Bittersweet Memories (A Stray Kids Short Story Collection)

Magic X

Shorter chapter today, but I think you guys will prefer that to what's coming next week.

     

     June 25th, 2017.

     Minho is practically screaming on the phone. Jisung can't hear him properly so he comes over instead.

     "I got into Yale!" Minho is smiling so hard, his teeth hurt. But it doesn't matter. This is it. The endgame he has been working so hard towards. The acceptance letter is like gold in his hands.

     But Jisung, being Jisung, celebrates even harder. "I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"

     They jump around like little kids again, because this is a special moment for both of them. They share each victory, whether it's for them or not.

     "Now I just need to get in!" Jisung says.

     Minho can't celebrate anymore.

     "Hey, let's watch a movie."

     "Okay..."

     The screams of people driving off cliffs does nothing to make Minho forget. Now, his acceptance letter only feels like a drab piece of paper on his lap. He lets it fall beside him, not batting an eye when it collects dust on the floor.

     June 28th, 2017.

     Black, flat hats are thrown in the air, falling all around them like bullets. Minho smiles, but feels heavy in the chest at the same time. Graduation was always meant to be bittersweet but nothing prepared him for this. A lot of his classmates have already begun to cry.

     "If you need to cry, I won't laugh," Jisung says when he meets Minho at the end of the ceremony.

     "I think I need a trip to the diner for my wounded heart."

     "Don't you need to say goodbye to your classmates?"

     "All done. Let's go." Minho shared a final toast to the newspaper club, passing on his editor duties to Seungmin with a heavy heart. But he knows Seungmin will keep the club in its shining glory. That's what a trusted worker is. He has to leave this all behind but he'll never forget it. Graduation really is bittersweet.

     Jisung is also in a pretty good mood himself and Minho knows why. Exam results came in and he scored an 80. That would not be as much of a spectacular thing as it is except for the fact that Jisung was told the exam date a few months before. He asked for it specifically, in order to complete another item on the List:

Handle a major deadline.

     It was stressful, but Jisung has grown up. He can now take deep breaths and push himself through it, one study session at a time. He's giving his full effort to complete the List and Minho can't ask for anything more perfect than that.

     Now, only summer remains. For most people, the end of summer means school starts. Nobody wants it to end.

     For Minho, summer is his final time with Jisung. It was on the last day of summer when his life mark changed his life. He needs to make these final two months count. They can't pass quickly. They need to last.

     "This summer will be so fun, time will pass by before we even know it!" Jisung says enthusiastically.

     Minho smiles, but it's only on his face. He has no intention for time to pass at all.

     June 1st, 2017.

     Minho wakes up early to put pen to paper. He's always been a morning writer, feeling energized by the rush of ideas in his head. He has a final task in front of him. The final, but also the very first, item on the List. He's armed with his interviews and research, and he's ready.

     Before, Minho had been at a loss for what to write. He didn't have enough words, enough ways to explain something beyond explaining. Now, he still may not have the words, but he's willing to search for them.

     Minho now understands that truths can be told in different ways. They can be told like lies, like in Dear Evan Hansen. They can be told in a direct, but understanding way, to avoid hurt feelings and still get results (something Minho is still trying to learn ever since his talk with Hyunjin.) Truths are allowed to be exaggerated, and they're allowed to use words that are imperfect. Minho just needs to explore.

     There's a certain word he's been toying with. A word that's always been foreign to Minho, and one Minho is still reluctant to believe in. Minho can't explain the word, but the word itself explains so much. He doesn't understand it, but Minho can't think of a better one.

     He writes it down. And the rest of the article comes like magic.