There is very minimal mentions in possible abuse/domestic violence -- please do not read any further if these topics are sensitive to you.

✧━━ .·:*¨¨* 𓆩♡𓆪 *¨¨*:·. ━━ ✧

❥ 𝐉𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 •°. *࿐

"Jisung–" Minho says quietly, sitting in his usual chair with a confused gaze.

"Hm?"

"This equation," Minho starts, brows slightly pinched in the middle. "It doesn't make sense to me. . . right now. I'm confused."

"Okay, what part of it is confusing to you?" Jisung leans over, curiously looking at Minho's paper, watching as the male's pencil turns to point to the middle of the math equation.

"I don't know–" Minho sighs. "I just can't work it out."

"Well, okay." Jisung leans closer slightly. "You just need to carry this here, then divide this here."

Minho stares blankly at the paper, then glances up at Jisung through his long, unkempt bangs. "Is that really it?"

"Yes," Jisung slightly laughs, leaning away. "You've got it. Try again."

Minho turns his gaze down at his work again, pencil moving carefully across the equation, typing away at his calculator before seemingly finding an answer. Jisung watches with intrigue, smiling as he watches Minho scribble through the equation with ease.

"See!" Jisung muses quietly. "You've got it. That's right."

"You just made it easier to understand," Minho sighs, leaning back into his chair. "I think I'll get through this with no problem now."

"You're confident today," Jisung smiles at him. "Feeling a bit better?"

"In terms of what?" Minho's voice was low, yet piqued with curiosity, leading Jisung to carefully maneuver his words.

"Well, y'know. . . the bathroom thing. From a day or two ago."

"Oh, well–" Minho shrugs. "Yeah."

"I was worried about you." Jisung admits quietly. Minho's gaze drifts away momentarily, but after a moment, he turns back to look at Jisung. Jisung could tell by his gaze alone that his feelings most likely were hard to admit to, which only brings an unsettling chill to travel down his spine.

"You don't have to be. I'm fine." Minho assures, his tone slightly unnerved, leaving Jisung anything but assured. But, if Minho didn't want to discuss it, then Jisung would simply have to accept it.

Abruptly, Minho's phone starts ringing away in his pocket, a look of concern visible amongst his normally cold expression as he pulls his device out of the safety of his jeans, glancing at the screen with growing hesitance.

"I need to answer this," Minho says quietly. Jisung waves his hand, leaning back into his seat, trying to seem neutral and unbothered, even if Minho had seemed uneasy.

"No, go ahead. I'll wait."

Without bothering to hesitate for another second, Minho answers the buzzing call, holding the phone to his ear. With a timid voice, he greets the person on the other end of the line, looking down at the desk before him. "Hello?"

Jisung can't hear the exact details of the call, but small echoes of a male's voice reverberate in the small distance between himself and Minho. Jisung finds himself glancing at Minho with vibrating anxiety, watching as Minho's expression shifts from a phase of uncomfort into slight winces, his shoulders tense as the call drags on.

With a sigh, Jisung tries to drown out his worry, planting his gaze into his own phone, scrolling aimlessly on Twitter with no hope of anything to pique his interest. He couldn't help but hear the faint murmurs of this unknown male's voice, wondering who Minho could be speaking to, let alone, who could be speaking to him like this.

Minho leans back into his seat, stifling a heavy sigh, chewing on his lower lip as he continues to say nothing, letting the voice on the other line continuously berate him. Jisung couldn't help but watch as Minho's facade began to crumble, his expressionless attitude was quickly replaced by something sad, completely unfamiliar. Jisung has seen Minho convey a myriad of emotions before, all stringing from stress and faux anger. This, however, had been surprisingly new.

Minho had looked incredibly dejected and shut down, a complete contrast to the personality Jisung had been used to seeing. The bad boy persona, the I don't give a fuck facade; all melting away with the presence of someone unknown on the other end of the phone.

Jisung places his phone face down, looking at Minho again, hoping that Minho will just look at him. But, the male's gaze remains stuck to the table, his body tense, listening as the words continue in their rapture. For a second, Minho's lip quivers before his teeth sink into it, holding flooding emotions at bay. Jisung catches sight of this readily, extending a hand across the table, trying to catch Minho's attention before whoever was on the line broke him completely.

Minho's eyes, reddened and somehow calm, slowly blink upright, meeting Jisung's almost immediately. Jisung wants to say a million things and he would love to soothe the pain he can sense emanating from him, but it wasn't his place. He didn't know Minho, and he knew very little about Minho's dynamic outside of this horrid school. But. . . for a split second, for a minimal pause in time, Jisung finds himself wanting to explore the complexities that make Minho the way he was. He wants nothing more than to comfort him in this moment, to pull the phone away and save him from whatever anxiety he looked like he had been feeling.

