Sanity vs. Soulmate | JeongCheol x SVT

8

"I... I didn't mean it in a bad way!!", I hastily added.

"Oh did you now...How can somebody compare someone to a dwarf and NOT mean it in a bad way?"

Jihoon's face looked emotionless once again and his hand gestures were very angular. I began to feel really really scared for my life now.

"I... It's... Dwarfs are fierce warriors who you should never underestimate! Just like you! One should never underestimate you!"

That was the best I could come up with. It had to be enough.

"Mhm..."
He didn't sound convinced. He even made the effort to SPELL OUT "mhm" in sign language for Jisoo's sake!!!
"I am sowyyyyy..."

"I forgive you. Just this once!!! Do it again and I'll feed you to Mr.Wooh's tarantula!"

I nodded my head rapidly and held both my thumbs up. I wasn't keen on being eaten by a spider.

Jihoon sighed. At least I thought he did. It looked like it.
"Now, first of all: Thank you for your explanation. I've figured most of this out on my own by now, but nevertheless I've always wanted to hear your side of the story as well. So thank you for telling me.
Secondly, it's no secret that not only me, but all of us, all of your friends, were hurt by your actions. It's only natural."

I slumped noticeably. Shoulders curved inwards, my chin meeting my chest and my fingers nervously fumbling with Jihoons'.
He softly lifted my head up again.

"Look at me please? I am not done yet."
I swallowed hard but kept my head up. I needed to hear, well see that is, what else he had to say.

"Okay good.
I think we all understood to at least some extent why you did what you did, and even though we might not have agreed with the way you handled things, we could still see where you were coming from. What I'm trying to say is: We might have been hurt by you abandoning us and cutting us off, but we never hated you for it.
I haven't changed all too much in the past years. And I guess by your behaviour earlier in the kitchen, you still remember how short tempered I can be.
But I really want you to understand: I am most certainly not mad at you."

He made a break to let the words sink in. He... wasn't... mad? I blinked a few times. Jihoon... wasn't mad at me?

"And surprisingly enough, I never really have been in the past either. Upset, yes. Sad, yes. Giving up on you ever returning, yes. But never mad. Or angry. Or cursing you. Never."

I couldn't believe what he just told me. I just stared at him. Blinking, opening my mouth, closing my mouth, blinking again.
Finally I managed to utter a few words. Nothing close to a coherent sentence, but I think I did well given the situation.

"You... I... Mad... Not? Others... Are... I... Me... What?"

"No, Jeonghan Hyung, I am not mad at you. In fact we are all not mad at you."

My brain seemed to have stopped working. I wasn't able to comprehend his words at all.

"When I saw you at the door earlier, I was stunned speechless. I had given up on seeing you ever again. I thought you moved on with your life and forgot all about us. And I thought maybe it was for the best. Because as long as you were happy, we should be fine with it as well, right? But from what I've heard from you so far... You're not even close to fine, are you?"

I shook my head no. No, I most certainly wasn't fine whatsoever.

"At the door... I was frozen. I was looking at you, but my brain couldn't comprehend what my eyes were seeing. My brain was clearly stating that that boy in front of my door was you. It didn't understand how or why or when or what. But it screamed loud and clear: JEONGHAN HYUNG IS STANDING AT YOUR DOOR. But at the same time my eyes were telling me no.
Your looks have changed. Like, a lot. A lot, a lot! That long hair of yours is gone. You're baby fat too. You've grown like 9 metres in height and your facial expressions look so... mature? Adult like? Grown up? Hard? I mean, technically you are an adult, but look at me for example. I am an adult too but my face still looks like... this..."

He waved his hands wildly in front of his face, while frowning. I chuckled. Believe me, it's not just your face that doesn't look all grown up...

"Despite all those differences from baby-you, I still recognised you without any problems. But I couldn't help but wonder if your character had changed as well.
And then you opened your mouth and asked about my brother..."

Jihoon shook his head, a smile tugging on the corner of his lips.

"That was the moment when I realised: You're still the same dumb shithead as back than..."

EXCUSE YOUUU??!!! WHAT did he just call me? I didn't think much. I freed my hand from his grip and hit him. Hard. And then I did it again, just because.
"I am still your Hyung, you ungrateful brat!!"

"HOWWWWW???? Literally a SECOND ago, you were on the verge of tears, all shy and apologising and telling me how sorry you were, and NOW your hitting me and calling me an ungrateful brat!!!"

"Pfffff. You deserved it."
Jihoon just rolled his eyes at me, a gesture I gladly returned.

"Sooooo, does this mean... we're all good?"
Jihoon tilted his head while tapping his chin in thought. Then he grinned. "Yep. All good, no hard feelings. I'm way too glad to have you back to hold any kind of grudge. Even though I'll probably regret saying this soon enough, because you can be a real pain in the ass..."

I squealed and threw myself at Jihoon to hug the dear life out of him. "I MISSED YOU TOOOOOOO!!!"

I could feel his chest vibrating under my body, so he was either laughing or having some kind of seizure. I just hoped it wasn't the latter and kept my death hold on him.
"Thank you. For letting me back into your life. And for not being mad. And for hugging me. And for still being the same Jihoon. And for not killing me", I mumbled into his neck. He just tightened his grip on me as a response.

"And thank you for staying this tiny. It's really cute."

The blow I took for this last comment, would definitely colour my rips blue and yellow for a few days, but the hair ruffling afterwards would warm my heart for much longer.