Trapped | Hwang Hyunjin

Side Story [2]

"I...I'm sorry Jis—"

"I have never given you the permission to apologise, excuse you." As if the confession never happened, Jisung jokingly gives the female a glare, catching her off-guard with the sudden mood change.

He then continues his statement, this time, accompanied by a genuine smile. "That's why I thought I should at least convey my true feelings to lift up the burden. I personally, would like us not to meet for a while if that's okay."

"...I understand." The girl returns his smile with a sad one. "I will give you the space you need." She then gets up from the bench, opening her arms. "Farewell hug?"

Jisung pauses for a bit before embracing her tightly, placing his chin on her shoulder. The boy feels surprisingly small, Hanseol thought. But it is one of the warmest hugs that she has ever received, and she could not help but caress his hair softly.

"We didn't spend much time together, but thank you for playing a huge role in my life." Jisung sniffles between his words, burying his face into her neck.

"I enjoy every single moment we had as well. Thank you for being you, Jisung." Hanseol softly whispers as the two let go of each other with smiles of gratitude.

"I hope that you'll find someone soon." She says.

"I'll probably take a break for now, but I sure will." He replies, his tiny hands wiping off his tears. Before Hanseol could offer him some tissues, the 2 boys come back with loads of stuff in their arms.

"What the—Jisung! Are you okay?" Hyunjin looks at his friend in shock; seeing how red his nose is. Fortunately, his eyes aren't as red that Jisung is able to come up with an excuse easily. "Ah, I'm just not dealing with the cold quite well. Nothing serious."

"Right—here are some hot packs." Hyunjin says, then glares at Minho, who's holding some cups of hot drinks while avoiding his gaze. "We wouldn't have taken this long if it weren't for your friend."

Hyunjin continues to shoot those lasers at the older one while he opens the packaging of the hot packs for Jisung, "Your friend, surprisingly, has a shitty sense of direction. He keeps on getting lost in the crowds and I think I spent half of the time looking for him."

Minho and his bad sense of direction...? Jisung questions in his mind, seeing his roommate casually whistles as if he did nothing wrong. As his attention goes to Jisung, he unknowingly shoots him a wink, finally, giving the explanation to the younger one.

Ah...I see. He's doing this just to extend my time with Hanseol.

"Thanks a lot, everyone. But I'm fine, really." Jisung smiles helplessly, blessed to have these people present in his life. "You guys should go to the main exhibition and watch the Christmas tree light up at 12. I'll just rest here."

"??? But—"

"Make sure you get some rest, Jisung." Hanseol stops her boyfriend from questioning, getting that hidden meaning behind his sentences. "It's been a great hangout guys. We'll see you guys somewhere."

"Hmm." Minho nods, while Hyunjin is being unwillingly dragged away by her. "H-Han? Are you sure Jisung is going to be fine?"

"You worry too much." Hanseol chuckles, then secretly mouths at Jisung,

"I'll see you when I see you."

Jisung smiles at her and waves, finally, left with only Minho.

"I guess your talk went well?"

"I guess you could say that." Jisung stretches his whole body, heaving out a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks for the push. I feel like most of my burdens are gone."

"Don't mention it." Minho chuckles then looks at the snowy path. "Do...you want to have a proper walk there?"

The younger one tilts his head in confusion, not understanding the meaning of 'proper walk'. Minho shakes his head, finding his reaction cute. "I mean, remember how you were literally dead inside because you saw them showing public affection?"

"Eh—true..." Jisung points at him, "So you're telling me that we should enjoy the walk for real?"

"Well, if you want to." The roommate murmurs.

"Sure. Let's celebrate Christmas in a happy mood." Just like he usually is, Jisung's happy-go-lucky mood is slowly coming back. The two then heads for the snowy path while Minho watches Jisung admiring the view, this time, being able to enjoy the atmosphere for real.

"That suits you better." Minho says, catching Jisung's attention momentarily. "Yes...?"

"Your smile. You look so much better with it." He smiles at the younger one, catching him off guard. "What the—why would you say that?" Jisung looks away, feeling slightly embarrassed, "That sounds weird."

"Haha, does it?" Minho chuckles as he watches Jisung tenderly, who's still facing away from him. As a tiny memory of Hyunjin, holding Hanseol's hand slips through his mind, Minho instinctively grabs the hands of his roommate, surprising him again.

"? Wha—"

"Isn't it proven that holding hands would make you enjoy the walk better?" He teases, then Jisung rolls his eyes at the sentence. "Well, that only applies to them because they're in love with each other." He then slowly releases his grip from Minho's, thinking that the latter was only teasing him.

Minho sighs with a small chuckle, "Alright alright, sad boi. Don't get mad at me."

"I can tell you're just teasing me but please don't mention those two when I'm deliberately trying to move on." Jisung sulks and Minho lets out another soft chuckle at his obliviousness.

When are you going to look at me, Han Jisung?

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Author's Note: Hello everyone!! This is the end of Jisung's side story! :D

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did when I was writing ehehehe, and yes because my biases are MinSung, I just...had to do it man, I JUST HAD TO

anyway

There will be another side story coming, LOOK FORWARD TO IT!! :D

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

-Howley