Jisung spit out his juice.

"Wait, so, like? You said you hated him, right?"

"No, please..."

"And then you two argued—"

"Stop it!"

"And then you just ate his face."

Jeongin buried his burning face in his hands, "I don't know what overcame me!"

"So... Did you get jazzy with it?"

"No! Are you kidding? I don't know why I was even acting like that. I mean, I'd never even thought about him like that and I just—" Jeongin splayed his arms out against the desk, presenting his forearms to Jisung in exasperation. Jisung stared at him for a few seconds before laughing in amusement, returning to his apple juice box instead of actually helping the younger.

"Were you on something?" Minho suggested as he rolled out from under one of the many cars being worked on in the repair shop. He sat up off the creeper seat, crossing his legs on the wobbly backboard to stare at the two highschool students across the way. Jeongin sent him a frighten look, it hurriedly being covered up by a slightly pressed Jisung, a burning scowl of 'if you say one more thing I'll kill you' in the older's direction. Minho shrugged, "Going over possible solutions, we can't knock anything till we know."

Hyunjin, who was lurking in a corner nearby, more lounging on the floor then seriously getting work done, quickly offered up, "Or maybe you're just into him?"

"Ohhhh!" Jisung gasped, more words ready to flow at the tip of his tongue.

"Jisung, careful what you say," Minho quickly cut in. He sent the younger a knowing glance, to which Jisung rolled his eyes unceremoniously, ensuring to send a more then smug look to Minho. The older frowned at him, seeming as if he was mentally stabbing him a few times for no good reason, before turning back to Jeongin. His soft demeanor returned as soon as he turned away from Jisung, quietly asking, "Have you talked to him since then?"

Jeongin shook his head, "We kissed and that was the end of it. I haven't heard from him yet."

"Damn that sucks," Jisung lilted, the corner of his lips slipping down at his words. He scooted his half empty juice box to Jeongin's side of the table and gestured a quick hand for him to have some. The younger declined.

Hyunjin cringed, "You can phrase that more eloquently."

"Damn. That. Sucks."

"Enough on that you two," Minho stopped them mid-argument. He pushed himself off the floor and took a place by the table the two students sat at, doing his best to divert his attention to Jeongin as he asked, "How do you feel about all this?"

The younger thought on it for a beats before settling on, "Conflicted?"

"Naturally. Explain."

"I decided one thing, I definitely don't like him. But..." Jeongin paused. As he searched for an answer, the turmoil in his head and his heart only stirred. He thought everything would suddenly become clearer, or at the very least he could make some sense of why his heart thudded in his ribcage at the mere notion of the older, yet he wanted nothing to do with him. Jeongin pressed his lips into a thin line and blurted, "I really want to feel him again?"

"What?" Jisung froze.

Minho's eyes widened, "He's—"

"Both of you, please," Hyunjin scoffed. He flipped his hands around, a poor attempt at something similar to a dismissal as he turned his nose to the pair and articulated, "Show a bit more decorum."

Minho raised an eyebrow, a sly smile appearing on his face as he teased, "Oh, well, look at you, F. Scott. What's with the big words?"

"I'll have you know; I'm attempting to rebrand myself as the gentleman."

Jisung snorted.

Hyunjin spat at him, "Fuck you."

"Language," Minho reminded.

His head whipped around to the older, "Fuck you too."

"If gentlemen can curse people out, does that mean I can take liberties with my vulgarity too?" Minho muttered under his breath, a lazy hand acting as a shield to protect his snickers from the self proclaimed 'gentleman' ready to throw down with him.

"No. Chan said keep it under control," Jisung sighed. His attitude almost immediately flipped from downcast to snarling as he slammed a fist down against the table, snapping as he over accented every word he spoke, "Which is the most stupid thing I've ever heard but 'Oh look at me I'm the big fancy hotshot with expensive cars, look at my hair as it flows in the wind, my beautiful chiselled muscles gleaming with motor oil as we ride into the sunset'."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"Jisung?"

"I'm not happy with him."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes as he said, "Evidently."

"Would you drop that already?" Jisung hissed at Hyunjin, threatening to raise a fist in his direction. The latter simply tilted his head away, using the extra lift to counter with a harsh glare down at Jisung. If Jeongin wasn't mistaken, a few swift words of challenge were exchanged between them though neither of them chose to project their thoughts to the other two in the room.

"Remember, we're not here to fight," Minho interrupted them once again, We're here to help Jeongin."

