Chapter One: Nothing Good Ever Happens on a Thursday
Jeon Jeongguk wasn't the biggest fan of Thursdays, and he had a good many reasons for that.
First of all, Thursdays weren't Fridays, which meant the week wasn't over yet––a cruel thing to be reminded of. Thursdays was usually when he gave up on the week and just wanted the weekend to arrive already, and the thought of having to go to school for a whole nother day, was not a fun one.
Secondly, he had math class on Thursdays, his least favourite class.
But what perhaps played the biggest factor of all was the fact that his father had died on a Thursday. He didn't remember it, but still, it was enough of a justification for his hatred, wasn't it?
Despite that, it had been a particularly normal day. He had hung out with his friends after school, in the park, and taken some photographs. One of them he liked a lot. It was of his two best friends, Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin and of the worst person in the world, Myoui Mina. So, it was safe to say he didn't exactly like the photograph because of the sentimental value of it, it just looked pleasing to the eye. They were all lying down on the grass, Jimin in the middle, Mina braiding his hair, Taehyung smiling fondly at the sight of them.
It had been a pleasant enough day.
Even so, any day spent with Myoui Mina was a day badly spent. Too bad he went to school with her. And too bad she was dating his friend.
He fished his keys from the pocket of his jacket. It had been a pleasant enough day, but it had been long, and he was tired. He couldn't wait to go to sleep. He wanted to bury himself under his pillows and lie there for eternity.
He made his way into the front room and threw his jacket onto a near-by chair. After doing so, he heard his mother's voice in his head screaming at him to pick it up, so he put it in the closet. His house was a warm coloured, old house, and it had a soft aura to it. His safe haven. The entry room was a spacious and round room, decorated with plants. Jeongguk thought he noticed a new one in the corner, his mother had a habit of buying plants. On the right side of the room a stairway curved up to the first floor. Beneath the stairs was a big archway which led into the living room. The light flooded into the room through big crescent windows.
They often had guests, and judging from the chatter coming from the kitchen, they had guests today. He wasn't a big fan of meeting his mother's friends, not when he was tired (always asking questions he didn't know how to answer) but he was hungry and there was no way he would let himself go upstairs without getting some food first.
Most of the questions his mother's friends asked him had something to do with either his dancing (although he had quit five years ago), school or photography. Now it was popular to ask him what he wanted to study at university or if he had any big future plans. He would always get told how much he had grown and most of all, he would get the question, do you remember me? Although that question was more popular at big family gatherings, where many distant aunts would corner him. The good thing about always getting the same questions was that he had all the answers at the ready.
As he walked into the kitchen, however, he realised that he didn't need to have his answers at the ready, for the simple reason that the guest knew most there was to know about him. He was met with champagne on the kitchen table, a young woman in a flower-patterned dress, black heels and wearing the biggest smile he had seen on her face yet, or in other words: his sister.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Jeongyeon?"
"Jeongguk!" his sister gasped and stood up, running to give him a hug.
She hugged him like she always had, by crushing his ribs in the process and Jeongguk let her know that he didn't like it, that it was plain torture, by groaning and squirming. It didn't work though, it only encouraged her to hug him harder. The hug brought him back to childhood. It had been a while since he'd last seen her, a while since he'd been hugged like this.
He hadn't seen her in a while.
Jeongyeon was in university, studying the arts and rented an apartment close to campus with her boyfriend. She sometimes visited during the weekends but had been especially busy recently due to finals coming up. Seeing her in their house on a Thursday afternoon was rare and left him with many questions.
After he wheezed again, she took the hint and finally let him go.
When she did he asked her immediately. "What are you doing here?"
Jeongyeon laughed. "Wow. Not even a hello?" She seemed in a good mood. It felt strange, Jeongyeon wasn't one to be so giddy. There was even a hint of mischief to her smile, and Jeongguk was about to ask what was the matter with her when his mother asked him to sit down. "Jeongyeon has something to tell you," she said.
She also looked giddy. He had never seen his mother giddy. It was weird to see.
Jeongguk pulled out a chair and sat down. There was bread on the kitchen table and some cheese and meat. Now remembering that he was hungry he helped himself to some food. His mother went to the fridge and handed him a lemonade. She ruffled up his hair in the process and he squirmed away from her touch.
"How was your day?" Jeongyeon asked.
