In Seven Days

Sunday; 4: 15 PM

spedran this one so that i can publish my fav chapter next

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Jin hissed an expletive under his breath when his small toe collided with the foot of the bed. The face towel he was rubbing on his hair dropped to the ground as he haphazardly dropped himself onto the edge of the mattress, clutching his knee to his chest to assess the pain.

His foot pinky was pinkish but was otherwise fine. He murmured another curse and stretched his legs. He had been clumsy since last night, walking absentmindedly, drifting off to space, thoughts too twisted and tangled in his mind for him to fully be present in his movements.

It took him one conversation—one—and he was right back where he started.

He couldn't even blame their manager; after all, if it weren't for him, he wouldn't even have known he was photographed the other day. He should have been more careful. With the town's festival, it wouldn't be a surprise that tourists from other cities would come over.

Then again, maybe it wasn't such a big deal. After all, he had the trust and loyalty of his fans. If someone really did manage to photograph the three of them together, maybe it wouldn't all be as horrible as Jin thought it would initially be.

But he couldn't just surprise Byulyi with something like that. Fans were still unpredictable and not all of them behaved the way he liked.

With a heavy huff, he picked the towel off the ground and went back to drying his hair while sitting down.

He tried to play the morning off like normal. He helped feed Seokmin, helped with the dishes, helped with bath time. Things were already getting better and Jin didn't want to ruin it all over again.

And now he was just waiting until it was time to leave for the Cherry Blossom festival. He thought of not going at first. But Mrs Seo visited them earlier at lunch talking about all the dishes she prepared and how beautiful the cherry blossoms were going to look.

The old woman saw the grimace on Jin's face. "You are going with us? Right Jin?"

Byulyi looked at him expectantly but other than that, her face was fairly neutral, her lips sewn shut.

Jin didn't think he could refuse then

Since then, he'd been cooped up in the guest room, staring at the ceiling, thinking and thinking and thinking.

He only hoped Byulyi didn't notice.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Jin," came Byulyi's muffled voice through his closed door.

He walked to the door with only the slightest limp and opened it.

Byulyi's eyes moved up and down before she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh you're dressed—of course you're dressed, why did I even—I mean dressed for the festival and not" —she cleared her throat— "I thought you wouldn't want to come."

Jin ignored the faint blush on her cheeks. He crossed his arms and leaned the edge of his shoulder against the doorway.

"What makes you say that?"

She scratched the back of her neck and took one second too long to answer, sending him another furtive glance. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been quiet since we came back from the cafe yesterday," she confessed as she wrung her fingers together, "I thought you were sick."

So she did notice.