Six of a Kind

이십구: Day in the Life of - Seokjin

Seokjin's eyes fluttered open as daddy gently shook him. He squinted as the small sliver of light peeking through the blinds hit his eyes. It was the only downfall to his bed being against the wall: the sun was always in his eyes.

He looked around blurrily. He could make out Yoongi's shape under his duvet still, probably refusing to get up. He couldn't see as far as Hoseok's bed. He reached for his glasses first as daddy stroked his hair back, and slipped them onto his nose. The room became much sharper in his right eye. Hoseok was sitting up in his bed, his hair sticking up. He wasn't quite awake yet.

Next, he put his hearing aids over his ears, and connected the processors to the magnets in his head. The world burst into sound, though it was only the faint static he could always hear with the hearing aids.

"Morning, Seokjinnie," daddy said, making him jump a little. He could never quite get used to the way things sounded first thing in the morning. It wasn't that it was loud, he just couldn't process noises straight away.

"Muning, daddy," he mumbled back, before crawling out of his sheets and into daddy's lap. Daddy wrapped his around around him, bringing him closer. If Seokjin tilted his head just right, he could hear daddy;s heart beating. He found it both spooky and comforting at the same time.

Daddy stood up with him still in his arms, and they went back to Yoongi's bed to shake him awake. He faintly made out a groan coming from under the sheets, and then Yoongi's grumpy face appeared, his eyes still mostly shut. However, Hoseok had finally woken up properly, and was clambering into his older brother's bed to finish off the job. Seokjin clung to his dad as they made their way to the younger's room.

He took in that Jimin was already out of bed. He always woke up first, since he needed nasty medicines. Taehyung and Jungkook were tangled in their sheets. He couldn't hear them breathing, but he could make out daddy's voice, though he wasn't looking at his mouth."

"Mung, Tehng," he heard, as daddy stroked Taehyung's hair. Taehyung burrowed into his sheets, but his eyes were opening, a frown forming on his face. Daddy moved to Jungkook, and repeated the routine. Jungkook sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. He always seemed nervy waking up in the morning. Seokjin always observed his brother's behaviours during the morning routine. It was the only time he really had daddy to himself.

Finally, Seokjin was put down, and he wondered off to the kitchen. He stared up at Jimin in his chair. His eyelids were droopy, but his pupils were wide as if he had been spooked. The tape on his cheek was a little dirty, since it was needing replacement, but Seokjin knew he wasn't allowed to help. With Jimin in his chair, his head sat a little higher than Seokjin's, but that didn't stop him from resting his hands on Jimin's knees, and looking up into his face.

"Good muning, Jimin," he greeted. Jimin used to be able to say his name, but now he never spoke. That made Seokjin sad. He missed having a brother who seemed to understand just a little bit how hard life was. It was nice having a brother who didn't need words to make sense of the world.

Hoseok came running into the kitchen. He didn't look at Jimin, but gave his chair a wide berth. He seemed afraid of Jimin now. Seokjin remembered being scared of Taehyung when he had a wheelchair, but that felt like ages ago, and Seokjin felt sadness instead when he saw his younger brother.

"Ha skams udhamsp," Hoseok seemed to say.

Seokjin looked up at him, giving a small smile. "Please, what did you say?" he asked slowly, the way the special teacher at school had taught him to say."

Hoseok rolled his eyes at him, but repeated what he said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm saying good muning to Jimin," Seokjin said slowly, hoping he had understood the question properly.