spilled milk ° lee seokmin

13

Soonyoung holds Seokmin back as he tries to get Inhyung, Seokmin's breathing becoming heavier.

"Soonyoung, what are you doing?" Seokmin asks, Soonyoung still persistent on holding him back. "Let me go, I need to get her."

"No," Soonyoung says. "You'll get hurt."

"And you're going to let Inhyung get hurt?" Seokmin's voice raised, Soonyoung left surprised by his friend's abrupt outburst.

"And you're going to risk your life just like that? Right in front of Heeyun too?" Seokmin stops resisting and continues to breathe heavily as Inhyung remained in the middle of the street. Jihoon,
Minghao, and Heeyun confront Seokmin as they try to get him to calm down; he's too focused on Inhyung to care.

Inhyung hugs the boy from behind, his demeanor turning to face her. Everyone caught a glimpse of him, but he was still too far away for them to tell who it was exactly. She holds the boy close to her as cars continue to drive past them, the sounds of car horns filling the air. The minute the crosswalk light turns green is when Inhyung walks back to the group with the boy in hand, her conclusion being true. Small scars adorned Seungcheol's face, his eyes refusing to meet everyone's.

"I think I'm just going to walk him home." Inhyung states, everyone nodding in agreement. She thanks everyone for everything before leaving, she makes eye contact with Seokmin prior to mouthing, 'I'm sorry'. He's still caught in a trance even after she had left, Heeyun starting to pull him along the crosswalk. He doesn't say anything as they walk. Heeyun being the one to say goodbye to everyone prior to it being just the two of them.

"Is everything alright?" Heeyun asks. Seokmin doesn't say anything and continues walking, Heeyun left catching up to him. "I know it might be too early to talk about it seeing that it happened just now, but -"

"Heeyun," He stops in his tracks as Heeyun bumps into him, his back turned to her. "Let's just not talk about it, alright?" Although he couldn't see her face, Seokmin knew Heeyun would easily comply. The rest of the walk home was spent in silence, even long after they returned home it still was spent in silence. Heeyun took the blame for why they were late when their mother questioned, Seokmin had made a beeline for his room. He lied on his bed facing the ceiling as the sound of footsteps began to near, a knock at his door forcing him to pick himself up to answer it. "Heeyun -" His words stop once he sees his mother, a worried look across her face. "Eomma -"

"Can I come in?" She asks as she maintains her calmed composure. Seokmin nods and walks over to his bed prior to sitting, his eyes glued to his hands which fiddled in his lap. His mother closes the door behind her before siting with her back against the wall closest to Seokmin's bed. Once Seokmin saw this he offered to switch spots but she denied politely, her excuse being this would've been better for her back. "Heeyun told me, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "I guess I'm just in shock that it happened. I thought I'd never see anything like that, you know?" His mother nods as he continues to explain. "I suddenly felt desensitized," After explaining his mother reassures him, by the time she leaves Seokmin's still in the same positon as before; back pressed against the mattress as his eyes stare at the ceiling. "I'm just worried about him."

Chatter and hushed whispers fill the classroom as Seokmin sits down at his desk, both him and Soonyoung mirroring the same expression. They don't say anything to each other as they both stare at their desks, Mingyu and Wonwoo being the ones to ask what had happened.

"Well it's not like he's dead or anything." Mingyu states, Wonwoo smacking the back of Mingyu's head once he had realized how loud he was being. Mingyu looks around the class at all those who were staring, politely he bows prior to focusing back on the conversation. Wonwoo changes the conversation in hopes it'll lead to a better topic but all seems to fail once he notices the lack of emotion coming from Soonyoung and Seokmin. Forgoing the idea Wonwoo drags Mingyu back to their desks, Mingyu muttering nonsense.

The entire class had the same atmosphere, everyone in a 'mourning' like state. Seokmin could've sworn through the corner of his eyes he saw Junhui crying, but then again he could've been imagining this as he wasn't in his right state. Boo Seungkwan walked into class and instead of his bright and cheerful demeanor he showed a somewhat sad and pitiful expression, his presence bringing attention.

"I was informed to let you know that the teachers are willing to hear students out if they have any concerns, worries, or problems of any kind. Please do not refrain from speaking out about it. Also, Teacher Han has a morning meeting today so please be kind to your substitute." Seungkwan bows before leaving, the atmosphere slowly reverting back to its uneasy state.

"I know this isn't really in my position to do this," Jihoon says as he's the first to break the silence within the past ten minutes. The weary aura seems to carry throughout the day, in nearly every class everyone knows about Seungcheol's incident. "But I was thinking about going to visit Seungcheol in the hospital, did you guys want to come along?" Seokmin continues to stare at his soup as Jihoon speaks, Mingyu and Wonwoo trying to help the two others. Soonyoung had been doing better, his mood had lighten a bit whereas Seokmin stayed the same.

"I think it's a good idea." Mingyu responds while nodding.

"I do too." Wonwoo agrees.

"Yeah," Jihoon continues. "I asked Teacher Lim if he could give me the name of what hospital Seungcheol is currently staying at and he gave it me. Apparently the teacher meeting this morning was for the whole faculty in regards to him. I was surprised they were willing to give the name of the hospital, but he also mentioned it was okay with the parents as they don't mind fellow peers delivering 'get well soon' gifts and such."

"And he told you all that?" Wonwoo asked, surprised.

"Well no," Jihoon replied. "I heard from students around. But I got all the information and like what I said earlier I'd like you guys to come along." Right as Seokmin opened his mouth to speak Wonwoo had already responded to Jihoon's request, Seokmin having no other option but to say yes.