Little Thing (Seungcheol, Jeonghan & Joshua) SEVENTEEN FANFIC (ON HOLD)

Chapter 6

Dimmed colors of the lamps illuminated their lights into our appartement, making the grey couch we were seated on brighter and more visible. Telling the eventful story was one thing, acceptance from my best friends was the other hurdle that I had to overcome. 

I stayed silent after what felt like long-dragged minutes, Jeonghan giving me a reassured pat on my shoulder as the sincere smile played on his lips to make me feel better. 'Aera is your daughter. You are her father, Seungcheol.'

Biting my bottom lip harshly, I lowered my head to extent the journey in words as my voice tremblingly moved further ahead. 'When I came back from Daegu to New York, I did try to call Jiyeon after much hesitation. Her number was out of service, and my former best friend had blocked me on every social media existing.'

Somewhere in my mind wondered a thought around where it said that my friends should have at least taunted me for my wrongdoings. This logic showed immediate life, knowing that my other friend would not understand a single thing while he expressed his distinct emotions. 'Seungcheol, you deserved that. Just clarify this for me, why did you let her take Aera away?'

I puffed a bit of carbon dioxide out of my lungs, eye contacting Joshua while he stood up from our grey couch to jaunt around again. 'What could I have possibly done better? She is her mother Joshua. I have no right to interfere in that matter.'

There was a negligible taste of annoyance in his voice that echoed through the room, grabbing his messed-up hair strands as Joshua yelled towards me with resent. 'Come on Seungcheol. If this woman was really a great mother, she would not left her at our doorstep. I mean, where was she all these months? It is obvious that she does not care about Aera! And today she suddenly realized that she is Aera's mother? This is straight-up bullshit! Aera's home is right here, together with the three of us. I cannot live without her.'

My neck stretched up to the ceiling, being aware that the gentleman had his total right to bury these heavy words into my muddled mind. This was the shrilly slap in the face that I needed the most at this moment. 

Jeonghan added weight to Joshua's statement, grabbing my diverted attention at once. 'I cannot agree more Seungcheol. Aera is the U-turn that we truly wished for in our lives. We raised her for the majority of her life which makes us the rightful guardians. Do not tell me that you can forget about her, let alone that you can expect the two of us to do the same.'

Following Joshua's suit, I sprung up from the slouchy seat which got me out of balance for a second. 

My lips parted to whisper my genuine thoughts out, playing on the anticipation of my best friends. 'Jiyeon must have a good reason why she disappeared from her daughter's life. The truth will be recovered by asking her, yet that would be another problem as I got no contact number whatsoever.'

Devastation got me staggered in one swift, Jeonghan holding me up by arm until the familiar ringtone of my phone could be heard near us. I tapped the lighted screen to answer the anonymous call, slightly hoping that it would be the girl in question. 'Hello?'

A moment of peace and silence, breathing in and out as I watched the daylight seep onto our large appartement windows. 

The three of us were joined by a rather charismatic man, also known as my former best friend Hwang Minhyun whose dark circles were seemingly more evident. My body experienced little unstable trembles, anger mixed with confusion was the only thing I could perceive.