Crybaby

2 - Fanmeeting

On the way to the location of the afternoon fan meeting, it was raining heavily. Traffic was slow and sluggish, so the journey took longer than usual. Luckily, they weren't under time pressure, and the GPS indicated they would arrive on time. The background noise was loud and lulling, so the inside of the car was quiet. Seonghwa and Hongjoong sat up front next to their manager, who was driving, and while Hongjoong was absorbed in working on a new song lyric on his laptop, Seonghwa nodded off repeatedly as he looked out the window, observing the traffic. San and Wooyoung, in the second row, had fallen asleep. Wooyoung had snuggled up, his head resting on San's shoulder, and San had his head leaning on Wooyoung's. Jongho sat next to them, playing something on his phone. In the back sat Yeosang, with his eyes closed, listening to a podcast with headphones, and it was unclear if he was still awake, and, of course, Yunho and Mingi. Yunho sat in the middle. He wanted to take the opportunity to briefly talk to Mingi about his negative thoughts regarding the promotion.

He glanced at Mingi from the side for a while, leaning forward until he noticed and they locked eyes. Yunho grinned at him and tapped him lightly on the left cheek with his index finger, as he often did. He tilted his head, letting his silverish blond hair gently fall onto his forehead.

"Mingi-ah, why didn't you say you were unsure on stage?" he said softly, inadvertently making a pout. Mingi's eyes flickered for a second to Yunho's lips, and he quickly looked away, crossing his arms.

"I didn't want to cause unrest in the team."

"But you don't have to deal with all of this alone. I told you, you can tell me everything."

Mingi still didn't look at him, instead, his expression darkened, and he started biting his thumbnail. Mingi wore chipped black nail polish, which matched his new grunge look.

"Can I for real?" he suddenly asked very seriously, which unsettled Yunho: "...of course, you're..." he chuckled uncertainly, "...you're Princess Mingi, and I'm your bodyguard."

Mingi pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing.

Yunho furrowed his brow. Usually, he got at least a smile from Mingi with such sweet nonsense. He absolutely didn't understand what Mingi was getting at.
He can tell me anything... why does he doubt that?

"Mingi-ah," Yunho didn't want to let it rest. He felt the heavy feeling in his chest from before spreading again, complemented by a cold one in his stomach. It was the fear of losing the connection to his best friend again, just like back when he was on hiatus, that suddenly overwhelmed him. He felt the urge to make Mingi smile at least once. He had to see that Mingi was still with him. He couldn't lose him again, that simply wasn't an option...

Yunho raised his right hand to poke him again to get his attention. Suddenly, Mingi's arm shot up and grabbed Yunho's wrist firmly before he could reach his cheek.
He really does train a lot, involuntarily crossed Yunho's mind, and his shocked gaze darted back and forth between his hand and Mingi's profile, who still didn't look at him.

"Are you being honest with me?" Mingi suddenly turned his head to him, staring at him so intensely that Yunho felt queasy in his stomach.

"... w-what? What do you mean? Of course, I'm honest with you. What's this, Mingi?! Let go of me!"

"Everything you ever tell me are clichés... 'You're good' is not feedback, Yunho. I want to know what you really think. Wouldn't that be fair for once?" He spoke calmly but firmly.

Yunho was absolutely shocked by his friend's words. What does that even mean, he wouldn't be honest with him?

"But... b-but that's what I think", he stuttered. "A- and besides, it doesn't matter what I say, you don't believe any feedback that comes from us anyway! I saw that again earlier when Seonghwa-Hyung talked to you!"