Pink Lemonade ✓

xxxiv

      "Hey!" Sejin said, pretending to be hurt. "I just wanted you let you decide."

      "Darling, I didn't want to decide." Haeji laughed. "And Jeongguk was the only one who seemed to understand that. I remember one moment in particular, when I had been all nerves, trying to choose flower arrangements for the wedding. And right when I'm about to break down crying, Jeongguk sits down next to me, looks at them and then quietly points at one of them, the Calla Lilies. 'Pick these,' he says. And I look at him, wide-eyed, and ask him why those, because he seems so certain. And he just gives me this playful smirk, the devil. And you know what he says? He says, and I quote 'They're my favourite.' And that's how I ended up having Calla Lilies at my wedding."

      The table laughed, nostalgic, melancholic. His mother was smiling to herself. When she caught his gaze, she crinkled her nose at him. "I remember you liking them as well, Guk. Although, you seemed more interested in eating them, than looking at them."

      Jeongyeon snorted. "Sounds about right."

      Jeongguk smirked, deciding to play along, and eyed the flowers which stood in a vase in the middle of the table. He stood up and reached for them. "Might just have a little snack."

      His hand was about to enclose around one of the flowers, when he noticed Namjoon stifling a laugh, looking at something behind Jeongguk.

      A moment later, he heard someone behind him. "If you are hungry, I think this would taste much better."

      Jeongguk jerked his hand away. Mortified, he saw that the waiter was there, grinning, and that he had brought a basket of bread. Slowly, Jeongguk sat back down.

      "I'll just put it here." The waiter put the basket down right in front of him and then winked at him. Jeongguk just nodded. As soon as he left, Jeongguk buried his head in his hands.

      For a moment, everyone tried holding back their laughter, then the entire table erupted in loud roars. When he finally dared to look up, he was immediately met with Jeongyeon's teasing eyes.

      "You should have seen how red you turned," she whispered so everyone could hear.

      Jeongyeon blew her a raspberry. "Did not." But he could still feel the warmth in his face.

      While the party was calming down, Jeongguk found himself looking to his right, at the boy sitting on the other side of the empty chair, maybe to see whether he was laughing too, maybe to take a peek at him. But Taehyung was looking somewhere completely different, was looking out into the restaurant, dread in his eyes.

      Before Jeongguk looked, he knew who it was.

      "Mr Kim! You made it!" his mother said. He was walking towards them, suit and tie, prim and proper. His hair was swept-back, he seemed tall (despite being shorter than Jeongguk), newly shaved, and put together. In that way, he resembled Taehyung, as it was clear he put a lot of effort into his appearance, but Jeongguk knew Taehyung would hate him for making that comparison.

      The one empty seat was, of course, the one right in between Jeongguk and Taehyung. And moments later, it was no longer empty, as the tall man pulled the chair out and sat down with a dashing smile, bidding hello to everyone.

      Jeongguk didn't think he would come. He had known, of course, that there had been a possibility­­; that Mr Kim had talked about joining them for dinner, but Jeongguk hadn't been able to imagine it actually happening, because, so far, Mr Kim had not joined them for anything. He hadn't even seen him since the first day when they had arrived.