[Frustrations]

Song Mino’s POV

I don’t understand what I was thinking or what got into me but I just ran, and I kept running as fast as I could to where he was because for some unknown reason, I was afraid- afraid that he would suddenly break to pieces, afraid that he would just disappear, afraid that he wasn’t even real to begin with. 

And again, I couldn’t understand why I was feeling like this or why I was acting like this because we don’t even talk, we don’t really know each other, and we’re not even friends. In addition to that, I don’t even like him! I’m supposed to be avoiding him for goodness sake but here I am, staring dumbfounded at his pretty motionless face. 

Did I just say pretty? No I didn’t, I must be crazy!

The other students were looking at me in bewilderment, probably wondering why I was running like a madman towards the kid. My friends were also perplexed by my actions, especially Seungyoon who gave me a stupefied glare. “He needs to go to the infirmary, I’ll take him since I’m going there anyway.” 

I picked him up and I was surprised at how light he was for a guy. He felt so warm too, like the hot compress my mom would put on my forehead whenever I had the flu.

Wait, is he sick? I stared as his face and his once pale cheeks were gradually painted by a tinge of pink. I brisk walk to the clinic but the nurse is nowhere to be found, probably on a break too. I lay him on one of the empty beds and cover him with a blanket because it looked like he was freezing. I have  never taken care of a sick person before so I started to panic as I was pacing around the room, back and forth, not knowing what to do. 

I touch his forehead, and woah, he was indeed burning! I hastily dashed outside and started calling for the nurse but she was still nowhere in sight. I went back and found the boy to be uttering some words in his sleep whilst his face looked like he was in pain. 

“Mo…ther. Don’t leave me too please….” he says in a hushed tone as his face looked sullen and his eyebrows droopier. I walk towards his bed, kneeling down to lower myself and held onto his hand that felt so soft, so warm and so….right- that I was meant to hold it with mine. I held my breath with the touch as I started to feel fuzzy and lightheaded. 

“Ssshh. No one’s leaving you.”

Nam Taehyun’s POV

I dreamt about my mother. I dreamt about her leaving me for father and I tried to stop her but she continued to walk away and didn’t even look back. I open my eyes, look around and all I saw was white. 

Oh, I’m at the infirmary. I should’ve taken care of this fever at home. I got up and searched the room for the nurse so I could ask her to not tell my mother about this little incident. She doesn’t have to worry about me. 

“Taehyun-ah, isn’t it? You should go back to bed and rest. You haven’t fully recovered yet.” The nurse enters the room and gives me a soft smile.

“Uhmm, don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.” I stand up as I prepare myself to leave. 

“Stop being stubborn and just stay here for the rest of the day. You don’t want to make your friend worried again, do you?” The nurse said as she hauls me back to bed.

“Friend, what do you mean friend?” I asked because I don’t remember making friends with anyone in this school.

“The kid with the bright smile! I forgot his name but you should’ve seen how nervous he was when you were still not waking up. You’re lucky to have a friend like him!” 

I still have no clue who this so-called friend of mine could be. “Sorry, but I really have no idea.”

The nurse looks at me in doubt as if she couldn’t believe I was serious. “He said you were classmates. He fell asleep waiting for you to wake up. You don’t really know him?”

Classmates? Must be the guy who sits next to me. I try to remember his name but I fail to no avail. 

“Ah yes, yes, I remember. So… Can I go now?” I ask in an almost pleading manner but the nurse had this stern look on her face. It was apparent that she wouldn’t let me go until classes are finished so I just walked towards the bed and lied down.

"Your friend was so funny awhile ago. He kept pestering me on why you weren't waking up! You should've seen his face, he thought you were going to die!” The nurse gives me an amused look , giggles on her own at the thought, and heads to the other room.

Worried? Friend? These things didn't make any sense. I barely knew the guy, why was he so concerned about me?

In addition to that, I never had a friend to begin with. I don't even know how it feels to have one. I've always been alone and I like being alone because at least, you won't get to experience the pain of rejection and the agony of being left behind.

But I end up thinking about the guy with the neatly-combed hair and for some odd reason, I find myself smiling.

I think I have to say thank you.

Song Mino can't help but think about Nam Taehyun. Why did he keep calling for his mother in his sleep? Why did he look so sad and helpless? And why hasn't he coming back to class? Is he still sick?

