stars and whispers // minsung

Chapter fifty (chan's age)

Jisung entered the café, scanning the room, looking for Jeongin. "Innie!" he called when he spotted him.

Jeongin was at the counter, paying for his order. "Oh, hi. You're early. Look, I bought a croissant."

"That looks good. I hope you like it," Jisung said, holding the door open for the younger boy.

Jeongin shrugged and took a bite of his croissant. "Why did you want to talk with me?"

"It's... It's about Minho."

Jeongin sighed and shook his head. "Jisung, you know I can't talk about that. It's better if you talk to him directly."

Jisung quickened his pace, walking backward to stay in front of Jeongin. "Please, just a few answers. The other night, he had a nightmare and was calling your name."

Jeongin fell silent for a moment.

He knew what the nightmare was about; it wasn't the first time. "Listen, Jisung, I can't say anything about it—"

"No! Yes! Please, Jeong, help me help him..."

"Jisung, before helping someone else, you should focus on helping yourself," Jeongin warned, ignoring Jisung's pleading.

"What do you mean? I'm working on myself! I'm in therapy, I'm eating better. I've come so far!"

"Yeah?" Jeongin said, abruptly stopping. "You just came from your session, right? They weighed you."

"Y-yeah? And I'm almost, almost not underweight anymore."

"Funny, because..." Without warning, Jeongin reached into Jisung's jeans, making him blush and step back. When he pulled his hand out, he held a handful of stones. "And these? Part of your therapy too?"

Jisung bit his lip and snatched the stones, shoving them into his pockets. "Don't say a word about this."

"Then I won't say a word about anything at all. Sorry, Jisung, I can't talk about Minho. If you're brave enough to lie to Dr. Lee, you can be brave enough to talk to Minho yourself. Bye!" Jeongin waved and walked away, still eating his croissant.

Jisung threw one of the stones after him. "Hey!! You little... Come back!" But Jeongin was already gone.

Frustrated, Jisung sighed and headed back to his dorm.

Upon entering, he found Minho about to leave. "Oh, Jisung!" Minho greeted, opening the door for him.

"Hi, where are you going?" Jisung asked, stepping inside.

"I was actually going to look for you."

Jisung blushed and left his things on his desk. "For me?"

"Yeah, Jeongin texted me. He said you wanted to talk."

"Oh."

Shit.

Jisung nodded, stumbling over his words. "W-well... I-I didn't know about... I mean, yeah I did... well, it's kinda..."

"Did something happen?" Minho asked, sitting on the couch.

Jisung sat beside him, pulling his knees to his chest. "Min... I think I'm worried about you."

"Worried? Why?"

"The other night, the nightmare you had..."

Minho sighed and shook his head. "It was nothing, Ji. Don't worry about it."

"No, it was something. When you woke up, you were terrified. You kissed me! You don't do that just because!"

Minho smiled. "What do you mean, 'I don't do that just because'?" he chuckled, pulling Jisung into his arms.

Jisung tried to suppress a giggle as he fidgeted. "Min! We're talking about something serious right now!"

Minho held him tightly and was about to place another kiss on his cheek when a voice interrupted.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hyunjin asked, crossing his arms.

Jisung blushed and pulled away from Minho. "No," he said.

"You're late, Ji," Hyunjin said.

"I know, sorry," Jisung replied, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Minho asked, glancing at them.

Hyunjin draped an arm around Jisung's shoulders. "Out."

Minho nodded, feeling a bit uneasy. "The two of you? That's odd. Where are you going?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch.

"I'm taking this boy on a date," Hyunjin explained with a grin, pinching Jisung's cheek.

Jisung blushed.

It was true, but Minho's knowledge of it made him feel awkward.

"Oh, a date? Wow..." Minho muttered. "Where?"

"You're oddly interested. You never care about me! Is it love that's floating between us?" Hyunjin teased, walking over and trying to hug Minho.

Minho sighed and put his hand up to block the hug. "I'm not concerned about you, I'm concerned about Jisung. You're irresponsible, and Han doesn't stand up for himself. I'm just making sure you don't do anything stupid."

Jisung smiled, blushing.

He cares about me...

Wait, Jisung, stop thinking about him.

You're going on this date to try something new!

"Anyway, we should get going," Han said, grabbing Hyunjin's arm. "Bye, Hyung! I'll make sure to finish our conversation later."

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Promise."

"And if anything happens, call me. And if you get tired of Hyunjin, call me and I'll get rid of him," Minho added, half-joking.

Jisung chuckled. "Promise to do that too."

"Good..."

As Jisung opened the door to leave, he hesitated and looked back at Minho, who was already focused on his phone. "Min?" he called.

"Mhm?" Minho responded, glancing up.

Jisung leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."