from zero » hyungwonho

ix

"Talk to me, dude," Kihyun urged softly to Minhyuk, who was sitting at his desk with his head laying in his arms. "We never hang out with just the two of us so something must be wrong."

Minhyuk hesitated before lifting his head out of his arms and looking at Kihyun tiredly, who smiled sweetly at him in return.

"Do you ever just feel like a side character in somebody else's story?" He asked quietly, laying his head sideways on his arm so he was still looking at Kihyun, yet still laying down.

Kihyun scrunched his eyes into a squint like he always did when he was thinking.

"Hmm, no. I can't say I have," he answered before ducking his head down to look at Minhyuk's face. He had never seen the energetic boy look so defeated in all his life. "Is this about Hoseok?"

Minhyuk nodded, not trusting his voice to convey his emotions, as he would probably start crying. And when Kihyun leaned over to rub his back in circles, he did start crying.

"I feel like he's just shoved his hand into my chest and ripped my heart out," he sobbed, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as more tears streamed down his face. His voice was muffled slightly by his arm but Kihyun still understood him.

Kihyun let Minhyuk cry for a few minutes, waiting for him to calm down before giving him his well renowned advice.

"There's still hope, Min," he reassured softly. "Hoseok isn't back together with Hyungwon yet, and maybe he will never be."

"Hoseok's mad about him!" Minhyuk exclaimed, still sobbing but not as hard as before. "There's no way he would turn Hyungwon down if he asked him out again. There'll never be hope for me."

Kihyun bit his lip in though, hand still working circles into Minhyuk's back.

"It hurts so bad, Kihyun," he sobbed, chest heaving with heavy breaths. "He's all I've ever wanted and seeing him fall for someone else - someone who broke his heart before - just makes me feel so worthless and pathetic.

"When did I stoop this low? Falling for someone I know I'll never have a chance with? Why did I have to become the anchor in his relationship with Hyungwon? Why couldn't it have been the other way around? At least then Hyungwon would know how I feel and not just him!"

To say Kihyun was surprised was an understatement. He'd never seen Minhyuk this distraught in all his fifteen years of knowing him, and everything was slowly starting to fall into place.

Lee Minhyuk. The renowned sunshine of their friendship group, was crumbling to pieces because of a love he possessed for someone else. It was heartbreaking to say the least.

"I really thought it would happen when Hyungwon left," he continued, and Kihyun nodded his understanding. "I actually thought I stood a chance. I thought 'this is it'. But it wasn't. Those six weeks between the last summer of high school to college, all Hoseok would do was cry and talk about Hyungwon and I knew he still loved him and would always love him.

"I wanted to scream 'look at me for goodness sake! I'm right here! I love you!' but he was oblivious to every little thing I did. What does Hyungwon have that I don't, Kihyun? Please tell me."

Minhyuk had started crying again, and Kihyun felt so useless.

"I don't know, Minhyuk," he answered honestly, sorrowfully. "But I do know this. If you were meant to be a side character in Hoseok's story, then you're by far the brightest, most likable, most influential side character to have ever existed in anyone's story."

Minhyuk raised his head from his arms slowly, dry tears staining his cheeks and fresh ones filling his eyes as he watched Kihyun in admiration.

"I get that this sucks, I really do, Min, but you're a strong person, and this is just another obstacle that will make you stronger in the long run. You're the best friend a guy could ever have, and Hoseok is lucky to have you as his best friend. And while he may be oblivious, you and I both know he's not doing this on purpose in any way, shape or form.

"He may be good at reading people, but situations - not so much. But that doesn't mean that he'll completely abandon you and your feelings if he were to find out. I'm not saying he'll love you back but he definitely won't hate you. He of all people knows what it's like to fall in love, and hard and that. But, for now, all you can really do is just be happy for him.

"He's been miserable for a while and you've always been the one who's lifted him up when he's down. I think we can both agree that Hoseok deserves happiness more than anyone else, and if this is making him happy, then that should be enough for everyone. I'm sorry if I sound too harsh."

"No," Minhyuk reassured, sitting up straight and rubbing at his eyes furiously. "No, you weren't being harsh. I understand now, Kihyun."

"Good," Kihyun smiled. "You don't have to tell him how you feel but if all this gets too much for you then you'll have to. Best friends are supposed to be honest with each other, and I have a feeling Hoseok would take the blame if he found out you beat yourself up this much over a crush on him."

Minhyuk smiled as Kihyun landed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks, Kihyun," he sniffled, wiping away the remaining tears in his eyes. "Really. I owe you."

"Don't be silly, no you don't," Kihyun scoffed, standing up from Minhyuk's bed. "Just remember that you two can never hate each other. If you need to take a break from him, that's fine. But just tell him before you do anything rash. Don't put him through the pain of having to wait for an explanation again."

Minhyuk shook his head so fast, his blonde locks whipped around his head as he did so. "I would never."

~*~

who would you guys like to see get together? hyungwon and wonho or minhyuk and wonho? it won't change the events of the story since i've already planned the whole thing out but i just really want to hear what you guys think :)