Sunshine Shower Chapter 116

“Still, at least you didn’t think about anything else while running.”

He slung his arm around Seoyoon’s shoulder again, but after running for the first time in a while, Seoyoon was feeling too hot. He pushed the arm away, as if to ward off the heat.

Indeed, the physical exhaustion had cleared his mind of distracting thoughts. Now that he had somewhat caught his breath, thoughts of Woo Yeonjae were creeping back in, but at least for the past few hours, his mind had been blissfully empty.

“If it gets tough again, just let me know. I’ll run with you.”

“…I’ll just run alone.”

Trying to keep up with Nam Taeun’s pace might actually kill him. Taeun found his response amusing and laughed again.

“Oh, right.”

Seoyoon glanced at Taeun as they walked at a slow pace.

“I won’t be in the dorm from Thursday next week.”

“You’re leaving on Friday anyway.”

“Hey, no backtalk.”

Taeun jerked his chin toward the convenience store as if suggesting they stop by. Seoyoon followed him inside.

“I’m letting you know ahead of time in case you start crying and looking for me, but here you are talking back.”

“Am I a kid? Crying and looking for you?”

“Why? You were crying the first day you moved into the dorm…”

Seoyoon quickly covered his mouth, frowning. Seeing his displeasure, Taeun raised his hands in surrender.

“I have an event for my department. It’ll finish in the evening, but I’m heading straight to my girlfriend’s place after.”

“Got it.”

“Don’t cry because your roommate isn’t around.”

“I told you, I’m not a kid.”

“And you’re not working part-time anymore, right? You’ll be bored.”

Taeun’s absence would definitely leave Seoyoon with too much time to think, causing unwelcome thoughts to flood his mind.

‘Still, I can’t keep dragging this on… I should organize my thoughts when I’m alone.’

He couldn’t let things drift away like this. Before meeting Woo Yeonjae again, he needed to clear his head.

If Woo Yeonjae had already made up his mind not to stay friends after being disappointed in him, then there was nothing he could do. But Seoyoon hadn’t intended to cut ties entirely. Woo Yeonjae had been such a huge part of his life that, even though he knew it was foolish, he couldn’t just give that up.

“I just need some time to sort my thoughts alone.”

Taeun looked at him silently, clearly worried. Seeing this, Seoyoon chuckled.

“I’m fine, hyung.”

“You’ve thought it through.”

They hadn’t come into the store for anything in particular, so Seoyoon followed Taeun around. Taeun grabbed two bottles of sports drinks and headed to the counter but suddenly stopped.

“Oh, I haven’t seen this in a while.”

He picked up a box of candy, curiosity piqued, and bought it along with the drinks.

“You know, you’re the one who acts like a kid, hyung.”

“What? That’s discriminatory language, you know?”

Taeun laughed and handed him a drink.

“Drink up.”

“Did you come in here just for this?”

“Yeah. Tastes better after a workout.”

The moment they stepped outside the store, Seoyoon opened his can and took a sip. The drink tasted slightly sweet but also had a hint of saltiness that trickled down his throat.

“Wait a second.”

Taeun suddenly stopped walking. Seoyoon, who had been walking beside him, also came to a halt.

“What is it?”

Taeun stared off into the distance before shrugging and starting to walk again.

“Never mind. I thought I saw someone I knew. Let’s get going. You’ll catch a cold if you cool down too much.”

Taeun, who had an extensive social circle, must have mistaken the person for someone else. Seoyoon didn’t think much of it and kept walking. A slightly cooler breeze brushed against the back of his exposed neck, as if to signal that his sweat was drying up. Just as Taeun had mentioned, a chill began to settle in.

* * *

Moon Seoyoon fiddled with his phone, an action that had become routine for him lately. Realizing he was doing it again without thinking, he suddenly recalled last winter, and a hollow laugh slipped out. Back then, he had done the same thing, wondering if Woo Yeonjae would reach out to him.

Now that he had decided to stop his one-sided love, not much had changed, and it made him feel a bit pathetic.

‘Still…’

Self-pity and actions weren’t necessarily linked.

Finally, the fingers that had been aimlessly scrolling through his phone pressed on the message window. The name at the top wasn’t Woo Yeonjae—it was Kim Hyunseung. Seoyoon scanned through the recent conversation.

[That guy’s been busy lately.]

[Busy?]

[Dunno. He barely picks up his phone these days. But he’d probably answer if it’s you.]

