golden boy

chapter 23

"okay, what do we do with this now?," minho asked as they walked down the street in a different direction.

"oh, you should crush it. here," jisung replied and took the noodle package from the other's hand. he bent it in all directions for some seconds and then opened the package carefully, "now you pour the dry ingredients in. it should mix well," he instructed and closed the packet, then started shaking it.

minho watched the process as if it was pure magic and once it was over and the shorter reopened the noodles, he hesitantly took a well coated piece of noodles and placed it in his mouth.

"woah, that's actually pretty good."

"yeah, right? i used to love doing this but now i just buy chips. this is also good, by the way," jisung replied and lifted up the bag of chips that said 'rosemary and basil' on the package, "if you want we can find a bench or something. i heard snobs can't eat while standing up," he chuckled.

"oh, i'm eating just fine," minho responded and took another piece of noodles.

"yeah, you're a special breed," the shorter giggled and signalled to the other to sit next to him on a staircase to a building, "you quit a wild party where you could end up with the most influential people just so that you can eat raw ramen and drink offensively cheap orange juice in front of some block."

"i was going to leave anyways," minho laughed and opened his juice bottle, "and i had about three hours until it's acceptable for the driver to come for me so i just took advantage of that to go out with you. since, you know, i'm usually not allowed to."

"oh, so you ditched the president's daughter to go out with me?," jisung resumed with a sly smile.

"i.. no, i didn't mean to. you were just.. available..," the taller stuttered and scratched his neck.

"it's okay. i won't tell anyone you picked the gay guy for your saturday night hangout instead of the rich assholes," jisung smiled so sweetly that minho almost missed the irony in his voice.

he might've looked shocked because the shorter continued, "yeah, that rumour is actually true. about me liking guys. oh well, now you know," he shrugged and took a sip of his strawberry milk, "you can tell people too, but we both know nobody would be surprised," he smiled bitterly.

"so you.. actually..?"

"yes. and if that's a problem for you, too bad, you're stuck with me for the projects now," jisung resumed with a smirk. minho nodded, "i don't even think they found out or anything, they just guessed blindly. it's an irony that they are right," he continued.

"well, i don't know why that's so scary to the rich guys," the taller admitted, "like, we get dared to kiss guys at parties. and those are the nasty dares."

"yeah, in case i ever had any doubts, now i surely know i don't wanna hang out with you," jisung giggled, "but at least you could've treated me to some greens.."

"nah, they're lightweights. we all take turns smoking one joint and there's always someone who pukes or faints after," minho rolled his eyes as he crushed the second package of noodles between his hands.

"wow, hold up, no, no," the shorter exclaimed and put both of his hands around minho's. the rich boy was surprised and addressed him a gaze, "you don't want to crush them too much. bite size pieces, remember?," jisung flashed a light-hearted grin and crushed the rest of the noodles himself.

"here, mix it up now," he handed the package over and leaned back, "i can't believe it. those brats are wasting perfectly good weed.. you should just swap it for tobacco sometime, they won't even know the difference.. and you'll give the spare to me."

"um, hate to break it to you but there's no reason for me to do that. i can literally buy you all the weed that you want and more. why would i steal it and make you an accomplice?," minho returned pensively as he opened the package. it had some small pieces that he laughed at with embarrassment.

"see? that's what happens when you don't follow the instructions of the pros," jisung giggled too, "are you drunk?," he questioned, trying to find an explanation for minho's behaviour.

"no, i'm fine. are you cold?," the taller answered, watching the small boy hugging his knees.

"no, i'm fine," he replied and chuckled, "why did you want to leave that party?"

minho looked down and inhaled, thinking about his reply in his hazy conscience, "there's nothing for me to do there," he ended up saying, "the conversations and activities aren't fun. i might as well stay home and arrange my white dress shirts by price," he stated.

"then why didn't you?"

"because my parents like me to go out. they think it helps me get acquainted to people who might be useful in the future and they also believe it helps me unwind," minho deadpanned.

"but you.. don't like that?," jisung hummed, a faint concern in his voice. his eyes were so bright in the dim light of the street lamps.

"it's no use telling them that. i'm just going out every once in a while, getting kissed by some girl. that's enough for both my parents and my friends. it looks normal and that's good enough," the taller summarised.

jisung nodded. minho didn't need to be normal but he understood that he'd rather put up with that than be bullied. it was smart, honestly. what if he had tried to fit in instead of firing back? maybe he would've been normal by now.

"what would you be like if you weren't like this?," jisung asked after a bit of staying in silence.

"i don't know. i've never had that option," minho admitted and crossed his arms, "maybe i'd be like you."

jisung lifted his eyes to take the boy in. how could they ever be the same if they were so different? he stood up and so did minho. they started walking again in silence, eventually exchanging a few words and then falling back into noiselessness.