::
Seungcheol was skimming through his phone over something when Seokmin and a few others walked into his room. Dates were flying off the calendars pretty quickly and before anyone could notice, they had finished conveying their ending comments at the last location. Most members were preparing to get drinks to celebrate with their live having ended and some were off to sleep already.
"Coups," Mingyu drew the eldest's attention with a question that was on everyone's mind, "Which room are you going to? Jeonghan-hyung's or Woozi?"
The two had wordlessly divided into factions. Ever since the fight that no one knew was about, Jeonghan and Woozi avoided each other like the plague. It was unusual to see the two who had aways been least likely to fight, be so distant. Seungcheol had tried to pry it out of Jeonghan before but the latter just couldn't be bothered to spill. Woozi who had previously pressed an urgency into letting Seungcheol in the know, had fizzled out into silence. Their strained relationship put the unsure unknowing members on a tightrope, often having to choose between the two.
Fortunately, however, one of the two had conveniently dropped out of tonight's celebrations. "Jeonghan-ie went to bed already," Seungcheol relayed what he knew, "Woozi won't drink but he'll show up if he wants to join."
Mingyu nodded in response. It was decided that by default, his room would be the one sacrificed. Hoshi who had been dawdling by the door, noticed Seungcheol's open trunk on the ground and picked up a familiar-looking hoodie. Hoshi spoke, merely intending to inform, "Hyung, I'm taking this."
Seungcheol glanced sideways, ignoring Mingyu's large silhouette in front of him when he spotted it. Words left him before he could think, "Yah, not that one! Yuri likes that one—"
Ah.
The realisation hit him late. Guilt cast over Hoshi's face, quickly changing to pity as he slowly let the hoodie down. "Sorry hyung," he muttered, feeling quite like the fool for unearthing sad memories. Hoshi placed the clothing back, folding it to the best of his abilities, "I'll leave it here."
Coups ran a hand through his hair, covering his face with his palm in an attempt to hide his distraught expression. He had not expected such a simple mistake from himself and silently attempted to pull himself together in front of the young ones. "No, it's fine," he gestured with his free hand, "Take it. I spoke out of habit."
Seungcheol blamed Jeonghan for it. Over a year back, when Seungcheol's relationship with Yuri had been new like fresh bread out of the oven, Jeonghan had borrowed the bag Yuri had gifted. The members all had the habit. Often, they borrowed each other's clothes, accessories and items-without asking too. But Jeonghan's hasty action had nearly outed their secret relationship before barely starting. Seungcheol felt a small smile pull up his lips at the memory. After that incident, Coups had been careful with all the items Yuri bought for him and all his clothes had inevitably become hers.
Things were different now. Even when all had been returned, Seungcheol could somehow never retain ownership of his items. The hands they were exchanged with no longer mattered. It had only one owner. His mind, heart and items were now permanently branded as Yuri's.
Seungcheol's bitter smile dropped at the pitiful look in Hoshi's eyes. He breathed out, this thoughts in knots. He had to quell his dongsaeng's guilt first. Did they really think he was this weak? "It's okay." He repeated, trying to assure the frozen kid. Hoshi was more sensitive than he looked. Glancing around, he observed Mingyu who dared not interrupt the conversation. The sound of Yuri's name had become a taboo in the group. Almost as if it was a contagious disease spread by sound.
It was absurd. The members were trying their best to not remind Seungcheol of his ex but there it was, a habit triggered unexpectedly.
Seungcheol changed the topic, "Soonyoung-ah, if you run into Woozi, by any chance, can you ask him to join us before we start to drink?" Then changing his mind almost immediately, he stopped the retreating Hoshi, "Oh, never mind. I'll just text him."
Mingyu took Seungcheol's silent typing as his cue to exit. With an arm draped around Hoshi's shoulders, Mingyu dragged the poor boy out, saving him from perjuring himself any more. Seungcheol too, grateful for Mingyu's wit, eventually placed his phone down and glanced at the clothing Hoshi had dropped.
With the two having left, Yuri's memories were the only thing that kept him company in the now-empty room.
::
The next morning, Scoups and Woozi gathered at the door of a barely awake Jeonghan. He had messy hair still, rubbing his eyes. It all suggested he'd just gotten out of his bed to receive the two trying to barge in.
Jeonghan looked at the two with a dazed look on his face. The combination was an odd one and Jeonghan's expression soured at the sight of Woozi. "You two—" He started, wanting to say something but stopped midway, tired. He had no idea what had brought them there. Knowing they were unlikely to ever back down, Jeonghan asked with a defeated look. "What do you want?"
Woozi frowned disapprovingly and then pointed to Seungcheol in front of Jeonghan. "Tell him," he ordered, standing at the door, "Tell him about your involvement in his relationship."
Seungcheol's brows furrowed, not having expected his relationship to be the topic of their fight. In his head, he had already theorised countless situations that the two could've disagreed on. From music to military enlistment, Coups had been ready to tackle any issue that came his way, sit the two down and find a solution. But Yuri? What could Jeonghan possibly have to do with his relationship? And why would they disagree?
Noticing Seungcheol's eyes fill with questions frustrated Jeonghan further. This wasn't the kind of conversation he had expected to have on his first day off after the concert. "Come in. Sit down," Jeonghan resigned to his fate and allowed the two into his hotel room. He slid on a T-shirt draped across one of the chairs and covered his naked torso. There were still a few hours before any of the members were expected to wake up and the staff had taken their partying into account to schedule their flights out to a later time.
