Chapter Text
Reader:
You watched him, watch him.
Kim Wonpil was one of the nicest guys you ever met in your short lifetime. His aura was warm, his smile brighter than the sun, and his heart bigger than anyone around. Wonpil was caring, always willing to help any and everyone if he could. You were envious at just how caring he could be and in your own opinion, you knew that a person like him could care too much.
You sat in your assigned seat in the back of the classroom, eyes gazing straight ahead at your friend who seemed to only have eyes for the boy he considered his best friend, Park Sungjin. The two had a connection so strong you knew deep down you would never understand it. They grew up together, since they were two years old and had been by each other’s side, never letting go and never looking away until Sungjin did first.
Park Sungjin had been drifting lately from you and everyone else around him but it had the deepest effect on Wonpil who didn’t know how to handle the situation. The two of them were like rubber and glue but Sungjin just couldn’t stick anymore, at least not when his mind was clouded with love.
You watched Sungjin keep conversation with Wonpil until she walked into the room. She was beautiful and everyone knew it. You even found yourself stealing glances at her every now and then. Her name was Jina, the pretty girl, the nice girl loved by many of your peers and even the teachers enjoyed her personality.
Sungjin was in love with her, and just about everyone could see it. Her laughter filled the room during free time, guiding eyes to look her way as she joked around with her best friend Jae, he was the class clown that had everyone laughing from time to time.
Wonpil kept his eyes on her like Sungjin did, the only difference between their gazes from what you could see was that Sungjin stared longingly and lovingly while Wonpil stared sadly in defeat. You hated that look he got when he was upset, you loved when Wonpil smiled the most, especially when it was toward you.
You could have tried to get his attention in that moment and tear his mind away from the thought of losing the boy who was much like his brother to a girl who swooped in out of nowhere. You could have tried to get Wonpil’s attention but it was a task that had been hard for you lately, leaving your tender heart to break piece by piece each day.
Wonpil was so worried about Sungjin’s situation, your feelings would have to remain on the back burner for a while.
You told yourself each morning that it was fine, it’s not like he knew you loved him anyway.
Wonpil:
It’s always for a short period that Wonpil felt like things between him and Sungjin were back to normal that was until she appeared and his emotions spiral downward while Sungjin’s spiral upward. Jina Lin was not what she seemed and only Wonpil seemed to know what kind of person she truly was. He regretted that day in the library where he saw his best friend gaze at the girl he loved, Wonpil wished he hadn’t given Sungjin that extra push he needed to talk to her.
What started as a brief conversation between Jina and Sungjin led to longer conversations in which Sungjin tuned out everything else around him. Soon he began changing little by little, distancing himself from his friends to spend more time with the girl whom Wonpil knew was using him.
He heard her one afternoon after school while she stood with a few other girls from their class. Jina laughed and joked about his best friend as if he was nothing to her. She thrived off his friendliest and willingness to do anything she asked, spilling all her secrets among her friends about Sungjin completing her homework, buying her gifts, she even revealed something Wonpil had no idea of, that she and Sungjin were sleeping together and he was only good enough to have sex with instead of being with.
Personal things like that were something Sungjin would have shared by now, and it made Wonpil sad to know that his friend had chosen to leave him in the dark.
Jina was a shark in his eyes, she had her teeth so deep into Sungjin it killed him to know how stuck his friend was.
Wonpil was afraid to mention all the foul things he overheard her say. With how Sungjin was acting lately he knew it would lead to an argument and he couldn’t risk that so he kept it all in.
He would watch his best friend drift further away to be with a witch who didn’t want to be seen with Sungjin when people were around. That should have told him something, signaled a red flag but when you’re so deep in love you miss all the warning signs.
The school bell rung which signaled it was time for class to start up again. Your teacher began talking, making you yawn immediately. You kept your eyes on the chalk board as he wrote, gaze diverting to Wonpil who turned to look at you with a weak smile.
“Lunch…?” He mouthed and you gave him a nod. This meant he wanted to eat lunch with you in the usual place on the rooftop where you were sure Sungjin wouldn’t be today by the look on Wonpil’s face.
