warnings ── cursing, angst, lyr and his mother & grandmother have a sweet facetime and he CRIES
"Babushka, can you hear me?" Lyr asked in Russian as his grandmother squinted through the camera, hand shaky before Lyr's mother came over and helped her stand it upright. The smile on Lyr's grandmother's face was unmatchable, chest clenched tightly as she nodded happily, eyes lighting up as she waved at her grandson. He recognized his childhood home in the background of his grandmother's camera, and it brought peace to him, nearly distracting him from the answer his grandmother had given.
"Oh, hello, dorogoy! I can hear you wonderfully." His grandmother answered back in Russian, sending a pang of comfort and deja vu through his body as he smiled, waving at the older woman. "How have you been?"
"Busy," Lyr answered, running a hand through his dark brown hair as his voice shook with a sigh. He wasn't lying, either─he had three songs he was working on for his new album, and he had a photoshoot in just a few hours from now. He had finally gotten downtime for the first time this week, and deecided to relax at home with the little time he had left. Lyr had gotten call after call from sponsors, and since his manager was off from work for a few days, they began to pile up.
"You're donig fantastic though, dorogoy. I never doubted you or your musical talent." Lyr's grandmother smiled as her cheeks were rosy with cold air, and Lyr smiled at her, thanking her for the support as she just laughed.
"I'll always support you. You're a very talented guy who will go very far in life, don't you worry." The older woman shook her finger at the camera, and Lyr's cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but he found himself overpowering the pain and smiling even wider.
After a few minutes of more catching up and talking, Lyr heard the clanking pots stop once and for all, and his mother made her way to the phone, familiar eyes and lips meeting Lyr's gaze as he waved at his grandmother once more, snuggling in his office chair as Lyr's mother, Ahn, said something to her mother and disappeared into the living room. She fell quiet once she got a good look at Lyr's face, and her eyes started swimming with unshed tears.
"Oh my goodness, look at you, Dokyeom." Ahn's voice was hushed as her dark brown eyes gazed over her screen, and she laughed, sounding as if she was holding back tears. "You're so tired."
Lyr's heart broke a little as she muttered that sentence while using his Korean name, and he felt his eyes start to swell up with tears too, sighing as he bit his lip. "Fuck─don't say that, Mama. I'm fine."
Of course, Lyr was just lying to make sure his mother wasn't going to start crying or worrying about him. Lyr wasn't okay─his mental health had been dropping over the past two weeks as he's tried to get the album he was working on ready for his fans, and hadn't had time to think about hismelf and what he needed. Lyr was making it by the grace of some higher being, and he was convinced that he was slowly sinking with no way out. No one for him to call out for help to.
"Dokyeom, I'm here for a reason. Please don't hold it in. Don't hold any of those feelings in." Ahn's voice was hushed yet sweet, and Lyr couldn't help but notice how good and natural her English had become. He wasn't even there to see her English develop into the beautiful English accent she had now.
His heart broke a little more.
"Mama, I─" Lyr's voice cracked, and the tip of his sharp nose became red as the tears started to flow. "Mama─oh, fuck─Mama, I need you."
Lyr needed his mom.
He needed someone.
Anyone.
a/n ── count how many times i almost broke while writing this 🤕 ahhh i love lyr and his precious little soul 😭 he pretends to be all big and strong but he really isn't....lyr can't handle heavy emotions by himself and it shows with how easy he can break down ☹ EUSIENSKLNFE bye okay i'm leaving (also TYSM FOR 3.6K READS YOU ALL ARE WILD!!! go check out my vernon chwe fic if you haven't too okay byeee)(innocent plug there)
