𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜. | 𝗃.𝗒 𝗑 𝗌.𝗆

𝗍𝗐𝗈.

yunho gave a short smile back. it wasn't very endearing, and he mentally cursed himself for probably giving off the complete wrong impression. but something about the boy's demeanour stunned him and made him forget himself, just for a second.

and then he pushed open the shop door and promised himself he'd focus on nothing but flowers for the rest of the afternoon.

_

apparently this wasn't going to be possible.

a few hours later, just before closing time, yunho was headed around the side of the shop to the dumpster where he threw away the flowers that were past their display date. this always made him sad; he hated throwing any flowers away. he found it such a waste - most still looked decent.

he was about to throw away a handful of dahlias when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"can I have those?" it said.

yunho didn't recognise the voice, but knew straight away it was the boy who had been sat in front of his shop for the last three days.

"y-you want the flowers?" yunho stuttered as he turned to face him.

"please" came the reply.

"what f-for?" yunho found himself asking. what exactly would a homeless guy do with a bunch of dahlias?

"I want to try and sell them... if you'll let me" he croaked. "I'll go into the centre of the city, I won't take any business away from you"

"oh, urm.. yeah, sure, I guess"

a huge beam was painted over the boy's face as yunho agreed. he had never seen someone so happy about dahlias. but of course it wasn't the dahlias, it was the prospect of getting a few dollars to buy some food for the night, or a place to stay. and there was no way yunho was going to refuse that.

"thank you, thank you so much" he spoke as he moved towards yunho.

"I have a few other bunches in this box you can have. here, just take the whole thing" yunho said as he handed it over.

the boy truly looked like he was about to cry. "thank you, sir. you're very kind"

"my name is yunho" he told him.

"my name is mingi, it's great to meet you"

_

mingi.

the name replayed in yunho's head all night. he couldn't say why, he just knew that something about the boy made his image swim around in yunho's thoughts all evening.

he thought about how happy he had made the boy by giving him the old flowers and suddenly he was coming up with ideas of other things he could do for the boy. what he could do to see him smile again...

"why do I care so much?" he asked aloud to no one. he deduced that it must be because the boy was young and vulnerable, because they were so alike in age but their lives were so different. yes, that was it.

mingi. he whispered the name into the dark.

_

"YUNHO!" came san's excitable voice as soon as yunho neared the shop door the next morning. "YUNHO GUESS WHAT?"

"shhh! what sannie?" yunho chuckled.

"wooyoungie asked me to be his boyfriend last night, just like I thought!"

"and what did you say?" yunho asked, as if the huge beam on san's face hadn't already given it away.

"what do you think?! oh yun, it was sooo romantic, he..." as san spoke he noticed that mingi had been sleeping in his usual spot, but san's excitement had awoken him. now yunho could barely focus on what the other boy was saying.

"...he's just so perfect" san finished.

"I'm so happy for you, sannie. you really deserve this"

san became embarrassed at this, "aw, yun!"

"but he better not break your heart or he'll have me to deal with, okay? I'll catch up with you at lunch" yunho finished as he went to turn the key in the lock.

"sure thing!" san called as he skipped off inside.

as soon as san disappeared from sight, yunho addressed the male on the floor below him. "good morning, mingi" he said brightly.

"good morning, sir" mingi croaked out.

and then yunho spotted the box next to him which was still full of the flowers he gave to him yesterday.

"what happened with the flowers?" yunho asked tentatively.

mingi looked down to his feet as he answered and his expression shifted from the usual bright smile. "oh, urm... no one wanted them"

yunho could feel his heart break into a million little pieces at the boy's words. he immediately crouched down to him as he asked, "you didn't sell any of them?"

"I sold a few... not enough for somewhere to stay... bought some bread with it" he mumbled. and then he forced a smile as he looked into yunho's eyes "don't worry, yunho"

"you didn't have to bring them back, you could have tossed them in the trash" yunho pointed out.

and then he saw a tear twinkle in the boy's eye. only slightly, as his eyes were largely hidden by his mop of faded red hair. but it was definitely there. and mingi let it fall onto his cheek as he spoke his next words.

"I want to keep them until they die, they make me happy"

yunho sighed, "what can I do for you, mingi?" he asked.

but mingi simply repeated his words from before as another tear escaped from his eyes,

"don't worry, yunho"

_