“And so it begins again,” Joshua said under his breath as he rode the elevator up. Resting his head against the back wall, he spoke to himself. Taking in a few deep breaths, Joshua couldn’t even fully wrap his head around what had been happening. All he knew was that it was starting again.

“Well, if I’m gonna start anywhere…”

Ding! The elevator doors opened. Joshua stepped out.

“...it might as well be here.”

Joshua walked down the hall until he was standing in front of Wonwoo’s apartment. His head slumped as he pressed his forehead to the door. Calmly, he knocked.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

It was 10:12am Korea time. He knew Wonwoo had class on certain days and his parents would be at work. His grandma was always home, though.

When no one came to open the door, he tried again.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

After some more time, still no one came.

She must be out right now, Joshua concluded. With a heavy sigh, he stepped back. Honestly, where he was right now, it would’ve been nice to be welcomed by a warm smile and a comforting hug. But he could manage.

Luckily, Joshua had known Wonwoo for a while, which meant he’d jumped to his house plenty of times, which meant he knew where the spare key was.

Getting on his tippy toes, Joshua bounced up to reach on top of the door sill. It took a few tries before the key came clattering to the floor. He bent over, picked it up, and unlocked the door.

After putting it back, he stepped inside and was sure to lock the door. He still had nightmares from what happened with Jihoon and Soonyoung in Shanghai. He shuddered at the thought of them knocking on the door and rattling all the kitchen drawers. They were so close...

Sliding his guitar off of his shoulders, he tried to ignore his discomfort and set it aside. With a yawn, Joshua stretched out his arms and walked to Wonwoo’s bedroom. So much had happened so quickly, he really just needed to sleep it off.

Without a thought, Joshua went into Wonwoo’s room, closed the door behind him, and flopped onto the bed. But it wasn’t empty.

“WOAH!” Joshua screamed, sitting up as his body felt the lump underneath it.

“JESUS!” Wonwoo yelled, pulling himself from under the covers. He was still half asleep, but his eyes came into focus as he started to see Joshua’s shocked face. “Joshua?”

His mouth hanging slightly open, Joshua shook his head and laughed. Even with all the crap he was going through, it was always nice to see his friend. Shoving him by the shoulder, he chuckled, “I thought no one was home. It’s good to see you, Wonwoo.”

Still a bit confused, Wonwoo nodded. “Yeah, you too.” Staring at him, Wonwoo felt like he was in a dream. It had been a long time since Joshua jumped to Korea. Wonder what brings him here, he thought, knowing the universe had to be doing something cruel. “It’s been awhile since you’ve jumped here.”

“Yeah,” he said through a sigh. “The last time I came was…”

“Like last year?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Grinning at his friend, Joshua noticed Wonwoo didn’t smile back. His cheeks looked sunken and void of color. Wonwoo’s usual brightness wasn’t there. Seeing this made Joshua worry. “Dude are you alright?”

Wonwoo blinked. The dried tears in the corners of his eyes cracked as his lids closed. He hadn’t spoken to anyone in a few days. It hadn’t even been a week since his grandma passed away and things were starting to blur together. His parents were busy planning the funeral that they weren’t paying much attention to him. But that was fine. He didn’t really want to talk to anyone.

“I’m fine.”

But Joshua was unsettled. The last time the two actually saw each other wasn’t that long ago. Wonwoo had jumped to LA and stayed at a motel cause Jeonghan was at the apartment. It was at that time that he told Wonwoo about his feelings for the boy with the long hair and, the way Joshua liked to think of it, got his blessing. The last time the two of them were physically together, Joshua was just starting his great love story.

But now...that story had to be set aside.

“Wonwoo, you don’t—”

“Did you let Chan know you were here?” Wonwoo interrupted, brushing his hair off of his face.

Joshua was taken aback. “Uh, yeah, I texted him a few minutes ago,” he replied, pulling out his phone to see if Chan said anything. He was going to send it in the group chat, but he and Chan were already talking so he just sent it in their conversation. But the more Joshua thought about it, he realized that didn’t matter. Wonwoo wouldn’t have seen it anyway. Wonwoo hadn’t been talking in the group chat for the past few days. But now that Joshua really thought about it, he hadn’t been saying much either ever since he stopped jumping. But with that in mind, he realized…

I never told them I stopped.

Joshua froze for a second as that hit him.

Oh my god, I never told them. I just...forgot? How could I forget?

Glancing up, Joshua saw Wonwoo’s distant eyes. They had lost their shimmer.

Noticing his gaze, Wonwoo stared back. “What?”

But Joshua didn’t even know where to start. His mouth hung open as his mind raced. How could he not tell his closest friends that he had stopped? How could he forget to tell them that the universe gave him a reason? How could he not tell them about how happy he had been for the previous four days before his dad showed up? How did he completely ignore everyone else in the world but Jeonghan? How did he do that...when Wonwoo clearly needed somebody? And now...how could he tell him?

He didn’t know where to start. Distraught and confused by himself, Joshua couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. If he started talking about stopping now, he would have to explain this terrible thing with his dad and how he just showed up and how he asked him to move to Korea and the fact he maybe could move to Korea and just so many things. Too many things.

And by the look on Wonwoo’s face, he was in a terrible place too. Possibly even worse. Joshua didn’t know what was going on in his friend’s world right now, but he knew that it was Wonwoo’s dream to stop. Now probably wasn’t the time to rub it in, even though that’s not what Joshua would intend. Maybe when Chan got there they could all talk, but he surely wasn’t ready to dive into it right away.

