hiraeth - park jisung

10

"can you take us to ___ street to the corner store please? thank you" i sink back into my seat, feeling comfortable in the saftey of a car as the taxi driver nods and starts driving.

...

"thank you for the ride mr taxi dude!" the taxi driver quirks his eyebrow at the strange nickname. he drops us off somewhat near sung's place as we run into the building half a block away.

"nice place dude" i look around, entering the cold but comfy place. jisung flips the lights on and i'm mesmerized by the vibes of the homey studio.
"you live alone?" i furrow my eyebrows together- realizing that it was a studio space and he sighs.
"y-yeah it's kinda complicated"
"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to sung" i half smile and pat his shoulder as we sink into the soft sofa in his living room, sound of rain hitting the windows.

"no! i want to tell you! don't worry" he returns my half smile before letting out a breath of air.

"so my parents are.. well off... and i used to live with them in this big ass house but it wasn't very nice family wise"

i nod giving him affirmation that i was still listening.

"i was pretty neglected as a kid- even by my older sister! i always disliked her, but no one in the house talked to me ever unless it was for school. they thought they could buy my happiness with money but i didn't really care for it. when i got middle school, that's when the physical scolding started- weather it was for bad grades, or 'disrespecting' my sister- it was pretty harsh" he starts to talk so fast that i can barely comprehend what he was saying.

"hey sung- slow down please?" i look at him, concerned as he slowly nods and mutters a small sorry.
"it's alright kid"

"so basically i decided to leave- or 'run away' as my parents called it. even though they were aware and didn't care until some of the house workers brought it up." he rolls his eyes and pauses to take another deep breath.
"i already had a lot of money in my name so i bought this place" he gestures to the air.

"but then, my pAreNts cut me off of their bank account right after- so i had to start working at the ripe age of 14"
"that's why you're the pizza boy and the cafe worker?"
"yeah. it's kind of nice though so don't worry too much! the cafe manager is like my mom!"

my heart warms at the sight of jisung getting happy to mention his said manager and i grab his free hand.

"i'm sorry you had to go through that at such a young age kid" he smiles and replies,
"it's okay! no need to feel sorry! i have you and the guys now! so i'm plenty satisfied with life."
"you're so cute i can't" he cracks a big smile and i heard a very subtle "so are you"

we sit in a very comfortable silence, the only sounds being the heavy rain and the soft breathing of the boy next to me.

"ya know, i kinda have the same experience.."
"how so?" he turns and looks down to meet my eyes.
"well- i don't have parents either. my 'mom' that you met isn't really my mom, she's me and jeno's adoptive mother. nono and i don't have parents- they passed in a plane crash before i could walk."
"i'm sorry hyun" he leans his head on top of my shoulder and i adjust myself in my seat to make it more comfortable.

"it's okay! jeno and i weren't very affected- considering we never got to know them and we were adopted pretty quickly!"
"that's good"
"yeah..."

we drift into another wave of silence, neither of us wanting to break it.

"i feel somewhat bonded to you sometimes, hyun you know that?" jisung starts again, in a much softer voice than before.
"i know what you mean, i feel it often too" i respond in the same hushed voice.

we ended our conversation at that and surprisingly ended up falling asleep.