cold | junhao

四十一

Over the next couple weeks, Jun spends most of his days in the building he bought for his company, furnishing everything with left over money from Mr. Kim and setting up a single studio. "Hopefully, if this works out we can move into the city," he mutters to himself as he wanders through the middle of said studio, nodding to the decorators as he goes. 

His phone buzzes. "Hello?"

"Hey, did you get my text?" Minghao's voice is hushed.

"I did," he says, "I'll go shopping in a bit... are you in class right now?"

"Kinda," Minghao chuckles. "But it's individual work. Do I finally get to see what you've been up to the past three weeks?"

Jun hums. "Maybe. What time do you finish? I'll meet you at the bus stop."

After Minghao tells him, Jun ends the call and—hearing the buzzer ring—runs to the front of the building, letting his face morph into one of surprise at the group standing on the other side of the glass.

"Surprise!" Yuqi is the first to yell out, bouncing on the balls of her feet and handing Jun a sizeable bag, to which she stops him as he tries to peek inside. "Not now." Around her, even Renjun has a bright grin on his face, and the two familiar people behind them are also smiling—although Jun can't quite remember their names, he knows one is a photographer and the other is a model from another division.

Yuqi is the first to run in after he steps away from the door, looking round herself eagerly at the minimally furnished lobby. "This is so cool."

Jun laughs. "It's not even done yet." 

"You got any names yet?"

He nods, "I was thinking something like 2-Moon, but I don't know... It just popped into my head."

"Isn't that the name of a drama?" Renjun frowns. Jun opens his mouth, but then he stops in thought, before Yuqi puts in her two cents.

"Ah! That's 2Moons," she says, "It's a Thai show."

Renjun nods, "That's the one."

Jun walks further away from them, drifting off into his own thoughts. He glances back at the small group following them in, but his eyes are drawn to a head of blond hair he completely missed when they were standing outside. 

He halts and waits for them to get closer. Then, his eyes widen. "Seungkwan?"

The boy looks up, face breaking out into a smile. "It's been a while."

"What are you doing here?"

Seungkwan scratches behind his ear. "Well, Renjun called me and asked me if I wanted to come along... I don't even know how he found my number. Did you give it to him by any chance?"

Jun shakes his head. "I don't think so." he shrugs, "I mean, you're here, and I was going to call you eventually anyway, because I'd like you to join my company." Immediately the boy's eyes widen.

"Wait, really?" he says, "Doing what?"

"Modelling."

Jun feels arms wrap around him, and a warm feeling erupts in his chest as he hugs Seungkwan back.

Half an hour later, Jun is sat on the bus and riding into the city. He knows he told Minghao he'd meet him at the bus stop... but yeah that wasn't happening. And besides, surprises are always fun, aren't they?

Thankfully the bus stops right outside where Minghao's classes are, so Jun hops off and only has to cross the street, leaning against a lamppost and waiting for the hour to hit. Some people stare at him as they pass with inquisitive looks, but Jun has kept his sunglasses covering his eyes, and no one pries close enough to recognise him.