𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. FIFTY-FOUR

"jiseok, you haven't been here in such a long time!" jungsu's mother exclaimed once she opened the door.

said boy just smiled lightly, scratching the back of his head. "a lot was going on the last months... is jungsu home?"

she shook her head. "he has an appointment. but you can enter, no worries. it's so cold, you shouldn't go all the way back to your home."

jiseok bowed lightly, whispering a small "thank you" before entering. his stomach rumbled.

"can i eat something?" he asked, trying to follow what his body wanted. it was still hard for him, but he knew that it was for the better.

he still had to gain a little bit of weight in order to get rid of the nasty feeding tube. and he needed it to happen as soon as possible.

mrs kim chuckled. "didn't know you'd be interested in eating when you're anorexic." jiseok's brows furrowed.

"i'm actually trying to get out of these habits" he mumbled, feeling quite uncomfortable to talk about this.

but the woman didn't seem to understand. "yeah? but your body fits the standard now. girls like skinny boys nowadays."

and jiseok was entirely weirded out. "um- seems like you were not aware of it but i have a boyfriend..."

in that moment, the clinking of keys sounded through the kitchen, that was connected to the front door, before it opened.

jungsu returned. "oh, jiseok, hi!" jungsu smiled, yet it quickly faded as he read the room.

"what's going on?" mrs kim just decided to blatantly ignore his son, walking towards the fridge. "there's food in here. eat all you want."

then she walked up the stairs. without further context. jungsu seemed confused. then he saw how emotional jiseok was.

walking up to his best friend, he pulled him into a hug. "i apologize on her behalf" he mumbled.

though he didn't know what his mother told jiseok, he knew that it couldn't be anything positive.

and knowing that jiseok cried easily, she must've said something that was a sensitive topic for him.

"do you wanna eat?" jungsu asked, feeling jiseok shake his head. right, he asked the wrong question.

"are you hungry?" this time, jiseok nodded. jungsu knew that the boy tended to be silent when he was about to cry or already crying.

that was he prevents further escalation. "so lets eat, shall we? i'll be there with you, hm?" jiseok nodded again, wiping away his tears as he backed away from jungsu.

the elder figured that his mother said something disrespectful regarding his disorder, making a mental note to confront the woman about it later.

warming up some of the stew for both of them, they walked up to jungsu's room, where both of them carefully sat down on the latter's bed.

jiseok really seemed to be taken aback by everything. so jungsu tried to brighten up his mood.

"one dude from my class will throw a party on saturday" he explained and slurped a bit from the food.

"i don't know if gunil told you yet, but we all get to take someone with us. so, what do you think? wanna get drunk this week?"

jiseok thought abt it. parties usually included suryeol and his friends. and they don't like jiseok and seungmin at all.

they hated hyeongjun, too. gunil probably now, too. so would it be worth it?

"why not?" he chuckled, his mood getting better a little bit. "only if i get to see you beating up suryeol."

jungsu had to laugh a bit. "if he molests you or anyone else from our friendgroup i will throw some hands.

i punched gunil and i will sucker punch suryeol even harder."

so that was settled.