joohyukâs expected a lot of things, reallyâ hell, he expected her to slap him the moment she had the chance, so the punching wasnât much of a surprise. it still doesnât stop him from stumbling back, though, his hands moving on his own accord, gripping her arm gently. âwell,â he starts, tone light as he tries his best to make joohyun feel better, âthatâs assuming someone would actually want to marry me,â he says, as if the mere thought was impossible. when she continues to question him, he knows then that he canât just simply talk himself out of this mess.
it wasnât that he was shy about his sexualityâ he certainly wouldnât be making out with a guy out in public if he was, but at the same time, there was a difference between doing it in the darkness of the corridors and admitting it to someone. it may already be 2017, but joohyuk wasnât naive, nor was he blind. itâs his job to dig up dirt on people, not the other way around.
he glances around the empty corridor, before looking back down at joohyun, a resigned expression on his face. âletâs not talk about it here,â he says, aware of the eyes and ears on the wall. one can never be too safe, really. joohyuk takes a step back, letting go of her arm as he gestures for her to follow him.Â
joohyuk leads them towards a place almost all hufflepuffs go to for comfortâ the hogwartâs kitchens. it wasnât necessarily past curfew yet, so theyâre not at the risk of being told on, and at the same time, joohyuk knew that house-elves donât indulge themselves in the good old art of gossiping. upon reaching the portrait, he tickles the pear, and waits for the portrait to swing open. once inside, he takes the seat on the nearest table, waiting for joohyun to do the same.Â
âalright,â he says, sounding as if the very thought of sharing his thoughts was a painful experience. âiâve known for quite some time,â he says, being as vague as possible. âitâs not reallyâ iâm not really going around announcing it to everyone,â he explains. âiâm still not sure why youâre so angry, though,â he continues, a small frown forming on his lips, âi meanâ itâs not like, i mean,â he stutters. âyouâre not homophobic, are you? would you have, yâknow,â he makes a vague gesture with his hand, âstopped accepting my offers to hang out if you knew?âÂ
she followed him without much resistance, still respecting his wish to keep this side of him under the public eye. now that she thinks about it, joohyuk must be afraid too. although the public has been more accepting of other peopleâs sexuality without judging them, there are still a couple of rotten eggs who wouldnât think twice about using it against them. and joohyuk is probably too cautious to just kiss random guys in front of the student body.
once they reached the castleâs kitchen, joohyun sits down on one of the stools before taking a deep breath. she needs to be level-headed about this. her wrath before was mostly fueled by her ego that joohyuk shouldâve told her so she could move on from him much sooner than she wanted. the girl finds herself parting her lips only to have joohyuk speaking out first. but she still tries to listen--because above being her crush, the boy is also a friend she holds dear.Â
there was a brief moment of silence before she breaks into a fit of giggles. âhomophobic? you must be joking me!â shakes her head. âlisten, iâve been crushing on you for almost five years now. five!!â she shows her entire palm, all five fingers outstretched. âif you told me sooner, i wouldâve stopped much sooner than i wouldâve wanted.â wait-- that sounds wrong-- âi mean--itâs like youâre giving me false hope. sorry if i snapped earlier. i was just... surprised, and angry.â
she then takes his hand--and feel her heart clench a little. although itâs not as bad as it was before. âyouâre still my friend, dummy. of course we can still hang out.â pats his hand comfortingly, her usual smile is back now. âbut no secrets next time, please? iâd appreciate if you can let me live my seventh year in peace and have a proper closure instead of leaving anything untied.â