𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. FORTY-FIVE

just the moment they arrived in indonesia, hyeongjun's mom took his phone.

"reconnect with old friends!" she ordered him. "your korean friends made you weak."

so hyeongjun was without a phone the last weeks, having collected money just to buy himself a crappy one, that was barely working.

he just wanted to call jooyeon once, tell him that everything is fine. because the younger must be pretty worried about him.

so he called him, having written down jooyeon's number in his diary, having suspected that something like this would happen.

and hearing jooyeon's voice on the other side of the speaker made him happy.

"hello?"

"oh god, joo, i'm glad i memorised your number!"

"hyeongjun?!"

"my mom took my phone away when we arrived. sorry i couldn't message you sooner"

"i really thought something happened, i was so worried..."

"i'm sorry, joo. had to save money for a new phone. luckily they accepted me back at my old job, so i immediately could buy something when my first paycheck arrived."

"i see. wait, let me leave the room. i'm with the others."

"oh? tell them i said hello."

jooyeon was heard to greet the other's from hyeongjun, then the sound of the door closing.

"okay, now i'm alone."

"nice.. i also found out why my mom wanted to go back in the first place."

"why?"

"well, you see, my dad is not my biological dad, but i already told you that. my sperm donor apparently moved to indonesia and my mom wanted to stay in contact with him. i'm his son, after all..."

"oh, what? so did you meet him?"

"no. but my mom meets up with him regularly. and i mean i don't wanna meet that guy, my dad stays my dad - he was the one who influenced my childhood."

"understandable. man, that's so fucked up. why would she even take you with her when her only reason for moving back was to gatekeep your biological father from you?"

hyeongjun sighed.

"don't know. but it's whatever now. i'm just glad to finally hear your voice again."

"so am i, sweetheart. happy new year, by the way."

"oh right, for you too. did you celebrate well?"

"about that..."

hyeongjun's brows furrowed, concerned.

"what do you mean?"

"i relapsed."

"oh, joo... i'm so sorry to hear that. i wish i could be there for you."

"i really wish you'd be here, too. don't understand me wrong, our friends are incredible. but i miss you so much."

"joo, baby, i promise i'll be back as soon as i can. my mom needs to calm down a little first, then i'll ask her if i'm allowed to move out. i miss you so much, too."

the other's were calling jooyeon, the voices barely audible through the crappy phone. hyeongjun smiled lightly.

"go back to them. i'm sure they'll help you feel less miserable... i love you so much, joo."

"you're right. please stay safe. i love you, too, jun."

then the younger hung up the call. hyeongjun rubbed his temple as he laid back down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

as if planned, he heard his mom come closer to his room. quickly hiding the phone underneath his bed, he ran towards his guitar, grabbing it while pretending like he was practising. otherwise his mother would suspect something.

the woman entered, a small smile on her lips. "come on, dinner is ready."

as much as hyeongjun would love to say no, he had no other choice but to follow her. just to be surprised by a man sitting at the table.

"that's matt, your father."