that boy | hwang hyunjin | ✔

Chapter 56

"Hyunjin?" I softly ask as I open the door to his room, announcing my presence.

I find the boy sitting on his bed, playing on his phone while absentmindedly stroking Kkami's back. He seems sleepy and it takes him a few seconds to look up. But when he does, a smile makes its way to his face and he pats the mattress next to him, inviting me to sit there.

"How did it go?" he asks as I sit down next to him. His phone is discarded and lands onto the mattress with a soft thud before he loosely places his arm over my shoulder and I slowly lean into his shoulder, heaving out a sigh to get rid of the tension that built up until now.

"She took it rather well, I guess?" I reply, thinking back to the conversation I had earlier. "At least better than I expected, everyone got out of there alive and she seemed interested in the help your mom offered her."

"That's great," my boyfriend states with a soft smile, sounding as relieved as I feel. "Did you tell her about us already or did you decide to wait?"

"I didn't, I felt like it might've been too much for her to handle all at once," I explain and Hyunjin nods in understanding. Then we fall silent, with everything said that needed to be said.

Tons of thoughts run to my head as Hyunjin plays with my hair but for once, most of them are positive. The hardest part is over, my mom met Hyunjin's and now we just have to make sure that she keeps in touch with the woman. I can do that, I can manage to keep them together so that Hyunjin's mom can actually provide some kind of support for my mom. I know I can do that much to help her. For once, I have hope for the future.

But then another thought strikes my mind. Maybe the hardest part isn't over, maybe the hardest part is telling my mom about Hyunjin. I can't wait for too long because I don't want her to find out by accident. That isn't the way I want my traumatized-by-men mom to find out her daughter has a boyfriend. That wouldn't end well for anyone.

"What are you thinking about, Chae?" Hyunjin mutters after a while, dropping my hair and brushing the loose strang behind my ear to have a clear look at my face. Still feeling a bit awkward, I avert my gaze and look at Kkami instead, who is sleeping soundly at our feet.

"My mom, how things will go from now and how we're going to tell her about us." With a wry smile, I look up at the boy again. "It won't be easy for her, I think."

"I don't think so, either," Hyunjin agrees with a small nod. He seems to think for a moment, before saying, "I think it's very brave of her to show up here, and that she actually wants to try to make things better. I'm happy for you."

A smile makes its way to my face and I happily nod. "Yeah, me too. I honestly thought she would go berserk and leave the place in a mess, you know?" I let out a weird laugh because honestly, it's weird when you think of your own mom like that. "I'm glad she took it this way."

Hyunjin smiles softly and we fall silent once more. I love these peaceful silences between us, in which we just cuddle and feel comfortable around each other. Honestly, I would've never thought I would get to this point but it happened. Hyunjin happened, and he set everything upside down. But I'm glad he did.

"Hey, are you staying for dinner?" the boy asks after a while, stretching his limbs and yawning as if he just woke up.

I think about it for a moment. The idea sounds very appealing and I want to say yes really bad. But I know I can't, not this time. I have other things to do, and the most important thing is to go home to check up on my mom.

"Thanks for the offer but today, I'll pass," I reply with an apologetic smile. "I'm going to check on my mom."

"Mm, that's a better idea I think,"  the raven-haired nods in agreement.