Quiet | Seungjin

37

"So...you work in a restaurant?"

Hyunjin looked up at Mr Kim and flashed a nervous smile. As scared as he was to he sitting in the living room having a one on one conversation with his boyfriends father, he was happy to know Seungmin talked to his parents about him. "Yeah..." the boy spat out at last, "I've worked there through high school just to have money to do what I want and start saving for college."

"Are you able to keep up with school work even though you have a job?"

"Yeah—my mom wouldn't let me have a job if I wasn't able to keep my grades up."

The man let out a satisfied hum as he crossed his legs, a soft smile gracing his lips. "What do you plan to study in college?" He continued.

"Well I'm not entirely sure I either want to be a psychologist and pediatrician."

"Those are both great professions...you have a very bright future if you stick to it."

Hyunjin couldn't help bust smile when he heard those words. As the minutes passed he felt himself loosening up. "May I ask what you do, sir?" Questioned Hyunjin.

Waving a hand in front of his face, Mr Kim quickly ordered, "You don't have to address me as Sir—nothing that formal. My name is Seongja, you've been around long enough to call me that."

"Ok," the boy muttered hesitantly, working up the courage to feel how the name felt in his mouth, "Seongja."

"I'm a math teacher," Mr Kim answered at last, "I work at a middle school just a few minutes away."

"And he's a very good math teacher too," Mrs Kim interjected as she walked into the room, a pleased expression on her face when she saw the two talking.

"She likes to exaggerate."

After shaking her head at her husband, the woman sat down on the couch next to Hyunjin and placed her hand over his. "Thank you for coming over tonight—I know family dinners can be awkward and intimidating, but Seungmin really wants you to meet his brother. They should be finishing up if you want to go check up on them? Would you tell them we're almost ready to eat?"

He quickly nodded. "Are the just—"

"Just past Seungmin's bedroom to the left."

Nodding once again, Hyunjin pushed himself off the couch and set off to find his boyfriend. He'd hardly said a word to Seungmin or his brother since he arrived. Apparently the man was planning to stay for a week or two, so the two were unpacking his things.

Hyunjin could feel his hands trembling at his sides. Conversations with parents were easy—but older brothers—they were intimidating. He stood at the doorway for a moment, peering inside to see what the elder even looked like.

"Your mom wanted me to tell you dinners almost ready."

Seungmin whipped around upon hearing his boyfriend's voice, a smile spreading across his lips. He walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him over to a picture displayed on the bookshelf.

"Is that you?" Hyunjin laughed. The picture was two little boys bundled up in giant snow suits smiling in front of a snow man.

Seungmin hummed in response, his hand still holding Hyunjin's between them.

As the room filled with silence, Hyunjin finally forced himself to turn towards Seungmin's older brother. "I'm Hyunjin."

"I know." Without another word, the man walked out of the room, not bothering to even look at Hyunjin.

"What...what's that about?" He grumbled.

"He's tired..." whispered the boy at his side. Seungmin studied the confused look on Hyunjin's face. He wasn't so sure why his brother skipped introducing himself but he didn't want it to ruin the night. "Hungry?"

Hyunjin glanced over at him and nodded, a smile returning to his lips.

✨✨✨

"Thank you for cooking for me, it was really good," Hyunjin spoke as he carried some dishes from the dining room table.

"Oh honey, it's really no problem. I like when you come eat with us." She reached out to take the dishes from Hyunjin's hand before yelling, "Wonpil come here and wash these dishes for me!"

It only took a few seconds before the elder appeared in the kitchen, the smile on his lips faltering when he noticed Hyunjin next to his mother.

"I'm going to go tidy things up in the dining room, will you two finish up with the dishes for me? You can wash and Hyunjin can dry."

Despite the tension in the room the two boys nodded. It was silent as they watched Mrs Kim leave the room. Almost the second she was far enough away where she couldn't hear them, Wonpil spat, "What do you actually want with my brother?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't act fucking stupid—you're a teenage boy. What do you want with a unstable kid like him? Is it just that he'd be easy to take advantage of? Because he wouldn't say anything?"

Hyunjin stared at the man blankly for a few moments, not even knowing what to say after such an accusation. "We've been dating for almost four months—we haven't even kissed yet. I'm not trying to take advantage of him. I like Seungmin...I really like Seungmin. That's why I'm dating him."

"If you really liked him you'd realize he's not ready to be in a relationship. He probably won't ever be ready for a relationship. He doesn't even know what being in a relationship entails."

"He doesn't talk as much as everybody else—he's not stupid."

Slamming the dishes down on the towel in front of Hyunjin, the elder hissed, "he's my brother. You have no place to tell me what he is. It's not going to be good for you in the long run and he needs more time to heal—break up with him."

"I think I can decide what's good for me or not—but thank you for the advice."

"What do you expect to happen? You want to spend the rest of your life with somebody that doesn't even talk? He can't even kiss you for gods sake—just open your eyes! This isn't good for either of you!"

Hyunjin watched as Wonpil's face dropped. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Seungmin standing in the doorway. "Seungmin..." Wonpil whispered, "how long have you been standing there?"

Hardly a second passed before Seungmin spun around a hurried towards his room, not wanting to hear another word from anybody that night.

"Was that your intention?" Hyunjin spat before following his boyfriend.

By the time he made it to Seungmin's bedroom, the door was already closed and the handle locked. He knocked on the door. When he got no answer he called out a soft, "Seungmin? It's me Hyunjin...are you alright?"

He stood there for what felt like hours just trying to get any kind of response from Seungmin. "None of what he said was true—I don't care about any of that. But I'll leave you alone if that's what you want. You can call me or text me if you need to talk about what happened. I'm sorry you heard any of it.  At least get some sleep for me, okay? I'll text tomorrow if I don't hear anything tonight...but I'm just going to head home," rambled the boy from the other side of the door.

As he walked through the house and collected his belongings, he heard Mrs Kim from behind him, "honey—you don't have to go home. Just give him some time."

"I think it would be best if I went home," he muttered, biting his bottom lip as his eyes welled with tears, "this isn't exactly the most welcomed I've felt before...but again—thank you for dinner."

———
Happy new year!
Thank you for sticking with me for another year <3