Chapter Six

Sunday

The clock struck ten am by the time Jonghyun was awake. He was standing in the middle of his room facing a mirror (that was resting on his door), and staring at his own reflection. He ran his fingers through his black skinny jeans to remove any noticeable creases. His shirt was plain white and mostly covered by a yellow sweater. It wasn’t much, but Jonghyun wasn’t aiming to impress. Jonghyun’s fingers paused on the hem of his sweater. He pulled his hand away, and into clear view of his eyes.

‘If it returns chances of survival are slim’

Jonghyun frowned.

‘Hyung, it’s not back is it?’

Jonghyun swallowed, and sighed. “It is only a bruise.” He whispered to himself. “Anyway,” He smacked his hand on his thigh, and turned to his betta. “I better go before I’m late.” He took hold of his cellphone, bag, and left the room. He was mere inches away from the front door (of the house) when Yejin called him.

“Breakfast is ready, Jong-and where are you going this early?”

“To school,” Jonghyun answered, he took hold of his shoes and slipped them on.

“It is a Sunday,” Yejin stated, confused.

“I um…I um…promised Minki I’d meet him there,” Jonghyun lied hoping his mother wouldn’t catch it.

Of course lying to Yejin wasn’t easy. She knew her son too well, but- “Then you should take him something to eat.” Yejin dug in her cupboard for bento boxes. She filled both boxes with food hoping at least whoever her son was meeting would make him eat as well. She turned to her son, bentos out and ready to give.

Jonghyun bit his lower lip. He couldn’t let Yejin see the bruise on his hand. He tugged at the sleeves of his sweater, and reached for the bento boxes.

“Aren’t you acting strange,” Yejin noted.

“Ani-“

“You think I don’t know my own son,” Yejin moved to hold the bentos in one hand, and with her free hand reached for his covered hand.

“Thanks for the food,” Jonghyun quickly snatched the bento boxes from his mother’s hold before she got anywhere near the bruised hand, and dashed out of the house, though he heard Yejin call his name.

Yejin fell to her knees once Jonghyun was out of the house. She placed a hand over . Tears stung her eyes before falling like water drops down her cheek. “Jonghyun-ah!” She called once again, hoping he’d return to the house. “Please don’t let it be back.” She whispered in fear.

-:::::-

11:00am: Pledis High School

Jonghyun placed his hands over his knees. The bento boxes were resting on the floor next to his feet. He was panting heavily after running from the house and toward the school. He hadn’t even realized he ran until he was facing the school. He dug his nails through his jeans as he fought to even out his breathing. His vision became a sudden blur. He lost balance on his legs, and nearly fell, but as he waited for the impact of falling someone caught him.

Jonghyun blinked, confused. Who could be here this early? Not Minhyun, right?

Jonghyun lifted his head.

“Good thing I arrived early,” Minhyun chuckled, lightly. “You okay?”

“I—“Jonghyun was speechless, and the only respond he was able to give was a nod.

Minhyun: here, before noon? Was he dreaming? Was his mind playing tricks with him? Yet Minhyun was still there and it didn’t seem like he would disappear as if a dream.

After recollecting himself Jonghyun pulled away from Minhyun, picked up the bentos from the ground, and pretended to not notice that slight concern in Minhyun’s eyes. There is a possibility Minhyun would even act like he didn’t care, though apart of Jonghyun’s heart was happy about the slight possibility of the other male caring.

“My umma made these,” Jonghyun mumbled offering the bentos to Minhyun.

“I’m sure one of them is yours,” Minhyun said seeing as there were two.

“I’m…I’m not hungry.”

“You should eat,” Minhyun took the bentos from Jonghyun, balancing  them in one hold, and with his other took hold of Jonghyun’s hand. “Or you might end up passing out before our date.”

Jonghyun’s heart skipped a beat. Was Minhyun really worried about him?

Jonghyun was led to one of the school’s bleachers.

Minhyun placed one of the bentos on the side, and removed the lid from the other. Inside the bento were scrambled eggs, sliced carrots, cooked chicken, and some lettuce. Minhyun took hold of the plastic fork which was resting over the food and picked some of the food.

“Come to think of it I rarely see you eat,” Minhyun began as he lifted the fork, and placed it near Jonghyun’s lips.

