WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER. banginho

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Hello I am here to tell everyone to channel their predebut elimination memories~

Thursday morning English was as boring as usual. Not that Minho didn't normally love English. 

His teacher was a nice middle aged woman who had a genuine love for books. It was refreshing from the same old mean teachers.
Of course, he was supposed to hand in his phone at the beginning of class, and he never did.

Which was exactly why the repeated calls and notifications he was getting were a problem.

Minho shifted a bit and glanced at Jisung, the only other one of his friends in that class. He wasn't sending messages on his Apple watch to annoy him this time. Who could it be?

After around the fiftieth call from this person, Minho had enough. He raised his hand.

"Mrs. Brown? May I please use the restroom?" His soft voice interrupted the class, surprising everyone. Minho rarely spoke out in classes, and usually he only did if he were called on.

"Of course, Minho. Take the pass," she said warmly, gesturing at the door.

Minho nodded and hurried out of his seat. He felt Jisung's worried eyes on him until the door closed behind him.
He speed walked down the halls, coming to a halt only once he reached the bathroom on that floor.

Minho dug his phone out of his pocket and turned it on.

Eight calls and numerous texts from Channie Aussie Baby boi 💞❤️❤️💕

He quickly called Chan back without a second thought. "Chan…. Channie what's wrong?"

All he could hear were muffled sniffles and sharp inhales. A sob sounded and Minho winced, sinking against the wall into a crouch on the bathroom floor.

His heart was slowly breaking with each shaky breath that exited Chan's mouth. 

"I'm here, Channie. I'm as here as I can be right now."

"I kn- know, I know." Chan mumbled, choking on another sob. The phone connection crackled as Chan moved to swipe at his tears.
He sucked in a deep breath, trying to hold more tears at bay so that he could give Minho an explanation.

"I haven't been telling the truth." He said, sounding congested.

Minho's heart dropped, but he just waited for Chan to continue.

"Well, not the whole truth," He gasped and had to take a few moments to calm his breathing once again. It was obvious he'd been going through this for awhile already before deciding to call Minho. "There's something seriously wrong with Felix, Min. I don't know- he won't tell me." Chan's voice dissolved into a wavering cry near the end of his statement.

The overwhelming sense of helplessness rose up in Minho and he found tears sparking in his own eyes. There was nothing he could do for Chan. Nothing.

"I've eaten lunch by myself for just over a week now and it doesn't… it doesn't feel so good Minho- I miss him I miss him more than almost anything… I just wish I knew what I did…"

Minho felt really bad. "I'm sorry Channie.. I'm so sorry." He felt useless just saying that, and the telltale sting of forming tears welled up behind his eyes.

"It's not your fault." He sighed. "I'm sorry for bothering you during school like this.. I just couldn't be alone with myself right now."

Minho nodded until he remembered Chan couldn't see him. He sniffed and quickly wiped his eyes to prevent the tears. 

"Are you crying now too?" Chan asked, letting a watery laugh slip though.

"Maybe." Minho said quietly.

Chan giggled softly once more, hiccupping again. He honestly had a headache and stomach ache from all the crying, but talking to Minho made it all feel slightly better.

"Yay we had our first sob fest as a couple!"

"Yay~" Minho said wearily, his voice ringing around the dirty bathroom. "You know what? We're skipping English. Screw that. Sorry, love ya Mrs. Brown, but screw that."

Chan laughed nervously, unsure how to feel. 

Minho sent a quick text to Jisung before turning all his attention back to Chan.

Can you please pick up my stuff, I won't be coming back to english lol
Sent 9:03am

"You skipped?" Hyunjin asked, flabbergasted. He turned to Jisung for confirmation of the bizarre information he was receiving. "Minho skipped??"

"Yeah what's the big deal?" Minho said, dipping his grilled cheese in the sauce that came with his pasta, avoiding their eyes. It was hard to cover up the dark bags and red rims so they wouldn't worry about him.

"Uh- you never used to skip?"

"Well we literally speak English already what's the point of the class?"

Hyunjin shrugged and dropped the subject. Jisung had been observing without comment, but Changbin hadn't even been listening. He was furiously texting with someone.

"Oi," Hyunjin said, turning his attention to Changbin. He threw a cheese puffs at him. "What's so interesting, huh?"

Changbin shrugged distractedly, setting his phone on the table once Hyunjin gave up. He ducked beneath the table to retrieve all the food Hyunjin had been throwing in his direction, and his phone was practically begging for Minho to look at it.

Unable to resist, Minho glanced down and his heart froze.

Aussie Felix 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺💛

Binnie idk what to do

About what?

Chan

Oh him again okay

I miss him a lot but
Idk if I can hangout with him if he's with someone else yanno
It's just
It's hard okay
You wouldn't get it

I think I would

As soon as Changbin came back up, Minho averted his eyes, suddenly very intregued by the pasta in front of him.

Felix liked Chan.

It all made sense.

Minho's heart sank, remembering how heartbroken Chan was earlier.

And… in a way, it was all his fault.

- - - - - - - -

Omg this whole who likes who in this is an absolute mess and I didn't realize until now

Hyunjin is the only character in this book who deserves rights. Maybe Chan too.