𝕃𝕚𝕞𝕓𝕠 [LEE KNOW]

23

Date

The shift in their dynamics seemed so natural that it scared them. Probably because they never truly changed much. Sure, they matured, but the way they loved, admired, and took care of each other remained the same.

Yumi and Minho never truly planned on keeping their relationship a secret from their members. They just didn't know how to approach the topic and explaining the fact that they have met before is a long story that they did not want to explain.

Minho was back to spending time with his members. He went back to hanging out with them and occasionally joining them whenever they ate. He was back to spending time with them, but he wasn't still back to himself. 

The members knew it too. Chan tried to ask Minho about it but the man just shrugged him off and told him he was fine, so Chan had no choice but to leave him be. He knew forcing Minho to tell them would just push him away from them and that was the last thing he wanted.

Yumi, however, immediately went back to work. She spent more time in the company and worked hard for the past few days since she met Minho. After those days, the fruit of her labor was finally finished.

She was working on a song. Her very first solo song.

Yumi already had a vision in her mind. A draft but there was still something missing.

Before she could dwell about it more, Minho distracted her by simply existing. His back was facing her as he sliced up the ingredients needed to cook. His parents were out to visit his grandparents meaning they had the whole house to themselves.

Yumi smiled before standing up from the chair she sat on and walked towards Minho. "You smell so good. What did you use?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his waist, back hugging the man.

"Hm?" His voice was soft, gentle, and sweet. Yumi's knees almost gave up when she saw the way he tilted his head a little bit, signifying that he was paying attention to her. "That was probably my shampoo. I used Innie's. His shampoo always smells good."

She just hummed. Her eyes darted towards his hands. The veins in his arms were prominent and his eyes were focused.

"Min? Everything fine?"

It was an out of the blue question, yet Yumi felt like she needed to ask the question. It was as if something persuaded her in saying it.

"I will be." He smiled softly at her.

"I love you; you know that, right?" She told him. 

Minho nodded and smiled. "I know. I love you more."

***

Lee Minho never cries except during their survival show. Yumi easily found out about it as she began to watch more about their content and read more about them. Her feed quickly got filled with Stray Kids content and she has been more interested in kpop these past few days compared to the past few years.

She smiled, watching in amusement as they were back at the space once more.

"No- I have no idea how to play billiards." Yumi quickly refused when Minho began to approach her.

"It will be fine, Red. I'll teach you."

An amused sigh left her as she stood up from the comfort of her chair and went towards Minho. They approached the table, the four younger idols watching in admiration at the two. That moment, Taemin also entered with Seulgi carrying a bag of snacks.

"So, you really weren't lying about this..." She said in surprise as she saw the sight, her gaze stopping as she met Minho. "Is it just me or he kind of fits the SM visual."

Taemin merely hummed. "That's because he kind of looks like Jaejoong sunbae."

Seulgi let out a silent gasp at that. "That's why you quickly denied the dating rumors with Jaehyun." She teased Yumi. "You did not want the visual of NCT, you went for the unreachable visual himself."

Minho got flustered at the attention and decided to focus on teaching her how to play billiards. 

"Stop distracting them. Come on, I'll show you around."

As soon as the two senior idols left, Riwoo let out a chuckle. "Taemin hyung wasn't kidding when he said he'll bring Seulgi noona here." 

Yeonjun merely shrugged. "Hyung, will you do a dance challenge with me? We have a new comeback." He chuckled sheepishly.

Minho nodded. "Sure. Let's meet at the backstage of Inkigayo this weekend."

At that, he focused his attention to Yumi, holding her waist and guiding her hand as the three others left, leaving the two of them alone in the room. "Try to calculate how much force you need to use to ensure that the ball would go in..."

Later that evening, Minho's parents were still with his grandparents, so Yumi decided to spend the night. The entire time at the space, it looked like something was bothering him. Deciding to watch more of their content, Yumi invited Minho to watch his own videos but then she saw his expression. 

"You okay, Min?"

"Do you think I really deserve to be in Stray Kids?"

The he asked it seemed like a joke. His tone was light, and he was smiling yet it did not reach his eyes. His eyes were empty and sad. That single phrase allowed Yumi to sneak a peek into the thick walls he built around himself.  A persona he made as a coping mechanism.

After he deemed like the silence she gave was enough, he quickly took back his words. "Nevermind-"

"Min, what makes you say that?" She asked.

Minho let out a shaky breath. "How come the others gets their permission granted but I can't? Is it because I can ruin our group's image?"

His eyes went towards the television once more as an advertisement of one of his members with a solo schedule appeared. "How come their endorsements gets granted but mine is quickly rejected without even asking for my opinion?"

"Did they-" His voice got quieter every passing second. "Did they finally regret putting me back to the group?"

Yumi knew Lee Minho never cries. He was the embodiment of confidence, especially once he's on stage. But at that moment, he wasn't Lee Know of Stray Kids. He was simply Yumi's Blue, the one who did not think that it was important to hide his emotions and allowed himself to crumble in his arms.

"Lee Minho. Stray Kids is and will always be 8. You deserve to be in the group as much as the others does. You complete each other, even if you think otherwise."

a/n: poor baby deserves better:((