S I X
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

We arrived in the United Kingdom. Newt and Sonya were obviously the most excited about seeing their grandma. Thomas was jumping around, Aris muttered a bit about the colder weather, Minho and I were silent. Both Harriet and Teresa were laughing and whispering together, most likely gossiping. Winston just joined Frypan by his side.

"Tommy." Newt started. "I swear to god, don't laugh. Not again. This is discrimination for the British!"

"How can I help it? It sounds so funny. Would you like some tea, honey?" He mocked in the accent. "Not my fault."

Newt sighed. "Just get in the bloody Uber."

We had two different Ubers. I ended up sitting in the front. Behind me sat Minho, Winston, and Harriet. Not the most talkative people, though the ride wasn't very long. After ten minutes we already arrived at Newt's grandma, who lived close to London.

Their house wasn't very big-looking from the outside. Brown wood, with a cute roof. In the front were small stairs to the front door, where Newt already stood, bouncing on his heels from excitement.

"Thomas reuniting with his grandparents in law again." Minho muttered. He kept his head down as he walked with multiple bags in his hands.

I chuckled. "You ship them?"

He looked up at me, seeming surprised because I had either talked or heard him. It was hard to tell. "Yeah, obviously. You should pay attention. It's very clear that they have something going on."

"Wait." I frowned. "Are we talking about Thomas and Sonya or Thomas and Newt?"

"Newt." He confirmed. "Pretty sure Sonya likes Harriet."

I smiled a small smile and walked up the stairs, to the front door, which the grandma had opened by now. She was a small woman, with lots of wrinkles. Her white hair was tied into a bread and she had a warm smile on her face. She seemed very, very sweet.

And a bit... grandma-like. She cupped Newt's face and placed a hard, wet kiss on his cheek. "Newton!"

He managed a smile even after being a little embarrassed in front of his friends. "Hey, grandma."

Sonya followed. Her cheeks caught a rose, but her smile seemed genuine.

"Oh, and Thomas Edison." Even Thomas got a kiss.

I was surprised Thomas seemed to have met their grandma before. And eventually, I noticed Minho did, too.

"Minho!" She gave him a firm hug.

What surprised me even more, was that he hugged back just as firm, a little smile stuck on his lips. He seemed to enjoy it the most out of all, which I did certainly not expect.

"You've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you, my boy." She inspected his body, grinning slightly. "Working out, I see? And how's business with your father?"

The twinkle in his eyes faded away. "Oh, we're doing great. Investing a lot. It's going well."

"Awesome." Next was me. Politely I introduced myself, got a kiss on my cheek, and followed Newt inside.

The house was just as small as it looked. A brown couch, beige walls, grandma carpets, old furniture, but comfortable. I already felt more home than I ever did in the apartment.

The living room got pretty full when the whole group sat down. Newt's grandma stumbled in and put her hands on her chubby waist. "So, how's everyone doing?"

She received tons of nods and mumbles, though everyone looked very happy to have her in presence.

Her eyes fell on Sonya, who might've been the favorite after all... poor Newt. "Would you like some tea, honey?"

My head immediately snapped to Thomas, who pressed his lips together. A small snort escaped his mouth. He was having a hard time holding his laugh at the way the woman pronounced the question.

"Next time you ask me for tea, I'll laugh at you too." Newt snapped the second after his grandma left to the kitchen. Then Thomas burst out of laughing for a good minute.

"How long are we staying?" Teresa looked at both Newt and Sonya, waiting for an answer.

"Probably just one night." The boy made himself comfortable on the couch, crossing his legs a bit. "We'll hire a boat to go to Norway, since that's the most fast. We can sleep in the attic."

Soon everyone was talking with each other again. I introduced myself to Teresa, the nice, intelligent girl. She was interested in me, and asked lots of questions with a big smile on her face, which made me feel happy too.

"I'm going to the bathroom." A bit out of nowhere, Minho got up from the couch and walked to the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"So your worked in that cafe, right?" Teresa wondered. That drew my attention off Minho fast again.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It's a nice job. Not a lot of salary, but it's fun."