Giving Wonwoo a small smile, he decided to go with what he thought to be a lighter topic. “Where’s your grandma? She’s not home, right?”

But it wasn’t light at all. Wonwoo’s heavy heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach. Immediately, he looked away and stared down at his fidgeting hands. “Uhhh—”

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

Joshua’s head shot up and he got to his feet. “That must be Chan. I’ll get it,” he said as he scampered off, leaving Wonwoo alone in his pain.

Tossing the front door open, Joshua smiled at his other Korean native friend. “Hey Chan,” he said cheerfully, immediately stepping out into the hall to engulf the boy in a hug.

With a grunt, Chan chuckled and hugged him back, “Glad to have you back in Korea, hyung.”

There was a slight pang in Joshua’s chest from hearing that, but he knew Chan meant well. Unlocking from his friend, he nodded. “Thanks.”

Chan took a deep breath before he craned his neck and looked over Joshua’s shoulder. He could see Wonwoo’s open bedroom door. “How’s he doing?” he asked, lowering his voice.

Joshua quickly glanced behind him before answering, “He’s pretty wrecked. I’ve never seen him this down before.”

With a heavy sigh, Chan’s gaze fell to the ground. His shoulders followed. “Jesus, I can’t believe this.”

“Yeah, this is the worst I’ve seen him,” he replied. Thinking it over, Joshua asked, “Did something happen with Mingyu again? Something even worse than before?”

Slowly, Chan looked up at Joshua, surprised. “He didn’t tell you?” he whispered.

“Tell me what?” Joshua asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Frazzled, Chan shook himself before reaching past Joshua to close the apartment door. He swallowed, trying not to get too emotional.

Still out of the loop, Joshua asked again, “What?”

With a heavy heart, Chan broke the news. “Wonwoo’s grandmother passed away this week.”

Immediately, Joshua felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. All the wind was knocked out of him and he had absolutely no words.

With Joshua in a daze, Chan said, “I ran into Mingyu yesterday and he told me. Wonwoo hasn’t said anything about it. Last time I saw him, he was just having problems with Mingyu, but now…he’s a completely different kind of hurt.”

Standing there, Joshua just couldn’t believe how many things went wrong. He just couldn’t believe...how terrible everything was.

“Oh my god,” he finally managed to say under his breath.

“He didn’t say anything about her?” Chan asked.

Shaking his head, Joshua said, “I...I just asked him where she was, but then you showed up so…”

Nodding quickly, Chan let out a shaky breath. “We should go back in there.”

“Yeah,” Joshua said weakly as Chan opened the door.

The younger boy immediately slipped out of his shoes and ran into Wonwoo’s room to comfort him. Joshua was a little slower. He was still digesting.

When he stepped into the room, he found Wonwoo slowly patting Chan on the back. “Chan, you don’t have to hold on for so long.”

Slowly pulling away, Chan rested on his knees on top of the comforter as Joshua took the desk chair. Staring at the same lifeless face that worried Joshua, Chan said, “Hyung, I’m so sorry.”

Wonwoo blinked a few times. “How’d you find out?”

“I saw Mingyu yesterday,” he explained. “I’ve been worried about you and...he told me.”

Wonwoo nodded. He didn’t need to say much else. And he was too broken to feel anything else. “Oh.”

“Wonwoo, you’re not okay, are you?” Joshua asked, already knowing the answer. But he refused to hear Wonwoo say he was fine.

And Wonwoo didn’t bother with hiding it anymore. A tear already rolling down one cheek, he weakly said, “No.”

“Please, hyung,” Chan said. “Please tell us what you’re going through.”

Shaking his head, Wonwoo started to say, “I don’t—”

“I know you don’t,” Chan interrupted. He knew his friend too well to let him suffer alone any longer. “But you’re doing this alone and you’re not helping yourself. If you truly don’t want to talk to us about it, that’s fine. We’ll leave you be.” Lowering his head to try and meet eyes with his sobbing friend, he gently said, “But we know you. We’re here for you. You need to let someone in...and we’re here.”

Joshua watched as his heart slowly beat in his chest. He was so washed in Wonwoo’s sadness that he forgot his own. “We’re always here for you, Wonwoo. And we don’t say that lightly.”

Wonwoo sniffled and refused to lift his head. As he wallowed, for a while no one spoke. It was just silence and crying, a mixture that Wonwoo was all too familiar with at this point. But this time it was different. This time he could feel the warmth from Chan just sitting beside him and Joshua just a few feet away. This time he wasn’t grieving alone.

Crying even harder, his body shook. Letting his head fall onto Chan’s shoulder, he continued to bawl. Quickly, Joshua hopped onto the bed to hold Wonwoo from his other side. With the three of them huddled together, Wonwoo was brought back to the last time he saw Mingyu. The last time he’d let anyone hold him together. He’d forgotten how it felt to be with the ones you loved.

“I miss her,” he choked past his cries. It was weak and it was stammered, but Chan and Joshua knew.

Chan could feel his own tears come. “I’m so sorry, hyung,” he said softly, trying not to cry.

“She just died,” he spat out, hating the truth to his words. “She’s just...one.”

“I’m sorry, Wonwoo,” Joshua whispered as he squeezed his arm.

“I—I…” It was so hard for him to speak. “I didn’t even stop.”

And as Chan hugged his crying head, holding him right against his heart, Joshua was hit with another punch to the gut.

He didn’t stop…

In that moment, he knew he wasn’t going to tell them. He couldn’t. It wasn’t fair.

