Chapter Eleven: Out of Sorts
Yong Soo clutched the phone to his chest and timidly stepped out into the living room. He stood silently in the doorway, watching as Yao took some pain medicine with a glass of water and Kiku sat pensively beside him.
He didn't know what to say. The words just wouldn't come to him and the lost, confused feeling felt very foreign to him. Before he had always known what to say because he never really thought about what he was going to say. But now he was trapped in his own head and it felt heavy, foggy, and... just plain weird.
"Yong Soo? Do you need something?" Kiku looked up from the sofa, his head tilted lightly in concern and his hands folded neatly in his lap.
"Huh?" Yong Soo's gaze snapped up, startled by Kiku's sudden acknowledgement. "Oh... I-I just... Yao-hyung? What was- what was your fight with Ivan about?"
Yao exhaled exasperatedly and folded his arms tightly over his chest. He winced at the pressure on the sensitive bruising, and dropped his arms to his sides. "He wouldn't listen to me, aru. I told him to back off and leave you alone, but he just wouldn't listen! I-I'll admit it escalated further than it should have and I still won't tolerate you getting into fights, aru! But... if-if he would have just- Ugh, it doesn't matter. Why are you asking, aru?"
"Uh, I just- never mind." Yong Soo murmured and then fell silent again. He didn't really know how to feel about all this. He had always wanted Yao's attention; it had been his goal in life for as long as he could remember. And now he had it. His brother was being attentive, and protective, and he... he cared. He had fought for him. But Yong Soo didn't feel happy about it. His stomach was twisted in knots and he honestly felt kind of sick. His head hurt. His chest hurt. He wanted to scream. He just wanted someone to talk to...
"Yao-hyung? Can I invite Lee over? Wait, no... Matthew. Can I invite Matthew over?"
Yao blinked and stared at his youngest brother. Since when was Yong Soo so subdued and polite? And since when did he ask if he could invite someone over? Yong Soo was not acting like Yong Soo and, frankly, it was kind of creeping Yao out. "Uh, well I don't see why not, aru."
Yong Soo simply nodded silently and left the living room. Yao and Kiku stared at the empty doorway until they heard their little brother close his bedroom door.
"What was that about? Is he broken or something, aru?" Yao immediately turned to Kiku, looking for confirmation that this was out of the ordinary, that there was something wrong here.
"He is acting quite strangely." Kiku frowned, his hands tightly gripping the bottom of his shirt, his minf working in a silent, but frenzied worry.
-o-o-o-
Yong Soo sat on his bed and dialed the phone without really looking at it. He had called Alfred and Matthew enough times that he barely even had to think about it anymore. He waited, staring somewhere beyond the wall as he let the phone ring.
"Hello!" A bright, vibrant voice answered the phone. It sounded weird to Yong Soo. "Jones-Williams' household, the Hero speaking."
"It's Yong Soo, can I talk to Matthew?"
"Huh? Oh sure." Alfred hesitated for a moment, one of his rare instances of insight shining through his usual veil of obliviousness. "Are you okay, man?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, da ze!" Yong Soo forced some enthusiasm into his voice. "I just wanted to talk to Matthew, is all."
"Alright, if you're sure." Alfred sounded unconvinced but acquiesced. "I'll go get Mattie then."
"Okay!" Yong Soo chirped, forcing a smile onto his face, even though he knew Alfred couldn't see him. A tell-tale clunk told Yong Soo that Alfred put down the phone and the smile melted off his face. He sat silently, trying hard not to think, until a soft voice spoke to him through the receiver.
"H-hello?"
"Can you come over?" The words tumbled out of his mouth in a desperate sounding blurb the moment he heard Matthew. His voice wavered slightly as he continued, "I really need someone to talk to right now."
"You want to talk to me?" Matthew sounded surprised.
"Please?"
The desperate tone in Yong Soo's voice nearly broke Matthew's heart. "Of course I will," Matthew's quiet voice firmly insisted. "I'll be right over."
"Thanks," Yong Soo breathed a sigh of relief. "Bye then." Yong Soo clicked the phone off and set it on the bed beside him. "He stared at it blankly for a moment before turning away from it. He pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees. He stared at his feet, lining them up at the edge of the bed and wiggling his toes. Matthew would know what to do; he's smart.
-o-o-o-
Matthew knocked lightly on the door. No one answered. He knocked again, harder.
The door opened to reveal Kiku. "Ah, こんにちは, Alfred-san. May I ask what are you doing here?"