Jeongguk rolled his eyes. "Come on. You clearly have some news."
She smiled and only then did Jeongguk notice that she looked a little different. In a way, prettier than usual. Not that his sister hadn't always been beautiful, but his typical image of her had always been tangled hair, sweatpants and loose t-shirts with a lot of paint on them. Now, her brown hair flowed down her front, soft and wavy. Her make-up was done with so much thought, every detail and every stroke in its place. She not only looked sophisticated, with her black dress on, but she looked brighter. Happier, almost.
"You're right. I have news," she said.
"What is it?"
A wide smile decorated her lips once more and she showed him her hand.
The nails were painted, as always, a nice blue colour.
But that wasn't what he was looking at. On her ring finger was a pinkish gold ring with a beautiful clear diamond on top.
His eyes widened and he whipped his head towards his mother and she nodded, smiling from ear to ear. He looked back at Jeongyeon, who was staring at her ring with adoring eyes.
"You're kidding! You're engaged?"
Jeongyeon furrowed her eyebrows. "You sound surprised."
"I am!"
"Not that it doesn't make sense," he quickly added, as Jeongyeon have him a look. "It does. But you're getting married. It's huge."
But it wasn't exactly the fact that Jeongyeon was getting married which threw him by surprise. Namjoon and Jeongyeon had been dating for a while. He was the best guy she had ever been with––he was practically in the family already. Them getting engaged wasn't what took him by surprise. It was what would change in his life which surprised him.
"Does Taehyung know?" he asked.
"I think Namjoon is telling him."
"When's the wedding?"
"At the end of summer."
"So soon?"
Jeongyeon smiled again. "Joon and I have been planning this for a while."
"Wait, so he didn't like, pop the question?"
Jeongyeon laughed. "Well, not exactly. It wasn't a surprise. It was more mutual, I guess."
He exhaled. He was in awe. He couldn't be more thrilled for Jeongyeon. "Congratulations," he said.
Jeongyeon turned to his mother. "I thought we could celebrate this weekend. Maybe we could invite the Kims over for Sunday brunch?"
"Oh, a lovely idea," his mother said. She picked up a notepad (his mother was obsessed with lists, she had one for every occasion. She had probably been waiting for a wedding all her life). "Now, let's see ... we need eggs and sausages––oh we should make pancakes! And ... we don't have any apples, I don't think––and we need need some drinks. Do you two want anything?"
"Green tea," Jeongyeon said.
"Lemonade," Jeongguk said.
"We already have that," his mother said.
She mumbled something to herself and continued writing her list.
Jeongyeon turned to Jeongguk. "Could you let Taehyung know about the brunch tomorrow? I think Namjoon would forget."
Jeongguk bolted up. "I'll call him right now. I was going to anyway."
The two women laughed. As he grabbed his lemonade and bolted out the room, his mother calling after him not to drink it on the sofa, before turning to Jeongyeon to discuss the brunch.
He ran upstairs to his bedroom, threw himself onto his bed and took out his phone. He dialled Taehyung's number. It called and it called for a while. He didn't pick up.
It wasn't like he had expected him to pick up, Taehyung barely answered his phone anymore. Still, it always disappointed him just a little bit whenever he called and didn't get an answer.
He called once more, for good measure, and then hung up the phone. He sighed. He would think that after getting news like this, he would be by his phone. Unless Namjoon hadn't told him yet.
He decided to just text him. But what should he say? It wasn't everyday a family member got engaged. It felt weird to text, it would be better to talk in person, but it felt even weirder to wait until he saw him tomorrow in school. After thinking about it for far too long, he decided to keep it simple. He could mention the brunch later on in the conversation.
Jeongguk (17:43)
yoo dude
did you hear??
craaazy right?
But he didn't get a reply until the next day.
And it was safe to say he was a little disappointed.
Taehyung (07:18)
Sorry, was with Mina
I heard tho
So crazy
***
Welcome new readers! And welcome back old readers <3
You can give your thanks to hopeisnotover_ for giving me the final push I needed to post this chapter ~ this chapter is dedicated to her.
Now for the lemons who have gotten a taste of the old pink lemonade, this is going to be a bit different, which means that it's going to be SO MUCH BETTER.
Yes, I know, humble of me.
Anyways, a warm welcome to Pink Lemonade. I hope you love it as much as I love writing it <3
Remember to vote :)
Love, Sten