Without words, Wonwoo continued to cry.

For those who may not know, grief is strange. Not only does it depend on who passed away, but it depends on who you are. And depending on who you are, part of you may have left with the one you loved. Often times, it can feel like you’ll never get back.

Grief also comes in spurts. For hours in a day, you could feel perfectly fine, but then you’re suddenly overwhelmed with agonizing pain. Even the slightest things can trigger it. A once peaceful memory. A certain smell. A word that someone says in passing. It doesn’t matter. Sadness becomes too close for comfort, but any other emotion feels wrong and undeserved. It manifests guilt, as if you shouldn’t be allowed to feel alright now that this person is gone. But as quickly as it comes, that feeling goes away for a little while, and then the cycle repeats.

At least, that’s how Wonwoo knew grief.

He cried and cried. There was nothing Chan or Joshua could say that would stop him. So they just stayed by his side and helped him ride it out.

Slowly but surely, Wonwoo began to calm down. His arms stopped shaking and his breath stopped quivering. Gradually, he could steady himself, sitting up a little straighter.

With their own tears, Chan and Joshua gave him a little space to regroup. Joshua reached over to the desk and handed him some tissues.

“Thanks,” he said as he took them. Wiping his eyes, he finally let out a steady sigh. “Thank you.”

Chan waited before he asked, “Do you want to talk anymore?”

Wonwoo finally looked up at his friends. He could see their pink eyes looking back with concern, but also with sympathy. They all knew his grandma, and they all knew how much she meant to him. He didn’t need to explain.

“No,” he gently said. “I...I’m alright.”

And this time he wasn’t hiding. Through this, he’d underestimated how much true companionship could help. Because they were always separated, he’d forgotten what it felt like to have friends. Now he remembered. And it helped.

Though Wonwoo still didn’t smile, Joshua believed him this time. He provided the small grin he knew his friend couldn’t. “We’ll be here even when you’re not.”

Wonwoo nodded.

After a moment, Chan noticed the conversation lull. There was a comfortable silence, one that wasn’t fed with sobs. He could see that Wonwoo was okay for the time being and he didn’t want to push him any further. He figured it was a good time as any to change the subject.

With an easy smile, he nodded towards Joshua. “How’ve you been, hyung?”

Joshua saw Wonwoo’s head perk up. He knew that he also wanted to know. “I’ve been...pretty good,” he lied. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. He had been doing really well before yesterday. He decided to just ignore his family problems and tell his friends about the happy stuff. Keep it light. That’s what everyone needed right now. “Jeonghan and I...we’ve—”

“We?” Chan asked suggestively.

Joshua laughed nervously. “Yes, we have been doing really great. We’re together.”

And for the first time in the encounter, for the first time in what felt like too long, Wonwoo smiled. It was a smile so genuine that Joshua could’ve recognized his friend with that feature alone.

Chan immediately leaned over and smacked Joshua on the knee. “Hyung! Really?!”

Laughing, Joshua quickly nodded. “Yes! Our first date went really well and…I just love being around him.”

“Woah!” Chan exclaimed, leaning forward. “Love? That’s some pretty strong stuff, Josh.”

Blushing, Joshua tried to defend, “No, I just meant like...I really…really…”

But Wonwoo could already see it. He knew those feelings. They were the feelings Minghao helped him discover so long ago. They expressed what he felt for Mingyu. “Hyung.”

Joshua flinched and met his gaze. “Yeah?”

Looking at him suspiciously, he asked, “Are you in love with Jeonghan?”

For days, Joshua couldn’t admit this. He’d been feeling it in his heart and his soul and the rest of his body. This insane sensation of...falling. He knew he was falling in love, but it was scary to say it out in the real world. It made it...real. And real was terrifying.

Nervously, Joshua slowly nodded his head one time. His chin still low, he stammered, “Y—yes.”

Wonwoo couldn’t help but . “That is the least confident you’ve ever sounded.”

Joshua giggled, trying to keep the heat out of his cheeks. Readjusting and crawling under the covers, Joshua laid back and stared up at the ceiling. His hands behind his head, he made an effort to contain his feelings. He said, “It’s just a lot. I’ve never felt this way about someone. I mean, my whole life’s been using my charm to get by in different parts of the world. And now...I’ve met the most charming person on the planet. What do you expect to happen?”

Chan and Wonwoo shared a knowing glance as they watched their lovestruck friend. Chan asked, “So you guys are a couple now?”

“Yeah, we are,” he answered. That he was able to say with confidence.

“Well, tell us more!” Chan insisted. “What’ve you two been doing? How are the feelings developing? What’s he like? Do you see a future with him?”

Wonwoo gave a weak chuckle. “Chan, they’re dating. He’s not engaged.”

“I know! But this is Joshua! He just said it, this never happens to him!” Chan pointed out.

And Chan’s excitement rubbed off on Joshua. Telling them about all the great things with Jeonghan would be the easiest request in the world.

“We talk a lot,” he told them. Staring up at the empty ceiling, he said, “He’s so caring and so playful, he just wants to know all these things about me. And even when we’re not asking each other questions, we could go on for hours about anything. There’s just something so...natural between us. It’s like talking to an old friend, but one that makes you...want to kiss them and hold them and just...never let them go.”

Chan smiled. “I’m really glad you never want to do that with us.”

Joshua laughed. “It’s different with Jeonghan. He’s special. He’s goofy and light-hearted, but also thoughtful and bright. Like...he just brings something out of me when we talk. I don’t even know how to describe it, but...I’m…”

“You’re in love,” Wonwoo said.