The others turned their attention back to the mentioned, Jeongin recoiling at the sudden diversion of focus back to him. He placed his hands on the table, lacing his fingers together as he gaped at the palms of his hands. As his eyes followed the deepened cracks and blemishes marking his soft skin, he could only think of rough fingers tracing the hidden accents, of burning questions interrogating his very being and existence until the feelings exploded. Unknowingly, his hands balled up into tight fists as he told,"It's just... If I let him go I feel like everything will go back to the way it was."

Hyunjin's face scrunched up in a strange way, as if he smelled something bad but not offensive, "Isn't that what you want?"

"I don't know much of what I want. I thought I wanted one thing but," Jeongin glanced down to the callus on his ring finger, idly running a finger over the tough spot. He furrowed his eye brows together, muttering, "Now I'm not too sure."

"I'm lost," Jisung raised a firm hand as he questioned, "So, do you really hate him?"

"I thought I did."

"Alright. So, right now, what would Jeongin do?"

"He wouldn't do anything," Hyunjin quickly cut in before the younger could offer up an answer.

Jisung snapped, "Hyunjin, be quiet."

"He's right though," Jeongin burried his head in his hands once again. His arms collapsed till his head was resting on the cool surface if the table, arms folded on top in an attempt to protect himself from the outside world. He blubbered beneath his self created safety, "I won't do anything, I'm too scared to."

"Yet you had the impulse to: Say you hated him, snap at him, and then kiss him."

"Please stop bringing it up! It was just so confusing and now I'm confused and," Jeongin paused from his ranting to take a deep breath. He lifted his head off the table, briefly meeting the curious eyes of the three crew members before hiding behind his hands once again, almost as if it were an automated response to the heat in his cheeks. He whined, "I don't know what to do."

"Stop saying you're confused and listen to me for a second," Jisung scooted around to the other side of the table to join the younger and placed a hand on his back. When Jeongin peeked through the cracks of his fingers to look at him, Jisung began his plan, "Here's what you're going to do; You're going to call Chan."

"...Okay."

"Say you want to talk."

"Okay..."

"Meet up with him."

"Okay."

"Summon all the guts you had that night."

"Okay?"

"And make out with him."

"Ok— Wait, no! I won't! Are you insane? I would never do that!" 

Jisung countered, "But isn't that what you did?"

Jeongin opened his mouth to respond. Immediately, he shut it and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest because damn, he's right. He really could not find a point to argue with him on that.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Hyunjin offered up as Jeongin continued to struggle with finding something to say back to his classmate.

Minho laughed in response, "It isn't a bad idea though, and as long as it isn't a bad idea, you'll be fine."

"And, well, I've known boss man for a while now. You have to be the one to reach out to him. It's not like he doesn't care, it's more—" Jisung placed an unsure fist below his chin, it creating the appearance of him being deep in the caverns of his mind regardless of if he truly was in that moment. He finished his thoughts after a few beats, what should have been a statement turning into more of a question no one could answer, "Like he's waiting for you to make a decision?"

"I haven't made one though," Jeongin mumbled.

"You never will at this rate. Call him."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Pft, no. Give it a shot anyway."

Jeongin hesitantly nodded, following along with his plan as he fished his pockets for his phone, finding it hidden somewhere in his jacket pockets as he begrudgingly cued up the home screen. He sent one last unsure look to the street racers, upon finding no remorse for the younger in their faces, he let out a final heavy exhale and pressed his most recent contact to call. The other end rang for a few times before an emptiness filled  his eardrums. Jeongin perked up, "Hey, are you there?"

The response came immediately, a familiar voice crackling to life on the other side, "Should be. Need something?"

"Can I see you?" Jeongin hesitantly asked. Almost instantly regretting phrasing it in such a way when he heard a quiet 'oooooohhhhhhhh damn' coming from one of the street racers. He could feel the way his face flushed, and quickly backpedaled in an attempt to save face and hopefully dignity, "I just want to talk, to you? You know?"

"Sure. You at the shop?"

"Yes?"

"Never noticed how noisy the crew is."

Jeongin let out a flurry of soft giggles, after which asking, "But you're coming?"

"Be there in a few." Rustling came from Chan's end before the revving of an engine overtook the line. It died out after a few seconds, the older offering a quick reassurance of, "Hang tight."

The call went dead, the quiet ping signalling their time to talk is up. Jeongin lowered the phone to stare at the name of the contact, letting his gaze linger on the screen for a few seconds longer. The corner of his lips pulled into a smile. He shut the phone off and shoved it into one of his pockets to remember later.

It was only then that he remembered the company he was keeping. His eyes flickered back up to the three street racers, a similar look adorning their features as he asked obliviously,

"What?"

✘