How to Play with Fire | seungjin

🍻 3

By the time Seungmin gets home, the sun is low in the sky as it sets below the horizon.

What a long day it's been. And tomorrow he's back at the salon working a full shift.

Just as he opens the gate, his cute puppy, a six months-old golden retriever named Daengmo, runs down the front stairs and barks at him as a greeting. Seungmin meets him in delight, scoops him into his arms and gives his pup a quick kiss on his forehead before setting him down. "What are you doing in the front yard? Did you miss me? You missed me, didn't you?"

Daengmo barks at him again, and his cuteness makes Seungmin chuckle as his puppy brushes against his legs excitedly, clearly begging for food.

"Okay, okay, I'll feed you after I grab the mail, bub. Go use your puppy door and wait for me in the kitchen."

Daengmo barks another reply and pads his way to enter the puppy door in the backyard. Smiling at how his puppy had mastered their routine, he goes to the mailbox. He starts sorting out the bills and bills and bills and, oh, what's this?

The back is practically covered in pink and red glitter, so much that some gets attached to Seungmin's fingers, and then there's the big bright cursive font saying a 'You're Invited!' To what? Seungmin wonders— a sweet 16? Because the only people he knows who would use this much glitter are, like, teens, 16-years-olds!

Shaking his head, his curiosity gets the better of him as he tears open the envelope.

Oh.

His heart stops at the sight of the wedding invitation, and he stumbles back into the mailbox. A wedding invitation. Not just any wedding either... Jihyun's wedding.

Hot tears blur his vision, his hand trembling at this realization. What— why the hell is Jihyun inviting him to his wedding? To be nice? Brag? Humiliate him? Seungmin pushes the tears from his eyes and tries to gather his thoughts. Jihyun's doing this to humiliate him, isn't she? To show that she's upgraded to someone better and... and... And maybe Seungmin wants nothing more than to cry and scream and call her and give her a piece of his mind. His grip on the invitation tightens as he glares down at the garishly over-the-top decorations. It's not a nice thing to do, but Seungmin grips the invitation and rips it in half again and again and again.

With each tear, he feels a tiny weight lift from his shoulders as he curses out Jihyun's name. Damn her for being so insensitive. For throwing away four years of their relationship. Four years of Seungmin being the perfect boyfriend. He always encouraged her, supported her. Four years of their relationship, and this is what he gets?

The bits of invitation fall from his fingers like confetti as tears trickle down his face. Damn her. Damn her and her new fiancé, really. Four years, and not once did she talk about marriage with Seungmin, and she's known her soon-to-be-husband for what, less than a year!

As he looks back at his empty house, the evening chill sends a shiver through him. Seungmin decides it's better he goes to feed Daengmo now, and then go somewhere else for dinner. He doesn't... he doesn't want to be alone right now. Seungmin will just cry and eat ice cream and feel so alone and he can't. He just can't.

***

After feeding Daengmo, washing off and changing his clothes to feel a little better, Seungmin finds himself at the Miroh Bar with a glass of beer and a heavy heart.

"Everything okay, Seungmin?"

As the bartender, Changbin, whom he has befriended during his past few visits, walks over, Seungmin puts on a smile and nods. "Everything is just fine."