I Never Stopped Loving You | JEONGCHEOL

The reason why.

Jeonghan wiped the counter and put leftovers in the refrigerator. Seungkwan had returned a while ago and after serving him lunch he was cleaning up.

The boys were sitting on the couch watching some crime documentary. Jeonghan decided to run some errands and go shopping.

"Guys, I'm going out for some errands. Do you wanna go with me?"

Vernon just shook his head and Seungkwan plopped a potato chip in his mouth.

"Ohkayyy... I'm on my own. Do you want me to buy something for you?"

"Buy me the cookies. The ones I like." Seungkwan said.

"And your tv remote is out of batteries. So batteries." Vernon said.

"So you guys are not planning to go out of this apartment ever?"

"Not if it was my choice." Vernon deadpanned.

Jeonghan sighed and changed his sweatpants for jeans before leaving the apartment.

He dropped his outfit from last night for dry cleaning on his way to grocery store to get what Seungkwan and Vernon had asked for.

After that he went to his favorite coffee place. The irony was that it was a quaint bookstore and the owner loved Jeonghan so he always offered him coffee and cookies. He checked out the new arrivals and bought a couple books on his way out and just started wandering the streets.

It has been so long since he had spend his day idling like this. He could feel the February breeze and he felt content after such a long time.

He was passing a cafe on the street when he saw a familiar face through the glass wall. It was Seungcheol. He was eating food and talking to someone. Jeonghan started to wave hi to him but then he saw who he was with. It was a woman.

An extremely beautiful woman and she was laughing at what Seungcheol just said. They looked..... Comfortable.

Seungcheol wasn't looking at her with fear in his eyes that he looked at Jeonghan with. Seungcheol wasn't afraid that he'd offend her like he offended Jeonghan at every single thing.

Jeonghan knew not to overreact at this. He and Seungcheol were nothing so he shouldn't be jealous of some woman. And he wasn't even sure that Seungcheol was on date. It could be a friend. She could be a client. But he couldn't help but think about what had happened 7 years ago and this was a deja vu.

7 years ago, both of them were on the verge of completing their college. They both had gotten placed and had jobs waiting for them. Seungcheol's company was based in Japan and that's why he'd need to train in Japan for 18 months before he could come back and work here. And they knew it. They knew they were strong enough to face this and trusted each other.

But then Jeonghan's mother had gotten sick. Jeonghan spent most of his free time at the hospital or with his brother. His father had to work more to pay for the hospital bills so all of the house's duties fell on Jeonghan.

But Jeonghan knew Seungcheol had his back so he didn't feel alone and weak. He continued to do his best but he couldn't stop his mother's health deteriorating.

Seungcheol was always there as a shoulder to cry on for Jeonghan and he was grateful for it. His friends also helped him a lot with the college workload and he hasn't felt more supported.

But then his mother passed away and all hell broke loose. Jeonghan's father was missing for weeks after the funeral and Seungkwan used to spent his time locked in his room. The final exams were near so everyone was busy studying so Jeonghan and Seungcheol couldn't spend as much time together as they wanted. Jeonghan had also taken up a part time job to distract him from the hurt and loss and sadness that he will never see his mother again.