a beauty with crimson eyes | Minsung

chapter six

At the same time they both said
"Something happened at school."

Jeongin's eyes widened hearing that his best friend also had something to talk about. In some shape or form, eased the tension and angst that was bottling up inside of him - knowing that he wouldn't be the only one expressing himself about something serious. But it was still a tad creepy, that they both said it at the same time. A tad too creepy to be coincidental.

Jisung wasn't really thinking about anything before he blurted out what had occurred earlier. It was like a feeling that had been buried for such a long time inside of him and when it saw the chance to escape, it seized that chance. He noticed how Jeongin's eyes widened and how he promptly closed his mouth. Despite this, Jisung noticed how the red haired boy relaxed his shoulders slightly - the action was so discreet that he would have almost overlooked it if he wasn't as alert as he usually was.

Jeongin fiddled with his apron for a second before raising his head and then opened his mouth. "So do you wanna go first?"

"Nah, you start." Jisung shifted in his seat and took a bite out of his cookie.

Jeongin straightened in his position and took a deep breath. He was usually the most lively and livid out of the four but when there was something serious going on, he tackled the subject with dignity. "So, something happened at school after you left." He hesitated while forming the sentence. Jisung nodded, which Jeongin took as a cue to continue. "Um, so while I was helping out the freshmen for the costume dance contest that's in two months and someone came to help because their sister's friend wants her to be involved in this."

Jisung's brain was ticking and he nodded as the younger one spoke. He could only wonder who it was. "Okay. Who was it?"

Jeongin looked away for a second and went back to playing with his fingers before he just said the name. "Chan."

Jeongin was in the hall sitting at a little desk with his wireless headphones writing in a light pink notebook. He was the junior in charge of the first costume-dance contest of the school year. Felix and Seungmin were also involved but since Jeongin was in charge of the whole event, there was more work and time involved for him. And, he couldn't lie, he had some feelings of deep respect for this position. This was an opportunity to boss his friends around, so why should he have any type of hard feelings towards the position? The maknae finally got to be the boss. The excitement weighed out the nervousness and the stress about being in charge of something.

No one else was in here except for a few younger students in the back playing a game of uno near a large window. He spotted one of the girls wearing some turquoise lace cat ears and she was surrounded by many people cheering her on for victory. Victory of an uno game.

Seeing her beam, giggle and literally glow of happiness left a proper mark in Jeongin's memory. The maknae saw some similarities between himself and that girl: her love for animal ears but also her excitement for playing. Her vivacious personality made her almost a direct mirror to Jeongin. He was the youngest in his friend group but for such a long time, he felt like the youngest in everything. Even though he was an older classmate and even an older brother. Maybe it was the fact that he liked animal ears that made him feel juvenile or perhaps, it was the snide comments he received last year for acting like the youngest - the ones that made him feel so small. And eventually, you have to face reality and go into the world, apparently strong, but Jeongin just felt like he wasn't. He wasn't ready to face it because when you have to go in strong, you have to let things go.

That girl gets to focus on the fun part of life while Jeongin is facing the more demanding and crucial part - his future. The only thing he saw in his future was one, vast, black void. Just nothing. What would the future uphold? Will he have to let some things go? Maybe he's not ready to face the world as an adult?