Chapter 21

For you in full bloom

 

I haven't given much info about Jonghyun yet, so I shall

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It was Thursday night, and Jonghyun was in his usual night hangout. He sat on a beer carton, flicking a lighter.

                “Kim, pass the booze.” Someone called, and Jonghyun grabbed a beer and relayed it to the man, who smiled at him and tossed him some coins. Jonghyun stuffed the coins into his pocket and smiled.

                He didn’t particularly like it here, but he really had no choice. He just needed to make money. He worked behind a drug store, selling beer for a cheap price and mostly being a slave to the guys who hired him. It was still illegal for him to sell beer, as he was underage and he’d stolen it.

                Jonghyun stared at his watch, glad it was almost midnight. He stopped working at midnight. He yawned and lit a cigarette, in its taste and blowing it out in grey puffs. By the time he finished, it was midnight and he packed his things up, dragging the bottles of beer into his home, which was only about five minutes away from the location.

                “Hi, baby,” His mother called from the floor. She sat on a rug and poured some boiling water into two cups of instant noodles.

                Jonghyun greeted his mother and sat down across from her, stirring his noodles.

                “How much did you make today?” She asked, leaning in and holding her palm out.

                “12.” He fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her, feeling proud of himself. His mother grinned, ruffling his hair. She stood up and put it into a jar that they kept in a cardboard box. “How much do we have now?”

                “We have 75.16!” They both grinned. Jonghyun’s mom ruffled his hair. “I’m so proud of you, Jonghyun. Your father would be proud of you, too.” She added the last part with a hint of sadness in her voice.

                Jonghyun looked at the picture of his father.  It was taped carefully onto the grey walls. He had been a strong man, a brave and hard-working man. He missed him greatly, and Jonghyun would do anything to get him back. He was trying.

                He sighed and shoved the cheap noodles into his mouth, chewing slowly. His mother saved the good food for his school lunches, and even then it was the same thing every day, which he didn’t really mind. He enjoyed his peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks. He usually didn’t bring any water; he would drink the free water from the water fountains. If it saved them money, he wouldn’t mind eating a can of beans for every meal. It was probably cheaper than bread, peanut butter, noodles and carrots, but his mother insisted he needed some sort of variation in his diet.

                His mother lit another candle when he finished eating, and he began his homework. He didn’t have a calculator and his mother’s cheap phone didn’t either, so he was really good and really fast at calculating numbers in his head. He also didn’t have a computer, so he groaned at the essay he had to write. The teacher took 20% off if you didn’t type it. She’d suggested that Jonghyun type it at the library and print it out, but the mere few cents was too much for him to want to spend.

                He finally finished around two o’clock and fell asleep.

                When he woke, he changed and wiped his face with a rag. He ate another bowl of instant noodles and packed his lunch. Without waking his mother, he got onto his bicycle and grabbed the pile of newspapers that sat at his front door.

                At 5am, he began his morning paper route. Jonghyun worked hard. He worked incredibly hard. To him, getting money to support his mother was more important than school, but his mother always stressed the importance of school. He worked hard at work, and just plainly worked at school.

                By 7:30, Jonghyun was at his school’s gate, leaning against the fence and looking around for Key. Since he had no cell phone, he had no way of contacting Key other than in person. Shortly, he found what he was looking for. All three of his friends entered the school premises together, with Taemin being in between Minho and Kibum. Taemin held Key’s hand, as per usual, while talking to Minho, who also seemed in a good mood.

                Key ran over to him, hugging him and easily slipping money into his back pocket without him noticing.

                When Jonghyun got home, he found the bills in his pocket. He grinned, adding the money to the jar, excited about telling his mother about the money.

                “Mommy! Guess how much money we have now!” He almost screamed as soon as she opened the front door.

                “How much, baby?”

                He began laughing, throwing all of the money into the air. “150!”

 

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kanameyuuki13
#1
Chapter 56: Looking forward for your update and new stories :-)
Happy new year author sshi
valerie-hew #2
Chapter 6: it reminds me of a story book i read last year, 'a child called it' i cried hard n today same thing i cry also.. Ur a great author!! ''standing ovation''
jinkssi
#3
Chapter 56: THANK. OMG I CANNOT I LOVE THIS. YES. THANK THAKN FOR THE SEQUEL YE THANK. <3 ur gr9
SHINeeBaby12 #4
Chapter 55: I read the whole story in one day. I LUV IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ACTUALLY CRIED WHILE READING SOME CHAPTERS!
K-Joon
#5
Chapter 56: First of all I always look forward to fanfics longer than 2 chapters :3 I prefer more complicated stories. Like yours! I was so happy when I found it. It was like: OMG it has 53 chapters D: Am I in heaven? hahahha I want to tell you that I started reading it at about 1 a.m. and I was reading it till I finished XD so....i barely slept three hours because of school. But still your fanfic was something very interesting for me and I really enjoyed it. So be proud of yourself because you did a great job authornim :3 I'm waiting for a sequel. hwaiting <3
Sakuragurl10
#6
Chapter 55: 5 stars! This fic was fantastic! :)
theeKPOPlover #7
Chapter 39: OMG I WAS LISTENING TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD WHILE READING THIS CHAPTER XD
theeKPOPlover #8
Chapter 14: I READ A CHILD CALLED IT. THAT WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ING DIED.
minimimi
#9
Chapter 55: That was a very cute ending! I can't believe this is your first story, it was great! Keep it up and I hope that a new story will be out soon~ ;)