Barely two hours had passed since the apartment had gone quiet.
Zoya had been the first to collapse onto the bed, exhaustion pulling her under before the others had even finished cleaning the kitchen. Outside, the faint clinking of dishes and sleepy laughter echoed through the apartment while Hana, Ruhi, Sophia, and Minji wrapped everything up before finally returning to the room.
Hana quietly slipped onto the bed beside Zoya, while Ruhi, Sophia, and Minji spread mattresses across the floor.
But Minji never truly slept.
The dim glow of her phone illuminated her face as she whispered into the late-night call.
"Yeah… I'll come tomorrow," she murmured sleepily.
On the other side of the line, Jeon.J was walking back toward his room after a brutal midnight workout, earbuds in, hoodie damp with sweat, listening only to Minji's sleepy voice.
Until—
A scream shattered the silence.
A sharp, terrified cry ripped through the room.
Minji jolted upright instantly.
"ZOYA!"
The phone nearly slipped from her hand as she rushed toward the bed. Hana startled awake beside Zoya while Ruhi and Sophia sprang up from the floor in panic.
"Zoya! Zoya, wake up! Look at me!"
But on the phone, there was only chaos.
"Minji? What happened?" Jeon.J's voice echoed through the speaker.
No answer.
Only Minji's trembling voice repeating again and again—
"Zoya… Zoya…"
Jeon.J stopped walking.
Completely.
The hallway lights flickered faintly above him as his breathing slowed. His grip tightened around the phone.
Because he had heard it too.
That scream.
If the voice he heard belonged to Zoya…
Then that could only mean one thing.
Her voice had returned.
"There's no permanent damage to her vocal cords," Ji-ho said calmly, his voice steady despite the heaviness in the room. "Physically… she can speak."
The words struck Jeon.J like a distant echo.
The moment Zoya had returned, bruised, exhausted, and silent, Ji-ho had taken her to a doctor immediately. At first, everyone thought the injuries were the reason she couldn't speak. But now—
"Then why can't she talk?" Hana whispered.
Ji-ho lowered his eyes for a moment before answering.
"The doctor said that sometimes the human brain protects itself after severe emotional trauma. In rare cases, the mind suppresses speech completely." He paused briefly. "It's called psychogenic aphonia."
The room fell silent.
Minji frowned, confusion and sadness mixing across his face.
"So… she lost her voice because of shock?"
Ji-ho nodded slowly.
"But the doctor said recovery is possible," Ji-ho continued quietly. "A sudden emotional breakthrough… fear, panic, overwhelming relief, or deep emotional pain can force the brain to release that block unexpectedly."
"In simple words," he continued, "her body still remembers the trauma, even if she tries to move forward. Her voice isn't medically gone…"
His eyes drifted toward Zoya.
"…it's trapped psychologically."
The moment Ji-ho looked at her, Jeon.J's eyes snapped toward him.
Something inside him tightened violently.
"So one day…" Hana asked carefully, "her voice could suddenly come back?"
Ji-ho gave a small nod, repeating the doctor's words almost exactly.
"Sometimes it returns in a whisper."
His gaze remained fixed on Zoya.
"And sometimes…"
Jeon.J's breathing slowed.
"…in a scream."
The sound slammed into Jeon.J's mind instantly.
Zoya screaming.
That terrified, broken scream.
For a second, the room around him disappeared.
—
When Minji didn't receive an answer from him, Jeon.J suddenly stood up and walked away toward his room.
His steps were quick.
Uneasy.
The moment he entered, he grabbed his second phone and opened the house security cameras.
His fingers moved restlessly across the screen.
Hallways empty.
Guards at every checkpoint.
No intruder.
Security was impossibly tight.
Then why had she reacted like that?
Why did her scream sound like pure terror?
His chest tightened painfully.
The rooms themselves had no cameras.
Everyone was inside.
Still, his condition kept worsening with every passing second.
Jeon.J suddenly grabbed his phone and walked out again, heading toward Jinhun's room — the room between Yomin's and Teahun's.
He stopped outside the door.
Knock.
Soft.
Careful.
It was the middle of the night. Everyone was asleep.
A few seconds passed.
No response.
Jeon.J knocked again, slightly louder this time, before beginning to pace the hallway anxiously.
But instead of Jinhun, another door opened.
Yomin stepped out of his room.
The moment he saw Jeon.J standing there, pale and drenched in sweat, his expression changed immediately.
"Jeon.J?"
Yomin walked closer, concern covering his face.
"What happened? Why are you sweating like this? You look terrified."
Jeon.J lowered his gaze instantly.
"I… needed to talk to Jinhun," he muttered. "But it's late. I should go."
He turned quickly.
Because stopping in front of Yomin felt dangerous.
If he stayed any longer, the emotional wall holding him together might completely collapse.
"Jeon.J."
