C-48
I woke up because I can't breathe. It turns out a certain cat decided to rest his butt on my face and suffocate me, but then there's also the bigger cat whose arm is basically hugging me and the plushie barrier is nowhere to be found. I blush as I remember what happened last night.
I tap Minho's cheeks to wake him up. "Good morning."
He groans as he sits up and rubs the sleep off his face, stretching his arms. "Morning..." He looks at me and for some reason his ears redden.
"Can I mess with your kitchen today?"
"Wanna order? Changbin ransacked my grocery so I'm not sure what I have left."
"Eh. I'll make it work."
"Sure then." He chuckles and takes Dori. "I'll just feed him."
I smile and make my way to the kitchen, leaving Minho to clean up the messed-up improvised bed and to feed our cat.
I made two bowls of porridge from the oats and fruits I found. I'm amazed at how much milk he has in store. Is he planning to sell some to his neighbouring flats?
Minho appears and he's already wearing his uniform. He still looks sleepy as he throws his bag on the counter, but his eyes seem to come to life as he spots me. He approaches from behind, hugging me close with his chin on my shoulder. His hands fiddle with the hem of his shirt I'm wearing that reaches past my mid-thighs.
"You should wear my clothes more often."
"Yeah, they're so comfortable."
I turn around, almost yelping when he taps my butt in the process.
"M-Minho?!"
He just chuckles. "Up. Time to eat."
I pout and encircle my arms around Minho's neck, then he carries me to the dining room. He sits me down beside him only to pull my seat as close as possible.
"Why do you have tons of milk?" I ask him.
"I accidentally ordered a lot," he replies and starts eating.
"Good thing I'm here, or they'd go to waste." I stick my tongue out as I open two for the both of us.
He stares at me before suddenly grinning, taking a strawberry in a fork and guiding it to me. "Open."
"Huh?"
"Eat."
I'm still confused as to why he's suddenly feeding me, but I still oblige. Before I can fully take it in my mouth, Minho suddenly grabs my chin and bites the other end of the fruit. Our lips almost touch.
"Mm. Tastes great."
"Wha--" I feel my face heating up. "M-Minho? I-I... What?!"
He starts laughing like a maniac as he watches me stutter at his actions. It's so early in the morning, but I've already been a victim of his teasing so much!
"Where are you going?" He pulls my seat back when I try to move away, still looking very amused.
"Stop teasing me!" I frown up at him.
"Fine, come here then." He pats his lap.
"No!"
"I promise, I'll stop."
I purse my lips in contemplation.
"Come on, my scaredy-cat."
"Tch..."
With the butterflies swirling in my tummy, I get up and move to Minho's lap. He automatically wraps his arms around my waist as my back leans on his chest. It's been a while since we've been so close... and I'm not complaining. It feels nice.
I don't know why, but after our fight, I think we became closer. Although I'm still shy and get easily embarrassed with physical affection, I don't mind it when he initiates. It must be because we missed each other so much.
Minho rests his head on my shoulder. "Your uniform's in the dryer. Let's go to school together, or do you want me to drop you home first?"
I stop eating as I contemplate on what to say. It's not that I don't want to go home yet. I'm scared... I feel nervous about what their reaction would be since I turned off my phone for the whole night. I basically cut them off.
"Can we not go to school today?"
He almost drops his spoon at what I said. He blinks repeatedly as if waiting for me to take it back, but I don't.
"Are you sure you're Y/n?"
"Who else?"
"My Y/n would never ask me to skip school." He smirks. "Where's my good girl and what have you done to her?"
"There's always a first to anything, and didn't you say that you'll make it up to me? Don't you want to spend time with me?"
He flicks my forehead. "It's not like that. I'm just thinking about you. You won't regret it?"
"I won't! Today's classes are boring anyway."
Minho frowns and murmurs something. "You sound like..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing... Aren't you just postponing your return at home?"
I look up at him expectantly. "Please?"
"Tsk. Fine, stop looking at me like that." He pinches my cheeks with one hand, making my lips form into a pout. "I'll drive you home after this."
"Deal!"
"Seal it with a kiss?"
"Eh?!" I lean my head into the crook of his neck and I feel the vibration of his laughter as he ruffles my hair.
After eating, he changes into his casual clothes and throws a hoodie and a pair of jeans at me that I folded at the hem. He said it's his when he was younger and since I'm as small as a kid, it'll fit me. Is that an advantage or an insult?
When the elevator opens, I pull him towards his bike. I like it better than his car.
"I didn't know you had a car. How come we only use your bike?"
"You wanted the 'badboy' experience."
"It's for me?" I smile and hug his arm. "Thank you. Hehe."
He rolls his eyes and shoves a helmet on my head. He adjusts the strap and wears his own too. After securing our safety, we take off. I didn't know how much I missed the wind until I felt it kissing my worries away.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." I see Minho smiling from the mirror.
I watch the tall buildings pass as every busy person goes through their day. I lean on Minho's back as I let the city life amuse me. We're like rebels running away from life and just enjoying the time we have.
It's not bad to have fun once in a while because living can be overwhelming at times. We all need a break to keep our sanity intact.
I'm all smiles when we park outside the amusement park. Minho helps me down the bike and I pull him towards the ticket booth immediately.
"Minho, come on!"
"A stray kid on site." He laughs as he pays for the both of us. We enter and I'm about to run to the rides when he stops me. He pulls me towards the headbands with a disapproving look.
