Chapter Text
"We’ve arrived," Donghyuck’s dad announced as he slowed down the engine, as if the stagnation of their car hadn’t been already obvious enough.
More or less enthusiastic, Donghyuck took his big earphones off and unbuckled his seatbelt, peeking through the car window skeptically while inspecting the house they had halted in front of. Even though it looked quite huge and seemed to have a backyard, its shabby attire was noticeable, the red bricks looking old and crumbly as well as the piles of the roof. The European style of the house was a stark contrast to the basic other houses that filled the entire neighborhood, which to his dislike would make them as the newcomers stand out even more. The boy briefly pondered about the reason for such a kind of building in this small city but guessed the owner was probably as obsessed with Victorian or European architecture as his mother who had actually chosen that place due to this factor. It did also somehow have its unique charm, Donghyuck tried to convince himself.
"At least I won’t have to see our neighbors again," he thought quietly. Oh, there was no way he’d miss the old grumpy married couple they had used to live next to.
He sighed as he pushed the door of the car open and got out, his legs stiff from the long traffic, and stood still for a few seconds, further taking in the house he would be calling his home in the future.
"Donghyuck, come help me with the luggage," his dad demanded from where he was pulling their suitcases out off the car trunk and putting them down on the floor with a low grunt. While the boy complied and heaved the remaining luggage onto the sidewalk, his mother approached the house already, swiftly pushing some leaves that were lying on the small trail leading up to it to the side with her feet.
"Honey, where did you say were the keys again?," she then asked.
"I think the marketer said they were under the flowerpot," Donghyuck’s dad yelled back unnecessarily noisily, making Donghyuck roll his eyes while he struggled to push three suitcases at once.
"You know, you could also make yourself of use," he annoyedly said to his younger brother Doha, who had been glued to his phone during the whole drive.
"At least I’m texting my girlfriend, chill," the boy addressed retorted pettily though he thankfully did make an effort and grabbed one of Donghyuck’s suitcases, dragging them towards the front door his mom was in the process of unlocking after actually having found the keys under the flower pot. The remains of a dead plant and soil were the only evidence of former blossom in the small pot.
With a squeaking sound, his mother opened the door and made her way inside, not forgetting to take off her shoes and scolding his dad who just entered to finally put the baggage he had been carrying down again. While his mother was still complaining as she went into the living room on the right side of the narrow corridor you stepped in when you entered the house, and his brother had started texting on his phone again, Donghyuck left the suitcases he had brought in the hallway. Opening his jacket, he walked up the rather steep stairs directly located on the right, as his parents had said the bedrooms were on the second floor.
Upstairs he was greeted with yet another corridor. Mindlessly, Donghyuck opened the first door, instantly feeling the urge to cough as the air was filled with dust.
"Did the marketer not clean this prior to our arrival?," he wondered, not sure if he should be annoyed or just let it slide. The way the room looked like it had been abandoned for a long time did bother him a bit though but he chose not to be ungrateful. Glancing around, he took in the interior of the room, as the house was pre-furnished. On the left stood a huge closet made out of wood next to a small desk, while on the right side there was a single bed-indicating that this would be either his brother’s or his own room.
His other brother and his sister hadn’t moved with them as both of them visited boarding schools. Other than Donghyuck and his one brother, they both were smart above-average, so his parents wishing for a successful future had sent them to expensive boarding schools with intensive extra courses. If that would result in a miracle-Donghyuck doubted it. He was just glad his parents didn’t force him to go to a boarding school. Although he had left his last school with barely happy memories, at least he had been able to escape the grueling place called school in his free time. If everything he had experienced would have happened in boarding school, it would have been much hard to run away from it.
Shaking his head, Donghuyck tried to get rid of these thoughts-he didn’t really want to remember what he had left in the past by moving. Rather than that, he decided to take looks at the other rooms, shortly peeking into everyone of them-another single bedroom and his parents’ bedroom and a bathroom with Victioran style piles his mom would surely love- before he stepped down the stairs. Hearing his mom almost hysterically inspecting their new home, he decided to take a walk and explore the neighborhood, not feeling like listening to her nervous complaints. He didn’t really understand why she got all worked up like that as she would not be home that often as her new job as a secretary for a big publishing company in the nearest big city would probably take up a lot of her time.
