Minho's POV

“Okay, class dismissed.” The class rep ordered us to stand and we bowed goodbye to our teacher. This is my last afternoon class and since it was a Friday, I had soccer practice until 8:30 so I put all my books in my locker and headed off to the soccer field.

“Hey, Minho!” I turned to see Jun who was running towards me.

“Hey. What's up?”

“The coach said there's no practice today because his wife is going to give birth today. Wanna hang out at my house?” He put his arm on my shoulder and leaned closer. Contradictory to my usual behavior, I declined and headed home.

It was only 6:00PM but the sky was so dark that one would think it was past midnight already. I was about to head home using the usual way but because of some unknown reasons, I decided to take a detour. I was about to take a turn when I heard some noise at an alleyway, it was a noise that was unbearable to hear. I heard a boy whimpering, a group of maybe 4 people shouting profanities and some kicking. Normally, I would just pretend to hear nothing and continue walking but something was calling out to me, telling me to help the poor guy. So I did the most irrational thing I've ever done in my life, and that is to help someone in need. I am not like this when I was a kid, I was actually a very helpful person. Helping others even if they didn't ask for it or giving a helping hand to people I think would need it. But everything changed when I started middle school. Whenever I tried to help someone, he would usually whisper things about trying to look good in front of everyone or wanting to be popular. I didn't know what they meant by that but soon enough, I found out that my childhood "friend" told people that I was an attention seeker and power lover. I understand where he was coming from, we were always compared with each other when we were kids and people always said that I was better than him, even his parents. But that doesn't mean that I was okay with that so I tried to gain everyone's trust but nothing changed. Since then, I never bothered helping others, even if they asked for it or not. It's stupid and low but it's the truth.

But this. This was the first time that I tried helping someone again. Maybe because the voice of the boy was like he was really calling out for help. So I ran to the alleyway and ambushed them. I was correct, there were only four of them. I kicked the boy who was holding some kind of metal stick and punched the guy who was holding on to the whimpering boy's hair. I looked at the boy who was lying on the floor. His face was covered in blood and his clothes were torn apart, showing some bruises and cuts that were probably given by these bullies. I turned around to give a hick kick to the boy running towards me and head butted the other guy. The bullies looked like they were in middle school and since I was wearing the uniform of a prestigious high school in town, they ran away. I looked back at the boy and saw that he was gasping for air so I called for an ambulance.

I thought my job was over so I left the wounded boy alone. But I was afraid that the bullies would come back so I waited in the nearby bookstore for the ambulance to safely bring him to the hospital. That was the last time I saw him. I didn't know if he survived and soon enough, I forgot about him.

One week after though, after a long day of practice at school, I was shocked to see the wounded boy, in perfect condition, at the front door of our house, waiting for me.

“Hi! I'm Taemin. I've been waiting for you. What took you so long?” The boy smiled, jumping up when he saw me.

“What?” I looked at him in confusion.

“Oh, didn’t you know that I was coming over to meet you?” He walked over to the mailbox and looked at it.

“I guess you didn’t. I sent a mail to you saying that I’ll be visiting but I guess you don’t check your mailbox.” He walked back and smiled again. His smile is kind of cute…

“Oh, my parents aren’t here for the month so no one looks at the mailbox. And… hey, wait a minute. How did you know where I live?” I eyed him suspiciously. Is he actually some kind of stalker or criminal?!

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is I finally found you, uh…”

“Minho. What are you doing here anyways? And why were you looking for me?”

“Of course because I wanted to thank you for saving me back then. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where I would be right now.” He opened his bag to take out a huge handmade “thank you” card.

“You didn’t have to.” I took the card from his hand and put it to my bag without even looking inside. I looked at Taemin and his smile was so beautiful that I couldn't help but smile as well. “Do you want to come inside?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s okay. I live alone in the meantime so the place is quite messy.” I opened the door to the house and held it for Taemin to come in first.

