You said your goodbyes to Junhyung and the team before you hopped into your car and headed to the food stand you and Mino frequented when you were in school. You reached the stand, thankfully both Junhyung’s and Mino’s schedules ended late today and there was only a pair of guys drinking at a table near the stand. You ordered the usual and caught up with the owner before you sat down with the food and waited for Mino. After about five minutes he joined you at the farthest table on the road. He was barefaced with a face mask and fitted cap on, barely recognizable, but of course you could.

“Sorry I had to meet you like this.”Mino apologized,”Have you waited long?”
“Don’t worry about it,”You reassured,”I didn’t wait that long either.”
“So how have you been?”Mino asked excitedly. 

You guys played a game of catch up, talking about work, life, romance, and Mino’s fame as a soloist and WINNER.

“So working for Highlight, huh?”Mino asked while eating with a full mouth,”What’s that like?”
“Yeah. You’re busy schedule is totally why you can’t get a girlfriend.”You agreed sarcastically as you watched,”Don’t talk with your mouth full. Nasty.”
Mino laughed and grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth while you continued,”And yeah, it’s not that bad. They pay well and since it’s a small company the staff is like family. I enjoy it.”
“Why didn’t you try to work for YG?”He wondered,”Urban is more your style, and come on. We might have not spoken in years but you’ve had to have seen me perform on TV at least once. At least you would have known me at the company.”
You didn’t really think about it. You shrugged,”Well YG artists seem like they don’t really need stylists at this point. And even if they did I know their styling team is hard to get in. Around Us Ent was offering the head stylist position. I know I definitely wouldn’t have gotten that position at YG.”
Mino nodded in agreement,”True. But hey at least we ran into each other anyway. And I’ll be running into you more often, Junhyung and I have the same promotional period. Maybe we can hangout more often too.”
“I would like that.”You smiled,”Just like old times. I hear you still talk to Jihoon at least.”
“Yeah, I’ll invite him too.”Mino said,”But hey I hear that contempt in your voice. PO, his name now by the way, and I trained together for Block B, and we’re in the same career field. It’s easy to meet with him. We stayed together. As we started getting older we drifted apart from you, it can’t be helped.”
You looked at Mino for a second and he leaned back in his chair before you sighed,”Yeah I know. I don’t blame you. We just got older. I just missed it as soon as I saw you today.”
Mino was quiet but then nodded in agreement,”Yeah I missed hanging out too. Maybe we can get actual dinner some time with PO.”

You both continued talking and drinking when the sky started to spin a bit.

“Ah, I think I need to go home.”You giggled,”The world is spinning just a weeee bit too fast.”
“Yah,”Mino laughed,”Are you drunk already? Wow. You were a lot tougher when we were younger.”
“Shut up.”You smiled,”I can’t help it. I try not to drink as often anymore. Health and all that good stuff.”

You attempted to get up and walk but you almost ended up falling, thankfully Mino flew out of his seat and caught you in time. You giggled again and when Mino brought you back up, you looked at him and realized you never really saw his face before. You have, just not…so up close. And that’s when you realized you weren’t sure if it was the alcohol that made you feel warm.

“Thanks.”You said, coming back to your senses,”I’ll just call a taxi.”
“Come on.”Mino sighed as he took your hand and started walking somewhere.

As he led you, you couldn’t help but stare at him. He was looking forward but him holding your hand…leading…he definitely wasn’t the chubby best friend from school anymore. That much you knew. And it scared you.

[MINO POV]

As Mino led Yerin to his van, he couldn’t help but feel awkward. He used to lead Yerin all the time in school, but he didn’t think anything of it. They were just friends and even though she was a tough girl, she could be ditzy more often than not. So he had to take care of her. But this felt…different. And he knew the minute he looked into her eyes when he caught her fall. 

(I just miss her is all. It’s just new and weird. I’ll get over it. If anything, she needs to get home.)