Stars Under Spotlights (ChanLix)

1. Sub Rosa

Credits began rolling and arms untangled themselves from awkward positions that neither one had had the heart to adjust, the two friends knowing they'd have to say goodbye after postponing it for so long. It was undoubtably a day which had made the pair content, despite how simple it'd been. Once the friendly mess returned to the neatness of two bodies, the movie's ending music silenced itself, and no voice replaced its sound for a short while. It was Minho who spoke first, turning to the raven-haired boy.
"It's going to be dark very soon, I think it'd be best for me to go now."
His reply was more physical than verbal, but a nod signified his agreement, his heavy body shifting and releasing the couch from his weight as he trudged over to the front door, opening it politely. Something inside him told him to lean in during their final goodbyes, but he ignored the voice and restrained himself from doing so.
Once the door had shut, he returned to the sofa, this time alone, staring at a blank screen for an unconfirmed amount of time before giving in to his boredom and reaching out for his phone. Rather than landing on a slim, black phone, his hand picked up one masked in a white case with a delicate black and silver charm hanging from the ring attached to it. He had ahold of Minho's phone.
By chance, he'd swiped and unlocked the phone while picking it up, which surprised him. Minho didn't seem like the kind of person who'd leave his phone unprotected. His curiosity peaked as a message pinged from the phone.

Hwang Hyunjin: I'm excited to see you soon! I'm happy that I've finally moved into Seoul with my boyfriend.

Changbin smiled at the message, but ignored it. He decided to take a look into his gallery instead, scrolling through his photos. Surprisingly, only 300 photos were stored on his phone, so it didn't take long for Changbin to come across something he disliked.

Had it been just the one, he perhaps would've thought nothing of it, but the next photo showed Minho kissing Chan's cheek, to which brought the Aussie a wide smile. Flicking through, more coupley photos were discovered, and each one shattered Changbin's heart. He knew they were no longer together, but why would Minho keep these? Tears welled up in his eyes as he reached the end of the gallery, falling only once he'd placed the phone down next to him.
"He's still in love with Chan, isn't he?"

The next day came along as harsh as the words spitting from their mouths, each one trying desperately to silence the other.
"If you truly don't love him, why do you keep these photos?"
"Can I not reflect back? Why is it any of your business anyway? You're not my boyfriend so quit acting like it! You shouldn't have gone through my phone, it's an invasion of privacy!"
That silenced Changbin. No, he wasn't his boyfriend, so he shouldn't care.
"You're right, I'm not. Why should I care if you keep or delete them?"
"You need to stop Changbin! You're being possessive when we're nothing to each other. We're not in a relationship so who cares if I have photos with an ex? Chan is still a close friend to me, so maybe I want to keep them because we rarely get to see each other these days and I want memories of him, did you ever think of that? You should start acting with your head too, not just your short-tempered heart. Perhaps confess your love in a kinder way and you might actually land yourself a boyfriend."
"Get out."
"Gladly."

A door slammed.

I'm so happy to finally start the Sub Rosa era! I must ask one thing though, PLEASE do not be a ghost era. I prefer spam over nothing, I look forward to seeing your comments and interactions as it helps both the book and me to grow, it also makes me very happy to see your feedback, I've missed receiving it over my break so it hurt when I returned with so much content yet received no interaction. Please communicate with me! Thank you! -9RACHA