wonbin restlessly moved his leg, anxiously waiting outside the ER with the rest of the group and shotaro's mom who was currently pacing the hallway.
"how did this even happen?! oh lord, i should've never left you boys alone."
"well, one of us was feeling like a dumbass today and decided to be one and risk a kid's life." ricky glared at seunghan who was currently sobbing, but nobody even cared. (a/n: poor seunghan i hate myself for this)
a man with a white coat stepped outside the room, shocked to see such a large group of boys. he made eye contact with shotaro's mom. "are you osaki shotaro's parent?" after she nodded, he turned to the group of boys. "i can take one at a time."
the group all pointed to wonbin, whose face turned a bright shade of red. "you sure?"
sungchan nodded. "yeah. you guys have been bonding a lot. i think he'd want to see you."
wonbin got up from the crappy hospital seat, following the doctor inside the room. the man began to speak. "no alcohol poisoning. thankfully, he threw most of it up on the ambulance ride here." wonbin exhaled. thank the lord. "he's just experiencing a minor headache right now."
shotaro's mom faced her son who was sitting up on his bed. she ran and embraced him with tears in her eyes. "shotaro! oh, thank goodness..."
the japanese boy stared at wonbin, who awkwardly waved at him. shotaro gestured for him to come closer.
wonbin approached the older boy with a concerned smile. "hi. are you okay? i'm so sorry, i should've watched seunghan better."
shotaro laughed. "it's fine, i didn't die or anything." his cheeks suddenly burned red. "o-oh shit. about that text i sent you, i'm so sorry. that was so weird. i—ugh. you're just such a good friend of mine and i wanted to...express that!" he was embarrassed about how bad he was at lying.
wonbin brought shotaro's chin up slowly. "trust me, you've become a really good friend of mine too. i'm glad you sent me that box of compliments, that was really sweet." he squeezed the boy's hand.
shotaro smiled. "yeah. so uh...i guess i'll see you on monday?" wonbin held up a thumbs up.
"yup, you know it."
"get the fuck in there! what're you even doing! get...in!" sounds of struggle were heard outside by sungchan and seunghan.
seunghan was shoved into the room, scratching his arm. he gestured for wonbin to leave the room. "get outta here."
wonbin exhaled arrogantly. he elbowed him in the shoulder. "don't you dare fuck this up." he's just the same as always, seunghan sighed. he took a step towards shotaro.
"look—there's no easy way to explain this. i...i was drunk as fuck, and i guess i made that stupid move, and—im just so sorry, taro. for ruining your birthday, totally losing your friends' trust, and just making this the worst night ever. i understand if you want to cut our friendship off, just...know im so sorry." the boy stated, solemnly facing the ground.
shotaro pressed his lips into a fine line. "damn, i just always forgive you, don't i?" he let out a breathy laugh. "of course, we're still friends. yes, this might've been a bad night, but i truly think you can improve, seung. i've seen you do it before."
the younger boy grinned, hesitantly pulling the blonde boy into a hug. "thank you, shotaro."
(seunghan's getting a huge redemption arc i promise 😭😭)
-the next day-
"thank you cards? really?" shotaro whined.
"yes, shotaro. besides, all of your friends live somewhat close." his mom pointed to a white bag in the backseat. "those are the cards, they just say 'thank you for coming'. i'm gonna order the food before we go, though."
"fine." shotaro held wonbin's card tight in his hand.
wonbin
i have a thank you card for you
from the party
so i'll just drop it off in the mailbox
pls come outside
alright 👍
wonbin's house just so happened to be the closest, and shotaro bolted out of the car door to hug wonbin. wonbin's mom approached shotaro's mom, but he didn't think much of it.
"i'll see you later, wonbin!" shotaro shouted out the window as they drove away.
"saerom (wonbin's mom) told me something." shotaro's mom stated, her voice low. "she told me, 'hanako, i was checking wonbin's texts and i just have the smallest feeling that shotaro likes wonbin'."
shotaro's heart sank. an ear-piercing ring shot through his hearing. the car engine and birds were drowned out by the thick, suffocating silence. "...but i don't like wonbin?"
his mom pinched the bridge of her nose. "shotaro, you're young, which means you tend to be confused a lot." the boy held back from rolling his eyes. "your generation tends to be like that a lot. i'm sure you've liked a bunch of girls before."
shotaro stared mindlessly out the window. don't cry, shotaro. you only cry when you know you're wrong, and in this case, you're the one who's right. don't listen to her. don't cry.
his mom shook her head. "and by the way, at the fnaf movie, you guys held hands a lot, but i can tell wonbin wasn't the one holding your hand back, so i think he was uncomfortable." her tone got more pronounced. "you cannot hang out with wonbin outside of school anymore. and if you do, i have to be with you."
"mom-" small tears prickled at the sides of the poor boy's eyes. his voice trembled, signifying his breaking heart.
"osaki shotaro!" the woman raised her voice. she adjusted her sunglasses and regained composure. "shotaro, you've gotta stop corrupting wonbin's brain. you're a year older than him, you're gonna slow down his growth. no more hanging out with him, and that's final."
if that isn't the stupidest thing i've ever heard- "okay." he knew fighting back wouldn't do anything.
his mom nodded in satisfaction. "good. now i'm going to pick up the food."
shotaro grunted in response. he pulled out his phone, opened the imessage app, and blankly stared at his conversation with wonbin. once his mom left the car to get the food, he finally let himself let go.
a singular tear glistened down his cheek, landing onto the phone screen and glossing over wonbin's name. shotaro started typing.
wonbin
wonbin
can u delete our whole conversation from your phone please and start a new one
i'm not pressuring you but i'm just asking
my mom had a serious talk with me and i'm thinking that's what she wants me to do
im sorry
you're supposed to be a kid figuring themselves out, i keep forgetting that you're a whole year younger than me god dammit. i'm sorry for tarnishing this all and i hope you can understand that i really care about you and how comfortable you are with everything. i only want you to be happy. again, im sorry. really.
you're my friend and i keep forgetting to recognize that like the kind of person i am. i hope you can forgive me.
delivered
once he sent the last message, a sigh was released from his throat that carried so many protests, but was too much of a coward to let the world hear its cries. "i'm sorry, wonbin." he muttered under his heavy breaths. "i'm so sorry."