To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 72: It’s because we don’t want you getting hurt

Yun-tae turned to look at Kang-woo's face. Standing so close to him, Yun-tae could slightly feel Kang-woo's body tremor, like he was coming up with a fever or something.

But his gaze was locked on Ji-hoo and he was asking such an accusing question.

He could understand why he asked that, though. A simple reason such as, 'he confessed, so I decided to give him a chance', was not enough to explain Chin-hwa's actions.

He wasn't that easy to please and had held no interest in dating thus far, so why would he agree to date Ji-hoo now?

As his best friend, he was obligated to worry when his best friend was acting out of the ordinary.

Yet... Threatening was such a big word.

"What are you saying, Kang-woo? Why would Ji-hoo threaten me?" Chin-hwa asked.

"I don't know. That's for you to answer. Did he threaten you to date him or maybe it was blackmail?"

"Kang-woo," Chin-hwa yelled out but he wasn't backing down so easily.

"Unless you give me a proper explanation for why you suddenly decided to get together with him, I'm not going to take back my words."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because I care for you." Kang-woo answered straight up. "And I would never forgive myself if I suspected something was up with your sudden relationship but kept quiet until 'things' start happening and you end up getting hurt."

Chin-hwa bit his bottom lip. What did he mean by, until 'things' start happening? Nothing was going to happen.

He was with Ji-hoo precisely so he could stop hurting. He had suffered for too long and finally wanted to let go, why couldn't he let him be at this point?

"I hate to say it but..." Dong-cha stepped forward. "I understand where Kang-woo is coming from. It's a bit suspicious that you suddenly got yourself a boyfriend. No offense, Ji-hoo, I'm not calling you a criminal or a scumbag or anything like that but we're worried for our friend."

"But..." Chin-hwa lowered his head, feeling defeated. "When Yun-tae and Kang-woo got together, you guys didn't say anything about it."

"Because Yun-tae never actually closed himself from the possibility of dating. And we all know he had eyes for Kang-woo." Seoung-bo explained. "As for Kang-woo's motive for dating him, we may not know that but since he's someone you know to the bones, we can trust him with Little Yun."

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"So, you can't trust me with Chin-Hwa. Is that what you're saying?" Ji-hoo asked and they went silent. "Um, ouch, that kind of hurts my feelings a little bit."

"This is ridiculous." Chin-hwa said. "It's my choice who I want to date, so why are you guys butting in?"

"It's because we don't want you getting hurt."

'How comical.' he scoffed. 'I've been hurting for the longest time yet none of them knew a thing about it. And he...' he looked up at Kang-woo. 'He's the reason I've been hurting. Yet he says things like, I don't want you to get hurt.'

"Chin-Hwa,"

"Fine!" Chin-hwa yelled. "You wanna know why? For the longest time, I have had a crush on Ji-hoo." He confessed, stunning them. "It's been a one sided crush since I felt I was too boring, too quiet for someone like him to take an interest in. I was planning to hide my feelings to the end, spilling out nonsense like I didn't need to date and if I wanted to, it would be with the right guy to cover up the existence of my feelings. I wasn't going to let anyone know. But when he confessed, I was so happy that I agreed right away."

"So, you..." Beom-Chim finally spoke up. "...lied that night?"

Chin-hwa silently nodded his head, pouting his lips in shame.

"What about the part where they had to be calm? Was that a lie too?" Seoung-bo asked.

"Yes, that was a lie to put you guys off my trial." Chin-hwa answered.

"And reliable? What happened to that?" Dong-cha added. "The guys gotta be reliable."

"I feel offended." Ji-hoo said, grabbing his chest.

"All to put you off the trail of who I actually liked at the time. Please," he covered his face. "I'm getting embarrassed, so let's just stop this. I made the opposite descriptions so you guys wouldn't take a hint that I had a crush on Ji-hoo."

"Hm, I don't know," Beom said speculatively, his eyes trailing towards Kang-woo. "I don't know if I'm the only one who sees it but all of that perfectly describes Kang-woo over there."

As soon as he said that, Chin-hwa's eyes widened and they all looked towards Kang-woo.

"W-wait, what are you talking about?"

"You know, it kind of makes sense." Seoung-bo added. "Maybe little Hwa did not want to describe an imaginary person and he described Kang-woo instead."

"Stop! Stop it!" Chin-hwa yelled, shocking them.

His voice sounded hurt and it made them feel guilty.

"Think what you want. I haven't seen Kang-woo for over three years, how was I supposed to guess his features and...?" He exhaled, pressing his hand on his head. "It's so hot. I don't want to deal with this."

"It's hot?" Dong-cha asked and Seoung-bo shrugged.

"You guys are supposed to be happy for me and that I finally entered a relationship, but instead, you're attacking Ji-hoo and questioning us like we're criminals. You guys..." He paused his lips. "I can't even with you. Come on, Ji-hoo." He picked up his bag. "Let's go."

"It was nice meeting you." Ji-hoo said, still having that positive energy despite what they had said.

Chin-hwa walked past Kang-woo but he caught his hand. As if knowing Kang-woo would do something like that, he flung his hand away.

"Don't... Touch me." He frowned at Kang-woo and then walked away.

Kang-woo watched him, his heart racing and his stomach churning. That look Chin-hwa had on his face, was so heartbreaking.

"Yun-tae, I'm going to leave now." Kang-woo said, placing his hand on his mouth. "Take care, I'll call you..." He swallowed hard. "Later."

"Alright, I'll see you." Yun-tae said and watched him leave along with the other three.

As soon as he was gone and the Chin-hwa was also out of sight, Yun-tae sat next to Dong-cha and said,

"Hwa was... Lying."