̷W̷e̷.̷ 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 [MINSUNG] Book Two

February 26th, 2018

When Jisung woke up the next morning and realized he had to go to school he nearly threw up.

Usually, waking up to school mornings would hurt him only because it meant he was yet another day closer to the end of the school year. This time, the added factor of having to face his friends and Minho made him shake and sweat with anxiety.

They knew nothing of what had happened, or what his thoughts had been the previous night. But he knew it all, and he hated himself for considering all the things he did.

For considering tossing his sobriety out the window, for being ready to part with the gift Seungmin had given him, for being okay with disappointing his friends in exchange for something as temporary as a fix, and for not calling Minho.

The guilt he felt when he'd ask Minho to come over was nothing compared to the guilt he felt now that he hadn't asked him for the first time. He felt as though he had betrayed his boyfriend, and he had, because he'd broken a promise that meant so much to them both.

He decided to haul himself out of bed and get to school, hoping to have the day speed by as fast as possible.

-

"He's not okay," Seungmin whispered to Minho and Chan, gesturing towards Jisung who was sat on a bench staring at the ground and not paying attention to any of them.

"I know... He didn't hug any of us and hasn't even looked at us once," Chan responded.

"He's avoiding all physical contact and that's very unlike him. Especially with you, Minho. He can't go thirty seconds without at least hanging onto your arm," Seungmin noted.

Felix and Jeongin saw them whispering among themselves and joined the conversation. "So you guys noticed too?"

"Do one of you know what's wrong?" Jeongin asked, worry evident on his face and in his voice.

"Not a clue, but Minho should go find out. I don't like seeing him like this, he looks like he's in pain," Chan stated.

Minho didn't hesitate to step over to his boyfriend and sit next to him with an arm over his shoulder. "Something seems to be bothering you, can you tell me what it is?"

"I'm just very tired. I didn't get much sleep," he responded without looking up. It wasn't entirely a lie.

"No, there's something else. Please tell me. Let me try help you, and if I can't then let me listen."

"You're being paranoid Min. I'm fine I just want the day to end so I can crawl into bed."

"Will you at least look at me? You haven't greeted me properly and I'm starting to feel neglected," he tried to make a harmless joke but didn't succeed in putting a smile on Jisung's face.

Jisung turned to hug him without looking at his face at all. At first the hug was awkward, Jisung being obviously uncomfortable. But when Minho adjusted his grip and gave him an extra tight squeeze, Jisung couldn't help but melt into it. He squeezed back, so hard that Minho considered asking him to let go because his fingers might actually leave bruises. They stayed like that for a little while until Jisung pulled away and looked back at the ground.

"Why won't you look at me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Baby look at me."

Jisung realized that the longer he refused, the more obvious it'd be that he didn't want to. So he looked up at Minho, trying to avoid his eyes but falling into them regardless.

"Something happened," Minho stated plainly.

"How many times do I have to say-"

"Stop lying to me. To me of all people."

Jisung's guilt only grew now. He was supposed to ask Minho for help when he needed it, yet this was the second time in less than a day that he'd ignored that. "I'm sorry Min."

"Sorry for what?"

"I didn't call you last night."

Minho made no facial expression at all. "You were craving?"

"Yeah."

"And you're scared to tell me that you chose not to call?"

Jisung gave a single nod.

"I would never be angry at you for something like that. Of course, I wish you had called. I wish you felt comfortable enough to call. But I'm not ever going to be mad at you for choosing not to, okay?"

"Why? I broke the promise."

"The promise is that you let me know when you need me. If you didn't need me, that's okay."

Jisung laughed dryly. "That's ridiculous I always need you."

Minho was just glad he got a laugh out of the boy. "Come on, life goes on. You can smile now okay?"

He wanted to, god did he want to go on with the day as though that was the only thing bothering him.

-

"Badger."

"Yeah?"

"Let's go to the river."

"Can you pick me up?"

"As usual."

"Okay see you soon."

When Seungmin arrived at the Hwang household he parked and simply waited in the street. He expected Hyunjin to come out the door without being told just like always.

This time that didn't happen, and so Seungmin decided to just go knock. When Hyunjin's mother opened the door Seungmin lifted his hand to wave but had to stop midway when his body was yanked into the house by the woman.

"Hello Mrs Hwang," he finally managed to say, though already inside the house.

"Seungmin sweetie it's been so long since I've seen you! Come sit down for a while, Jinnie is showering."

"Oh alright," Seungmin said nervously as he sat at the chair she'd gestured to.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you that's alright, we're going to have a late lunch."

The woman sat across from Seungmin and took his hand suddenly. "I want to let you know that from everything I've heard about you, you're a wonderful young man. And whatever happens between you and Jinnie, you should know you're always welcome to visit here. If you ever need anything, feel free to ask."

Seungmin was shocked by what she'd said and it made him lose his composed demeanor for a moment. "Th-thank you Mrs Hwang.... I-I didn't know you knew about... A-all that.."

"Did I make you nervous honey? I'm sorry. Pretend it never happened, but don't forget what I said. Let me go check on that sloth son of mine."

Seungmin laughed, silently agreeing with her about Hyunjin's sloth-like behavior.

When the prince finally sauntered down the stairs, his face looked annoyed, but the rest of him was absolutely stunning. He wore cuffed black jeans and a plain black blazer over a mustard sweater, a beret on his head to top it off. "Don't think this was my idea," he said to Seungmin as soon as he reached him. "Mom put it together."

"You're stunning."

"Oh... Thank you.."

Seungmin stood up from where he was and took the boy's hand, leading them out and to the car.

"What's the plan for today?"

"Ducks and then food," Seungmin responded as he drove off from the house.

"Perfect, my favorite."