Joshua glanced over and saw his friend smiling down at him. Right then, he knew he’d made the right decision not to tell them he stopped. He smiled back. Closing his eyes, he nodded. “I’m in love.”

As Joshua kept telling them about how his love came to be and what helped it grow, Wonwoo could feel his own heart slowly stitch some parts back together. Even in his depression, he was oddly glad to hear his friend was having such a better time with the universe than he was. He would’ve imagined himself to be jealous and outraged that he wasn’t having the same luck, but he wasn’t. Wonwoo could smile because his friend was doing well. It somehow gave him hope.

— — —

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

Sitting on the couch, Joshua glanced up from his laptop. With all the stress in his life, not even he could escape homework. Setting it aside, Joshua got up and went to check who was at the door. Staring through the peephole, he felt a smile crawl onto his face. At this point, he wasn’t even surprised anymore. Quickly, he opened the door and tilted his head. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Minghao’s jaw dropped and an even bigger smile sprang to his lips. “No way!” he exclaimed, giving Joshua a huge high-five and pulling him in for a tight hug. “Oh my god,” he laughed by his friend’s ear. “Why didn’t you say you were here?”

“Sorry,” he said as they both stepped inside. Closing the door, he said, “There’s been a lot of catching up to do since I’ve gotten here.”

“I can imagine,” Minghao said with a nod.

Joshua watched his friend take off his backpack. “And hey, I definitely wasn’t expecting you to show up,” he joked.

Minghao smiled. “I wasn’t expecting you either. I was expecting Wonwoo’s grandma like usual.” Glancing around the room, he asked, “Where is she? I want to say hello!”

Joshua felt his heart crack just a little more. Even if he was able to help cheer up Wonwoo for the tiniest fraction of time, there was no escaping what was real.

“Minghao.”

He twisted around to see Joshua’s grey face. “What?”

“There’s something you need to know.”

— — —

“I can’t believe Wonwoo’s been hiding all of this.”

Joshua sighed as they walked down the street. It wasn’t too late so there were still cars out. Streetlamps lit the way. “He’s been going through a lot.”

Minghao sniffled. Obviously his pain was nowhere near Wonwoo’s, but this news was still heartbreaking to him. He never knew his grandparents, so she was the closest thing to a grandmother for him.

As they walked, Joshua had caught Minghao up on how he and Chan distracted him a little. They were there as much as they could be. But he also described just how wrecked Wonwoo appeared to be. “But he managed to smile? Even a little?”

“Just a little.”

“Good. Good…”

Minghao stopped and pressed the crosswalk button. As he lead the way, they didn’t speak too much. Both were stuck in their own heads.

It was chilly out and Joshua had forgotten to bring a jacket when he jumped. Holding his arms, he shivered. “Do you think this is a good idea?”

Minghao nodded. For some reason, when Joshua broke the news, this was his first thought of what to do. “You said Wonwoo wasn’t even the one to tell Chan what happened, right?”

“Yeah,” Joshua answered as they turned a corner.

“And he hasn’t been talking to us. He’s been alone.”

Through a sigh, Joshua said, “Right.”

“So…” Minghao stopped and stared across the street. Joshua followed his gaze. They were in front of an apartment building. Joshua’s eyes immediately shot to the door with a bunch of cats in front of it.

“...we need to make sure he’s not alone anymore.”

— — —

“...the boy was returned safely to his mother after officials searched for two days. Reports indicate that this was not in fact a kidnapping, but a simple miscommunication between the mother and the school. The report continues—”

Seungcheol sighed and changed the channel. He’d been monitoring the news networks for the past few days just in case a specific story came up, but he realized he didn’t even know what station Jihoon worked for. He realized he didn’t know a lot about Jihoon. And that made him sigh again.

Sitting on the couch beside him, Mingyu was working on his homework. In the kitchen, Seokmin was trying out this new recipe he saw on Youtube. None of them really spoke.

It was odd. Within the past few days, each of them had found about what the others were keeping to themselves. All of their storylines stemmed from Mingyu meeting Wonwoo, and somehow that led...to this. Seokmin and Soonyoung were...together? Seungcheol and Jihoon weren’t... enemies? Mingyu and Wonwoo weren’t...talking? When everything transpired, none of them really talked about it, because still nothing was resolved. There wasn’t any bad energy in the house, but things for sure weren’t back to normal. They were just surviving.

As Mingyu typed away on this never ending paper, he felt Seungcheol lean back into the couch as he let an old episode of Spongebob play on the screen. He looked over Mingyu’s shoulder and asked, “You’re still working on that?”

“Yep,” he said with a solemn nod.

“You’ve been working on it for so long,” Seungcheol pointed out. “What’s it about, again?”

Mingyu shrugged. “At this point, I don’t even know.”

Seungcheol knew that’s how Mingyu must’ve been feeling about a lot of things. And overhearing it from the kitchen, Seokmin knew that too. But before either of them could say anything…

Knock! Knock!

Mingyu glanced over at the door and put his laptop on the coffee table. With a grunt, he stood up and announced, “I’ll get it.”

When Mingyu opened the door, his eyes nearly shot out of his head. He was shocked, but this was oddly familiar.

“Minghao?!”

From inside the apartment, Seungcheol and Seokmin immediately flinched and casted their attention to Mingyu at the door. But right outside, Minghao gently smiled. Nervously, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry I keep showing up unannounced like this.”

