STUPID CUPID ✶ choi soobin

fourteen.

"knock, knock."

looking up from the old scrapbook in her lap, yumi met eyes with soobin, who leaned against the doorframe of her bedroom, "come in."

he walked over, immediately plopping down beside yumi on her bed to look at the old pictures, "what's this?"

"it's my family and i," she smiled, her finger tracing along an old picture, "i've just been feeling nostalgic lately."

soobin nodded, before his eyes went wide as he looked at a picture, "no way, is that you?" he pointed towards a picture of a little girl with pig tails and a lollipop, her bright red tongue stuck out as she posed for the photo. yumi nodded, chuckling at her wacky appearance. "you were adorable."

yumi's smile fell as she felt her heart begin to race, even though the comment was quite trivial. blowing out some air, she fanned her face quickly.

"who's that?" he pointed at a picture of a woman, her beautiful smile large as she posed, "your mother?" when she nodded, he smiled again, "no wonder. you guys have the same smile."

but there was no smile from yumi this time. her face was grim as she spoke with a sigh, "i just can't bring myself to throw this picture away, no matter what i do."

"why would you throw it away?"

pursing her lips, yumi's mind went back to the exact moment her world had fallen apart ten years ago, as she explained the story to soobin.

ten years earlier

nine-year-old yumi smiled contentedly as she colored in the picture of blue from blue's clues, a soft hum coming from her closed lips. beside her, a seven-year-old taehyun played with his gaming cube. so far, it had been a normal afternoon at the kang residence. but this reality was soon shattered by the shouts that came from the kitchen.

"don't touch me!" yumi heard her mother yell. the young girl winced, not at all used to the raised voice of her usually calm mother.

she and taehyun looked at each other in curiosity, the both of them wondering what was going on.

"can you just listen to me? do my opinions not matter anymore?"

"i'm my own person, and i can make decisions for myself! i don't have to consult you for every damn thing i want to do!"

yumi winced again, before getting up to go peak around the corner at her feuding parents.

her father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. his voice was a lot calmer with his next few sentences, "you're my wife and, most importantly, a mother to our children. every decision you make affects us all." yumi wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, but she could tell just by the atmosphere that it was serious, "i'm not saying that you have to consider me when making rash decisions, but could you at least consider the two kids that you took part in bringing into the world?"

looking past her husband, yumi's mother saw that the little girl was peaking around the corner. eyes softening, she sighed and turned away, "we'll talk more later."

➶➴➶

turning on her side, the young girl let out another sigh. her parent's argument wore on her mind as she wondered what could have started their fight. from what she normally observed, her parents were a very happy couple, who rarely disagreed. so why did they suddenly start fighting?

the creak of a bedroom door caught her attention, causing yumi to sit up. thinking that she would catch her younger brother stealing snacks in the middle of the night again, yumi excitedly crept towards her bedroom door, opening it slowly so as to make no sound.

but she was not ready for what she saw.

her mother was walking towards the front door, a bag in her hand as well as a backpack on her back. before she could stop herself, yumi called out, "mom."

her mother paused momentarily, but refrained from turning around. yumi could hear a quiet sob leave her mother's mouth as she wiped at her cheeks. after a few seconds, she continued out the door, not once looking back at the little girl who's heart shattered into pieces.

present time

"i've still kept this picture, even though i've gained a sort of hatred for her," she chuckled, but there was no humor behind it, "i guess i just always hoped that she'd come back. but here we are now, ten years later." she went silent for a moment, staring intently at the picture, "and i'm doing fine without you."

"i'm glad you trust me enough to tell me this."

snapping out of it, yumi looked up at soobin, a fake smile plastered on her face, "of course! we're friends!"

soobin only stared into her eyes, his expression worried. slowly, his hand raised up to her face as his thumb gently swiped across her cheek. "you don't have to act happy around me. it's okay to cry sometimes."

yumi stared back into his eyes, before she slowly let the sobs take over her. she looked down at her lap, embarrassed that soobin, of all people, was the one witnessing her breakdown. "i-i'm sorry." she choked out between her cries, "you don't have to stay here with me."

she turned away after feeling the bed rise as he had gotten up. thinking that soobin left, yumi began to cry even harder while holding her chest. it hurt. the pain she tried so hard to bury was coming to light.

but suddenly there were arms around her, as someone rubbed her back in a comforting way.

"this is what my mom used to do for me when i was down," he explained, as he gently caressed the back of her head, "just let it out. there's no need to hold it back."

so the two sat there, for as long as it took yumi to stop crying. by the time she finally did, soft snores were leaving her as she leaned on soobin's shoulder, which was dampened by her salty tears.

looking down at her sleeping face, he smiled and then slowly began to lay her down on her bed. but as he went to walk away, yumi's hand latched onto his wrist. turning back, he watched in confusion she mumbled in her sleep, "please don't leave me, too."

he felt his heart break just a bit at how sad she had sounded. sitting down beside her bed, soobin grabbed her hand in his. he felt a bit more at ease now that she was asleep. tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, soobin smiled softly at how adorable she looked in that moment.

 "i won't. i promise."