Minho thought fate was being kind when he met Jinki. Jinki was a nice guy, kind, he smiled a lot, he was handsome. And best of all.. he was actually interested in Minho.

Their relationship got serious enough that Minho gathered the courage to bring Jinki to meet his family. It was a decision he later came to bitterly regret.

When Minho introduced Jinki as his boyfriend, his father had an ugly expression on his face before he got up and walked away. His mother was horrified and hurled insults at him. She told him to leave and never come back.

The only one who gave any kind of warm reception to the news was Minho’s brother, Minseok. He smiled and said he supported the pair wholeheartedly. Minho wasn’t one to cry, but he couldn’t help sobbing in front of his brother at their parents’ harsh rejection.

During the rest of their meal, Jinki was unusually quiet. Even beyond what had happened earlier. He seemed comfortable enough around Minseok to be his regular self. Minho frowned, and as soon as they had said their goodbyes to Minseok, Minho questioned why he’d been so quiet.

    “I’m just tired. The scene between you and your parents really drained me,” Minho felt guilty, and apologized. The matter was forgotten about from then on.

Minseok became a frequent visitor at their apartment. Minho was delighted with the company, but Jinki became unusually quiet when Minseok came by. He never would explain why, and Minho learned to stop asking.

He couldn’t have known. But he found out one afternoon, completely by accident. He was out grocery shopping, and when he came back… there they were. Sitting on the couch. Laughing as if Jinki had never been awkward around Minseok at all. And Minho knew in that instant that Jinki was in love with his brother.

Despite knowing that he should’ve broken up with Jinki right then, Minho persevered. He’d given up far too much to just break up with Jinki now. And besides… he loved Jinki. A lot.

He didn’t let Jinki know that he knew. It would’ve only made things worse between them, even though it had already deteriorated into indifference. At least on Jinki’s part.

Oh, he’d tried to hide it. But the sparkle in Jinki’s eyes whenever he’d looked at Minho was now focused on Minseok. It hurt so much, to be trapped in a loveless relationship. Minho eventually felt like it was all his fault. That he’d pushed his family onto Jinki too soon.

If he had cared to notice, Jinki would’ve noticed that his “boyfriend” had become quieter and more subdued. But all of Jinki’s attention was wrapped up in Minseok, and they spent more time with each other than they did separately with Minho.

Of course, Minho didn’t blame his brother. He didn’t even blame Jinki. He just waited earnestly, silently, hoping that one day Jinki might notice him again.

That hope was shattered when Minho came home to their shared apartment (that was no longer shared out of love, but out of convenience) and heard the moans coming from their once shared bedroom. He froze, his eyes wide. His hand gripped the doorknob tightly.

He tried to cry, but his tears wouldn’t come. He shut the door quietly and walked out of the apartment building.

He walked to the nearest café, mindless of the tears that had finally come. He ordered a bitter, black coffee. ’Just like my heart’, he thought. He couldn’t help the self-deprecating chuckle that came out. The cashier frowned, but didn’t ask questions.

    “Order for Minho,” someone called out and Minho rushed over. He took the coffee out of the barista’s hands, frowning when he found it hot.

    “Could you add ice to this?” he asked politely, and the barista smiled.

    “I sure can,” the barista’s smile made Minho feel like punching something, so he turned away. He took the coffee when it was handed to him and went to sit down. He sipped at the coffee, giving himself enough time to collect his calm and for Jinki to finish… what he was doing. Or rather, who.

Even then, Minho acted like nothing was wrong. He acted like he didn’t know Jinki was screwing around with Minseok behind his back. He noticed that whenever Minseok came over, he could never quite look Minho in the eyes. He was amused by Minseok’s obvious suffering, so he didn’t say a word about how Minseok acted around him.

Whenever he came home and heard the moans, he went to the small café he visited before. The cashier, Kibum, always smiled at him. As did the barista, Jonghyun. Minho never smiled back, and instead often wore a smooth, blank expression. He always ordered the same thing: a bitter, black, iced coffee.

He sat in the same seat. He put in his headphones and listened to music and browsed on his phone. He thought about writing down all his feelings, and wondered why he thought it might help.

    “Uhm.. Our shift ends in a couple of minutes,” Jonghyun, from all that Minho had observed, was being uncharacteristically shy. “I was wondering if.. Well, Kibum and me, that is, were wondering if maybe you’d like to go hang out at a noraebang with us tonight.” Minho wore his usual expression when he was outside the apartment: bland. He shook his head.