The bell rings and Mino decides to check on Taehyun just because he was curious about the boy’s condition and being the well-brought up son that he is, of course he has to look out for his classmates. He tells that to himself as he fixes his stuff and heads out to the room.

Seungyoon catches up to him and calls his name but Mino doesn't notice. "Hey, didn't you hear me? Where are you going?" Seungyoon shouts and gives Mino a nudge on his shoulder to get his attention.

Mino is startled by the sudden contact and gives his friend a confused stare. "Huh, what did you say?"

"I said, WHERE. ARE. YOU. GOING? Have you turned deaf because of all the noise you've been listening too?” Seungyoon said in mocking tone. 

"First, hiphop is not noise. It's the greatest musical genre that ever existed in this planet, you nerd!” Mino retorted back in annoyance. He didn't like it when Seungyoon nitpicks on his taste in music. Ever since he was a kid, Mino liked listening to hiphop and rap, where in he eventually started writing his own lyrics and composing his own songs. But not many people knew about this or even appreciated this hobby of his. He made Seungyoon listen to one of his compositions before but his friend wasn't the least bit interested and just teased Mino about it.

Seungyoon knew that his friend didn't like it whenever he says bad things about his musical passion so he apologizes. "Okay, sorry sorry. Just trying to get your attention. Now, where are you going and why are you in a hurry? You won't be coming with us?"

Mino is lost for words and thinks about an excuse he could give to his nagging friend. No way would he tell Seungyoon that he couldn't stop thinking about a guy he barely knew, worried for a boy he found strange and is now going to check up on the kid he keeps saying that he doesn't like.

"I want to do better this year so I thought of studying in the library! I didn't want that thing last year to happen again!" Mino chuckles as he tries to avoid Seungyoon's unconvinced gaze. He was not a good liar after all. 

Seungyoon ogles at his friend in disbelief. ”You? Study? Are you serious? Mino if you're up to something again I'm telling you to stop it right now." Seungyoon warns Mino because he knows his friend and his tendency of making stupid decisions and doing stupid things.

"What do you mean? Trust me on this! I just really need to go to the library and work on something. Now you go ahead without me! Stop being so clingy man!" Mino jostles Seungyoon away, waves to his friend goodbye, and hastily runs to somewhere.

Seungyoon sighs. “Oh well, just don’t get into trouble.”

Mino didn't feel good about lying to Seungyoon but he had no choice. If he told his friend that he'll be visiting Nam Taehyun, Seungyoon will ask him why.

How would Mino answer that when he doesn't even know the reason himself?

He opens the door to the infirmary and is greeted by the nurse that was making fun of him last time.

"Oh, it's you again! Are you looking for your friend?" The nurse gives him a smile and he could sense that there was a hint of teasing in the tone of her voice.

"Uhmm, how is he?" Mino says nonchalantly and pretends that he wasn't bothered or that he didn't care about whatever condition Nam Taehyun is currently in. He was just curious, that's all.

“He just left moments ago! He was so stubborn. He kept saying he was fine and that he could manage but it was so obvious that he still needed to rest. I didn't want to let him go but he reasoned out that it's already dismissal time and his mom will be waiting so I allowed him to leave." The nurse told Mino and continued, "But don't worry, it was just a little flu! He’s doing good now!” She said in assurance and gives Mino a wink.

Mino somehow felt disappointed because he wasn’t able to see the weird kid with the weird everything but he shoved the feeling away. What would he even say to the boy if he saw him? 

Mino gives his thanks, walks out of the room and heads home. As he strolls down the streets and the path that he had been walking to since forever, he felt different. There was a subtle pang in his chest, as if something was missing and that it was weighing his entire being down. 

Nam Taehyun was feeling a little nervous today. Droplets of sweat were forming over the palm of his hands as he holds onto a CD that he was planning to give to someone. He was an hour early for class so there he was, sitting in the classroom all by himself. He was alone again- not that he wasn’t used to it.

Silence was good. Being alone was good. But for some reason, today, it didn’t feel all that nice.

The classroom door suddenly opens and produces a loud bang as a boy with dishevelled black hair and ed polo shirt enters the room, short of breath. Song Mino looks around the room in bewilderment and checks his watch for the time.

“Why is no one still in class? It’s already 8:00 AM!” He says in confusion. Mino then stops to think and a sudden thought comes to mind. He messes his already tousled hair in annoyance as his face furrows in exasperation. 