"I-it's Matthew and I'm here to see Yong Soo?" He looked down at his feet and his already quiet voice grew softer until it could barely be heard, muffled as it was by the neckline of his hoodie.
"O-oh, please forgive me." Kiku bowed deeply and the distress was clearly written on his face. He had always himself on being polite and he couldn't believe he had been so rude to this seemingly nice young man.
"It's okay, I-I mean, we are twins..." He smiled sheepishly at the other boy. They stood silently for a moment and Matthew fidgeted uncomfortably while Kiku tried to think of some way to apologize. "So can I come in?"
"ああ! My apologies," Kiku bowed again and stepped aside. "Please come in."
Matthew bowed awkwardly, thanked him, and walked into the house. He crossed the hallway to Yong Soo's bedroom and knocked at the door, giving special consideration to knocking loudly.
...No answer. He knocked again, but still no answer. Matthew frowned. Had Yong Soo forgotten he was coming over? It wouldn't be the first time that someone had. But wouldn't Kiku have said something if Yong Soo had left?
Matthew opened the door slowly and peeked inside. "Yong Soo?" He spotted Yong Soo sitting silently in the steadily darkening room, staring blankly at his feet. Matthew opened the door the rest of the way and quickly crossed the room to stand at his friend's side. He nervously tapped Yong Soo's shoulder. "A-are you okay, Yong Soo?"
Yong Soo's attention snapped suddenly to the Canadian. "Matthew?" He blinked, obviously startled. "When did you get here?"
"Um, just now." Matthew said and sat next to Yong Soo on the edge of the bed. "I knocked, but..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What did you want to talk about, Yong Soo? You sounded pretty upset..."
"Yeah... I'm glad you're here." Yong Soo replied as he dropped his feet to the floor. "It's-it's about Ivan and Yao-hyung." He swung his feet lightly back and forth, eyes focusing on the motion. "They were fighting... about me. Yao-hyung, he-he started it!" His eyes, painted with confusion raised to find Matthew's. "But that's so weird, da ze! Yao-hyung always says that fighting is a last resort, but... He-he said he was trying to make Ivan leave me alone..." Yong Soo sighed and his eyes dropped to stare at the floor. "Then Ivan's sister called. She was worried about Yao-hyung... And she told me that Ivan was really upset and that he was worried I wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore.
"I-I don't know what to do, Matthew... I love Yao-hyung and- and I always wanted him to be more... I don't know... just more, I guess." He sighed again and began fidgeting with his sleeves. "I don't wanna make Yao-hyung and Kiku-hyung mad, but I really like hanging out with Ivan.
"I don't know," he murmured and shook his head. "I didn't know who else to talk to though. No one else really seems to like Ivan. I don't know what Lee's and Alfred's problems are..."
Yong Soo could hear the smile in Matthew's soft voice as he began to speak. "Well, I don't really know what Lee's problem is, but Alfred... he's just being pig-headed. For some reason he's decided that Ivan is a villain and he'll probably never let it go. That's not going to stop me from being friends with Ivan though. Despite everything, I love Al- I really do- but friendship is a personal thing, Yong Soo. It's an emotional thing. Logic and other people's opinion can't and don't really apply. Do you want to still be friends with Ivan?"
Yong Soo didn't even hesitate. He shot straight up, eyes once again meeting Matthew's. "Of course I do, da ze!" He said vehemently.
Matthew nodded. "Then you should be." He leaned over and gave Yong Soo a gentle hug. Yong Soo looked back at him with confusion and Matthew simply laughed softly. "You looked like you could use one."
Yong Soo laughed too, feeling genuinely happy for the first time since he got home. With a decision made he felt so much lighter, so much more like himself. "Yeah, probably, da ze!"
"You should probably talk to Ivan about this too; he's probably pretty worried." Matthew said, a small frown on his face.
Yong Soo gasped and shot up from his bed. "Oh my gods, da ze! I didn't even think about that!" He leaned over and captured Matthew in a tight hug. "Thanks for everything. I'm gonna go talk to him right now, da ze!" Yong Soo hopped up and ran from his room.
Matthew sat on the bed, alone in the room, and chuckled. "Well, it looked like he's back to normal."
-o-o-o-
A/N: Such a dramatic chapter! D: And absolutely no Russia! D: Awful!
This chapter is dedicated to AsianTwinkiesFTW who wrote me the funniest review and really made my day, so thank you! 3
Oh, and Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate it.
Translations:
こんにちは- Hello; Good afternoon (Japanese)
ああ! - Ah! (Japanese)