The Stars (GTOP)

Chapter Twenty Three: Returning to Normal

With Jiyong home, everyone was relaxed and the house had returned to its normal rhythm of dogs barking and running in and out of the back door while loud chatter came from the kitchen. There were eggs and bacon sizzling in frying pans. Daesung was standing at the stove to keep things from burning with Youngbae standing by him holding plates. Jiyong and his parents were sitting at the dining table with Seungri when Seunghyun walked in. The rapper smiled at the sight. It was a breath of fresh air to see how normal everything already was. He walked to the counter near Daesung and pulled a mug from the cupboard, pouring himself a cup of coffee before moving to the table to sit next to Jiyong.

"Good morning Ji Ji."

The tattooed man smiled at him and leaned towards him, giving him a quick kiss. "Morning!"

Daesung and Bae walked over to the table with large plates full of scrambled eggs and bacon. As they ate their breakfast, Seunghyun felt like the worst was finally behind them and they could move forward with their lives.

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~1 month later~

Jiyong was sitting on the living room couch, legs curled up under a fuzzy blanket, scrolling on his laptop through something Seunghyun couldn't see from his chair. He had a focused expression on his face. Seunghyun watched him for a moment, smiling at how he would subtly frown, or when his eyes would light up. The elder had an idea of what he was doing.

"Are you on Pinterest looking at more wedding stuff?" Jiyong looked up at him.

He smirked. "Maybe. We decided to try and get married sooner rather than later after everything. Pinterest has a never ending supply of wedding reception ideas. Come here." He lifted the edge of the blanket as Seunghyun sat next to him. "See?" He pointed at the screen where Seunghyun saw 4 different flowers. "I'm still trying to decide on flowers. I have four different types that I like, and they all mean something relevant to our relationship and what we've been through. I don't know if we should have all four and have half the tables with these two, and the other tables with these, or if we should just pick two and have all the tables match."

"Hmm. Well, tell me what they mean and what ones would go together."

Jiyong pointed and the first two photos. "This is a ranunculus, it means the person you're with is charming and that you find them attractive. Then peonies mean honor, beauty, and love. I like how these would look together, and maybe I'd want something tall too, like a type of leafy fern or grass."

"Alright, I can see why you like them together. Would you want a light colored peony?"

"Yeah I was thinking that if we can get ranunculus that are this light pink with the green in the center, I'd wan't peonies that are a slightly darker tone of pink, but still pastel since the ranunculus is almost white."

Seunghyun smiled. He loved seeing how intense Jiyong was with planning different things for the wedding. "I think that sounds pretty. What about the others?"

"Well, you recognize calla lilies, and I might want a light mauve instead of white to offset the gardenias. But calla lilies mean overcoming challenges, faith, and rebirth, which I think you'll agree is fitting with our relationship. Gardenias mean trust, hope, and friendship. The reason I'm having a hard time is because these two, emotionally mean more for us, but the other two match us too. Do you think we should only pick two of them?"

He looked at Seunghyun. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The elder smirked. "Because I love that you're picking flowers because of their meanings rather than if they're just pretty. And I just love that we're planning our wedding, it doesn't feel real. I've waited a long time to find someone like you."