Chapter Text
Hyuna slid her school bag onto the couch and missed the moment when the weight left her shoulders.
The door she left half open swung shut itself a moment later as a result of the winds raging outside. As if in response to it, she heard a familiar voice call to her, "Noona!" Hyun-Woo welcomed her from the kitchen. He had matured just as she had, but his voice was but a childish cadence when he called her big sister.
"I told you to keep your ass out of the kitchen!" Hyuna answered, her voice raised. She would've scolded him more if she weren't so mentally drained.
Her eyes wandered around their shared home. Sometimes she forgets that there are three people and not two. Despite the obvious absence in their daily lives, their mother still payed for their school fees and whatever else was required. However, Hyuna never found it in herself to appreciate it when Hyunwoo did — it was simple. It was her duty as their mother.
Is she at home today?
Out of the three lined in a singular row, Hyuna's eyes lingered over one door in particular. The offending object was fitted comfortably into a mahogany doorframe, shut tight, but not locked. If it were, her mother would be at home. Perhaps it was good that she wasn't - it was less awkward.
The sound of Hyun-Woo bounding down the corridor leading from the kitchen to the living room tore her eyes away from the object undeserving of her interest.
"Welcome home, Noona!" Her brother blurted out, hitting his imaginary breaks a millimeter away from crashing into her.
Hyuna regarded him briefly - brunette hair, tanned skin and striking pale stormy blue orbs identical to her own - before acknowledging his greetings. "Mmm," she hummed vaguely, smelling the familiar scent of potpourri and - pumpkin pie? "Hyun-Woo, what the hell is it that you were doing in the kitchen again?
"Right," He spoke as if you were admitting to some great crime - since Hyuna told him not to do something and he still did it, he may as well be, "we hadn't been eating anything nice lately, so I used some online tutorials to make pumpkin pie. I swear I didn't burn anything, Noona! I mean the pie, though, we should probably check if the kitchen is alright."
Hyuna simply raised an eyebrow, fully aware that she should go check if the kitchen was doing okay and whether all the tiles were intact. Perhaps it currently looked like the insides of a recently erupted volcano. "I'll try the pumpkin pie for dinner if you can confirm it's edible." ______________________________________
After confirming that the kitchen was, infact, alright, Hyuna ruffled her brother's hair and went into her room, closing the door on Hyun-Woo's protesting face.
Her room became a mess from the millisecond she inhabited it: Stockings lying individually on opposite sides of the room; skirt tossed on her bed; shirt draped over the wooden bedframe and schooltie lying over her right leg as she splayed her limbs across the mattress - sinking into the safe haven of it.
Hyuna donned her signature outfit which she wore often enough for Dewey to complain about her drab choice of clothing - an olive green, long-sleeved tee complimented by darker green cargos.
Despite the soothing surface underneath her, her mind was restless. Hyuna had made a habit of not letting her mental state be affected by anything shitty taking place and getting straight to dealing with the consequences if any. It was something she was prompted to be understanding of. But she didn't have a switch embedded on her back she could pull down to turn off her emotions — she let her feelings run free when she felt like she could.
When she was alone. Not around Hyun-Woo, never — he had his own challenges to face.
When or if she'd find someone to let those feelings run wild around, she didn't know.
But she wondered — hoped, even, that it would be soon.
Fake coughs immediately welled up from her throat as a result of cringing to her own thoughts. Then again, she could think freely right now, right?
...
Fuck, fuck, fuck nevermind, some fucking thoughts were meant to be buried six feet underneath the useless pile of mush known as her brain. She really needed to not think at all right now - and what better way to do that then sleep?
Ding
The notification flew past her mind, failing to melt into its wrinkles. Good for her. Hyuna shut her eyes, allowing the darkness to seep into her vision. However, sleep never came quickly. All you had to do was nothing and the process was extremely atrociously tedious.
Ding
Ding
She did her best to ignore the incoming messages, whether Hyun-Woo, Dewey, Isaac or Mizi was trying to contact her, though she loved all of them, she didn't give a single shit right now.
Ding
Ding
Ding
Hyuna set her resolve straight - she wanted to sleep and put the fact that she almost got caught for smoking on her first day of highshool like a fucking loser behind her. The breif silence was blissful, meaning that next ding gnawed at her sanity.
Hyuna shot up, reaching for her phone like a predator would ambush it's prey, and violently pressed the volume button. She watched the bar go down to zero with immeasurable satisfaction. Her eyes followed the vibrant hues dancing across the phone screen to the pile of notifications – unknown number.
It was most definitely a spam in that case, but her curiosity was a puppeteer and her hands the puppet, and here she is, clicking on the goddamn message. It prompted a chat to open up, where it seemed more like a "wrong number" sort of case than anything.
(Unknown number) Luka, have you seen all these options? Served to you on a silver platter. (4: 01 PM)
Here, most of them are brilliant, but these are the most promising ones. (4:01 PM)
[6 attachments sent] (4:02 PM)
The name "Luka" sounded familiar. But she couldn't recall where she had heard it - not that it mattered to her at all. She should be sleeping. They sounded somewhat important, though - she didn't want to create more confusion.
(Hyuna) sorry, you seem to have the wrong number (4:02 PM)
She didn't have any profile picture at the time, but she would be sure to set one. Perhaps this wouldn't happen if she did. Who started yapping on without checking if the damn number was correct anyway?
(Unkown number) Mr. Heperu warned me you'd do this. (4:02 PM)
Luka, I'm aware that you aren't very enthusiastic about this, but I'm afraid your father has already agreed. You were very enthusiastic about it just this morning, were you not? (4:03 PM)
Hyuna figured this Luka figure must be a little tardy. Still, this person seemed like a bit of a fucker. Hyuna decided to proudly stay true to her resolve - the resolve called sleeping - and refused to entertain this fiend anymore. It felt like she broke free from her puppet strings when she pressed the [BLOCK] icon.
[contact blocked.]
Well, that was weird.
Perhaps it wasn't, though - she doubted anyone put this much thought into a simple wrong number situation. She was an extrovert lacking any social exposure, which was a fancy way of saying she was reckless. Compared to those people, for Hyuna pressing that block button was like attempting to tie shoelaces (she didn't know how to tie shoelaces at all).
Falling back onto her bed with a soft thump, she closed her eyes at last. The only sound now was the fabrics of the mattress underneath her shifting as she adjusted herself.
Hyuna knew, of course, it would be long until sleep would grace her with itself.
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"Father?"
The room was empty, desolate as he was. The silvery satin curtains dancing with the wind were the only things in the large space which garnered life.
Luka wasn't suprised, not in the slightest. He didn't expect his father to be there.
On the calander placed on the business man's desk, many dates were marked for important events and meetings. Only a few blocks were left bare, once of which was the 23rd of December.
Luka wasn't suprised, not in the slightest. He didn't expect his father to be there.
Least of all on his birthday.