[VIXX Neo] Butterflies

Q

Finally, we were all here.

Everything seemed just right. Daehyun's friends were conversing well with the kids and there was such a good ambiance in the cafe.

"How have you been Hakyeon?"

Daehyun said as he set his tea cup down.

"Great! I became a childhood teacher at Minyul's childcare."

Daehyun thoughtfully looked out of the cafe.

"That's nice. I miss Minyul. I should go visit."

"Come back. Mother would be delighted to know you are well!"

Taekwoon had an unusual optimistic energy as he tried to persuade Daehyun. Daehyun picked up his cup and swirled it. Then, he shook his head.

"I'm not done with what I have to just yet. But I'll go and visit soon. "

Taekwoon lent back against his chair and nodded in understanding. It was so different to see this 'brother' side of him. He was more open and honest, which was understandable. Somehow, with both of them in front of me, I could see more similarities than I expected. Their speech patterns, behaviour, intelligence and regulation in emotion were just surface level.

"What have you been doing these past few years?"

"Well... Before I disappeared, I transferred some money to an account which I withdrew the money of afterward. I closed the account so there was no tracks. After that, I just did odd jobs."

Daehyun glanced over to where his friends were and smiled. Taekwoon and I followed his gaze and watched.

"I met each of them at different jobs and somehow we clicked when we all met up. We soon grew tired of what we were doing and started this cafe."

"By the way, Hakyeon, have you been dealing with things well?"

Daehyun voice was notably worried. It was also much louder than I had hoped. Since the others were not aware of what had happened back in those days, they looked at me in confusion and anticipated my reply.

"I've been taking each day as it comes. So far so good, I would say."

Feeling Taekwoon's gaze on me and gradually more aware of my growing thirst, I took my glass of water and sipped as casually as I could. Taekwoon couldn't drop the subject so easily and proceeded to ask me questions about it.

"Why? What happened?"

"I had anxiety issues back then. It happened after I left my family and before I joined the company. The lack of contact with my family made it worse and with not much resources, I couldn't get help or cope with it well."

VIXX turned their attention to what I was saying. They were visibly focused and seemed interested with the topic. I breathed in deeply as I reminisced.

"Daehyun was one of the team members that sensed something was amiss since he knew me from University. Fortunately, he would check up on me and gave me a few tips from a therapist he had contacts with. And I got better with dealing with my anxiety."

"What about right now?" Junhong suddenly interjected and I noticed Jong Up placing his hand on Junhong's thigh.

"It's alright Jong Up. Well, it would be a lie to say that I no longer have any anxiety, but I think about things a little differently now. When I fell into a slump, I thought about myself five years from now. Then, 10 years from now."

I looked at everyone who was present, lingering at Taekwoon a second longer than I should. I grabbed Taekwoon's hand under the table and squeezed it once. He returned a squeeze too.