swxtched. | jhs

ALL MY HEART (1)

❝ we'll never forget looking for any kind of reason to escape all the mess that we thought was what made us. ❞

•

HOSEOK'S SISTER, JIWOO started to jest while passing around the chopsticks, "Dinner is so much better with Geurin-ah here. That's why I'm here."

"I feel the same way," Hoseok's mother agreed, letting out a hearty laugh that sounded like music to Green's ears. Speaking of Green, she was growing sheepish at their words, feeling Hoseok's hand sneak up to her own on her lap.

Sitting to her left, he smiled at her, pulling some stray hairs behind her ear. "My family adores you," he cooed, playfully cocking his head from side to side.

When his father entered the dining room, he wiggled his eyebrows and a letter in his hand. "Look what came in the mail," he announced, tapping the envelope on Hoseok's shoulder.

At first glance, Green's eyes widened. He applied for XY University?

Hoseok was already overjoyed at the letter, eagerly holding it in his hands. His eyes blinked up at his sister, who was equally excited, and then to his mother, who was twinkling with a wide smile. He nodded at his father, who ruffled his hair.

Green smiled too, although she couldn't help but feel like Hoseok's family was the family she wished to have. She felt like they were her second family.

They could be, her thoughts whispered, which made her flush.

She thought it was a bit irrational for everyone's hopes to be up like this, especially since it could be a rejection letter. Nonetheless, her hand trailed up to Hoseok's arm, and he turned his head towards her. She gazed fondly at him and his letter, rubbing right under his shoulder, the material of his sweater soft under her fingers.

Encouraged, Hoseok picked at the seal and hastily tore it open, unraveling its contents. He lifted the letter up and scrutinized it. In a shock, he sprung up from his seat.

"I made it!" he gasped. "I'm accepted into XY University!"

Jiwoo clapped her hands, "Congrats, Hobi-ah!"

"Hoseokie, you did it," his mother gushed, leaning over to squeeze his cheek.

Turning to his father, Hoseok lunged at him and squeezed him tightly in his arms, jumping up and down. "I made it, I made it, I made it," he sang. "Guys, I made it!"

Green slowly stood up, smiling wider at the happy virus, and nearly choked when he hugged her next. "It's thanks to Greenie," he said in her hair, "for helping me raise my grades and cheering me on."

"Geurin, you are such a blessing to my son," Hoseok's father remarked, patting her heartily in the back. "Can you take care of him and marry him please?"

"Oh, honey," the mother mused, "it's too early to say those things."

Green was a hot mess at the words put on the table.

She liked Hoseok, very much at that, but marriage to her was like binding two souls together and being each other's halves. She knew him so well at a level no one could reach— she probably even loved him, so, so much— but all these thoughts easily added stress in her mind and sent it reeling. It left a dizzying sensation.

"It's Hobi-ah's birthday tomorrow," Jiwoo mentioned, making Hoseok whip his head to her as if he forgot. "You two should spend the entire day together. Soak up the happiness."

"Oh," Green shook her head, embarrassed at how Hoseok still pulled her so close to him that her head was rubbing against his chest. "I can't take him away for the entire day tomorrow. He should spend it with his family and friends too."

"He'll be a legal boy," she shrugged. "Nineteen. He's only an adult, so he should do adult things with his girlfriend tomorrow."

"Jiwoo-ah!" Hoseok's mother exclaimed, stunned, but the mirth in her eyes never left.

"Geurin, when is your birthday?" his father asked.

"Oh, uh— it's in May. I'm turning nineteen on the eighth."

"See, Geurin-ah's not even legal," the mother teased, making Green look up at Hoseok and realize that he was entirely red in the face.

Releasing her, he made many big expressions, all trying to convey what he was feeling at the moment, because words wouldn't come to him as fast. The boy was just as speechless at his family as she was, with all the talk about marriage and "adult" things right in front of them.

Green started to stifle her laugh behind her hand. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Let's— can we eat first?" Hoseok garbled, sitting down and mumbling his prayers, but they all knew it wasn't to bless the food.

•

『 written on 2017.10.31. | 2017.11.17. 』

【 NOTE 1—this chapter's song title "all my heart" is like swxtched's anthem
NOTE 2—happy birthday kim yugyeom and eric nam!!! 】