OPEN YOUR EYES (BLIND I) - MUSIQ SERIES PART 2

9. GOODBYES

To everyone's dismay, the day to go back to Korea came and everyone looked down. They had already packed their bags and got ready to leave, but they had had so much fun that they were sad about not being able to stay there for longer. Even Yzma and Tallulah did not seem to want to see them go as Tallulah never left their side and Yzma even let them pick her up without a fight, something unusual for her.

"Tallulah is going to take your parting far worse this time, I can tell," Eunwon said as she left a tray full of cups of tea, coffee, and milk on the living room's coffee table. "It honestly breaks my heart to see her every time."

"Is she sad when Axel leaves?" Heejin asked them curiously as she pet Tallulah.

"Since he leaves his bedroom door open, she moves there and sleeps on his bed and everything. We have to nearly drag her out of the room every single time," Eunwon explained. "She also meows a lot more than usual and stops being so playful."

"I'm sorry..." Axel said to Tallulah and kissed the top of her head before petting her. 

"Why didn't you take her to Korea?" Juiyu asked.

"We weren't allowed pets at our apartment," Eunae explained. "And before that Axel couldn't have them in his goshiwon nor in his high-school dorm."

"They are allowed in our apartment building, though," Duyi said, immediately catching their attention. "I read the rules. Cats and dogs are allowed."

It seemed like Tallulah had somehow understood that the conversation had something to do with her because she immediately looked up and started looking at them almost as if trying to understand what was happening, which made Axel smile as he picked her up and looked at her.

"Can you text the boys about it?" Axel asked Duyi and he nodded. "Mum, dad, can I?"

Since he was picking up Tallulah, he had tried to make sure to mouth it clearly for his father to understand as he could not sign at that moment, and it worked as they both nodded with a smile and Axel hugged Tallulah tightly.

"Sorry, Yzma. You'll have to stay here for a bit longer. I can't," Eunae told her cat. 

"She doesn't care whatsoever," Kihwan signed. "Seriously, I don't think I've ever met such a carefree cat."

Just as always, Axel was translating in real time what his father was saying, so they all burst out laughing while Eunae sent him a death glare yet did not say anything knowing that it was true.

They all then continued chatting for a while, but Heejin found herself looking at Axel's now uncovered tattoos and gently grabbed his left arm to look at them closely, trying to understand every pattern and image and what it could mean to him even if she did not actually know.

"I have the lyrics of «Gottasadae» here," he said pointing to the lyrics 'I will be me who I want to be'. "And the C1K logo here."

"I can't believe you got so many tattoos done in such a short time..." Eunwon muttered.

"I thought you would run away after the first one, to be honest," Kihwan added.

"It was painful, but I like the result and really wanted to get it done, so I don't regret it at all," he said, letting Heejin continue looking at them as she pleased. "I really thought about what designs to get, so it isn't like I just decided on a whim."

He was going to continue talking, but Heejin suddenly traced her finger over one of them and he turned towards her to see which one it was. 

'It's, after all, the things that we do differently what makes us stand out from the rest.' She could not believe he had tattooed her phrase on his arm. It was one of the last ones he had gotten, so she had not seen it before that day, and she did not even know what to say or how to react.