NXT 2 U [Minsung AU]

-5- STOP

~POV Minho~

I knew appearances could be deceiving but... seriously? The squirrel was 23? That one? That kid who looked like he'd just come straight out of middle school? He was 5 years older than me?

Even with my eyes glued to his ID card, I still couldn't believe it. Yet, the so-called Han Jisung, born on September 14, 1997 in Incheon was indeed 23 and I still couldn't believe it. Incredulous, I looked at him and tried to get used to the idea, to see his adult side, but it was really very, very hard. In any case, physically, I could only see a teenager, but perhaps that explained his behaviour a little better. 

Wanting to play the Good Samaritan, even with a stranger, maybe that was his adult side... even if it wasn't very careful, nor very smart.

"You see, you were wrong too..."

"Anyone would have made the same mistake."

Seeing him pouting as if I was exaggerating too much, I raised a doubtful eyebrow. Once again destabilized, he crunched a new cookie without stopping pouting - a very adult attitude indeed - before continuing, mumbling as if he was talking to the biscuit he was holding in his hands.

"It's true that sometimes the shops refuse to sell me alcohol and the cashiers suspect my ID card to be fake...but that doesn't mean everyone takes me for a kid..."

What a ridiculous squirrel...

He had crumbs on the corner of his mouth from talking while eating.

Of course he was a kid.

I was about to tell him when he suddenly had a kind of startle. As if he had just realised something serious he couldn't ignore for another second, he suddenly became serious and turned towards me with a strange, almost anxious look.

He stared at me without speaking, obviously trying to find his words. He seemed so hesitant I could feel he was going to ask too much. He was about to cross the line. I could see it the way he was looking at me and it was worse when he got a little closer to me. As he passed a nervous hand over his lips to wash his face, I realized he smelled like peach - a fresh and sweet fragrance that was however masculine. It wasn't unpleasant, but I was annoyed.

I didn't know why, but I refused to hear what he had to say. So, I moved away, giving him a cold gaze, but again my neighbour faced up to me, without even bat an eyelid. His angelic face was maked by a serious and preoccupied air which again, almost made me want to believe in his good faith. As I clenched my fists and teeth, trying not to get mad, he spoke.

"Please, don't be angry... but if you're still a minor, it changes a lot of things. I mean... I can hear you fighting all the time with your uncle... He gets angry every day... Is he violent with you? Does he mistreat you?"

Damn squirrel... I knew it...

He looked at me now as if my age made me a poor little thing, fragile and vulnerable. It was unbearable. I hated it.

"It's none of your business."

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or bother you, but as a neighbour and as a hyung, I can't pretend everything's all right..."

As a hyung...?

No. Stop. This time, I couldn't stand it anymore. When he saw me get up, he froze, while I thanked him and decided to leave. I had stay too late at his house and heard too much. I hated hypocrisy and pretences. What did he want me to believe? That, having become aware of our respective ages, he felt he had some kind of moral duty towards me? I couldn't see what could make a stranger ask such questions, except to satisfy his curiosity.