ok | minchan

twelve

Minho doesn't know when it happened, but he had started to grow less and less out of his so called routine. Most of it was because Chan has some how fitted himself in it during such a short period of time.

Minho tries hard to get back into what his life had been before Chan had entered. He cries himself to sleep Sunday night hoping that the constant pain will leave with his tears.

He wakes up at 6:30 am after his second alarm. His eyes practically swollen shut and head throbbing with any sudden movement. He fills up the cats bowls and showers. He leaves at 7:25 and manages to get to work 30 minutes before Felix, enough time to prepare everything for the kids, holding himself from looking when he passes the familiar scribbled handwriting by one of the children's coat hangers.

Felix arrives at exactly 8 and continuously asks Minho the same question Jisung and Hyunjin had over the past few days. The two had come home earlier than expected and were greeted with a heartbroken Minho. How romantic Minho dully thinks. 

"Hi Min, how are you feeling?"

"Peachy. Help me with these books please," It takes a lot of will power to not waver at the question but he manages anyway. The lie getting easy as each day passes.

Minho does everything he would usually do at work, and subtlety avoids a toddlers question on where Jihoon was with an sweet smile and reassurance that she'd come back. Minho didn't know why he held onto that more than the little boy did.

They finish at the usual time, exactly on the 5pm mark. Changbin comes at 5:07 pm to pick up Felix and Minho convinces himself that it doesn't hurt when a whispered 'I missed you' is passed to each other. Minho quickly locks up and makes a quick excuse when offered a ride back.

He takes the bus and sits near the window, like how he had usually done before Chan.

Minho arrives back before Jisung and Hyunjin. He sprays antibacterial on his shoes and showers. He feeds the cats and closes his door. He cries alone, in the familiar silence welcoming him and the only heartbeat he hears is his own.

It's a week later when Minho gets drunk again, this time in the comfort of his own — along with Jisung's and Hyunjin's — home, it's not with some new pretty strangers he had just met, or the hot atmosphere and intoxicating feeling going out had. It was just him drinking away anything and everything he could, just for that one moment forgetting.

"How have you been Min?" Jisung hesitantly asks, sitting a noticeable distance away from Hyunjin. They had been doing that a lot, separating themselves when he was around, he realised quite quickly what they had been doing when Hyunjin suddenly flinched when they had hugged a few nights ago. Minho's eyes watching in longing that he hadn't realised he'd caused them to stop.

"Min?" Jisung pried again, and Minho shook his intrusive thoughts away, because all Jisung wanted was for him to talk, something he hadn't been doing so much recently.

"Yeah sorry, got a bit distracted," He smiles, taking another quick swig of his own drink, the condensation dripping on his fingers and down the side of the bottle.

"How's work?" Hyunjin asks this time, leaning his head on Jisung's shoulder but quickly removing it when he met Minho's eyes. Minho's grip on the bottle hardening at that.

"I know what you two are doing, it's not that hard to see," He lightly says, Jisung turning to fully face him and not whatever had been playing in the tv, Hyunjin joining him.