Disconnect || Lee Minhyuk

[ f o r t y - o n e ]

Lee Jooheon

"mom, dad, just wait for me here for a while. i'll go towards my friend." i slightly pointed towards soo yi.

my mom and dad glanced at her and immediately shot me a look. and i meant that kind of look when your parents are teasing you to a possible suspected lover.

"hey, it's not like that." i immediately got ahead of their minds.

"alright, son. go ahead and maybe take some pictures with your friends first. your dad and i will head outside to buy and eat some snacks from the street food vendors outside your school. we're really hungry."

"sure, mom. thanks. i'll see you later."

my mom smiled at me, bid goodbye, and soon left with dad to go outside. i slowly turned towards soo yi and started walking towards her direction.

"oh, soo yi-ah." i spoke her name.

i was trying to keep it cool but only i could hear the sound of my heart pounding on my chest with the sight of her so close to me. i wish she doesn't ever notice how much i'm like this when she's around me.

"congrats to us for graduating. have you taken pictures with the others already?" i asked.

"congrats, and yes i've taken pictures with my parents, yujin, and one with shownu already. i excused myself to come see you because i wanted to ask and tell you something." she spoke.

"what is it about?" i asked carefully.

i noticed the subtle change in soo yi's face. she seemed hesitant but she also wanted to face it and learn about the truth.

"minhyuk hasn't been talking to me. he's been avoiding me up to this day. i really tried to meet him and to continuously reach out to him but he wouldn't respond nor see me. i just wanted to know because it's been bothering me... is something wrong? how is minhyuk, jooheon-ah?" she asked, her eyes showing so much concern for him.

at that moment, i was torn. i wanted to keep minhyuk's secret but i deeply understood how soo yi felt. it was already hard for me knowing where minhyuk was but here she was. soo yi had no clue and he's simply allowing her to live miserably thinking he was still mad at her.

just how cruel could he be?

i expected more from minhyuk knowing how soo yi had a special place in his heart. she deserved to know.

"soo yi-ah," i finally decided to speak up.

soo yi looked at me with expectant eyes. i could tell how desperate she was to know what i knew. her glassy eyes were looking at me with much eagerness and i knew i just couldn't resist her.

"he left." i finally revealed the truth.

"w-what? what do you mean?" soo yi felt alarmed.

"minhyuk and his family were bound to leave today on graduation day. they're permanently moving to seoul, soo yi-ah."

soo yi slightly gasped in shock upon hearing my words. i honestly couldn't bear to see the hurt on her face. i was thinking of ways to comfort her at that moment, but all of a sudden, she quickly turned and started running away from me.

"soo yi-ah! jung soo yi!!" i immediately called upon her name the moment i noticed her running away on impulse.

without any choice, i quickly chased after soo yi and ran towards her direction.

"soo yi-ah! where are you going?!" i yelled towards her.

there was no response. she was still running out of the venue and eventually, we finally both ran out of the school campus. i was running out of breath chasing her but i decided to speed up to catch on.