Jonghyun parted his lips allowing the food to be placed in his mouth. He avoided Minhyun’s curious eyes as he chewed. He wasn’t sure what to say to Minhyun, but there was one thing for sure “You wouldn’t care,” Jonghyun whispered.

“And how would you know?” Minhyun threw back as he continued to make Jonghyun eat.

Jonghyun wanted to laugh sarcastically. He didn’t. He wasn’t going to be fooled. He had to remind himself not to be fooled, not by Minhyun. Once the bento was empty, Minhyun took hold of the other bento, and began eating himself. It was quiet as the other ate. Jonghyun took the quiet moment to glimpse at Minhyun. He was handsome as always, and unlike Jonghyun, he was wearing a short sleeved mug printed shirt that complimented his looks, and a pair of corduroy trousers. In other words it was clear he came from an upper class.

“Your mother makes some really good food,” Minhyun interrupted.

“It’s just scrambled eggs,” Jonghyun whispered.

“Good scrambled eggs,” Minhyun objected, his eyes meeting Jonghyun.

Jonghyun suddenly blushed, hoping he hadn’t been caught staring.

“You are blushing.”

“It…it is the weather,” Jonghyun lied. He couldn’t be caught like this.

“Maybe you should take the sweater off.”

Jonghyun wrapped his arms around the sweater. No way was he going to take it off.

“It’s hot and it isn’t going to get cool anytime soon,” Minhyun argued getting annoyed.

Jonghyun was ready to argue back, but Minhyun continued.

“Are you scared I will judge you or something?”

Jonghyun opened his mouth to say something, but-

“Just take it off or I might take it off for you.”

Jonghyun gulped. He was left with no argument. There was no knowing what Minhyun would do. “Please don’t judge,” Jonghyun whispered as he tugged at the sweater.

“I won’t,” Minhyun reassured.

Jonghyun pulled the sweater off.

It would be the first Minhyun would ever see him without a sweater. It was no surprise to see his arms thin and almost fragile looking, but what caught his attention were the bruises. Jonghyun had one around his wrist, another at his elbow, and upper arm. Minhyun ran a finger through his wrist causing Jonghyun to flinch his hand away.

“How-“

“I get pushed a lot at school,” Jonghyun lied, quickly. Well it wasn’t far from the truth.

“Does it hurt?”

Jonghyun shook his head.

“You are stronger than I thought,” Minhyun whispered, impressed.

Jonghyun wasn’t sure if it was something he should have heard. However, it was nice to hear such words.

“Come,” Minhyun placed the lids over the two bentos, and slipped them into his bag. He stood up and offered Jonghyun his hand. “Let’s start our date before the day ends.”

-:::::-

Jonghyun always believed dates started with a place to eat (although they already ate) or some kind of movie. He never suspected to be taken to an arcade full of games. He ran around skimming all the games in sight, and forgetting Minhyun for a mere second. They had Xbox games against multiple players, the common games found in every arcade like: Racing, pac-man, street fighter, and so much more. He was so ready to play them all.

Minhyun followed from behind, enjoying Jonghyun’s excitement by the sight of all these games. He was positive he’d be winning that bet in no time, but for now he wanted to take this moment to enjoy. It was cute seeing Jonghyun this way without that fear in his eyes, without him having to worry about someone trying to hurt him. Being scared or frightened did not suit Jonghyun or so Minhyun thought.

“I bet I can beat you in street fighters,” Jonghyun challenged, turning to face Minhyun.

Minhyun smirked. “You sure about that?”

“I’m positive,” Jonghyun said, excitingly.

“Okay, but on one condition.”

“What is that?” Jonghyun asked, curiously.

“If I win you have to do as I say for the whole day.”

“…I—“

“Where is the confidence?”

Jonghyun narrowed his eyes. He was slightly annoyed. “Deal, but if I win you do as I say. Right?”

Minhyun nodded. “You got yourself a deal.”

The game began with Jonghyun as Ryu and Minhyun as Chun-li. Jonghyun was a good player, which Minhyun acknowledged as he ended up losing the first round. Jonghyun stuck his tongue out tauntingly. Minhyun narrowed his eyes. There was no way he was going to let Jonghyun win the other round, or the round after. It had been ages since Minhyun last played this game, and had to recall using the buttons. At first it seemed like he would lose the second round, but he flipped the game around causing Jonghyun to lose. Jonghyun stared at the screen shocked.

