There were plenty of times where Minseok didn’t know what to do with the situation at hand.

Where he ended up over thinking everything about everything.

Where he remained quiet as he tried to assess the situation.

And where the other party seemed to misunderstand his thinking process for it.

“What are you looking at?”

He sounded unhappy. No, Minseok was sure that he was unhappy. Unhappy that he saw him.

And Minseok had a hunch to as why.

He nodded his head to him as a polite gesture.

The other boy’s mouth twitched as he stared back, not reciprocating the greeting.

His gaze lingered a little longer than necessary until he swiveled his body toward the snack aisle as he had never seen Minseok in the first place.

Minseok was fine with that. He was, in fact, contemplating a few seconds before on whether or not to greet Sehun or simply go on with his way.

Which was why he had halted for a few seconds, staring at the blonde haired boy.

And in return, the boy had felt his eyes on him and turned to see who was staring at him. And he was not delighted in the least when he realized who the other party was.

But Minseok never felt comfortable with the boy, a nagging feeling deep inside him that turned him away from any positive thoughts about the other boy.

So when Sehun brusquely ignored him outright, Minseok was happy to oblige and leave him to his own grocery shopping.

But as he walked past him, the murmurs of Sehun stopped him short.

“Excuse me?”

Sehun stopped rummaging through the bags of chips and looked at him from his peripheral. “I said, ‘I don’t know why Kyungjin likes you around.’ In fact, I don’t even know why people like you so much.”

“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to answer that since I cannot speak for them.”

Sehun’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “See, this is what I’m talking about. There’s something odd about you. Like you’re detached from the world. And frankly, it’s a bit weird.”

“That’s not all of it though, isn’t it?” Minseok slowly said as if he was trying to stop the words before they left his lips. “It’s not just my personality that bothers you, but something deeper than that. More of your hidden feelings for…”

Minseok stopped speaking when he noticed that murderous glare in Sehun’s eyes. He knew he stepped on a landmine.

Minseok couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t as if he wanted to say those words to Sehun. But Sehun’s attitude made him peeved as well. He wasn’t being completely honest with himself, that Minseok could tell. About what still evaded Minseok.

Sehun’s lips curled up in a snarl, his eyes red with fury. “Who the do you think you are?” he growled angrily at Minseok. “Why do act like you know how I’m feeling? Like you know who I am really.”

“Because I do,” Minseok replied softly before he could stop himself. “I do know what you’re feeling. Anger, dissatisfaction, confusion. ”

“What?” Sehun asked, looking at him in surprise. “You know? Like you know what I’m thinking? How I really feel about everything?” Sehun’s face contorted into disbelief, his tone now light with bewilderment. “That’s freaky. What are you? Some kind of monster freak? Whatever. I don’t even want to know.”

And without knowing the weight of his words, Sehun walked away from Minseok.

Minseok, on the other hand, stood frozen in his shoes.

Monster.

You’re a monster.

You’re nothing but a monster. Remember that Minseok.

Those words kept swirling in his head, his body stiffening from the memories.

Bad memories.

Memories that he had blocked out to forget and the memories he hoped to never relive.

His head pounded, and he began to felt nauseous.

He didn’t dare to close his eyes for when he did, a figure emerged from the darkness.

A dark figure.

He dropped the basket he was carrying and rushed out the grocery store.

He felt sick to his stomach, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep.

Optimistic.

Sickly optimistic is what he had felt.

A smile on his face as he hoped for the best.

The final attempt in his trust in society.

High school.

His last hope.

Perhaps it was pointless from the beginning. Maybe he knew it in his heart, but he wanted to try.

Perhaps he had but slightly too much trust.

But back then, he felt like this experience was going to change his life. That it would finally change his perspective on everything.

And he was right. For all the wrong reasons.

He was an observer by nature. Quiet from his past experiences.

So, it was more than likely that he would not gain friends as quickly as one might have.

But he was fine with that.

He was fine with simply observing.

In fact, everything was going off to a good start.

These classmates didn’t seem so horrible.

All were anxious and nervous, but they put that aside to come forth and set foot into this existence called high school.

And that made him that much more hopeful.

But he wasn’t the type to put himself forward. The one who would take the first step.

And even though he was content on watching, he, too, had the smallest desire to connect with someone.

And then he appeared.

Minseok remembered seeing his shoes first.

Worn-out bright red Converses with frayed shoelaces.

