Changes - Minsung

Part 14

Jisungs POV

I walk home. My body still hurts a little. More than the pain or the shock, however, I feel primarily only confusion.
What happened there? Being roughed up by the older students was something I was almost used to, unfortunately... but what was Minoh doing? Why was he there in the first place? And how did he got the three of them away from me?
So many questions buzz in my head that I don't even notice how I'm already standing in front of my house. I turn the key and walk in.

My mother comes to meet me and takes a startled breath.

"Oh honey... again?" her hand comes to rest on my cheek, the same spot Minoh had touched earlier. Only this time it definitely feels different. I back away a bit and look down.

How does she even know? I ask myself.

"It's okay mom, I'm okay" I mumble, pushing past her. I can feel her sad look against my back.

Nevertheless, I boot upstairs to my room without turning around again. I look at myself in the mirror and notice that my lip is slightly chapped.
So that's how she knew...
I wash up and throw myself into comfortable clothes. Directly I turn on my music and lie down in bed.
Try to turn off the thoughts about today and concentrate only on the sounds.

Unconsciously, I reach for my cheek again and remember the tingling I felt when Minoh lightly stroked it with his hand.

What had that feeling been? I shouldn't dwell on it.
I just want to forget about it. After all, I thanked him and everything should be fine now.

I look at my phone. Dozens of messages from felix, seungmin and jeongin.I tell them briefly what happened, without going into details. They don't need to know everything either.

Afterwards, I close my eyes and fall into a restless sleep.

I walk through the school hallway. It is quite empty. I stop in front of the dance class and open the door. Am I too early for our project meeting I ask myself?

I walk in and set my backpack down. A soundtrack plays over the speakers, the melody somehow is somber and calm.

Minoh enters the room next through one of the other doors. He looks at me briefly, and then Changbin and Chan follow.
We go through the progress of our project and work separately on our tasks.
Again, I can't help but watch Minoh and Changbin prepare their choreography. I always try to do it as secretly as possible and hope that Minoh and the others don't notice. But it's just so fascinating.

I'm not a bad dancer either, but just very few people know that about me.

Our time is about over for today and Chan and I pack up our things.
"Hey Jisung, can you wait a minute and give these to Minoh?" he holds out two pairs of headphones to me. " I have to go already, thank you" he says quickly, presses them into my hand and then he is already gone with Chan.
A moment later Minoh comes back in. He is slightly sweaty from the rehearsal and his hair hangs low in his face.
I try to stay cool and walk up to him."Here your headphones," I say not as loudly as I would like and hold out my hand to him. He takes it from my hand saying nothing. As I turn to walk out the door, I feel him grab my sleeve.

In confusion, I turn back to him. He takes two more steps toward me. Out of reflex, I take another step backwards and bump my back against the door.

Minoh stands just a few inches away from me. His eyes gleam at me through his dark strands of hair.

He scrutinizes my face. I don't know where to put myself and I want to say something to him, but my mouth closes again.
I notice his hand approaching my face and I look down.
Not able to move or to avoid his touch, I hold still. I'm a little curious. Will it feel the same as last time?

Minoh's fingers stop at the lower right side of my cheek. His touch is very light, barely noticeable. He's staring at me and I can feel the tension grow bigger.

When he suddenly runs his thumb over my lower lip, where it had split open from the blow, I flinch briefly and abruptly fall out of my trance.
My eyes widen in shock, not so much from the brief pain, but rather from the unexpected gentle touch.

I look directly into Minoh's face. He still has his eyes on my split lip.

I feel hot. I feel the redness rise in my face and my stomach turn. What's going on? I don't understand what is happening.

Still I am not able to stop Minoh's touch. I'm more and more melting into it.

My skin starts to tingle and my thoughts are racing. The chaos in my head is interrupted by Minoh's soft but raspy voice.

"Does it still hurt Hannie?"

Now he's looking directly in my eyes, which are still focused on him. He's so close that I can feel his breath lightly on my face. His hand still rests on my neck and his thumb lightly pulls down my lower lip...

In my head there is only emptiness. All I can still feel is the tingling and burning on my skin where Minoh touches me and that look from him where I lost myself in.
He s even closer now, I feel his breath stronger but still gentle over my skin. I close my eyes, my heart stops...

Ring...ring...ring...

I open my eyes and rise my body up.
Completely out of it, I blink and try to understand where I am. My phone alarm clock next to my bed does its best to bring me back to reality.

What was that? My heartbeat is still super fast.
I put my hand on my chest...

A dream Han... just a dream