Seulgi arrived at 6:50pm. She is late. She had to clean up the mess she made while painting, she wrapped the painting. She didn’t have time clean up well. So she just changed her clothes. Her hands still has remnants of the paint that she didn’t bother to clean as she is running late. Wendy called her asking where she is. But lucky for her, JB has not arrived yet.

She arrived, handing the gift to Mark. Wendy suddenly grabbed her hands and dragged her in a small distance away from the group.

“You painted?” Wendy asked her. Seulgi nodded, looking at her hands.

“It is my gift for him.” She said. Wendy just hugged her.

“Where are they unnie?” Yeri asked Nayeon.

“Yeah, they are is already late.” Bambam said laughing.

“Maybe they got dinner first?” Jackson looked at Jinyoung.

“I messaged him again and again. He hasn’t replied yet.” Nayeon said looking at her phone.

“We can wait.” Joy smiled.

Nayeon’s phone beeped. She open the message.  “Omo! He’s on his way! And it’s only him”

They all went to their places and waited for JB. Seulgi is behind the mic. She will sing a song she composed last 3 nights ago when she sang again for the first time in a while.
She told Wendy about this. Wendy is very happy for Seulgi. She just let her friend be. She knows how Seulgi liked JB, she just warns her friend that he has a girlfriend. Seulgi says she admires him. And there is nothing wrong with admiring someone, and promised she won’t tell him.

It was about 7 mins after 7:00pm when JB entered the Café. The lights are off. The suddenly, Youngjae turned the lights on. Bambam and Mark popped the party poppers. Then they started singing Happy Birthday to JB. JB just looked at them one by one. He smiled somehow. He is slightly drunk, but he managed to walk to the café. He is sobering up while he is walking.

Yugyeom is holding the cake with candles lit up. When they finished the song, he bowed to all of them, as a sign of ‘Thank you’. Then he blowed the candles and smiled to them. Mark, Jinyoung, Nayeon, Jackson and even Seulgi and Wendy, saw hurt in his eyes, he looked like he just cried his heart out. He maybe smiles at them but his eyes tell another story.

‘We’ll find out later why Jennie is not here.’ Jinyoung thought to himself.

They ate the food prepared. After that, Jackson and Mark began to prepare the drinks.
Youngjae and Joy started singing a duet.. followed by Jackson, Mark and Bambam rapping. Then Nayeon and Jinyoung, then Wendy, Yeri and Yugyeom. They are having fun. JB is laughing with them while sipping his beer.

When Wendy was finished singing, she said to the mic, “We got one more singer for the night. She will something special for tonight.”

Seulgi got up the small stage and went behind the mic. “Happy Birthday Jaebeom-ah!”
JB just stared at her, he stared at her hand that has still traces of paint. Nayeon, Jinyoung, Jackson and Mark were surprised as Seulgi began to sing… Seulgi looked at JB. She then looked at the others smiling as she is singing.

(Red Velvet’s – Butterflies)

~~

Butterflies butterflies
Butterflies butterflies

Like flying with the wind
A view spread out between flower petals
You’re like a sweet dream
You fly to me, my heart walks on clouds everyday

