golden boy

chapter 11

"are you sure you don't want me to just leave? we can continue some other time," jisung hummed as he closed the door behind himself.

"why? we're here now, she will be in her office or the bedroom. you won't even see her while you're leaving," minho assured and sat down on the bed, suddenly hit by a wave of guilt, "sorry about her. she isn't bad, just a little pretentious. please don't mind her."

"no, it's okay. it's my fault," jisung replied and giggled, "i should've said that my father is whoever she thought. though honestly, i don't even know what he's a ceo of."

"oh, he sells batteries. he's pretty wealthy," the taller returned.

"ah, that's the standard then, huh,?" jisung laughed, "that's the kind of people who are allowed to interact with the son of ceo lee."

minho chuckled, "yeah, that's the standard. and good try but my dad isn't a ceo."

"and what about your mum?"

"neither."

"oh, they are not?," the shorter furrowed his brows, "are they diplomats then?"

"no," minho impassively replied and a sly smile grew on his lips.

"then they should be.. professors?," jisung attempted again but received another headshake and smug look.

"they're medics," minho decided to help him out, "my mother is directing a hospital and my father is the chief surgeon."

"oh. cool. and they are snobs."

"yeah. sorry that they're mean. they are just used to everyone going by their titles instead of their names first."

"yeah, maybe i would've had their respect if my mum wasn't a secretary," jisung laughed.

"wait, if she's a secretary how are you studying in the most expensive school in town?," minho questioned wide-eyed.

"well, she's a secretary. and every secretary has a boss who likes to be generous from time to time," the shorter explained as he took a small figurine off the host's desk to look at it.

"oh. and what does your dad do?," minho curiously asked.

jisung put the figurine back a little too harshly and turned to him with a cold expression, "you said you don't discriminate people because of their occupation. why does that matter to you now?"

minho's gaze dropped in embarrassment. he didn't mean to offend the other, he was just being curious, "you're right. sorry."

"it's okay. do you smoke while they are here?"

"yes. but i don't know if we should..," the taller mumbled indecisively.

"no, of course not. i was just wondering. you're not afraid of them catching you?"

"they won't. they'd never come to my room cause they're busy downstairs," minho smiled and picked up a wooden box from his bag. it opened with a slide and revealed a bunch of rolled cigarettes and some finished ones.

"wow, you're that clean?," jisung giggled and sat on the bed as well, "don't tell me you throw the ends away in the recycle bins.."

"no, but i throw them near school. my parents might not come in often but i should still lay low."

"damn, my mum probably wouldn't even notice if she caught me smoking," the shorter rolled his eyes, "you and your mum look alike, by the way. it's awkward that she hates me but she's still super pretty."

"uh.. i..," minho started stammering and looked down, 'does that mean that he really finds me pretty? maybe he'd just say that about all mothers..'

"is it bad that she saw me here?," jisung muttered, sounding more self-conscious than he intended to.

"no, just unusual. i don't bring a lot of guests home. you're the second one she gets to meet personally.."

"oh, and i'm a nobody. that doesn't sound too encouraging..," the shorter giggled.

"no, it's fine. promise. don't sweat it," minho returned with a soft smile.

"she didn't even say one word to me after she learned i'm not noble.."

"well, she only said like 5 words to me. it's just her habit not to speak unless she has to," the taller let out a forced laugh and took off his shoes to lean against the wall.

"does your dad do that too?"

"yes. they're really a match made in heaven," the host giggled genuinely.

"ha, i must be annoying you so bad. i don't stop talking until i decide to. and you don't even need to reply," jisung honestly commented.

"no, it's actually nice. to speak to someone, get their opinions and stuff. i've never.. spoken to anyone as much as i have to you.. i mean, rather, i haven't been spoken to as much.. if that makes sense," minho confusedly expressed, then put his frustrated hands to his reddened face.

the guest chuckled, "i got it, don't worry. the more you speak the easier it gets," he laughed again at the adorably shy face, "and some people are just.. harder to speak to. like, i would never like to speak to your mum ever again," he laughed, "i have no idea what to say."

"oh, that's just training," the taller replied honestly, "we've been conditioned to speak without saying much in my circle. it's just how i've been taught since an early age. you just have to be polite and not say anything outside of a repertoire. if you had learned the etiquette you could've fooled my mum into thinking you're some spoiled rich kid too."

"wow. so the toffs really have their own slang?"

"kind of," minho chuckled, "it's uncommon for sons and daughters of businessmen to say something interesting, they just exchange pleasantries and blabber about useless things."

"must be fun being around them," jisung mocked and took the wooden cigarette box to look at it distractedly.

"it's not so bad. you kind of learn that your opinion doesn't matter and you keep it to yourself," minho shrugged and pushed the side wall of the box inwards when he saw the other struggling. then, he let go of the box briskly because he had put his hand over the other's in the process, "it's a puzzle box. there you go."

"huh?," the shorter demanded, perplexed, waiting for the owner to demonstrate again, "but i don't agree. your opinion matters. if it doesn't to the people around you then you're not with the right people," he insisted as the pair of hands wrapped around his to show the magical opening of the box again.

"put your finger here, otherwise it won't open," minho instructed quietly, "good. now slide the lid to open it," he smiled as he watched the fingers unlock the box and the pair of curious eyes fix his face.

"open, sesame," jisung exclaimed dramatically as he took the lid off. the host laughed and leaned back again, "woah, magic. should we start then? with the rehearsal i mean.."

"sure. start whenever you're ready," the taller replied and jisung knew that they were done messing around. he took a deep breath and started repeating his intro for what felt like the 1000th time.