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✧━━ .·:*¨¨* 𓆩♡𓆪 *¨¨*:·. ━━ ✧

❥ 𝐉𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 •°. *࿐

The weekend passes, and currently, Jisung was waiting for Minho at their usual intersection. It was early in the morning, met with a subtle breeze and a warm sky paletted with vibrant colors and wispy clouds. Jisung had only been waiting for nothing more than five minutes before he saw the figure of Minho approaching from down the sidewalk. A smile weaves onto his lips as he stands and waits, noticing the slight increase in pace attuned to Minho's steps, which only further widened the smile on Jisung's lips.

"You're eager," Jisung enthuses as Minho draws closer.

"I'm excited to see you," Minho responds back, his voice the usual, soothing low that it had always been, making Jisung's heart flutter.

"You saw me two days ago," Jisung says back, a teasing glimmer set in his eyes. "Someone has grown awfully clingy and we've only just gotten together."

"Rude," Minho gasps out in faux-hurt, though his smile bled through his words and indignation. "I can't help it. You make my days brighter, is that so bad of me?"

"Never said that, you're just overly dramatic," Jisung quips, taking Minho's hand the moment the elder offers it.

"Me? Being dramatic?" Minho asks, his eyes slightly widening beneath the overhang of his hair.

"You're the epitome of dramatic, especially when you're acting all soft and baby-like," Jisung continues, watching as Minho rolls his eyes.

"Uh-huh, I'll remember that," Minho smiles as he leans closer, pressing a kiss to Jisung's lips in a chaste manner. "Sleep okay?"

"I did, in fact. Did you?" Jisung asks, allowing Minho to pull him slightly as they begin to cross the street, their steps in near-tandem, the pace slow and comfortable, obviously without rush.

"I slept enough," Minho says. "You know my dad and how he is. He didn't like that I was out late with Hyunjin yesterday."

"Oh?" Jisung asks, inadvertently squeezing Minho's hand without properly realizing it. "You were with Hyunjin?"

"He's been having a hard time. Mingi is basically excluding him from everything, so he just. . . has no one." Minho sighs quietly before glancing at Jisung. "I really tried to advocate for everything that you said, in terms of Felix missing him. But, he was insistent on not bringing up past pain. He said that he didn't want to hurt Felix again, and he thinks that by re-entering his life, he'd do exactly that."

"I get it," Jisung mutters, listening to the quiet hum of cars passing by. "It's an awkward situation, one that neither of us would know how to properly handle."

"I keep telling Hyunjin to just be honest with Felix, but he's just too scared." Minho looks ahead of him, but Jisung could tell that the situation was weighing on him a bit more than he'd ever admit.

Minho obviously cared about Hyunjin enough to try and encourage him into rekindling whatever remnants of a relationship still existed with Felix, but Jisung knew that deep down Hyunjin was just terrified to fail again. Being outcasted after being part of a group couldn't have been easy, but the loneliness that came with isolation was something that Jisung knew all too well. He didn't really know who Hyunjin was as a person, but if Minho, out of all people, was trying to vouch for him, Jisung knew that he needed to try and talk to Felix himself.

"It's normal to be scared, I think," Jisung begins. "We don't truly know what it feels like to break apart from someone in the way that they had. I only know bits and pieces of everything, but it's clear to me that they're both hurting. But in order for them to heal. . . I think it's going to take more than just simple words."

"You think it would take more?" Minho asks, their hands slightly swinging in the space between them.

"I think Hyunjin is going to have to prove it to Felix with some sort of gesture– he needs to just. . . approach him. Felix likes attention, I mean, you know him. He likes hugs and physical touch, and whatever distance is between them is likely making all of this that much harder."

"That makes sense," Minho acknowledges, a slight pause in his words as he contemplates. "I will have to keep talking to him about it, it just hurts to see him looking like this. He isn't himself, and for once, I just. . . I want to help him in the way you've helped me. I don't want him to feel so defeated."

