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dedicated to @blushoseok

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August 11, 2018

Kim Residence

. . .is what it said on the cardboard.

Jeongguk stood in front of a small two-story house, his hands shaking and sweating uncontrollably. It's been a while since he came here. It has been five years, actually.

Jeongguk looked around and noticed one thing: after all these years, Taehyung's house still looked the same. With their white-painted gate and oakwood fences, their house still appeared to be cozy and homey. The porch was decorated with different exotic plants and a wooden rocking chair stood far at the edge.

He wondered, Is Taehyung still the same, too?

Jeongguk was so lost deep in his thoughts that he didn't even realize the door flew open. He froze.

"Is that you?"

Jeongguk's heart began to race. Just hearing that voice makes his whole body shiver because of fear.

There was only one person in the world who owned that voice.

"H-Halmeoni?" Jeongguk stuttered.

Right in front of him stood Taehyung's grandmother. It's been ages since he last saw her. And it's also been ages since he got a scold from her.

Their high school days were filled with Halmeoni's lectures for their ridiculous antics. She was their mother; their guardian. Taehyung's parents worked on a farm and his grandmother had taken care of him since then. And because they hung out a lot, he also got closer with Taehyung's relatives. However, when they started dating, it morphed into something even more better: a family.

Jeongguk watched Taehyung's grandmother, Mrs. Kim, walk toward him. He flinched as he saw her raising her hand. He closed his eyes tight and prepared himself for a whip on the face, but it never came.

Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulders.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Jeongguk saw Mrs. Kim, her hand resting on his shoulders as if she was giving him a pat. Her eyes looked sympathetic and it made him wonder. Why didn't she slap me?

"Why did ya only visit now?" she began. "I thought you already forgot about me, ya ungrateful child."

Jeongguk rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry, halmeoni. I've been very busy, so..."

There was a long battle of stare before Mrs. Kim finally spoke, "Hmm. I understand. Well, why don't we go inside first instead of standing here? I'm gettin' cold."

Jeongguk followed Mrs. Kim inside. Like the exterior of the house, the interior also didn't change. It looked exactly the same as before. It was as if he was back in time, which was five years ago.

"Sit, I'll go get some tea."

Jeongguk sat on the large cream-colored sofa and looked around. It's so quiet. Usually, it'd be noisy with Tae around.

Hold on, where is Tae?

After a couple of minutes, Mrs. Kim finally arrived with a tray with a traditional teapot set upon it. She poured some tea into Jeongguk's designated cup and passed it to him.

"Careful. It's hot."

Jeongguk carefully grabbed the teacup's handle and blew the steam off. "Thank you."