𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖 || 𝟚𝕞𝕚𝕟

35 | Change

The room was thick with silence. Neither Minho nor Hyunjin spoke.

Hyunjin just hesitantly hovered near the door before Jeongin pulled him over towards the couch.

Minho's fingers are curled tightly into Seungmin's sleeve, his grip borderline desperate. He didn't even realize it until Seungmin gently squeezed back, grounding him. Minho couldn't look up, couldn't meet Hyunjin's eyes.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, wanted to speak, his mouth opened once, twice, but the words died before they even formed. His gaze flickered toward Seungmin, who was watching him carefully, and guilt twisted in his stomach like a knife . He swallowed and looked away.

Chan sighed dramatically. "Alright, are you two gonna stare at the floor all day, or...?"

No response.

"Okay seriously, this is getting ridiculous. What, are we in some kind of silent movie now?"

Still, silence.

Chan groaned, flopping onto the couch. "Okay, how about we start easy?" He looked pointedly at Hyunjin. "You say 'hi' to Minho, and Minho, you say 'hi' back. Sounds good?"

Minho shifted uncomfortably. Hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck.

Jeongin sighed, raising his hands. "Hi?"

Chan burst into laughter. "Thank you, Innie! Finally someone with social skills."

Jeongin grinned, nudging Hyunjin. "Dude, just say hi."

Hyunjin hesitated. Then, quietly, barely above a whisper—"...Hi."

Minho's grip tightened for a second before he forced himself to loosen it. His voice was smaller than he'd like when he responded, "...Hi."

Seungmin and Jeongin exchanged glances. That was something, at least.

Chan clapped his hands together. "There we go! Progress! Who knew saying two letters could be so hard?"

Seungmin huffed a quiet laugh, barely there but real. The tension in the air started to loosen, even if it was just a little.

The moment Hyunjin and Minho's awkward conversation ended, Seungmin's phone buzzed with a couple of messages followed by an incoming call on Hyunjin's phone. Hyunjin glanced at the screen, his brows furrowing as he saw it was his mom's call.

As soon as he pressed the button, his mom's frantic voice blared from the other end.

"Hyunjin! How did you not come home from school yet? And is Seungmin with you?? I looked for him everywhere—"

 He bit his lip, trying to calm his mom down.

"Eomma, eomma relax, it's okay." Hyunjin spoke softly into the phone, his voice low enough to try and ease her panic. He looked at Seungmin, offering him a small reassuring smile. "Seung is with me."

A brief pause. Then, his mom's voice softened slightly but was still full of concern.

"Is he okay?"

Hyunjin's eyes met Seungmin's, and he gave a quick nod. "Yeah, he's okay."

A sigh was heard from the other end, but then, a familiar scolding came through the phone, louder than before.

"Oh my god, Hyunjin! You could at least tell me before taking him out with you! Do you have any idea how much I was freaking out?! You both better come home right now!"

Hyunjin held the phone away from his ear, grimacing as the shouting reached the others. Chan looked at Hyunjin with an amused grin, while Jeongin suppressed a laugh. Seungmin felt embarrassed, his face heating up at his mom's volume.