stray kids imagines

minho | lost for words

ʳᵉᵠᵘᵉˢᵗᵉᵈ ᵇʸ TamSong_Bae4Life
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angst. fluff / 916
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the rain outside was relentless. heavy droplets hammered against the glass windows of the small apartment, blurring the city lights into smudges of yellow and white. but the real storm was happening inside, where you and minho were locked in yet another argument.

“why do you always shut me out?” your voice trembled with a mix of frustration and hurt as you stood across from him, arms crossed defensively. “every time something’s wrong, you just brush it off and act like I don’t deserve to know what’s going on.”

minho ran a hand through his hair, the usual calmness in his eyes replaced with agitation. “it’s not that I’m shutting you out. I just... I don’t want to bother you with things that don’t matter.”

“but they do matter if they’re bothering you! why can’t you understand that i want to be there for you? that’s what being together means.” your voice cracked slightly, the pain of his emotional distance seeping into your words.

minho looked away, his jaw clenching. “and what if I don’t want to be coddled? I can handle things on my own.”

you could feel your frustration rising, his stubbornness like a wall you couldn’t break through. “why are you so damn stubborn, minho? it’s like you’re terrified of showing even a little vulnerability. do you not trust me? or do you just not care?”

“that’s not-” he cut himself off, shaking his head. “it’s not about trust. it’s about... not wanting to depend on someone else for everything. I’ve always handled things alone, and I’m fine with that.”

you could tell from the tension in his shoulders and the avoidance in his gaze that you’d hit a nerve. but his refusal to let you in made your chest ache. he kept pushing you away, forcing you to stand on the outside of his life.

“maybe you are,” you said bitterly. “but that’s not how relationships work, minho. you don’t just pick and choose what parts of yourself you show to the person you’re with. you let them see everything, even the parts you’d rather hide.”

minho’s eyes flared with a mixture of irritation and something else - something deeper. “I never asked you to fix me,” he shot back. “why can’t you just let me be? not everything needs to be dragged out into some emotional therapy session.”

your fists clenched, tears threatening to spill over. “you think this is about fixing you? it’s about wanting to share the good and the bad. about being partners. but you’re so caught up in your own pride, you can’t see that I just... I just want to be close to you.”

the air between you was thick with hurt and misunderstanding. the silence after your words felt like an open wound, raw and stinging.

minho looked at you, his expression unreadable. his eyes searched your face as if trying to piece together something he couldn’t quite grasp. his voice was lower this time, almost strained. “I never wanted to push you away. but you’re acting like I’m supposed to just hand everything over on a silver platter. some things are just... mine to deal with.”

“that’s the problem, minho. you think everything is yours to deal with alone.” the exhaustion seeped into your voice. “but what about us? aren’t we supposed to be a team?”

he opened his mouth to respond, but you couldn’t take it anymore. you were so tired of words, of arguments that never seemed to get anywhere. so you acted on impulse.

you closed the distance between you in a single step and crashed your lips against his. the kiss was desperate, fierce, and trembling with the emotion you couldn’t put into words. your hands clung to his shirt, fingers curling into the fabric as if you could pull him closer, draw him into you where words had failed.

minho’s body went rigid, his breath caught somewhere between his chest and throat. for a moment, he didn’t move, the shock of your action freezing him in place.

but slowly, his hands found your arms, grasping them with a gentleness that contradicted the tension moments before. his lips moved against yours, hesitantly at first, as if testing whether this was real. then, something shifted. his grip tightened, and he returned the kiss with an intensity that left you breathless.

when you finally pulled back, your chest was heaving, your eyes searching his for some sort of sign. but minho only stared at you, wide-eyed and utterly stunned. his lips were slightly parted, his usual sharp tongue rendered speechless.

the silence stretched on, broken only by the relentless beat of the rain against the window. you wondered if you’d gone too far, if you’d ruined everything.

but then minho spoke, his voice raspy and low. “you... that... what the hell was that?”

you managed a weak smile, your fingers still clutching his shirt as if afraid he might slip away. “that was me trying to get you to understand. that I care. and I’m not going anywhere, even when you make it so damn difficult.”

minho’s gaze softened, the tension draining from his posture. “I... I don’t even know what to say.”

“good,” you whispered, your tone half-teasing, half-vulnerable. “maybe that means you’ll actually listen this time.”

his laugh was quiet, a broken thing stitched back together. and when his arms wrapped around you, pulling you into his warmth, you knew that maybe - just maybe - you’d finally gotten through.