alone | minsung

LXXXVIII

"Jisung! Minho's here!"

"I'm coming!" Jisung yells back to his dad, his hand looping through the strap on his rucksack to hoist it onto his shoulder. His shoelaces lay limply on the floor, but he doesn't bother doing them up as he runs down the stairs, meeting his dad in the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"How are you feeling bud?"

Jisung pauses mid way through his pancake. "Uhh, nervous. I haven't been to school in a while."

His dad smiles, and walks around the counter to straighten his son's tie. "If you need anything, or you want to come home, you call me, okay?" Jisung nods. "Alright, he's outside." Dongwook gives Jisung's hair one last ruffle before he goes to the front door, complaining the whole way about him messing his hair up. Dongwook chuckles, watching his son fondly as Jisung gives him one last wave before the door shuts behind him.

Jisung runs down the steps to meet Minho, who is stood against his car. "I haven't seen that jacket in a while." He points to said leather jacket, which Minho is wearing over his uniform along with the beanie that he normally doesn't go a day without.

"I thought now would be a good time to bring it back." Minho replies, leaning around Jisung to open the passenger door for him, "You ready?"

Jisung shrugs, "As I'll ever be, I guess." He slides in, buckling his seat belt across his body as Minho jogs round to the other side of the car and gets in too, immediately starting up the engine ready to drive off.

"Shit, hang on!" Jisung suddenly gasps, "Forgot my phone!" In the blink of an eye, Jisung has left the car again, and is sprinting back up to his porch.

Minho calls out behind him, "How the fuck did you forget your phone?"

Luckily, Jisung had only left his phone in the kitchen, so he doesn't have to run all the way back upstairs to get it. He throws a quick smile and a "Love you!" towards his dad, before rejoining Minho.

"Can I leave now? We're going to be late," Minho huffs with a glance to the clock on the dashboard. Jisung nods and sits back in his seat.

Minho was exaggerating - of course - and they get to school still with eight minutes to the bell. Jisung looks around at all of the students hovering by the gates and instinctively takes a step closer to Minho, who wraps an arm round his shoulder.

The two of them walk through, and Jisung feels like everyone's eyes are on them. He knows it's irrational - and that barely anyone is actually paying attention to him and Minho. But there's still a few people, watching them curiously and whispering to their friends.

"What have you got first?" Minho asks him, breaking Jisung's anxiety-riddled train of thought.

"Maths with Mr Moon," Jisung replies quietly as they pass his old group of friends. A couple of them notice him, but only spare him a few seconds before ignoring him again. Surprisingly, Jisung realises he's okay with that.

Minho follows his eyes and frowns. "Can we stop at my locker? I need to get my sports kit."

"You've got P.E first? That's rough," Jisung laughs to himself, "I've never had it first - or last."

Rolling his eyes, Minho shoves Jisung away from him, "Yeah, well some of us aren't as lucky as you."

They arrive at Minho's locker, where Jisung leans against the ones next to him as he waits for Minho to get his things. "You've got history before lunch, right?" Minho nods in confirmation, "I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs. We've got chemistry together last period." They start walking again, passing by some teachers, who give them quick glances as they pass. Both of them groan.

"God, I didn't think about all of the questions we're gonna get asked today," Minho says. "'Where have you been?' 'Are you okay?' 'Do you realise how much work you've missed?' 'This is going to affect your grades and ruin the rest of your life!" He imitates their teachers with a shrilling high pitched voice, and Jisung can't help but burst into laughter.

Minho watches Jisung laugh for a second, his face stretching into a warm smile. Jisung's smile is so contagious, and Minho's glad that it's coming back more often now. He sighs, and grabs Jisung's hand, swinging it between them as they walk. Above them, the bell rings, and they speed up their pace automatically, not wanting to get caught in the corridors when they're full of students rushing to classes.

They arrive at Jisung's maths room, where some people are already inside. Minho leans against the wall.

Jisung spins back to look at him, "I'll see you at lunch?" Minho doesn't reply, just catches Jisung's wrist before the younger can enter his classroom. Minho tugs him away from the door and stands up straight.

Before Jisung can ask what he's doing, Minho pulls his beanie off of his head and places it over Jisung's freshly bleached hair. "There you go," Minho says, crossing his arms with a smug-looking expression on his face as Jisung hesitantly readjusts it on his head.

"What was that for?"

"So you don't miss me too much."

Jisung scoffs, lifting his hand to whack Minho on the arm, "Honestly. Go away!" He laughs though, and continues to laugh as Minho suddenly hears the final bell ringing, and his face morphs to one of alarm and he sprints off, disappearing seconds later amongst the throng of people.

Jisung watches after him, the smile lingering on his face and he reaches up to touch the beanie on his head, unable to help the way his cheeks abruptly heat up. Shaking it off, he turns on his heel and walks into his classroom. He takes his seat at the back, and tries not to dwell too much about how the day will go.

How would you feel? About a sequel? (Kind of a sequel but also not a sequel) about Hyunjin?