The Art of Saying 'Why Not'

六 | six

Roughly a month had passed since Hoseok and Yecheol had decided to put a label on their relationship. The new couple had also come to the conclusion that their friends should be aware of what was going on. Everyone knew that the two had been seeing each other for some time now, but they had yet to find out that they were officially each other's partner. It was nice to keep it to themselves for a while, but love was a beautiful thing, and something they wanted to share with their close friends. Hoseok had told his parents he was seeing someone and despite their hesitance of letting their boy fall in love again, they saw him differently.

Haerim's passing had taken a toll on Hoseok and everyone around him had noticed. The only reason he was able to pull through, was Huimang. Everyone who had known him while he was with Haerim knew he was walking sunshine. But once she had been called to heaven, that sunshine was blocked over by a cloud. One that only on occasion would let the light shine through, but only recently had that cloud shifted. Haerim was almost like the flames that made the sun, Hoseok, shine. Her passing was the gray cloud, and Yecheol was the wind that blew that cloud away, letting the sunshine once more.

Hoseok's parents could see this. His radiance had returned. That was all they needed in order to see that he was going to be alright, that moving on wasn't such a bad thing for him.

"You know, I think a simple text message to Tae saying, 'we're official' will make it around and everyone we know will know in a matter of seconds." Yecheol had joked.

"I don't doubt it. I think he wanted this more than we did in the beginning." Hoseok said with a small laugh. "How about we leave that for later? Tomorrow, let's go out, just you and me." He smiled fondly towards her, "Every time we've gone out Huimi comes with us."

"I just taught him how important sharing is, do I have to teach you too?" She teased.

"Excuse me for wanting to spend one on one time with you." He laughed in response, "What do you say?"

"I'm up for it." A smile appeared on her face. "Oh but the poor kid, he's gotten so used to tagging along." Yecheol's eyes landed on Huimang's bedroom door.

"He's not one to complain, I'll see if my parents are free to watch him tomorrow night." He placed a kiss on her temple before turning on the main hall light. Yecheol would be spending the night at his place again, she was hesitant the first night but now she was a lot more comfortable now that the 'ice' was broken. Hoseok had never done anything to make her feel obligated, but she didn't want to overstep an unspoken boundary.

"What's got you thinking so much?" Hoseok asked, he had noticed Yecheol not moving from the hallway.

"Nothing, just zoned out." She shook her head before walking towards the bedroom door. In her head, she knew that the way the room was decorated was not what it had possibly been a few months ago. Huimang would tell her about the pictures of his mother he would see in his dad's bedroom and Yecheol had yet to see a single picture of the woman in question. The furniture was all dark wood and the walls were a soft white, it felt very homey, very welcoming.

Yecheol wanted to speak, but she didn't know what to say. It was hard for her to feel like she was doing the right thing even when she wasn't doing anything wrong. Her mind wandered off to her mother and Jinyoung, perhaps she could have a talk with him to see what he did or if he felt this way. For the moment, she brushed it off and simply went to bed. This was a conversation she needed to have with her dad, she didn't want to keep feeling out of place or as if she was intruding.

-

The following morning was on the cooler side. Hoseok rubbed his eyes before turning to his side, to his surprise, Yecheol wasn't there. He sat up immediately and tried to not make a single sound to see if he was able to hear her. There was a pause and silence before he heard her laugh coming from the living room.