⋆₊‧˚₊‧꒰ა Chapter Seven: I Didn't Mean to Be Born ໒꒱‧₊˚₊‧⋆

✧ “If I had a choice… I wouldn’t be here either.” ✧

The next morning came like a whisper through fog.

Not one knock on his door.Not one voice calling his name.Not even footsteps in the hallway.

They had all left again.

And Kyungmin was still there.On the floor.Where they left him.

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His cheek still stung from Shinyu’s hand.His ribs ached.But none of it hurt more than what they said.Words that replayed in his head like a scratched record:

“You’re really a burden to the family.”

He hadn’t slept.Not because he couldn’t.But because he was afraid of waking up.

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He moved slowly — like someone floating through a world they no longer belonged to. His hands were shaky, but he still made his bed. He still brushed his teeth. He still tied his shoelaces properly.

Because if he didn’t do those things, he’d disappear.

And no one would even know.

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He stood in front of the hallway mirror and looked at himself.

His face looked small.His eyes looked tired.And his heart —his heart looked like it didn’t want to be there anymore.

He whispered something no one else could hear:

“I didn’t ask to be born.”

He paused.His reflection didn’t argue.It just stared back at him — quietly agreeing.

---

He sat on the kitchen floor. The tiles were cold.

He didn’t cry.

There were no tears left.

But in his hands was a drawing.

Another one. One he never meant to show anyone.

It was of him.Alone.Standing in front of a door that said “Family.”

He was outside it.The door was closed.The key wasn’t in his pocket.It was never given to him.

He folded the drawing carefully and placed it under the fridge — where no one would ever find it.

Because what was the point?

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Upstairs, he sat on the edge of his bed, whispering to the silence:

"If I had a choice, I’d give it all back.My name.My breath.My spot in this house.”

He pressed his forehead to his knees.

"If someone asked, ‘Do you want to keep living like this?’I think I’d say no.Not because I want to die.But because no one wants me alive.”

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Outside, the sun rose higher.The world moved on.The house remained still.

Downstairs, a phone buzzed on the counter.A teacher had sent a message:

Kyungmin hasn’t been at school.Is everything alright at home?

But no one replied.No one even checked.

Because no one missed what they chose to forget.