Glossy - NORENMIN

III

Next day, Jeno left Seoul to take care of his younger brother. Their parents had abandoned them for no particular reason. Jeno gave up his jobs and room where he lived. He did not have money to even board the bus. He borrowed money from Yoongi. He had a total of fifty thousand Korean won.
Yoongi also insisted on booking the seat for him. Jeno's mind was so preoccupied with bad thoughts. He was so worried for the little guy back at the village, alone. Jisung had no money, no food and no place to go. He had called Jeno from his friend's phone with whom he was staying temporarily.

It was awful and the bus ride to Incheon from Seoul did not seem to end.
When Jeno reached the destination, he went to meet Jisung without any delay.

He called at Jisung's friend's phone and asked for the address. Once the younger boy was in his arms, Jeno relaxed. Tears poured out of his eyes until he was sobbing. Both brothers were a mess, Jeno's knees gave up and he fell to the ground, Jisung followed.

It was a sight to see. It was so emotional, both brothers hugged and cried their heart out. They let go of all their sorrows.
"I'm so sorry, baby. I-I left you alone, I should have taken you along...I just wanted you to have a good life, where you don't have to worry about food, clothes, money, anything, to just focus on your studies. I failed! I failed to protect you..."

"It's alright, Hyung. I'm safe now. I am with you. I know you'll protect me. I'm safe. I don't have to worry about anything. You are here now. That's what matters now. You came to me."

Jeno asked Jisung's friend permission if they could stay with him for a week. Jeongin agreed happily.

While Jisung and Jeongin left for the school, Jeno began his job hunt.
He went to all local market, to check if anyone was hiring. The young boy had no luck on his side. He returned home late from his hunt every night. He was getting worried. He had only ten thousand Korean won left and the days were passing by quickly.

Jeongin was around Jisung's age and lived with his mate, Bang Chan. They had assured Jeno that Jisung and he could stay there for as long as they want.

On day five, Jeno finally got a job at a food restaurant as maintenance staff. The restaurant was not fancy or anything. He was happy. The owner told him, he could begin working the next day. His job was to clean the dishes, floor, countertops and run errands for the chefs, to buy ingredients.

That night he slept peacefully. Now all he had to do was find a room on rent.

A week later everything was sorted. Jeno had room to stay, a job and money for the food. He was saving up money to pay back the money he had taken from Yoongi. Even though the older omega had not asked for it.

Incheon was not as expensive as in Seoul. The rent for one room was cheaper than that in Seoul. It depended on the location as well, even the poorer neighbourhoods in Seoul were expensive, if compared to the ones in Incheon.
Since Jeno almost earned as much as he earned in Seoul, and the expenses were slightly less, Jeno could save money to repay the debt.

Everything seemed to be going fine for the boys.

Jeno had come home late. It was around eleven o'clock. Jisung was asleep on the mattress. Their room was small but not too small. A king-size bed could fit in the corner of the room and still had one or two-foot space left around it.

Of course, they did not have a king-sized bed or bed at all. The omegas had laid down a queen-sized mattress on the floor. Jisung was sprawled on it.

In the other corner of the room there was an induction stove and a few ceramic utensils, a stool nearby had two oranges, banana and bread.  While on the side adjacent to the mattress, a small makeshift cloth rack was placed. It had their clothes, Jisung's books and random stuff they owned.

The bathroom was also on the right side and door to it was near the cloth rack.

This room was bigger in comparison with the room he had in Seoul and he was very thankful. 

Suddenly, his phone rang pulling him out of his daze. He picked it up,
" Hello?"
"Where are you?"
" Oh, hi Hyuckie!"
"Where are you?"
" At home."
" YAH! I ASKED YOU WHERE ARE YOU?"
" Hyuckie... I am at home."
" Stop messing around Jeno. I went to your room, it was locked. I went to your work, they told me you quit. I went to another café to ask about you. Yoongi hyung gave me the same answer. He also told me that you left. YOU LEFT! LEFT! Without even bothering to inform me? I spent my whole day looking for you like a madman just to hear that YOU WENT BACK!" Hyuck started to sob. He was full-on sobbing now. Jeno began tearing up.

" I-I am sorry. I'm sorry, Hyuckie! I was in a rush-"
" You were in a RUSH? You couldn't even call me? How long has it been? I called you a thousand times but it was always out of coverage area. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Hyuck choked "you couldn't call me once just to inform me about your situation. I would have helped."

"I'm sorry, Hyuckie. I really am. I just didn't want to worry you. I want you to enjoy your life, you've finally got a chance to live happily and I don't want to mess it up." Jeno whispered.

" You're so stupid. If I were there, I would have smacked you so hard."
" I'd let you do that... I deserve it."
" How is Jisung? Yoongi hyung told me everything. I am so sad and angry that I had to get all the information from Yoongi hyung, not from my best friend."
" I'm sorry. Jisung is fine, he's sleeping right now. " Jeno apologised. 

" Stop saying that. What about you, how are you?" Hyuck asked

" I'm fine now, and it was tough to start over. I'm really grateful that Jisung's friend allowed us to stay at their house. I have a full-time job at a local restaurant and rented a room. Everything is fine now. But the only thing I worry about is Jisung. I think he doesn't eat much when I am at work, and when I return, he is always asleep and there is no sign of food." Jeno sighed.
" I hope he's not starving himself."
"Yes, me too."

" When will you come to Seoul?"
" I don't know, Hyuck. It is so hard to start from scratch and I am tired of it and scared. I won't even think about moving until Jisung's studies aren't complete. So that is like a year. I don't know anything." Jeno sighed.

" Well, call me whenever you can and please, Jeno, please, tell me if you need my help. That is the lest I can do for you. You've helped me a lot in the past. So, it is also fair for me to help you when you need it. You know, I'm just a call away. "

" Yes, Hyuckie. I will don't worry. We're fine here. Don't think about it too much."

" Yeah, get some rest. I'll call you soon."
" you too, Hyuckie. Good night, sweet dreams."
" Good night."

Jeno hung up. He looked at Jisung again, who slept like a baby. Jeno didn't want to wake him up so he decided to eat an orange instead of cooking. The younger omega also worked harder at school. He got good marks and Jeno was very proud of him.

He didn't want younger to stop after high school. He wanted him to go to a university or college. He wanted Jisung to become successful unlike himself. He didn't want his younger brother to have the same fate as him.

He dropped out of middle school to help his family with expenses. Due to lack of education, there were not a lot of job opportunities for him. The only job offers he ever got were related to cleaning, stacking, waitstaff.  Just like one he had now.

After eating the orange, Jeno put his phone on charging and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and took a warm shower. He was exhausted and went straight to bed.