07: hansol goes out to meet seokmin, a decision which he soon regerts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"hansol?" hansol's mother pulled the covers off her son. "you've been "sleeping" for three days - get up."

 

hansol groaned as he rolled out of his bed onto the floor, groaning in pain. his mother left and hansol sighed 一 he was so tired, all he wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up next to seungkwan. 

 

but seungkwan probably now woke up next to seokmin. the thought of that made hansol want to throw up, he felt anger and the urge to walk down to pledis and give seokmin a nice punch in the face. but he knew that he wouldn't even be allowed inside the building, let alone the dorm 一  last night he had been checking the seventeen website which was now stating that seventeen was a twelve member group, not mentioning hansol at all. the official pledis website didn't even have him under their list of artists, they were acting as if hansol didn't exist.

 

he had heard his parents arguing about what to do, his mother repeatedly saying that hansol wasn't the same person since everything has happened and there had to be a good reason for his drinking and partying. his father just dismissed it as teenage life but his mother continued to push the idea that hansol was acting out for a reason and pledis were to blame. 

 

hansol didn't know how to explain to her that there wasn't a reason for his behaviour, that the reason he went out and ed everything up was because he was bored 一 because he wanted adventure, something new. if he hadn't been an idol, nobody would have cared; he would've just been another teenage kid but since he was in the spotlight, it was a while different scenario.

 

hansol didn't want to cry but he could already feel the tears on his cheeks. in the space of a month his whole life had been flipped upside down. on an average day he would be at practice or at the dorm, watching a movie or messing around. he might've been on a date with seungkwan, the two would've gone to the countryside 一 somewhere where they wouldn't be noticed and spend the date relaxing and kissing. 

 

hansol never imagined breaking up with seungkwan, in his mind they would date forever [maybe get married at one point] and live together until the end of their lives. cheating, kissing other people and ruining seventeen were definitely not part of hansol's plans.

 

-

 

"seokmin called!" hansol's mother passed him the box of films as he selected one to watch. "he asked if you wanted to meet up with him? he sounded a bit upset, is everything cool with you guys?" 

 

hansol paused, holding the suicides, as he felt his face turn pale. his grip on the dvd tightened, what did seokmin ing want? permission to date seungkwan? 

 

hansol straightened up and tried to seem calm, "really? is it cool if i go and meet him now?"

 

his mother sighed but nodded, "as long as you're leaving your bedroom, it's fine. take a jacket, its cold tonight." 

 

hansol kissed her cheek before grabbing himself one of his special seventeen jackets, on the back it said 'hansol 98' and was one of the first things he received after officially joining seventeen. it smelled of seungkwan since hansol had lended it to him during one of their dates. the smell made hansol feel comfortable and safe, and he buried his face in the jacket for a few seconds.

 

-

 

"hey, how are you?" were the first words seokmin said as he saw hansol, he sat down on the bench and they both watched people stroll past them.

 

"so were seungkwan's lips nice?" hansol broke the silence with that crude comment, making seokmin wince as he easily detected the anger in hansol's voice. 

 

"i didn't do it on purpose, seungkwan just pulled me in, i swear." seokmin turned to the boy, hoping for some sort of reaction but was disappointed as hansol continued to stare at the floor.

 

"when i was in fourth grade i used to swear that i was a distant cousin of micheal jackson 一 we all lie don't we?" hansol scoffed and stood up. "i don't get why you called me here."

 

"because-" seokmin began but was cut off by a girl screaming and running over to them.

 

"it's him! that's hansol from seventeen! the one who was at the club!" the girl jumped up and down and other people around them began to stare, some walking over. 

 

hansol shook his head and looked towards seokmin for help but the older boy had pulled out his phone and was calling someone leaving hansol to deal with the crowd now forming around him alone. 

 

"look at his jacket! they gave that to all the seventeen members! they're one of a kind!" a woman behind him pointed out and the crowd started muttering, most pulling out their phones.

 

"what's your problem?" a man called out. "you should be reflecting, yet here you are on the streets!" 

 

the crowd nodded and more passerbys began to walk over, all eager to join. hansol was sure some of them didn't even know who he was, let alone who seventeen were but just loved drama, which is why they decided to get involved instead of walking on. 

 

hansol started to sweat as people started pushing him, sticking their phones in their faces 一 he noticed seokmin running over, pushing through a group of girls who were now swearing at him but he couldn't stop their hateful words.

 

"you ruined seventeen!"

 

"go back to america, foreigner!"

 

"the others worked so hard for this, why did you have to ruin it?"

 

the last one hit hansol the most and he looked up, making eye contact with the person who said it. his eyes widened as he realised it was seungkwan, wearing a mask. he pointed at him and opened his mouth to say something but his hand fell limp, and hansol passed out.