NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13: When Silence Scream
The hallway was quiet—too quiet for what had just happened behind those glass doors. The polished marble floors shimmered under the overhead lights, but the silence between them burned brighter than any chandelier above.
Hyunwoo pulled away from the embrace abruptly, his breathing ragged. The place where Soobin's arms had just been felt like it was still burning.
He looked at him—not the way lovers do, but like someone staring at a storm they once survived.
"Why are you doing this?" Hyunwoo's voice was low, strained. "I don't need you to protect me."
Soobin's brows pinched together, the warmth from earlier gone. His voice trembled but remained firm, "Please" "Hyunwoo… listen. Let me explain."
"Explain?" Hyunwoo scoffed, stepping back. His eyes shimmered, not from affection—but fury laced with heartbreak. "I don't need any explanation from you."
His voice cracked, but he didn't stop.
"You left me," he spat. "When I needed you the most. When everything was falling apart and I was barely breathing—
Where were you? "Where were you then?"
Soobin's lips parted, but the words caught in his throat.
"I kept waiting," Hyunwoo continued, each word sharper than the last. "Kept thinking maybe… maybe you'd show up. That you'd pick me over ambition or fear or whatever it was that made you walk away."
Soobin reached for his wrist, desperate now, "Jebal" (Please) "just listen—"
Hyunwoo yanked his hand back like it burned. "I'm okay "I'm okay alone now," he said, quieter. "So why come back? Why now? What do you want from me?"
Their eyes locked—anger clashing with anguish, love wrestling against betrayal.
Soobin didn't move.
He just stood there, chest rising and falling, eyes glossy with unshed tears.
Hyunwoo turned to leave.
Each step away felt like tearing pages from a book they never finished.
When he reached the corner of the corridor, Soobin's voice broke behind him—raw, trembling, pleading:
"I did it all for you."
Hyunwoo froze.
Soobin's fists clenched at his sides.
"For you ,I stayed away for you Hyunwoo," he said, louder now, voice cracking with the weight of truth. "I sacrificed everything because I thought I was protecting you. From your father. From this world. From the mess"
Tears spilled freely now, but he didn't care who saw.
"So why is it so hard for you to understand me?" His voice shattered. "Why?"
"Why is it so hard to just listen?"
But Hyunwoo didn't turn around.
He walked away.
Leaving Soobin standing there—alone in the hallway, broken in silence, with nothing but his own echo and the ache of everything unsaid.
---
The next morning, the school hallway buzzed with chatter and sneakers squeaking against polished floors. Jiho walked in, hair slightly tousled and hoodie half-zipped. He hadn't even stepped past the shoe rack when a human missile launched straight at him.
"Jiiiihoyaaaaa!"
THUD.
Seungwoo slammed into him like a bulldozer, arms flailing as he wrapped him into a suffocating bear hug.
"Aish! You traitor!" Seungwoo yelled dramatically, ignoring the other students who paused to stare. "You didn't come to school yesterday, didn't text, didn't answer my calls—were you dead?
Did you get kidnapped? Abducted by aliens? What were you doing?!"
Jiho groaned, "Ah, jinjja… Can you not be so dramatic? I'm not a missing person."
Just then—
Two arms suddenly slipped around Jiho from behind.
"I can answer that," a calm voice said right near his ear. "He was at my place."
Jiho froze.
Seungwoo blinked.
"..Mwo?" (What?)
Minjae stepped forward, still holding Jiho lazily around the waist like it was no big deal. His hair was messier than usual. His lips curved into a smug little smirk.
"Yeah," Minjae said nonchalantly. "He stayed at my house. Ask him."
Jiho's eyes went wide. "Chamkaman" (Wait a minute) "Minjae—"
"And," Minjae added casually, "we hugged each other too."
"MWOYA?!" (What?!) Seungwoo shrieked.
The hallway went dead silent.
A group of girls stopped mid-step. A boy walking with a tray of drinks nearly dropped them. Even a teacher passing by paused, eyebrow raised.
Jiho immediately slapped his hand over Minjae's mouth, turning crimson. "Hey!" "Shut up! Don't say weird things like that out loud!"
But it was too late.
Seungwoo spun around dramatically and screamed, "YOU STAYED AT HIS PLACE?! YOU HUGGED?! OH MY GOD. Naega michyeosseo!" (I'm going crazy!) "WHO ARE YOU?! WHO AM I?! WHO IS THIS MAN?!"
Jiho, now red like a tomato, shouted, "GEUMANHAE!" (Stop it!) "WILL YOU STOP YELLING?! Do you want every girl in school to murder me in the hallway?!"
Minjae just blinked behind Jiho's hand, innocent.
The crowd buzzed louder, some students whispering and giggling. Jiho sighed deeply and marched to class, dragging Seungwoo along by the collar.
Once inside, Minjae quietly took his seat like nothing had happened.
But Seungwoo wasn't done.
He nudged Jiho's arm, whispering, "So... you two hugged?"
"Aniya." (No.)
"But he said—"
"He's delusional."
"Did you guys—kiss?!"
SMACK.
Jiho slapped the back of Seungwoo's head, hard enough to make him yelp.
"SHUT. UP!! You fool."
The rest of the morning passed in scattered whispers and stolen glances, mostly aimed at Jiho, who kept his head buried in his textbook and tried to pretend he didn't exist.
---
Lunch Break.
The bell rang.
Jiho stretched, yawning as he stood and walked toward the bathroom. Seungwoo had gone to get snacks, and Minjae was talking to someone at the vending machine.
As Jiho turned down the hallway—
A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"What—?"
He was yanked sideways—straight into the girls' washroom.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Click.
The lock turned.
"YAH! MWOYA IGE?!" (Hey! What is this?!)
Jiho spun around in panic, only to come face to face with—
Hyejin.
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