sorry | lee minho

butterscotch

i fiddled with the strings of my hoodie. it was pretty cold out and the term break had already started. i was supposed to meet sejeong, chan and minho at the train station but as always, i was the first one to arrive.

"i'll get myself some coffee i guess" i stood up from the bench i was sitting on made my way to the cafe nearby. it was cute and had chill vibes.

"welcome! what would you like to order?" the barista politely asked.

"and iced latte please." i replied. "with extra creamer" i added and paid the barista. 

she handed me the cup of coffee and i walked out the cafe. i went to the bench i was sitting on previously and to my surprise i saw minho seated, scrolling through his phone. 

"hey." i took a seat beside him and he turned to look at me. "you're late" his reply made me scoff. "bruh. i was here fifteen minutes ago. i just went to the cafe to get myself a drink" i rolled my eyes taking a sip of my coffee.

minho just continued to ignore me. "eesh. he can be caring at times but a total asshole at the same time" i muttered to myself and shook my head. "i heard that" minho said, eyes not leaving his screen"

my cheeks turned a tinted pink and continued to drink my coffee awkwardly. after that, we just sat there in silence. it was a comfortable silence though. with minho scrolling through his phoned and me sipping my coffee.

"sorry we're late!" both sejeong and chan came running to our direction.

"apology not accepted" minho kept his phone in his pocket and looked up annoyingly at his friend. "plus why did the both of you come at the same time?" he asked eyeing the both of them suspiciously. i nodded my head as i was wondering that too.

"well, we were both running and bumped into each other on the way here. at least i know i'm not the one thats always late" chan smiled at sejeong and her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. pfft this girl. could she be any more obvious.

"oh. by the way, i passed by the library just now and it was closed" sejeong said placing her bag on the bench to take a breather since she did run.

"we can go to one of our houses then" i suggested and chan and sejeong immediately shook their heads. i would have suggested mine but then i remembered mom would be at home sulking. 

"to minho's it is!" chan said enthusiastically swinging his arm around minho's neck while minho just rolled his eyes. sejeong and i chuckled at their actions as we made our way to minho's house.

___

we arrived at the doorstep on minho's house and sejeong and chan gasped at how beautiful it looked. since, i saw it almost every day, it didnt really 'wow' me anymore.

"the houses here are huge omg. the one beside minho's is equally as beautiful" sejeong pointed at my house. "oh that's where i live" i casually said and followed minho into his house.

the both of them gasped and ran after us. "the both of you are neighbours? oh wait yea, you did mention it before" sejeong sheepishly smiled as she placed her bag on the sofa. 

" i feel cheated. minho how did you not tell me you were neighbours" chan pretended to be all dramatic. minho ignored his question and went to take his laptop. sejeong and chan being the busybodies they were decided to look around the house. 

i noticed that the picture of minho, and presumably his parents, was missing from the coffee table. a pang of guilt hit me as i remembered his sad eyes that night. just then minho came into the living room with his laptop and we all gathered to discuss about the project.

after an hour, we took a break and i went to the kitchen to get a bag of potato chips. "this is literally the most boring assignment ive ever had to work on. can we ditch it" i can hear chan complain and smiled. he sounds just like sejeong whenever she whines.

i place the potato chips on the table and sat back down beside sejeong. chan looked around the house and raised an eyebrow.

"yo minho, by the way, where are your parents?" he asked and i immediately turn my head to face him. minho stiffened but it was subtle enough that sejeong and chan didn't realise it.

"they're not here" minho casually replied still editing our slides for the project.

"ah they're at work i presume?" chan continued to ask. 

"no. they died when i was seven" minho looked up.