DAY 1

“You d..don’t mind me sitting with you, r..right ?” Minseok looked up from his soup. “I mean if y..you mind I can sit somewhere else!” The younger boy’s mumbles came out rushed. Minseok just nodded slightly and made space for Sehun. His gaze travelled back down into murky orange puddle as he pressed the floating alphabets down with the back of his spoon, mind started wandering back to the stranger.

There was something different about him. The way his brown locks rested nicely over his forehead, as if each and every strand of hair was strategically positioned to look that way. The way his eyelashes flutter upwards so innocently, only to reveal a pair of dark, brooding eyes – probably not as innocent. His lips were tinted cherry pink with a light tug at the end, as if challenging Minseok to a game. Minseok furrowed his brows at the thought and strengthened his resolve. If he wanted a challenge, Minseok would give him a good one.

Minseok always liked a good challenge. He remembered the one time Kyungsoo brought a brain puzzle over to his house while visiting and Minseok was so bent on trying to solve the brain puzzle, he forgotten Kyungsoo’s existence for a whole three hours, which led to the other boy leaving the house in annoyance. Even then, all Minseok could think about was the puzzle. Maybe that’s why, Minseok thought, Kyungsoo had to find someone else. To fill in the gap he could never do. Maybe he brought all these upon himself, like it was all his fault. And maybe, it just might be.

A shrill bell, indicating the end of lunchtime, interrupted Minseok’s thoughts. He stood up slowly, peeling himself off the chair and made his way to the tray-return corner, staring dazedly at the contents of the soup before emptying them into a swirly mess in the bin. Minseok noticed that Sehun had already made his way back to the room. He reached out a hand to adjust the hoodie he was wearing before slowly dragging his feet towards the rooms.

It was Minseok’s first group therapy session and he hated it. They were made to sit in circles and share one positive thing they liked about themselves.

“I like my hair because it shines under the light!”
 

“I c..can predict the f..future!”
 

“I am always neat”

“I can count well!”

When it was Minseok’s turn, nothing came into his mind. He felt all ten pair eyes staring intently at him, as if they were trying to crack his outer shell. He felt unexplainable fear rise at this throat and his brain began to throb, crashing hard against his skull with every beat. Stop staring. Sweat started soaking up the back of his hoodie and his palms were getting all wet. His heart got all tight, as if some one placed a death grip on it. Please just stop staring. Minseok started panting, his breathing becoming erratic. Please.

“No.”
 

“No?” Suho lowered his clipboard and looked at Minseok.

“No.” Minseok muttered before he broke out into a run. He had to get away from this place, from all the staring. The white walls around him started to blur as hot tears stung his eyes.

No.  There’s nothing good about me, Minseok wanted to scream. Air was gushing back into his lungs at such a fast pace Minseok was sure he’s going to pass out. When his legs finally gave way, he found himself on the floor in the eastern block of the institution.

The tears began to spill as he clutched his leg close to his body. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Minseok’s face twisted in agony as he shook terribly, choking on his sobs. There’s nothing good about broken people.

A pair of feet shuffled.

“Hey.”

That voice, Minseok looks up, fully aware he wasn’t exactly looking good.  He felt his heart come down to a slow pace and his breathing slowly becoming regular again.

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself, you have good points okay. Broken people can be beautiful too. Take your eyes for an example. They’re mesmerizing” The stranger was leaning with his hand propped against wall lazily, with a playful yet sincere grin. “Don’t forget your cheeks, they’re adorable.” His laughter ringing around the empty halls, ricocheting in Minseok’s ears.

“Who —“ So many questions Minseok wanted to ask.

“Eh, what’s the fun in knowing my name so soon?” he said with a slight smirk, reaching out to help Minseok up from his position. The contact between skin sent a shock up Minseok’s spine which left as fast as it came.

“You’d see me around often, don’t worry” he gave a low chuckle and his heel, image of his back getting smaller and smaller before he made a pivot at the corner, disappearing completely. 


                                           


Minseok sat in his bed, mind still thinking about the stranger. He absentmindedly thumbed the spot where they made contact, with his words still running in his head. Broken people can be beautiful too.

“A..Are you okay now? You got me s..scared for a moment when you ran off just n..now” Sehun shifted in his bed. Minseok nodded, averting his partner’s worried look. Right now, what Minseok needs isn’t pity, but answers. Tons of them. “A..Alright, that’s good. You can always t..talk to me alright” Sehun cleared his throat. “You know, I’ve b..been wanting to ask you s..something.” Minseok looks up, “I..I’ve received this message in m..my alphabet soup just now b..but I can’t seem to understand what it m..means. Maybe you could h..help me?” Sehun frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. The elder boy sat up straight, giving his attention to the boy.“It kept spelling the same w..word over and over again, b..but the word doesn’t make any s..sense to me.”


“What did it spell then ?”

“It kept spelling L-U-H-A-N. Any g..guesses ?”

 

A/N : I realized i have a bad habit of writing at odd hours. Its currently 3am and i'm way too sleepy to go through this and amend my grammatical errors so I’d do it tomorrow in the morning (when i get caffeine into my system). Hopefully you guys would like this update and if you could, please upvote the story/leave comments~ it really means a lot to me. Thank you so much for reading & subscribing once again ;___;