Red String | Minsung

다섯

8 days until Han Jisung's birthday

Jisung woke up to twice again, feeling well-rested for a change. He sat up, rubbing his eyes before standing up and dancing to the song as usual. He then shut off his alarm and grabbed his phone. His phone slipped out of his hands, causing it to fall under the bed. "Damn it." Jisung muttered. He crouched down on the floor and felt around under the bed. He felt his hand touch something, but it wasn't his phone.

He grabbed it and brought his hand out and looked at it, squinting. "Are these... seriously my contacts? How the hell did they get here?" Jisung asked no one. He just stared at them, puzzled, before snapping back into reality and reaching around for his phone. He felt another thing, and it still wasn't his phone. He pulled it out to look at it.

He squinted his eyes again. "Is this... a picture of me when I was in kindergarten? How the hell did that get there?" He was even more puzzled than before. He reached under his bed and finally found his phone. He grabbed it and stood up, bringing everything with him to the bathroom.

He put his contacts in, and he could finally see. He looked at the picture again. It was a picture of himself, holding hands that looked like a young... Minho? Jisung threw the picture on the ground, shocked by what he saw. When the hell did this happen? Why was I holding his hand and why was I smiling?? Is that Minho??

Jisung was extremely confused, and it was too much for first thing in the morning. He picked the picture back up, and he left the bathroom. He headed down the stairs instead of getting ready and spotted his mom and dad. "Hey, Jisung sweety. How come you aren't ready yet? You usually get ready once you get up."

Jisung didn't answer but instead walked towards his parents with the picture. "What is this?" Jisung asked. "Oh! Oh my goodness! I forgot about this! Where did you find it?" His mom exclaimed, snatching the picture out of her son's hands. "It was under my bed for some reason. When was this? I seriously don't remember this ever happening." Jisung replied. "Oh, you and this boy were such good friends back then, I wonder what happened to him. What was his name..."

"Minho, right?" Jisung's dad spoke up. Jisung froze. He really hoped it wasn't that prick. "Yes! It was Minho! You and him got along so well, I would've thought you were soulmates!" She giggled. Jisung gagged. "Minho?? As in Lee Minho, right?" He wanted to clarify. "That's right! Do you remember now?"

Jisung shook his head furiously. "Have you heard anything about him lately?" Jisung groaned. "He's in my class." Jisung grumbled. "Why do you seem upset about it?" His mother questioned. Jisung ran his hand through his hair. "We don't exactly get along that well..." Jisung answered vaguely. "Oh no! Why is that?"

"Well, we tend to uh... fight a lot." His mother motioned for him to continue talking. "I don't know, I just find him really annoying. Clearly he finds me annoying too because he likes to piss me off." His mother frowned. "That's too bad. You used to be best friends." Jisung grabbed the picture and looked at it for a while.

"I'm gonna go get ready now." Jisung said as he walked back up the stairs. His parents said nothing as they watched him leave the room.

Jisung went into his room and sat on his bed. We actually used to be friends? I can't imagine that. It doesn't matter anyway; we were very young. But I wonder why we grew apart. Jisung shook his head. He always tends to overthink way too much. He stood up and walked over to his closet. He decided to dress how he normally did because he just didn't feel like getting any unnecessary attention today. After changing, he went to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

He was finally ready, and his father called him down for breakfast. He grabbed his things and headed down the stairs. He could smell the delicious breakfast that his parents had prepared as he walked into the dining room. He sat down in his chair and began to eat. He and his parents talked as they ate, and soon enough it was time for Jisung to head to school. He grabbed his plate and walked into the kitchen. He placed it in the sink and went back into the dining room.

"I'll see you guys later, I gotta get going now." Jisung told them as he grabbed his bag. "Okay, you have a great day at school! And can you say hi to Minho for me?" His mom joked. "Hilarious." Jisung replied. "Jisung, you're forgetting something." His father spoke up. "I am?"

His father stood up, opening his arms wide. Jisung chuckled, hugging his dad. He hugged his mom afterwards and left the house. He walked down the street as he always did and noticed that Felix wasn't out yet. He walked over to the freckled boy's house and knocked on the door. He heard someone run inside the house. Jisung laughed as he knew it was Felix. The said boy opened the door, panting. "I woke up late." Jisung shook his head. "Let's get going before we miss the bus."

The two of them walked to the bus stop, complaining about school. "I'm already done with school, and it's barely just started. I just wish it was still summer." Felix whined. "Tell me about it." Jisung agreed.

Jisung's mind wandered, and he thought about the picture. He reached into his pocket, and there it was. He meant to leave it at home, but he left it in his pocket. "What's that you got there?" Felix piped. Jisung flinched before shoving it back in his pocket. "It's nothing." He blurted. "It's definitely something if you reacted like that." Felix laughed. He brushed it off though, which made Jisung thankful.

They made it to the bus stop, and of course, Minho was there. Jisung avoided the older as usual, but since his discovery that morning, he wanted to avoid him as much as possible. The bus came, and everyone at the bus stop got on. Felix and Jisung sat next to each other as usual.

The bus ride felt quick this time around. The students stood up and got off the bus, walking to the school.

__________________

As Minho was getting off of the bus, he noticed that something had fallen out of Jisung's coat pocket. He was the last off the bus, so he bent down and grabbed it. He walked off the bus, looking at it. He flipped it over, curious about what it could be. It was a photo. He was almost inside the school until he got a better look at the image and stopped in his tracks. It was a picture of himself. Why does that prick have a picture of me from kindergarten? Minho saw that part of the picture was covered with dirt. He brushed it off and nearly dropped the picture because of what he saw. His eyes widened. He was holding hands with... Jisung.