YOURS SINCERELY • newtmas au

37 | Newt

Dearest Tommy,

I'm writing this to you as I eat breakfast, and I have decided that today will be the day I apologize to Minho. You're right. Friends are weird. I can't seem to hate that slinthead. (Even if it was an asshole move to make a scene in front of the whole school).

Since you'll probably never meet him, let me tell you a little about Minho.

We grew up together, so I know everything about him. I know about how his dad left then when he was 3 (he showed me the dent he left on their garage's metal door) and I know about how he had to live with his grandparents because his mom was too unstable to take care of him. I know about how he's was a reckless asshole, even as a kid. I know how lonely Minho is, deep inside, despite being one of the smartest and best people in school, because his entire life he had to stand up for himsel because no one's ever stood up for him.

We were both 6 when I came into his life. I met him at daycare and he was always alone and I was always alone so the logical thing for two lonely people to do was to meet, and ever since then we've been inseperable.

Although I wasn't the kind of person to stand up for him (it was the other way around, to be honest), I was always there for him whenever he needed someone to put a bandage on his knee whenever he scraped it.

In middle school, we started meeting other people. It was great. It was better, even, because we knew there was no reason to be nervous. If other people didn't like us, at least we still had each other.

When we entered highschool, however, things took a turning point. Even as kids I knew something wrong was Minho. He was short-tempered and reckless. He always got into fights. I had managed to cage him just a bit ever since we met, but I knew that he'd explode eventually.

Sure enough, sophomore year, he broke a teacher's neck. I wasn't there in class thay day because I had the flu. That teacher had apparently talked shit about him in front of the entire class, and Minho didn't like being degraded and being treated like shit, so he went and made use of twelve years of Jūdo training and knocked him unconcious with a twist.

Of course, that didn't sit well with the school board. They were threatening to kick him out, and Minho was so broken and so alone at that time because he wants to go to college and become a pilot and because everyone's seen him do it and they all thought he was a monster.

I don't think I've ever seen Minho be so self-destructive as he did that time. While the government was still thinking of what to do with a trouble child like him (he'd been afraid that they'd sign him up in the army), Minho's grades were falling, he was getting into more petty skirmishes, he's been staying up late drinking who knows what and in the morning when he's wide awake I know he's just been introduced to the wonder of drugs. As his best friend, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do when he would have these bad days, when he would punch me in the arm, when he wouldn't want me around, when he pointed a bloody knife at me and threatened to kill me. I felt like such a had friend back then. My best and only friend was on his way to hell and I wasn't doing anything.

I just did the best I could, though. I stuck with him. I stuck with him when he had bad days, I stuck with him when he would punch me in the arm, I stuck with him when he'd stay out all night drinking, I stuck with him when he cried on my shoulder in the middle of an alley in 3 am in the morning, I stuck with him even when he drunkenly kissed me and told me that he loved me and although I didn't feel the same, I made it clear that I would never, ever, ever let him stand alone again. And that was enough, I guess.

Minho didn't get kicked out. The teacher was at fault, too, and what he did was just some sort of self-defense. And after that our lives sort of went back to normal.

Up until now Minho can't seem to stop joking about the time he kissed me. He thinks it's hilarious. I'd think it's hilarious, too, if only his eyes didn't show so much emotion and so much pain and lonliness. I haven't said anything serious about that incident, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Anyway, I think I've said enough. A lot of people misunderstand my best friend, and although Minho's not really a 100% good guy, I'd still stand by him, because the only people we have is each other.

Yours sincerely,
Newt

PS. I think giving each other our addresses is a genius idea. Let's start with yours.

a/n: everyone in this shucking series is so problematic jfc it makes me want to hug them uwu i'll be posting the CONTEST mechanics in a short while!