You Can STAY |H.HJ|

23

The shrill ring of the alarm and his mom's hollerings woke Hyunjin up from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and let out a groan before getting up from the bed and walking towards the washroom.

It was Saturday and he had to go to the studio for practice. The cultural fest was in 10 days.

He quickly brushed his teeth and took a nice warm shower before changing into a white hoodie and black sweatpants and going downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning mom" Hyunjin greeted his mom with a smile.

"Good morning Hyunjinie, did you sleep well?" Hyunjin nodded.

By the time Hyunjin's mom made the pancakes, he scrolled through his messages. He instantly smiled upon seeing Aura's contact sitting on top, it was a series of voice messages from her, sent about an hour and a half ago.

"Is it Aura?" His mom questioned seeing him smiling. Hyunjin nodded and turned the volume up, playing the voice note to hear the voice he desperately wanted to hear.

"Good morning Hyunnie! did you sleep well? Am sorry we couldn't talk yesterday, I was tired and ended up sleeping early. So to make up for it, here is a voice note" Hyunjin smiled listening to Aura's little giggles. Her voice was groggy, seemed like she had just woken up when she recorded the audio messages.

"I am sorry if am not able to text you much today, Felix wants to go meet his friends and he wants me to tag along, but we can face time at night okay? We're going to go for a walk right now because the weather is really nice here. What is the weather like in Korea right now?" Hyunjin looked out of the window to take note of the weather so he could tell her about it.

"Oh right, you're going to the studio for practice right? Practice well okay? And stay hydrated. Don't be harsh on yourself" Hyunjin laughed at how Aura turned to her mom mode and gave him instructions.

"I'll be going now~ take care of yourself okay?" The voice note ended.

"Ooh you're both so wholesome!" Hyunjin's mom, who had listened to all of Aura's voice notes, cooed.

"Thanks mom" Hyunjin giggled. "She's adorable, isn't she?" He added, his eyes shining.

"Boy, you're so whipped and yes she is indeed" his mom responded laughing and ruffling his hair.

Looking at Hyunjin and Aura reminded her of her husband and her. How they were young and newly in love, and couldn't get enough of each other. He was living in the states now due to work and she missed him terribly.

Hyunjin gobbled up his pancakes and left for the studio. As he walked down the streets, he plugged his earphones in and played the playlist he and Aura had made together for when they both miss each other but can't talk or meet or when they simply can't sleep.

It was a 25 minute walk to the studio. Usually Hyunjin takes the bus, but since the weather was nice today, he decided to walk. He reached the studio and practiced hard, polishing all the areas and perfecting his moves he thought he lacked in.

He was almost done for the day. It was 15 minutes before his allotted time ends. As he decided to go through the routine for the last time, the studio door opened and a group of people walked in.

They all seemed elder than him, somewhat in their early or mid twenties. Hyunjin looked at them, visibly confused. It was still time before his allotted time ends so he couldn't pin point why those people were here early. Nonetheless, Hyunjin bowed and greeted them.

"It's okay, you can continue your practice for the rest 15 minutes. We just happened to reach early" one of the boys from the group said, and Hyunjin didn't fail to notice the slight hint of arrogance in the boy's tone.