Turnabout 04:

The Weight of Acceptance pt.5

[Minseok’s Point of View]

It’s been a long time since I visited my shop. I’ve left it in the care Donghae and Kyuhyun to manage it. They’re more likely the managers now since I haven’t made an appearance as the owner of it. Le Café Amoré is more or less the same. I’ve only visited if they needed me to talk about something like upgrading the menu or changing the look of the café. I didn’t actually want to visit, but Jongdae had kicked me out of his room, telling me to visit my café since I could actually do that and he can’t. I felt a tug in my heart when he said that and I agreed to go.

Thus, here I am now. Outside of Le Café Amoré and feeling nervous to go in. It’s just 10 am and I could see from the window that a few customers are already inside. I calmed myself down and pushed the door. I was met with a wave of nostalgia and immediately, I find myself at ease. I immediately spotted Donghae taking orders from table 10 and Kyuhyun serving table 6’s order. It brought a smile on my face when I saw them working hard and I felt it was alright to leave since I’ve seen them doing well. I was about to leave when someone called my name. I looked behind me and was surprised to see Krystal.

“Xiumin! It is you!” Krystal ran up to me and gave me a hug. I was surprised at the sudden hug and immediately stiffened in the process. She lets go of me and pulls me to sit down in one of the vacant tables.

“Stay here,” she says before leaving me behind. Ah, she never changed. Always being impulsive. A menu appears in front of me and I looked to my side to find Fey with a grin on her face.

“Hey there, boss,” she cheerily says and I flashed her a smile in response.

“How are you doing Fey?”

“I’m doing fine. I have a boyfriend now, you know.”

“Woah. No way!” Fey didn’t want a boyfriend since she hated having the idea of it and wanted to live her life as a single woman. Donghae often tried to introduce her to some man, but she wouldn’t settle down and in the end, Donghae gave up. I wonder what happened that made her change.

“I’m already in my late 20s, Xiumin. Thinking that I could be single forever is such a faraway dream. I know that I should settle down soon. Having a family is quite nice,” she remarked with a smile on her face. Having a family is a dream for me also. A sad reality that I can’t have, but I don’t mind.

“That’s good news. Do the others know?”

“No, I haven’t mentioned it yet. Probably, when I feel like mentioning it to them.” She puts a finger to her lips and I nodded, sealing the promise to keep it as a secret. I looked through the menu and decided to go for a simple chocolate mousse and a chocolate chip shake. She jotted down my order in her notebook and left me as she gives the order to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Kyuhyun arrives with my order and he grins at me once he placed my order on the table. “Hey there.”

“How are you doing?” he asks as he takes a sit beside me. I took a sip on my shake and savoured the taste. The shake is delicious as ever.

“I’m doing fine. How are you and the café?” I asked and he points at his eye bags and I laughed.

“Seems like the café is taking a toll on you.”

“Not really, but Donghae and I, including the other staffs, had just finished a banquet order for tomorrow. So we haven’t really gotten any sleep.” He lets out a tired sigh and I hummed, sympathizing with him.

“Take a break tomorrow. You could close the shop for one day,” I suggested and he looks at me before averting his gaze to the side.

“It’s fine. We’ll just open the shop late tomorrow. Is that good for you?” he asks, respecting what my decision may be for his suggestion. I nodded and he smiles at my affirmation and stretched. He stands up and gives me a peace sign.

“I’ll be taking my leave. Need to head back to work,” he says and takes his leave. I watched him greet the new customers and show them their table. I remember hiding from the customers since I didn’t want to attract attention, but I guess it only fed their curiosity more and they would be thrilled to see me whenever they got the chance to see me outside of my domain (kitchen or office).

I guess it’s not bad to visit here once in a while. It brings back memories from those days. I finish my chocolate mousse and was up to finish my shake when Donghae approached my table and placed a box which I presumed is a box of sweets. I looked at him and he gave me his sweet smile.

“Thanks.” There was no need to question why he gave me the box of sweets. I knew it was from all of them and they had probably placed all my favourites in it.

He grins at me when I stood up after finishing my shake. “See you soon.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you and Kyuhyun.”

