cold | junhao

四十三

Minghao watches Wonwoo's car disappear down the driveway through the curtain, letting it fall back into place when the headlights fade into nothing. Something nudges at his ankle, soft enough that he barely even feels it. But it's persistent, so he looks down, about to shake something off when he sees an adorable little face staring up at him with huge, innocent eyes.

He grins. "Hey darling," he says, scooping Ai up into his arms and cradling her like a baby. Her paws grasp at him as he wiggles them in front of her face. Recently, she's become as excitable as a child going to see Santa for the first time. He carries her back to her bed and she jumps down, landing on the soft material and immediately rolling around in it.

As he's filling up the food bowls, Jun makes his way in and stands beside Minghao. Catching his glance at the three empty beds still lined up against the wall, Minghao smiles softly. "Hopefully they're doing okay." Xing, Shizi and Mei had all gone to new homes, separately although Minghao had begged to let them stay together. In the end they were split, with Mei and Xing being taken in by a family in the city and Shizi going to the other side of the country.

Later on that night finds Minghao and Jun lying side by side, both wholly awake despite their eyelids begging to close. Minghao turns to face Jun, who seems to be staring off into another world. "What are you thinking about?" he asks softly.

He shrugs, "A lot of things."

"Tell me."

There's a moment of silence. "There's so much that could still go wrong," he says. "And I wouldn't have a clue what to do." Jun looks over at Minghao, a sad smile growing into his face. "Maybe..." he sighs, "Maybe this was all a mistake."

"Don't say that." Minghao gently rests his hand on Jun's cheek, brushing his thumb lightly over the elder's cheekbone. "You haven't made a mistake, you've just done something that's kind of out of your comfort zone-"

Jun scoffs, "You could say that."

Humming, Minghao continues, "But there're people who are willing to help you, Jun." He smiles. "I'm definitely not the best person to ask for advice, but I bet Wonwoo would want to help. And I'll be here to cheer you along." His smile stretches into a grin, which Jun follows.

They shuffle closer together, noses barely brushing and Jun inclines his head forward, softly connecting their lips. "I love you," he whispers upon pulling back.

"I love you too," Minghao says. "Goodnight."

Jun laughs softly at Minghao as he yawns widely, and pulls the covers up to his chin. "Night, sweetheart."

Minghao wakes up with the sun the next day, and no matter how hard he tries the summer's ruthless heat won't let him go back to sleep. Glancing at Jun and seeing him still sleeping peacefully, Minghao slides out of bed slowly and tiptoes downstairs, after throwing on a hoodie.

He sits at the kitchen table for a while, Ai curled up on his lap as he absentmindedly runs his hand over her fur while checking through his phone. He opens up a news site—one he's developed a habit of flicking through every morning over the past few years—and pauses. What he sees makes his breath hitch and back straighten. His stomach turns over itself and he almost drops his phone, reaching a hand to cover his mouth as he fights so hard not to scream.

"Oh.... my god," he whispers, before frantically picking the device up again, and rereading the headlines over and over to make sure what he's seeing is real. "No way."

He eventually grins as it sinks in, scooping up a now awake Ai into his arms and staring at her with bright eyes. "Jun better wake up soon," he tells her. "I have a feeling he'll want to read this."