It was quiet.
And exceedingly awkward.
Ijin's grandfather was sitting across from him, and the timid old man that he had become used to seeing was nowhere in sight. The man's shoulders were taut, his eyes challenging as he stared at the Major head-on. It was like a switch had been flipped in him, his docile personality was now one of a protective parent that was willing do to anything and everything to protect their child.
Dayeon was a very different story. Although he could tell that she wanted to be there, her body language screamed that she was nervous. She was almost curled in on herself, her hands hidden under the table where she was no doubt picking at her fingers out of pure nerves. But yet, she did not look away from him, her eyes puffy and rimmed with red as her jaw clenched and unclenched in the silence.
Waking up after the whole debacle with Ijin nearly having a panic attack, Kang had texted Ijin's grandfather to let him know that he had his grandson with him.
It's not like he couldn't let the kid's family know where he was. Even with what happened, he knew that it had to scare the living shit out of them when they realized that Ijin had never gone home, along with forgetting his phone at his friends. He did it out of common courtesy, as well as to bring some comfort to them because he knew that if his brother or grandson had suddenly gone missing after something like that, he would be worried out of his mind.
But he wasn't expecting this.
He wasn't expecting to see Ijin's family standing outside his doorstep less than 30 minutes after he had managed to coax a half-asleep teenager into sleeping in his bed.
He almost regretted letting them in.
"Were you aware?" the question was short and to the point, but Kang knew exactly what the man was talking about. It would be hard to not know, especially with the way multiple news outlets were playing the same story about Mad Dog and by extension, Ijin, over and over again.
"Yes." It had been one of the first things he had found out about Ijin, especially since the few times they needed his help traversing the area, Ijin had to tell them where he couldn't go if he wanted to live.
To his credit, the older man did not show his true emotion," I see…Where is he?"
He swallowed thickly, motioning over to his bedroom door with his head," Asleep. He-uh had a stressful night…" Dayeon looked like she was ready to bawl right then a there, a strangled whine escaping the back of her throat before she tried to cover it up with a cough.
The grandfather nodded his head slowly, his eyes lingering on the closed bedroom door for a few seconds before he abruptly stood up," I see. He is more than welcome to stay here."
It took him a few seconds. For a few seconds, he thought that the man was thanking him for taking care of Ijin as if his brain did autocorrect on the words. But it hit him like a ton of bricks when he processed the words correctly.
What?
Both he and Dayeon were stunned, the both of them staring at the older man," Grandpa?" her voice was pitifully weak, and there was something about the way she said it that seemed nearly identical to Ijin's voice. Her voice had the same, heartbroken tone that Ijin did, the tone that made Kang resist the urge to comfort the young girl.
He was cold, colder than any higher-up he had ever dealt with, "I don't want him in our home Dayeon," his voice was firm and unforgiving," He's kept this from us, who knows what else he is hiding."
What?
He stood up, his chair banging loudly against the floor as he did so," Wait sir. I don't think you understand-"
The elder rounded on him, "I understand perfectly well," The grandfather's voice was scathing now, and he looked every bit of a father," Don't think for a second that I don't."
But.
He really didn't understand.
Dayeon was standing up as well, her face turning red as tears started to spill," Grandpa-!" she was ready to defend her older brother, and for a split second, Kang thought that maybe she would be able to change the old man's mind.
"I said that is enough!" She clammed up with an 'eep!' as her grandfather snapped at her, a fierce scowl on his face," I refuse to let him come back! Not when its just you and me!"
Kang didn't know what hurt more.
The fact that he really just inferred that Ijin would hurt them one day.
Or the fact that Ijin was being rejected by his grandfather. The same grandfather that Ijin had been so eager to meet, he even got over his ingrained fear of planes to fly and meet him.
He still tried.
"Please, sir. You can't do this to him!" He couldn't let this go down without a fight," He-please sir!" He was stuttering in his words trying to get them out as he tried to defend the young man that was just a doorway away.
