It Began With a Text

One Last Secret

     "You know you haven't stopped crying for the past ten minutes, right?" Minho laughed.

     The two friends were sitting on the park bench, Han's head on Minho's shoulder, still emotionally shocked from the whole encounter.

     "I'm... sorry I- can't help it," Han sniffled.

     Minho smiled. He had expected this. As much as he was also shocked by all of this, Minho had known that Han was alive. He knew that there could be even the smallest chance that he would see Han again.

     Han had had none of that hope. Minho couldn't imagine what he had had to go through this past year. It made him feel so guilty.

     "I'm really sorry Han. I should have tried harder to contact you, to try to find you."

     "Quit the apologies, that's not like you," Han said. "You had no way of doing that, so don't blame yourself. You never even knew I moved back to Korea."

     "When did you move back?" Minho asked, deciding that now was the time to catch up.

     "A few months ago," Han said. "After... I heard the news." He still had a lump in his throat.

     Han finally sat up. "So... how?"

     Minho sighed. The question was bound to come up. "I don't want you to freak out..."

     Minho explained everything to Han. By the time he was done, Han was staring at him, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh..."

     Of course Han would freak out. Even Seungmin had. It was understandable, but Minho just wished he could move past the accident and simply look forward.

     "It's not a big deal, ok?" Minho said. "I don't remember the accident, I don't even remember being in the hospital. It's just a few months of my life I lost, no big deal."

     "So you actually were on that bus..." Han said. "You almost died!"

     "Hey, didn't I tell you that I'm going to be the one to kill you?" Minho playfully hit Han's shoulder. "How would I do that if I bite the dust first?"

     "I came back from the freaking dead to uphold that promise," Minho assured. "So don't start worrying about me now."

     So finally, Han began to laugh. A huge weight went off Minho's shoulders, things were finally returning back to normal.

     "So tell me. What have you been up to this past year?"

     Han shrugged. "I'd love to say things have been swell, but they kind of sucked. I got ditched by some friends and to be honest..." Han bit his lip. "I couldn't even stand to go by the name, Han Jisung. It reminded me too much of the past. So I went by the name J.One. I guess that's why others got annoyed."

     Minho's body froze.

     "Say that again."

     "What? About others getting annoyed?" Han was confused.

     "No. What was your new name?"

     "J.One. Why?"

     Minho turned directly towards Han. He couldn't believe his ears. "So you're telling me... YOU'RE J.One!"

     "Yeah. What do you mean?" Han asked.

     Minho wanted to burst into laughter. Gosh, out of all coincidences in this world.

     Minho smirked. "So I'm assuming you know Chan... and Changbin... and Hyunjin..." 

     At each familiar name, Han's eyes got wider and wider.