rumble fish #gingerwoo

#16

"I'm tired. This day was so eventful," Gingerboy said with a sigh as he walked away from the Spotlight towards his own house with Hyunwoo. They walked slowly, knowing this walk was the last chance for them to be together - not forever of course, just until the next day. They had became dependent of each other and wanted to spend every minute they could with each other.

"Gunhee won't come around twice in one week so it should be peaceful," Hyunwoo noted, tensing his whole body as they walked because it was getting cold.

"Some other drama can happen. Who knows, Kihyun could get in trouble with cops or something," Ginger shrugged, trying to come up with some possible scenarios of what interesting things could happen even though Kihyun causing trouble wasn't of the most plausible ones. "Or Changkyun decides to move to his dad."

"Hey, don't say things like that. They might come true," Hyunwoo let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah... Ion' want Changkyun to move. We'd barely see him if he did," Gingerboy sighed again. "It's weird... He usually comes back on Sunday and now it's almost Monday already."

"Let's not think about things like that," Hyunwoo said, the thought about losing any of his friends taking over his whole mind already. Their group was so tight at the moment that he couldn't imagine how it would be without Changkyun - or literally any of them.

Gingerboy didn't continue on the topic since Hyunwoo wished to not talk about it. They came to his house and stopped in front. Ginger turned to face the older guy with a small, reassuring smile on his face.

"Call me later?" Hyunwoo questioned, already feeling like missing Gingerboy.

"I'll go to sleep," Ginger told, rejecting the request for a phone call. Hyunwoo wanted to hold the younger's hand for a moment so he pulled it out of a pocket and interlocked their fingers. "I'mma text you after school tomorrow. Meet me at Spotlight."

"Of course."

"I'm going in," Gingerboy announced and looked down at their hands, wondering how to free himself from Hyunwoo's hold. Part of him didn't want to.

Hyunwoo let go of his hand and watched as he walked inside. Once again he stayed there until he saw the light of Gingerboy's room turn on. Then he turned around to make his way to his own apartment that was a good walk away from Ginger.

-

Gingerboy had gotten to his room without even a sight of his foster father. He wasn't sure if the man was even home or why had there been no reaction to him coming home but he was glad being able to just quickly escape to his room without any ruckus.

He laid in his bed and played with his phone while wondering if he should really call Hyunwoo. He knew the older would still be somewhere on the way home and could use some company. Besides, he did feel lonely in his room as well.

Before he could make the call, though, the door of his room opened with a bang that startled him. He jumped up to meet the eyes of his father, already feeling that the mood was not good and he was screwed.

"Did you think you could sneak in and avoid me like that?" the man started questioning him.

"I didn't sneak in I just walked normally," Gingerboy spoke fast, knowing the time he would be given to explain was never short. "Why would I avoid you?"

"I bet you know you're in trouble," the stern voice continued and Gingerboy unknowingly took a step back even though he wasn't being approached.

"If there is any mess in the kitchen I really didn't do it I haven't even eaten here at all," Gingerboy still spoke fast, wondering what could be the thing his father was mad about this time. He had checked every place was clean and that he had done all the taskes he had been told to do.

"Who else would make a mess here but you?"

"Uhm..." Ginger looked around as if to find answers but it was hard since he didn't know why was he being yelled at.

"I know you fought someone at school," his father started again with a different voice. Gingerboy looked up at him with wide eyes. "Some woman came crying to me saying you hurt her daughter."

Gingerboy cursed at Minjae his mind, feeling betrayed that she would complain to her mom about him when she knew it would get him into a trouble way too big.

"How can you embarrass me like that?" his father hit the door with his palm, making it swing to the wall and make a loud bang again. "I'm on the board but now they see me as a joke because of you."

"How can I help it!" Ginger raised his voice to match the level of his father.

"I know you don't eat your medicine you ungrateful piece of shit," he took some steps closer.

"I do, I do! Look," Gingerboy started going through his backpack to find the bottle of pills Hyunwoo had given him on the day before but his father just ripped the backpack from him and threw it on the floor.

"You bring nothing but problems and still take all my money!" his father kept yelling, going for Gingerboy's phone that the boy was holding next. He grabbed the boy's wrist and even though Ginger held on the phone with all his strength, he could feel it being pulled away slowly until his fingers were about to break.

Gingerboy was hit by a burst of anger and he took it out on the pile of books on top of his table, smashing them on the ground in between his father and him, some of them even hitting the feet of the man in front of him.

"Heejun!" his father pushed him back, making him stumble on the table that was behind him. This only made hims angrier but he didn't continue breaking things but shouted instead.

"If you hate me so much then why have you kept me here for four years!"

It became quiet for a moment. Gingerboy was out of breath because of how he had yelled and his father just looked at him, surprised at his words. Ginger didn't know what would happen next but he felt somehow relieved to finally say something he had been thinking for a long.

"Fine. I won't keep you here anymore. I'm calling the social worker," his father said, this time with almost regular, calm voice. He took out his own phone, still holding Gingerboy's in the other hand.

"Wait, wait, no! I'm sorry!" Ginger tried to stop him from walking out the room but the door swung shut in front of him, almost hitting his face.

He stuck close to the door to listen if his father was really making a phone call so he could plan his next move. It was quiet for a long time.

"Hello. I would like to confess that I don't think I'm capable of taking care of my foster kid anymore," was all Gingerboy needed to hear before he started running around his room to find his backpack. "I don't live with my spouse anymore and to provide for a teenager alone... I need to work too much and can't watch over him so he rebels a lot, yes."

Ginger wasn't listening to the rest of the phone call that seemed to be like complete bullshit. He jumped out of his window and ran fast before his father would see him from the living room window. He knew that if he stayed, he would be taken away in no time and if his father caught him running away, he would be locked up until someone came to get him.

No one was chasing but Gingerboy still kept running, wanting to reach his destination, Spotlight, before the doors would get locked. Spotlight had became his usual runaway spot, partly because it was close and partly because he didn't have many other places to go to.

He pulled the door with unnecessarily lot of force and it luckily opened, letting him in to the skate park that already looked dark as most of the lights had been turned off, causing the two guys that were still at the park to be barely visible in the dim room.

Gingerboy, whose mind had been filled with rush and desperation, hadn't even thought about the fact that Yongguk and his friend were still here. He felt some embarrassment now, having barged in like that in the middle of the night.

"What's wrong? Why are you here?" Youjin bombed him with questions as soon as he had registered the situation. He quickly walked over to Gingerboy.

"I'm in trouble," Ginger replied, choking a bit on his words because Youjin's concerned tone made the emotions he had been hiding with anger coming out.