Quiet | Seungjin

16

*the same day*

"Hi," Wonpil smiled at the lady sitting behind a large desk as he walked into the office of his old high school,  "I'm here to pick up my brother, Seungmin—I should be one of his emergency contacts."

The woman only let out a small hum and clicked around on her computer, not bothered to look up at him. "Your name?" She asked bluntly.

"Uh...Kim Wonpil."

She squinted and got closer to the screen to read the small print under Seungmin's emergency contacts. "Ok...what's the reason for picking him up?"

"He doesn't feel well," the man answered simply, not knowing it was so complicated to pull an almost eighteen year old out of class.

"I'll call him down—you can sit down over there and wait."

Wonpil nodded mostly to himself as the woman still hadn't spared him a single glance. "Thank you..." he whispered before walking over to the small plastic chair stuck in the corner of the room. He sat there for a few minutes, tapping mindlessly on his knees until Seungmin finally walked into the office.

A wide smile spread across the lady's face when she looked up at Seungmin. "I hope you feel better, honey, see you tomorrow?"

Seungmin forced a smile onto his lips and nodded, sending the woman a small wave before walking outside with his older brother.

"That lady was a real jerk to me...but then you walk in and it's like she's a whole different person," Wonpil sulked as the two walked through the parking lot towards his car.

The younger only laughed before throwing his backpack in the backseat of Wonpil's car, promptly climbing into the passenger seat and buckling his seatbelt. He stuck his still trembling hands under his thighs, wishing just for a moment they would just be still.

"Do you feel any better? Do you want me to call Mrs Park?" The elder asked while backing out of his parking spot, and heading in the direction of their house.

"I'm okay," Seungmin spoke softly, not in the mood to talk to anybody about having another breakdown in school.

The two rode in silence for the rest of the way home, Wonpil staying focused on the road and Seungmin focused on his knees. Wonpil knew his brother wouldn't want to talk about what happened—it was hard enough for him to talk much on good days so he didn't mind the quiet.

When they pulled into the driveway and the elder turned to take off his seatbelt he noticed something different. "Is this new?" He asked Seungmin, pointing to the sweatshirt he was wearing.

The boy had to glance down to see what he was talking about before shaking his head. Rolling up one of the sleeves he showed his brother the scabbed over scratches on his arm. "...a friend—gave it me," his spoke with some difficulty, his throat unbearably hoarse for some reason.

"Oh..." Wonpil whispered, trying not to let his eyes linger on the boy's arms for too long, "let me clean those out when we get inside, okay?"

After nodding, Seungmin quickly pulled the sleeve back down and hopped out of the car, almost forgetting to grab the backpack behind him.

A small sigh fell from Wonpil's lips as he sat in his car for a while longer, watching as Seungmin went inside. Although it might have been horribly selfish of him, Wonpil always avoided coming home as long as he could because just seeing his brother brought up so much guilt for him. It was his birthday party—nothing would've happened to his baby brother if it wasn't for him.

✨✨✨

After finishing all of his homework and taking a shower, Seungmin walked back into his room, ready to call it a day. Before he had the chance to lay down, he got side tracked by tidying things up around his room. Once his school supplies were back in his backpack and his books neatly slid into their spot on his bookshelf, the boy finally walked over his bed.

He grabbed his journal before sitting in the center of the mattress, resting on the pillows stacked up behind him. Just as he turned to grab his forgotten pen, he noticed the sweatshirt sitting next to him, folded neatly on top of his blankets. Setting the journal off to the side, Seungmin grabbed the piece of clothing and rubbed his thumbs over the soft material for a few moments.

Although he was a bit hesitant, the boy brought the neckline of the sweatshirt up to his nose, taking in the scent that had become so familar over the past couple days. The fading floral scent flooded his nose as he wrapped his arms around the material, holding it close against his body.

He only sat there for a few comfortable minutes with his eyes closed until his phone buzzed next to him. Quickly throwing the sweatshirt off to the side as if he had been caught committing some sort of crime, Seungmin scrambled to grab his phone, opening the text that the owner of the sweatshirt in question had sent.

Hey, I didn't get a chance to see you at all before the end of the day and I just wanted to check in to make sure you're still doing alright.

A soft smile formed on Seungmin's lips as he read the text over a few times, absorbing every word the elder typed out before drafting his own.

My brother came to pick me up so that's why I didn't see you in the hallway. I'm doing fine though.

A few seconds passed while the boy simply stared at the screen before quickly sending another message that read, thanks again for staying with me today.

It's really not a big deal, Seungmin, I'll be there anytime you need me.

Btw I was just thinking that we should hang out again sometime I feel like it's been forever.

Seungmin laughed at the sudden topic change, glad Hyunjin didn't think he was some sort of unstable freak after what happened at school.

What about Friday after school?

Not even a second passed before the three little dots appeared in the corner of Seungmin's phone, the message appearing on his screen only a moment after.

That's perfect!!

———
Thanks for reading