“Uhhhhh…” Mingyu didn’t even fully process what Minghao just said. Without thinking, his eyes quickly trailed over to the unfamiliar person standing to his left. He was slightly taller than Minghao with brown hair and big eyes. He was Korean, but Mingyu could tell he wasn’t from the area. The boy had a guitar on his back. The weirdest thing about him in that moment though was that he was holding the grey cat Mingyu had begun to call Wonwoo. Cradling the cat in his arms, he looked like he was cold. Still stunned, Mingyu made a quick assumption but…

“This is Joshua,” Minghao said, gesturing to the stranger.

And as that clicked in Mingyu’s mind, Joshua grinned. He leaned slightly forward and stuck out his hand, readjusting so the grey furball wouldn’t fall. “It’s been a long time coming. Nice to finally meet you, Mingyu.”

Mingyu couldn’t help but smile back as he shook Joshua’s hand. A bit starstruck, he strangely felt like he was meeting a celebrity: the final Jumper. “Finally, yeah,” Mingyu replied. “Nice to meet you too.”

Once they let go, he bounced the cat in his arms a bit. “I hope you don’t mind me holding your friend here.”

Minghao chuckled. “He forgot a jacket so he’s trying to keep himself warm.”

Mingyu could see that kitty-Wonwoo was enjoying it. He reached over and his head. “I think he misses being held.”

“Well, I can change that for tonight,” Joshua declared, nuzzling his nose into his fur, making the cat purr with delight.

And Mingyu was so happy to see that. But before he could get caught in any usual wave of love for his feline friends, he shook himself and stared back at the two humans. “Sorry! You guys should come in,” he said, finally stepping aside and holding the door open for them.

“Is it okay if he comes in?” Joshua asked, proceeding to rock little Wonwoo up and down.

Mingyu smiled. “He’s always welcome.”

“Does he have a name?”

Mingyu opened his mouth to say “Wonwoo,” but he realized that probably wasn’t the best idea. “He doesn’t have one.”

As Minghao and Joshua walked in, Seungcheol and Seokmin shared a concerned glance. They weren’t so worried about who Mingyu was bringing into the house, but they were wondering how on Earth Mingyu knew people they’d never heard of before. Seungcheol stood up as Mingyu shut the door. After a second, he recognized Minghao from that time he almost brought Jihoon into the apartment. Feeling a wave of guilt from that memory, he also recalled never learning the boy’s name. “Mingyu,” Seungcheol finally said.

Mingyu turned. He’d forgotten he wasn’t alone. “Oh guys, sorry. Um, these are some…” He glanced over at Minghao and Joshua as they took off their shoes. “...friends. Friends of Wonwoo’s he introduced me to.” Gesturing to his roommates, he said, “Guys, this is Seungcheol and Seokmin.” Flipping the direction, “Minghao and Joshua.”

Seokmin wiped his hands on his apron as he smiled and went over to properly meet them. “Wow, those aren’t names you hear everyday around here.”

The Jumpers chuckled as everyone became acquainted. “Minghao’s Chinese. I’m from America,” Joshua explained, shaking Seokmin’s hand. “But Wonwoo’s helped us become pretty familiar.”

Instinctively, Seokmin thought they were spies. “Where’s Wonwoo now?” Seokmin couldn’t help but ask.

Joshua cleared his throat and finally put the cat on the ground. Standing up straight, he said, “He couldn't make it, but I know he wishes he could be here.”

Naturally, Seokmin’s curiosity kicked in and he wanted to ask more, but he refrained. With everything going on, he didn’t need to know. It was just nice that Mingyu had more friends.

And while that exchange went on, Seungcheol shook Minghao’s hand for the second time ever. “We’ve met before right?”

Minghao smiled. It was a good thing he had a good memory, otherwise he would’ve forgotten his lie from before. “Yeah, I was here a little while ago, when Mingyu and I were working on a group project.”

“Right you guys are classmates.” Seungcheol nodded, his mind buzzing as he thought of the boy’s name. “Well, it’s nice to see you again.”

Seungcheol wasn’t the only one who remembered what happened that day. With his keen memory, Minghao wasn’t about to forget how Seungcheol had brought Jihoon so close to him. But still, he didn’t hold any hostilities. Seungcheol hadn’t known any better. “You too.”

Once all the hello’s were exchanged, Mingyu stepped back and realized these two probably weren’t here to just say hi. They probably needed to talk. “Um, I’ll show you guys to my room.”

“Cool,” Joshua said as he followed Mingyu down the hall, the grey cat following right behind him.

Before they left, Seokmin called out, “Do you guys want any pie later? I’m trying out this new recipe!”

But before Mingyu could say no, Minghao stuck his head out the bedroom door and yelled back, “Yes please!”

Seokmin chuckled as Mingyu and the two new kids disappeared. All of it was odd, but he could set that aside. Nothing was normal anymore. “They seem nice,” he said to Seungcheol who was now standing at the counter beside him

But Seungcheol wasn’t paying attention. He was wracking his brain over something. Joshua and Minghao, he thought. Why does that sound so familiar? Then it hit him.

Jihoon looked up and tried to change his tone into something not so...mean, even though he hated the person he was staring at. “Hey,” he said somewhat gently.

Thrown off by the tone, Seungcheol turned to look at him uneasily. “Yeah?”

“Do you know anybody named Xu Minghao or Joshua Hong?” Jihoon doubted Seungcheol was going to give him anything, but it was worth a shot.

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows. “What kind of a sir name is Joshua?”

“That’s his first name. He’s American so. Hong Joshua.”

