Jealous

"Yo~ So you got suspended, huh?" In Guk's ingratiating voice could be heard from the phone.

Hyuk's vein almost popped from his annoyance. "What do you want? And how did you get my number?"

In Guk laughed smugly, "Did you forget? I'm the class rep. Your privacy has no meaning in front of this omniscient position."

Hyuk could almost imagine the guy raising his chin cockily, puffing out his chest like a proud little brat.

"So? What do you want?"

"Jin Goo and I are going to the arcade after school—ah, you remember Jin Goo, right—"

Beep, beep, beep—

Hyuk immediately hung up the moment he realised the call was about something insignificant. He buried his face on the pillow, willing himself to return to his dreams.

But of course, In Guk could never take this slight lying down. He did not give up and called Hyuk's number again.

"—Hey, did the call get cut off? Anyways, as I was saying, the arc—"

Beep, beep, beep!

Hyuk hung up again.

He wondered why he bothered to pick up the calls when they were so annoying. Unable to come up with a reasonable answer, he switched his phone to silent mode.

Finally regaining tranquility, Hyuk easily drifted to sleep.

When he woke up again, it was a little after noontime and his stomach grumbled.

Luckily, Yeo Ri was practically an expert housewife so a meal had already been laid out for him when he got to the kitchen. She knew he was going to be staying at home so she made extras during breakfast.

Hyuk was too lazy to heat them up, so he ate the dishes cold. Nevertheless, Yeo Ri's cooking skills were improving by leaps and bounds, and the dishes did not taste bad despite being cold.

Now, meal finished, he was at an impasse. There was literally nothing for him to do. He was home alone; at least until Yeo Ri comes back in an hour or so.

Finally, after deliberating for a short time, he decided to go out.

Hyuk was feeling much better after a long nap. He did not have any places he wanted to go in particular, so he simply hopped on a bus to town and walked around aimlessly.

Unknowingly, he had stumbled across the arcade.

Their town was rather small, so there was only one arcade in the whole place. It was not a booming business since PC cafes were more in trend, but the place was popular with kids and adults who were seeking for the feeling of nostalgia. The place had been around for over thirty years and most of the machines were old.

Seeing the neon signboard, Hyuk's steps paused. He scrutinised the place, thinking that those guys probably would not be there yet since the school day was not over.

Hyuk turned around, ready to walk away.

"What? So you did come after all!"

Hyuk froze. He recognised that voice.

"...I was just passing by," he looked away. He did not know why he felt so embarrassed. It was really just a coincidence that he went there. He looked at In Guk accusingly, "Isn't it still early? Why are you guys not at school?"

In Guk stared at him strangely.

Firstly, it was the first time he had heard Hyuk not using any profanities when he spoke. Secondly... "Oi, it's only been a day since you got suspended. Could it be that you've already forgotten the class timetable? The last period today is self-study," In Guk said in a matter-of-fact manner.

It was an open secret that the teacher in charge of their class' self-study period didn't give a flying f*ck about self-studying. If anything, the teacher would be the first to leave once the period starts. As long as the students didn't tattle about him, he closed his eyes on anything the students did in that time frame.

'...Sh*t.' Hyuk had forgotten about that fact.

He glanced at Jin Goo whom he was less familiar with.

Jin Goo nodded at him in greeting, "School's out. Today's the anniversary of the school's founding." It was a cliché excuse to skip school but in his case it was true.

Hyuk made a move to leave, but In Guk hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, wait! Since you're here already, just come inside with us."

"Let go!" Hyuk pulled his arm away.

"C'mon, don't be such a party pooper. You're already here, so just come hang with us," In Guk said with a large grin. "We're gonna play Road Brawler. Do you know Road Brawler?"

Hyuk merely replied with an irritated glance.

"In Guk, just leave him alone. You shouldn't force someone to do whatever that you want to do," Jin Goo said rebukingly. "After all, he probably doesn't know how to play and didn't want you to see him lose," he added. He gave a sigh and shrugged as though it could not be helped.

Jin Goo was calm but his words were scathing. Hyuk was not the sharpest tool in the shed so he was easily riled by Jin Goo's words. He glared at the man, grinding his teeth.

"Who says I don't know how to play? Just watch, sh*thead. I'll make you eat your words!" Hyuk growled.

Jin Goo secretly flashed a victorious smile while In Guk's grin widened. As expected of his best friend; Jin Goo was really good at offending people without batting an eye. It was like an inborn gift.

And so, the three entered the arcade together.

Hyuk had never gone to the arcade before and he actually did not know how to play the old retro game that In Guk had chosen. There were only so many buttons to push, after all. It should be easy for him to get the hang of it, right?

Wrong.

"You're so good at fighting but you suck at this game, huh?" In Guk happily dissed as he won his third game against Hyuk.

"You want a real beating?" Hyuk threatened, his face turning sour with every loss. "This machine is definitely broken!" He adamantly refused to acknowledge his inadequacy.

Jin Goo could not help but laugh. "Sore loser," he called him.

"F*ck you," Hyuk said, making a vulgar gesture with his hand.

Jin Goo raised an eyebrow at him, "I've been using that one for years, and it worked just fine. Just admit your loss, sore loser."

"That's right, that's right," In Guk readily agreed. It was really fun watching the guy get worked up. Jin Goo was always so pensive and barely reacts to anything, and as much as he liked his friend, sometimes he would get bored since Jin Goo wasn't easily excitable like him.

The three bickered as they continued to play. Hyuk was unreconciled with his losses, so he kept going until he secured a victory. 'Whatever,' he thought. It wasn't like he was wasting his money since it was In Guk who was paying for them.

Outside of the arcade.

The arcade's storefront was made of glass. It was see-through so the passers-by could see into the interior of the arcade.

Ji Yeong Gi stared at the trio with darkened eyes. A violent hail was rising inside him, and after thinking for a few moments, he could finally put a name to this feeling: Jealousy.

He was jealous.

Hyuk was having fun with some guys while he was out there, watching them.

He thought that it was unfair. Hyuk wasn't supposed to be that happy with other people. Yeong Gi thought that the only person who deserved to be called his friend was Hyuk; he thought that since they were similar, they could understand each other's pain and console one another. Hyuk was supposed to be his one true friend.

It was unfair.

He felt like Hyuk had betrayed him.

But of course, this was just his inner thoughts. In truth, Hyuk had never once considered Yeong Gi as a friend. He only went along with him because of the favour and ended up staying around for one reason or another.

'This won't do,' he thought. He needed to teach Hyuk a lesson. 'He should know his place.' Those who betrayed him needed to be punished, he thought. Unconsciously, he was treating Hyuk like all his other lackeys, despite going around saying that they were true friends.

Keeping his eyes trained on the oblivious traitor, he took out his phone and picked out a number from his contacts list. Within several rings, his call was answered.

"Hey, I heard you've got some beef with a guy called 'Lee Hyuk'..."