I bid him my farewell and left the shop with the box in my hand. I decided to head down to Kyungsoo’s flower shop to get some new flowers for the vase. I wonder how Kyungsoo is holding up. We haven’t heard the news from him yet and Jongdae is pretty much upset since Jongin hadn’t visited him personally and had just sent him a message that he’ll fix the problem with Kyungsoo.

Arriving at the flower shop, I saw Kyungsoo spraying water to the flowers from the window. He must have felt someone was watching him because he looked back and saw me staring at him. I waved my hand and he waves back. He beckons me to come in and I went inside, immediately smelling the aroma of the flowers.

“You’ve got new flowers Kyungsoo?” I asked as I make my way to the counter, followed by Kyungsoo who took the opposite side of the counter.

“Yeah. It’s actually for a wedding in the 18^th and the wedding planner wanted me to decide what would fit best for the theme. So I had a new set of flowers delivered today.”

“Your shop’s doing better as ever,” I remarked and he chuckled in response, not replying to it, but a proud smile paints his lips.

“What could I help you with?”

“Do you know Jongdae’s favourite?”

“Flowers?”

“Yeah.”

Kyungsoo ponders for a moment, looking at the side for a moment before his eyes widen briefly to tell me that he remembers it.

“I just got the thing.” Kyungsoo leaves the counter and I watch him pick up two kinds of flowers before going back to the counter. He takes out the kit from the small cabinet he has behind him and began preparing the bouquet.

“Will you be putting it in a vase?”

“Yes.” I’m amazed at the way he wraps the flowers into a bouquet and it felt like I was watching magic. He finishes the bouquet by tying it up with a hazel nut ribbon with a pattern of swirl of leaves. He hands me the bouquet with a smile on his face.

“The flowers are Red Dhalia and Star of Bethlehem. The flowers meant that even if the person is deceived, betrayed by his loved one, the person wishes to reconcile. These are Jongdae’s favourites.” I understood what he meant when he said the flowers meaning. The flowers meant us. Our past and what he wishes for even after all the things I have done to him in the past. I bit my bottom lip, unable to suppress the feeling of the past and Kyungsoo quietly regarded me.

It’s no use dwelling in the past now. I tried to calm myself down and Kyungsoo might have seen my distress and left for a bit and came back with a tray of tea. He places the cup in front of me and smiled as if to tell me to drink it to help myself calm down.

I thanked him and took a sip. I immediately recognized the tea and looked at him to tell me if what I’m thinking is right.

“It’s chamomile tea.” He confirms my suspicion and I felt myself relax as I took another sip. We had settled in a comfortable silence before I realized that I haven’t paid yet for the flowers. I placed the cup down and hastily took out my wallet, but before I could take out the cash, Kyungsoo had stopped me. I didn’t want to be indebted and still tried to pay, but he firmly shuts my decision down.

“It’s fine. Think of it as a gift.”

“Thank you, Kyungsoo.”

“It’s nothing.”

I left the shop after saying my goodbye and on my way to the hospital, I bumped into Jongin.

“Hyung.”

“Jongin,” I greeted him back. He was dressed casually and has a paper bag in his hand. Judging the way he is going to, I think I already know.

A grin appears on my face. “I guess, you and Kyungsoo are fine now. So, you’re heading to the flower shop?” He blushed and casted his gaze to the side, unable to reply. Warmth fills my heart as he affirms my suspicion. I pat his shoulder and give him my regards.

“Go now. Enjoy your date.”

Jongin replies with a ‘thank you’ and continues his way to Kyungsoo’s shop. I’m happy that they’re doing well now. I guess it’s a happy ending for them.

[End of Minseok’s Point of View]

♦

[Jongdae’s Point of View]

“It’s reassuring to know that your lungs are doing fine now. And the therapy seems a big help for you. If the tests are good, then you can be discharged by the next month,” Dr. Changmin explains to me with a gentle smile on his face.

I looked down for a bit to process what he had said before returning him a smile. “Thanks doc.”

After kicking Minseok out of my room, Luhan picks me up after a few minutes for my examination. He briefs me on what to do and I just simply go with it and did the tests. After an hour and a half passed by, I’m here at Dr. Changmin’s office listening to my results.

