That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Chapter 73: Reaching

"Rise and shine, Frostbite!"

That word brought her so much warmth and serenity, even in the moment she just woke up from a deep sleep. It felt almost too long since she last heard it coming from him. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her.

"We have a bus to catch in 45 minutes!" he told her, "so get your cute little tush out of bed and get ready!"

He was back. The Vernon that she knew was back. She couldn't help but smile as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up from bed.

-

Vernon was back to the way he was. It was as if yesterday had not happened at all. He did not bring up his mother or show any signs of being sad for her. Jin was simultaneously relieved and concerned at the same time. Although she was glad he was back to normal, she felt like he was suppressing a lot in order to give off that impression.

They were sitting next to one another on the bus having a breakfast sandwich when Jin decided to bring yesterday up.

"Yesterday? Did that happen? What does yesterday even mean. I don't remember a yesterday?" Vernon said with narrowed eyes. He was clearly joking, telling her to forget about what happened yesterday and never to bring it up.

"If yesterday didn't happen, then I'm still mad at you," Jin replied, as it was only yesterday when she forgave him.

"Okay, now I remember yesterday," Vernon said quickly, making Jin laugh, "but the part where you stopped being mad at me is the only part of yesterday I remember," he warned.

"The only part?"

She was hoping he would want to remember that moment between them, the moment that was interrupted ever so rudely by her ugly yawning. But he seemed adamant that the only part of yesterday he remembered was the part where she was no longer mad at him.

She slept for much of the bus ride there, still tired and drowsy from staying up the night before. When she woke up, she found that Vernon had covered her with his jacket.

She stretched her body, which was aching from the position of her sleep. Vernon, who was listening to music beside her, took off his headphones and smirked at her.

"You're cute when you sleep," he told her.

She gave him his back his jacket and suppressed the blush that was about form on her cheeks.

"Is it going to be harder for me to make you blush from now on?" Vernon asked her, looking dissatisfied when she did not blush.

"Probably," Jin answered.

"Well, I won't give up," Vernon told her, "just because we're not dating anymore doesn't mean I won't try to get those pretty little cheeks pink."

Jin smiled softly. She was happy to see him like this, happy that he did not let there be awkwardness between them at all.

"By the way, I never got a chance to ask you about your trip. How did that go?" he asked her.

"It was successful," Jin answered him. "We sorted a lot of things out."

"How's my enemy?" Vernon asked jokingly. "Did he steal your heart?"

"Seokmin?"

"My enemy," Vernon asserted with a comical expression of disgust.

"He's great," Jin replied, amused by his expression, "and no, he did not steal my heart."

"So nothing happened between you guys?" Vernon asked.