Here For You | JunHao

四十一

It was the night before the wedding and Minghao was getting ready to leave, or rather, to escape, Jihoon's place at this ungodly hour. He stayed there for the night as per the two boys' request since he had passed out earlier and they wanted to keep an eye on him. He appreciated the concern they had for him, of course, but he just had too many things in his mind.

He took his phone and put in his pocket. He looked around one last time a
at the guest room that Jihoon asked him to stay in, hesitating. He took a deep breath and opened the door to the room and saw Jihoon standing there with his arms crossed.

"Holy shit!" Minghao jumped. "Did you have to stand there with the lights all closed?" He had planned on leaving quietly while everyone was asleep, but it seems that it won't be going smoothly.

"You're going?" Jihoon asked.

Minghao took a few seconds to think if he could avoid it, but gave up, knowing that he's clearly caught red-handed. "Yeah."

Jihoon nodded.

"Y-You're gonna let me go?" Minghao scrunched his eyebrows.

Jihoon sighed. "Soonyoung's fast asleep in the other room. Go before he wakes up and drags you back in."

"T-Thanks."

"Look, Minghao, whatever decision you make in the end, I hope that you get to be happy."

Minghao looked down and nodded. He left Jihoon's place and walked down the streets, looking down at his feet as it steps on the rough pavement.

His mind was full yet empty.

The walk was silent, hearing only the sound of his own footsteps and the occasional sighs.

As he was walking, his eyes landed upon the bright convenience store. He decided to drop in, not knowing to himself why.

Maybe he didn't want to go back to his empty unit.

Maybe the bright fluorescent lights from the convenience store seemed better than walking under the yellow-orange street lights.

Maybe he wanted a break from the sound of his defeaning thoughts.

Or maybe the cup of instant noodles that is currently in his hands seemed so tempting.

"That'll be ₩1,000.00. Will that be all? Do you need a bag?" The cashier asked.

"No, I'll eat it here. Can I have some hot water?" Minghao replied, giving the money to the cashier.

"Of course." The cashier said, handing the receipt to Minghao.

Minghao was now sitting there in table, staring out the glass, slowly eating his already-soggy seafood noodles.

He stayed there like that for around half an hour.

Inside his mind was a talk, a reflection.

To be happy...

He recalled what Yanan had told him.

That it was okay to lean on someone.

It's been a year since he had that conversation with Yanan, but he could vaguely remember it still.