Forget-me-not | Seungmin

Seungmin

Eventually, Seungmin forgot about his phone being on vibrate. Changbin's recording session came and went fairly quickly. The producers checked out for the day and left the remaining group members alone. The conversation about recording their latest song had turned into a conversation about holiday plans.

"I think we should go out to eat somewhere as a group before it ends," Han announced. "We can celebrate all this year had to offer and we can bring in the new year by eating well."

"Somewhere with lots of meat," Changbin agreed.

"Will you be paying for all that meat?" Seungmin joked.

Changbin side-eyed him and huffed. Seungmin chuckled up until Han stretched out on the couch and laid his head on Seungmin's lap. He blinked in shock, but it didn't seem to bother Han because Han continued to talk.

"We could go to that one really nice barbecue place that we went to for the birthday meal split between Yongbok, Seungmin, and me," Han continued. "Everyone seemed to like that place a lot."

"Wasn't that the place where you ate so much, you got sick?" Chan raised an eyebrow.

"Pft, no."

"I'm pretty sure Changbin had to carry you home because you ate too much." Seungmin reached down and flicked the middle of Han's forehead.

"It was my birthday meal! I was supposed to eat well! What did you want me to do?"

"Eat until you're full and not vomit your guts up in the bathroom."

"I was a man on a mission!"

"What mission? You made Changbin carry you home and then you proceeded to lay on the dorm room couch whining for the rest of the night. I can't believe Lee Know puts up with your antics."

"How do you know he whined all night? He lives in our dorm room," Changbin input.

"Because Cynthia was staying at her best friend's house that night. I decided it'd be nice to spend the evening at the old dorm. When we got home, Lee Know and Han crashed on the couch and spent the night watching anime."

"We did?" Han narrowed his eyes up at Seungmin. "Why can't I remember that?"

"Probably because you kept whining and complaining and moaning in pain. You have a tendency to make your sickness everyone's problem, you big baby." Han frowned. "Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right. Changbin does the exact same thing. You both want attention when you're sick."

"Hey, leave me out of this!"

"You're just as whiny and complaining when you're sick, you just never tell us." Han shoved his hands over his chest. He glared up at Seungmin. "You know what? Your girlfriend tells us everything."

"Excuse me?" Seungmin's voice raised.

"Woah, it's not everything," Chan quickly intervened. "Sometimes she texts and asks things about you that she doesn't know. We've known you longer than she has, so sometimes she has questions. There was one time she texted and asked us how you prefer to be taken care of when you're sick. It was literally months ago."

"And what's when she exposed that you're as whiny and pathetic as the rest of us. Not so tough now, are you?" Han smirked still on his lap.

Seungmin jerked down and gently tugged on a strand of his hair. Han yelped and shoved a hand to his head. "You jerk," he mumbled beneath his breath.

"I barely even touched you!"

"Has Cynthia texted you back yet?" Chan slid forward in his chair. The last thing he needed was for two of the younger members to start fist fighting each other in the studio. "She should be done, right? How long can it take to buy and wrap gifts?"

"She hasn't and the answer is quite a while. She's a big gift giver. I've tried to tell her she doesn't have to go all out, but she doesn't listen. I guess if it makes her happy, then I should be happy too."

"It surprises me how much you two click with each other, you're polar opposites. We're always comparing you to a puppy, but compared to Cynthia, you're a black cat and she's a golden retriever. I don't know what she sees in you." Han shifted himself on Seungmin's thigh. "You seem happier when she's around."

"That's usually how your significant other is supposed to make you feel, is it not?"

"You know what I mean!"

Changbin had stopped paying attention to the conversation a few minutes ago. He sipped his iced americano with one hand and scrolled on his phone with another. A text message notification popped up on his screen. Without hesitation, he pressed on it and opened the thread. One of the producers from earlier sent him a single text message.

'Call me asap.'

Seeing this, Changbin frowned and stood up. While Han and Seungmin bickered with each other and Chan teased them occasionally, Changbin stood up and slipped into the recording booth behind them. He pressed the call button and waited for the producer to pick up her phone. It didn't take long before her voice was coming through the other end of the phone.

A frantic high pitched voice filled his ear. "Changbin?"

"Joo-won, are you alright? I thought you left earlier. What's up?"

"I'm on my way home, but I pulled over along the side of the road."

"Did something happen?" Changbin's face fell. "Did you get a flat tire or something?"

"Did Seungmin get in contact with Cynthia?"

"What?"

"Did Seungmin get in contact with Cynthia?"

"No, not yet. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, god."

"What? What's wrong?" Changbin's eyes glanced over to where Seungmin was. He was still on the studio couch and Han was still laying on his lap. "Did something happen?"

"There's a car and it looks like-" A pause came from the other end of the phone. "Stay on the line and don't hang up, I'll be back."

Confused, Changbin heard a car door and then silence. He stayed on the phone wondering what was happening. Dread was beginning to swarm in the pit of his stomach. He glanced over at Seungmin again. Both him and Han were laughing at something. Chan was bent over in his chair laughing with them. The whole scene made him feel even worse.

It took nearly two minutes before Joo-Won picked up the phone again. "Changbin, are you there?"

"Right here."

"Are you with Seungmin?"

"Yeah. What's going on? What about Cynthia?"

Joo-Won sucked in a deep breath. On the other end of the phone, she ran a hand through her auburn hair. Her eyes went back to the overturned car across the street with a shattered windshield. She talked to Cynthia a few times while Cynthia waited for Seungmin to finish recording his vocals. She had always liked Cynthia and her high spirits.

"He needs to get to the hospital right now."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's been a car accident. I begged the cops to tell me the name of the person in the car. It's Cynthia, her car flipped and she went through the windshield.

"W-what?" Changbin nearly dropped the phone. His veins went cold. His eyes froze on Seungmin still laughing on the studio couch.

"Please," Joo-Won begged. Her voice strained as she continued, "they said it's bad. You need to get him there. She needs someone to be there for her."

Changbin didn't respond.

"Changbin? Changbin?" Her voice grew louder. "Goddamn it, Changbin! If you're not going to respond, hand the phone to someone else, so I can tell them."

The phone fell from Changbin's hand, knocked into the plastic music stand, and caused it to topple over. Changbin's eyes never left Seungmin's face. He forced himself to swallow and keep his tears at bay.

Christmas was supposed to be in three days, but after today there'd be no more holiday cheer.