Road to Friendship 2

"Huh?" What? Why? WHY??

Looking at the befuddled expression the other wears, Joseph laughs aloud, shocking the junior "You look like you forgot. You've been avoiding to call my name."

Haneul stares at him, speechless at the sudden playfulness. He wasn't prepared for such prank. Who even play like this with someone they only met twice?? Well, on the other hand, it would only work on the second meeting but… just why?? Is this normal? Do normal people interact like this??

"Don't worry. Happens all the time. I'm kinda invisible." Joseph, again looks at his partner. Closing their distance, he puts a hand on Haneul's shoulder "I'm kidding! Or am I?"

Ok. Joseph is weird. Should he just leave? He is starting to feel a bit scared. Peeking at the man's other hand, he sees Joseph pulling another bottle of his banana milk and offers it to Haneul. He reluctantly accepts, fully regretting his decision to try and make friends. This is not going as he expected. Drinking the beverage whilst sitting down on the nearest bench, he finally faces the foreigner, "Joseph, I think you're weird."

There. He said it. Their relationship, or potential relationship ends here.

"I disagree." Joseph smiles at him, no sign of annoyance visible on his face, "I'm unique."

Somehow that answer makes Haneul smile. Unique, he likes that word. "People say my personality don't fit my appearance. I say, who decides it doesn't fit?" Joseph continues his rambling, not really into the conversation rather than just filling the silence. However, what he just said hits something inside of Haneul. He doesn't know what, but he feels something as the words were spoken, as if they resonate with him.

"You speak good words." Haneul finally comments. He doesn't know whether those words are something the other male read somewhere or was spoken to by someone, but it made him comfortable being here. He no longer feels scared of hanging out with this weird person. "My research theme is omegas breaking the stereotype. Those kinds of thoughts come naturally."

"Sounds like good theme." Haneul leans against the backrest, finally relaxed. It feels like forever since he felt comfortable talking to other people without wanting to get away or getting his tension up. He has no idea how this unique omega does it, but the man feels like a sedative, figuratively speaking. Like his anti-anxiety pills.

He should be around this guy more often. Maybe then, he will not need his pills as much.

#####

Sangcheol grabs the beer glasses on the table, wiping of a few stains before heading to the back and piling everything near the sink. Working at the café makes him itch to just wash all the glasses but his cousin owns a lot of those, and Siwan insists on doing the dishes after hours because he doesn't want to have to wipe them in between tending the bar. Shaking his head at the mess, he returns behind the counter. If the owner wants the kitchen filled with dirty glasses, he gets dirty glasses.

"Hey, you got morning class tomorrow, right?" Siwan asks, as he pour beer into a few glasses. Sangcheol waits for the drinks to be passed to the customers before answering, "Second period."

"Go back first. We'll handle the rest." The older, muscular alpha orders as he wipes his workstation. With the request of checking the toilet for anything that needs to be cleaned, and ensuring the VIP rooms is kept locked, Sangcheol turns back to report his findings before excusing himself. Everyone is behaving today but it is only past midnight. Things usually go crazy around two in the morning. He helped the bar on those days a few times before, things were chaotic to say the least. He just never know how the west district might act crazy.

"Here, take the car. Put my stuff inside the house first will ya? You can spend the night if you want. Or drive back to campus."

"I can walk." He declines the offer. His cousin drives a blue Lexus which is unbefitting to be driven by a mere student as him. He can imagine how everyone will react if they see the car parked at the dormitory parking space. They will tell everyone. It will be exhausting to have to explain. "It's only a few kilometres."

"There's not bus left, and this is not a safe neighbourhood. I don't wanna answer to your mom if anything happens." Siwan handles him the keys anyway, and again, before he can decline, another customer places their order. Smiling at the gesture, Sangcheol puts them in his pocket and waits for his older relative to be free to listen. "I'll come by first thing in the morning. Don't want the other to think I'm rich," he comments, earning a laugh from the older.

"Leave it at the house then. We're going back together." The man comments as he points towards his lover who is talking with one of the customer. Noriko, a female beta, is not able to bear alpha children but that doesn't matter to both of them, and that, is very admirable to the young alpha's eyes. He looks up to the experienced couple. They have been through a lot together.

Having his cousin around helps his first heartbreak a lot. The older guy listens to his frustration with understanding, knowing fully well how it hurts, and Sangcheol really appreciates that. And the beta lady? She just went straight for Gyuri's head, which was offensive at first since Sangcheol still loves her, but he got used to it. There is truth in what she said and hearing it coming from someone like Noriko, he is starting to accept it. Bit by bit.

Bidding his goodbye, Sangcheol starts the engine, gasping in excitement as the lights switches on. He feels like a million dollar! Looking around to note where everything is, he turns on the radio and reverses back towards the main road. From inside the car, everything looks fine, but really, the roads here are very dark. Even scary. There are not that many people passing through and the streetlights are dim - even if there is no one else there, he feels like someone will jump him anytime. Truth be told, he is really thankful he got the car today because, he hates walking through the street at night.

"Fuc-!" Sangcheol almost curses when he sees someone appearing from in between the junctions. The figure has a long, black hair and one look would suggest it is a ghost. Thankfully it is wearing a black leather jacket so he can gather his cool immediately because, Korean ghosts will never wear black leather jacket. Duh.

Tapping his fingers while waiting for the light to turn green, he drives past the cursed person, curious as to what they look like. He does feels a bit stupid because if he is to discover the person to be faceless, which means he is encountering a modern ghost, he will cause his own death by heart attack. But Sangcheol just cannot help himself. He feels safe in a car.

Wait. That person looks familiar.

Haneul?