escape call | minsung

xx

jisung's mind was racing as he sat in front of his two friends. they were looking at him, almost expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something.

it was true — yesterday jisung had given them nothing but incoherent sobs as an explanation for his sadness and had fallen asleep straight after, leaving them clueless and worried. something itched in him to tell them.

if he did, they could help him get over it, right?

right?

he drew in a breath and, out of the corner of his eye, he could see hyunjin straightening his back as if ready to listen to whatever he was going to say. bracing himself, he spoke.

"i'm in love with lee minho!"

he hadn't meant to shout like that, but a lot of pent up frustration had escaped through those words, it even left him surprised.

for a few seconds, the pair had their eyes wide, taken back by the sudden outburst. then, their expressions softened. seungmin looked away with a hint of a smile on his lips and hyunjin let out a sigh.

"we been knew, ji."

huh.

"what?"

"it was clear since we were in high school." he continued, his eyes sparkling in amusement. jisung flushed from his ears to his neck in embarrassment. was he that obvious?

seungmin nodded. "i didn't know you back then, but two years is enough to see that you had a thing for him." he let out a short laugh. "and vice versa."

the last sentence made jisung jump. something clenched in his chest again, tugging at his ribs and squeezing his lungs. the others seem to notice the sudden change in mood and leaned forwards. "what's wrong? did i say something...?"

jisung shook his head and looked at the island counter. then he shook his head again as if to reaffirm his response.

"no... no. no, you didn't." he said, almost breathless. the tightening in his chest seemed to worsen and he squeezed his eyes shut, sucking in a shaky breath.

suddenly there was a hand over his. hyunjin's. the warmth was startlingly reassuring, and the knot in his chest loosened slightly. he exhaled before explaining.

"yesterday, he was on another blind date.." he voice wavered and he bit his lip on a pause before contiuing. "usually i'm his escape call, right? and i always feel like whenever he picks up my call, i have a chance. he didn't like the woman. but last night... l-last night..."

jisung stuttered on his words, tears once again pricking his eyes. hyunjin's grip tightened and seungmin nodded to show that he was listening.

"last night he t-told me to eat by myself. that he was gonna s-spend more time with her..." he hiccuped, his voice cracking. "i don't know.. maybe he's f-finally decided to settle down."

there was silence after jisung's voice, only quiet hiccups and sniffs being heard in the open kitchen. seungmin reached out to rub jisung's shoulder, a slow hum resounding in his throat.

"damn." hyunjin only said, completely at a loss for words. "our lee minho? straight? yeah, no fucking way."

jisung scoffed. "don't get my hopes up hyunjin. it already h-hurts so much."

"but it's fucking ridiculous!" he exclaimed. "all those signs—"

jisung bit his lip. "hyunjin please..." he murmured. he didn't know if he could take it anymore.

but the other continued. "all of that flirting—"

"hyunjin." seungmin's voice cut him off, stern. he gave the blond a glare before his voice softened. "stop."

understanding, hyunjin shut up, reeling back in shame and clenching his jaw. "i'm sorry, i just...  it's so hard to believe this."

seungmin then turned to jisung. "i'll admit it was shitty of him to just leave you stranded there. but what else could he have said..."

jisung flinched. "i hate it. i hate him." he slumped onto the table, burying his face into his crossed arms. "but, fuck, i really don't."

seungmin took the role of peacemaker (peace with what, jisung wasn't so sure — peace in general, perhaps). "how about you go out? you're only free on friday evening so if your fever is better by then you can give yourself a day to just... forget? use this week to think about things."

jisung let his words sink in. the only times he ever went out were with seungmin himself, hyunjin, or... minho. he shook his head to remove the name from his mind.

hyunjin nodded. "we won't even be there. you take your own time with this. just know that we're here for you." he pursed his lips into something of a reassuring smile and jisung smiled back, his cheeks easing into the expression.

suddenly there was the tinkling sound of the washing machine going off in another room and seungmin suddenly shot up from his chair. "ah, laundry!" and he scurried out of the room.

as soon as he was out of earshot, jisung gave hyunjin a small smirk, leaning towards his friend over the island with a cheeky expression.

"so... you and my roommate, huh?"

the blond man squeaked, his face flushing a perfect pink. "you saw th—? urghh, shut up!"

double update for that one sweet commenter (thank you for motivating me to update), you know who you are and i love you <3

stay tuned for the next update :)

edit: please don't come at me for leaving out jeongin, changbin, felix, and chan in this fic. i really don't know how to add them into the plot 😓