[ t h e  m a l l ]
[ 9th  M a r c h ]

Felix, Chan, Jisung and Minho were walking through the mall.

Chan never imagined seeing this combination together. Well yes, he was friends with Jisung, Felix and somehow also Minho, but it was a combination he just couldn't imagine. Felix and Minho for example – no connection to each other, why would they spend time with each other in a smaller group?

It indeed was a weird combination, but Hyunjins birthday was coming up and all four of them wanted to do something for the taller.

The original plan was, that only Jisung and Felix would go.

Since the two of them found out, that Jisung was only a day older than Felix -Chan still didn't know when or how that happened- the two of them got really close, always planning stupid stuff together.

But since Chan had asked Felix to take Chan with him, whenever Felix would meet up with somebody, Felix asked Jisung if it was okay, that he brought Chan along and of course Jisung didn't say no.

Chan wasn't sure of how Minho ended up being there, but he figured that Jisung asked him to come along.

So there they were. Jisung and Felix being all excited, pointing at different stores and chatting with each other about how they could make this birthday even better. Minho trying to figure out how to annoy Hyunjin the best and for some reason he was talking to Chan about it and Chan just listening.

"How about we wake him up with splashing a bucket of cold water onto him? That would be so much fun", Minho said and clapped into his hands. A playful but excited smile covered his features. "Min hyung", Jisung turned around, a pout on his face, "it's my babies 22nd birthday, will you be nice to him this one time? Pleaaaseee." "But Jiiii, it would be so much fun, just imagine his faceeee." Jisung stood there, thinking for a moment before saying: "Okay let's do it." "Yesss" "But let's prepare a nice breakfast for him as some sort of apology." "Okayyy fine, as long as we do the other thing, I have no problem with that."

"Guys let's continue on walking, we want to finish this today, don't we?", Chan interrupted before they could dive into more detailed planning. "Yeah, you're probably right", Jisung replied.

They kept on walking. Felix scanned the shops for something interesting for them to buy for Hyunjin, while Jisung and Minho were continuing their planning on the prank. Chan walked a bit behind them, to keep a good overview and also keep a track of the shops they were passing. Maybe Felix missed something good.

At one point Chan got a bit lost.

That was when he heard the laugh for the first time.

It was weirdly familiar. Was it...? No it couldn't be.

...or?

I don't want to admit it

Not one single day without them.

"Hey Looser, there you are, we thought we lost you", Minho called out and run up to him. "I'm not paying attention to you once and whoops you're gone. It almost seems like you want the attention." "What no, why would-" Minho had just completely ignored him and grabbed his hand. Chan was that perplex, that he just forgot what he wanted to say in the middle of the sentence. "Let's go back to the others, old man. I promise, I'll pay attention now", Minho said and just started walking. Because the younger still held his hand and seemed to have no intention on letting go anytime soon, Chan followed him closely, being really confused.

"Oh there you are Chan hyung, we were kind of scared", Jisung said. "Yeah we looked for you, you're fine, right?" "Yep, perfectly fine, just got stuck behind a bigger group of people. Shall we go now or...? I promise I won't get lost again. He", and while saying that he held up their intertwined hands, "made sure of that." Jisung started giggling and Felix' smile got even bigger and Chan got even more confused. They were planning that, weren't they? "Okay, let's go. I think I saw a good shop somewhere down there", Felix said and pointed behind himself.

They all started walking again, following Felix.

Minho still held Chans hand. It somehow felt good. Chan enjoyed the feeling.

"Hey hyungs", Felix was excitedly pointing at a small shop, "there it is. Isn't it perfect?"

It was a clothing shop, which suited Hyunjins style extremely well.

"Waaah Felix that's perfect", Jisung exclaimed, absolutely amazed. "What are you all waiting for, let's go and see what we can find", he then said and started running towards it, obviously excited. Felix followed him closely. He also couldn't hide his excitement.

Minho and Chan followed a bit slower. He really did feel like an old couple now. The only difference: They weren't a couple. But what if they were...?

Before Chan could start thinking about that more intensely he heard the laugh again.

This time he immediately knew whose laugh it was.

I still miss you

He turned around searching for her and letting go of Minhos hand.

There they were. Not far away. Right there. Across the hallway.

How could I forget

How pretty she was. How her hair complimented her face and made it even more outstanding and beautiful. How amazing her style was. How beautiful her laugh was. How smooth their voice was.

"Chan hyung, are you okay?"

He couldn't tell where that voice came from.

I promised

Was it inside his head, which was getting louder and louder?

I don't want to admit it

He didn't want to hear it anymore

It's hard to understand

His cheeks got wet for some reason. Was it real? He couldn't tell anymore.

How could I forget

His head started hurting.

The day you lied to me

How to breathe? He forgot it. He needed air.

I don't want to admit it

Why were they so loud?

I still miss you

He put his hands on his ears, maybe it would help shut them out.

HOW COULD I FORGET

They only got louder.

I PROMISED

How to get out? Chan wanted to scream and let all of it go.

I DON'T WANT TO ADMIT IT

He tried but couldn't get a tone out.

IT'S HARD TO UNDERSTAND

Chan felt so helpless.

