0325 ⤅ stray kids leeknow

part ten - dream

Minho's POV; 0329

Seungmin leaned on the other side of the closet door to talk with us secretly. With Hyunjin's step father just a floor beneath us, staying hidden was more difficult than Jisung and and had thought through. The search had quickly escalated from an enraged father looking for his son to hundreds of police units searching for me — the one who took him. Little did they know we were hiding in plain sight, but staying with Hyunjin was ironically safe. I learned his step father, Han Jumin,was the leader of C&R International Company, one of the largest corporate businesses in South Korea, and was the brother of Jisung's father. By holding such good relations with the authorities, he was suspected less, making Hyunjin's closet the best hiding option right now.

"Well, Jeongin's too nervous to come forward. Eye witnesses aren't always taken so seriously without definitive proof, as you know, and right now, we have none. But Chan, whether he was lying or not, told them he found Minho with the gun, and the finger prints on it matched with his..." Seungmin kept his voice low; it was near the middle of the night, and Hyunjin's father expected that he and his son were asleep. He was finally able to tell me his version of events, and they seemed to make sense with what I could remember — close to nothing, but admitting that now to Jisung wouldn't be ideal...

"But that still doesn't make sense," Jisung finally spoke after moments of thought, "It makes no sense that Min would hold the gun and forget about it, right?"

He turned to me, expecting an answer, "Uh yeah..." To be honest, I was unsure of my own memories at this point, but I managed to concoct a story from what I could remember, "The gun was next to my father... I mean, he wasn't touching it, but it was obvious he had it to... shoot himself." The scene played out in my head again, my mother's lifeless eyes were all I could see. Jisung looked to me unsure; my eyes told him I was unsure, too.

He rubbed circles onto my back and spoke to me with a compassionate tone, "We can stop talking about it if it hurts, Min," he offered, but I shook my head. It was good to talk about it, I tried to convince myself, but the disturbing pictures of my mother never left my vision no matter where I was looking — right at Jisung, but I could only see my mother lying on her bed, dead, thrown away as if she weren't anything important.

I could only hope that at least she went peacefully and unsuspecting... but is that really any better knowing that there was more she, or even I, could have done?

0325

Fuck you, Chan.

I run block after block through alleyways and shortcuts to lose them; seeing their sympathetic faces only made me more ashamed — all of them but Felix's who held understanding. Oh God, did he understand. The poor kid.

All I wished for was to be home in my mother's arms, her warm embrace to help me forget, melt away any of the hurt that Chan left me with. He used me. He used me for years, my love causing me to be even more vulnerable. At least in the end he let me kiss him — just once — but that stopped fairly quickly when he pushed me off and said, "I'm sorry, I don't think of you like that... I don't know what I'm doing." Well, Chan, I'm not sure what I was doing with you either all those years.

I just keep running, using the hatred I felt for him as motivation. Soon I'll be with mom, I already felt warmth despite the chill of the night air from thinking of her sweet voice and soft lips kissing my forehead. I round the corner, just a few more blocks, mom.

Then, a sound like a shot rings through the neighborhood, causing me to stop for a moment. Another follows right after, and I flinch. I'm frozen in fear and wait for one more, but it never comes. Should I hide? I wonder, but I knew to keep running. I'm going to be safe, mom. Don't worry, your boy is okay.

My home comes in sight, and I smile, speeding up to the open window leading into my room. I climb in and hop down onto my bed, smelling roses from my air freshener, my favorite scent. I move to finally go see my mother, but something holds me back — It's a figure outside my doorway. My first instinct is my father, but it isn't. He's tall and lanky, the complete opposite of him.

The figure doesn't move again and is facing me, almost in fear of what I was going to do. I wanted to speak up, ask who he is, but I'm frozen in place as we stare at each other, neither of us daring to make the first move.

Then I thought of my mother, her safety. This is an intruder! One who is definitely here to hunt, to hurt, to take whatever! I'll put myself in as much danger as possible if it's for her. I move to approach him, but he suddenly bolts into the kitchen. "What, hey!" I call after the person, and chase them, but they're already on the other side of the backdoor my mother always keeps unlocked just in case.

When I turn to my left, whisky bottles and wine glasses are set out on the counter — my father has been drinking again. Maybe that man, whoever he was, was drinking with him. I look toward our small 'living room' to see more wine glasses on the coffee table as well as some cheese and crackers. Whatever meeting this was, definitely didn't end well...

I then realize how quiet it is in my parents' room for only 9:30 in the evening. I nervously push open the door leading their bedroom, "Mom? Are you asleep?" I freeze once again in shock.

My father is at my feet, face down, drenched in blood, and a gun is next to his hand. Everything in my mind told me to scream, but after all he put me through hours earlier, it's hard to find concern, anything, in my heart for him.

My mother seems safe at first, she was lying on her bed peacefully sleeping. I step over my father to sit next to her and try to wake her up, but I see her eyes already open, focusing on nothing. Lifeless.

It was only then that I take in the pool of blood that I sat in, the deep wound in her temple, the gun by my father's hand, and the man that was here. My father killed her, he killed my happiness, my everything, and that man finished the job. My scream couldn't let out all the anger inside me.

0329

Jisung shook me awake, "Min, Min! Wake up, you're being too loud..."

I opened my eyes to him looming over me, almost lying on top of me. I had fallen asleep and almost forgot where we were, but then I heard Seungmin's quiet snores coming from outside the closet.

"I'm sorry," I rolled onto my side, but Jisung still clung onto me, his head resting on mine as we laid on the floor of Hyunjin's closet.

"You were loud, more like yelling than talking," he whispered next to my ear as his arm slid around my waist. His warmth brought me some comfort after my horrific dream.

"Jisung," I whispered to which he hummed in response, "I remember all that happened to me..." Jisung giggled and squeezed me tighter.

"Hallelujah... now go to sleep and stop worrying."

And with Jisung latched onto me like a koala, I fell back to sleep, and wasn't woken again until the morning, when Hyunjin's step father came into the room to check on things.

~~~

okay so I have a couple things to say.
1) I'm so sorry this chapter is absolute shit and boring
2) I'm not sure if I want to continue this story, because it barely gets any support, and I have no motivation.
3) BUT it's almost to 200 reads, and for that I thank you a lot...

okay bye