If I Were You (Stray Kids Lee Know X Female OC)

Ch. 21: His Caring Touch

The moon shines through the tall glass walls lining Bluebird Ent's cafeteria. With barely only people inside and almost all the lights turned off, the moonlight ends up just being the major source of light in that room. Nevertheless, it's just about enough for Minho who sits at a table right next to the glass walls, with the moonlight shining strong on the area he occupies. It's calming, even, and it does wonders to calm him down. Which is a good thing! Especially since he thought he really needed to calm down again before he meets Doyoung face to face. He wouldn't want to be taking his anger out on her again.

"Minho?"

Eventually, he hears her voice, and Minho turns his head to see Doyoung standing not too far away from the table he's sitting at. A faint smile forms on his face before he nods at her. "You came."

Doyoung shrugs in response. "Well, I fugured I had to." She then walks over, before she takes her seat just across the young man, and Minho watches her for a moment before he turns back to looking at the moon. "Were you busy when I called?"

"Well, I was practicing..."

"O-oh... So I disturbed you–"

"No, it's fine... I wasn't really doing as good as I hoped, anyway... Maybe I'm just tired..." Minho's smile turns into a sad one as he lowers his gaze, and Doyoung watches him, feeling her guilt get even worse.

Well, she didn't really want to show it when they were calling, but the feelings of guilt she had been having just kept getting worse and worse with every second that passed as the call went on. Miyeon had mentioned what Minho usually does when he's upset, and to see that he had locked himself up again and forced himself to practice to deal with his current problems...

"Please don't push yourself too much," Doyoung suddenly says out of nowhere.

Minho's eyes widen when he hears those words, and he turns back to Doyoung with those same wide eyes just to end up meeting her soft ones. The concern in her eyes is genuine, and something about them is making him feel something strange...

Like a strange kind of warmth he had never felt before.

But it's not like this is the first time he's ever received concern from other people, is it?

A quiet scoff comes out of him as he turns away again. "I'm... I'm not. I was just practicing because I couldn't really get the dance steps right. I wanted to perfect it before the dance teacher checks on me again."

"Are you sure you weren't doing it because you were angry?" Doyoung asks again, her brows furrowed and her arms folded, and her lips pursed as she looked at Minho.

That, of course, surprises Minho, and he furrows his brows right back at her as he asks. "How... how would you know that?"

Doyoung freezes for a moment when she realizes her mistake. And she blinks a few times for a moment before she unfolds her arms and turns away. "I-I just... I could tell... during our phone call... You sounded upset."

Almost immediately, Minho's eyes widen in return, and he lowers his gaze as he replies. "Oh... really?" It seems there was really no way for him to hide how he felt in the end. "I'm sorry if I hurt you..."

"No, it's fine–"

"But I think you should really be honest with me, too." Minho, however, cuts Doyoung off all of a sudden when she tries to assure him again, and when she looks back at him with wide eyes, Minho looks back at her with a sincere gaze. "Wouldn't it be unfair... if I'm the only one talking about what I really felt between us?"

Doyoung doesn't respond in time. All of a sudden, the young man was giving her the freedom to speak her mind, and it just feels so strange all of a sudden. She had been doing her best to hide what she actually felt. She thought it would be best, even. But then again, maybe Minho had a point.