Again.

They were there in front of him together. Again.

What were the chances that he would come across them at 2AM on a weeknight, sitting in the light of the nearby, empty convenience store?

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t known they were going to meet. Si Woo had texted him earlier that day, notifying him that he had plans to meet with the group. But he hadn’t specified where. So then what coincidence drove them that he would come upon them as he was heading home from his own gathering in a street that was not near either of their homes?

Ye Jun shifted slightly on his feet. He knew that he should just leave. He had no plans to interrupt them or join them. He had said that he would help Si Woo but from where he stood, it looked as though the sunbae was doing well without his assistance.

That was all the more reason that he should leave them be.

But he seemed unable to move.

“You really are incredible,” he heard Si Woo say with a laugh. “Don’t look at me with a face full of disgust. It’ll just make me find you more adorable. It takes a lot of guts to do what you do and that also makes you cool.”

“What guts?” Jong In grumbled as he stood. “Get up. We…we’ve been here too lllong.”

Si Woo tsked. “Always trying to get rid of me. You know, you remind me of someone. He always tried to get rid of me too, at least in the beginning. And then, well, then he wouldn’t let go.” His words seemed to slur slightly, “So I ran from him like a damned coward. Ha.”

Ye Jun watched them for a long moment. For some reason, his eyes seemed glued to the scene before him. There was a strange contemplative expression on the sunbae’s face, which was also mirrored in Jong In’s. He could tell, even from the distance in which he stood, that a form of understanding flowed between them.

Ye Jun had never seen Jong In give someone such undivided attention. At least, not to someone who wasn’t him….

“Ha,” he scoffed under his breath. This was ridiculous. Why was he suddenly feeling so annoyed?

Beep. Beep. BEEP! Loud honking suddenly erupted from the darkness and Ye Jun watched as someone who had obviously lost control of his moped was heading directly to where Si Woo and Jong In were sitting.

“Jong In!” Ye Jun shouted, dropping his bag and rushing forward blindly. But he was too late. By the time his feet touched the sidewalk on which they sat, the blue plastic chairs and table were scattered about them.

Thankfully, Jong In and Si Woo had somehow avoided the collision. The pair were on the ground, several feet away from the impact point, unscathed from the look of things. They were both breathing heavily, Jong In’s arms wrapped protectively around the sunbae.

Ye Jun’s feet suddenly froze in place and his heartbeat began to increase as an unfamiliar and ugly emotion took over him. He gazed at them for a moment longer, watching as Jong In turned towards the older man and said something in a tone that was too low for Ye Jun to hear.

He then quickly turned and walked away, escaping the scene and the unwanted emotion that it wrought within him.

~

Three days had passed but the image of that night’s scene did not leave him. Ye Jun wondered why it was that every time he closed his eyes, he could see only Jong In’s face and the beautifully sad expression of that sunbae.

And why did his heart not stop its rapid beating when he recalled those memories?

At first, he tried to ignore his thoughts but that proved nearly impossible. So, he deliberated and eventually Ye Jun’s mind homed in on the expression the sunbae had worn. He had noted before that he was the first man Ye Jun had ever considered beautiful, and he wondered if that was the reason why he was reacting this way.

And what, exactly, was he feeling? It was all so unfamiliar and terrible. He had wanted to rip the two men apart because he couldn’t stand to see them so close together.

Jong In had somehow pulled Si Woo out of the way that night. Thankfully no one had gotten hurt, and the chaos had masked Ye Jun’s presence, which he was glad for as he wasn’t sure how he would have faced either of them with those foreign feelings washing over him.

Irritated, Ye Jun closed his eyes.

“Hey, Ye Jun,” came a voice from above him. He looked up. A classmate whose face he vaguely remembered and whose name he could not recall at all looked back at him with a dazzling smile. She was pretty, exactly his type—medium height, shoulder length brown hair, confident, and sexy.

She took the seat next to him as the other students began to pour into the lecture hall.

She dropped her bag on the table and smiled at him. “How are you?” she asked, her voice laced with sympathy.

He looked at her quizzically.

She laughed. “Wow, I guess it is true. You really do embody that name, don’t you?”

“I’m…sorry?” he asked, a brow slightly raised.

She grinned again. “‘Ice Prince’. You’re completely unaffected by the breakup, huh? Poor Jiwon. She was sure that she would be the one to crack you, though her methods were underhanded and unoriginal.”

