Love Lies Bleeding🔞

🌰 - 🌱8

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐏.𝐎.𝐕

After that incident, Hyunjin stopped teasing Jisung for the rest of the year. In fact, he didn't even breath nor looked in his direction. Jisung somewhat became friends with Seungmin, since he really only talked to Seungmin during break and lunch time but never in class.

The following year, Jisung was put into the same class as Hyunjin. This time Hyunjin would only tease him from afar and when he was with other people around [ when they are alone, Hyunjin wouldn't utter a word to him ], such as brag about his high test scores and criticize Jisung for his test scores. On the other hand, the twins started growing a bit distant. Lee Know began to focus more on basketball, while Minho was focusing on studying for his entrance exam.

The years continued to go by with a visible distance growing between the twins and Jisung. It wasn't all that shocking for their parents, considering the two year age gap, and Jisung's mother reassured her son that it was just a temporary problem. After all her and Mrs. Hong [ Lee ] have known each other since high school and had become best friend upon reuniting so Jisung was bound to see the twins again. And Jisung could still see them at school as well as during the holidays and birthday parties [ although both of the ideas went down hill when Jisung's parents decided that Jisung should celebrate both his birthday and the holidays with his grandparents before it was too late ].

Finally the year came where the twins were graduating primary school. Mrs. Hong [ Lee ] insisted on throwing a party for them, much to Minho's dislike [ since he had no friends from school to invite ] but Lee Know was more than happy to invite his two friends over.

And so the party was held two days after the school graduation. Mrs. Hong [ Lee ] made sure to invite Mrs. Jang [ Han ] and Jisung.

❝ Minho could you put these plates on the dinner table over there. ❞ Minho took the stack of plastic plates and put it by the corner of the dinner table. Lee Know came running down the stairs.

❝ How do I look! ❞ Both Minho and their mother turned to look at him. Their mother frowned.

❝ Lee Know I had already set out an outfit for you to wear~ ❞

❝ Yeah but it's the exact same thing Minho's wearing. ❞

❝ That's the point! ❞ Lee Know rolled his eyes and smiled.

❝ Whatever. But honestly tell me how I look. ❞ Their mother fully looked him over and hummed.

❝ Nice I suppose. . . but you would've looked better matching with your brother. ❞ She muttered. Minho snickered. 

❝ Mom~ I'm almost twelve~ I can make my own decisions. I am my own person. ❞ Mrs Hong [ Lee ] sighed.

❝ Yes, yes, I know. It's just so. . .overwhelming seeing my little birds leave the nest. ❞ Lee Know rolled his eyes.

❝ I'm not moving out, I'm just. . .not wearing the clothes you give me. . . it's not that deep. ❞ Minho giggled and continued to set up the table decorations.  

❝ Okay okay, just help set up the party now. The guest should be arriving in an hour. ❞ Lee Know hummed.

❝ Is Dad coming? ❞ Minho tensed up.

❝ I don't think so. I tried calling last night but he never answered. ❞

❝ Oh. ❞ Lee Know looked down at the floor. Mrs. Hong [ Lee ] frowned, she hated how much control a man, who rarely had any part in her sons' life, had over their emotions. 

❝ Don't look so down. Jisung's going to be there! You haven't seen him in a while have you, it'll be terrible if you were frowning when you see him for the first time in forever!  ❞ Lee Know hummed. He smiled softly at the thought of his younger best friend, but the overwhelming disappointment was too much to be overshadowed so easily.

❝ Yeah. . . ❞ 

❝ Hey. . . think fast. ❞ Minho threw a plastic cup at Lee Know. Lee Know barely had time to look up and process what had been said when the cup hit him on the head.

❝ What the f- heck Minho! ❞ Lee Know nervously glanced at their mother. She raised a brow but said nothing.

❝ I just wanted to see how good your reflexes are. You do want to be a basketball player right? If someone where to pass you the ball and you are that slow then your team will surely lose. What would be the point of even trying out for the team if you're this bad? ❞ Lee Know glared at Minho.

He picked up the cup and threw at Minho as hard as he could. Minho's eyes widen and he quickly ducked to avoid the cup. Lee Know glared at Minho, who laughed at him for failing to hit him. Lee Know picked up another cup and threw it at Minho again, this time Minho wasn't aware of the attack and got him square in the face. A small red mark was left behind from the victory. Lee Know smirked.

❝ There, we're even now. ❞ Minho pouted.

❝ I gave you a warning that's not fair~ ❞

❝ There were no rules to the game unlike basketball. ❞ Minho sighed. Their mother smiled softly.

❝ I love to see you two get along, but. . .when you are wasting two perfectly good cups it really irritates me and I hope you know I won't let you off the hook so easily! ❞ Minho's and Lee Know's eyes widen. Their mother's voice went from a soft and gently tone, to the sound of a grizzly bear claiming it's territory to trespassers. In their eyes, their soft looking mother had turned into a hybrid of Medusa and Ursula [ top half being Medusa and the bottom half being Ursula ]. 

Minho and Lee Know bolted out of the dinner room. Normally Lee Know would be faster than Minho, but Minho wasn't ready to die that fast and had managed to stay beside Lee Know as they ran into their shared room and locked it. Lee kNow pressed his back against the door and tried to catch his breath. Minho however collapsed onto the floor and flipped over to lay on his back. Sweat dripped down the side of his face and his chest moved up and down at a rapid speed as he desperately tried to regain air after every exhale. Half of the room was covered in boxes while the other stayed untouched. 

❝ That was terrifying. ❞ Minho nodded. Lee Know stepped away from the door and walked towards Minho. He sat down beside him.

❝ Remember when we broke that vase when we were like nine and we had to run like that. ❞ Minho nodded. He tried to steady his breath.

❝ And. . .and Jisung. . . Jisung couldn't keep. . .keep up and we. . . we had to. . . hide in the. . . hallway closet instead. ❞ Lee Know nodded. All three were small enough to fit in the closet together. But unfortunately they got caught because Minho was afraid of the dark and being in such a confined space so they quickly got out before Minho started crying.

❝ I miss hanging out with Jisung. . . I wonder what he's doing now. ❞ Minho sat up.

❝ Me too. . . but it's kinda. . . our fault. We are the ones that. . . sorta push him away. ❞ Lee kNow nodded. He hugged his knees.

❝ Yeah. . . but it'll be worth it! I'll be the best basketball player in all of South Korea! Then Jisung could proudly say he is my best friend! ❞ Minho hummed. He didn't exactly have a goal, nor a reason to study so hard. He didn't even know why he gave up time to hang out with Jisung to study for an entrance exam that was years away. Maybe it was the pressure of wanting to make up for the fact he had no purpose or maybe it was to distract himself from letting anything about their father slip. Whatever the reason he regretted his past actions.

❝ Lee Minho and Lee Know! Get down here this instant! ❞ Minho and Lee Know turned to face each other.

❝ Well it was nice knowing you brother. ❞