ICE CREAM,

There was no doubt that Heeseung was a beautiful person, both inside and out, despite having gone through so much as a kid. But because of that, his biggest fear was always having to watch someone else go through the exact same thing.

It had come to both Juwon and Heeseung's attention that the side effects of staying in a foreign country were starting to hit Riki. Yes, he was the one who chose to miss his flight and cut all contact with his friends and family back in Japan — he was practically asking to be deleted from existence — but it wasn't until now, four months later, that he was starting to process what he had actually done.

Juwon had wanted to be there for Riki and comfort him, maybe take him to buy the stuffed animal he had wanted the other day, but she needed to work in order to provide for him. So she left him under Heeseung's supervision (Jay was busy trying not to fail the semester). Heeseung agreed, only because he was actually worried for the boy.

Heeseung paced back and forth in front of Riki's bedroom door, biting his nails. He didn't know what he should do or if anything he did would help him. "What if he just doesn't want to see me?" he whispered to himself. "What if I'm just one of the reasons he's sad?" He stopped for a moment, his hand reaching for the doorknob before pulling away. "No, he probably wants to be alone," he said, nodding as he walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. "Just leave him alone, Heeseung."

He did not, in fact, leave him alone.

Ten minutes later, Heeseung was back in front of Riki's door, wondering if he should knock and after a few more moments of thinking, he did. "Riki," he called the boy's name, nervous. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Hngh," was all he heard from inside. Heeseung panicked — he didn't know what "hngh" meant. He ran back to the kitchen, pulled out his phone, and dialed Jay (because as much as he hated to admit it, only he knew what "hngh" meant).

"Wh—"

"Something's wrong with him, Jay!" Heeseung whispered loudly into the phone. "He said hngh. What does that even mean?! What's a hngh?!"

Jay sighed tiredly, "Dude," he said. "Just leave the kid alone. He obviously just misses his family."

"That doesn't answer my question!" Heeseung was one millisecond away from losing his shit over the word (sound?) hngh. "What if he's dying?" He gasped loudly, his hand flying to his mouth. "What if he's dying?!"

"Heeseung, please," Jay started. "Take a deep breath and listen to me. The kid's fine, maybe he's just homesick. He's only fifteen so I wouldn't expect any less of him. Just... don't freak out in front of him — Riki has a hard time with that."

"He has a hard time with me," Heeseung said, sitting down at the dining table. "I don't know what to do for him. He doesn't remember their phone numbers — he can't call them to tell him he's okay." He sighed, letting his head fall on the table with a loud bang. "How am I supposed to help him?"

It was obvious to Jay that Heeseung was having a hard time dealing with Riki's behavior towards him. Of course, he had people he felt comfortable around, but Heeseung couldn't understand why he wasn't one of them. He had done all he could to let him know that he wasn't a mean person, but Riki was just so hostile towards Heeseung. He made it so hard for him.

Jay was silent for a moment, thinking. "Why don't you take him out to lunch?" he suggested. "There's a Japanese restaurant we always go to a few streets away, actually — he loves that place."

"I don't think he wants to eat," Heeseung mumbled. "He won't even get out of bed."

"You never know. Now stop sulking and go feed the poor kid," Jay said. "And don't call me unless it's an actual emergency, you inconsiderate rat." The call ended immediately after. Heeseung sighed loudly, letting his phone fall out of his hand and onto the table. He got up and walked towards the boy's room once again, dragging his feet.

He knocked two times. "Riki," he called his name again. "I'm gonna open the door."

"Hngh."

Heeseung opened the door, his eyes immediately searching for the teenage boy. Riki was laying on his bed, covered in all the blankets and stuffed animals he had. "Are you okay?" Heeseung asked him. "Need anything?"

"No," Riki said from beneath the covers. "I don't need anything. Thanks for asking, though."

"Are you okay, though?"

"You can leave now."

Heeseung knew better than to pressure someone into telling them what was wrong, and it was pretty obvious that Riki was not okay. He sighed. "Let's go eat," he said. "I'll wait outside."

