three

"Minho is like a big brother to me. I appreciate him a lot."

"No, I'm not letting you stay the night."

"Ah, but—!"

Minho gently patted Hanni's head, ruffling her hair slightly. "You're a good kid, and you should stay that way. At least arrange with your mom for next weekend. I have work every day except Sunday, so I'll be able to take care of you next week. Give me time to settle into my apartment, okay?"

"Thank you for the food today!" Wonyoung exclaimed as she bowed a full 90 degrees. The other girls followed suit, showing respect to the older male.

"Thank you!"

"Don't sweat it, I'll always treat Hanni and her friends well," Minho smiled, nodding his head at the teens. "Walk safely, okay? Go straight home!"

"We'll try," Hanni said with a wink. Minho glared slightly, but she simply laughed. "See you next weekend, Minho oppa. Bye-bye!"

Minho waved his hand at the girls as they all waved their hands or bowed numerous times. Once they were out of his sight, he turned around to walk to the apartment block lobby. "We meet again, neighbour."

Jisung stood outside the lobby, his phone light illuminating his face. He looked up, smiling as he and Minho made eye contact. "Minho-ssi — hello."

"Ay, just call me hyung," Minho said, waving his hand. "Why are you standing outside here? Aren't you getting cold?"

"O-oh — a little, but nothing I'm not used to," Jisung replied with a smile. "I'm just... waiting for something. Food delivery."

"Oh — are you sure you'll be okay? It's, like, really cold," Minho said with a worried tone. The other hummed with an affirming nod, but Minho wasn't convinced. He unzipped his puffer jacket, putting the hood on Jisung's head. "Here. Bring it back whenever you have free time."

Before Jisung could respond, he turned away and walked into the building. He heard Jisung spluttering in confusion, but he ignored him just in case he'd want to give the jacket back. He reached the elevator at the end of the corridor, pressing the 6th floor button. He turned around just to check on Jisung and was quite happy to see him put his arms into the sleeves.

Even with Jisung's seemingly stable facade, Minho couldn't help but think about the fact that he had heard him cry. Did something just happen the previous night? Jisung seemed okay at that moment — maybe he just had to let off steam and decided that crying was the best way to do so.

If that was the case, Minho wouldn't worry any further — but if it somehow persisted, he would question it as gently as he could.

Minho was exhausted once more from organising his apartment even further for the rest of the evening, ending up getting to bed at around 11pm. The apartment complex was quiet already — it felt as if he was the only one awake, even if it was highly implausible. He scrolled through Instagram on his phone, lying on his bed in silence.

However, a voice broke through his silence.

"Felix, is that you? Are you awake?" Jisung was speaking. "Yeah, I can't sleep... again. Did I wake you up? ... Oh. Well, I'm... doing okay. My new neighbour spoke to me today. Guess he doesn't know... right? ... Yeah. ... Mhm. ... Oh, no, he's actually really nice. He, uh... he gave his jacket to me. ... Obviously I'll return it, what do you take me for?"

Minho tried not to listen to the conversation but it was very obviously about him. He couldn't help but zone into the voice of the boy in the next apartment. Jisung waffled on about random things — some of which didn't interest Minho. Only a few sentences in did Minho realise something.

He was reporting his day to someone.

Minho listened as Jisung listed typical things people would do in their day — shower, make their bed up, brush their teeth, choose a shirt to wear, vacuum the living room — all those random things. It confused him, and it made him even more curious about his neighbour.

"Yeah, I know, I'm... I'm trying. Thanks for being proud of me. No, actually... just... thanks for taking the call. Just maybe, I... I might find reason." Silence followed before Jisung muttered a soft 'goodnight', presumably hanging up.

Minho turned to his side, unable to fall asleep. He tried to piece together what he had just heard, but couldn't for the life of him. All he could wonder was if Jisung was okay. For him to talk about brushing his teeth as if he deserved a gold medal was quite concerning.

Minho remembered having to comfort Hanni's sister when she was going through a rough patch. The way she stopped doing ordinary activities — even taking showers. He stayed by her side, delivering as much comfort as his inaffectionate self allowed him to.

Was Jisung also going through a rough time?

"But that could mean a whole different thing..."

Minho remained deep in thought. Was his neighbour depressed? He was showing very clear symptoms — and even if he didn't mean to eavesdrop, he was probably on a call with someone he trusts to inform them that he was okay. However, Minho didn't want to assume things. Maybe that's just how he was — but even that was unhealthy behaviour.

Minho didn't want to assume any behaviour of the man he had literally just met the day before, but even with simple observation, one could tell that Jisung wasn't healthy. Despite making jokes about not wanting to live, Minho didn't really mean them. To see someone that could end up hurting themselves made him rather protective.

"I think I should invite him for dinner."

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