Viridescence | Yunho

༻ 11 ༺

"I'm more shameless than you think."
- Sacrifice by Han Seungwoo

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Jihyun opens her eyes to a dark room. For the first time in weeks, she feels like she had a nice and restful sleep. This has to be a good sign for what's to come.

She slides out of bed with a grunt, still getting used to moving around by herself. She recalls Jongho's instruction from the evening before and decides to just spend some time alone for a while until he arrives.

Her feet weakly walk her to the light switch before she turns the light on. She proceeds to limp back to the bed, but stops suddenly when the painting above the bed catches her eye. She noticed it before but never properly looked at it.

It's a painting of a dark green forest. It seems pretty cluttered with trees, blanketed by the darkness of the night. Small specks of luminous green are floating around in front of the trees. It's the fireflies again.

The painting gives off an eerie impression and an ominous feeling leaks out of it. She shakes violently before tearing her attention away from it, trying to avoid letting her mind travel to darker places.

Three light knocks snap her out of her daze. Her head flicks to the door as she anticipates who's there. The door creaks open slowly and Jongho's head adorably pops through. "Good morning!" he chirps.

A smile grows onto Jihyun's lips. "Morning!" she replies cheerfully. Mingi and Wooyoung's faces flash through her mind, making her mood brighten even more.

"Are you feeling okay to walk?" He walks over to her and extends his hand. She stands up using his help, abdomen not even hurting too much. "Definitely." 

"Great! I'll walk you out, your belongings are at the front door with one of our workers," Jongho explains. Jihyun's face nearly starts glowing at the thought. She follows Jongho out of her room eagerly, eyes travelling around the hallways one last time. This will probably be the last time she'll see something so luxurious, so she soaks it all in.

Just as they approach the door, Jongho stops and turns around. "Will you visit us even after you're gone?" his eyes turn sad. She fakes a smile. "I don't know if I'll ever get time...but maybe one day!" She tries to answer carefully to not hurt Jongho's feelings. In reality even if she could return, she wouldn't. Not in a hundred years. She's had too many negative emotions attached to this place. On top of that, she'd prefer to never see Seonghwa or Hongjoong's face ever again.

Her head turns to the staircase and her thoughts come to a halt. She hasn't even explored the upper floors yet...is her job more important or her freedom from this place? She decides to leave it to some other agent that actually has backup. The large front doors in front of her are too enticing.

"In case you never come back again, can I show you my favourite room before you go? It's so important to me and I've been wanting to show it to you ever since you first came here...you really mean much more to me than you think," he blurts out sheepishly, head hanging shyly.

She nearly giggles at his adorable posture. Giving in, she puts a hand on his shoulder to get him to lift his head again. "Of course I'll come with you to your favourite room before I leave," she smiles. Jongho feels like the younger brother she's never had. His tiny mouth forms a smile and he nearly jumps. "Thank you!"

With a little hop, he turns slightly and hurriedly scurries down the hallway. "Follow me!" Jihyun takes small yet quick steps to catch up. It reminds her of how she used to play with her older brother when he still used to visit her. He'd always run faster than her while her tiny legs worked as hard as they could to catch up. Needless to say, her brother would always win every game of tag.