Rose [Mashikyu]

- Prologue.

[Mashiho's P.O.V.]

"Are you excited to be going to Seoul, Mashiho?" My dad asked me, speaking in fluent Korean rapidly as if I was supposed to reply to him. I crossed my arms and looked the other way, not wanting to leave Japan behind. I don't want to leave my friends, I need them. But apparently my parents wanted me to experience Korea just as they did, and continue my schooling over there. I had spent the past 17 years of my life in Osaka, it was all I knew. My friends were all I knew- and no matter how many times I said that, no matter how much I tried to protest, I was always shut down.

I was going to miss my friends. I was going to miss getting detention with Haruto for skipping classes together. I was going to miss going to Yoshinori whenever I had a problem with homework. I was going to miss going to Asahi for comfort when mom and dad fought. Now there was no one there for me. Heck, I was even going to miss getting shouted at by the teachers in detention.

"Mashiho, reply to me. You're acting like a little girl." Dad's tone was no longer soft. That's how it always was- it's either you be the perfect son and do everything right, or be upset about something and immediately be acknowledged as 'feminine' for having a trait like sensitivity.

Why was I feminine for being upset that I was leaving my life and friends behind me? Sure, I could call them, but phone calls were super expensive, and it would probably cut out around 10 thousand times during the call.

"You know I'm not excited to be leaving." I replied quietly, speaking in Japanese rather than Korean.

"Well man up and stop whining. It's going to happen one way or another, and it's about time you just get over it."

I bit my lip, lowering my head as I refused to say more. I wasn't going to cry. No. I couldn't.

"Okay! Mashiho, Matsuo, are you ready to get going?" I had never been so thankful for my mom to walk in on a conversation until that moment.

"Of course, Yeina, lets get going." My dad spoke, using that fake sweet tone of his which was always replaced by something vicious and scary once mom did something he didn't like again. He didn't hit mom, but the tone and words he used were enough to scare me and make me sneak out at unfathomable hours of the night to meet up with Asahi, my friend with insomnia, and have a big cry over the utter misogyny I was forced to witness on a daily basis.

Women aren't worth anything less than men, they shouldn't be treated that way. Men should be able to cook, to clean, to do things that women do, and they shouldn't be labelled as 'feminine' for doing so. It's okay, I always helped my mom do chores when dad was working a night shift at the factory.

She appreciated it a lot, and told me that my future wife was going to love me for it, oh boy.

I was the last one to walk out of the front door- I took one last glance at the interior of the small and humble home I grew up in before shutting the door and locking it with a prolonged sigh.

"Hurry, Mashiho!" I heard mom call, "We're going to be late for our flight!" She jumped between Japanese and Korean in her speech, making it hard to process, but nevertheless I followed her.

"Bye bye, home." I whispered to myself. "Bye Haruto. Bye Yoshi. Bye Asahi." I could feel myself tearing up, so I bit my bottom lip harshly to stop myself.

It was going to be a long week.

—

[Junkyu's P.O.V.]

"Junkyu!" I heard my mom call, "Wake up! My friend from high school is moving back to Seoul today, we have to welcome her!" I groaned in response, not registering anything she had said- I was too tired and it was too early in the morning to deal with her energy, to be honest.

"Oh! She's also bringing her husband and her son with her! I hope you'll make a good impression- maybe even make friends with him, alright?"

I mumbled a small 'yes' in response- not realising just how much of an impact that boy would have on my life.

——

The prologue to give a bit of background info :) this is short but future chaps will be longer. <3