Understanding, Seungcheol nodded. “Ahh.” But he quickly shook himself, annoyed that Jihoon would question him like he questioned Mingyu before. “Even if I did, why would I ever tell you?”

“So you don’t know them,” Jihoon concluded.

“I didn’t say I did or I didn’t.”

“Clearly you don’t,” he scoffed.

Seungcheol was irritated by how Jihoon was figuring things out. “Shut up.”

Jihoon couldn’t help but smile to himself, pleased that he was able to turn the tables for once. “Thank you for your help.”

Stuck in his flashback, Seungcheol didn’t come back to the present until Seokmin jabbed him in the ribs. “Ow!” he flinched. In a daze, he looked at Seokmin. “What?”

“I asked you to pass the paper towels,” he replied, busy whisking his batter.

“Oh,” Seungcheol said, still in his own head. “Here.”

Taking the roll from him, Seokmin could see that look on Seungcheol’s face, that look that said he knew something was up. “What’s wrong?”

Seungcheol had heard Minghao and Joshua’s names before...from Jihoon. It was at Q&A cafe, when his whole stalking plan first went into action. The fact that these two were Wonwoo’s friends already got Seungcheol’s attention, but Jihoon knew about them. Seungcheol knew what that meant. A surge of curiosity immediately flew threw his body.

But he quickly shook that feeling. However these two were involved with Wonwoo’s story, or at least the story Jihoon had found about him, was none of his business. He trusted Mingyu, and Mingyu trusted them. That’s all that mattered. He didn’t need to think about their involvement.

Instead, he thought about Jihoon. From that day at Q&A, he could remember that annoying look on Jihoon’s face and how much he wanted to wipe it away. He could hear the smugness in the short boy’s voice. He could easily see the boy taking a sip of his iced americano.

“Seungcheol!”

He stood up straight. “What?!” But immediately he could see “what.” Lost in his own head, Seungcheol didn’t notice that he’d accidently been leaning on the extra eggs Seokmin put on the counter.

Coming over to wipe off his friend’s arms, Seokmin looked at him funny. “You okay there?”

Seungcheol held up his forearms as Seokmin cleaned off all the egg residue. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how to answer that question, but he replied with a standard, “Yeah. I’m okay.”

“What are you thinking about so deeply?” Seokmin teased.

One last image of Jihoon’s soft pink hair flashed in Seungcheol’s mind before he cleared his throat and pushed it away. “Nothing,” he said, heading for the sink. “It’s nothing.”

— — —

Mingyu shut the door behind him. When he turned back around, Joshua was already on the bed, making himself comfortable with the cat. That weirdly brought a smile to his face.

Minghao took a seat beside them. “Again, I’m really sorry we just dropped in like this. I hope you weren’t busy or—”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Mingyu interrupted. He looked around the room and saw that some of his things were scattered rather messily. He quickly tried to tidy up as he replied, “You guys can always stop by. Ya know, if you’re…”

“In the country?” Joshua said jokingly. But they all knew it was true.

Mingyu smiled. He still couldn’t believe who he was with. “Yeah.”

“Thanks,” Minghao said as he watched Mingyu take a seat in the desk chair.

Mingyu nodded. He waited a second for one of them to explain why they were there. Sitting there, he actually began to get worried. Something must be wrong, he couldn’t help but think. Surely, if both of them jumped to Korea, something must have warranted it. But when neither of them said anything, Mingyu anxiously asked, “So, what’re you guys doing here?”

With a soft grin, Minghao said, “We just came to hang out, if that’s okay.”

Mingyu blinked a few times. His gaze shifted over to Wonwoo the cat, who was enjoying having his head scratched. His nerves were going away, but he became anxious for a different reason. “Uhhh…” Mingyu awkwardly looked back at Minghao and said, “I have to admit, I don’t really hang out with people.”

Minghao and Joshua stole a glance at each other before they both laughed. “Mingyu, we’re Jumpers,” Joshua reminded him through his smile. “Neither do we.”

Even though they were in his room, Mingyu felt like he was being welcomed in. He smiled.

“Joshua’s only here for a few more hours,” Minghao said, reaching over to pet the cat behind its ear. “And...uh…” He paused as he realized where this was going.

So Joshua finished for him. He looked across at Mingyu and said, “We heard about Wonwoo’s grandmother.”

Mingyu’s heart twinged. “Oh,” he uttered involuntarily.

Joshua explained, “Minghao hasn’t seen him yet, but Wonwoo just looked…”

But as his voice dropped, Mingyu leaned forward and interjected. “You saw him?” he asked, longing echoing from the back of his throat.

Joshua nodded. “He’s not doing good.”

That wasn’t what Mingyu wanted to hear, but deep down that’s what he already knew. Hunched over his knees, he could feel his shoulders drop. He sighed.

Minghao could see how hurt Mingyu must’ve been by all of this as well. He scooched to the edge of the bed and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. He gently said, “We know he’s shutting himself away. And we just wanted to come talk to...someone really important to him.”

Tilting his head up, Mingyu found Minghao’s friendly face, and Joshua providing full support. Kitty-Wonwoo was busy snuggling under his chin. He could tell he was with people who shared his concern. That gave him comfort.

He knew they didn’t have many answers about Wonwoo. And based on what Wonwoo told him, he knew that this limited time the Jumpers had together was valuable. Mingyu was grateful that they would also include him in their time. Sitting back up straight, he asked, “So what do Jumpers normally talk about with each other?”

