Dark to Baby: A Changjin Story

Chapter 33

The weekend was boring. So boring that Hyunjin completed his homework by 8 pm Friday night, was forced into a family movie night, but had nothing to do on Saturday other than stare at a wall or be an old grandma and play cards by himself. By Sunday, he was so desperate that he practiced his dancing skills, much to his mother's amusement.

The only good thing that happened was the package of strawberries that had shown up in the refrigerator Saturday afternoon, and they were demolished by 9 pm.

Now Hyunjin wasn't one to brag, but when his alarm went off on Monday morning, he couldn't help the silent congratulations filling his head. He had made it to Monday. He could get out of this house. He could see Felix.

Hyunjin flipped over and turned off the blaring noise, noticing the dog sleeping beside him. He gave Kkami a hug, nuzzling his face into the dog's fur, but it only lasted a few seconds compared to their normal twenty minute snuggle time. He oddly had motivation this morning, which was a strange phenomenon. He was pretty sure he had never been excited for a Monday before.

Kkami looked on with a dazed expression while his human bolted out of the bed and found his uniform. Hyunjin slipped it on before skipping downstairs.

Taehyuk sat on the couch like every morning. Hyunjin had ceased to be bothered by it despite their prior promises that he wouldn't move in for at least another week. It wasn't worth the arguments.

His mother was not around, so he popped a bagel in the toaster and ran back upstairs to grab the rest of his school items.

As he was running around, stuffing things in his backpack, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He paused and looked closer. His hair had the weird porcupine quality usually assigned to Changbin. He pawed at it, but the light brown strands were too brittle and bent to listen. He quirked his lips and aggressively batted at the hair, but it was no use.

Hyunjin set his bag down and ran to the bathroom where he wetted his hands and forced his hair to behave.

He sped back down the stairs with his bag and threw it by the door. His bagel was done, so he quickly slathered it with cream cheese and ate it while pacing the length of the kitchen. He licked his fingers clean of cream cheese and went back to the door to grab his bag. He slipped his shoes on and ran to the end of his driveway, his backpack bouncing unpleasantly behind him.

He hopped from foot to foot, smiling and humming an upbeat tune. By the end of the song in his head, he noticed the bus still hadn't come. He glanced at the watch he had taken to wearing since he no longer could rely on his phone. His eyes widened in realization.

He was early. By about ten minutes. Great.

Now that he had been still for a few moments, the light breeze started to affect him. Hyunjin squatted down and wrapped his jacket around him tightly. That seemed like a better alternative to bouncing the whole time. 

So far this year he had not had to wear any extra layers to school. The shirt, vest, and jacket conserved enough heat for the minimal time he spent outdoors, and the abundance of body heat inside the building was almost guaranteed to make him sweat. However, he might need to start thinking about wearing a hoodie underneath it all.

As bulky as it sounded, it was better than wearing it over everything. Then he looked like a lumpy marshmallow. He respected himself a little more than that.

Hyunjin shivered and looked longingly back at his house. He should have stayed inside a while longer, but he was seeing Felix today, and nothing was more important than that.

He hadn't seen the blond boy in three days, almost four, and the worry was starting to wear on him. Changbin hadn't come to get him this weekend, so Felix's housing situation must have still been undetermined, and that was the only thing keeping Hyunjin going. The hope that the boy was around and would be on the bus soon after Hyunjin.