“Still think you can win?” Minhyun asked, jokingly.

“I know I can,” Jonghyun answered confidentially.

The third round was much more difficult than the first two rounds. Neither player was willing to let the other win. For a second, the third round appeared to fall into a draw until Minhyun did something unexpectedly causing Jonghyun to lose.

“Ha,” Minhyun jumped proudly.

Jonghyun pouted. How could he lose? He was a gamer for crying out loud.

Minhyun dropped his arm over Jonghyun shoulders.

Jonghyun glanced up at him, still upset.

“Now you have to do as I say.”

“Th-this was practice,” Jonghyun argued hoping to get out of the bet.

Minhyun chuckled. “You can’t get out of this one.”

Jonghyun sulked. “What do you want me to do?”

“Later,” Minhyun ruffled Jonghyun’s hair. “Come on there are many more games to play.”

Despite losing at street fighters Jonghyun proved to be a good gamer at all the others. He beat Minhyun at Pac-man and Smash Bros, ended up winning DDR against some random stranger (Jonghyun's dance movements were like a flow of water). Minhyun had a few wins himself, proving to be a stronge competitor.

“Okay, why didn’t you tell me you were good at games?” Jonghyun asked after Minhyun's hundredth (Jonghyun lost count) win.

“I never said I was bad, now did I?” Minhyun answered.

Jonghyun huffed.

Minhyun took hold of Jonghyun’s hand, and led him to a crane game filled with pokemon plushies. “Which one do you like?”

Jonghyun skimmed through the variety of pokemons in the machine. The machine had a lot pikachus in different outfits, a squirtle, eevee, and mew. Jonghyun crossed his arms. There was no way Minhyun would be able to get any of these, Jonghyun was certain, because even he was bad at this. Jonghyun always believed these cranes were rigged, they had to be.

“Squirtle,” Jonghyun challenged . It was covered by other pokemons. It was a challenge, but he wanted to see if Minhyun was capable of such a challenge.

Minhyun understood the challenge. He placed some coins into the machine, and carefully moved the crane around, while observing the angles of the toy and how to get it without having to spend more coins than he did. The crane wrapped itself around the squirtle, but to his disappointment wasn't able to remove the squirtle from the other toys.

“That was good,” Jonghyun said, impressed despite the lost.

“Give me one more chance,” Minhyun slipped more coins into the game.

“It’s okay. I don’t—“

Minhyun ignored Jonghyun. Once again his focus was on the squirtle. The crane wrapped itself around squirtle, and once again failed to get it.

“This game has to be rigged,” Minhyun said.

“I know,” Jonghyun agreed. “It’s not important.”

Although it did not seem like Minhyun was listening. He was again challenging the crane. Jonghyun sighed, and turned away from the crane to play another game nearby. It was a simple one. Many minutes had passed, and Minhyun was still challenging the crane. By then Jonghyun had won every game that was near.

“Minhyun-“ Jonghyun returned, placing his hand on Minhyun’s shoulder. “Its getting-“

“They thought they could win,” Minhyun turned to Jonghyun while holding two plushies.

Jonghyun’s eyes widened. It was a squirtle and…

“Here, Onibugi.”

Minhyun placed both toys in Jonghyun’s hands.

“Minhyun-“

“Shh,” Minhyun placed his fingers on Jonghyun’s lips. “Take them.”

Jonghyun blushed and held both plushies close.

“This game left me hungry, aren’t you?”

Jonghyun only nodded, though he wasn’t really.

-:::::-

At some random restaurant

Jonghyun trailed his fingers over the onibugi, the squirtle was sitting next to him, but he couldn’t revert his eyes from the onibugi. Ever since Minhyun called him an Onibugi, it caused butterflies to flutter in Jonghyun’s tummy, but of course Minhyun didn’t need to know how it made him feel.

He wasn’t aware of Minhyun watching him, until Minhyun spoke “What would you like to eat?”

Jonghyun peeked over the onibugi. “Um…I—“

“You weren’t even looking at the menu were you,” Minhyun joked. He placed the menu in front of Jonghyun. “Pick whatever you like. It’s on me.”

“Minhyun, th-this is too-“

“Let’s not worry about the expenses.”

