October Writer Event '24

Saved by Love

"Damn, that's actually really cool. You can rap really well, Jisung." 

The man in front of Minho looked down, smiling at his shoes. He still had that adorable blush on his cheeks, and something about that made Minho's chest ache. He wanted someone to look at him like Jisung looked at him all the time, he wanted something sweet.

———

Minho was at a coffee shop, with Felix accompanying him. They were going before classes started, since they had them in the afternoon, and as they were waiting in line, Minho recognized a familiar face. It was Jisung again, walking in. He was followed by two muscular looking men, who kind of intimidated Minho.

When Jisung spotted him, his eyes widened and he froze, which caused the two men with him to glance at Minho before smirking and whispering to Jisung who pushed them away.

Fuck, Minho knew they were talking about him. There was no way they weren't. Yes, he was paranoid sometimes, but it was obvious. So he faced Felix once more and tried to pay attention to what he was saying. It wasn't working.

They were the last ones in line, unfortunately, so when the group of three came up behind them, Minho's shoulders squared and he stood stiffly. People used to talk behind his back all the time in high school, and sometimes that ended with them harassing him for fun. 

Some guy Minho didn't even know the name of grabbed the top strap of Minho's backpack, halting his pace. He had been trying to get out of the school as fast as possible at the end of the day, trying to avoid something like this happening.

"Where you going?" the teen taunted. 

Minho whipped around, making the boy let go of his bag. He hated people touching his stuff, and now he would have to disinfect it when he got home extra thoroughly. 

"Don't touch me," Minho tried to sound intimidating, but he knew he failed. 

That day ended with him crying in his room, his hands a bloody mess.

He had long since left that school, left the days of him being weak behind. He no longer washed his hands until they bled, he was finally actually intimidating — no one approached him much anymore. He had a few friends and those were all that he needed. 

This time he was prepared. 

"You're Minho, right?" the shortest buff guy asked. "I'm Changbin, and our little Jisungie here was too shy to come up to you again." 

Jisung swatted away the hand that tried to ruffle his hair, seemingly annoyed and embarrassed. What did Jisung say...? 

The other guy seemed to notice his hesitance, because he extended his hand in greeting, saying, "I'm Chan, nice to meet you." 

All Minho could do was stare at the hand, he hadn't gotten past his fear of touching strangers completely, and he was already overwhelmed. 

"Sorry, I don't shake hands." 

Chan pulled his hand back, a little confused, but he still had a smile on his face as he nodded in understanding.

"That's no problem!" 

They stood a little awkwardly after that, Minho wanting the ground to open up and swallow him. Felix, noticing the tension, decided to cut in. He was an angel, really. 

"Hey! How did you and Minho meet?" Felix asked, friendly as always. 

Maybe this wasn't going to be a repeat, maybe this would go well — but he had to be careful.