Dark to Baby: A Changjin Story

Chapter 45

Despite not participating in immoral and illegal activities, Hyunjin felt like his existence had boiled down to appeasing his mother by acting innocent at all moments. That's why he furiously rubbed at his eyes on Saturday morning to remove the excessive eyeliner that had smudged so much during his sleep. He didn't know what she would think of that plus his messy hair and dramatic outfit.

By the time he got home, he looked somewhat normal, clad in an oversized hoodie from Chan and his face free from makeup.

As it was 11:00 am, Hyunjin was looking forward to doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. However, he wasn't that lucky.

Not only did Jeongin decide to accompany him home, but his mother stopped him to tell him that he was required to attend family dinner tonight. Hyunjin had no idea what that meant, but it didn't sound good. Perhaps that was the end result of all those fancy breakfasts.

Regardless, he had some time before then to solidify his poker face, and while he didn't want to, he had to get his homework done at some point.

Maybe Jeongin could do math. He wasn't gonna get his hopes up though. Especially when all the boy had done was jump on top of Hyunjin's bed and cuddle in a blanket.

"My gosh! An hour away and it's like I'm in a whole other climate!" Hyunjin rolled his eyes.

"You chose to wear shorts," He said, dumping his costume on the floor and picking up Kkami in one fell swoop. He carried the dog over to the bed where Jeongin waited with open arms.

He could use the warmth of a dog as he was currently drowning in another of Chan's hoodies and some drawstring shorts. He was going to wear Felix's clothes after his shower, but they were just a tad too small. Chan tried to get him to wear some pants, but Jeongin was a 'tough boy' and insisted that shorts were enough. They were obviously not enough.

"Yeah, but it wasn't supposed to be cold! You save that for 7 am, not mid-day!" The dog wiggled out of Hyunjin's grasp and bounced on the bed, covering Jeongin's face with kisses. Hyunjin sat on the end of the bed, watching his best friend giggle.

"It's November." Jeongin sent him a look as he finally managed to get Kkami to calm down and lay beside him.

"So what? I don't deserve to be cold. Right, Kkami?" Jeongin cooed at the dog.

Hyunjin spread out behind Jeongin, one arm resting under his head and one resting along Jeongin's waist.

"Brat."

"You know it." The cheeky reply earned a grunt. "Can I stay tonight?"

Hyunjin rolled onto his back. "Changbin works on Sundays. I'll have to watch Minsoo."

"Since when?"

"This week. I've been grounded every other Sunday." Jeongin snorted.

"Right. Can I join?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Jeongin shrugged.

"It's better than going home. It's lonely there and the guinea pigs are hella loud."

Hyunjin wasn't sure how to tell him that Changbin wasn't everyone's best friend. Jeongin would probably not be very welcomed in the Seo household. There were only a few people, two to be exact, that had access to Changbin's house, and Hyunjin had a feeling he wanted to keep it that way.

"I don't think-"

"Is it that Changbin dude? What's his problem anyway?" Jeongin sat up and faced Hyunjin.

"What do you mean?" Changbin had many problems, but none that included Jeongin. At least, Hyunjin didn't remember any.

"I swear he glared at me like a hundred times last night! There is no way you missed all one hundred of them."