Habits | Odehan

(XIX)

Tw for mentions of alcoholism

Hyeongjun didn't usually open his mailbox, but he did from time to time. Just like today, and strangely, instead of just the usual ads and bills, there was a letter, not for his parents. But actually, it was his, just his.

He brought it inside and started reading it.

Dear Hyeongjun

It's been a while, but you haven't been replying to anything, I'm worried. I found your address on my desk, you wrote it down a couple of years back, when we were in highschool, the day you were leaving. Basically, enough of all of that, I wrote to you cause I and everyone from high school want to see you. You don't have to stay for long though!

Thanks for considering!

K. Jungsu

"Of course it would be him!" As he said, Jungsu was the one person that would do anything to be with Hyeongjun. Inside the envelope, there was also a phone number, Hyeongjun assumed that it was Jungsu's.

He decided to not give any answer, he checked the envelope again. "This works out perfectly!"

For a couple of years now, Hyeongjun has been working hard, very hard to come back to his old town. He had finally gotten enough money to rent an apartment. He didn't know exactly where it was, he hadn't visited at all, but he knew that he wanted to go. That was the only thing he wanted to do, ever since he moved away.

He had already gotten a new job over there and he had bought a train ticket. Jungsu's letter was purely coincidental.

--

"That's the address!" Hyeongjun spoke to himself, checking the letter, he knocked on the door nervously.

The man who opened the door almost started crying at the sight of the younger boy. "Hyeongjun! You could've sent me back a letter or a text!" He went up to the boy, he backed away but quickly gave in and hugged the elder.

"Jungsu-hyung! I missed you!" Jungsu let him inside. "So I do have a roommate! But you won't mind him at all!" Jungsu closed the door behind him.

Gunil was in the kitchen, he smiled when seeing the younger boy, it took him a couple of seconds to recognise the boy. "Hyeongjun! It's been ages" "Gunil-hyung! Wow I can't believe you guys live here!" Hyeongjun looked around, the size of their house was rather big which meant that they made quite a lot of money.

"How are you?" Hyeongjun asked, sitting down, across from Gunil. The two were fine, they explained how often Seungmin and Jungsu would fight and how that resulted in them breaking up for a week. But they got back together cause they missed each other.

"What about Jiseok and Jooyeon?" Hyeongjun asked, hoping that they had gotten together. "So, they're often going on dates, just like in highschool but they're still not together" Hyeongjun chuckled, he shook his head playfully. "Well, I hope they'll be together one day" Jungsu nodded, so did Gunil.

"And Seungmin?" Jungsu and Gunil exchanged glances, not knowing how to say this. "Well, uh, he's been..." Jungsu tried finding the right words but Gunil took over. "Terrible" Gunil said bluntly, it was the truth, but maybe he should've been more subtle. "What do you mean?" Hyeongjun asked, concerned for the older boy.

"Well, he's a barely functioning alcoholic" Jungsu bit his bottom lip and looked at the floor.

Hyeongjun felt his heart drop. He had a feeling that happened because he moved away. "It's my fault" He muttered, quickly, Gunil denied it. "But, if I hadn't left, he would still be healthy" Hyeongjun played with his fingers. "There's no guarantee"

Hyeongjun stood up, Jungsu followed after him. "I'm going home" Jungsu was confused by that statement. "You just arrived? I didn't know trains were that fast" Hyeongjun laughed and explained what he had done. Jungsu's mouth was left open. He left with his luggage.

--

Hyeongjun arrived at his new apartment. It looked awfully familiar. So before entering, he walked around the area. He smiled to himself after realising where he was.

He entered the modern building. "This is the first time I'll go up those stairs" Hyeongjun looked at the elevator which was closed for order.

Somehow, he was now living in his ex(?)boyfriend's building. Well, not his, just in the same. If he hadn't moved.

He first visited his apartment, it looked like Seungmin's apartment, except with much less personality.

He put down his stuff and went up the stairs. One thing that was engrained in his memory was Seungmin's floor. If he had to remember one thing, it would be Seungmin's apartment.

He knocked on the door, the mailbox downstairs still had Seungmin's full name, which meant- normally, he still lived here.

Instead of Seungmin opening the door, it was a short boy. "You've always been short!" Hyeongjun nudged the boy right in front of him, the boy rolled his eyes playfully. "Welcome back Hyeongjun! You won't be pleased with Seungmin's current state"

Except, Hyeongjun didn't care at all. He went over to the living room, he saw Seungmin on the couch. "Hey! You look exactly like my boyfriend in high school!" Seungmin pointed at him, while laughing like a maniac. "Minnie~ I am your high school boyfriend" Seungmin was still laughing. "God, you have to go to rehab" Hyeongjun fixed Seungmin's hair. Jiseok was behind the two. "What's that" Seungmin asked, looking at the boy.

"A better place" Hyeongjun tried to explain, without giving too much details, so that it wouldn't turn him away. "I'd love that" He slurred, drunk as ever. "How many bottles has he had?" Hyeongjun asked, moving away a dozen glass bottles. "Well, today, so far, only one, but this week he's had 9 bottles" It was Thursday, which meant he was averaging more than 1 bottle per day.

"Holy shit, he really is barely functioning" Hyeongjun put the empty bottles in the bin. "You think? This is one of his good weeks" Jiseok put Seungmin back on the couch.

"He has to get into rehab" Hyeongjun turned on the computer. "I realised! I haven't seen you in 5 years! You're 21 now, right?" Hyeongjun nodded, checking a site for a nearby rehab centre.

"There! Soon, the Seungmin I knew will hopefully be back!" Hyeongjun smiled after making the call. "How do you know it'll work?" Seungmin asked, Hyeongjun nodded.

"I know my Minnie"

-----

A/n

This will be the second (actually ff, chatroom and imagines don't count) fanfic to have 20(+) chapters, since it's obviously not finished!

-Jude out!

03.04.24