“It's about time we listen to our
crazy young forgotten hearts.”

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SELF CARE LIST
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#1. eat ice cream for breakfast

#2. read your old texts

#3. put a song on repeat (5 times)

#4. compliment 7 people

#5. help someone in distress

#6. call Hoseok and talk for 10 mins

#7. eat cereal for dinner

#8. count the stars from your room

#9. dress up nicely and pose for a photo

#10. write me a letter

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If you ask Seokjin to be honest, then he would say he definitely didn't expect her to actually give him a list. He thought she was joking back then. But she surprised him by handing this self-care list to him last night and told him to start doing them as soon as possible. She also informed she won't be with him while he completes the list and she won't help him either. If that wasn't enough, she also added he couldn't meet her unless he was completely done and there would be a prize for him in the end. Which meant he was on his own.

When he took a look at the list, his eyes were forced wide at each task. These were not self-care stuff, but rather weird crazy stuff. He almost had a breakdown but to defend herself, Yoon Min said, "Look, I want you to break the rules. There are some unspoken rules in our society that dictate our lives. These cause us to do things we feel like we need to. But those rules don't matter. We don't have to live based on expectations strangers have of us. That's the reason I want you to follow your heart. Break the stereotypes."

"Yeah, probably sure this list makes no sense. Count the stars from your room—seriously? That's not possible!" He hoped she would change her mind.

She just shook her head. "Jin-ssi, you don't always need a logical reason for everything. Sometimes you gotta do it because it's fun, because it makes you happy. What's life without any risks?"

He massaged his temple, going through the list again. "But eating ice cream for breakfast? Cereal for dinner? That's so weird!"

"Says the man who tried hand-standing in a shower."

That's how she shut him up last night. It was true he tried taking a shower while hand-standing. The result wasn't satisfactory since water got into his nose. The point was he used to do weird things like this a long time ago. It used to make him happy. Not anymore.

It wasn't his choice though. He needed to complete this list if he had to continue being with Yoon Min. And she also mentioned a prize so that too sounded tempting.

This morning, he woke up with a nervous heart, as if he had an exam hours away. He took a shower and almost attempted hand-standing again, but the fear of slipping stopped him luckily. Then he got dressed, fixed his hair and took the list in his hand. With a deep breath, he read out the first task.

#eat ice cream for breakfast

That sounded easy but strange. Of course, because she herself was strange. He made his way towards his fridge and opened the door. Turns out, there was a bowl of strawberry ice cream, untouched thanks to Manager Yu Beom. He took the bowl and sat at his table. Then he started eating and within a minute, he found himself laughing. Who eats ice cream for breakfast? Who does it because of a girl?

Then he moved to the second task.

#read your old texts

That was new. Re-reading old texts was something he had never done before. With a pause, he took out his phone and opened KakaoChat. He didn't have any new texts in the past years. The group chat of BTS was long forgotten after he was on hiatus. Maybe they opened a new chat group without him.

He opened their group chat and started to read some texts. At first, it didn't feel much, then he started to laugh at their craziness. They used to share a lot of memes and videos that were so hilarious. He mostly laughed at his own jokes; he used to be so funny back then.

Unaware of his knowledge, he had no idea an hour had passed since he started reading his old texts. It was only until his eyes shifted at the time and the realization made he curse under his breath. Wow, that was very time-consuming yet fun.

Then he decided to do the next stuff.

#put a song on repeat (5 times)

Was she crazy? Why would someone listen to a song 5 times? Shaking his head, he scanned the next tasks which needed to be done outside. He wondered if he did multiple tasks at the same time, it wouldn’t even take a day. That's why they say, to work smarter, not harder.

Cheesily smiling, he went outside with his eyes searching for a good song to pick. It was true he stopped listening to music for a long while. He stopped a lot of things since that event. So his brain couldn’t remember what type of songs he used to enjoy before.

Then he found Coldplay's Viva La Vida, a song that used to be one of his favourites. He thought why not and played that song, using earbuds.

He found himself humming the lyrics lowly, surprisingly still remembering the words and tune. Once it was finished, he played it again. Then again. And shockingly, it didn’t bore his ears. Maybe since he heard it after a long time.

#compliment 7 people

How was he supposed to just compliment people? Walk up to them and say something? What if they think him some sort of freak or pervert? But he remembered her telling him sometimes even the smallest and simplest gestures can make someone's day.

This was going to be hard, he could feel it in his gut. In the US or other countries, people on the street are very friendly. But Korean people are really busy and private. They don't give a damn care about others. Couldn’t he skip this task?

Sighing, he looked around him and saw dozens of busy people walking past him, eyes glued to their phones mostly. Viva La Vida still playing, his mind couldn’t work properly about this. Should he skip this one? No, Yoon Min would be upset. She would say what's life without any risks and some more quotes.

“Ahjumma!”

Seokjin didn’t realize he just called an old woman who was minding her own business beside him. She was selling a few accessories at a corner for women. Upon being mentioned, she stared at him before saying, “Yes, son. Do you want anything?”

