Quiet | Seungjin

26

*that same day*

"Hey—we want to come too!"

Hyunjin stopped his nonsensical rambling and glanced behind his shoulder. A sigh fell from his lips when he saw Jisung and Felix only a few steps behind him. "I guess we're going to meet Jeongin as a group—even though you two have known him for years," he muttered.

"You don't want us to go? You just want to be alone with Seungmin?"

"We're literally going to meet another person."

"Yeah, yeah..."

A quiet laugh slipped past Seungmin's lips as he glanced over at Hyunjin and saw the annoyed expression on his face. "Let's go," he whispered just loud enough for Hyunjin and only Hyunjin to hear him.

The frown on the elder's lips slowly disappeared before he nodded, continuing their journey out to the parking lot.

"Did you have a good day?" Felix asked softly, suddenly at Seungmin's side.

The boy nearly jumped at the sudden voice, but quickly composed himself and nodded. He watched as Felix smiled in response, his features lighting up.

"I wonder if there are any pretty trees around here..." he mused out loud, "the leaves are just about to fall off but they're such pretty colors right now."

Seungmin couldn't help but find it a bit touching how Felix always went out of his way to check up and include him in everything. It was so easy for him to get lost in conversations because he didn't contribute much verbally, but Felix put in so much effort just so he could be included.

"They are pretty," Seungmin responded softly, watching as a blinding smile broke out across Felix's face.

"I like the red trees a lot because it's like the colors just got inverted."

"Felix—steps," Jisung blurted out as the group made it to the front parking lot of the school. Felix was too engrossed in his explanation of colors to realize he had to go down the four concrete steps that led up to the school.

"Oh...right," he giggled, turning his attention to his feet so he wouldn't tumble down the parking lot in front of everybody.

Just like Felix, Seungmin watched his feet as he walked, but more because he'd always had a habit of counting his steps. It took him by surprise when he heard a loud, "hi Hyunnie," and a boy appeared at his side.

"You're not going to say hi to us?"

The boy glanced over at Felix and Jisung and shook his head. "No," he dismissed simply.

A small giggle slipped out of Seungmin, getting the attention of the boy he assumed to be Jeongin. "Are you Seungmin—what am I saying? You have to be," he rambled, a sweet smile adorning his features.

Seungmin quickly nodded and returned the smile. He felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of people around him and it felt too tiresome to get his voice to work.

The younger boy didn't seem to mind the lack of a response one bit. Instead, his head fell to the side and he muttered, "you're cute..."

A dark blush spread across Seungmin's cheeks at the sudden compliment, his eyes quickly falling to the ground.

"Careful...Hyunjin's a little territorial."

"Shut up, Jisung—I am not."

"How do you put up with them?" Jeongin grumbled, earning yet another laugh from his new friend. Although it was a little strange to talk to somebody who didn't really say anything back, he could tell Seungmin was sweet. He also knew how much Hyunjin admired the boy no matter how many times the elder argued about it...it was obvious to everybody.

"I have to go..." Jisung mumbled excitedly as he stared down at his phone, latched to Felix's side, "Minho wants to hang out." A quiet squeal came out of the boy as he jumped up and down with exuberance.

Having developed a habit of hugging his friends before leaving them, Jisung reached out to hug the boy closest to him, Seungmin. Before he could do so, Hyunjin grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him into his own arms.

"He doesn't like people touching him," Hyunjin defended as he looked at Jisung's bewildered expression.

Felix and Jeongin shared a confused look before the youngest laughed at the ironic statement. "Not territorial..." he repeated.

If he was paying attention, hearing those same words once again would've raised some suspicion; however, Seungmin couldn't seem to hear anything over the beating of his own heart. Even when he knew in advance that somebody was going to touch him, it still set off every alarm. He was pulled onto Hyunjin so fast...he didn't even know how to react.

What Hyunjin said was true, he didn't like people touching him. But it only took his heart a few seconds to calm down. He flattened his balled fists and rested his hands gently on Hyunjin's back. He didn't like people touching him—but Hyunjin seemed to be an exception.

Seungmin was able to think—he was able to breathe regardless of the feeling of Hyunjin's arms still wrapped around his torso. He didn't seem to feel nervous at all, in fact, he was more focused on the warmth he felt from the elder over anything else. It had been so cold in the school all day and finally he felt the least bit warm.

Neither of them moved, the two seemingly frozen in the awkward yet pleasant embrace. The more he focused, Seungmin could hear the elder's heartbeat getting tangled up in his own.

He felt Hyunjin's soothing laughter tickling his ear before the boy softly stated, "Your mom—she just pulled up."

Seungmin wasted no time detaching himself from Hyunjin as he listened to the elder's observations. "Bye..." he whispered to the boy before spinning around on heels and waving to Jeongin and Felix.

He could hear all of the boys snickering as he hurried over to his mother's car, but he was to embarrassed to care. Just as Hyunjin had to endure teasing from his friends, Seungmin had to deal with his mom.

"Hi Seungmin~" she greeted when her son climbed into the front seat, "are those your friends?"

The boy only nodded and continued staring down at his lap, cheeks ablaze.

"Maybe I should pull out your winter coat..." the woman started, a smile tugging at her lips, "that way you wouldn't have to use Hyunjin as one."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Seungmin sighed a hardly audible, "I don't mind."

———

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