𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲•𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

eight

"he loved it?" hoshi asked, walking side by side with jisoo. hoshi wondered why jisoo's smile was so wide; jeonghan liking what jisoo picked isn't that much of a big deal, right? "wow. you know his taste when you've only met for two days."

jisoo shrugged, kicking a pebble out of the way. "i don't actually know his taste. but he loved it nonetheless. he's a good human, even if he's stubborn."

"is his love interest a good person as well?" hoshi added, crossing his arms while looking at jisoo. "you can't put your human in harm."

"he seems like a good person." jisoo nodded acknowledgingly, remembering the worried look on seungcheol's face before he departed for korea. he cares about his father, there's little doubt that he would be an abusive person or something like that. "you haven't gotten your mission yet?"

"headmaster junhui says mine is arriving soon." hoshu states, face scrunching. he did not seem to like the idea of stepping out of this city. jisoo knew that, hoshi had come to like this city for over fifty eight years. "i'm going to miss this place."

"me too," jisoo says, smiling. "the sheer joy of not ha—"

wait.

it hurts. why does jisoo's heart hurt? what's happening? is this heartache? is he dying all over again, or what? did the headmaster do this? jisoo felt pain after so long. it sucked.

it would've been okay if the pain was like the usual; stubbing his toe or scraping a finger. but this is not okay. jisoo wants it to stop, but it's not stopping! it's so painful and heavy to bring, that he almost wants to cry. can he just cry it out here instead?

is this how jeonghan felt when seungcheol said that he liked another man? this is painful.

"when it hurts," hoshi spoke. "it means that your human is crying." he walks past jisoo, and lets him decide what he has to do. hoshi knows that jisoo is smart to know what to do.

jisoo's eyes widen, as he whispered to himself, "why is jeonghan crying?" the matchmaker clutched his chest, wrinkling his long-sleeved satin clothing. jisoo wanted to ease the pain by crying, but who will tend to jeonghan? the human needs help, and this pain that jisoo is feeling serves as jeonghan's call for his help.

jisoo heaved, running to the main plaza. he ran fastest among all the other matchmakers here, since his current issue was urgent.

"finally." jisoo sighed, heading straight to the nearest mirror. he expected jeonghan crying in his bed, curled up inside the covers. but, no. jisoo didn't exit in the mirror from jeonghan's hotel room. "why am i...why am i here? why is jeonghan here?"

jisoo's heart pounded and hurted, as he ran around the busy city of glasgow. though in a hurry, he made sure not to bump into other people, since that would freak them out and the last thing jisoo would want to deal with is with stupid irrelevant humans.

why is jeonghan out in glasgow? is he trying to experience the nightlife here? but why is he crying? jisoo's heart hurts so much!

"ugh!" jisoo grunted, halting to breathe. he bends, holding his knees. he looks at the ground while regaining all the lost oxygen in his lungs, before running again to find jeonghan. "that human!" he says, followed by incoherent cursing.

for about half an hour, jisoo kept running with a painful pang of pain in his chest. jeonghan was still crying, and it still hurted jisoo's heart. half an hour now? what could jeonghan be crying about? a kdrama? seungcheol?

oh. there he is. jisoo saw jeonghan, who was precariously walking on the sidewalk, hugging himself as he looked at his left and right every five seconds.

"jeo....jeonghan." jisoo heaves, placing a hand on jeonghan's shoulder. the man flinched, turning around to see jisoo. "where have you been? why are you here? i was supposed to exit through... through a mirror that's the nearest to you! you're heading west now, you're close to exiting glasgow!"

"oh my god. fuck," jeonghan cussed, looking around to check if nobody was around—and when he confirms it, he leans close for a hug. "i got lost. thank you for finding me. thank you so, so much. a taxi driver didn't understand what i was saying and he dropped me off far away from the cafe where seungkwan a-and his friends go t-to..."

"so you were crying because.... because you were lost?" jisoo asked, rubbing jeonghan's back. he was still short of breath, but he can manage. "let's take you home. stop crying."

"oka.. w-wait, how did you know i was lost? you were running after m-me." jeonghan says, wiping his tears as jisoo pulled away from the hug.

"when the human assigned to you cries, a matchmaker's heart will hurt." jisoo says, rubbing his nape. "you caused me a lot of pain, and you owe me an oxygen tank," jisoo chuckled, pointing to his chest. jeonghan sniffled, smiling crookedly at jisoo.

"i'm sorry, and thank you. i'll buy you an oxygen tank for all the oxygen that you lost." jeonghan joked, making jisoo laugh. "i will not cry again, i didn't know your heart will hurt if i cry."

"it's okay," jisoo says, offering his hand. jeonghan took it, before jisoo suddenly jerked jeonghan's hand and he started walking. jeonghan caught up to him in no time. "it's good for you to cry. plus! that way, i know you need me. i'll be there,"

"sorry for sharing my pain with you."

jisoo chuckled, like jeonghan's words were a joke. "it's okay. that way, i can understand your pain better."