HOW COULD I FORGET

He couldn't breathe and the voices only got louder.

THE DAY YOU LIED TO ME

He couldn't stand anymore. In defence he sank to the ground. Shaking and crying. Unable to breathe.

[ M i n h o ' s  p o v ]

Minho was really proud of himself. He had the courage to hold Chans hand. That was something.

Minho had a huge interest in Chan ever since he first heard of him. Jisung back then had told him about his work and his super cool and talented coworker Chan. He seemed to look up to him as well as Hyunjin. They had shown him photos and some of Chans works and Minho had been absolutely amazed.

This feeling only got stronger, when he met the boy. The older was a nice, sweet and very caring guy and Minho absolutely adored that.

But he also was able to see that Chan was going through to something tough. He just didn't know what and why.

Chans hand letting go of his brought him back to reality.

A bit surprised he turned to the older, who was looking around, like he was searching for someone or something. His expression had changed. It was something between shocked and sad.

"Chan hyung, are you okay?", he asked. Oh, why did he ask that? It was obvious that Chan wasn't.

It seemed like the other didn't even hear the question. His eyes were fixated on one point. Minho followed his gaze. No, no, not a point, a person. The delivery girl from their meet up? That would explain Chans weird behaviour back then. He needed to do something.

First, get Jisungs and Felixs attention.

He couldn't leave Chan alone, who now was crying, so he just turned around and screamed their names: "JISUNG, FELIX, COME HERE NOW." Many heads turned and mustered him and Chan judging, but Minho didn't care. The only important thing: His task was completed. The two small boys were running towards them. Fear in their eyes.

Second, take Chans hand and check up on him.

He didn't wait for the others, just walked over to Chan, who now was hyperventilating and covering his ears with his hands, slowly took both of them in his hands and softly massaged them. He wasn't sure if the other even noticed, that he was there, but he was and it made him feel better.

Chan opened and closed his mouth. Minho wasn't sure, if it was an attempt to say something, but he took it as a sign from the older.

Then he slowly sank to the ground. Crying even harder and the hyperventilating worsened.

Maybe it wasn't a sign.

Felix and Jisung arrived. It must've been hard to get through all the people, that stopped, started filming or just stared.

Felix immediately hugged Chan and Jisung sat down in front of him. "Chan hyung, do you hear me? You need to breathe with me. Like this, breathe in", he breathed in and held it for a few seconds and then breathed out, "and breathe out. Now together. Breathe in..."

Minho slowly let go of Chans hands. He needed to get these people away from them. They made everything worse for everybody.

"Hey, could y'all be so nice and move, if you don't want to help? This is not helping. Go, yeah like that. Perfect", he started walking around, showing some people how to walk and sent them away. Some just ignored him and it made him even angrier, but most of them were nice and walked away.

It was enough for Minho, when an elderly man asked him: "Is that boy okay? He really needs to get a grip of himself, he is a man. That's so girly and totally not okay of him to do." "AND WHAT IF HE'S GIRLY, IT'S TOTALLY NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS." "Oh so you're gay, that's even more disgusting." Minho took a deep breath before replying: "You know what? You're disgusting, now move or I'll make you cry and then we'll talk about, what's girly and what's not." The man gave him a disgusted look, but marched off.

To Minho this interaction was a sign to go. He walked up to his friends, first checking, if Chan was doing any better, then pulling Felix aside to explain the situation to him.

"I think, we need to go to someone's apartment. The people won't stop staring, especially that girl, that made him cry in the first place, don't ask me what their connection is", to that Felix nodded, as if he knew more than Minho. Well of course he did, he was Chans best friend. "And I just had a very weird interaction with a homophobe. It would really be for the best to go." "Yeah, of course, I think he's a bit more stable than before, so we're good to go", Felix said and looked around worried.

They walked back to Jisung and Chan, who still were doing the breathing exercises. Chans breathing got a bit better, but still was very shaky. Felix silently explained to Jisung, what Minho and him had agreed on and Jisung nodded.

He then said to Chan: "We want to go", to what Chan reacted with strong head shaking and more uneven breathing, "Chan hyung, you need to remember to breathe. Breathe in, hold, exhale. Good. Can you stand up hyung?" Chan slowly nodded and stood up. "Very good. Do you want Minho hyung to hold your hand again?"

Minho looked up from the ground, he had focused on the floor, because it hurt him seeing Chan like that, but he had listened and what Jisung said surprised him. What surprised him even more, was Chans nodding.

Jisung gestured to Minho to come and hold the olders hand. So Minho did. Still very surprised.

"Okay now do you think you're able to walk out here?" Another nodding.

The grip around Minhos hand got stronger, but he didn't mind. He just wanted to get Chan out of there, away from that girl.

They started to walk slowly.

Jisung was still comforting and praising Chan.

When they reached the exit, the grip around Minhos hand had loosened and now was just a comfortable way of holding hands and the breath of the older had almost reached a normal level.

To say Minho was proud of Chan was an understatement. He could've hugged and kissed the other right there, while showering him with compliments.

"You did great", he whispered into Chans ear and the other blushed a bit and smiled a small and sad smile.

That was the moment, when Minho decided to protect Chan with his life.