⛓️

In the blink of an eye, Seonghwa's house appeared right in front of him. Hongjoong stood next to him, far too close that their shoulders brushed with every constrained movement. Their hands were still intertwined for some reason, causing Seonghwa to internally freak out.

Hongjoong was the first to drop his hand. Seonghwa's heart restarted again, finally feeling like he could breathe.

"Home..." Hongjoong's voice was a subdued whisper. "You're home now."

Seonghwa walked up to his door, his thumb resting on the freezing doorknob only to stop when he realized that Hongjoong was still there.

Seonghwa shouldn't have felt anything. His house wasn't anything special, smack dab in the middle of a neighbourhood that couldn't care less about their appearances. For Christ's sake, he and Hongjoong barely knew each other. But fuck, did Seonghwa feel this tiny twinge of shame.

"...Thanks," he mumbled, inserting the house key.

Hongjoong's hands were in his pockets. "Goodnight, Seonghwa."

Seonghwa ignored the way the shorter changed the subject. "Night."

And like the shadows in darkness, Hongjoong vanished.

For a moment, Seonghwa paused, glaring hard at the spot Hongjoong had previously lingered at. He wondered if he was really gone, if he was really... real. Tonight, Seonghwa kinda doubted it.

The house was nearly pitch black once dark haired male opened the door. The stench of booze attacked his nostrils and made him wince, because yet again, his father had fallen prey to binge drinking.

The man lay passed out on the ratty couch, his red-rimmed eyes shut and empty beer bottles scattered all over the coffee table.

Seonghwa despised the sight. Feeling nothing but spite and disappointment for his father, he took his time in clearing off the bottles and putting them away. Once he was done, he grabbed a blanket, softly covering his father's sleeping form with it. His fucking throat felt so constricted he feared he was choking on air, so he quickly decided to leave the room, heading to his bedroom instead.

Putting his bag somewhere safe and sound, Seonghwa couldn't help but wonder if his heart needed that treatment too. But as always, he didn't dwell on it too much.

After pulling out the clothes he planned on changing into for the night, he took a shower in order to calm himself down and feel better.

"Get lost," Seonghwa muttered no one in particular as he remembered Hongjoong's little note for him in biology earlier. "Get out of my head..."

Once he got changed, he fell on his bed and turned on his phone, cringing at the array of text messages he'd gotten from Mingi.

Should I ignore them? Seonghwa was kinda tired, but a silly part of him hypothesised that he only wanted to sleep as fast as he could so he could pester Hongjoong a little quicker tomorrow.

Seonghwa slapped himself. Shut the fuck up.

- mings
seonghwa, are u okay?
ur probably home rn, arent u?

That was Mingi's most recent message, and that was what Seonghwa was going to reply to since he wasn't in the mood for the others. He knew Mingi cared about him a lot, hell he appreciated it even, but the guy could get a little too clingy at times. Seonghwa just wanted to complete his homework and sleep.

- seongs
yeah

Mingi's reply came at the speed of light.

- mings
omg, are u good?
u left school without telling me

- mings
i thought smth had happened to u

Something had happened, alright. One that involved a mullet haired boy and his glowing yellow eyes, as well as his brother who apparently also had an eye colour that was basically rare for people to have around here.

It would've been so easy to tell Mingi all about it. The guy was his best friend. But Hongjoong's haunting words of last night still lingered at the confines of his mind.

No one would believe you.

- seongs
i'm fine dw

- mings
is ur face okay?
u fell pretty hard

Seonghwa didn't wanna talk about it. That nurse had basically said Hongjoong'd broke his fall, even when he was almost 100 percent sure the shorter had done it to spite him or get some type of revenge. He imagined Hongjoong sneakily eyeing him with those cat-like eyes of his, just waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on him at his most vulnerable moment.

Only Mingi would be able to confirm if Seonghwa was telling the truth or not.

- seongs
when i fell, what happened
i mean, how did i fall

- mings
u can't remember?

