Unkind

Goodbye friend, hello stranger

Vermont, New England—yr. 1959

Minho prompts himself just outside the Han’s residence. The suit he has on is unbearably hot against his skin, he could feel himself sweating already even before joining the party inside. An engagement party. Of Jisung Han. He would reach out for the doorknob, but he is terrified of doing so. Or rather, he is excruciatingly horrified to see his best friend inside, whom he is in love for only God knows how long, smiling at a girl Minho has never seen nor met before. Just that Jisung mentions her name and Minho never bothers remembering it.

While still contemplating, Minho flinches at the sound of Mr. Hager clearing his throat, “We don’t have all night, Lee.”

“Yes, of course. My apologies.” And so, his hand reaches the knob, twisting it agonizingly slow. Minho is still terrified, whether he is about to see Jisung laughing with someone other than him, or how Minho would react upon witnessing that scene unfold before him. Of course, Minho means no ill-will to the girl Jisung chooses to love. He just hates himself a little for having such feelings towards a friend. A boy, at that. Still, he tries his best in keeping his head high and flashing a smile before welcoming himself inside Jisung’s home.

Surprisingly, the house is not as packed as Minho expects it to be. With that being said, he easily spots Jisung by the dining hall, acquainted by another boy, instead of that fiancée Jisung talks about. Minho strides stiffly along the small crowd, occasionally greeting the guests he deems familiar. When he reaches the boy, Jisung visibly lights up and raises a hand to enthusiastically wave at him. He looked ridiculous, but Minho finds it endearing. His cheeks heating up at the thought of Jisung being as excited as he is upon meeting each other.

“Hello, Jisung,” Minho greets him with a timid wave to which Jisung throws his arms around him. He reddens even more. “Glad you could make it,” says Jisung as he turns around, still latching an arm around Minho, to the person he has been talking to, “Chris, this is Minho. Minho, Chris.”

Minho averts his gaze from Jisung’s toothy grin, and finally turns his attention to the boy, Chris, standing before them. He has the blondest hair Minho has ever seen; he takes a guess that it is bleached. Chris is as tall as Minho, maybe shorter about a centimeter, his eyes hold so much sureness and life as they stare into Minho’s doubtful ones. That makes Minho feel a bit insecure. He digresses the unnecessary comparison. “How do you do, Chris?” Minho offers a smile.

“Lovely, thank you very much,” Chris returns a grin that outshines Minho’s. Another thing about Chris that makes him a bit insecure. “Say, Jisung mentioned you are a student from the Welton Academy?”

Minho’s smile falters for a moment. Jisung talked about him? He couldn’t be much happier after knowing, that’s for sure. “Indeed, I am.”

“Well, can you do a fellow a favor? Give me some advice on how to ace their entry exam,” Chris laughs, Jisung joins. While Minho is left perplexed. He never had to take any kind of exam to attend the academy. “I doubt there is one, I never heard of any exams,” Minho explains with a nervous chuckle. How come he has only ever heard of this?

Both boys in front of him shares a look before looking at him in the eyes. Jisung tears his eyes away from Minho first, followed by a shrug and a tap on the back. “I forgot you were an elite. Makes sense that you didn’t do any entry exams.”

Chris seems to beam at this, “That's quite impressive. I bet you’re also smart, Minho.”

Minho smiles appreciatively.