i am honestly very excited for this chapter, but i feel this isnt sad enough or angsty enough. i am just too excited and i finished this in a few hours and cannot rewrite any of the parts. all mistakes are mine :( i think this is too mild for angst.... idk what do you guys think? i'm taking word by word for the iris scene. so yeah... and i dont think the instagran image and the wording fits OTL i cannot find it anywhere else T.T credits on translations and images to their original owners. 

7.46 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Ahjussi,u free 2day?can u go with me?

7.47 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Oh I forgot.good morning!!! (*^3^)/~☆so can u go with me?

7.48 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Ahjussi u need 2 rply me (=_=)

7.50 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

AHJUSSSIIIIII!!!!!REPLYYY MEEEEE!!! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Hyunwoo heard the continuous beeps of his phone from the shower and immediately knew who the texts were from. After covering his lower body with a towel, Hyunwoo walked out of the connected bathroom to the bedroom in search of his phone. He dried his hair with a smaller towel as he sat on his bed, opening the texts one by one, smiling to himself as he read through the whiny texts.

7.52 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

I’m sorry for replying so late okay. I cannot today, I have things to do.

7.53 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Wad things 2 do?work?u dun hv off days?even I hv off days…

7.54 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

I’m going to help a friend. I’ll text you back when I’m done okay.

7.55 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Its too early to help friend.ohhhh r u dating someone?i thot we were dating.pouts.

Hyunwoo laughed out loud as he read the new text, suddenly missing the whiny and troublesome idol. He was in the middle of dressing as he let his white – and perfectly pressed – white shirt hang open and typed back expertly. 

7.57 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

I’ll text you later okay. Don’t pout, you’ll get wrinkles at the corners of your mouth soon enough.

7.58 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Ok.dont forget.

Hyunwoo chuckled at the reply. He had somewhat developed a very strange affection towards the younger man and his very strange ways and behaviors. Hyunwoo even checked his phone a lot more lately, because he knew Yoseob would be texting and the older man typed a lot faster because he needed quick replies for the idol. That was just one of the few changes. Hyunwoo had dressed more comfortably outside his work, he had more jeans and tee shirts by now, compared to his previous wardrobe that held more dress pants, more formal shirts, more ties, more suits, and more coats.

But today, he would be wearing something formal, though. He adjusted his grey tie and shrugged into his grey suit. He walked towards the hallway of his modern and sleek apartment and grabbed his keys – car key and apartment key – before heading out to the parking lot downstairs for his silver car.

<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>

“Is Hyung-nim coming, Hyung?” Dongwoon asked tiredly from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Yoseob shook his head, “Nope, he has to help a friend or something today. I wonder if he gets any off days at all. Hmmm…” The idol narrowed his eyes, absentmindedly thinking of his own question.

“You can ask him that directly.” Dongwoon quipped, “Are you gonna ask him for a romantic getaway or something during his off days?”

Yoseob shrugged dismissively, “Maybe, I don’t know. Do you think he likes me, Dongni?”

Dongwoon looked at Yoseob like the older man had just turned to a three-year old baby. “Are you asking me that? Where has your I’m-an-idol-everybody-loves-me attitude gone to?”

“I don’t know.” Yoseob scrunched up his face like he just smelled something bad, “He is not that kind of person that likes me because everybody likes me, y’know.”

“I think he likes you.”

Yoseob widened his eyes, “You think so?”

Dongwoon nodded.

“Yeah?” Yoseob giggled, “Yeah… I think he likes me too.” The idol wriggled cutely on his seat. “I think he likes me.” He stated to Dongwoon who nodded again.

“So since I have agreed that Hyung-nim likes you, can I not do this?” Dongwoon pointed at the Shrek costume that was waiting for him on the table in the waiting room of the amusement park.

Yoseob pouted, “Of course not! You have to do it with me!”

“But why?” Dongwoon cried, “Why are we doing this anyway?”

“Because we need to do public service. Just because I’m an idol doesn’t mean I don’t have social responsibilities. That applies to you too as a citizen. We do this every year, Dongni-ah. Stop being a whiny baby!”

“I’m sure this will go into your Instagram and all those PR activities.”

