golden boy

chapter 13

jisung saw minho go through the corridor the next day with a very moody expression but that dispersed (or sort of) when he met his friends. he seemed a little distracted and grim but nothing made jisung more worried than the meeting he had with the taller boy in their spot.

"ah, you startled me," minho hummed in an expressionless voice when he saw the small figure in front of him. it was obvious that he was high, not only from the lit joint in his hand, but also his slightly apathetic gaze and passionless tone.

"i see you've got yourself your matches," jisung tried to chuckle and sat down next to him, "and.. you're wearing sweatpants?"

"my dance attire. we're on a break," the taller simply stated and went on staring at his shoes.

"can i have a tug? you seem pretty ripped already," jisung commented and received the cigarette.

"you're just coming in my recreational time," minho replied, a little livelier, and stretched out his arms that looked like they were hurting him, "i'm all good when i'm in class, promise," he moaned at the movement quietly.

"woah, what's that about?," the smaller exclaimed when he heard the noise, "are you getting tortured in dance or..?," he asked with wide eyes.

"nah, we're just doing the lineup for the end of the year show. and everyone's busting their best moves," minho's nasal voice gathered some intonation and he pulled his sweatshirt sleeves down all the way to his palms.

"you cold or something?"

"yeah, it's november," the taller fired back and took the cigarette that was handed to him, "are you too cool to be cold?"

"no, i'm just used to being out in the cold," jisung laughed, "i'm here every break."

minho nodded and passed the joint to the other, standing up to go, "you can finish it. my break should be over-"

"do you want to start the project today?," the shorter interrupted, speaking fast.

"my parents are home."

"we'll go to my place," jisung proposed to the other's doubtful look, "it's not fancy but i got pens and paper and we'll only settle for a theme and outline for the first time we're meeting so-"

"fine," minho interrupted the blabbing and took off. if he wasn't high he'd have definitely appreciated the way him and jisung swapped roles today. for once he was leaving first.

~

the two met after classes were finished and went over to the bus station. minho, though still not completely sober, was taking everything in very diligently and seemed surprised by most things. jisung took him to a machine and made him buy a ticket.

"why do i need this? isn't public transport free for citizens?," the taller questioned as he swiped his card over the reader. he looked ridiculous taking the bus in a gucci jacket.

"pff, what planet are you living on? you pay mr song to drive you right? that's exactly the same thing," jisung reasoned and took the ticket out of the machine.

"yeah, but mr song is.. a personal driver. mine, not anyone else's. so i'm responsible for paying him. public transport is provided from the municipality. they should pay for it," minho reasoned and all the people on the bus stop looked to him weirdly. he was getting strangely talkative when high.

"yes, but it's public transport, so the public pays for it," jisung explained quietly and signalled for the other to follow him because the bus was arriving.

"and why are you not paying a ticket then?," minho, already on the line to enter the bus asked, again a little too loud.

"because i have a subscription. it's a card that lets me take all buses and trams," the shorter informed simply and pulled out a bright yellow card with his photo on it.

"woah, that's clever," minho mumbled and watched his classmate get into the bus and check his card onto a machine. he followed after him and tried to scan the paper ticket in the same way but it couldn't be read by the machine so he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"keep walking, we'll punch it over there," jisung whispered and internally cooed at the puzzled expression of the other. they went over to a black device that punched holes into the paper tickets and used it to mark the bought ticket as used.

"wow, that's so weird," the taller commented and trailed after the other to sit on a free double seat, "i don't think i've been on a bus like this before."

"pff, you're so spoiled," jisung exclaimed but admired the curious eyes that were so entertained getting acquainted with the old city bus setting, "sit comfortably, we have a long way to go," he leaned in to comment in order not to disturb the other passengers.

"really? you live so far away?"

"uh-huh. i live near the train station. and i travel for an hour one way every morning," the shorter returned casually. the rich boy was stunned but he didn't have the time to reflect. he was too busy staring out of the window and taking in all colourful people that moved to and fro every time the bus stopped.

"that's us," jisung hummed as the bus slowed down. minho addressed him a puzzled look, "get up, we should get off the bus. we've arrived," the boy explained and the two got up to leave.

the taller took in the grey neighbourhood with what seemed like disgust but soon realised he should start walking because jisung was already several steps ahead, not waiting for him.