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Sitting in his parked car with the ignition off, Donghyuck solemnly stared at his phone screen that displayed a single chat conversation between him and the contact name Grim Reaper. Their conversation prior to being roommates was strictly only about work, as even when Donghyuck tried to pick a fight with Jiseol via text, she'd simply left him unread. Now that they lived together, their texts to each other were mostly Jiseol threatening to shove Jeno's guitar down Donghyuck's throat if he didn't keep his voice down at night and Donghyuck replying with a string of vulgar emojis that resembled curse words.
As he chewed on his bottom lip, Donghyuck's fingers hovered over the keyboard. His mind was crafting various forms of apologies in regards to how he crossed the line while arguing with Jiseol earlier.
"I'm sorry about what I said. It was out of hand and I apologize,". No, too formal.
"Don't be mad, LOL, I didn't even mean it,". Too rude, would piss her off even more.
"You goody? Me sorry, Seollie,". Yeah. Nope.
Donghyuck hit his head against the steering wheel. Why the fuck do I have to say sorry anyways, he thought, I didn't say anything wrong.
He sighed, then glanced at his watch to check the time. A smile appeared on his face as he saw that it was time and he picked up the bouquet in the passenger seat. He felt more thrilled with each step he took towards the airport, feeling so joyed that he was even smiling at strangers while proudly holding the bouquet in his arms.
Donghyuck made his way to the international departure gate, neck craning out to see if he could spot the face he had missed the most. He was on time and he was at the right place—he had checked the message from Chaeryeong's best friend on her flight details too many times that he had the message memorized—so the thought of getting to see her in any minute was making him nervous in the best way possible.
When she finally came out, looking as breathtaking as the last time he'd seen her, Donghyuck could feel a thousand butterflies partying in his stomach. Quickly fixing his hair and putting on his best, widest smile, he courageously approached her. He expected a burst of tears, or the happiest look a girl could wear on her pretty face, but instead when Chaeryeong saw him, all he could see was her horrified expression.
"Hyuck?"
"You don't look so happy to see me," Donghyuck let out a small chuckle to ease his own nerves, when in reality, his fingers were going cold from fear.
"What are you doing here? How'd you even know I'd be here?" Chaeryeong asked in clear exasperation.
Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows. "Ryujin told me. You...you told me to wait for you, Chae, for the day that you come back. That's why I'm here. We promised, remember?"
"Oh God, Hyuck, why did you do this? Why didn't you ask me first?"
"Because you said we shouldn't contact each other while we're apart and that I should just surprise you when you get back!" Donghyuck's grip on the bouquet tightened as some of the petals fell to the floor.
