promises | jongin

18. EPILOGUE

"i'm sorry," jongin apologized.

jimin secretly snickered. "yuri always mentioned you, you know." jongin's face scrunched up in guilt, avoiding jimin's cold stare. "did you even know yuri woke up, anyways?"

"i only found out earlier this month," jongin nonchalantly answered, his mouth drying as his thoughts got deeper. "on her birthday," he added to his statement.

"ah," jimin mumbled, a spark of remembrance clear in his eyes. "she told me about that."

"really?" jongin gasped, his heart beat getting louder by the second. "i shouldn't be surprised. she'd tell you anything." he nervously chuckled, raising his hand slowly to support his chin as he reached out for a cup of juice with his other hand.

"yeah." jimin sighed, following jongin's actions as he reached out for a cup of his own. jongin was quick to fall into silence, his fingers tightening against the cold beverage as his mind wandered, looking for the right words to say. jimin continued to sit in his chair, his body leaning against it as he searched jongin's face. jongin let out a sigh before raising his eyes.

"i see that you guys have opened a restaurant in honor of mr. moon," jongin blurted, his eyes roaming around the vacant restaurant as he observed the photos plastered on the walls. "he always wanted to open one," he reminisced.

jimin felt taken aback at the sudden mentioning of his father as he gulped down his drink. he looked around the restaurant once before nodding his head in response. "he was always saving up for this place. he just never made it that far," jimin said, a tint of sorrow in his voice.

"i'm glad that your family didn't let his death come in the way of fulfilling his dreams for him." jongin smiled, his heart softening at the thought.

jimin merely nodded as in thanks before bursting into laughter. "why are you so awkward?" his laughter bounced from the walls, jongin not catching up to jimin's outburst. "i know that you came for a reason, jongin. you look like you have something to say," jimin claimed once he quieted down.

"i-i do," jongin stuttered, his fingers tapping against the tabletop as he closed his eyes for a moment to think. "why didn't you tell me? why didn't anyone tell me —"

"about yuri?" jimin interrupted, a frown making its way onto his face. jongin stared, his head nodding as he waited for an answer to be given to him. "maybe if you didn't leave, you would've known."

"i'm sorry," jongin apologized again.

"yuri was going to tell you. but i guess she chickened out because she said that she wanted to 'wait for the right time' or whatever," he scoffed, his mouth dropping to a thin line. jongin processed the words as his gaze fell back to his fingers.

the right time? when was the right time?

"i really do feel guilty about what i did to... her. i promised that i'd stay by her side but i left after three years. looking back at it now, i must've been a horrible best friend." jongin sighed, his voice getting lower by each word.

"best friend?" jimin questioned, his eyebrows raising in curiosity. "i love it when you guys friend zone eachother." he chuckled.

"huh?" jongin asked, his attention captured as he searched jimin's face for answers. before jimin got the chance to reply, the sounds of the door opening interrupted.