"Yeah–" Minho breathes out, glancing down at the table suddenly, nodding absently. Jisung watches curiously, brows pinching, trying to understand in any way he could.

"Fine, yeah." Minho continues. "I'll be home soon. Sure."

The call ends, Minho's phone laying flat on the desk as he tosses it down, chewing on the interior of his cheek. Jisung sits quietly, unsure of how to approach the tenderness of the moment between them, afraid to push too hard or pry too deeply, but Minho's pain, the one that Jisung had always been able to see, had grown significantly. He looked dejected, torn to pieces, barely a fraction of himself after a simple phone call.

"Are you–" Jisung stops, watching as Minho's eyes gaze upwards. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine, Jisung." Minho shakes his head, taking a breath. "Don't stress about it."

"I am going to stress about it." Jisung inches closer, leaning against the desk, trying to search for a slight glimmer of vulnerability within his cold, somber hues, but found remotely nothing except congruent pain.

"Why do you care so much?" Minho's brows furrow, his tone icy, but his eyes said everything he somehow found incredibly difficult to say.

"Because you're obviously distressed about something. If I can help, I want to. You don't need to hide away from me like this."

"We're not even friends, Jisung." Minho sighs again, turning his gaze away. "I've been nothing except cruel and rude to you from the day we met almost a year ago."

"That doesn't mean anything to me." Jisung says quietly, gaze unwavering. "But your feelings, this sadness you're harboring, that matters. Screw the studying and the grades, Minho. If you're not in the headspace for any of this, we don't have to worry about stupid mathematics homework right now."

"Jisung–"

"No, just–" Jisung sighs, scooting his chair closer. "Listen to me."

Minho turns his head towards Jisung, eyes glancing down, jaw clenching.With a breath, Jisung reaches across the space, fingertips resting on Minho's knee, trying to pull the male's attention back towards him gently. Minho flinches subtly, but doesn't move to pull Jisung's hand away.

"You said that you wanted to come to me with things, right?" Jisung murmurs, watching as Minho quietly nods. "Okay. So tell me something. Anything. Doesn't have to be about your family or your friends, it can be anything."

"Are you my therapist now?" Minho quips, a slight smile curled on the edge of his lips.

"If that's what you want me to be." Jisung breathes, smiling back. "Tell me your deepest darkest secrets, Lee Minho. Let me therapize you."

"Okay–" Minho takes an uneasy breath, looking down for a second. "My house. . . is just not a good place to be."

Jisung listens devotedly, waiting patiently, offering Minho the space to be as honest as he wanted to be. For a moment, Minho wavers. His breaths are deep, stature tense; holding whatever emotions at bay in an effort to protect himself. Jisung could see right through him, nearly like glass, seeing his visible misery hidden beneath the hem of his scarred skin.

"My dad–" Minho starts subtly, struggling to pick his words. "He's harboring a lot of animosity towards me. So when he's in a bad mood, I just get the full brunt of things."

"Okay," Jisung says softly, his fingers still resting on Minho's knee. "Why is he so angry with you?"

"I don't–" Minho grimaces, gaze drifting away. "That's a lot to unpack, Jisung. No one knows that about me."

"You don't have to tell me now." Jisung offers quietly. "But I'm here the moment you want to. There's no judgment and there's no words expressed after we talk. What you say stays between us."

"Thank you," Minho meets Jisung's gaze finally, a newly forged softness pulling at his expression. "I'll try to remember that."

For a second, the pair remain quiet, letting the space between them settle into something softer, afraid to ruin any of the gap that they had bridged over with prying words or unknown boundary crossings.

"Minho," Jisung starts for a moment. "You told me that you're scared to go home. Is that. . . is that still true?"

"Unfortunately." Minho expresses softly, glancing at his phone.

"You can always come to my house," Jisung offers slowly, the words feeling unfamiliar, strung along by a sense of insecurity and fear of rejection. He, truthfully, didn't know what he was doing. Friendships aren't his forte, nor have they ever been, so this invitation felt extremely unfamiliar. But, a part of him wanted to build upon his offer, to keep bridging over the gap without the fear of rejection. Minho had seemed so willing, almost as if he was internally trying to convince himself to just bleed himself dry. He had been plagued with such horrible thoughts as a result of his dark life, but Jisung's presence had seemed like a welcoming light, something to pull him away from the shadows and keep him afloat rather than letting him drown.

