Antithesis | StrayKids

Chapter 8:

Seungmin slammed the door, locked it and blocked it with his dresser. He heard banging and distorted yelling between his sister and the man on the other side. Seungmin curled up on the floor and let out a muffled sob.

His vision became blurry as he slowly shut his eyes, leaning back against the dresser.

What had he done to deserve this?

*****

Jeongin's P.O.V.

Jeongin woke up to a pounding headache and the bright rays of the sun shining in on his face, blinding him.

"Fuck..." he muttered, sluggishly sitting up on the bed, only to be struck by a sharp pain in his head. After resting for a moment, he took in his surroundings and noted that his sweater had been tossed aside. He was in Hyunjin's room and the whole house was silent. He fumbled around the bed covers for his phone, then noticed it on the ground a few feet away from him.

"Oh come on..." Jeongin groaned, running his fingers over cracked screen.

He picked up his hoodie as he slowly stood up, a frown on his face from the headache. Jeongin didn't really get bad hangovers like his friends; typically only headaches.

'Fuck,' he thought, 'there's school today.' Tiptoeing down the stairs, he noticed a few passed out people, Minho on the couch and Hyunjin with a girl on the floor. He looked at the clock and sighed, '8:15, shit.' No matter how bad his headache was, Jeongin knew he couldn't afford to skip a day of school, especially after going to a party on a school night. If his parents didn't want to strangle him now, they would if he spent the day lazing around.

Rushing upstairs, he rummaged through Hyunjin's drawers, and found his old uniform. A little snug but it would have to do. He grabbed his bag and slipped on his jacket, then picked up his phone to call a taxi.

*****

Jeongin regretted his decision.

At lunch, he sat with his friends and some girls. They were being far too loud for his sensitive ears.

A girl, whose name Jeongin had forgotten, poked him on the shoulder. If he wasn't feeling like his head weighed 40 pounds, he would have snapped at her.

"Ugh... what do you want?" He asked, stretching slowly before facing her.

Her face was red and Jeongin tried not to roll his eyes.

"Jeongieee... me and some of the girls were wondering if you wanna get pizza after school?" She looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes, a few other girls that had been listening doing the same.

'Shit,' he thought, 'I need an excuse.' Just then, he remembered that he was supposed to meet Seungmin after school to work on their project.

"Sorry girls, I have a project to finish." They awed in disappointment. "Maybe another time." He faked a smile to which the girl beside him blushed at.

Ugh.

The bell finally rang and Jeongin stood up to go to his last class.

Seungmin had not been in photography and Jeongin couldn't help but worry slightly. He had texted him a few times to ask if they were still meeting up, but he got no reply.

*****

Half an hour after school ended, Jeongin decided to leave. It was obvious the boy wasn't going to show up. As he stood up to leave the empty building, his phone buzzed signaling a text.

Emo freak: Sorry I'm not able to meet up with you, if you still want to work on the project, I'll be at my house but you'll have to get here by yourself.
Emo freak: Sorry again.