Strawberry Milk - Jeonglix

4

Jeongin didn't realise how dark it had become until the park around him was empty. All of the children were gone and even the skater boys from across the road had left. The first few stars were visible in the sky and Jeongin knew he was going to get in trouble if he was caught coming home so late. He couldn't be sure what time it was as he always forgot to wear a watch, but he knew he had to get home as quickly as he could.

He got up from the swing he'd been sitting on, lost in his own world for way too long. He hoped his foster parents wouldn't see him arriving home so late, but he doubted they would. Jeongin's family consisted of eight foster kids, including himself, all of which were louder and more troublesome than him, so Jeongin tended to fade into the background. He was relieved he had Seungmin to look out for him though.

Jeongin's house was big, with eight kids living there it has to be. He remembered arriving there for the first time and thinking it was a castle, but it wasn't a castle. It was merely a massive house he didn't belong in.

As he walked down the long drive he saw the living-room light was on. It looked as if a few people were in there, meaning he couldn't walk through the front door without getting caught. Luckily his room was on the ground floor and all he had to do was sneak around the back of the house to reach it.

His bedroom light was on too but the curtains were closed meaning Seungmin was in there. He tapped on the glass and almost immediately, the curtains were pulled open to reveal an anxious Seungmin.

"Where were you? It's gone ten! Do you know how worried I was?" Seungmin interrogated after pushing up the window and stepping back to let Jeongin in. His arms were crossed over his chest as he continued to rant, "you're lucky Rose and Justin are too busy dealing with one of James' outbursts or you'd be in so much trouble."

"Sorry," Jeongin mumbled, almost falling through the window as his shoelace got stuck on the ledge. Seungmin sighed and untangled it for him before closing the window and curtains on the cold night outside.

"Where were you?" Seungmin asked, his voice a lot softer now that he was certain Jeongin was ok.

"I'm sorry, I was at the park all day and I lost track of time," Jeongin admitted, taking a seat on the bottom bunk of his and Seungmin bed and untying his shoelaces. He threw the shoes under the bed so Rose or Justin wouldn't see them.

"Did you start zoning out again?" Seungmin asked, getting a nod from Jeongin in response. "It's alright, as long as you're not hurt or lost. Just get some sleep, ok? You're helping me with choir tomorrow morning because someone is sick."

Jeongin let out a small 'humph,' as he fell backwards on his bed. One of Seungmin's greatest joys was participating in choir every Sunday, but Jeongin had a very different view of it. He would rather stab his hand with a knife than go to church every Sunday, but he had no choice. He wasn't allowed to miss church no matter the circumstances. "Ok," he mumbled after Seungmin had gone back to his homework at their tiny desk beside the window.

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By half-nine that Sunday all of the foster children in Jeongin's family were up and dressed in their Sunday best, ready to head towards their local church where Jeongin's foster father was the pastor. Jeongin didn't want to go, he never did, but he never made a fuss either. He'd seen some of the younger kids make a fuss in the past and he didn't want to get yelled at like they did, so he kept quiet.

He was near the front door with all of the other foster kids, crouching down to put his shoes on. There was a tiny toy soldier clenched in his fist, one that he carried everywhere and it was making it harder for him to tie the laces of his leather shoes. One of his foster brothers groaned at him when they noticed. "Hurry up, freak. Just put the stupid toy down. What are you, five years old?" he spat, purposely knocking his leg into Jeongin as he walked past, causing him to topple on the floor. The toy soldier fell from his grasp, bouncing along the floor until it landed in front of a pair of shoes. Jeongin moved faster than lighting to reclaim it before anybody could stand on it.