The Painting

Thirty Two:

The bathroom incident, which was closely followed by a trip to Chan's house and a cheesecake, in some way aided the boy's relationship. In the weeks following, Jisung always found a way to push down his thoughts and immediately tell Minho that he was feeling off that day.

Once Mr and Mrs. Lee had returned that Monday night, the four had had a long discussion regarding the court case. To Jisung's relief, Minho's parents were just as passionate at fighting the woman as their son. Now, on a Wednesday night, Jisung is up sketching the last part of his art final before he will have to start painting it. As he finishes that, he decides to read a book while he waits for Minho to return from his practice with Hyunjin.

Sitting comfy on their bed, he leans against the pillows and dives into the book, getting lost in it until a noise outside catches his attention. The squealing of the tires on pavement bring the boy's attention to the window, where a teen on their phone swerves to avoid a little girl who's toy had ended up in the road. A woman chases the girl out of the street hugging her tightly as they get to safety. Jisung stares blankly, remembering a warm summer's day.

"JI! THROW IT TO ME!" Calls a six year old Felix, ready to catch the tennis ball that his best friend has in his hand. With a giggle, Jisung throws the ball and, both of them knowing that the young boy's aim sucks, immediately starts laughing as the ball goes far right of the younger boy and right into the road.

The two laugh for quite a while before Felix, without looking, runs to get the ball.

"LIXIE!" Jisung screams in horror. Felix jumps back as a truck rushes by, running right over the tennis ball. Felix frowns, picking up the ball and shrugging.

"Well... at least we have a cool hat now!" The sunshine boy giggles. Jisung starts laughing with him and they finish running around before his grandmother calls them inside for dinner. While cleaning up for bed that night, Felix opens the door to Jisung's room only to see the young boy crying in the hallway, his grandmother screaming at him.

"You careless little rat! Are your parents not raising you better? Letting your friend run right into the road, where he could have died! You're a disgrace." Felix gasps in horror as Jisung's grandmother slaps the crying boy. "You will apologize to him for being such a dumb child. Do you hear me? Repeat it back to me, Han Jisung. "I am an idiot." Come on. I'm speaking to you, boy."

"I- I'm an idiot."

"That's right. Now stop your crying and go apologize to the poor boy. God, it's a wonder that you have any friends." Felix retreats back into the room so Jisung doesn't know he was eavesdropping, not like he wouldn't have been able to hear them anyways. Jisung enters the room with his head down, still crying. Felix immediately hugs the boy.

"Ji, please don't cry."

"Sorry Lixie, I was just worried. I'm sorry for throwing badly and almost killing you... I'm an idiot." Jisung cries. Felix immediately hugs him tighter.

"Ji..." He whispers in his ear. "I don't care what your grandmother says to you. You're not an idiot. It was my fault for not checking both ways before I ran out into the road, not yours."

"No... Grandma said..."

"I don't care what she said. She's wrong and she's abusive. You're safe with me." Felix says, bringing his best friend to cuddle on the bed with him.

"Ji? Are you okay?" Minho asks lightly, brushing away the stray tear on his boyfriend's face. Jisung snaps out of his daze, smiling at his boyfriend softly.

"Yeah, just thinking about the day I realized my grandmother was a monster."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Minho asks. So Jisung tells him. Minho, by the end, is hugging the boy.

"When I told my parents, they distanced themselves from her and never took me back. I was thankful for that. And for Felix, who showed me that I had a friend in all of this. That was shortly before my mom got pregnant. I only told them because Felix encouraged me to. My grandma treated me that way for years. I was just too scared to say anything." Jisung lets out a breath, leaning into his boyfriend's embrace. 

"You're so strong, love." Minho says with a kiss to the boy's forehead. 

"Anyways," Jisung says "How was your day? How are you? I feel like we always talk about me, but you and your mental health are important too, okay?" He rambles.

"I'm okay, love. My antidepressants ran out yesterday so I'm feeling it... but it's okay! Practice was good, we had an hour workout afterwards." Minho rambles.

"You... you take antidepressants?" Jisung whispers. Minho freezes. 

"Yes. I... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. After Grammy died, I just wasn't the same. I didn't want to stress you out." Jisung kisses him softly. 

"I appreciate you telling me, even if you did it accidentally. I'm always here for you. Just remember that we are a team. Order the refills and we can go get them. I don't want you to get affected by the lack of your meds. We can take our meds at the same time so we can remind each other." Minho laughs and kisses the boy's nose.

"I actually do take them when you take yours because it does remind me." Jisung hugs him. 

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love you more."

"I love you most."

"Aish, fine hyung." Jisung teases, earning an eyeroll from Minho, who hovers over him and attacks him with kisses. Jisung giggles as his face is peppered and he brings his boyfriend to kiss him, enjoying the moment and the attention. In his opinion, there is no place he would rather be.