Dogko ▽ SoonHee

◯ SMALL TALK ◯

▽Chapter Twenty-Four:

~• SoonHee places the last plate on the side before turning to grabbed the others almost bumping into Jonghyun carrying them in his hands. She looked up at him blankly "Ah, mianhae....I thought you could use some help." He spoke with a soft voice and smile. SoonHee quickly took the heavy plates from him "Thanks. There's space at the sink, if you don't mind helping me wash?" "Ok" his soft smile grew a little bigger as he joined her at the sink. The two washed the dishes and silverware in silence and neither had the nerve to look up from the sink. He didn't know what to do, he wanted to talk to her but didn't know what to say or how to begin. Butterflies fluttered in Jonghyun's stomach and his body felt hot. He was he getting anxious, he might not get time alone with her again. "Your mother is really nice." He spoke suddenly and SoonHee lifted her head, locking eyes with him as he handed her another handful of forks and knives. "She rarely gets mad. You should see her when my cousins come  over. They really know how to test her patience." She ginned at him and he smiled with a laugh. "It's been a long time since all ten of us hung out. Even though parents were involved it was still fun." Jonghyun rinsed the soap off his hands with a grin. "I'm glad, I just hope this didn't  keep you from anything important." His brows furrowed as he shook his head "Not at all. SM always has those parties, I'm not missing anything." "I know that..." SoonHee was silent for a second, once again Aron entered her mind. Every time there was a chance for them to get comfortable again, she thought of how Aron would always be more important to him. She didn't want to get her feelings involved again, she knew how it would end. "I just thought you'd want to stay at the hotel, you usually call Aron around this time right?" Jonghyun froze for a moment as she continued "You two can talk for hours and I know how important that time is for you. I just didn't want to be in the way—" "Actually" He turned off the water and SoonHee looked up, the slight irritation radiating in his tone. "I...don't want to talk about Aron right now." He looked at his hands as he dried them with the nearby towel. Wasn't expecting that.. SoonHee tried to hide her surprised expression and continued to wash the last of the plates "Mianhae..." It went silent again and Jonghyun stood there with nothing to do. Damn it...SoonHee didn't say another word and he turned leaning his back against the counter. His eyes wondered the walls covered his picture frames. He spotted one that was larger than the others, he recognized Nabi and SoonHee instantly. He also recognized the woman was their mother and the unfamiliar man hugging them all their father. "Is that your father?" The question flew out of his mouth without his eyes leaving the picture. SoonHee followed his eyes to the frame on the other side of her. "Neh, smart man. He taught me and Nabi a lot of things you wouldn't normally teach a developing children." She giggled to herself "But it came in handy later in life and he was a kind hearted man who loved his family." "Was?" SoonHee turned off the water and grabbed the towel Jonghyun used "He passed years ago, he fell ill and there was nothing we could do to save him." "Ah....I'm sorry." "It's ok" she stood next to him throwing the towel back on the counter "He spent his last days in happiness. He knows we loved him and we still do." Jonghyun stared at her as she stared at the picture a few feet away before sighing. "It sucks I can no longer see it clearly from here though..." she mumbled folding her arms "You can't?" She turned her head and looked up at him, locking eyes once again. Jonghyun started back in silence taking in the unique details of her face and eyes he'd never noticed before. "You remember when we first met and I told you Nabi and I were born with ReBli?" "Yeah." "Well, other than being born completely blind and regaining your sight later in life. You actually go blind again." "Bwoh??" He stood up with a mixture of concern, surprise and disbelief on his face. SoonHee kept eye contact snickering at his reaction "I probably should have told you this sooner but...I'm starting to notice problems with my eyes so I'm already in the first stage of loosing my sight." Jonghyun looked deeply into her light brown eyes. He could see spots of white that knew weren't there before. "....Do the others know?" She nodded "I told them when we first joined the group. I know it would probably be painful for them too. They choose to be friends with us anyway." She smiled leaning forward to glance at the others in the living room. "I haven't told them that my vision is failing yet though. That's gonna be difficult, and at some point Nabi will go through it too." Jonghyun stood beside her with a confused look on his face "How you be so calm?" SoonHee rose to her feet and faced him "You're going blind. Why didn't you tell any of us??" She tilted her head with a small smile "What are you gonna do after? What about the group? What about you?..." She blinked "Is that all? Or are there more questions coming?" Jonghyun's brows furrowed again as he pouted in frustration "SoonHee..." She couldn't help but giggle at his face and her smile made him feel warm inside despite being caught off guard by the news. "Relax. After so many months, maybe a year, there's a 50/50 chance that I'll get my sight back." "But what if you don't?" "Again, it's fine" she chuckled "I'll just readjust, I'll have to push myself harder and will probably need help to to things but it's nothing new to me or Nabi." Jonghyun opened his mouth to say something else but she pointed her finger at him "No buts, it's fine so don't worry about us ok?" Lowering her hand her eyes wandered to the floor "Even though I know our relationship isn't what it used to be, the last thing I want is my friends treating me differently." Jonghyun stared at her without saying anything before she blinked and looked at him flashing a quick smile. "Come on, we're gonna miss the one good scene in the movie." She playfully hit his arm and walked past to the living room as he followed behind watching her take a seat.