Jeonghan's eyes fluttered open due to the vibration felt on his pillow made by the sound of his alarm ringing on his phone. Slipping his hands under the pillow, he slipped it back out with his phone in his hand and turned off the annoying music.
He sat up straight on the bed and stretched his body. He again took his phone back and checked for any messages from Joshua and as expected, he sent the address of his house in Busan.
Throwing the phone back on the bed, Jeonghan stood up and walked out of the room and into the bathroom that he shares with Mingyu, out of pure unluck of him losing a rock paper scissors game with Mingyu and Seungcheol who won and got the room with his own personal bathroom.
After taking a short shower, he walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his torso.
While his right hand ruffled his slightly wet hair, he walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water but was greeted by Mingyu standing in front of the refrigerator, gulping down a bottle of water like it's the last thing he is consuming before he dies.
Jeonghan stood at the doorway, looking at the younger with concern filled eyes. "Bad dream again?" He asked walking closer to him and taking out a bottle for himself.
"I would call it a nightmare because I literally saw you and Seungcheol hyung pulling each other's hair" Mingyu then walked away, throwing the now empty bottle in the trashcan while Jeonghan looked at him weirdly.
"Is he serious?" He muttered, taking a sip of his water.
"Wait, but why are you up so early and even took a shower?" The younger walked back in after processing the state he left his hyung in. It's unlike Jeonghan to get up so early and shower.
"I'm going to Busan" He announced, almost unbothered, as if going there is the most normal thing ever. Maybe in a way, it is. Considering Jeonghan went there almost every month ever since he came back from the US.
But Mingyu knows this isn't the case this time. He isn't going there to look for Jiyeon, he's going there to talk to Joshua. That's the only possible reason why he's headed there.
"So I'm guessing the talk with Shua hyung went well last night" Mingyu spoke, leaning on the counter while Jeonghan proceeded to walk out of the kitchen.
"You could say that. But I decided to tell him everything. It's for the best" Mingyu nodded, following Jeonghan into his room.
"Did you talk to Seungcheol hyung?" Like a little kid, Mingyu kept asking questions one after another while Jeonghan tried to stay as unbothered as possible while changing.
"No. I don't know when he got home last night, I fell asleep early" While zipping his jeans, he could see Mingyu about to leave the room, definitely to go and wake Seungcheol up but Jeonghan stopped him.
"Don't. Don't wake him up now. Just tell him when he wakes up. I don't have time to talk now, I'm already running late"
"You're gonna leave without telling him?" Mingyu could sense that Jeonghan is still a little angry from yesterday's events and he didn't like that. He wants them to talk things out.
"My train leaves in 25 minutes, I have no time to explain shit. Get my bag from there, I'll wear my shoes" Jeonghan hurriedly threw his shirt over his head and brushed his hair with his fingers before running to the door to wear his shoes.
Jeonghan tied his shoes hurriedly while Mingyu stood like a statue beside him, holding onto his not so heavy bag.
"I'll leave then. Take care. And tell Seungcheol I'm going to meet Joshua in Busan. And also tell him to not tell anything to Jiyeon without Joshua's permission. I don't know if he's gonna tell her or not"
Mingyu just nodded like an obedient kid as the older gave him orders he had to follow.
"Bye, hyung. Let me know if something goes wrong" Mingyu said, eyes filled with concern as he watched Jeonghan walk away.
Mingyu still couldn't process what's happening. It's still a shock to him that after all these months, Joshua finally wants to talk to Jeonghan.
Unaware of having no other presence of any human except himself in the house, Mingyu walked back into his room and laid down on his bed.
— 9.58 AM
Jiyeon walked out of the shower, tying a knot with the belt of her bathrobe and walked in front of the basin to brush her teeth. Before doing so, she checked her phone for the tenth time to see if she had gotten any missed calls or texts from her brother but to no avail once again.
"What's he up to? Zero calls, zero texts since last night. Is he alright?" He talked by herself, squeezing some toothpaste on her brush.
After getting out of the bathroom, she proceeded to walk to the kitchen but realization hit her that she still has no grocery or any kind of food in the house.
Let's go grocery shopping, she thought to herself before walking into her closet to put on some clothes.
After almost half an hour, she was finally ready to leave the house but was halted as her phone started ringing. Looking at the contact, a huge smile grew on her lips and she answered the call right away.
"Are you finally telling me what's your surprise?" She asked impatiently, without even letting her best friend on the other line speak.
"Oh calm down, babe. Let me speak" – "Okay, what is it?" Impatient, that's the word that describes Jiyeon the best.
"You won't even let me talk. But, anyways, open your door" Her best friend said, making Jiyeon's dumbass confused.