“That is just icing on the cake, to create hype and awareness and stuff. But we have fun every year doing this. And we’ll have so much fun with the visitors.”

Dongwoon slumped on the floor, “I miss Kwangki Hyung.”

“Yeah well, they only have Shrek left and the costume is too tall for Kikwang. And anyway, Kikwang has that dance thing. So, cheer up.”

Dongwoon looked up to Yoseob who sat on the sofa directly in front of him. The older man was smiling so brightly at him although Hyung-nim could not come to the amusement park, so Dongwoon would not ruin it for Yoseob too. He would be helpful and make the day wonderful for his beloved Hyung.

Social service was something Yoseob had always done regularly – twice maybe three times a year, whenever the idol had got some time to spend – and it ranged from helping out in animal shelter to performing for free in old homes to mundane things such as what they were doing now: to wear costumes and entertain visitors in the amusement park. Yoseob was super excited, not only because he had a yang (sheep) costume for himself (Yang Yoseob in yang costume, how much cuter could this get), but also because he wanted to get Hyunwoo to go with him and maybe hang out with the older man after his shift was done. But that was not happening, but still Yoseob was still excited for the social service.

“Should we take pictures, Dongni?” Yoseob asked excitedly, phone in his hands.

“For your Instagram?” Dongwoon asked.

Yoseob nodded with a huge smile on his face.

#비스트Yoseop: Ah it was so tiringㅜㅜㅋㅋㅋㅋbut it was so funㅋㅋ”

yysbeast: 힘들어ㅜㅜㅋㅋㅋㅋ그치만 재미있었당ㅋㅋ

 Trans by B2STera

<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>

Hyunwoo waited in front of Sooyeon’s apartment complex, waiting for her to return from her usual morning walk. He walked back and forth, nervous as to what he was about to do – where he was about to take Sooyeon to. Based on the conversation he had with Yoseob, Kikwang, and Dongwoon, amusement park was a popular location for couples to go for dates – what he was about to have with Sooyeon was not a date – but he had hoped Sooyeon would cheer up a little, be a little less sad and depressed. Maybe then after he had gone to the amusement park with Sooyeon and known what to do, he would take Yoseob there one day. Just the two of them.

“Hyunwoo-yah.”

Hyunwoo turned around to see a confused Sooyeon standing on the pavement.

“What’s going on?” Sooyeon asked as Hyunwoo approached her and led her to the waiting silver car.

“Where are we going?” Sooyeon was hesitant.

“Just hush and follow me.” Hyunwoo opened the passenger door and gently pushed Sooyeon in. He then circled the car and sat on the driver seat. “Put your seat belt on.”

“Where are we going?” Still confused, Sooyeon asked again but she pulled the belt over her body and clicked it into place.

Hyunwoo put his belt on and settled in his seat, “You’ll see once we get there.” And the car started moving.

When they entered the entrance at the amusement park, Sooyeon sighed. She did not want to do this. “What is this?”

“What do you think this is?” Hyunwoo asked lightly, “It’s a mission to relieve all of Ji Sooyeon’s stress.”

“Hyunwoo-yah…”

“We’re off today anyway,” Hyunwoo cut Sooyeon off, “I can’t see you acting pathetic like this anymore.” He took Sooyeon’s wrist and pulled her into the wonderful world of fun and games, “Let’s go.”

Everything was different here, even the screams were different – gone were the desperate screams that haunted Hyunwoo’s sleep, gone were the grief howl that Hyunwoo saw every time he looked at Sooyeon – right here, the screams were mixed with laughter and excitement. Every laughter was louder, more sincere, more heartfelt and Hyunwoo smiled a tad brighter every time Sooyeon shrieked during the rollercoaster, or the spinning chair, or the swinging pirate ship. Hyunwoo could not help thinking how much fun it would be when he visited the amusement park with Yoseob.

“You’re driving me crazy.” Sooyeon stated directly when Hyunwoo came back with a cute fluffy cat-eared headband on his head. She was never going to wear that, not ever.

