aversion | bbangnyu

19

The sound of Younghoon's uneven breathing bounced off the walls as he walked down the hallway to his fathers office. He shortened the width of his steps and examined the family pictures on the wall like he had never seen them before.

Although he tried to prolong the arrival, Younghoon inevitably found his feet planted firmly on the wood flooring outside his father's door. "You wanted to see me?" He asked quietly, his voice cowering in his throat.

"Come sit," the man spoke as he set the book he was reading down neatly on his desk.

Doing as he was told, Younghoon made his way through the room and hesitantly sad down in one of the chairs across from his father.

"Six colleges have offered you an athletic scholarship, Younghoon."

They haven't offered me anything, Younghoon wished to say to the man. He hadn't heard a word from any of the supposed schools that wanted him to attend. The only reason these schools knew about him at all was becusse of his father using his affluence as a way to manipulate them.

"I'm going to set up some meetings with administrators so you can decide which college you want to go to."

Younghoon nodded almost out of habit, feeling as if he always had to agree with the man's words. "I know you want me to go on an athletic scholarship..." he started reluctantly, "But what about my major?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Younghoon's father let out a small noise of protest. "I thought we agreed on business years ago. There are many opportunities in that field—but my friends at the university said you have a great chance at making it big."

A quiet sigh fell from Younghoon's lips. It was always the always the same thing—it had always been the same thing since the day he was born. "What if I don't want to play basketball for the rest of my life?" He blurted out.

The man let out a strange noise as his features were overcome with confusion. "...why wouldn't you?" He asked, "It would be stupid to turn down such an amazing opportunity. You're good at basketball—want else could you possibly want to do?"

Yoonghoon thought back to his conversation with Chanhee in the coffee shop. "I think I want to be a nurse—I want to help people not p—"

A wry laugh slipped out of the man before he grumbled, "You think you're smart enough for that?" He shook his head and continued, "You're athletically talented, Younghoon, not academically. You'd never be able to get a medical degree."

"I want to try I really think th—"

"We're not talking about this!" The man hissed, "You're life is already laid out in front of you—stop disrespecting all I've done for you with unachievable dreams!"

"Yes sir." 

✨✨✨

A smile rested on Chanhee's lips as he danced his way over to his vanity and sat down. It was nearly midnight yet the boy was just beginning his nightly skincare routine. At that moment in time, he wasn't really worried about being well slept for the morning. He was content listening to his favorite music on the solitude of his room.

He slipped a headband over his head and pushed his hair off his forehead. Singing along to When I Was Young by Taeyeon, he picked out what products he wanted to use for the night.

The boy hummed as he patted a small amount of toner into his skin and moved on to the next product. He continued on in his own little world until he heard his phone buzzing next to him.  

Glancing down at his phone, he saw Younghoon's contact lighting up the screen. He wiped his hands off before picking up the device and holding it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Younghoon responded softly from the other side of the phone.

Chanhee noticed an almost nasally edge to the way the elder spoke, but he decided to blame it on the phone. "Hi..." he repeated again as he tidied up the things on his vanity, "is everything alright?"

"I'm just..." Younghoon started reluctantly, his voice trailing off, "doing what you said. I can't sleep."

A small smile formed on Chanhee's lips as he recalled the time they shared at the park and the conversation about Younghoon's sleeping habits. "Oh I see..." he spoke gently before making his way over to his own bed, "When do you usually go to sleep? It isn't...that late."

"Chanhee I wake up at four every morning."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"I like to practice in the mornings."

Chanhee's eyebrows furrowed together upon hearing the elders words. Most days Younghoon stayed after school to practice, yet he woke up at four to do the same thing? "So...it's eleven-forty...which means you'll get like four hours of sleep? That's not good for you."

"No shit," the boy grumbled.

"Did something happen today?"

A dramatic sigh echoed through the phone before Younghoon muttered, "me and my father got in an argument today."

"What about?"

"Just...about school. We don't really agree on what I should do," he responded quietly, "it just makes me so...angry."

There was a stretch of silence as Chanhee thought about what to say next. "I know this might just be me being a bad influence...but the school you go to is ultimately going to do what you say. Your parents have no say once you're actually at school."

A hum came out of the boy before he said, "I really wish I could, but there's like no chance of persuading him."

"I'm sorry, Younghoon," Chanhee said sincerely from the other side of the phone, "you should be able to decide these things for yourself, I'm sorry you can't." 

Listening to the boy's words, Younghoon wondered how he had managed to befriend the sweetest boy in the world. Surely Chanhee had his own issues but he was never to busy to listen to the elders problems. "I'm sure I'll figure something out..." he whispered. 

——— 

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