I can read your smile - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 9 - Late-night girl talk

~Crystal's POV~

The day went on uneventfully, and I was now in the bedroom with Jude and Lydia, talking before going to sleep.

"I can't believe we're going home already!" Jude whined.

"Yea, the weekend passed by so fast!" Lydia exclaimed as well.

Not fast enough.

The only blessing that came with going home was that Minho would not be there. After dropping me off, he will go on vacation with his family and be gone until the start of Uni.

2 months without seeing him were going to be good, thank God.

"So, you and Key, huh?" Lydia asked Jude, and she blushed.

"How could you tell?" Jude covered her face with her hands.

"How couldn't we?" I said and we all laughed.

"Is he a good kisser?" Lydia winked, to which Jude became even more embarrassed.

"We talked a lot yesterday, and we have a lot of things in common. He also shares my passion for fashion, we even discussed potentially opening up a business together, but we wanted to show our sketches first." She squirmed.

"Better not mix business with love." Lydia drank some champagne.

"What about you, Lydia? I saw how you looked at Jinki yesterday." I nudged her elbow, and she blushed.

It was the first time I saw her be so girly.

"He totally seems head over heels for you!" Jude grinned.

"Were we that obvious?"

"Yes!" Jude exclaimed, and we all laughed.

It felt good to have this girl talk. I really felt like we were friends, and not simply colleagues in university.

"Honestly, it's still a bit hard for me to... get over everything, and see Jinki as a potential partner."

"You never told us what happened." Jude frowned.

"Well..." Lydia sighed.

"You don't have to, if you're not ready. But we are here for you." I smiled and touched her hand with my palm, and she shook her head and started talking.

"When I was 16, I got together with this guy... he was older than me, 27 at that time."

"27?! While you were 16?!" Jude gasped.

"Weird, right?" Lydia chuckled bitterly. "Well, I didn't see it like that at the time. I thought I was so mature, that I had it all figured out and he must like me because of that. Took me years to realise he's been grooming me, and I was such a malleable silly little girl in his eyes."

"You've been manipulated, it wasn't your fault." I petted her back in comfort.

"I didn't get along too well with my parents. My mother was a piece of work, and my father was... very, very strict. I hated them. When my ex told me to move in with him and cut them off, I didn't even think twice. I packed my bags and left, which was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Did he do anything to you...?" Jude asked in a whisper, and Lydia started tearing up.

It was so hard to see her like this. She was usually a girl-boss, her emotions always in check, sure of herself and strong. But allowing herself to be vulnerable like that meant that she really began to trust me and Jude.

"He... he was so controlling. I was scared of him." She cried. "He would grab my hair and hit me if he was mad, and he was always mad. He forced me to-" She sobbed and started shaking, relieving all those horrible memories.