"You need to remind him that the darkness can only linger for so long before the light overtakes it," Jisung reminds, keeping his voice soft. "Hyunjin just needs time, and there's endless bounds of that."

"Yeah, but how long will Felix wait for him? What if Felix is long over him by the time Hyunjin is prepared to face everything head on?"

"I don't know, Minho," Jisung says earnestly. "It's hard to say what Felix will feel in the future, but I know that right now, presently, all he cares about is how much he misses Hyunjin. Their relationship was everything to him, and now having to live without it while watching Hyunjin ruin his life because of Mingi, I think it's killing Felix inside."

"I can't imagine that," Minho says, almost under his breath, shaking his head slowly. "If I ever do something wrong, Jisung, please tell me. I don't think I'd be able to function properly if you ignored me and didn't wish to speak to me."

"Then don't be stubborn and just talk to me," Jisung replies, turning his head to glance at Minho. "I think that even if I were to be angry with you, I don't think I could avoid you for long. You're clingy and even I have started to miss you when you aren't around, so maybe I'm a bit clingy, too."

"Ah, so the truth finally comes out?" Minho quips, a smile curled on the edges of his lips. "We can just be clingy for one another now."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Jisung replies with a mirrored smile, his head turning to view the appearance of their campus coming into view. With a breath, Jisung turns back to glance at Minho, a question lingering on the edge of his tongue. "Minho?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you want to. . . tell everyone–? About. . . us?"

"I'd rather not sit with Mingi and Jongho, as I'm sure Mingi doesn't wish to see me right now, so. . . if you want to tell Felix, Wooyoung, San and Jeongin, then you can. I'd. . . I'd like to sit with you from now on."

"I'll tell them," Jisung says quietly, pulling Minho carefully with him as they turn to the right, walking more directly towards the campus. "Are you worried about them knowing?"

"I don't think it's that, I think. . . Wooyoung– he and I have a lot of built up baggage. There's a lot for him and I to discuss, but I just don't know how he feels about me."

"I think it'll be fine, Minho," Jisung tries to reassure. "Wooyoung. . . from what I understand, he seems to be open to the idea of moving past all of it. I'm sure it all stems from a place of missing the friendship the two of you had, while also a place of concern. He's seen what being friends with Mingi and Jongho has done to you, and if anything, deep down past his cold facade, he cares. Deeply."

"Wooyoung has always been quiet about his feelings," Minho agrees quietly, taking a moment to ponder internally. "I suppose it's worth a try, I just. . . I'm nervous about it, Jisung. I won't lie to you. But if you want to tell everyone, and you want me there with you at lunch, then we can do this. I trust you."

"Thank you," Jisung says with a small smile, squeezing Minho's hand. Minho offers a squeeze back in return, leaving Jisung to enjoy the quiet of the moment, settling into the last few moments of bliss before trekking onto campus grounds, feeling the pulls of eyes stare in their direction.

This wasn't the first time Jisung had walked into the school with Minho, but this time had felt different, and it had likely seemed different. Though, Jisung knew better than to care about the opinion of feeble sheep, watching him without a single indication of knowing the truth. Rumors were exactly that, rumors, based upon thought and ideas without any mere ideal of fact, and Jisung really would rather just ignore everyone. He was dating Minho, and what everyone thought of that didn't matter.

Jisung would continue to hold Minho's hand, walking with him through the halls regardless of who thought what and who saw them. Jisung had been the one who managed to find the true Minho, to pull him away from the seams of fragility, giving him an ounce of strength to tether himself to. Minho was worth every strife, every second of doubt and every moment of sadness. There was more to this, more than what the surface could provide to those who looked from the outside, in. There were more pages and chapters within this book than just the cover, and Jisung knew no one would likely understand how the campus bad boy paired himself with someone who used to be an antisocial loner; but here they were. Minho was his, just as much as he was Minho's.

As they moved through the hall, Jisung eventually strolled towards his locker, pulling Minho with him so they could dive out of the masses. Minho dotingly follows without protest, watching Jisung with a small smile on his lips as the younger unlocks his locker with a quick, practiced maneuver.

