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━━━  " 📂 " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝙍 𝙊 𝙈 𝘼 𝙉 𝘾 𝙄 𝙉 𝙂

! chapter one hundred
& nine ─── ʚĭɞ

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Miyeon had been home for a few hours when she got the call. She had drowned herself in some of her favourite foods and spent most of the time cheering up and forgetting about it.

Which is why she barely even thought before answering Seojun's call, horror filtering through her veins as she suddenly remembered what had happened. But she needed to put that behind her, because he had called to tell her that Suho had a panic attack.

And so, Miyeon got a car and made her way back to the hospital, feet dragging along the corridors to the ward where Seojun told her that he was being treated in. She very almost came to a stop as she reached the specific hallway, seeing Mr Lee stood by the seats, talking to a doctor.

But quietly, she inched forward and sat down on the edge of the bench furthest away from him, feeling incredibly awkward. Seojun had explained things on the phone - Mr Lee didn't know about Seyeon's incident, he had let Director Oh take care of it, who did all of the damage in order to cover up Mr Lee's romance with an actress. And Mr Lee didn't want his son to be disappointed in him because of it. He had let a boy die to try and preserve his already rocky relationship with his distant son, because Suho had already witnessed the disappointment when he was younger - on the night of his mother's death, no less.

And Seojun had finally found out about what had happened on the night of Seyeon's suicide between him and Suho. Why the Lee boy wasn't able to help his friend and had blamed himself for it, and knew how it had haunted him.

"Here." She looked up with a start, heart pounding in her ears as she met Seojun's eyes. He was holding out her lyric book, which she had left with him just hours before. She watched as his gaze flickered over to the man on the other end of the seats, sighing before sitting down.

"Thanks." She murmured, waiting for what he was planning on doing.

"I always knew he could be frustrating." Seojun began. "But I didn't know he was suffering psychologically. I don't think he'll ever tell you this, but Leo is actually Suho. Not me.. or Miyeon or anyone we know."

Mr Lee twisted to look at them, shock covering his features as he saw the two best friends sat side by side, one of them telling him things and the other confirming them. "What?" He asked.

"You can tell just by going over to his house." Seojun let out a rather frustrated sigh, tone getting harsher and louder. "Are you really his father? I bet you have no idea how happy he was.. everytime he made songs with Seyeon."

Face taut this emotion, Seojun paused to let the man take it all in, rather surprised to feel a hand gently placed over his bandaged wrist. Fingers patted gently against the exposed skin, and when he looked up at Miyeon she was staring straight ahead, eyes filled with unshed tears once more.

No more words were exchanged, and after a few glances over at Mr Lee, the two of them knew that they should leave him to take it all in by himself. And so, Seojun and Miyeon walked side by side back to his room.

"I'm sorry for kissing you." Seojun said, as they turned around a corner and broke the silence. "It was unfair of me."

"It was." Miyeon didn't elaborate, eyes still set straight ahead of her as if even glancing at the Han boy would betray her.

"I don't know why I did it, to be honest. It felt right in the moment - so, so right - but it could just be the painkillers messing with my emotions or something. But it wasn't right.. and I shouldn't have done it."

"It's fine." Miyeoon shrugged, Seojun's head twisting so quickly to look at her it made him dizzy. "Well.. sort of. But I understand. Painkillers - it makes sense." They continued to walk on, an almost awkward silence falling between them.

"And you're right, I like Jugyeong. And you.. have Hyunwoo." Seojun spoke up. "And I don't want to ruin that for you, and I don't want to ruin our friendship either. I was a dick to you for so long, and you forgave me for it and now I kiss you and mess everything up."

"You haven't messed anything up. I don't want anything to change." Miyeon quickly replied. "I was taken by surprise and.. painkillers." She seemed more like she was trying to convince herself, but it went unnoticed as they stopped by the door, the Han boy's eyes trained on the small rectangular window into the room.

Recognising the expression on his face, Miyeon peering past him and her eyes landed on the sigh of Jugyeong sat beside Suho, head tilted down to her lap and holding his still hand.

"It doesn't even matter that I like her really. She loves Suho." He mumbled. "Either way, I'm sorry for kissing you Miyeon, and I'm sorry for forcing you to be around me after that."

"Hm?" Miyeon's brows furrrowed as she tried to understand what he meant. "Oh? With sitting next to me and this? Don't worry, you're not forcing anything. I'm happy to walk with you, happy to be here." She shrugged. "Should we keep going for a little bit, let them have some time - and you can have some time as well."

Seojun nodded, and the pair of them continued to walk down the corridor side by side, sections of silence more common than that of talking.

"I saw you got your IV out. How does freedom feel, Mr Trickle?" The usual amusement and teasing had returned to the Hwang girl, and Seojun practically felt an explosion of relief within him at experiencing it once again.

"Pretty good, if I'm honest." He stretched out his free arm, examining the patch over which it had been inserted in. "And I don't think I can ever forgive my mom for telling you and Suho that nickname. I didn't intend for it to return, ever."

"Well considering I'm putting everything that happened this morning behind me, I'm not going to change at all. Which means that this time, the nickname will stick." The girl twisted to look up at him, a grin evident on her face. "Besides, I think you owe it to me. You know, having kissed me and everything."

"You-" Seojun's eyes widened. "You said you were putting it behind you! That means you can't use it as blackmail!"

"I'm joking, calm down." Miyeon pulled him over to another open area, sitting down by one of the tables. "But I am completely serious when I'm saying that you need to talk to Suho."

"I know I need to do that.. I just don't know how to bring it up." The Han boy's head seemed to drop, looking down at his lap in shame. "I was perhaps.. even worse to him then I was to you - although considering it, it was similar."

"I know it was bad - but you can't beat yourself up for it." Miyeon hesitated. "Obviously it was awful.. but there was a lot of confusion and misunderstandings, not to mention all the emotions and blame."

"You're far too kind to me."

"I know I am." Miyeon replied, smiling over at him. "Thanks for calling me earlier, I didn't even think before picking up you know - so I'm glad we can stay friends."

"I'm glad too." Seojun replied as he brushed his hair out of his eyes, an action that seemed to have quite the effect on Miyeon, as her mind bounced back to what he had done this morning. She shook her head gently, trying not to think about.

Just like each of them were trying to forget the kiss, try to forget that even in her surprise and tears - Miyeon had kissed back. And ultimately, tried to forget that feeling of utter happiness that left them breathless and with swollen lips.