𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐒 | 𝖯𝖩𝖲

𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗇

the day of the graduation ceremony has finally arrived and the excitement filled the air.

not for yerin.

for the past days, she has been preparing herself mentally as she knew letting go wasn't as easy as said. jay already packed all his stuff into suitcases, sighing as he closed them one by one.

the dorm has become silent these days, everybody knew it was hard. yerin wasn't alone after all, the boys will need to bid goodbye to jay as well and soon, the whole dorm will have to let go of each other to pursue their individual dreams.

———

"jay, may i come in?", jungwon knocked on the said one's door.

he entered anyway.

jay was currently sitting on his bed, staring at his phone screen with a serious expression. "are you okay?" jungwon was concerned. he looked quite intimidating and it looked like something happened.

jay's expression softened as soon as he noticed his best friend next to him.

"hmm, it's just the company. mom already sent me pictures of the building, can't believe i'll be there soon as well."

"are you perhaps planning to come back?"

"what?" jay frowned due to the sudden question. he hasn't even thought about it yet.

"you know, maybe if the company is doing well under your name in the future, you might as well have more free time and visit.. us. all of us! let the other employees work!"

"i can't possibly do that. i need to learn how to properly lead a business first, then we'll see."

"aren't you going to miss yerin?"

"i promised to contact her everyday and i will not break that promise."

"never say never, tsk." jungwon grinned, "i just wanted to thank you though."

"for what? the food?"

jungwon rolled his eyes: "for making yerin's life better. if you hadn't approach her on that day, what would have happened? maybe she would have become a workaholic and a maniac by this time. stressing out because of our parents."

jay laid down and stared at the ceiling. right, what would have happened?

"spending time with you has become her favourite thing. she was always looking forward to it and boy, you should know you're giving her free therapy at this point. she's complicated, i know. but that's yang yerin, a semi-disciplined girl who broke free from being her dad's puppet. all thanks to you."

jungwon looked at his best friend: "i'm going to miss you as much as yerin does, just so you know."

"tsk, you're my best friend. of course i'll miss you too."

"is everybody ready? we're leaving in five minutes!", heeseung shouted through the house.

———

"woah, jay!", sunghoon was astounded, "you're wearing your uniform properly!"

"oh, shut up.", jay gritted his teeth. sunghoon just laughed and hit him on the shoulder.

the yang siblings were currently standing with their parents, talking vividly about something jay couldn't hear from the distance.

he glared at yerin in awe, watching her laugh and joke around with her father. jake noticed his friend was staring at her direction and joined him.

"bro, do you have it with you or did you forget?" jay looked at him: "of course i didn't. i'm not that clumsy."

"when are you going to give it to her?"

"after the pictures, i guess. it's still a little bit early, my flight leaves in around three hours." jake smiled and dragged him back to the others.

"i'm really going to miss your cooking, jay.", riki exclaimed out of the blue.

"seriously?", sunoo whined, "aren't you going to miss him in general?" "of course i will. i also want to send him lots of pictures i will take in japan. don't you dare change your phone number!"

jay nodded: "just for you, i'm going to keep my current one."

"i can't believe we are actually saying goodbye already.", heeseung sighed. "you're like my little brothers. it breaks my heart to see jake returning to australia, riki going back to japan and sunghoon reaching out to his figure skating career. man, i feel like the proudest dad." he pretended to cry and sunoo hugged him giggling.

"hey! let's take the pictures already!", yerin suddenly yelled and gathered everyone to the stairs.

there were lots of students and yerin tried to find her class. she seemed so lost, but at the right moment, someone reached out to her wrist and pulled her, causing yerin to crash into someone's chest.

"where are you going, dear?", jay asked and hugged her from behind.

"i was looking for my class. there are so many students, i couldn't find you all.", she replied.

"is everybody here now? alright, say kimchi!", the photographer laughed as the students joined. jay hugged yerin even tighter when the picture was taken. at that moment, he didn't want to let her go at any point.

———

"jay, where are we going?", yerin whined when she was dragged to the garden.

"yerin, do you know how much i love you?"

"of course i do. you showed it everyday and i couldn't appreciate it more. you're one in a million, jay. i hope you know that."

jay hugged her tightly: "thank you for all the memories we were able to make. i couldn't imagine anyone else by my side than you."

"what are you trying to say?", she joked.

"that you can't be replaced." jay gave her a shower of kisses on her cheeks, smiling. "alright, i got it! stop, it's tickling!", yerin shrieked.

"so this is how we spend our last afternoon together, huh?"

"i'm going to miss you, jay.", she said instead of answering his question.

jay didn't respond. instead, he laid his head on her shoulder, enjoying the moment for a while.

———
two birds~ on a wire~
one says "come on!" and the other said "i'm tired"