for you: to you ✰ chanmin

14 𝘑𝘜𝘓𝘠 • 2007

It had been a year...

But Chan wasn't going to back down now. He had returned with a reason. A reason as to why he had disappeared in the first place, all those months ago.

He had come back to ask for a second chance; a new page in the book of them; a new leaf on the tree of friendship.

He had come back to apologize.

"Seungmin... I'm really sorry." He thought was a good start, shifting awkwardly on the balls of his feet and attempting to dry his sweaty hands on the front of his school polo shirt.

"I really shouldn't have ignored you like that. I can't imagine how upset you must've felt, especially since we haven't talked in a year..."

Seungmin sighed and rearranged how he was holding his book. A loose post-it note seemed to accidentally fall out of it, but neither of the boys seemed to notice.

"I did feel very upset, but I was definitely more confused, if anything..." The brunette replied, taking his sweet time to scan the entirety of Chan's face; as if he were taking a mental picture to remember the older by, if he ever abandoned him again.

Chan hummed and wrung his hands together in front of him. "I just felt that I should probably explain why I ignored you─"

"─I think I can understand why..."

Chan raised a quizzical eyebrow, suddenly invested in what the younger's hypothesis might be.

"You said you were scared, right?" Seungmin started, "You told me you trusted me, and that you were scared, and then you stopped talking to me all of a sudden."

Chan slowly nodded.

"Did you stop talking to me... because... you were scared of me...?"

The brunette couldn't help but let a few tears prick the back of his eyes; threatening to fall. He never wanted that to be the case, but with so much time being spent alone the past year, he just couldn't help but think like that─over-think, perhaps.

Chan noticed the pained expression that had briefly flashed across Seungmin's face, and he immediately went into panic mode.

"No, no, no! That's definitely not the reason!" He nervously smiled, taking a few steps forward to gently wrap his arms around the younger boy in another warm hug.

"R-Really...?" Seungmin stumbled over his words; his eyes glistening and full of hope. "What was the reason then...?"

Chan looked down, a mixture of guilt, pain, and fear washing over his features, all at once.

"Min..." He whispered, hesitantly. "I was just... afraid...'

"I was afraid because... I felt like I had just... trusted you too easily...? And, because I was so quick to trust you, my brain just immediately thought that... you were going to leave me─ I don't know..."

A silent tear rolled down Chan's face, and Seungmin reached up to gently wipe it away. But he didn't pull his hands back afterwards, and he instead wrapped them around the base of Chan's neck; keeping him close.

You'd think this sort of action would be considered weird to the two seven-year-old boys, but for some reason... this felt perfectly normal to them, and they couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

It just felt... right.

"Min... I'm sorry that I ignored you for an entire year... I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, but I just wanted to come and apologize... I know how much I hurt you, and I'm incredibly sorry for being the cause of your pain..."

Chan sighed and gave the younger a pained smile─his eyes glistening with the tears that he tried to desperately hold back.

He shouldn't be the one crying...

But, due to the simple gesture of Seungmin removing his hands from around the back of his neck, to gently cup the sides of his face: Chan couldn't help but let a few streams of water, gush down from his eyes.

He felt guilty.

"Hey, hey, hey... It's okay... I do forgive you, Chan..." Seungmin smiled, his eyes creasing into the shapes of little crescent moons; one of the things that Chan loved about the younger's smile.

He wished that he could've seen it more, this past year. But, after all, it was his fault that he couldn't─didn't, rather...

"Really...? You'll forgive me...?" Chan asked, his voice wavering slightly with guilty apprehension.

"Of course!" Seungmin giggled softly, "You did nothing wrong! You just needed your space. Sure, telling me about it would've been preferred, but I can't exactly fault you for something you can't control...'

"So... How about a restart, ey? We can start from the very beginning." Seungmin grinned, slowly holding out his hand as he tried to initiate a handshake with the older. "Hi! My name's Kim Seungmin!" He beamed, "It's really nice to meet you!"

Chan couldn't help but let a gentle smile overtake his face.

He felt content now.

He had gotten back what he should have never left in the first place...

His best friend.

So, with that gentle smile, still present on his features─dimples showing, and everything─Chan returned the handshake, and replied with:

"Hi, Seungmin! I'm Chan! It's nice to meet you, too."

# •°彡

but, what about the post-it note?

*gasp*

but, for real, i love how this chapter turned out. i know it's a little different from the rest, but i feel like it fits perfectly into the story as a form of closure for Seungmin's chapters about the year of 2007.

also, it gives you a bit of insight as to how the boys' friendship is developing over the chapters :)

─jen