forest || minsung

17

minho was mildly confused. he had this idea that han jisung was ignoring him. or something similar to that.

he was probably just overanalysing the situation.

he had tried to communicate with his friend about english class, as the project was due that friday evening. there were few things they still had to do, but yes, they definitely still had to work on it.

on thursday, they all went to chan's place in the evening. he tried to find a moment to ask him about it, but jisung never stopped talking to any of the others, so he figured he would just ask later.

seungmin was lying on hyunjin's lap like a lazy cat, smiling to himself. he was glad the new couple had listened to them, otherwise it would have been rather embarrassing.

the following day, jisung still hadn't approached him, even though the deadline was that evening and his partner was usually very on track with his homework.

fine then, minho would approach him instead.

'hey jisung.' he found him at his locker and leaned against the next one.

'hey.'

'uh, english is due tonight, so...'

'yep. i'm done with my part, so if you could send me the last two poems this afternoon i can add them and send it in.'

this took minho by surprise. so far, they had hung out every time they worked on the project.

'oh, okay. why, are you busy today, or..?'

'not really.' jisung closed his locker, gave him a solemn nod and walked off, leaving his partner alone in the hallway. that was weird.

maybe he's just having a bad day.

that's what he thought, at least, until he saw him laughing with felix and seungmin in the hallways. he could hear the shattering sound from across the building. or maybe he was just imagining things.

he went home and tried to write the poems. as expected, they weren't very good. when he sent them to jisung, he just replied with a thumbs up. maybe the younger saw this differently, but to minho that was the driest emoji in history. he shrugged it off. it's fine.

the weekend was quiet. too quiet. his mind turned the small disturbance in their friendship into something huge. he knew this, and he kept telling himself so. not that it worked. monday everything would be okay again.

then monday came, but it didn't seem to be "okay". maybe he had been too distant, too cautious, and scared him away. maybe this was for the best, then.

exams were starting soon, but he hadn't started studying yet.

the next few days were identical to each other. it mainly consisted of minho not talking to anyone -except seungmin on a few occasions- and not studying for the exams. after a few days he had enough and opened his books.

that's when it really dawned upon him that he should have started earlier. there were still a lot of things he didn't understand, things from which the panic clawed at his throat as soon as he saw the pages. not very productive, to say the least.

the whole week was uneventful, honestly. it could be compared to hell for minho.

jisung was still ignoring him on monday, and he stopped trying to strike up a conversation. it was not like the younger was being mean or rude, he was just distant and gave short answers. when minho asked him about it, jisung only said 'not fun, is it?' it left him speechless. what the hell.

he didn't go to school on tuesday. or wednesday. or thursday. he stayed home in bed all day, staring at the pages without actually reading them. his condition became worse as the days passed. this time he was really screwed. it wasn't like this was the first time he panicked over school. it always happened, and minho knew this. hence why he never looked at it until it was too late anyways.

after a few days, he gave up.

he put his books down on the ground and buried his head in his pillow.

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

he felt the tears prickle behind his eyes, but bit back. he would not cry. not today. once he started crying, he would never stop.

but he did welcome the dark wave of nothingness like an old friend. he didn't even resist as it crashed upon him and left him gasping for air.

he got few texts. one from chan, asking if he was okay. minho said he had a fever. he believed him.

one from seungmin, telling him to feel better soon. he didn't reply.

then finally, one from jisung. asking if he was okay. he didn't even click on the notification.

a few hours later, he received another one.

the next day, another one.

minho was too tired to answer him. he slept a lot, but the nightmares kept waking him up. he would be awake, but he was still there. stuck in the dark forest that was his mind. the mere shell of his body, empty.
so he kept on sleeping, because he would rather feel scared than feel nothing at all.

he only got out of bed to go to the bathroom and to feed his cats. sometimes he took something for himself too. his head hurt like hell from all the sleeping and dehydration, which only encouraged him to stay in bed more. when he stood up, his legs felt weak. no, he couldn't exactly say he was doing well.

suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring. his father opened, and he heard him and the stranger at their door talk. then, footsteps, two pairs of them. and they were coming right towards his bedroom.

'minho?' his father knocked on his door before opening. 'there's a friend coming to see you.'

his father thought he was sick. a fever, just as he had told chan. minho assumed it was the same australian coming to see him now.

his father left and minho looked up to greet him. but it wasn't chan standing there.

it was jisung.

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Heyo
Do you have any writing tips for me? Something you noticed, something you liked or disliked? I'd love to hear it :]