SEQUEL TO HOLD ME
"it's only human."
those are words that stick in the minds of eight boys who have found themselves closer than ever because of a year spent at the same college.
minsung, seungin, changhyunlix... and chan :')
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The beach house had gone quiet after the rain stopped, with most of the tuckered-out boys asleep in the living-room-area, and only a dim, yellow lamp and the white rays of the moon giving it light.
Two of the boys were kept awake. One because of his raging sunburn, and the other because his mind was running, its endless footsteps pounding in his ears as the thoughts just kept circling around and around and around.
Twenty-two-year-old college-sophomore-to-be Han Jisung had never been one to run from his feelings. He'd always been honest. He wasn't raised to hide, so he'd never really known what it was like to be relentlessly chased down like this, with no way out.
But he'd also never felt something like this before. Why did everything have to be so complicated?
Jisung had sleepily, subtly (with eyes half-shut) watched Minho (who was on the opposite end of the couch, two sleeping bodies down from him) try to get comfortable, seemingly attempting to drift off like the rest of his friends, but the sunburn he managed to get on his back was clearly bothering him and making him restless.
Now, he watched Minho carefully shift Chan's knee away from his, to get up and tiptoe over Hyunjin and Felix, who slept pressed together on the carpet. Jisung didn't move his head to let his eyes follow Minho, wherever he was headed, but he could hear him drift through the kitchen, sounding almost as distant as the lapping of the waves heard through the open window, all the way down at the shore.
He didn't hear much else until thirty seconds or so later, when there was the sound of a partly-suppressed wince and a pained exhale.
At that, Jisung straightened up and looked over his shoulder.
Minho stood there in the dark, trying to rub aloe onto his back. With the dim light, Jisung could only just make out the grimace taking over his face as he struggled to stretch his arm enough to get to the burn.
He felt guilty, but what was there to do, really? Discomfort and anxiety swam around his stomach, doing laps. ...He couldn't trust himself.
But Chan's words rang in the back of his mind, giving him the final bit of persuasion he needed. With a sigh, Jisung left the couch just as carefully as Minho had, so as to not wake Changbin or Chan, and joined him in the kitchen.
"Need help?" Jisung whispered into the dark.
Minho turned around, pained expression replaced by one of surprise. He hesitated a moment; nearly shook his head. Maybe it'd always be Minho's first impulse to refuse help of any kind. But at least, after long moment and a deep exhale, he nodded, looking down. "Yes, please."
Jisung took the bottle from his slowly outstretching hand, teeth raking over his lips. This was his chance to talk to Minho. He just needed to get away from the six sleeping bodies out there first. "Let's go to one of the bedrooms." He gulped, suddenly feeling a fluster come over him, hurrying to explain: "So you can lay down. It'll... be easier."
