UNBLOCKED

25 | just peachy

"you still sure you want me to come?" jinyoung chewed on his lower lip as jaebum led the way to the ward.

jaebum's grip on his hand was so tight jinyoung's circulation was almost cut off. "you said you would," jaebum mumbled, his eyes fixed on the corridor ahead.

"i will, promise," jinyoung assured him. he didn't say another word until they reached the ward.

"i'm her son," jaebum told the nurse at the door once they arrived.

they entered an airy room with a few couches and armchairs and a TV playing old episodes of The Heirs on rerun. the only person in the room was a middle-aged woman, maybe in her forties, who wore a hospital gown and a blue robe tied at the waist.

jaebum stopped at the door, freezing when he caught sight of the back of her head.

"what's wrong?" jinyoung whispered.

"she doesn't like to see me," jaebum explained with a sad sort of tone to his voice. "they say she has some kind of post traumatic stress disorder from when dad used to hit us, and she says she hears voices sometimes."

"voices?"

jaebum nodded. "they're him - dad - i think. the doctors think the mental illness is making her want dad back, and making her hate me for taking him away from her..."

jinyoung squeezed his hand again comfortingly. "it's not your fault," he said.

"i know," said jaebum, "but the way she screams about it whenever i'm here... i don't know. she freaks whenever i come to visit and it kills me."

"should i go in first then?" jinyoung suggested calmly. "she doesn't know me, right?"

jaebum slowly agreed. "okay," he answered, "some company would be good for her, if it's not me. just don't bring up any dodgy topics."

jinyoung smiled briefly at him in reassurance, and headed into the room. he took a seat a little way away from jaebum's mom, and pretended to be interested in the TV for a few moments.

"they show this every day," jaebum's mom grumbled out of the blue. she turned to jinyoung and said, "what are you doing here?"

"i'm jinyoung," said jinyoung, avoiding her question. "what's your name?"

"kyunghee," she said shortly, throwing a suspicious sideways glance at jinyoung. "are you a doctor?" she sat up straight, wide eyed. "have you come to take me back to my jaekwang?!"

"who's that?"

"my husband." kyunghee shuffled closer to jinyoung and tugged at his arm. "that boy sent him away from me and now they say i'm crazy. i'm not crazy! it's all that stupid boy's fault and now they won't let me see him!"

"hey, hey," said jinyoung gently, "i'm sure it wasn't his fault."

"it was!" kyunghee insisted, grabbing onto jinyoung wildly now, "he's a horrible, filthy, lying, fucking bitch! i hate him! i hate him! i-"

"he was only trying to protect you!" jinyoung yelled as the nurse ran in with a set of tranquilisers.

"im jaebum!" kyunghee hissed as she caught sight of her son amidst her fit. "your father was better than you'll ever be! we'll make you pay for th-"

the nurse injected the drug and kyunghee stopped flailing and screaming and spitting, relaxing into a state of quiet. jinyoung's heart raced with nerves, whilst jaebum stood with tears in his eyes.

jinyoung shuffled over to jaebum and slipped his hand into his again. "sorry," he murmured.

they watched the nurse mutter a few things before taking jaebum's mom away into her hospital room.

"so, what happens now?" jinyoung asked carefully.

jaebum grunted and led the way storming out of the hospital. "i usually drink at least three cans and cry whilst breaking at least seven laws..."

"how about..." said jinyoung, "we forget about what just happened and do something else instead?"

they slid into the car and jaebum hit the heaters on in that cold november afternoon. "like what?" jaebum asked.

"anything," said jinyoung. "anything you want."

jaebum suddenly caught his wrist and looked jinyoung in the eye. "hey," he said.

"hey, i guess...?" jinyoung stared at him in confusion.

"why are you being so nice to me?" jaebum asked in a small voice. "i've told you everything about what a shitty person i am, and you're still now telling me to fuck off. why?"

jinyoung wriggled his arm out of jaebum's grasp. "because i care, asshat," he said. "now drive."

jaebum hit the accelerator and pulled out of the mental hospital car park. "where are we going?"

"somewhere," jinyoung shrugged. "anywhere! the beach, the cinema, who cares?"

so jaebum started driving and the afternoon sun began to appear, and the day had brightened a little from the rain that fell earlier.

"it's nearly christmas," jinyoung remarked after spending a good few minutes debating whether or not to check the text notifications on his phone.

"christmas, whatever," said jaebum.

"no way," jinyoung grinned. "when we do christmas, we have an unspoken competition with the rest of our street of who has the best fairy lights outside the house. and guess what?"

"your house always wins?" jaebum suggested with a smirk.

"yeah. how did you know?" jinyoung asked in outrage.

"are you kidding? i've driven past your house last year and it is wild," said jaebum, chuckling to himself.

jinyoung's smile faded as he looked at the incoming call on his phone. he left the call rejected, and put the phone down. "what do you want for christmas?"

"gee, where to start?" jaebum joked.

"if it helps, i want a peach shaped beanbag," said jinyoung casually.

"a peach?" jaebum asked, trying not to laugh.

"they're my favourite fruit, bitch," jinyoung snapped, laughing too. "besides, where else am i gonna put that ass?"

"why, jinyoung, why."

ring-ring-

"are you gonna answer that or...?"

jinyoung stared at the caller screen again. and then he hung up. "i don't want to," he said. "i don't feel like having that particular conversation."

"why? who is it?"

jinyoung sighed. "mark."

____________________

a/n:
ew i wrote this so fast
just to finish it cuz it was
more filler until the #realz
dramarama hey 👏👏👏

not sure when i can update
next as i have a sucky drama
exam this week that takes up
most of my time and energy
but fighting! it will be soon x

ALSO SELF PROMO
i published a rant book!
go check it out, it will be
random daily rants (cuz
i'm celebrating my 100 lit
followers whoop ily guys ❤)

see y'all next time xoxo