(OLD VER.) Avenue 17 | SVT ENSEM.

[ 二十六 ] TWENTY SIX

" make wonwoo happy project includes jihoon, seungcheol and myungho; his most trusted and big brained therapists in this hell hole of a friend group "

everything went by in a motion blur, just brown hair going this way and that, lights flashing and comments muttered under breaths. it was so oddly professional with those two. and seokmin had yet to catch their names. "so the strawberry crepes are here..." the boy muttered, flipping through the photos on a laptop. "your minis... some tarts... milk teas, iced teas, milk drinks- all that." he looked at seokmin, "satisfied?" caught in shock, seokmin nodded quickly. so did the boy. "good. me too."

the girl was bothering jisoo, the camera around her neck. seemed like jisoo was enjoying her presence somewhat, so seokmin left them be. "jungeun! put the damn lens cover on, stupid! are you gonna dirty the lens?" the girl turned around in horror and rushed to do so, "shit! i'm sorry, you need to remind me!" her brother rolled his eyes. "how many times do i have to before it gets through that thick skull of yours?" mm, sibling stuff. at least seokmin knew one name.

"we'll edit the pics and get them over to you via email. if you'd send it to us now or through seungkwan...hyung... then that'd be great." the boy said, as they packed up. "uh sure, yeah. we'll dm you on instagram." seokmin said. jungeun piped up from the lights, "oh! since you know our instagram, could you tag that when you use those photos?" jisoo nodded, "got it." "we'll remind you in the attachment email."

god these kids.

【 ☆ 】

"junhui where are you? junhui answer us! junhui this, junhui that. GOD!" junhui glared at the phone he'd just thrown on the sofa. "maybe don't kick me out if you don't want me off the radar? thought you didn't wanna even see me, now you care about my wellbeing?"

junhui pulled faces and mocked the messages in his phone from his family group chat. apparently he had muted it and only saw the hundreds and hundreds of messages just then. but he was pissed. "wen junhui, why're you being so loud?" minghao shuffled his way out his bedroom, robe blowing behind him.

"my parents kicked me out right? and apparently for the past few days, weeks or whatever- they'd been texting and telling me to answer to them? weren't they the ones that didn't want to see me?" junhui stormed around the furniture in angry circles. "woah woah woah," minghao grabbed junhui's shoulders and pushed him toward the singular sofa chair. the boy landed with a sharp huff.

"first off, totally understand why you're mad. actually, i'm kinda mad too. this is bullshit. second," minghao lay down on the sofa facing junhui and clasped his hands together. "you can begin your rant."

oh, rant away junhui did.

kicking him out in the first place? wack! but whatever, the deed's done. then he doesn't tell them where he goes, for obvious reasons, right hao hao? 'course he's right. then they spam him? for what? he thought they wanted nothing to do with him- yeah! it's stupid! why care about him now when they never seemed to since the beginning?

minghao scoffed and closed his eyes briefly, "this is absurd." "right?!" junhui shouted, eyes wide open, nearly falling out of his chair from over dramatic exasperation. then, minghao sat up and looked him straight in the eyes. "i'm gonna keep you here as long as i can. just to spite the fuck out of them." junhui agreed. "and i'm gonna stay! right here.. with you- f-forever if i have to! fuck that whole place." he shook his head. as he leaned back into the cushions, he realised his words.

he wanted to stay with hao forever.

a quick glance at minghao; would he? "would you let me?" the other boy matched eye contact in confusion at junhui's incomplete sentence. "would you let me stay with you? ...forever?" with no hesitation, minghao nodded. it was so confident. "100% yes, wen junhui. of course i would. in a fucking heartbeat," then he smiled, "i'd probably let you do anything."

junhui swore his heart exploded, time stopped, the world spun- all those metaphors and whatnot. because looking at minghao like this- despite the unflattering home clothes and the messy hair- minghao was so... so... beautiful. radiant and oddly stunning. wen junhui was stunned. xu minghao had his heart. his smile sealed the deal. suddenly junhui remembered all the times he saw minghao smile or laugh and he saved them all in his brain. these were going to be his precious memories and he was sure of that.

so he smiled back, just as radiant. at least, he hoped.

【 ☆ 】

「

mingu support group <3

Jeonghan: hey mingyu so
Jeonghan: anything happen recently?

You: well
You: no
You: i just don't really know what to do
You: i've tried to talk but he just kinda asks me to stop and to leave him be
You: i almost feel tempted to just leave the house and stay with someone else

」

「

make wonwoo happy

Jihoon: right then wonwoo what's going on
Jihoon: are u still avoiding mingyu

You: i have no choice!
You: if you don't remember, i was exposed???

Minghao: hey don't go guilt tripping now

Seungcheol: we understand your embarrassment, wonwoo but you can't avoid mingyu forever
Seungcheol: you live with him, if you forgot

You: i know hyung
You: i'll just hide until i can't anymore

Jihoon: that time is now
Jihoon: get out there and talk to him please
Jihoon: I'm worried for him

You: why? he's fine
You: he wasn't the one exposed to his crush
You: he's embarrassed at me, isn't he?
You: he's embarrassed at the fact that he got caught up in this, right?

Minghao: hyung stop
Minghao: you're overthinking and overanalysing, you need to stop

Seungcheol: wonwoo go talk to mingyu

You: no

Jihoon: he's not fine actually, wonwoo. he's worried about you, more than he is about himself. i've been seeing him wander the halls, he just sits there in the gardens staring blankly into the sky. he doesn't know what to do with himself.
Jihoon: it looks like being distant from you did something to him, jeon wonwoo. so get out of that cursed shell of yours and talk to him
Jihoon: show him that you're not going to leave him because it seems like you will
Jihoon: lord knows that's what mingyu fears the most.

You: fears?..

Seungcheol: you leaving him, wonwoo.
Seungcheol: we all know this
Seungcheol: go get him

」

「

mingu support group <3

Jihoon: thank me later

」