UP THERE. | ジグク [DISCONTINUED]

fourteen :: between the strings and me.

十四 | between the strings and me.
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800 reads and 90 followers!! thank you all sm 💙💙 i'm sorry if this chapter feels half-assed or mediocre, i've been really tired lately, especially with the terrible heatwave we're getting.

EDITED :: 07/28/20

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15:18

"aren't you park's husband?"

i fought back the crippling urge begging me to shut my eyes and cower away from the confused look on the younger's eyes, from the look that screamed what the fuck are you doing here?!

i opened my mouth to answer, feeling a stutter lodge itself at the bottom of my throat, but before i could let anything out, before i could wipe off the confused frown on his face, a loud voice interrupted our silence.

"oi, tae! hurry up, you're on in, like, less than a minute," a short, ordinary looking boy perked up from behind us. the student facing me – taehyung, presumably – quickly strummed his guitar one last time before standing up, brushing past me just close enough for me to feel the breeze his body sent my way, for me to feel shivers wake through my body at the strangely ominous aura emanating off of his body, the aura that didn't fit him, no matter how much i attempted to convince myself otherwise.

i shook my head and turned my gaze away to watch the shorter boy to my right carry possibly the largest amplifier i have ever seen a human hold, and i couldn't stop myself from stretching out my arm to interrupt the student as he struggled to waddle towards the stage. "hey, uh— do you need help with that?" i squeaked out, wincing as he turned around, eyeing me in disbelief. i felt taehyung slowly slip the few sheets of paper away from my grasp.

"yeah! please do," the shorter sputtered out as he realized time was passing by quicker than he expected. i didn't need anymore confirmation, i only stood up and hooked my hands under the amp, dividing the weight of the object between the two of us, walking to the back of the stage and putting it down with a muffled grunt. "thanks, a lot dude. name's jihyun. min jihyun. hope we'll get to talk a bit more," he spoke quickly, running backstage just as taehyung brushed past us, holding his dark, mahogany acoustic guitar over his head.

i tried my best to ignore the way he stared at my prosthetic leg as i left the stage, but the eyes that pierced my back didn't fail to send shivers down my spine.

deciding to sit down and wait for the show to end to avoid interrupting anyone, i heard a loud thump, followed by a fatigued sigh from behind me. "come see the show! promise ya it'll be worth it," jihyun suddenly called, tying his uniform blazer around his hips. "taehyung's really good at guitar. i'd say comparable to those busan revival dudes from back then," he joked, tying back his shoelaces. "they were good guys. haven't heard of them for years, the school always used to brag about them every chance they got. do you come from around here? what's your name?"

"jeongguk," i quickly muttered, nearly interrupting him, picking on my fingers. "my name's jeon jeongguk."

"oh."

it always went like this.

i become close to making friends with someone, and everything comes crumbling down when i mention my name, when they realize who i am – or rather, who i was. i was tired of crying, tired of always feeling weight pushing me down, tired of not being able to move on. "i–i shouldn't have come here. i'll be going—"