"junhui, hurry! if you don't get your ass back in time they will complain again!" minghao had his arms crossed, staring down at the strangely endearing view of junhui playing with a streetcar they had came across in one of the empty alleyways.
the small animal was purring contently, exposing its fluffy tummy as it had rolled on his back, craving human attention. junhui had crouched down as soon as it toddled over to them, not able to restrain himself from petting the lost cat.
"minghao please.. i really don't want to leave it alone.." junhui whined, making minghao tap his feet impatiently. although he secretly had sneaked a few quick photo's without junhui's knowledge and felt his heart clench in his chest every time junhui talked in baby language, which the cat somehow seemed to understand. yet they had to keep going if they didn't want to get there too late.
"just hurry, they're going to make a problem out of it." minghao complained, finally gaining junhui's attention.
"okay.. if you're saying so.. bye furry baby, i will miss you." junhui spoke in the same high-pitched voice he had been using on the animal before, babying the pet one last time with a scratch behind its ears. "now, let's go."
junhui got up and saw minghao's eyebrows still being furrowed in an annoyed frown. as if on cue, minghao averted his gaze up to junhui's face while they started walking, giving junhui the perfect opportunity to say something. "hey what's up with that frown of yours? don't tell me you're jealous that i called that cat baby instead of you."
"oh shut up." minghao huffed, speeding up his pace and walking ahead of junhui so the elder wasn't able to see his facial expression. or better said, the way it made him feel. therefore, junhui unfortunately had to miss out on the furious blush that head spread across minghao's cheeks on the singular thought of junhui calling him 'baby'.
"haooooo.." as if it couldn't get any worse, minghao's cheeks grew an even darker shade of red when junhui came up with a sudden nickname he had never used before. "hao actually sounds really good, is it okay if i call you like that more often from now on?"
"whatever you want." minghao yelled back, refusing to let junhui know his actual feelings. "now, any preferences on how i should address you?"
"well, a nickname is something that comes around naturally when you're comfortable around a person. i guess you shouldn't focus on it too much since it will probably only make things forced." junhui explained, hands making gestures throughout his talk as he finally caught up with minghao.
"o my god, are you minghao?"
"never! that could never be him!"
junhui was a little startled by two girls from approximately sixteen years old approaching minghao, entirely ignoring junhui's presence beside him. it took him a moment of realization once he noticed minghao's mortified expression. reality hit him in the gut, knowing all too well that minghao was a previous quite well-known idol around the country, making approaches like this completely normal.
"minghao! when do you think you're returning?" a girl with long brownish hair and braces asked the visibly uncomfortable minghao, whose eyes sparked the same sense of panic as how they had done on their first meeting.
"can we take a picture with you?" the other girl with obnoxiously blue dyed hair asked, not waiting for an answer as she reached for her phone in the pocket of her skinny jeans.
and whilst this all happened, minghao simply stood there, a panic attack nearing as he was only able to stare at the two girls in front of him with empty eyes. therefore junhui knew this was time for him to intervene, not wanting to ruin the wonderful afternoon they were having. not now everything started getting better for the already insecure boy.
because in the worst case, it would only result in minghao loosing the courage to step outside once again.
"girls, girls, girls. please, give him some space. i have no idea who minghao is but you're certainly looking for the wrong guy. you see, his name is yanan." junhui lied as he pointed out minghao, who still wasn't able to return a reply of any kind.
the blue haired girl let out a disappointed 'oh', her expression suddenly turning into one of disgust, hitting her -supposedly- friend against her shoulder. "i told you minghao would never grow his hair like.." the made a gesture with her hand as they both passed the two boys. "that." she said with an exaggerated disgraceful tone.
minghao seemed to come back to sense, visibly hurt by the thing she had said once they left him alone. the first thing he did was reach up for his hair, swirling a strand in between his fingertips as he looked at it with a confused look, eyes glazing with tears.
"maybe they're right.. i should've kept it short anyways. who am i to think this type of hair would suit me." minghao harshly pulled the strand his fingers were fiddling with, letting it go with a frustrated sigh.
"i don't think they're right, though." junhui reached for minghao's hand that weakly fell beside his waist, intertwining their fingers to lighten up the mood again. "i honestly can't even imagine you with your hair being short. it's like your face is made for longer hair, it really points out your facial features and it just suits you so well in a weird and unexplainable way."
minghao had no idea that he was able to give out the slightest smile in situations like this. if it wasn't for junhui, he probably wouldn't even had the strength to keep on walking and he most likely would have collapsed in an empty alleyway to drown in his feelings.
"besides, how am i supposed to give you head scratches and play with your hair if it's not the same as now.." junhui pouted, knowing that it always affected minghao in the best way possible.
"as if you would.. you've never done it before and i don't think it would make any difference if i cut my hair back to how it used to be." minghao defended himself.
"i think it's up to you to make the final decision. but if you decide to cut your hair, you won't be getting your first head scratches tonight!"
tonight? just when minghao thought it wasn't quite possible to get any redder, junhui proved that it actually was possible to make it turn a shade darker. if only junhui was aware of what simple things like this did to minghao.
