Chapter 11

Weak

Yoseob huffed as he fixed some dinner for the group. Now that Junhyung was gone, he returned to his solitary and silent ways. He remained with the group, however, knowing that they needed his care. He was, after all, a father back in the city.

He missed his daughter. Her long dark hair and her big eyes that shone with adoration whenever they played together or whenever Yoseob sung her to sleep.

The innocent Yoseob from the beginning of the coffee shop trials was gone. Yoseob was determined to go back to his child and shower her with love.

But how?

He had tried to uncover the secrets of the coffee shop before, but he just couldn’t make any sense of it.

Yoseob snapped back to reality when the soup had begun to boil.

“Yongguk! Zelo! Himchan! Jongup!” He called out. “Food is ready!”

Quicker than he could say ‘let’s eat’ the four boys came back to the cave running, and they dived towards the food. Yoseob laughed and watched them devour their bowl of soup as he sipped slowly on his.

“Yoseob, this is delicious.” Jongup said with his mouth full. Yoseob nodded to him with a small smile.

They had become a family to him now. He felt like a father to them, almost, and that was alright because he was older than even Yongguk.

“Thank you for the meal!” They said, putting away the bowls and helping Yoseob clean up.

“You’re welcome…” Yoseob spoke softly, standing up and dusting his trousers.

The four disappeared to do their own respective things and Yoseob checked their herb and vegetable stock. He sighed when he noticed that they were running out of some vegetables. He recounted everything else, like a mother would, and prepared to leave the cave to replenish the supply.

Slipping his coat on, he wrote a note (using a thin piece of birch bark) saying that he will be back with some vegetables before dawn. He left the note at the cave entrance and walked off into the darkening forest, his hands in his pockets and his head bowed.

He saw wild asparagus plants growing in the forest when he and Junhyung were going to Yongguk and Zelo.

Junhyung; his name casted a shadow on Yoseob’s soul.

Junhyung had been the quiet guardian of Yoseob ever since they first met the rest of the members of the coffee shop trials. Junhyung had made sure that Yoseob was safe throughout the day and Yoseob, in return, cooked him meals and offered comfort. Yoseob felt bad though, because Junhyung had always seemed to be the one taking the sheer strength of Daehyun’s wrath.

However, that didn’t stop Junhyung from continuously protecting Yoseob; even though he returned to Yoseob at the end of the day with fresh bruises and cuts, which Yoseob then healed.

Their ‘relationship’ was like a routine.

Protect. Return. Heal. Rest. Repeat.  

Yoseob hummed a little song as he picked his way carefully amongst the wild foliage, distracting himself from the thought of Junhyung. The forest was dark, but Yoseob’s purple light shone bright enough for him to see. He walked into a small clearing between four large trees and spotted the asparagus and the dandelions amongst the tiny clovers.