He in his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Gripping the ends of his shirt, Minseok forced himself to step onto the scale. He exhaled the tension in his shoulders away, preparing himself for the moment he'd have to open his eyes and look down.

The numbers on the scale peered back at him, dark and black, embedding itself behind his eyelids. Minseok grit his teeth and stepped off. Using his heel, it kicked the machine to the corner, turning around so he didn't have to look at the ugly thing. The numbers didn't go down. They were still the same as yesterday. Minseok scoffed, chiding himself for having such high expectations of himself. 

Did he think he could lose ten pounds overnight? Wishful thinking, Minseok! His ugly reflection glared back him. It cursed him for not taking care of himself. It screamed at him, pounded its fist against the mirror, bloodshot eyes damning him. 

Why? Why are you ugly? How could you let yourself become like this? Do you not know how embarrassing it is? Aren't you ashamed? Is this how you want to look like? Hideous? Pudgy? Why can't you be like your friends? Why can't you look like them? Are you proud of yourself? Are you satisfied? Because I'm not. I'm disgusted by you! 

His chest heaved, ribs enclosing on him, preventing him from inhaling air, as his reflection continued to shout obscenities at him. It began to morph into a demon with each passing second, growing bigger with every insult it threw at him. Minseok couldn't move, his limbs frozen from fear. Tears poured down his cheeks, past his quivering lips. 

Stop, he wanted to his reflection. Stop saying those things. They hurt me. They're not true, he wanted to believe. These words meant nothing, they were all lies! But if they believed that, then would he be lying to himself? 

Look at you! the mirror shrieked. Look at your ing self! Look at the monster you are!

Minseok shook his head, tearing his eyes away from it. He opened his mouth to cry out for help, for an escape. 

It came as a knock on the door. "Minseok?" Jongdae spoke on the other side of the bathroom door. "Are you alright? Can I come in?" Minseok glanced at the mirror, his frightened eyes staring right back at him. The demon was gone. It was just him. He sighed and wiped his tears with his palms, still looking at the mirror. 

He observed himself. His pink nose, narrowed eyes, and pursed lips. Jongdae wouldn't buy it if he said he was okay, not with the way he appeared at the moment. So Minseok closed his eyes, just to relax himself, forget what just happened. And when he opened his eyes, his lips curled into a grin. No more pinkness, no more red eyes, no more tears. 

It was as if nothing had happened. 

He opened the door, letting Jongdae in. "Hey, handsome! Took you long enough to let me in."

"You scared me. What's up?" The younger leaned his hip against the counter, watching him silently with his arms folded. Minseok raised his eyebrows, mimicking his actions. "Did you make us breakfast?"

Jongdae visibly relaxed, eyes softening as he pushed hair out of his hyung's eyes. "You know I can't cook, so I called Kyungsoo and a few others to come over and eat with us. Are you fine with that?" Minseok nodded, replying with an 'of course, why wouldn't I be fine with that'. "Great! Finished brushing your teeth?" 

"Ages ago, dude! See you downstairs! I wonder what Kyungsoo made... must be good!" Minseok disappeared down the hallway, leaving Jongdae alone in the bathroom. The latter sighed, grazing his fingertips against the light switch. Before closing the door, he caught the upturned scale in the corner. The hand on the doorknob tightened, knuckles turning white.

He kept his expression bright as he joined the others in the living room, hiding the disappointment that seemed to hover around him, sinking deep into his skin, caressing his bones. A whisper constantly breezed past his ears, reminding him of the kind of friend he was. He must not be a good one of his best friend was lying to him. 

"Minseok lied. He lied to you."

"Minseok?" Jongdae's head perked up. "There's still enough rice left for you." He watched Kyungsoo open the rice cooker, hurrying to scoop a bowl for their eldest hyung, watched Minseok stop him. 

"It's fine, Kyungsoo. I'm not really in the mood for rice. But your omelets look amazing. I'll have to try them another day." Kyungsoo fumbled with his apron, biting his lower lip. He usually did that when he was worried. "A-are you sure, hyung? I mean, I don't think toast will make you full. Do you want me to make you some scrambled eggs? I won't add any seasonings, I promise." 

Minseok smiled, ripping the crusts of his flimsy piece of toast and popping it into his mouth. He wiped his fingers with a napkin and dabbed his lips for a second. "You know what? Sure. That sounds good. Thanks, Kyungsoo." 

The latter immediately brightened up, scurrying towards the open egg carton and grabbing two. "I'll just make two, okay? You know, they say two eggs a day keeps the doctor away!" 

"It's 'an apple a day, keeps the doctor away', Kyungsoo!" Jongin piped up, sliding into the kitchen to retrieve seconds. "Whatever!" Kyungsoo stumbles, lightly smacking the back of his hand with his spatula. "You're already finished?"

"I'm a growing boy and growing boys need to eat a lot~" Jongin sneered, sticking his tongue out. 

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes, ignoring the comment to focus on making Minseok's eggs. It didn't take him long to finish, scooping it onto a fresh plate and setting it in front of him. "Here you go!" 

Jongdae chuckled to himself. Kyungsoo was the ultimate mother of their group. He couldn't stop worrying over little details, such as who didn't finish their homework or who didn't do laundry. He picked up after them often, never complaining once. Jongdae admired most that Kyungsoo was the first person to notice Minseok's... problem. (He didn't necessarily like using the word 'problem', but it was the best way to explain it without offending the other.)

Kyungsoo noticed his cheeks hollowing, his repeated rejections to their dinner invitations. His sharp eyes caught everything, and he concluded his observations to Jongdae, who in turn began noticing Minseok's abnormal actions. Kyungsoo once caught Minseok in the bathroom (doing something he never spoke of) and from then on, he was insistent on cooking healthier recipes.

Of course, Minseok didn't touch his food, so he resorted to making plain portions of simple foods.

It still bugged Jongdae today. What exactly did Kyungsoo catch Minseok doing? He searched the bathroom cabinets for anything, but only found pain relievers and fever reducers. Nothing much, nothing that could potentially hurt his best friend more than his conscious already did.

He had a close idea of what it may have been. Minseok throwing up. He had witnessed him do it a few times, purging his guts out and sitting back like it was nothing. Like it didn't hurt him, like it was the most natural thing ever. Jongdae fussed about it, and only after crying did Minseok promise he would never do it again.

After several weeks of closely watching him, Jongdae knew he wasn't lying and would keep that promise. 

So Kyungsoo couldn't have seen Minseok do that. 

Well then, what was it? 

"Yah, stop zoning out!" Minseok hugged his middle, resting his head on the back of his left shoulder. "You're not paying attention to me, Jongdae." 

"What? Oh, sorry, hyung. I guess I'm still a bit sleepy. What were you saying?" He turned around so that they were facing each other. Minseok grabbed his face. "It's Saturday! And you know what that means?" 

Jongdae let the words sink in, and then a smile was slowly stretching across his face. 

"LATE MORNING CARTOONS!" 

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A/N: I know it's not much, but here's a little intro of what's going on with Minseok. Hope you like it! I apologize for short chapters. T^T