“Wow, your house is nice. But yeah, I could see that this place needs some cleaning. Want me to clean your house?” My eyes widened.

“W-what? But we just met and you are a guest at my house, why would you do that?” He just chuckled.

“Just consider this as a thank you gift. And I’m really not too comfortable with dirt.”

“If you say so. I’ll be at the kitchen to make some ramyun. The utility room is the last room to the right.” I pointed out the way for him and he walked as fast as he can.

I headed to the kitchen and started making ramyun. While waiting for the ramyun to cook, I thought of Taemin. He was quite an energetic boy for someone who’s been severely bullied just a week ago. He looked like he had no bruises or scars as well. Weird.

“Hey, the ramyun’s going to get soggy.” I leaped, surprised by the voice that came from behind.

“What are you doing here? Are you finished?” He snickered and turned off the gas stove.

“Yeah, I’m finished.” He put the ramyun on the table while I walked over to the living room. My mouth fell open when I saw that the living room was squeaky clean, like it’s been cleaned for hours. Wow. This kid wasn’t lying. He got the living room cleaned in less than 10 minutes. Does he have superpowers?!

“No, I don’t have superpowers. I’m just really fond of cleaning. I have a 5-minute record of cleaning our bathroom.” Wow. Did I just say that out loud? I thought as I turned my gaze at the boy who was already setting up the table.

“You don’t have to do that. You’re a guest.” I sighed and got him to sit at the chair. I took out the chopsticks and gave one to Taemin. I sat on the chair opposite his.

“So… hmmm… Let’s eat.” I put ramyun on our bowls and gave the bowl to him. He started eating ramyun and he was making those weird slurping sounds that sounded so cute. I laughed at him and he looked at me curiously.

“Sorry. But the way you eat is just so cute.” Oh my gosh. Did I just say ‘cute’?

“I’m not cute! I’m a guy!” He pouted and I laughed again.

“You really look cute. You’re like a girl.”

“No, I’m not! You…” He pointed his chopsticks at me and accidentally tossed a noodle to my face, making him burst in laughter. I laughed as well and the awkward tension around us eventually broke.

We ate while taking about each other, trying to know one another. I found out that he was a student from the middle school near my high school and that those bullies were his upperclassmen. He told me about his problems in school, about his schoolmates thinking he’s a weirdo because he’s too pretty for a guy and the situation becoming worse when they found out he was homoual. I told him that it wasn’t wrong to be homoual because I myself was one. He just smiled at me and moved on to the next topic which was about me helping him.

“I don’t know, I just felt like there was something calling me out to help you.” I answered when he asked me if I wasn’t afraid to get hurt when I helped him. I eventually told him about my problem of being indifferent to other’s need.

“No! You shouldn’t be like that. You should forget about other people’s judgments and help people. It feels very uplifting when you help others, you know?” He reprimanded me.

“I know, I know. But it’s just so hard. When I try helping people, they don’t see the sincerity I was giving. It’s hard to trust people again.” I confessed.

“Minho, there will always be people who would feel that sincerity and one of them is me. So let go and start being yourself. Be a helping hand. One day, they’ll figure out that they were wrong about you.” He smiled encouragingly.

The day ended fast and it was time for Taemin to leave.

“Minho. Can I come again for the next thirteen days?” Taemin said before stepping out of the house.

“Yeah, sure. But why only thirteen days? Are you going somewhere after?” Taemin’s smile faded.

“I’ll tell you about it next time. See you tomorrow.” He started walking to the gate.

“Wait…” He looked back. “What’s your number?”

“I don’t have a phone.” He smiled again before walking away.

A/N: Here's the first part. My head is not doing okay right now since I just got home from a swimming party with my high school friends. Hope it's good though. Please comment on your feelings about this fic. I wanna know if it's alright or not. I'll be finishing this later so that I could post the last part tomorrow before I leave again. Thanks!!! ^.^