"I don't want to impose," Minho shakes his head. "We're not even friends, really, Jisung."

"You wouldn't impose." Jisung tries to assure, tapping Minho's knees softly with his fingers. "I think. . . y'know, if you wanted to be, we should just– I don't know– be friends."

"Aren't you the loner type?" Minho asks, slightly amused. "Didn't you have zero friends almost a few days ago?"

"Harsh," Jisung laughs quietly. "I have a few now. A few good ones. I'm. . . trying to be better and to be more open. The offer is available to you, but only if you want it to be."

"Okay." Minho agrees, whatever unease he had previously held suddenly dissipating. Even if he was nervous in regards to the offer itself, his words were confident and laced with something Jisung couldn't quite place. "Let's be friends, then."

"Let's." Jisung smiles, retracting his hand, leaning back into his seat.

"Okay–" Minho takes a breath, turning back to his notebook. "Now, this homework."

Jisung knew all of this was hard for Minho, and admitting to the little vulnerabilities that he had expressed might've been a challenge.

Minho was hard to reach, trying to extend over this cavern he had placed between himself and anyone else, yet somehow Jisung found himself waiting on the other side of this large space, hoping that Minho would simply just see him. Even in the darkness that Minho had conjured of his own volition, Jisung wanted to break him free of it. This friendship, only having started mere seconds ago, meant more than something surface level. It felt like a promise, to offer a safe space to Minho in times of darkness and crisis, while also extending a hand, an olive branch of vulnerability, planting himself into Minho's life so he could confide in Jisung whenever he needed to.

This was no longer just a tutoring session. There was a deeper meaning to this now, and the thought of that scared Jisung, but only slightly. Having never wanted to be close to anyone like this before, Jisung finds himself rooted in an unfamiliar space, a limbo of haziness that feels almost suffocating.

However, this little moment of closeness, a crack in Minho's icy exterior, offered a window into the purity that he holds within. All Jisung wanted to do was help him, even if it was a short therapy session within their study time. Jisung would devoutly take anything Minho would give him with open arms, hoping only to get closer with time.

Hours pass, leaving Jisung to melt back into the comfort of his home. He had offered Minho to come back to his house, however, Minho declined, explaining that he'd be okay. Apparently, Minho had things to attend to, and if he ignored it, there'd likely be consequences waiting for him. Jisung understood completely, but remained adamant that his offer would forever remain open. Minho thanked him before parting ways, leaving Jisung standing by the entrance to the school, watching as the elder trekked down the pathway.

Now, Jisung sat in his room, scrolling absently within his room with no leading objective in mind. He had been texting the group chat, listening to Wooyoung bicker with Felix about an incoming party that had been mentioned, but Jisung was completely uninterested in entertaining the idea.

Jung Wooyoung

I'm serious! It would be fun. I think you're just being a party pooper.

Lee Felix

Don't call me that! I'm not being a party pooper, you pabo.

Yang Jeongin

You guys are being awfully annoying about this. It's a college party. We shouldn't even go.

Lee Felix

Just because you're best friends with the host, doesn't mean we should go to a frat party. Did I mention that we're underage? Did we forget that we're not even graduated yet?

Jung Wooyoung

Sigh. You all suck. At least I can force Sannie into going with me.

Choi San

I'm literally laying in bed with him and he's giggling his ass off. He's not even remotely mad.

Jung Wooyoung

Brb.

Lee Felix

Oh, boy. Lover's quarrel?

Yang Jeongin

Let 'em fight. We're not going. Just because Yeosang invited him out doesn't mean we need to follow suit.

What are you all even talking about still? The party?

Lee Felix

Yeah, Ji. The party. Still.

Exhausting. Wooyoung isn't budging?

Jung Wooyoung

No! I'm not budging.

Lee Felix

What did you do to your boyfriend? He's still alive right?

Jung Wooyoung

Oh, obviously. Just tickled the life out of him until he admitted to being wrong.

So now we're going :) AND I think you should all come with.

Yang Jeongin

You're quite persistent.

Jung Wooyoung

I just want us to have fun for a weekend, is that so illegal?

No, it's not. You can go with San, but I think my parents would crucify me if they found out I went to a frat party.

Jung Wooyoung

Yeosang is my cousin, but he's also a really good friend of mine. He's only a grade higher than us, but because his housemates are throwing a party, the invitation got extended to me. Apparently, there aren't going to be a lot of people. Just a few of his own friends plus us if we go.

