An entangled love story of unexpected heartache, confusion, passion, and rekindled love as two brothers unknowingly fall in love with the same woman. Their past and their present start to converge as moments together flash startling memories of anot...
It was your typical graduation ceremony with graduates walking into the Concert Hall to "Pomp and Circumstance," followed by several awards and speeches. I was shocked to see that the last student speaker was Hoseok! He hadn't told me he was going to give a speech.
"Our final speaker today is a well-known international exchange student, Jung Hoseok," announced the Head Chancellor.
Hoseok walked up to the podium. "Thank you, Mr. Chancellor. Good afternoon, everyone! Today is a very special day for all of us. We have spent the last few years working hard trying to carve the path to our future. Countless hours have been spent on studying, projects, internships, and exams, all to help us on our journey to our individual professions. Hopefully, all of you were able to create a multitude of friendships, laughter and memorable experiences between all the hard work. No one should go through life focusing on just work alone. We all need a balance of work, family, friendship and love to ultimately succeed and be happy. Tomorrow we all start a new journey. My hope for all of you is that the road ahead is an adventurous one, fulfilling all your goals and dreams. Remember your worth and to never give up. There's always another opportunity to try again. Do what you want to try, take whatever you get out of it, and have fun. You can do anything!"
I looked over at Hoseok's family. So much pride and joy showed on their faces. He spoke so well and everyone cheered when he was done. I, too, was very proud of his speech. It was very moving and uplifting.
We went to find our families after the ceremony and found Hoseok's family first. His parents congratulated us with hugs and praised Hoseok for his wonderful English speech. Namjoon was next, followed by Yoongi. He gave Hoseok a high five and a big hug. You could tell by the huge smile on his face that he was very proud of his little brother.
Yoongi then approached me and gave me a hug, his arms squeezing me gently. "Congratulations, Petal," he whispered while smelling my hair. "Mmm, lavender, thank you." His citrus woodsy scent smelt so good, and my heart skipped when he called me Petal.
"Petal ... I haven't heard that in a long time," I said softly.
I didn't tell Yoongi that I'd gotten a glimpse of him calling me by my nickname while cleaning up after the previous night's dinner, when I picked up the glass he'd used.
It was just a quick flash of a tender moment. "Hi, Petal, how was your day?" he'd asked, kissing me on the forehead.
Seeing Namjoon watching us, Yoongi quickly broke the embrace and went over to Malia to congratulate her and shake her hand. Little did I know, Yoongi had told Namjoon about the shocking sensations and flashbacks we both were experiencing since we'd met.
My mom and sister finally found us. Giving flower leis at graduation is a tradition in Hawaii, and Mom gave me a Puakenikeni lei and my sister gave me a Pikake lei. They brought a crown flower lei for Malia and a Maile lei for Hoseok. Malia's parents and several friends also graced us with traditional Hawaiian leis until they stacked up to our noses. In a way, I was relieved that the leis would help mask the mixture of vanilla and lavender scents I was wearing. After taking several photos, we headed to the restaurant.
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We'd reserved a private room at a nearby Korean restaurant where we cooked our food on the fire grill at our table. We all sat at a long table with three burners. Yoongi sat across from me, and Hoseok sat to my right. Malia was on my left with Namjoon sitting across from her. I could tell she was trying to get to know him a little better. Her parents didn't join us because they had another engagement.
"I hope it's okay that I pre-ordered everything," said Hoseok. "I thought it would make it easier for everyone."
"Sure, that was a good idea," I replied.
"I remembered to order your favorite, the toro beef," he said, putting his arm around my shoulder and kissing me on the cheek. I gave him a smile and noticed Yoongi biting his bottom lip. He looked down, trying to avoid watching us.
Our dinner items arrived, and the guys started cooking. They wouldn't let Malia and me help because they wanted to do all the work. I looked over at my mom and sister; they seemed to be having a good time talking and laughing with Hoseok's parents.
As I turned my head back to our group, Hoseok immediately stuck a piece of beef into my mouth with his chopsticks. Feeding me from his plate was a little thing he tended to do. It was strange at first, but I got used to it and found it rather endearing. He did it a few more times throughout the meal, which I could tell was starting to bother Yoongi. Eventually, when Hosok fed me another bite of tofu, I felt a light tap on my foot under the table. I didn't think anything of it at first. However, when Hoseok fed me another piece of tofu, I felt another tap. Yoongi was giving me a look as if telling me to stop. Namjoon noticed and put his hand on Yoongi's shoulder to calm him.
Trying to distract from the situation, Namjoon asked Malia, "So, now that you're an official college graduate, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, first thing is that Y/N and I need to move out of our apartment by Wednesday. Thank goodness it's just personal stuff because all the furniture belongs to the school."
"Where are you moving?" Yoongi asked, looking at me.
"Both Malia and I are going to move back to our parents' homes for a while," I answered. "We still need to find full-time jobs first before we can even think of getting our own place."
"Why don't you come stay with me?" Hoseok offered. "You stay over the majority of the time anyway."
"True, but you live in a studio and I can't live out of an overnight bag. I have a lot of stuff, and it needs to go somewhere."
"It would only be for a short time. Namjoon, Yoongi and I signed a short-term lease on a home here in town. We move in at the beginning of June. There'll be plenty of room for you there," he said casually.
I was shocked. "You're moving into a house with them? They're staying?"
"Namjoon and I are fortunate to have jobs that we can do remotely," Yoongi answered with a small smile. "We've decided to stay for a while and work from here."
"So, your problem is solved. You'll move in with us in June. The guys and I have already discussed it," Hoseok said happily.
I was panicking at this new information. How was I supposed to live with both of them in the same house? It was challenging just trying to be around both of them in a restaurant, let alone living with them. I think Namjoon could see the worry on my face and tried to ease the situation.
"Hoseok, don't pressure her. She just found out about this. Give her time to think about it. Maybe she wants to spend time with her family," he said, giving me a reassuring smile.
"Okay, you're right. Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you. Just at least think about it," replied Hoseok.
"Sure, I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer."
My head knew that living with both of them would only end in disaster, but my heart was longing to be with Hoseok and pulling toward Yoongi as well. I was trying so hard to avoid being near Yoongi, but no matter how much I tried, we still found ourselves near each other. More and more images, memories and feelings started to flash through my mind and heart. I didn't know how to handle or make sense of it. Why was this happening?
A/N ~ The thrill and excitement of graduation. Stronger feelings and tension are growing between Y/N and Yoongi. How confusing it must be for both the heart and the head. Please remember to give it a "STAR" vote at the bottom left if you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reading the story!
