Quiet | Seungjin

24

Mrs Kim slowly pulled into the driveway in front of an unfamiliar house and flashed her son a soft smile. "Ok..." she breathed out, trying to hide the overwhelming nervousness she was consumed by, "If you need anything at all, just text me. I can be here in five minutes."

Smiling back at his mother, Seungmin nodded and moved to unbuckle his seatbelt. As he climbed out of the car and headed towards the door, he heard the woman's voice call out a quiet, "I love you!" He turned and waved at her before raising one of his fists to knock on the door.

"Hi," Hyunjin answered eagerly, only after a few seconds. Although the two had just seen each other at school a mere two hours before, he was still happy to see the boy. He was sure he'd never get tired of Seungmin. It wasn't possible.

Stepping into the home, Seungmin let his eyes wander around the unfamiliar space until he heard the clicking of nails against wooden flooring. "Hello~" he gushed when he looked down to see a dog standing by his feet, tail wagging at immeasurable speeds.

"This is Kkami," the elder introduced as he pulled the dog into his arms.

Seungmin reached out to pet her, his fingertip gliding over her fur so lightly you would've thought she was made of glass. He loved animals, but he never got out much to see them.

A smile rested on Hyunjin's lips while he examined Seungmin's face. He studied the look of exuberance on the younger's face, not yet having seen such an expression.

"You can hold her if you want to," he offered, "she loves being held."

Seungmin's first instinct was to deny such an offer; however, he hesitantly reached out his hands and took Kkami into his own arms, cradling her against his chest.

"I think it's safe to say she likes you."

"I like her."

The focus on Kkami was diverted to Hyunjin's mother as the woman walked into the room. "Seungmin, honey, it's good to see you," she greeted warmly, a smile resting on her lips that made him realize just how much Hyunjin resembled her. Maybe that's how the two were both alike, they were always smiling. Maybe Hyunjin inherited his smile straight from his mother, the constant joy only being a side effect.

"I'm glad you came over," she continued, "Hyunjin doesn't have many friends over." Receiving a glare from her son, the woman quickly nodded and concluded, "I just wanted to say hi, I'll go finish what I was doing in the other room."

"I'm glad you came over too," Hyunjin repeated, watching his mother walk out of the room.

Seungmin made him think. It seemed as if he had no filter around the younger, whatever flashed through his mind, he said. He could talk and talk all day long because he knew somebody was listening to him, somebody that he wanted to listen to him.

"I want to show you my room," he blurted out at last. After seeing Seungmin nod, he hurried down one of the hallways, excited to show the boy his space.

A smile broke out across Seungmin's face as the door opened, revealing the cluttered and unorganized room. Now he understood what Hyunjin meant when he said a bedroom could represent personality.

The room itself was quite spacious, giving light to the fact that Hyunjin was in fact an only child. There was a large desk caked in paint in the corner, crates of both unfinished and finished paintings lining the wall. There were random drawings, poorly torn into the shape of the lines, then taped up to fill the empty spaces on the gray walls.

Besides the desk, there was a bed, a dresser, and a bookshelf. Seungmin walked over to the bookshelf and let his eyes wander across the spines of the books. Hyunjin had an overwhelming supply of books about how the brain works and why people are...the way they are. "Do you..." Seungmin started quietly as he pointed at the shelf, "do you want go into sociology?"

"I think so—but I'm not really sure. I just really like being with people. I think it's really cool how we're all so different and everybody has different reactions to everything."

Seungmin hummed and pulled one of the books from its secure spot in the shelf. He hugged the book against his body and sent Hyunjin a soft smile.

"You want to borrow it? You can."

He beamed at the elder's words, thankful that Hyunjin knew exactly what he was thinking all the time.

After setting the book down gently on the boy's sloppily made bed, Seungmin returned to snooping around. He flipped through Hyunjin's artwork, most of it being unfinished; nevertheless, it still looked as if it belonged in a museum. There were small speckles of paint on almost everything. Even the hardwood floors. Streaks of charcoal marked up the back and sides of the chair, showing just how back and forth Hyunjin was.

A closed sketchbook rested on the desk, whispering at Seungmin, telling him he needed to look. As he reached out to pull back the cover, Hyunjin hastily grabbed the boy's hand, interlocking their fingers and guiding his arm to point in and entirely different direction.

"I have some secrets," he spoke.

Seungmin only smiled at him. He understood that need for privacy. The thought of somebody reading his personal journal felt the most horrible thing in the world. Hyunjin's sketchbook was just a journal with drawings instead of words.

Hyunjin looked at him for a moment. He laughed when he looked down and realized they were simply just holding hands.

Not that he wanted to let go.

Neither did Seungmin. He joined in on that laughter, not quite sure why he was even laughing in the first place, but he didn't really care if there was a reason. He was happy. He felt happy.

Kim Seungmin was finally happy.

———
I'm updating early because I have a busy weekend and don't want to forget on Sunday

Thanks for reading!