FREAK, seongjoong

ep 06: distractions

⛓️

In the blink of an eye, Seonghwa's house appeared right in front of him. Hongjoong stood next to him, far too close that their shoulders brushed with every constrained movement. Their hands were still intertwined for some reason, causing Seonghwa to internally freak out.

Hongjoong was the first to drop his hand. Seonghwa's heart restarted again, finally feeling like he could breathe.

"Home..." Hongjoong's voice was a subdued whisper. "You're home now."

Seonghwa walked up to his door, his thumb resting on the freezing doorknob only to stop when he realized that Hongjoong was still there.

Seonghwa shouldn't have felt anything. His house wasn't anything special, smack dab in the middle of a neighbourhood that couldn't care less about their appearances. For Christ's sake, he and Hongjoong barely knew each other. But fuck, did Seonghwa feel this tiny twinge of shame.

"...Thanks," he mumbled, inserting the house key.

Hongjoong's hands were in his pockets. "Goodnight, Seonghwa."

Seonghwa ignored the way the shorter changed the subject. "Night."

And like the shadows in darkness, Hongjoong vanished.

For a moment, Seonghwa paused, glaring hard at the spot Hongjoong had previously lingered at. He wondered if he was really gone, if he was really... real. Tonight, Seonghwa kinda doubted it.

The house was nearly pitch black once dark haired male opened the door. The stench of booze attacked his nostrils and made him wince, because yet again, his father had fallen prey to binge drinking.

The man lay passed out on the ratty couch, his red-rimmed eyes shut and empty beer bottles scattered all over the coffee table.

Seonghwa despised the sight. Feeling nothing but spite and disappointment for his father, he took his time in clearing off the bottles and putting them away. Once he was done, he grabbed a blanket, softly covering his father's sleeping form with it. His fucking throat felt so constricted he feared he was choking on air, so he quickly decided to leave the room, heading to his bedroom instead.

Putting his bag somewhere safe and sound, Seonghwa couldn't help but wonder if his heart needed that treatment too. But as always, he didn't dwell on it too much.

After pulling out the clothes he planned on changing into for the night, he took a shower in order to calm himself down and feel better.

"Get lost," Seonghwa muttered no one in particular as he remembered Hongjoong's little note for him in biology earlier. "Get out of my head..."

Once he got changed, he fell on his bed and turned on his phone, cringing at the array of text messages he'd gotten from Mingi.

Should I ignore them? Seonghwa was kinda tired, but a silly part of him hypothesised that he only wanted to sleep as fast as he could so he could pester Hongjoong a little quicker tomorrow.