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0.5

Lee Minhyuk

[2002]

"Aren't you excited?" Hyojin asked, offering me a warm smile as she folded my clothes into my bag. I shrugged, because there wasn't really much else to say. All I could really do was stand and watch as she perched on the edge of the bed, delicately folding my shirts and trousers. "They're lovely people, plus we went to look at their house to see if it's suitable; it's pretty good! Far better than here, but that isn't hard, is it?"

I chuckled. "No."

"Cheer up, Minhyuk," She stopped for a second, looking in my direction before she carried on. "it will be good, plus you can always come visit. You're lucky."

"What if they don't let me? Or what if they end up not liking me?" I asked. "Do I come back, then?"

"Of course they will, and if not, we'll drop by to check up on you through the next year, you can tell us everything," she pulled the zip, setting the suitcase on the floor before checking her watch. "we better get downstairs; lead the way, I'll bring this down with me."

I nodded obediently, turning around and making my way downstairs, where a man and a woman linked into each other stood speaking with the Head of the foster home. All three grinned at me, but I wasn't able to return the favour.

"Come here, Yuk," Jisoo didn't have to say it twice; I ran into her arms, hugging her tightly. "we'll miss you around here. But don't worry, Hyojin, the others and I will come and see you, okay?"

"Okay." I said, voice trembling as tears brimmed my eyes. I dragged the back of my hand across both eyes.

"Go be happy." She whispered, gesturing to the man and woman, who looked on with a small smile.
I walked over to the two of them, and was engulfed in a tight, warm hug which told me that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be all that bad.

***

[present day]

It had been roughly two weeks since I last spoke to Jooheon. Although I saw him more often than I hoped (at least during the first week, after that I wanted to), he would walk right by me as if we'd never spoken before, regardless of whether I tried to speak to him.

Perhaps I was harsh; assuming that his main intention was to gossip about my life rather than just offer me a shoulder to cry on. It was all that ran through my head for the last few days - how I could see him, how I could speak to him, but most importantly, how to get him to reply.

Between my classes and generally sleeping, I spent my days in cafe with Sunny, so much that I had already got the hang of customer favourites, and the hellish steaming machine.
Jooheon went there often, and perhaps that was the only interaction we'd have. He'd order his usual hot chocolate, ignore anything else I could have to say that was not about his order and then utter a thank you & return to his usual spot by the window, curled up with his tattered copy of Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue for hours, occasionally pausing to check his phone.

However, not even the ghost of him was here today. Yesterday, as I tried to stop him (yet again) he said more than ever in the last two weeks, asking me to excuse him and that he had to go before he took off. It was hard to miss the panicked look in his face as he ran out of the door under heavy snow.