Quiet | Seungjin

18

"Hi..." Seungmin's father spoke awkwardly as he opened the front door and saw an unfamiliar boy staring back at him.

"You must be Mr Kim, it's nice to meet you," the boy beamed.

After letting out a small hum, the man raised an eyebrow and asked, "and you are?"

"Oh right—I'm Hwang Hyunjin...I'm Seungmin's friend from school."

The unsure look remained on Mr Kim's face while he listened to the boy's words. "So why are you here...?"

"I'm here to hang out with Seungmin," Hyunjin continued, the smile resting on his lips unfaltering.

"Are you sure that..." the man trailed off as Seungmin walked in front of him and grabbed Hyunjin's arm, pulling the boy towards their living room.

A confused look rested on the man's face as he hobbled towards his bedroom where his wife was sitting on their bed, reading a book. "Did you know about Seungmin hanging out with some...random boy today?"

Letting out a small hum of acknowledgment, she finished a few more lines before coming to an okay spot to stop reading. "What? I wasn't listening, I'm sorry."

"A boy just knocked on the door claiming that he was here to hang out with our son—the son that doesn't ever have compay over."

"Are you talking about Hyunjin?" She asked, remembering a brief text from Seungmin earlier that day about Hyunjin stopping over after school.

"Yes...does everybody know who this mystery kid is but me?"

She closed her eyes to think for a few moments before nodding, "I'm not sure if Wonpil knows Hyunjin...so you're not the only one, but he came over for a few hours either last week or the week before. I'm guessing you were at work."

Sitting down on the bed next to her, he placed a hand on his wife's knee before sighing, "and everything went okay? He's...never really had friends over before, it makes me nervous."

"Oh I was nervous when he first came over too," Mrs Kim agreed, "but they just sat in the living room playing uno for a few hours, Hyunjin seems like a sweet kid."

An small noise of protest came from the man before he grumbled, "I feel like I should go sit right next to them—I don't know why this kid really wants to be friends with my Seungmin."

"Maybe because our son has a lot to offer as a friend, right honey?"

"Yes—yes he has a lot to offer, but that doesn't mean I'm used to seeing him with a friend."

"Why don't you go check on them and see what they're doing to calm yourself down."

The man nodded as he got off the bed, setting off in the direction of the living room. His eyebrows furrowed together when he didn't see the boys sitting on any of the furniture. "Seungmin?" He called out.

"We're in here," he heard from the dining room, the voice belonging to the unfamiliar boy.

As he walked into the dining room, he saw them sitting at the dinner table, newspapers spread across the wooden surface and a canvas in front of both of them. "What are you doing?" Mr Kim asked as if he couldn't piece the situation together and figure out what the two were doing.

"Painting," Seungmin spoke quietly, a wide smile spreading across his face.

"Okay..." the man agreed, his attitude softening as he laid eyes on his son's excited expression, "you two have fun, me and your mother will just be in the next room if you need anything at all."

Seungmin sent his father a quick thumbs up, promptly turning back to Hyunjin who was taking all of the paints and paintbrushes out of the bag he brought with him. "Do you paint a lot?" Hyunjin asked as he finished unpacking all of his art supplies, "or did you just agree to because I asked you?"

"Because you asked," Seungmin admitted, reaching out to grab one of the paintbrushes and rubbing his thumb over the soft bristles.

A small smile formed on Hyunjin's lips as he hummed and began rummaging through the paints for the color he wanted. "Do you know what you're painting yet?" Continued the elder.

Seungmin only shook his head, his lips pressing together firmly while he looked over all of the colors and brushes, not quite knowing where to begin.

"Use this one," Hyunjin offered when he saw the younger's confused expression, quickly grabbing one of the more basic brushes and handing it to him, "you can use that for almost anything."

✨✨✨

After countless quiet minutes turned into the hours, the two put their finishing details on each of their paintings. "I think I'm done," Hyunjin said slowly as he picked the painting up off the table, hiding it from Seungmin.

Side eyeing the elder, Seungmin tried to see what he had done to indicate whether he himself was really done or not. With a sigh, the boy lifted his painting up the same way and nodded in agreement.

"Should I show you mine first...or at the same time...?" Hyunjin didn't receive much of an answer to his question except a straight faced Seungmin simply pointing at him. "Ok," he continued unfazed, a smile slowly forming on his lips as he flipped around his canvas to reveal the sunflower he painted.

A smile quickly replaced Seungmin's expressionless face while his eyes swept over each detailed petals, wondering how Hyunjin painted something so pretty in such a short amount of time.

"Your turn," Hyunjin chirped.

Seungmin glanced at his own painting and back at Hyunjin's before raising an eyebrow. With one last sign, he slowly turned it around and averted his eyes from the crooked lines and poorly blended colors.

"Oh I love this..." the elder whispered as he reached out to grab the canvas so he could get a better look. There seemed to be a permanent smile resting on his lips while he examined the pretty landscape Seungmin created. There was a small body of water stretching horizontally across the length of the canvas and grass filling up the rest of the space left over. "What's this?" Hyunjin asked, pointing to the two small blobs on the area just before the water.

"Us..." Seungmin grumbled, still sulking that he didn't magically transform into Picasso the second he touched a paintbrush. Reaching out for the sunflower and hugging the painting against his body, the younger flashed an alluring smile and softly asked, "can I have it?"

"If I can have yours," Hyunjin proposed although he would've said yes to the boy regardless.

Mindless nodding, Seungmin began drying off the paintbrushes with some paper towel that had been discarded. He picked then all up and handed them to Hyunjin who was busy himself piling the paints back into his bag.

"Did you like it?" Hyunjin asked as he grabbed the brushes from the younger, "you can be honest."

The boy nodded and looked up at Hyunjin, handing him the last of his belongings wordlessly.

Just as he finished packed up his things and opened his mouth to say something else, his phone buzzed on the table. "My mom wants me home," Hyunjin frowned as he read the text message from his mother. Although reluctant, Hyunjin packed his arms full and sent Seungmin one last wave and a melancholic, "I guess I'll see you at school on Monday," before heading towards the front door.

With his back turned towards the younger, Hyunjin only made it a few steps before he felt a set of arms wrap loosely around his shoulders. It felt as if his whole world froze at the sudden embrace, his heart beating wildly against his rib cage. The only thing Hyunjin could will his body to do was to pat one of the Seungmin's arms softly, not too sure if the younger was comfortable with him returning the hug.

"Bye," Seungmin whispered when he pulled away from Hyunjin, watching the smile spread across the boy's lips.

Hyunjin only hopped his cheeks weren't too red as he stuttered a similar farewell before finally rushing out to his car.

———
I must've accidentally clicked the completed button at some point and didn't notice ...just go clarify, I'm not done with this story

Thanks for reading !!