“Ughhh, my mom adjusted my watch again!!!” Mino shouts in frustration and trudges wearily to his seat with a scowl.

Taehyun looks at the boisterous kid who just made a ruckus over a small thing and wonders how could someone be so rude. 

When Mino was finished mumbling some random things to himself, he let his gaze roam around the empty classroom and thinks about how he should’ve still been at his room right now, on his bed, sleeping cozily under his warm sheets when he unexpectedly finds himself staring right in front of the boy with the bizarre hair, baffling eyebrows, and pitch-black orbs. It didn’t help that the boy was looking at him too.

Mino holds his breath as a myriad of unfamiliar emotions run around him. Bullets of sweat were forming on his forehead as his heart was making loud thumps inside his chest. He awkwardly shifts his gaze to the front, then to the left, then to the right and finds himself not knowing where too look or what to do. He doesn’t understand why he was feeling so edgy and tense being alone with the weird kid so he gets up his seat. But as soon as he did that, he sits again. It would look really unnatural if he barges outside the classroom without any reason, he thought to himself.

Say something, say something. Mino chants as if a war cry was happening inside his head where in he’s almost at his wits end, not knowing what to say. 

Mino was a confident and social kid. He didn’t have any trouble talking or starting conversations with other people- until now. 

“Are you okay? You’re all sweaty.” Taehyun says nonchalantly as he hands Mino his handkerchief. He was standing right in front of Mino’s desk right now, extending his hands as he makes his offer to the flustered boy.

Taehyun’s actions startles Mino and for a moment, he didn’t know if he should accept the handkerchief or not. 

“Take it.” There was some sort of authority in the way Taehyun spoke and Mino finds himself taking his hold onto the neatly folded piece of cloth that lay on the boy’s fair and slender hand. Mino remembers how just yesterday, that hand was against his very own, and that it felt like it had always meant to be with his. 

Mino, again, shoves the appalling thought and looks away. He fumbles inside his bag and reaches for his headphones and iPod. Mino lets himself be riveted by the loud beats and booming synthesisers as he hopes that his strange thoughts and feelings drown together with him. 

Taehyun goes back to his seat and directs his gaze outside the window. The room was silent once again but for some reason, Taehyun liked the feeling of sharing that silence with someone. 

Students were gradually filling up the classroom as the clock tick-tocked it’s way to 8AM. Seungyoon enters the room and greets his friend with a soft jab on the back. He then gives Taehyun a soft smile to which Taehyun smiles in return.

This didn’t escape Mino’s line of sight. It was his first time seeing the boy smile. And somehow, he didn’t like how he was smiling towards someone else. 

“How was your study session yesterday? Any good?” Seungyoon interrupts Mino’s thoughts and curiously waits for his friend’s answer. He was still unconvinced that Mino would spend time in the library to study before going home. Just the image of Mino holding a book and seriously reading is both a bizarre and funny thought for Seungyoon. 

Mino suddenly remembers the lie he told his friend yesterday so he gives him a soft chuckle and tells him that he learned a lot and he’ll surely be ready for today’s class. Their little chat is interrupted by Taehyun’s light tap on Seungyoon’s shoulders. 

“Uhmmm, I wanted to give you something.” Taehyun reaches for the CD under his desk and hands it to Seungyoon. “I wanted to give my thanks so here are some tracks you could listen to while you study. I made them myself.” 

Seungyoon accepts the CD but is confused on why Taehyun was thanking him. “Oh, wow, thanks. So you compose your own songs? That’s awesome!” 

Taehyun nods and gives a shy smile.

However, a certain boy with disheveled black hair had his gaze fixed on the two from afar and he didn’t look all that pleased with their current exchange. His lips gradually curved into a frown. 

Song Mino liked to smile and laugh whenever he was frustrated or sad. But for today, just for today, he was just somehow, in a very, very bad mood. 

A/N: Before you people kill me, I’m telling you right now that I’m a VERY loyal Namsong shipper and this is indeed a NAMSONG fanfic so don’t worry!!! I just want to make Mino a little jealous because he keeps flirting with everyone and is making Namtae jealous all the time! 

On another note, I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter but now let me explain the ages of the WINNER members in this fic. Mino and Seungyoon are of the same age. Seunghoon and Jinwoo are older than Minyoon by a year so they’re currently seniors in this story.