Stereotypes | Lee Minho

9

"Minseo!" I looked up from my plate and saw my mother glaring at me.

"Where are you with your thoughts? I am talking to you." My mother watched me and waited for an answer. But I didn't know what she was talking about. Mum was right, my thoughts were far away. Minho had managed to stay in my mind constantly since I met him the first time.

"Sorry, what did you say?" My mother groaned and shook her head disappointed. She stood up from her chair and went to the living room. When she came back she held her phone in her hand.

"Your father called me this morning. He told me that there was a boy in our apartment together with you yesterday." She stopped. Oh no, that was never a good sign.

My father and I had a really bad argument after Minho left the day before. It consisted mostly of my father shouting at me. I had really hoped that he was too busy and couldn't find the time to tell my mother about it. But it seemed like I wasn't that lucky.

"Tell me Minseo, why were you meeting with a boy?"

"I study together with my seatmate one or three times a week. His name is Minho. I think we are something like friends. And I brought him here yesterday for the first time." I think I broke my mother. She stared at me with wide eyes. My brother on the other side couldn't hold back his words. Sadly.

"Do you finally have a boyfriend?" He asked. I had raised my class to drink something a second before he had said that. Bad decision. I choked and my mother's eyes grew bigger.

"What? No no, I have not!" Oh god, why did my brother have to say that?

"Are you sure? I saw how a boy brought you home the other day" I glared at my brother. If he said one more word I swear, there won't be a tomorrow for him.

"Mom-"

"You are way too young to have a boyfriend. You need to focus on school!" Here we go again. I knew that if my mother would get the chance, she would only let me go outside for school and work. I was sure that she was a little bit happy about the fact that I never had friends. They would have only been a distraction from school.

"We are studying for school," I whined frustrated. "And again, he is not my boyfr-" my mother continued talking without really listening to me.

"Your father and I are going to talk about it when he comes home. Then we will decide what to do. I don't want that boy to bring you home again. Let alone that you spent more time with him." I stared at her in disbelief. What did my parents want to decide about? How old did they think I was?

I stood up from my chair abruptly and grabbed my phone from the table. I knew one thing for sure, I couldn't stay in this room for any longer. So I quickly left the apartment before my mother was able to say another word.

It was almost completely dark outside. The only light came from the moon and a few streetlights down the road. My decision to leave was maybe a bit rushed and ill-considered. But it was too late to go back now.

Where should I go? I had no idea. I never did something like this before. Suddenly someone came to my mind. I looked through the contacts on my phone and stopped at Minho's. I clicked on the call button. Please let him pick up. It rang two times before he answered.

"Hey, why are you calling? Is everything okay? Did something happen?" A smile formed on my lips without me realising it.

"Well, I'm not sure if everything is okay. I had a fight with my mother and I couldn't be in a room with her anymore, so I left but now I'm standing in front of our building and don't know where to go" his answer came without hesitation.

"Don't worry, you can come to me. Of course only if you're okay with it. Stay where you are now. Give me 10 minutes and I'll be there." I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"Okay, thank you" I hung up and decided to wait on a bench that stood in front of the tall building I lived in. The moment I sat down, the realisation hit me. Ahhh why did I call Minho? I could have called anyone, why him? I must have lost my mind.

I regretted that I didn't take a jacked with me. It was the end of October. The wind blew cold air into my face. But luckily the 10 minutes went by quickly. And soon I could see Minho's figure walking towards me.

"Sorry that you had to wait for so long." His brown hair was messy and his face was a bit red. I could clearly tell that he had run most of the way.

"What no, that was no problem. I didn't even wait that long." he sighed in relief.

"Okay, well then let's go" He took my hand and started walking. I followed him but my gaze was locked on our hands. After a few minutes, he stopped. Without saying a word he took his jacket off and laid it over my shoulders.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were cold?" I shrugged. He shook his head, then took my hand again as we continued walking. "Was your Dad very angry with you, after I left?" Minho's voice was calm but there was also a slightly worried undertone.

I snuggled more into his jacked. "Uhhm yes, he was. He went back to work a few minutes later though." There was nothing my father cared more about than his work. And I was very grateful for that at this moment. I looked into Minho's face. His eyes were narrowed and he glared down at the street in front of us. We eventually arrived at his home 15 minutes later.

"Aren't your parents here?" Minho shook his head while we went into his room. A few seconds later Dori, one of his cats, followed us. I patted her and took her in my arms.

"So, do you want to watch a movie?" I nodded. His room was bigger than mine. There was enough space for his bed, a desk, a couch and a tv. I sat down on the couch. Woah, it was so cozy. I carefully laid Dori down on my lap.

"Any special movie you want to watch?" Minho sat down next to me.

"No, not really. You can choose" I smiled at him and snuggled a bit more into the couch. I'm not sure which movie Minho chose because I was busy looking at his side profile. How was he so beautiful?

"Can I start? Or aren't you finished staring yet?" He smirked. I blushed slightly. As soon as the movie started, the tiredness from the entire week came over me. I really tried to stay awake but eventually, my head fell onto Minho's shoulder. I wasn't sure if it was okay for him. But when I wanted to remove my head slowly he took one of his hands and laid it back where it was before.

"Just sleep if you're tired, it's okay" I hummed and closed my eyes, a few minutes later I fell asleep, leaning onto him.