Hey, deskmate ; minsung 𖦹

31

"Stop there," Minho paused, his eyes locking onto Jisung's. "I like whatever's going on between us right now, no need to change it."

"What?"

Jisung raised his eyebrows, the confusion clear on his face. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Minho wasn't entirely sure what he meant either, but he knew one thing—he didn't want whatever weird dynamic they had to change. He didn't want things to settle into the silence, or worse, into a space where they simply ignored each other again. The frustration, the tension—it all felt alive, like it kept them connected, even if it was in the most irritating way possible.

"I don't know, maybe it's fun?" Minho shrugged, playing off the awkwardness with his usual nonchalance. "It's... exciting, I guess."

Jisung scoffed again, clearly unimpressed. "You think annoying me is exciting?"

"Annoying you is one way to put it—when you actually show a reaction," Minho said with a smirk, though his tone was softer than usual, almost thoughtful. "You give as good as you get, though. Don't pretend you don't enjoy it."

Jisung blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in Minho's tone. For a second, he didn't respond, and the silence between them stretched out, almost suffocating. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, his brow furrowing as if he was trying to figure out what was happening.

"You're weird," Jisung muttered finally, breaking the tension.

"Yeah, I know," Minho replied, his smirk widening into something more genuine.

Jisung rolled his eyes, clearly done with the conversation, and turned on his heel to walk back toward the cafeteria. Minho stayed where he was for a moment, watching him go, feeling that same strange pull in his chest that had been there ever since this trip started. It was irritating how much Jisung got under his skin, but Minho couldn't bring himself to hate it. He couldn't bring himself to hate Jisung, no matter how much he pretended otherwise.

With a sigh, Minho finally turned and headed back inside, his mind racing with thoughts he didn't have the energy to untangle.

—

The rest of the day passed in a blur of activities, group challenges, and half-hearted attempts to focus on anything other than the weird conversation he'd had with Jisung. Minho found himself glancing over at Jisung more often than he cared to admit, watching the way he interacted with his friends, the way his laughter filled the air during moments when everyone else seemed to fade into the background.

It was frustrating, really—this need to understand why Jisung affected him so much. Why he cared what Jisung thought of him. Why he was starting to feel something more than just irritation every time they exchanged barbs or had one of their petty arguments.

By the time dinner rolled around, Minho's head was spinning with conflicting thoughts, and he found himself wandering toward the cafeteria in a bit of a daze. His usual group—Hyunjin, Felix, Jeongin and Seungmin—were already seated at their usual table, laughing about something when Minho slid into his seat.

"Finally showed up," Hyunjin said with a grin. "Thought you got lost or something."

"Lost in thought, maybe," Felix added, nudging Minho with his elbow.

Minho rolled his eyes, too tired to come up with a snarky retort. "I'm here, aren't I?"

Seungmin gave him a curious look. "You've been weird today, man. What's up?"

Minho shrugged, avoiding their questioning gazes. "Just tired. It's been a long day."

His friends exchanged glances, clearly not buying his excuse, but they let it go for now. They went back to their conversation, leaving Minho to his thoughts, which unfortunately kept drifting back to Jisung.