Strictly Business / Minsung

five -

The next day in Minho's house was so bad the only thing Minho could liken it to was hell itself. In actuality, the incident that had caused his father's anger didn't seem like that big of a deal. Sure, Minho could understand his father's frustration but the deal he had lost out on was hardly a big one. In fact, Minho's father had streets of deals lined up for his company and all he had to do to secure them was to sign his name however, ever since the dinner, he had only seemed bothered about this particular one.

It was evident enough why, the deal had been lost to the Han's. Minho almost scoffed aloud just thinking about it. Of course, this didn't justify his father's actions, Mr Lee was nothing if not highly dramatic. He had just finished placing a maid on disciplinary for incorrectly positioning the cutlery when Minho called Jisung to rant.

"He's being ridiculous," Minho complained down the phone to Jisung who was completely empathetic considering he'd been in the same situation himself just a few days before.

It had been almost a week since they visited the dessert shop with Ryujin and to say that things had changed for both of them since then would be an understatement. They called each other every night simply to complain about their respective father's. The fact that they had father's who cared little for them seemed to be just another addition to their infinitely long list of things in common.

"I know," the younger spoke solemnly, "my dad gave me this big lecture about how gross your family are."

Minho giggled lightly, "I feel like my dad will end up lecturing me too."

The second he spoke, he heard his dad calling for him from down the hallway, "I can hear him down the phone," Jisung commented, "I think you jinxed it."

"I really don't wanna go and talk to him," Minho whined and Jisung just laughed.

"Just don't listen to him when he tells you I'm the devil in his human form," the younger joked.

"Don't worry, I'm 99% sure that he's the one who's actually the devil in human form."

After Minho spoke, the two boys bid their farewells and the older boy rolled his eyes before walking towards his father's office. He pushed the door open gently and shut it behind him before his father spoke in a sour tone, "nice of you to finally join me."

"I was talking to a friend," Minho said cooly and his father chuckled softly.

"A friend?" he asked in cold disbelief, "since when have you had friends to talk to?"

The Lee heir was barely surprised by his father's cool words and he quickly formulated a lie, "I was talking to Ryujin," he replied flatly.

"A girl?"

"The daughter of Mr Shin who you asked me to dance with."

"That's the first good news I've had today," the man spoke and Minho internally smirked. Usually he wouldn't have lied but he really couldn't be bothered with his father's wrath today so instead he decided he could afford to lie just once.

"I've got something more important I need to ask you about today," his father continued speaking which knocked Minho from his smug state.

"And what is that?" he asked.

Mr Lee only scowled at the interruption before continuing, "I noticed you speaking to Han Jisung a lot at the dinner recently, I want to know the details of your conversation and what deals you spoke of."

"Deals?" Minho asked baffled, "we didn't talk about deals?"

"You don't need to lie to me Minho, the two of you have nothing in common I cannot see what else you could've been talking about," Mr Lee frowned.

"You obviously don't know either of us well, we had a normal conversation and all we talked of business was our dislike of it, if that's all that you have to ask me I will be leaving," Minho seethed and placed his hand on the door handle ready to leave.

"Don't you dare step out of this room."

"I don't know what else you have to say to me but I really don't want to hear your lecture about how Jisung is a bad person," Minho scowled bravely.

"So you're on a first name basis now?" His father spoke bitterly with a hint of cold humour in his voice.

"And what if we are?" Minho spat.

"Minho you don't know the boy like I do, you don't know the true intentions that family have. Your friendship will be nothing more than a means to an end to him and you're foolish if you think anything else."

"Is that true for me too then? His father told him the exact same about me yesterday but I don't see his friendship as a means to an end. You told me he was big-headed and brash when really he is humble and shy, you told me he was a snob and looked at everyone he met as lesser but in reality he was afraid of speaking to me in fear that I would be like that. What other lies have you told me about him," Minho spoke with an icy calm voice.

"If that's your honest opinion on the boy then you're so wrong," his father seethed back cruelly.

"I have nothing else to say to you because you are so blinded by your hatred for his father that you won't even allow your son his first ever true friend," Minho spat in a fiery tone before leaving the room.

After slamming the door behind him, he made his way into the living room before dropping down onto the sofa and taking a deep, long breath. He knew his father would never be fond of the friendship he had formed with Jisung and honestly, he hadn't wanted to tell the man about it in the first place. Yet, the insane annoyance and anger that had swept through his body when his father had spoke about Jisung like he was lesser and only good for business made Minho explode.

It took him a few minutes to calm himself down and those minutes were spent thinking of a boy who he had become so close to so quickly. Jisung was the first person that Minho had felt an unexplainable connection to and despite the heartbreak he had felt in the past where friends were concerned, he felt himself trust Jisung so easily. They were largely the same, after all, searching for someone like them, someone they could form a connection with and maybe it was the fact that they were supposed to hate each other that had bought them close but Minho didn't care. Whatever had bought him close to Jisung was the best thing in the world.

"Minho," came the soft voice of his mother to knock him from his thoughts, "what did he want?" she asked.

"Yelling at me because I'm friends with someone," the boy spoke off-handedly.

"The usual then," she scoffed, "he doesn't yell at me for being friends with people but he doesn't talk to me for a few days when I become too friendly with one of his rival's wives."

"That makes two of us then," he breathed.

"Who's your friend then," she nudged his shoulder lightly with a bright smile on her face.

"Han Jisung," he told her and felt his heart beat just a little faster as he spoke Jisung's name.

"Ah, that's why he's so mad," she laughed, "it'll pass, if anything I think you two make a good pair and for what it's worth his mother is really kind."

"Thanks mom," he smiled before pulling her into a hug. The support he got from his mom was like no other and he couldn't possibly be more thankful for it. It seemed that there had been infinite times where he had considered telling her the darkest of his secrets.

His family still had no clue that he wasn't the completely straight son his father had always wanted. Minho wouldn't be surprised if his mother suspected that his feelings for Jisung surpassed that of simply a friend, yet he knew she would never bring it up which he was thankful for. At least he knew, that if in some crazy world, Jisung liked him back, there would be at least one person who would support him unconditionally.

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thank you so much for reading this chapter!! i hope you enjoyed it !!!!