Faded Sun| SunSun

[Chapter 19]

The kitchen came to life at the kettles whistle, toast popping out of the toaster, as steam poured out of the spout. Slices of toast found new residence, on a small side plate, smothered in a heaping coating of butter. His cute cat mug filled plentifully with boiling water, releasing the scent of peppermint, from the choice of flavored tea bag. 

"Sweetheart, could I get a cuppa?" 

Jungwon turned to his mother, clearly exhausted, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. This is how he always saw her, such a shame, since he never saw her that much. 

A hum escaped him, grabbing a mug from the cupboard. He placed his mothers favourite, earl grey, tea bag into the cup, pouring it full of the freshly boiled water. The fridge lighting illuminated his face, as he retrieved the milk. Finishing up the brew, a warm brown colour, just as his mother prefers. 

"Oh thank you." She said, ruffling her sons morning hair. "I'm heading back to bed now."

Jungwon felt his heart sink. "I've been here for four days already, and we haven't spent anytime together. Can't you drink your tea here, with me?"

"I wouldn't be the best company, I had the most tiring night shift. We'll talk soon sweetie." The women planted a kiss on her sons forehead, before heading back to her room.

Even though this was normal for him, it didn't make it any more enjoyable. His parents worked hard, he appreciated that, but it left no time for them to actually be parents. The rough patch he was going through, they didn't know about. It's not that they didn't care, they just didn't have time to listen. 

Jungwon sighed, taking a depressing bite of his toast. He pulled his phone from his pajama pocket, having twitter keep him company for his morning breakfast. Meaningless scrolls led him to the trending page, where a certain hashtag caught his eye.

Trending in K-pop
#Sparks
5.9K Tweets

The toast fell to the floor, dropped with such little care. Jungwon's eye's glued to the screen, or more specifically, to the person who was looking back at him. 

Sparks debut single album...Electric shock...Concept photo A...Heeseung.

____

"Hey the concept photo's look really good." Jake said, hearing the click of the lock. He held a bright smile, as Riki trudged into the apartment. "You're even trending on twitter." He added, raising his brows at the groan he got in return. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just tired." Riki slumped onto the couch beside Jake, body limp against the plush cushions. "With the debut, plus the school work, plus the drama with Heeseung, it's draining the life outta me."

Jake curled up on the couch, turning to Riki. Bringing his hand up to the boys hair, he gently stroked his blonde strands. "Are you gonna actually tell me what happened with Heeseung? Or am I still not allowed to know?"

It wasn't that Riki didn't want Jake to know, nor that he didn't trust him. For once, he actually understood the weight of his actions. If he told Jake, he'd have to discuss the oncoming SunSun break up. No one knew about it, and it wasn't his place to say. 

"Still a no?" Riki shook his head, causing Jake to sigh. "It must be something big then. You guys are always bickering, but this feels pretty serious."

"I want nothing to do with him, I wish Jungwon was debuting instead." 

"Hmm then it is serious." 

Jake couldn't have guessed what happened, even if he tried. Years of friendship, no, years of brotherhood, thrown away over one argument. It seemed out of the question. There wasn't really any way to comfort the boy, since he didn't know why he was upset. Though, he did understand that their bond was something worth keeping, and he had to do his part to convince Riki of that.

"Do you wanna hear a story?" Jake asked, glancing to the now intrigued Riki. "When I came to Seoul, I was really lonely. I knew no one, and my natural shyness didn't help me in making friends. So, I would call my boyfriend, or Jay, or Sunghoon, every night, just to make me feel more at home."

His smile laced with sadness, reminiscing on that horrible time.

"One time, I had a really rough day, and I was talking to Sunghoon about it. He suggested that I approach Heeseung, telling me that he was a good friend to have. I trusted him, and the next day, I mustered up all my courage to talk to Heeseung. Surprisingly to me, he was really easy to talk to, we started hanging out, and from then on, I felt less lonely."

"What's this got to do with me?" Riki butted in.

"I never said it was a story about you."

"Well I thought that's what you were implying."

Jake shook his head, ignoring the pouty boy, and continuing on. "Anyway, I still remember how he spoke about you, as well as Jungwon and Sunoo. Even though I didn't know you guys really at all, I could tell you meant a lot to him. It felt like his days weren't complete until he talked about missing you guys."

"I see where this is going, and I don't care. I'm done with Heeseung, you're not going to magically make me like him again." Riki groaned, sitting up, Jake's hand dropping from his hair.

"I'm not trying to, I'm just telling you a story." Jake said, mirroring the boys posture. "Personally, I think Heeseung takes his role in the group very seriously. He's the oldest, you guys look up to him. He wants to be strong for you, so he can support you when you need him. I really believe you're like a little brother to him. You don't have to make up with him, but maybe hear him out first." 

Though Riki could only see the bad in Heeseung, Jake's words actually made him question that hatred. Things in Seoul were tough already, he didn't need to lose one of his closest friends. It was conflicting, he wanted to give it some more thought. 

____

Stan Tempest.