Silent Steps
Silent Steps [work in progress]
WooHyun steps in front of you and holds out his hand for you, you stare at it before you hold his hand and he immediately pulls you to him – forcefully. You gasp tripping on your feet and fall into his arms.
“Sorry,” He mumbles when you get to your feet, you feel everyone’s eyes on the two of you and you swallow hard. You stand up straight and you look at WooHyun – your eyes are clearly asking him if there’s something wrong but of course he doesn’t understand your look.
“My job is to suggest a step and you do the rest, k?” He whispers only loud enough for you to hear, you give him a hesitant nod before you shake your head and give him a more determined nod.
His hands slips to your lower back before he spines you around, he steps a step forward and you do the same – a series of steps walking forward for a few seconds only before you take charge. You stop walking and WooHyun does the same without losing the rhythm of how your bodies are going to move. You swiftly turn around and you press your chest against his, you run your hands up and down on his arms to his hands.
You intertwine your fingers with his giving him a soft smile – your steps with him are a bit sloppy and unsure because you’re not used to him being your partner but you push the thought aside. Changing partners was bound to happen sooner or later.
“Turn around and relax,” He mumbles taking the lead and you immediately follow what he says. You feel him lead and you follow him in a heartbeat, you find yourself in the air with him twirling around for less than a minute and when he stops you take action.
You raise your arms and you fall back – his hands around your waist and your hands on his shoulder stop you from crashing to the ground. He grabs your hand and you step side, gracefully swinging your hips from side to side. He pulls you back to him and places his left leg between your legs and your eyes widen when you feel his hand on your belly.
Your back arches upwards and you find yourself staring at your classmates upside down. WooHyun’s hand creeps up to the back of your neck and he forces you back up.
Your eyes widen in surprise when he hugs you, you know this type of hug – a hug were one is trying to seek for comfort. You know it’s not part of the tango or any type of dance but you don’t resist – you slowly wrap your arms around him and you find yourself rocking him back and forth. He hugs you tighter.
The quietness in the class doesn’t bother you as you hold WooHyun closer.
“Partner change again,” Mr. Jung says out of the blue breaking the silence.
“Why do we have to change partners?” You hear someone ask in an annoyed tone, “I’m getting confused.” The person adds.
“Teamwork,” Mr. Jung answers, “I want you all to get used to each other – get out of my sight and attend your next classes.” He snaps.
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“I’ll miss you.” You look from the bag to your mother by the door and you give her a smile. You’re packing to go back home since your mother has been discharged from the hospital – you can’t wait to have her around again.
A part of you feels like you’ll miss your mother because she is your mother after all. You stare at the shirt in your hands before you stare at the woman a few steps away from you. You gesture for her to come over to you and when she does, you tap the edge of your bed for her to sit on it.
You shove your shirt in your bad before you remove the bag of the bed. You pull out your phone and you quickly type a word on it before you hit send.
Explain.
She pulls out her phone and you stare at her, you watch as a worried frown appears on her face. She looks at you and you wonder what she’s thinking, you know she’s trying to find the right words.
“I was scared,” She finally says, “I was young and scared – I know that’s not what you want to hear but…” She breaks off, “Finding out my kid – you – wouldn’t be able to utter a word scared me to death.” She continues, “I didn’t think I’d give you all you wanted and so I left – well, your father and I got into an argument before that. Me leaving was out of anger and foolishness. My pride held me back from apologizing and returning.”
You blink taking in the information even though you have no idea what you’re going to do with it – you sit there quickly and wait for her to continue.
“I regretted every second I spent away from you,” She suddenly chuckles, “Your grandmother was right you know,” She mumbles, “I had a choice but I ignored it.” She paused, “Those pictures – I had someone take pictures of you for me, I had someone learn about your favorite things, your likes and dislikes – like the sentence in the album said – I watched you grow,” She sighs, “In the shadows.” She adds as an afterthought.
You place your hands on your lap not having an idea of what to do next. Do you stand up and leave the room? Do you stay and wait for her to continue or do you slap her to show your anger?
Deep within, you’re angry but you hold it in. Her reasons are ridiculous in your ears but you try to reason with her by debating with yourself in your head.
“I’m sorry,” She apologizes .
¤¤¤¤
“I got a little jealous,” HoWon blurts out, you look away from the plastic cup of water in your hands and you blink at him with a confused expression. You’re both sitting on a bench in the park – it’s a little cold but not to the point of people needing heavy coats or anything heavy to wear.
The cold breeze is nice and comforting. You blink at HoWon once more waiting for him to explain himself because you don’t understand what he meant.
“You and WooHyun,” He starts and your expression turns from confused to concerned, you let him continue. “The way he hugged you and you hugging him back made me a little mad,” He finishes the sentence off with a forced laugh. You smile and place your plastic cup on the ground before you wrap your arms around his waist.