Hyunwoo laughed as he registered the fear on Sooyeon’s face. It made the whole thing more hilarious. “Really? Then here is yours!” He quickly placed the fluffy leopard-spotted headband on her head and ran away before he was beaten to death by Sooyeon’s delicate hands.

They rode the Merry-Go-Round and talked about everything and nothing in particular. They walked down the park with bubble blowers in their hands – Hyunwoo was just too nauseous to ride anything anymore – as they teased each other, for the moment leaving their guilt and sorrow behind, forgetting their nightmares and worry that had tightly gripped them since Yoogun was shot and disappeared.

“You want drinks?” Hyunwoo asked a happily laughing Sooyeon.

Sooyeon nodded, “Yeah, water is fine.”

“Okay, wait here. I’ll be back.” Hyunwoo jogged to the nearest street seller for some water and snack while Sooyeon looked around the crowded area. She grinned widely when she sighted an absolutely adorable sheep costume and his friend, Shrek, waving to a group of excited children. It had been a while since she last saw character costume, so she decided to get a closer look, maybe a handshake, just like how she used to when she was young.

So she walked towards them.

<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>

Yoseob waved eagerly to the excited group of kids. Surprisingly, visitors loved his sheep costume and there was this little girl who was almost in tears when her parents took her away from clinging to Yoseob’s right knee. She gave him her strawberry lollipop which was now safely tucked inside his costume pocket. Some knew that Yang Yoseob was inside the yang costume but none of them went out of line, they came to get some pictures and off they went.

It was a delightful time, doing social service and enjoying it at the same time. Dongwoon was doing hilarious stuff a distance away from Yoseob – he danced to 4Minutes’ ‘What’s Your Name’ followed by the ever popular Exo’s ‘Growl’ and other songs with his own hilarious moves. Phones and cameras were up in a nano-second, taking pictures and videos of the funny Shrek. Dongwoon loved the attention and kept going, entertaining the crowd without any hesitation.

The weather was killing Yoseob, the heat was cooking him inside the costume but it was all fun and Yoseob had no complaint about it. He thought everything was going excellent until a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Aw, you are so cute.”

Yoseob turned around to see a very pretty lady standing in front of him. He blinked his eyes again, trying to focus because maybe he was dehydrated so badly that he hallucinated. He blinked again and the lady laughed, her laughter was as pretty as herself.

“You are so cute. Can I shake your hand?”

There was no way Sooyeon Noona would be here in the amusement park, Team Leader Jung did not come off as someone who would go for dates to the amusement parks, but then men did very surprising things for the ones they loved. Yoseob’s confusion did not last long as another familiar figure jogged towards Sooyeon.

Yoseob had hoped that he passed out and was having a nightmare now. He hoped that when he woke up, he would be in a cool room with Dongwoon’s worried face over him, and he could laugh about his nightmare when he recounted it to Dongwoon. And then Dongwoon would laugh too and he would text Ahjussi and then Ahjussi would –

“Ji Sooyeon, what are you doing?” Hyunwoo asked as he passed a bottle of cool water to Sooyeon.

She laughed sweetly at him and pointed to the sheep-costumed person, “Isn’t he really cute? Let’s take picture with him. Can I take picture with you?” Sooyeon asked politely.

Yoseob was frozen in place, he could not move any part of his body, not even a finger or a muscle. Nothing would move when he saw Hyunwoo and Sooyeon together in the amusement park, cute fluffy cat-eared headbands on their heads, matching bubble blowers in their hands. The only thing missing was them holding hands.

“Aw, is he shy? Hyunwoo-yah, come and take selca with him.” Sooyeon took Hyunwoo’s hand and pulled him towards the sheep costume. They just held hands, Yoseob thought to himself, they just held hands. Both of them situated themselves on each side of the sheep-costumed person as Sooyeon took her phone out and posed while Hyunwoo crouched awkwardly to get himself into the photo frame. None of them knew that Yang Yoseob was inside the costume.

Yoseob felt hot. His body was hot, but his face was hotter. His face was so hot that his eyes started to water quickly. It was so hot, everything was so hot, he could combust any moment… it was so hot –

“This is so cute!” Sooyeon squealed loudly and showed it to Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo laughed at the odd behavior, but was highly amused by it. “Are you done with him?”

