THE BABY MILL [[{SHINee}]]

THE BABY MILL [[25]] DIALATE

He could have a strong resolve like JongHyun, too. If he wanted to be silent and as cold as a stone statue than he could be silent through his actions.

Too bad that only lasted about three seconds.

A hand touched his shoulder lightly, barely tipping the thin shirt before stracting. It came again, though, rocking MinHo gently this time. When still he did not turn he grew rougher, jostling him unti lhis muscles grew weak and he had to sit down to regenerate his sluggish movements. Having comprehended the message, MinHo pushed up onto his elbows, turning his head to glare at JongHyun.

"What do you want?" he growled.

Despite having been snapped at, there was no hesitation in his roommate's next actions. His short hair floated over the tips of his ears as it moved side to side, shaking two... Four times before growing still. Confusion clouded MinHo at first until recognition swarmed in.

"You don't even know his name?" he asked with a voice that acquired a gentler tone than his initial response.

JongHyun fell down onto his bottom, more relaxed thanMinHo had even seen him, and shook his head again. It was a small victory, but one MinHo would celebrate thoroughly and exploit to the maximum. 

"Have you ever wanted to meet him?" he pressed, leaning in like a curious child would.

A nod.

The change in character was so sudden that MinHo still felt bewildered when the boy answered. A barrier hadn't been breached yet (the crease between his eyebrows told him that much), but he sensed that he had at least dented the wall that kept them from familiarizing themselves. Feeling as much as he was, he kept on pestering the boy with questions. One after the another they vomited out of his mouth, so randomly dispersed that he found out that he was younger than him and he'd always wanted to meet his baby almost as much as his carrier (something MinHo found odd). 

JongHyun was only answering in actions, but somehow he managed to answer the more complicated questions. From what MinHo could see he was content with staring and following the movement of his lips as he spoke. Sometimes it felt as if he was getting lost in the stream of questions but he always managed to catch up. At one point, though, when MinHo's voice was growing raw, JongHyun silenced him with a raise of his hands. 

The pair sat quietly, merely examining each other like you would a painting in a museum as you tried to figure out the story that had led to its creation and what story it held in its strokes. 

The light above them buzzed creating a meticulous sound that would have annoyed MinHo if he hadn't been so preoccupied. Every once in a while it would flicker off for a millisecond before returning back to a steady beam of light with a twitch. The white pants they were wearing absorbed and reflected the light hurting MinHo's sensitive eyes. It provided him with an excuse to quit staring at JongHyun's face. He let his eyes wander to his feet where he absorbed each one of his toes, the cracked toe nails and bulbous callouses on the edges. Veins bulged all over the surface providing a strange outdoor terrain look. MinHo couldn't help but notice how discoloured his skin looked now compared to long ago. Staring at JongHyun's feet he couldn't help but notice how the resemblances were great. On top of the funk, olive green colour they held the heels were also littered with dark sore tha tlooked like they were fermenting beneath the skin. He couldn't begin to fathrom how those came to be...

Alas, when the time was stretching thin, MinHo spoke. "I've always wanted to meet my carrier..." He'd said this before but by whispering it now it gave it an extra passion that he was unsure JongHyun would understand.

But he nodded all the same, agreeing to his desire and unconsciously encouraging to continue.

"I don't even know if he'd had a baby yet or not... Obviously not or else I would have your room, right?" He chuckled dryly; the dark humour not seeming too funny to him. "But I don't know... This place is so messed up..." As MinHo spoke he saw JongHyun nodding along, hanging on to every word. Concentration puckered his face into a harsh frown that pulled the corners of his mouth down until his chin crinkled like a piece of crushed paper.

In his mind, it was growing dark and a campfire was warming his feet. There were moments where he confused JongHyun with one of his brothers, but reality always dragged him back to his senses. His brothers could never be as quiet as JongHyun... Even without the tri-annual family meetings and countless holiday parties his family was jostling with activity... Playing soccer in the backyard, screeching their brakes as they rode bikes around the circle of the cul-de-sac they lived in... Always making noise. But that's what happened when you had four boys ranging in ages. Hell, even his sister was loud... She'd learned from the best after all... Their mother whose laugh could knock birds out of their trees... Though her burps probably came from his father... Damn, he missed them... JongHyun lacked in the noise department, but at least he was there in body.

"Do you think we could find them?" he asked out of the blue midway through one of their periodic silences. The question perked up JongHyun like a dog did when hearing it was going for a walk, catching his attention from what it entailed. "I mean, really, do you think we could save them? Do you think we could escape and take our carriers with us?"

His silence built anxiety instead of anticipation. Two more creases plaited JongHyun's forehead and his frown turned to a scowl as he serioulsy pondered the proposal. MinHo knew by his intense visage adorning his face that he'd chiseled through the barrier and crossed into a land that was without light banter and paranoia. What he was asking of JongHyun now was a life or death decision even if it was just hypothetical at this stage. The defy the doctor, rebel against the hierarchy that ran the institution and go against the laws of the system would be a risky operation that required them to be sneaky and deceptive - something MinHo was unfamiliar with though he couldn't speak for JongHyun.

When impatience started nudging MinHo over the edge he tried to add in another line to convince his roommate. "If we don't try we'll still end up dying in this place," he said. 

It was tense. So tense that MinHo couldn't breahte. His chest contracted and released but no air seemed to be filtering through his lungs. Fists were clenching his hands against the inside of his thighs and his spine bent forward to lean him in another inch. He couldn't do this alone... To accomplish the mission he was fantasizing he would need the aid of JongHyun to succeed... So when his head titled down and grazed his chest from how deep it went to signify his agreement MinHo nearly died from the joy that penetrated through the shawl of his despair. 

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