"Why?" She questioned, but nonetheless, she went over to her door and unlocked it before slowly pulling it open, popping her head out slightly just in case her friend paid someone to scare her — which she wouldn't be surprised if it happened because she has done worse stuff before.
Jiyeon's eyes grew wide, almost popping out of its socket as her eyes landed on the figure in front of the door.
"CHOI SOMIN YOU BITCH" She let out the loudest scream, immediately jumping into the arms of her best friend who stumbled back slightly by the hard impact of Jiyeon throwing herself on her.
Somin is Jiyeon's one and only childhood best friend, who was born just one day after her, who she grew up relying on, who's the only friend that has ever been with her through every ups and downs in her life.
Whether it's as small as getting her first ever shoe or as big as getting her first house, whether its crying after a stupid argument with her younger brother over a toy at the age of 8 or her crying after getting her heart broken after Jeonghan left, Somin has been with Jiyeon through it all and has laughed and cried with her every single time.
2 years back, Somin had to move to Japan with her mother to take care of her grandmother after her grandfather passed away. Even though none of them wanted to let each other go, they knew they had to prioritize their family sometimes but that didn't stop them from talking everyday and sharing the smallest detail of their day with each other.
Until a few weeks back, when Somin's grandmother became extremely sick and had to be hospitalized immediately, that the both became a little distant. But little did Jiyeon know, Somin had plans this whole time to surprise her.
"I missed you so much, you've gotten so much shorter, oh my god" Jiyeon laughed, pulling away from the hug and looking down at the now shorter than before Somin.
"I missed you more than you can imagine but for your information, one can't get shorter, it's you that grew taller somehow" – "Oh–" Jiyeon facepalmed.
"Anyways, come on in. I have literally a million things to tell you. You have no idea what happened in the past few days" Jiyeon pulled Somin inside the house, leaving behind the two huge luggages.
"Ok but wait, why are you dressed like you're about to go out?" Somin asked, and Jiyeon finally remembered what she was doing before this.
"Oh– shit. I have nothing edible in the house except water. I was gonna go grocery shopping but look who surprised me"
"Oh my god, let's go grocery shopping together like we used to back in the days" Somin suggested, Jiyeon immediately agreed in excitement but then changed her mind again.
"You just got here, though. You need rest" Jiyeon insisted but Somin gave her another surprise. "And who told you I got here today?"
"I came here yesterday and stayed with Dad the whole day because he's going on a business trip tomorrow and I won't see him for a week, so I surprised you today," Somin explained before Jiyeon could ask.
"Okay, then. Let's go, but we cannot take hours. I have a whole person's life worth of stories to tell you" – "We'll see, babe" Somin winked and walked past her and to the door.
— 2.37 PM
Jeonghan sat in the taxi, looking out the window of the car and watched as he passed by the many buildings.
Jeonghan felt excited as ever to be meeting his best friend after 6 years but he felt just as nervous because this is not a normal best friends reunion, this is about a serious topic. Joshua sounded so serious and angry before ending the call last night which made him even more nervous.
"We're here" The driver announced, Jeonghan's excitement along with nervousness rising with each second. Jeonghan looked out the window and stared at the building.
I'm here. There's no turning back now. It's now or never. Jeonghan thought.
After handing the few notes to the driver, Jeonghan stepped out of the taxi, pulling the bag over his shoulder.
He slipped out his phone to check the location for the last time to make sure he came to the right place. After confirming that he was at the right place, he put it back into his pocket.
With one last nervous sigh, Jeonghan stepped forward and walked into the building. He walked to the elevator and pressed the round button. After a few minutes, the elevator doors opened and he walked into the empty elevator, pressing the number 10 right after and the doors closed.
Each floor that the elevator passed, Jeonghan got even more nervous and at some point, sweat beads started forming on his forehead.
"Why am I so nervous like I'm meeting my crush? Oh my god Yoon Jeonghan, take it easy. That boy won't eat you alive, the most he can do is look at you with eyes as big as saucers and that does nothing to you. So, stop overthinking" Jeonghan scolded his own reflection on the elevator doors.
The elevator door opened and Jeonghan stepped out with slow and small steps. "On the right after getting out of the elevator," Jeonghan recalled the message that Joshua had sent earlier.
Turning on his heels, he walked straight to the black door and rang the doorbell before he could start overthinking again.
After a few seconds, the door slowly opened. Jeonghan couldn't get himself to look up at the boy that opened the door. He felt like a criminal standing in front of him. The crime in question is breaking his sister's heart, which, to Joshua, is worse than murder.
Not hearing a word from the man in front of him, Jeonghan finally looked up, hoping to see an angry Joshua but he was left in surprise as his eyes landed on the man holding the handle of the door.
"Seungcheol?"