stunning ° hyunho ✓

llama

well, he might have overreacted a little, hyunjin admitted as the tiny plastic spoon snapped into two, the lower half remaining embedded in his vanilla ice cream while the upper fell onto the sidewalk several feet to his left.

technically, yes, he was a victim of the car accident. however, contrary to what he had texted jisung, no, he was not directly involved in it. first, because he did not have a car. second, because the bus he had got on in his attempt to put as much distance between minho and himself as possible was just stuck behind the two cars that had crashed into each other.

as he and the other passengers had got off the bus, trailing behind the driver like ducklings, hyunjin had been relieved to find out that no one died or was seriously injured. police had still been called to the scene, though, and now, fifteen minutes in, the road was still not cleared. 

slowly licking his ice cream off the spoon, hyunjin had been watching the two drivers scream and throw hands blaming each other for the accident like it was a netflix show. he felt a little guilty for enjoying it, but what could he do with himself? he loved drama.

speaking of drama. hyunjin mentally slapped himself as he glared at the broken spoon. he had made many stupid decisions, but sending that text to jisung ranked high on the list. knowing the members, chan had probably already roused the whole jyp and formed ten search parties. that was, of course, just the perfect time for his phone to die – and it had died.

hyunjin shook his head and huffed in annoyance. stupid lee minho. as much as he did not want to acknowledge it, what had motivated hyunjin to text jisung was his desire to scare minho, to make him regret being mean. now the thought that minho was probably searching for him with everyone else and regretting his earlier behavior comforted hyunjin a little, but that small triumph could not compare to the unpleasant feeling that he would be in trouble with the members and the managers when he came back.

"what's that long face, kid?"

the bus driver, a short, benign-looking man in his fifties, plopped onto the sidewalk next to hyunjin with a soft thud.

his words made hyunjin's realize that he had taken off his mask. he cursed under his breathe and scanned the area. it was good that everyone nearby was distracted by the car crash and paid the idol sitting on the curb no attention. the last thing he wanted was a dispath article titled hwang hyunjin of stray kids photographed on the sidewalk, eating ice cream with a – what had uncle here called it? – ah, yeah, a long face.

hyunjin pulled his mask upwards, but it was too late.

"aren't you hwang hyunjin by any chance?" the driver, who had studied his face, asked.

hyunjin nodded, seeing no point in denying, which could potentially result in the person insisting loudly.

the driver's face stretched into a smile. "ah, i knew it, i knew it. my daughter likes you so much."

"how old is your daughter, ahjussi?" hyunjin asked cautiously.

"twelve," the driver said. "still a little girl, but she's already made up her mind. she wants to dance like you one day."

hyunjin smiled. "she'll dance better than me one day, ahjussi. she just has to keep practicing."

the driver's smile grew even wider. "you're a good kid, but why do you look like you've had a lovers' quarrel?"

was he that easy to read? hyunjin's eyes widened at the man's spot-on remark.

the driver smiled at his facial expression. "did i hit the nail on the head? sorry, sorry, didn't mean to pry."

hyunjin shook his head. "it's not that, ahjussi. i'm just surprised."

the driver chuckled. "you young people are easier to read than you think."

hyunjin bit his lip to prevent the words from escaping his mouth. he really should get rid of his habit of trusting people too fast. but not now, another time.

"ahjussi, may i ask for advice?" he pleaded in spite of himself.

the good-natured driver smiled. "sure, if you have time to spare."

"i have to take a round trip with your bus anyways. i'm far away from where i have to be," hyunjin confessed.

"ah, go on then. who knows when these guys'll unblock the road." the driver's gaze drifted to the policemen and the two drivers in disapproval.

hyunjin ended up telling him his and minho's whole story. the driver proved to be a great listener, patient and invested, and completely unjudgemental.

"you remind me of myself when i was young," he said when hyunjin finished speaking. "my wife" – he chuckled – "we met in high school. she was like that special person of yours, harsh with words, sometimes angry. she scolded me a lot. i was foolish back then..." he tsked at the memory. "i thought she was mean to me for the sake of it. but you know what? when i failed exams, she called me lazy, but she tutored me with dedication. when i broke my wrist during soccer practice and could not write in class, she took notes for both of us for a month..." his smile grew fond. "no matter how much we argued and how often i blamed her for being cold-hearted, she was always there for me, and she still is!" he turned to look at hyunjin. "so, kid, listen to me. don't judge that person of yours by his harsh words. count how many times he's had your back. i bet it was every time."

it did not take hyunjin much thinking about the man's words for guilt to overwhelm him. minho was cold and mean, and judging – but when had he not been there when hyunjin needed him? never. what had hyunjin done for him in return besides being bratty and problematic? nothing. what was he doing now? sitting here, eating ice cream, while minho was out there, probably blaming himself for hyunjin's car crash.

"come, kid." the driver patted him gently on the shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. "they're starting to clear the road."

mechanically, hyunjin stood up and followed the man to the bus. he had messed up big time. again. out of all things he'd told minho today, one might be true – things between them would never work – and it was not minho's fault.

little did hyunjin know that at that precise moment minho was sleeping on the couch in gymracha's living room.

a/n:

i am sorry for the delayed update!

what do you think of hyunjin's song ice cream?