——————————————————
"Fuwahh!~ I'm sooo hungry! Elliot let's go get lunch now!" Jun stood up from the seat whilst rubbing his sore back.
"Okay, it's definitely been a long day" Chang-sun yawned feeling sleepy as he followed Jun to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was filled with students, and it was naturally very noisy.
Their entrance attracted unwanted attention, it seems Elliot was more popular than Chang-sun thought...In a bad type of popular...
Whispers were heard in all kinds of direction. The whispered were filled with malice and disdain as they looked at Chang-sun with disgust and dislike.
Jun though, didn't seem to mind. The stares didn't affect him in any way. He still continues to smile as if the students didn't exist, all his attention was completely on Chang-sun. "Elliot! I heard they are serving delicious noodles and some spicy chicken!"
Chang-sun tried his best to ignore the stares as he awkwardly smiled at Jun. "...W-Wow, it sounds delicious..."
"Let's grab lots okay?"
"...Okay"
When they grab their food and sat down at an empty table, it was only then did Chang-sun finally felt relaxed as he hummed in delight when he took a slurp on his hot noodles. "...Mmm!~ this is so good!"
"Right~ right~ this is one of my favorite dish!" Jun grinned as he saw Chang-sun happily slurping away.
While Chang-sun was distracted, Jun gave all the students a glare. His dull eyes stared at them lifeless, silently telling them to F off. All the students quickly scrambled and left while the others looked away feeling frightened.
When Chang-sun finished the noodles he looked back at Jun who returned back to normal, he smiled brightly at Chang-sun. "Hehehe, are you satisfied?"
"Yep! I feel so full, I'm glad you recommended it to me"
"Of course~ I only recommend the best to you Elliot! We're friends after all!"
Chang-sun felt so touched when Jun cared so much about him as a friend. It made his heart swell in happiness. 'Jun is such a good kid...'
[......] Pin squinted his non existent eyes at Jun. He felt suspicious, but at the same time he didn't feel any danger coming from Jun. The boy was completely harmless, at least only towards Chang-sun as he observed.
"I saw your stream yesterday, and I gotta say, the way you sing that iconic song made my heart flutter! It left goosebumps all over my body! You sing so good! Why aren't you popular yet?!"
Chang-sun quickly covered Jun's mouth, fortunately nobody was now paying attention to them. "...Hey, talk a little quieter..."
"Oh right...." Jun rubbed his neck with an embarrassed look. "Anyways, why aren't you popular yet? I mean you are currently the rising entertainer in Live On. So it won't be long for Companies to come looking for you"
"Well you already know the reason..." Elliot sighed while eating the last piece of his chicken.
"Yeah, but that shouldn't stop you right? Your voice is so powerful! Anyone would get on their knees when they hear you sing!"
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated?"
Jun pouted. "It's true though~"
Chang-sun laughed softly at Jun's words. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just I need to be patient."
"Patient..?" Jun tilted his head.
"That's right...When I build a strong enough popularity and fanbase, I'll get out there and start producing music."
"Wow really?! So you were planning to go independent??"
"That's right" Chang-sun said with a serious but determined look. He then smiled at Jun who looked so excited.
"You were thinking so big! Hey, if you get popular don't forget about me okay? If you forget I won't forgive you!"
"Hahaha! How could I forget you? You're my only close friend" Chang-sun warmly smiled at Jun whose cheeks reddened at that sight.
"...Hehehe" Jun felt so pleased. He was grinning from ear to ear as he stood up from his seat, he walked around the table and sat next to Chang-sun. "Me too! Elliot is also my only close friend!"
Both of them smiled at each other, their aura was happy and relaxed. They didn't notice a certain fake blondie was watching from the distance with frustration in his eyes.
"...Tch!....That pink haired freak thinks he could humiliate me last time...? I'll show him who's the true boss here..." He then walks away with a smirk on his face as he began to call up someone that is perfect for the job he's about to offer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, there was some pictures pasted on a board where the public could see. All the students gathered around it and started to murmer amongst themselves.
