❝ chapter five: wondering
_______________________________________________________________________________
                                   chapter five of forever mute, a -byungkitty-  storyline

"He won't hurt you, don't worry."

Sunggyu's words repeated in my mind as I followed Myungsoo to his home, just a few steps behind him. We walked in silence; me and my notebook, hugged tightly to my chest, and him and his haughty walk, hands in his pockets.

My heartbeat quickened as we passed more blocks and worry set itself onto my shoulders. What if he was planning on doing something to me? What if he was going to hurt me?

Soon, we reached a small house in the corner of a small neighborhood that was almost completely hidden by neighboring trees. Myungsoo kicked open the front door and it rattled, clanging against its creaky hinges.

I stood my ground, slightly hesitating to step inside, and inspected the house. It was a regular home that seemed as big, if not smaller, as Ji Eun's. The only difference was that it was rather rusty-looking and had a sort of gloomy atmosphere.

"Come on in." I heard Myungsoo's voice call from inside and I stepped in, leaving my shoes at the front door.

The inside of the house was dark; several lightbulbs from overhead shone dimly and opaque curtains blocked most of the light coming in from the window. Walking slowly through the house, my eyes widened when I saw a huge gaping hole in the wall staring back at me. Shaking my head, I caught up to Myungsoo and sighed. The house itself seemed lonely and barren.

He led me to a small room in the back that had an empty table and a window-view of the backyard. "Stay here, I'll be back in a bit."

Before I could object, he left the room and I was left by myself in a house I've never been in. Wandering over to the window, I peered outside to see a brown fence surrounding a small garden of flowers. It was too small to call it a garden since it had seven or eight flowers or so, but the grass was a luscious green and the pink hues were vibrant, almost too bright.

I slid the window open with a loud clang and winced, hoping Myungsoo didn't hear that. I stuck my nose outside, breathing in the fresh air and squinting under the rays of the sun, which was slowly lowering in the sky.

Several seconds past, then several minutes. Where was he? I switched my attention from the sky to the actual room and saw the walls decorated with empty picture frames. There literally were just pieces of wood hanging on the wall, no pictures to be seen anywhere. I found this fact really odd. Why would someone keep empty picture frames?

"Ye Jin."

I turned around to see Myungsoo standing in the doorway. Moving away from the window, I sat down at the empty table.

“Here, just look at this.” Myungsoo dropped a textbook onto the table carelessly and it landed with a thud. Its cover was sticking out and I could see the pages bending because of its horrible landing.

I stared back at him, blinking confusedly. What do you mean? I signed slowly.

He scoffed as he fell backwards onto a chair, taking out his phone. “You don’t really believe that I’m actually going to tutor you, right?”

I sighed, half-expecting the current outcome. I should’ve known.

Eyes focused on the screen, he continued talking while texting somebody. “Who has time to teach all this ? the teachers; you’re just here for my amusement.”

Slipping the phone into his pocket, he walked towards me and yanked my hair roughly again. “Isn’t that so, Ye Jin? You’re just a mute girl, here for everyone’s amusement.”

He sneered before letting go and retreating back to the chair. I sank down to the same level as the table, eyes watering while I tried to understand why he was doing this to me.

“Read that stupid book and teach yourself.” Myungsoo took out his phone and began texting again.

I looked up at him bitterly, searching for the remorse that wasn’t there. Hot tears pooled in my eyes before disappearing and I silently screamed at him with… hatred? No, hatred was too strong a word, but there was no other way to put it. He thought of me as a pet. He thought of me as something he kept on a leash so he could entertain people, so they could look down on me.

Deciding to ignore him, I picked up the dropped textbook and flattened out its pages. Reading the cover, I realized it was a Korean history textbook; a subject I knew nothing of.

Sighing, I opened it up and began to read the confusing Hangul that would just cause me headaches for the rest of my life.

-- ♥ --

After a while, I looked back up to see that Myungsoo was gone; the chair he had been sitting in before was now empty. I stood up and walked out into the hallway, peeking into various rooms to find out where he was. Half of myself wanted to run as far away from his as I could while the other half of me told me that no matter how horrible he made me feel, I had to go find him.

Down the hallway were several rooms with opened doors and I stuck my head inside each and every one of them, coming out empty. There was a clean and tidy bathroom, several closets full of coats, and just plain old racks behind them. At the end of the hall were two closed doors.Curious, I opened it and looked inside.

The room was dimly lit, just like the others, and the curtains were also drawn. A small bed was placed against the far side of the room, which was occupied by a small woman. Sitting at the edge of the bed was none other than Myungsoo, who was handing a small cup or some sort to the woman.

