19 | minsung

53

minho slowly fluttered his eyes open, his long lashes gracefully moving along as he did so. it took him a while to shake off the remnants of sleep, and as he rose, he sat at the edge of the bed, dragging his hands over his face while processing the events leading up to his current state.

"i can't believe i let my guard down around him..." he murmured, his head dropping as he recalled allowing jisung to comfort him, cradle him, and promise to never leave his side.

raising his head again, minho surveyed the room, realizing he was back in his own space, having collapsed in the bathroom during his breakdown. emotionally distressed, he had passed out in jisung's arms.

han jisung—the source of all his distress.

minho pursed his lips as the memory of what happened in the bathroom resurfaced, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes. initially, fear had gripped him at the revelation that jisung wasn't human. but that fear had transformed into a new worry—that one day jisung might find peace and leave the earthly realm.

the thought of jisung leaving was unbearable. the pain it might bring was something minho couldn't fathom handling.

minho brushed away the stray tears that had escaped from his eyes, standing up from his bed. his footsteps were deliberate, slow, as he moved around his room, ensuring jisung wouldn't hear if the younger was present in the dorm.

despite his love for jisung, an underlying fear persisted within minho. jisung wasn't human, that much was certain, and his capabilities surpassed minho's understanding. moreover, minho couldn't muster the courage to face jisung after breaking down in his arms. how could he explain the reason behind his emotional collapse? he couldn't bring himself to admit that jisung was the cause.

coming to a halt in front of his study table, minho's gaze fixated on the sketchbook sprawled across it. with trembling hands, he reached for it, a sense of unease gnawing at him inexplicably.

flipping through the pages, sketches related to his biology class met his eyes. but after a few turns, his heart plummeted, his breath hitching as his eyes widened in horror.

"why..." his voice trembled, carrying the weight of every emotion he felt in that moment.

a loud thud echoed through the room as the sketchbook dropped to the floor. it lay sprawled, revealing a page that filled minho with fear, prompting him to release the sketchbook in shock.

"i don't remember sketching it like that!" minho exclaimed, frustration mounting as he tugged at his hair in distress, eyeing the unsettling sketchbook on the floor with a deep sense of fear.

the page that triggered fear within minho showcased his live sketch of jisung, the one he had done while the younger was on the sofa. but this time, the sketch was different.

it didn't depict jisung; instead, it portrayed a skeleton, mimicking the pose minho remembered jisung being in. no skin, no eyes, no hair—just a skeleton, the anatomical structure everyone is familiar with, positioned differently than the standard standing posture.

suddenly, a memory surged into minho's mind, his eyes widening as it reverberated within his head.

"the osseous system," he muttered, his gaze fixating once more on the unsettling sketch.

he recalled a moment when a classmate had commented on the uniqueness of his sketch of the osseous system, also known as the skeletal system, due to its different pose. additionally, he remembered when his mom had requested another sketch of jisung because the one he showed her seemed related to one of his 'classes'.

"was i... under an illusion all this time?" minho whispered, crouching down to retrieve the sketchbook from the floor.

as he did, another memory surfaced. he flipped through the rough pages once more, stopping at a particular page. with trembling fingers, minho delicately placed his hand on the page, his eyes shimmering with a mix of emotions, temporarily veiling the fear that consumed him.