𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

29; 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨

soonyoung wanted to cry. his coin purse was empty. since credit cards aren't applicable for payment in the summer festival stalls(unlike cafes and anime merch stores), soonyoung has to use all his money because basically his eleven friends are broke. it's their fault for bringing cards and won in japan, anyway, why does soonyoung have to catch all of their butts?

koutaro was already away, saving his wallet from them. soonyoung envies koutaro.

"junhui, have mercy on soonyoung," minghao states, swaying slightly in his yukata. minghao enjoyed being in a yukata on a hot summer night, it felt very fresh. also, participating in the summer festival is a great experience. soonyoung gladly introduced his culture to his friends—but his poor coinpurse is empty. "stop eating kakegori already."

"then you stop playing shateki! you've been doing that for the past hour!" junhui snarked, puckering his lips and furrowing his eyebrows. he went back to eating his kakegori. "you suck at it anyway."

"what was that?!" minghao fumed, while junhui made a face. minghao growled, he was very close to hitting him.

"hey, stop fighting!" jeonghan pointed at the two, using his free hand. one hand was occupied with a bag of water with one goldfish inside, he won it after playing kingyo-sukui. "the fireworks are coming up soon!"

"yeah, i haven't seen fireworks for a while." chan states, shifting his weight one foot to another. mingyu glances at him, patting his head while fanning himself using an uchiwa. "it's a fresh experience."

"yeah, you guys spent all my money on kakigori and the yukata you're all wearing." soonyoung says, still horrified after looking inside his coinpurse. "this was a bad idea."

"but hey, we had fun." joshua says, eating kakigori as well. "i want to see the fireworks now."

as if on cue, the fireworks started immediately. it made the dark sky light up prettily, mesmerising the people watching from down below.

the twelve members of seventeen felt happy to be standing under the same beautiful sky, experiencing a blissful memory altogether. though they're not complete, though they have many problems—wether it be personal or as a group, this moment made them feel happy.

"jeonghan," joshua turned to jeonghan, who was still preoccupied in the fireworks show. joshua smiled, seeing the fireworks reflecting on jeonghan's gorgeous eyes. joshua chuckles, finally taking jeonghan's attention.

"yes, joshuji?"

"i'm going to kiss you." joshua states, to which jeonghan smiled to. jeonghan turned his head slightly, to let joshua kiss him comfortably.

"alright." and after jeonghan said that, joshua leaned in for a kiss. swiftly, he cups jeonghan's face. under the gentle touch of hong jisoo, jeonghan smiled in bliss. joshua felt jeonghan's smile erupting, leading to a bubbly feeling down his stomach.

"wow, pda," jihoon states, looking at joshua and jeonghan. seungcheol chuckled, while mingyu was gushing. jihoon rolled his eyes at both the couple and mingyu. "mingyu, you're hopeless. you only see the happiness and not the other things that also come when you're in a relationship."

soonyoung tunes out to mingyu and jihoon's bantering. he wanders off, mind immediately going back to someone he knew by heart: lee jihoon.

"fuck you. i like you."

"well, fuck me too. i like you too, shrimpy."

soonyoung can't say those three words as confident as he was before. he needed jihoon back, but soonyoung is unsure if jihoon would accept him or be disgusted at him—who would like a broken person after all?

what a funny love story. jihoon felt like that, too, before seventeen split. it's like they switched their places.

mingyu huffed. "so what? i like being happy. ignorance is bliss," mingyu giggled. jihoon was about to protest, but suddenly, soonyoung turns around and walks to jihoon with a marker in hand. soonyoung snatches jihoon's wrist. "are you going to write in his palm?! that's MY ability!"

jihoon, meanwhile, was frozen. under the back of his hand was soonyoung's soft palm. why? jihoon asked himself, watching soonyoung continuously write on jihoon's palm. wasn't soonyoung mad at him? not only from today, but from long ago? they had lots of heavy fights before they broke up, right? has soonyoung forgiven jihoon? or maybe this is a harmless gesture?

ignorance is bliss.

jihoon's expression softened, repeating what mingyu said in his mind. but, as he was about to push the negative thoughts away, soonyoung finished writing on jihoon's palm and the fireworks show was over.

"alright, let's go home, i have no more money." soonyoung declared, raising a hand to call the other members. luckily, seventeen was just as tired as soonyoung is, so they didn't do anything ludicrous to stay here for longer. a long doze off is very much what they all want. "we're going home tomorrow, right?"

"yeah." joshua replied, checking his phone if their jet was ready. "we're going home tomorrow."

in the van, jihoon was sitting on the shotgun seat. koutaro was beside him, driving, but not necessarily because the traffic lights turned red. jihoon glanced behind, making sure that everybody was asleep so nobody could hear what he is about to ask koutaro.

"hey." jihoon said, in a subtle and softer voice. koutaro turns his head to look at him, a curious expression plastered on his face. "what does this mean?"

jihoon showed his palm to koutaro, which soonyoung used as paper earlier. koutaro leaned close, to read the japanese text written on jihoon's palm. "jihoon-san,"

"ah, yes?"

"you do know what daisuki desu means, right? i'm sure you do." koutaro chuckles, looking back at the road in front of him. the traffic light turns green, and koutaro drives.

"he likes me... very much? i've known that a long time ago." jihoon whispered to himself, curiously looking at his palm with the text 'だいすいです'. "alright."

no matter how much jihoon thought of it, he cannot fathom soonyoung's thoughts. kind of unfair, right? soonyoung can figure out what jihoon is thinking, but not the other way around. jihoon desperately wants to know how soonyoung feels.

"jihoon-san, personally," koutaro starts, making jihoon lift his head up to look at koutaro. "what you and hoshino had is in the past. i don't think you should rekindle the fire, but,"

jihoon was lucky he studied with joshua, or else he wouldn't understand what kotarou is talking about. "but, what?"

"but i know hoshi is still going back to you no matter what. jihoon-san, do you still like him?"

"no," jihoon stared at his palm where soonyoung wrote on. he balled up his hand and it turned into a fist. "i still love him."

"then tell him, jihoon-san. he might act distant and annoyed at you, but his feelings are totally on the contrary." koutaro stops the van again, as the traffic light flickers and turns to red. "being in your line of work? you never know when you die, it could be today or tomorrow or next week. you wouldn't want to die with regret, or live in regret when hoshi dies.

"i was adopted into the akaashi family. my parents were both ability-users, they died, and my brother—i don't know where he is now. i regret not telling them everything i wanted to tell them. i wouldn't want you to end up like me."

jihoon only nodded. soonyoung was still has all of jihoon's attention, but jihoon can't help but be distracted—is akaashi koutaro and koushi alexandersson related?

(a/n: "switched places", writing confessions on palm—if you get this then we're friends 😔✨)