"Waaahh....What is this..?"
"Gosh, so disgusting..."
"This is the worst!"
"Why, what happened?"
"Look at those pictures..."
"Isn't that Jun?"
Chang-sun just arrived at the University, when he noticed a crowd of students forming around something, they all looked at the same thing. Among them was Jun who stood there at the middle with a blank look on his face.
"Jun...?" Chang-sun softly called out, he felt like something was wrong. He quickly walked over and squeezed through the crowds of students.
"Jun!" Chang-sun shouted. Jun who heard his call Slowly turned around.
Jun didn't have any expressions on his face whatsoever, but when he saw Chang-sun he quickly brightened up. "Elliot! You're here!~"
Chang-sun finally arrived at his side. "...Jun...Huff, what's wrong? Why is everyone..." When Chang-sun finally caught his breath and looked up towards the board, he went silent. "...What..."
Multiple pictures were pasted on the board, the subject of the picture was Jun.
It seemed someone took photos of Jun hanging out with different guys as they walked out of suspicious places. And there was also a picture of Jun recieving money from an old man. The picture was clearly trying to imply something...Something bad...
Chang-sun stared blankly for a moment before he realized that Jun has been staring at him the whole time.
"Elliot. You know I wouldn't do something like that right?" Jun looked so calm, too calm.
"...Of course, I trust you...I know you wouldn't." Chang-sun completely trusts Jun. He knows that someone was trying to ruin Jun's reputation! And it was clearly working seeing all these students looking at Jun with a disgusted look.
Jun seemed ecstatic to hear that. "Hehe! As expected, only Elliot is my one and true friend.....Everyone else....They should die..."
Chang-sun wasn't able to hear the last parts of Jun's words. It was too quiet. But he was too worried to care about it. "...Come." Chang-sun said as he held Jun's hand and walked away. His head held up high, clearly showing that he wasn't gonna back down from all the people staring at them.
Jun stared at Chang-sun's broad and reliable back with light in his eyes. His cheeks reddened as he smiled.
When they were far enough from all the people, Chang-sun finally let's go but Jun grabbed his wrist. "...I want to hold your hand more." Jun whispered softly.
And Chang-sun's heart softened when he saw Jun relying on him. "Of course, we can hold hands for as long as you like."
Jun felt satisfied with that answer, and so he intertwined their fingers.
"Jun..."
"Hm?"
Chang-sun's grip tightened as he stared at Jun with a steady look. "Don't worry about earlier, so if you need a shoulder to cry on. I'll be here for you"
Jun's heart felt warm. His cheeks reddened and he smiled even more "You're worried about me...That's enough to keep me alive. When I see you looking at me with such eyes, it makes me energetic. I feel alive when you're around.."
"So that's why, continue to look at me. Okay? Because everything is better when you're around."
Chang-sun felt that Jun's words were exaggerated, yet not at the same time. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Well okay."
'Jun seems calmer than I expected...He must be so strong.'
[I don't think so.]
'Eh? What do you mean Pin?'
[If I were to tell you, you would ignore me.]
'If you don't wanna tell, then don't. It's fine!' But Chang-sun sulked that Pin wouldn't tell him his thoughts.
<Jun is definitely not normal, since anyone who gets framed in that way would definitely panic or have a mental breakdown.>
<Though he has a bit of a unique personality, his true nature felt so familiar.> Pin thought. His smart brain quickly caught on this weird coincidence.
[...Hmm...That's impossible..]
'..... Impossible? What're you talking about Pin?'
[I was just talking to myself.]
<It's impossible that Jun is Jian...How come the honeysuckle did not detect his soul if he were Jian?>
<Unless....>
<Unless someone tampered it considering that soul binding was the most lowest and cheapest item in the system store. So it is possible that someone was able to do that.>
<But who could it be and how..? I need to observe more seriously now...>
——————————————————
To Be Continued!