Cat Boy

09 | telescope

Vernon sits on the lone armchair in the house, back straight, knee bobbing up and down with the force of a mini earthquake. On his other knee lies an open book, and his eyes are turned to the pages, looking at it sightlessly. Every so often, his other knee hits the book and it goes flying—every time this happens, he picks it up with a noise of distracted irritation, and presses his hands down on the book with a little more force each time, flattening the page, and returns back to reading the same line over and over again.

His mind has been reiterating the same paragraph for the past twenty minutes.

Absently, his fingers pick at the worn ends of the chair's arms, scratched past recognition after years of him picking at it. It's not that he isn't trying to focus—he is—which is surprising, because he usually doesn't have to force himself to pay attention. He's annoyed by the wait, and annoyed by how annoyed he is.

The bell rings, and he jumps to his feet, the book cluttering to the floor.

"I got it!" Vernon yells, hearing Joshua make an inelegant noise of acknowledgement that's muffled by the door, and jogs to the door with a little more urgency than usual. His entire body is brimming with energy, and he feels well-rested despite the poor amount of sleep he's had. Briefly, his fingers hesitate at the handle, then he pushes away the intrusive thoughts and throws it open.

"Hey—" he starts, a little out of breath, then stops short when he registers who's standing in front of him.

Wonpil stares back at him, his mouth half-open like he was just about to speak. He looks surprised, but more uncomfortable when he realizes that he's not the one Vernon was expecting. Vernon stares back, frozen in his spot, and the two stare at each other for a few, awkward seconds before Joshua clears his throat behind him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," the pink-haired boy says, shooting a look of amusement at Vernon as he slowly steps away from the door, as if in a dream. Joshua offers Wonpil one of his flashlight smiles, which seems to break the brunet out of his shock, and Vernon tears his eyes away from him with difficulty. "Come on in, and please excuse Hansol. He's not good with people."

Wonpil steps in with half a smile, eyes darting between the two with growing discomfort. "I didn't realize you were brothers," he says, pursing his lips at Vernon in the manner of a smile, and, when he doesn't return the gesture, reaches up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. Joshua closes the door behind him with more force than necessary, and he jumps a little. "Hey."

Neither Joshua nor Vernon correct him when he says brothers, only look back at him in silence. Vernon feels a mixture of confusion and disappointment, while Joshua just looks like he's enjoying the lack of cohesion in the conversation.

Vernon opens his mouth to greet him, but the bell rings again. Wonpil turns back to glance at the door, then turns to the two of them. Neither move. A crease appears between his eyebrows, and he gestures to the door with slow, stilted movements. "Um, should I—" He breaks off, glancing at Joshua in panic, but the boy doesn't make a move. "I just—I'm just gonna—"

He opens the door, and Daehyun peeks in with a sideways smile that freezes strangely on her face when she spots Wonpil. Vernon stares at her as her eyes go round, not moving from his face, and she drops the smile for a purse of the lips, spots of color appearing on her cheeks. "Oh. Hi."

"Hello." Wonpil, for the first time in the last two minutes, seems to relax. His smile is his earlier bright smile, easy and warm, so genuine and full of affection that Vernon feels it like a blast of heat to the face. "You kind of saved the situation here."

"That's what I do," she replies as if on reflex, then frowns. "Wait, what are you—"

"We'll be in my room," Vernon interrupts hastily, shooting Joshua an encrypted look, only to see amusement flash in his half-moon eyes. Automatically, he reaches for her hand, intending to pull her into the recesses of the house. Then he realizes what he's doing with a spike of alarm, and his hand changes direction at the last moment to grab on to the bag she's carrying.