Strawberry Milk - Jeonglix

17

Minho's bedroom was engulfed in darkness. The only light came from the phone he held in front of his face, hands trembling. The duvet was pulled far over his head, concealing the warm tears that were falling from his eyes. He was frozen where he lay, unable to do anything but stare at the phone screen until his eyes stung.

A lump got caught in his throat. He didn't want to keep looking at the image on his screen anymore but he couldn't stop. When it eventually got too much, the phone fell from his grasp, landing on the floor with a clatter and a heartbroken sob wracked through his body.

"Minho?" somebody whispered from near the door. Minho hadn't heard it opening, but he knew it was Hyunjin. He couldn't reply. The sobs leaving his mouth wouldn't stop long enough to get a word out. Hyunjin closed the door, the room turning pitch black again, besides the light from the phone on the floor. Hyunjin walked over to where it was and picked it up. The screen was cracked but Hyunjin could see what was on there. It was a picture of Jiusng with a person beside him, arms wrapped around his waist and their lips connected in a kiss. Hyunjin understood why Minho was so distraught when he read the caption.

Happy six month anniversary, Binnie! 💞

Minho and Jisung had been together up until recently. Hyunjin couldn't begin to imagine how Minho felt, even with his own anger rising. "I'm so sorry, Min...do you want to talk?"

"No," Minho choked out as Hyunjin walking around the other side of the bed and sat beside him. He stared down at the broken phone screen one last time before switching it off and placing it on the bedside table. "Just go back to bed, Hyunjin."

"No. I'm not going to leave you while you're like this. I'm one of your best friends. Please stop blocking me out."

Minho kept sobbing into the pillow, the duvet covering his body, but Hyunjin couldn't see him in the darkness of the room. Hearing him cry hurt though. It hurt a lot. "It's going to be ok," he whispered, not knowing what else he was supposed to as he slipped under the duvet and edged closer to Minho. He wrapped his arms around his middle and was relieved when he didn't get pushed away. "There's plenty of people out there. Somebody will love you just as much as you loved Jisung."

"But he cheated on me. He told me he loved me while he was with someone else. I trusted him but I meant nothing to him," Minho cried, turning around to bury his head against Hyunjin's chest. "It fucking hurts. You wouldn't understand because you haven't been in love. You just hook up with strangers."

Hyunjin knew he didn't mean them to, but Minho's words stung. "I know, I'm sorry, but I know there's somebody out there who will love you and will never hurt you. They'll love you just as much as you loved Jisung, maybe even more," Hyunjin whispered, brushing a hand through Minho's dark locks. Minho relaxed into his touch, his sobs dying down. Hyunjin held him as close as he could, not wanting to let him go. This was the closest they'd been since Minho met Jisung. Hyunjin missed it. He missed everything about Minho before he met Jisung.

Minho fell asleep in his arms. Hyunjin could hear the slow pattern of his breathing and feel the grip of his hands on the back of his t-shirt slipping. It was only then he felt comfortable enough to say what he'd wanted to the whole time.

"I love you, Minho...I would never hurt you like he did." 

🍓🍓🍓

It was colder than usual that day, a soft breeze in the air as Felix and Jeongin sat on the park swings, flavoured milk cartons in hand and the wind dancing through their hair. The park was fairly quiet for a weekend. Felix assumed it was due to the dark clouds over their heads.

They were sat in a content silence, Jeongin staring at leaves on the ground, being pushed along by the wind. Meanwhile, Felix couldn't keep his eyes off Jeongin. He watched the way he pushed back a stray strand of black hair and how he smiled around the straw of his strawberry milk. He watched everything and he felt so stupidly infatuated, grinning at the simplest of human actions when Jeongin did them, but he liked it.