"Hey, Jonghyun?"

A knock was on his door and he put down his guitar on a sour note. He was frustrated to his core; he couldn't manage to play a simple song. Now wasn't the time for company.

He opened his door with a suppressed huff, refraining from being rude to his company. Unexpectedly, it was Krystal at his door with a small smile.

  "Hey . . ." Jonghyun furrowed his brows, opening the door wider, "Come in."

Scratching her head shyly, she entered his room and slowly sat down on his unmade bed. She looked like a bit of a mess. Her hair was uncombed, her clothes were careless and baggy, and she rubbed her hands together anxiously.

Shutting his door, he took his computer chair and placed it in front of her, sitting down and leaned forward. He could see the red in her eyes and the clench of her jaw and it worried him, "What happened?"

To his question, Krystal's mouth turned down into a grimace as she started crying, breaking Jonghyun's heart. He never saw Krystal cry before even if she had terrible troubles on her back. She was always strong and always waved it off if someone asked if she had an issue. This was an uncharted territory of emotion of Krystal unravelling in front of Jonghyun.

  "He's forcing 'Sica to move out. The school year isn't even over, Jjong, she has no where to go," she held her face in her hands, "I don't want her to go. If she's going to America the moment she gets the chance, I'm not going to see her for a long time and I want as much time with her as I can. But he's kicking her out. Even yelling about how he won't even go to her graduation!"

Jonghyun placed a hand at her knee, "What about your mom?"

She looked up from her hands and shook her head, "She keeps telling him that's not going to happen and that she's staying, but he thinks he's king of the house and what he says goes. My mom doesn't know what to do but keeps ramming against him on his decision. She threatens him she's going to take both of us away. Jonghyun, it's never been this bad before."

She cried in her hands again as Jonghyun patted her knee lightly. He wasn't exactly sure what to say, here. But it was an awfully familiar situation. His Mom always threatened to take him and Kibum away from their father, but he'd always object to it with another toss of a vase. Jonghyun still didn't know how to react to those kinds of words that came out of because by this point, he didn't want to be taken away by either of his parents.

  "He's my Dad, you know?" she looked up, slapping her thigh with a hand, "As much as I hate him, I don't want to be separated by him, either. He can be the best person on earth, Jjong. He has his moments and a lot of times they're never good at all, but it's still hard to detatch from someone you've been with all your life, you know? I want to be taken away, but I don't at the same time. I don't know what to do."

  "You know, Krystal," Jonghyun sighed, shaking his head, "I'm in the same situation, and I can tell you now, I don't know the answer. I don't know who to choose or just what's the best decision at all. I have to make one for myself and Kibum and it just goes no where. All I can tell you is just let it happen by now, or go see one of our teachers about it. Nothing is going to go our way," he watched Krystal's face fall even more.

  "But I'm not saying just let everything go," he grasped her hand, shaking it desperately, "I'm not gonna let you mope around and cry because I don't like it at all. I want you to keep hope and that pretty smile on your face because you deserve all the happiness in life, Krystal. You've been a joy to so many people around you, but when you have to put up an act to keep them away from your private life, it just makes me feel upset, you know? I can't stand you unhappy; I'm even seeing you really cry for the first time and it shatters my heart," he shook his head, a small somber smile on his face, "So you need to look up," he poked the under of her chin, "You need to smile that pretty smile."

Krystal sniffed and coughed an embarrassed laugh, her hand hovering over , "Sometimes I hate you."

  "I can deal with that," he laughed, shaking her hand around, "As long as you're not upset."

Krystal got up and pulled Jonghyun from the chair, putting them into a hug that even relieved Jonghyun himself. She hiccupped against him, crying here and laughing in disbelief there. And all Jonghyun could think was how he wouldn't let go if he had the choice. Despite her crying, Jonghyun felt that it was right. That it was right she was here in his arms.

  "If I go anywhere," Krystal put her head on his shoulder, "I just hope it's not far from here. I need you, Jjong."

Kibum shut Jonghyun's door after peeking through. He saw his Mom had let Krystal in and he was curious about her visit to his brother.

He didn't really hear anything Krystal said, but surely Jonghyun's. And when he saw the two of them in a hug that lasted what seemed like forever, Kibum felt like he was being replaced.

He wanted Jonghyun all for himself. He wasn't going to share him with anybody, but seeing how Jonghyun so naturally touched Krystal or hugged Krystal . . . he knew he couldn't do anything but watch as he was left in the shadows. Soon enough Jonghyun would care less for Kibum, anyway. Jonghyun was turning twelve soon; he was becoming a teenager and Kibum knew how teenagers get caught up in leisure time and girlfriends and boyfriends. Kibum was just his little brother who'd annoy him to the end with how needy he was.

Without looking back, Kibum walked to the kitchen where his mother was, trying out baking for once in a long while. He sat on one of the chairs lined up against a counter and watched her as she looked at the recipe on paper.

  "Hi," his mother turned around with a welcoming smile as she migrated her things on the counter Kibum leaned on, "How's your day, Kibum?"

  "I'm tired," Kibum slightly pouted, toying with one of her pans, "I'm always tired, Mommy."

His mother leaned on the counter towards him with playfully narrowed eyes, "Then take a nap. You'll be less cranky."

  "I don't think that works," Kibum shook his head, "It never works for you and Dad. It never works for Jonghyun. It never works for me."

His mother stared at him, her brows pulling together somberly, "We haven't been fighting, Kibum."

He looked up to his mother, shaking his head again, "But it's going to come back at some time. It always does. And then Jonghyun stays with me all the time and I know he doesn't want to . . . Mommy, Hyung is going to be a teenager. He's not going to want to keep me in his room when you fight," Kibum started hiccupping, "Why is everyone changing but me?"

His mother walked around the counter and sat in the chair next to Kibum, treading her fingers through his hair, "How about we go get you a haircut? That could be some change for you."

  "It's not the same," Kibum looked at her, rubbing his eyes, "I know you know it's not the same, either."

His mother invited him into her lap even though he was too big. She shifted around a bit as he laid against her chest and started crying. It made her tear up and sometimes sniff, the hatred to what she's done to her boys settling inside of her stomach and making her sick. But she held Kibum close and shook her head.

  "How are you both growing up so fast?" she whispered.

  "How about on my birthday we head over to that yogurt place?" Jonghyun suggested, picking at the strings of his guitar again.

Krystal looked at the paper Jonghyun based his notes off of, "You're using the wrong notes, Jjong. You're playing treble cleff instead of bass. No wonder it sounds wrong."

Jonghyun looked at her in confusion and to his paper, groaning as he saw he needed to familiarize with the bass cleff, "I never notice that."

She breathed a single laugh, pulling her hair behind her ears, "But yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Bringing Kibum along, right?"

Jonghyun went on to figure out what notes he never knew existed were at, thinking how he thought of the idea and really just wanted to take her out. Kibum was in the back of his head and he thought that he should bring him with them. Well, Kibum was his brother, and spent eight, almost nine, years of his life with him. He was obligated to bring his little brother with him. He never minded it before that he brought him everywhere or kept his attention on him.

  "No," Jonghyun looked at her, "Let's not bring Kibum," he suggested, "How about it just be you and me? That would be nice."

Krystal looked borderlined shocked Jonghyun suggested leaving his brother behind for the first time, but she smiled, nudging at his shoulder, "Okay, you and me."

Jonghyun smiled and nodded, not looking at his guitar has he picked at the strings.

And oddly, he didn't regret this decision.

----Note~----

Don't yell at me. I know it's been forever in forever.

But I finished my other fic so I just want to see what I can do with this.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, though, <3

~FlaMinhoe