Seventeen Group Chat

24

~Jihoon~
     It was one of those rare days that I had several hours off in the afternoon, so I decided to pay Mira a visit. This time, I actually made sure to tell Seungcheol Hyung where I was going so he wouldn't freak out. It was the first time I was going to see my friend without it being because I was running away.
     I popped my head into the coffee shop bookstore and sighed in relief when I saw the familiar lavender hair. I should really get her number so I don't accidentally come on a day when she's not working or when they're closed.
     Mira heard the door jingle and turned around, then smiled. She grabbed two mugs and started making coffee.
     "Hey Jihoon, it's nice to see you. I take it you haven't had many issues because you haven't come earlier and you're not out of breath like you were running." I scoffed.
     "Whenever I ran away I didn't run, I just walked briskly. I never run."
     "Yeah I don't imagine those short little legs could take you very far," Mira snickered. I placed a hand on my chest and faked an offended look.
     "Hey, just because you're what, 2 centimeters taller than me? Doesn't mean your legs are that much longer than mine. I don't deserve this kind of abuse." Mira grinned. "But you are right. Things are better," I hesitated. "Mostly." She finished making the coffees and we sat down.
     "What do you mean mostly?"
     "It's kinda weird... I don't know. I feel weird. And Soonyoung Hyung... the guy I confessed to... he confessed to me right after I said my feelings for him were gone."
     "That's kinda weird. Did he not like you until you didn't like him?"
     "No that's not it," I sighed. "I didn't give him a chance to tell me that he liked me back whenever I confessed. I avoided him so...well... he never got a chance until my feelings were gone. And then he said that he's going to win me back and make me love him. Having a crush on him was so exhausting. I don't want to go through that again." Mira looked thoughtful.
     "What about it made it exhausting?" She asked.
     "Hiding it? Hiding that I was gay, him getting mad at me all the time, me getting mad at him even more. Crushes are way too exhausting."
     "That sounds like it was tiring because there was zero communication between you two. Neither of you knew that you liked each other." I shrugged.
     "But it's so hard, and I just got to the point of feeling comfortable enough to be friends with them. I don't want to ruin any of that."
     "I don't think you would. I feel like now I maybe gave you the wrong advice back then."
     "Maybe. But what's done is done," I said firmly, taking a big swig of the coffee. It tasted marginally better than the first time I had it.
     "But is it done though?" Mira asked gently. "You said you felt weird. Maybe he's succeeding in making you fall for him all over again. Maybe you should just give in." I scowled at the table.
     "I don't know. Even when I liked him I thought he was an annoying person." Mira laughed.
     "Stop doing that. Stop justifying reasons in your head why you don't like him. I am 80% certain you're starting to like him again and I'm 95% certain you should just let it happen."
     "But what if he's not the one?" I asked meekly.
     "He doesn't have to be." Mira set one of her hands on mine. "People hardly ever find their soulmates right away. Love doesn't have to be final. Love doesn't have to be the end all be all. Love can be relaxed and comfortable and fun. This doesn't have to be serious." I nodded slowly. "Now, I don't have all the facts. I love that you come and talk to me and ask advice from me but maybe there's someone in your group who's better qualified. Like one of those two who came in to find you a while ago who played good cop bad cop with you." I laughed.
     "Seungcheol Hyung and Jeonghan Hyung. I'm pretty close to Seungcheol Hyung so I could talk to him. But for now let's talk about something other than my upside down love life. I have several hours off today and I came here to talk to my friend, not complain the whole time." Mira grinned at me.
"Okay Jihoon-ssi," she said teasingly, "then what do you want to talk about?" I stuck out my tongue and slid my phone over to her.
"Well first I need your number so I can make sure you're working and I don't show up when you aren't even here. That'd be embarrassing." Mira snickered and started typing her contact into my phone.
"Oh please. The owner is the only other person who works pretty much, and she is very quiet. She doesn't talk much. But I work most of the time. Unless I'm at school," she said. I pursed my lips but nodded. She slid my phone back towards me. "Okay now what?"
I leaned back in my chair for a moment and thought deeply. "What's your favorite color?" Mira laughed.
"Such a contemplative look for something so simple. I think my favorite color is rather obvious. Lavender." I lightly smacked my head.
"Duh. I should've known that." She smiled and motioned towards me, as if to say 'your turn'. "Uhhh I don't really have a favorite color. I like darker colors, I guess. Like black and gray."
"Black and gray are shades, not colors," Mira said with a smirk. I scoffed.
"Fine. Navy. Does that work?" Mira nodded in satisfaction.

The rest of the afternoon passed rather quickly as Mira and I got to know each other a little bit better. It made me forget some of my worries, and I could feel the jack-in-the-box that was winding tighter in my chest slowly unwind. At least a little bit.