SPLIT || hyunin

-1-

"Ah-ah ah!" Jeongin whimpered. "It hurts." he whispered softly.

His aunt, who had been cleaning his wound just scoffed. Jeongin didn't mind it that much, he was aware she was a sassy woman, and he loved her for that. "Boy, stop allowing this to happen!" she scolded, gently applying ointment on his lip where he'd been punched earlier that day.

Jeongin lived with his aunt ever since he was born. That's because his dad didn't want him. Not after his mom died after his birth.

Jeongin knew it wasn't his fault. But, he couldn't help thinking that the kid who his parents became really close to right before his birth, Hyunjin, also hated him. He was around 1 years old when Jeongin was born.

I mean, why wouldn't he? Jeongin thought, he was the reason Hyunjin's supposive mother figure died.

He couldn't understand how his dad could love someone more than him. They were like best friends, leaving Jeongin behind with his aunt. Hyunjin wasn't even related to him. He hated to admit it, but he felt sorta jealous. He's never met this 'Hyunjin' guy, but he's seen pictures of him. Tall, lean yet muscular, handsome, and he had these beautiful chocolate curls. Like he was straight out of a magazine for Cartier or Versace. He was.. perfect.

"Yah, why don't you have that-.." his aunt paused, her eyes rolling back like she was searching her mind for a name. "that hot guy with the wavy brown hair— you know, you're dad's best friend,"

"Hyunjin?" Jeongin questioned, looking straight at his aunt who was carefully wrapping a bandage on his bruised lip. "What about him?"

"Yeah yeah, that one." She nodded, "why don't you have him protect you? who knows maybe-" she teased in a playful tone.

"No auntie," Jeongin quickly dismissed the idea. "He lives on the other side of the city, so..." he paused. "we go to different universities."

"You don't even like your university!" His aunt snapped, "plus, the one Hyunjin goes to offers a variety of options. They even have classes for trot," she nudged playfully.

"What's your point, auntie?" Jeongin questioned, running his fingers through his fluffy black hair.

His aunt just sighed, getting up from the dining table and back into the kitchen.

I wonder what she's on about, Jeongin thought.

The following morning, Jeongin woke up in a cold sweat. He turned to his side to observe the clock that was sitting on his night stand.

4:21am

Fuck. He cursed himself, realizing he fell asleep at 12am. God, why am I like this? Another night without much needed sleep.

He slid himself outta bed, inspecting himself in his mirror. His room was pretty big, which was surprising for how little rent they payed. His aunt worked a medium wage job, working from 6-8pm every, single, day.

On one side of his room was music sheets. He used to play the piano— but he gave up on that and took on singing. He loved singing. His room had music technique books everywhere. It wasn't that he read those books for enjoyment, he just wanted to please his aunt. She always encouraged him to follow his dreams. He didn't mind it though, there wasn't anything to do besides studying in his life anyways.

No friends, no life, no nothing.

His room was filled with simple yet soft colors. Nothing too pretty, cause all he did was study and sing, literally. When he wasn't home, he was either at classes or volunteering at events.

He had a desk in the far corner of his room. More books, papers, and stationary. A very admirable collection of stationary. He had pens, highlighters, mechanical pencils, correction tape, washi tape,— all the tapes, okay?
Name any study tool, and he had it. All his supplies were organized neatly, color coded and in supply order. Sitting on his desk was a pair of white headphones, that can connect to a microphone stand that was sitting in the opposite corner. That's because when he was done studying musical history for the day, he would sing.

His favorite artist was most definitely wave to earth. He had posters of Daniel Kim's albums plastered across his walls. Lately, he's been practicing singing songs like Light, Daisy, Bad, Annie, Homesick- basically all of them. Occasionally, he would unplug his headphones and sing to his aunt. Mostly trot, but she also enjoyed whatever he enjoyed.

They spent their weekends singing karaoke together. Just thinking about it made Jeongin smile.

The room was spacious, and didn't feel too crowded despite the calm chaos of his belongings.

His bandaid was still there on his pale face. Surprisingly, he didn't look too shabby. He never did. Never looked good— but that was just his opinion.

Suddenly, he heard a creak of his door.

"Jeongin," his aunt said, concerned. "Why are you awake?" She asked, although she was already aware of Jeongin's sleeping problems.

"Why are you awake?" Jeongin asked, looking at his aunt who was leaning against the doorway. Something was different, though. "Auntie.. your hair. What happened?"

"Jeongin. I love you." she whispered lovingly, stepping closer to the boy and caressing his lip.

"I-I.. I love you too. But why'd you shave it all off?" Jeongin asked, frowning, rubbing the spot where his Aunt's beautiful curls used to lay.

The room was dark, the only source of light being the lit hallway that led to Jeongins room.

"I'll tell you later, but I just wanted to say that we have a dinner planned tonight." His aunt announced, smiling.

"A dinner you say?" Jeongin asked, his tone becoming more playful and intrigued. He didn't want to worry his aunt, in fact, that was the last thing he wanted to do. He knew how much she loved him.

"Yes." She replied, caressing the boy's long raven hair. "No questions now, just get ready for uni, m'kayy?"

"Yes ma'am." Jeongin giggled softly in response.

Him and his aunt were like polar opposites. Jeongin was always praised by his teachers for being so 'formal, respectful, kind, blah blah blah'
His aunt, however, was kind, but she knew how to stand up for herself. She always did. And Jeongin admired her for that.

Jeongin got ready, slipping on a baggy tee and baggy jeans.
His tee was a worn-in grayish-black color that was a lighter shade near the seams. The jeans he picked were darkwashed, and didn't actually require a belt, which was a relief. All his other belts were so worn down, but he didn't want to ask for new ones because he knew how tight money had become for his aunt. He wasn't sure why, or where the money was going, but he didn't mind. He didn't need anything.

It's not like his aunt would say no to anything he wanted, so that's why he never asked. He felt bad.
For some reason, lately, all his aunt asked him were questions about his love life, things he wanted, and his future. Deep shit like that.
He didn't hate those kinds of questions, but he was confused and a little concerned at the sudden change in attitude from here.

Hm.