Tiger Inside ||Stray Kids Mafia AU||

Chapter Twenty-Three

I woke up in a fog, slowly trying to process what had happened last night. Pulling my blanket away from my face, I forced myself to sit up, the sun shining through my window chasing the squinting of puffy eyes as I tried to face away.

The fall back into my pillow felt like a nest encompassing me, hugging me softly and whispering to stay in bed all day. Telling me not to go out there and have to interact with Minho. Stay where it's safe.

Instead I forced myself from the sheets, pulling a hoodie over my head, and made my way out into the hall with shuffled steps as I slipped into the kitchen.

Thankfully the coffee had already been brewed, a fresh clean mug sitting next to the pot and waiting to be filled. I pulled it closer to me, filling it slowly before turning around, immediately being met with the view of Minho at the dining table. He had been sipping on his coffee, scrolling through phone in hand before he looked up to meet my gaze. He slowly set the phone down on the table, placing the mug beside it.

"Good morning." His voice was soft, like he was dealing with a lost animal, worried of scaring it away.

Without a word I passed by him, heading directly for the balcony in silence.

"Y/n, wait." I could hear him behind me trying to quickly gather his items, chasing after me and barely stopping the door before I could close it. "Can we talk about last night, please?"

I set my coffee on the table, letting myself fall back into the seat below me. I didn't even know what to say, where to start, or how to even resolve all of this in the first place, and I surely didn't need to do it first thing in the morning before my coffee.

With a sigh he sat next to me, eyes closed as his head rested on the back of the seat.

"I'm sorry for waking you last night by the way, I was just trying to help out."

"Huh?" I blinked for a moment, confused before I started to actually remember what happened last night.

I had fallen asleep on the floor, I was sure of it.

"I went to check on you after a while, when I knocked you kinda just mumbled for me to come in. I opened the door and you were curled up on the floor so I put you in bed, but you just kind of grumbled incoherent words at me, although I do think you tried to cuss me out there for a second." The corner of his mouth curled slightly, watching as the fogged memory of being lifted into bed came back to me. "I just didn't want you sleeping on the floor."

"I-oh um, thank you." I pulled my mug to my lips, letting the first sip of the hot liquid spread like roots through my chest.

"He'll come around, don't worry." Minho crossed one leg over the other, interlocking his fingers in his lap. "He cares too much about you not to."

I gave a pained smile as I stared into my coffee, the pain in my chest settling again as scenes from last night replayed in my mind. I wanted to believe Minho, I wanted to believe that Seongho would come back and let me tell him the entire story, but doubt was so strong in my bones that I was struggling to fight it off.

"And... I'm sorry... for how I acted." I looked over as he quickly tried to look away, eyes focused on the fingers tangling in his lap, almost like he was too scared to look me in the eyes. "I was out of line, and I made things worse."

"Glad to hear that you acknowledge that." I sipped from my coffee again, staring out to the morning sky.

~~~

I couldn't quite tell you how many days had passed, everything morphing into a blur with each ignored text to Seongho. I was losing hope, he was refusing to speak to me, and I couldn't even blame him.