Unconditional Feelings (Heesun)

17

Sunoo finally had the chance to spend his lonely, boring weekends with his mother. Sunoo entreated his mom to take him to the amusement park, it was one of his childhood dreams. Though the actual wish was to go with a special someone–like, maybe a partner, Sunoo couldn't care anymore, he knew he had no one to go with. Except for Riki of course.

Sunoo noticed the sudden shift in Riki's behavior. He seemed almost perplexed, nervous—shy—toward the older. Sunoo's thoughts drifted away when he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He turned to face his mom, who was sitting beside him in the driver's seat. "Sunoo, you seem quite off today, is everything okay?" Her voice filled with a tone of worry. "Is everything going well at school?"

Sunoo's breath hitched. He fiddled with his fingers and partially nodded. "Yeah, everything is normal for me." He plastered his fakest smile, gleaming with elation. He shifted his gaze away, feeling trapped inside the small black car. How could he tell her? She just came back from work–it's been so long since he had felt her warm embrace again. He didn't want to worry her.

Throughout the ride, Sunoo stayed silent, enveloping himself in his body's comfort. He shuffled inside his bag pocket to find his phone to shuffle the low, faint music flowing inside the car.

"Oh! What's this song's name?" Sunoo's mom squeaked, peering at Sunoo's phone from her peripheral vision. "Ah! It's 'Maze in the mirror, by TXT." He answered, reminiscing over the agonizing memory of the day. "It's one of my favorite songs."

"Hmm, it sounds really amazing." She slightly nodded, emphasizing her response. "TXT, I think I've heard about them somewhere before...is it some kind of boy group?" She turned to face Sunoo and leaned back in her car seat.

"Yeah! It's a boy group of five members! There's Choi Yeonjun, Choi Soobin, Choi Beomgyu, Kang Taehyun, and Huening Kai! They all are so freaking amazing—they got the best music—along with the finest visuals—and their voices! Don't even get me started, they have different voices that match so well with almost every song they have. My bias is definitely Yeonjun. The 4th gen IT boy—basically, he's good at everything. He's just amazing." Sunoo used his hand gestures, shuffling on his seat while briefly blurting everything out to his mom. His eyes were filled with the starry constellations, shining with such admiration and triumph.

"You seem to love them a lot, they must be great then." She said, her voice laced with a hint of despondency. "I didn't even know you liked that boy band, I don't even know your music taste, your friends–almost nothing. But amidst everything, I still love you...please don't forget that..." Her voice trailed off as she focused on the drive in front of her.

Sunoo's heart shattered. What she said was true, but she didn't need to know everything about him. Right?

"Mom, I love you. You do so much for me, so much for this house and everything. So please, please, don't doubt yourself ever again...it makes me sad." He gently patted her head. She glanced at him with a weak, soft smile. A genuine smile.

"Okay hon', I'll take your word."

The entire ride to the amusement was filled with fits of giggles and waves of laughter. His mind kept tracing back to the familiar memory of the day; how Heeseung had belittled him, how much he had hurt him, but he still cared. Because something inside Heeseung was reaching out for companionship, and friendship—he wanted someone to care for him.

(Sorry this is a short chapter, I was busy with school and was exhausted after school. We had to move out of our apartment yesterday, so everything was chaotic and my freaking arms were aching.  I've been delaying my responsibilities for a while, so hopefully, I can get back to my duties and time schedule. )

(Once again! Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I'm trying to get this story to 250 votes before chapter 23, so votes will be appreciated greatly!)