And his gaze slowly traveled up until it reached his face.

A face with a never-ending smile and a head full of dark coppery hair.

A with an exuberant hand suddenly at him, he said, “Hi! I couldn’t help but to see that you’re looking pretty lonely. And I’m pretty lonely myself. That makes us perfect to talk to each other! I’m…”

Minseok awoke, startled into consciousness.

His eyes met darkness first until they adjusted into the night light with only the sliver of the moon peeking through the murky sky.

He laid there, eyes wide open and heart thumping repetitiously.

A nightmare.

A nightmare he had thought he finished having.

A nightmare he stopped having the moment he stopped caring about everything and everyone.

He blinked several times, as if it was a reminder that this was the present and not the past.

But the struggle to stay rational was becoming a losing battle.

He felt his emotions swell inside him, craving to be let out like a burst dam.

He stifled them, choking back a strangled cry.

He closed his eyes, taking long deep breaths, eventually calming himself down as well as his beating heart.

His eyes opened slowly as he stared absently at the dark ceiling.

“It’s all in the past,” he thought to himself, trying to reassure himself as he had once did long ago. “He’s wrong. And he’s always been.”

Minseok slowly closed his eyes, exhaustion finally hitting him.

But he couldn’t help but to think about him as he drifted off to sleep.

He, who lied almost as naturally as could possible.

He, who betrayed to people closest to him.

And he who used to be his best friend.

The person who he thought he could trust.

And who in the end broke it.

And the one who caused Minseok to lose his last lingering hope in society.

“Minseok? Honey?”

His mother knocked and after receiving no reply, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

She was surprised to say at the least that her son was still in bed. She checked the time to see if it was actually earlier than she thought, but no, it was really twelve in the afternoon. Which was odd considering that Minseok never slept in after ten in the morning.

The covers of his bed were stretched over, covering his head.

She tentatively approached him, slowly pulling the covers off, revealing his back to her. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Minseok turned over to glance at his mother and nodded in response.

She was startled to see his complexion. It was pale and sickly, like he hadn’t had a good night’s rest. Her son might not show many emotions on his face, she was proud to say that she could tell the minute differences. On occasion.

And in this case, she could tell that her son wasn’t feeling well. The way he looked lethargically at her, more so than usual, or the way that he seemed to assess everything with bothered interest.

She sat down on the side of his bed, reached over, and touched his forehead, gauging his temperature.

“Hmmm, I don’t think you have a fever. Do you feel sick?”

Minseok stared at her, but not exactly at her. “No, I just…don’t feel that well.”

His mother frowned. She remembered that there was one time that Minseok acted this way. A few years back when Minseok still showed varied emotions from time to time until he stopped caring at all.

“Well, do you want anything?”

Minseok shook his head. “I just want to sleep.”

“Alright, but does this mean you’re not going to see Kyungjin today?”

Minseok visually stiffened before sighing. “Not today. Please tell her that.”

“Ok, but if you do need anything, just tell me.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

She nodded and got up to leave. And when she about to close the door behind her, she heard, “Mom?”

She stopped and stuck her head inside. “Hmmm?”

“Thanks.”

She blinked her eyes at him several times before smiling and responding, “You’re welcome.”

Walking through the hallway, Minseok’s mother suddenly stopped. This was the first time in a long while that she had a somewhat decent conversation with her son. Not one that relayed information and felt stiff, but one that she felt like her son was somehow opening up.

And she couldn’t keep the smile that was appearing on her face.

Because in all her years of being Minseok’s mother, he had never called her “Mom”. When he was younger, it was “Mommy” and when he grew older, it was “Mother”.

And now, well, now, she was happy she came to this town with Minseok.

Minseok continued to stay home. Not always in his bed, but still, he didn’t step foot out of his house. And even though his mother tried to persuade him to get out, he had declined, not feeling the same anymore.

And that also meant, missing the weekly meeting with Kyungjin.

He was slightly apologetic for it, but right now, Minseok couldn’t meet with her. Not with his current state of mind.

He could feel it.

That he changed during his stay in this town.

He didn’t know how, but one fact remained true.

That he didn’t like it.

He had forgotten what the world was really like.

He had forgotten the shrewdness and the disgusting behavior of the average person. He had concluded that this town was different, which was why everyone was so kind here.

But this town wasn’t a representative of society, in fact, it was probably better than the rest of everyone else.