"Do you want to tell them at lunch, or do you want to tell them now?" Minho asks, lingering behind Jisung, patiently waiting as the male sifts through his belongings.

"I'll tell them at lunch, if that's okay," Jisung says before turning to look over his shoulder, smiling at Minho. "I'll be fine if you need to go do something to prepare for class."

"Okay," Minho says quietly, leaning closer to subtly kiss Jisung's forehead, brushing the younger's hair aside. "Save a seat for me."

"Obviously," Jisung teases back, watching as Minho smiles before turning on his heel, walking in an opposite direction, striding towards his locker that was in an opposite hall of the school.

"Ji!" Felix exclaims, passing through the crowd before settling in on Jisung's right. "Hey, I saw Minho walking away. Did you guys come together?"

"We did, what of it?" Jisung smiles, raising a teasing brow.

"Oooh, tell me more!" Felix laughs, but Jisung shakes his head.

"I'll explain more at lunch, I want the whole group to be present."

"Oh, really? That serious, huh?"

"Serious is a dramatic word," Jisung says, rolling his eyes. "It's not that serious, but it is. . . y'know, significant."

"Okay, okay, I'll back off for now. But I expect a front row seat into knowing about whatever it is that you're hiding."

"Lix, you literally sit next to me," Jisung says, turning his head to playfully glare at Felix, who simply just laughs.

"Oh, c'mon! Let me live a little. It's not everyday that I get to see you turning into a social butterfly after years of being alone."

"It's quite the story," Jisung quips, closing his locker after collecting the notebooks and binder that he needed. "I'm sure it'd make an interesting read, wouldn't it?"

"I'd read it," Felix says back, turning in tandem with Jisung as they begin to walk down the hall. "You being the main character is interesting enough."

"Oh, really? What about me is so interesting to you?" Jisung asks, listening as Felix playfully hums in teasing thought.

"Just like I've said," Felix begins. "You went from ignoring everyone, so incredibly focused on books and studying, at the top of our class and well ahead in your studies with any and every college simply begging for a chance to have you, only for you to find interest in the most brooding, isolating guy I've come to know. It's quite the story."

"Maybe, just maybe, I'll give you a little insight into the final chapter," Jisung says, watching as Felix raises his brows.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Jisung pauses as they near his first class, smiling as he glances inside the room before looking back at Felix, knowing just how much his words were to impact the excitable, bubbly male before parting for their first classes.

"Let's just say, that near the end, the studious antisocial lead might've kissed the intimidating bad boy."

Felix gasps as Jisung turns around, striding into his class with a bout of laughter following his every step.

"Han Jisung! I demand to know everything in a few hours!" Felix shouts after him, but Jisung simply shakes his head, listening as the bell rings and fades the rest of his thoughts into silence. He couldn't wait to be able to enjoy his relationship with Minho here on campus, and in telling his friends, who just so happened to be Minho's old friends, he knew that with time, everything would fall right back into place.

As the day moved along, Jisung found himself staring at the clock, once again, watching the second hand pass by as the final moments before the lunch bell would hopefully scurry past. He wanted to see Minho, to be with his friends and to finally combine what felt like two different lives into one.

This class had been boring, as per usual, Jisung had already done all of the course work, leaving him to sit and stare unamusingly, counting the minutes as they pass, praying for time to simply just pass. With enough pleading internally, the second hand saunters closer and closer, eventually moving past the minute mark, leaving the bell to chime loudly through the speakers hung throughout the school. Jisung gathers his things, which had all been prepacked, placing them into his bag before allowing the rest of the class to saunter out, following behind the masses with a breath. Keeping his head down, Jisung moves through the small crowd, clutching his phone in his left hand as he checks for messages from Minho, slightly worried that he might be too nervous to truly confront the ideals of his past while introducing a new complexity to his present. However, there were no messages, so Jisung supposes that Minho was sticking true to his word, and hoped to see him waiting somewhere in the cafeteria.

