Secrets // Minsung ✓

Chapter 7

Jisung had just left Minho's house and crossed paths with his father at the doorstep. He said a quick hello before he went to his own home, in a rush as it was getting kind of late.

Minho was cleaning up the books from the tutoring, more like sorting them out really. His father walked inside the living room and saw his son tidying up the room. He sent him a sincere smile — even though Minho didn't even see it.

His father was almost always out of the house. He practically owned the mall, so he had lots of business meetings to attend to. He also had to organise a lot of things. Most constructions had to be approved by him before they could actually change anything in there.

Minho wasn't exactly that close with his father — they talked, but they weren't that close. Most of the time after school, he was always by his lonesome. Sure, he had friends he could hang out with and he had an extremely clingy girlfriend, but sometimes he didn't really need them to fill the hole in his heart. He didn't know what he needed to fill the emptiness. He used to think it was Jihna, but as time passed he noticed it wasn't her. Maybe it wasn't someone, it might be something.

Everyone always told him he had it all, but that wasn't true. For starters, he didn't have a mother anymore. And to add onto that, his father is barely home, which made him feel like there was no one really there for him. It made him feel lonely. It made him feel alone.

His father put down his keys, startling him. "I'm home," Mr. Lee sat down on the sofa as he was exhausted from work. "Who was that boy that just left the house a moment ago? He looked quite familiar," his father began.

"That was Jisung, he's tutoring me," Minho said rapidly. He thought his father might be disappointed that his son even needs tutoring, but he was actually glad that he did. It was never bad asking someone for help. Needing help was nothing to have to be embarrassed about.

It had actually been such a very long time since Mr. Lee had seen Jisung. The last he had seen of the boy was before he even reached puberty. So he could confidently say that he had changed a lot — good changes. He did wonder why the boy suddenly stopped visiting, but it wasn't really any of his business so he didn't ask — which turned out to be a mistake. He should show an interest in his son's life after all.

Minho had put all books aside except for one. He still had to make one exercise so that's what he did. Yet, looking at his maths book frustrated him, because all he could think of was Jisung. What was happening to him? he wondered. Great. Now math made him think of Jisung. His mind was really a work of art. He could never figure out why some things were in it or what they meant.

One thing he didn't get was why he had ever distanced himself from the boy. He had forgotten why he even hated him in the first place. He knew it was because of something Jisung had said about him. Or well, what Jihna had told him. He began to wonder if trusting Jihna was such a good idea after all.

He also felt bad towards the girl. He didn't really like Jihna like that anymore. Slowly he had fallen out of love with her, if he was even in love in the first place. He felt like an awful person that he kept her around for so long — and now still. But for some reason, she seemed as if she wouldn't leave him anytime soon — and someone like that was who he needed. He hated people leaving him. Why go into one's life if you're just going to leave anyway.

He now realised how toxic their relationship had become. He didn't want to hurt her so the thought of breaking up with her had never really crossed his mind. Even now he wouldn't be able to do it. She had been by his side all this time, he didn't want to take it for granted. Yet, lately, she had been acting kind of strange. She became even clingier than she already was and she had also become quite petty, which he didn't like. Another thing she did sometimes was boss him around, and that he was totally done with. He wasn't some toy to play with, he was an actual human being with real feelings.

As he was reminiscing about everything, he regretted ever changing who he really was. Why had he become such an awful person, who was rude to anyone he wasn't friends with? He missed his old self. He missed his mother. He needed his mother. He needed her to tell him what to do. She would have known what to do. She always had advice, for anything.

As he was lost in his thoughts and emotions, tears dropped on his task papers. He wondered where they were coming from, but then realised that he was crying. He had also forgotten about his father's presence. Yes, he was that used to being completely alone in this mansion.

His father's sudden question was what made him burst out in tears. "Son, what's wrong?" It probably didn't seem like much, but to Minho it was.

Minho didn't know why he was so emotionally upset either. Tears just came streaming down his face without reason. "Dad, I can't do this anymore," he muttered between sobs.

His father looked surprised. A shocking kind of surprise. To him, it sounded as if Minho wanted to give up on his life, and that was in no way okay with him.

Minho always hid himself. He never showed his emotions. He never really showed any affection. He never bothered showing others his caring side, even though he actually cared a lot. He never dared to show his insecure side. He stopped being himself. He was covered by a mask. Someone that wasn't him. He just couldn't live like that anymore.

His father took a deep breath as he patted the spot next to him, insinuating for Minho to sit there, and so he did. "Listen to me, Minho. I might barely be in your life at hard times like these, but I am always there for you and I will always listen to what you have to say. You're my son, and I'm very proud of the person you've become! Your mother would've been proud as well, I can imagine the smile on her face... As she would've said; don't change for the sake of others and stay true to yourself."

Minho wiped away his tears. He sent his father a thankful smile. "Thanks, dad," he murmured and for the first time in forever, he hugged his father tightly.

After he had eaten and washed up, Minho was now lying on his bed. He wondered what had come over him to have had such an outburst. Yet, he was kind of happy that he had. His father's words kept repeating in his mind. Especially, the part about his mother. He would've wanted her to be proud of who he was, but with the attitude he had right now, she wouldn't have.

He decided it was time for a change. A change back — to how he was before. If that was even going to be possible right now. It sure felt impossible as he had had a complete personality change over the span of several years. Change would be hard. Very hard.

[A/N]
Omgdjjdjd I didn't realise I haven't updated this is more than 2 weeks... Damn oop— but yeah like I said in the a/n of my Childhood prequel, I'm extremely busy rn and have little time to write,,+anxiety is killing me rn but I tryyyyy

But for those of you who are wondering;; Yes, I will of course continue and finish this story!

Some coming chapters are probably gonna be a bit weird ot smtg cuz I've prewritten some sloppy notes, now I just gotta make it work :'))

Q; how y'all feelin'? In general and abt this chap?👀

A; today was my day off work and I got a severe migraine so that was a fun time🏃

To be continued ;)