Minghao chuckled. He repositioned himself so he was leaning against the wall. “We don’t just talk about Jumper-specific things, Mingyu,” he teased. “We’re normal people too.”

But before Mingyu could be embarrassed about his assumption, Joshua raised a meek hand. “Actually…” The two turned to face him. He could feel his heart race a little faster as he prepared himself for what he wasn’t sure he was going to share. “I have something pretty Jumper-specific.”

Hearing this for the first time, Minghao furrowed his eyebrows. “Really?”

Joshua nodded. Clearing his throat, he sat up straight, placing the cat on the bed so his arms were now free. Part of him was still uncertain about bringing this up, but something about being around Mingyu made him want to spill the truth. This is how Wonwoo must’ve felt from the beginning, he jokingly thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at Minghao and said, “This is something I didn’t tell any of you guys.”

“What is it?” he asked, even more confused.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Joshua had to take a moment before he could spit it out. He was almost scared that admitting what happened would recreate the pain from him questioning how it happened.

With a final sigh, he said, “I stopped.”

Minghao and Mingyu froze. For Mingyu, this was insane on so many levels. For Minghao, it was pretty much like that too.

Like he would in most social situations, Mingyu kept quiet, his brain trying to register what those two words meant, even though he very clearly knew exactly what they meant. Minghao on the other hand did not hold in those feelings.

“WHAT?!” he screamed, making Wonwoo the cat hiss.

Mingyu reached onto the bed and pulled him into his arms.

Joshua shrugged and said, “I stopped for four days, until I jumped here.”

“Four days?!” Minghao couldn’t stop himself from yelling. “You didn’t jump for four days and you didn’t tell us?! Josh that’s huge!” Since they’d all known each other, none of them had ever stopped for anything other than death. Minghao stopped when his dad disappeared. Joshua stopped when his mom died. Four days ago, Wonwoo’s grandmother passed away...and Wonwoo didn’t stop. But Joshua did. Minghao wasn’t expecting that. “What happened?!”

Slumping against the wall, he tried to figure out where to start. Collecting his thoughts, he said, “It was the day Jeonghan and I went on our first date.”

“Jeonghan?” Mingyu accidentally said. That name rung a bell.

Looking over at Mingyu, Joshua realized that Wonwoo probably didn’t spill his life story to him, though he wouldn’t be surprised if he did. “He’s Wonwoo’s childhood friend. He’s in LA for a big swim tournament so Wonwoo asked if he could stay with me and my cousin, Vernon.”

Mingyu nodded. “Oh yeah, I think I remember Wonwoo mentioning him.”

Joshua grinned. “He’s a really great guy and I…” He couldn’t help but fall over as he talked about him. On his side, he said, “I really have a thing for him.”

In that moment, Mingyu expected his natural instincts to kick in: that queasy feeling he got whenever people talked about relationships. But there was none of that. Instead, he actually managed to smile at how cute Joshua was acting just talking about the boy he liked.

In the loop, but not fully caught up with Joshua’s emotions, Minghao said, “Wait. So, you stopped the day you guys first went out?”

“Yep,” he said strongly. “And we started going out after that.”

“Hyung!” Minghao exclaimed, scooching over to give him a congratulatory smack on the arm. “That’s amazing! You stopped for him! The universe obviously wants you and Jeonghan together!” Minghao was so excited for his friend; he just couldn’t believe it. Immediately, he got this strange feeling of hope. The universe did stop for more than tragedy. There was real hope for him and Junhui in the eyes of the universe.

But Joshua clearly wasn’t as excited. He seemed uncomfortable and rather saddened. And Mingyu could see that. As someone who was a bit more skeptical about this whole stopping business, Mingyu could sense that something was off. “But that wasn’t it, was it?” he slowly asked.

Turning to lay flat on his back, Joshua stared at the ceiling. “I thought it was at first.”

When Minghao heard Joshua’s solemn voice, he retracted. He was too quick to think there was hope. “What happened?”

“My dad came to see me yesterday.”

“WHAT?!”

Looking at no one, Joshua nodded. “Yep.”

“YOUR DAD?!”

Joshua turned his head to see Minghao’s clearly distraught face, and just behind him he could see Mingyu’s confusion. He proceeded to fill him in.

“My dad abandoned me when my mom died four years ago,” he told Mingyu. “He left me and just...never came back. I’d always had this feeling that he never truly loved me, at least not the way my mom did, but yeah. He just...left.”

Mingyu had no words. He couldn’t believe how wrought with tragedy these Jumpers’ lives were.

He continued to explain to Mingyu all the terrible feelings he had towards his father. He told him about how he lived with Vernon for the past few years and how they tried to make ends meet. He told him about his excuse he gave people when he jumped. He outlined the exact circumstances that his father left him in, just to return and ruin his life all over again.

“So I hadn’t heard from him in years,” Joshua said. “Until yesterday.” Rubbing his eyes, he added, “And apparently, he’d been in LA for four days before he came to see me.”

At this point, Minghao was caught up as well. And the two listeners knew exactly what that little detail must’ve meant. “Oh my god, Joshua…”

He let out a heavy sigh before sitting back up. “So yeah, I don’t know if it was cause of Jeonghan. My dad just barged back into my life and…” Shaking his head, he scoffed. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Why did he come back?” Minghao asked.

It was so ridiculous that Joshua couldn’t hold in a chuckle. “He came to ask me...to move to Korea with him.”

Nobody said anything. For a moment, Mingyu was a little dazed. Wonwoo had explained the rules of being a Jumper, but obviously they weren’t ingrained in his head like for these guys. But he knew that that didn’t sound right.

