safe space-minsung

Chapter 1

maybe i'm not meant to be with lee minho

"hey, loser," a familiar voice says.

"hi.. minho."

the unfairly melodic voice barks out a laugh. "I saw you at cafe. what were you doing there? with no girlfriend to hang out with or anything."

I huff in exasperation.

"or boyfriendâ€"" minho amends. "sorry dude, didn't wanna assume. you've always looked gay anyways."

I shove him away from my path and continue walking to class; he's not something worth addressing right now.

is he usually? perhaps not, but perhaps jisung usually didn't care.

today the situation is different because he's… I don't know.
maybe i'm delusional but.. I felt like we had something

like maybe all that teasing had some symbolism behind it. an undertone that wasn't malice.

oh lord, I am delusional. he doesn't like me. he just likes tormenting me.

"jisungie," minho continues, following me with his hands shoved deep in the pocket of his hoodie.

"why are you running away? we usually stop and chitchat," his melodic voice takes upon a different tune. a sad tune, like a ballad or the blues.

"talk about what?" I say, forcing the words out of my mouth bitterly. "how much of a loser you think I am? how gay I act? how good your life is compared to mine?"

minho pauses for a second. his regular expression fades into one of brief regret. however, it's still brief and he turns mischievous again.

"jisung. I know you're gay. why is this upsetting you? you like me or something?" the teasing tone only irks me more.

"what does it matter to you if i'm gay minho?" I walk faster through the halls. this situation is uncomfortable and one I want to escape.

"jisung." he says, his tone serious

I ignore him.

"jisung," he repeats, more firm this time.

he grabs me by my wrist, halting my escape. ah.

"why aren't you talking to me?" he asks when I finally turn to him, his eyes are pooling with emotions.

positive emotions? negative emotions? who cares.

"why won't you leave me alone?" I supply as an answer.

he frowns. "oh. I wasn't aware that was something you wanted from me."

I swallow. there's a lot of things I want from him.

"okay. well now you know. see you never, hopefully." his eyes are wide.

he hesitates for a minute, then lets go of my hand. my wrist feels warm where he held it.

my face feels a little warm too.

12.39

in one minute the bell rings. the bell for lunch.

believe it or not, jisung usually studies at lunch. like, in the library.

yeah. nerdy.

he usually has no one eat with. so deciding to escape the embarrassment of solitude, jisung acts like a nerd.

minho caught on to this early on. jisung is not allowed to be alone. not on his watch

jisung sits with minho at lunch. his whole friend group. for the past few weeks at least.