ＴＨＥ ＯＴＨＥＲ ＯＮＥ

18

"and her smell that reminded him of the jasmine tea she always drinks was so light and touching, that he could smell it everywhere he went."
minho read out loud.
"so cheesy."
he whispered, before turning the page.

it has been a few days since the family dinner.
he and junho managed to go on another date in the meantime.
but for some reason, junho was acting a bit distant yesterday.
he looked down, and a bit...uncomfortable?
it was so off.

•~•

jisung and minho walked past a tree.
as they did so, minho jumped slightly and plucked out a leaf, smiling to himself as he started ripping it in a careful way, so only the veins would end up being there.

"don't you feel guilty?"
jisung asked.

"for what?"
minho furrowed his eyebrows.

"the leaf."
jisung said.
"what if what you're doing right now will hurt...the tree?"

"I'm pretty sure one leaf won't hurt it."
minho said, looking jisung up and down.
"but...are you okay?"

"what?"
jisung looked up at him in surprise.

"you're acting a bit weird today. you're really distant. did something happen at home? or did I do something wrong at the dinner?"

"no, no."
jisung immediately shook his head.
"it's not that."

"then what happened? you're not your usual bubbly self. are you getting sick of me and the dates?"

"no, of course not."
jisung said.
"I just...have a lot on my mind right now. I'm gonna be okay."

"are you sure you don't want to cut our date short? get home, drink some tea and stay calm?"
minho asked.

"I'm okay, really."
jisung said.
"let's go to the bookstore we wanted to go."

"or how about we went to a café and bought you jasmine tea to calm down?"
minho suggested.

"I mean, we could do both."
jisung smiled slightly.
the first time he smiled on this date.

•~•

minho sighed, putting his book down.
he couldn't stop thinking about the date yesterday.

he knows that junho sometimes acts differently, and has a completely different vibe, but this was new. when minho looked into junho's eyes, he could read the emotions.

regret, guilt, sadness.

and even tho he asked about it many, many times  troughout the date, junho always said that what he was feeling wasn't minho's fault, only his.

but minho couldn't really stop thinking that maybe, just maybe, he actually did something wrong, and junho just didn't want to admit it to not make him upset.

"what the fuck am I supposed to do now?"
minho whispered to himself, his head falling back.

that's when someone knocked on his door.

"come in!"
minho sat up.

the door opened, revealing his mom.
"hi."

"hi. do you need something?"
minho asked.

"no, not really, I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow you're going on another date with junho."
mrs. lee smiled.
"aren't you excited?"

"tomorrow? but we were on a date yesterday."
minho said.

mrs. lee furrowed her eyebrows.
"I thought you liked spending time with him, what's the problem?"

"nothing, it's just that..."
minho sighed.
"...I don't want him to get sick of me."

"minho, mrs. han told me that junho has a big and honest mouth. if he didn't want to spend time with you, he would let it know, so stop thinking about it."
mrs. lee said.

"okay."
minho looked down.

mrs. lee smiled.
"come down, dinner is ready."

•~•

"how long do you want to keep this up?"
jisung asked, looking at his brother, who was just getting ready to go on a party.

"as long as necessary."
junho said.
"after mom and dad decide to give me the group, there won't be any more reasons to keep lee minho around."

"but...that could be such a long time."
jisung blinked.

"not really. after we finish school."
junho said, turning around and facing jisung.
"so two to three years at most."

"t-three years?! are you shitting me right now?"
jisung was shocked.
"and you aren't planning to tell him?"

"why would I? everything is going so well, why would I want to ruin it?"
junho chuckled.

"I didn't sign up for this junho."
jisung stood up from junho's bed.
"I agreed to go on one single date. I'm not going to be a part of this for another three years."

"you will."
junho said, turning around again, looking at himself in the mirror.

"no, I-"

"jisung, you're an absolute sweetheart, and that's something that's going to bring you down eventually."
junho said, adjusting his hair slightly.
"you're not gonna stop, because you don't want me to get in trouble."

"I'm not gonna let you use me."
jisung said.
"I'm gonna tell minho the truth tomorrow."

"if you do that, you will be bringing both you and me down."
junho said, turning around to face jisung, walking to him with small dramatic steps.
"if mom and dad find out what we're doing, their only focus will be that you, the lesser twin, agreed to this in the first place."

jisung stood still, anger filling up his entire being.
because junho was right.

"they're going to be super mad about the fact that you sabotaged my relationship with minho, and ruined something that could have been beautiful."
junho said, now standing a few inches from jisung.
"I won't get off easy as well, they won't trust me with the group, and we can say bye bye to a life full of luxuries. we will probably get disowned, and live on the streets. do you want that?"

jisung stayed silent.

"if you do end up telling minho about all of this, I want you to know that all of the things that will follow will be your fault."
junho said, his voice cold.

"you're such an asshole."
jisung said.
"I can't believe you're my brother."

"I'm just trying to protect you jisung."
junho said.
"we both know im the favorite twin. you're gonna suffer more then me, and i don't want that."

a silence fell on top of them.