𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 • 𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥

XVIII

"jisoo! jisoo!"

jisoo halts for a moment, throwing in his notebook inside the car first before turning to face the person who was—oop, apparently, running to him—calling out. flirty pig raiser!

"hello!" jisoo greets, watching mingyu slow down and pant in front of him. no jisoo, that's not hot. weren't you about to cry minutes earlier?! "oh, chan, meet mingyu."

chan walks to the passenger seat's side, stopping to look at mingyu. "ooh. tall. what's with him? is he.. i don't know, jumping in muddy puddles?" he asks, judging the mud prints on mingyu's clothes.

"chan!"

"seung... seungcheol! their house is burning! the fire department just arrived, and i thought you were with them inside! oh my god, did you all escape? where are they!?" says mingyu, who unknowingly turned jisoo into stone. "hello? jisoo!"

fire... house.. they.. they're still inside! they're still inside that goddamn goth house! jisoo could've burned if he didn't leave! jisoo could've died!

jisoo shouldn't have left!

"gramps!"

"jisoo!"

"hey, gramps!"

"jisoo!!"

"hyung!"

"ah!" jisoo shouts, blinking rapidly as he comes back to the real world. he sees mingyu's despair, and slowly, it eventually dawns on him.

they're... oh my god. they're in dire need of help. shit! "i'm going back! sorry!" jisoo exclaims, running back to the direction where the house was.

"wait, gramps!" chan shouts, following jisoo and mingyu into the deeper part of the province.

as jisoo runs, he feels his heart burning. what, is this guilt tripping?! the last time he was guilt tripped there was only a baby crying because he stole a candy! now we got burning houses, huh?! that's an upgrade nobody wanted! this is also not a good plot device because it causes pain!

(well, readers like pain, so...)

was this his fault?

maybe, but well... blaming is not the top priority right now! the house! the dresses! the outfits! the plants! the food! the books! jeonghan! seungcheol! they might be burning along with the house right now!

hehe, no need to be pessimistic, though! jeonghan's literally a god. they're definitely not dead! geez, those two old farts, making jisoo worry. he's said so many times that his heart can't take these bursts of feelings!

in fact, jisoo will come there and say, 'yes, the book was a fanfiction of us all along and it'll still be a hit in the fiction genre because nobody knows it's actually real!' and have the last laugh. jeonghan's despicable, but jisoo is far more mischievous! seungcheol is strong—but what's that gotta do with writing?

anyway, finally, the three of them reach the house and saw the disaster for themselves. there were firemen helping to extinguish the fire, and the neighbors were peeking from inside their houses to see what's happening. jisoo didn't care about the crowd; he looked around to find the two first, but to no avail, he turns to look at the house.

it was almost like ruins. the house, jisoo meant.

'and have the last laugh!'

"gramps, it looks like there's nothing to save in there now," chan states, panting along with mingyu and jisoo. he didn't even know whose house was this, but here he is, being an extra. "who's this tall fella anyway?! i still have to finish painting my clay rings!"

jisoo ignored chan's comments, completely devastated. the house was in ruins. half of it was still on fire, but still. nothing to see. nothing to laugh at. nobody to save. nobody.

no!

"i actually made these frog rings—hey! gramps!" chan shouts, hand stretching out to reach jisoo in worry. the stupid writer was running towards the fucking half-burning ruins of what used to be a house, which absolutely scared chan. what a fucking stunt! "hyung! no! can't you see that it's fucking on fire?!"

"jisoo! that's a lost case! come back here!"

it's not a lost case. jisoo believes they're still there. jisoo believes that they're still alive. they can't die that easily, can they? they're 'immortals', they said. if you lie, your nose will grow long! also, jeonghan's a god, right? right?! he can't die that easily. and even if seungcheol's not a god, that guy is the most competetive little shit ever! he won't lose to death, would he?

jisoo fights back tears that'd been threatening to fall the whole day, running through fire while lifting burning wooden planks away. it's gotta be here! somewhere!

oh jisoo knows an efficient way! pretend you're not looking for something so it pops up out of nowhere! no—no, he can't do that, that doesn't work on people! why did he even think that?!

"jeonghan! seungcheol!" jisoo yells, with every emotion unwillingly pouring out on his voice. to mingyu and chan, who were nearby, it sounds desperate and angry—but hopeful and longing at the same time. he likes keeping his feelings to himself, huh? "i'm here!"

"i'm back! i'm back! i'm not leaving, who said i was leaving?" jisoo laughed, as if he was just pulling a silly prank. "i'm never going to leave you two again! like ever! i promise!"

"maybe it's my fault, but.." jisoo trailed off, running heedlessly as he continued searching for the two. ".. i'm sorry! i have no excuse! i should've told you about that woman! i should've never left! i should've.. i'm sorry!"

the writer is sadly running out of words, but he continued on. "i'm back. i'm back, you see! cheol! hannie! come on now, show yourselves! this is not funny!"

jisoo still doesn't know what to put in the novel about seungcheol's favorite dish. he also doesn't know what to put in the novel about jeonghan's pet peeve. jisoo still wanted to fall in love with them, for everyone's fucking sake!

"please!"

come on jisoo, find them better! under tables! chairs! that pile of planks! there are a lot of spots you haven't searched yet, you idiot. don't give up! keep running! keep looking! don't ever accept that this is their fate, that this is your fate. don't worry about oxygen! you can get that later after you find them!

fuck! "where are you?! cheol! hannie! seungcheol! jeonghan! come on! it's me! you know me, right?!" jisoo bit his lip harder, trying not to cry. crying will make your vision blurry and crying will make it harder to breathe!

and—main character's luck, everyone—right exactly on cue, a hand reaches out to grasp jisoo's hand. jisoo was about to cry that moment—but a hand reaches out to him with hope, and yes, jisoo still cried.

"seungcheol!" jisoo screamed, seeing the immortal grasping his hand. alive! he is still alive! "where's jeonghan?!"

"h... here. he's here."

"jisoo!" another voice shouts, and it was jeonghan. apparently, the two were stuck under a pile of wooden planks. a bookshelf shielded them from the chandelier, while seungcheol shielded jeonghan from the planks—who made a little plant in hopes that it would give them a breath of oxygen.

"here!!! help! please, help! help us!" jisoo shouted with all his might, tears just falling down his cheeks and jisoo doesn't have any care in the world. even if chan sees it.

(kinda embarrassing if chan sees it, but.. what's important is that everyone is safe now.)

such glorious reunion, but chan wasn't happy.