what nobody knows; jinhwi ff

chapter seventeen

He glanced at Jinyoung's tent. Was it just him, or was there just a little light inside there? He tiptoed quietly to the tent and put his ear against the zipper. No sound. He must be asleep then.

".. yeah, hello?" Daehwi heard Jinyoung's voice inside the tent. On a second thought he might not be asleep. His phone must've been on vibrate and that's why he didn't hear anything. "Oh, manager.. I'm on the camping trip. Why'd you call?"

"..."

"Oh.. my mom's phone number? Why do you need it?"

"..."

"I'll text it to you. But tell her not to call me. Say that I'm fine, but I'm sleeping right now. Anyway, just, whatever you do, tell her not to bother me."

"..."

"What do you mean why? If she calls me, I.. I won't be able to focus. I know, I know, she's my mother, but please. Tell her not to."

"..."

"Okay. Thanks. Bye."

Jinyoung hung up. And guessing from that phone conversation, he must not want to talk to his mother in fear of missing her more. Daehwi suddenly remembered his mother too. She rarely ever calls Daehwi. It's like she calls once a month only. And when Daehwi calls her, she doesn't even bother answering or calling back. Meanwhile Jinyoung's mother willingly wanted to talk to him everytime, but he just pushes her away. Knowing that, Daehwi felt that it was a little unfair. If it was him, he wouldn't hesitate to talk to his mother all night.

Jinyoung was still his opposite here too. While Daehwi's mother has no time for him, Jinyoung has no time for his mother. Or rather, he doesn't want to have time for his mother. Daehwi sighed. They're both so different, it makes him want to switch their lives.

Daehwi stepped back, startled as the zipper to Jinyoung's tent suddenly opened. "O-oh. Daehwi, you're still awake?" he asked, surprised to see Daehwi right outside his tent. Daehwi cleared his throat and scratched his head, not sure how to explain the fact that he was eavesdropping on Jinyoung just now.

"I.. was just passing by. Because of Dongmyeong, I couldn't sleep," he lied. Jinyoung nodded in understanding and zipped his tent closed, also holding a flashlight. "I was just answering a call. Teacher Dongho suddenly called me and told me that manager hyung texted me that he was going to call me soon, so I waited for a while in my tent. That's why I have my phone," he explained why he had his phone with him. Daehwi looked at the time on Jinyoung's phone. 11:10 PM. So it was almost the middle of the night.

"Oh.. are you going to return it now?" Daehwi asked. Jinyoung nodded, turning the flashlight he was holding on and off. "Mm. Do you want to come with me?" he asked. Daehwi looked around at the other tents and they really were the only people awake. In the end he agreed, walking alongside Bae Jinyoung on almost the middle of the night? Sounds risky, but Daehwi won't have that mindset tonight.

Silently, the 2 walked together along the tents, both holding their respective flashlights. The night sky looked beautiful, thought Daehwi. All the stars were shining bright and though the moon was currently crescent shaped instead of a circle, it still looked nice (but it would've been perfect if the moon was a circle tonight). Jinyoung cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"You know, some people say, that when 11:11 PM comes, you're supposed to make a wish," he said, holding up his phone with "11:11 PM" marked on its clock. "Have you made a wish, Daehwi?"

Daehwi shook his head. He's never really believed in those wish legends. He has this memory in his head of when he was 4, and it was Christmas. His mother still lived in Korea and his father was still alive. Though his memories were a bit choppy he still vividly remembers wishing for Santa to give him a popper (a machine that makes popcorn. And 4 year old Daehwi loved popcorn) but in the morning what came was a pooper-scooper for Daehwi's old dog (Daehwi doesn't remember his name anymore; but he knows that dog died when he was 8. It was because Donghyun accidentally fed it chocolate, and chocolate isn't good for dogs). Ever since then he's stopped making wishes, not even to Santa.