Stereotypes | Lee Minho

12

Minho put his hands on my cheeks and slowly leant in my direction. There was enough time for me to stop him but I didn't. I didn't want him to stop. But before our lips met we got interrupted by a shout.

"Minseo! What are you doing here?" The blood in my veins froze as I heard my mother's furious voice. She was standing a few metres away from us, holding two bags filled with groceries in her hands. Her face had almost turned entirely red out of anger. She began walking towards us. Just now I became aware of the position Minho and I were standing in. His hands lay on my cheeks while I had my arms wrapped around him. Within a second I freed myself from him and brought more space between the two of us.

Why did she have to be here? Why now? My mother stopped in front of me. Her entire focus was on me. She didn't even bother to acknowledge Minho's presence.

"So this is how you show respect to your parents?" She scoffed. "Yesterday, we told you to come home right after work. And now I find you here," My mother tried to gesture with her hands. "There is not much we ask of you." Her voice turned a bit softer. "We just want what's best for you, Minseo." I was unable to answer her. The only thing I could do was look at her in disbelief. Was she for real? "Let's go home." Mum waited for me to start walking, but I didn't. I didn't want to go with her.

"Oh, so you are ignoring me now?" She took a long breath. She was thinking for a second. "Fine, you know what, if you don't want to come with me now, just don't come home today at all. I don't want to see you for the rest of the day." Her gaze shifted to Minho for the first time. "And that must be your 'friend', so I guess you already have a place to stay for tonight" She turned around, leaving without waiting for a response from me. My mother was gone, as quickly as she came.

What had just happened? I wasn't sure what to do or how to react. Minho and I were just standing next to each other in silence. He seemed equally shocked as me. How did things escalate this fast? Tears started rolling down my eyes. I didn't even realise it until a pair of arms wrapped around me. Minho's scent instantly surrounded me. He stroked my back as I broke down crying.

Minho slowly lifted his head to look into my eyes after a few minutes. He didn't break the hug though. "Sorry, that you had to witness this." I sniffed and tried to wish away the tears on my face. I meant both, my mother being mad at me and me crying.

"It's okay. You did nothing wrong." He said quietly. "I'm sure that everything will get solved eventually. Just give it some time." I nodded hesitantly, hoping that he was right.

"So, is there anything that you want to do now?"

"Uhhm, I'm hungry." My stomach started to growl at this exact moment, as to confirm what I just said. Minho chuckled.

"Well, I planned to meet with a few friends of mine today anyway. If you want, we can go together."

"It's fine for me, as long as they have food. I think I'm going to starve any second." He laughed.

"Don't worry, my friends have loads of food."

>time skip<
Twenty minutes later Minho rang at the doorbell of a small house. We decided to take the bus. Walking would have taken way too long. The door opened instantly and a wide-smiling guy appeared.

"Hey Minho, ho-" He stopped mid-sentence as soon as his eyes fell onto me. He had blonde dyed hair and freckles were everywhere spread over his face. "Oh," he cleared his throat, "I didn't know that you would bring someone with you. I'm Felix." He said, now looking in my direction.

Felix opened the door a little further, for Minho and me to enter. There were two other people in the house. They introduced themselves to me as Seungmin and Chan. Both of them welcomed me kindly.

Minho and Chan went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. I was just awkwardly standing in the middle of the living room, not sure what to do.

"You can sit there." Felix pointed to a chair on the opposite side from where he was sitting. I followed his offer and sat down. "You are Minseo, right?"

"Yes, I am," I said a bit confused, wondering where he knew my name from.

"Great," Felix's smile got bigger again, "Minho already told us a lot about you." Oh. I could feel a slight blush appear on my cheeks. He really told his friends about me?

The dinner was finished about twenty minutes later. Minho and Chan brought everything to the table. The two of them had prepared Kimchi for us and it was absolutely delicious. While eating I listened to the conversation of the guys. It was obvious that they weren't just friends but more of a family.

>time skip<
It was already pretty late when Minho and I left. We walked most of the way to the bus stop in silence. I liked it, it was very comforting. I could spend hours just walking next to him.

"You know, if you want, you can stay at my place tonight."Minho cleared his throat. "Only if you want." He added nervously.

"And that would be okay for you?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, fine." A smile crept onto my face. This time I was the one who took Minho's hand as we continued walking.

It didn't take us long until we reached his home. Soonie was already waiting, when Minho opened the door. The ginger cat lay down on the floor and waited for someone to stroke her. I chuckled and knelt down.

"I see, my cats like you more than me." He said with a played hurtful tone in his voice while walking to his room. I could hear him open the closet. A few minutes later Minho came back with some clothes in his hands.

"I guess, you don't want to sleep in the clothes, you are wearing right now." He looked down at the things in his hands and reached them to me. "You can wear this instead." Minho smiled warmly at me. I took them and went to the bathroom. I took a hot shower, before changing. His clothes were very comfortable but also a bit oversized for me.

I entered Minho's room 15 minutes later. He sat on the couch, while Dori was laying on his lap. He looked at me and his eyes softened.

"Do you feel better now?" I sat down beside him.

"Yes, I do. Thank you for letting me stay here and just being there for me in general. " something in the way he looked at me changed. It was the same as earlier this day before my mother interrupted us.

"Of course. You can stay here as often and as long as you want."

We spend the rest of the night, watching a movie. I was leaning against Minho and he had his arm around me. Very quickly, I fell asleep in this position. Again. The only thing I felt was when someone picked me up from the couch. That someone was obviously Minho. He laid me down in his bed and covered me with a blanket. I took his wrist the moment he turned around.

"Stay here," Even though I was half asleep, I noticed how he hesitated for a second

"Won't you feel uncomfortable?" Minho asked carefully. I shook my head.

"No, don't worry. I never felt uncomfortable around you." A smile appeared on his face. We ended up falling asleep, cuddling.