𝐘𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢 | 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ✓

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

With his heart pounding, Mingi turned around and his eyes met Yunho's.

____________

July 3, 2023

Mingi's throat tightened as he watched Yeosang and Yunho walk towards them. He turned to Jongho.
"I can't do this. It was a stupid idea," he whined. Jongho chuckled. "Calm down and think about what you want to say to him," he said. And that was exactly the problem. Mingi had no idea what to say to Yunho.

"Hey." Yeosang greeted the entire group of friends and smiled at Mingi. Mingi didn't know how to react. He didn't know if he could still call Yeosang a friend now. "So you're Yeosang." Jongho was the only one to speak. Wooyoung remained silent, probably afraid, and Mingi looked at Yunho. Yunho looked at Mingi calmly. What was he thinking? Mingi had no idea.

Yeosang pulled a chair back from the table and sat down. Yunho did the same. Both wore black leather jackets, as they almost always did. "Yes, that's right and you must be Jongho and Wooyoung, I've heard a lot about you," Yeosang said. Mingi smiled sheepishly. "Only good things, of course." he said and Jongho grinned at him. Mingi fell silent again and looked thoughtfully at Yunho. He wanted to talk to him alone, but he couldn't just say it, could he?

"Mingi, didn't you want to talk to Yunho about something?" Wooyoung suddenly said and Mingi glared at him before turning nervously to Yunho.

"We'd better go somewhere else," Mingi said in Yunho's direction, swallowing. As nervous as he was, how was he supposed to get any sound out at all? Yunho nodded and stood up from his chair again. Jongho gave Mingi a smile before Mingi also stood up and walked past Yunho with trembling legs. They walked towards the exit. "Where should we go?" Mingi asked after turning to Yunho. "To your place?," Yunho said, shrugging his shoulders.

They both left the bar. They walked down the dark alley towards the dormitory. Mingi put his hands in his jacket pockets so that Yunho wouldn't notice how much he was shaking. Mingi swallowed again before he spoke.

"What happened after we went to the sea? Who kidnapped you?" Mingi asked, hoping that Yunho wouldn't give him the cold shoulder. "It's better if you don't get involved anymore, Mingi. I've already put you in enough danger. And now that Hongjoong and Seonghwa think you're dead, it's best if you go back to your life."

Yunho's voice sounded so strangely calm that it made Mingi even more nervous. "And they believe you that I'm dead?" Yunho shrugged his shoulders. "They're not stupid and they'll find out when we meet again."
Mingi stopped abruptly on the path. Yunho stopped as well and turned to face Mingi. "What are you saying?"

"I came with Yeosang today so we could say goodbye," Yunho said. Mingi shook his head immediately. "Are you kidding me?" he blurted out. He didn't want to get upset, but he was no longer in control of his emotions. "After everything I had to go through for you. I almost died, Yunho, and now I'm supposed to..." the older man interrupted Mingi before he could finish his sentence. "That's exactly why, Mingi. It was stupid of me to look for you. I'm sorry, but you don't belong in my world."

Mingi sighed loudly. "You can't decide that on your own." Yunho looked at Mingi piercingly. "You can't just kidnap me and then expect me to carry on as before. And you can't decide for me whether I belong in your world. What if I want to belong in your world?"

Yunho furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?" he then asked. Mingi looked around. "Let's talk at my place instead," he said and went ahead. All his nervousness had disappeared. Now all he could feel was frustration.

......

Mingi unlocked the door to his room and let Yunho in before closing the door behind him. Yunho looked around the room with interest while Mingi put his things away and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to say. He didn't care what would happen after this, in the worst case he would lose Yunho, which he would either way if he did nothing. So he didn't really have anything to lose.