- seongs
i blacked out

- mings
ohhh
right

- mings
well, u tripped but someone stepped in and stopped u from hitting ur head pretty bad

- seongs
thats embarrassing

- mings
no its not
i'm just glad ur okay

- seongs
who broke my fall

- mings
a guy named kim hongjoong
he goes to bio with us

Seonghwa's breath hitched.

- seongs
he tripped me

- mings
nah, he rushed in as soon as u fell and lightened ur fall
he practically saved u

Seonghwa couldn't take it anymore. His heart began to pound extremely hard.

- seongs
did he have anything with him
like...a mirror of some sort?

- mings
uh...no?
his hands were empty as far as i know

- mings
but why are u so curious about him anyway

- seongs
its nothing

- seongs
listen mingi
i gtg now

- mings
aww :'(
its alright tho
i'll see you at school tmrw hwa

- seongs
yeah

Seonghwa switched off his phone and flung it on his bed. For a while, he laid there face first, trying to sort out his thoughts. According to everyone, Hongjoong saved him. Ugh, that was so weird to think about. And now, Seonghwa apparently could see the things Hongjoong did that even his best friend couldn't.

The shorter was driving him crazy.

⛓️

The next day, Hongjoong stepped into the halls with a black turtleneck and jeans that hugged his form, with silver jewelry that made the gold in his eyes stand out a little too much.

As soon as Seonghwa spotted him, he kept staring. And it wasn't because he was interested. No, he wanted to let Hongjoong know just how much he disliked him.

Mingi had been taking out some books from his locker when Hongjoong finally locked eyes with Seonghwa, causing the taller to abruptly look away. Idiot.

Hongjoong shot him a smile that oozed mischief, which Seonghwa wanted to wipe off by the way. When they were mere inches from each other, Hongjoong simply winked at him, leaving him a stupefied, speechless mess.

"Fuck, I forgot my pen," Mingi said just as Hongjoong continued his strut down the hallway.

What the hell. Seonghwa wanted to scoff, because who did Hongjoong even think he was? Why the hell did he wink at him in the first place? Did he do that to the other people he also liked annoying?

The image of Hongjoong's twinkling eyes and his docile smile replayed ultra slowly in Seonghwa's mind like those trashy teen romcoms. His face flamed up, not even realizing he was still staring in the direction Hongjoong headed off to until he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Hwa? Hellooo, earth to Seonghwa?" Mingi said, waving his hand in front of Seonghwa's face, only for the shorter male to smack his hand off.

"What were you staring at so hard?" Mingi asked, adjusting his thinly framed glasses. He didn't usually wear them, only having them on today because it 'matched the aesthetic he had going on'. It seemed like everyone around here put some effort into dressing except for Seonghwa, whose outfit choices consisted of mostly plain shirts and jeans. It wasn't his fault though, but then again he didn't care.

"...Did Hongjoong just pass? Was he the person you'd been staring at?" Mingi questioned. When Seonghwa turned to face him, his brows were creased, and he genuinely seemed disturbed.

"I wasn't staring at anyone." Seonghwa admitted. He was lying, he knew that, but hopefully if he sounded believable enough then maybe his words would actually be true.

He slung his bag over his shoulder (the thing was already appearing a little too old for his liking) and threw Mingi one of his many unused pens.

Mingi grinned. "Sweet. Thanks, Seongs."

"I already told you you can only use that nickname through text messages," Seonghwa informed.

"You have to admit it has a nice ring to it," Mingi replied. "Like, my name's Song Mingi. Add your name in it and it's Seong Mingi. Basically the same thing except for one letter."

Seonghwa rolled his eyes, but he wasn't mad. The taller was one of the few people in his life that didn't make him feel that way. "You're so lame."

"Only for you."

Seonghwa ignored his friend and shut his locker, the chipping blue colour reminding him of Hongjoong's painted nails.

Get out of my mind, Kim Hongjoong.

⛓️

a/n: thoughts?