「 CHILD SUPPORT 」 Minsung

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ 4

It was getting late, dark, they hadn't eaten in a long time, cat shopping had been exhausting, plus winter weather. All this had really made a mess out of them. As they were wheezing in laughter and going to press for the elevator call button, they froze before unanimously muttering,

"- Fuck."

A taped piece of paper was proudly showing, blocking the elevator's doors.

"Unusable until further notice."

The siblings looked at each other, defeated. Five flight of stairs. With all that. And Herbert, who had to stay close to them.

"- Fuck me," they sighed in union. The main door of the building opened, but the creaky noise was covered by the whining of the siblings.

"- Shiiiit, I was already tired, I didn't need this..." Jisung whined, before having a sudden burst of determination.

"- You know what ?

- No I don't.

- You stay here. I'll do multiple trips. You've already helped me a lot when you weren't obligated to, so just rest." Jieun snorted at that.

"- Dude, are you dumb or dumb ?

- Uh ?

- I didn't do all that to have your good favours, I did that because I wanted to help you. So stop spouting nonsense, even if it's sweet nonsense, and help me get up, you turd." Jisung's face broke into a small smile, before he helped his sister getting up from the floor she had flopped on.

"- Hey, excuse me but-

-AH ! Fuck you, ghost !" A new voice had came in the conversation, making Jieun jump in fright. Jisung couldn't help but burst in tired laughter. Jieun had always been very outgoing, and she generally said what came to her mind with a polite filter on. She was honest, but not brutally so. She was intelligently honest.

However, shouting "Fuck you, ghost!" To a random stranger in the hallway of your brother's apartment complex wasn't exactly what we'd call a smart move. What if the stranger ended up being a really really buff person ? Man, woman, or any kind of gender, as long as they were buff, Jisung would definitely lose. Hell, whatever body type the stranger had, as long as they wanted to fight, Jisung was sure to lose. He didn't like violence and was terrible at fighting. He was very diplomatic and preferred speaking through problems instead of punching the problems; so, secretly, he had wished the stranger hadn't taken the shout as an insult. But right now, mind foggy and sleep drunk, he couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

Embarrassed by his sister, he looked opposite of the man standing in front of them, shoulders shaking because of his hidden laughter. He had troubles stopping himself. Not that the situation was overly funny, but the lack of sleep, the cold and his sister saying whatever she felt like had pushed him to the bridge of his sense of humour. Tears of laughter started rolling down his cheeks. He bent down, crouched on the floor, Herbert between his legs, wheezing laughter never stopping.

"- Jisung, shit, please stop it's so embarrassing," Jieun said, herself dumbly laughing. Ha, sleep.

The scenery must've been marvellous.  Three adults, one wheezing on the floor, another openly laughing as if omits waking up from anaesthesia and the third one just standing there, waiting for the other two to calm down. The man, understanding both siblings weren't exactly as sane as one could be, asked.