𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭│𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐮 ✓

92

Healina

After a long talk with Vernon, two weeks went by; two weeks filled with exams and stress that had them all tired but they finally had a day off however, it was out of the question they'd get a break.

"Do I really have to?" Vernon asked, between all the work, his three friends had decided to take a more hands on approach to help him recover.

"Yep now get packing, this is my dream come true!" Bohee exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. "You know you're not even the one moving, right?" Seokmin said with a laugh, he had grown used to the almost fan girl like nature she possessed when thinking about the development of his relationship with Joshua.

They still weren't a thing yet, in fact they didn't really know what they were but their atmosphere had definitely shifted and when Seokmin had offered Joshua to live with him that day at the cafe he really wasn't expecting a yes but there they were, in his bedroom with their two friends and a moving van outside.

"Come on Vern, I know it's boring but we could use the extra help and you're not going to get better if you do nothing." Seokmin said, carefully trying to carry a part of Joshua's telescope. Vernon begrudgingly complied, grabbing an empty cardboard box.

Two hours in and everyone was tired, "I don't understand why you need to take so much stuff, Seokmin already has a fairly furnished house." Bohee complained, her enthusiasm replaced with tiredness as she lugged what felt like the eightieth stack of astrology books down the stairs.

"Joshua is super particular with the way he orders things, you get used to it." Seokmin said, currently sat on a couch they hadn't bothered to move into the van yet - legs lazily draped over Joshua's on their small break. Bohee came to join them after dramatically dropping the stack into the van.

"Why do you even live by yourself, Minnie?" She asked casually, finding herself a place to sit on the grass below them. She observed how both his and Joshua's expressions changed slightly. "If you don't want to tell me that's totally fine I-"

"No, no it's okay," Seokmin reassured, cutting her off with a smile. "My parents were actually a young couple from Odera that both came over here. I know the whole 'trust in the system' thing is important but they must've messed up for those two because they were neglectful, I moved out as soon as I could." He shrugged simply. "Wait... You had Oderian parents, I thought you were the most Healinan a kid could get?" Bohee said, how Seokmin could be so effortlessly caring for everyone he met confused her given his background.

"It's funny, growing up I never saw any reason why they'd be here and it felt like I was the only one who had to deal with that but I think it's more just not spoken about by the kids with parents like that. Also singular parent, my dad was never really around but my mother was very controlling, tried to make me into a mini her and then when I realised I needed to be my own person she got depressed and decided to attempt suicide only to blame it on me, I don't mean to make everything depressing because I mean it's alright now. I've recovered from it and everything and I even text her sometimes, she's learning to understand and I'm learning to forgive but she still has her bad habits." Bohee nodded carefully, "That must've been so hard for you, does anyone here actually have a normal family?" She asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Joshua waved his hand and she smiled, "Thank god, Vernon and now this? I was beginning to feel like the only one."

"Seungkwan's family is alright too but really, I think every family has its issues, some just more than others." Seokmin said, idly playing with the cuff of Joshua's sleeve that his hands had somehow found their way too.

"Yo Josh do you mind if I steal this, it's kind of- Wait, what are you all doing not working?" Vernon said despite clearly not working himself, the only thing in his hands being some sort of collectible action figure. "We're on a break, talking about Seok's family and yeah sure I guess." Joshua said, receiving a content hum in response.

"What about your family Vernon, you didn't really comment on it after they left?"

"Not much to say, I don't really know what they do exactly they're just egoists that like to make other people feel small, they're not around much so it's no big deal." He, like Seokmin, also shrugged it off, collapsing on the floor to look at his new 'cool collectible' which was really just an old toy Joshua hadn't seen since he was nine but he wasn't going to ruin Vernon's fun.

Their day went on as normal, everyone exhausted by the end of it but satisfied with their work as everything had been moved from one house to the other and Joshua had said his overly emotional goodbyes to his family despite them only now living about 10 minutes away.

Seungkwan wasn't used to being alone, it was nice really. Or at least he'd finally convinced himself that. Yes, he had more time to work on his studies but for someone who took a course in media and performance, he was becoming rather antisocial.

As he was studying he saw his phone light up beside him, an email forwarded from the University.

He deliberated clicking on it, knowing it would either be something annoying he'd have to deal with or whatever rubbish his lecturer had decided to send him that was completely irrelevant. Eventually he just opened it and was surprised to see what met him.

A much fancier email than the ones he'd usually receive, a striking 'Pledis' logo adorning the top of the message. What did Pledis want with him?

Boo Seungkwan,

You have been identified as the highest performing member of your course and we've taken great interest in your studies.

Here at Pledis, we strive to bring balance to the two kingdoms and we believe your media skills could aid us greatly in the future. For this reason, we'd like to formally offer you a place to study under our senior team of media writers and broadcasters in hope you can one day find a place here.

This is a once in a life time opportunity, after a year of understudy you would be transferred to the place you fit best. Be aware you could be required to go to Pledis Central where you would work with our balanced team of unbiased adjudicators and administrators, thereby revoking your Healinan citizenship.

This is a very important role with potential for high salary as well as high responsibility and possible sacrifice so we implore you to think carefully about your decision.

We trust you will consider our offer intently. If you have any questions please feel free to contact HR. Dates and locations will be given to you in a follow up email given you take up our offer.

Trust in the system,
Pledis HR

Seungkwan's hand flew over his mouth as he scanned the email over and over to check if he was reading it right. You didn't simply get a job at Pledis, they had to contact you and it was extremely rare so the suddenness of it all had him quite overwhelmed.

His first reaction was to text Vernon until his features saddened in realisation but he was still excited, he had to agree to do it.