••••

Yeosang stared at Jongho. Had he really just said it? Judging by the look on Lia's face, Jongho had really said it. Yeosang, however, couldn't be happy about the fact that his crush had just confessed that he liked him. Lia looked at her brother as if he had lost his mind.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, somewhat amused, as she couldn't believe his words. Jongho was the only one of the three who remained calm and stood there as if it were a normal conversation. "You heard me," he mumbled in his sister's direction. "You're not the only one who likes Yeosang, I like him too. And for longer than you have."

Lia's pink lips parted slightly. "But you're a guy," she said, her eyebrows furrowing. "So what?" Jongho said indifferently and then turned to Yeosang. Yeosang swallowed and no longer knew what to do. He avoided Jongho's gaze. He didn't know whether he should be angry at Jongho's words or happy. In any case, he didn't want Lia to ignore him again or for her to be hurt again. But it was too late for that.

Irritated, Lia looked at the ground and then at Jongho. "I can't understand you," she said in frustration. Her eyes glazed over and she turned to run away. "Lia!" Yeosang shouted, but Jongho grabbed his wrist and held him back. Yeosang looked at him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, irritated. Jongho tilted his head. "Why, I was just honest," he said. But Yeosang could no longer take his words as positive. "You could have talked to me alone first. Instead, you do it in front of your sister, knowing that she likes me too. You're hurting her and you're making me feel like you only said those words to hurt Lia and not because you meant it."

Yeosang withdrew his hand. It was the first time he was really angry. "Jongho!" a female voice called out a little further away, interrupting the electrifying tension. A little further along at the entrance, Yeosang recognized a small group of students waving to Jongho. "Just go." Yeosang muttered and tried to leave, but Jongho held him a second time. "Let's talk later," Jongho said, his brown eyes looking pleadingly at Yeosang.

Yeosang shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care, but inside he wanted nothing more than that. He was angry about what Jongho had done, but he was still not mad enough to stay away from him for long. Jongho disappeared with an apologetic look and walked to the others at the entrance. Yeosang turned around and walked away. He couldn't believe that all of this had just happened, when he had actually been here to tell Jongho how much he liked him.

~

Mingi was earlier than usual today, tucking his motorcycle helmet under his arm as he tried to brush the glove off his hand. He yawned tiredly as he finally made it to the entrance of the building with his motorcycle key. He wondered if Yeosang or Wooyoung were there yet and was about to text them when someone crossed his path.

Someone with brown eyes and equally brown hair. He was wearing a white shirt and was now smiling at him. Mingi didn't know how to behave. He smoothed out his leather jacket and took a deep breath. He tried to look as calm as possible as he walked towards Yunho.

"What are you doing here?" he then asked cluelessly, as if it wasn't obvious that Yunho was here for him. "Can we talk?" Yunho asked. Mingi nodded slightly and was glad that Yunho had taken another step towards him. Otherwise, he would probably have ignored him forever.

~

Yunho looked out the door, then came back into the empty classroom they were in and closed the door behind him. Mingi sat down on a chair and put his helmet and bag next to it. Yunho looked at him calmly, then he also took a chair, pulled it towards Mingi and sat down opposite him.

"So what's this about?" Mingi asked as if he didn't know what Yunho wanted. Yunho started fiddling with his silver bracelet around his wrist. "Well, I had the feeling you've been ignoring me lately." Mingi looked at him questioningly as if he didn't know what he was talking about. "To be more precise, ever since I said that I like you."

Mingi couldn't play dumb any longer and averted his eyes. "It's okay if you don't want to have contact with me anymore, but I at least want to hear your answer and what you think." A crease appeared on Mingi's forehead. He was torn. His feelings were a mess. How was he supposed to explain this to Yunho?

He swallowed. "I don't know if I can believe you. Or if you're just messing with me." Yunho looked at him slightly surprised as if he had no idea Mingi thought like that. "Why would I mess with you with something like that?" Mingi licked over his now dry lips. "Maybe it's because you're friends with Hongjoong and he must have told you that I confessed my love to him. And now he wants to get back at me with you."

An amused smile came to Yunho's lips. "Trust me, not even Hongjoong is that crazy." Mingi shrugged his shoulders. He could imagine him doing anything. "By the way...", Yunho mumbled. "Do you still like him?"
Yunho's voice lost its usual positive aura.

Mingi brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. "No." he said firmly. Yunho sighed. "Not even if I tell you that..." he paused. Mingi looked at him questioningly. "That Hongjoong likes you back." Mingi rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure," he said with an ironic undertone. But Yunho seemed one hundred percent serious.

