the side of dreaming
a (solo) conversation between jungmo and his brother
jungmo would be lying if he said he wasn’t anticipating the call from his brother. he’d gone to training like usual with an added edge of nerves. his older brother always had a habit of making him nervous for no reason. jungmo thinks it’s because out of everyone, he’d only listen to him. not even his parents have that much of a hold on jungmo.
after all, it was mostly his parents who gave up on him anyways. not his brother.
there’s a lapse in practice that jungmo uses to escape to a quiet and secluded place. the gut feeling he had was right when his phone starts ringing and the familiar name pops up on his screen. he doesn’t miss a beat and answers the call with a masked cheery tone.
“oh! junghyunnie hyung! i missed you.” as the youngest brother, of course he has to play it up for junghyun. the chuckle from the other end of the phone is enough to let jungmo know that his brother seems to be in a good mood. maybe if he plays his cards right, he won’t have to deal with the actual issue at hand.
“i missed you too, kiddo.” his brother’s low voice provides a familiar comfort to him and eases him into a more relaxed state.
“ugh, seriously, i’m not a little kid anymore.” you can practically hear the pout in jungmo’s voice but he didn’t really care. if any trainee walked in on him talking to his brother like this, he might be a little embarrassed but he’s a sucker for his brother.
"but you’re always going to be my kid brother.” jungmo’s wide smile softened into a more fond one and nodded to himself. he sat down with his back pressed against the wall. “i assume you know why i’m calling.”
jungmo grunted into the phone as his reply. he did know the reason but he wanted junghyun to tell him. “well, as you know, it’s their anniversary. they want you to come to the party. show face and whatnot.”
the smile slipped off his face instantly. it wasn’t that easy and his brother knew that so jungmo didn’t understand why he was still being asked to show up to a party that he didn’t care for surrounded by people who would only judge him for his choices in life and celebrate parents that were never there for him. it makes no sense and he knows junghyun doesn’t slack in the logic department.
“you know why i can’t - won’t go. i’m a trainee now and i can’t just go home willy-nilly. it’s not that easy.”
“please? not even for a few hours?”
jungmo would only ever listen to junghyun. if he had to admit it, he’d declare that his older brother was the one to raise him, not his parents. however, the way junghyun tries to get jungmo to act cordial with their parents is just not ideal for him.
“not even a damn minute, junghyun hyung. i have to practice a lot if i’m ever going to debut. their anniversary is a waste of time anyways. you of all people should know that.”
there’s a pause between them before junghyun sighs into the phone receiver. jungmo can hear the disappointment in his brother’s voice and he feels annoyed even more now. annoyed at their parents, annoyed at his brother and annoyed at himself.
“can you please just tell them i’m busy with something and i send them my regards or whatever?”
“i can, jungmo, but you know they won’t take it well that you skipped out on their anniversary to go spend hours singing and dancing around for nobody and for nothing.”
“it isn’t for nothing, though!”
“i know, i know. i’m just saying that that’s what they’ll say and believe because that’s what fits their own narrative.”
it was hard for jungmo to get upset with junghyun. their parents pushed his older brother to pursue medicine. it was thankfully because of that choice that allowed jungmo to even chase after his own interests. of course, there were a lot of pushback but junghyun shouldered it all to let jungmo fly free. and for that, he’ll always be thankful towards his older brother.
“... thank you, junghyunnie hyung. i promise to visit you soon at least...”
“you better visit me as soon as possible! i miss my darling younger brother very much. have they been treating you well at this company? tell me if they’re not?”
jungmo laughs at his brother’s comment. “even if i said they weren’t treating me well, what are you going to do to them?”
“write a strongly worded email?”
jungmo snorts back a laugh. “okay, okay, maybe don’t do that. they don’t even know who i am but i feel like if you send them an email, i’m gonna be on their watch list.”
“okay, okay! i won’t do that but seriously, jungmo, i hope you’re doing fine. i know you’re chasing your dreams and everything but i want you to know that i’ll support you regardless of whatever path you take. and if you don’t want to do this anymore, we can find another path for you. training must be hard after all.”
jungmo stays silent for a second too long before he remembers he needs to say something quick as to not worrry his brother. “training is great, junghyun hyung! i’m a natural born performer, of course. my skills are crazy. before you know it, i’m gonna debut and you’ll see ads with my face on it! seriously! i’m doing great.”
“hmm, okay, jungmo. i’ll let you go then so you can get back to practice. love you, miss you, see you soon.”
jungmo nods. “love you and miss you too, big bro. i’ll visit soon.”