Fluttering here and there, I met eyes with you
Gently in the wind L-L-Love
Flowers blooming rapidly and strongly everywhere
My heart is pounding L-L-Love

~~~~~

Everyday after meeting you is like a glass bottle filled with sweets
My heart gets sweet just looking at you cra-cra-cra-crazy ah
I take one sniff, I think I’m already drunk
We spread our wings, fly high yeah we fly high

Like I’m hypnotized, I’m drawn closer butterflies
I follow the never ending blue sky
In this world filled with just us
My whole heart s-s-slowly
Melts away s-s-slowly

Butterflies butterflies
Butterflies butterflies
Butterflies butterflies ~~~~

Seulgi finished the song everyone applauding her, except JB.

“Wow Seul! You really got a nice voice!” Jackson exclaimed. While clapping his hands.

“Yeah unnie! You didn’t tell me you have a very beautiful voice.” Nayeon playfully slap her arm.

“You all have great singing and rapping voice. Want to sign up with us?” Jinyoung teasingly said.

“Yah JB. Say something. You’ve been awfully since you got here.” Mark nudged JB.

JB just scoff, got up and grabbed the mic. He began singing..

(GOT7 JB’s Rainy)

~Since I’ve been far away from you, it’s always raining for me

Using the umbrella to avoid the rain is just a waste of time

You can’t be erased. (Over you…)

I know we’re not together anymore,

But I keep loving you, even today
I love you I love you alone.

No one, not even friends can understand me.
The world is tinted with rain.

I don’t know why I can’t let you go, oh baby.
I don’t know why I can’t forget you.. ~~
 

Tears streamed down his face while he sang. Seulgi feels hurt seeing him in that state.  Jinyoung, Nayeon, Jackson and Mark understood the lyrics of his song. ‘seems like they broke up again’ that’s what they thought.

The song ended. Nayeon stood up and hugged her brother.. “oppa…it’s okay..we’re here for you..” JB just cried. He wiped his tears and went back to his seat and continued to drink beer. Wendy immediately grabbed the mic and kept the atmosphere lively.

“JB, we have another surprise for you.” Wendy looked at Mark motioning him to give the gift to JB, then she looked at Seulgi. Seulgi is fidgeting. She is nervous at how would he react if he sees it.

JB opened the gift. Though he is drunk, he was shocked by the painting. All of them looked at Seulgi.

“Wow unnie! This is amazing!” Joy and Yeri exclaimed, and smiled at her.

“This is the best noona! You are such an amazing person!” Yugyeom said, Youngjae and Bambam agreeing.

“Yah, Jaebeom-ah. Where are your manners?” Mark held JB’s shoulders. JB just looked at Seulgi, softly, admiringly.

“You looked good here hyung. Is this you? Omo!” Jackson gasp while covering his mouth, he looks like Sohee saying ‘Omona!’. Jinyoung hit him and laughed. JB looked back at the painting.

“Thank you for this unnie.” Nayeon said to Seulgi. Yugyeom yawned loudly. Which made all of them laugh.

“Yah, it is already late, you youngsters can all go home. We’ll clean up.” Wendy said. Yugyeom, Bambam, Youngjae, Joy and Yeri all stood up and said their greetings to JB, and said goodnight to the older ones. JB just nodded at them still looking at the painting.

“Why’d you paint me?” JB asked Seulgi.

“I did it as a gift. I wanted to give you something that is important and unique.” Seulgi shyly said. Mark nudged Wendy. “She painted again for the first time in a long time.” Wendy said smiling at Seulgi. The others are just silently looking at them

“But why this? Why this look on my face?” JB snapped. He somehow sobered up. Startling Seulgi with the tone in his voice.

“Oppa! Why is your tone like that?” Nayeon said to JB. Jinyoung noticed JB is staring madly at Seulgi as if Seulgi did something wrong to him.

“Yah hyung! Stop looking at her like that. She didn’t do anything wrong to you.” Jinyoung scolded JB.

“She did not answer my question.” He glared at Jinyoung. “Why this look Seulgi? Why?” He is now shouting at Seulgi. Seulgi has tears b on her eyes about to fall.

“Because I want you to see how you look at Jennie. See how happy you look whenever you are with her.” Seulgi answered JB looking at his eyes. She held back her tears.

“What did you say?” JB shouted at Seulgi, “She used me, she just used me. She never loved me. She just used me.” He banged the framed painting on the table. Some beer bottles poked through the painting ruining it. Some bottles fell and broke on the floor. He kept on banging the framed painting until Mark and Jackson grabbed him away. JB is crying. He is really hurt.

The painting is ruined, the frame broke into pieces. Jinyoung held Nayeon as she is now crying seeing her brother behaved like that. She never expected him to do something like that. But she understand as he is badly hurt by Jennie. Wendy hugged the crying Seulgi. When the painting fell on the floor, Seulgi kneeled down and grabbed it. Her knees are wounded due to the broken bottle glass. She held the painting. It is now ruined. She cried hard. While saying “Sorry Jaebeom, I didn’t know it would hurt you like this. I’m sorry for what she did to you. I’m really sorry. I will never paint again. I’m sorry.” Wendy held Seulgi and made her stand up and her eyes widened seeing the blood from her wounded knees.

It’s a messy sight.

Few minutes later, JB is staring hard on the floor and is sitting between Mark and Jackson they confronted and scolded him at what he did. Wendy is tending Seulgi’s wounds. Jinyeong is calming comforting Nayeon.

