city of stars | minsung

019 | nineteen

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a voice that says,
»i'll be here and you'll be alright«

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Oh. Oh.

That wasn't quite the best mark. Jisung stared at the paper with wide eyes, feeling all the hope leave his body. His parents were going to kill him, weren't they? 43 out of 90 wasn't enough. Not at all.

Seungmin tried to sneak a glance at his friend's paper, but when he saw what he got, his playful expression turned into something else, not quite decipherable.

»Jisung?«, he said, concern swinging within his voice. »It'll be fine, right?«

The older shook his head. »It won't be fine, Seungmin. They'll be so mad at me, you couldn't imagine.«

Seungmin sighed, putting his paper down on the table so that his mark wasn't visible. He scooted closer to Jisung and put an arm around his shoulder. »I see. When their tantrum is over, you can always call me, okay?«

The other nodded, a small smile forming on his lips. »Thank you, Seungmin.«

<>

»Are you serious right now?!«

Jisung's mom's voice boomed through the speaker of his phone, anger lacing her voice.

»43?! That is not the grade we sent you to law school for! We expect you to study, not hang around like some lazy fool! Work harder!«

Jisung didn't say anything. He did study, even though he had no motivation whatsoever. He had worked hard. So hard. He didn't even find time to make music. That's how hard he studied.

»God, I'm so disappointed in you right now.«

There it was.

»If you don't do better next time, you'll face some serious consequences, young man.«

»Alright«, Jisung breathed out, barely audible. »I'm sorry.«

His parents didn't even bother saying goodbye, the phone call ended suddenly. Jisung sighed. He knew this was gonna happen, yet he wasn't ready for this kind of reaction. He let himself collapse on his poor excuse of a bed, feeling tears dampening his cheeks slightly.

Just as he was about to start sobbing, his phone made a sound. He had gotten a message.

minho
heyy. are you free rn?

Automatically, a smile formed on Jisung's lips. It was faint, barely there, but it was present.

you
yes

you
do you wanna come over?

minho
i was thinking of going out, but if you want me to come over, i'll happily do that

you
please come over

minho
are you ok?

minho
i'll be there in a sec, hold on

Not even five minutes after, the doorbell rung. Jisung crawled off the mattress and wobbled over to the entrance. He was greeted by a big bouquet of colourful flowers, Minho's hair sticking out from behind.

A giggle escaped his tongue. »What's this?«

Minho shoved him back inside softly, putting the flowers in his hand. »I had the feeling you felt down, so I bought you flowers. Look, they have happy colours.«

He pointed at each of the plants. Red, yellow, pink, all of the warm colours. »There was originally blue ones in here too, but blue is sad. I don't want you to be sad.«

Jisung could feel his ears heating up as a big gummy smile plastered his lips. »That's... really cute of you actually.«

The older smiled. »Anything for you.«

The student smiled back.

»Now, was my feeling correct?«, Minho interrupted the loving staring contest they shared. »Were you sad? Are you sad?«

Jisung sighed, making his way into the living area to get a vase for the flowers. »Well, yeah. I got a bad grade on my test and my parents hate that.«

A sympathetic pout formed of Minho's lips, his arms spread wide for a hug. »I shall shower you in love and affection then!«

He didn't lie. All they did was cuddle on the couch and the older would talk Jisung's ears off. All the happy stuff, all the good stuff.

»Who gives a shit about what they want? This is your life! And your an adult, for fuck's sake. Just because they're your parents doesn't mean they can control your future.«

It worked. Jisung's mood was lifted, the bad test result was forgotten. Perhaps Minho was good at cheering people up, perhaps it was just Minho himself.

Maybe Jisung did already find his soulmate, the person who would make him happy just by being there.

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680 words

oh no, the chapters are getting a bit shorter again