then stop hanging out with your friends. I know you don't know me anymore than a mere classmate, so let's become friends, I'll show you how you're supposed to be treated" Jungwon says firmly, he then allows a proud expression land on his face as he contained eye contact with you, it sent shivers down your spine as words hitched at your throat. You stay silent for a moment before giving an answer
"Well then....let's see you try Jungwon"
"...Challenge accepted"
—————————
"You WHAT?!"
Jungwon had just told Sunoo about the conversation he had with you just a while ago, Sunoo's face looked sour at the short story, a small laugh trying not to escape his mouth as he tried to visualize the setting. The 2 boys were at Jungwon's place, school had ended not too long ago and they had planned to hang out. The rest of their friend group was in the living room playing video games while the 2 males were in the kitchen preparing snacks.
"I knew you were bold but not THAT bold" Sunoo comments, leaning against the kitchen counter as he munched on some mint chocolate covered pretzels
"Uhm, excuse me! I'd like to let you know that I actually really bold!" Jungwon replies, side eyeing the pretzels
"Yeah, and I hate mint chocolate, we can't all be great liars Won" Sunoo teases. Jungwon lets out an offended scoff as he rolls his eyes. He continues to place a couple snacks in bowls before heading back to the living room, Sunoo following from behind with a couple bowls too.
"You guys would never believe what Jungwon just told me" Sunoo says, he quickly runs over to the other boys after placing the bowls of snacks on a coffee table. Heeseung was the first to look over at Sunoo, curious on what he was saying
"Go on" Heeseung replies, moving closer to Sunoo. Sunoo gives a mischievous grin as he continued to tell Heeseung, along with the others, about the interaction Jungwon had with you
"HAHAH JUNGWON-HYUNG"
Niki began rolling on the floor as Sunoo finished telling his short story, the rest of the boys were hiding snickers and laughter behind their smiles as they all eyed a red-faced Jungwon
"Shut up Niki!" Jungwon exclaims, he takes a pillow from the couch behind him as he yanks it at Niki. Niki ignored it as he continues to laugh