What's Broken Can't Be Fixed

28

     To be honest, Soul... felt the same way. However, he didn't know how to respond and just kept quiet. Keeho thought that he had upset the boy in some way but Soul reassured him that that wasn't the case. The only thing that frustrated the boy was that he didn't respond at that moment. That he didn't say I love you too. He sighs, resting his head on Keeho's shoulder. Just thinking.

     "You okay?" He hears Keeho whisper to him, and he nods without a word. They hear something like a cart coming their way and their eyes dart to the man standing in the middle of the two sections of beds. One by one, the man and some others pass out a bowl to each of them. It was a red liquid with a piece of bread on the side. Hyunjin stares at it, and Soul smiles.

     "Tomato soup. Not blood." His Korean was good, for some reason Hyunjin expected the opposite. Hyunjin nods in understanding and spoons some into his mouth. It was good. Good as in, not disgusting bland prison food like he thought it would be. Decent.

     They continue to eat the meal, and regardless of it not looking like a lot, it made them feel full. "Steph." Soul calls out to the other boy. He holds out his spoon that has a chunk of tomato on it, and Keeho leans forward to eat it.

     "What's up with the different names?" Chris asks as Keeho chews on the tomato.

     "My English name is Stephen. I'm half Canadian." Chris hums in response. "Speaking of which, what's your Korean name? I know your name is Christopher, but you speak Korean."

     "Bang Chan." Hyunjin brings the bowl to his lips to finish the rest of what's left of his soup.

     "So... what's number one's name? AKA your boyfriend." Chris laughs at Keeho's last sentence.

     "Kim Seungmin."

     "Does he know that you're here?" Chris sort of tenses up at the question.

     "Yes..."

     Back at their house, Seungmin and Felix sit down next to each other. It had almost been 24 hours since they saw Hyunjin and Chris being taken. What kind of torture could they be enduring right now? That's what was going through Seungmin's mind.

     Felix had fallen asleep, exhausted from all the crying. Seungmin quietly gets up and walks out into the hallway. But while he's out there, he hears talking in Jeongin and Changbin's room. "We shouldn't have let them go out there." Jeongin whispers.

     "They wanted to get information, so we have to trust that they're okay." Changbin talks next. Seungmin's eyes grow red, and he bursts into their room.

     "You knew?!" His loud tone wakes everyone up. "Why would you let this happen?!" Jeongin notices the boy's red eyes and tries to calm him down.

     Minho and Jisung come running into the room. "Seungmin, we-"

     "I LOVE HIM!" Everyone pauses. They knew how Hyunjin felt about Felix, so he had to be talking about... Chris. "I LOVE HIM AND YOU LET HIM GET TAKEN!" Seungmin had never been... so angry in his life.

     His heart hurt. He could still feel Chris' arms wrapped around him, he could still feel the kisses that Chris left on his face and neck. He could still feel everything. Seungmin begins to breathe heavily, tears welling up in his eyes. "He's having an asthma attack!" However, Minho notices something else.

     "And a panic attack." Seungmin falls to the ground, blood leaking out of his nose. Minho's eyes widen and he kneels down beside him. "Seungmin. Seungmin wake up."

     "He can't use his inhaler if he's passed out." Jisung mumbles, and Minho's eyes grow red.

     "NO SHIT." Jisung's eyes widen, his lips trembling. Minho was getting angry at the wrong person. He should be upset at himself for agreeing to let Chris and Hyunjin get taken. What was he thinking? If he had just disagreed and not let them do anything stupid this would have never happened. He takes a deep breath, the whites of his eyes going back to normal. "He'll be fine. Just make sure that when he wakes up, he uses his inhaler." Jeongin nods, and Minho turns around to apologize to Jisung but he wasn't there.

     He messed up. Minho stands and walks to their room. Before he fully goes inside, he stands in the doorway, watching as Jisung takes off his glasses and silently cries into the palms of his hands. Minho sighs and lightly knocks on the door. He could hear Jisung hold his breath to stop himself crying. "...Can I come in?" He asks, and Jisung nods.

     So, he walks inside, but instead of sitting beside him on the bed Minho kneels in front of the bed and takes Jisung's hands into his own. "I'm sorry." He whispers, and the tears Jisung worked so hard to hold in began to spill out.

     Minho just stays silent, listening to the boy struggle to get his words out. "It's not your fault! I know that you were just worried about Seungmin and I shouldn't have said something so stupidly obvious. I hate that I'm so sensitive and cry just because you were a little loud." He was sobbing now, and it made Minho feel guilty.

     "I wasn't a little loud Jisung, I yelled at you, and I shouldn't have. You're not sensitive. And you didn't say anything stupid." Minho takes Jisung's hand and guides it to his face, finding comfort in the warmth that came with it. Jisung just stares at him as the boy closes his eyes.

     "...Hyung."

     "Don't cry because of me, okay?" Just then, a tear slips down Minho's cheek while his eyes are still closed.

     "Why are you crying?" He asks, and Minho opens his eyes.

     "You're my... friend." Minho didn't know why the word left a bitter taste in his mouth. "My best friend. Friends don't hurt each other." That word friend. It just felt like something was missing. Suddenly, Jisung pulls Minho off of the ground and onto the bed with him. Friends.

     Their tears drying and arms wrapped around each other.

     Friends.

     Their lips inches away from each other.

     Friends.