Rise of a Star - a Minsung Story

Chapter 23

When Minho stirred awake the next morning, he felt like he had gotten run over by a bus. Without opening his eyes, he blindly felt for his phone on his night stand. Jisung was deep asleep next to him, snoring so cutely that Minho would've just laid there and admired him on any other day.
He finally found the familiar rectangular object on the night stand and carefully pulled it towards his face, eventually forcing himself to open his eyes. They stung and felt dry, his cheeks were sticky from last night's tears, his lips were rough and bloody from biting them too much - a habit Minho knew he should get rid of.

With an almost inaudible sigh, the young singer turned on his smartphone, but the first notification he sees, immediately wants him to just throw it out of the nearest window. And possibly jump right after.

It's a long message from his mom, sentences that bring back the bitter reality he is forced to live in. The reality he was trying to forget these past couple of hours.

His eyes started burning yet again, a feeling he had gotten used to ever since first learning about the news the day prior. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he managed to open his mother's message with shaking fingers.

'Dear Minho,

I congratulate you for your success. I could not be any more proud of you than I am right now. You know I love you and I wish we could celebrate your announced debut under different - better - circumstances. The sudden loss of your father hit us all hard and I understand the pain you are going through right now. Please come home as soon as you read this, I need you. Your family needs you. The funeral will be held tomorrow at 1pm, he had it all planned out and paid for before leaving this earth. Perhaps he already knew he was loosing his battle. I hope to hear from you soon, I love you.

Mom'

Quiet sobs left his mouth as he read through the message for the hundreth time. He couldn't believe it, he refused to. His father, his all-time rolemodel, his number one fan and supporter, had lost his fight against cancer.

Minho had known this could happen, he had known there was a high chance that he wouldn't make it. That he wouldn't win. But never before had the reality of his dad's sickness really dawned upon him like this.

He regretted not being there for him. He regretted not visiting him more often. He regretted leaving and becoming a trainee when he had known his dad was suffering. He regretted not coming back when he was told it had gotten worse. He had always told himself that it would be fine when the worries got to him. He had always promised himself to go back on Christmas and birthdays and holidays, and that it would be fine, that it would be enough - but it wasn't.
And now it was too late. Now, Minho had nothing left but pictures and memories.

Without him noticing, Minho's sobs had gotten progressively louder with every minute that passed. So loud, that Jisung awoke from his deep sleep and hurriedly sat up to pull the other into a tight hug.
Minho jumped, he hadn't expected the sudden touch, but he still leaned into it, enjoying Jisung's warmth.

For a while, maybe 10 minutes, probably even longer, they stayed like that: Jisung cradling Minho in his arms and softly swaying from side to side. Until eventually, Minho sobs turned quieter and he pushed himself just a few inches away from Jisung, bringing up all his strength to meet the younger boy's worried eyes.

"Will you tell me what's wrong, love?", Jisung voice was quiet and calm as he spoke. He knew better than to trigger the other with loud and frantic noises.
Minho visibly gulped. It's not that he didn't want to tell him, he simply didn't know how to phrase it. "I-I... M-My d-dad he's... he's-", he started but his voice gave out as a new wave of tears hit him.

Jisung was quick to stop them, gently wiping them away with his thumbs. He didn't care how long it took for Minho to calm down again. He only wished he could take all his pain away.

"You don't have to tell me now, if you aren't ready. I understand and I will stay with you no matter what", he was whispering now, placing soft kisses on Minho's forehead.

"I do. I-I want to tell you, y-you need to know", Minho said, taking a deep breath before going on, "My father died yesterday". Jisung's eyes widened in utter shock. No. No, no, no.

His baby didn't deserve to go through that. Minho was the kindest, most loving creature on this planet, why did he have to face the pain, that was so disturbingly familiar to Jisung. He knew exactly how it felt, losing a parent was one of the things that hurt most in life. Especially when you were as close as Minho and his dad were. And Jisung knew about their relationship, about their strong bond.

With an almost inaudible, "I'm so, so sorry", Jisung pulled the other into a bone-crashing hug. Minho enjoyed being so close to the person he loved most in life. He felt safe and warm and like all the pain was taken away from him. Even if it was only for a few seconds, he could forget about the pain and just dwell on old memories. Like when his dad had taught him how to play baseball. Or when he got his first play-microphone. When he took his first dancing lessons and his dad was sitting on the side of the room with all the other parents and only ever had eyes for his son. When Minho joined his first dance group, when he first performed in front of a big audience and his dad was sitting in the first row on the very left. Minho remembered it like it was yesterday, the bright smile and thumbs up he received after he had successfully finished his performance.

His moment lost in thoughts was interrupted by his members, his closest friends, walking into the room. For a moment there, he wanted to lash out on them and yell and scream and blame them for interrupting his trip down memory lane. But then he stopped himself, and his irritated face contorted into a soft, grateful smile. Because all six of his members were standing there, looking at the boy in Jisung's arms with worry all over their faces, checking up on him to make sure he was okay. That's when he realized that yes, he had lost somebody he would miss for the rest of his living days, but he also knew he didn't have to go through that alone. Not only did he have the best partner and loving boyfriend he could ever wish for, but he also had the six most caring, true friends to exist.

Author's Note
This one is a bit short and I apologize but I am currently working on the next Chapter, so I might be able to post that tomorrow!

I hope you still have a lovely day!

~Akira