safe space-minsung

Chapter 4

I stare at the trees. the kids. goddamn.

this is pathetic. I'm even skipping school and shit. my parents are going to kill me, and probably fight over this.

whatever.

for a brief moment I stare at a homeless tent. should I consider a new life? the tent life? life on the road?

rich people would call me homeless, but I would call myself a nomad.

I sigh softly. watching the butterflies flutter around makes me wonder what the hell happened. what am I even doing here? and why am I so lost over some guy?

and why the hell is minho hanging out with abby so much? she's like, sixteen. he's twenty for christ's sake.

I know minho has sixth period with me, and he's probably wondering where the hell I am. he could probably check too. with his silly little tracking thing.

i should turn that off.

i pull out my phone and open the location app. friends and family.

i click on minho's contact and move my thumb over to "stop sharing location" but hesitate for a second. why is minho a hundred feet away? its a twenty minute walk from the park to the school.

i lift my head.

of course.
….

"jisung," abby says. "what are you thinking? skipping school?"

minho sits quietly. we're on a bench, except this time minho is next to abby and i'm across from both of them.

i roll my eyes, resting my head on my hand. "and what are you two doing right now? taking a long bathroom break?"

abby scoffs at me. my stomach churns. "jisung, don't be selfish. you know mom and dad are going to fight if they know you're skipping. think about them-"

minho stands up. abruptly. both of us turn to look at him.

he sighs. then he walks to the other side of the bench and sits next to me. "abby," he says quietly. "we've been hanging out a lot this past week. you truly care a lot for your parents and have a lot of compassion for their situation."

he glances at me. "that being said," he continues. "you need to have compassion for your brother too."

she stares at the two of us, eyes wide. not as wide as mine though.

minho keeps his distance from me, but as he speaks his previous unsafe aura shifts to one that reassures me. protects me.

"first it started off by trying to force him to come out. and when he said no and you respected that, I thought it was fine," he says, tapping his knee with his fingers. I keep my eyes trained on his hand. "but then you started talking about telling them without his consent."

my head snaps up. I look at abby. she looks away guiltily.

"what?" I say, gritting my teeth.

minho raises his hand to silence me. I oblige.

"I didn't let her," he says to no one in particular. now who has imaginary friends?

abby shakes her head. "they're not going to disown him or anything. mom doesn't get it, but she would accept him. she even suspects it."

I open my mouth to speak, but before I can, minho does instead. "it's not your confession to make."

I put my head in my hands, squeezing my eyes shut. what the fuck is going on?

"I'm just saying," minho says, "that you need to think about your brother too, abby. I admire your compassion but it shouldn't be selective. didn't you feel weird hanging out with me when I fought with your brother? shouldn't you be on his side?"