SEQUEL TO HOLD ME
"it's only human."
those are words that stick in the minds of eight boys who have found themselves closer than ever because of a year spent at the same college.
minsung, seungin, changhyunlix... and chan :')
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Miraculously, Minho's record-high fever broke that same night, sometime after Jisung had helped him out to the living room to watch a movie, since that was the only thing he had energy for. Well— clearly, he didn't even have energy for that, because he fell asleep against Jisung's shoulder not long after Chan brought him a plate of rice and some medicine and asked Jisung to get it into him one way or another. It must have been the heat of his fever that caused the beads of sweat to rise on Jisung's skin as the full weight of Minho's head dropped onto him when he gave up the fight to stay conscious.
"You alright there, Ji?" Chan had whispered. "You look a little flushed. You didn't catch it from him already, did you?"
"Nah... I'm good. He's just a little hot," Jisung assured him, a hint of nervousness evident in his twitchy smile. Well, that much was true. The heat of Minho's skin on his was just about unberable.
Anyway... from there, Minho was more or less back to himself within two days of napping and going on a tea-and-soup diet (thanks to Chan somehow getting a hold of his manager and calling him in sick), so at some point, Jisung quietly slipped away and left the rest of it to him to take care of himself. And that left Minho with one day to finish guzzling cough medicine to kick the remnants of his sickness before their scheduled beach trip— one day to be awkward around Jisung.
They seemed to be in a mutual state of half-assed avoidance all day. Jisung knew Minho was humiliated now that he was lucid— no longer suffering the effects of a fever that left him unable to hide anything he was feeling, especially not the emotions he'd had pent-up for the past month. Jisung's first impulse, seeing him in that overly-ashamed, remorseful state he knew so well by now, was to reassure him that there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but would it even be convincing if he had to do it from across the room? He tried to not even look at Minho— because it was fucking awkward when their eyes met— but it was hard when his eyes were drawn to him, immediately fixed on his figure every time he came into view.
So the day passed in an uneasy blur— Jisung tried to focus on appreciating the time he suddenly had to veg out, as well as appreciating his proximity to his friends for the first time in what was really only one month, but had felt like dozens.
It was now that he saw that for the first time, he felt out of touch with his friends. A bit awkward and estranged, all because he'd been gone so long and hadn't kept up with them, which put him out of the loop. It was almost like being back in high school, sitting alone most times, not knowing how to start a conversation— that feeling of being out of place. Because in what had been 'his place', there was now a brick wall which kept Minho safely away from him. It'd be easy, so easy to knock it down, but if he did, everything would be a mess.
He lounged until evening, sometimes chatting a little with Chan, and other times watching whatever show Hyunjin had on in the living room, but at all times, trying to keep his mind, his eyes, and above all, his hands off of Minho. Hoping to find someone else to keep him company.
