Dark to Baby: A Changjin Story

Chapter 31

Hyunjin watched Changbin run to the bus Friday morning, papers spilling out of his backpack as he attempted to zip it up. In the dim light, his hair had the effect of a porcupine, and his shoelaces flopped freely with every step.

As if it was a tradition, the bus had waited a good five minutes before he had made an appearance, backing out of his house and yelling things to the inhabitants inside. Hyunjin wondered what was going on inside that always made Changbin look like a mess. He was never fully ready, and today was no exception, but he had the right lunchbox. Not that he would sit in the cafeteria again. The weather looked a bit better today.

Eventually Changbin's head popped over the dark blue barrier separating the stairs and the seats. His backpack was finally in its proper place, but the rest of him screamed of a bad night. Hyunjin hoped he wasn't the cause of it, but when Changbin's body dramatically collapsed in on itself the moment he made eye contact with Hyunjin, the guilt rushed through Hyunjin's body.

Changbin walked briskly down the aisle of the bus and fell into the seat beside Hyunjin. In a swift motion, he whacked the back of Hyunjin's head and crossed his arms. Hyunjin sputtered out some incoherent words at the sudden attack, but was quickly cut off.

"Where were you last night?"

"I-"

"We thought you died!" He practically yelled. "Felix was so worried! He texted you like a hundred times and then tried to call you, but your phone was off! What were you even doing?" Hyunjin hung his head at the scolding.

"I got caught." Changbin paused.

"Really?" Hyunjin swallowed dryly and bobbed his head. "How?"

Hyunjin thought back to last night. It was really stupid. He had set up his room like normal, bed covered in school supplies, homework mostly done, school uniform sprawled on the floor. Nothing suspicious or out of place. If a parent were to see it, it would look like he had simply stepped out for a second in the midst of doing his homework. He even went as far as to put on the radio. However, all his hard work went to waste the moment he began to climb out the window. He only got one foot out the window before his mother barged into his room with a plate of cookies.

To say she was shocked was an understatement. They had stared at each other for a good ten seconds when she finally asked where he was going. He told the truth of course. There was no point in lying, and Hyunjin didn't need her thinking he was sneaking out for less innocent things.

She accepted it, but didn't let him go; instead, he was forced to move all his homework to the living room because apparently being caught halfway out your bedroom window meant you were no longer to be trusted in your own space, so all activities had to be done in a communal space so your mother could have her eyes on you at all times.

What irked Hyunjin more than anything wasn't the fact that he couldn't go, that was expected, it was the extended punishment she had subjected him to. His grounding was drawn out an extra week and on top of that he could not leave the living room the whole evening except for the obvious things like eating dinner and going to the bathroom. He was also separated from his phone for the week, so he couldn't contact Changbin or Felix. Hyunjin wasn't sure what he was going to do for two whole weeks in his living room, but maybe if he was good, he could get his phone back early. Maybe. It wouldn't be so bad if he could at least text or video call Felix, but his mother was adamant that he would not get the device back until he could prove himself trustworthy.

As he tried to explain all this to Changbin, his arms made strange gestures to accompany his exasperated tone. Changbin simply nodded, patting down his hair absently. Hyunjin still marveled at how the dark strands could calm down in a matter of seconds. The porcupine was gone by the end of his rant and was replaced with a sleek line across Changbin's forehead.