𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭│𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐮 ✓

70

Odera

Minghao enjoyed his time alone, not having to watch what he says or interact with the people that housed him was far less stress inducing; he had yet to find a way to handle the often overbearing personalities of all the boys.

A foolish part of him previously thought once he made it to Odera everything would instantly make sense but it didn't, how could it?

There were a few people in the house he could trust, Jeonghan was fine since he knew the boy previously and how kind he could be and Mingyu became an unexpected ally since he was always trying to make sure he was okay. Mingyu was the only one that had managed to get much out of Minghao in terms of general conversation, the latter was sincerely grateful for it especially since when he told Mingyu about his paintings back at home the older had returned the next day with canvas and paint which made the dull room he'd come to call his shelter just that little bit more lively.

So that's where he sat, absentmindedly on the floor just letting the painting do itself as he thought about his situation. At current his colour palette consisted of nothing but grey tones.

There were of course people he didn't trust so much, he couldn't blame Soonyoung and Jihoon for distrusting him and he figured others probably shared the same feeling, he couldn't quite work out if Wonwoo took a dislike to him or not but Jun he definitely had a problem with. It ate him up inside that he was the only one that knew the real reason he was there, the fact he could tell anyone or could've even already said something which was the last thing Minghao wanted.

Jun's brazen nature was something to be extremely cautious of and in general he wasn't a big fan of how he'd catch the older staring which caused his mind to instantly decide it couldn't be anything good.

That being said, it was understandable Minghao tensed up when he realised the figure in the threshold of his doorway was none other than Junhui himself. Their eyes locked, both not speaking until Jun decided to break the awkward air with a simple, "Hey,"

"I'm painting, please leave." Came Minghao's blunt reply, sticking his eyes back to his canvas as he tried to ignore the fact Jun's were still burning into the back of his skull.

A short feeling of relief washed over him as he heard footsteps, hoping this meant Jun was quickly defeated and would soon join the others who could be heard loudly bickering and laughing in the living room after a long day.

Unfortunately for Minghao, the footsteps were in fact coming closer.

"Whatcha painting?" Jun asked, all to casually crossing his legs beside Minghao and resting his chin on his knuckles as he inspected the grey mass on the canvas before him.

"None of your business, out my room," Minghao replied, forcing himself not to look at the small pout on Jun's lips. "I like it, abstract stuff is kinda cool and look, that blob of paint looks like Aki!" Jun said, ignoring Minghao's rather blunt comment. "You think that splotch of paint looks like that dumb cat of yours?"

"Yah! Aki is a graceful young lady thank you very much, be rude to me but don't you dare attack my precious baby angel," Jun said in mock offence, daring to flick Minghao on the side of the head. "I saw that thing run face first into the concrete wall in pursuit of a piece of fluff yesterday," Minghao deadpanned.

Jun's bright laugh filled the room, "You're funny Hao," He said, going back to inspecting the painting. Jun figured if he ever wanted to help Minghao he was going to build some sort of trust first and even though it was taking every fibre of his being to not throw in a random awful pickup line like he usually would the soft smile he saw on Minghao's lips was a big enough reward for him.

"Don't call me Hao," Minghao replied, Jun's bright laugh did ease his mind a little bit but he was still pretty annoyed with his solitude being taken away from him.

"If I can't call you Hao can I call you mine?"

Jun couldn't help himself, it was right there. Minghao was just slightly baffled, he'd never met anyone with such a volatile energy and he couldn't deny that was the worst thing he'd heard in a while. "You're something else Wen Junhui,"

"That isn't a no," He shrugged.

Minghao very quickly took the opportunity to shove him, catching Jun off guard and making him throw his hand straight onto Minghao's canvas.

He was so screwed, he'd completely ruined it, he fucked up real bad, he ruined his art, he- he was laughing?

The last thing Jun expected to hear was a pixie like laugh from the younger, it suited him well, giggling uncontrollably at the look of pure horror on Jun's face and an arm completely covered in paint. Jun's features relaxed, he wasn't sure how throwing away all his original plans of how to talk to Minghao and doing the exact opposite found him in this position but he was glad that by some miracle it worked.

Minghao calmed down and properly inspected his painting, he thought the arm actually made quite an interesting addition so he smiled at the abstract piece anyway. It made him realise he was worried over nothing, Jun wasn't waiting for a rainy day to spill all his secrets and he was unapologetically himself, maybe he could learn something from him.

"Oh, let me get some wipes," He said, the paint was acrylic so it didn't take Minghao long to realise he'd have to act fast unless Jun wanted a massive grey patch on his arm for a few days.

Jun nodded and to his surprise when Minghao came back he grabbed his arm optionally, cleaning up the paint for him, "You're pretty good with your hands huh?"

"Jesus Christ I will throw you out that window along with your vulgar humour and that dumb cat," Minghao said exasperatedly, making sure to rub Jun's arm a lot harder so it hurt him.

"Ow okay, okay fine,"

They locked eyes and were able to smile, the short time managing to clear up the bad air successfully albeit in a rather unconventional way.

Jun understood now, Minghao had enough serious, far too much serious for any one person to deal with and he didn't need more of that. He could help heal Minghao in his own way, not pushing the bad things aside but creating a better future so that they're not a problem anymore, that's something he could do.