Under the Sea | Minsung

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He woke up to the gentle buzz of early morning cartoons, the light from the small tv casting the characters on his face. He turned on his side, chest pressing uncomfortably against the tough couch as he curled up and cupped his hands over his ears to mute the cartoons. There was a clicking noise coming from the television, with each the volume was turned up. He flipped onto his back and slapped the glass coffee table, searching with closed eyes for the remote but only feeling a vast emptiness.

Footsteps. Someone stomped through the hallway connecting the living room to the clustered bedrooms and other parts. They came to the half awake man on the couch and slapped his chest, "Wakey wakey Minho. Got lectures all day today."

"No dice, I'm dropping out," Minho hissed in reply to his roommate, Felix. The other laughed and continued on his merry way to the kitchen, making an effort to create as much noise as possible. Minho grabbed a pillow and threw it in the general direction to make him shut up. He heard a soft thud and a flurry of chortles, indicating he hit his desired target.

Another one of the roommates shuffled over, pushing his feet off the couch and sitting where they were. Half of Minho's body hung off of the couch and the other who joined him made no motion to help as they stuffed their mouth with cereal. They chuckled, "We know you don't mean that."

"I do. Jeongin, I can do nothing, but I still have to do something. It sucks," Minho said in a long sigh. He sloughed off the couch and on to the floor in a snake-like motion, laying there firmly. Jeongin snorted and placed his feet on the older's back, continuing to cram as many spoonfuls of Froot Loops into his mouth as he can.

"Says the one who's so obsessed with the ocean that he wants to study it for his entire life, Mr. Marine Biologist," Felix called out, tossing the soft pillow back to the couch and missing the mark. It hit the coffee table and rebounded onto Jeongin's feet. He took it and hit the back of the older's head to "wake him up."

Minho reached for the pillow as best he could at the awkward angle he had to work with. Once he got his hands on it, he squirmed out from under the feet and retreated to the wall. He bouned to his feet threw it at the younger. The pillow soared through the air and missed by a long shot, instead crashing into the innocent bowl of cereal and spilling the contents inside. Jeongin screeched. He launched to his feet and picked the rainbow loops off of his milk drenched clothes, flinging each one as the other pathetically swatted them away. When he decided he had no more Froot Loops stuck to him, Jeongin sprinted down the hall and bursted into his room.

Felix and Minho laughed, the former trudging over to collect the spoon empty bowl tossed aside. He shouted, "Hey Innie?"

It was silent. A shrill hiss came from a room, "What?!"

"Was one of us going to drive you today, or did we agree you'd walk?"

"What," The door slamed open. "Why does one of you have to drive me?! I'm eighteen, I can drive myself!"

"You never completed your license."

Slam!

Felix whistled, "Guess he's walking the two miles then."

"You aren't that much older," Minho scuffled to the kitchen as a yawn poured from his mouth. He opened a drawer and dug for a napkin or rag to wipe up the mess of spilled milk. After he found it he balled it up and slung it to the waiting Felix who caught it, beginning to wipe off the mess while he thought.

"Yes well, I'm older than him so," Felix humed, trailing off his sentence as his cleaning slowed down. He hesitated, lifting the damp cloth from the spot and chewing his bottom lip as he mused over his reasoning. The other leaned on the kitchen counter and awaited an answer. The paused was finished when the younger slapped the rag back on the stain and started furiously scrubbing the spot, justifying, "And I graduated so it gives me bossing rights."

Minho crooned as he watched the other, "Does it?"

"Absolutely," Felix straightened himself up and waved the cloth to snap it dramatically. It didn't go according to plan as he was splashed in the face with hundred of tiny droplets of colorful milk. Minho snorted, Felix tossing the rag back in protest as an attempt to hit the older in the face but failing when it was caught. The soggy rag was then dropped into the sink to be washed out and never touched again. Felix raised his hands in celebration and left down the hall.

"Felix," Minho hollered at the retreating back of his roommate.

The mentioned popped his head out from around the corner, answering, "Yes sir?"

"Check Jeongin. He went quiet. Remind him we need to leave soon."

"You got it boss," Felix nodded his head and gave a brief thumbs up, after slipping away behind the walls to complete his agenda.

Occasionally, Minho could hear his roommates stirring and getting ready for the day but the only permanent sound was tv blasting out children's cartoon themes. He was alone in the not-so-vast space of the rundown apartment the three of them shared. While they prepared for the day, Minho sat by himself on the kitchen counter meekly chewing on chips from an already opened bag, having dressed himself and eaten in the dark hours of the morning. And of course, passing out on the couch afterwards.

The cartoons became repetitive, Minho heard the same thing over and over and over again. Thankfully he didn't have to get up as the remote for the tv rested nearby, most likely placed there then forgot about by his roommates. He snatched it up and flipped through the available channels, though nothing he could watch seemed as interesting as the children cartoons. Upon finding everything on this early was uninteresting, the tv was set to play the news channel. The anchors were wrapping up their previous story and were continuing on to show the front of a frequently appearing building.

Minho mumbled a quiet acknowledgement to himself and rolled his eyes, shutting off the television without second thought. He hopped off the counter and stumbled to his room, reluctantly gathering what he needed to start another day.

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