Red Chrysanthemum - Minsung

Chapter 26

The bad weather was persisting. Seungmin could hear the quiet pitter-patter of rain outside of his roommate's bedroom window. Gloomy grey light filtered through the blinds, flooding the room in cold undertones. He sighed through his nose as he turned over onto his side, noticing the warm spot Jeongin had left behind.

Seungmin had had another nightmare and for some reason, he couldn't fall asleep afterwards, staying awake for more than two and half hours before he finally crumbled and crawled into a sleeping Jeongin's bed. The younger was reluctant at first but when the older laid his head on his chest, he gave in and held him tightly as he fell into sleep's warm embrace.

The navy haired boy slept like a baby. He'd slipped into a dreamless sleep, waking up late since his classes were scheduled for the afternoon. So were Jeongin's classes, but Seungmin thought that he must've gone to prepare breakfast.

He slipped out from under the covers, stretching a great deal after having slept so well for the first time in too long. He smiled sleepily as he shuffled out of the bedroom, ruffling his bed hair to try and rearrange it. Padding into the kitchen, he found that Jeongin was nowhere to be found. He frowned and went looking for him, not needing to go too far since he heard the shower being turned on in their shared bathroom. Hyunjin was at Chan's house, again, so it was only him and Jeongin at the house this morning.

Seungmin went back into the kitchen and decided to make them both some breakfast since Jeongin seemed to be having a shower, which he deduced from the sounds of water coming from the bathroom.

He whipped up a batch of pancakes in no time at all and he set the table with their food and other necessary toppings. He ate his portion in silence, catching up on his notifications as he stuffed his face with syrup covered pancakes. He'd heard the shower turn off a long time ago but still no sign of Jeongin coming out of the bathroom. Seungmin was beginning to worry as the younger's breakfast was growing cold. He put his phone down and went to see what was taking him so long.

"Jeongin?" He knocked on the door, pressing hir ear up against it, hearing sniffling from the other side. "Are you okay?" He knew it was a rather stupid question but he asked it anyway. The sound of sniffling stopped abruptly and he heard the faucet turn on before Jeongin spoke up. 

"Um, yeah I'm fine." The voice crack that punctuated the end of his sentence led him to believe otherwise. The younger cleared his throat, repeating himself. "I'm fine." The older narrowed his eyes sceptically, he didn't believe a single word.

Seungmin sighed. He didn't like how closed off he was acting right now, why couldn't he just tell him what was bothering him? It wasn't like he loved him romantically, because then Seungmin wouldn't know what to do.

"You sure you don't want to talk to me about something?" He tried, opening the door to the bathroom gently. Jeongin looked a little startled seeing him enter but he quickly regained his composure.

"No, I... I'm okay." He repeated, avoiding the navy haired boy's stare as a much as he feasibly could.

"You sure?" Seungmin pushed a little further, stepping into the room as he did so. He inched closer to his best friend, whose eyes were darting around the room rather nervously.

"Yes I am Seungmin, Jesus you worry too much." He tried to laugh but it came out dry and emotionless, he rubbed the back of his neck. Seungmin called bullshit.

"Jeongin," He sighed, attempting to reach out to him. "You're not convincing me"

That was apparently the last straw because Jeongin rushed out of the room, leaving Seungmin in the dust.

"What can I say to" - He used air quotes for the next part - "convince you?" The disdain dripping from his tone pierced Seungmin's heart with a myriad of daggers.