reminder to interact with the story!! feel free to comment, vote, etc, i love reading the comments :)
"jungwon! you're home!" both of his parents texted him earlier to meet them at their house for an 'important' dinner and jungwon finally arrived after a long day of practice.
"hey mom," he greeted as she tightly hugged him. "so. hi dad," the boy stood there as the older man realized and initiated the embrace.
they sat down around their dinner table and at first it was quiet. no one knew what to say or how to bring up the topic of the night.
"i know this is going to be hard for all of us, especially you. but you're our son so you deserve to hear it first, but your mother and i," mr. yang began.
"we're splitting up, jungwon," his mother finished.
and just like that, the boy's heart shattered. sure they weren't the absolute perfect family, but he was thankful he even had one.
there was a time where his parents didn't argue every chance that they got. and jungwon would do anything in the world just to get that back.
"you're kidding right? this isn't a funny joke. m-mom why aren't you laughing...?" the boy nervously chuckled as he stared at the sorrow filled faces around him.
"this isn't a joke, honey. this is real life, things like this happen all around us. your dad's taking the first flight out to the states tomorrow."
even though they dropped such big news on the boy, he couldn't really say that he didn't expect it. he spotted his father's passport on his nightstand a few months ago and knew the day was going to come.
"so now you have a choice, you can either stay here in korea or go with your father to new york, it's up to you."
all his best friends were here at home in korea, so the united states wasn't a high choice in mind.
"i'm sorry appa, i'll miss you." he got up from his chair and walked over to his father, giving him the tightest hug he thought he's ever given.
"i'll miss you more, remember to text me! i'll have to approve of any girl you date," the man laughed as he patted the top of the boy's head.
"jungwon, could you give us a second? find a friend's house to go to or find some alone time, we just need to talk for a little," his mother asked.
the boy nodded and ran up to his room, stuffing his study books into his backpack and shoving his shoes on. running back down the stairs, he gave his father one last hug and headed out the door.
...
the jingle of the café door opening rang throughout the building as the boy walked in. finding a vacant table, he fell into his seat and took his books out.
physics was never his finest subject and adding his home situation on top of that wasn't the best approach.
but as if god was answering his prayers, an angel showed up.
"jungwon-ah! how are you man?" jake walked up to the seated boy and took a seat next to him.
"jake hyung, i'm good," the younger put up a smile. "uh so, physics," he pointed to his textbook. "you've taken it right?"
"yeah! my speciality, i really liked it back at home. i was kindaaa good at it, you know."
the older kept going on until he saw the younger zoning out. "oh right!" he coughed, "uh so what do you need help with?"
...
a dreaded hour or so passed while jake sat next to jungwon, running his mouth for however long he could.
"aaaand that's how you solve problem 7!" the older enthusiastically looked up and clapped his hands towards the younger boy.
jungwon however, wanted nothing to do but to close his textbook and call it a day. isn't physics basically just moving objects?
as jake was walking out, jungwon spotted the boy greeting someone in the front.
the mentally exhausted boy looked up and sure enough, that same person was now walking up to his table.
"you didn't come here to study, did you?"
"what do you mean? i'm totally here to study! i'm the smartest kid in scho-, oh shit, oh shit-,"
the boy panicked as his textbook was falling off the edge and eunji couldn't help but notice the still faint bruises around his eyes.
"geez, thanks so much for the help you're so generous!"
"oh shut up." the girl occupied the chair jake was previously sitting in and sighed at the boy.
"you know, a smart friend told me that studying only works when your textbook is facing up, not down, dumbass," eunji mocked.
the boy didn't realize the entire time that it was most definitely obvious he didn't want to study, embarrassingly flipping his own textbook over.
"i'm telling mr. hwang you're faking studying at the café," the smiling girl dramatically gasped, causing a visible panic on jungwon's face.
"no no! please don't! i'm begging you, don't."
"i'm just kidding, i won't, i won't!" eunji quickly raised her hands up, proving her innocence. "why such a panic anyways? you know mr. hwang won't care."
"yeah i know, the man can like barely teach? but anyways, it's not him i'm scared of." eunji listened but gave him a confused look.
"well, if he finds out, he's going to tell my parents and you know i can't have that," he admitted.
"especially after today," jungwon quietly added.
after some silence, jungwon decided that it was probably a good idea to clarify what made today so important.
"my dad uh ... my dad's on the next flight tomorrow out to new york. aaaaand i don't think he's coming back," the boy confessed.
the news caught eunji off guard, but she couldn't say she didn't expect it to happen. "jungwon, i-," the younger began.
"no it's okay! i'm okay! i really don't want to talk about it."
jungwon wasn't the best at expressing his emotions and as much as he hated eunji, he couldn't bare the guilt of dumping everything on her.
"you know what, sit tight. i'll buy us some drinks." the girl walked up the counter and got her regular order, shouting back across to jungwon to get his order.
"get me a java chip frappuccino!" the boy yelled back. "please!"
"do you mind adding extra whipped cream on the frappucino? he deserves it," eunji requested when their drinks were finishing up.
"you're with spilled coffee boy again?" youngbin leaned over the counter and emphasized his hand toward's jungwon's direction. "and you're paying for him too?"
holding the drinks, eunji looked back at the boy scrolling on his phone.
"yeah, surprising i could deal with his ass, i know! but come on, look at him! i'm not making that pay! i'm a good person when i want to be."
"whatever helps you sleep at night!" the barista called out as the girl giggled on her way back to the table.
"huh, maybe you are useful for something, eunji!"the girl sipped her drink and rolled her eyes.
"yeah, yeah, we get it, you don't know how to be nice to me!"
ignoring the girl's words, jungwon took his drink and spun it, observing the cup. "... does this look like more whipped cream than usual? i seriously love whoever did this, thank youuuu!"
the girl couldn't help but chuckle at the way his dimples showed, getting excited over the littlest addition. but quickly silence filled the air as both of them drank their beverages.
"i'm sorry by the way."
"hmm?"
confused by the sudden apology, eunji stopped drinking through her straw and tilted her head.
"for calling you you know, unlovable," jungwon continued as he stared at the table. "i really didn't mean it."
considering what she said was much worse in her eyes, she quickly wanted to reassure the boy that it seriously wasn't a big deal.
"well, thank you for apologizing. i guess we both say stuff we don't mean, maybe we really do have flaws," eunji gave him a quick smile before frantically wiping it off her face.
"yeah more you than me," the boy chuckled, earning rolled eyes from the girl.
as the silence came back, like a switch, jungwon jumped up and got up from his seat.
"uh anyways, i think i should go. i don't want to be seen in public with you for too long," jungwon snorted, causing the girl to lightly shove him.
"oh right!" eunji remembered, shocked that the boy stole her usual joke.
"see you, thanks for the free drink though!" the boy didn't forget to turn and stick his tongue out at her as he walked towards the door.
"i hope i never see you again!" the girl flipped him off, too excited for her own good.
all the customers watching nearby shared confused glances as they watched the teens' exchange. but even if the other couldn't see it, both of them had a slight smile slapped onto their face.
sure he didn't express it well, but jungwon was thankful for the paid drink. and who doesn't like extra whipped cream?
— a/n
whew jungwon going through a RIDE so far