Strawberry Milk - Jeonglix

31

The sun was setting in the sky, painting the skatepark an array of orange and pink as Felix and Jeongin sat on the bench. Jeongin was in his Sunday best. Both of them had their usual milk cartons in their hands, looking across the road as the tree branches swayed in the breeze and the birds flew across the twilight. Most people had cleared away from the area, leaving only Felix and Jeongin in the skatepark with a group of loud, yelling teenagers in the park.

"So, your foster parents really didn't notice you were gone all night?" Felix asked.

"No," Jeongin shook his head, noticeably dim but Felix wanted to change that.

"Well, you know what this means," he said, grin spreading across his lips, "we can have as many sleepovers as we want!"

A chuckle escaped Jeongin's lips, "I think they'd catch on eventually...or Seungmin would anyway."

"Yeah, true..." Felix nodded, taking a sip of his chocolate milk. A comfortable silence formed between them, the only thing interrupting being the persistent shouts of the teenagers slightly younger than themselves.

After a while, Jeongin said, "I have one more idea...to get my memories back, I mean. If that fails I'll give up, but I need your help."

"Of course, what is it?"

"I'm not allowed the internet so I can't do it myself, but I was wondering if you could look up my parents? I know it's a stretch but maybe there's something about them online? I don't know..."

"It's worth a try," Felix said, "I'll do it as soon as I get home."

Jeongin smiled, leaning forward to press a quick peck to Felix's cheek. "Thank you. I better head home now though," he said, throwing his milk carton into the bin beside him.

"Can I walk you home?" Felix asked and Jeongin's smile grew.

"I'd like that, thank you."

🍓🍓🍓

Minho said he'd talk to Hyunjin in the morning, but he'd subtly been avoiding him all day. He didn't think Hyunjin remembered what he'd said. He hadn't brought it up when they passed by each other and when he did say something, it was about not remembering how he ended up in bed. His confession had likely been erased from his mind, but it was engraved in Minho's. Minho couldn't decide how he felt. He put most of his words down to drunken ramblings...but he seemed so upset.

Minho had been sitting on the living room's sofa for at least an hour, staring blankly at the TV when someone spoke behind him.

"Do you want to go out with me?"

It was Hyunjin. Minho whirled around at the speed of light.

"Go out with you? What, why would I go out with you!?"

Hyunjin's expressions dimmed at the sudden snappiness. "I-I don't know, I just thought you'd maybe walk to the shop with me. It's fine, doesn't matter..." Hyunjin trailed off, starting to make his way upstairs until Minho leaned over the back of the sofa and grabbed his wrist.

"No, sorry, I misunderstood you," Minho said, offering Hyunjin a small smile that made his face light up again, "yeah, I'll go with you."

Minho let go of Hyunjin's wrist and followed him towards their front door. It was getting dark outside, one of the main reasons Hyunjin asked Minho to walk with him. As Hyunjin finished tying his shoelaces, the front door opened and Chan walked inside, having finished work for the evening.

"Oh, hey," he said, smiling at Hyunjin but not so much at Minho. "Where are you going?"

"Shop," Minho replied bluntly, "I'd ask if you want anything but you didn't get me what I asked for last time so..." he shrugged, "I guess I won't."