the afternoon was still early when all ten members of the toe cult were gathered in front of the lake house, finally done packing all their belongings again and stuffing their bags in both mingyu and jisoo's cars. though the sky was unclouded and the eternal blue surface spread out for infinite miles, their faces displayed gloomy expressions.
regardless of all the fun they've had over the past twenty-four hours, going home seemed to tense up the atmosphere a little as none of them was ready to leave junhui and his newfound boyfriend behind. especially not in his current condition, which they had all experienced a little too well.
chan was finally done saying goodbye to doc, who had exchanged phone numbers with the boy who was in a desperate need of a parental figure in his life, and had accepted doc's offer of kindness. "ugh, i don't want to go.." he sighed in despair, throwing a final glance over the landscape that spread out for endless miles, examining all its unique features one last time.
"next time we should pick a holiday location like this." hansol exclaimed, finding it quite absurd to leave this place behind again. though it had only been a short day, it had felt so much longer than that. even their vacation earlier that summer holiday hadn't felt as miraculous as this. "man, it would be amazing to visit here with all of us again.. under different circumstances of course."
"it surely would be better if junhui was completely healthy, yeah." mingyu sighed, simply reveling in the company of the group.
"you know, it is possible to visit the lake house with all of you again. it sometimes occurs that no patients are in the need of a place like this. a few years back i've been on my own here for months, which was quite a coincidence actually." doc said from up his front porch, staring at the group with a delighted expression. "we'll stay in touch, i bet junhui and minghao will miss this place once they're released."
and while minghao doubted it, junhui was well aware that this place had felt like a safe haven quicker than any place he'd ever visited before. with all its friendly patients, its interior entirely made out of wood, the fatherly doctor and the boy he fell in love with, he doubted he would not miss this wondrous place.
"even i will miss it here.." soonyoung admitted, facing down as he found it visibly hard to face the diseased boy they were about to leave again. even when everyone had exchanged long lasting hugs, difficulties only seemed to rise the closer they came to their moment of departure.
"let's just hope junhui will be home soon again!" jisoo tried to reassure all the sad faces among the group of teens. and midst all that, jeonghan had been suspiciously quiet. "you will, right?" the second oldest of their group asked, glancing up at junhui with eyes filled with anticipation, just wishing for the chinese boy to make him a promise.
a promise that was almost bound to be broken.
for a mere second junhui remained silent, finding it hard to make them believe something that wasn't the guaranteed truth. as much as they wanted to hear those words, junhui couldn't get himself to speak them out loud, knowing it would only cause more pain and grieve in the end. so he wisely didn't say anything, staring back up with a characteristic silly smile plastered to his face.
"how about we get going so we're in time for dinner?" seungcheol helped him out of the awkward tension, not wanting to force junhui into saying the words everyone expected to hear. seungcheol, and seungcheol in general, was one to understand how difficult it was to be in that position. and of course, as the eldest of the group he felt the responsibility to protect him from whatever.
"seungcheol is right, it's best if we start on our ride back." jisoo went along, following seungcheol's intentions.
"guys, thanks again for visiting me. i'm really glad i was able to share such a beautiful place with you." junhui said, visibly getting a bit sentimental now the end of their beautiful day was nearing.
"you can't say we didn't have a great time, right?" hansol grinned, stepping forward as he comfortably draped an arm around junhui's shoulder. the contrast between his colorful hoodie and junhui's beige t-shirt seemed to make the group laugh again about the difference between their personalities yet how much they were alike.
"we surely did." junhui thanked the gods above for gifting him with such amazing friends. "now, hurry up. you should get going before you run late for dinner! i wouldn't want to miss seungcheol's cooking skills for no money, bet you don't want that too!"
"i think they're starting to consider me as their housewife.. not only am i their private barista but i'm also making them huge dishes way too often." seungcheol laughed, squeezing jeonghan's hand to lift the heavy mood a little.
"say, you're only my private barista. i don't do sharing." a characteristic grin tugged on jeonghan's lips as he gave seungcheol a side glance, visibly not agreeing with whatever his boyfriend just said.
"ew, let's get going." wonwoo exclaimed, knowing that if they didn't go right now, a very specific comment coming from none other than jeonghan was expected.
they all bid their last goodbye's and took the same seats in the car like the day before. once engines started roaring and headlights flicked on, junhui wrapped an arm around minghao, getting a little emotional to look at his friends leaving again. their departure had come way too soon, sooner than junhui's liking.
preferably he had let them stay in the lake house for his time being there, but he knew that it wasn't possible, seeing there were still other patients who needed the house as a residential place. so for now he could do nothing more but to be grateful for the time he had been given.
minghao and junhui remained silent until the cars disappeared on the horizon, leaving the abandoned valley on their journey back home where they would wait for junhui to join them on another adventure. one where he wouldn't be burdened with his horrible disease.
"let's go inside, shall we? i bet you boys would like a hot coco with whipped cream!" doc called out from up on the porch, stretching his arms high above his head before he got ready to go back inside.
and with junhui's arm still hanging around minghao's shoulder, the two boys gave each other a nod and a small smile, following doc inside.
to a new adventure.
