Word count: 691w

Prompt: kaisoo finding one of the girls' twitter accounts and realising she's having some problems and sounds really sad

‘At Jinri ee underscore zero three two nine every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not, and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.’

They’re both seated on the couch in their living room, Kyungsoo on one end with his phone, Jongin on the other with his iPad. Jongin’s brows draw together as Kyungsoo reads from his screen aloud, voice a complete monotone as he frowns.

‘At Jinri ee underscore zero three two nine I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.’ Kyungsoo reads. His thumb continues a slow scroll through his daughter’s twitter profile, worry gathering in waves in his chest as he goes. ‘What is hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered most to us wind up in parentheses.’

‘Honey,’ Jongin says, putting his coffee and iPad down. ‘I’m trying to find stocks for us to buy, and you’re depressing me.’

‘Are you even paying attention to what I’m reading?’ asks Kyungsoo, raising an eyebrow at his husband. Jongin shakes his head.

‘I think something’s wrong with Jinri,’ Kyungsoo sighs, getting out of his seat to perch himself on Jongin’s lap. He holds his phone up so his husband can see what he’s talking about, and sure enough, worry begins to tug at the skin of Jongin’s forehead.

‘What’s this?’
‘Twitter. Jongin, you’re not ancient yet, alright.’
‘I know that. I mean. She looks… Okay to me?’

‘She obviously doesn’t want us to worry,’ says Kyungsoo, pressing his lips together. He clicks his phone off and lays it on the table, tucks his head under Jongin’s chin so he can feel his heartbeats. There isn’t anything more calming than the rhythm his husband’s heart beats, Kyungsoo thinks.

Seconds pass in silence, Jongin pressing his cheek against the top of Kyungsoo’s head, until the elder speaks.

‘Do you think we’re bad parents, baby?’ Kyungsoo asks. His voice comes out small and muffled, and Jongin just holds him closer, wraps arms around his husband before kissing the top of his head.

‘Of course not. Maybe she just doesn’t want to talk about it,’ Jongin says. ‘Like you said. Doesn’t want us to worry.’

‘But do you think we should ask her about it?’ Kyungsoo asks, pulling away to look at his husband. The memories are a little cloudy now, but Kyungsoo can vaguely remember how it felt like to be to be young and feel alone. It might be a little different for his daughter, he supposes, having had no siblings himself, but he knows how loneliness and sadness can sometimes slip between even the finest of cracks.

He doesn’t want his daughter to feel alone. She has him. She has Jongin.

Jongin turns the thought over in his mind. ‘Well,’ he says, ‘I guess we should. Seeing as we know something’s going on.’

‘I don’t want her to think we’re invading her privacy, though,’ mumbles Kyungsoo, eyes dropping Jongin’s gaze. ‘I don’t think she’d like it. The fact that we’ve seen her tweets and stuff, I mean.’

‘Well, if you want her to be honest with us, we have to be honest with her, is how I see it. She’s a big girl now, honey. We have to treat her like one,’ he says gently, fingers curling underneath Kyungsoo’s chin to tilt the latter’s gaze back to meet his.

‘I guess you’re right,’ Kyungsoo concedes, leaning forward to peck his husband on the lips. ‘I’ll ask her when she gets back.’ He makes to get off Jongin, but the latter resists. He holds Kyungsoo firmly caged in his arms, and Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows at him.

‘No,’ says Jongin slowly, ‘We’ll ask her.’ he says, pulling Kyungsoo in for a real kiss. His lips curve into a smile when he pulls away, and breaks out into a grin when he sees the love in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

‘Together.’