It's Not Selfish To Want To Live

Desolate

The drive to school was silent. Chan's hands were gripping the wheel slightly too hard, white evident in his knuckles. Seungmin in the passenger seat a somber scowl never leaving his face. Jisung sat in the back since he woke up late and Seungmin made it out before he did, they lived in the same apartment complex, Seungmin living further up but somehow managed to get down faster. It was Friday, and while they were hoping Minho was at home resting, they just wanted to see if he was okay. Jisung's leg was bouncing, his mind was on a rampage. These past two days they have been brainstorming on what to do. The hospital couldn't do anything, claiming that since Minho was technically an adult they can't press the issue. Chan thought they could go to the police with the allegations, sooner rather than later so they could see his injuries. But after mentioning Minho was a Lee, seemingly every police officer went silent, and spewed some bullshit like 'You can make a report for us to investigate but that may take a few months.' Changbin had to physically hold Jisung back from assaulting two officers. After those two options failed, Changbin got his Uncle on the phone, they spent an hour trying to figure everything out, but it seems his parents have much more power over this city than it seemed. After being basically told to fuck off by everyone they spent hours crying out of frustration, desperately looking for Minho's profile on any social media. He was never on his phone, so it made sense that he had a blank profile across all apps.

"Jisung everything is going to be fine, we are not giving up okay? Take some full deep breaths." Chan said softly over the music, making eye contact with Jisung in his rear view mirror. Jisung obliged, letting the crisp fall air cool his burning lungs. "I miss him..." He said after the third breath. "I know Sungie, we do too...and we'll get him back." Seungmin said, not breaking his gaze from the window. They pulled into the student parking lot. As they got out, a familiar red car sped to the parking spot behind them. Instantly three hopped out, "Hyunjin you need to drive more carefully." Chan scolded. "Mm helps with the frustration." Hyunjin huffed and continued walking away. Felix sighed, "He's been like that the whole ride..." Changbin wrapped his arms around Felix's waist. "Pixie, we all know how protective he was of Minho, he won't be happy until he gets to see him." He said, trailing kisses up Felix's cheek. "Yeah somehow he yelled at me through text." Jeongin said. Everyone jumped and turned to look at the youngest, "Fuck Innie where the hell did you come from." Jisung clutched his chest, "My mother? Now let's catch up with hyung before he leaves us." Everyone looked to where Hyunjin was walking, only to see he just passed the entrance, all of them rushed to follow to their usual waiting spot. Hyunjin was still a few feet ahead, taking the last corner to get to their picnic table they always sit at. When the others finally caught up, they turned the corner and saw Hyunjin had stopped in the middle of the walkway. They could sense something was off. "Jinnie what's wrong?" Chan asked, walking closer, Hyunjin was covering whatever he was looking at perfectly from their view. So when they all stepped to the side or further up they could see what it was. It was Minho.

Hyunjin completely froze when he saw the elder. He was just idly sitting on a bench not too far from where he was standing. Minho hadn't even looked up yet, he was just staring down at the pavement. Completely desolate, Hyunjin shuddered, Minho looked not much better than the last time they'd seen him a few days ago. He wasn't sweating, or seemingly wheezing, but he was paler, concerningly more small, and looked so tired but somehow sitting pin straight. He heard Chan ask him a question, but his mind was filled with horrible things Minho may have gone through to look so...broken. He wasn't completely still, he was swaying back and further ever so slightly, he was fiddling with his hands, something they all noticed he did to calm down. Hyunjin noticed they were all just watching, clearly no one knew what to do. They had been worried sick for the past three days, wondering what would happen when they finally saw him. So Hyunjin took some steps forward. He glanced towards Jisung, motioning him to get closer. That thankfully snapped them out of the shock. Jisung stumbled forward, obviously nervous. "Go talk to him, Sungie." Hyunjin nudged him forward.