29 — TRAPPED IN FRUSTRATION

there's nothing else they could do other than wait.

(filler chapter no. 27177272)

—

"i want to sleep." the young boy murmurs, his face puffy after crying.

seungyoun glances at dohyon. "then sleep."

"i can't. my heart won't let me."

"there's no use of drowning in your own guilt and frustration, dohyon-ah." seungyoun hums as he pats the boy's back. "just sleep. everything's gonna be better the moment you wake up."

"do you have pills, drugs or anything?" dohyon asks straightforwardly. "something that could help me sleep?"

"well uh.. i may have some from the black market but i ain't gonna give em to you because i don't wanna get exposed again—"

"again?"

"but perhaps i could do something else, sonething that might be less riskier than drugs." seungyoun touches the boy's forehead. "you want me to hypnotize you to sleep?"

"please."

seungyoun takes a deep breath, putting his fingers at the right place. "alright. 1, 2, and—"

dohyon's eyes close completely, his whole body fall against the sofa as he did so.

"three."

the boy is now fast asleep because of seungyoun's effective method.

seungyoun tucks the boy with a blanket before heading to wooseok and eunsang who were surrounding a still unconscious junho throughout the whole thing. seungyoun's eyes widen the moment he took a glance of wooseok. "wooseok-ah, you're alright?"

wooseok raises his head, his eyes look tired. "hm?"

"you're freezing."

immediately knowing what it means, eunsang glances at wooseok in shock. "hyung, don't keep your feelings to yourself. just let it out— it'll kill you if you don't."

wooseok takes a deep breath. "i don't know why my body's doing this, i haven't felt like this before for years.."

"alright, stay here. i'll grab some chamomile for ya," seungyoun says as he quickly walks to the kitchen. "eunsang-ah, you gotta sleep. your body hasn't fully recovered after the junho-thing."

eunsang nods without thinking. he was only thinking of wooseok's well-being. he shifts his eyes at him again. "hyung—"

"i'm fine." wooseok cuts him off.

"you don't look fine."

"i'm trying to,"

"it's okay if you're not." eunsang assures him. "you're very open to your negative feelings yet you're not open to your sensitive ones. a friendly reminder that both are able to freeze you to death if you don't let it out, you don't get to choose."

wooseok sneers. "know-it-all."

"i try my best." eunsang chimes. "anyway, don't try to change the subject. you were saying?"

wooseok takes a deep breath. "now when things gotten out of hand, i realize how it's been a while since i've last thought of my her, my mother."

eunsang nods as he listens to him diligently.

"the single thought of her brushes me off my feet, freezing a large piece of my heart in such a fast rate, i'm even having trouble breathing now." he sighs. "i think i haven't told you this, eunsang-ah,"

"told me what?"

"i got my powers after my mother died," he reiterates. "her last note that she gave me, she left me a serum for me to take. it was quite strange considering she wasn't really the medical type, but i took it anyway since it was her last wish. little did i know, it gave me this." wooseok glances at his icy hands. "it must be the best and the worst thing i've ever gotten my entire life."

"so your mother knew of your powers before you actually had them?"

"perhaps. i never knew the whole story," wooseok mumbles. "i grieved of her death for a long time, it was a really hard period of time for me. i didn't even think that my sudden enhancement was something important, all i yearn was for her to come back."

eunsang nods. he couldn't grasp a single thought of losing his mother in such a young age— he can't even think of how distressed dohyon must be feeling at the moment.

"alright, chamomile for frostie here," seungyoun heads towards wooseok with a cup of tea on his hand. his eyes widen the moment he lays his eyes at junho. "yah you ignorant kids, do you guys even realize he's been like this for a while?"

eunsang lowers his head to look at junho. he was quite surprised by the sight of junho scrunching his forehead a couple of times, his eyelids moving rapidly. "he's waking up," wooseok embarks.

"it's either that or he's having a seizure. eunsang-ah, help me get him up."

eunsang manages to get the boy to lean against the sofa in a sitting position. slowly junho starts to open his eyes, his eyelids fighting its way to go against the bright lights. seungyoun leans towards him, checking on his eyesight. "hey, you can see me clearly right? or did the electricity hit one of your sight nerves?"

junho manages to croak an answer. his eyes squint. "where am i?"

