1 year ago
J E O N W O N W O O
their arguements were deafening.
"jihoon, you're fucking stupid!" jeonghan roared. the shackles that he had on his wrisrs made quite a loud noise. i was worried that the headmaster would come down here. "we were in front of the door, about to run, yet you had to look back! that's how everything went down!"
pretty rare sight to see jeonghan angry, so i didn't butt in yet. "was it my fault that i heard a fucking set of footsteps?! was it my fault that he was looking exactly right at me?!"
"YES!"
"NO!" jihoon roared back. "you, what have you done, huh? you kept on giggling and giggling!"
"at least it wasn't why we got caught!" jeonghan shot back.
"THEY HEARD YOUR GIGGLING, THAT'S WHY THEY CHECKED! WE WERE DOING JUST FINE UNTIL YOUR STUPID GIGGLES RANG IN THE CORRIDORS!" jihoon yelled. if he wasn't restrained by the shackles on his wrists, he would've jumped on jeonghan and they would've clawed and punched each other.
i call this room in the basement 'room 1'. if we do something bad, we get locked here for a week, shackled. food comes by only thrice in that one week. food isn't really good here, by the way.
room 2, room 3 and room 4 are much worse rooms to be kept in. the last one i mentioned involves whipping.
as i thought about the endless nightmares we face in this orphanage, my only friends, jeonghan and jihoon kept on arguing. i felt a little saddened that they blame each other for everything, and that they can't accept their faults like i try to do. i hate those traits about them, and it doesn't really end well when those traits show too visibly in front of each other.
but, even though i hate those traits of theirs, i can't hate them, right? i'm here as their friend, and a friend helps their friends grow into better persons and not hold them back. even though they forgot that it was my seventeenth birthday today.
"WHY AREN'T YOU SMILING, LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO IN PROBLEMS, HUH? YOU PIECE OF SHIT!?"
"WHY DON'T YOU DO BETTER NEXT TIME, FUCKING CUNT?!"
"guys," i finally intervene. "we won't get to anything if we keep on doing this." jihoon, then, uses his ability on his shackles to walk away from me and jeonghan. we were all beside each other, but he didn't bother freeing us.
"what do you know?" jeonghan asks, in a tone that i find rude. "you're just a sixteen year old boy. i'm fucking eighteen, i know how to do this well."
that stung a little, but i was unable to express it so it was bottled up all inside me. i was afraid i'd snap and shout at my friends. but, i'm the one who makes all the plans and leads you.
"seventeen." i corrected. jeonghan's expression visibly changed, his head rises after leaning it on the wall behind us.
"what?" jeonghan asked, disbelieving.
"it's my birthday today."
silence.
silence.
silence.
now, the silence was deafening.
though i claimed that i was pretty good at reading situations and people, i didn't have the slightest idea on what could be running inside jeonghan and jihoon's minds. could they be angry that i interrupted them? happy for me, since i was seventeen, like jihoon? tired of me, since i brought up a new topic while they argued?
"jihoon, make my shackles break." jeonghan was the one who broke the silence.
"why would i listen to you?"
"JUST BREAK IT!"
reluctantly, jihoon uses his ability on jeonghan's shackles and he's now set free. i thought he was going to fight jihoon and ignore me completely, but i was wrong. he knelt in front of me.
jeonghan's tears were welling up on his eyes. why was he crying? did he find my intervention sad? "wonwoo, i-i—we're sorry." jeonghan embraces me.
i was not as bad as jihoon when dealing with skinship. but, this time, i didn't know how to react. should i hug him back? while i was trying to properly choose a choice, jeonghan spoke again. "happy birthday."
my eyes widen, and i think they sparkled as i gasped. they finally greeted me. the only things i have in life wished me a happy birthday, though not the entirety of this day was happy at all.
jihoon turns around, hands in his pockets. he walks to where jeonghan and i were. "h-happy birthday, wonwoo."
i was skeptical for jihoon. if i was a person who did no good with skinship, i would feel pressured when i see my friends crying and hugging in front of me after an enraged fight. but that all went away when jihoon slowly crouched.
jeonghan's embrace was comforting, and jihoon adding to it was just perfect. it felt like it was where i belong. sappy, others may say, but i'm happy.
"let's just try again." i state, being the only one who could speak properly. both jihoon and jeonghan were crying. i was surprised that jihoon actually cried after some time in each other's embrace. "i have a new plan."
jeonghan laughs and pulls away. he looks directly at my eyes with his puffy eyes, making me want to cry. "oh really, genius? what would it be this time? disguise as staff? walk on the ceiling? use the chandelier as a swing to jump out of the door?
"shut up!" jihoon sushes the older. "don't mock him! let him formulate his plans." jeonghan advanced to jihoon's spot, giving him a little side squeeze. maybe that's an unspoken apology.
"i love you two! let's never argue again, and just try and try." jeonghan wipes off the tears from his cheeks. "if we fail, let's face all the rooms together. if we get out, let's face the world together. understood?!"
"yeah!"
"i understand."
i didn't say it, but i do like the idea of facing everything together. i can't wait to walk on the streets with them after we get out. find out how the world works, and how we will cope with if.
by the way, would a plan work if it involved using our abilities? i should try that out next time. jeonghan's suggestions earlier are good choices, too.