"H-hello everyone, my name is Gray, I am, uh -" Gray trailed off and shifted uncomfortably, looking down at her hands. "I am a new alter in the DIDyouknow system, to be more specific, I am a ghost alter. If you want me t-to do a 'Meet the Alters' video, please leave a comment down below."
Seonghwa found himself having to make the video louder due to how quiet she spoke. After three months of disappearing off the face of the earth, DIDyouknow had decided to upload videos again, and Seonghwa was beyond relieved.
He'd accidentally stumbled across the channel one day, and, thinking it was some sort of prank, watched a video of theirs. It turned out to be intriguing, and he suddenly couldn't stop watching, wanting to find out more about life with DID.
Of course, his other friends didn't know he watched DIDyouknow. If they did....
Seonghwa shuddered and shook the thought away, burrowing deeper inside his covers.
"Some of you have been wondering w-where we went, and, um, we had to take a break for a bit. M-maybe Soomin or Aurora will make a video about it later, or the host, b-but for now this is the most I can say, s-sorry."
She ducked her head, finally looking at the camera, and let out a startled laugh. "W-wow, this mask is kind of scary." She reached a hand up to her face and traced over the X's covering her eyes. "And the LED lights are blue! I wonder what it would look like in the dark?"
"Anyways," she cleared her throat, embarrassed. "Today, I'll be explaining w-why non-human alters are created."
Seonghwa chuckled, not caring that the video was thirty minutes long or that college was starting tomorrow.
He was going to learn about non-human alters.
***
"Joong, wake up!" Someone shook his shoulder and he groaned, not wanting to get up.
"'M tired," he whined, hugging his pillow.
"Well, if you hadn't spent so much time making that video yesterday, you would've gone to bed earlier! Plus, it's almost lunchtime and Composition starts at one o'clock!" Yunho barely bit back a laugh as Hongjoong shot up from the bed, hair sticking up in all different directions as he checked the clock on his bedside table.
"Oh my gosh! Hyung, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"Hey!" Yunho tugged the blanket off the younger boy with a flourish. "I just got here, and the only reason why I'm here is because your mom called."
"Why'd she call?"
"Because she had to go to work and couldn't wake you up."
Hongjoong flushed in embarrassment and promptly kicked a laughing Yunho out of his room, mumbling something about how he had to get ready and how he didn't want him to watch.
Chuckling, the older boy made his way downstairs and pulled up Hongjoong's video on his phone and almost choked from the amount of views it already had.
"Joong-ah!" he called, trying to process how his friend had so many fans.
"What is it, hyung?"
"Your video already has 1 million views!"
"Really? I'll check after I take a quick shower!"
Yunho heard a door slam from somewhere inside the house and lay down on the couch, scrolling through the comments underneath the video, one catching his eye in particular.
park_marsbars
wait...didyouknow formed a new alter after their hiatus? are they okay?
Maybe Joong's fans aren't so hopeless after all...
He hit the 'like' button and continued to scroll through, occasionally stopping to read a comment or two before Hongjoong came downstairs, yawning while pulling on a shirt.
"Joong, I liked a comment from your account."
"Okay." Hongjoong yawned again, still groggy despite taking a cold shower a few moments ago.
"C'mon, let's go get lunch. What do you want to eat?" Yunho stood up from where he was sitting on the couch and held out an arm.
"Honestly -" Hongjoong grabbed on and the older boy pulled him up. "I don't care. Surprise me!"
He grinned cheekily at Yunho, who rolled his eyes. "Fine."
***
Hongjoong shivered in his seat at how incredibly cold the room was, earning a concerned look from his friend.
"Joong, you're incredible. How are you cold when you're already wearing a hoodie?"
Yunho got a glare from the younger boy in response and laughed before digging around in his bag.
"Do you want mine as well?" Yunho offered, holding it up for him.
"No, it's okay hyung. If I wear your hoodie I might actually fall asleep on the first day of class," he whispered through chattering teeth. "Plus, the food coma hasn't even hit yet."
"Hongjoong-ah," Yunho pushed the sweater into his friend's arms. "We're thirty minutes early. You can sleep."
The younger boy gasped, a look of betrayal on his face. "H-hyung! Why are we so early?"
"To get good seats for the lecture. Also, I couldn't find the library."
"Why didn't we just stay in the restaurant?" he whined, putting on the hoodie.
