Stumbling Backward(JOOKYUN✔️)

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"What in the hell is an ass burger?"

Hyungwon's little panel let's out an automated Haha, much to Changkyun's dismay. Glaring at his best friend from across the table, Changkyun attempts to collect his thoughts as best he can. "It's called Asperger's. It's a..." Changkyun pauses, about to say the word disability, but he doesn't feel incapable of anything. "It's a disorder-"

"He's just a little slower when it comes to emotional and social things," Hyungwon's mother pitches in, smiling gently at her son's best friend. He and her Hyungwon have been thick as thieves since their early teen years, and she thinks of Changkyun like a second son. She hates seeing how purely uncomfortable he seems now. "It's a development issue, but he's completely normal."

"Yes," puts in that funny automated voice. Hyungwon smiles to himself as he abandons his colored panel again and reaches for his spoon and bowl. Changkyun watches the older, his hands shaky as he feeds himself carefully. He hadn't been able to when they were younger, his fingers listening to a brain that wasn't his own, but in the last few years everyone seems to point out just how independent the twenty-six year old has become.

Jooheon grows wary of the situation, everyone speaking so gently about something so tragic- he doesn't know how to take it. "So... You're reta-"

Changkyun flinches before the word can finish, his eyes squeezing shut so tight he sees spots. Swirls of green and orange that parade around one another until they burn into his vision. The dark man can hear Hyungwon's mother let out an angered shout, though his shoulders have bunched up round his ears and slightly shielded himself from the loud sound. Her voice is so shrill, too loud, and it makes him flinch again.

The older woman's strong facade shakes a bit when she realizes she's upset Changkyun almost as much with her volume as Jooheon had with his question, and quickly reaches out to tap at the table in front of him. "I'm sorry sweetie, I won't yell again."

Peeling his eyes apart, Changkyun realizes that practical chaos has erupted at the table. There's soup atop the wood, Hyungwon's spoon has hit the floor, and Jooheon is uncomfortably crumpled up in his chair. Floundering for how to say what he knows he should, Changkyun just lets his eyes shift about for a few long moments. He can barely breathe, surprised at how Jooheon is acting.

Stupid, Changkyun thinks to himself with a roll of his eyes. Always thinking people are so good-

"That is not a nice word," Changkyun points out matter-of-factly, sticking his nose in the air to pretend as if he isn't hurt. Inside, Jooheon's insensitivity stings through to his core, like a hornet's nest has been unleashed in the pit of his stomach. Shifting in his seat, Changkyun continues when he knows he has the older's attention. "I'm different. That's all."

Practically pouting in his place, Jooheon feels his ears burn in embarrassment. He cannot believe he hadn't known something was off about Changkyun. Sure, the kid was a bit quirky, but everybody has their quirks. Before he can open his mouth and dig himself into an even deeper hole, however, Hyungwon's mother speaks up once again.

"Our Changkyun is smarter than most, and he'll out-rhyme you any day of the week. Clever as a fox-" She wrinkles her nose in a coy smile at her son's best friend, who takes her compliments with a grain of salt. She must only be saying these things because he's right there, he surmises.

Jooheon nods, not disagreeing, but nervous still to speak. He's already caused a rustle in this small house and wants not to disrupt the peace yet again. So he sits respectfully and lets his gaze turn to Changkyun's. The younger is also nervous, never one to shy away from his diagnosis, but always a bit shy when new people learn of it.