Notorious ⊷ Haechan

47 ⊷ Worse

that's an ominous title but I'm sure it's fine

⊷ 47

She unlocked the door to the apartment Kai, San and Sungchan resided in. She barely ever used the spare key she had, given that it wasn't her apartment and entering just like that felt weird. 

However, even after knocking and ringing the doorbell, San hadn't opened the door for her. So she decided to let herself in. 

"San?" she asked hurriedly, looking through every room as she passed it. "San! Where..." 

She stopped herself when she saw the boy standing in the living room. He wasn't moving. Lost, empty gaze hovering aimlessly in the air. His lips were parted ever so slightly, torn between saying something and keeping quiet. 

He wanted his screams to reach the sky. But he also wanted to suffocate the world in silence. 

"San...?" she asked carefully, entering the room slowly. "What happened?" 

The boy exhaled and looked up a little, trying to ignore the burning sensation in his eyes that accompanied the lump in his throat. It was hard to talk. 

"After my family..." he began then stopped himself, not ready to take certain words into his mouth right now. "After what happened, I came back home, you know?"

Ji-yoon nodded, recalling that, "You said you looked for evidence of what had happened." Yet, he found nothing. How could he, if the police had never been on his but on Kang's side? 

"Yeah," he said. "But when I left that day, I couldn't help but take some things with me. Clothes, mainly. I was a kid, I couldn't just... I didn't have money so I needed to grab some essentials." 

She wasn't sure why he felt the urge to explain himself but whatever it was, she was willing to let him talk. Whatever he had to say, she would hear him out. 

"I also took some things I felt like I shouldn't leave behind. Some pictures of my brother and mom, and I took his favourite stuffed toy and the necklace we gifted mom." 

He looked down at the small device in his hands. 

"I saw this lying around," he said as he handed her the old Nintendo DS that he had shared with his brother when he was little. "I took it too. I always liked playing with it, but the battery was empty. I didn't take the charger with me, it's not like I... I didn't really think about that." 

He looked to the side, at the charger that was lying on the coffee table. 

"I stored it away with all the other things I took. I forgot I had it," he said. "The other day I got reminded of it. I bought a charger. I thought it might be fun to play again." 

Ji-yoon attempted to smile at the thought of his. It was very sweet. It was very depressing.  

"Did you play?" 

He shook his head. "I got distracted," he admitted. "I noticed that there were many old voice recordings on it. In-su and I would sometimes record things for each other. It was dumb but it was just something we did." 

And after that, he stopped explaining. He had gotten as far as he could. He had said all that he was able to right now. Besides, it became obvious what he wanted her to do anyway. 

Though unwilling, Ji-yoon pressed on the recording that was selected. It wasn't the first one - it was one of many. And yet, as it seemed, San wanted her to start there.  

"Hyung," In-su spoke. He sounded like he was going to talk about a very serious topic. "I got a lecture from Mr Resetti again! I told you to save the game before you turn it off."