Alone {𝕄𝕀ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾}

Chapter Sixty-Two

"HEY, MINHO!" CHAN GRINNED, RUNNING UP TO HIS FRIEND ACROSS THE COURTYARD THE INSTANT he'd stepped off the bus. Minho whirled around, a wide smile spreading across his face as he raised his hand a waved. Chan nearly tackled him to the ground as he sprang on him, which caused Minho to laugh loudly and swat at him, dancing away from his friend.

Chan fell to the ground with a loud thud, and slowly sat up, clutching his ankle. "Chan...?" Minho questioned, tilting his head to the side as his smile abruptly left him. "Are you okay?" He shuffled closer to his friend, eyebrows drawing in concern.

He jumped slightly when he spotted the tears gleaming in his friend's eyes. He immediately felt guilty, and tears of his own appeared, because he couldn't stand the thought of being the reason his friend was hurt.

"Gotcha!" Chan exclaimed, jumping onto Minho the moment he'd gotten close enough. Minho's eyes widened, and he quickly pushed the elder off of him before he stood up, fists clenching. "You... you manipulated me!" He glared, blinking back his tears, because if there was one thing that set him off, it was being manipulated.

"H-Hey, Minho, I... I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you mad–" Minho turned around and ran away, wiping at his eyes. "JERK!"

~#~#~#~#~#~

Chan shuffled awkward on his spot as he approached his best-friend. He was sitting in a corner, and had turned around to face the wall the moment his friend had walked into the room. We're in grade five already! Why does he still do this? Chan thought with a slightly grumble.

"Hey, Minho," he said as he slid into the seat next to the brunet. Minho stubbornly kept his gaze on the wall, glaring at it. Chan held out his hand and looked away, evidently embarrassed by what he was doing. The younger looked up and accepted what was in his friend's outstretched hand.

It was a ring with a small heart in its center, and it still shone as brightly as it had the day Minho's mother had gotten them for the two. They'd just had the first real fight of their close friendship, and were adamant in not speaking to one another at the time.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember what they were fighting about in the first place. His mother had noticed how sulky he'd been, and it hadn't taken her long to figure out what had happened. She'd headed to the store, and when she came back, she brought two identical gold rings with her.

"Whenever you two fight, all you have to do is show that you're sorry – even if you don't necessarily have the confidence to say it. Actions speak louder than words, remember that, always, Minho."

From that day onward, whenever they hit a bump in the road, they'd hand over their own ring as a form of silent apology. If they were forgiven, the ring would be returned to them.

After that, Chan stood up in order to head to his own class; it was right down the hall, but he was cutting it close. "Wait," Minho mumbled as he looked down at the ring before handing it back. Chan grinned and jumped up excitedly before realizing he had less than a minute to get to class and bolted out the door.

Minho giggled and shook his head, leaning his chin against the palm of his hand.

"I..." Chan began, and he suddenly regretted going there in the first place. His words caught in his throat, and Minho eyed him wearily, hoping his fear wasn't written all over his face. The elder male bit his lip, and reached around his neck, slipping off a necklace.

He approached Minho with hesitant steps and stopped at his bedside. He gently placed something on the nightstand and turned around to leave without a word, hoping that the brunet hadn't caught on to the moisture in his eyes.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Minho looked up and saw one, worn golden ring with a heart at its center pending on a thin chain sitting on his nightstand. 

A/N: Would you forgive Chan if you were in Minho's place? Should Minho forgive him?

Q: How many paper-copy books do you have (that you haven't read yet)?

A: Well, I, um... maybejustcountedand23. I just -- I keep buying more books, but I buy faster than I rEAD! I have some books I'm actually gonna read, some books I got years ago that are for tweens, which I probably won't read, I got some books on climate change, a book on the universe by Stephen Hawkins that I'm waiting to chomp down on, a book on human psychology (for research purposes, 'cause I'm trying to make fuller, more realistic characters)... Yeah. I'm a nerd -- I get it 😂

Now that I think about, I should really re-organize my library in my closet. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. (Update: I did reorganize my bookshelf, before I even wrote this chapter, yeet)

Lots of love,

~Junnie