I was expecting a nurse to come in and wheel me out, but to my surprise it was someone I know. My eyes widened at the person who took the handle of my wheelchair and wheels me out of Dr. Changmin’s office. Once we were out, we didn’t talk. Not like I could talk to him about something or anything, but he is someone who is part my brother’s past and someone whom I’m still comfortable with.

“How are you doing?” he asks casually and I sighed.

“Don’t get chummy with me Suho. I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did with my brother,” I retorted in response, expressing my upset clearly.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry for hurting him.”

“You can’t fix anything with just a simple ‘sorry’,” I replied to his apology. I’m not really angry at him and I’ve long forgiven him, but even so, what he did cannot be easily erased. He doesn’t reply until we got back to my assigned room. He helps me go back to my bed and shifts my position to a comfortable one.

He takes his leave and stops at the door with a hand on the doorknob. “I’m really sorry about what happened. But you know that he can’t find his happiness with me.”

He doesn’t look back as I watched him closes the door behind him.

♦

Having nothing to do, I simply looked at the window beside my bed and watched the city move on forward while I’m stuck here. The room is too cold for my liking, but it doesn’t bring discomfort that much. It’s quiet, but it’s nice. I could finally have the peace that I wanted and think about things that had happened.

It’s been awhile since I came to realize that I need to accept the reality in front of me. It’s also been awhile since I have come in terms with my past, present and future. And, it’s also been awhile where I have forgiven the man who had broken me and accepted him once again. I know people say it is foolish to take back a man who had hurt you twice, trice and many times. And yet, I am one of them. A fool who had weighed the matter of death and living and in the end, I chose to live. And because I chose to live, it means that I’m responsible of what happens in my present and in my future. Thus, it is also my choice whether to take him back or not.

What had happened last three years ago was entirely my fault. That I have accepted, but still blamed it on Minseok. I, who have sworn that I am no longer tied down to my past, has fallen to a disgrace for cowering in the fear of my horrible past resurfacing. I was blinded by my past. I couldn’t get away from it for it still haunts me even in my dreams. I had misunderstood what had happened that day and the result? The three years after present me.

Now, the question is, do I regret my decision? The decision at my breaking point where the Jongdae of the past is no longer alive and the present remains from the corrupted past. I honestly wished to die. I do not care anymore and what was left a physical body with no soul—an empty shell. But somehow, at the limbo (I felt like I was at the limbo) I was given a choice to live or to die. The grim reaper had basically listed off the things what would happen if I chose to live or to die. And to be honest, I didn’t want to pick any.

Ah, but I did pick to die at first, but somehow the grim reaper had opened a box of my past and the three years of what Minseok did for me. A heart grew in the empty shell and I decided to live. It took a bit time to reconsider everything that had happened between us, but I was reminded of my heart that I was the one who loved him first. That even if I tried hating him and cast him away, the mark of my love for him never faded. I was reminded that I was a fool back then and I’m still a fool even now.

But I don’t regret it. The decision that I made, I didn’t regret it. He was the one who broke me, yet he is also the one who saved me. My heart still yearns for him and I’m not going to stop my heart from achieving it. We’re back to the relationship where we love each other, though this time it comes with the feeling of compensation; to start all over again.

There was a knock and I see the man whom I love. Minseok smiles at me as he comes in showing me a box of sweets that probably came from his café. He makes his way over to me and kissed my temple.

“I’m back.”

I smiled at him. Even if I lose an eye and both my legs, it’s alright. If those were needed to be with him again, then losing them isn’t a loss. In fact, it’s a blessing. The price that I had paid, may this grant me the wish that I had been seeking since the beginning.

“Welcome back.”

►Is this the last turnabout?

♦Yup. Then it's the finale for all of them.

►Seriously?

♦Yeah.

►It's too soon.

♦Really? But it all comes to an end already.

►What happened to SULAY?

♦Woah, chill. That's up for the next chapter.

►Chanbaek! I can't accept Chanbaek. They shouldn't be friends!

♦Look, not all stories are fairytales. And not all of them have happy endings.

►Then how about Hunhan? I believe Taoris, Kaisoo and Xiuchen has their happily ever after, but what about my babies?

♦/raises my eyebrow/ Hunhan will live on.

►So when's the next chapter?

♦This Saturday lol. I might make it a double update, but that depends on my work.

►Oh.

♦Yeah. So see you guys soon <3