hideaway || seo changbin

09

nine

--✾--

after last night, soyung had no intention of coming to school but she couldn't miss it. even if she wasn't able to pay attention in class, she tried to distract herself from her problems. if she stayed at her brother's apartment, she probably would spend the whole day thinking about the fact she has to go back to her house, so being at school seemed the best option to escape it for the day. but the thought that when school is over, she has to go back and face her parents made her want for the day to last forever.

she is very thankful for changbin, for what he did the previous night. everything she needed was someone who comforted her and didn't ask questions because she didn't want to talk about it and he did that.

"soyung?" sunwoo waves her hand in front of her face gaining her attention back. "are you okay? you zoned off."

"yes, I'm sorry." she shakes her head and looks at him. "I'm fine."

sunwoo doesn't seem convinced at what she says but he didn't want to insist. he knows she'll tell him whenever she's ready.

"hey, do you want to go out tonight?" he asks her. her gaze is stuck on the table, so he knows she's zoned off again. he grabs her hand and squeezes it, snapping her off her thoughts once again. he looks deeply into her eyes and sighs. "I know you're not okay soyung and it's normal to have bad days. I want you to know that whenever you need to vent or maybe a shoulder to cry on, you can count on me, yeah? I don't want you moping around. what I want to see is your beautiful smile."

"thank you sunwoo."

"so, do you want to go out tonight?" he asks once again.

"I can't tonight. I have this thing with my parents." she plays with her hands on top of the table. "maybe tomorrow?"

"yes, of course."

(...)

the last bell of the day rang. it is time to leave school and go home. she's not ready. she doesn't think she'll ever be ready to face her parents. hyunjin offered to walk her home and be with her when it happens but she kindly refused. she doesn't want anyone involved besides her brother, who has been messaging her all day making sure she is okay and it has been like that since she told him about her bruises.

she turns around the corner and sees her house. her pace becomes slower as the fear becomes bigger. despite her slow steps, she arrives at the house's doorstep quickly. she takes her house keys of her backpack and opens the door in front of her house. this time, the house is quiet. there's no yelling.

"soyung, is that you?" her mother's voice is heard from the kitchen. "come here." soyung drops her backpack and blazer on the couch and walks to the kitchen, finding her mother against the counter, spreading something on two pieces of bread. she looks at her smiling after placing the two slices together. "you must be hungry." the woman holds out the sandwich and soyung takes it looking suspicious at her mother. "your dad will be home soon. then, we need to talk yeah? go get change and rest a bit. I'll call you when he arrives."

soyung nods and leaves the kitchen with the sandwich still on her hand. she grabs her belongings from the couch and heads upstairs to her room which still looks the same as she left it. she throws the backpack to her desk and hangs the blazer on the closet. she gathers some shorts and a sweater as some underwear and leaves to the bathroom. turning on the shower to let the water warm up, she starts stripping down her uniform.

after the shower, she dresses her clothes and leaves the bathroom, not without tidying it up. as she enters her room, she picks up her phone from where she previously placed it and checks her messages.

hyunjinnie

hey, are you okay? did your parents say anything? let me know if you need something.
sent 6:32pm

yes, I'm fine. I haven't talked to them but my mom seemed strangely nice today.
sent 6:46pm

changbin

hey, how are you? I got really worried yesterday and if you need someone to talk to, count on me.
sent 6:38pm

hii, I'm okay. thanks you.
sent 6:48pm

she locks her phone as soon as she hears her mother calling for her. her phone goes into her pocket and she leaves the bedroom, going down the stairs to the living room where she finds both of her parents sitting on different couches.

"sit down here please." her dad asks with his usual deep voice. every time she hears his voice lately, he's yelling so hearing it so serene it is weird for her ears.

"what is this about?"

"straight to the point I see." her dad sighs and turns to her. "so, we realized that nothing will be solved with fighting. your mother and I decided to take some couple therapy appointments to fix things."

"when did that happen?"

"a few days after you left." her mother answers. "we decided to talk about it but we got into a fight again, so I remembered something one of my coworkers had told me before about couple therapy and how it helped her sister or something. I proposed that to your father and the next day, he ended up accepting it."

"I'm happy that at least you're trying."

--✾--

unedited
words: 924

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