I Must Protect ( MinSung )

Another Day

Jisung's now sitting at the back of an ambulance with a blanket on his body.

It's the wee hours of the morning. The police and medical team had just arrived at the scene. Minho was taken by his father somewhere. He wasn't given a time to bid good-bye. Right now Jisung has now idea where he is.

A stretcher came out of the scene.

"Hyung..."

The whole body was covered with a white blanket, but blonde hair was peeking from the top, giving the hint to Jisung that his lifeless brother was being carried away and loaded into a different ambulance.

That's when it started dawning to him. He just killed his brother. Yes, he was a criminal, but he was still his brother.

I'm sorry, hyung.

He didn't fight back the tears this time. He just let it all out. Without Minho by his side, it's much more difficult facing times like this.

Where could his partner be?

He could only let his mind wonder.

✧

It's been five days since the incident. Jisung's all alone in his apartment once again. He already lost count on how many times he had watched that one particular One Punch Man episode.

This was Minho's favorite.

Minho.

After what happened, he was admitted to the hospital but was discharged immediately. His mother requested for him to stay at home, but he insisted to stay in his apartment.

He was then questioned by the police. He thought that he would see Minho in the station because they are both witnesses, but to his luck, he wasn't there.

He didn't have any contact details to use. He felt stupid that after all this time, he never persuaded Minho to give him his phone number.

Out of all the things he could've stopped convincing him, it was that information, which was useless to him back then, but is now very crucial to his situation.

He sat down on the couch and decided to watch Locke and Keys when he heard the opening beep of his door.

He swiftly got up on his feet to see who it was.

"HYUNG!"

He jumped onto the man, wrapping his legs around Minho's waist and locked him to an embrace, almost making him fall.

"Nice to see you too, Jisung."

Minho put Jisung down and went to sit on the couch.

"I came here to talk."

Jisung didn't like the sound of that, nor the expression in Minho's face. It was unreadable, it was scary.

Jisung sat beside Minho.

There it was again. The deafening silence.

"Jisung, I think...we should end this."

Jisung felt his heart sank. The request was so sudden.

He was so excited to see Minho come back only for him to say that he's breaking up.

"Hyung, where is this coming from?"

Minho turned to face Jisung. "After all that happened, I realize, we're not good for each other."

Jisung started weeping, but couldn't say a word. Everything that's happened has taken a toll on him, and the only person that could make it all better, only made it worse.

"I'm thankful you saved my life. So so much, Jisung. However," Minho squeezed Jisung's thighs, "I saw how you were willing to sacrifice everything for me and I don't want that. I don't want you getting hurt because of me. I don't want you being caught up in all of this. You were lucky you didn't get shot in the head that night."

He was right. It was only an intuition that his father would shoot him on his body and not on the head. It was good luck that he predicted right.

"Love may all be about sacrifices, but if that meant sacrificing the one I love just for me to survive, then I'd rather not take it."

Minho wiped Jisung's tears away while holding back his own. "I'm really sorry, Jisung. That night, I realized that our love for each will only hurt us in the long run. You, ready to risk it all, while me...being a coward. You don't deserve me. I know I said that I'd sacrifice for you, too, but with all the thing that's unveiled before me, I just don't think I can. And I don't want that. If there's someone that deserves you, it should be someone who's willing to lay down his life as well."

"Hyung, please don't do this." Jisung begged, holding Minho's hand tightly.

"I know. I'm so shitty right now. I should be here comforting you, but now I'm just hurting you more."

Minho stood up, and let go of Jisung's hand.

"You're leaving already?"

"Dad's waiting for me in the parking lot. Take care, Jisung. I hope Felix could come here and visit you often." Minho uttered as he pat the top of Jisung's head.

"I won't be getting my things. You can do whatever you want with it. Throw it away, burn it or keep it."

"Hyung..." Jisung followed Minho to the door like a lost puppy.

"You should really take care of yourself. You're starting to smell," Minho let out an empty chuckle,"if the universe allowed it, maybe we'll get another shot in our next lives. But with our situation, it's really better to stay like this."

Jisung knew that Minho left out a few more details about this decision. Him being the son of a syndicate, him killing people out of self-defense, him knowing someone that could illegally buy weapons for whatever situation, and the list goes on.

As Minho reached for the door, Jisung pulled him by the wrist.

"Hyung...can you at least tell me that you love me one last time?"

And that put Minho over the edge. The tears he's been trying to hold back since he rode the elevator, they're now streaming down his face faster than his heartbeat.

Minho turned around and caressed Jisung's face. Even if he was crying, he still looked the most beautiful in Minho's eyes.

"Jisungie....

I love you."