[completed] Yeosang has to come to terms with the fact that his life is no fairytale, not even a romantic novel - just another short story, fighting to stay above water in the bottomless ocean of so many others'. And in that ocean, he will have to r...
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3,5 YEARS AGO
Seonghwa stared into the burning charcoal, underneath the table grill, with an intensity that would've been enough to ignite the small black pieces. The tension around the round wooden table was high like never before, and he had no idea how he even managed to show up tonight - how any of them did.
Hongjoong kept pulling his lips into a strange smile, as if he was fighting to keep a somewhat positive look on his face. Mingi was leaned back in his chair, tapping the bottom of his chopsticks against the table, while Yunho was sitting all slouched together in his seat, making him look like he was no where near the tallest of them all - nervousness painted all over his usually happy face.
"So... How have you been?" Hongjoong asked, but the question seemed just as forced as the smile that wanted to leave - just as much as he probably did so himself.
"Fine," Seonghwa replied with a shrug.
Fine... Anything but fine - but it was the perfect, most simple way to answer, and the others all nodded slowly, at the same time, accepting the response. But they all knew it was a lie, and Seonghwa knew that as well.
The four of them hadn't hung out for months - something that used to be so uncommon had become their every day life. The only reason they met up tonight, was because of Yunho's birthday. But Yunho looked nothing like someone who was in the mood to be celebrated.
While Hongjoong fought to keep the conversation going, and Mingi constantly ordered more bottles of Soju, Seonghwa just kept staring at the table grill. Now and then he nodded, doing what he could to seem like he was paying attention at all.
But his mind was a mess, it was empty but filled up at the same time. He felt like burning up, but he also felt nothing at all. He didn't even care that none of his so called best friends came to his wedding two months ago. It didn't come as a surprise when they all had come with the most lame excuses not to attend, and it didn't hurt either.
Because Seonghwa was sure that he had already been hurt so badly that he'd never feel pain again. Maybe, he had gotten so used to the pain that his body didn't even register that it was always hurting by now...
"How are... How are things with Tzuyu?" Mingi asked later on, his voice lower than ever before.
The tall, confident guy had turned into a hesitant, nervous boy, as Mingi dared to look Seonghwa's way. The question was more than forced, but the three others knew they had to ask, to be polite.
"Good..." Swallowing a sigh, Seonghwa looked up and met Mingi's eyes. The resentment in the taller's eyes was clear, but he just nodded slowly at Seonghwa's reply. "It's all good... The baby is doing fine and..."
