Pandora's Box

Chapter 28

okay this is the last "other" ship scene folks...it's fully taegyu and battle shit from here on out.

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Lee Minho could not believe his fucking luck.

He would've fully understood if Jisung had never spoken to him again. Looked at him again, even. But here the other was, sitting in front of him by the lakeside.

In complete juxtaposition of their last scene here, the water was still. Peacefully calm, shimmering underneath Helios' rein.

Jisung's feet dangled in the water, as the sun cast the perfect shine on his features. The features he could now, miraculously, memorize again. Minho had feared he would never get the opportunity after what he did.

He was lucky in a lot of ways, lately.

Jisung sighed, though it was heartbreakingly small. "So, I talked with Kai..."

Minho tried to nod along, not daring to speak. Jisung met his eyes, causing his breath to hitch in fear of what the other could say.

"I think I was more shocked than anything, when you told me." His voice was strangled, but determined. "I'm not saying I haven't thought about killing my brother a million times. He's a dick." Jisung laughed, but Minho remained silent. He knew it wasn't his place to laugh at the other's words.

"I thought distancing myself, getting angry like you did, would help." Minho glanced at his feet. It wouldn't have helped. If it was anything like his own method of isolation. It would've-

"...only made things worse," Jisung finished as Minho caught the last of his sentence. He had zoned out, relieved that the other wasn't actually reading his mind.

He tried not to smile as Han swung his feet back and forth, a habit that Minho knew meant he was thinking a lot.

Despite the distance, despite the time spent apart, he still knew Jisung better than he knew anything. He could still read the smallest of his mannerisms.

Even in his forced hatred, he'd still noticed. He'd still paid attention, perhaps paid more.

"In the past couple days I've been more alone than ever," Han swallowed. "Our friends are great, they're just..."

"Not you," Minho whispered, not having noticed it was out loud.

Jisung stared at him with wide eyes, then slowly nodded. "Yeah. Not you." Minho tried to listen, tried to control his breathing as the other continued.

"If I'm being honest, it just felt like I lost my mom and my best friend." They met eyes, neither needing to express just how shared the statement was.

"I couldn't look you in the eyes without seeing it...without seeing him. But I think that's exactly how you felt, Minho."

Minho felt a presence on his hand. He raised it to swipe the bug away, only to be met with the fact that it wasn't a bug at all.

In the middle of his speech, perhaps without realizing, Jisung had grabbed his hand. Now, consciously, his fingers were interlacing with Minho's own.

"I know it's not your fault," he whispered through teary eyes. "I know what my brother did to you...to her. He deserved it."

Minho sighed. "But you didn't."

Unwavering, Jisung responded, "Neither did you."

He didn't notice Minho's frown in response.

"You didn't deserve to feel that guilt all of these years. The guilt of doing something that, honestly, did a lot of people a favor," he said. He then took the other of Minho's hands, entirely piercing the latter's thoughts of this being a dream.

"You deserved to have someone tell you sooner that you don't need to feel guilty about it. I'm telling you now, you did nothing wrong."

Being the idiot that he was, Minho had to speak. He had to ask, even though his voice came out in a string of almost-sobs. "You're...forgiving me?" 

The other didn't blink at his disbelief. Simply smiled, then cupped his jaw with both hands. 

"If Beomgyu and Taehyun have taught me anything, it's that we do not reflect the actions of our family. Especially not super-shitty-murderous actions."

Perhaps not the most romantic of words to be met with a kiss on, but Minho couldn't wait any longer. He leaned in, connecting their lips with a desperation that only years of absent pining could've produced.

The bathroom forgotten entirely, his heart behaved as if this were the first time he was kissing the other. In a way, it was. He was allowing himself to kiss Jisung, and any barriers of hesitation were destroyed between them. Maybe kissing with honesty was better than kissing under a lie.

He always believed his stomach hosted snakes rather than butterflies, and they were moving with a vengeance that threatened more than a simple kiss by the lake. He pulled away to stop himself, met with the adoring eyes of the boy he loved.

He didn't think he would ever get over the shock of having him here, returning the feelings. He must've been smiling like an idiot, but it didn't matter, nothing else did when he had the other like this.

"I mean, take you for example. Your mom hated men, and here you are. Gay as hell."

Minho shoved the laughing idiot, though not too hard to pull him back, and stared in awe. There was no doubt in his mind now, it had only proven true in the past eight years. It didn't matter what they decided to be, in what way he had the other in his life. 

Best friend, boyfriend, husband, soulmate. Enemy, nuisance, idiot, kryptonite.

He would never lose Han Jisung again.

🐍🌊

my silly little precious minsung have finally learned how to fucking be normal <3

also WHAT was going on in that chan's room live yesterday...they've given up on subtly (good luck on the marriage papers ji <3)