FACING THE SAME FACE | JINKOOK

Cₕ₃

If there was one thing that characterized JungHyun apart from his mania for pouting in every situation, it was that he couldn't stay angry for long. JungKook was surprised that the anger from his last conversation lasted for two whole days, so to speed up the process on the afternoon of the third day, he polished himself off by making dinner. Just as he suspected, after eating, JungHyun seemed much more relaxed. However, he didn't want to push his luck at this point and preferred to wait until his brother went to bed late at night before he went to crawl into his bed as well.

"A friend told me about a job offer, but I haven't made up my mind," he said.

"¿Why?" asked JungHyun "Don't tell me you liked the unemployment" he smiled mischievously.

"It's because we said we would both take a month. I'm keeping my promise.

"You know that's not necessary, if you want to start looking for a job right now you can."

"I want to be with my brother" he hugged him with hands and legs, leaving JungHyun reduced to a little ball on the bed "¿Do you still hate me?"

"No, JungKook, I could never hate you. You're the person I love the most."

"¿More than your anime collection?"

"Yes, more than my collection" he smiled.

"¿More than Jin?"

"You're never going to drop the subject, ¿are you?" He pushed him away, untangling himself a little from the smothering embrace.

"It's just that last time you didn't finish telling me at what point your messianic infatuation cost you your job. And before you call me out for being a busybody, I'll tell you, it's hard not to want to dig when night after night you keep calling that man.

"All right," he sighed, "I'll tell you the rest of the story, but only because it's night and it's raining. When I can't see you clearly, words come easier."

JungKook knew this all too well. When his brother had sex for the first time, he also confessed it at night, with the lights off. At a certain time at night the locks on every secret seemed to fade, and the words floated lighter.

"I promise to try not to make any more biting remarks," JungKook assured.

"Jin's father was involved with some very nasty people, they were into money laundering and one day he stole a million dollars from them and ran off with his son to China."

"Fuck, JungHyun.... This whole story of yours is starting to get on my nerves."

"It gets worse, JungKook. In China, he sent his son to university to learn the language so he could study any other career, they lived in a small house on the edge of the city until.... Well, he died. One day some thugs found JungKook and threatened to harm him if he didn't pay back all the stolen money, including interest. It came as a tremendous shock to him because until that moment he had no idea about his father's stealing.

"¿How is it possible? He must have at least suspected something, a million dollars must not be easy to keep under the bed."

"You can think what you want, JungKook, but he told me he didn't know anything and I believed him."

"I don't know" he stroked his forehead worriedly.

"He even started working delivering food, but those men kept extorting him, so he started selling himself, he was absolutely desperate. I understood, ¿where was he going to get a million dollars from one day to the next? I started having horrible nightmares, I was afraid that these people would hurt him. Then I would see him every morning in the cafeteria, when he finished working at the bar and I was just starting my day. Then I would go to the university with a thousand reproaches to myself for not being able to sort things out. I was sure that you would have come up with some risky plan to save him and many times I wanted to write or call you, but".

"Exactly, ¿why didn't you say anything to me?"

"Jin made me swear that he would never tell his secrets to anyone else. His father had betrayed him and I didn't want to do it too."

"JungHyun, ¿don't you think that sometimes your sense of good complicates your existence too much?"

"I'm sure it does," he whispered.

"¿What about that guy's boyfriend?, ¿wasn't he helping him?"

"They weren't dating, he was the only person besides me who knew the whole truth, a friend of his, his name was SeungCheol. He was tall and mean. Jin introduced me to him once, sometimes we had breakfast together, but I never got to hear more than a couple of words from him. He used to greet me and dismiss me with a haughty movement of his jaw. Most of the time he would look at me with distrust, the same distrust I felt towards him."

"So he only had you and a very strange man. What a shitty situation. He should have gone to the police and asked for help, come back here, I don't know".

"He couldn't go back, the men who were looking for him were not Chinese, they were just there to stalk him. Besides, his permit to stay in China had expired and if migration found out about it, they would expel him. Not to mention that he was simply terrified and assured me many times that if he denounced, those men would not hesitate to kill him. There is no way I can explain to you the feeling of helplessness and frustration I felt when I saw all this and could do nothing but fold my arms. As the days went by, SeokJin looked more taciturn and thinner. I thought he would die before he paid even half of that debt, and without realising it, I loved him more and more each time, wanting to become someone who could put a smile on his face. He never smiled, JungKook.

"So you got involved. I don't know how or what you did, but I'm sure you got in trouble for that man, and considering everything you've told me, I'm surprised that at this very moment we don't have a couple of thugs breaking down our door, claiming we owe a million dollars and that they're going to cut off our fingers if we don't pay up in a week."

JungHyun lay down on his twin's chest and sighed. While they had always been very affectionate and had no problem with cuddling and even sleeping together, the truth was that they didn't usually cuddle too much and every one of those little snuggles that JungKook was starting to notice, gave him an idea about how sad and in need of affection JungHyun was.

"It's true, I got too involved. But ¿you know what? Looking back on it all, I think from the first time I saw him in my class, I got involved with Jin. It was inevitable.

"¿What did you do, JungHyun?" he stroked his hair even though his primal instinct dictated that he shake him by the shoulders and yell at him until his brother came to his senses.

"He told me he served four customers every night so I went to the bar where he worked... and bought it."