Love Me | MarkNoHyuckMin

chapter six

"Do you wanna go hang up a towel or something?" Haechan asks after a minute of Jisung awkwardly standing in his living room.

"I can put it away if you want."

Haechan pulls the towel from around his neck and hands it to Jisung. Right as Jisung grabs it, Haechan leans down and shakes his hair, splattering water droplets on the male.

"Ah!" Jisung says, stepping back and holding the towel up to block his friends water attack.

Haechan watches in amusement as Jisung keeps the towel up while walking sideways down the hallway and into the bathroom.

Unsure of how long until Jisung comes out, Haechan goes into the kitchen and begins boiling water for ramen, feeling hungry.

After a minute, he hears footsteps on the tile floor, notifying him of Jisungs presence. He glances up and gives his friend a polite smile that Jisung returns with a nods. Neither talk, making Haechan feel exceptionally awkward.

Because he knows there's a reason to the males visit and he knows that Jisung has a way of getting him to open up whether he wants to or not.

"Jaemin told me you seemed off earlier."

Fuck!

"Yeah, I just felt awkward", Haechan answers, looking everyone around the kitchen except at Jisungs face.

"Any reason?"

"Just had a lot on my mind and that combined with being around someone made me feel awkward."

When he gains the courage to look at Jisungs face, he almost regrets it. Jisung is looking at him with amusement but he can tell there's something else beyond that.

"What were you thinking about that made you feel awkward?"

Jisung moves himself away from the cabinet and gets busy looking through Haechan's cabinets for a snack.

Haechan knows what he's doing and he hates that at some point that evening, Jisung will get the truth out of him. He doesn't speak, just watching as his friend eats strawberry waters without a care in the world like this isn't part of his interrogation process.

"Just about...me."

"Oh?" Jisungs eyes briefly flit up to Haechan before back down to the package of wafers.

Haechan sighs, moving away from the stove and into the the living where he plops down onto his couch. Jisung follows, staying silent, waiting for the brunet to start talking.

"I was thinking about...myself. And then I ended up remembering those assholes I used to be friends with."

Jisung freezes, expression changing from his one of attempted indifference to concern before he realizes and tries not to look sympathetic.

Haechan chuckles without humor. "I saw that."

"I know."

More time passes, Haechans mind on overdrive with everything he's feeling and debating on sharing. When it gets too uncomfortable for him, he gets up to check on the state of the water he's boiling. It's still not ready but neither is he.

He goes back to the couch and just looks up at the ceiling, trying to keep all his emotional memories from affecting him. He folds his lips inwards, trying to contain himself.

When Jisung pulls him into his arms, a bit of his wall breaks. He clutches onto Jisungs jacket, holding him as tight as he can to block out the memories of the things he wishes can forget.

"You don't have to talk about it."

"You know I'm going to."

"You always have the option not to."