Catch-22, HAECHAN

23 | iridescent

Chaerin raises her fist to knock on the door again, wondering what the hell is taking so long.

It finally swings open, only to reveal a less-than enthused Jaemin. "Are you trying to break my door down, or something?"

"At least I bothered to knock." She shoots him a glare before shoving her way inside.

It's rare for her to come over to her stepbrother's house seeing as he's the one always at her apartment. The studio flat he's renting is only a few blocks down from hers, and per his words, "isn't big enough to house a crowd"— which in his logic, is anything more than two people. So the only time she could ever come visit him (when he's not already bothering her in her own house, that is) is when Sera isn't over. To her luck, today is that day.

Chaerin couldn't really say that it's for a good cause, though, and by the looks of it, Jaemin could tell as well.

"It's rare to see my sister at my door step, hm? Everything alright?" He queries as Chaerin busies herself with rummaging through his fridge.

"Protein chocolate milk. Be so serious, Jaemin," she deadpans as she turns around to face him, shutting the door. "Do you not have any normal food in this house?"

He rolls his eyes, pushing her to sit down on the kitchen chair. "Because I love you, I'll make you my last packet of cheat-day ramen. Okay?"

"Whatever," she murmurs as Jaemin heads to his stove to boil a pot of water. He hums a tune to himself, and knowing Jaemin, that's just his way of waiting for her to say something first. Both him and her know there's a reason why she's here, anyway.

"I had a fight with Haechan," Chaerin finally breaks the silence, and Jaemin lets out a hum.

"Is that so?"

"It was bad, Jaemin."

He nods, turning around to lean against the kitchen counter. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I-" She pauses when she hears her voice break. Oh, how pathetic. Even the mere thought of the boy is enough to cause tears to spring to her eyes, and Chaerin absolutely hates the effect he has on her. She could claim to hate Lee Donghyuck all she wants, and she knows none of it would even come close to being true.

Because that's just how much he means to her.

"He hurt me," she whispers shakily, daring herself to meet her brother's eyes, who in turn are wide upon seeing the tears pooling in her ducts. She isn't surprised— she's never cried in front of him before. "He said some things that hurt me so, so much that I just flipped at him and left. But even then-" she sniffles, "-why am I the one feeling so guilty about it?"

Jaemin turns off the stove, seemingly having no plans to continue making the ramen he promised.

It's okay. She isn't even that hungry anyway.

"Tell me what happened," he demands, and Chaerin does. From the start of the bet, to her sudden conflicting emotions in the middle. The night of the ball in the garden that led to the awkward almost-kiss with Jaehyun, but ended up with Donghyuck falling asleep in her bed. When he brought her to Songpa Naru Park and cried on her shoulder, only to push her away the very next day and telling her he wanted her to leave.

It was all so much. All of this, because of a stupid, meaningless bet.

"First of all, no one is going to get away with hurting my little sister. I won't hesitate to get my hands on him the next time I see him," he huffs, which causes Chaerin to chuckle slightly as she wipes the moisture from her cheeks. Jaemin isn't a violent person— if anything, she's more likely to be the one to sock somebody in the face, but she doesn't doubt that Jaemin is more than capable to do it too. Only if he puts his mind to it, though.