song : What You Want by Two Door Cinema Club
***
Yoo Kihyun
Slowly but surely, I rolled over to my phone, grabbing it to turn off the shrill alarm. I rubbed my eyes as my room fell back into silence, dimly lit by the sunlight filtered through my dark blue curtains. I fell back on my pillows with a fwump, raking a hand through my hair as I tried to plan out a day revolving around watching copious amounts of dramas, editing photos & eating my body weight in chocolate chip brioche bread.
I reached for my phone, scrolling through random notifications until my eyes landed upon a text from yesterday.
iMessage
Yesterday 19:53
unknown: hey! it's Changkyun, the guy from the park.
I sat up straight, staring intensely at the phone for a few seconds before I helplessly chuckled.
His shyness was adorable, and although I couldn't exactly remover his face too well, I could remember his panic stricken voice on the phone, which was cute.
As I prepared to type a reply, my bedroom door was swung open by a half shaved Hyungwon.
"Do you fucki-"
"Shh! You have to go, like, now," he started grabbing random clothing items from my wardrobe and throwing them at me. "I'm so sorry but I can't control her. I told her specifically not to come this week."
"What is happening?"
"My Mom is coming over and she doesn't know I share a house with a random guy or that I am more actively involved in modelling than actual school. If she found you here she'd probably burn you at the stake with me so if I was you, I'd bounce."
"Is she really that bad? Can't you just explain to her that I'm just crashing here?"
"She'll think I'm gay."
I snorted. "And you aren't?"
"She don't know that!" He whined desperately. I sighed, standing up. "I'll make it up to you, Kihyun, I promise. Thank you so much. Her train's at 6:30, you can come back for 6."
"I have 10 whole hours to kill," I sighed, ushering him out of the room to give myself privacy. I pulled on some ripped black jeans with vans, grabbing a black hoodie. "do I have time to at least get breakfast?
He pressed some cash into my hands. "Treat yo' self. She's literally in a cab on her way here, go on - go take pretty photos or something! It's lovely outside today."
I instinctively grabbed my camera and wallet leaving the apartment and stepping into the lift. As the doors opened on the ground floor I was greeted by a woman who was almost an identical copy of Hyungwon. She flashed me a rather fleeting smile as I held the lift doors open for her, before her lips returned to a thin line as the doors came to a close.
Intense, I thought to myself.
I stopped by a pretty coffee shop nearby, that had shelves of old, slightly tattered books and pretty flowers arranged on each table, ordering a latte and a breakfast bagel. Once I had ordered, I walked around the near empty joint, taking photos of some of the details up until my breakfast was placed on my table. I then sat down, beginning to eat when I remembered I could go into the shop and edit some photos to kill time, so I reached for my phone to let my manager know, & to also text back the cute guy from the park.
And from there, my head landed on the table with a light thud, for my phone was not in my pocket but on top of my nightstand, back in the apartment.
Im Changkyun
My sister's visit clearly awakened my mother's instincts; this morning she had woken up earlier than usual, and breakfast was more elaborate than ever before. She outdid herself - the table filled with pancakes, waffles, bagels, cereal & whatever else you could potentially crave for breakfast (apart from leftover pizza, if that was your kind of thing).
I blinked at Youngjae, who shared the same look of confusion as he slid into his seat. Jaeun smiled at us both, her fringe around a roller that rested on her forehead.
"Good morning, you two." She said and I nodded at her, reaching for some pancakes and lemon syrup.
"How are you enjoying breakfast, honey?" Mom asked, finally sitting down.
"It's great but you really didn't have to do so much. You have to teach me on how to make such a big breakfast." She bit into a bagel.
"What's the point, it's just you and Doyoung at home? It will all go off, probably." I said.
"For now, yes."
"What do you mean for now?" Dad raised his head from his phone.
Jaeun chuckled, and as if it wasn't a big deal, she dropped the nuke. "Oh yeah, haha, I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant?" Mom stuttered a little and my sister, the only person to beat Jooheon at being unbothered, nodded before proceeding to eat.
"I thought you would have noticed; I ate three plates of food yesterday night and still asked for ice cream," She shrugged. "what's wrong, Youngjae?"
"You had se-"
The entire table yelled in discomfort, much to Jaeun's amusement. After that it was a roulette of praise and congratulations, and she told us that she was 3 months pregnant.
"3 months..that was, Youngjae's birthday- oh god-" I shivered, stopping myself there. "You stayed in my room."
"Under my roof.." Dad stared into the distance, perhaps debating if he wanted to cry with joy or..whatever other feelings he felt.
