ROOM OF MIRRORS° h.sj

024

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KANG RESIDENCE
AFTERNOON
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✧──────✦ sumin tugged off her shoes and made sure to hide the envelope of money somewhere in her clothes before entering the main room.

her mother and father sat on the couch watching whatever drama had their momentary interest. and for a split second she heard them laughing, she didn't think they deserved to laugh.

but maybe if she got on their good side, they'd leave her alone for the rest of the year. you can't blame a daughter for wanted a good relationship with her parents.

"why didn't you tell me you went to lunch today?"

the both of them turned to face her, her mother picking up the remote and pausing the drama. since she was atop the stairs, they couldn't do anything to her unless they ran and looked idiotic while doing so.

"i'm your daughter too, you know."

"you're no daughter of mine," her father spit. "if you more like sujin, maybe i'd consider it." sumin could feel her cheeks burning up in hatred. she would do anything to get out of that stupid house.

"sorry it's not 1960 anymore. get your head out of your ass."

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✧──────✦ 12 year-old sumin was overjoyed when her parents had planted a full grown birch tree beside her window. she doubted it was for her enjoyment, but it really was beautiful. her and sujin would climb down the branches to their mother's vegetable garden and leap the fence to the neighborhood park.

now here sumin, six years later and an extra six inches of height, was climbing down an ancient birch tree that didn't seem half as massive as she'd remembered.

as her feet hit the ground, the crunch of a plant went off from under her house slippers. sumin looked down at what would've been spinach, and stomped on it a little more before inspecting the splinters in her fingers.

it'd been years and the branches were now small stubs, the leaves scarce since the beginning of fall. a little stumble on the final stub sent her gripping onto the tree while her feet looked for a step. sumin never found it and ended up with a collection of wood chips buried in her fingertips and palm.

she plucked the largest of them out and hopped over the fence separating her and the playground.

the scuff of slippers caused seojun to turn around on his designated swing, creaking the whole 180 degrees. a greater being must've answered his calls, because sumin was currently within 10 meters from him and the distance was closing with every step.

"hey."

some great being must've answered her calls, because seojun was 5 meters in front of her and the distance closed with every step she took. sumin pulled her hands behind her back and gave him a tired smile. it was close to midnight after all.

"hey," she'd called back to him.

"why are you here so late?" seojun asked.

"i could ask you the same thing."

"but i asked first."

sumin nearly rolled her eyes at the childish response. "just needed some fresh air." she'd dragged her feet over to the playground and sat at the bottom of the slide, seojun following close behind.

"my hands hurt."

seojun looked at her confused and kneeled in front of her, turning both of her hands to face upwards. "what'd you do to them?"

"i tried climbing down that old tree in my backyard. they cut most of the branches off so i just slid down."

"that was stupid." he pinched at the smaller chunks of wood and set them to the side, even blowing at them in attempt to relieve some of the pain. seojun remembered the tree all too well. in middle school, he had waited at the back of her fence so they could take a stroll. while he peeked over the top of it with what little height he had as a middle schooler, he watched as sumin scaled the tree like it was nothing special.

as he finished her right hand, she held it on her lap, half tempted to tell him how much he mattered to her. maybe by the end of the night. sumin really, really looked at him for the first time that night and let her eyes soften (she has zero self control).

"are you and jugyeong together?"

she bit her tongue as the question just slipped out. there was no way he hadn't heard her because sumin wasn't a very quiet speaker.

"huh?" he whipped his head up at the girl sitting on the edge of the slide.

"are you and jugyeong together?"

"like, dating?" he asked right back at her. "why?"

seojun's jaw nearly dropped to the floor the first time she asked. did she happen to be jealous? he didn't know it now but sumin definitely was and he was too stupid to understand an obvious hint.

"i was taking a walk on the trip and saw you together." she wasn't a liar. if she was going to ask in the first place, she may as well go all the damn way.

seojun racked his brain for memories at the campsite. the only time he was alone with her was when she was disgustingly sobbing over suho in the middle of nowhere. a couple hours later, suho shoved his precious leather jacket back into his hands and in the pocket was the bracelet he'd given to sumin.

after a few seconds, he completed the three piece puzzle in his brain and looked up at her again.

"she was gross and sobbing." seojun admitted.

"you had your hand on her cheek."

"i was trying to get her to stop crying because i was uncomfortable."

"why was she crying if you didn't do anything?"

"suho rejected her."

sumin's swallowed despite her dry mouth at the rapid fire answers. all she could do was blink and nod. "oh."

the corner of seojun's mouth lifted as she stood up and began to walk away, too slow if she didn't want him to catch up to her.

"were you jealous?" seojun nudged her side as they exited the playground, hands and splinters forgotten.

"i was just curious if i needed to congratulate you or not."

"liar."

sorry it's been so long, i forgot my
password and wanted to scream and
cry. but if you're still here thank u
sm for reading ily baes