Wilted Flowers | soonhoon au

Prologue

"Why do you even try to pursue getting into a university? What can music do for you?! Did you even hear yourself just now?"

Jihoon clenched his fist and is about to throw a punch or two to his step mother. They never understood his dream. Not even his biological father, who happens to be a man working for a foreign company and left him to a family unfamiliar to him to earn money. He can't blame a brave act to be the cause of his sorrow; the lone cause of his everyday misery.

He tried to calm himself through brushing his hair numerous times. He looked towards the direction where his stepmother was standing. He imagined a large ball coming out from a wall, wishing she'll be hit any time soon. His earnest yearning for wanting this step family dead grew stronger through the years. No one understood him. No one cherished him. No one was there whenever he needed someone.

"Are you even listening to me, dimwit?" The step mother sighed. She never acknowledged the kid's existence. Always playing the piano while composing tons of songs no one listened to, he was labeled weird and rebellious. Not listening to anyone, not paying attention to anyone, that's Lee Jihoon.

This stepmother of his doesn't want him to enter university. She doesn't want to waste her money to a child who was never related to her. "Who'll be paying for your fees? Who'll support you? Do you even think your father will pay for you? What can a music major do?! You don't even try to excel--"

"So what?!" Jihoon snapped. He can't take it anymore. "Why don't trust me? Why can't I reach for my dreams? Does everyone need their parents' validation in every decision they make in life? I don't think so."

"What are you even bragging anyway, Jihoon? Is this how you repay your mother?!" She shouted. She already prepared ger hand to slap him. He was too disrespectful.

"Repay? Oh, okay. The whole family generously mistreated and isolated me while dad's away. You didn't fairly gave my allowance, stealing almost half of it. What should I be thankful for when all I ask is a damn support?!"

He cried. He shed tears for her to see. He shed tears because he can't hold it in anymore. He knelt down on the floor and continued to wipe the endless waterfall in his eyes.

"Give it a rest, Jihoon. You're a guy and you're still 17." His ears twitched. "Stop watching too much kdramas when you're supposed to be cleaning the house. Oh, you never cleaned this house. You've always been a lazy bum who always studied! Yes, you had high grades and all but it would be too unfair to send you to a university while my daughter's struggling to even pass an exam! We are not even related. Such a dreamer."

"Unbelievable." He stood up from his position and sniffed his nose. He inhaled a little bit and began to stay calm after his stepmother's senseless act. "Forget it. You're clueless. I don't even know why dad married someone stupid."

He hurriedly ran towards the door of his room to escape. "What the fuck, Lee Jihoon! Come back here!" Fast footsteps can be heard going downstairs. Jihoon got a good grip of the barricade hence, preventing him to accidentally fall. When he successfully went down the 20-step staircase he sadly encountered rain outside.

It was his plan to leave temporarily but how can he try soaking in the rain, the only outfit he can bring? Its the only thing he's going to wear for days. "I'm coming for you, brat!" Jihoon can't find a single umbrella. "Damn, I need to escape hell even if it demands my clothes getting wet just to reach heaven." He went outside. Yes, it was raining however, it made him excited. He ran outside as fast as he could. Jumping out of joy he shouted a statement directed to the heavens, "Thank you! I couldn't be more happier."

It was the very first time he went out of the house. He was home schooled and he never met someone who could've supported him with his dream. It was the very first time water from the skies touched his glowing white skin. It was the very first time the clouds, though gray, witnessed a child's dream of leaving a house that never felt like home.