Just The Two Of Us | ʰʸᵘⁿʰᵒ

XLIII ; Welcome To The Land Of The Lost

- It's always time to go back and forget this stupid idea...

Hyunjin frowns, keeping his eyes on the road. He lets a tense silence spread through the four-wheeled machine, then after taking a deep breath, he answers the older one.

- Minho, it's probably the only solution to this problem... Besides, you talk as if it amused you that we're stuck in time.

Minho is slightly offended.

- Do you think I'm delighted to know that we're going back to the exact place where I almost left my heart and my soul? I was really scared that day, Hyunjin. I believed... I saw and imagined the worst possible scenarios.

He pauses by bringing a hand to the left side of his chest, pointing to where his heart is.

- Who knows what they had in mind? We could have been kidnapped and drugged only to wake up the next morning with a missing kidney or a heart torn out of our chest. Do you think it was a play? A vulgar staging?

The taller huffs annoyedly and coldly retorts as he dodges one or two cars frozen in the way.

- Because you think I wasn't scared either? All I want is to end this mess. Not knowing the time is driving me crazy. I really feel like I'm going crazy just thinking about a reality where I'll never see the sun again, where I can never hug my family and friends again and where my life no longer makes sense.

The car falls back into silence as an invisible hand squeezes the older boy's neck. He feels something forming in his throat. Hyunjin's tone is far from friendly and reassuring.

Minho bites his lip and averts his gaze to his window. He follows the shifting landscape of his eyes as he begins to play with his fingers on his thighs.

Hyunjin sighs heavily but never takes his eyes off the road. He brings his free hand to the little one's thigh and caresses it gently, taking up a slightly more appropriate tone.

- Listen, I know you might think I'm exaggerating, but aren't you afraid of never seeing your family again? Your friends? Changbin, Yugyeom, Chanyeol, Chris and Yunho...?

Minho remains silent for a moment. This impression that he is being strangled is getting bigger and bigger and he doesn't dare look back at the youngest.

- ...I'm sorry for being so rude to you Minho, you don't deserve it... I know you're scared and it's the last thing you would want to go back to where the problem started, but we have no choice...

- How can you be so sure?

Minho finally opens his mouth, but his pupils haven't moved, still staring at the passing nightscape.

Hyunjin, for his part, pinches his lips between them as he stops his caresses on his thigh, leaving his hand there all the same.

- I don't know... But I have a good feeling. You just have to trust me...

The dark irises of the smallest end up finding those of the swarthy and he lets out a light sigh before offering him a small smile.

- Okay, I'll trust you...

Hyunjin, Minho showing him his little smile, can't help but show one too.

The dust settles and the atmosphere becomes softer and lighter again. In less than ten minutes, they will be back at the exact place where their adventure began, where everything changed.