My sister, as always, just giggled and winked, her reactions to us making me somewhat more comfortable with the idea of her being a mother very soon.
With the news of the pregnancy still hanging in the air (quite literally- Mom took it upon herself to call each family member and tell them), I grabbed my sketchpad and pencils, pulling on an extra jumper to go and sit outside.
As it was getting colder each day, Dad had set for a glass cover to be placed over the pool, and it acted quite literally like a glass lid over it, and it was sturdy enough that we could walk on it and sit, so it became my choice place to sit and draw, let it be day or night (the lights in the pool were still working, so at night they illuminated our garden.
Once outside, I sat somewhere in the middle, placing the sketchbook and pencils before me as I unlocked my phone, the messages app still lacking a notification. I sighed, texting Jooheon around when his break time had started.
Jooheon 💋
Today 10:36
so, Jaeun's pregnant
jooheon 💋: shut up
jooheon 💋: NO WAY
jooheon 💋: doyoung smashed? gotta go congratulate him
god I hate you
jooheon 💋: 🤗
jooheon 💋: has park dude texted yet? I need to book the fittings for my best man suit
no he hasn't but I'm not sweating it, maybe he's busy!
jooheon 💋: so you're sweating it
jooheon 💋: it's the right number and all, maybe he hasn't seen it yet idk, I have a good feeling about him
how come?
jooheon 💋: he just seemed nice? anyway, this stomach ain't gonna feed itself so I'm gonna run to the canteen and find something to eat, meanwhile you go ahead and enjoy your day off
jooheon 💋: to the best of your ability, since I'm not there and I'm quite literally the light in your life. I'll drop by after school bc I'm an angel 😊
good god lee hojoon
you're so far up your own ass you can probably smell the acid in your stomach
jooheon 💋:
jooheon 💋: until later !
I checked the chat with Kihyun, no new messages apart from the one I sent last night. With a sigh, I locked my phone, picking up a pencil.
After the accident, drawing somehow became an escape mechanism from my thoughts, one neither books or even sleep could provide me with. I felt in control of what I put to paper, and even though half of the time it was the faces of those closest to me from memory or anything in my sight in different styles and media, I had a say on how it turned out - a key difference compared to the night of the 1st May 2016.
"What are you drawing today?" Jaeun appeared beside me, peering over my shoulder. When I came back to myself, I realised I had drawn the scenery from yesterday afternoon - the way the hill dipped slightly to the other side of the park with the path on the left, two benches placed before some trees and a person sat with a camera. "Ooh, it looks good! Who is the guy? Did you meet somebody?"
"Yes and no. I have his number and I texted him, but he never replied to me."
"Hmm, maybe he's busy?"
"Or just not interested," I chuckled weakly. "It isn't that deep, he was cute but I guess I can live with it."
"To be honest, you are incredibly adorable too so he's majorly losing out if he doesn't text back," she ruffled my hair. "have you told Dad?"
I shook my head. "I don't think he'll understand."
"Dad is a scientist; being open-minded is his thing, but Mom," she sighed. "I went shopping with her and we saw two girls holding hands in the most platonic way and she was already judging them."
"I'll just keep it to myself. And you, and Jooheon," I shrugged. "maybe Youngjae, if he stops being a little bitch."
Jaeun laughed. "He'll come around. Anyway, I just really came to check up on you, I'll be inside. Yell if anything."
I nodded, and from then on, I remained quiet, opting to turn on some music. Even when it started to rain and I had moved to my room, I remained in silence, the phone on my chest and my eyes glued to the raindrops on the glass. Only when my bedroom door opened to Jooheon did I somewhat come back to life.
"Anything?" He asked, passing me a rolled up McDonalds bag with fries and a chicken burger inside. I grinned. "Don't say I don't spoil you."
"Thanks, and no, nothing," I looked at my notification-less phone, dramatically falling backwards. "it's ridiculous! Its been 21 hours, who takes that long to text when our generation is born with phones attached to their hands? He just isn't interested and gave his number to be nice, maybe it isn't even-"
A sharp ding silenced me, Jooheon watching from the desk chair, eating. I looked at the phone, and then to him. "Answer it, you dweeb."
As if my life depended on it, I unlocked my phone, jabbing the Messages app.
Kihyun 📸
Yesterday 19:53
hey! i'm Changkyun, the guy from the park.
Today 18:14
kihyun 📸 : hello! sorry for the late reply, I went to bed early then went out today and left my phone at home so I couldn't reply. how are you?