Falling Petals (songkim; completed)

c h a p t e r s e v e n .

Jinwoo held hands with all the cast members and bowed. They received a round of applause from the audience. With his big smile, he put his one hand on his chest and bowed down again.

And after one last glance, he turned around and walked to the backstage with his co-actors.

"Woah! That was awesome!" exclaimed his colleague and Jinwoo nodded to himself.

But as awesome as it was, he felt something lacking in him. And it was the first time he felt that after a play.

Even after the pats from people he was with and their "Good job," remarks to him, he still couldn't feel ecstatic like how he supposed to and he used to. Actually, he was almost sad.

He was sad because he was missing something... someone.

Mino wasn't the kind of person who always smiles. But that day, he seemed to be more gloomy than usual. His mind was foggy, and no words wanted to come out from it, which was a problem because he was behind his deadline.

"Hey, what's with the long face?" Seunghoon asked him when he passed his desk.

Mino didn't respond. He just looked at his publicist and watched him walk away. It's your fault was what he wanted to respond. Maybe, if Seunghoon didn't introduce him to his friend, he wouldn't feel a void in his heart when that friend left and returned to his home.

"Lee Seunghoon!" He caught everyone's attention when he shouted.

Seunghoon was quick to get to him. "What's your problem?"

"Can you tell me Jinwoo's address in Japan?"

The height of Seunghoon's eyebrows when he lifted them was record-breaking. But he gave Mino what he wanted.

Three years and a half. It has been that long since Mino set foot in Japan. Everything seemed familiar but almost nothing was exactly how as he remembered them to be. That said a lot. The time was swift yet slow enough for all possible changes to occur.

Without wasting time, he went straight to Jinwoo's house, the address he memorized by heart.

And just an hour later, he was seated at their receiving room waiting for Jinwoo's mom. Apparently, Jinwoo wasn't home.

Mino's hands were sweating as he waited. He felt like his heart was being a bit too loud too. But, he can't believe what he was doing and why he was doing that only then.

Because you aren't that stupid.

"Mino!"

He stood up upon seeing Jinwoo's mom. People wouldn't mistake Jinwoo to be anyone else's son. His resemblance to his mom is uncanny. "Mrs. Kim."

"Oh, I can't believe you're calling me that again. I got used to you calling me mom." Mrs. Kim held his hands. "It's been so long, Mino. I'm kind of hurt that you've never thought of visiting."

Mino's nervousness melted, it was replaced by warmth. "I wasn't sure if I have the rights to do that."

"Oh, Mino. Of course you do! You're like a son to me too, and to Jinwoo's dad. We've missed you."

Mino smiled, but his smile faded immediately when he realized the reason of Mrs. Kim's warm welcome to him. She didn't know. Jinwoo didn't tell his parents.

"Let's sit down, Mino. I'm pleasantly surprised of your sudden visit, but I'm confused too."

Mino sat back down. "Uhm..." He cleared his throat. "Jinwoo told me about your request."