Sooyeon nodded, “Thank you, Yang-sshi. Have a nice day.” She bowed politely.

“Yang-sshi?” Hyunwoo raised his eyebrow. He immediately stopped and stared at the sheep costume.

“He’s a sheep, so he should be a Yang-sshi.” Sooyeon waved to the sheep-costumed person while Hyunwoo stood at his spot for a moment, observing for a while before walking off with Sooyeon who chattered excitedly while showing off the selca of them she just took.

Yoseob did not realize that his shoulders started to shake, that hot tears started to burn lines onto his face. Yoseob did not realize that he started to sob, he did not realize he started to bit his lips to keep the pitiful sounds inside.

Jintaek saw something was wrong with Yoseob when he stopped moving animatedly and started to shake all over. He rushed to Yoseob and quickly took the costume head off, “Oh my god, Yoseobah, are you okay? Why are you crying? Are you tired? Is something hurting you? Oh my god! Guys over here!” He motioned for the two guards to Yoseob to the waiting room, where he would be given medical attention, while he would look for Dongwoon in case he experienced the same suffering too.

Amidst the small commotion, Yoseob looked down and saw a shiny object on the ground. He squinted and saw some engravings on the solid metal keychain. He quickly removed his costume glove, taking the fallen object from the ground and held it safe in his hands before the guards helped him back to the waiting room.

“Hyung, what happened?” Dongwoon panted as he knelt next to the sofa in the cool and quiet waiting room where Yoseob was lying. “Hyung, are you crying? What happened? Did some kids bully you?” The maknae was close to hysterical, he ran as fast as he could when Jintaek told him what happened to Yoseob. Jintaek’s worry was absurd because Dongwoon was happily doing some cute poses for the visitors.

It was silent as Yoseob stared blankly at the ceiling, tears spilling freely from the corners of his eyes. “Dongwoonah, can I ask you a favor?” Yoseob asked, his voice was an eerie calmness.

Dongwoon nodded, “Anything, Hyung. Anything. Please stop crying.”

And then Yoseob started talking.

<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>

Hyunwoo watched Sooyeon eat at Paris Baguette. It was her favorite restaurant that she often visited with Yoogun, Hyunwoo felt it was time for her to face her demons instead of hiding from them. The place was small, but it was quaint and comfortable. The restaurant was not crowded, the lighting was perfect – not too bright but not too dim either – the tables were all made of light-colored woods, with small potted plants to exude the homey atmosphere.

Sooyeon ate industriously, she did not whine about her food, she did not ask him to separate the green beans from her rice, she just ate, and ate, and continued eating. Sooyeon ate quite differently from Yoseob, she ate methodically, one after another while Yoseob would stuff all of the side dishes and rice into his mouth and then started chewing after his mouth was full and close to bursting. So Hyunwoo watched silently with amused eyes.

Sooyeon felt Hyunwoo watching him and looked up, “What? You’ve never seen me eat before?” She then continued eating again without waiting for an answer from Hyunwoo.

He smiled, “No, I feel like I haven’t seen you so happy in a long time. So I’m not used to it.”

Sooyeon swallowed her food and smiled back, “You helped me feel better today.”

“Now that I think about it, it was our first time going to an amusement park together.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sooyeon brood, “I’ve never been to an amusement park, even with Yoogun.”

The atmosphere changed a little as Sooyeon mentioned Yoogun in their conversation. They were silent for a while until Hyunwoo called her name, “Ji Sooyeon.”

“Huh?” She looked up and raised a curious eyebrow.

Hyunwoo was looking down, not meeting Sooyeon’s eyes, as he started talking, “As in the old saying goes, if you cannot get a pheasant, get a chicken instead. I’ll be the chicken.”

Sooyeon did not understand the whole direction of the conversation. She ate another piece of meat, “What are you talking about?”

Hyunwoo was staring at his untouched food on the table, “If you ever feel like… you need someone next to you… or you get so lonely that you feel like you cannot stand it any longer… you can come to me anytime.”

He looked up and stared seriously at Sooyeon, “I’ll leave a seat next to me for you.”