Yomin stopped him gently and turned him back by the shoulder.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Yomin sighed softly.
"Come with me."
—
Yomin led him quietly into his room.
The dim yellow lamp near the corner barely lit the space. The atmosphere felt warm… calm… painfully familiar.
Jeon.J stood near the wall at first, avoiding eye contact.
Yomin watched him carefully before speaking.
"I've been noticing it for a while now," he said. "You're upset."
Silence.
"And whenever you're like this…" Yomin smiled sadly, "…you only look for Jinhun."
Jeon.J's jaw tightened slightly.
"Are you not comfortable sharing things with us anymore?"
The question carried no anger.
Only hurt.
Yomin sat down slowly on the floor beside the bed, leaning back against it.
"We've been raising you since you were fifteen," he said quietly.
A faint laugh escaped him.
"Yeah, the age difference between us was never that big… but to us, you always felt like this tiny kid we had to protect."
Jeon.J's eyes lowered.
"You used to sleep beside Kim Joon whenever you got scared after trainee evaluations." Yomin smiled faintly at the memory. "You'd sit with me for hours trying to learn guitar, even though your fingers hurt after ten minutes."
His voice softened further.
"Jinhun," Yomin continued, a small smile appearing on his face, "was basically your laughter partner."
Jeon.J's eyes lowered quietly as Yomin spoke.
"You laughed the most with him."
A faint chuckle escaped Yomin.
"The two of you could literally turn anything into chaos. Half the time, nobody even understood what was funny, but somehow you both would end up crying from laughter on the floor."
For a second, old memories flickered across Jeon.J's tired face.
For the first time that night, the corner of Jeon.J's lips twitched weakly.
"And Hosu?" Yomin chuckled under his breath. "You tortured that man during dance practice."
A tiny breath of laughter escaped Jeon.J's nose.
"Because Hosu looked like a strict military leader during rehearsals," Yomin continued dramatically, making Jeon.J shake his head slightly.
"But honestly?" Yomin smiled. "Kim Joon was the senior leader. Hosu was the junior leader."
His eyes turned softer.
"And the two of them handled all five of us," Yomin continued before pausing and placing a hand over his chest dramatically.
"But honestly…" he sighed, shaking his head. "If we're telling the truth, they were only handling four."
For the first time in a while, confusion flickered across Jeon.J's face.
Yomin pointed toward himself innocently.
"Because I was obviously the calm and innocent one."
The silence finally broke.
A weak breath of laughter escaped Jeon.J before he could stop it.
Yomin gasped in fake offense immediately.
"What was that reaction?" he complained. "You think I caused trouble?"
Jeon.J looked away, hiding the tiny smile threatening to appear.
Yomin narrowed his eyes dramatically.
"Excuse me, sir. I was the emotionally stable member of this family."
Now Jeon.J actually let out a quiet laugh through his nose.
Small.
Brief.
But real.
And the moment Yomin heard it, his expression softened instantly.
Because for the first time in days—
Jeon.J sounded a little like himself again.
Jeon.J slowly sat down against the wall across from him.
Yomin continued quietly.
"When Minjo couldn't handle dieting anymore and started breaking down… you dieted with him even though you were already underweight yourself."
His eyes became emotional.
"You did it so he wouldn't feel alone."
The room fell silent again.
"You were always the kind of friend who carried everyone else's pain without saying anything."
A pause.
"And Teahun…" Yomin laughed softly. "That man was basically attached to your shoulder twenty-four seven. You two ate together, slept together, ran around like chaotic children together."
He shook his head lightly.
"That's why social media is still full of memes about you both."
Jeon.J stared down at his hands silently.
Yomin slowly moved closer and sat directly in front of him.
Then gently—
he placed his hand over Jeon.J's clenched fists.
"You're changing."
The words came out quietly.
"And that change is hurting us."
Jeon.J's breathing grew heavier.
"Not because people change," Yomin whispered. "Change is normal."
His grip tightened slightly over Jeon.J's trembling hands.
"But because you're hurting while changing."
The room became unbearably silent.
"We can all see it."
Yomin's voice cracked faintly.
"You're becoming harder to reach. Colder. More distant."
His eyes glistened under the dim light.
"And we don't understand why."
Jeon.J kept staring downward, his throat tightening painfully.
"You're not the same Jeon.J anymore…"
Yomin smiled sadly through the ache in his eyes.
"The Jeon.J who used to wait silently while all of us worked all day just so we could buy you banana milk afterward…"
A painful lump rose in Jeon.J's throat.
"That Jeon.J felt easy to understand."
Yomin's voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"But now…"
He looked directly into his eyes.
"…you're hurting so deeply that even we can't reach you anymore."
Another long silence filled the room.
Then Yomin asked the question none of them had dared to ask before.
"Why do you look like someone who's carrying pain completely alone?"
To be continued...
Regards
ZK