Skz oneshotes (Requests Open)

🦊 I'm... Pt2

Title: Broken

(I'm... Part 2)

Jeongin sat on his bed, phone in hand, listening to the familiar voices of Heeseung and Beomgyu through the call. It was late, but none of them were tired yet. Their group-01z-was always full of energy, no matter how much time had passed since their last conversation.

"Okay, but for real," Beomgyu said with a laugh. "How did we even start talking about this? Weren't we just talking about that one embarrassing thing I did on stage?"

"You were the one who started the tangent," Heeseung pointed out. "But I mean... it's kind of interesting, right? The way people carry things from their past."

The tone of the conversation had shifted. What started as playful teasing had somehow turned into a deep discussion about childhood, struggles, and things they never really talked about in public.

"I feel like... everyone's got something, y'know?" Heeseung added. "Something they don't talk about."

"Yeah," Beomgyu agreed. "It's weird, though. You can be surrounded by people who care about you and still feel like no one really knows what's going on inside."

Jeongin stayed silent. His fingers curled against the fabric of his hoodie as he stared at the wall. The warmth of their conversation should have been comforting, but all it did was stir something heavy inside him.

Trauma.

Heeseung and Beomgyu were sharing their struggles, laughing at the lighter moments of their past hardships, but Jeongin couldn't bring himself to say anything. His past wasn't something he could laugh about.

He had never spoken about it-not fully. Not to anyone.

The memories sat in his chest like a weight he could never put down. His parents had given him away because he wasn't the son they wanted. The orphanage had been worse, a place that left him with more scars than comfort. He had been hit so many times that the hospital visits blurred together. The first time, he had thought someone would help him. By the tenth, he realized that no one was coming to save him.

He clenched his jaw.

He didn't want to think about it.

"Jeongin?"

Heeseung's voice snapped him back to the present. His heart pounded in his ears. He forced himself to sound normal.

"Hm?"

"You've been really quiet," Beomgyu said, his voice softer than before. "Are you okay?"

Jeongin swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'm fine."

A lie. But it was easier to lie than to explain why his hands were shaking.

On the other side of the dorm, Chan had been walking past Jeongin's room when he heard the conversation. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but something about Jeongin's silence worried him.

And then he heard it.

The hesitation in Jeongin's voice. The weight of something unspoken.

Chan felt his chest tighten.

He knew Jeongin was strong. He knew that the youngest of their group carried more than he let on. But hearing it-hearing that silence, that pain-made Chan's heart ache in a way he couldn't explain.

Chan hesitated for a moment before softly knocking on the door.

Jeongin tensed.

"Hold on, guys," he muttered into his phone before ending the call.

When he opened the door, he was met with Chan's concerned gaze.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want to," Chan said gently, "but... I just want you to know I'm here."

Jeongin exhaled shakily.

For so long, he had carried everything alone. But maybe... maybe he didn't have to anymore.

Maybe, for once, he could let someone in.