Free of Charge // Baekchen

Frailty

Chapter Seventeen: Frailty

frailty: physical or moral weakness; the condition of being weak or delicate

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"Jongdae! Get the door," Mrs. Kim said without tearing her gaze from her tablet. Mrs. Kim clicked her tongue with a shake of her head, "I wish there was something I could to do help." Jongdae stared at his mother for several seconds, slowly blinking at the woman who gave birth to him. She was closer to the door, but if she said to get the door, then get the door he must. The door bell rang once more and Jongdae sped to the door.

Baekhyun grinned excitedly at him, almost leaping into his arms. Baekhyun opted to cling onto Jongdae's left arm, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Jongdae pulled his boyfriend in before shutting the door.

"Didn't you get my text? You didn't get my text. Aren't you always on your phone? What are you doing, fanboying over your idols?"

The brunet lightly whacked Baekhyun in the back of the head, "Hey, I was busy doing chores and my phone is charging in my room." Jongdae left Baekhyun's side to retrieve his phone.

Mrs. Kim approached Baekhyun with a wide smile, arms outstretched, "Oh Baekhyun! How nice of you to drop by. What brings you here?"

Baekhyun embraced his future mother-in-law, the scent of Mrs. Kim's vanilla jasmine perfume filling his nostrils, grateful her perfume wasn't as strong as Joonmyun's mother's. "Jongdae and I were going out for ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Mrs. Kim asked, eyes wide. "In this weather?"

"It's never too cold to have ice cream," Baekhyun insisted, "only too hot to have... hot stuff." Baekhyun finished with an awkward grin.

"Just you two?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Mrs. Kim began adjusting Baekhyun's coat, "I hope you stay warm. This really suits you, dear. Is it keeping you warm enough?"

Baekhyun nodded eagerly, catching Jongdae's eye from the hallway. Jongdae threw his jacket over a chair, "Let me finish up my chores real quick."

"How long is that going to take?" Baekhyun pouted.

Baekhyun ended up waiting on the couch, discussing about a possible family brunch or dinner later in the near future. Mrs. Kim wanted to prove to her husband there was nothing to worry about. It wasn't as if the Byuns were complete stranger and noticing how much time Jongdae spent with Baekhyun, Mrs. Kim would hate to separate such a pair.

"Is your mother doing all right?" Mrs. Kim hesitantly asked. She didn't want to intrude on family matters, but she wanted to reach out to Mrs. Byun to show she cared. Baekhyun automatically nodded even though he wasn't sure himself.

Jongdae soon walked into the room, trying to zip his jacket, "Okay, I'm... almost ready." Baekhyun mentally rolled his eyes, preparing to assist his boyfriend when Mrs. Kim beat him to it.

"Jongdae, you're going to rip the zipper pull off," Mrs. Kim tsked before lightly slapping her son's hand away. "Gently."

Baekhyun frowned, making his way to the door in defeat. He slipped on his shoes, securing his shoelaces while waiting for mother and son to finish their little chat. Baekhyun stole a glance at the two before standing up and shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

It makes it less obvious if she does it, so...

---

Baekhyun puffed his cheeks out as he scanned the menu. He couldn't choose a flavor to save his life and he only took his sweet time because no other customers were in line. From beside him Jongdae sighed impatiently, but that didn't phase the raven-haired boy. If he wanted, he would make Jongdae wait five whole minutes. Baekhyun leaned his head close to Jongdae's, "Which one should I get?"