crack in the mirror | gayeon 🪞

-11-

"Did you see my new bow anywhere, Joo?" Seungmin's voice woke up the mentioned boy. He had opened the door to his room with such bang that if anyone else was asleep at that time, they had also gotten up.

"What?" Jooyeon opened his eyes, slowly getting on his feet; the slim, tall boy in his room seemed to be in a rush, just as if someone was chasing him the whole time.

"My bow, I can't find it." Seungmin groaned and kept walking; checking cupboards and other corners, so desperate to find his beloved property, but it was nowhere to be found—obviously.

Jooyeon came closer, yawned, he was still half-asleep, and it was all because of yesterday's day, which was full of boring lectures and one class with the teacher he hated very much. He took Seungmin's hand in his, bringing it very close to his face; scanning it from the very top to the bottom.

"Still fresh," he swallowed. Seungmin's fingertips weren't in their best condition, but the owner didn't seem to care for this fact very much, actually, after learning about it he shrugged his arms, and took his palms away.

"I'm good." He pecked Jooyeon's lips very quickly, not very neatly and turned around. "I just need to find this damned bow. It was red and had a dot on one side and also—"

"I haven't seen it anywhere, Min..."

"Great." Seungmin bit his lower lip walking out of the room, Jooyeon squinted his eyes, tried following him with them, but he lost him very quickly. All he knew was that he walked downstairs and stomped loudly like some angry cartoon character.

It was his violin, him, and the lost bow against the whole world—not to mention his injured fingers, but they were his last concern. He wanted to do better this time, to show that he had the prodigy title for a reason.

Jooyeon decided not to think about him too much—mostly to get a grip of himself and do something productive that day, so he walked downstairs, made himself tea, and breakfast. It wasn't much, but was a lot considering that otherwise, he would have been rotting in his bed now.

Gunil was with him, watching some news on the TV, just like some political enthusiast, which, on one hand, he could be considered, since every time Jooyeon caught him spending his time in the living room, he was watching something connected to the country and state affairs. Once, he even started a talk about different parties when they were dining together, but the talk didn't bear any fruit since most of them had no faintest idea about politics.

"Any plans for today?" The older one questioned, and Jooyeon suddenly felt bad.

He had been staring at him for the past few seconds and Gunil had to sense that persistent look on the back of his head.

He turned the volume down and waited for Jooyeon to respond.

"Not really," he said, taking a plate and a mug with himself. "I'll probably go for a run with Seungmin later. And you?"

"I had an idea," Gunil smiled at him quite mischievously as Jooyeon deciphered. "I wanted to see a drag show, so I was asking you if you have any plans. If you don't have any I would be happy to take you with me."

"I mean, a run can wait for me. I'd love to go there." Jooyeon replied, taking a sip of his beloved green tea. "And it would be good for Seungmin to finally go out. Is he always overworked like that?"

He had no idea if he agreed because he wanted to go there, or he just wanted to please Gunil. He knew that in some sense it was both at once; he still felt that little pressure that he had to say yes to almost everything because he was new there.

Maybe not even that new, it's been some time since he joined... but compared to the period the others spent at that house he was like some newbie—someone that barely mattered.