Sunrise [Yungi FF]

27. Next Sunrise

"No." Yunho straightened up. "I mean, I understand that you just wanted to do everything you could. I understand why you wanted to keep the truth from him, so I'm sorry for shouting at you back then."

San let out a bitter chuckle. "It's fine. I probably deserved that." He paused here and Yunho could hear his soft breathing. "I already told Mingi that I'll help him with his treatment and everything, so don't worry about that. Just focus on...being with him, I guess. You're better at that than I am. This sounds weird but thank you for believing him all this time. I've never seen him so happy before."

At that, Yunho turned to face Mingi, who was meticulously refolding Yunho's blood-stained coat for the third time since they arrived. Yunho felt the corners of his lips lift up naturally. "I know."

He hung up and returned Mingi's phone just in time for Jongho to appear from behind the blue curtains.

"What took you so long?" Yunho said lightly, but Jongho ignored it and regarded Mingi with a stony face.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" His voice was flat.

Mingi placed down the coat and tried to maintain a neutral expression as he looked at Jongho. The air tightened with tension when they met each other's gazes, eyes snapping together with electrifying friction.

"Jongho, what's wrong?" Yunho glanced warily at Jongho.

"In private," said Jongho curtly. He turned around and walked away without checking to see if Mingi was following.

"You don't-"

"It's okay," Mingi reassured Yunho. "He has every right to hate me, and I should apologize to him too." Then he followed Jongho out before Yunho could say anything else.

Yunho sighed soundlessly, which turned into a yawn. He was exhausted; he thought everything would be over immediately after San told the truth, but things turned out to much more complicated. Relationships were complicated.

His heart clenched slightly at that thought, from love and something like guilt. Maybe nothing would've happened if he hadn't met Mingi, if he had ignored the special call and forgotten about it the next day. Maybe no one would've gotten hurt, including Jongho's friend Yeosang. But that also meant his and Mingi's lives would stay the same, and neither of them was following a particularly bright path.

And things have changed. Yunho looked around him, at the plain ceiling and bare walls, the old blankets on the impersonal beds, and the consistent blue and white theme of the building. It was the second time this month he found himself in a similar setting, but instead of feeling cold and detached like last time, he felt warm and comfortable.

He wasn't feeling sore as if he was just in a car crash, for one. So he reached over to the visitor chair and picked up the plastic bag Mingi gave him during their car ride here. Inside was the mirror Mingi gave him - the second one, the one he spurned.

The lid came unhinged from the fall, so Yunho took out the second half. He flipped it over carefully, expecting spiderwebs of cracks.

Instead, he saw a smooth glass surface, unblemished and shiny as if polished recently.

"Miracle, isn't it?" Mingi's voice startled Yunho out of his own thoughts. He examined his reflection in the mirror. Other than a few loose strands, his black hair fell neatly on his forehead, complementing his near-black irises. His eyes were like marbles, shining under the ceiling lights like the bright smile on his lips. 

"What did you talk about?" Yunho asked, looking up. "Where's Jongho?"

"Well, he told me he'll not let me go if I hurt you again, and I apologized for hurting his friend," Mingi said, eyes still fixed on the mirror in Yunho's hands. Yunho stared at Mingi intently, knowing from the way he avoided eye contact that he was hiding something. Before he could say anything about that, Mingi continued, "He says he wants to leave the rest of the day to us."

"What does that mean?" Yunho raised his eyebrows.

"It's Christmas, remember?" Mingi looked at Yunho properly now, holding all their belongings in his hands. "Let's pay your medical fees and go have fun."

It was late afternoon by the time they had something to eat and decided where to go.

Yunho, holding a soft puppy plushie - Mingi's Christmas present for him - sat down on a bench facing the sea. Mingi was walking slowly across the promenade towards him, his own present the woolen scarf wrapped around his neck.

He took a seat next to Yunho and handed him a plastic spoon for the cup of ice cream they were about to share. It was cold, especially with the icy wind blowing from the open sea just beyond the harbor, but eating the dessert still felt like a must-do during winter.

"Oh-!" Mingi's hand tensed around the cup, his other frozen in midair as he squeezed his eyes and parted his lips. "Brainfreeze," he explained once it was over.

Yunho laughed, licking his spoon clean with no trouble. A chill spread through him but it was worth the sweet taste and the dopamine rush that came with it. He turned to Mingi, who was already scooping more ice cream as if nothing had happened.

"So what is it?" Yunho asked, staring at the other's side profile. The Christmas lights along the fence at the edge of the promenade made Mingi's skin glow blue, green, and yellow, yet his hair and eyes caught the last of the sun's rays and were speckled with gold.

"What's what?" Mingi said, staring out at the sea, its calm surface the same color as his hair.

"What did you really talk about with Jongho back then? Because you can tell me if he said anything mean." Another gust of wind assailed them, messing up both of their hair.

"No, he didn't upset me." Mingi placed the ice cream down on the bench next to his lap but continued admiring the scene in front of him. "He apologized. He felt sorry for blaming me when I have a legitimate medical condition." He faced Yunho properly now, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "But I feel sorry too. Having dissociative identity disorder doesn't give me an excuse to hurt people. So I'm going to turn myself in to the police."

Silence settled in between them. There was only the roar of rushing water hitting the stone walls of the port and distant chatter of people celebrating outdoors.

"Oh," Yunho finally said, looking down at his lap. "I'm glad you're doing the right thing," he managed to add. And it was true; it was him who wasn't prepared.

Mingi slipped a hand between Yunho's loosely interlocked ones. "I'm only doing this because I know you'll wait for me."

Heart fluttering, Yunho dropped the plushie and angled his body to hug Mingi. "Of course. I've gotten used to waiting for you every night."

Everything around them dimmed as the sun dipped further below the horizon. The boats parked near the harbor silhouetted against the sky, now a purple and pink backdrop that added to the colorful Christmas lights.

They released each other but Yunho barely got time to breathe before Mingi cupped his hands around his face and leaned down to connect their lips. Yunho could still taste the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream against the soft, plump flesh.

Then, as quickly as it happened, Mingi pulled away and stood up, becoming another silhouette against the sunset. Despite his efforts, his brown eyes betrayed a hint of wariness as he eyed the darkening sky.

"I should probably go now. But wait for me." He looked down at Yunho, and with a smile, he finished, "Until the next sunrise."