My Neighbor's Cats | minsung

15. Warm milk

"Jisung, wait!" a desperate voice called out.

Before the blond could hurry inside a hand encircled his arm and the boy was pushed into the older's apartment, the door slamming shut behind his back.

Jisung's orbs dilated in shock, words stuck in the back of his throat.

Minho's hazel eyes stared directly into his with streams of unreadable emotions flowing in them.

Neither of the boys dared to speak or move, too lost in each other's gazes; two hearts beating to the rhythm of the unspoken words, heads empty yet spinning with thousand thoughts.

The older's eyes slowly traveled down to the boy's peach lips but their almost intimate moment was soon interrupted by quiet taps of cats' paws on the wooden floor.

Like a snap from a trance, the chocolate-haired boy stepped back letting go of the other's arm.

"I'm sorry," Minho addressed his behaviour in a whisper-like voice before clearing his throat. "I wanted to talk to you. Can we, please?" too scared to put pressure on the blond boy, he pleaded with a soft tone.

Jisung's heart and mind were gradually calming down but his stomach started to fill with new overwhelming emotions once again. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

What's wrong with me? I wanted to confront him, didn't I?

Irritated with himself, the boy gathered all of the dust-like pieces of confidence left scattered in his body and opened his mouth once more; nothing more than a hum of knowledge but enough to indicate the older to go on.

"Please come in and sit down. Do you want something to drink?" Minho proposed, motioning for the boy to follow him to the open space of the kitchen and living room.

"Anything's fine with me." the blond said taking timid steps into the living room where he spotted familiar balls of fur - a small smile formed on his lips.

The cats seemed to sense his presence and shifted on the sofa as if to invite him to sit beside them.

"Hi, sweethearts," softly, Jisung greeted while stroking lovingly their small heads, his nerves calming down at their purrs.

Minho came back with two glasses of white liquid making the blond boy's facial expression change to a confused one.

"It's warm milk," he informed sitting down beside him; Doongi and Dori separating them.

"My mom always made it whenever I was in distress." the chocolate-haired boy explained before realizing how weird it must have sounded. "I can make you something else if you don't like it." he rubbed his neck abashedly.

A small chuckle escaped Jisung's lips.

"It's okay. I like milk. My granny used to give it to me with a tablespoon of honey when I was unwell. Apparently, it has some extraordinary properties." the blond boy smiled sentimentally as a wave of warmth washed over him at the sudden recollection of childhood memories.

Minho's lips stretched out in an eye-reaching smile unconsciously at the sight. Their eyes met and once again the world around them stopped revolving for a few breathes.

This time Jisung was the one who broke the eye contact; his gaze falling upon the cats that seemed to sense the tension between the two and hopped down to flee the scene. 

"About the morning..." Minho began, "What you saw today was a misunderstanding."

Jisung could swear that his stomach physically made a backflip. All the emotions that had built up in him to that point had drained like water from a bathtub in a matter of few words but he didn't dare to cut in.

He didn't even know how to react to it. Internally, he was somehow relieved but the feeling of anxiety was still lurking in the depths of his insides.

That doesn't mean anything. Don't get your hopes up.

Minho focused his gaze on a nearby wall.

"The girl was my classmate. I can't say we were ever close but since we both shared similar interests we considered ourselves friends. At least, I did. She started to act differently towards me with time and when I rejected her saying that we won't be anything more than we are, she has gone mad, nonstop pestering me one way or another."

There was a pause and a sigh following.

"I feel sorry for her because I couldn't reciprocate her feelings but I can't change my feelings. When she barged in today and acted without my consent I finally realized I was only fueling her hopes so I once again rejected her but this time explaining I have feelings for someone else and cut off any contacts with her. This way she will be able to move on... Hopefully." he ended with a sad smile.

Without thinking, the blond boy opened his mouth to say whatever he had on his mind soon after biting his tongue at the realization of his stupidity.

"Why are you telling me this?"

_______________________________________

Hi everyone! 🌼

Honestly speaking, I've been working on this chapter for 3 days and I'm still not entirely happy about the outcome but I hope everything is clear and make sense to you.

I also had a dream about my late grandma today and I literally cried while writing Jisung's recollection of memories. I'm sorry if it seems too personal of me to mention but I guess I just wanted to tell you to cherish your beloved ones while they are still with you. Sometimes we take people for granted and before we realize how precious they are, it's too late.

Anyway, the few verses of Jisung's 'song' are my own. I tried to sympathize with his emotions and imagine what would he write as a songwriter/lyricist. I hope it makes sense.

As always thank you for reading, voting, commenting, and adding my book to your reading lists. ❤

Have a lovely day/night. 💞