Best of Me

Chapter 44: New Beginnings

Jeongguk almost moved for the coffee shop. To step inside and see him up close- see if his eyes still crinkled, or he still scrunched his nose when he didn't like the idea of something. He wondered if his smile was the same.

He wondered what Yoongi would say if he saw Jeongguk.

Would there be relief? Fear? Maybe anger? He would be alright with any of those, because he knew that he deserved whatever he got if he did.

But fear held him back.

Showing himself now after all this time? To intersect his life and collide again into Yoongi's seemed wrong. He had done enough damage. What if Yoongi was happy? And he comes in and ruins it the way he ruined it five years ago?

The way he treated Yoongi those five years ago was unforgivable, and God, did Hoseok and Taehyung love to remind him of that. Whenever they got in a argument, that would be the first thing brought up.

The way Jeongguk had banished Yoongi from their lives.

Despite the fact Jeongguk was still close friends with Hoseok, there was this gap now. This wall that was put up between them because of him, Yoongi left without a word. Never said anything to Hoseok, to Taehyung, or even Namjoon or Seokjin.

His phone line was disconnected, his social media deleted.

Seeing him now, he felt as if he truly was staring at a ghost. A mere figment of his imagination. Somehow able to make up the soft lines of his face and pouty pink lips that he once kissed and knew better than his own.

However, some part of him knew that it really was Yoongi. That he was standing inside the coffee shop with his aloof posture and bored stare. Wearing a simple hoodie to banish the cooler weather and his hair messy on his head while his jeans showcased his thin legs that he prided over.

I am still so in love with you.

He stared one more minute, soaking in the beautiful Min Yoongi while he could. His heart still fluttered, and his body so desperately wanted to rush in there and throw his arms around the other but he refrained.

He wasn't some teenage kid anymore. He was a grown man, he had a company- a job- to run and standing there lingering on the past was something that he couldn't do. Not right then.

It's been five years.

Straightening, he cast one longing look towards the person who once was his world, and pressed on with his hands shoved in his pockets and his body moving on autopilot towards the building a little ways away.

GCF Studios.

Jeongguk opened it about a year or so ago, a little after he graduated from college, and it was called formally as Golden Closet Films Studios. It was a arts studio for kids and teenagers. It taught dance, vocals, art, paint, and photography for now, run by Taehyung, Hoseok, Namjoon, and himself.

Jeongguk taught vocals, some dance when Hoseok allowed him too, and art. He taught the basic art styles of shading, sketching, and some still life and abstract. Hoseok was the main dance teacher. Taehyung taught paint and photography, while Namjoon managed the legal things such as paperwork, music, and licensing. He was in charge of the website and social media, so he was the brains of the entire thing.

Which was honestly fine with Jeongguk. Even after college, math had never been his strong suit so he rather leave it to someone who knew their way around numbers and marketing better than he did.

The business was going well, and Jeongguk was quite proud of himself. He wanted to add possibly a instrument area where they could teach piano among other instruments and the art of making sheet music and songs in general.