Jeonghan presumed that Woozi, having realised the fact, dragged Seungcheol so early in the morning for an effective confrontation. He glared at the young composer for a whole minute, realising he was just as sly as him in that regard.
"Jeonghan-ah," Seungcheol was the first to bring it up again, hurried by the secret unknown to only him, "What is this about you and my relationship? What is Jihoon talking about?"
His reaction was expected, Jeonghan thought. Seungcheol did not know. It was only a matter of time that this too, would be resolved. Jeonghan only worried about how it would affect the nature of his friendship after. Would it be considered betrayal? Or concern?
"I, uh, may have given Yuri some advice that led her to break up with you," he started hesitantly, observing the two.
"What? When?" Seungcheol's frown deepened. "Don't run around in circles, Jeonghan-ah, tell me clearly." He grew impatient, knowing his friend had contacted Yuri directly.
Jeonghan took a deep breath, not knowing how to explain. So, he started from the beginning. "Cheol-ah, when I first met Yuri, she seemed a little unpredictable. You two started dating out of nowhere too. And I'm not sure how this will sound but you changed. It started with the little things, you going to golf alone or refusing drinks because you wanted to drive her home. For a while, I thought that the change was good for you and I was happy for you," he peeked at Woozi's unbelieving expression, "I really was."
Seungcheol nodded, inviting his friend to continue. Once Jeonghan started, the words slipped out a little more easily, "But then I noticed you were serious about her. Really serious. So, I met up with Yuri to sound her out. I wanted to be assured that my friend was in the right hands. I needed to know if she cared for you as much as you did."
Seungcheol's eyes softened at the sound of it. He had a great friend by his side and it assured him slightly. He remembered the time when the two had lunch together and how close the two had gotten after the incident. "Jeonghan-ah, I know your care is great but Yuri and I can handle ourselves. Even if Yuri didn't care, I would—"
"I know that now." Jeonghan cut Seungcheol off with a frown. He watched the young rays of sunlight enter his room through the glass windows. To him, it was still too early for such discussions. He did not know how to be serious (while he was still so sober). "But I have no other excuse otherwise."
Seungcheol shut up at that. Jeonghan had a lot more thoughts running in his head than he was showing. Woozi too, was silent while listening to it.
"Anyway," Jeonghan picked up from where he left, "That day when you confessed how difficult things were getting for you, I knew things would end between the two of you sooner or later. It is the story with most couples in our profession. It can't be helped. All I did was remind Yuri about our conversation and I think—" he sighed, running a hand through his long hair, "I think it tipped her over. I think she broke up with you because of my words."
Seungcheol breathed out loud at this newfound information. There was a lot to think, and a lot to consider. Yuri had once mentioned such a conversation in the past but Seungcheol hadn't expected the influence of it to be so large.
"No," Seungcheol spoke in sudden realisation, "There's no point thinking about it now. Yuri isn't the type to listen to someone so blindly in the first place." Seungcheol tried to assure himself, "I don't deny that your words did play a part in it but I refuse to believe it was the cause. So, it doesn't matter what you did or said," Seungcheol spoke to both himself and Jeonghan, placing his thoughts out in the open.
He tried to reel in all the information he knew about Yuri and Jeonghan. It was that meal they had together. The memory came floating back slowly. Yuri had once mentioned it happening, her strong will to communicate everything helped him tick the boxes off on everything. Was that the source of this problem?
"But you shouldn't have interfered in the first place, Jeonghan-ah." Seungcheol couldn't wrap his head around it, no matter how much he thought about it. He crossed his arms, his frown growing deeper, "Who do you think you are?"
Seungcheol's words weren't threatening or spoken in anger. His voice was even and his tone was factual. His well-thought out words hit Jeonghan's heart at the mark. Seungcheol's remarks were firm and his eyes brimming with conviction, "Even my real brother does not get a say in this. What makes you think you can interfere?"
Shaking his head, he drew a conclusion, "Jeonghan-ah, I appreciate you going out of your way for me but please don't ever do it again." He warned, trying to frame his words right, "I can handle my relationships just fine without either of you—," he looked between Jeonghan and Woozi, "—ever meddling in my affairs."
The warning was heard loud and clear. Seungcheol had been polite and mature. His response was thoughtful. Soon after, Seungcheol's sharp eyes reached Woozi. "This still doesn't change anything. So, Jihoon-ah, why did you want me to know this?"
A long pause followed. The air around them was cold and even the morning sun could not warm it. Slowly, Woozi revealed his purpose for this conversation, "My sister has gone AWOL." Woozi announced, breaking his posture to lean forward, "Yuri won't pick up my calls or talk to me anymore. And before either of you think otherwise, I assure you, I haven't done anything to warrant such a reaction. In fact, I don't think she's acting off her own accord." Woozi explained, drawing the two in, "I don't have much to go on but I think it's either her mother's doing or she's seriously reflecting on Jeonghan's words. I have no idea what kind of state my sister is in, whether she's eating well or not. And that woman, if involved, can't be trusted to do any good."
"Wait, Yuri's not responding?" It was Jeonghan who had spoken up this time, confused. Woozi silently nodded.
Seungcheol's eyes on Woozi wavered slightly. "Her mother's really back then." He breathed out, his suspicions confirming. "I knew something was up." Coups tried to confirm his thoughts, "Do you think Yuri's abnormal behaviour is connected to her mother's sudden appreance?"
He knew so little and now all this information was beginning to make his head hurt. "Can you tell me more?"
::
A/N
Chapter was edited on 03.03.2024.
Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think of the chapter! :)
::