promises | jongin

18. EPILOGUE

passing by // lee hi

EPILOGUE
——

a sigh had escaped jimin's mouth, despite trying to keep himself busy with the dirty dishes inside the almost-empty sink. he shifted his eyes from his busy hands to the glass door before letting out a laugh at the fact that he'd been worrying over something so meaningless. the sounds of his phone ringing interrupted his thoughts before he dried one hand and put it against his ear.

"yuri," he blurted.

"hiya, jimin." she chuckled in response, the sounds of feet shuffling and cars beeping in the background, loud enough for jimin to hear.

"how's your leg?" he asked, his words laced with worry as he spoke. the picture of yuri flashed in his mind before he shook his head.

"absolutely terrific," yuri sarcastically answered, a laugh managing to slip from her mouth. "the fact that my leg has been acting up these days is terrible. mom had to put a bandage around my foot, resulting in me not walking properly and slowly," she breathed out.

"take care of yourself, yuri. we don't want you hurting yourself even more," he joked, a small amount of worry still clear in his voice.

"don't worry about me, jimin," yuri said cheekily, jimin feeling yuri's smile from the other side of the line. "i'm at the market, by the way. didn't you tell me that you needed some ingredients earlier this morning?"

"oh, yes! all i need is a handful of bean sprouts and a bottle of sesame oil," he told her, lifting his shoulder to support the phone against his ear as he finished up the dishes.

"that's a small amount of bean sprouts. isn't that a little too small for a restaurant?" yuri laughed, the sounds of her picking up something ringing through the phone.

"i'm closing the restaurant early today. i'll make you and mom dinner so look forward to it," he exclaimed, shutting off the water and reaching out for a towel. "which reminds me. i need to change the sign to closed," he mumbled, walking over to the door. he grabbed the sign and changed it from 'open' to 'closed'.

his gaze flickered up, clashing with a very familair pair of eyes.

"jongin."

"what?" yuri's breath tightened at the sound of jimin's sudden mention of jongin's name. "what's wr—"

"i'll call you back, yuri," jimin interrupted, giving no time for yuri to reply as he pulled the phone off of his ear and hung up. he gulped as he opened the door and stepped outside. "jongin?"

jongin stood a couple feet away from the restaurant, his eyes shifting from the small paper in his hand to the sign of the unfamiliar restaurant. once his eyes landed on jimin, a sigh of relief left his mouth as he walked up to him. "jimin," he breathed out, removing his face mask and hoodie.

"so it is you. i thought i must've confused someone else as you. your eyes just seemed... familair." he sighed, opening the door wider to let jongin in. he politely followed and stared back at his elder. "long time no see, huh?" jimin asked, ushering jongin to a seat at a table in the corner.

"you look... happier," jongin stated, tugging his lips back to form a small smile.

"you think so?" jimin chuckled, walking towards the mini fridge as he grabbed a cold bottle of juice and two glass cups. his back was facing jongin for a moment as jimin took the chance to recollect his thoughts and let out a sigh. "you never called," jimin told jongin, turning around with a forced and fake smile on his face. jongin kept quiet at jimin's sudden words as he stared down at his fingers.