☰ lee sungchul

@lee junseo ⁶⁹ sungchul has to hold himself back from wincing in embarrassment when he pulls the fridge door open. lined up among the abundance of detox juices and drinks he could not even recognize are his small collection of soft drinks. he skims through the expiry date and pulls two cans of coke — one that's going to expire in two days and one that can still survive until the end of the month. he hands junseo the latter and scoots over on the couch, leaving a rather huge space for the older to sit.

junseo's last couple of words echo in his mind, prompting a frown to appear on his face. sungchul hasn't been checking the residents' group chat since the day after the incident, but his question somewhat implies that the police has been sniffing around, questioning even those who weren't present at the party. "i don't... really know how i'm feeling," he admits in a low voice, hands fidgeting with the can. "the police may be keeping tabs on me, considering—" he shakes his head and trails his gaze off somewhere else. as much as he'd like to avoid the talk of jihyun's death altogether, he knows that it's the only thing weighing on both— no, on /everyone's/ minds. "i wasn't even close enough to her to attend the funeral tomorrow."

@lee sungchul ⁵¹ "i will." junseo responds with a polite smile, easily letting sungchul take the bag of cookies that jihye had so lovingly prepared. there's a hesitation, an awkwardness in the air — but junseo doesn't blame the younger man. after all, he had dropped by without notice, and given the state of his appearance and apartment. but it's not as if junseo cares about such trivial things, no — he only cares about how the boy is doing.

"it's alright, i don't mind," junseo is quick to answer, gaze following sungchul's movements as he heads towards his fridge — and, ah, junseo isn't particularly thirsty, but he feels bad saying no when sungchul is... fidgeting by the fridge. "a drink would be nice. anything you have is fine," he says instead, yet another of his small smiles playing at his lips. junseo isn't sure if he should just approach this so bluntly, but it's clear he has to take the lead here, what with sungchul being taken aback by his presence. "how are you?" he begins. "have the... police contacted you, as well?"

@lee junseo ⁶⁹ “no, it’s justー” it’s just that i’m exhausted and perhaps a little scarred from whatever it is i witnessed that night among many other things, he doesn’t say. sungchul directs his attention to the paper bag in front of him instead and extends his arm out to accept it. his fingers linger for a while on the handle before he takes it, a hint of gratitude flickering amidst the confusion in his eyes. “thank you,” is what he settles for. “please tell jihye i said thank you, too.”

he purses his lips at the indirect mention of the incident, the memories of the interrogation and the night itself threatening to flood back into his mind. his eyes turn to scan the other, but junseo’s quite an inscrutable man ー with his words being the only hint sungchul has on what he’s actually thinking. he decides to not dwell on it further and steps aside to let junseo come in. “sorry about the mess. i haven’t had the chance to clean.” his eyes dart around the space, head tilted to the right as he tries to figure out what to do. it’s the first time he’s had anyone come over, partly because he was supposed to keep a low profile anyway ー but he isn’t close enough to anyone for them to actually pay him a visit, or so he thought. “do you... want anything to drink?” he offers awkwardly, weight shifting against his fridge in plain embarrassment.

@lee sungchul ⁵¹ sungchul looks like a haphazardly thrown together mess, and junseo feels bad that he'd decided to visit on such a whim. "sorry, am i disturbing anything?" his voice is soft as he holds up the paper bag in his hands, the barest hints of a smile gracing the corner of his lips. "jihye got carried away with baking cookies, and we can't possibly finish them all. she insisted i give some to you."

junseo takes a moment to inspect the younger male then — his appearance, his mannerism, his relief (?) at junseo's presence — and he decides that perhaps, something had happened to sungchul on that fateful night of go jihyun's death, or on the consequent days that had followed. he hopes it's nothing too dire, too traumatic. "that, and to be honest... i wanted to check on you, after what happened. it's best not to be alone right now, isn't it?"

@lee junseo ⁶⁹ the abrupt knock on his door causes sungchul to jolt awake, having fallen asleep on his couch right after he reaches home from the police station. panic settles in almost immediately — his body tenses up as he keeps his gaze fixed at the door. his mother had never gone outside without her own key, so it can't be her, right? his next guess would be nari — no, she would know better than to visit him now. so that leaves...

he musters up the courage to stride towards the entrance, careful to not make any noise as he draws closer. a sigh of relief leaves him when a familiar face greets him when he peers into the peephole. "hyung," he says in lieu of a greeting once he opens the door, blinking twice in confusion. "why are you here?"

@lee sungchul ⁵¹ the events that have transpired have brought all sorts of misfortune on the residents of the perseus — from trauma to police interrogations, to the looming atmosphere that surrounds each apartment — and junseo is no different. but, as always, he keeps his emotions sealed in a tightly woven box, deep into the crevices of his mind. which is why today, he's let jihye relax by dropping her off for a playdate with a friend, and he's off to check on someone else that might need company — lee sungchul.

he raps his knuckles against the door, paper bag of cookies baked by him and jihye in hand — he doesn't know what state sungchul's in, or how much he's seen (god forbid he saw jihyun falling), but he hopes, for the young man's sake, that sungchul isn't too traumatized by the horrid events at the perseus.