    “No. I have to get home to my boyfriend,” his voice had no inflection, but both Kibum and Jonghyun flinched at the word ‘boyfriend’. Jonghyun’s fake smile showed all of his disappointment, and Minho felt savagely pleased with himself.

He got up and walked out, not bothering to look back at either Kibum or Jonghyun.

Jinki, by now, had finally (too late) noticed that Minho wasn’t acting right. He tried (unsuccessfully) to find out why. Minho no longer cared whether or not the pair of them noticed he wasn’t acting right. He was tired of all the fake smiles and brightness, and it was a relief to let go of the mask.

Even when Jinki and Minseok weren’t screwing around in the apartment, Minho found himself visiting the café. Kibum and Jonghyun often invited him to go places, and he turned them down. Again and again. But they never gave up, and Minho couldn’t feel anything but annoyance at their trying so hard.

It had become his safe place, the café. So when Minho entered and noticed that Jinki had followed him, he almost panicked. Almost. Just as Jinki entered the café, he heard Jonghyun and Kibum’s enthusiastic greetings to Minho and frowned.

Minho ordered his usual drink, and sat down at his usual table. Not long after, Jonghyun and Kibum came to sit down with him. Minho was the only customer they had during this time, and they enjoyed his company, as Jinki clearly saw.

Minho, for his part, was motivated by bitterness towards Jinki to finally accept Jonghyun’s invitation to go out (this time, to a bar). He was genuinely startled when Jonghyun and Kibum both tackled him with hugs and yells of delight, and when he glanced at Jinki out of the corner of his eye, he saw sadness instead of anger.

He didn’t know why Jinki didn’t sit with him. He realized he didn’t really care, and left without saying a word to Jinki on the way out.

Jinki stood up and went to the counter, where Jonghyun and Kibum were chattering excitedly about Minho finally accepting their invitation. He smiled briefly and declined to order something to drink.

    “Just.. take good care of Minho,” without giving either of them a chance to reply, he swiftly walked out of the café. He headed to Minseok’s apartment, where he spent the majority of the time now. They needed to talk.

The next morning, when Minho came home after spending the night with Jonghyun and Kibum (At least, they’d said he spent the night on their couch. He was too drunk to remember.), Jinki and Minseok were sitting on the couch waiting for him.

Minseok was looking studiously at the carpet. Jinki had his hand in Minseok’s and was boldly looking Minho in the face. The feeling that everything was about to come crashing down was so strong in Minho that he had to swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

    “Minho…,” Jinki trailed off uncertainly at the look on Minho’s face. Minho scoffed, the bitterness he’d harbored for months welling up in his chest.

    “You’re gonna tell me now that you cheated on me with my brother? How sweet,” Jinki and Minseok flinched at the venom in Minho’s voice. “ you.” There was a blush of shame on Minseok’s face, but Minho couldn’t bring himself to care. “I alienated myself from my parents for you.”

    “ I’m sorry,” Minho shook his head.

    “No apologies. You knew exactly what you were doing, so own it like a ing man. Just tell me you’re moving in with Minseok. Or whatever the you’re going to tell me,” feeling suddenly drained, Minho went and sat in the chair in the furthest corner of the room.

Minseok got up and approached Minho timidly. Minho laughed, seeing the normally cool Minseok acting so shy.

    “Are you afraid of me now, hyung? You shouldn’t be. You should hate me. Demand that Jinki break up with me for you. Except.. that’s what he’s doing now. Isn’t it?” the realization that he had now alienated his whole family made Minho’s resentment for Jinki even worse. “You know what? I don’t even give a anymore. I don’t love you. I don’t care about you. I don’t…,” Minho started laughing. “I don’t give a what you do.”

He abruptly got up and went to his own bedroom. Technically, the guest bedroom. Without even knowing what he was really doing, Minho started packing. He grabbed his clothes, his iPod, and his favorite books. Without looking at either Jinki or Minseok, he left.

He didn’t know where he would go. When he realized he was going in the general direction of the café, Minho shrugged. Maybe Jonghyun and Kibum would let him stay at their apartment. He smiled softly for the first time in what felt like forever.
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My honeybunny has inspired me to write so much Onho lately. ♥ I love you, honeybunny. *clings*

Ai yi yi. What a crappy birthday present to myself. OTL A crappy, unsatisfying oneshot like this.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. c: 

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Til next time. ^.~