Night Sky Bloom

21- Rose

The kettle clicked off, the whistle of steam giving way to silence as he prepared his tea. The ritualistic pouring of boiling water over leaves was calming, the sweet aroma that filled the air was as soothing as the taste would be.

By the time Hyunjin and Seungmin arrived, Jisung had a table spread with pancakes drenched in syrup, cut fruit, and a pot of freshly brewed tea waiting for them.

Seungmin took out his phone and snapped a picture of the table, immediately sending it to the group chat.

"Why?" Hyunjin asked, tilting his head with a confused smile.

"If Jisung made us pancakes, he has to make them for Felix, too. He's obligated. I don't make the rules." Seungmin shrugged and sat down, picking up a fork and piling his plate.

Hyunjin sat down as well, but was slightly more hesitant and slow as he placed a couple of pancakes and some fruit on his plate.

"Ji, I don't want to pressure you at all-"

"He's pressuring you." Seungmin said, nodding and humming as he took his first bite.

"Shut up." Hyunjin quickly snapped and shook his head. "I just- if you decide you want to talk about yesterday, we can listen. Or..." He looked at Seungmin with an eyebrow raised. "I can listen and then smack Seungmin if he says something out of line."

"I don't know what you mean by out of line, but..." Seungmin set his fork down and looked at Jisung as he sat down to join them with a sigh, "You know I don't mind just listening, if that's what you tell me you need."

Jisung nodded. Seungmin was snarky. He was straightforward- a little too much sometimes- but he was the best friend Jisung had ever had. He was lucky to grow up with him. And he knew that Seungmin would take a step back and just listen, just be there for him. He had experienced it many times.

I kissed Minho. He wanted to blurt it out- get it over with and move on to figuring everything out. But he didn't want to tell everyone else Minho's business, and it was definitely half-his, too.

"When my... presentation happened, it was late." He would start at the beginning- walk them through it so that maybe they could fully grasp what he didn't seem to be able to. He explained that Minho's arrival is what started his presentation much later in the day than expected. Since then, he wasn't able to get Minho's image or scent out of his mind. He'd started noticing more.

His friends sat silently as he walked them through everything- Minho's arrival. His remembering of past events like the playground, the first time Minho needed supplies for his father, the event at school where Minho had been crying under his father's iron grip.

He explained what happened the day prior- Minho's barrage of questions. How he didn't know if his reaction was irrational or not. He simply decided on the honest statement that he'd kissed Minho- but he left out any details of if Minho had kissed him back, which he had, of course. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered.

Minho had kissed him back. Grabbed him and pulled him in. Had whined into his mouth and dug fingers into his hair.

"So... are you confused because you like him now, and it's weird because you hated each other before?"

Leave it to Hyunjin to accidentally be more direct than anyone expected.

"I don't know... I don't know if I like him. I don't think- I'm not sure..." He wanted Minho. He just didn't understand the extent. He'd never felt like this, or wanted someone in this capacity. He just knew that his heart pounded when he was there. He dreamt about him, couldn't stop thinking about him, smelled his scent in the air even when he wasn't around...