pluto || jikook

the goodbye is colourless, the colours that don't change

jungkook had gone to work this morning. before he had left he had written out a note of things jitae could do, how to call a taxi, directions to places he might like to walk to, and he had left a set of keys with labels on the bench beside the note. jitae did truly understand why he fell for him years ago, even if he couldn't remember it. at the bottom of the list was a little note.

if you need anything at all,
call me.
- jk

they had picked jitae up a new phone yesterday and set it up for him, so he could actually call or text jungkook whenever he wanted to. but after he had eaten, showered, and dressed in a white t-shirt, yellow checked over-shirt, and black jeans, he really just wanted to wander around outside for a little while. he found a little black drawstring backpack and put his phone, coin bag containing about thirty thousand won in notes and coins, and a beanie in the bag before he heads outside.

it was a little windy, but it wasn't too cold. he added some sunglasses to his ensemble as he began to walk down the road. he had no idea where he was going, he was just going. just down the road from their house was a little dairy, the shop floor was only about six or seven paces square, but within was snacks and drinks that caught jitae's eye. he walked inside, taking off his sunglasses and holding them in his hand as he looked around the store, greeting the shopkeeper that appeared from the back in reaction to the buzzer at the door.

jitae looked at chips first, then his eyes were dragged to the cooler of drinks in the back corner. he grabbed out a coke, wandering back towards the counter and also grabbing a bag of dried seaweed. he places them on the counter to price up and spots some raspberry licorice, that gets added to the pile. he pays, thanks the shopkeeper, and leaves again, his seaweed and licorice in his bag and coke in hand.

he sips his coke as he walks, looking at street names and trying to really think about each one hoping one would stir up something, anything. he continues to wander, through crowds of people and down street after street, making sure not to get hit by anything even if there was a little curiosity if it would hit his brain back into whack.

he reached a park. an open grassy space with a playground in the center, benches all around. he chose a bench, the one near a tree not far from the playground and he got out his snacks he had bought, closing his coke and sitting the half drank bottle on the bench beside him. the bag of seaweed was ripped open and he ate a piece at a time, it wasn't great, sure... but it was food and he just felt like eating right now.

he watched a girl dressed in pink swinging across the monkey bars, being held up by an adult she trusted dearly as she wasn't big enough to do it herself yet. it made jitae smile.

then he grabbed the monkey bar, the painted red metal slipping slightly in his grasp but he pushed from the platform and swung. he reached for the second, then the third. swing swing swing. he was almost at the end, his hands and arms burning but he was almost there. as he reached forward again his hand slipped, he fell. he landed on the bark with a thud, pain erupting through his arm as he hit the ground. a woman rushed to him. he had fractured his arm, not broken it thankfully, but it was put in a cast.

jitae stopped eating, replaying the snippet of memory over in his head. he played it again and again, remembering as much detail of it as he could. he remembered falling, the pain, the other kids and the woman rushing to him when he cried out. he remembered.

jitae scrambled for his phone, finding his way to his contacts and finding jungkook's name. he dialed without hesitation, holding the phone to his ear excitedly as he awaited his boyfriend's answer. the phone rang three times before a worried jungkook picked up.

"jitae, is everything okay? what do you need?" jungkook asks. jitae couldn't contain his grin.

"jungkook! i remembered something!" he says excitedly. he heard a shocked sound from jungkook on the other side.

"what? what do you remember?"

"when i was little, i was playing on some monkey bars, and i fell off and fractured my arm," jitae recalls proudly, "i remember falling off! it... well it hurt." jitae furrows his eyebrows and looks at his feet, before perking back up. "but i remembered something jungkook!"

"you did! i... i don't know what to say, this is good news! great news! no time at all and they should all be back," jitae could hear jungkook's grin, "what triggered it?"

"well, i'm at a park, and i was watching a girl on the monkey bars and it just remembered!" jitae exclaims happily. he felt on top of the world, nothing could bring him down right now, not really.

"i'm so happy, babe, really, i... wow," jungkook sounded shocked, "you're actually getting better."

"yeah! we should celebrate tonight, talk when you get home?" jitae asks, thinking of where they could go, where they went on a date perhaps? maybe he could remember something else today?

"okay, yes. we will talk when i get home, i'll see you later okay?" jungkook says.

"okay, bye jungkook."

"bye." jungkook's bye sounded unnatural, like he was used to saying something else at the end of calls instead. jitae didn't hang onto that though long though as he stood and went over to the man that was with the girl who was now making her way to the top of a slide.

"excuse me, sir?" jitae asks politely. the man looks to him and smiles.

"hi."

"hi," jitae takes a breath, "my name is park jitae, recently i almost drowned and because of that i lost all my memory," jitae begins explaining, looking at the packet of two raspberry licorices that he held in his hand. "but i was watching you, with her just before on the monkey bars, and you both helped me remember the first memory i've gotten back."

"oh, really? well, i'm glad we could help," the man says kindly, looking confused as to where this was going.

"i wanted to thank you, and offer you these, as the gift for helping, even though you weren't aware." jitae offers the licorice to the man, who seems a little surprised.

"well... thank you jitae, yunju will love these," the man thanks jitae, bowing politely. jitae grins.

"i hope she does, and please tell her they're because she helped someone," he says with a smile, the man looks like he was about to say something else, but his attention is called away by the girl, yunju. "i'll go now, thank you again." and with that jitae bows and leaves them both, a grin on his face as he replays the memory in his head. it wasn't the greatest memory, sure, but it was the only one he had that wasn't a few days old. he was happy.

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