Our Beautiful Restriction - [NewJeans Fanfic]

Chapter 4: Get Up

[ DATE: 12/19/2022 ]

"Heesoo.."

So, he made it.

"Heesoo.."

He actually made it.

"Ryu, that's not it!"

[ DATE: 12/19/2032 ]

"It should be right around this corner..!"

I exclaimed, my eyes barely kept awake by the sound of my car roaring amidst the evening quiet - which then came to a screeching halt just a few moments later as an old and familiar sight came into view.

"I.. I made it."

I muttered after a moment of silence, resting my head on the steering wheel as I absorbed the thought of being at my old family home - an abode I hadn't been to in over a decade, now long weathered by time.

"Mom, Dad.. Sorry to disturb, but I just needed to get something."

I uttered, chuckling lightly as an unusually cold breath whisped from my mouth, reminding me of the occasionional snowflake I came across on my way here.

Granted, as oddly comforting the ethereal sense of winter was, it just hurried me to head on in all the more - chasing a vague sense of purpose..

"..Okay, it kind of stinks in here-"

..a purpose that may have momentarily slipped off of my mind as the strong scent of abandonment and nature caught me off guard.

"Maybe.. Maybe I shouldn't have honored those wishes."

I thought, awkwardly scratching the side of my face as I made my way deeper into the house - sights of seemingly endless deterioration and decay taking up most, if not the entirety, of the place.

Was I surprised by such a sorry state? Well.. not really. My parents did always make it clear that they'd rather I moved out to the city than to spend my money as a grown adult keeping this house up - and so I listened..

Then, whilst I was occupied reminiscing, a familiar voice calls out to me from the side, deep and warm in tone.
- "But.. You'd be lying if you said a part of you didn't want to leave, no?"

My eyes widened a bit upon hearing this, and I almost flinched. Yet, oddly enough, a sense of.. trust washed over me, rather than the fear and shock that most would probably feel, hearing a voice in the middle of a lonely and perhaps haunted house.

"You're right.." I replied, sighing before a slight smile formed on my face.

I turned to look toward to whoever just spoke - already having an idea as to who it was with how deep their voice was.

"No need to be all mysterious now, Minji."

I said, my hunch turning out to be correct as I saw Minji just leaning on a nearby wall - our gazes exchanging with silence before another individual chimed in.

"Then, based off of that reaction, I suppose you already know what to do, Ryu."

Danielle said, entering from one of the rundown rooms, her joyful radiance almost brightening the lifeless house.

"Well, that's what I often told myself for the past few years, no?"

I jokingly remarked, an expression, smirks of pride, then appearing on Minji and Dani's faces, perhaps not for themselves, but rather for me - to which I promptly responded with a nod before making my way further into the dark and quiet house.

"Ryu, wait.."

My searching is once again halted however, a figure then popping out from a nearby corner - her typically calm voice now saturated with a hint of worry, almost frightening me even.