from zero » hyungwonho

xv

"Is this seat taken?"

Minhyuk looked up at the person speaking to him with a sorrowful look on his face, eyes still red from crying. Hoseok smiled down at him reassuringly before Minhyuk shook his head, and Hoseok took that as his cue to sit down.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Hoseok lightly bent his legs and let the see-saw rock up and down, and he smiled wider when he noticed the tell-tale signs of a smile crossing Minhyuk's lips.

The two continued like that for a bit before Minhyuk spoke up.

"I-"

"Don't you dare apologise, Lee Minhyuk," Hoseok immediately cut him off softly yet sternly. "If anything, I should be the one apologising. I'm sorry for such an oblivious jerk towards you and your feelings. I really should've noticed since you are my best friend, but I guess that just makes me a crappy best friend, doesn't it?"

"You were happy with Hyungwon," Minhyuk croaked, clearing his throat before continuing. "I didn't want to ruin your happiness by telling you and making you feel bad."

"Minhyuk," Hoseok began. "It doesn't matter if it would have made me feel bad. Best friends should be honest with each other. If you had told me, I would've dialed it down on the PDA with Hyungwon when you were around, or I would have avoided clashing schedules with the two of you. I want to see you happy as well, and knowing you weren't happy for over three years because of my ignorance just makes me feel even worse."

"I'm happy whenever you're happy, really," Minhyuk shrugged. "My life revolved around you, so of course seeing you happy made me happy. I was willing to ignore my own feelings if it meant you would continue being your bright, happy self and I could continue being your wingman."

"Jeez, dude. What did I ever do to deserve a best friend like you?" Hoseok sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair and Minhyuk let out a silent chuckle.

"Kihyun said you would blame yourself," he commented, and Hoseok chuckled.

"Mother knows best," he joked, and this time Minhyuk actually laughed. It wasn't much but it was better than silence.

"I guess I was just grateful to have you by my side, regardless of the circumstances," Minhyuk confessed, looking down at his hands. "And when Hyungwon came back I felt as if he was taking you from my side. I thought 'what right does he have to come back here like nothing happened?'."

"That's understandable," Hoseok nodded. "But no one would ever be able to replace you, Minhyuk. No one. Hyungwon left for college because his parents pressured him into it and he never told me because he didn't want me strung up waiting for him. He actually wanted me to move on, but neither of us did."

"Really?" Minhyuk asked quietly, looking up at Hoseok.

"Yep," Hoseok answered with a small smile. "He never wanted to leave but he was thinking about me when he decided not to tell me he would be coming back. But I can understand why you didn't like him."

"God," Minhyuk sighed, rubbing his temples. "I promise I'm not like this. I'm not the horrible jealous type, I was just...really angry with him for leaving you."

"It's ok, dude, I understand," Hoseok reassured. "He had his reasons and so did you. It was just a misunderstanding."

There was silence for a minute before Hoseok chuckled and Minhyuk looked up at him. "What?"

"Hyungwon thinks you hate him," Hoseok smiled and Minhyuk let out an agitated groan.

"He probably thinks I'm some jealous ex," Minhyuk deadpanned, and Hoseok laughed.

"I'm sure if you talked things through, he would definitely understand. He never holds grudges against anyone," Hoseok assured and Minhyuk scoffed.

"I wish I could say the same," he replied before looking up at Hoseok again. "Hey, do you hate me now?"

"I could never hate you - you're my best friend, my bro, my right-hand man," Hoseok shook his head. "Hating you would be like hating my mum."

Minhyuk laughed at that. A proper laugh this time.

"If there's anyone I hate, it's me for being such a douche," Hoseok admitted and Minhyuk clicked his tongue.

"Yah, stop with that!" He exclaimed, and Hoseok's smile grew.

The older of the two got up from his seat on the see saw, causing Minhyuk's seat to drop as he walked over to his best friend and held out his arms.

"What?" Minhyuk eyed Hoseok up and down in mock disgust.

"Give me a hug," Hoseok simply said, and Minhyuk hesitated before standing up.

He stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Hoseok suddenly attacked him in a hug, hugging his best friend so tightly he could feel the muscles in his arms bulging. Minhyuk felt the tears welling in his eyes as he hugged Hoseok back, just as tight, and he let himself cry silently into the crook of Hoseok's shoulder.

Hugging Hoseok like this brought back a sense of nostalgia for both boys, despite the last time they hugged like this being the other way around, with Hoseok crying and Minhyuk reassuring.

But nevertheless, they were sure it would be a moment the both of them would never forget.

~*~

i'm sorry for breaking our baby boy minhyuk but it's ok now :)