a better life // hwang hyunjin ✔️

chapter twelve

don't go through your struggles alone

hyunjin and daehyun were on their way back from the park, daehyun feeling exhausted, and hyunjin being proud that he tired him out. he knew seulgi would be able to get some sleep tonight. hyunjin safely pulled into seulgi's driveway, quickly hopping out the car with daehyun.

"i'm hungry." daehyun whines.

"me too." hyunjin chuckles as he opens the front door. "you go get washed up and changed, i'm gonna go check on your mom." he tells him. daehyun nods, happily skipping away to his room, hyunjin making his way towards seulgi's. he carefully knocks on the door, waiting for a response. when there wasn't one, he twisted the door knob, assuming she was asleep.

but when he pushed open the door he was instantly met with her crying face, as she clutched a black hoodie against her chest. an old looking white box sitting next to her. she looked like she'd been crying for a while now.

"seulgi..." he instantly runs up to her, shutting the door behind him. he bends over to cup her face in his hands. "what's wrong?" he asks, feeling slightly panicked at her state.

"i miss him..." she cries, moving her face from hyunjin's hands as she buries her face into the hoodie. hyunjin furrowed his brows, trying to figure out who 'him' was. he looked at the box, it was full of papers, so that didn't really do him much good. but the hoodie in her hands seemed to be important, and he wondered if she could be talking about daehyun's dad. but he didn't want to think that, because that could mean that daehyun's dad was dead, especially with the way she's acting. the box seeming to be a box of memories.

"seulgi, are you talking about... daehyun's dad?" hyunjin asks cautiously. instantly feeling bad about asking as she cried even harder. but she nodded, which made hyunjin's heart shatter.

"his name was... c-chan..." hyunjin didn't fail to notice the use of the word 'was', only further confirming his thoughts. he never would have guessed that daehyun's father could be dead. he couldn't even imagine how seulgi was feeling right now. "he was my best friend... the love of my life..."

"seulgi, you don't have to tell me any of this." he assures her, knowing how hard it probably is to talk about him. especially to someone like hyunjin, someone who was practically planning to take over the roll that chan was supposed to have.

"i... i want to..." she breathes, trying to calm herself. hyunjin sat down next to her, comfortingly running his fingers up and down her arms. letting her know he was listening. "he... he passed away b-before daehyun was born... i was eight months pregnant..." she starts, hyunjin felt himself frown.

"i'm so sorry..." he didn't know what to say, but for seulgi, just his presence was making her feel better.

"he was so excited to meet daehyun... so excited to be a d-dad... but he never got the chance..." she takes another inhale of the black hoodie. hyunjin assumed it somehow still smelled like him, even after all these years. "he was so wonderful... letting you in feels like saying goodbye to him." she adds, he was truly at a loss for words. he couldn't tell if she was regretting allowing him in. he really hoped she wasn't, even if it was selfish.

"chan?" hyunjin says, making sure he properly remembered the name she told him only moments ago. she nods, so he reaches over her, placing his hand on the box that he assumed to be filled with chan's things. "i promise i'll take care of them." he says, as if he was talking to the box. seulgi cried even harder at his action, but no longer out of sadness. her heart warmed at the words, and it was as if she just knew she was making the right decision with hyunjin.

she knew that if there was some way that chan was watching over them, he would approve. she wished he could hear him say that he approved, and that it was okay for her to move on. but she couldn't, she'd forget what his voice sounded like if it wasn't for the videos she had of him. but in this moment, hyunjin smiling sweetly at her, his hand placed on chan's box, his other lovingly caressing her arm, she knew this was the right decision.

she lifted the hoodie away from herself, giving it one last sniff before neatly folding it. she placed it back on top of the papers and the cameras, making sure it was wrinkle free before she grabbed the lid of the box.

"goodbye, channie. i'll always love you." she whispers, placing a kiss to the lid of the box before putting it back on. hyunjin felt a tear of his own slide down his cheek, it felt ridiculous, he didn't even know what chan looked like. but the emotions in the room were thick, it was such a bittersweet moment, he couldn't help but tear up. but he quickly wipes them away before seulgi had the chance to see.

she slowly climbs off the bed, grabbing the box and pushing it back under her bed. she wanted to give the box to daehyun one day, but she didn't think she was ready for that just yet. she wanted him to be just a little bit older, so that he could really understand everything. and hopefully, she wouldn't cry as she showed him.

"you're so strong." hyunjin says warmly as she sits back down on the bed, reaching forward to wipe away a few tears. "i can't even begin to tell you how proud i am of you." if anything, learning about chan only made him even more attracted to seulgi, he didn't want to call it love yet, but, he knew what he was feeling was strong. he admired how she managed to carry on after such a tragic loss.

he'd figured it was maybe a car accident, which would explain the way she seems to get tense when it comes to seatbelts, and being in a car in general. but he wasn't going to ask, he learned enough. he didn't think he would be able to move past something like that himself, especially being eight months pregnant at the time. she really was a fighter, and he admired that. he hoped that he would only fill her life with love and happiness from this point forward, because she deserves it.

"thank you, hyunjin." she says with a sniffle. "for everything you've done so far, i know you might not think it's much, but you've done so much more for me than i thought anyone would ever do."

"i plan to do even more... as long as you'll continue to let me." the pair looking back and fourth between each other eyes, hyunjin instantly taking notice when her gaze falls to his lips. without another word, seulgi leans forward to connect their lips, hyunjin instantly responding to the kiss as he trailed his hand to the
back of her neck. it was better than he had imagined, feeling her lips on his. he felt euphoric.

seulgi let a few more tears drop, the feeling of fully letting go of chan becoming a reality as she kissed hyunjin. but it didn't hurt as bad as she thought it would, if anything, it filled her with excitement, anticipation for what was to come.

seulgi deepened the kiss, biting down on hyunjin's plump bottom lip, the action making his knees go weak, if he was standing, he would have certainly collapsed. hyunjin made sure to allow her to take the lead, not knowing how far she was willing to go right now. but he smiled into the kiss as he felt seulgi slowly pushing him down onto the bed, gently crawling on top of him. but seulgi broke the kiss, staring down at the now wide-eyed boy.

"i'm sorry, i'm not ready..." she says, trailing off and hoping hyunjin would get the hint. he did.

"don't apologize." he reassures her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "i'll still be here when you're ready." he smiles at her. the incredibly intimate moment coming to a halt as the pair heard daehyun's footsteps approaching her door. seulgi quickly smiled apologetically, running into her bathroom before daehyun saw her tear stained face. hyunjin awkwardly greeting daehyun as the boy pushed open the door.

"where's mom?" he asks.

"she's just in the bathroom, washing up before dinner." hyunjin comes up with an excuse on the spot. seulgi giggling as she hears him from the bathroom. and in this moment, she knew,

she would be okay.