Lee Felix

Yeah, okay. But doesn't Chan know Mingi and Hyunjin? So, doesn't that mean they'll be there?

Jung Wooyoung

That. . . I don't know.

That should be a factor in our decision, then. I don't want to be in the same room as Mingi, Jongho and Hyunjin. Not something I'm personally interested in.

Lee Felix

What if Minho is there?

Jisung freezes, staring at his phone. Sure, Minho would likely be there. Mingi and his entire friend group were mischievous, always getting into some sort of trouble. Mingi and Hyunjin were always attracted to parties, smoking and drinking even when they weren't supposed to be. Minho normally tagged along, following Mingi's every waking wish, but likely not because he wanted to and was rather forced to.

If Minho is there, cool. If not, also cool. What he does isn't really my business, let me remind you. We just started the bare basics of a friendship. I don't know what to expect from any of this.

Lee Felix

Still!

Jung Wooyoung

At least you're friends with him.

Yang Jeongin

Drop it, Wooyoung. Not the time.

Choi San

I scolded him already, don't worry.

No, I get it. He can be upset if he wants to be. I'm just trying to reach the person I see deeply rooted within him. There's more hiding behind this facade of his.

Lee Felix

Exactly. So, I think you should figure out where this friendship with Minho is going to lead. He seems awfully interested in being close to you, or at least trying to be.

Jung Wooyoung

I'm sorry I'm sensitive about it. But, if I find out Mingi will be there, Minho surely will be too. So. . . that gives me even more of a reason to drag you all with me. :)

Choi San

I tried to talk him out of it.

Lee Felix

I'll think about it. How far away is this party, anyway?

Jung Wooyoung

It's not for a while. Yeosang said that they want to wait until classes are almost over.

Ah, so we still have time to convince you to back out of this idea?

Lee Felix

I'm so glad I befriended you, Jisung. You're so much fun.

Jung Wooyoung

>:(

Yang Jeongin

Anyway, I'm going to bed. You are all very obnoxious tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.

I blame Wooyoung.

Jung Wooyoung

That's not fair.

Lee Felix

Oh, but it is! Sorry, Youngie.

Choi San

I'm going to smother him now, see you all tomorrow.

Smother him?!

Choi San

Lol, lovingly, I swear.

Lee Felix

Jisung, are you staying awake?

For a bit, yeah. Can't sleep.

Lee Felix

Mind if I call you for a bit?

Go for it.

With a sigh, Jisung watches as his phone screen illuminates with an incoming call, leaving Jisung to answer it quickly.

"Hey, Ji."

"Hi, what's up?"

"Do you mind if I. . . poke your brain about something? You seem wise, and Wooyoung just. . . isn't."

Jisung chuckles quietly, watching as the time spent on the call slowly ticks past. "Yeah, sure. What's on your mind?"

"I know you're not really into dating and relationships, but I'm. . . stuck. I'm hung up on my ex."

"You have an ex?"

"I know, it's. . . not something I like to discuss. He's not really the one you'd expect, either."

"Do you want to tell me who he is?"

"I mean–" Felix sighs, the call's silence dragging momentarily. "He's friends with Minho."

"Oh." Jisung's brows furrow, listening as Felix groans nervously.

"Ugh, this is so embarrassing."

"You can tell me anything, Felix. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Well of course!" Felix laughs softly, earning a quiet laugh from Jisung, too. "He's just, I don't know. . . not my type, normally."

"I don't even know your type, so that makes this all easier, doesn't it?"

"You're so wise, Jisung. It's a wonder why Minho likes you so much."

"C'mon–" Jisung smiles. "Tell me."

"Fine." Felix drawls playfully. "I dated Hyunjin."

"Oh, shit. Seriously?" Jisung sits upright in his bed, searching the space of his darkened bedroom, almost as if he was seeking answers that had been hiding amongst his bookshelves and clutter.

"We dated for a year. He got roped into Mingi's bullshit and. . . I don't know. Things changed."

"Well," Jisung sighs, pulling a blanket over his lap. "Mingi seems to have that effect on everyone."

"Hyunjin used to be a beam of light. He was sweet and incredibly loving, but something within him changed."

"Did everyone else know?"

"No." Felix sighs. "Our relationship was secret for a long time. Jeongin and Wooyoung had their opinions about Hyunjin and who he hung around with. I tried gauging their opinions a few months into our relationship, but they seemed against the idea of welcoming him into our group."

"Do you think that if they knew, Hyunjin wouldn't have settled into a horrible friend group?"

