day 9
2.56 am
lee haruof pink boas and dusty cassettes
"why are you even up at this time of the day?"
jeongguk questions as i follow him
through several hallways"i was about to ask you the same thing" i say
he shrugs, a smile playing on his lips
"couldn't sleep" he answers
"do you think it's the spirits from
another world waking us up?
you know, evil spirits and entities,
they enter the human world when its
3 am in the morning
that's why they call it the devil's hour
and it's about half past 3 already"i quirk an eyebrow at him, bewildered
"where did you hear that from?"jeongguk frowns "jin hyung told me"
"jin hyung?"
it suddenly hits me that jin is a
member of his group as well
i should've done more researchwe finally stop in front of a door
where jeongguk opens to reveal
a tiny room filled with boxes and boxes
of clothes stuffed in them
there's thick jackets hanging inside a cupboard
that looks so old it would collapse at any moment"go ahead and pick some
i know you left your clothes back there"
jeongguk gestures towards the messy heap
and disappears behind a stash of more boxesi stand there, not really knowing what to do
until i spot a black parka on the ground
i pick it up and dust it off before checking
if any holes are presentonce i confirm there aren't any
mice living in its pockets
i swing it over my shoulders"hey um
where do all these clothes come from?""the lady used to run an orphanage
but all the kids eventually got adopted"
jeongguk answers from the backno wonder, i get it now
after awhile, i set down all the clothes i've picked
into a neat pile before hearing a banging sound
coming from behind the mountain of boxes
i lean to the side in concern
"jeongguk?"what is he doing there?
he appears moments later, a pink fluffy boa
wrapped around his neck like a scarfhe prances right towards me
flailing his arms over his head in a dramatic sway
and i can't help but burst into fits of laughter
at the unbelievably wholesome sight of it all"well, how do i look?"
he asks, swiping a hand dramatically under his chin
like he's the most attractive person on the planet
and he knows it"you look ridiculous, but amusing"
i place a hand over my mouth
my laughter muffled as i add,
"where did you find that? it's gold"jeongguk shrugs
"i dug around in the back
there's more in different colours if you want
knock yourself out"and that's how i go from being
the most boring 17 year old
to having the time of my life in a dusty old closet
with a new friend and his big, big heartwe end up trying on all sorts of costumes
and strolling around the closet
as if we're in some kind of silly parade
a parade with just the two of usjeongguk eventually finds an old cassette player
underneath a pile of clothes
and rushes downstairs
to grab a recording of songs from the 90sjudy garland's over the rainbow
echoes through the old bookstore
an old tune i used to listen to
alone in my room whenever i felt lonelysuddenly our bodies are moving
swaying without a mind for proper choreography
we just spin around laughing like kindergartners
as jeongguk sings along to the music
and i clap my hands to the beatand for the first time in forever
i feel truly, genuinely
happy
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𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 ‣ jjk
Fanfiction"But if that accident is inevitable," I murmur, eyes softening. "Would you want me to let go?" Jeongguk pauses for a moment. "Leave the guilt and regret to me," he replies softly. "Once you start a journey, you finish it. It's only right for you to...