And Minghao confirmed that. Squinting at his friend, he said, “Wait what? Is your dad really that stupid? He knows that can’t happen. You can’t leave LA.”

“The man’s an idiot,” Joshua agreed, but he knew there was more too it. “But there’s more to it.”

“How can there be more to it?” Minghao asked. “It’s impossible. You’re not allowed to leave the city you were born in. We all know that.”

Joshua knew exactly how Minghao must’ve been feeling. Those were his initial reactions too. “I never knew,” he said, “but he told me my mom was born in New York. She moved to LA to be with my dad.”

Minghao’s heart stopped. It felt like the blood in his veins stopped flowing. His jaw fell open.

There was a moment where no one spoke. Even more confused, Mingyu looked between the two of them. “Wait, you can do that?” he asked.

Still stunned, Minghao shook his head. “You’re not supposed to.” He couldn’t believe it. Here he was, just going about his day to day, contemplating the idea of confessing to Junhui, while his friends were going through...all this. He couldn’t believe it.

Mingyu was so lost. What did this mean? The rules could just bend like that? Wonwoo made it very clear that that wasn’t a possibility. But by the look on Minghao’s face, Mingyu could tell he wasn’t alone in his confusion. These were people who lived by these rules their entire life. These rules were what limited them from living normal lives. And the notion that one of them could just be broken...must be insane.

As Mingyu’s thoughts raced, one immediately made him stop. Does Wonwoo know this? Looking over to Joshua, he just had to ask. “Does Wonwoo know this?” He didn’t even have time to imagine how the boy would react. Wonwoo hated all this universe crap more than anyone, especially with how brutal everything was. If he heard that it could break the rules then…

Joshua shook his head. “I didn’t tell Chan or Wonwoo today.”

“What? Why?” Minghao asked, shaking back to the conversation. He was clearly wracking his brain about this.

“Wonwoo’s grandma died,” Joshua reminded them. “She died and he didn’t stop. That’s like if I didn’t stop when my mom died. I just couldn’t tell him that I stopped when he definitely had a better reason to.” Letting that sink in, Joshua sighed again. “And I don’t even know why I stopped anymore. I just couldn’t tell him.”

Minghao understood. But this was all a lot. His mom...moved. What the heck does this mean?

“God,” he said under his breath. He glanced over at his friend. Then Minghao’s heart sank when he realized how he was looking at his friend. “You started jumping again.”

“Yeeeaaaahhhhh,” Joshua replied, long and drawn out. “They threw me here.”

“I’m so sorry, Josh,” Minghao said. “For everything.”

Mingyu couldn’t say much. He watched the two friends comfort each other, but he just kept thinking about Wonwoo. There were so many things Mingyu needed to tell him, but at the same time they were all things he needed to keep hidden. Wonwoo didn’t know about the article Jihoon might still publish. Wonwoo didn’t know that his friend stopped. Wonwoo didn’t know that there were times that the universe wasn’t constant. But Mingyu knew all these things.

It had been so long since the two of them talked like they once did. Sitting in that room with Wonwoo’s closest friends, Mingyu missed him even more. And he started to feel guilty. It was like he was taking away pieces of Wonwoo’s life.

Mingyu let out a heavy sigh, which got Joshua’s attention. “You okay, Mingyu?” he asked.

He didn’t look up. He was just staring down at Wonwoo in his lap. Something about the presence of these three made Mingyu feel like he could open up. So he said something that he never thought he would ever admit to another living soul.

“I miss him.”

In that moment, Minghao knew it was the right decision to stop by. “Mingyu,” he said softly.

Mingyu tilted his head up.

“He’ll be back,” he told him, a strong reassuring tone in his voice. Gesturing between himself and Joshua, he said, “Then you can tell him everything he missed.”

“He may be shutting himself away, Mingyu,” Joshua added. “But he misses you too. He’s not in a place to reach out or...do anything really.” He smiled. “But don’t give up on him. We know you won’t.”

Mingyu was at a lost for words. He only knew friendship from less than a handful of people. But what Minghao and Joshua offered in terms of support could only be equated to that. Before he could reply, Mingyu felt something soft under his chin. He looked down to find Wonwoo grinning at him. He looked so happy to be back inside.

Mingyu smiled back at him. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’m not giving up.”

hi guys! wow im so sorry it's been so long since i've posted but i really hope you liked that chapter (I know not super eventful im sorry but theres more to come i pormise) i've been pretty busy with school sadly so i havent had a lot of time to write /cries/ but as always thank you so so much for reading and supporting <3 agh this story means a lot to me and im just so glad i have people to share it with (and as ive mentioned in the previous a/n's that i've been going through some family stuff so thats still around) but this story is something i just love having and i know a lot of you miss more wonwoo in the story and trust me i miss him too T_T but yeah hopefully theres not too big of a gap until my next post!

and ok i wanted to give a shoutout to @wishicouldspeakkorean on tumblr who MADE THIS MOODBOARD FOR JOSHUA'S CHARACTER IN THIS STORY HERE'S THE LINK I POSTED IT ON TUMBLR AND ITS SO BEAUTIFUL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING IT WITH ME AND THANK YOU FOR READING <3 she said she would try to make one for each character when she gets a chance and agh just so pretty thank you <3

ANYWAY AGAIN THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR READING HOPE YOURE DOING WELL GOOD LUCK WITH FINALS AND MIDTERMS AND LIFE AND JUST YEAH LOVE YOU <3