unlocked // hwang hyunjin

two

hwang hyunjin's point of view

i take a few steps back from where i'm standing, slump my back into the nearest wall, and slide down to the floor to sit down for a break.  i grab my water bottle beside me, chug the rest of it and take a deep breath of relief. i'm currently in the practice room of JYP entertainment with the rest of my members of stray kids. we've practiced the choreography for our latest comeback several times. seungmin follows me by the wall and slumps right beside me. 

"ahh, hyung, let me get some of that water-" he starts, but realizes there is none left in the bottle. "nevermind."

"i'll go get some with felix now, wait here." seungmin nods in response, and his dark hair flops against his forehead, looking tinted blue in the lights of the practice room.

i stand up wiping the sweat from my forehead and the back of my neck, fluffing my long blonde hair before putting on my black beanie and following felix to the water fountain near the bathroom of the practice room. felix and i joke around while getting water and head back to the room laughing about. 

"ya, hyunjinnie!" chan calls out to me from the opposite side of the practice room where he, jisung, and minho were chatting. "your father called, make sure to call him back."

i nod and say okay, then proceed to grab my phone from where i left it near the other members belongings.

i grab my phone and swipe on the missed facetime call from my father. my father answers almost instantly, being that he had just recently called me. his dark hair and circular glasses light up on my screen.

"hello? appa? can you hear me?" i ask, hearing laughing and conversation on the other line instead of my fathers voice responding to me.

"ah , yes, hyunjin-ah. i was speaking to my co-workers, sorry." my father responds. " well, what i was going to ask was when you would be coming home. kkami misses you."

"is that all you called to ask? i expected something more important since you never call me during practice." i say, though i also missed kkami back. i adore that dog with my whole heart. "you also never call me when you're working either." i continue.

"well, i know you like to visit most weekends but you said you had promotions on monday so you said you might not come this time around, but i really need you to come home this weekend. i have someone i'd like you and your mother to meet." he says, and i can hear his smile in his voice even though he was only showing the top half of his face on the phone. chan starts calling for us so we can go through our routine again.

"hmm. appa i have to get back to practice, but i'll talk to pd-nim to see if it's okay." i say. "i'll call you later, and if i don't,  just hope i show up at home tomorrow, maybe i'll surprise you if i can. love you."

"love you, too." 

 i end the call, and get into my position to rerun the choreography.

we practice the dance at least 5 more times before we call it a night and head back to our dorm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"hyuunnnnnnnng" jisung begged. "please just ask himmmmmm", he whined over and over. i decided i would practice for the weekend and explain to my father later on. i wanted to be ready for the performance.

"i am not asking pd-nim to go home tomorrow, it's friday and we promote on monday, you squirrel. i need to practice. i'm sure my family will understand." i say, popping another chunk of sushi in my mouth while resuming my youtube video. i was lying in minho's bed while he played uno with jisung.

jisung places a "+4" card on top of the one minho had just placed down, causing minho to have to pick up eight cards. 

"AHHHHHH, SHIT", minho-hyung shouts as he reluctantly picks up eight cards from the deck. jisung laughs at this but turns back to me right when i thought he would stop complaining. 

"hyunjin-hyung, please i want to go with youuuu, your mom cooks so well, please just let me visit with you this once, i'm craving her food" jisung begs again. 

eventually, he manipulates me into saying yes by threatening to constantly ask until i do.

i ask our pd-nim and luckily he tells me i can take this break. i was surprised because i believed he would say no considering the comeback was soon, but he told me that we had worked very hard and deserved a break.

after my call with pd, i walk back to minho's room to tell jisung he can come with me since my mother loved having people over anyways.

i knock and open the door to see the multicolored uno cards astray all over the floor and jisung dying of laughter on the bed. minho is seated beside him with his arms crossed the gets up from the bed and proceeds to stand to where the empty uno box was on the floor, picked it up, and threw it at jisung, who continued to chuckle loudly.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU WHEN YOU DO THIS SHIT?" minho yells, and jisung begins to hold his stomach and roll around as he laughs uncontrollably. minho turns back to me, "THIS FUCKER GOT AN EMPTY CARD AND WROTE THAT I HAD TO PICK UP HALF OF THE DECK OR WATCH CHANGBIN PRACTICE FOR HIS VOICE LESSONS."

i look at jisung who is still crying, and then step out of the room and pass by changbin's where his door is closed. i see jeongin also standing by the door, with his phone in his hand recording, his other hand tightly covering his mouth while his body convulses with inaudible laughter. i listen quietly, hearing changbin's ghastly screaming and voice cracks for high notes. i slap my hand over my mouth attempting to hold myself back from laughing and run back to jisung and minho.

"jisung that is coldest way to play uno-" i say before laughing with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

saturday

jisung and i arrive at my parents' home, and i quietly press in our code to enter. i decided not to tell my dad i was coming because i wanted to surprise them. 

we enter and take off our shoes and kkami sprints toward us, barking and jumping. i pick her up and spin her in my arms, then place a kiss on her furry head. i put her back down and she jumps on jisung's legs and he pets her playfully before following me.

i enter the kitchen to find my beautiful mother and she greets us happily.

"hyunjinnniiieeee, jisung-ahh, i've missed you boys." i hug her and kiss her cheek. 

"eommuniii.. i've missed you!" jisung says and hugs her. she playfully glares at him.

"have you missed me or my food?!" she says. we laugh and she continues, "can you boys get the table ready? your father is bringing a guest so i cooked a lot."

jisung and i get the table ready and place the food in order, and before i can place the last plate onto the table, my father walks in, still wearing his hospital clothing, with a petite figure quietly looming behind him. 

"hey, boys, i've missed you!" my father says and takes a step forward, exposing the person standing behind him. a girl. 

her. it can't be.

 "this is jiyoon!" my father exclaims.

and in a voice as sweet and smooth as the first squeeze of a new bottle of honey, she says, "hi."

i can't stop staring as i walk toward the table, and i drop the plate of tteokbokki on the floor. 

my mom yells at me.