True Blue 🎸 yungi [▶]

13

[Jongho]

Silence.

"What did you say?" My throat still hurts every time I speak. But for now, it would hurt even more if I didn't ask.

Painful with curiosity.

"Well, I slipped up, Jongho. Sorry."

You don't need to apologize to me, Yunho hyung.

"What did you say exactly?" I curse Yunho hyung's face, looking so resigned, as if he were willing to be punished for a lifetime for a man who just caused the band that stood for seven years to disband because of a hidden lie.

Innocent face. If this way, I can't bear it, even to just ask whatever he said—well, if he doesn't answer.

"I don't know. Hongjoong hyung kept pressing me just before the performance, and all I remember is being very upset. So, well, I said that they started dating when you were sick and Hongjoong hyung was so busy taking care of you."

Everyone's busy taking care of me? Even those who only know me from a thing that almost knows everything—okay, let's call it the internet—sending me many letters to encourage me.

Then, our leader took advantage of the situation? Is that what you want to say? Or our eldest brother who took advantage of the leader's feelings? Whoever it is, this shouldn't have happened, if, well, okay, if I didn't argue and get poisoned until I lost my voice. Hongjoong hyung wouldn't be so busy with me, so Seonghwa hyung wouldn't be neglected and...

Alright. I feel guilty now.

Click

The sound of the dorm door being locked.

"Hyung." Yunho hyung approaches Hongjoong hyung, who stands with a blank expression near the dorm entrance.

"Hey," Hongjoong hyung gently pats Yunho hyung's shoulder, "Yunho." He forces a smile. A faint one to Yunho hyung and another one to me. Then he quickly goes to his room.

"Hyung, are you going to—" The pain is increasing. My throat is getting tighter.

"For a while. It's better if I leave, right? Or maybe forever is not a big deal," he says as he puts some shirts into a small suitcase.

"You don't have to do it." Yunho hyung suddenly stands coldly behind me.

Just like earlier, a smile graces Hongjoong hyung's face. "I don't have a choice right now."

"But you really don't have to do it." Yunho hyung barges into the room. Silence. I stand firm in front of Hongjoong hyung's door.

"It's not your fault." He looks at Yunho hyung with pity, as if knowing that the anguish gnawing at the man is guilt.

"No, I'm still guilty. But not because of that."

Hongjoong hyung stops his activity that seems unchangeable.

"You don't have to leave."

I cautiously step in. "Yunho hyung is right."

His forehead furrows. For a moment, he stops folding clothes.

"Kim Hongjoong!"

Seonghwa hyung? His black jacket reeks of alcohol. He must be drunk.

"Hyung," Unexpectedly, Yunho hyung is the first to approach Seonghwa hyung, "are you drunk?" Yunho hyung tries to support Seonghwa hyung's swaying body. However, with a little strength, he pushes Yunho hyung's good intentions aside.

"You," Seonghwa hyung holds Yunho hyung's jaw in his grip, "have you loved Mingi all along?" Then he laughs.

I stay silent, observing the situation. Can't act hastily.

And for a momentary glance, I find Hongjoong hyung's wounded face. Great love brings great pain.

"Enough. Let's go to your room. I'll help you change your clothes." Yunho hyung tries again. This time with more earnestness. But he's pushed aside again.

"Kim... Hongjoong..." Seonghwa hyung walks with a tilted body towards Hongjoong hyung, who has been sitting on his bed without blinking since earlier, "are you satisfied now? Say it! Are you satisfied?!" He shouts, no trace of his soft voice left. As if his previous soft voice was ephemeral and this harsh one is the reality. "Are you going to make me leave now too?" Somehow his voice just now softens again, almost sighing.

Hongjoong hyung looks for my and Yunho hyung's eyes. Asking for an explanation as brief and clear as possible. The questioning look in his eyes is so clear, 'What does he mean by 'too'?'

Like two bound souls, me and Yunho hyung silently agree.

Seonghwa hyung unzips his black jacket and throws himself onto the bed. Some clothes that Hongjoong hyung stacked fall to the floor. "Where are you going?" Suddenly he turns around, with a melancholy look towards Hongjoong hyung. "You don't have to leave."

"What do you mean?"

Getting asked like that, Seonghwa hyung's face turns away from Hongjoong hyung. And some burps from the influence of the drinks echo in the room.

Hongjoong hyung turns to us, who are just watching near his bedroom door.

"Seonghwa hyung will tell you, hyung. We're leaving."

His long arm pulls mine. Yunho hyung's voice doesn't sound sad, nor regretful, but not calling it a triumphant voice either. Just... flat.

That's it.