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Chapter 32 - Someone's Back

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Sungmin's eyes widen as he hears what Kyuhyun says. What? His heart? Why would I take care of his heart? He's not... talking about something not-so-literal, right? "U-Uh..."

It is the only word - if it is considered as a word - that escapes from his mouth. His cheeks burn because of the combination of Kyuhyun's touch and words with vague meaning. He can't put himself to think that Kyuhyun is somehow confessing to him because he knows that Kyuhyun won't. And of course, why is he making it too sudden? He's not going to accept the confession anyway, if it is what he means. It appears like he is anticipating for that confession which is obviously, at least to what he believes, not going to happen.

Why am I even anticipating that he'll confess? Not that I want him to. He just pulls the pot closer to him that the folded tent falls on the ground. "S-Sorry about that,."

He tries to get the folded tent but Kyuhyun holds his shoulder to stop him. "Don't bother anymore. I'll get it. And you can come back later to retrieve it. That is," he smirks and continues, "if you'd still have the plan to sleep here."

"It is not necessary," Sungmin says as he watches Kyuhyun while getting the folded tent. "I'll take it with me. I can manage."

"If you accidentally drops the pot, what do you think would happen? Stop being hard-headed, Sungmin. Or if you don't want to go back here to get the tent then let me walk you home," Kyuhyun suggests.

Sungmin sighs and nods as a response. It is better than to go back to Kyuhyun's house. He would certainly not go back.

"And by the way," Kyuhyun grins at him. "Your breath stinks. Did you even wash your face and gargle?"

Sungmin's face turns red once again because of embarrassment. He glares at Kyuhyun who is now laughing like a madman. "You jerk! I am pretty sure my breath does not stink! And I did, okay? Ugh! I hate you," Sungmin mutters as he exits Kyuhyun's gate. Kyuhyun just shrugs and follows him while laughing. "Aren't you going to stop!?"

"I'm just teasing you," Kyuhyun says in between laughs. "You really take things seriously."

Sungmin stops and turns to him. "So you don't really mean the 'take care of my heart' thing?"

Kyuhyun shrugs again. "I think I do."

"What do you mean by that anyway?" Sungmin asks. Now he is asking. He planned not to. He planned to leave it as it was to avoid something that would probably make him embarrassed or irritated.

"I am serious about that," Kyuhyun says as he looks intently at Sungmin. "But I meant, please take care of the marigold because it is my heart."

It is a half-lie. It is really a confession in a metaphoric way. He lets Sungmin borrow the marigold as if it represents his heart, and he wants the latter to take care of it. He can't just give it yet. Maybe after finding Jino. Maybe when he's free enough to do so then he will.

"If you don't take care of that, you would not like the consequences," Kyuhyun threatens, but of course he doesn't mean it entirely. He looks away to avoid the tension between them. Sungmin must have bought his explanations well.

"You're threatening me?" Sungmin asks.

"Not really," Kyuhyun answers and walks ahead of Sungmin. Sungmin continues to walk as well.

○●○

Sungmin takes the pot to his room and places it near the window because Kyuhyun has told him to do so. The marigold needs direct sunlight so it is the best place. After that, he lies on the bed because he is exhausted. He could not believe that his parents would invite Kyuhyun to lunch.

His parents were very worried that he didn't go home the night before, and Kyuhyun was kind enough to explain what happened. He forgot that his father just finished a case and won so he had his two days off, and his mother's police duty was at night so they were both there. If he had only remembered, he wouldn't have let Kyuhyun go with him because he and Kyuhyun weren't that close just like he and Ryeowook. His parents would definitely interview him and Kyuhyun might tell something his parents wouldn't like to hear about their son. And he was not wrong. They interviewed him as if he was not there asking the most unusual questions that his parents could ask.

And they told Kyuhyun to feel at home because they were comfortable of him as their son's friend, and apparently, he was the first friend that had gone to his house. It was months ago. Sungmin nearly had his palm hit his face in embarrassment when Kyuhyun gave him a malicious look with a smirk on his face. His parents, especially his father, were really too happy that he had a friend from Inhwan, while he was regretting that he failed to introduce his best friend to them first.

Sungmin told them that Kyuhyun was busy that he already needed to go home, but the jerk insisted that it was fine for him to stay a little longer. But in the end, Sungmin got to convince his parents that Kyuhyun really needed to go. He thought Kyuhyun would again when they were already outside the house. But Kyuhyun just gave him a soft tap in the head.

"What is that for?" Sungmin asked. But Kyuhyun just answered with a smile and left.

After a while, he receives a text message from Kyuhyun.

I enjoyed it so much. Looking forward to do this again.

He texts back in reply. Sorry, there is no room for next time.

