The man only got up after Minho grabbed his wrist.
With the pain finally rushing in late,
he massaged his wrist with a deeply furrowed face.
A red handprint showed on the throbbing skin.
Minho let out a shallow sigh and bit his lip.
Two silhouettes tussling in the distance
kept circling in his mind.
Facing Taehee's frightened face,
not a single word came out.
Only that strange feeling kept churning inside him.
“I knew this would happen.”
Using the excuse that they were comfortable with each other,he wanted to stay by Taehee's side.
All the way home while leading Taehee,
he held that small hand tight and never let go.
The warm skin cupped in his hand
fidgeted faintly.
What expression had Taehee made at that moment?
After all the twists and turns, the house they arrived at wasutterly dark and chilly.
“Thanks for earlier.. ”
he said in a barely audible voice.
Even though it was clearly a thank-you, irritation rose up strangely.
“Are you always this careless?"
Who goes around that dark alley with earphones in? ”
Sharp words stabbed deep into his chest.
On his frozen expression, hot tears welled up in a rush.
He forced back the sobs and clenched his lips, but
soon tears streamed down his cheeks.
At that sight, he snapped to his senses,
shook his head quickly, and pulled Taehee into his arms.
Like a child who'd been scolded hard,
to Taehee, who was terribly frightened and shrinking back,
he was belatedly sorry for blurting out those sharp words.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. ”
He buried his face in Taehee's chest and burst into tears.
His cold heart was soaked through with hot tears.
While stroking the back of Taehee's head as he sobbed like a child,he waited for the crying to stop.
“Ha.. ”
Minho's sigh broke the silence.
“Feeling a little better now? ”
He nodded without saying a word.
The breath that burst from his small mouth was
so thin and deep
that it was impossible to tell whether it was
a sigh of relief or one mixed with confusion.He rubbed his swollen eyes once more for no reason.
Minho immediately started biting at his tightly sealed lips.
It was as if he were about to say something, but it caught in his throat.
“You haven't eaten, right? ”
“.. Yeah… ”
“I ordered dakbal; come out when I call you later.”
He tossed out a dry line and left.
Minho had a face that looked angry, but
I knew he was trying in his own way to comfort me.
Ordering my favorite menu itemand giving me time to sort out my own feelings
was clumsy, but that was Minho's way.
