crack in the mirror | gayeon 🪞

-2-

Accommodating wasn't hard for Jooyeon. The boys were easy to talk to (mostly), and they all seemed to like the fact that they had a new housemate. It was always a break from reality; they could talk to someone they knew nothing about and just have fun with one more person. To Jooyeon, it was a pleasure only, and to them, probably the same.

He had explored Oasis even better; he had also talked with Charlotte. She was kind, smiled at him broadly, and talked to him. She liked to write as well, so they had something in common already.

Of all the boys in the Hut, he liked Seungmin the most, and he, as Jooyeon thought, also liked him very much. He spent the most time with him so far, talking about this and that and doing whatever they wanted.

Seungmin was funny, and Jooyeon loved his sense of humour and the way he was able to make the unfunniest thing in the world so hilarious that Jooyeon couldn't contain his laugh.

He was the one to introduce Jooyeon to more things in Oasis. He told him about these so-called societies, clubs, and people he should avoid the most (as it turned out, there was a boy who supposedly tried to murder Gunil once).

Despite the colourful side, Junhan had shown him he sensed something dark; he couldn't tell yet. Seungmin also seemed to omit some facts while listing all these advantages of being here. When Jooyeon questioned some things, Seungmin just told him not to think about them, and he obeyed.

It was always better than arguing.

He got a call from his mother a few days after joining the school. She was mad; her voice resounded in his ears, provoking him to get up and look out the window. He had to open it because, as he heard her talk, he felt everything boiling in his body. It was raining heavily. 

She shouted at him. She despised him. Why?

Because he was the reason why his father got drunk again and scolded her for having only a little money left. Jooyeon was the reason he was in a bad mood.

There was something devastating in her voice, and Jooyeon could understand it—but he still hated her. She blamed everything on him. She was just as bad as his father.

And when Seungmin entered his room to see him sitting on the chair with three straight legs, Jooyeon just smiled at him and closed the window with a quick, chaotic movement. 

"It's pretty late," Seungmin whispered, shutting the door behind him. "What's going on?" 

"I got an idea for my book," he lied, observing as he came closer and sat on the edge of his bed. "I had to write it down before I forgot."

"I see." Seungmin nodded his head. "Will I ever be able to read it? I mean, before it's published."

Jooyeon had to explain to him that he had to reread it and rewrite it before giving it away to anyone. In fact, he just disliked others reading his works. For a particular reason. However, instead of telling him the truth, he went on mumbling about how messy his book was now.

Seungmin only nodded and never asked him the same question again. At that moment, he just smiled at him and asked him to go to sleep within the next few minutes because he didn't want to see him sleepy the next day. Jooyeon nodded, agreeing; he took the encounter with Seungmin as a clear sign of something up in the dark sky telling him to finally stop thinking about his parents. But it was never easy at all.

In the next few days, he managed to make good friends with Jungsu as well, but he was still intimidated by Gunil. He seemed to be above them all, or maybe only above him. He treated him as if he were an employee during a trial period. He was testing him on every step; Jooyeon didn't even know when, how, and why.