"Did you even see how many people were in line after us? You're really something else, Kim Hongjoong." Yunho shook his head in mock disappointment and Hongjoong hit him on the arm.
"Shut up and let me sleep," he muttered, closing his eyes and resting his head on the older boy's shoulder.
"You're so annoying," Yunho huffed, lightly flicking his forehead.
"Stop it."
"Fine, you big baby."
"You're the baby."
"Do you want to sleep or not?"
"Okay, okay."
Yunho counted to three and turned to look at Hongjoong, who was already knocked out cold.
He laughed to himself, took a photo of the boy and sent it to their group chat, his phone immediately buzzing with a notification.
group of humans
human coffee
wow, hyung looks so peaceful sleeping
human sculpture
he does, right? all his old man wrinkles disappear
human teddy bear
hey, respect your hyung :')
human sculpture
your :') emoji says differently
human teddy bear
hm
human coffee
you know he'll see this when he wakes up right?
human teddy bear
don't worry
the worst he'll do is smack me on the arm
Just as he'd sent the message, his phone buzzed with another notification.
do not reply
Yunho, can we talk?
"Hyung, don't reply. He's a jerk." Hongjoong's eyes had opened and he was squinting at the screen. "Can't believe he was shameless enough to text you."
"Hey, shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"I couldn't because of how much my phone was buzzing."
"Ah, sorry." Yunho smiled sheepishly as his phone buzzed with another message.
do not reply
I know you're seeing my messages
do not reply
Please just talk to me
do not reply
Look, I'm really sorry
"Just block him, he's so annoying."
The older boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We've been friends since we were kids, it's a bit hard to do that."
"He bullied you! You should know there's a reason why I'm selectively mute."
"Joong, I know, but -"
The lecture hall doors burst open and in walked the very person they'd been talking about. Hongjoong's eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at the boy and anyone sane enough would've backed away right then and there.
Clearly, this guy was not sane.
The closer he got, the more rapid Hongjoong's breathing became and he hated it, hated that he couldn't tell this boy to go back to whatever hellhole he came from, hated that Yunho had to calm him down when he had problems of his own to deal with.
"Joong, it's okay," he muttered, squeezing his hand. "You'll be fine. I'll tell him off if he tries anything."
Hongjoong nodded, opening his mouth to speak but no words came out, so instead he pulled out his phone.
Kick his ass, hyung.
"What, are you two dating?"
The sound of his irritatingly deep voice made the younger boy want to pull his hair out and scream, because this was the one person he didn't mind Jade beating up.
"No." Yunho's voice was firm and Hongjoong smiled to himself, glad that his friend was confident. "We're friends, which is something you wouldn't know much about. Why are you even here?"
"My dad mentioned you were in his class."
The boy paused for a beat, eyes wandering over to the brunette and did a double take.
"Wait, you're San's stepbrother!"
How do you know?
"I saw you at your house, the week right before orientation. Remember?"
Hongjoong felt an ugly feeling rise in him as he typed out his answer, wondering why the hell the universe hated him so much.
So you're my stepbrother's friend and the person who bullied Yunho? You should be grateful I'm even letting you talk right now.
"He's right." Yunho glared at the other boy and stood up so that they were eye-to-eye. "After all those years of lying to my face and making my middle and high school years hell, you have the fucking audacity to talk to me?"
Oh, damn, Jade said from somewhere inside his head. He's mad. I don't think I've ever seen Yunho mad before.
"I know, right?" he whispered, trying to focus on what his friend was saying.
"You're a real piece of work, Song Mingi," Yunho spat, jabbing a finger in the other boy's chest.
"Yunho -"
"No. Fuck you. Don't talk to me again."
"I -"
"Get out or I will be telling your father."
The door opened again and Hongjoong turned to see who it was, hands shaking as soon as he saw who it was and hurriedly pulled on his friend's shirt, trying his best to ignore the pressure that was building up in his head.
"Joong, what is it? Are you okay?"
He nodded hurriedly and typed out, Seonghwa.
Seonghwa, who was currently making his way up the stairs to where they were.
Hyung, I still have his wallet that I found in the restaurant! This is so embarrassing...
"Please, Yunho. Just hear me out."
The older boy snapped his head in Mingi's direction, teeth clenched, and pointed at the door. "It's right there. Get out."
"Woah." Seonghwa came up to them and put an arm around Mingi's shoulders, raising an eyebrow at Yunho. "Isn't that a bit harsh? He's just trying to apologize."