Lunch followed your literature class and you went ahead of Wonpil while he tried to get a few words in with Sungjin before he disappeared. Jina left the room with Jae but she caught your eye in the hallway, the scene of her and a boy from the class next door unfolding before your eyes. Her body collided with Brian Kang’s, a delinquent who often skipped classes and fought anyone if he was ticked off enough.
He glared and Jina stared, it was an interesting moment when you noticed her eyes lingering after him with a similar look Sungjin would give her. Interesting.
You arrived at the rooftop, the slight breeze feeling great against your skin as you sat down in a corner on the concrete, waiting for your friend to arrive. Your eyes lit up when Wonpil appeared with his paper bag full of food but his eyes were somber.
“Hey Y/n…” He sighed as he sat down close to you, the fabric of his pants brushing against your skin.
“Hey…” You gave him a light smile, taking a bite from the sandwich you made. Wonpil ate silently leaving you feeling lonely while in his presence. This couldn’t last, you would be a bad friend if you didn’t ask what was wrong even though you knew what plagued his mind anyway.
“Are you alright…?” You asked expecting him to answer with a no or shake his head, but instead, he blurted out something that had your eyes widening.
“Jina is using Sungjin… I overheard her the other day with her snake friends. She’s just playing with him Y/n…” Wonpil turned to you with hurt eyes that had your heart sinking in your chest. He cared so much about Sungjin’s situation it was bound to be his downfall.
“Wow…” You responded and turned away looking straight ahead. You thought about Jina and Brian earlier, maybe she was in love with someone else but you didn’t think she could be foul enough to play with a sweet guy like Sungjin. He was too kind to be treated that way.
Wonpil expressed his sadness over it all and you listened just like a good friend should but what advice could you give him?
You wanted to tell him then and there that he should just let Sungjin make his own decisions and maybe focus on someone else like himself or spending more time with you but the latter would only make you seem selfish.
You didn’t want to be selfish but there came a night where selfishness was all you could think of. You blew up at him, at the last person you wanted to be mad at but he had to know how you truly felt for once.
Wonpil was supposed to help you study that night but once again he was thinking about a friend who might as well be a lost cause by now.
“Is Sungjin all you ever think about…?” You asked, your voice low as you gripped you pencil trying your best not to slam it on the small table you were sitting at in his room.
“No, I…” You didn’t let Wonpil continue before you raised your voice.
“I’m so tired of this! You’re too nice Wonpil! I know kindness is a great virtue but you can’t let the silly emotions and actions of others hurt you!” You were teary eyed from the anger you felt and the loneliness that ate at your heart from the mental distance he was giving you.
You remembered when the both of you used to laughed and smile together. Sungjin was around too, everyone was happy and Wonpil looked at you more, your hope for a deeper connection beyond friendship was so strong then.
“You say Sungjin has changed… but so have you!” You slammed your fist on the table as you stood up and gathered your things, Wonpil stared at you with surprise, his brows creasing at your sudden outburst.
“I didn’t know you felt this way…” He replied.
“Of course, you didn’t… my feelings don’t compare to Sungjin’s… my love for you-” You stopped yourself immediately as the word love slipped past your lips. Your front teeth bit into your lower lip so hard you thought you’d see blood. Wonpil stared with a mixture of hurt and confusion settling on his sharp features. You couldn’t handle his somber eyes anymore, hurrying out of his room and out of his house.
You knew you ruined what little friendship you had with him, negative thoughts flooding your mind as you ran toward home with watery eyes.
Sungjin:
Sungjin waited near her apartment door, waiting for her parents to leave and then he knew she would come out and get him. His eyes sparkled when he saw her face and he approached her holding out a report she needed to turn in by tomorrow. Sungjin spent hours pulling together information guaranteed to get the girl he was head over heels for an A+. Jina took the stapled papers and thanked him with a swift kiss on his cheek, one that had his heart throbbing so heavily in his chest.
“Thank you.” She pulled him close, lips inches from his which gave him the opportunity to close the distance between them.
