language barrier ☆ junhui (HUGE REWRITE)

XV

"Hey guys, Mei's birthday is coming up, right?" Hansol asked, mostly at Joshua and Junhui, them knowing her the best out of anyone.

"Yeah, July 10th" Joshua answered.

"Woah that's in four days, how're we gonna celebrate?" Minkyung asked and everyone stayed quiet, thinking of different ideas.

"Well she doesn't like parties, so that's out of the question" Jieqiong said, pulling out her phone and making a list on it.

"She really likes aquariums, I remember she talked to me about fish for a good hour once" Jihoon said, laughing lightly and the others following along.

"Well we all can't go with her to the aquarium, obviously, there's just too many of us!" Mingyu whined, he really wanted to go out but knew the company wouldn't let 24 trainees out at one time.

"Maybe only some of us can go? Only the closest ones to her" Wonwoo said, laying on the floor, wanting everyone to shut up and figure something out soon.

"Well that already includes Jun, Joshua, Hansol and Jieqiong. Maybe Yebin too" Jeonghan said, grabbing Jieqiong's phone and writing down their names.

"I don't like aquariums, sadly. Plus I'm not as close to her as Eunwoo is" Eunwoo perked her head up and smiled. Not many people noticed, but her and Mei had become increasingly close since they once stayed up until 5 in the morning, training together for evaluation.

"Alright then it's settled, but someone has to tell the CEO about it, or at least the secretary" Siyeon said, instantly staying out of it, not wanting to go through that.

"Me and Josh will do it, we'll ask him later in the day" Hansol said and pat Joshua's back, the other boy giving him a crazy look but nodding it off later on.

"Okay then! We'll take her out for the day and we'll have a cake or something during dinner for her! Ohhh this is gonna be so fun! I can't wait" Jieqiong said and started writing down all of her ideas, there was no way her best friend was going to spend a lousy birthday, not on her watch.

-

Mei decided she didn't want to go with her friends, at least not right now. She felt guilty for creating such amazing friendships, only to leave them behind for another company, another opportunity for her to shine. It was both a win-lose situation for her, and she just felt troubled. She laid on her bed and looked up to the ceiling, a million thoughts in her head.

A knock was heard on the door, and she slightly groaned, not wanting to see anyone right now, yet she still answered. "Come in"

The door opened to reveal a smiley faced Jonghyun. He'd always been like an older brother to Mei and he always looked out for her, so when the rumors spread that she had finally gone to meet the company, he had to hear from her.

"Hey, what's up with you? It's past lunch already, you're always the first to go down for food" He said softly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Not hungry" She said simply, and he sighed. Right at that moment, her stomach growled. She mentally cursed her stomach and sat up to look at Jonghyun. "Okay yes, I am hungry but I just don't want to go down today"

He instantly became worried, his eyes showing concern. "What's wrong?" He asked softly, lightly tucking pieces of her hair behind her ear.

"I just feel so lost, Jonghyun. I don't know what to do" She started tearing up again, and he pulled her into his arms, rubbing up and down her back soothingly.

"Hey, hey. Mei it's going to be okay, but we can't talk about this while I worry about you not eating yet" They both laughed as he unwrapped his arms from her and stoop up, straightening his clothes. "I'll go get you some food and you just, um, just sit here and wait for me, okay?"

"I'm not a dog, Hyunie, I understand" He smiled at her and quickly took off to get her some food.

-

The Seventeen boys were all sitting in the small cafeteria the company had, looking at the staff who constantly came in and out, until they spotted someone who'd already been here earlier.

"Hey Jonghyun" Seungcheol called, Jonghyun smiled at him and greeted him back. "I thought you had already gotten food earlier, what's up?"

"Oh I'm just getting Mei some food, she doesn't want to come out of her dorm" The boys all looked concerned and some of the girls that were still there also picked up on the conversation.

"What? The girls said she was fine this morning" Joshua said and looked over at the remaining girls. They shrugged, looking just as confused.

"She's fine, sorta, she's just having a hard time right now" The lady serving food called his name, the food already packed for Mei and put in a bag. "I'll see you all later, I'll also keep you updated if anything happens to her" With that he was gone with the food, ready to question Mei about how she felt.

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me: gives my own character my birthday so i can live somewhat in the story i mean what i didnt say anything
but yes my buds my birthday's on the 10th so if anyone actually remembers congrats to u bc i almost forgot it was my birthday soon!!