Cactus 『Lee Jihoon』

요섯

3:04 // Thursday

Yesterday, Jihoon decided it was time to work after not showing up for a couple of days. The pub's manager was a little disappointed at Jihoon but he has promised to come back every night to perform. It's only a matter of time before he gets paid by the end of the month and be able to pay for rent and survive. Soundly sleeping in his tiny living room, he woke up by a loud phone ringing non-stop. It wasn't his, though, it was Soyeun's. He looked over to what he called the bedroom, and saw Soyeun sitting up, yet curled like a ball while her phone was kept in a distance, continuing it's obnoxious ringtone.

Jihoon stood up to go check on whatever's making her cower in fear, looking at the screen, it displays "Mom".

"Why won't you answer your phone?" He said in his (hot) half sleepy voice.

"Are you kidding?! She'll kill me!" She whispers, as if her mother will hear her if she talked normally. Jihoon rolled his eyes, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Why am I here?" She asked, looking around the apartment and glued her eyes on the floor. He turned the cellular off, to calm the girl beside him.

"Was I drunk? Did I drink all of those??" She asked but gasped and whispered, "Did something happen between us?!"

Jihoon raised his eyebrows, still sleepy and back was frustratingly aching. He shook his head vigorously and began explaining the situation. Soyeun kept quiet, while the boy in front of him told her how they encountered each other once again. The raven haired girl began burrying her face between her knees to show how embarrassed she was, but the boy assured her that they didn't try to do anything. That he just wanted to help. Realizing this, he could see a little bit of Seungcheol's selflessness in him. That guy sure is dependable and contagious.

"Why did you decide to drink anyway?" He said, eyeing on the girl's bandage and wound covered legs, but quickly stirred away to make it less awkward.

"I-.. You see, there's so much going on in my head, but, I can't seem to put it all in words.." She admitted. For her, the human mind truly is exceptional. One day, you're contemplating whether you want to have a good life in the future, and the next day you just want to give up already. And having so many opinions, yet people will never hear you out because they have their own. It's a thing where it feels pretty lonely even though there are still people who love and adore you. She tried to put it in words, ending up saying, "umm, I-it's because of the stress?.. I think.. My reason's quite embarrassing, though, so... never mind."

"I understand..." Jihoon nodded as if reading her train of thought. His phrase caught her attention, people never really understood her. Or even put effort in understanding her. Then again, she was never really that open with anyone.

"How so?" She cocked her head, eyeing on Jihoon's expression. The boy looked too genuine, and true to his words. He was unlike any other people she had met whom only care about intellect, appearance and position in society.

"Umm... Do you ever just regret acting stupid?" He bit his lip, remembering all that happened in the past. It was his stupidity that pulled him away from his friends, from his career, from his dream, from Seventeen.. The urge to cry and drink was present in his mind once again, but he ran out of drinks and might even, his tears, days ago. The lass nodded.

"I'm stupid all the time. I ruin everything, actually." She laughed at herself.

"That's logical." Jihoon mustered up a joke, even when such painful topic is budding in the conversation. "Would you like to hear how I ended up in this garbage?" He asked. Soyeun didn't think it was garbage. It kind of looked nice, actually, only if he'd clear out the bottles and thoroughly clean the place with a little renovation. She nodded and positioned herself on her tummy, ready to listen.

"Is it necessary to—" he paused, feeling how enthusiastic Soyeun was in listening to his little story. He gulped, "—nevermind." And began to tell her things he never told anyone before.

"So, it all started when I was in training for, you know, being a kpop artist.. But in my first year, I kinda fucked up and—" he halted from speaking when he sees Soyeun's face turn pale. Killing the mood, she felt like burping, but there was something liquid coming out along the air. She quickly ran to the sink, which was the closest thing she could puke on. She expected Jihoon to either get mad or be worried, but surprisingly, he was laughing. His adorable laughter filled the room as Soyeun laughed as well.

"Boy, I don't wanna drink ever again," she sighed, drinking tap water from the sink. Jihoon's laughter died out, downgrading to a chuckle earning a pout from Soyeun, as she walked back to the bed.

"God, you kinda killed the mood there, Yeun-ee." He mocked which caused Soyeun to whine like a child reminding her that her mother will kill her. Speaking of mother, she also has school in less than 3 hours. I'll never make it alive. She thought.

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." He frowned a little, before looking at the clock. Then it clicked, oh, she has school.

"If I skipped classes I might not be able to graduate. My parents might disown me. My schoolmates will make fun of me and disrespect me. I—" Soyeun babbled on, yet Jihoon covered her mouth and shushed her.

"No, don't say that.. You're... one of a kind..? Who cares if you're not who they expect you to be, don't they consider what you want to be?" Jihoon tried to console her, and it oddly worked well. Jihoon removed his hands away after tears started spilling from her eyes again.

"I.... want.. to be happy..." Soyeun sniffled, lowering her head as her tears stained the bed sheets. Jihoon wasn't good at things like this, but he learned from the best people, his best mates, and without hesitation, he hugged her. Although Soyeun wasn't that smart, she was still a human with feelings, just like Jihoon.

"I want to be... happy as well.." He breathed a sigh, though inaudible, all Jihoon knows that apart from their obvious differences, they're still quite similar to each other.

Some people dislike and avoid them, some people take care of them and nourish them, but it's up to them to to let anyone do what it takes to free them from their misery.

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//Smol author's note, hi there hi! I hope things made sense even though my mind's quite... foggy.. There's only a few days before my classes start, oh God. Hopefully, I'll still be able to update. Thank you for your time in reading!! ^^

All is well appreciated. Have a good day ahead of ya! （＾ν＾）