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fourty eight

"hey, what books do we need to put on the shelves?"
jeongin asked, walking out of the storage room.

"I made space for the new ones that were published recently. it should be the box on top. the other box are just older books we were running out of."
felix said, standing behind the register.

since felix took most of jisung's shifts, he and jeongin grew close, and they were happily taking care of the bookstore together.
it wasn't like jisung didn't come here anymore. oh no, he loved his bookstore too much for that.

he was coming over to work around once or twice a week, other days, he was fully concentrating on getting the second bookstore ready.

"oh, okay."
jeongin nodded, as he was about to go back into the storage room.
that was until felix's voice stopped him.

"auntie!"
he said excitedly.

"oh hello felix."
an elderly lady said, a bright and heartwarming smile on her face.

"you weren't here for a long time. I'm so happy to see you."
felix said, hugging the lady over the counter.

"yes, I did miss you too."
the lady smiled.
"and who is this?"
she asked, looking at jeongin.

"this is jeongin. he's working here part time."
felix explained.

"ah, I'm so glad that jisung isn't here alone anymore, and that he has some help around here. other than you felix of course."
the lady chuckled.

felix smiled, before turning to jeongin.
"this is jisung's aunt. the one who owned this bookstore before him."

jeongin's eyes widened, before coming closer and bowing.
"it's so nice to meet you."

"oh no need to be this formal. you're jisung's friend. just call me auntie."
the lady smiled.

"jisung's friend? he's more like his child."
felix said, earning a smack on the arm from jeongin.

"I'm not~"
jeongin whined, tried of hearing those words all the time.

jisung's aunt chuckled.
"speaking about jisung, can I see him?"

"oh, he isn't here right now."
felix said.

she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"what do you mean by that?"

"he's currently focusing on opening a second bookstore, so I'm working most of his shifts here."
felix explained.

"oh my god, he's opening a second bookstore? I'm so proud of him. he was talking about opening another bookstore few years back, but I never thought he would actually pursue the idea."
auntie said.

"yeah. don't worry tho. after the second bookstore will be finished, jisung will return here and work as usual. I'm going to work in the second bookstore with my...boyfriend."
felix said, getting a bit shy at the word boyfriend.

"oh my god, boyfriend?! I really missed a lot."
auntie said.
"tell me all about him. what's his name? does he treat you well?"

felix smiled.
"his name is chan, and yes, he's treating me amazingly. we're going to move in with each other soon."

"that's a really big step! you guys really have to love each other."
auntie said.

"we do, yeah."
felix nodded, the smile never leaving his face.

"and what about you...jeongin was it? please tell me all about yourself, I'm so excited to meet someone who works here with my nephew."

•~•

minho took the beers from the trunk, holding jisung's hand as they made their way towards the camping spot.

it was a nice day, and minho's friends decided it was the best day to meet, since everyone was free.

minho was a bit tensed up, just a bit, because jisung himself didn't notice. he wasn't exactly the happiest to be seeing suho right now. but he was sure as hell that if he started his bullshit again, suho won't be leaving with both of his legs.

"hi guys."
jungkook said with a huge smile when he saw the couple approaching.

"how is it possible that you're always the last ones to arrive?"
yeonjun chuckled, already drinking his apple juice.

minho smiled as he looked around, but he felt a bit confused when he didn't see suho anywhere.
not that he exactly minded.

"oh you know, one of the cats always lays on minho's chest and he refuses to put him down."
jisung said.

"oh you won't throw this on me, we both know who the guilty one is."
minho said, lightly nudging jisung.

all of the guys smiled, happy to see jisung and minho so in love with each other.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom first, be right back."
jisung said, walking away.

just when he was out of sight, minho turned to look at his friends, finally letting his confusion be seen.

all of his friends understood what he was asking about with that look.

"we decided we won't be inviting him."
jungkook explained.
"just like you, we're all tired of his bullshit. jisung is a sweetheart, and let's be real, we all love him more then we ever did suho. you know how he is, he wouldn't stop with the hate on jisung, and we just don't need that negativity here."

"me and beomgyu payed for the place, and that's how it's going to be from now on. we only bring stuff we already own, so it's not like we're putting any money into this like all of you do. it only seemed fair. also, these friendly meetings are for catching up and enjoying our time together, not to spread negativity and making everyone uncomfortable."
seonghwa said, beomgyu nodding.

"guys I...thank you for this, really. I know it wasn't an easy decision."
minho said.

"honestly, after these few meetings with his constant attacks on jisung, it wasn't that hard."
jungkook shrugged.

minho smiled.
"even then, I'm thankful. but I wanna ask you for one thing. please don't say that suho wasn't invited because he was being mean to jisung. he would just blame himself for destroying our friendship with him."

"of course."
all of the guys smiled.

just then, jisung came back.

"so, how have you guys been?"
seonghwa asked, as the couple sat in the already prepared chairs, blankets over them.

the guys spend hours just talking and laughing.
and to be 100% honest, it was much more comfortable without suho there.

he could go bite the curb.