escape call | minsung

xix

the next morning, jisung woke up in an unfamiliar bed. well, it wasn't that unfamiliar — it was seungmin's — but he still flinched at the realization that he wasn't in his own room.

his head pounded and his eyes throbbed from hours of crying the previous night, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he dizzily made his way out of the room and down the hallway where he had smelt food wafting from.

before he could enter the kitchen, he watched from the dark doorway two figures quietly talking between each other.

seungmin sat on the counter while hyunjin walked around, opening cabinets and fishing ingredients out as if this were his own home. seungmin had a permanent frown plastered on his lips, his eyebrows knotting together as he played with idle strings coming off the sleeves of his oversized hoodie.

"i just want to help him. he didn't even tell us what happened... i'm so worried."  his voice was hushed, almost a whisper. if you listened hard enough you could hear the slightest waver in his tone, as if he would cry at any second. 

just as hyunjin was about to start mixing a bowl of who-knows-what, he put the spoon down and walked over to the younger, looking up at him as he settled between his legs. reaching out, he gently moved seungmin's hair out of his eyes, rubbing the crease in his forehead with his thumb.

"we'll see how he's feeling today, yeah?" hyunjin said, his voice extraordinarily soft. "don't worry yourself. ji is strong — he'll tell us when he's ready." he leaned closer and nosed at seungmin's cheek, causing the younger's expression to soften, his stiff posture melting at the other's touch.

jisung watched for a while, their interaction, and something in his chest tightened painfully. he winced as he clenched his fists, sinking to floor in a squat, trying to maintain his breathing and blink tears out of his eyes.

if he was being honest, he wasn't ready. he didn't think he would ever be ready to tell either of them how he was feeling.

how could he, when he himself was in the wrong?

as he stood up again shakily, he stepped out of the doorway, making the floor creak. the sudden sound caused seungmin and hyunjin to spring apart, their heads whipping to where jisung stumbled into the room, his vision still blurry and head still spinning.

"ji!" seungmin exclaimed, hopping off the counter and rushing to him, placing both his palms on jisung's cheeks. they were warm, he registered, and a comforting weight against his face.

jisung tried to smile weakly, the tears in his eyes drying. "morning." he has hoped to sound cheerful, but only a hoarse whisper escaped his throat. seungmin shook his head, the frown returning to his face.

"you had a terrible fever this morning. you should go back to bed!" his voice was laced with worry, continuously thumbing over jisung's cheekbones almost as if the action was to comfort himself.

shaking his head, jisung tried another smile, and this time it felt less fake than the first — he was so thankful of how much his friends cared about him. "i'm too awake for that right now."

hyunjin hadn't said anything, but stood a hairs width behind seungmin, with an expression on his face displaying his concern.

"let's sit down." he finally said, and jisung listened, the three of them sitting on the bar stools of the island and falling into a heavy silence.

i have no memes for you guys, just a reminder to watch skz talker manila, atlanta, and fort worth if you haven't already or rewatch it if you have,, our boys are so cute <3