What Can I Do

Chapter 21 ~I guess I never knew you to begin with

Furious pounding sounded on the door, loud enough for the entire huge house to hear.

Brian pulled one earphone out of his ear, Metallica still piercing through the little speakers. He was confused as to who was pounding on his front door at this late hour of the evening. No one ever visited the Kang household, even his parents scarcely visiting once a year. He pushed himself up, the knocking getting louder and more insistent.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, quit it with the knocking!" Brian yelled, pulling open the door.

As he swung open the door, hee was met with the furious face of Jae. That was his only image before getting punched in the face.

"What the hell!" Brian yelled, staring wildly up at Jae, years of fights making him supress the urge to swing a defensive punch back at Jae.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Jae chorused, letting himself in to Brian's house.

Brian clutched his newly bruised eye while glancing up at Jae, who was livid. Brian had never seen him this mad. Jae was generally an easy-going guy, laid back and always ready to crack a joke. It was hard to get him this worked up so Brian wondered why he was furious.

"What the hell, hyung? Haru confesses to you, my best friend, and you outright reject her. Not to mention were a complete jerk about it, you couldn't even let her down easy? What the hell, hyung!" Jae's face was flushed red from exertion, and Brian could barely distract himself from the way the red clung to his cheeks.

When he processed what the other boy was saying however, he was irrationally angry. 

"Why should I care about her feelings? Who is she to me?" Why should I care when it's not you? Brian stood, facing Jae head on, furious eyebrows in place.

Jae's face contorted, settling on disappointed and angry. He stalked up to Brian pushing his chest with his finger, backing them up until they hit the wall.

"I can't believe you, hyung. I thought you were different from what people said; I thought they were wrong about you. But you're just the same, you don't care about anyone else but yourself." Jae said, blinking through his round specs, eyes blazing.

Brian felt the hole in his chest puncture and deepen, choosing to ignore it in favour of glaring back at Jae. How could he make accusations like that without even hearing what Brian had to say? He always though Jae never believed what other people said or thought about him. Ever since the start, Jae treated him normally, like he genuinely wanted to be his friend. He guessed it was all a lie. Just as he thought, no one ever stayed; what a fool he was to believe Jae actually cared, that he finally found someone who actually wanted him. 

Brian's eyes hardened. "You don't know a thing about me." He muttered, feeling a tipping point.

Jae's eyes dimmed and he stepped back. "I guess I never did." He said, turning to quickly leave the house, the door still open behind him.

Brian slid down the wall, feeling the hole in his chest widening, incapable of ignoring now. The house felt even lonelier than it ever had in his entire life.

~~