As he moved into the open space, parting away from the slow-moving, lingering crowd, Jisung set his eyes on his usual table, glancing at each of his friends, who had already been sitting at the table. With a few confident steps, Jisung paused, noticing that Felix was back in his usual seat, leaving just the single chair on the end. He didn't know how to approach the subject without Minho being present, but he knew that he needed to start somewhere.

"Hey," Jisung says, tapping the back of Felix's chair. "I have someone coming to sit with us, and his seat is the one at the end."

"Oh?" Felix muses, turning around and away from his phone, his attention fully drawn to the statement Jisung was about to make.

"Who is it?" San asks, his attention now pulled towards the interaction itself, causing Jisung to pause, turning to glance over his shoulder. Jisung wanted to answer, to just be honest that Minho was joining them, but there was still no sign of him within the cafeteria. Jisung hesitates, searching through a sea of faces that didn't match to that of Minho's, truly beginning to question if Minho was even joining them.

"Who knows," Wooyoung adds, his attention more drawn to the food that he had laid out ahead of him. Jisung turns back towards the table, gazing from San to Wooyoung, then to Jeongin, who was completely disinterested in the entire conversation. Felix, however, was still enthralled, listening intently with a glimmer of curiosity. Jisung knew that Felix could guess at who it was without even needing to try, but he still tried to keep it all a secret.

Just as Jisung was about to turn around, he felt a hand settle on his shoulder, pulling his heart from his throat as all of his nerves instantly died, now hearing the low, soothing hum of Minho's voice bring the entire group's attention towards the end of the table.

"Hey, sorry–" Minho expresses quietly to Jisung, only to be interrupted by Wooyoung.

"Minho?" Wooyoung asks, raising a brow.

Jisung nods, taking a moment to glance at everyone's expressions. He was nervous, anticipating the worst, yet hoping for the best, unsure of how any of them would even react to the news of this. "Yeah, he's– well– we're–"

"We're together now," Minho interjects, taking the lead as Jisung's words failed his lips. "I hope that it's okay if I start sitting here again, with no added parties following me. No Mingi, no Jongho– just me. . . if that's okay."

Felix, who sat watching the interaction quietly, got out of his seat and moved over one, moving his stuff aside as he freed an open seat, making room for not only Jisung, but for Minho too. Jisung smiles, glancing up at Minho as he listens to Wooyoung begin to speak, which sends his body into a flutter of tensed stress. He knew that the past between Wooyoung and Minho was overly complicated, but he held hope that the cavern between them would slowly begin to bridge over.

"You two–? Are together?" Wooyoung asks, his utensils hanging loosely in his hand as he looks between Jisung and Minho both, but after a moment, he shrugs. "Yeah, okay. That's cool. Welcome back."

Jisung watches as a smile curls on Minho's lips, almost one told of relief, a slight bow of his head as he responds back.

"Thank you, it's nice to finally be back here after so long," Minho expresses.

"Sit, sit," Felix encourages. "Let's catch up! We haven't chatted in so long."

Jisung settles down in the middle seat with Minho finding his own seat from months ago, settling down with a soft breath, one that Jisung was sure that only he could hear. Or, maybe Jeongin too, but he still seemed too disinterested in anything else.

"How did all of this start?" San asks, sitting next to Jeongin while Wooyoung composed all of his attention onto his lunch.

"Don't tell me it was the tutoring sessions," Felix muses lightly, his words followed with a subtle laugh.

"It was more than just tutoring," Jisung attests, smiling nonetheless. "We just see through one another's facade, that's all."

"He saw the best in me, even when it was hard," Minho adds in, reaching into his bag to pull out his lunch tote, almost in tandem with Jisung. "It's kind of hard to ignore just how much we balance one another out, even if we were just supposed to meet for tutoring lessons."

"I see," San nods, sparing a glance at his own partner. "He always brings out the best in me, and that's the best kind of relationship you can find, and I'm truly happy that you have. I know it's been awhile, but we're all rooting for you. I can likely speak up for the rest of us and say that we're happy to finally see you free from Mingi's poisonous grip."