This time, awkward silence fell between them as Sooyeon jerked back a little, shocked at the indirect confession. Hyunwoo said jokingly, “Yah, do you have any idea how many girls want that seat beside me?” He pointed at Sooyeon, “You should be thankful instead of making that awkward face.”

Sooyeon sighed as she put down her fork. He hated doing this to Hyunwoo, he had loved Hyunwoo like her own family but she could not love him the way he wanted. She hated doing this but she should end this once and forever, “Thank you, Seo Hyunwoo… for thinking about me.” She said kindly and by looking at Hyunwoo’s face, she knew he understood her gentle rejection.

She teased back, “Yah, you are not a chicken. Do chickens as cool as you exist?”

“Ommo, Ji Sooyeon really knows how to judge a person.” Hyunwoo said, “It’s kind of a waste for me to become a chicken… right?”

And then suddenly the atmosphere was back to normal as they shared some food and teased each other the way they used to. The awkwardness had melted off the table and they started laughing and bickered well-naturedly with each other.

A hand gripped a key with Seo Hyunwoo engraved on the solid metal keychain attached to it. Yoseob stood at the entrance of the restaurant, his sheep-costume head was held at the side of his body. He could hear everything clearly since the restaurant was quiet.He heard everything… the chicken saying and other . He heard everything and he saw everything.

Dongwoon had pleaded – knelt down, whined endlessly, prostrated, begged pitifully – for Jintaek and the car to follow where Hyunwoo and Sooyeon were going. Yoseob had asked for his help and the maknae did not let him down.

But to witness this. To witness this was another issue altogether.

When his best friend turned girlfriend, Hayoon Noona left him for another man, his best friend turned enemy namely Yong Junhyung, Yoseob was heartbroken. It was hell he was going through, being left behind by two of his oldest friends who went their own way, betraying him, leaving Yoseob alone. Yoseob thought that was end of his world.

Yoseob thought it was hell getting his heart broken previously; he did not know what he would face later on because right now, seeing everything, his heart did not break. His heart shattered, into a million pieces. He felt hot again – very hot all over – and he felt hot streaks of water running down his face. His heart twisted on his chest, as unbearable pain spread quickly from his chest to his back and every part of his body, preventing any sound from coming out of his mouth. His head was pounding right now. His vision was blurry as water surged out of his eyes.

Hot.

Hot.

Everything was hot.

He opened his dry mouth to call someone, but ended up air, filling his lungs with the cool air-conditioned air from the restaurant. But now he knew.

It was good that now he knew.

It was good that he could stop being stupid.

It was good.

<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>/<>\<>

“Seo Hyunwoo-sshi?” An immaculately dressed waiter leaned down beside Hyunwoo politely.

Hyunwoo stopped laughing and turned his head to the side to answer back, “Yes.”

He placed a shiny object on the table, “I’m sure this is your key.”

Hyunwoo stared at his apartment key with Seo Hyunwoo engraved on the solid metal keychain and started checking his pockets. The key was indeed missing and the object on the table was indeed his missing key. The agent bowed gratefully, “Ah, yes. Thank you very much. How did you get this? Where did I drop it?”

The waiter smiled professionally at Hyunwoo, “Oh, I did not find it, Sir. Someone in a sheep costume has kindly  asked me to give this back to you.”

“Sheep costume?” Hyunwoo asked aloud.

“The sheep costume in the amusement park?” Sooyeon tilted her head in confusion.

Hyunwoo frowned, that could not be it. He bowed his head to the waiter and motioned to the key, “Thank you for this.”

The waiter smiled politely and left.

“A sheep costume?” Sooyeon asked, interested.

Hyunwoo typed a text quickly and pocketed his phone. He expected it to beep with a new text soon enough.

10.21 pm

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

Yah kid, where are you? Have you had dinner? Are you home?

Hyunwoo checked his phone when he did not get a reply in two minutes.

After five minutes, Hyunwoo checked on his phone again. Still there was no new text. He placed his phone back into his pocket, maybe something stupid happened to Yoseob’s phone just like the last time. Maybe he would get a reply tomorrow morning or something.

Hyunwoo tried to be positive, he really did. But he absolutely had a bad feeling about this.