When Suho got home, he couldn't settle down.
Jia didn't text — not after an hour, not after two. Suho checked his phone every few minutes.
"How stupid," he thought, but the uneasy feeling kept gnawing at him from the inside.
Jia had said everything was fine, but that was hard to believe. Suho tossed his phone onto the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and Choi almost fell over, lunging forward too quickly and sending a jolt of pain through his knee.
"Damn it," he hissed, reaching for the phone.
It wasn't Jia. It was Choi Seungje — Suho's older brother.
"Hey, little bro, you up?"
Suho let out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah."
"Wanna come with me and Jihee to a dog show tomorrow?"
Suho grimaced. Lately, his brother had been showing an unprecedented amount of enthusiasm, trying to "cheer up his sad little brother." It seemed like he and their father genuinely believed Suho had developed depression after his injury.
"Why are you inviting me instead of taking the kids?"
"Jihee took them to her parents' for a couple of days."
"I'm not third-wheeling on your date with your wife."
"She was the one who suggested inviting you."
"I'm busy tomorrow."
"Dad said your internship ends before noon."
"They're all conspiring against me," Suho grumbled, pulling the blanket up over his legs.
"I go straight to rehab after."
Suho could already predict how his brother would react. He hadn't told his family he'd resumed his sessions. To be honest, over the past week, he'd barely talked to anyone, lost in his own thoughts about one particular person.
"Ohhh! Good job!!! Keep it up! Are you seeing Dr. Min?"
"Yeah. It's been a week."
"Bro, I believe in you!"
"Yeah, right. He's probably going to call Dr. Min first thing tomorrow and interrogate the poor woman," Suho thought.
They hadn't been particularly close before. Seungje was seven years older than him. That age gap had felt like a chasm when they were kids, leaving them with little in common. Later, when Suho was in middle school, they'd briefly connected, but after their mother passed away, the brothers drifted apart again. Suho threw himself into training, while Seungje was finishing university and preparing to take up a position at the company.
Then Suho graduated high school. During his first year of university, he fell in with a wild crowd. On the verge of being expelled, he had a huge fight with his father and ended up enlisting in the military just to get out of the house.
In the army, he gradually cooled down and got himself together. Seungje was getting married around that time, and the brothers reconnected. Suho was sure it was only because of Jihee — she hadn't been afraid of his awful personality. Even while pregnant, she'd treated him like a big, angry child who didn't actually want to hurt anyone but didn't know how to act otherwise. Suho would always be grateful for that long conversation that had finally opened his eyes.
After returning from the army, he made peace with his father, started training hard, and became captain of the basketball team. For two years, he was living his best life — until the accident this spring. The friend who'd been driving walked away with just a scare. The other driver got a few bruises and a mild concussion. And Suho ended up stuck in the hospital for three months with a broken leg and severe knee damage.
And now, after a string of monotonous days filled with regret and pain, Suho had finally found a reason to move forward again.
Meeting Yoon Jia had been like waking up from a long, unpleasant dream.
Suho lay on his side and wrapped his arms around his knees. His phone lay next to him on the pillow. The lamp on the nightstand cast a dim glow over the bedroom. It was close to midnight, and there was still no message from Jia.
Suho closed his eyes and listened to the quiet sound of rain. He remembered how pale Jia had gone, how flustered she'd been after reading that message. Suho genuinely hoped everything was okay with her little sister. He'd rather believe that Jia had simply forgotten to text him that she'd gotten home safe.
Spinning one anxious thought after another in his head, Suho didn't notice when he finally drifted into a restless sleep.