Therapy // Minsung

F O R T Y

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the day felt off. maybe it's cause it's a boring old monday, or because it's raining. but minho could sense something wasn't right.

minho walked into the cafeteria, looking forward to talking with jeongin about finally downloading 'among us' like the other had begged him to do, but immediately noticed his usual table was empty. he looked at it in confusion, him knowing that jeongin usually arrives at lunch way before he does. minho glanced over at jeongin's other friends table, and he wasn't there either.

he's probably just taking longer than usual.

minho sat down, and felt embarrassed to be eating alone once again. it made him relive his past high school days, and he envied all the kids, chatting with their friends and having a good time, while he doesn't even know where his only friend is.

did i do something wrong?

his curiosity getting the best of him, minho quickly ate his food, and left the cafeteria in search for jeongin. he roamed the hallways, keeping his head down as he slyly looked into the passing classrooms.

with no luck on the first floor, minho huffed and made his way to the stairwell. upstairs is smaller than downstairs, so if he has trouble finding the other up here, he's out of luck.

the halls were quiet, the only noise being the hallow sound of minho's shoes tapping against the floor as he walked.

until he started hearing voices.

minho picked up his pace, slowly getting closer to whoever was speaking, hoping one of them would be jeongin. he became more aware of the situation as he began hearing what the people were saying, and felt his rage build up once he met the voices.

"what the fuck do you think you're doing to him?" minho shouted, glaring at the boy who he didnt recognize. the said boy had a sobbing jeongin pinned up against a row of lockers, all his belongings being knocked to the floor and scattered around them.

minho angrily walked over to the unfamiliar boy, shoving him away from the younger. he grabbed the bully by his shirt collar, reversing his tactic by slamming him against the lockers. jeongin quickly moved out of the way, and began picking up his books.

"i will fucking kill you," minho growled, voice low, hardly above a whisper. their faces were only inches apart, and the other could hear minho's shaky breathing. he's never been one to get physical, but his emotions are getting the best of him.

minho slowly started tightening his grip on the others collar, but the bully didn't seemed too phased by it.

"i don't know who you are, or why you decided to do what you did, but nobody..." minho paused, and kicked the other in the kneecap. he let out a whine.

"and i repeat, NOBODY messes around with my friend. do you fucking understand me?"

minho let the other go, taking a step back to give him some space. he thought he got through to him, scaring him enough to knock some sense into him. but unexpectedly, the boy elbowed minho in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor.

"whatever you say, lee. but know, i have over forty friends to back me up when i need it, and you only have one, wimpy little sophomore. you're basically alone, like you've always been."

that stung minho's heart, but he kept a game face on.

"so im not scared of you, loner."

minho hated that word; loner. he hates how well it describes him, how the memories of his father calling him that only making him more angry.

the boy then walked away, leaving minho and jeongin alone in the now empty hallway.

minho got up, quickly running over to jeongin and pulling him into a hug. jeongin broke down in tears, gripping minho tightly.

"are you okay? what was that asshole doing to you?" minho asked, rubbing jeongin's back.

"y-yeah i'm f-fine," jeongin sighed, finally letting go of minho, "he just thought it would be funny to scare me a little."

minho looked at the other carefully, making sure he really was okay, "did he hurt you at all? how long has this been going on?"

jeongin shook his head, "n-no, he didn't hurt me."

"and how long?"

jeongin gulped, a new bunch of fresh tears brimming his eyes, "a f-few weeks...this has been going on for a few weeks!"

minho frowned, pulling the sophomore into another hug. "how could you not come to me if someone was bullying you? you stand up for me, of course i would stand up for you, jeongin."

did i fail as his friend? was i not a good enough friend to him, that he didn't feel comfortable talking to me?

a wave of guilt hit minho.

jeongin sniffled, shrugging his shoulders, "i-i was embarrassed."

that was a lie. jeongin figures minho has enough going on in his life, he didn't want to drag the older into his stupid, petty problems. he can deal with the bully on his own.

minho put a hand on jeongin shoulders and made serious eye contact with him, "i won't let him hurt you again, i promise."

minho couldn't see, but jeongin smiled slightly.

"thank you, minho."

~

dont you ever just wanna 🔪🔪 to a fictional character who you just made up for the sake of the chapter?

also not @ me laying in my bed in the dark snuggled up in a bunch of blankets watching my little pony because i hate being a high schooler and i wanna destress </3 call me a cHILD, but the show makes me happy and less stressed out 😭