𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐔 ─ lee jeno

𝟒𝟑 | 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞

"I can't believe you're leaving me."

"Well, you had the perfect opportunity to go too, Shua, but you decided to stay here instead," Hyesoo contradicted.

Seven years can do things to a person. After finishing up college in the States, Hyesoo had taken a route that her mother was definitely displeased with. It was slightly unaccepted, but it did still fit into her major. Hyesoo decided to pursue being a Marketing Director under her two good friends, Johnny and Minghao's, rising fashion brand, 2SEO. It suited her much better than an office job, and Hyesoo found herself being extremely talented in this area.

Watching the business rise, why, it excited Hyesoo. She doesn't create the designs or model for them, but knowing that her efforts were a part of the rising success gave her a sense of pride. Marketing was always something that intrigued the girl ever since college, but to think that her skills in this area were actually good? Her mother didn't believe her when she said this was her path.

After years of building up the brand to where it was, 2SEO had the great opportunity to start their business all over again in Seoul under the apprenticeship of Ko Taeyong, to which they hurriedly agreed. It took the team three months of planning, risking everything to move their entire creative team to Seoul, but why would you want to be safe when the chances are higher for succeeding? And this was a chance they weren't willing to give up. It's Ko Taeyong after all, he was one of the biggest Korean fashion stylists. People already envied them, which was a good feeling.

Currently, Hyesoo was having coffee with one of her good friends in America. In the evening, she would have to brace herself to leave. She was going to miss the place. Years of living had made her grow fond of the scenery and lifestyle. Hyesoo felt a tinge of guilt in her, leaving her friends was going to be a great difficulty, but nevertheless, she was excited to go back to her hometown.

"You know I would, but someone has to run things here if the business flops in Seoul," Hyesoo's friend, Joshua, explained.

Hyesoo chuckled, "Don't say that! 2SEO is going to do great."

"We'll see, I'll miss you guys though," He chuckled.

"Aw, that was sweet of you. I'm gonna miss you too, I don't know what I'll do leaving here."

"Don't worry about it too much, Seoul is your home. You should be excited! Besides, Johnny, Minghao, and most of the team is going with you. It'll practically be like you never even left," He reassured.

"I sure hope you're right."

-♡︎-

"Did you get to your apartment safely?"

Hyesoo rolled her eyes at the person on the other line of her call, "I know how to follow directions, Johnny. Are you really going to treat me like a kid even in my hometown?"

"Can you blame me? You worry me a lot," The older boy responded.

Hyesoo scoffed, "I'm fine. Your dorm is like seven buildings away, if I have a problem, I'll let you know," She stated.

"I can hear the tone of annoyance in your voice. I'll hang up on you now. Unpack your things because tomorrow we'll be taking some portfolios for our meeting with Mr. Ko," Johnny reminded.

Hyesoo nodded, "Okay, okay. I'm going, bye," She said before she hung up the call. The girl innocently giggled at how she hung up without hearing another thing from her friend. Hyesoo continued to place her boxes away as she set up her apartment.

After a long six hours, there was only one box left. It was the box labeled "Seoul'' which was filled with a lot of random trinkets and items from her youthful days seven years ago. Originally, she had packed them to bring to America, but the girl never had the guts to open it in fear of being homesick.

Hyesoo wondered what was in the box now. It had been a long time, and there were probably tons of stuff that she wouldn't even remember. Bracing herself, she carefully opened it, worried of something breaking by any chance.

Inside, a flood of emotions almost drowned the girl. There was the small mirror that Jinhyuk had given her in highschool. The necklace Jieun gave her as a friendship anniversary present. And the camera Sungchan let her borrow - which she never returned - for her photography assignment back in highschool. There were so many little things that she almost forgot about, and seeing what was inside made her reminisce about everything.

And then, she saw it. At the bottom of the box, there it was. The ring. The ring she was going to give her first love long ago, but never came around to it. If she were to sell it off now, it could pay for her apartment's two month rent. She grazed the velvet box, as she stared intently at it. However, reality was a lot harsher as she quickly snapped out of her thoughts and closed the box.

I'll just put this in the storage closet.

The girl picked up the small box and placed it inside the storage closet. She pondered on whether or not her old friends were doing okay. The last time she had contacted them, after all, was a little over a year ago.

I'll see if I can contact them on SNS.

But, if the girl was to think of her old life and friends, she'd have to think about him as well. She wondered if he ever got her letter. Not like it would matter, she practically had forgotten him as she lived her life freely in America. In fact, this was probably the first time she had remembered him since then. Yet, the possibilities of seeing him again intrigued her. She brushed off her silly thoughts though.

Leave it to fate, remember?

a lil hyesoo sumn sumn yk. kind of a filler cuz hve been busy ☹️