SKZ Modeling Company

chapter nine

To say Jisung was mesmerized ... would be an understatement. He became so distracted that he began to lose track of time and before he knew it, his phones timer went off, signaling to him that his break was over. Panicking, Jisung tried to dig his phone out of his pocket, but was failing. He began to lose his footing as he struggled with his pocket and tripped over one of the legs of the cart he was hiding behind. 

Jisung kicked it hard, which caused him to trip and fall over, but before he could touch the ground, he face planted into someone's arms. The person quickly pulled Jisung out of the way, before some of the stands could fall on them due to the collision. As the stands crashed to the ground, Jisung panted lightly, holding tight to the person who's arms were still wrapped around him as well.

"Han! Are you okay?" That voice was familiar, and Jisung immediately knew who it was, feeling guilty to have been caught. Looking up, he was met with the worried eyes of Minho and a deep confused frown. Jisung almost couldn't speak, but realized that he was still in Minho's arms in this moment. "I-I'm so sorry, I was just on break and wanted to look for you a-and-" Jisung tried to pull away and maybe beg for forgiveness, even if he had to bow or get down on the ground. 

Minho didn't let him go though, in fact he just held tighter and pulled Jisung just a little closer. His eyes softened a bit, his worry dissipating more now that he can see Jisung is okay. "You don't have to apologize, I can understand being curious, but why did you hide? How long have you been there? You could've gotten seriously hurt!" 

Jisung didn't say anything, he was too conflicted. Minho was so .. different in real life. Instead of the grumpy and dismissive persona that Jisung sees Minho present himself with in their group chat or online, he was always so .. soft spoken and kind to Jisung. "I- Y-You're not mad?" Jisung said, hesitantly. 

Minho smiled and laughed lightly, surprising Jisung even more. "Why would I be mad? I mean, I'm a little mad, you almost hurt yourself. If I wasn't here to catch you, that could've gone terribly." Minho said. "But .. you are always so ... grumpy online?" Jisung said, before clapping a hand to his mouth for being so blunt. 

Minho laughed lightly again, moving Jisung's hand from his mouth, "I am that way because of that ungrateful walnut Chan and my annoying little brothers Felix and Seungmin ... and because of people i don't know that well." Minho admitted. "But you don't know me that well..?" Jisung said, still confused. 

"That's true.." Minho said thoughtfully, "You are different though." Jisung tilted his head to the side, a confused look on his face. Minho had to contain the urge to pinch his cheeks and held his breath, lest his heart beat goes out of control. "I-I'm different how?" Jisung asked. Minho thought about it for a moment, questioning himself at this point. 

"Maybe it's because you are ... cute?" Minho stated honestly, with a cheeky smile. Jisung's ears burned a little. "Maybe it's because you are incredibly thoughtful and you work hard at everything you do? Maybe it's because even if it's hard for me to make friends, you make it easy to want to get to know you." Minho said, holding Jisung closer just a bit more.

Jisung suddenly became very aware that he was still in Minho's arms, his hands gently gripping onto Minho's dark blue button-up. Their faces close, but not enough to make either go cross-eyed trying to look at the other.  "You think that highly of me? Already?" Jisung said, more quietly than before. "What if the more you learn, the more .. uninteresting I am?"

"I doubt that .. but hey, I won't know until I try, right?" Minho said with a small shrug. Jisung couldn't figure out why he felt the way he did, his heart beating fast and his ears felt like they were on fire. Jisung shook his head a laughed suddenly, "You really are something else, Lee Know."