"Love Barrier" | Kim Mingyu

37

Jia's POV

I spent the night at Jeonghan and Hoshi's place last night without their parents knowledge. The two keep insisting me to stay as long as I want until I feel like going back home but I can't do that. It's like an unspoken rule that you can't sleepover at someone else's house for more than 2 days and I'm not going to do that again today. I appreciate the way they showed up to me in the middle of the night in pajamas, the way they sneaked me into their room tiptoe and the way they stay silent and let their curiosity almost kill them (I know by heart) just because they don't think I'm ready to talk. And when I refused to go home they didn't even hesitate to pack their stuff and keep me company at one of many apartments buildings own by my father which he should never know that we're staying here.

"It's cozy here, I like it."  Hoshi said, admiring the interior decoration of the place.

"I'm not surprised that we like it here Hoshi." Jeonghan reply, smiling evilly. "Because our place is not a home, it's a 24H open library and I'm sick of it."

I laughed pretending like he's being unserious but deep down I couldn't agree more. I don't understand people who love to study so much, too much that they filled every single space with shelves of books. The living room, the dining room, the wall, everywhere that you could think of is filled with books. Just imagine yourself walking into a library and seeing all the different titles and tons of different author you never know existed will automatically humiliate your tiny brain in any ways possible, even before you get to see the owner of the place itself. The boys named their family 'the family of 1000 IQ' due to the amount of books they've read. I was told that their worst nightmare begin at 6 years old when they were forced to finish a two hundred pages long of book everyday before they could go to bed. It's traumatised them how the book get thicker and thicker every time as this routine continues until they started high school when instead of reading, they got sign up to many unnecessary classes by their philomath fathers.

Listening to their childhood stories makes me feel somehow better. I don't know if they make it up so I feel less pity with mine or it was actually real, but whatever it is I'm glad I'm not the only one.

"With all those books we're still stupid."  Hoshi complaints but it's so funny how he looks genuinely sad about it while also chewing happily on the gummy bears he got from the convenience store earlier.

"We are born to know all the teas Hoshi, not books title." Jeonghan grin with confidence, the confidence that this man has even when he says something absolutely nonsense, I'm jealous.

"Cut the crap Jeonghan but seriously, what's wrong with you Jia? Don't we at least deserve to know why we're staying here instead of home?" Hoshi adjust his sitting position, watching me deep into my soul. This man is so curious that nothing is interesting to him anymore, all he wants to talk about is what actually going on or else he won't sleep tonight.

I study their puzzling expression then I asked myself if I really want to talk about it. Do I trust this friends enough to reveal the ugly side of me I'm always scared for them to find out? Do I trust them enough to say I steal someone else's boyfriend and the BOYFRIEND turned out to be their best friends? Do I trust them enough to say i screw up and kiss Jungkook last night knowing how much Mingyu hate him?

The answer is yes. I trust them. But do I feel comfortable talking about it? The answer is no. Still, it's very obvious that they can read me like an open book, they just want me to clarify it myself to make sure that they're not going crazy for thinking the way they do.

"Listen up. I know what I'm going to say might sound like I'm out of mind to you but I want you to listen to me first with an open mind." We sit facing each other on a king size bed but because I am so embarrassed, so stressed out, so scared, no space seems to be enough for me to feel relaxed at the moment. "After I finish, I promise to accept all your criticism with an open heart too."