14: raviver

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ACT 2 ⎯ SCENE 5.
THEY REKINDLE.


TAEHYUNG IS awoken from his slumber by the rupture of his ringtone that disrupts his plans of sleeping in on a saturday. A groan comes out of his lips as he stretches his arms out, burying his face into the pillow and covering his ears with his hands in hopes that it silences the unbearable noise. He curses whoever has the nerve to call him during his well-deserved beauty sleep as his wake up call continues to blare even after he sends his prayers to god to let him sleep at least until noon. But perhaps he should've known better than to go clubbing with some of his classmates the previous night. With a defeated sigh, Taehyung rolls to the side and grabs his phone, squinting as he checks the name on his screen.

Home.

What could his parents possibly want with him now? It's funny how often they ring him up when they barely paid any attention to him during his last year of high school. Taehyung didn't know what happened between them but he was sure there was some kind of shift in their relationship that started the fights and arguments. Because they were too busy yelling at each other, he was the one who managed the family restaurant despite his workload of being a senior. He wouldn't be surprised if the business has been closed down already.

Taehyung stares at his phone and contemplates on ignoring the call altogether. It wasn't always like this. Once upon a time, Taehyung loved talking to his parents. But ever since things went downhill, they were just unbearable in a sense that being in the house felt like suffocation. They always made sure to drag him into their quarrels whenever they can, making him tell the other who's right and wrong as if he's the one who could fix things. Fix them. If he was being frank, he'd definitely say that they're one of the many reasons why he decided to leave his hometown for college.

Sighing, Taehyung answers the call and hopes that whatever it's about, it's not going to ruin the rest of his day.

"Hyung!" the caller greets. The boyish and young voice on the other end of the line surprises him as he had expected the gruff tone of his father. Taehyung kicks the blanket and sits up, rubbing his eyes that are still heavy from sleep.

"Haesung? What's up?"

"Nothing. Just checking in," a brief silence, and then, "When are you going to visit?"

Ah, this again, Taehyung thinks. It's not the first time that his little brother personally contacts him out of the blue. He and Haesung were quite attached to the hip growing up despite the age gap. Taehyung looked out for him a lot, taught him things their parents couldn't and told him what kind of people to stay away from. Guilt washes over him as he remembers how devastated Haesung had been when he left. It was never his intention to abandon Haesung like that, but what else could he have done?

"I visited a few months ago, remember?" Taehyung reminds the boy even though it's already been more than half a year. His visits are rare and short. He already knows what Haesung's going to say next.

"Yeah, for like two days. It might as well be two seconds! Can't you just stay over for the weekend next week?"

"I don't think that's really possible buddy. The new semester just started and the assignments are already slowly piling up." Taehyung feels even worse as he continues. He has probably said this five times already in the span of three months. Taehyung despises that town. Too much had happened, too many bitter memories he wishes he had never made that keeps him here, in the city where no one knows him more than the art boy that he is.

"But—"

"I mean, it's not that I don't want to, but it's so hard to find the time." That's a blatant lie. He could hop on the next train to Busan and be back by tomorrow morning. There's always time. He just doesn't want to find it. "Do mom and dad still argue?"

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