the view | minsung

67

"jisung...?" minho trailed off, his voice trembling as he noticed the position the two were in.

chan was equally shocked. earlier, he had found minho frantically pacing around the hotel, as if he was looking for something. when he asked minho what he was looking for, minho had replied that he was looking for jisung's room.

chan had noticed minho's uneasy state but decided not to comment on it. as they made their way to jisung's room, minho seemed to be on edge. chan also took note of the smell of alcohol emanating from minho and how he would occasionally stumble. he assumed that minho had a few drinks, but he didn't want to pry too much. he quietly led minho to jisung's room, not expecting the scene they would find inside.

hearing minho's voice, jisung pulled away from the embrace and turned his attention to minho.

"minho...?" he responded, his voice trembling.

immediately, chan noticed the tension between them, and he silently signaled for yeji to leave with him. she followed chan as they stepped out of the room, leaving the two in a standoff, the tension growing thick.

minho let out an audible scoff, his expression turning into a sneer. "so that's it? just because of a misunderstanding, you'll go hugging other people now?" minho spat out, his anger and hurt evident in his words.

"yeji was just comforting me, minho. there's nothing more," jisung replied firmly.

"and besides, weren't you the one who started this?" he added, his eyebrows furrowing with frustration.

"me? jisung, whatever that woman told you was a lie!" minho retorted, his voice raising in desperation.

jisung matched minho's intensity, his voice also raising, "i don't need any more of your excuses, minho! i know what i saw, and i don't know how you can deny that with a straight face."

"so what did you see? did you see me doing something with that woman? no, right? you're just assuming things, jisung," minho responded, his anger simmering beneath his words.

"i saw YOU hugging with that girl, and now you're blaming me for something i didn't even do?!" he added, frustration evident in his voice.

"i told you that yeji was just comforting me. why can't you understand that?" jisung replied, tears welling in his eyes due to frustration and heartache.

minho's anger flared even more. "why can't YOU understand that nothing happened between me and that woman?!" he retorted, his voice piercing the air in the room.

jisung felt tears pricking his eyes at the intensity of minho's voice, unable to believe that the older was screaming at him.

minho noticed jisung's distress and frustration, so he composed himself and began slowly approaching jisung with extended hands, intending to comfort him. "jisung, love, please, i'm telling you the truth. nothing happened between me and her. please just listen to me," he pleaded, his voice gentle.

"minho, enough," was jisung's cold reply as he stepped backward, indicating that he didn't want minho to approach him.

"jisung, you have to know something important. please, just listen to me," minho pressed, his voice still filled with sincerity.

"leave, minho. i don't want to see you right now," jisung responded, rubbing his temple, feeling overwhelmed by the situation.

"love, are we really doing this on my birthday?"

"MINHO, JUST SHUT UP, OKAY? I WANT TO LISTEN TO YOUR REASONING, BUT EVERYTHING IS JUST TOO OVERWHELMING FOR ME RIGHT NOW. SO PLEASE, JUST LEAVE!" jisung snapped, his frustration boiling over.

minho momentarily froze at jisung's outburst, but he knew he needed to give jisung some space. he turned around and made his way to the door. before leaving, he said, "love, if you're ready to talk, i'm always here, okay? let's fix this, please." with that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

as minho left the room, jisung eventually broke down. chan and yeji, who were waiting outside the room, noticed his distress and immediately rushed to his side. chan offered support to jisung, as he looked like he might collapse from the intensity of his crying.

yeji, standing a few distance away, blamed herself for making the situation worse. earlier, she had explained everything to chan about what had happened to jisung. chan reassured her that it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help feeling responsible.

the two of them stayed by jisung's side, doing everything they could to comfort him. at one point, hyunjin came to jisung's room and found him on his bed, crying heavily. hyunjin was filled with anger and frustration, ready to confront minho, but chan and yeji managed to prevent him from taking any rash actions.

currently, the three of them were in jisung's room, keeping a close eye on him. jisung had cried himself to sleep, but they were worried about how he would handle things when he woke up. so, they decided to stay with him to provide support and comfort.

-----

when minho left jisung's room, tears were streaming down his face, blurring his vision as he made his way back to his hotel room. he was overwhelmed with emotions, desperately wanting to explain everything to jisung, to fix their relationship before it crumbled further. but he knew jisung needed time to calm down and think things through.

as he entered his hotel room, he was shocked to find the woman sitting on his bed, examining the promise rings that jisung had gifted him. minho's face turned crimson with anger at the sight, and he stormed over to the woman, snatching the box from her hand and gripping her arm firmly.

"MINHO!" the woman cried out in pain as minho's grip was too tight.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" minho demanded, his voice raised in anger.

the woman retorted defiantly, narrowing her eyes at minho. "why CAN'T i do it?!"

"LEE MINJU, DO YOU REALLY FIND JOY IN RUINING MY LIFE?!" minho shouted.

"YES I DO. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT? TELL DAD?" minju taunted, matching the intensity of minho's voice.

suddenly, minho let go of minju's arm, and she instinctively grabbed the spot where his grip had been, rubbing it to soothe the throbbing pain.

"if you wanted to make my life hard, then do it, but don't ever include jisung!" minho said, his voice gradually lowering, but anger was still evident on his expression.

minju scoffed in response, "you don't deserve to be happy, lee minho," she continued to provoke.

"if i don't, then so be it, but jisung deserves to be happy. he deserves everything! why did you have to ruin that, minju?" minho continued, his voice breaking down, almost sounding like he was pleading with the woman before him.

"because he is a part of your happiness! minho, why do people like you so much but not me? why does dad love you more than me?" minju said, tears also welling up in her eyes as she voiced her thoughts to minho.

"minju, that's not true. dad left us to be with you. why do you think he loves me more? my mom died, leaving me as her only family!" minho retorted.

at that moment, minju stood up from the bed and started making her way to the door. "you know what, i don't care anymore. i hope you'll still be able to fix your relationship with your lovely boyfriend, my big brother," she taunted before completely leaving minho's room.

"lee minju..." minho muttered, watching his little sister's figure disappear from his sight.