"It's the happiest I've been in a long time," Minho admits, opening his lunch tote. "I'm just. . . happy to start anew."

"I'm happy you're here," Jisung says, looking at Minho with a glimmer in his eyes. Minho's gaze eventually travels upwards towards him, a subtle spark of something deeper weaving its way into Jisung's heart. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt it nonetheless.

As the lunch hour continued, Jisung sat and happily ate, observing as Minho interacted with his old friends more and more. It was almost like a breath of relief, an intake of fresh air with flooded lungs, like breaching the surface of the sea after feeling as if you were drowning for so long; to have Minho here, rekindling old friendships and healing from the events of his past, Jisung felt an immense sense of joy.

This was all he could've ever asked for, and knowing that Minho was trying more and more each day, opening his heart again and attempting to be vulnerable in the face of something he had been scared to confront for the last year. Jisung was so proud of him, so happy and content to be at his side like this. He'd give him everything, if only Minho would end up forever as happy as he seemed to be right now.

After classes had finally ended, Jisung convinced Minho to follow him back home, sinking into the quiet of his apartment that would remain vacant until the cusp of midnight. His parents would be busy at work until very late, once again, a routine he was overly used to at this point.

But, in turn, it gave Jisung a chance to hide Minho away in his room, just like he was doing presently, safe in the dark, behind a locked door, simply enjoying the company of one another.

"Tired?" Minho asks, sitting on the edge of Jisung's bed as the younger fusses about with his closet, perusing through his clothes in search of a hoodie.

"Just a bit. A quiet night in just sounds like a reprieve away from the stressors that come with school ending," Jisung says, looking over his shoulder. "Besides, spending time with you is the best way to find peace."

"Then come lay down," Minho insists, keeping his voice soft. Jisung smiles, raising a brow before turning away, closing his closet door.

"Fine, fine," Jisung teasingly gives in, strolling towards his bed with a lingering smile, knowing fully well that Minho cherished this time just as much as he had.

Minho moves back, laying down with his arms open, using his hands to wave Jisung inwards, encouraging him further. Jisung rolls his eyes before settling down on the bed, taking a moment to properly realize the actions he was committing to. He was laying in bed. . . with Minho.

But, he continues anyway, settling down, feeling slightly awkward at first until Minho wraps an arm around Jisung, pulling him closer, letting a hum vibrate through his tongue as he settles into the contact.

"Thank you," Minho says quietly, smoothing his hand up and down Jisung's arm.

Jisung waits, almost wordlessly, until he ultimately decides to speak up, wondering about the sudden earnest gratitude coming from Minho's lips. "For what?"

"For just. . . being you," Minho explains, settling further into their shared embrace. "For accepting me and not being afraid to confront me about my demons."

"Well," Jisung says, taking a breath. "I've liked your stubbornness for a long time, because usually when you're so adamant about something, it means you care."

"I do care, maybe a bit too much sometimes," Minho admits, turning his head slightly to press a kiss to Jisung's head, keeping him close. "But, I care most about you, and I always want to do right by you."

"You're doing perfectly now," Jisung says, a soft smile curled to his lips. "I'm just happy that you're here, and we're like this. I never expected or anticipated this."

"Neither did I," Minho agrees, taking in a calming breath. "Just. . . thank you for being mine, Ji. You've made a dark year slightly brighter."

"I'll do what I can to make everything easier," Jisung murmurs. "Easier to handle, easier to cope, easier to just exist. I want you to see the good in life, Minho. You deserve so much more than what you've been handed in life."

"You do more than that," Minho says. "You just. . . accept me as I am, and I wouldn't know what to do without you sometimes."

"Then stay with me," Jisung says quietly, relishing in Minho's shared warmth. "Like this. . . for as long as you can."

"Okay, Jisungie," Minho replies, pressing another kiss into his hair. "I'll stay just like this, because you're mine, and I am yours."