"I talked to him, he said it's okay if I tell you." Mingi shook his head. "If you tell me what? I don't understand anything." Yunho looked frustrated, his fingernails clawing into the wood of the chair. "In the summer, you weren't the only one who had feelings. When you became friends with Wooyoung, Hongjoong got jealous and wanted to make you jealous with my help. He didn't want you to take this the wrong way. After your fight, he kept teasing you because he wanted you back. I helped him because I kind of liked you too."

Mingi looked at him, speechless. "So you're telling me Hongjoong has a crush on me?" Yunho nodded. Mingi shook his head in disbelief. "That can't be true."

"It's true, he does and he allowed me to tell you because it doesn't make any difference now anyway, because you don't like him anymore." Mingi swallowed. Everything inside him dissolved. "Do you still like him?" Yunho looked at him. There was hope in his gaze. Hope that Mingi would say no.

Mingi took a deep breath. "I don't know if I can believe you," he then realized. Maybe this was all just a trick? "Ask him yourself, then you'll know for sure." Mingi bit his lower lip. What had just happened? "I only told you because I wanted to know if you still care about him or if I have a chance." Mingi looked up again. "What?" His head was no longer able to think. "If you don't like Hongjoong anymore, do I have a chance or not?"

Mingi looked at Yunho as if he were a ghost. A dull ache ran through his head. It was too much. "Sorry, but I have to go," Mingi said quickly and grabbed his things with shaky hands. He stormed out of the classroom, feeling like he was going to pass out any moment.

~

Yeosang sat in his room and was on the verge of crying. He had just finished his last class, but all he could think about was Jongho and their stupid argument. If you could call it one. He felt bad that he had gone off on him like that. Maybe Jongho really didn't mean it in a bad way. He felt even worse about Lia. Especially since she hadn't been in class and there was no sign of her anywhere else. Yeosang didn't know what else to do, but if Lia and Jongho were fighting over him, he couldn't take it.

He also couldn't bear even less to be separated from Jongho any longer. He had often imagined what it would be like when they kissed. He would never have thought that everything would be even more complicated afterwards than before.

A soft knock pierced the silence and Yeosang drew in his breath to stifle his tears. He pushed himself out of his mattress and went to his door. When he opened it and saw Jongho, his heart rate increased and it was even harder not to cry.

Jongho seemed to realize that something was wrong, so he took a step into Yeosang's room and pulled him into his arms. Yeosang buried his face in Jongho's coat and felt Jongho's warm hands on his back. Everything inside him softened. His strong feelings for Jongho, which he had been putting aside, came back like a tsunami and flooded everything inside him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, having no idea why he was even apologizing, but he couldn't help it. Jongho's hand began to stroke the back of his head, which calmed him abnormally. "No I should apologize." Yeosang exhaled in relief because it was what he wanted to hear. He pulled out of Jongho's embrace. Jongho closed the door behind them and took off his coat. Then they sat down on Yeosang's bed and Yeosang looked at him waiting, because he was ready to hear his explanation.

"I'm sorry for not talking to you first and embarrassing you like that in front of Lia. Honestly, I didn't think about whether my words would hurt you or her. I was just excited about what had happened between us and then when you showed up this morning, it kind of burst out of me." Yeosang nodded and had to smile slightly. Jongho was just too cute when he explained himself. Yeosang suddenly forgot all his worries and why he had been angry in the first place. He couldn't stop smiling.

"Do you know why I was at your building this morning?" Yeosang didn't know where the courage came from to finally tell Jongho how he felt, but he didn't want to live in silence any longer. "No, why?" Jongho asked. Yeosang looked shyly at his hands. "I wanted to tell you..." His heartbeat quickened. It was the first time in his life that such words had ever left his lips. Almost two months ago, he wouldn't even have thought of loving anyone, let alone a man. He couldn't have imagined ever seeing someone like this. A tingling sensation ran through his stomach and he closed his eyes. Inwardly he was talking to himself to encourage his decision but the words had already left his lips.

"That I fell in love with you."

Silence and Yeosang opened his eyes again. Had he really just said that? Had he done it? Jongho looked at him and didn't say a word. Yeosang was unsure of his reaction for a moment, but then Jongho started smiling and Yeosang wanted to cry out of joy.

Jongho grabbed Yeosang's hands. Yeosang didn't know if this was really happening or if he was caught in one of his many dreams. Jongho's special look flashed through his eyes, then his smile widened. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

For the second time that day, Yeosang was at a loss for words and stared at Jongho in disbelief...

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Update on Wednesday <33