It is now 11 pm. The silence was broken when JB spoke looking at Seulgi, “I’m really sorry for what I did Seulgi. I’m sorry.” Seulgi just stared at him, surprised. Then Seulgi’s phone rang. She rushed to her bag to get her phone. It is an unknown number calling her. She felt something wrong. She answered. Everyone’s looking at her.

“Kang Seulgi-ssi? Please come to Songdo hospital now. Your parents are in emergency. They were in a car crash just 10 minutes ago. Hurry.” The caller hanged up. Seulgi dropped her phone. Jackson rushed to hold her as she was about fall down the floor. She mumbles “eomma…appa…andwae..”  tears streaming down her face.

“Seul! Seul! Seul! What happened?! Seul!” Wendy worriedly asked her. Seulgi woke up in a trance and stood up. “eomma.. appa. Songdo hospital..” she ran outside. She didn’t notice her knees started to bleed again. Wendy trailed behind her. She grabbed Seulgi and rode Mark’s car. They drove to Songdo hospital.

Left behind in the café are JB, Jackson, Jinyoung and Nayeon. The three cleaned up. And talked about what happened, JB’s relationship with Jennie, and Seulgi’s opening up to them and the, noticing all the hints that Seulgi likes JB.

JB followed to the hospital. He really felt guilty after what he did. Seulgi didn’t deserve it. She painted again for the first time. That made him happy. But he was hurt too much. He was blinded by rage. He knows Seulgi only wants him to be happy. But he ruined the night. ‘Stupid JB. Stupid! Stupid!’ he kept on repeating to himself.

At the hospital..

The staff ushered them to where Seulgi’s parents are. They are under surgery. His father is in a very critical condition. He shielded his wife on the crash. Despite that, her mother hit her head badly. She’s having internal head hemorrhage.

Seulgi hasn’t stopped crying. JB arrived to where they were. He kneeled before Seulgi apologizing. Seulgi accepted and just hugged him tightly. She’s having mixed emotions, she’s just hurt too much. It seemed like everything is repeating again. Just when she’s had the courage to sing, draw and paint, something always ruin it for her.. . JB held her close to his chest. He has been non-stop whispering “mianhe Seulgom-ah..jongmal Mianhe..”.. Seulgi’s fallen asleep due to exhaustion and pain she felt.

JB apologized to Wendy for what he did. Wendy is still sour to him even though she also pity him for what happened to him and Jennie. Mark just held Wendy’s hand and comforted her. Wendy is really worried for Seulgi.. Seulgi’s been through a lot. She doesn’t deserve any of this.

----

The morning came, Seulgi’s been crying hard. Very hard. She lost her parents, they succumb to the injuries.

JB never let Seulgi go. He just held her close. Seulgi’s been pounding her fist on JB’s chest. Crying and shouting “Why? Why? Why is this happening to me? What have I done? I did nothing wrong! Why did they left me behind? Why??”

Wendy is crying to Mark’s chest. It hurts her too. It hurts her to see her best friend crying like that. She lost her brother, now her parents. Mark’s been shedding tears too. Nayeon, Jinyoung and Jackson are there too. They can’t help but cry also.

JB just held Seulgi. He doesn’t know what to say. He just hugged her. He doesn’t know how to ease the pain when he himself is feeling one too but it can never amount to how much pain Seulgi is feeling. He caused her pain too..

Seulgi is crying hysterically until she passed out. She’s exhausted. She’s very dehydrated.

---

Seulgi woke up in the hospital bed the next day. An IV drip is in her arm. A person’s head is leaning on her thigh. She looked down her hand being held by JB. JB is asleep mumbling “jongmal mianhe seulgom-ah, mianhe..” she squeezed his hand. it awakened JB.  She looked at the room, he saw Nayeon leaning to Jinyoung’s shoulder, and both are asleep.

“Please tell me it was all a dream.” Seulgi pleaded to JB. JB just looked down and shake his head. Seulgi just cried silently.

Wendy entered the room, she stared softly at Seulgi. “Hi seul, I’m so sorry for your loss. We’re always here for you, okay? I’ve arranged everything. I let the kids at the café know what happened. They send their condolences. Sora-unnie will arrive tomorrow morning.” Wendy hugged Seulgi.

“Thank you wannie. Thank you.” Seulgi let go of JB’s hand she hugged Wendy back.

“I’m very sorry Seulgi for what happened the other night. I’m really sorry.” JB kneeled again. He sincerely asked for her forgiveness many times already. She smiled at him.

“Yah Beom-ah, get up. I forgave you already.” She reached out her hands to him.. JB held her hands tightly.

“Thank you gom-ah.. Thank you.” He hugged Seulgi and kissed her cheek. They both froze, staring at each other, surprised at his action. Wendy’s even surprised.

Nayeon is already awakened, she saw what happened. She cleared loudly, waking Jinyoung up. And the other 3 looked back at her. Nayeon stood up and hugged Seulgi. “I’m sorry for your loss unnie. Just know that we are here for you.” Glaring at her brother.

Jinyoung followed and patted Seulgi’s left shoulder saying his condolences. Just then, Mark entered the room, bringing food from the Café for them. Jackson is in the studio and is arranging their works. He will visit with Joy after lunch time.

From time to time, Seulgi can’t help but cry. JB comforts her. They never talked about what happened to JB that night. But they know that he and Jennie broke up.

----

