umbrella { sunjay }

14.

"no need to apologize." 

jay's smile didn't reach his eyes like it usually did. but sunoo knew it wasn't his place to ask any intrusive questions.

"why did she leave?" suddenly eunjoo's curiosity broke the silence in half. before sunoo could tell her not to pry, heera had already beaten him to it.

"she's angry at uncle." the second girl's eyes were wide like she had just given the biggest scoop in history.

eunjoo gasped in shock. "what? why?" both adult's jaw's hung in silent at the conversation occurring right in front of them. too shocked to end it. 

"i don't knoww, she's always mad." heera's response was clearly dramatic but it held only honesty from her perspective. "and earlier she was yelling-"

"i think that's enough girls! why don't you two go play?" before his niece could continue to embarrass him by airing all of his dirty laundry, he dismissed the little one's from the table.

"okay!" the girls excitedly jumped down from the table to run into the living room.

"uh..."

jongseong covered his face and sighed in defeat. the last thing he wanted was to bring his drama in front of the two guests.

"you don't have to explain yourself, you know. couple's have their problems so there's no reason to be embarrassed."

jay didn't get a chance to drown in his thoughts as he heard the voice of sunoo from across the table. only little relief was brought upon him as he lowered his hands.

"you're kind, but this is a little more than just 'problems' if my niece can pick up on things like this." jay gave a half smile. 

"i'm a good listener." sunoo's smile was coy. it wasn't like the two had known each other for longer than two weeks so it was a bold move to ask for a glimpse into his personal troubles.

"i appreciate it, but let's save that talk for another time. hm?" this time, jongseong's grin was genuine.

a small nod was the latter's reply. 

another time.

❀ song recommendation: the quiet by troye sivan

eunjoo and sunoo had left the home about two hours prior. and heera was soon to fall asleep as soon as she bid her uncle a good night.

heeseung was set to pick her up the day after the next. both jongseong and heera was sad to part but heera missed her parents as well.

"why did you leave in the middle of dinner?" jay stood with folded arms as he leaned on the bedroom doorframe.

sena quietly put down her cellphone and sat up in bed to stare at him. the silence was deafening. 

no one uttered a word as their eyes were pinned on one another. 

"i'm tired." sena voiced with no emotion. it was the truth. she was tired.

"you couldn't have waited until the dinner was over to sleep? i thought we were having a nice time. i don't understand-"

"no." 

jay's eyebrows lowered in confusion.

"i'm tired jongseong." she blinked slowly. her eyes held so much, but so little feeling. 

"i'm not happy."

jongseong's breath felt winded and suddenly it was hard to breathe. his eyelashes fluttered as he stared at the woman. 

she turned to her side and laid how she was before he arrived. like he was never there.

jay swallowed the remaining saliva to sooth his dried throat. the man took that as the que that the conversation was over and quietly shut the door behind himself.

emotions swirled in his stomach. he had no idea what he felt. 

the professor placed on his long coat a tied up his sneakers. he didn't know where he would go but it was clear he needed to go somewhere. somewhere that wasn't here. 

as he trotted aimlessly throughout the nightlife of seoul, he stumbled upon a convenience store. 

there's one way to clear his mind. a little alcohol wouldn't hurt.

he stood in front of the cooler with a blank stare. there were no thoughts traveling inside his mind as he scanned the arrangement of alcoholic beverages.

"jay?" 

turning his head slightly towards the familiar voice, his eyes became alert to his surroundings. "sunoo."

"what are you doing here?" it happened to be around ten thirty at night and sunoo was curious as to why the man was just standing idle in the aisle. 

"um... i was planning on getting a drink." red flushed to the male's ears. this was the second time in one day he had embarrassed himself in front of the other.

"what are you doing here?" he parroted the question back.

"well, eunjoo fell asleep and i wanted to get ice cream to watch a movie with." his answer was slightly more embarrassing than the older's but it wasn't anything sunoo was particularly ashamed of. 

"sounds like a better night than i'm having." jay mumbled almost silently while turning back to the beverages. sunoo luckily had pretty good hearing.

"would you like to join me? unless you still just want to have a drink by yourself, i don't mind." sunoo thought the man looked like he needed some company. and after what happened earlier, he was sure of it.

for a moment, jongseong didn't move a muscle while still in thought. the idea didn't sound like a bad one. i mean, obviously no one was waiting for him at home since heera was asleep and sena... 

"okay. i'll pay for the ice cream in return." jay's aura suddenly changed as he finally cracked a smile in shape of a line.

the walk to the kim residence was peaceful. sunoo knew jay was noticeably not in the mood to talk so he chose to remain silent with him, throughout the entire walk. their shoulder's brushed slightly against each other's as the sound of city life embraced them.

it had rained earlier that day so the streets reflected the bright and colorful lights. though, there were no stars due to the bright lights that were beautiful in themselves.

it was exactly what park jongseong needed at the moment. 

silence can be both painful and beautiful. he learned that tonight.

he wanted company, he didn't want to be alone. but he also didn't want to share his thoughts or emotions that he couldn't even work through himself. the occasional bump of sunoo's shoulder; reminding him of his presence, was enough.

"we're here." the smooth voice that he had became accustom to, passed through his ear and brought him out of the water that filled his lungs and brain.

"joo is sleeping so we have to be a little quieter." he continued as he unlocked the front entrance.

once they stepped in and removed their outerwear, the younger guided him towards the living room. the only lighting emitting was the soft warm hue of the lamp. 

although beautiful, his house had never felt like this home.

❀

how do you guy's define 'home'?

silence can be both painful and beautiful.