Averted By Comma | Seungjin (Stray Kids)

speechless

Three days later, Hyunjin still show up at S'Dream without a miss. It was pretty much the same everyday.

He met the same people in the cafe, Mark doing the same thing on his computer, the girl, Rose, reading the same book, him hanging out with his seniors.

And Seungmin still didn't recognise him.

Chan and Minho had told him about Seungmin's condition. Apparently, the panick attacks that the younger had developed, turned into memory loss anxiety and something close to mnemophobia -that was all they know, to be honest.

Whatever that was, Hyunjin prayed that it wasn't major and wouldn't prevent Seungmin from ever recognising him again.

"Hey, you're early today." Chan suddenly appeared and took a seat in front of Hyunjin.

"Yeah, I want to be out of the house before my parents are awake," replied Hyunjin with a hint of tiredness. "Are you alone, hyung?"

Chan shook his head and told him that Minho was in the comfort room. The older noticed that Hyunjin seemed so drained and paler than usual.

"Are you okay?"

In reflex of answering, Hyunjin set his gaze on Seungmin who was mixing a drink, "It's kind of tough right now."

"Why? What happened?"

As silly as this might sound, Hyunjin and his seniors had became close just in a short period of time due to them having some sort of chemistry as they easily interact with each other.

Hyunjin tore his gaze away as soon as Seungmin looked up from the cup he was holding, "Dad wants me to attend meetings and discussions at his company while mom wants me to find a partner since I'm old enough to get engaged."

"Complicated."

Luckily, Hyunjin's mother hadn't set him up on blind dates and only went as far as telling him to pick from various pictures of girls age no younger than twenty and no older than twenty five.

How his mother got dozens of them every day was a mystery that Hyunjin didn't want to crack nor bother with.

"I know."

Just a moment later, Minho joined them at the same time as Seungmin, who gave them a wide smile and served their orders.

Hyunjin learnt from his seniors that in order for Seungmin to remember him faster, he needed to order the same thing everyday for a certain period of time depending on how strong Seungmin's alertness was.

And even wore the same thing- or at least the top part- to make it more easy.

"Thanks, Seungmin."

"Oh, thank you."

"Thank you," said Hyunjin, softly that it almost came out as a whisper. He sounded sad but no one detected it.

He felt sad because if, if, the younger do remember him, what would he remember Hyunjin as? The usual customer? Chan and Minho's friend?

Sighing mentally, Hyunjin stopped himself from over-thinking.

Seungmin felt happy and bowed his head, "Enjoy your meals, Chan hyung, Minho hyung, Hyunjin hyung."

And off he went, skipping a few times before arriving behind the counter and getting another empty cup to fill it with people's order.

Hyunjin kept his gaze fixed on his drink as he recalled the softness and gentleness of Seungmin's voice. He fought the urge to look at the younger as to minimise the sadness he was feeling.

That he failed to hear what Seungmin had said.

"Hyunjin ah!" Minho exclaimed, eyes wide. "Did you hear that?!"

Hyunjin blinked slowly. Was the sound of his heart cracking that loud?

"Dude, why do you look so unhappy!" Chan gave him a disbelief look. Shouldn't it be otherwise?!

The youngest of the three shrugged in defeat, "I can't help it. Seungmin still-"

"He said your name!"

"-didn't remember- wait what?"

Minho pinched the bridge of his nose, "Seungmin finally recognised you!"

"I didn't see a happy smile, Hyunjin," Chan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the speechless younger.

"Seungmin recognised you, idiot!"

Hold it.

Did he hear that right or was he just imagining it because he had been imagining it a few times before.

"Seungmin w-what?"

Minho groaned silently and flicked Hyunjin's forehead out of frustration, "Kim Seungmin said your name and that means he fucking recognise you!"

"Note worthy; Minho here rarely swear but when he did, that means he's nothing but serious," Chan added and took a bite from his muffin after.

In his mind, Hyunjin repeated what his seniors had said and when he finally processed them, he couldn't control the movement of his lips.

Chan stopped halfway from getting another bite while Minho pointed his fork at Hyunjin.

"Why is that smile emitting sadness?" Minho questioned.

Chan nodded, "You should be glad he recognised you in less than a week. It took two for him to recognise us."

"I should be," Hyunjin softly said, unable to change the sad smile he had on even when Minho tried lifting his lips.

Chan put down his half eaten muffin, "I know there's gonna be a but."

Hyunjin chuckled a little and side glanced at a waiter who was serving an ice cream to a kid, "But all I feel right now is the guilt from when I left him."

"And we've got all day to listen," Minho stated. "Tell us what had happened, Hyunjin ah."

- - - - -

Here's another chapter!

Thank you for reading this, I'm so happy!