𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑅𝑆 • 𝑀𝐼𝑁𝑆𝑈𝑁𝐺

𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑅𝑆 3 ☆

☆ Song Recommendation:
"Lost in Japan" by Shawn Mendes

Jisung left class without saying a word to Minho, who had left the classroom just as the class ended.

Jisung headed to the cafeteria where Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Changbin were sitting at one of the tables talking, as usual, about some nonsense.

"I'm serious!" Hyunjin shouted. "The other day I was at home with Yeji watching a horror movie and out of nowhere, she started crying. I asked her if the movie scared her too much, to turn it off if so, and she said she was sad because she remembered that snakes don't have legs to walk."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes and the other two boys burst into laughter. Jisung just sat at the table and watched the show Hyunjin was putting on.

"By the way, Ji," Changbin began. "Where did that confidence come from to talk to Minho like that this morning? You're usually very, very shy."

"I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I can't let someone like him crush me."

"Like him in the sense of Mr Lee's son'?" Seungmin asked as he finished the banana milkshake he had ordered.

"Exactly, my father taught me to never let my guard down against the opponent. Otherwise, they'll think you're weak, that you can't attack them."

"There's nothing wrong with being weak, Ji..." Hyunjin said, now with a sad face.

"For my family there is. The next owner of the company can't be weak."

The four fell silent for a while until Hyunjin spoke again, leaning a little closer to Jisung.

"Well! Ji... I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Have you set your sights on Chan? He seems like a good guy, and he's nice. I don't know what major he's in, but he seems like a good match. Plus, he's handsome and very, very hot."

"What?!" Jisung exclaimed, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. "No way. I just did that to mess around. I wasn't serious. I don't like him. In fact, I like someone else. Yes, someone else."

Seungmin and Changbin looked at each other and both furrowed their brows.

"Someone else, who?" Changbin asked.

"Uh... um..."

Jisung looked around everywhere but at his friends. He honestly didn't know what to say; clearly, he didn't like Chan, he wasn't his type, but Jisung didn't know why he had responded that way.

"Just forget it..."

"Oooooooh, you just arrived at the new university and you already like someone!" Hyunjin said as if he were a fanboy.

"Shhh, I don't like anyone. Just drop it."

Jisung got up from the table and shook his head. Hyunjin looked at the other two boys and they gestured that they had no idea what had happened.

"How annoying he can be..." Jisung said, shaking his head.

Jisung was now in line to buy himself an iced Americano. He hated it when his friends bothered him with stuff like that.

"Who can be so annoying?"

Jisung jumped at the scare the other boy gave him. When he turned to see who had asked the question, there was the blond, freckled boy, who if he didn't remember wrongly was named...

"Felix! My god, you scared the shit out of me," Jisung said, putting a hand on his heart. "I almost had a heart attack."

"You should've seen your face!" Felix said, laughing. "But seriously, who do you find annoying?"

"Hyunjin..."

"Oh, I don't know why but I'm not surprised. We're in the same class and he never shuts up, in fact, we sit together."

"Uh, so you get along well with him then."

Felix thought for a moment before speaking again.

"Yeah, I haven't had a long conversation with anyone in a long time. I mean, I have Chan and Jeongin, but they're more friends of Minho than mine. I'm always at home, with Minho and my dad, of course, but my dad is always busy, and Minho is just locked in his room."

Felix explained as they approached the counter.

"What are you going to order?"

"Iced Americano..."

"Two iced Americanos," Felix told the guy behind the counter, and when he saw Jisung taking out his card to pay, he put his before the older one could. "Don't even think about it, there's no need for you to pay."

Felix grabbed the two iced Americanos and handed one to Jisung with a smile on his face.

"Thanks" Jisung said to Felix.

"You're welcome. Well, as I was saying..." Felix continued. "I've always felt lonely, I think my mom was the only person who was really there for me. My dad is always at the company, it's not like he likes music or anything, he just likes the amount of money he earns with it. He's always in his office, trying to keep the press from making public the relationship of any of his artists or looking for some creative way to promote a group's comeback. Although, to be honest, he's not very creative either."

Jisung just sat there watching the boy who genuinely started telling him how he felt even though they didn't know each other.

"And then there's Minho, the unreadable Lee Minho. My brother is always in his head thinking about God knows what, he's so caught up in his little world that sometimes I'm afraid he'll end up losing himself. When we were kids, Minho was the happiest, most cheerful, and funniest kid in the world. He was always dancing, singing, making jokes, playing with me in the garden. He was always there for me when I needed him. When I had nightmares, when I had my first breakup, when I sprained my ankle trying to learn to skate, when I had appendicitis... The typical big brother, you know. But since mom..."

Felix stopped talking for a moment and Jisung noticed that the boy's eyes had started to fill with tears.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it anymore..."

"No, it's okay. Since mom died two years ago, Minho isn't Minho anymore. He doesn't have breakfast with me and dad anymore, he doesn't dance, he doesn't enjoy doing the things he used to have fun with, he doesn't sing, he doesn't ask me if I want to go buy ice cream at the convenience store at two in the morning and then come back home and watch movies... He's not my brother anymore, he's just a stranger who I used to know."

Jisung watched as tears fell from Felix's eyes and got up from his seat to hug him. And after five minutes of hugging him, Jisung talked:

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I hope I don't become another stranger to you..."

Felix looked up to look Jisung in the eyes.

"Do you really want to be my friend? You know Minho will kill me if he finds out, right?" Felix asked.

"Yes, but I don't care at all. You feel lonely, and I just want to accompany you."

"Thank you, Jisung..."

Jisung nodded. And Felix, at least for once in these last few years, felt loved and accompanied.