"don't worry, you're safe here. you're in good hands."

the moment he catch a glimpse of eunsang, the restless boy immediately throws his arms across, pulling him over for an embrace. "eunsang-ah,"

eunsang returns his embrace, wrapping his arms around the boy. "junho.."

"i told you it was a bad idea to go in, we got into trouble because of you."

"you were the one who broke the surveillance camera—"

"yah, don't you dare to turn the tables. this is your fault."

"i know, i know." eunsang chuckles. "dude, i thought you were dead. you fainted in my arms and i had to bring you back."

"oh my, was i a hassle?"

"yes you were, but hell, i'm just glad that you're alive." eunsang breaks the hug and faces him. "promise me not to pop off like that ever again, okay?"

junho nods, then he faces his surroundings. "yet you haven't answered my question. where am i?" his eyes shift to wooseok and seungyoun. "seniors, what exactly brought me here?"

"you can see us? oh great, i thought we were invisible because you kept ignoring us the whole time." wooseok mutters.

"it's gotta be because he's with eunsang, the whole world's a blur when they got each other." seungyoun laughs. "that's why eunsang kept ignoring my calls when he's with you, is that it?"

eunsang looks at him quizzically. "what are you implying—"

"wooseok-ah, maybe if you could be more considerate of me we'll able to get an ideal friendship just like they do—"

"i dismiss all of your calls with no hesitation and you're talking about an ideal friendship?"

".. at least try to be nicer."

"nicer to you? no thank you."

seungyoun turns to eunsang. "where do you get yourself a junho? i need a best friend replacement, my previous one is not doing a great job at it."

eunsang stops him from blabbering. "seungyoun-hyung,"

"hm?"

"maybe you should start explaining to junho as to why he's here..?"

seungyoun eyes immediately brighten. "ah yes, about that. junho-yah," he points at the boy. "first of all, what you said about everything being eunsang's fault, that's completely true— don't hesitate to put all the blame on him."

eunsang scoffs. "stop trying to sabotage our friendsh—"

"second of all, don't let eunsang make the decisions in the future. you know how incompatible he is, don't you?"

"hyung—"

"and third but not least, the question you ask could only be answered by you yourself." seungyoun points out. "the question is: why are you here? why can't you hold control of a power you have already known for a long period of time?"

junho had a certain blank expression on his face. "i know nothing of it."

"oh yes, yes you do." seungyoun chimes. "in fact, you knew it all along. you're just telling your brain to forget about it but little did you know, things that are left to be ignored usually grows stronger through the process, especially when its been hanging around with an anchor for a quite while."

junho sighs. ".. it's not something to be proud of."

"not something to be proud of— dude, you control electricity!" wooseok points out. "it's definitely an interesting trait."

"my parents saw me as a freak," he mutters. "a braindead child with a diagnosis that could not be cured. a wrong piece of the factory."

"tell your parents they saw wrong." seungyoun appraises him. "don't be ashamed of who you really are, and don't pretend to be something you aren't. you've been born with a special gift, you are suppose to use it for the better."

"how long have you known about this?" eunsang asks the boy.

"as long as i could remember, honestly." junho tells him. "when i told my parents lights start to flicker when i give flickering hand gestures, they'll say that it's because of the bad lightbulbs. when i could feel the intense feeling of electricity right over my fingertips, they say i'm being overdramatic. let's just say 5 year old me had a lot to be kept in heart because he's been trying to avoid negative reviews."

"well you don't have to do that anymore, you got us now." seungyoun smiles at him.

junho's eyes flutter. "uh.. i got eunsang's captives who treats him nothing but paperwork? are you sure that's good news?"

wooseok and seungyoun shoots eunsang an offended look. eunsang raises both of his hands. "what? it's all for the coverup, what's so bad about that?"

with mixed feelings and a strained atmosphere, they start to explain to the boy from the beginning.

—

175 votes for next chap~
i'll be in school camp for about three days so perhaps i won't be able to reply to anyone of yall comments, but definitely i'll be updating as soon as i go home!

- yuehwa