He became flustered, he could feel his ears getting red. This was the moment he had to compliment her. How weird it was gonna sound! This was not gonna go well.

With a lot of thoughts circling, he blurted out, “I-I like your smile.”

The old woman stared at him blankly. Shit, he messed up. He shouldn’t have said that. She must be thinking he was trying to flirt. Oh no, he was gonna get arrested. Be sent away for flirting. No, no, no —

“Aigoo, you flatter me!” She started to smile a lot. He blinked. “I haven't heard that in all my life.”

Really? No one told this woman? He somehow got the courage to add some more, “No, your smile is really sweet. I just had to let you know.”

She became more happy and elated. “Oh, thank you so much, dear boy.”

“Have a good day.”

“You too.”

A random guy walked past him with earbuds in his ears. Seokjin stared at his outfit and. blurted out, "I like your style."

He looked back. “You think so?”

When he nodded, the guy gave a thumbs-up and smiled.

This was easier than Seokjin assumed. People liked compliments. He now realized the power of random compliments. It could take a while to think of a sincere compliment, but once you figure it out and let the person know, it can stay with them for a lifetime. A random sincere compliment can change someone's entire life. That's what Yoon Min wanted him to learn.

He smiled to himself and made his way to other people, to let them know of their respective beauty.

#help someone in distress

This was a difficult task. The hardest one so far. The previous ones were mostly for himself but this task was different, it was for others, about helping someone else to be happy. He presumed Yoon Min gave him this task so that he could learn to be happy by seeing other's happiness.

Seokjin walked in the streets, lost deep in his thoughts. How was he supposed to find a distressed person and help them? As he roamed around for a while, he came across a shopping centre where he suddenly noticed a homeless person, digging around in the dirt. All his instincts made him follow the homeless, as the poor guy wandered into the back alley.

From there, he was led to the underground and he was surprised by the sight. In Seoul, there are many underground shopping galleries. At night, especially in winter, you will see homeless people sleeping in that underground, in small cardboard huts, trying to ward off the cold. The sight in front of him was no less different from what he heard. Around a dozen homeless people took shelter in that underground, some of them sleeping just on newspaper. Even three kids were spotted, barely in their teenage.

His heart welled up in pity, at the same time, he was relieved to find a group of helpless folks he could lend help. He went back the way he came from and arranged some food and cash. Then he came back and made his way inside the underground.

As he offered each of them food and an envelope of cash, they immediately started weeping in gratitude and accepted his help. He got this weird massive adrenaline rush, when they looked up into his eyes and murmured thanks. A feeling he never felt before, just like the time he helped the little kid to reunite with his mother. It made him feel like he was being rewarded for something noble and praiseworthy.

He carefully watched the poor man who led him to this underground, unwrap the sandwich he bought him and eat it like he had never eaten something so good before. They engaged themselves in a conversation where Seokjin asked him how long he had been staying here and what made him reach this condition. The man who was almost the same age as his father answered everything he wanted to know and sobbed often in between.

“You know, you don't have to live this like this,” Seokjin told him. “The government has created homeless facilities which have provided basic needs like food, clothes, medicine. They will also help you find a job.”

The man's eyes were wide in surprise. “R-really? Too bad, they must cost a fortune.”

“Not at all. Everything is free. I even know an NGO. They work for street people, runaway teenagers and abandoned old people. They'll give you a shelter in their building and allow you to work in a small factory with monthly salary. They will also help with various problems by providing legal advice, medical clinics, and support against any alcohol or gambling addiction. They will help you set yourselves up to start a new life.”

“I had no idea. I thought we were unwelcomed everywhere,” The man lowered his head slowly. His face formed faint wrinkles of hope. His sad eyes expressed it all.

Seokjin put his hand on the man's shoulder. “You should go there. Take the others with you. This is the most I can do for you; guide you to the path to change your fate.”

The man took a deep breath, barely holding his tears. “I will. I will make sure I take everyone with me. T-thank you for your kindness. You have saved us.”

Actually it was Yoon Min who saved these people. If she hadn’t given him the list, he would've never come to this place, let alone help these helpless people. They didn’t even know their country offered them a safe house with good people to aid them. This was their way of helping them to re-integrate into society and give them a sense of worth and dignity.

Seokjin smiled to himself, feeling bubbly and proud of himself for being able to help several powerless people. It almost felt like becoming the main character of a movie, it felt like rolling in the grass and hugging yourself. This feeling was rare— when you are truly happy for somebody else. It costs nothing to be kind.

This was what she wanted him to learn: the cure for your own misery is helping somebody who is worse off than you.

Each task allowed him to embrace spontaneity and find happiness in unexpected activities. Through this experience, he realized that life is meant to be lived unconventionally, taking risks and finding joy in the little things.

He couldn't wait to tell her everything.

☆THE FAULT IN OUR STARS☆

THANK YOU FOR READING
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