coincidental | minsung

19

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

The music resumed and filled the room. Something angry, loud, all drums and harsh rap lines and a quick beat. Minho had turned away from Jisung as soon as the younger had spoke with a face set like stone. The way the smile had slipped away made Jisung feel all hollow.

Jisung hesitated by the door, torn between the need to talk to Minho and the fear of Minho turning that angry glare in Jisung's direction.

Both won. Need drove Jisung to stalk over to the speaker and unplug it from the wall. Fear blossomed in his throat when Minho gave him a look that made his stomach turn.

"What can I tell you?" Minho's voice was discordant and unrecognisable. "Seems like Chan got there first."

There was a moment when Minho thought Jisung was going to leave. The younger seemed reluctant to move closer and had taken to rubbing self-soothing circles on the back of his neck without realising.

"Chan told me some stupid rumours he's heard. But I don't believe it, don't believe him. Want to hear it from you." Jisung spoke quietly, but in the silence of the room, it felt like a scream.

"Whatever he told you is probably true."

A shake of his head from Jisung. Sad, wide eyes, trying to meet Minho's gaze. Minho kept his eyes fixed on himself in the mirror. He couldn't look at Jisung.

"I don't believe that."

"You mean you don't want to believe that?" Minho retorted.

"Why are you being like this?" Jisung couldn't stop himself from asking. There was something new in his tone, something scared, almost pathetic.

"Like what?" Minho laughed, cold. "Like me? Scared I'll do something that changes the perception you have of me, hmm? Think you know me, Jisung?"

Jisung shook his head again. His face creased into a frown. It was getting harder to keep track of the sentences in his head. Even with Minho being like this, Jisung couldn't bring the two stories together in his head. This Minho in front of him, that wasn't his Minho, and the Minho from Chan's story wasn't either.

"Tell me what happened." Jisung tried to keep his voice steady.

"Tell me what you think you know," shot back Minho.

With a sigh, Jisung looked back at the door that he had closed behind him when he walked in. Moved as though he was going to leave, but then slumped himself down onto the floor beside it. When he spoke, he watched Minho's reflection in the mirror.

"That you had a friend. That she confessed to you. That she... You didn't accept it. So she- That it was your fault." Jisung couldn't bring himself to string more than a few words together.

He had wanted to approach this differently, wanted to be delicate, reliable, show Minho that he knew it wasn't true and that he was on Minho's side. But something about Minho's reaction had shaken Jisung's confidence.

His spirits lifted slightly when he watched Minho turn away from the mirror, walk over to Jisung, pause in front of him. Fell again when Minho stood there without even looking at him.

"It was my fault."

It wasn't said nastily, nor angrily, nor cruelly. Just stated. No emotion, no explanation. And the reason Minho hadn't looked at Jisung - he wasn't moving to stand by the younger, but by the door. Jisung was still processing Minho's sentence when the older opened the door, closed it behind him.

Neither were really sure if Minho expected Jisung to follow him, like he had done those few times before. Persistence defeated by disbelief left Jisung still sitting in that same spot with his knees curled up into his chest and his eyes staring, stunned, at the spot on the floor in front of him.