𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐲 ☾︎ binwoo

C H P - 29

So he nodded, and even though he wanted to focus on just how great it felt to be held by the man who commanded the stars, he could only think about how tense breakfast was going to be.

----

-5 Days Remaining-

"Morning, Bin!" the pinkette's mother greeted cheerfully. She went to hug her son, spatula still in hand, yet stopped entirely when she saw the look on Dongmin's face. "And... Dongmin? Why do you look so tired?" Her arms fell back at her sides, and she tilted her head, eyeing him worriedly. Dark hair fell out of her ponytail in thin wisps, showing the two boys how hard she must have worked to prepare breakfast for everyone. Dongmin couldn't just ruin all of that effort by being in a bad mood.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't sleep all that well," he assured. He wasn't going to tell her the whole story, though. She didn't need to know that he was up all night on the verge of tears.

"I swear!" The woman cocked her hip out, pointing the silver spatula at her son accusingly. "Moonbin, were you snoring in his ear all night? Next time you should listen to me when I tell you to--"

"No, don't worry." Dongmin stepped in front of his bestfriend, who seemed like he was about to blow off his top. He looked so betrayed, and the older would have found it funny if it had happened at any other point in time. But today... He didn't want to deal with this today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. He wasn't going to be in the mood to deal with this until after Moonbin had gone and his heart had healed completely. "He wasn't snoring in my ear all night, but," he drawled, trying his hardest to seem like his normal self. Still, with just the look in the woman's eyes, he knew she understood what was going on. After all, she was pretending, too: pretending to be okay. "He wasn't what kept me up. Rather, it was our puppies clawing at the door."

Her arm fell back at her side as she let out a quiet, "Oh." She knew full well that he wasn't up because of the puppies; they had slept with her and her husband all night. She forced a smile. Neither of them wanted to face it. Neither of them could face it. It was the simple lie of: "I'm fine, I'm okay," that would get them through. For now, all they could depend on was that lie. "Well, why don't you two sit down? I'm sure you're hungry." She nodded at them, falling back. She turned to the sink, and Dongmin had a feeling her smile had fallen, too.

The dark-haired male bowed to her slightly, though she couldn't see it. He faced Moonbin, placing his hand on the small of his back. "Hey," he whispered. "I'm your support today, aren't I? I'm here, it will all be okay." He pulled away and stood in front of him. He made a curving gesture with his hands, as if he were tugging at the corners of his lips. "Smile, okay?"

Moonbin grinned, his heart breaking just a little.

And from then on, it was the lie and the fake smiles that would get them through.

----

"So, how's work?" Moonbin's mother questioned lightly, looking at the man the pinkette had been trying so hard to ignore. "I'm sure it's... gotten easier, yeah?" It was obvious she was trying to ease the tension in the air, but it only made everything worse.

The man began to speak in response, and Dongmin blocked out what he was saying completely. He focused only on how harshly Moonbin was grasping his chopstick. It looked just about ready to break with how much pressure was being forced upon it.

His eyes searched the other's facial features in concern, heart speeding up as it finally made sense in his mind. When the pinkette told him to be his support, he didn't mean: "Help me when I break down."

No.

He meant: "Help me so I don't break down."

Pressure suddenly fell upon Dongmin's chest, and he wouldn't lie. It hurt. It hurt like hell. He reached for his friend's hand under the table, not hesitating to intertwine their fingers. He squeezed, and he realized that he wasn't just squeezing for Moonbin, but he was squeezing for himself.

The younger squeezed back just as hard. Their hands turned white, and it felt like their bones were breaking, but it didn't hurt quite as much as the pain in their chest.

The pinkette's grip on his utensil loosened until, eventually, it slipped out of his hand. Nobody noticed, though. Nobody wanted to notice. Nobody wanted to acknowledge the fact that something was wrong.

"Moonbin, listen."

The pink-haired male's eyes flicked up towards his father. He tried to block out the disgust gnawing at his stomach by swallowing thickly. Even then, he still felt sick. "What?" he asked calmly, too calmly.

"I don't want you to hate me anymore than you already do, but I guess I'm always going to be the bearer of bad news." Moonbin's father laughed gently, although nobody found what he said to be the slightest bit funny. It was like he enjoyed this. "The Kims' family leader has fallen ill, so they need to bring you in early. They don't have enough people take care of him and the household chores, so he has requested that you come as early as possible." He licked his lips, as they had become quite dry, and continued on, "Your flight is scheduled for tomorrow at 2 P.M. Your mother and I will be coming with you, just to set things up and make sure everything goes smoothly. Be ready."

The sound of a chair screeching echoed throughout the room, and Dongmin was surprised to find that it wasn't Moonbin that stood up, but himself. "What the hell do you mean!?" he exclaimed, shocking even himself with how angry he had become. "Do you find comfort in the idea that you're selling your son off as a servant because you fucked up with one of your clients?! Huh!?" He didn't intend on letting out everything he was thinking, but now that he had started, he wasn't going to stop. A pair of arms wrapped around his waist, but he ignored them completely. "Answer me! What kind of father--!"

"Dongmin."

The older's words fell short, his mouth closing. He turned his head to see Moonbin behind him, looking hurt and worried and hopeless. The pressure worsened, and within an instant, his world fell apart around him.

"Dongmin, please..."

"I..." He relaxed the muscles he hadn't even realized he had tensed up. He took a small intake of breath, shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry. It wasn't my place..." He looked down, and his heart cracked within his chest. "Moonbin, can we please go up to your room?" he asked quietly. "Please, I just need to cool down for a second."

The younger nodded, unwrapping his arms from around his friend. He said nothing.

Dongmin frowned. He took a few steps forward, turning back only to smile sadly at the woman who had worked so hard to learn to say, "I'm okay." He bowed to her again. "Thank you for the food. It was great..." And without waiting to hear her response, he continued on, up the stairs.

Still, the both of them said nothing.

----

5k??? How even???? I'm so????

-Author 🖤