Free of Charge // Baekchen

Fraught

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Fraught

fraught: stressed, anxious; emotional

~*~

Jongdae gulped nervously as he pried open the box flaps. He knew Jongdeok would be extremely pissed, but Jongdae was overly curious. He double checked the door in case his brother suddenly burst through with a baseball bat or some object to beat him with for violating personal belongings. Jongdae pulled out the smaller box out of the larger. It was like Jongdeok to put a box within a box, especially for valuables. Sometimes Jongdeok would stick a piece of paper or include an item on a certain side of the bigger box to know if someone had tampered with his boxes.

The second box was tied by a ribbon, which Jongdae tugged loose with trembling fingers. He sharply inhaled and held his breath while he lifted the lid. Loose papers with Jongdeok's scrawlings, photos, various items. Jongdae picked up one of the photos. Jongdeok, Baekbeom, Yonghwa, a girl, and a guy. Peering into the box, there was a torn photo of Jongdeok beside the girl, the tear separating the girl from someone else.

Jongdae dug through the box, looking over everything that caught his interest, when a voice startled the living daylights out of him. "You nosy, little brat. What do you think you're doing?"

Jongdae's heart nearly stopped. His eyes remained glued to the socked feet at the doorway as his body froze. His mouth dry, Jongdae couldn't utter a single word. The feet moved, breaking Jongdae's trance. Jongdae looked up at his brother.

Jongdeok knelt down and took the items from Jongdae. He laid them inside the box and carefully tied the ribbon. "Seohwa, my ex. I was hoping to forget these forever, but Luhan." Jongdeok tsked, pulling the ribbon taut. "I don't know how to get rid of these. It brings back painful memories, but I can't find the will to simply throw away everything, you know?"

"What happened?" Jongdae whispered, a bit nervous by his brother's calm demeanor. The Jongdeok he knew would have hit him or shouted at least.

"Like I said, she wasn't interested in me, but my best friend."

"Who?"

Jongdeok paused for half a second before replying, "Your boyfriend's brother, of course. You want to know all the drama between us? How our 'little gang' split, if that's what you can call it. You know that Yonghwa and Baekbeom were best friends for a long while. Well, Seohwa had this mad crush -- an obsession really -- on Baekbeom. I didn't know it at the time; if I had, I wouldn't have dated her.

"Anyway, Baekbeom said she would constantly invade his space. He quit tutoring her after she started going gaga for him. Then we started dating, me and her. I actually thought we had something special, but then I realized, a little too late if you ask me, so I called it off. Upset, she hooked up with Gu Minkyu. He's an idiot and believes everything she says, all the lies about Baekbeom trying to contact her and how he's in love with her and stalks her. That damaged any remaining friendship or ties between Baekbeom and Seohwa. Then Bohye came into the picture and we're basically here." Jongdeok lifted the box and stood up, "Well, I'll be leaving now."

"Wait," Jongdae grabbed Jongdeok's leg. "Where do you stay at?"

Jongdeok freed himself and started to walk away. "It's none of your business."

"Mom and Dad are fighting." Jongdae's words were enough to make Jongdeok pause.

"It's normal for couples to fight. I thought you knew that."

"You have to help me, Jongdeok."

Jongdeok eyed Jongdae, who was now on his knees looking up at the older brother for help. Jongdeok decided to give in, "What are they fighting about?"