Quiet | Seungjin

3

Seungmin

"Seungmin? Are you awake?" Mrs. Kim asked softly through the door to her sons bedroom as she knocked softly. She stood there in silence as she waited for him to answer. The door opened to reveal a very tired looking Seungmin still in his pajamas from the night before. "Good morning, dear. Why don't you come out into the living room so we can talk for a bit?" She said softly, her usual sweet smile glued to her face. Of course she was well aware that talking usually means just her talking, but that didn't matter to her. He nodded then stood there for a couple seconds before wrapping his arms around her stomach.

"O—Oh..." She choked out, feeling the tears welling in her eyes. Returning the embrace, she held onto him as if her life depended on it. There were very seldom times where Seungmin was okay doing anything physical, so this made her hope that maybe he was finally doing a tiny bit better.

When he pulled away, his eyebrows furrowed at the tears glistening in his mother's eyes. Did he do something wrong?

"I'm sorry..." She started, wiping at her eyes as if she could read his mind, "I just love you so much Seungmin."

He opened his mouth to say it back, but no sound came out. The words were scratching at the inside of his throat, trying to find something to hold onto so they didn't have to leave. He ached to tell his Mom how much he loved her, how much he needed her, but he knew he couldn't. The more he tried to force himself, the less it seemed to work. He needed the silence to be okay, he just needed to stay quiet.

Noticing his discomfort, she hesitantly placed a hand on the side of his face. To her surprise, he didn't flinch or back away. "It's okay, honey, I know." Maybe it was just her maternal instinct, but she seemed to always know what Seungmin needed without him having to say a word.

After a few seconds, Mrs. Kim noticed they were still standing in the hallway outside of Seungmin's room. She led them out into the living room, where Mr. Kim was watching the news.

His dad looked up and smiled at the sight of his son, "Good morning Seungmin."

Even though his life may not be close to normal, Seungmin was incredibly thankful for his parents. They cared about how he was feeling and did everything they could to help him feel comfortable. Sometimes it can get a little frustrating with his situation, but they loved him just the way he was.

Seungmin felt himself smiling. It was a sincere smile, a type of smile that just felt right.

"Your brothers coming home next weekend," Mrs. Kim said softly as she sat down next to her husband.

Sitting down, Seungmin did what was now a habit and brought his knees up to his chest. It made him feel secure. His mind wandered to his older brother, the person he was closest to. His brother, Wonpil, was the only person he would even go near after it happened. Woojin spent years building up what was left of his little brother better than any therapist could. It had been a couple months since they'd last seen each other since Wonpil was enrolled in a college a few hours away. But Wonpil made sure to text his brother almost daily just to make sure he was still doing okay.

✨✨✨

Hyunjin

"Hyunjin school starts tomorrow and you were out all night with your friends!" Mrs. Hwang scolded as he walked into the kitchen.

He let out a groan, "Mama, I'm having fun before I have to go back."

"You've been having fun for months, now you need to focus." She said with a serious expression.

"What's for breakfast?"

Rolling her eyes she smacked his head, "Make yourself some cereal or something, I've gotta get to work."

A pout formed on his face as he latched onto her, "But Mama, you always make me breakfast!"

Her face scrunched up before she tried to push him off. "You're eighteen, I think you can figure it out." She deadpanned. Finally breaking free, she ran to the door, but turned around to blow him a kiss, "Come by later if you get bored, you can intern with Mr. Choi—ok bye Hyunjinnie, I love you!"

The door slammed in his face before he could keep her any longer. He plodded into the kitchen, grumbling to himself about having to make food.

✨✨✨

Although he was in a bad mood about school starting so soon, Hyunjin decided to go in to volunteer anyway. He even decided to walk instead of taking his car, Y'know to help the planet a little.

It might've been the fact that his Mom worked at a therapy center for teens, but Hyunjin has always been obsessed with helping people. When any of his friends were upset or struggling with something, they would come to him. He loved feeling like he could make a difference in people's lives.

When he turned sixteen, he was so excited to find out he could volunteer although it wasn't exactly what he expected. Most of the time he was basically a secretary. But sometimes he got the chance to intern with some of the therapists, where he would talk about certain conditions and how to handle some situations. He obviously didn't have a degree so he couldn't do much more than that.

"Good morning Hyunjin!" His neighbor said sweetly as she continued to water her flowers.

"Good morning Mrs. Kang!" He replied, giving her a bright smile. He continued to walk down the sidewalk that had grown slightly uneven from the tree in her yard.

His mind wandered to his friends and school. This was his senior year, then he could get into some fancy college and get his degree. Academics were very important to Hyunjin, not because of his parents, but by his own motivation to have a good future. He wanted to set up a promising life for his future spouse and possible kids, just like his parents did for him.

The one thing he wasn't sure of was finding the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He'd always made excuses for his lack of love interest. Covering it up with being too busy with school work was how he convinced himself it wasn't important. But now he was eighteen and he'd never even been close to experiencing love.

What he said to Felix was true though, he just needed to find his person and you can't rush that. 

———

Thanks for reading lovelies