To Put On An Act [bxb]

Chapter 12 - AM I JUST TIRED OR AM I FALLING IN--

It'd been quite a while, had turned late already, late enough for Sohee to be sent to bed soon, and Alex' mouth was dry, maybe from the wine, maybe because he had ended up chatting to William for longer than expected. It wasn't like they had talked about anything terribly deep. William just kind of started to tell Alex about the family, about Youngbin, about little things he didn't know, that he probably should have known.

About how Youngbin had been diagnosed with autism when he was five, and Sohee had been diagnosed when she was eleven, and Dahyeon refused to get screened herself.

About how Youngbin was born in South Korea, moved to the US when he was a baby, and how Dahyeon, for many years, almost exclusively talked to him in Korean whereas William spoke in English, and how they dropped that approach with Sohee a couple of years later.

How Youngbin's obsession with theatre started when he'd seen a play as a child, maybe at age four or so, they're not quite sure anymore, and he wanted to play it as well, so they got him the script of that play, and he'd ask his parents to read it out loud to him so many times that he could recite it by heart.

How he and Sohee would share clothes, and Dahyeon would frequently buy them expensive designer clothes and jewellery, and Sohee didn't like those frail necklaces so Youngbin would wear them.

How Youngbin had wanted a pet for ages, and then he was promised one when he turned fourteen, maybe a hamster or something, but Youngbin had already chosen a snake for reasons that William still hadn't figured out.

And all of these, Alex now thought, were things he should've figured out himself. That Youngbin should've told him. Alex didn't know shit about Youngbin. And it was the same the other way around. Youngbin didn't know a damn thing about Alex, and maybe that was the reason he was still keeping him around. Huh. Damn.

Either way, his mouth was dry, and the dishes were done, and Alex could hear Sohee stomping around upstairs as her mother commanded her around.

"Watch out!" She hissed, and then Sohee didn't watch out very much, and just let out an "Ouch!" and Alex couldn't quite imagine how Sohee managed to hurt herself by pulling out a mattress from a storage room. So, naturally, Alex' nosy ass decided to check for himself.

She'd run into a wall, that was the easy answer. Sohee had lifted an admittedly giant mattress, walked backwards out of the storage room, but missed the door by just a couple of steps. Dahyeon waved her arms around, as if Sohee could see it with the magical eyes on the back of her head, and Youngbin quietly watched, his arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe of his own room.

"Alex, would you help S-"

"I can do it on my own!"

Dahyeon sighed, rubbed her temples and Sohee continued to stumble backwards through the door. The mattress didn't even fit through the narrow doorway, but she seemed to have found a proper method to squeeze it through regardless: Violence. Through groans and hisses, Youngbin supessed a giggle, and Alex decided to lean against the door frame next to him.

"Had a nice chat with dad?"

"I guess." Maybe it had sent him into a couple of existential crises, but there was no need to mention that. "Doing the dishes went well for you?"

Youngbin smiled tiredly, nodded just a bit. It was only now that Alex noticed something. Ah. Woah. He was wearing makeup.

Not a lot. Just a peachy gloss on his lips, a light shimmer in the corner of his eyes, and just barely Alex could spot a bit of soft brown eyeliner. Not a lot, but more than usual. Enough for Alex to notice, and to feel kind of funky about it.