— chapter twenty one —
im back in school and im so not looking forward to it ;0 also skz will be singing a theme song of an upcoming anime called 'tower of god' which is gonna be released spring 2020, im so excited~
———
nothing but the thought of getting the younger to open up his heart remained on changbin's mind as he walked in the next day. if talking wasn't enough to have him say what was on his mind then what was?
he didn't know what there could also possibly be and knowing that he was on his own really didn't help anything at all. just then, a thought ran up his mind causing him to stop on track, 'if talking doesn't help then why don't i just show it?'
because of this, his eyes sparkled seconds later, his face lightened up at the thought of managing to figure out a way to hopefully get the other to open up. smiling widely to himself, his head was completely ducked down as he was deeply lost in thought when he didn't realise he had bumped into something, more like a certain someone.
"ah-" changbin abruptly exclaimed, the second his head bumped against something hard. he was far too lost in thought that he didn't manage to at least look around the surroundings before him.
"oh sorry! w-wait..." he soon heard a familiar voice cried out in front of him. judging by the sudden and taken aback tone, he could tell that the other was also not fully aware of his surroundings causing him to slowly look up from the ground.
widening his eyes the moment they met eyes, changbin immediately stood up as he struggled to say the words he would normally say to the other. why did he hesitate at that moment? what was causing him to be anxious all of a sudden?
the raven haired bit his lips unconsciously; he didn't know why he was unable to find the words at that very moment. he instead, stood there frozen creating a sudden uncomfortable atmosphere between the two males as neither of them said a word for the next few minutes.
they were just staring helplessly into each others eyes, building up the awkwardness they had before one another. when jisung felt that it was a bit too unbearable to carry on the long, unanticipated silence, he found himself looking away from changbin's eyes with an uneasy gaze.
"i-i think i'm gonna go, uh... g-good morning by the way..." he nervously said, wanting to get away from the awkward situation they didn't know they have created as a result.
"wait, jisung-" changbin said, eventually gathering up the courage to call out the younger's name when he stopped himself, noticing that the other had already walked away.
—
"so... you're telling me, jisung was literally standing there in front of you yet you didn't say anything?" chan cleared up after hearing a whole good 5 minute explanation of nothing but complains coming from no one other than his best friend across him.
changbin painfully nodded at chan's words, dropping his head seconds later against the table in frustration. no matter how hard he tried to figure out the reason behind it, he just couldn't understand what was stopping him from saying anything.
everything was going fine yesterday, well up to the point where he recklessly approached the topic towards the other without any logical reason for it. he sighed deeply to himself against the wooden table at the thought of completely destructing the only chance of talking him about it.
"yeah, i don't get myself either! at this rate, everything we've developed so far is gonna go to waste. how am i gonna get him to open his heart when i can't even face him properly??" his voice was slightly muffled from the fact that his face was being stuffed from the table.
chan sighed and leaned back against his chair, staring thoroughly at the other before him. despite him not being able to see the older's face because of the table, it didn't stop the fact that chan nonetheless continued to smile softly at him.
he leaned over towards the table, his smile never leaving his face. "what are you talking about changbin? you're doing well, maybe you felt that way because of what happened yesterday but i promise you it's normal. just don't worry about it much and you'll be talking to him normally as if nothing happened between you two."
changbin finally lifted his head up from the table and sighed once again, he was now slouching against the chair. "why does everything you say sound so easy?" he groaned causing the older to wholeheartedly laugh.
"cause i'm bang chan, nothing's impossible to me." he proudly smirked, once again bragging himself to the other to which he rolled his eyes annoyingly at the statement.
"oh shut up." he unpleasantly replied, not having any of this bullshit any longer. chan, on the other hand, laughed again in response, this time much louder.
when the two was done doing their business, they soon left the room moments after; chan desperately turning around to face the other. "i need to go to the toilets, just wait for me outside. i'll catch up with you soon!"
and with that, he ran off, this time leaving changbin by himself. shrugging it off, he took this moment to walk out of the main building, soon thinking back to himself about the whole jisung situation.
he needed to face the other once again but he wasn't sure where he was or where he could find him. but there was one thing he knew for sure, and that was the fact that he was determined to change everything between them, even if that meant changbin going all the way to show him.
that was when he heard voices from the distance, looking over to where the voices were leading him, he found him eavesdropping on something totally bizarre from his league. a boy who looked somewhat familiar getting pushed against the back of the building, surrounded by a group of peculiar boys he was sure he had never seen before.
'wait a second... isn't this...?' he thought to himself after soon realising who the familiar boy was. enlarging his eyes in shock, he was now filled with nothing but fume and anger as he gritted his teeth at the sight he was seeing.
"i'm warning you, this is your last time. you better do this right." one of the boy from the group warned, about to give the boy one last push when changbin found himself charging towards them out of nowhere.
sending the 'leader' of the group a punch, he watched as the boy went flying in the air causing him to land hard on the ground. he looked up to give changbin a glare to which he harshly stared back down underneath him.
"what do you think you're doing-" the boy stood back up, attempting to provoke him again when the other boys stopped him.
"hey, let it go. we're gonna get in trouble." one of the boys reasoned causing the leader to give changbin one last, cold glare.
"y-you'll regret this." the boy lastly threatened before finally walking away with his group, changbin releasing a relieved sigh.
"are you okay jis-" changbin asked, turning around to face the other when he saw the horrified look on his face he found himself seeing once again. he was uncontrollably trembling before him, his eyes shaking tremendously while his breathing pace fastened rapidly by each second.
changbin widened his eyes in shock to see the state he hadn't seen in a while, his heart pounding harshly inside him. seeing the other all traumatised and petrified within his sight was the last thing he ever wanted from the younger and knowing it was him to see it all teared him up inside terribly.
"c-changbin..." the brown haired male shakily muttered, unable to say any more words. he was starting to malfunction as he stood frozen, calling for the other in nothing but pure desperation and fear.
before the jisung could say anything else, changbin immediately engulfed him in another one of his secure hugs he didn't realise him doing. he was instantly reminisced back to when he first seen him after a while, a similar action he had done before.
but this time, it was different. the feeling was different as well. it was no longer changbin he was tremendously fearing but someone else and knowing it was now the older himself who was the one there for him, he was starting to feel more and more comfortable around him.
not to mention that some sort of trust was starting to build up inside him.
the moment the other felt a tight hug from the raven haired male, he instantaneously wrapped his arms around him while his hands gripped tightly onto changbin's clothing, pulling him as close as he could. his head rested on his shoulder beside his neck as he sobbed silently on his shirt, releasing all of his feeling out while returning the tight, comfortable hug.
jisung didn't know why but he wanted more, he didn't want to let go. something about this made him desperate for more of the others hug; a new feeling he didn't find himself feeling before in his arms.
he felt safe.