aversion | bbangnyu

29

Younghoon hummed to himself as he pulled his math homework out of his backpack and set it down neatly on the the desk in the corner of his room. He fished around for a pencil before sitting down. As uncommon as it was, he actually knew how to do his homework correctly. But just as he pressed the pencil against the paper, he heard his father's voice from downstairs.

"Younghoon, come down here!" The man yelled.

A sigh fell from Younghoon's lips as he reluctantly got up and headed downstairs to where his dad was working in his office. "Yes?"

The man continued to write something out on a document, making his son wait in silence as he finished. "Why have you not responded to a single college?" He asked at last, folding his hands in his lap as he looked up at the boy.

"I respect you, I've always respected you..." Younghoon started reluctantly before finally sitting down in the chair across from the desk, "I want to make you happy...but I just can't bring myself to commit to anything yet."

The room filled with silence as the man just stared at Younghoon. "This seems to be a reoccurring argument with you..." he muttered, "is somebody telling you to do these things—because I know you're too stupid to think of anything on your own."

"No...nobody told me to do this," Younghoon whispered as he tried not to react to his fathers words.

Getting out of his chair, Younghoon's father walked around the desk and stopped in front of his son. He reached out to grab the collar of the boy's shirt and pulled him up. "You talk of respect as if you've ever respected me. If you did so we wouldn't be having this conversation. All of your life you've had everything handed to you—you've used my money! And all you want to do is waste more of it being a nurse! A nurse! You wouldn't be able to get your pretty little hands dirty with a real job even if you wanted to!"

"I'm sorry..." he whispered again, not quite knowing how to respond to his fathers words, "I'm sorry I can't be like him..."

The man's fury only grew upon seeing the tears welling up in his son's eyes. "Don't speak of him! He was weak—worthless too. You're becoming a lot like him," He grumbled.

"You pushed him too far, he couldn't t—"

Younghoon's words fell short as his fathers hand struck his cheek. "Get out—get out of my sight!" He screamed.

✨✨✨

Chanhee's eyebrows knit together in confusion as he was sent to voicemail as he tried to call Younghoon. The two talked on the phone at the same time nearly every night so it was quite strange that he didn't answer.

With a sigh, Chanhee gently set his phone down on his bed, deciding to give it a minute in case the elder was busy with something.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to me..." he whispered. Before he could convince himself that Younghoon no longer liked him by simply missing one phone call, there was a quiet knock on his window.

"If he's drunk again..." Chanhee grumbled as he walked over to the window and opened the curtains. A small smiled formed on his lips when he saw Younghoon standing awkwardly on the other side of the glass. "Why are you here," asked Chanhee when opened the window.

"I needed to see you..." Younghoon admitted softly before Chanhee reached out to help him into his room, "I should've texted you or something—I'm sorry."

Examining the elder's feature under the soft lighting of the lamp in his bedroom Chanhee noticed the frown that seemed to be glued to his face. He reached out and placed his hands on either side of Younghoon's face, pulling down to get a better look. "You've been crying." He stated.

"It's nothing..."

"You can't break into my room then not tell me why."

A drawn out sigh fell from Younghoon's lips as he walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "It's still the same fight over school...my dad basically told me I'm too stupid to become a nurse and I'd just waste his money," he paused for a few moments before sighing once again, "what if he's right, Chanhee? What if I go through all of this fighting just to fail in the end? Maybe I'm not smart enough for this."

The younger walked over to the bed and stopped in front of Younghoon, placing his hands on either side of the boy's face. "Younghoon..." he started gently, "you can't just settle for what other people want just because there's a chance you might not make it. Everybody has that same chance."

"I should just forget about being a stupid nurse—I'm never going to convince my dad. It's just causing problems," Younghoon muttered, his eyes welling with tears with every word he spoke.

Pulling Younghoon against his own body, Chanhee let the boy rest his head on his chest. "I can't tell you exactly what you should or shouldn't do—but I just want you to be happy with whatever you pick. Between the two options there's one that you obviously want to do a lot more...and I know you're smart enough to get through college."

✨✨✨

The two sat on Chanhee's bed for some time just talking before Younghoon got up, going to retrieve his keys from across the room. "I guess I should probably go home, huh?" He stated quietly.

"I don't mind if you stay..." Chanhee blurted out, his eyes falling down to his lap in almost a sense of embarrassment, "I mean I wouldn't want you driving in the dark—and you would have to get back in your house without anybody noticing."

A small smile formed on Younghoon's lips as he muttered, "those are some good points, but what if your parents see me?"

Quickly getting off the bed, Chanhee ran to his door and locked it. "My parents usually don't get up before me, but if they do then the doors locked. Problem solved."

"Okay," Younghoon whispered as he set his keys back down on the desk.