I quickly closed the door, leaving just a crack for me to be able to see through. The woman looked rather pale and sickly as she lifted the cup to her lips and tilted her head back, making sure she drank it all, whatever it was. Judging from the almost-non-existant-but-still-there wrinkles on her forehead and the dark circles under her eyes, the woman must be his mother.

Myungsoo took the cup back and set it down on the bedside table before turning back to her. "Lay down and rest, don't go anywhere."

She didn't seem to hear him as she showed no movement at all, and instead held onto his hand when he stood up to leave. A calm and somewhat sad smile adorned her expression when Myungsoo wriggled out if her grasp. She then lifted both her hands and to my utmost surprise, began talking in sign language.

Her bony fingers were shaky and the movements were slow, yet it was clear and understandable. Have you been eating well?

He didn't answer verbally this time, like he had before, and instead replied with his hands. Yes, I have. You don't have to keep asking me everyday.

She smiled solemnly again and nodded. I won't, I promise.

There was no reply and it seemed as though the scene was a still photo; Myungsoo's gaze was focused on the floor and he didn't move, nor did the woman. After several moments, he stood up again to leave and I backed away from the door in a hurry.

He stepped out of the room, closed the door as silently as be could, and turned around to come face-to-face with me. Alarm was shown on his face as his eyes darted from my face to the door of the room and back to me. I quickly signed to him, Is that your mother?

Before I could sign anything else, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the study room. His tone changed from plain and flat to somewhat angered. "Ye Jin, what do you think you're doing?"

I struggled at trying to get away from his grip but he just tightened it as he leaned in, eyes narrowing. His breath lingered on my cheek. "Who gave you permission to go in there?"

The pain was crawling up my arm and I closed my eyes, trying to jerk away, only to no avail.

"I said, who said you could go in there?!"

I opened my eyes and met cold, stone ones that stabbed daggers at me. Realizing I wouldn't answer, he let out of me and I stepped a few steps back. I breathed in sharply and rubbed the reddening skin on my wrist.

Myungsoo turned around so his back was facing me and sighed in frustration. "Whatever you saw and heard today, stays here. Don't go around telling anyone. If you do, I'll... I'll make sure to give you living hell."

As if my life isn't living hell right now. I said to myself, quite taken aback by his sudden anger. Why was he so upset over this? How come he didn't want me telling anyone that he wasn't actually the rich heir of a famous company with a mansion, maids, and perfect parents that everyone thought he was? All I asked about was his mother.

His mother. She could speak sign language! Did that mean she was mute too? How? Why? I wanted to know more, but questioning about it was not an option.

"Just leave." Myungsoo said. "Take the damn book and go."

With no objections, I slipped on my backpack, picked up the poor textbook, and went out the front door. I didn't know how long I was there, but I couldn't stand it anymore. It was like he was embarrassed of his mom or something.

This time around, I did not get lost on the way home. Ji Eun welcomed me as soon as I stepped into her sight. “Ye Jin, I heard you got a tutor! Who is it? Was it okay?”

I just gave her a slight nod and went upstairs to the room we shared. Throwing myself onto the bed and the backpack onto the floor, I stared down at the textbook in my hands. Opening it up to the back, I noticed a piece of paper stuck in between the plastic and the cardboard cover. I took it out and saw some writing and doodles in Sharpie. I brought the note closer to my face, trying to make out the smudged Hangul writing that was written with a fat permanent pen.

Myungie, meet me at Immortal Song tomorrow at 5:30pm, okay? I’ll see you there!” –Jin, 13.03.2011

2011... that was two years ago. I shifted around on the bed and furrowed my eyebrow. He had this book two years ago? And 'Jin'? Who was 'Jin'? Was she his sister?

Then, for the first time, it dawned to me that Myungsoo could have a girlfriend. I bit my lip and shook my head, thinking about how anyone could want to be in any relationship with that total bastard.

As much as he irritated me, there was still so much I wanted to know about him. What was he hiding, or trying to keep hidden?

The book lay open on the bed right next to me as I blew my bangs out of my eyes.

Maybe... just maybe, Kingkas weren’t all they appeared to be.

_______________________________________________________________________________

✉(A/N);

Short update in celebration of Ailee's late birthday, yesterday, May 30th ^^ She's so grown up now~ At this pace, I guess I'll be updating once a month... OTL sorry guys, I'm too distracted with html and my gif story. I also hope the plotline isn't as predictable as you think it will be, penelopie4 >///< Oh, and here's the updated color key:
Slanted = Thoughts, Dark Gray = Flashback/Writing, Orange  = Ailee, Dark Blue = Myungsoo, Violet = Myungsoo's mom

*oh and by the way Immortal Song is a restaurant in this story so shush. all your questions shall be answered later be patient, my littles