You bury your head in his chest and inhaling his scent with a smile as you shake your head. You hold him tighter when you feel his arms around you. You close your eyes when you feel his fingers run through your hair.
Your eyes snap open when you feel vibrating in your pockets; you blindly reach for your phone. You read the next message and a frown forms on your face.
From: Sungjong
His parents are going through a divorce and it’s not an easy one.
Your heart skips a beat at the sight of the text, you re-read it a few times not wanting to believe it and swallow. “Are you all right?” You blink rapidly at HoWon snapping out of your thoughts; you force a smile on your face as you shove your phone in your pocket. His eyes tell you that he doesn’t buy the smile and you inhale deeply before exhaling.
You both sit in silence and you have a feeling that he wants to ask you what’s bothering you but he doesn’t know how. Not wanting to ruin your first date with him, you snuggle closer to him and you hold his hand squeezing it a few times.
Sungjong’s text bothers your every being and you’re worried, hiding your worry is never easy especially if your actions speak louder than words can which in your case is all true.
“You’re sighing again,” HoWon chuckles as you bury your face between his shoulder and neck shaking your head. You reach out for your phone and you unlock it, you find Sungjong’s message and immediately show it to HoWon.
He falls silent and you pull away from him staring at him curiously. You notice how his brows furrow in concern before his head snaps from your phone’s screen to you. “WooHyun?” He questions and you nod slowly.
You watch him run his fingers through his hair with a shaky sigh, he hands you your phone back and leans against the bench staring up at the sky. “I wonder how long he planned to keep this a secret…” You hear him mumble quietly. You look at your phone and you search for HoWon’s number before you instantly text him.
Has he always been this secretive?
You hit send and less than a second, HoWon’s phone vibrates startling him. You smile apologetically at him, you watch him think for a second before he stares at you.
“He used to be secretive a few years ago,” He informs softly, “I can’t say now because we aren’t as close as before.” He states tonelessly. Your curiosity grows after those two sentences but his tone sends the message that he doesn’t want to get in too deep. Not in the sense of hiding anything but more like he doesn’t want to think about it. You bite the inside of your cheek before you text him.
Let’s support him.
“That’s what friends are for,” HoWon answers with a yawn and you both sit in silence. The silence is comfortable and feels natural of course, you try to brush away thoughts and think about now but a thought pops in your brain.
Why do you like me?You erase the text and shut your phone before you snuggle in his warm embrace.
¤¤¤¤
You stand in front of WooHyun’s house with an unsure expression plastered on your face. Your grandmother gives you a slight push forward and smiles. Seeing her back on her feet proud and strong makes you smile. You ring the doorbell and you wait nervously.
Mrs. Nam opens the door and let’s outs an embarrassed yelp at being seen with her makeup wet with tears and ruined. Her eyes are red and puffy; you can easily spot the eye bags under her eyes. It would be an understatement to say she looked like a mess.
“Sorry!” She exclaims weakly.
“Don’t be silly,” Your grandmother waves her apology off.
“Come on i-in,” She clears and steps aside, your grandmother shoves you in first causing you to stumble in forward.
“You insisted,” Your grandmother gives you a stern look, “Why are you hesitating now?” Mrs. Nam laughs hoarsely. She leads you both into what looks like a living room; it’s cozy and makes you a little comfortable.
There are pictures on the wall of WooHyun and an older version of him, of course this being their home; their pictures are of them smiling at the camera. You see an older looking version of WooHyun beside who you think is his brother. You guess that the man is the father, the oldest man in the house.
WooHyun takes after him from what you’re seeing in the pictures, the resemblance is strong and hard to miss. This is when you notice that they only thing he got from his mother were his nose and lips.
“WooHyun is up in his room,” Mrs. Nam informs snapping you out of your thoughts; you look at her with a surprised look at she smiles. “You came here for him, right?” She questions and you quickly nod your head frantically. “I may not be Mrs. Nam anymore,” She takes in a deep breath, “So call me Ms. Park, all right?” She asks kindly and you give her a firm nod, she smiles and tells you where WooHyun’s room is.
WooHyun’s room isn’t hard to find, it’s the first room on the right. You stop before it and you inhale deeply before you gently knock on the door. You wait patiently for him to invite you in, nothing but silence fills the air. You knock a few times and the same thing happens, in the end you hold the doorknob and you turn it.
His room is neat and because of the bright sun outside, it’s rather bright in his room. You look around the room and you raise your eyebrow when you spot two beds. Two people sleep in here? You think to yourself before you look at the bed with a lump on it.
You take an unsure step forward and you pause staring at the bed. You walk over to the lump and you look down at the sleeping person’s hair – the only thing visible is his hair, the rest of his body is covered by the duvet.
You hold the sides of the duvet and slowly pull it down. You’re met with his sleeping face, you drop the duvet and you try to shake him awake but he doesn’t budge. You lean down to take a proper look at him and you stumble back in surprise when his eyes shoot open.
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Until Next Time :]!
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