[It’s been a while since I last saw him too.]

[Really? If it’s been that long, he must be really busy. Is it because he’s a third-year? But he’s not preparing for a job… Did he get a girlfriend?]

Seoyoon had been curious if Woo Yeonjae was in contact with other friends, so he asked. He had briefly considered dropping by if Kim Hyunseung had plans with Woo Yeonjae, but that idea fell through pretty quickly.

‘Well, Hyunseung doesn’t know what happened between me and Woo Yeonjae, and getting him involved would feel awkward.’

The more he thought about it, the worse the idea seemed. He could already predict how Woo Yeonjae might mock him if he showed up unexpectedly.

In the end, Seoyoon took a deep breath, searched for Woo Yeonjae’s name, and pressed the call button. The urge to hang up before the call connected surged within him, but he forced himself to stay calm. He didn’t want to end things this way.

However, instead of a dial tone, a recorded voice said that the call couldn’t be answered.

“Hah…”

Seoyoon let out a sigh—whether in relief or disappointment, he wasn’t sure. The courage he had mustered faded just as quickly.

Even though he didn’t have the guts to face Woo Yeonjae yet, he didn’t want to cut ties completely. Selfishly, he wanted to maintain their friendship, at least on the surface.

‘Everything went downhill after we had sex.’

Looking back, it was a situation he had brought upon himself. Maybe Woo Yeonjae had pretended not to notice his feelings precisely because he foresaw this. It wasn’t like Yeonjae couldn’t have anticipated the way things had turned out.

These days, Seoyoon’s emotions fluctuated from one minute to the next. After his half-confession to Woo Yeonjae, followed by his decision to end things, he had felt a sense of relief, but now he was overwhelmed by regret, wondering if he had spoken too soon. If he had pretended, like Woo Yeonjae, that nothing had happened, maybe by now they’d still be hanging out like usual.

Even though it would be difficult to go back to how things were, at least their childhood friendship might have remained intact, even if it was hanging by a thread.

“You’re so pathetic, Moon Seoyoon.”

Seoyoon muttered faintly to himself. Not only had he spilled the beans already, but now, after deciding to let go, he was already regretting it only a few days later. He was disgusted with himself.

Still, it wasn’t as unbearable as he had expected. Though his heart ached, he wasn’t exactly sad. Maybe he had spent so much time liking Woo Yeonjae over the past seven years that he was a little numb to the sadness.

Seoyoon slowly inhaled.

“…”

The truth was, he was just enduring.

Feeling like more depressing thoughts would flood his mind again, he distracted himself by scrolling through his phone. A few new messages had piled up while he was lost in thought.

He figured replying might help distract him, even if just for a moment, so he started to read through them. One of the chats had an emoji in it—messages from Kang Suha. Since they lived in the same building, Suha would occasionally send him messages like this.

Seoyoon wondered what it was about and tapped on Suha’s name.

For a brief moment, a flicker of fear crept in—what if it was something about Woo Yeonjae? He had a vague anxiety that maybe Suha had heard something and Seoyoon would be left alone to stew over it, just like last time.

[Hyung]

[Are you in the dorm?]

[If you are, could you do me a favor?]

The lack of spaces between words made it take a bit longer to read. A favor? What kind of favor? Seoyoon checked the time. The message had come in 20 minutes ago. If Suha had called instead, he could’ve helped more quickly, but it seemed like Suha had sent a message out of awkwardness.

‘It must be urgent if he’s asking me for help.’

Even though Suha was quite sociable, it was unusual for him to ask a non-peer like Seoyoon for help, which meant it must be an emergency. Seoyoon stood up and dialed Suha’s number. As the dial tone rang, he headed toward the door. If it was urgent, it was better to help quickly.

The phone rang a few times before Seoyoon heard Suha’s voice on the other end: “Hello?”

He opened the dorm door at the same time.

“…”

Seoyoon froze in place instead of stepping outside. A familiar scent of cologne rooted him to the spot.

— Oh, hyung!

Suha’s voice sounded distant.

— Did you just see the message? But don’t worry, Yeonjae hyung helped me out.

The rest of Suha’s words faded into nothing. As Seoyoon slowly raised his eyes, a familiar face came into view.

“Seoyoon-ah.”

It was Woo Yeonjae.

“Are you okay without me now?”

Perhaps it was the blank expression, but his eyes, looking down at Seoyoon, appeared pitch black.