Sungjin kissed her as if his lips didn’t just feel hers yesterday, as if he had been longing for it for years. Jina pulled him into her apartment home and immediately led him to her bedroom which he had seen several times over the past three months. She pushed Sungjin back on the bed and crawled into his lap, her hands cupping his cheeks making him feel loved though in reality she didn’t love him at all and he knew it.
Sungjin wasn’t oblivious, but he was a fool to let her use him. During the time he spent with her outside of school the loneliness he always felt faded away.
Jina was a beautiful distraction from his life at home, a mess of mayhem filled with yelling parents who didn’t care about their son witnessing their crumbling relationship, leaving him clinging to the little affection she managed to give him every now and then.
“Touch me…” Jina pressed sweet kisses to his lips and Sungjin complied. She would get everything she asked for and more. He touched her in a place she needed most and never stopped until it was time for him to go.
She was bad and he knew it but he couldn’t stop.
Reader:
“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself…” You heard a voice approach you but you were too down to look up, listening to the footsteps of the stranger who soon stopped in front of you.
“This is a playground… but thugs like to hang out here at night.” It was a male who continued to speak to you and you gave no response. “Hey, are you listening to me?” He sounded frustrated and suddenly you felt a hand on your shoulder which made your red eyes meet his in surprise. You stared at him and he stared back at you with the same expression. It was Brian Kang, ironic how he stated thugs roamed the location when he was considered one of them.
There was silence between you until he decided to speak again, his voice a lot softer than before.
“Are you alright…?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck feeling awkward to see you in such a state. You looked heartbroken, a wreck and he decided to be polite and see if you were okay with the urgent thought of seeing you home before the goons came out to play.
His question struck a chord within your chest and you felt your eyes burn once again with hot tears over your blow up with Wonpil.
You shook your head and squeezed your eyes shut, quietly sobbing without a care about the boy near you.
You didn’t care at this point if a person like him saw you weak. Brian watched you cry and it tugged at his heart strings, he noticed you a lot at school thinking you were one of the cuter girls in his grade but he never imagined seeing your beautiful features break with emotion from a cause unknown to him.
You felt a gentle pat on the top of your head, you were too lost in your sadness to appreciate the kindness that the infamous bad boy was showing you. You heard Brian sigh and then he spoke to you again.
“I don’t know what’s wrong… but let it out until you can’t anymore. Better out than in, right?” His words were true, you had buried so many emotions about Wonpil inside you and it was all coming out on a cloudy night.
You cried harder, louder and Brian just stood and listened. He felt bad for you. Who could have hurt such a pretty face?
After a few minutes more of crying your eyes out the fog of sadness began to ease from your mind and you noticed Brian and how he stood by all this time to make sure you were okay.
“Thanks…” You wiped your nose as you got off the swing you sat on.
“For what? I didn’t do anything special.” He had an intense look, one that usually kept others away from him but you saw right through it.
You shrugged at him with a small smile. “You were here…” You said, for just a little while you didn’t feel as lonely. Brian stared at you as if you said something amazing, and when he realized how long his gaze lingered he turned away, clearing his throat.
“Sure… you should really get going, some pretty horrible dudes show up this late at night. I’ll keep my distance… but let me make sure get home safely.” It was hard for him to offer caring words like that, he wasn’t used to being nice.
You gave him a nod and gathered your things making sure you didn’t leave anything behind. Brian kept his distance as he said, trailing behind you as you walked, refusing to make further eye contact as if he didn’t know who you were. It was kind of humorous but you appreciated his effort.
Your heart dreaded the new morning but you worked up the courage to step foot inside your school not sure of where your friendship with Wonpil stood after yesterday. You walked slowly to your classroom, brushing by a group of girls who stalked the school’s star Yoon Dowoon.
You stopped behind a group of rowdy boys joking around in the hallway and held up traffic for everyone else.
Your eyes found Brian who you were sure was going to pass you while he moved through the crowd as if you had no interaction with him last night. You were surprised when he touched the top of your head like he did before.
You didn’t notice Jina and Jae witnessing the moment, missing how her loving stare toward Brian turned into a fierce glare toward you. You missed it but Sungjin caught her glances, leaving his heart aching while Wonpil who was by his side looked at you, feeling a similar pain himself.