Echo ; minsung

Chapter five

Chapter 05

As the morning light filtered through the curtains, Minho stirred awake, blinking groggily as he adjusted to the brightness. Confusion clouded his mind for a moment as he tried to recall where he was.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings. The soft glow of dawn entered the bedroom, casting a warm light over the familiar space. Stretching his limbs, Minho rose from the bed and made his way to the kitchen, where the aroma of breakfast greeted him. His mother stood by the stove, humming softly to herself as she flipped pancakes with practiced ease.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she greeted, her smile brightening as she caught sight of her son. "Did you sleep well?"

Minho nodded, offering a small smile in return.

He took a seat at the kitchen table, watching as his mother plated the pancakes and topped them with a generous drizzle of maple syrup. The sight and smell of food made his stomach grumble in anticipation, and he eagerly dug into his breakfast, savoring each bite. Food was one of the things he cherished the most ever since he started living with her. He used to go days without eating, or only received small portions of some microwaved meal. This felt like heaven compared to what he was used to.

It was an early Monday morning again. A few days had passed since he had his previous encounter with Jisung. That didn't mean he stopped thinking about him, though. He wondered why he acted so nice to him, why he helped him and if he would see him again.

The boy didn't notice how he was completely lost in his thoughts again, staring down at the table until his mother broke the silence again.

"Are you going to school today?" Sooyoung spoke up and smiled as he saw him zoned out. Although, this time it didn't seem like he was thinking of anything bad. He seemed relaxed and dreamy instead of scared.

Minho shook his head in response after giving it some thought. He knew he should go but after the terrible week that had just passed by, he could use the time to rest. His mom didn't mind as long as he didn't fall behind at school, which wasn't the case. The teachers would give him assignments whenever he stayed home and let him study the chapters by himself as long as it was possible. They were always prepared to help, though.

That was probably the only advance about his situation. He was lucky to have teachers and family that cared about him and his wellbeing. He couldn't have gotten this far without them.

As he finished his breakfast, Sooyoung began to clean up the table. She had to leave for work soon and didn't want to leave everything for Minho to clean up. Although, she did make an attempt to involve him. "Sweetie, could you help me do the dishes?"

His mom wasn't the type to make him do chores around the house. Maybe that made him seem spoiled, but she believed that he earned some rest after everything he went through. This was just a way for her to get closer to her son. It's not like he never helped, he offered sometimes and would never complain when he was asked to do something.

Minho nodded in response and cleaned up his plate, bringing it to the sink. He didn't hesitate to pick up a towel and stood beside her while whe cleaned up the plates.

The younger leaned against the counter and spent a little too much time drying the same plate. In only a couple of seconds, he was completely zoned out again. It didn't take long for his mother to notice.

She couldn't help but smile at his expression. He has been like this all morning and she was aching to find out the reason behind it, the reason why her son was suddenly acting so dreamy.

"What's up with you, hm? I've never seen you act like this"

Minho snapped out of his thoughts and carefully placed the dry plate on the counter. A shy smile appeared on his face for a moment when he got caught and let out a quiet hum.

"Did something happen?" Sooyoung spoke up again, a wide smile on her face as she got more curious. It really was a rare sight to see him this happy and all she wanted was to share this special moment with him.

The male looked up at her as he picked up another plate and leaned back against the counter, thinking of what to tell her since there was really nothing to tell. He was definitely excited about meeting someone who actually treated him like a normal human- someone that wasn't obligated to treat him that way, unlike his mother and teachers. "Maybe- I'm not sure" He responded.

"Mom, how do you make friends with someone?"

He honestly felt a little embarrassed for asking. It was supposed to be a natural instinct, something that you would learn in kindergarten or even before. Minho never had that privilege.

Sooyoung on the other hand, smiled at him like he just told her he was getting married. She was visibly excited about the fact that he was finally making friends. Not like she would think any less of him if he didn't. She didn't want to embarrass him, and therefore didn't mention it, but she was incredibly proud of him. for taking this step.

"Well, there's not just one way to make friends. You're just overthinking it, sweetie. I know it's scary but it's a lot easier than you think. All you have to do is be yourself and find out what you have in common."

She thought for a moment and took her hands out of the water, turning to Minho to give him her full attention.

"I know that it's a lot easier said than done- but you're amazing. You're my sweet boy and anyone would be lucky to be your friend. It's always hard at first, but once you find something to talk about, it will all be okay."

His mother placed a hand on his cheek and gently squeezed it between her fingers, earning another smile from him.

Minho nodded and wrapped his arms around her for a quick hug and quietly thanked her. He was still not sure how he should approach the other. It seemed hard and terrifying. He still struggled to talk to his mom and she was the closest thing he had to a friend. How was he going to talk to Jisung?

"You'll do fine, sweetie." She whispered and gently patted his back before he let him go again and kissed the top of his head.

The two of them stayed down for a little while longer, doing the dishes together while his mother sang along to some songs on the radio. He always admired how she seemed so full of life, not scared to do anything. Unlike himself, who was scared of basically everything.

"Min, I have to go to work but I'll be back for dinner. My phone will be on all day so call me if something's wrong, okay" She spoke while grabbing a glass of water, placing it down on the table next to the two white pills. Sooyoung kissed his cheek and brushed through his hair before she grabbed her keys. "Don't forget to take your pills"

Minho hummed in response and nodded, smiling as she ran off in a rush and soon swallowed the pills. He was sort of excited about today. He finally had a day to himself where he didn't feel the need to crawl in bed and stare at the wall all day.

He was definitely going to take advantage of that.

A.N: This chapter was a bit boring..it was supposed to be paired with chapter 6 but I wanted to be consistent with the length of my chapters </3