chapter 1: reunion
jisung sees the invitation in the mail. an invitation to a high school reunion. it's been ten years since he's been in that town, or even seen anyone from high school. he was thinking of not going, but he decided to go... for only one reason: lee minho.
minho was jisung’s biggest crush, ever since he met him in high school. it's just one of those things that just make sense, like blue skies and green grass, and jisung has always been in love with minho.
it was really hard for him because he knew minho wouldn't feel the same way. everyone knew that minho was popular and he had a lot of girlfriends in the past. for jisung, ever since meeting minho, he never had a crush on anyone else. it was always minho.
he never told minho how he felt because he was scared of losing his friendship with him. he would rather be best friends with him then confess and lose him forever. he couldn't bear that, it would ruin him. so jisung never told minho how he felt.
he wished that he could tell minho at least once in this lifetime and maybe if he got rejected, he could finally move on. and maybe he can finally do that at the reunion. if he can actually muster up the courage to do so. he would get mad at himself if he never told minho, i mean, this is the person that he's loved for more than ten years. he owes it to himself to finally tell him and minho deserves to know.
the day when the reunion is happening, finally comes. the invitation reads 1 pm at his old high school. jisung gets ready, taking extra time to look good. he keeps on reminding himself that it's just because he hasn't seen his friends for awhile but he knows the real answer deep down, he wants to impress minho.
he leaves his apartment around 12 pm, feeling like a nervous wreck. he's not sure how to go about this, whether he should act cool or pretend that he's normal. his heart is literally jumping out of his chest and he hasn't even seen minho yet. he swings by and picks up his favorite drink, matcha, hoping it'll cool down his nerves.
pulling into the parking lot of his old high school, his nerves flare up again. he rubs his chest, trying to ease his heartbeat.
"whew, i got this. right?" he looks in the mirror and fixes his bangs. he grabs his wallet and his glasses case, putting them in his pocket. he sighs, he doesn't believe himself but he shakes it off.
when he finally gets the courage to walk inside, he scans the room, knowing that he's subtly looking for minho. even after ten years, jisung can't help but always look for minho, it's his bittersweet habit. but it's hard to act like he's moved on when he obviously hasn't. even now, he can't take his mind off of minho.
jisung slowly walks into the venue, taking in everything. he passes through and gives his invitation to the footman and makes his way inside. his eyes are scanning the room for minho.
his eyes catch a dark silhouette, leaning on the back wall. he instantly recongizes that it's minho. he studies him for a minute; his arms are crossed with an unreadable look on his face. his hair is jet black and he's wearing a grey hoodie and dark blue jeans. he's wearing clear glasses that are sitting on his nose.
jisung's heart is fluttering like crazy, like butterflies in a cage. his mouth is slightly open, surprised on how more attractive minho looks. he doesn't realize that he's left standing, gaping at minho. he clears his throat and moves on before he's caught staring.
he walks around, looking at the crowd that has built and sees familiar faces but he can't quite remember their names.
jisung's eyes naturally look over to minho and just in time, sees minho running his fingers through his hair. his cheeks turn red, heart beating fast and he tries to walk in the opposite direction. not looking where he's trying to run, he smacks into a tall clean man.
"oh hey, you ok?" the man says, grabbing jisung's elbow to steady him.
"yeah, sorry. i'm fine. thanks." he says curtly. he darts around the man and starts walking normal again, refusing to look in minho's direction again.
he sees felix and hyunjin and goes go say hi. hyunjin is talking with someone so he decides to approaches felix. he and felix have been best friends since they were seventeen. everyone calls them the sunshine twins because of how happy and sunny they are. also because they were inseparable and felix's birthday was a day after jisung's. it's been ten years since he has seen felix but the warmth and friendship is still there.
“hey jisung!’ felix says, smiling with a crease in his eyes. “you’re finally here! i didn't think you were going to make it."
“hey, sunshine,” he says, going in for a hug.
“where have you been? what’s been going on?” felix asks.
“it's been going,” jisung says. “things have just been so busy…”
felix leans in. “there’s so much i want to tell you,” he whispers and blushes.
“ooh, can’t wait,” jisung whispers back.
“hey hannie, it’s been awhile.” hyunjin says, pulling into the conversation. the friend he was talking to walks away and joins another group of people.
"jinnie, yeah, it's been a long time," jisung says, getting caught in a hug by hyunjin.
hyunjin pats his back twice and pulls back to take jisung's face in his hands. "my, my, you've grown. you've lost your teenage features." jisung laughs.
felix smacks hyunjin's arm. "let him go, babe. poor jisung." jisung gawks at felix and hyunjin for a second and sees felix's smile grow big. "babe" that's what felix wanted to tell him. felix and hyunjin has always loved each other without realizing it. he's happy that they finally figured it out. he grins at both of them.
"fine, fine. it's just been awhile since i've seen hannie." hyunjin lets go of jisung and sighs, dropping his hands at his sides. "i've missed you, we should all hang out together. all of our friends from high school."
"that sounds fun," jisung admits. "just let me know when and where."
"you still have my phone number, right?" hyunjin asks.
"oh, actually, no. i got a new phone and most of my stuff never transferred over." jisung says, reaching for his phone.
"oh, that makes sense why you never reached out to me. or to any of us. not even minho, i heard. no one has heard from you since high school." hyunjin says, grabbing jisung's phone to type in his number. "that's good, at least you weren't ignoring us."
"i would never. i feel so bad," jisung says, his cheeks getting hot and red.
“not that we thought you were ignoring us,” felix pitches in, trying to let jisung know that it wasn't his fault.
jisung looks upset and uncomfortable. he never meant for people to assume he was ignoring them.
"it's ok, jisung. glad to have you back!" hyunjin smiles big and hands his phone back.
“hey, hyunjin!” someone calls out. hyunjin pokes his head out of the conversation and sees chan.
“we’ll catch up with you later, hannie,” hyunjin says, placing a hand on felix’s small back. felix waves goodbye to jisung and walks away with hyunjin to go talk to chan.
jisung is left alone and he goes to get a drink. his eyes scans the room for minho again but doesn't see him. what if minho tried to reach out to him? and he never replied? not because he was ignoring minho but because he lost his data on his old phone. he sighs, he just wants to climb into a hole and die. this could ruin his plan for the night if he does decide to tell minho how he really feels. but right now, he can't even find minho.
"why are you looking gloomy all by yourself over here?" a voice draws his attention. he recognizes his voice immediately. that's minho. his minho. his voice is angelic and strong, his subtle korean accent chimes in.
he turns around and comes in contact fully with lee minho.