The way he talked made Hongjoong wish Jade had really beaten him up that day. What made him even worse was how good-looking he was and the younger boy immediately knew that he'd probably been the type to bully other people in high school.
"Who are you?" Yunho asked, mirroring the other boy's expression, and Hongjoong was taken away at how good at bluffing Yunho was, because his friend definitely knew who Seonghwa was.
"Park Seonghwa, nice to meet you." He gave a small bow and looked over at Hongjoong, who was trying to seem as disinterested as possible without wincing from how strong his headache was getting.
"Who's your friend over here?"
"Hongjoong."
"Is he deaf?"
Maybe it was just a thing that handsome people were incredibly annoying, because the younger boy had never wanted to strangle someone as much as he had in that moment.
"No. He's just uninterested."
"In you and Mingi?" Seonghwa let out a light chuckle. "Please, who wouldn't be? This is something out of a K-drama, I should've brought popcorn for this!"
Hongjoong stood up and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, doing his best to prevent Yunho from doing something he would regret.
"Really, though, you should forgive him. It's not like a little bit of bullying is going to affect the rest of your life!"
Yunho took a step towards Seonghwa but Hongjoong got there first - SMACK!
He'd slapped Seonghwa with everything in him, blood roaring through his ears and an immense amount of pressure building up in his head. Seonghwa staggered, staring daggers at him as he held his cheek with his hand. Yunho and Mingi stood in shock as he raised his hand again, ready to hit him but also ready to black out.
"Joong!" Yunho said weakly, grabbing his wrist.
In that moment, he switched, and Jade tugged at her arm while glaring at Hongjoong's friend to let her go. "Let go," she snarled, raising her other hand. "He clearly doesn't know what it's like to be hit!"
"And you would?" Seonghwa snorted, not even bothering to hide his contempt. "Don't make me laugh."
Jade grinned and tilted her head to the side, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "You fucker." She swung her fist back, hitting him across the face like she'd done that day when he'd gone into Hongjoong's studio except this time, she made sure to hit him harder. "You're telling my friend to forgive this pathetic excuse of a human?" She took a step closer and gave him her signature death glare. "Fuck off."
"And you -" She turned to Mingi, who'd had his mouth hanging open in shock but promptly closed it once he saw that Jade was talking to him. "If Yunho never forgives you, I give you permission to blame it on your friend. You know, the one who just got beat up by San's stepbrother."
Seonghwa's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror as he processed the words she'd said, making her throw her head back in laughter. "You didn't know that I was his stepbrother, the one that he calls a freak all the time?"
All Seonghwa could do was watch as the boy in front of him doubled up with laughter, too many thoughts running through his head in order for him to process them all.
"Get out," Jade suddenly stopped laughing and the abrupt change made Seonghwa's blood run cold. "Get out before I really kill you. I'll give you five seconds."
Mingi paled and grabbed his friend's arm, dragging him out of the lecture hall before she'd started counting.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked after the two had left.
"Yeah. Just a bit...shocked. Jade, right?"
She nodded and sat back down, putting her feet up on the seat in front of her.
"Did you slap him?"
"Nah. That was our Joong," Jade didn't bother hiding her smile. "No one in the system disapproves of that slap. That boy had it coming."
"But what Seonghwa said really got to him, didn't it?"
"It got to me too," she admitted, looking at Yunho. "We've been through a lot, and I'm pretty sure I have the most trauma out of everyone in the system. To say that we don't know what it's like to be hit....it's an insult. It reminds us of everything we've been through and I really can't blame Hongjoong for getting so angry, because I wouldn't want anyone to go through what we've had to. It's horrible. No one should be treated like that."
"And Joong doesn't remember it?"
"He does, but only a certain....certain period of time, after he integrated with Glass, another one of our protectors. It was painful, but he did it, and I'm proud of him. I don't know if he wants to continue integrating, but I hope he doesn't. I don't want my memories to ever become his. Not ever."
"Have you told him this?"
She sighed and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "No. Integrating is his choice."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You're not Hongjoong's father. But for what it's worth," she flashed him a crooked smile. "You're not too bad, Yunho. I see why Gray likes you so much."
"Thanks," he muttered, trying to seem nonchalant. Inside, he was crying with joy because Jade actually liked him, something that he thought was impossible.
"No problem."
sorry everyone, school's been incrediblyyyy hectic :/
we have a break soon though, so hopefully i'll be able to update more!
hope you liked the chapter!