LOVE IS NOT OVER YET JIKOOK

Chapter 10:history

After a long deliberation of whether he would enter the place he had stood in front of, he had his fingers clutching the entrance's door tightly and unconsciously opening the door entrance leaving him no choice to enter.

Walking inside hit him with an unbelievable sense of nostalgia, remembering his youthful days and how he used to sneak in here with his pocket freshly stuffed by his allowance for the week, checking out things his fingers could utilize to create something that would satisfy him – in his eyes and his pride.

And he thought, how long since he last came here? It felt like years, no, it was years. The place did change though, adapting to modernity, it became more edgy in terms of appearance, had new sections and a whole lot bigger extension. Time drifted too fast, and people had to adapt. It was a constant push and pull – time, that is. And it was tiring but that's how you live – by pushing and pulling, and if you want to gain something, you had to pull with all your might.

He was glad though, to see the art shop he used to go to reaching the peak of success, he would be damned if this shop closed down because this place was the setting of one of his greatest memories with Jungkook, he befriended the old manager owner here when he was going through the hoops of courting Jeon Jungkook, he went over as often trying to get new materials he could use to draw and paint because every time he would draw Jungkook, it would always pale in comparison on how he looked in reality and it would frustrate him, so much, how he could never capture Jungkook's beauty in his own crafts.

"Good morning, sir!" The cheerful young lady greeted him, and he smiled at the youth's enthusiasm. Happiness is contagious? Anyway, what's the point of turning down the enthusiasm and discouraging people who are working hard for a living? It's the least compensation for them, to be frank.

"Good morning," he greeted back, and the popping question in his mind urged to leave his mouth. "Can I ask, where's Mr. Nam?" There, he asked, remembering how the old man wasn't the one who greeted him open nor is he sitting at that counter whenever there wasn't any people to accommodate around.

"Oh," The girl's enthusiasm suddenly turned upside down, her lips doing the same and forming a frown. He knew it was bad, the way it turned such enthusiasm into ashes that quick, in just a single question. But he didn't expect it when he heard it, "uhm, he's gone sir. It's been a year."

"Oh, I see." Jimin replied, grief and loss thriving in his heart, but it was too late. The old man helped him so much, he helped him how to draw better and which materials he could use to better project colors and lines – he helped him get together with Jungkook. And after finally hearing Jungkook say 'yes', he brought him there first. Way before his parents, way before anyone else, he had introduced Jungkook to the old man first as his boyfriend – his boyfriend! He still can't believe he's the luckiest man that made Jungkook say 'yes'.

He felt sad of all of a sudden, want to pause and grieve, but he knew that old man Nam was getting really old and knowing he's at peace somewhere above the skies, it gave him a sense of relief. Plus the fact that his children didn't just abandoned this place and instead turned into a success of a shop, it probably made the old man so happy in heaven.

"I'll just look around," Jimin said to the girl and wandered to the different sections of the store.

He searched for a sketch pad, he wanted one with many leaves so Jikook could draw a lot or if he ever does mistakes, he didn't have to suffer from insufficiency. He checked all the sketch pads out meticulously, some having sharp springs and while others have folds on the cover. Onto his next search, he found it – the one he's been searching for and it was too incredulous that it made him want to laugh at his childishness, but he knew at instant it was perfect, the perfect sketch pad for Jikook. He took it, inspecting it, this one has double springs that kept them tight and no – there wasn't any springs that overlapped so no pointy ends, just loop after loop.