Thy Art | Park Seonghwa

10.4

*praying circle* Park Seonghwa getting better soon and knowing that it's alright for him to take a rest and that his wellbeing's what matters most so he shouldn't be hard on himself. *praying circle*

( 🎵 SURAN – Heartbeat )

From the outside, the barbeque restaurant seemed like one without any customer. If there were to be any, then for sure it'll only be two cars worth of people which normally wouldn't be so many. But little do they know, there were 8 men and 2 women inside and that instantly filled all the space as it wasn't all that big.

The lady felt like it has been forever since the last time she heard the familiar chatters coming from the 10 of them. She realized how time really flew by when they all seemed like the same people but different in a way, especially when it wasn't only the 6 of them. All of them used to come with their uniform still neatly hugging their figure but now, each of them were wearing something that was fitting for their job.

Seonghwa and Yunhee came in a suit, Mingi and Yunho wore something that depicted how they were going to be a dance instructor after lunch, Jongho looked like he was ready to sing at a café even with his casted leg and arm. Jiwon looked like she was ready to attend class even with an arm wrapped in a bandage. San, Wooyoung and Hongjoong were casual but again it used to be only uniform. Yeosang had his pharmacist uniform on without the coat. They all looked downright like a grown-up.

One thing that didn't change was the fact that the oldest last among them was put on cooking duty yet again. They have all always said the meat Seonghwa grilled tasted better than the one Hongjoong or Wooyoung did. San would burn it so they wouldn't even allow him near the pan.

"No one starts eating before I finish grilling," the man told all of his friends as he saw them all ready to lift up their chopsticks as he cut the first slice of grilled meat. All of them pouted in unison, placing the thin metal back down on the table. "I'm kidding, you can start. But leave some for me!" The slices gave all of them exactly one each, making the lad sighed at the plate being emptied so quickly.

Seonghwa placed all the meat on the grill, figuring how grilling it one by one wouldn't do the job if it took them 0,1 second to finish a slice. If he could turn back time, he would've accepted the old lady's offer of cooking it for them. But he too didn't have the heart when he saw how frail she looked as old age started becoming more evident.

When he could finally sit down, his arms were sore from the long minutes of them being held up. But the pain immediately dissipated when a slice of meat knocked on his lips and the smell of it entered his nose. Yunhee had her chopstick up, holding onto the food right outside his mouth and it took him a second to finally open up and chomp on it.

"Yunho, Mingi, you two are about to lose to them," Wooyoung stated upon seeing the sight of the lass feeding her boyfriend food.

Mingi immediately took a piece of kimchi in between his pair of metal utensil and brought it infont of Yunho's lips, earning a glare from the latter. Instead of opening his mouth, he took his chopstick and clasp on the kimchi with it before placing it into his mouth. "I can eat by myself." All of them held onto their laughs as they watched the two and Hongjoong could only shake his head.

The four walls were filled with sound of chopsticks hitting plates, people munching on their food and clinks of glass. And words were finally exchanged again when they have already devoured almost all of the food. San being the first one to open his voice. "Seonghwa, you said you had something to announce?"

The said man had a moment of recollection before he stood up. Clearing his throat as he was about to start. "Alright so, I know all of you may have expected this, some of may have already known this," he eyed Jiwon who gave him a smirk, "but Yunhee and I are ringlessly engaged," he announced, "for good this time."

Wooyoung immediately got on his feet, chair almost toppling back but he could care less. He circled around the table and immediately offered Seonghwa a hand for him to shake, as well as pulling him into a brotherly hug. "It's about damn time."

For that moment they all looked like elementary school kids, lining up to hug their teacher before going home but ended up losing their patience and just go up all together. Really they had to be thankful the space was all theirs for the afternoon as they had one of the biggest group hugs with Seonghwa being at the center. None of them said much, but through how they wrapped their arms so tightly around him, he knew just how happy they were for him. And for Yunhee as she was the second victim of being sandwiched by 7 grown men.

There were of course, the classic 'congratulations' and 'when's the wedding' popped for them but all of them really weren't all that surprised. They somehow knew the both of them were going to find their way back to each other, it was only a matter of time.

"It's kinda nice to have been told the news here," Yeosang's voice resonated from the other end of the table as they all got back to sit. "This was where Wooyoung first rat Seonghwa out for having feelings for Yunhee after all."

"That's true but ugh," he groaned, "I could remember how, before this girl admitted she liked me too, I couldn't think straight at all. I was out of it all throughout the meal."

"Well, you got to thank me now though," Wooyoung remarked, "we all knew deep down, you were planning to bury your feelings."

"That's true," Seonghwa agreed, as he circle his arm around the lass' shoulder beside him, "if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the balls to confess my feelings." The man had his eyes on the girl, making her roll her eyes at his cheesiness. She playfully pushed his face away from facing hers but in a second it went back, this time, he pressed a kiss on the side of her head before looking back at all of his friends who had a slight grossed-out look plastered on their faces.

"Please," Yeosang crossed his arms, "just want to put it out there that there's still three single man sitting here." They all chuckled upon hearing what he said but halted when they realized there was 4 before. And Hongjoong has been exceptionally quiet.

"Wait who's the other one dating someone?" Jongho questioned, scanning through his friends and as he found Hongjoong trying to look away. "Oh... Joong, who're you dating?"

"Uh...," Hongjoong was hesitant, he knew the girl he was seeing wasn't exactly someone all of them favored. "Well, I'm... kind of dating Soojin?" it sounded more like a question and the 9 of them furrowed their brows, not knowing how to react. "I was going to tell all of you but she's Eunji's friend and although she has been on the sideline for the most part, she's still her friend and we all never necessarily liked Eunji before so we certainly didn't have any reason to like her frie-."

The man was cut off when a small laugh can be heard. Yunhee giggled at the sight of his friend but as adorable as it looked, she knew the blabbers weren't going to end if she didn't put one on it. "Joong, it's fine. Like you said, Soojin never really did anything."

"Yeah, man," Wooyoung who was sitting beside him, gave him a pat on his shoulder which sounded more like a slap as it made a noise. "We're happy for you."

A smile made its way onto Hongjoong's lips as, "alright then let me re-announced," he began, "I finally left this whole being single thing and am now dating Soojin."

A/N:
I finish writing the first chapter of Fallen Petals but I'm thorn in between publishing it after this book's done or right now. Orz.