OCTOBER 4

    After a few weeks of college life, many of the freshmen in the group found themselves sorer than ever before.

   As the night got late in 2Chan's room, most of the boys were sinking into one of the three beds. Minho preferred to stay off of them, because (clearly unlike the others) he felt a bit protective over his bed, and didn't want anyone else sitting or laying on it, so it felt weird to sit on someone else's. Instead, he sat across from the extra bed, on a cushion that fell off of Changbin's bunk.

    Hyunjin laid over the extra bed in the corner, complaining about how it was so much better than his.

   "These sucky mattresses are killing my back," Hyunjin groaned. "I think I got a knot in my neck, too." 

   Jisung, who was sitting on the same bed, scooted over to be closer to Hyunjin. "Where does it hurt?" Hyunjin happily obliged his upcoming offer for a massage and told him where to plant his hands.

   Minho's eyes were trained on the two of them as Jisung's hands firmly rubbed Hyunjin's back, then as his thumbs pressed into Hyunjin's shoulders and neck.

    Truthfully, Minho's back hurt plenty too—as did Seungmin's and Jeongin's (the other four either had better mattresses or strict stretching routines on their sides, which either eased or completely cut out the sore muscles)— but he, at least, could never admit to Jisung that he might actually benefit from a massage. No matter how much he kind-of-sort-of wanted one. All he could do was wonder what it felt like; he'd never had one before.

   But something about the thought of having hands on him, pressing into his body, made his stomach churn. The thought of it felt incredibly weird— wrong, in a way. He decided that he didn't want it at all. He hoped that Jisung would stop touching Hyunjin soon, so that he could stop thinking about it. All he wanted was to put the thought out of his mind and move on, but it wasn't working when watching it happen only made his own soreness and stiffness more apparent.

    "Y'know, Hyun, you could use that bed sometime if you want," Chan offered, as he laid, sprawled out, relaxing (for the first time in weeks) on his bunk. "I haven't really been sore at all this whole time."

    "Are you for real?!? Yes, oh my— OW, JISUNG!" Hyunjin tensed up as Jisung pressed his fingers into a knot in his neck.

    "Relax, lemme get this real quick," Jisung chided, gently pushing Hyunjin's shoulders back down.  Minho been staring for quite some time when he realized that Jisung was looking at him. Feeling a sense of being caught, he immediately averted his eyes guiltily. Slightly panicked, he focused his eyes on his hands that laid limply over his lap, feeling his breathing speed up a little. Did Jisung just— Did he hear those thoughts?

    No— that was stupid. Of course he didn't. No matter how loud they had sounded in Minho's head there was no way that happened.

『 ↳✧･ﾟ

i'm just overthinking it, right? being paranoid? there's nothing behind those eyes besides maybe a 'why are you staring at me?'. so why do i feel like he knows??

...i don't feel good.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 』

    "Minho hyung, are you sore, too?" Jisung asked, kindly. He was asking out of care and concern; Minho knew that, but also knowing what would come after if he answered truthfully, he found the question to be more prying than anything. 

  He shrugged, and even as he did that he could feel the tension in his shoulders: the tension Jisung knew exactly how to ease with his golden thumbs. But Minho would tirelessly deny his needs, preferring to keep up his walls. Oh, if only there were real, physical walls between him and Jisung now. Then he wouldn't be in this horrible situation.

  "I'm fine, Jisung." It might have come out sounding more irritated than he'd intended it to.

   But Jisung continued to stare at him, while pressing his lips tightly together. Minho was uncomfortable under the pressure of his gaze. It felt like Jisung had x-ray vision; like he was seeing all the hidden, mixed feelings clashing inside of Minho, clear as day.

『 ↳✧･ﾟ

why does it feel like he can see right through me?

if you can, please stop looking. i'm begging you.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 』

    Minho was saved by Seungmin calling out, "Well, my back hurts!"

   Jisung chuckled, finally tearing his eyes away. "What about you, Innie?" Minho hadn't realized that he'd stopped breathing until now.

   "Uh I'm pretty sore— but I'm okay. I'm used to it," Jeongin answered softly, shrugging.

    "It'll make you feel better~"

    "...Alright."

   Jisung waved the two of them over to the bed. Jeongin came a little more timidly than Seungmin, but both sat at the foot of Changbin's bed. Hyunjin got up to make room, stretching out his back as he did so.

    "Baby first," Jisung teased, patting the space in front of him, guiding Jeongin to lay flat there, while the youngest grumbled. Hyunjin slid in behind Seungmin and pushed him down beside Jeongin, settling above Seungmin with his knees planted around him on each side before pressing his palms hard into his lower back. Jisung, on the other hand, was starting out a little softer with Jeongin, gently rubbing fingertips into the places Jeongin said were hurting; only pressing harder when Jeongin asked him to.

    Minho decided to stop sneaking glances. The more he looked, the stronger the soreness in his back grew, and the sicker he felt. He straighted his posture, which got a couple cracks out and made sitting slightly more comfortable for the moment, then turned his body away from the bed, cheek in hand as he drug pensive eyes along the carpet.

『 ↳✧･ﾟ

i don't want it. the thought of it disgusts me. i don't want any of them to touch me.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 』

Minho decided to head back downstairs early that night. He said it was because he had some homework to finish up before he went to bed, but really, it was because shortly after that, everyone else in the room started giving and receiving massages, following the instruction of Jisung (who had learned from the best: his mom) and Felix, who had taught himself years ago so he could make his friends feel better, and Minho was running out of places to avert his eyes to.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

anyone relate to minho so far orrr...?