✔︎𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 || 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐨

2. the tall building, the small man

"Minho... Minho... Minho! Come on, wake up!"

Minho heard a loud voice call his name, a noise that he hoped would have faded away if he kept ignoring it. But it didn't, and now he also felt two strong hands shake his shoulders.

"Come on Minho, we're here already" the voice said again.

At this point, Minho was completely awake, and he couldn't keep pretending not to hear that voice. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing in front of him a familiar face that looked rather annoyed. Minho looked at his friend, whose hands were still wrapped around his shoulders, as he stepped back once he realized he was awake.

"Come on, we're here" Chan said opening a little more the car door for Minho to step out.

Minho sighed as he straightened up his posture, his seatbelt still on. He rubbed his tired eyes, trying to ignore that annoying headache he just realized he had. He hadn't slept much in the past days, he was very tired, and every time he had the chance to sit down, he couldn't help but fall asleep, even though it was only a few minutes ride.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming" he said, his voice still sleepy.

Chan sighed, as he stepped out of the car, leaving the door open for his friend.

Minho took his seatbelt off and stepped out of the black car, yawning loudly. He looked around, his teammates were already all there, which meant that even the second car with the four that weren't with him had arrived. He looked at his friends, they were talking to each other, they seemed tired as well, maybe a little less than Minho, but they still looked very tired.

"Come on" Chan said, touching Minho's arm to signal him to follow the boys, that were already walking away from the cars.

Minho yawned in response, dragging his tired body towards the big building in front of him. He remembered the first time he entered that building: he was a little younger, maybe nineteen, he remembered he looked at that imponent building with dreamy eyes, wishing one day he could have been able to step in there every day. Well, now he walked into that same building every day, but for sure he didn't feel as thrilled as before anymore.

As soon as he and his friends walked in, a few employees started greeting them. They politely bowled back as they went towards the elevator. The other boys were chatting and laughing, but Minho wasn't listening to what they were saying, still not completely awake. Soon, they arrived in the practice room, and everyone put their training bags on the ground.

Minho gave himself some light smacks on his cheeks to wake himself up, then he went to the center of the practice room and started stretching, without saying a word. He looked at his figure through the mirror: his body was skinnier, maybe a little too much, he knew he should have worked out a little more later, even though he wasn't really thrilled by the idea. But he knew that choosing that kind of life meant he had to sacrifice his rest sometimes, or most of the time. As he stretched, he actually felt how tired his body was: after the concert, he still hadn't had any time to rest, and he was feeling it.

Soon, a boy a little shorter than him came closer to Minho and started stretching as well. He could see his figure moving in the mirror, he was dressed in an oversized white t-shirt and black sweatpants.

"Hey there" his friend said. Minho looked at Jisung, the short guy with puffy cheeks and brown hair, that was cheerfully stretching his arm above his head, a small smile printed on his lips "How are you doing?"

Minho looked back at the mirror "Neutral" he said.

Jisung looked at his friend with a questioning look "'Neutral'? What kind of answer is that!?"