After a few minutes, he receives images with captions. Save all these pictures, okay?

He does not bother to look at all of them because there are too many pictures, but he saves them nevertheless. He looks at the marigold and it seems that the sprout is appearing. He feels so excited that he dials Kyuhyun's number. "Oh my gosh, Kyuhyun, the sprout appears!"

"Of course, it would after three to four days. Just take care of it, alright? By the way, if you don't mind, I would like to help you in growing it. I'll go there and have a cup of tea with your parents again," says Kyuhyun from the other line.

"Yes, Sire!" Sungmin excitedly agrees and ends the call. He stares back at the marigold and talks to it. "I am going to take care of you. Kyuhyun and I will take care of you-" He stops as he realizes the meaning of what he says. "W-Why did I... Why did I agree to Kyuhyun!?"

He was so excited that he didn't even pay enough attention to all that Kyuhyun said. He just agreed immediately. Did he just give Kyuhyun the permission to go to his house?

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He forgot to work at the ice cream parlor that day. He recalled during dinner time when Sungjin asked him about the ice cream parlor's renovation.

And as he thought, the next day, Manager Han asks him why he was absent and why there were excess construction supplies. He does not have a valid reason and he can't tell Manager Han about the excess supplies because of a promise so he just apologizes and works twice as hard as before. Donghae also asks him why, but he chooses not to answer him.

It feels weird that Kyuhyun is not at the ice cream parlor with them. It can't just sink in.

"Do you still need to buy a seed?" Donghae asks. "I brought the money with me-"

"No need, Donghae, thanks," Sungmin smiles as he continues to paint the wall. "Kyuhyun let me borrow a plant."

Donghae furrows his eyebrows. "Eh? How come?"

There is a bitterness in his voice but Sungmin does not pay attention to it. "I don't know."

"Weird," Donghae mumbles. "You're not usually that close."

Yeah, it is also weird to Sungmin. Why does he feel that he becomes close to Kyuhyun all of a sudden? Kyuhyun would usually treat him with coldness whenever Donghae and Ryeowook are there, but whenever the two of them are together, they seem closer than Sungmin and Ryeowook.

After a minute, someone opens the ice cream parlor's door. It is Ryeowook. Sungmin smiles widely as he hurriedly goes down from the mini ladder to hug Ryeowook. "I miss you, Wook!" Sungmin exclaims. "I can't believe you're back already! Does time fly this fast?"

"What happened to the ice cream parlor?" Ryeowook asks as he pulls himself out of Sungmin's hug and looks around. "And where is Kyuhyun?"

Donghae goes down from the mini ladder as well and walks towards Ryeowook. "Well, a lot of things happened when you're gone, and Kyuhyun took a month leave."

Ryeowook's face turns gloomy, but Sungmin tries to cheer him up. "Don't worry, it's just a month."

"Why did he take a leave?" he asks.

Donghae shrugs. "I don't know myself. But isn't it better that he is taking some rest?"

Ryeowook nods. "Well, you're right."

Sungmin notices that Ryeowook still feels sad, so he suggests something. "Oh, how about we hang out tomorrow night since it's a Saturday? We'll call Kyuhyun. He's definitely home! I know a club that has been opened for business. Let's try that one out!"

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"Eh, you're not going?" Donghae repeats what Kyuhyun tells him through phone. Ryeowook and Sungmin are both anticipating for his answer. "You're home, right? Come on! Ryeowook is finally back."

Sungmin gets impatient and snatches the phone from Donghae. "Hey, this is me, Sungmin. You have to go with us, tomorrow at eight in the evening."

"I told you that I'm not going. I'm busy," Kyuhyun tells Sungmin.

Sungmin hisses. "How can you busy if you're just there?"

"Don't question me, Sungmin," Kyuhyun orders. "This is final. I won't go."

"Kill joy," Sungmin whispers. "If you don't go, I'd kill your heart and never let you help in taking care of it."

There is silence from the other line. Then after a while, Sungmin hears a sigh. "Alright. But I'll just stay there for two hours or less. And stop rooting me for Ryeowook."

Sungmin does a victory sign quietly to Donghae and Ryeowook who cheer with him. "Good. Thanks!" Sungmin hangs up and gives the phone to Donghae. "He's coming!"

Ryeowook  asks, "B-but what was that about? That... heart thing?"

Sungmin replies. "Ah. It's the marigold. He lended me a marigold for my Biology project."

"Oh..."  Ryeowook looks on the ground and murmurs. "I guess, there were really a lot of things that happened while I was gone."

Sungmin glances at Ryeowook. He hears something from him but he does not catch it. "Eh? What's that?"

"Nothing," Ryeowook smiles awkwardly. "See you tomorrow!"

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