However, it didn’t change to fact about society and its attributes. That everyone isn’t who they really are.

He knew first hand.

That the person who seemed more than he could ever imagine could be the complete opposite.

Minseok stared out the window, propping his elbow on the windowsill and laying his cheek on the palm of his hand.

He vaguely remembered that today would be the day when he would meet up with Kyungjin. And this would be the fourth week he had missed their meetings. And entire month since he had last seen her.

But he pushed it towards the back of his mind. He was sure that she could do fine without him. It wasn’t as if it was really beneficial to her or to him.

In fact, it was probably a waste of time.

The door slammed opened to which Minseok slowly turned his head to look at the trespasser.

He stared at the girl who was breathing heavily, supporting herself against the frame of the door.

“Kyungjin.”

Her eyes flickered up, gazing directly into the other’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you come?”

“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. Your mother will worry.”

“Answer me, Minseok! Why did you stop coming? You don’t look sick to me!”

Minseok gazed at her for a few seconds before turning away and looking out the window once more. “I was sure that you would be fine without me.”

“That doesn’t explain anything!” she cried out. “You just stopped coming suddenly. Without any explanation!”

He looked at her with hollow eyes that shocked her. “Our meetings weren’t truly beneficial to both of us. There was no need to prolong them if that was the case.”

Kyungjin balled her hands into tight fists. “That’s why you stopped coming? Is that what you really think?”

Minseok glanced at her before saying calmly, “Yes.”

She stalked up to him and stopped right in front of him. She raised her hands to his face, grabbing it and giving him a headbutt causing both of them have a newly formed reddening spot of their foreheads.

“What are you doing?” Minseok muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

“How dare you,” she growled, ignoring his complaint. “It wasn’t beneficial? Bull. I loved hanging out with you. And as much as I hope you feel the same way, I least hope you appreciated our time. So, don’t say it wasn’t beneficial. Don’t make me feel like our relationship wasn’t real, that it was all fake. Tell me at least that our friendship was real.”

Minseok shook his head. “You don’t need me, Kyungjin.”

“You don’t know that! You may able to hear my thoughts, but you don’t always know the whole story. Even what your mind says, your heart still keeps a secret. So maybe I do, maybe I don’t, need you. The point is you can’t simply disappear on me like that. Don’t do what Sehun did to me,” she whispered.

“I am sorry if that is what you think. But I realized that everyone is cruel in their own way. And I don’t need to know that anymore,” Minseok replied, mostly to himself.

Kyungjin stared at him. Her eyes boring into him, as if she was trying to see who he really was. “What happened to you?” she asked desperately. “It’s like you changed.”

“I didn’t change,” Minseok responded. “I merely remembered why.”

“No, it’s like you regressed. I could see it, Minseok. I could see you slowly opening up, but now, now, it’s like meeting you again for the first time. So, what happened? You can tell me. I mean, we’re friends, right?” her voice trembling at each word.

Minseok looked up at her. “You don’t need to know, Kyungjin.”

The look of pain and betrayal on Kyungjin’s face stopped Minseok short. He almost wanted to stand up and say that he was wrong.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

Kyungjin looked like she was about run out the room, her eyes quivering.

However, like she always does, she did the opposite than Minseok expected.

Because instead of running out of the door in anger, she ran up to Minseok and hugged him while he sat there unmoving.

“Minseok,” she said softly. “I don’t care if you don’t tell me, but at least tell someone. It’s not good to keep it all inside. Because hey, I’m a perfect example. If I didn’t tell you about Sehun, I don’t think I would be able to handle the situation properly. So, I want to help you. Just like you helped me. Or at least be there to support you.”

She pulled out and looked at him with soft eyes and a smile.

Minseok looked back with blank eyes, considering the situation at hand.

But Kyungin’s sincerity was overwhelming. He could hear it with amplification. She was angry, sad, and worried.

The fact that she wanted to help, even if she wasn’t the direct person to do so, made him close his eyes in hesitation

He finally opened his eyes to look at Kyungjin.

“Okay, I’ll tell you.”

A/N: So, this was actually supposed to be a shorter chapter, but after thinking it over, I extended it. I hope it was the right decision.

Sehun isn’t really a real antagonist; he’s more like a catalyst.

After Kyungjin, it’s Minseok’s turn to tell his past. Because obviously there was something that made him how he was now. Something that pushed it over the edge.

Hopefully, I have time to update soon.

Thanks for reading!