Ye Jun stared at her for a moment. Though he had met her a few times before, he didn’t think that they were close enough for her to be running her mouth so much. But he wasn’t surprised; some people seemed to think that he treated dating like a game.

What did surprise him was how quickly word seemed to have spread. He and Jiwon had broken up just a few weeks ago. They had begun dating the year before, only a few days after their uncomfortable encounter with Jong In. She had been one of Ye Jun’s longest running girlfriends, and he had believed that he had treated her well, walking her back to her apartment, having dates regularly, and even having gone on a short trip together. She had been one of the few who didn’t seem to feel the need to test him, or so he had believed.

Ye Jun had known that something was going on when Jiwon suddenly started taking longer to respond to his calls or when she canceled a few of their dates to go drinking with her friends. He had given her space because he found clinginess to be an unattractive quality.

This behavior had gone on for several weeks and had started to escalate only a few weeks ago but Ye Jun hadn’t bothered to confront Jiwon about it. And apparently that had been what caused her to snap.

It was a common affair really, at least to him. They had gone out to eat with some of their mutual friends and upon dropping her off at her apartment, Jiwon had told him that she had begun seeing another guy over the past few weeks and that she might have developed feelings for him. Ye Jun had not immediately replied, allowing her to talk, already having guessed the situation. In the end, he had simply suggested that they break up.

The sunbae, who had been known for her charming and cool personality, broke down then, asking him if he had even loved her. Ye Jun didn’t respond, not wanting to hurt her further. Despite knowing that he was the victim of infidelity, he wasn’t all that phased, he wasn’t hurt.

He had wanted to keep the details of their breakup quiet, knowing that Jiwon would be more affected than he was, but somehow the details had leaked. The lives of others were almost like an interesting TV show for some people, and he found that quite tiresome.

He had gone home that night feeling extremely drained. He had lain in bed with his phone in hand as it started to blow up with messages from Jiwon. He ignored them. At that point, it had become his policy to have a clean break when ending a relationship. And while he didn’t quite feel sad over their breakup, he had felt like talking to someone.

He had felt like talking to Jong In.

But he hadn’t. Instead, he had placed his phone on his nightstand and had tried to get some sleep, telling himself over and over again that it was the best thing for both of them. That it was necessary.

Even before he had begun dating Jiwon, Jong In’s behavior had begun to bother him.

Shortly after starting university, it had felt as though Jong In was always around. And while Ye Jun didn’t particularly hate it since he enjoyed spending time with him, it felt a bit tiresome especially since Jong In tended to make other people feel uncomfortable with his habit of growing quiet around strangers. This meant that any time Ye Jun wanted to hang out with people who were not from his childhood group of friends, he had been forced to sneak away lest he hurt him.

Ye Jun wanted to experience university life; he had been looking forward to it. They were college students, after all. It was a time to meet new people, to play, to see the world. And Jong In was only a small part of Ye Jun’s world.

Another part of Ye Jun had also started to grow concerned with Jong In's behavior. Since college began, he had grown more reserved. His stutter too, which had improved somewhat during high school, had returned with full force and Jong In had completely shunned the idea of meeting or talking to new people.

This was why Ye Jun had told him that he needed space. But he hadn’t been certain just how long that would take. He was single now and he wanted to hang out with his friends. He wanted to see Jong In.

But he couldn’t; at least, not until there was a resolution to Jong In’s feelings. And Ye Jun knew that meant getting Jong In interested in dating someone else.

And Ye Jun would continue to date others as well.

It wasn’t as though he had purposely upset Jiwon or any of his previous girlfriends. It was simply that they had wanted a reaction from him that he could not give. In the past he had even tried to fake his jealousy, but he was so wholly unfamiliar with the emotion that his attempt had seemed cartoonish and obviously fake. That girlfriend had stopped him, saying that he was making light of her feelings. Since then, he simply responded in the only way he knew how, with indifference and a touch of acquiescence.

He had long ago accepted that this was just who he was. No matter who he dated, they would eventually come to doubt his feelings and then they would eventually leave him. Just like Jiwon and the countless others before her and after her, just like the woman who now sat next to him.

“So, what do you say?” she asked, moving closer to him so that the side of her notably sized chest touched his arm.

He peered at her face once more. She really was his type.

Well, he supposed with a small smile, maybe he didn’t actually hate it.

“I’ll pick you up at seven tonight.”