"Minho!" Jisung whined, slamming his head back against the headrest like Minho pictured another toddler somewhere on the highly elevated plane was also doing.
"What?" Minho groaned at his best friend's drama once again, "If you're bored then that's not my problem, because so am I."
"But it is your problem because I'm your dear best friend and you love me," Jisung argued as he batted his long lashes at Minho and continued to whine like a baby to get Minho's attention. Obviously he wouldn't admit it, but Minho found Jisung's behavior adorable. He was like a little squirrel pouting because he couldn't get an acorn down from its perched position in a heightened hunk of stiff wood.
They'd been up in the great expanse of just plain old seas of blue and the occasional puffy white of a cloud for hours now and it was getting terribly irritating with the clear lack of sensible things to entertain themselves with. And to think, just hours prior they were hugging their parents tightly and listening to them rattle on about being safe and that they loved them dearly before squeezing them tighter and giving a few more hugs before releasing them to let them board the plane that would transport them some many miles and eventually lead them to be embraced by the ever-fresh air of the country of Italy.
On and on the endless hours of flight went as the two felt more and more drained. Mindlessly, they played games together on their airplane mode sentenced phones. If not on their phones, then it was Minho and Jisung leaning over and peeking about to attempt at short rounds of 'I Spy' or similar childhood games they minimally remembered how to play correctly. Which was few in numbers, but who was really keeping count?
It was not until nearing the very end of their well underestimated flight that they felt the tiniest bit of drowsiness kick in, spiraling them into bouts of in and out consciousness. But of course, that's when the small, probably five-ish (I'm foiveee) child behind them decided it was way past due time for tantrum-o-clock to occur. The tantrum in question being a disturbingly annoying bout of kicking the seats in front of him or her and shrieking like a banshee wished it could. And of course those seats just had to be Minho and Jisung's condensed seating arrangement spawned as a result of settling for the measly upgrade premium economy class brought to them even though they could very well pay for the tickets for first class. Now it was clear that not getting first class was the hugest mistake in the history of stupid, stupid mistakes made by the two.
Because now their small timeframe to sleep and recover from being drained was disturbed and growing smaller and smaller with the growth of their irritability.
The child didn't stop with their annoying outburst for the whole remaining two hours of their flight. Only when they left the narrow aisles of the plane did they secure the childless relief they desired. That relief itself wasn't really true, pure relief as their ears remained ringing as they did when taking off and landing aboard a plane and the obvious jet lag from the fifteen plus hour flight settled in.
"A nap would be nice right now," Minho grumbled as unsatisfactory images of himself hearing the careless kid pitching an utter nonsensical fit. The torture was over for the most part, but bless him he just wanted some sleep. That would do God's work for him right now and he was sure Jisung felt the same in that department.
"Mhm," Jisung agreed with an extended yawn escaping the confines of his taught throat and through his pinkish lips with a ten-foot wave of pure exhaustion.
The airport felt rather similar yet so, so different because, well, it was Italy. Almost all airports had an aura of airport-ness about them that distinguished the setting with a thick clarity. There were only so many crowds of people or feelings going on, the most obvious being the tired ones that were either waiting to get on or just finished their long hours of treacherous flight. The others being the oddly excited individuals that were prepared for vacation and the ones in a hurry because they were late for their call time.
But currently, no matter how diverse, the duo was solely focused on checking into the right place and getting everything required before crashing onto a comfortable mattress and snoozing their fatigue away. That meant locating the edge of the building and navigating to the rental car center.
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Jisung asked of Minho, who to be honest was as lost as his packages always seemed to be in the mail. Which was, as you could probably gather, a direct sentence to the word impossible. Completely unhelpful for their current state, but definitely the depressing truth if they were honest with themselves for once.
"No, do you?" Minho shot back playfully, in an attempt to lighten the mood of raw frustration served on a crystal platter to them. It was maybe a bit effective, but other than that it was beneath that of a dent on their troubled selves.
"Not really," Jisung breathed out rather honestly, but not any more eager to accept the truth in his own words, "Just try and look for signs or something along those lines."
The fun-sized sign was pure mockery in his eyes when it flashed before his line of sight. Tiny letters playfully snickered at him as he read out the font that stated his exact desired destination. Jisung chose to ignore them and bring his discovery to Minho's attention. He'd do anything to be even one foot step closer to a full night of lengthy rest undisturbed by stress or airplane drama.
Tapping his friend briefly on the shoulder, the older boy spun around at alert as Jisung explained, "The sign's right there, it says we go left for our exit."
Minho acknowledged the answer to their question with nothing but a nod as it was all that was essentially necessary for the younger to understand that he understood. The nod also allowed for them to advance further towards where they'd find the rental service they'd ordered prior. Heaven knows how utterly miserable it would've been to try and get a ride to the airport arranged if they'd put it all off until they were where they were at present.
Onward they yanked their junk about, limbs nearly snapping like carrots before the immaculate doors were close enough to mosey on through. By some vibrant stroke of luck maybe.
Jisung spotted the familiar pattern of the car that had been described to them. The car lacked character in exchange for the luxurious image it boastfully sported. Smooth white covered the outside and acute black lines cut the color up in some fruitless attempt to make the plain pattern more interesting to some minor degree. He'd always preferred older cars in many senses. While they didn't house the benefits of newer models such as the one the pair themselves were riding in, they had a feeling that brought more comfort than stiffness and held a whiff of charm to them. Minho had always told him it was just the inner eighty year-old grandpa within him in a way meant to tease Jisung lightly. An inside joke that never failed to make him snort if the older chose to bring it up.
Jisung was sure now, this experience with Minho would be like no other. Yet, he felt the same comfort he always did gnaw at him to remind him that it was Minho. Someone he could be unapologetically free around without the aspect of judgement. Minho was someone he could do anything with and be comfortable, he knew this. He was prodigiously glad of this.
He was glad he could share this with Minho.
❀•____________________•❀
I'm late again to update this but I hope it's alright maybe? The new Stray Kids album is coming out and I'm positive it'll be just as great or better than 5-Star. Best wishes to everyone. Be well and take breaks if you need to.
