The Boundaries We May Never Cross || a seventeen fanfiction

Chapter One

December 1st

Jihan was unsure whether it was the cold bed, the stormy weather, or the silent house that brought her to the brink of breakage once again. She stared at the wall clock, 3 AM. She'd have to get ready for school in four hours. 

It had been that way for a whole month, ever since her father came home- no, not home. Ever since her father arrived. She'd have to battle her way through everything during the day, fighting on a limitless battlefield. What people called dreams, were supposed to be her refuge, but she never got them. Her mind refused to rest.

The longest she had slept was for eight hours on the twenty-second of November, her birthday. Maybe because her brother was there with her, and for once, her room felt less frigid. The following nights endlessly ate her up.

Jihan woke at morning twilight, when the sky was still only starting to gain color. An hour and a half, she thought as she stared at her wall clock that hung just above her wooden door. She grabbed her phone from the black nightstand, to check whether there were any important schedules for the day. 

She got ready at 5:30 AM. Class wouldn't start until 8:30, but it wasn't like she could go back to sleep.

Breakfast went just as usual, her brothers bickered endlessly while she sat drowning in her individual demise. 

"Can you come to school with me today?" She asked Jihoon, who sat in front of her.

He raised a curious brow, "why?"

"I'm a little tired. I might fall asleep during the drive," she reasoned. She simply wanted company.

When she was about to leave, her mother once again asked her about her somber eyes. She simply blamed it on homework.

As they approached their black BMW parked in their driveway, Jihan threw the car keys at her brother, catching him off guard. He received them with a clashing sound of keys, he'd barely gripped onto the chain. 

He gave her a questioning look. She was usually the one who drove them to school, or anywhere they went. 

"What's this?"

"Car key" 

Jihoon's shoulders slumped and his face soured, "Since when was I tasked to drive us to school? Oh no, so this is why you asked me to go with you? To be your driver-"

"Since when was I required to drive us to school?" Countered Jihan as she scowled at her twin. "It's freezing, open the car"

"Why can't you drive?"

"I was studying. Wasn't able to sleep well." It wasn't a lie anyway. Well, half of it. 

What else could've been said anyway? 'I've actually been having trouble sleeping and it's starting to affect my daily activities'? She knew her brother cared for her deeply, (even though he insults her most of time they're together) but there was no point in worrying him.

"Will you ever allow me to get higher grades than you?" Jihoon whined as he clicked the remote key for the car to open. 

When they were about to take off, Jihan managed to lift the corner of her painted lips and mutter a snarky comeback before starting to drift off into a temporary, five minute slumber. "Even if you studied ten times harder than me, the highest tier you'd climb is second"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You got the smart genes, but a little short on the talent and-"

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep"