With wide eyes Hyunjin and Jisung stared at each not being able to say anything for a moment before the taller got a hold of himself.
"Jisung..." was the only thing he breathed out with an unreadable expression that left the other clueless.
Even if Jisung wanted, he couldn't say anything and the situation was getting weirder and weirder every second.
Deciding he'd run away from this problem for now Jisung gently pushed the other boy to the side and let himself into the room. Hyunjin was still left speechless... of all places he didn't think he'd meet the boy here again.
When Jisung entered he found 3 people still lying on different bed's sleeping peacefully.
Apart from Hyunjin, Seungmin seemed like he had been awake for at least half an hour judging the neat clothes and overall clean aura he had.
As if he had just exited the bathroom.
"Oh, Jisung." He commented with a smile when seeing the boy with the trays of food. This was actually the first time that the younger had spoken to him.
"Yo guys... WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Seungmin suddenly yelled and threw a pillow right at what Jisung believed was Minho's head.
"Now you won't have to wake them anymore." An innocent smile replaced the aggressiveness with that the younger boy had just screamed as he shrugged and let himself fall down on his own bed.
"Seungmean, you little brat!" Minho shrieked after having been pulled out of his peaceful sleep. He threw away his comforter and sat up straight to throw the same pillow back at Seungmin who dodged it with a blissful giggle.
"I'm gonna eat your intestines one day, I swear!" he continued and held his head with a sigh.
"Seriously, why do y'all have to be so loud?" Changbin then finally sat up too and rubbed his sleepy eyes. His hair was a complete mess and his eye lids were only half opened.
In the bed next to his was Felix who had wrapped himself in his comforter and fell down when he rolled to the side with a groan.
"It's too early, damn." He yawned but kept rolling on the ground until he reached the middle of the room where Jisung was standing with their food.
In that moment Minho's gaze finally fell on Jisung.
The boy looked a little different than before... maybe it was his red eyes and sad vibe that caught Minho's attention but he wasn't sure what that meant. Was Jisung really fully recovered from his cold? He looked sick in the brunettes opinion and the last thing he wanted was to get infected from him.
"Jisung, bring me my breakfast please." Minho then commanded but just when Jisung was about to take one of the trays he felt a hand on his shoulder that made him flinch for a second. That didn't go unnoticed by Minho but what actually made him wonder was why Hyunjin would help Jisung out like he did right now.
"I'll take that Jisung." He smiled and stared down at the boy who looked straight at the floor like most of the time. He felt uncomfortable in the other's presence... even more than he'd usually do near other people.
"You're too nice, Hyunjin." Minho then stated shoving a bit of pancake into his mouth.
"He is getting paid for this job, so he should be able to do it on his own." he added but the other didn't pay attention to him but focused on the boy infront of him instead.
"So... Jisung. How comes you're working here?" Hyunjin began asking completely random because he knew Jisung couldn't run away in this situation.
Being aware of that fact himself, Jisung wanted to take out his phone and write something to not seem suspicious but... the thought alone of the reason why he was here let his heart ache and his eyes started burning. He hadn't thought about potential triggers that people could say in front of him so he wasn't prepared...
Jisung wouldn't start crying in front of them. That was the last thing he wanted.
Taking a deep breath he tried to control himself but it was so difficult because his breathing was shivering and additionally all the eyes in the room were on him.
"Because his aunt works here and he lives with her at the moment." Minho suddenly interrupted, being aware that something wasn't right again. He had experienced this a few times now but he couldn't quiet figure out what exactly led the boy to react this way.
It was still a puzzle that Minho wanted to solve... but the other's shouldn't interrupt the game.
But Hyunjin also wasn't oblivious to the youngers reaction, making him wonder what had happened to him after a those years. Last time they saw each other had to be when they were about 9 years old and back then Hyunjin remembered Jisung as a rather loud and energetic boy that constantly got himself into trouble.
Now seeing him shy, vulnerable and mute made Hyunjin worry.
However, he was certain about one thing and that was that he had to talk to Jisung... alone.
They had to settle down their long ago fight and the younger still owed Hyunjin an apology.
There was no need to pressure Jisung and get him to meet immediately but Hyunjin would find the right moment...
With his head still down Jisung who brought the food to the others quickly, left and quietly closed the door behind him.
This was just too much for him... and additionally he didn't know where to put these different emotions of shock when his mind was already a mess. It felt like Jisung's brain struggled to process data. He felt dizzy and his head started hurting a bit but Jisung would not let his emotions get a hold of him. He'd proceed to do his job today, no matter what. It was the only responsibility he had, the only routine that could distract him.
With heavy steps he managed to get downstairs into the kitchen where Dahyun was already waiting for him.
"Jisung, are you sure you'll be fine? Your skin is pale." She walked over to him reaching out her arm to touch Jisung's forehead before stopping herself. She had almost forgotten that she wasn't supposed to touch the boys face... Dahyun had almost made a big mistake.
Jisung tilted his head for a second at her strange behaviour but proceeded to shake his head as a sign that he was fine. This wasn't even a lie because the cold was not affecting him much except for a bit of tiredness and the weak feeling of his muscles. That wouldn't distract him though.
"Well, aright. You know that you can always take a break. Lady Lee will leave for a few days. I'll have more time then so we can eat dinner together." She smiled and went around the kitchen to clean things up.
"In three days she'll come back with a guest and I think Master will also be arriving a week later." she kept on explaining and Jisung didn't know if he should feel relieved or scared of the arrival of more people.
"You cannot allow yourself a mistake in front of the guests or Lady Lee won't be pleased but don't worry about that for now, I'll inform you about details later."
Alright, Jisung was definitely scared now... but just as Dahyun said he tried to ignore it for now and focus on what was comming before that. The party Minho was throwing tomorrow evening. Only the thought of it made Jisung want to hide himself somewhere where no one would find him.
Dahyun seemed to have noticed the boy's changed feelings as she stopped in her actions for a second.
"Don't worry dear. I know this job isn't easy for you but I'm pretty sure that Young Master Minho likes you in some way." She gave her best to encourage him.
But Jisung was aware that the opposite was the case. Minho probably hated him and the boy didn't even judge that because he deserved it for his behaviour. Not only did he mess up his duties but also was a burden to everyone here...
He didn't want Dahyun to worry though so he didn't mention it.
"I know he is more of a cold hearted person but you should have seen him yesterday in the early morning when he was the one who found you in front of the door. The fact alone that he stayed up until 4 am and even noticed you comming home must mean he worried at least a bit, don't you think?" She asked with a warm smile and turned her back on her nephew to continue with her work not expecting an answer.
Jisung was out of words for a second. At least it felt like that because he could not speak anyway.
He didn't know that Minho was the one who found him and it made him feel even worse than he already felt.
The boy had seen Jisung in that weak and ridiculous state in which he was when he arrived and even had to take responsiblity for it. As he already thought, Jisung was a burden.
However, there was this small feeling of happiness that was present in Jisung's heart. Even though he caused trouble and was incompetent, Minho had cared enough to not let him be out in the cold... it was a beginning, maybe there was a very small chance they'd be able to get along...
Jisung could not deal with being thrown out again... he had no where to go except for here.
...
Meanwhile Minho and the other's were getting ready and wasting their time with video gaming before they'd actually start doing something.
The oldest was casually sitting next to Changbin and Seungmin who were currently battling against each other while Felix didn't know who to cheer on. However, Minho was distracted by his thoughts which seemed to go in circles about one certain person.
Minho hated not being able to read a person and the fact that Jisung did exactly achieve that made him even more ambitious to get behind his walls. It was entertaining him but if he wouldn't make progress soon it'd get boring. And once it got boring Minho would simply fire him...
But before that would happen the boy planned on testing the squirrel more than he already did. Jisung was not at all an agressive or highly self confident person but he had his honor that he did never drop.
Sometimes he randomly started acting weird in front of Minho and then a few hours ago when Hyunjin asked him why he worked here. Minho knew that there was something Jisung had to be afraid of or something he didn't want to tell others.
'Might it be related to his inability to speak?' The boy wondered and leaned his head on his arm.
Simply asking was the first thing Minho planned to do... confronting Jisung with a few questions and seeing how he'd react. It was Minho's right to know about his personal assistant after all.
Being satisfied with his 'plan' the boy focused back on reality and looked around his room to see what everyone was doing until he noticed that Hyunjin wasn't there.
"Yo trash bin, where's Hyunjin?" He flicked the smaller boy's shoulder earning a groan of pain.
"You - , if your ears would be half as good as your looks you would have heard him telling us that he forgot his earphones downstairs!" Changbin hissed at his friend in annoyance and pushed him away so he wouldn't get hurt by this devil again.
With a grin Minho winked at him.
"I'll take that as a compliment." He said and headed for the door to go after Hyunjin. His earphones where probably in the pocket of his jacket but Minho had told some woman to put them somewhere else so they weren't in the way of decorating.
Hyunjin surely wouldn't find them on his own so Minho decided to go after him. He hadn't got anything better to do at the moment anyway.
Quickly heading down the stairs the brunette suddenly heard a strange noise as if someone knocked over a vase. Actually, the noise came directly from the direction he wanted to go to so Minho decided to take a look.
Taking another step around a corner the first thing he saw was Jisung... next to broken pieces of the expensive flower vase that his mother had once brought from Greece.
"How clumsy can a person be?" Minho sighed to himself and kept asking himself why he didn't actually fire that guy yet. He was about to turn around and head another way when suddenly the door that was next to Jisung opened slowly.
At first Minho didn't pay attention to it when realization hit him in that same moment.
That door led to the dining room... usually his mother would exit the dining at this time after she checked if everything was clean.
But if she saw Jisung destroyed her vase-
"God damn" Minho hissed and turned around to run to the place where Jisung was anxiously staring at the woman that faced him with an angry glare when she noticed the broken pieces on the floor.
Just when Minho arrived and wanted to say something he was interrupted by another person. Hyunjin.
At the same moment when Minho came from one side the other boy came from the opposite side and stood behind Jisung.
"I'm sorry Lady Lee, it was actually-" Hyunjin started but the older interrupted him immediately.
"Me! Yeah me, it was me mother. I am really really sorry. Jisung just wanted to help me cleaning this up." I put on my best innocent smile and apparently the lie had worked.
But that didn't mean that Lady Lee would be any less angry.
"Then don't run around like a little child and take responsibility for your actions. Seriously, how can my son be so clumsy and knock over a vase? It was valuable!" She hissed and threw her hands in the air before taking a turn on her heal and walking away, every step echoing in the hallway.
As soon as she was gone I breathed out the air that my lungs had been holding until now.
"Hyunjin, you shouldn't blame an assisstant's mistakes on yourself." I told him and made eye contact with the other who shrugged with a smile.
"I just didn't want him to get into trouble." He explained but it made Minho more confused than he already was.
"Since when do you care about any of the workers here?" he furrowed his eye brows in suspicion. First, Hyunjin wanted to help Jisung with the food trays and now this. Something was strange with this...
"I thought, because he is our age it'd be nicer to treat him on a friendship level, wouldn't it?" Hyunjin awkwardly scratched his neck.
"You gotta be still sleeping. Jisung might be our age Hyunjin but we are higher in society. We don't asociate with these people on a friendship base." Minho shook his head and wrapped his arm around Hyunjin's shoulder to lead him upstairs.
"But-"
"Did you find your ear phones?"
"Yes but-"
"Perfect then you can already go upstairs. I'll come after you in no time." The older assured him before giving the boy a last push with no way to say anything further.
"Perfect, and now..." slowly Minho turned around and stared down at Jisung who was picking up the pieces to put them all in one pile.
"Han Jisung." Minho coldly said making the boy avert his eyes from the floor and looking at him... still terrified.
"I'll only warn you one time." The brunette squated down next to him.
"If something like this happens again, there will be no one helping you out, understood? So you might be out of here sooner than you think." Minho hissed his eyes piercing the other's who started to get watery.
"Don't you dare starting to cry now." he added and Jisung quickly bowed his head to hide his face and controll himself.
"You're so ridiculous, look at you." Minho tilted his head to the side and flicked Jisung's head.
"And stop picking these up with your hands or you'll cut yourself. If you already did, don't get blood on the floor." Minho demanded before taking both of Jisungs cold hands in his to inspect them for any cuts or injuries.
Jisung immediatly tried to pull them away but the other's grip was stronger.
He felt uncomfortable having his hands exposed like this to the other and... somehow it gave him a weird feeling in his stomach and he wanted to hide himself even more.
"Alright, there are no injuries." Minho stated and let go of the younger's hands to stand up.
"I wonder if there is even blood flowing through your fingers considering how cold they are." he spoke his thoughts out loud still staring down at the younger boy.
"Now come on, get up. I'll tell someone else to take care of this. I need you to help us with the preparation for the party tomorrow.
All the things are not gonna be fit in place on their own." he rolled his eyes and already walked away when Jisung could only stare after him with big eyes.
How could Jisung's hands be so cold when his face felt so hot?
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Idk if I already said this but I.N will appear rather late in this story (probably around chapter 23)