lilacs & lotuses | seungkwan x oc x key |

十三

"Seungkwan!- oh, you're talking to somebody?"

Most likely saving him from saying something he may learn to regret in the future, Mingyu swept into the conversation.

"I feel like I've seen you on campus before" Mingyu holds out his hand to the equally tall man, making Seungkwan feel a little annoyed at their good height genetics as well as looks. Geez, if those two walked around together they'd never catch a break.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Choi Minho, I'm a TA for Liberal Arts" He replies, shaking Mingyu's hand firmly, a friendly smile on his face.

"You're a TA? That's impressive, it must be a lot of hard work."

Their conversation continued on like this for a little while, Seungkwan attempting to ignore the stares of the passer by's who definitely were not looking at him but rather at the two handsome beanstalks on his left and right.

"What did you and Seungkwan talk about earlier?" Mingyu inquired, not picturing Seungkwan as the type of person to go up striking conversations with random people.

"We were just talking about our mutual friend, Min- do you know her?"

"Min..? As in Lee Minhui?" Though Mingyu was not outwardly showing it, he had to force himself to stop his face from contorting into confused frown. Was this seriously the Lee Minhui? As in Seungkwan's hopeless high school crush?

"Yeah! You know her?"

Before the other man could reply, Seungkwan, panicking, punched Mingyu's side subtly, signing through his eyes that he would explain later.

Making up a (hopefully) realistic excuse - something along the lines of having booked a timeslot at a local badminton court - the ash-blue haired boy dragged the taller one away by the shoulder, bowing politely before leaving.

Once out of ears reach, Mingyu began to say something, only for Seungkwan to quickly cover up his mouth, glaring harshly at the older.

"Lee Minh-"

"Shush! I promise, you don't need to know,"

Mingyu began to scratch the back of his neck, a little frustrated at the youngers' words.

"Seungkwan, you know you can't just be like this. How am I meant to stay quiet when Minho essentially mentioned that Minhui? The girl you liked all throughout high school yet never spoke to?"

The shorter boy was silent for a few moments, looking down at the ground whilst fiddling with his hands.

"Minhui.. goes to this university - she's a Music student and is a friend of Hana's. We talked a few times, that's it."

Still skeptical, Mingyu asked further.

"..So you're friends now?"

"Well- to be honest, Minho began talking about her so I just said we were friends. He doesn't know anything about my.. childish crush and I'd like to leave it that way too." Seungkwan still had not raised his head, his heart weighed down with a sense of embarrassment.

Placing a comforting hand on Seungkwan's shoulder, Mingyu sighed. "Why are you upset Seungkwan-ah. I'm just worried that, well- you won't be able to see her as just a friend, you understand what I mean don't you?"

"I got over her after we graduated high school, you don't need to worry about that. Even if I did have any leftover feelings, I'll get rid of them - for my own good, I have to."

Nodding his head, Mingyu patted Seungkwan's hair, careful to not pester him further. From Mingyu's perspective, Seungkwan was a responsible person, he was careful and level-minded and though he may have been swayed a couple times, he was sure that the younger boy would be able to keep a rational mind when it came to it. The taller man really didn't have anything personal against Minhui, from what he knew she seemed like a decent person, but Mingyu knew the disappointment and sleepless nights Seungkwan had experienced because of her, so couldn't help seeing her as somebody who could harm his close friend. And because of this, Mingyu decided that he needed to keep Seungkwan away from her, far enough that he wouldn't get hurt again.