between us | hyunin

ix | fomalhaut

"i got beaten up pretty bad and would've gotten worse if someone - your sister - hadn't stepped in and distracted the person for a couple of moments. very brave sister, you have."

hyunjin smiled proudly. "wow...okay. so i guess that's why you haven't been at school recently?" he said, looking at the bruises decorating jeongin's face and assumably the rest of his body, too.

"yeah. sorry about that."

sorry? why was jeongin apologising? he was literally the one who'd been punched.

"you'll have to find another partner for the history project, by the way. i was forced to work with jaehyun." hyunjin pulled a face and watched jeongin's reaction carefully. 

he got none. 

"but there's this other nice boy i'm working with - changbin." jeongin nodded his head in what hyunjin supposed was approval. 

"although-" hyunjin was about to tell jeongin of his suspicions - that jaehyun was bullying changbin, but stopped himself. it wasn't really his place to say that, and besides, it probably wouldn't help anything. not when he had a feeling that jaehyun bullied jeongin as well. 

"although what?" jeongin questioned. 

"although i'm not sure working in a group of three is fair for the rest of the groups," hyunjin said, only half-lying. it wouldn't have been fair if jaehyun was actually helping, but since only changbin was the only one working in class and hyunjin was the only one (he hoped changbin wasn't, anyway) working on the project at home, they really only had a group of two. 

"yeah. i guess." jeongin motioned for hyunjin to join him on the rock, moving over so there was space. 

hyunjin left his shoes away from the water and joined the boy, his heart beating; maybe, just maybe, jeongin was showing signs of friendliness. 

"so what've you been doing while we're all dying at school."

"pretending to be at school so i don't get in trouble with my mum." jeongin laughed half-heartedly. 

"relatable. she didn't notice-" the younger shook his head. 

"i told her i fell down the stairs. i think she'd prefer that lie over the truth, so..." he shook hsi head. 

"ha, funny, that's what my sister tried to say to me."

"your family are copycats," jeongin joked, a real smile lighting up his face for the first time. despite old bruises covering his face, hyunjin thought that this was the definition of real beauty. 

"oi," he said, shoving jeongin lightly. the younger pretended to be upset and made to get up. hyunjin dragged jeongin by the hand back down, blushing because oh my god, i'm holding jeongin's hand. 

he must've tugged too hard, because jeongin tripped on an uneven spot on the rock and fell head-first into the creek below. 

holy shit holy shit is he okay what did i do

hyunjin began panicking every second that jeongin stayed underwater. 

did he hit his head oh my god wh-

finally, jeongin's head broke above the surface of the water.

"haha," the boy laughed at hyunjin, showing no respect despite his younger status. "you were worried about me."

"not at all," hyunjin lied, which only made jeongin laugh more. 

"it's quite deep here anyway, i've dived off there before," he said. 

"well you better watch out-" without warning, hyunjin jumped into the water beside jeongin, splashing the younger. 

"oi!" jeongin spluttered his mouth full of water and his hair wet. 

he quickly splashed hyunjin back. hyunjin found he didn't care; the shining light in jeongin's eyes was enough to keep him going for days. he'd succeeded. in this moment, jeongin was happy. 

they stayed in the water for a while, occasionally splashing each other. neither of them wanted to leave, but they both knew their parents would probably send someone out looking for them if they didn't return home soon; it was after breakfast, and probably a few hours had passed. 

as hyunjin trudged home in the opposite direction to jeongin, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd finally made a friend in jeongin. 

only time would tell; meaning, he'd probably find out on monday. 

because like the idiot he was, he'd forgotten to ask for the boy's number. 

hyunjin arrived home to his mother, who was waiting anxiously at the door. 

"where were you? i was going to take you and kyuri out today to celebrate my new job, but i wake up to find your bed empty!" hyunjin rolled his eyes; it wasn't as if she'd found that exact same thing with his sister before. 

"i was just talking to a classmate - friend - at the creek." how hyunjin hoped that jeongin was no longer just a classmate. surely, surely, those laughs that has escaped jeongin's mouth were a symbol of new friendship. 

"next time, leave a note." hyunjin nodded and headed into the kitchen where his sister was chewing on some cereal. in that light, you'd never be able to tell that kyuri had had a face of bruises a few days ago. 

the day ended up being just as great as the start had been. their mother had took them to a mall and shoved a note in each of their hands, insisting that they go spend it on themselves. 

she left them to wander wherever they please, and because shopping was not his forte, hyunjin followed kyuri into a jewelry store. 

"you buying a ring for your girlfriend?" kyuri laughed when she noticed that hyunjin had followed her. 

"ha. i wish," hyunjin said, wondering what it was that made girls so obsessed with shiny gold stuff. 

nevertheless, hyunjin had to admit that the blue earrings that kyuri bought for herself were quite nice. but still, he didn't see it as money well spent. 

after going through many hobby shops and deciding nothing particularly interested him, he pocketed the note he'd been given. maybe he'd pay for additional dance lessons; that was his main interest. 

when they somehow managed to bump into their mother again despite the pushy crowd in the mall, it was late afternoon. 

"hyunjin! kyuri! thank god, i thought i'd never find you again."

"you could've rung us," kyuri said, fingering the phone in her pocket. hyunjin rolled his eyes at her - she always had her phone with her, even if they were just walking down to the 7/11 two blocks away from their house. 

"i doubt you'd heard your phone over the noise," his mother reasoned. 

after that, the family of three decided that it would be best to go home. kyuri, in typical kyrui fashion, spotted a sushi shop on the way home and insisted they buy their dinner there ("come on, why don't we have a proper celebration?" "with sushi?" his mother had asked. "yeah, why not."

altogether, it was the best day hyunjin had had in a long time. 

in fact, it was almost a miracle. 

a miracle that he'd been able to get jeongin to open up, even if it was just once.

a miracle that his mother had been able to find work. 

and he was thankful for it all.

----

lol ok i know it's not thanksgiving

but here's some more fluff ;-;

thx for 300 reads too ily how did this happen

please please please vote and comment so i know who i can thank for reading my trash

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byeeee and happy lunar new year! 新年快乐！