𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

28; 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙

"obachan said that you're all good looking." koutaro says, smiling warmly. his smile looked identical to his grandmother's. oh, koutaro is the one translating because seventeen simply does not trust soonyoung.

(example: the previous sentence. soonyoung might alter it into something awful, like, you all look like frogs.)

"ah, thank you!" seungcheol says, bowing. the ten other men behind him mirrored seungcheol's actions, all in unison. it scared koutaro, to be honest. "thank you, also, for letting us stay in your house."

"daijobu!"

"she says it's okay." koutaro says. "anyway, she needs to go to sleep now. i can cook dinner for you guys, if you want?"

"no, it's alright." seungcheol chuckled, discreetly glaring at seokmin and minghao. "we already ate. i think it's nice if we all rest now."

"okay! the futons are ready. hoshino-san, will you sleep with them?" koutaro opens the door to the guest room. once soonyoung shook his head, koutaro nodded towards the guest room to invite the eleven men in. "go ahead and make yourselves comfortable. there's a bathroom inside."

"i won't sleep with them. i won't be able to sleep AT ALL if i join them," soonyoung says, making the seventeen members laugh or jeer at soonyoung. "goodnight. see you tomorrow."

"jihoonie," jeonghan shook jihoon's shoulders, who groaned in response. "we're the only ones left here."

jihoon looked at jeonghan through his half-lidded eyes, still wanting to stay bundled up in his cozy futon. "where did they go? what time is it?"

"seungcheol, soonyoung, seungkwan and junhui went to watch koutaro's volleyball practice, joshuji was off to buy his anime merch, minghao, mingyu, seokmin and chan wanted ippudo ramen and mochi so they went out." jeonghan explained, stretching his arms. "i'm going out too."

jihoon opens his eyes fully, looking at jeonghan who was already fully dressed. "what? where are you going?"

"i'm going to join joshuji because i like a little bit of anime too. will you be okay staying here?"

"okay."

and with that, jeonghan left. jihoon tried to go back to sleep, but his stomach was grumbling and his breath probably smelled awful. so, jihoon gets up and fixes his futon. jeonghan was already out, so only soonyoung's grandmother was there.

"ah, ohayo gozaimasu," jihoon bows at akaashi yukiko, who smiled in return. jihoon wanted to ask her if he could get something for breakfast, but he didn't know any more japanese for that. so, jihoon whips out his phone and opens the translator app.

jihoon types, can i use your kitchen for breakfast, grandmother? and plays the audio for yukika to understand. yukika nods, heading to the kitchen to give jihoon a bowl of tuna bean sprouts. jihoon accepted it.

"itadakimasu." jihoon places his palms together, as what soonyoung taught the eleven of them to do. yukika appreciated this, making her smile. she pointed to jihoon's phone. "e-eh? oh!"

jihoon changed the setting of the translator to japanese to korean, and changed the keyboards as well. yukika took her time to type. once done, she shows jihoon's phone to him and she leaves.

you're hoshino's past lover, right? i like you. you are very polite. i want to show you something.

jihoon pocketed his phone, before continuing to eat his tuna bean sprouts. it tasted too amazing to ignore. what could soonyoung's grandmother want to show, though? jihoon suspected it's something involving him and soonyoung, but he wasn't sure what exactly.

soon, yukiko was back with a notebook. she placed it on the table, alongside the empty bowl of tuna bean sprouts. jihoon bowed a little, taking the notebook as yukiko left to go to her room.

jihoon reads the words written on the first page, days without my beloved. jihoon's eyebrows met, as he flipped it to the second page. he was overwhelmed.

pictures. it was filled with jihoon and soonyoung's pictures from when they were together. starting from their first date at the seoul tower, to their pictures in the twelfth floor that they kept to themselves. their second, third, fourth, fifth to twentieth date. their last date, before wonwoo was gone.

jihoon gulped, blinking away unshed tears. he almost forgot how it felt like being this happy with soonyoung, how happy soonyoung made him feel. how in love they were with each other, how much tears they shed after parting.

there were several notes after the pages of pictures. thankfully, they were in korean.

first page.

i'm sorry, shrimpy. i miss you. i made a mistake. how can i win you back? i feel so nostalgic looking at all of our pictures.

second page. it has blobs of dried tears on it.

my mother died, and my grandmother is sick. i have to work, too. please leave my mind, shrimpy, so i can think and grieve properly.

third page. even more blobs of dried tears.

shrimpy, it'd been four months. i think the three/month-rule of breakups is fake after all. i'm still stupidly in love with you.

fourth, and last page. no tears.

shrimpy, if i get to turn back time, will i be able to save everything?

jihoon was on the verge of tears. when did he last come across the nickname 'shrimpy'? why? why? why? why!? why should everything be like this? why can't jihoon be with soonyoung anymore? why was wonwoo abducted?

why?

"hey!" sudden dropping of bags and hurried footsteps was heard. someone steals the notebook out of jihoon's hand, presumably soonyoung. "why do you have that?!"

"your grandma gave it to me," jihoon picked up his dishes, looking down his feet as he stood and walked to the kitchen. "you're back so soon."

"why did you read it?!"

jihoon ignores soonyoung and goes inside the guest room. he slides the door shut, and curls up in a ball on a corner. it was hard trying to keep his sobs quiet and undistirbing.

that sneaky bastard. grandma doesn't even know about this notebook! soonyoung was fuming. jihoon was poking his nose into other people's business! he wasn't this nosy before, why is he suddenly rummaging through soonyoung's things like it's nothing?! no, it's not! they're not together anymore, and jihoon doesn't have sny right to go through his belongings!

soonyoung was ready to slam the door open, but then, he noticed how jihoon kept his head hung low the whole time they were in the same room.

is he crying? soonyoung asked himself, gulping as he slightly opened the door. fuck, no, he is crying. soonyoung had never seen jihoon cry. even when they broke up, jihoon was grumpy and angry. seeing it for the furst time frustrated soonyoung, and drove him crazy. what should soonyoung do? approaching him seems to be the right answer, but still!

"it still hurts," soonyoung muttered to himself, turning away from the door. "this can't be."

of course, it can be what soonyoung thinks it is. but, he refuses to admit that he still loves the short-tempered man that he used to call shrimpy.