𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒔 - 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓷𝓰

𝓒𝓱; 34 𝓐 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴

That afternoon, the both of them spent the time at Minho's house. Minho entered the room with a tray, offering Chan a drink, to which he mumbled a small "thank you" before he crouched down beside him. "Now, can you tell me what's wrong?" Minho asked. Chan gave him a questioning look. "That gloomy face of yours." He pointed towards him. The older bit his lip.

"I saw him with someone." 

He paused for a bit as he struggled to bring out the words. "Kissing." Minho couldn't believe his ears, fully widening his eyes at the sudden statement. "Hyunjin? Did you see with who?" Chan's eyes didn't know where to look and decided on scanning the ground instead. "I don't know, some girl," he answered. 

It was late, and the afternoon classes had already finished. The only thing left to do for Chan was to bring some papers to the office of his teacher that he promised he would put there. The teacher's office was across the library, but Chan stopped in his tracks as he heard noises. He decided to wave them off as 'nothing' and continue his pace. However, the sight in front of him made him freeze. His hands became numb as the papers fell on the floor. It was as if someone continuously poked his heart with a knife. He balled his fists, chewing his lip until it bleached. There he stood. Hwang Hyunjin and another girl, seemingly older, thrown all over Hyunjin with her hair messy and the string of her top hanging loose over her shoulder. Chan forced himself to pick up the papers, crouching down on the floor and, with trembling hands, collected the documents. 

"I'm sorry for ruining your moment, but I have to go through." He pushed past the two of them after they parted. The girl shot him a glare but moved out the way. Chan brushed against Hyunjin's shoulder roughly, causing the other to stumble a bit. When he left the room, Hyunjin ran after him. 

"Chan-" Hyunjin started but got interrupted. "It's fine. I'll leave," he disregarded, and with that, Chan walked off, not sparing him one glance after he did so.

"I don't like seeing him with someone else." Minho gulped, thinking of a way to handle this. "Hey." He caressed Chan's shoulder. "Maybe you misunderstood the situation?" he tried to cheer him up. Chan stared into space for a while, not knowing how to bring everything bottled up inside of him to words. "It's all different now," he talked after a long silence. He paused midway through his sentence and grabbed his hair. "Agh, I don't know how to explain." Minho gave him a nod, encouraging him to continue. Chan got it and took a deep breath. 

"From some point, I started looking at him differently. I started noticing every detail of his features, his tiny habits." Chan smiled to himself thinking about it. "Even the way he laughs and smiles are different now."

"Wow," Minho sounded mindblown. "You really, really like him." Then he noticed the way his friend's face darkened as a frown appeared on his forehead. "There is more to it, right?" Minho asked again, though he could read it from the other's expression already. "I hide myself," Chan spoke bitterly. "I always do that!" his voice suddenly grew louder. There was a lot of built-up frustration inside of him and he had no one else to blame. Cause the thing that frustrated him was himself. Minho put his hand on top of the male's shoulder. "Chan, love is tough, but loving is even harder. I know both of you are struggling with yourself, but that can also be at cost of the relationship you two share now." Minho made eye contact with the older and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Open yourself up more. You will regret it once you've lost him."

Chan closed his eyes, slowly exhaling. "You're right." He opened his eyes and faced the other. "Thank you for taking your time to listen to me and giving advice," he thanked, cracking a smile after a long time. Minho patted him on his shoulder, returning the grin. "You'll always have me."

"Now, come on." Minho turned himself towards the game consoles. "Let's get your mind off all of this," he declared and passed him the controller. "You're on." Chan's competitive attitude returned, and before they knew it, they were spending the entire afternoon just playing around and eating together.