flower boy | seungjin

02

The roaring of the plane's engines rumble ferociously in Hyunjin's eardrums, blocking out any other sounds as he sits at the back of the plane and stares out the window. It hasn't even been a week since Jeno offered him a room, and since then Hyunjin has been looking forward to finally escaping the country he grew up in and hates so much. He leans back, purposefully choosing the back row to adjust his seat without getting yelled at, and closes his headphones over his ears just as the plane is about to take off.

He watches Seoul disappear below him and eventually even Korea is just a tiny speck in the distance. The loud music blasting in his ears prevents Hyunjin from falling asleep, but he doesn't mind too much - he doesn't trust people on aeroplanes, how if he falls asleep all of his stuff is just out for anyone to take. He busies himself with games on his phone, switching between them and trying to find one that holds his interest for longer than five minutes.

He chose the evening flight so everyone around him is soon asleep, but still Hyunjin stays awake.

In fact, he doesn't sleep for the whole flight, and as soon as Jeno and his boyfriend greet him at the gate and he climbs into their car, Hyunjin almost collapses from the exhaustion and remains knocked out for the rest of the day. He wakes up briefly when the car shudders to a stop and he's greeted by Chenle's piercing screams, but once the boy has calmed down again, Hyunjin flops onto the sofa – completely ignoring the two other boys sat in the room – and passes out again.

By the time he opens his eyes again, the room is dark. The curtains are drawn shut, although a gentle breeze flows into them and they ripple silently against it. Hyunjin's vision is still blurry and a part of his head aches. He stands up and lets his feet carry him to the kitchen, where he gets a glass of water. He listens to the calming sound of running water for a few moments, leaning on the counter.

Carefully, he raises a hand to his cheek, hissing when he brushes his fingers against it.

Did I make the right choice? He sighs. Although Hyunjin had tried to convince himself that coming to America was a good thing, he is already feeling homesick. Despite his mother clearly not loving him like she claims to, he still yearns for the motherly love that he'd hoped for. He kept his hopes up that one day she'd flick like a switch and change, and that's why he stayed for as long as he did.

He still thinks she could change, but coming to New York has shattered that chance.

Turning around, he stops short.

When he walked into the room, he didn't notice the boy sat at the table, his head resting on his palm and his eyes slowly drifting shut. Apparently, the boy didn't notice him either. But now he does and he stares at him blankly, until Hyunjin pulls out a chair and sits down.

"Are you the one Jeno picked up today?"

Hyunjin nods. "I'm Hyunjin."

The boy just nods, too preoccupied with the sleeves of his jumper. "Mark."

"I don't remember you from when I came before." 

The boy hums, "Probably not. I only came back to New York a few months ago. I spent the last couple years in Canada." He finally looks up at Hyunjin now that he's closer and Mark is more awake, and he frowns. "What happened to your cheek?"

Hyunjin groans, "Don't tell me it's bruised." Mark doesn't reply.

"For fucks sake." I'm gonna kill that guy. He stands up and walks into the living room to the mirror hanging on the wall. Sure enough, the majority of his cheek is shrouded in bright hues of purple, green and blue. "That's gross."

He slumps back over to Mark, and sits down again. "So, what are you planning to do?" he asks.

Shrugging, Hyunjin takes another sip of his water, sighing when he feels the coolness run down the back of his throat. "I don't know. I don't think I'll even stay here for that long."

"You came from Korea, right? Why did you leave?"

"None of your business," Hyunjin answers curtly. "I'm going back to sleep." He starts making his way over to the sofa, but Mark calls out after him.

"There's a spare room first on the left if you want it."

Without speaking, Hyunjin spins on his heel and goes in the opposite direction towards the hallway. He doesn't acknowledge Mark any further, just leaves the boy sat at the table. He breathes a sigh of relief, secretly dreading sleeping on the sofa, where Chenle would probably wake him up with ease early in the morning.

The room in question is relatively small, with a desk, chest of drawers and a single mattress on the floor. The covers over the top are plain and simple. Despite it being sparsely decorated, Hyunjin smiles when he sees it - something about the room feels cosy and welcoming, and his chest lightens as he drops onto the bed. 

Although he can feel the hard floor through the mattress, the peacefulness is so different from what Hyunjin is used to that it doesn't even bother him. He sighs and pulls the duvet over his body. The material is soft and worn down and duvet itself is heavy but not suffocating. Surprised by how comfortable he is, Hyunjin finds sleep easily - even though he's already spent the past day sleeping and is barely even tired.

***

a/n: wow this chapter is really just the different places Hyunjin falls asleep lmao