Closing the door which squeaked again, he breathed in the fresh autumn air and began to walk. Although it was only the first week of October, the air had already cooled down a lot, around 12 degrees that day. Silence engulfed the streets and even though Donghyuck assumed that most of the people were probably just inside enjoying the picturesque scenery of orange colored leaves falling down the trees while sipping tea, the area seemed deserted, almost lifeless. The sky looked depressing, only some rays shining through the grey clouds every now and then as if to remind you of the sun’s existence. Besides that, the place didn’t really radiate warmth. Even though there must be enough families with children living in the area as the town had a school, the houses looked quite aged. Orange and brown leaves were the only thing that allowed some feeling of vibrancy.
At the end of the street was a small bridge, a tiny river running beneath it. Donghyuck crossed it and soon seemed to have reached what he believed to be the center of the small town, as it consisted of bigger buildings and a few shops. Although it looked very old-fashioned, the only somewhat modern things being the CU convenience next to some less or more shabby looking restaurants, Donghyuck was relieved his new home had that at least something like a city-center if you could even call it that way. If he had stranded in a place solely with houses to live in and without any stores, he would have rioted. Plus, the nearest bigger city was an hour-travel by train if one day he really needed to go shopping.
Curiously, he approached the convenience store and got in, surprised that a middle-aged man with glasses sat behind the counter reading a crumpled news-paper while the sound of a radio faintly played in the back. Obviously there would be a worker inside the store but it somehow still caught Donghyuck off guard as he was the first human he had encountered in the village. Besides, he was the only person he spotted inside the store. Quickly scanning the store with his eyes, Donghyuck didn’t need a lot of time before he had discovered the beverage corner and made his way to get himself something warm to drink. Inspecting the aisles interestedly as they offered local, retro-style drinks he hadn’t seen in the supermarkets in Seoul, Donghyuck flinched slightly when he unexpectedly heard a voice talking to him.
"This one’s very popular in the region here," a young employee wearing the store’s signature clothing said from where he had all of a sudden appeared next to Donghyuck and pointed towards a small can of warm corn drink. The guy had dark brown hair and warm eyes and was a bit taller than Donghyuck. His presence seemed calm but somehow also controlling.
"Ohhh, okay," Donghyuck answered stuttering slightly and grabbed one can, weighing it in his hand for a moment as if he was pondering whether to buy it.
"Thank you," he then meant and nodded slightly towards the worker who eyed him with a tiny smile.
"You’re welcome. By the way, are you new here? I haven’t seen you before," he then wanted to know.
"Yeah, I moved here-today," Donghyuck told him simply.
"Oh, so you’re one of the newbies here. I assume you still go to high school? What year are you in?," the guy asked nosily.
"So it really is like in the books, all the locals in those small towns know what is going on," Donghyuck thought as he caught the way the stranger had called him; "one of the newbies". He was already dreading the anonymity he would obviously loose in this new living space. And that meant, becoming more exposed to judgement, to criticism, to bad-mouthing. He could feel it, in that moment, the anonymity from living in a huge, bustling city with millions of other habitants, slipping through his fingers. He could see it vanish as the worker behind the counter seemed less focused on his news-paper now as he was stealing glances on the two boys chatting, obviously having had tuned in on their conversation and probably ready to share the news of the new residents having arrived with his blokes asap.
"I’m in my final year," Donghyuck replied. He felt a bit rude for not asking questions back but he hadn’t expected he'd already need to socialize with others before his first school day.
"Really, great, then we are going to be in the same grade," the other exclaimed.
"But wasn’t it hard, moving schools in your final grade?," he then wondered.
"Uh, I don’t know, I'll see," Donghyuck chuckled lamely, shrugging while he also turned into the direction of the counter. That evoked a small grin from the other, who stepped aside to let Donghyuck pay for the drink, not without an intense, inspecting glare from the man behind the counter.
"See you on Monday, then! Oh and I’m Jeno by the way," the boy lastly said goodbye.
"I’m Donghyuck, see you," Donghyuck retorted with a small, polite smile while he opened the door and turned around to look at the boy one last time, who was still eyeing him with interest. Then left the store, deciding to go home and decorate his room a bit as he took the first sip of the drink.
"Sweet but somehow weird," he thought.