Cause of my Euphoria | Yeonbin ✓

【16】

Soobin's weeks of wishing, hoping, and nagging finally paid off one day.

After work, as usual, he went to see Beomgyu at his apartment. And as always, the younger was scowling when he opened the door.

"I know you're not going to tell me anything," Soobin said, not allowing the younger to speak first. "But I'm not giving up. Unless I hear from Yeonjun, himself, that he doesn't want me anymore, I'm not going to lose hope."

Beomgyu raised an eyebrow. "You're really annoying," he stated.

Soobin chuckled. "I was a fool for several months, Beomgyu. I want to make things right."

The younger stared at him again with cold steel eyes, as if he was looking into his soul. Soobin stared back, not to be intimidated.

Finally, Beomgyu sighed, closing his eyes. "I don't understand what hyung saw in you," he mumbled to himself. Opening his eyes, he looked at Soobin with resignation. "Gwangju."

For a second, the older could not comprehend. "Excuse me?"

Looking annoyed now, Beomgyu answered, "He went back home to Gwangju. He's staying with mom and dad. If you want to meet up with him, then you better-."

Soobin shot forward, grabbed Beomgyu by the shoulders... and hugged him.

"Thank you," he whispered, feeling himself shaking with the rollercoaster of emotions he was feeling – happiness, elation, fear, anxiety, and gratitude. "Thank you. You won't regret this."

"I really hope not," Beomgyu mumbled as he pulled away from Soobin, awkwardly patting his shoulder. "Look, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for hyung. I know some part of him was miserable when he left, even if he said he had enough."

Soobin's heart broke at that.

"So... do whatever you need to do... And don't mess up this time."

Soobin swore he wouldn't and thanked him again before leaving for home. He had some preparations to make.

Gwangju was just as he remembered it when he was last here, which was Christmas of the year before. Speaking of Christmas, it was almost that time of year again. He hoped that by the time the holidays rolled around, Yeonjun would be home with him. They had planned on spending it together, just the two of them this year.

Soobin had taken a week off from work and drove down to Gwangju right after work. It was almost 7 pm by the time he arrived, and he was hungry, having only stopped once for a short snack on the way.

But, first, Yeonjun. He checked in at a cheap hotel since it was the closest to the Choi's neighborhood and he wasn't planning on spending too much time there anyway. After making sure his things were settled, he immediately left and drove to Yeonjun's family home.

He parked a bit further from the house and walked the rest of the way, hoping to get rid of his nerves and anxiety.

When he rang the doorbell at the gate, Mrs. Choi answered it. She looked genuinely surprised yet pleased to see him.

"Soobin-ah!" she exclaimed with a huge smile as she wrapped him in a hug.

The young man was wondering why she wasn't throwing pots and pans at him for hurting her baby, but maybe Yeonjun didn't tell her what happened.

"I was wondering when you would be stopping by," she said, releasing him and stepping back.

Soobin bowed low at a 90-degree angle in respect and greeted her.

"Mrs. Choi-."

"I thought I told you to call me Eomma," she chided.

Soobin swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't deserve such affection from the older woman... not when he had hurt her son.

She must have seen his hesitance since she smiled reassuringly. "I know what happened, Yeonjun told me," she said. "And yes, I'll admit, I was angry at first, but I also know how equally stubborn my son is. So, when he said that the two of you didn't even talk before, he childishly ran away, I figured that if you really loved him, you would follow him."

Soobin bowed again, regret on his face. "I'm sorry, I would have come sooner but I didn't know where he was. Beomgyu finally told me."

"Aish, my stubborn maknae," Mrs. Choi said, fondly. "He's too overprotective of his hyung, sometimes. But, I'm glad he gave in. I like you for my son, Soobin-ah. You've always made him happy and this is the first major dispute you two had that resulted in my son leaving. So, I know you can still fix it."

"T-Thank you... Eomma. I... I don't deserve it but... thank you..."

He felt the heavy weight on his shoulders lift and the ache in his chest dull a little bit. But, he wasn't done yet.

"May I speak to you Yeonjun?" he asked.

Mrs. Choi pursed her lips. "Actually, he went to the store to grab a few things for me. You can wait for him inside."

But, Soobin could not wait. He had to see Yeonjun, to speak to him.

"Actually, I think I'll go meet up with him," he replied. "I really need to talk to him and it might be better that it won't be in the house."

"Hmm... true... Alright."

She gave him directions to the store and soon, Soobin was on his way.

He felt nervous yet giddy. After a month of not seeing the older, he missed him more and more every day. Soobin thought about all the things he would say when he saw Yeonjun again.

How are you? I miss you. I love you. Please come back to me. I'll be better.

But, when his eyes caught sight of the object of his thoughts, his voice was stuck.

Yeonjun was walking his way, his mind appeared to be elsewhere as he lightly swung the plastic bag clutched in between his fingers. This was probably why he didn't see Soobin until the younger was right in front of him and he froze, tiny eyes larger than ever.

"W-What are you doing here?" he stammered.

Soobin tried to smile at him; Yeonjun was still so handsome, but he looked so worn out. There were dark bags under his eyes, his hair looked flat and dull, and he looked like he lost some weight. The younger felt guilty that he could be the reason why the older looked that way.

He must have been staring too long as Yeonjun tried to walk past him.

"Wait, Jun!" Soobin grabbed his arm to pull him back. "We need to talk."

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tbc

thoughts? comments?

sry for unintentional mistakes :)