There was no point in arguing. Jonghyun took hold of the menu. It was an Italian menu with a variety of pastas, and cheese dishes. It was all so appetizing and delicious looking. Jonghyun was about to pick a pasta dish when they both heard ringing.

“Sorry,” Minhyun pulled out his phone to check the caller. “It’s my mom.”

“Shouldn’t you…answer,” Jonghyun asked.

“She knows I’m not coming home anytime soon,” Minhyun shrugged.

“But it’s your mom,” Jonghyun whispered.

“It’s not important,” Minhyun slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Now what were you going to get?”

Jonghyun placed the menu in clear sight. He was about to point to the dish, when Minhyun’s phone started ringing again. “It might be important,” Jonghyun said.

Minhyun sighed, annoyed. ‘Thanks, Umma’ Minhyun thought as he answered. “Yeoboseyo.”

“Minhyun-ah, where are you? Didn’t I tell you your father will be home?”

“And I told you I don’t want to see him.”

“Minhyun-ah, please your father wants to see us together.”

“After three days,” Minhyun scoffed.

“Minhyun-ah, please come home.”

“No, I’m busy.” And with that Minhyun ended the call. When he looked up he was met with a serious Jonghyun. Minhyun gulped.

“Minhyun,” Jonghyun began. “Do you know what happiness is?”

“If you plan to lecture me, don’t think I will listen,” Minhyun said instead.

Jonghyun turned to face the window. His reflection and Minhyun’s was imitated through the glass. Jonghyun took a deep breath. He placed the menu aside. “The last time I got to see my Appa was when I was seven . I remember seeing my umma’s tears. Every day she’d set up the table for three only to realize Appa would never return. Minhyun, you never realize what you have until it is gone.” He turned to look at Minhyun.

Minhyun shook his head, not wanting to listen. “You don’t know my father.”

“I may not know him,” Jonghyun slightly laughed. “But your father wants to see you, because you are important to him.”

Minhyun glared at Jonghyun.

Jonghyun stood up. “Anyway, thank you for today. It was fun.” He smiled. “I should go…”

“Wait,” Minhyun said before Jonghyun could gather his things, and leave.

“I don’t want to come between you and—“

“Wait,” Minhyun repeated, taking hold of Jonghyun. “It’s late…please, let me take you home at least.”

-:::::-

“We are here, sir,” Seo Janghoon parked the black BMW in front of a badly beaten apartment complex.

“So this is where you live,” Minhyun whispered.

Jonghyun nodded waiting for Minhyun to say some terrible remark about how terrible the place was, but he didn’t. Minhyun pushed the passenger door open, and ignored the scold in Janghoon’s eyes as he stepped out of the  car..

“Let me walk you to the door.” Minhyun offered.

“Minhyu-“ Jonghyun was about to argue.

“Remember I won the bet,” Minhyun said.

Jonghyun sighed, he didn’t forget. He stepped out of the car, and with Minhyun went toward his mother’s apartment. The complex wasn’t in the best neighborhood. Jonghyun had to give Minhyun credit for not mentioning the badly beaten neighborhood.

“Well,” Jonghyun paused at one of the apartments on the first floor. “This is where I live.” He smiled at Minhyun, but it disappeared when he noticed  the intense stare in his eyes.

 “Goodnight, Jonghyun,” He whispered.

“Goodnight.” Jonghyun said in return. He was about to open the door when he was pulled away. Jonghyun was confused, but before he could say anything, something soft touched the corner of his lips.

.

.

.

Before Jonghyun could process what happened. He was positive it happened. Minhyun was gone, and out of sight. Jonghyun touched the corner of his mouth. It was warm, as if…as if it was still there.

“This isn't good," Jonghyun whispered, his heart was jumping all over his chest. "Not good."

-to be continued

AN: So OOC means Out of character. So basically they aren’t true to how they are in real life. But to be honest I do not know how they are in real life. We just assume from what we see, right? Second, you all have made some good guesses. I want to answer you all, but that is like spoiling the whole story. You all will have to wait for the truth to reveal itself. Third, Wow to all the subscribers. Thank you, and thank you to everyone for the comments. I sincerely apologize for not updating sooner. I’m not sure when the next chapter will come, but I will try to add some ongniel in it, because come on we need those two.  Also I apologize for any mistakes, will edit when I have the chance...well

Until next time