It is now the day to bury her parents. They placed them beside his brother. After the ceremony, all of her friends and other relatives went ahead. JB waited for her.

She is now in front of his parents’ and brothers’ remains. She is talking to them, “Eomma, Appa, why did you leave me? Did you really miss Hyuk-oppa that much?” her tears are falling. “Please take good care of each other. I’ll try to make it each day, okay? Please guide me. I’m all alone now, I don’t know if I could do it without you.” she cried and cried. Until she felt a warm presence beside her. She turned to her left side but saw nobody. She then heard a faint voice saying, ‘We’re always here” and she felt her heart warmed. She smiled. And turned around, she saw JB staring at her, smiling at her. She walked to him..

A month after, The Velvet Café at Hwayang-dong, is left to Seulgi. She almost always stay there. She transferred Youngjae, Joy and Bambam there with her. Wendy manages the Café at Gangnam with the help of Yeri, and Yugyeom, and other additional staff to replace Joy, Bambam and Youngjae: Soojin, Seungkwan, and Hui. While on the Main branch, their additional staff are: Miyeon and Hoshi. The main branch was almost nearing closure because staff refused to return to work when her parents died. So she re-establish it again. And the business is back on its feet.

Over the month, she and JB became closer than ever. Their friends had been giving them a warning look. Wendy once talked to her to be careful around JB, as it is quite obvious that he still love Jennie. She responded saying she knows that. Because whenever Jennie’s name is mentioned or her song is heard whenever she and JB are hanging out, eating somewhere, he always froze for a minute and then the mood turns sour. Seulgi always lift up the mood. She’s afraid somewhere deep inside her as maybe JB is using her as a rebound. But she can’t help but feel soft and happy whenever they spend time together.

February 10, 2017

It’s Seulgi’s birthday. She doesn’t want a party. She just want to be at the café. So her friends prepared her a surprise ‘not a party’. She went to the cemetery and visited her parents and brother. She offered a prayer and brought flowers. She spent her time alone there. She stood up ready to go home when her phone rang. She answered.

“Unnie! Where are you? Something happened here in the café. Hwayang-dong. We need you here. Someone is looking for the owner.” Joy then dropped the call. She became worried especially with the tone of her voice. She drove off to the main branch., yes she has a car now. It was her parent’s gift to her.

She arrived at the café, upon entering, “Joy? Joy-ah? Who’s looking for me?” she looked around and she doesn’t see anybody. She went into the kitchen. There’s nobody there. She became frustrated and angry. ‘yah, how dare they leave the café empty and the doors are not even locked!’ She thought to herself..

She went out the kitchen and shouted “YAA-“ but was cut-off as she saw her friends.

“SURPRISE!” they all shouted,.

“Happy Birthday Seulgi!” They all sang her a happy birthday. JB walked towards her holding a bear shaped cake with lit up candles for her to blow.

“Happy birthday gom-ah.” She blew off the flames on the candle. JB pecked her lips. They were all surprised. Seulgi covered with her hands.

‘Omo. What just happened?’ Seulgi thought to herself. JB stole her first kiss.

All of their friends cleared their throat at the same time, but Jackson’s made him cough causing Seulgi to laugh loudly. And the others joined in on the laugh. JB’s just staring at Seulgi laughing and smiling to himself. The small party started. They are enjoying, some are singing, dancing.

Nayeon, Joy and Wendy gave Seulgi a worrying looks. They looked at each other and then stood up walking to Seulgi.

“Seul, can we talk?” Wendy excused Seulgi. Seulgi looked at the 3 and went out, she kinda get the hint as to why they seem worried and serious. JB noticed they went out. But he ignored it since he kinda knows what they will talk about.

“Seul, How are you coping up?” Wendy asked her. Seulgi just smiled.

“I’m doing so well. JB’s been there for me.” Seulgi looked down. Joy just held her hand.

“unnie.. do you like oppa?” Nayeon asked in a tender voice. Seulgi just nod.

“She liked him while he is stupidly in love with Jennie. He was the reason why she started sketching, singing and painting again after a long time after losing her brother” Wendy said. Seulgi’s tears are threatening to fall.

“omo unnie..it doesn’t seem she just ‘like’ JB-oppa, she loves him already. What stronger force can drive you to do all those things other than love?” Joy hugged Seulgi. Seulgi sniffed, she is crying on Joy’s shoulders now.

“I always liked you for my brother. But time has not been kind to you unnie. He still doesn’t seem to be over Jennie. Just a warning unnie.” Nayeon said.

“I can’t see you hurt yourself Seul. You’ve been through a lot. But I know you are stronger than this. We are here for you, okay? Now wipe those tears. He can’t see you like that. Guard your heart please.” Wendy consoled Seulgi.

“I agree unnie. Here, wipe those tears.” Joy handing her handkerchief to Seulgi. “He can’t see you vulnerable okay? That will make him think you need him. You can do this okay?” Seulgi just nod to all of them. She knows. She understood. And she decided to stay away as possible from JB.

Wendy and Nayeon told the others about what they had talked about last month. So the guys, JY, JS and Mark tried to keep JB busy with work at the studio.