"Hngh."

Half an hour later, Heeseung sat across from Riki at the Japanese restaurant he loved, watching the boy stuff pieces of fish into his mouth. Turns out he was hungry. "Is it good?" he asked the boy. Riki nodded happily, finishing the rest of his bowl.

"Heeseung," the boy called, smiling as he tapped his fingers on the table. "Can we get ice cream?"

Heeseung looked up from his bowl of ramen (how tasteless of him). "Ice cream?" he asked. "Aren't you full yet?"

"Children have bigger appetites than adults," Riki said.

"Are you calling me old?"

"And what about it, Lee?

Heeseung bought him ice cream. Not because Riki was right and he really was old, but because he wanted to keep him happy — and if letting him have his way kept the boy happy, then ice cream it was.

Heeseung followed behind Riki as they made their way back to Juwon's apartment. He watched the boy happily eat his ice cream, occasionally turning around to see if Heeseung was still following him. "I have a question," Riki started once they were in front of the apartment complex.

"Ask," Heeseung said as they got into the elevator. He pressed the button with the number 12 and waited, watching the doors close.

"Does Juwon know you love her?"

It was sudden. Heeseung wasn't expecting that kind of question from Riki. He turned to the boy, eyes wide as if he had been caught. "What?" he asked, wondering if he had heard him correctly or if he was just hearing things.

Riki finished the last bit of his ice cream and bit into the cone. "Does Juwon know you love her?" he repeated, almost as if it meant nothing. And it shouldn't mean anything, at least not to Heeseung. Of course Juwon knew he loved her — he tells her all the time. The thing was, Heeseung didn't know what type of "love" Riki was referring to.

"Of course she knows," Heeseung said, pretending he hadn't just overreacted.

"That's not what I mean," Riki said. "I mean, does she know you love her?"

Oh. Oh.

Heeseung didn't know what he should feel. He didn't know if it was a good thing Riki had finally noticed or if this situation would be used to his disadvantage. He looked down at his feet. "No," he said. "She doesn't know."

"That's weird," Riki said. "You've made it so painfully obvious, thou—"

"I know, Riki," Heeseung said. "You'd think she'd get the hint after so long." He sighed, wondering what was taking the elevator so long. "Maybe she just likes guys like Park Sunghoon."

"Nah." Riki ate the last of his cone and dusted his hands off. "He didn't have a chance to begin with," he said, patting Heeseung's shoulder. "After all, he didn't have long hair."

"You really are Juwon's son, aren't you?" Heeseung pat his head, resulting in Riki's giggling. The elevator finally stopped on the 12th floor and the doors opened. They walked out of the elevator and walked to the apartment. Heeseung opened the door and they both walked in, greeted by Juwon in her pajamas and holding her usual coffee. She froze.

"I thought someone broke in," she said, relieved. "Thank god it was just you."

"'Just you?'" Heeseung repeated, taking off his shoes. "'Just you?' What is that supposed to mean, Cha?"

Juwon gave him an annoyed look and waved him off, turning to Riki instead. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked him, her expression changing immediately. "I stopped by the store on my way home from work and bought strawberries, if you'd like any."

"He just ate, Juwon," he sighed. "Don't give him any more food, please."

"I bet you only fed him junk food," she said, glaring at him. "And I bet it wasn't even the good kind either."

"Oh, as if you feed him anything different!"

Riki walked past them and into the kitchen, grabbing the strawberries Juwon had bought and sitting down at the table. Watching them argue like that reminded him of when he was back in Japan. It was almost as if Heeseung and Juwon were truly his parents. He smiled at them.

Earlier that day, Riki had begun to regret missing his flight but now that he sat there at the table and ate his strawberries, watching them fight over something meaningless, Riki was glad he had missed his flight.

He wanted to stay there forever.

• • •

seung the rat 🐀

juju tf away from me 👽
I'M GONNA BLOCK YOU