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "That's great."

Tea got pushed in our hands. Grandma sat down on an old chair and leaned back, watching us for a while. "So tell me, what's been up in everyone's lives?"

Sonya started summarizing how she just got a job at a library. The older woman listened with a proud smile on her face.

And then, "Hey, where did my other boy go? I'd like to hear his stories too." She suddenly said. "Quincy, could you please go get him?"

"It's Quinn, grandma." Newt corrected nicely.

I let out a laugh, then left to go get Minho, hoping I wouldn't interrupted his shit or whatever he was doing.

"She's asking for you." I knocked on the white toilet door, waiting for an answer that never came. Soon I noticed the lock wasn't even on. Neither was the light in the toilet.

So he wasn't there.

My eyes fell on the stairs, the only place he must've gone. Hoping I wouldn't break any privacy, I started my walk up there. The steps cracked with each weight that got put on, causing me to wince in annoyance slightly.

Upstairs was just a small hallway, with three doors. I opened one. It was the bedroom. The second one the bathroom. The third was the only left, except for the attic.

Doubting Minho went even a floor higher, I quietly opened the last door. Another bedroom got revealed.

There was a small bed, probably owned my a kid. Blue, cheerful sheets covered it. The walls were painted in a white, with all kinds of posters stuck on it. Stuffed animals were spread all over the floor, along with toys.

Minho stood by the small window, a dresser in front of him. His back was turned to me, and he hadn't noticed me yet.

Before I would let him know my presence, I watched him slide his hand over the little portraits and pictures that stood on the drawer. He rubbed the back of his head as he just stood there.

I hoped I didn't scare him too much by giving a knock on the door. Immediately, he spun around, a panic washing over his face before he put on his mask again. "Hey."

"Hi." I looked around again. "You okay?"

A nod. "Yeah. Perfect."

Definitely not.

Slowly, I walked over to the dresser. Hopefully it didn't disturb him. Now I could see the pictures better. A cute, Asian kid was on one of them. His smile was so bright his eyes had disappeared. On both sides of his shoulders stood taller people. A male and a female.

"It's me and my parents." Minho explained, his voice cracking slightly. "When I was... three or something. We visited Newt back when he lived here for a while, with his parents."

A nice feeling heated my body by that. "So you've been friends for a very long time."

"Mhm." He hummed. "Newt used to live in the United States with us, until his parents got some money problems and moved to live with his grandma for a while." He picked up another picture and showed it to me. "This is me, Newt, and Thomas."

It showed three kids now, all the same age, around four years old, probably. Newt had an even worse baby-face, Thomas stuck out his tongue, and Minho again, smiled brightly. Their arms were wrapped around each other. Behind them was a trampoline and a swing, where a girl that looked like Sonya stood.

"Ahw." I smiled. "That's lovely."

He shrugged and put it back. "I guess. It's a nice memory. I don't really have much pictures and home, so I like to visit this room when I get the chance."

I was shocked by how much he shared. To me, he had never seemed like a very talkative person, but maybe he just had to get comfortable. Though I was pretty sure he never talked about his feelings.

"And I barely see my parents." He added. His voice lowered slightly. "Which is also why I like this picture."

I had a thing for feeling how others felt about the situation. If they were comfortable, nervous, lying... whatever.
"Why don't you see them much?" I asked gently, trying not to bug.

"They work. A lot." He put on a humorless smile. "I don't really care. I'm used to it."

There was an ache in my heart. I felt bad for him, wondering how some parents could do such stupid things to their kids. 

"Anyway. I'm sure you must've come in here for a reason." He straightened his back and put his hands in his pockets. "Let's go."

And boom, he was confident again.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/N: Ahww, Minho <3

Sorry he didn't have the most attention so far. It's quite slow burn in this story, but there'll be more contact soon!

Let me know if you have any questions so far!!

x Vera