NXT 2 U [Minsung AU]

𝟙𝟠 • 𝕫𝕆𝕟𝔼

~POV Jisung~

For long minutes already, I had been looking at my cup of coffee as if I was trying to find a magic formula that would make me start that day all over again.

I was in another coffee-shop located on a building's 6th floor. It offered a beautiful view of Seoul I couldn't enjoy, even a little bit. I had been there for over an hour after spending an endless time wandering the streets without knowing what to do or where to go. If I didn't have that damn summons, I would have gone home to hide under my duvet.

I hated myself.

I had behaved like a kid with Minho. I had got angry with him and left without giving him a look, an explanation, without even saying goodbye. He must have thought I was crazy... even more after I made a fool of myself in front of him with that pen thing.

Exasperated, I grabbed my hair nervously. The place's atmosphere may have been Zen, I was a ball of nerves that could explode at any moment. Dear god... How was I going to talk to him normally again? I couldn't find an answer or rather, I could only see one... avoid him for a while.

It was cowardly and pitiful, but what else could I do? Apologize? What next? Was I magically going to be able to see him again as a mere student? Without remembering the attraction I had felt for him today? I felt like I had acted like a pervert... I hated myself so much... The more I thought about it, the more I came to an impasse.

I had left the coffee shop around 1.30 pm. It was a bit too early to go to the police station, but I couldn't bear to sit around thinking about it any longer. I felt like I was going insane. I couldn't swallow anything. Even my coffee, I had drank it just to not waste. My stomach and throat were tight and it didn't get better when I got there.

The building was located on Seoul's outskirts, not far from an industrial zone, in an area full of small apartment blocks quite old and run-down. From the train station, it was a good 20 minutes' walk to get there. There were few or no shops in the area. The mini-market where I was on the robbery day was more than 5 kilometers away.

Naively, having arrived earlier, I hoped I could be received immediately. But as soon as I entered the building, they had yelled at me bluntly.

"Your summons was for 3pm!" The policeman at the reception desk had bellowed. "You'll have to wait now!"

Of course... If I could have even a little luck today, it would have been too good. And I wasn't at my troubles end. Even after arriving early, I had waited ages. It was almost 3:40 pm when I had finally started to give my statement to a policeman who was only listening to me with one ear, in the same room as a woman whose husband was bawling nonstop.

I had to repeat what I had seen about twenty times and fill tons of paperwork. Then, I waited for my ID card to be returned. At that time, the brother of the suspected man had stormed into the police station to claim his bro's innocence. He had given us such an evil look I shuddered. But fearing the police, he had left when I was praying to finally leave.

It was almost 5pm when I was finally able to get out of there. The weather had cooled down and the sky was getting darker. Wishing to get home as quickly as possible, I decided to take a taxi but seeing none passing in the street opposite the police station, I started walking, hoping to see one pass soon. There was always loads of taxis in Seoul but of course, whenever I really needed it, I didn't see a single one.

As I turned around to see if there weren't any across the street, I saw a man a few meters behind me, walking head down, his hands in his parka's pockets. Realizing he was the robbery suspect's brother, I suddenly felt tense. His footsteps behind me began to worry me and I walked faster, opening a taxi search application on my smartphone. At the same time, I heard the man accelerating.