16 Road to Friendship 3

Haneul?

Nope. Shouldn't be. Why would the omega be here in the middle of the night?

...nightlife. Of course. He stopped reading the man's book but he did search for his name once. It seems Haneul chose to cope with whatever is happening by going to places like this. Honestly, he would avoid that kind of person but something made him care about this guy. He feels like he owed the man for his outburst a few days earlier. And guilt is one of his biggest weakness. Once he feels bad for doing something, it will haunt him for a long time until he fixes it. Apparently, as the people around him pointed out, that was how Gyuri usually manipulated him. He doubts that is true but he has to admit, sometimes it feels like she was.

"Tsk." Sangcheol clicks his tongue in annoyance as he is reminded of his ex-lover again. He needs a distraction. Looking through the back mirror and seeing the omega still walking, the alpha thought of an idea.

Ensuring there are no cars behind him, Sangcheol decides to reverse his car and fetch the man. Haneul is obviously heading back to the campus and he is on the way back as well. He should at least do this much. Say his apology and get the man out of his mind for good. And, at the same time, get the man to keep him company until they reach the campus so he won't think about Gyuri.

"Haneul?" The omega flinches at the sudden call but relaxes soon after, rolling his eyes as soon as he sees Sangcheol, "Oh it's you."

"What you doing here?" He tries asking although he has a pretty good idea why. Obviously Haneul is not having any of it as he points out to his outfit, "Finding a good bed partner."

It is apparent that the other male is provoking him, choosing to use the word 'bed partner' to refer to what he yelled at him the other day. Nodding along, trying to ignore the irritated aura the other is trying to emit, Sangcheol continues, "Guess everyone sucks today?"

That response, maybe caught the omega off-guard as he frowns to look at the alpha, probably curious to his change of personality. Sangcheol knows the man was waiting for a negative reply but really, he doesn't care at all. They have no relationship with each other, why should he hate what the other is doing? "I mean, you're going back alone right now so, it's not wrong to assume there was no good alphas, right?"

"Yeah, you can say that." Haneul seems to lower his defense a little, finally replying to his question. He is still annoyed though, Sangcheol won't blame him for that considering he didn't leave such a good impression their last two meetings. There is a long silence where the omega just stands there, and him just looking around the car not wanting to move as well. Yet, both of them are not planning to make the first move to leave. Figuring it is the best for him to just let the man know of his intention, the alpha is about to speak before Haneul cuts him, "You?" to which he replies with a confused "huh?"

"What are you doing here?" He repeats his question. Sangcheol gives it a brief thought, opting to joke around to ease the apparent tension. Patting the car a few times as a reply to Haneul's pointing of his outfit, he continues "Cruising for lonely omegas to give a ride to."

"Oh?" He doesn't know whether Haneul caught his playfulness, half regretting the image he just created if the man doesn't. But seeing the other's slight soften of the face, he knows it is good for him to continue his unconvincing act. "To where?"

"I dunno. Where are you going?" He gives the omega a big smile. "What? You think I'm riding with you cus of this fancy car?"

"No," Shit, that didn't go as planned. He is hoping for a light laugh so he can go on and send the man back home. He didn't mean to suggest what the man thought he is, "I mean, if you're going this way, I'll be glad to drive you."

"I don't know where you are going but I'm, going that way." Haneul points to the right at the junction, making sure his words are clear. "Back to campus."

"Do you know we can get back to campus this way too?" He lifts his hand to point straight ahead, where he was heading before reversing the car to where they are. He knows Haneul noticed his route hence the slight warning. "Through the north gate. Also, I need to stop by somewhere first. So?"

He waits nervously for an answer, "I mean, it's better than walking another half an hour in the dark right?"

#####

"You smell like booze." Sangcheol comments in hope to lighten the mood. He had been driving with the omega for a while towards his cousin's house and yet no one had made a sound. He figured pointing out the obvious would be funny but he didn't know whether it is actually offensive to the other now that he gave it a few more thoughts.

"Says you." Haneul retorts without looking, something that he imagined would happen.

"I am helping my cousin at the bar today."

"You work a lot," Haneul remarks, looking at him, "for someone who drives a Lexus."

Sangcheol smirks, finally realizing the situation they are in. He forgot the fact that he is driving an expensive car, and the fact that he is just a student. Everyone would have had the same thought as the omega – that he is a spoiled son of a rich family who, based on their location right now, loves to play around. Exactly the opposite of the real him. Well, not that his family is poor, but they are not millionaires either. "This is my cousin's. He's the owner of Kingsmen, the bar I worked in. And, yeah. I have a few jobs for reasons."

"Reasons." Haneul repeats, not really interested in asking because there are only a few reasons why anyone would do that and he knows all of them. It is not as if he is eager to find out about the alpha either. There is no reason why he would ask for an explanation. Scanning the interior of the car, Haneul decides to play with the audio player. Sangcheol has a light R&B song playing, something he is not familiar with but doesn't hate either. It is a nice change from the thumping he heard a while ago.