EX // Minsung

51. Goodbye Yeonwoo

Lewis had agreed to drive Jisung and Minho to their destination. If Jisung had to point out the most reliable person he knew, he would say it was Lewis. He was always ready to jump to action for his friends.

The drive was pretty much silent. Only Lewis's mixtape played softly through the speakers of the car. Something Wooyoung had put together for him. Jisung had to admit that Lewis's new boyfriend had taste. While Jisung listened to the music, he mentally prepared what he was going to say to Yeonwoo's parents. Though it was mostly Minho who was going to talk, Jisung felt like he needed to rehearse his own parts just in case.

After a long drive Lewis parked the car on the side of the street. It was a one way street with limited parking spots, but they managed to find one right in front of the house. The brick buildings stood tall and were all attached to one another. Jisung started to feel a little claustrophobic in Lewis's tiny car, parked in the small street. It was time to get out and ring that doorbell.

"Hello Minho, it's good to see you again." Yeonwoo's mom smiled softly at the sight of Minho. Though she looked friendly, she didn't open the front door all the way yet.
"Who is this?" She asked, not giving away her thoughts about the uninvited visitor.

"This is Jisung." Minho put his hand on the back of Jisung's shoulder to introduce him. "My boyfriend. We would like to talk to you about Yeonwoo."

Yeonwoo's mom seemed iffy about letting Jisung in, but agreed when Minho clarified they both had things to say about her son's behaviour.

Minho had mentioned before that Yeonwoo's mom had always been kind to him, so there was no need to worry. But when Jisung walked into the house, felt the warmth and smelled baked goods, he immediately felt more at ease. He thought he should see if there's a store that sells autumn spiced perfume so he could smell this good himself.

"Did something happen with Yeonwoo?" Yeonwoo's mom set down a glass of water for Jisung on the brown coffee table. She sat down on an ochre yellow chair opposite of the couch the boys were sitting on.

Minho started to nervously fidget with his fingers and jewellery. "So, Ms. Kim- Yeonwoo, um, he-" The words didn't come out and Minho started breathing harder.

Jisung grabbed Minho's hand and mentally thanked himself for preparing his words in the car. "Ms. Kim, Yeonwoo has been harassing Minho and it isn't the first time. Unfortunately we don't know how to settle the matter ourselves and had to contact you instead. We're so sorry for this inconvenience, but we hope you will listen to our side of the story too."

Ms. Kim nodded and admitted Yeonwoo hadn't really contacted his parents since he started at the new school. After Yeonwoo and Minho had broken up, they never heard another word about Minho again. Until Minho recently contacted her.

Jisung encouraged Minho to tell his side of the story and supported him where necessary. Ms. Kim patiently listened to Minho's story, but the longer he went on, more her face hardened. By the end of it, Ms. Kim's eyes were red.

"I think it's time for you to leave now." It was clear Ms. Kim had trouble holding her composure any longer.

"But-" Jisung wanted to protest, but he was held back by Minho's arm.

"Thank you for listening, we will head out now." Minho politely bowed and gestured for Jisung to do the same. Jisung shortly bowed and followed Minho back outside.

Lewis was still waiting outside the car for the boys to come back. He put his hand up to get their attention. With a quick nod Lewis asked what happened.

"She hardly said anything." Jisung's shoulders slouched. He didn't leave with a good feeling about this one. "I don't think anything is going to change."

Minho shrugged. "Give her time. Let's just go home for now."

A long week went by without any word from Yeonwoo or his parents. It was just a regular Tuesday afternoon in class when the speakers announced:

"Lee Minho to the principal's office, please. Lee Minho to the principle's office."

After Minho's dad was forced to step down from his position, because, well, you can't continue doing your job while in jail, they had gotten a new but temporary principal. She was a new face, but took her job very seriously. Jisung had been called in before by her. As a top student, he was asked if he wanted to sign up for the tutor program. He had respectfully declined. Even though earning a little extra cash wouldn't be so bad, he would rather spend that time with Minho. The new principal was kind and respectful and made sure to catch up with all the student's actualities.

Immediately after hearing the announcement, Jisung grabbed his bag, ready to bolt towards the door and see what this was about.

"Is your name Lee Minho, mister Han?" Jisung's teachers sternly said. The class giggled and whispered. His relationship with Minho was no secret by now.

"But-"

"Mister Han, you better sit down before I give you an extra assignment."

"Is that all?" Jisung smirked.

The teacher sighed, knowing that Jisung never missed a deadline and always had top level grades. An extra assignment wouldn't be the end of the world for him. "Just sit down, will you?"

Jisung sighed but eventually just did as he was told. Though now he wanted to run out of the class for a different reason. Jisung could hear his peers whispering to each other about him causing a commotion. When he heard Minho's name echoing through the speakers, he was so quick to act. But now he was embarrassed of himself. If he could sink through the uncomfortable wooden chairs and the concrete floor below him, he would.

"He'll tell you as soon as he sees you, don't worry." Sam whispered as he bumped their shoulders together.

So of course, as soon as the class ended, Jisung sprinted out of the classroom to find Minho. To his surprise, Minho was already waiting for him in the hallway.

"I thought you would want to know." Minho chuckled while his boyfriend practically flew into his arms.

"What happened?" Jisung's concern faded when he saw Minho's smile shining brightly on his face.

"Let's go to my dorm, I'll tell you there." Minho took Jisung's hand. "Also, where is Sam?"

"I'm here!" Sam finally exited the classroom and caught up with the two. "If we were in a zombie apocalypse and you needed to be saved, Jisung would leave me for dead for sure. He didn't even give me time to pack my laptop before he zoomed out of here."

Jisung rolled his eyes, but Minho smiled. He probably thought it was endearing to see his boyfriend so committed to him.

"You should also come. To my dorm." Minho gestured for Sam to tag along.

"Oh? To your dorm? Have I even been there before?" Sam was curious as always, but Minho wouldn't give him a straight answer.

When they arrived, they found Chris, Lewis, Felix, Innie, and Sky were already waiting in front of the door.

"Is everything okay?" Chris asked as soon as he saw Minho bringing even more people to the occasion.

Minho just opened the door to his dorm with the biggest grin on his face. Everyone took a place somewhere in the living room and waited for Minho to explain himself.

"So, I think we all heard that I got called to the principal." Minho couldn't contain his smile and it was starting to creep out the guys in the room.

"Minho, you're making me nervous. Just tell us already!" Felix blurted out.

Minho clasped his hands together, grinned and made his announcement.