A faint knock echoed, and a short while later, the door drifted open just a fraction. There stood Chan, cocooned in a blanket, his face feverish and pink.
Seungmin's heart swelled with a quiet, aching warmth at the sight of him looking so fragile.
"Min?. What're you doing here?."Bangchan rasped, his fever-weakened voice barely carrying past a whisper.
"You called in sick, so I had to come check on you," Seungmin said, easing the door open and slipping inside before clicking it shut behind him.
"You shouldn't have come here. You'd get scolded." Chan murmured weakly, his voice barely holding together.
"Well,it's obvious I don't mind."
"Min-" Chan started, his voice catching and breaking into a raspy, dry cough.
"Just look at that. Comeon, i had Felix prepare you some soup, and I got drugs on the way. Otherwise, I would have been here much earlier." Seungmin explained, "Get back under the covers; I'll handle this," he urged, shifting the bag in his grip as he made his way toward the kitchen.
"Min- You didn't have to."
"You heard me."Seungmin retorted, a fleeting, mock frown pulling at his lips before it melted into a soft, fond smile as he turned toward the kitchen.
Chan stood stock-still, trembling from the fever and a raw throat, helplessly ignoring how Seungmin's presence had his heart doing wild, frantic gymnastics.
Safe behind the closed kitchen door, Seungmin clutched his shirt over his pounding heart, his face completely red. "Did I seriously just say all that out loud?" he whispered to himself, entirely bewildered by his own boldness.
_______
The lecture hall felt entirely too large, with Felix stationed dead center at the front and zero sign of Jeongin. Slouched in the back row beside Changbin, Jisung tracked every stiff line of Felix's shoulders, a bitter disbelief in his voice. "He's really going out of his way to avoid us, isn't he?"
Changbin shrugged,"Everyone with what makes them happy."
Jisung quirked a brow,"What's that supposed to mean. What's up with you."
Changbin dropped his shoulders in a silent "who knows."
"You know,I'm beginning to think our friend group is made up of emotionally unstable people." Jisung shook his head, with a loud sigh
"Where's innie?."
Changbin offered a helpless, uncertain tilt of his head
"Yep,certainly emotionally unavailable people except me, tho ."
With his chin propped up and a dark, brooding look in his eyes, Felix let out a harsh breath. "To hell with Hyunjin."
.
.
.
The room was heavy with the quiet stuffiness of a sick day, Chan half-buried under a mound of blankets with a graveyard of tissues littering his nightstand.
When the door opened and Seungmin stepped in with a tray, Chan blinked up at him, his voice raspy and faint. "You shouldn't have bothered..."
"Shut your mouth and drink," Seungmin replied, setting the tray down with practiced care. "Get the soup down, then take your meds."
Complying without a fight, Chan sat up, cradling the warm bowl between his palms. A tentative sip coaxed a soft cough from his throat, but he looked up regardless, his eyes crinkling into a fond, appreciative smile. "Thanks, Minnie."
"Just drink up already."
Savoring another spoonful of the warm soup, Chan set the bowl down on the nightstand with a soft smile. "You know, Minnie, ever since—"
Before he could finish, the door swung open, abruptly cutting him off. "Just get better," Seungmin blurted out before bolting down the stairs and racing out of the house.
"... We met. You've never been this nice to me," Chan finished to the empty room, shaking his head as a chuckle slipped past his lips. "He's so cute when he's flustered."
_____
Following his modeling classes that afternoon, Hyunjin headed home on foot, lost in his own thoughts until Yeji suddenly materialized out of nowhere, latching onto his arm.
"Hyunjin, come on. Let's go out together," she urged.
He hesitated, starting to pull back. "I don't—"
"Come on, let me spoil you," she insisted, flashing a bright, persuasive smile.
Yeji's sudden request felt deeply suspicious.
When on earth had they ever grown close enough for her to invite him out to spoil him ?
Still needing an urgent distraction from the lingering ache of the whole Felix situation, Hyunjin figured a change of pace wouldn't hurt.
"Fine," he relented. After all, he had no reason to feel guilty—Felix was the one who had made up his mind to choose Taehyung instead of him.
With a triumphant grin, Yeji immediately tugged him away.
Later that evening, Felix was mindlessly scrolling through his feed when, by a cruel twist of fate, a post from the account:
Hwangyejilicious_xo
caught his eye. It was a series of candid photos of Yeji and Hyunjin hanging out at the mall just a few hours earlier.
The caption read:
만두랑 사귀기 (going out with dumpling)
Felix's jaw dropped. A sharp wave of jealousy flooded his chest as he glared at the screen in disbelief.
"No freaking way!" he hissed, his blood boiling. "No way... Jeongin was right."
Felix stared at the glowing screen of his phone, his thumb hovering over the pictures.
There was Hyunjin, laughing at something Yeji was showing him while holding a cup of boba, and another of them sitting side-by-side in a photo booth.
"Dating dumpling?" The caption mocked him in bold, cheerful Korean letters.
The heat rushed to Felix's chest, a suffocating mix of disbelief, pride, and a sharp, stinging jealousy that he hadn't expected to feel.
He had convinced himself that letting seeing them together wouldn't hurt him that much.
But seeing Hyunjin looking so effortlessly happy with someone else, especially Yeji, made his stomach twist into knots.
"I can't believe this," Felix muttered, tossing his phone onto the far end of the mattress. He buried his face in his pillow letting out inaudible sobs,"Fuck you!."
_____
Lost in thought, Seungmin replayed the encounter at Chan's place over in his mind. Was he really about to confess to me? he wondered.
The front door clicked open, and Hyunjin stepped into the hallway loaded down with shopping bags. He paused, catching Seungmin muttering quietly to himself, and tilted his head in bewilderment.
"Seungmin?"
"Oh, you're back?" Seungmin asked, snapping back to reality.
"Yeah. You okay?"
"I'm fine," Seungmin replied, lowering his voice. "Though if you value your peace of mind and your life, you might want to take the guest room tonight. Felix is having one of his emotional episodes, and trust me, you don't want to get caught in the crossfire."
Hyunjin's eyes widened slightly at the warning. "Oh, right. Thanks for the heads-up." With a grateful nod, he turned and made his way up the stairs.
Upstairs, the heavy silence of the hallway felt suffocating. Hyunjin set his shopping bags down by his bedroom door, hesitating for a moment before looking down the corridor. True to Seungmin's warning, muffled sounds of restless pacing and frustrated sobs were bleeding through Felix's door.
Taking a slow breath to steel himself, Hyunjin pushed the door of the guestroom open and walked in
To be continued...
A/N
Honestly,thanks for the reads