"How could you forget?" He shakes his head and I force myself not to laugh because of how serious he looks.
"My bad!" I give a peace sign before picking the cat ears headband. He frowns when I swat his hand that's about to get the matching one. "You have to pick a new animal."
"Why? I'll pay for it!" I shake my head firmly. He sighs and picks the giraffe one. "Fine, I'm much taller than you anyway."
This guy!
He takes my hand in his and intertwines our fingers. My smile is so uncontainable as we walk hand in hand to explore every ride.
I laugh for the umpteenth time as Minho grips my hand, trying to act like he's fine through the whole rollercoaster ride. It's not even the one for adults!
"Stop laughing," he almost hisses.
"I'm just happy!"
Minho's blue hair is dishevelled as we get off our first ride. I giggle as I tiptoe and fix it myself, gaining a small smile from him.
"Where do you want to go next?" he asks.
I grin at his invitation and point to the Vikings. His whole face turns pale and he visibly gulps as he looks at me for confirmation.
"Sure?"
"Sure! Not unless you're too scared to go..." I suppress a smile when he rolls his eyes and pulls me to the ride.
Minho and his ego.
"Don't cling to me if you get scared." He glares as we sit near the back.
"Sure, big guy."
We're just halfway through the allotted time on this ride, but I don't know if the bad boy beside me can still survive until the end. Minho is clinging on my arm and his eyes are shut as he keeps whispering profanities to ease his fright.
"Fvck..." he whispers through gritted teeth. "When will this end?"
"Language, Minho!"
After the ride, we both ran to the bench because we ran out of energy. We catch our breaths and when we look at each other, we burst into giggles.
"That was fun! Do you want to ride another one?" I ask him teasingly.
He flicks my forehead. "I'm hungry," he says and pulls me to the food court.
We go around and sift through Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cuisines. We don't find what we want so we end up buying churros and sausages and sit at the bench beside a tree to eat.
"You know, Felix has a weird obsession with sausages and cheese sticks, but I find it funny how he always cheers up whenever I buy him some."
I'm about to eat when Minho snatches my food. I look at him questioningly as he swaps his churros instead.
"Eat that," he says and furiously eats the sausage. I didn't know he's that hungry.
When we're done eating, I see a photo booth near us. I nudge Minho and point to it.
"Can we go there?"
His eyes light up but he's quick to hide it. I smile as I notice him trying to hide his excitement. He's been like that since we arrived here! My boy is secretly a kid too. How dare he call me a stray kid when he's just the same?
"Smile, alright? In three, two, one!"
Minho just stares at me.
"Come on, like this." I show him a big smile that he laughs at.
He pinches my cheeks as the camera clicks multiple times.
"I like seeing you happy," Minho says out of the blue, and I'm left speechless.
"Min..."
"Don't start crying now," he teases.
"I'm not!"
There he goes again, making me flustered without prior notice.
My whole face is red as I look at the outcome of our photos. We look ridiculous!
"Here you go, so you can always remember how silly we are when you're feeling down." Minho and I each take one to keep for ourselves.
"It's a miracle you're not asking me to take pics."
My eyes widen because I almost forget. "I'm glad you mentioned it!"
He rolls his eyes but voluntarily opens his phone and clicks a couple of times. We do silly poses showing our headbands before we decide to just walk around and kill time.
"Look, it's a squirrel!" I look at the animals in an enclosed glass partition. "Do you know I sometimes call Jisung a squirrel because he looks like one? His cheeks go like that when he eats." I giggle as we watch the squirrel play around the cage.
Minho rolls his eyes and pulls me towards the reptiles. "They're cooler, look. They'd be better as pets than those rodents."
"But they're not cute."
He huffs.
We decided to leave the amusement park after a few hours of going around and enjoying the sounds of laughter and fun.
We stopped at a cafe to buy refreshments. Minho and I play Rock-Paper-Scissors to know who'll pay and I end up losing. I ordered iced americano for him and chocolate milk for me. We plan on staying at the cafe's rooftop to enjoy the fresh air but it's too high for Minho's sake.
"I'm not scared, I'm just careful. Who knows if we fall over or what?" he reasons out as we retreat downstairs.
"Why aren't you afraid of the school's rooftop then?" I ask.
"That's our spot," he says casually.
I almost spilled my drink. How can he say that whilst looking at me so innocently? He's going to give me a heart attack one day!
He interlocks our hands together as we walk out of the cafe. Once adjusting the safety strap on the helmet, he faces me first before putting his own.
"Y/n, I know how important your family is to you so you shouldn't be nervous. It's not like you're getting sentenced to death if ever they'll reprimand you for running away. Don't feel bad because it's normal to act that way after finding out something so unexpected. Just go up to them and say what you want to say. It's not like your family are like Changbin's so you'll manage," he says and flicks my forehead.
I look at him with a sheepish smile and encircle my arms around his waist. "I know I acted immature. I won't run away again. It's kind of scary getting into a fist fight, but I admit that it feels good taking one of those thugs down."
I can hear the vibration of his laughter. "Tell me if you ever feel bad about something, any questionable stuff, or any slight discomfort. Be careful... because I care about you a lot," Minho says as he returns my hug.
My heart flutters at his words. I care about him a lot too. I hope his bad blood with those guys ends soon so no one gets hurt again.
"Let's get you home," he says, and off we go.