abide

chapter 20

as yoshinori was sitting motionlessly next to jihoon, holding his hand, sometimes talking some senseless words so that he wakes up sooner, at one moment something seemed amiss.

his eyes roamed around the room, adding person by person. asahi was there, rinsing jaehyuk chest's injuries. yedam was with doyoung so that the boy wasn't left alone for too long especially after hearing the pierce, blasting sound right at his door. someone was missing.

"haruto." he uttered under his nose.

if something seemed not right before, now, gradually, quite slowly a dot was connected to a dot. for the past few days he was... altered. he would be gone for hours in the morning, which wasn't that surprising since yoshinori didn't keep his group under lock, but he was happier after every and each coming back. yoshinori thought that the dear person under his care might have fallen in love and was now practicing trysts, like other young people in this generation.

"fell... in love."

only yesterday the boy was all airy, in a cheerful demeanor as if someone took away all of the troubles off his shoulder. as yoshinori tried to talk to him, the other remained reluctant to speak, reticent.

"what if..."

yoshinori had an inkling but it was still not enough. was it even possible for them to meet?

"sahi-ya."

the boy with the gentlest fingers to treat others gave his attention fully to the other, his hands which were at the current moment wrapping jaehyuk's arm with bandage got hindered from continuing the action. jaehyuk had a grimace on his face before, implying that the ointment which asahi used to heal his lacerations made them sting, but now he also looked at the older and was all ears in case he could be in handy of anything as well.

"have you seen haruto this morning?"

"no hyung, I haven't seen him since yesterday evening."

"late at night he must have still been home, I heard some rummage going on in the room next to ours." jaehyuk smoothly chimed in, knowing very well when asahi would finish his sentence. "after a while everything quietened down. probably he had some trouble falling asleep. maybe he needs your herbal tea baby?"

the conversation went on naturally as the two lovers looked each other in the eyes. as asahi replied "you are right it would soothe him, resulting in better sleep." yoshinori knew he won't get any more useful information. besides he didn't want to interrupt them, after everything that happened within the past few hours, asahi must have needed to feel that jaehyuk was safe, next to him again.

obliging to the realization that it's better if he found out on his own, the red-hair boy turned to the still unconscious visage in a deep sleep. he hoped that at least in jihoon's dreams, he is with his brother and doesn't worry about him anymore. the younger scooted closer to him, pecking his forehead. the kiss was brief, it was a message conveyed in disguise which yoshinori left with a footnote.

"if it turns out to be true, I hope you will find the strength to forgive my haruto one day."

he let go of the hold, softly putting jihoon's hand on the white sheets. he left the room, wanted to procure some moments alone. pulling his phone out of his pocket, he unlocked it and after clicking the "h" contact, he started dialing.

suddenly the distinct sound of a phone ringing made his body shiver. nervously putting the device back to his pants, he came closer to the entry. the volume raisened. with no further hesitation, he opened the doors. in front of his eyes, distant for a few steps stood haruto.

haruto who was holding another boy by the hand.

caramel skin, eyes warm, in a crescent shape as he smiled politely. he must have been under slight pressure, nervous under yoshinori's sweeping gaze, cause haruto tried to mitigate the other's stress by caressing his hand with his thumb.

"hyung." the older was addressed by his dongsaeng nonetheless he didn't stop staring at the stranger who felt so familiar in his heart. "I wanted to introduce you to someone. it's-"

"park jeongwoo." yoshinori finished, rendering the other silent.

haruto's edges of lips went down. "how do you..."

the leader strode forward, latching two of them in between his arms. he felt relieved, thankful. haruto came back, jeongwoo was with him too, both safe didn't seem to have gone through any danger in the slightest. two boys were taken aback, haruto partly worried, jeongwoo quite lost in the whole situation.

nevertheless when he heard who was now inside the house, sleeping soundly on the bed, the good younger brother acted as yoshinori expected. letting go of haruto's hand, he ran towards the building. as predicted, the member of a gang wanted to join him, but the leader halted him by the arm.

before anything, he wanted to hear the story from his perspective.

// ✧ //