pink champagne [book 2 - mysmes hanahaki trilogy]

1

"Done?" He asked, and Jihyun nodded excitedly, laying the card on the grass. His bright blue eyes were blinding teal when the sunlight caught them, and Jumin thought self-consciously of his pain grey eyes, which usually made him look hollow and pale. Jihyun's eyes were so bright, he could be the sun too, with his skin so pale it was basically translucent and his yellow hoodie.

"Jihyun, I have lemonade. What are you doing with Daddy's camera? Bring it over, please." Jihyun's mom, in her long apron and short hair, closed the screen door behind her as she carried a tray with two sparkling glasses of lemonade on them. Jihyun looked sadly at the precious camera before trotting up to his mother.

Before he could reach her, his foot landed wrong as he ran and he tripped. Crunch. Jihyun's mother looked up from the lemonade she was placing on the table, eye's wide. Jihyun slowly picked himself up, but his weight had crushed the large camera into pieces. Jihyun was crying, but Jumin didn't know if it was because of the camera or his fall.

Jihyun's mother's sharp eyes shot to Jumin and her loud voice instructed him to wait inside. Just as he was walking past Jihyun, looking down at his friend, troubled, Jihyun's father appeared at the door. Jumin shivered, and he wanted nothing but to stay with Jihyun, to protect him.

"Jihyun, is that my camera?" Jumin didn't hear the rest, he was being whisked inside by Jihyun's mother, placed gingerly on the couch before the woman hurried back outside. Jumin turned towards the window, watching with wide eyes as the middle-aged man swung his hand, hard, and an echoing crack split the air. Jihyun stumbled, holding a hand to his cheek, before plopping down in the grass, tears streaming down his face. Jihyun's parents exchanged a few words, then the woman knelt down, placed Jihyun back up on his feet, and pointed at the door. Jihyun nodded to his mother and walked quickly up the porch to the house. Jumin scrambled off the couch as Jihyun entered.

A large, red hand imprinted across Jihyun's cheek, sharp and scary. "You should go home," he said, "We can't play anymore today." Jumin nodded. He didn't know what to say. His parents had never hit him. Instead, he put a hand on Jihyun's small shoulder, squeezed it gently, then walked to the front of the house, then outside. His tears were flowing before he made it out the front door.

...

"You two are confusing."

Jumin looked at the two twins in disbelief. Eighth grade and these two had been causing trouble all year, Saeyoung and Saeran. The two redheads had angelic golden eyes, but as soon as the teacher's back was turned, they wrecked havoc, folding their notes into paper airplanes that soared across the classroom and hit the teacher in the back of the head, saying each other's names during roll call, 'experimenting' in science class and singing the student teacher's hair, sharpening their pencils loudly during silent tests or sneezing obnoxiously. The only way to tell them apart was that Saeyoung wore glasses, but when he opted for contacts, the two were absolutely identical.

"Come again?" Jumin said, rolling his shoulders. Jihyun sat next to him on the swings, drawing patterns in the sand with his dangling sneakers. The playground was full of their class, all jumping and laughing. Jihyun and Jumin usually hung out together on the swings, though, just talking or relaxing in the afternoon. Today they had been interrupted by the two seventh graders, the Choi twins, holding hands and wearing matching striped shirts. Saeyoung was wearing his glasses, and he was the one that had spoken. Although identical, Saeran was usually the shier one, coming up with the plans of havoc rather than actually performing them.

Saeyoung tipped his head to the side, "Jihyun and Jumin. It's confusing. You're two 'J's and you're both rich and always hanging out with each other."

"You're one to talk," Jumin muttered, and Saeran tipped his head the same way Saeyoung had, puzzled.

"Jihyun needs a different name," Saeran said in his light, airy tone. Jumin looked over at his best friend, who glanced up at the twins. His teal hair fell over his eyes.