'2 MINUS 1' - Seventeen
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"Two minus one,
I can see you're doing really good without me, baby
Two minus one
I'm doing great myself, hope you know I am"
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Joshua arrived back at the dorm, more relaxed and relieved than he had left it. He was finally able to breathe again. He was right, the stuffy dorm air was doing him terribly and he didn't realize it until he left. The relief brought a small smile to his face, which was strange because he had been an anxious, screaming mess the night before- but it didn't upset him. He was glad to feel some sort of non-negative emotion, especially after yesterday. Maybe he just really needed that sunlight today. He brought out his phone, and quickly texted Jihoon that he was home, then he quietly entered the dorm, and made his way to the living room- only to see Jeonghan and Seungcheol together.
They weren't exchanging any words, none that Joshua could hear anyway. They were just standing together in each other's arms, smiling and giggling to themselves like two bumbling idiots. All of a sudden, Joshua remembered all the pain he was feeling yesterday- it all rushed back to him in an instant.
He did his best to sneak past them, and he made brief eye contact with Seungcheol who immediately looked back at Jeonghan, and it almost seemed like he was purposely distracting him so he wouldn't notice Joshua sneaking by. His gaze pierced through his skull, and there was something oddly mysterious about the way Seungcheol was behaving. Come to think of it, Seungcheol never actually came to check on Joshua these past few days, but Joshua didn't have the mental energy to ponder on it since there were other things that required his precious, now limited attention.
He successfully snuck away, and went up the stairs. He bit back his tears and held his head low, clutching onto the strap of his shoulder bag as he rushed to the safety of his room. He did everything in his power to stop himself from throwing up in the hallway.
"Oh hey, hyung. Heard you went out today, feeling better?"
Joshua slowly looked up to see Vernon. 'Everyone just has great timing nowadays, don't they...'
"O-Oh, yeah I guess so." Joshua pushed past him with a small bow and almost ran into his room. He didn't want Vernon to see him break down, but he felt bad for ignoring him. He shut the door behind him, barely making it to his trash bin to throw up in a mess of flowers, tears, and sobs.
'They looked so happy... Jeonghan doesn't even look upset about what happened last night, he just moved on like it was nothing. God, what's happening... Maybe this is all just one horrible, awful dream. Maybe this is just a nightmare, the world's calling for me to confess to Jeonghan when I wake up. Maybe when I wake up, everything will be back to normal, and Jeonghan and I will be okay, and he won't be dating Seungcheol! I just need to go to sleep, right? And then I'll wake up and everything will be back to normal! I'll wake up in Jeonghan's arms- tell him I had a really bad nightmare, he'll comfort me, and we can have French toast together again just like we did before... This isn't real, this isn't actually happening to me. I'm just... dreaming. It's all just a dream.'
Meanwhile, Vernon was left completely dumbfounded.
'What in the-...? Did Shua-hyung just ignore me? What was the rush? I thought he felt better already- I was wrong, clearly. It probably has to do with that yelling last night...'
As Vernon went down the stairs, he heard some giggling. When he peeked his head out, he saw Jeonghan and Seungcheol joking around with each other. 'Interesting.'
He turned his head back upwards to look for Joshua, and went back up to avoid being spotted by the two downstairs.
'What is going on today??? Lemme ask Seungkwan. If anyone knows, it's probably him.'
He decided to shoot Seungkwan a text to investigate.
YOU ARE READING
Smile Flower | Jihan
Fanfiction[based on the fictional Hanahaki disease] Joshua felt like he was going to die from the sheer stress of it all and he couldn't stop crying. He wasn't crying out of sadness, but out of anxiety, fear, and physical pain. He was scared out of his mind...