Dayeon tugged on his arm," Grandpa no! He's still family!"
"Its because he's family that he should have told the truth!" and by god was that a good point.
But it wasn't that simple.
It wasn't that simple.
She kept on trying, even though her voice was cracking with poorly restrained sorrow, she didn't stop." You can't kick him out! Please he's my brother!"
"I have made my decision and that is final!" Dayeon tried to protest again, but was promptly cut off when her grandfather grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her out of the apartment," Major Kang, thank you for everything you have done for our family. We're leaving."
Kang sputtered, easily catching up to the older man," Please!" The man's eyes were cold, cold as if it wasn't his grandson they were talking about," He was so excited to find out that he had a family!" Ijin had been so excited, he hadn't shown it outright, but they had all noticed by just how fidgety and restless the boy had become," It's all he wanted and-"
"Then he should have told us the truth!"
"Its not that simple sir!"
"The fact of the matter is that he lied to us, and who knows what else is he lying out," With a firm hand on the doorknob he said," You can pick up his belongings tomorrow." And slammed the door closed.
Even through the closed door, he could still hear Dayeon tearfully begging and pleading with her grandfather to forgive her brother. Her voice slowly faded away as they made their way down their hallway.
For a few seconds.
All he could do was stare at the door. His stomach twisted horribly the more he processed what just happened.
This…this entire thing was just fucked .
Ijin lost his family once, and he was losing them a second time. Only this time, he was being rejected by the only family he had left.
Rejected.
He glanced over at his bedroom door, and after the way they had been screaming at each other, there was no way in hell Ijin was still sleeping. It would be impossible for Ijin to be able to sleep through an argument like that when he was less than ten feet away.
There was no way he hadn't heard his own grandfather kick him out of the only home he's ever had.
Biting the bullet, he slowly opened the door, desperately hoping that somehow, someway, Ijin hadn't heard the conversation that went on.
His hopes were destroyed when he saw Ijin curled up in a small ball, never looking more fragile or childish as he hid his face in his knees. He didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say that could comfort the young man at that moment.
Instead, he just sat down next to him, and after pulling the stiff teenager into his side, he just waited.
It took a few minutes, a few minutes of listening to Ijin sniffle and swallow heavily as he tried to control his emotions. But at last, he seemed to give up and succumb to his emotions.
The way he cried wasn't like the night before, it wasn't the quiet tears running down his face in emotional shock. This time, it was quiet sobs, hitched breaths, and repressed cries. Ijin melted into his side again, letting go of his knees so he could turn and grab onto the older man, leaning his forehead into the crook of his neck as he did so. Ijin quietly hiccupped into his shoulder, and even with Kang holding onto the teen as tight as he could, nothing seemed to help.
It was moments like these when he remembered that Ijin was still 19 years old. Just 19 years old with years of trauma and combat under his belt. Due to the horrible habit of repressing his emotions, Kang knew that he was going to have a hard time getting Ijin to process his emotions in a healthy way.
Sure, it's not like he had the best way to process his own, sometimes working till exhaustion made it even worse. But at the same time, as least he let them run their course until he felt better.
Even then, he was starting to see it. He was starting to see Ijin slowly push away whatever he was feeling. Burying them wherever he buried them as he did when he was younger.
Ijin pulled away, his face a bright red as he wiped away his tears. Even as he did that, he could tell that Ijin's hands were shaking again, trembling as the effort of attempting to compose himself had sapped what little energy he had.
Kang couldn't tell if his eyes looked so empty because he was tired, or if it was him forcing himself to be stable again.
He knew there wasn't a single thing he could say to make the boy feel better.
And he hated every second of it.
For a few minutes, all he could do was just sit there next to the teenager, unsure if he should make the next move, or if he should wait for Ijin to do it.
In the end, Ijin was the one who made the first move, though it was not for the better.
He wanted to break down when he heard the sound of Ijin vomiting in the bathroom.
