karaoke machine | p.js

2.13

Compared to the last time Jisung hung out with Jeno and Jaemin's friends, this hangout was much more of a party. All of the NCT Dream members were joined by the idol groups Lotus and Solstice. All in all, Hyowon's apartment was packed.

Jisung was squished into the couch next to Jeno and Hyowon, the two of them talking over him in an animated conversation. On the floor Mark, Haechan, Dami, and Heeyoung were on the ground playing on Hyowon's Nintendo Switch. Renjun and Chenle were cheering them on from behind them. The rest of the girls were in the kitchen talking while Jaemin sat bored next to Jeno on the couch.

"It's too bad Naerin and Serin couldn't come," Hyowon said.

"Serin is renewing her student visa since it expired midway through the semester," Jeno said, "I heard her complaining to Mark about having to retake her classes because of it,"

"Naerin is at a family dinner," Jisung said.

Hyowon frowned, "Like with her parents?"

Jisung nodded, "She said to say sorry for not being able to come,"

"Is she alright?" Hyowon asked, which made Jisung confused.

"I mean, I haven't spoken to her since yesterday, but I think so," Jisung frowned as well, seeing Hyowon's concerned expression, "Why? Is there something I'm missing?"

Hyowon shook her head, "I just remember Naerin and her father not having the best relationship. But if she's having dinner with him, then maybe things have gotten better,"

"I hope it's going well then." Jisung sighed. Now that Hyowon mentioned it, Jisung had been oddly anxious all day, but he pushed it off as his own feelings.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Hyowon immediately got up to go get it. Jisung only turned to look when he heard Hyowon's voice calling for him.

"Jisung! Can you come here for a moment?"

Jisung got up and made his way over. He had been off his crutches for a while now but his company still didn't let him perform on stage. But Jisung was just glad to just get rid of his crutches.

When Jisung made it to the front foyer, Hyowon gave him a sad smile. Standing in the doorway, Naerin wore a blank expression, her eyes glazed with a sheet of tears.

"What are you doing here? Is everything alr-" Jisung started to say but he didn't finish his sentence as Naerin threw herself at him, engulfing him in a desperate hug.

He immediately hugged her back as she buried her face into his chest. Holding her tight as Jisung shared a look with Hyowon, who struggled to look at him. Jisung could feel Naerin trembling, breathing unevenly as she desperately held in her tears.

Hyowon gently tapped Jisung's shoulder and pointed to the room on the right. Jisung nodded and with a bit of coaxing, he was able to get Naerin to follow him into it. When they got in, Jisung noticed that it was Hyowon's bedroom. Not wanting to disturb Hyowon's room, he sat down on the floor and leaned against the bed.

Naerin stood frozen in front of him for a moment, just staring at him. Tears rolled down her face gently as she tried to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry," Naerin apologized, "I didn't want to ruin your night,"

Jisung frowned and stood up again, wrapping her in a tight hug. "You didn't ruin anything,"

He felt Naerin grab onto the front of his shirt. Jisung let her cry as he drew gentle circles into her back. Her whole body shook as Jisung's tight hold grounded her to the earth. She knew that if Jisung wasn't there to hold her, Naerin might have lost herself in her own self-deprecating thoughts.

"What happened?" Jisung asked when Naerin had calmed down. He pulled away from the hug, leaning down gently to examine her face. As Naerin tried to wipe away the last of her tears, Jisung's hands came up to help her wipe them away.

"Your eyes are all puffy now," Jisung teased, earning a short laugh from Naerin as she rubbed her eyes.

"Don't look at me. I probably look like a mess," Naerin pushed Jisung away but he only smiled lovingly.

"Don't be silly. You're always pretty to me,"

Naerin didn't have the energy to be flustered and instead hugged Jisung again. He wrapped his arms around her once more, burying his face into her soft hair. She smelled like an expensive perfume, one that Jisung was sure she probably didn't pick out for herself. It smelled too mature for Naerin's taste and Jisung had a small suspicion that she had only worn it because her father bought it for her.

"I met up with my parents," Naerin said, her eyes filled with sadness, "My dad and I don't have the best relationship."

"I'm sorry," Jisung said as he took Naerin's hand and led her to sit down on the ground at the foot of Hyowon's bed. "You can tell me about it," he wasn't sure what else he could say in that situation. Jisung had a good relationship with his family even if he didn't see them often.

Naerin nodded and took a deep breath as she tried to stop the lump that was forming in her throat. "He said I should have been born a boy and followed in my brother's footsteps. My brother graduated college as valedictorian with a degree in political science." Naerin choked on her words as tears started to roll down her face again, "I don't know how I'm supposed to compare to that. My dad doesn't support my choice to pursue music,"

"I'm so sorry, Naerin," Jisung gently cupped her face to wipe away the tears, "He never should have said those things to you," Naerin nodded in agreement but couldn't seem to make words come out of her mouth.

"I just don't know what I can do at this point," Naerin managed to get out in broken syllables and stuffers, "I'm so tired of trying so hard and getting nothing, but I can't help it. I'm just-" Naerin choked on her words and furiously tried to wipe her tears away, but they were only replaced with new ones.

Jisung's gaze softened seeing her cry. Naerin had always been the strong one, at least that was how Jisung saw it. Seeing her lose herself in her own sadness only made Jisung upset and honestly a bit angry at her father for being so cold to her.

"Naerin," Jisung said as he replaced her hands with his to wipe away her tears, "I don't really know how to say this, but I hope you know that you are really amazing," he said.

Naerin's eyes watched Jisung carefully through wet lashes. Her body jolted in hiccups as she tried to breathe normally once again.

"I don't think anything your father said is true," Jisung added, "And I'm sure everyone outside would agree as well. You're perfect the way you are,"

Naerin sniffled and choked on her breath, her lips set deep pout as she held back her tears. It was clear that she was starting to get frustrated with herself for crying so much, but she couldn't seem to stop.

"Stupid tears," she huffed as she wiped her face.

Jisung could only chuckle as he helped her to wipe away her tears once again. "You know, someday you're going to become really famous and he's going to regret saying that stuff,"

Naerin laughed and shook her head. She gave him a watery smile with a gentle shake of her head, "Says the famous idol,"

Jisung smiled as well, "You never know, maybe one day you'll be more famous than me,"