I'll Grow Tall For You - M I N S U N G

𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣

The days following were dismal. Minho didn't mean to shut down. It just happened. He'd lost his best friend. He'd called and got no answer. He texted and got ignored. He considered visiting, but worried Chan would slam the door in his face. He deserved it.

"You're being too hard on yourself." Jisung had abandoned his tinkering that morning to tend to Minho. "You can't help the way you feel."

"I should love him. I should, but I don't." Jisung was right. He was being ridiculous. If his heart wasn't in it, he shouldn't try to force it. Then why did he feel so bad? "Why does love have to be this hard?"

"Beats me. That's why I'm stuck like this remember?"

"So you've never been in love?"

"Truthfully, I didn't know. I used to tell myself I was. Back then... the world was different. People lied to your face about feelings they weren't sure of themselves." For the first time, Jisung looked his size. His big presence had always made Minho forget he was only 20 centimeters tall. "I think that's why this happened to me. Maybe lying to myself got me in this mess."

Their conversation died out and Minho went back to the counter alone. While the pain of hurting Chan remained, a bigger one grew for Jisung and his self-doubt. Minho didn't know the full story. He wondered if Jisung would ever tell him. There was more to his life than a broken heart. Minho knew.

He was distracted by a sweet old lady with a kind smile, asking if he had any vinyl in his shop. He didn't have much, there were much nicer music shops that offered more options, but the sweet lady just shrugged it off, taking her time in choosing the perfect one.

"I'll take this one." Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence was placed on the counter.

Jisung called for him after she left.

"What kind of music do you like?" he asked, rather casual considering their previous conversation. Minho answered anyway, liking the distraction. It was a moment to focus on something that wasn't Chan.

"I like the early 2000's stuff. Mostly R & B."

"Do you listen to rap?"

"If it plays on the radio, sure."

"I liked to rap, or should I say, I liked to write rap. I'm like your modern day Shakespeare."

"Oh?" Minho chuckled, not sure where Jisung was going with this.

"Do you wanna hear one of my works?"

"Go for it." Jisung cleared his throat obnoxiously.

"I'm like a head trip to listen to, 'cause I'm only givin' you. Things you joke about with your friends inside your livin' room-"

"Are you quoting The Real Slim Shady to me right now?" Minho couldn't help, but laugh. Jisung was hysterical.

"So what if I am?" They laugh a minute longer. "I missed your smile."

He'd missed Jisung's.

Days went by. The ordeal with Chan went forgotten as Jisung did what he could to keep Minho's mind off of it. Whether it be telling him stories of his past- he'd had quite the life before he'd shrunk- or asking Minho about his past. It felt liberating somehow, the mindless chatter. He got to know Jisung better because of it.

"You say you've never loved, but I think you're a right romantic."

"What makes you say that?"

Many things. Jisung used to give all his friends flowers on Valentine's Day. He wrote poetry. He watched sapping love comedies. He cried at his Father's wedding. He did so much and never thought it was enough and Minho could see just how big his heart was.