"I want to believe that," Felix's voice trails off, a certain thought gnawing away at him. "I'm just so hung up on him. I want nothing more than for him to come back to me."

"What happened between the two of you?" Jisung pries carefully, and the silence that follows is an aching reminder of how much of his friend's pasts he still had yet to uncover.

"That's. . . it's a lot, Jisung. We'd be here until sunrise."

"I'm sorry if I'm uncovering emotions you didn't want to remember."

"It's not that. In time, maybe. I just– I don't know."

"That's okay." Jisung assures calmly. "I don't have to know right now. But, what's been weighing on your mind?"

"I want him back, Jisung. I just don't think he wants me."

"I'm sorry." Jisung frowns, listening as Felix abstains to silence. "I don't know the intimacies of relationships very well, but I am sorry. I can't imagine wanting something and being unable to have it."

"It's not fun, I'll admit. But, don't worry, I can manage myself. Just sitting here and talking makes me feel immensely better."

"Yeah, of course. You are always allowed to chat my ear off."

"Even this late?"

"Even this late."

Felix laughs, the sound immediately comforting. Jisung smiles, almost in relief, finding solace in knowing that Felix had felt slightly better in talking. In the midst of their quiet laughter and shared comfort, Jisung's phone lights up with a different call, one that immediately brought a sense of unease to wash over him.

"Hey, Felix–"

"Yeah?"

"Minho is calling me. I think I need to answer this."

"No, yeah! Answer it. Text me if you need me, Jisungie! I'm not sleeping for a bit."

"Yeah, of course. See you tomorrow."

"Bye!"

Swapping over the call, Jisung rapidly answers Minho's incoming call, listening as sudden silence echoes through the line, save for the shaky breaths that subtly broke through the static.

"Minho?" Jisung asks calmly, swallowing hesitantly. "Is everything okay?"

"Jisung–" Minho's voice was incredibly broken, his tone dejected and timid. The vulnerability Jisung had wanted to understand tore him to bits, shattering his heart, trying to figure out the proper way to comfort his new friend.

"Minho, what's wrong?"

"I can't be at my house right now."

"Okay–" Jisung breathes softly, biting the interior of his cheek. "How can I help you? What can I do for you right now?"

"I don't want to be alone." Minho says shakily, his desperation in search of comfort overly heart wrenching, pulling at whatever heartstrings Jisung contained.

"Come here, Minho. You don't have to be alone."

"Are you sure?" Minho's hesitance was obvious, and Jisung could understand why. This unspoken thing between them, this simmering chemistry or feeling of trust that extended from nearly nothing, had pulled them together over and over. An unwillingness to study, now forging into an ushering will to comfort and soothe, turning the tides in a friendship neither of them had suspected to ever form.

Jisung would've never expected to feel this way in regards to someone he found to be unwise and particularly reserved, but now that he sees Minho beyond all of his scars and his dark exterior, something new takes place over whatever hesitance Jisung held in regards to a deepening friendship.

"I'm so sure, Minho." Jisung coos gently, listening to Minho's shaky breath break through the line. "Please come over here."

"Aren't your parents asleep? Won't they care?"

"They'd probably be happy I even have a friend in the first place. They won't care, Minho. I promise. I told you that you'd be safe here and I mean that."

"Okay." Minho breathes, pausing momentarily. "Send me your address. I don't know how to thank you for this."

"Don't thank me, Minho. I won't leave you alone to deal with this. I told you that you can come to me with anything, and I meant that."

"I don't say this a lot, to anyone really, but. . . I appreciate you. I'll see you soon."

"Be safe. I'll wait for you." Jisung murmurs, watching as the line disconnects.

Not wasting a second, he types out his address, sending it to Minho readily, watching as the message switches from delivered and over to read, sending his heart into a myriad of emotions.

Jisung was nervous in opening himself up to someone like this, to find trust and vulnerability in someone who was notorious for being closed off.

Now, all he could do was wait, praying for a reality where Minho would show up unscathed, trying to be open and vulnerable, letting the weight of his burdens flee from his shoulders. Jisung knew he was being way too optimistic, but to have Minho calling him near midnight suddenly and out of the blue. . . Jisung willingly plants himself into unfamiliar waters, navigating the depths, hoping that hungry sharks aren't lurking beneath the surface.

Even despite his fears and anxieties in regards to his growing infatuation with Minho, Jisung only wishes to dive in deeper. Whatever hell Minho was grounded into, Jisung wanted to drag him free of the devil's grasp, pulling him into something that radiated nothing of peace. But he could only ever do that if Minho would be honest.