Burnout ⊗ Jeongchan

②④ Bloom

Jeongin toed the front door open. Peeking inside, he scanned the darkened house for any signs of life before flipping the lights on and scooting through the threshold. He waved Chan on to follow him inside. The younger took one last peak out to the neighborhood, returning the spare key to the house back to it's proper place, before locking up the front door. The last thing he wanted was someone to come bursting in by accident and report him to his parents.

It was just them, again, in the middle of the day when neither of them should be together. The days had honestly began to blur together. They became a constant hustle of go to school, head down, get through class, don't cause any trouble, avoid. Dodge. Grit his teeth together and bite on his tongue, keeping a smile up through it all as his head pounded with thoughts of elsewhere. Another moment, another person, let his thoughts go as his mind soared above the clouds and forgot about the homework in his backpack. It was fine. He could finish it in the morning when the sun cleared the horizon and filtered the grime from his veins.

The only time he felt like he could breath was when he was with the older. And since their talk, those had become few and far between. Although he spent more time at the Hub and with the crew during the nights, it seemed like neither of them could catch a moment alone. Chan had mentioned a few days prior he thought the crew was keeping them apart on purpose, a comment which made Jeongin laugh and feel like maybe things would be okay. Still, they never got much time to talk.

Well, except for today.

By time he finished his scan of the area and ensuring the door was closed, Chan was no where to be found. Jeongin whipped around and padded after him, tracking the older from their spot to the living room to find him staring up at a photo hung gingerly on the walls. The older commented when Jeongin shuffled to his side, "It's a nice home."

"It's a nice house," Jeongin hurriedly corrected. He gestured to the couch, "Why don't you sit? Mom texted me and said they wouldn't be home for the night so, it's to us. Do you want anything to drink?"

Chan shook his head as he took a proud seat, way too relaxed for a stranger to be convinced he didn't live here with his arms hiked lazily on the back of the couch. He looked comfortable there, as if he had sat in that seat a million times before. Jeongin felt his eyes trained on his back as he lingered by the family photo, attempting to summon all the courage he could find hidden underneath the happy smiles from that day. It was so long ago. Almost as if he was anticipating the bitter taste growing on the younger's tongue, Chan offered up a quick question, "Still not talking?"

"She'd rather I be dead," Jeongin turned to face him, "But she's at least letting me come back, until I pull another 'stunt'."

Chan scoffed. He shifted to sit in the corner of the couch, a teasing smile playing at his lips as he mocked, "Give it a week."

"I'm not like that; a miscreant. They're still my parents, I have to respect them," Jeongin offered up the sweetest smile he could to the older, still rooted in his place by the picture frame and unable to take a step closer. There was a strange thought abiding in his mind, a wondering of 'This is my house, I can call the shots, he wandered in here, but why is it so hard to approach him?'

But the irking grin was etched on to Chan's face, as if he had any power in this domain, "Acting so perfect again."

"Am I? Sorry, guess it's a habit."

"One you said you're going to break."

"It's not like I know any different," Jeongin sighed as he shrunk away, "What do you expect me to do?"