Carefully slipping into the barstool beside Yunho, one of the first things Mingi noticed was the concerned, worried glance that the bartender shot him. Without Yunho having even spoken, he immediately started serving up a drink that looked and smelled suspiciously like poison. Sliding it across the bench, Yunho took it without even looking up, only nodding thanks.
Looking between Yunho and the bartender, Mingi wondered what kind of understanding the two had.
'Can I get you anything?'
Mingi glanced at him, taken aback for a moment by just how concerned he looked and sounded. 'Probably...'
Just then, Yunho took it upon himself to suddenly swig back the entirety of his drink in one go, slamming the glass back down on the counter once he was finished.
Jumping at the sudden abrasive movement and sound, Mingi noticed the bartender flinch also.
'Preferably something strong.'
Mingi gave the guy a kind, appreciative smile, watching for a moment as he refilled Yunho's glass, and then set to work on some particularly dangerous looking concoction.
In just a few moments, he was served with a white russian which smelled suspiciously strong of vodka, so much so that it burned his eyes and his nose when he came too close.
Cringing, Mingi glanced at Yunho for a moment, stalling drinking the poison before him. However when he saw him literally shaking with anger, Mingi sighed.
Tearing his eyes from Yunho's tensed back and suppressing his intense urge to knead out that excruciating looking tension, Mingi pivoted back to the front.
Picking up his particularly deathly smelling drink, he took a deep breath, pinching his nose and counting to three before downing the lot like some disgusting concoction dished up by a nurse. It stung his mouth and his throat and his nose and made him cringe as the strong taste of vodka and coffee liqueur burned every surface it touched, making his eyes water.
Good.
Gently placing the glass back on the marble bench, he took a few deep breaths, mainly to try and lessen the damage done by the taste. But without only a few moments passing, his stomach already felt tipsy and tighter, making him wonder what on earth the percentage alcohol content had been precisely...
'Mingi you didn't need to come here.'
Distracted, he looked over at him. Still staring down through the golden liquid to the crystal adorned bottom of the glass, he twirled the syrup back and forth, watching the light reflecting onto the bench.
He looked so tense and upset and angry and broken, that it hurt for Mingi to just look at him... 'I couldn't let you leave by yourself.'
Seeing the way his jaw tensed, Mingi suddenly froze, worried that his voice had only made things worse. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut?
But after the initial long moment passed, Mingi watched with trained eyes, surprised as he saw the muscles in Yunho's back relax a little. It had only been a slight change, but to Mingi, it was much more than that. It was enough to tell him that when Yunho gritted his teeth and forced out 'I don't want you here,' it had likely been a lie...
'I don't believe that.'
Yunho's swirling stopped, his whole body unmoving. His eyes slowly closed, and once they were shut, Mingi could have easily mistaken him for a statue.
He was exhausted. Pained and irate and tired. It showed in every aspect of his body, and it was all Mingi could do not to reach out and comfort him...
'What that doctor did was wrong.'
Yunho's back tended upon hearing Mingi's words, clear for literally anyone to see. He bit into his lip hard, before letting it go to grit his teeth, and as he did, his jaw tensed beyond what looked painful...
'Yun, I feel like you know more than I do...'
Yunho let out a spiteful outtake of air, shaking his head in disgust. 'You have no idea.'
His voice had been so sharp and jarring that it startled Mingi a little, just by the harshness of his words alone. And although it had just been a small flinch, it had apparently been something that caught Yunho's attention.
His eyes dropped down to glance over his shoulder at him, the veins popping in his neck and his expression so full of different emotions, all at their extremes, that Mingi couldn't pull a single one apart to identify it.
'Mingi, you should go home. I don't want to snap at you.'
Mingi naturally stood his ground, completely disregarding his words. 'Yunho don't waste your time, I'm not going anywhere. You can snap at me if you like, I really don't mind.' He kept his voice steady and determined, making it painfully clear that he wasn't going to move an inch.
And after just a few moments of Yunho looking at him, he saw him give in. Returning his gaze back to his drink, he tapped his index fingernail against the rim of his glass and tensed his jaw in rage. His tongue poked into the inside of his cheek with sheer anger, but his shivering stopped, safe for the occasional tremble that made his head tremble for a split second.
He wasted no time, letting out a massive huff and picking up his glass to down the last of the poison, before placing it down slightly less aggressively than last time.
His cheeks were already starting to flush peach over his skin, his pupils becoming wide, and Mingi suddenly worried just how much he was planning on drinking.
And so turning back to the front, Mingi made eye contact with the bartender. Water? he mouthed, holding up two fingers.
Nodding, he immediately filled two glasses and placed them down on the bench, but not without shooting Mingi an apprehensive glance.
It made him wonder just how often Yunho ended up this level of pissed off...
Taking a deep breath, Mingi slid one of the glasses across the marble bench to him. He watched as Yunho glanced at it for a few extended moments, but to his disappointment, yet not surprise, Yunho turned back, ignoring it altogether.
Biting his lip, Mingi drew in another steadying breath. With each passing minute, he could see Yunho's flushed cheeks turning from peach to ruby, and he couldn't bring himself to sit back and pretend he hadn't noticed.
And so reaching across, he slipped the empty glass from his fingers and gently closed his hand around the water. Ignoring the tingling he felt where their skin touched, Mingi gave his hand a squeeze.
'Yun-ah, drink,' he softly encouraged, his voice gentle yet stern.
And to his complete and utter surprise, after only a few moments, Yunho sighed, giving in and raising the glass to his lips; taking a small sip.
Taking a shaky breath of relief, Mingi sat back, relieved beyond belief that Yunho still listened to him. It made him just that little bit more confident to press forth.
'Yun-ah, I know I don't know everything, and I won't profess to have the answers that you're looking for... But Yun... Spend this time now being mad... You can be as angry as you want. You can swear and you can yell and you can scream and you can cry and you can snap at me and take it all out on me if it helps. It's okay to be mad. You're allowed to be mad.
But Yunho, I can see you thinking... Don't make any decisions right now. Don't ask yourself what you should do, and don't even think about it. You're not in the right mindset to make decisions right now...'
Having completely expected him to snap at him for butting into something that was technically none of his business, Mingi felt a wave or surprise wash over him as he saw Yunho listen to him. With every word that he had spoken, Mingi saw his hands relax just a little around the glass, and he saw his jaw calm just ever so slightly.
And without even being asked, he lifted the glass of water to his lips and took a sip, before gently placing it down with a small, gentle tap.
He's in so much pain...
Was he really expected to sit there all alone? Was Mingi really supposed to just sit there and watch?
Seeing the sheer tension in his back, Mingi felt his resolve wearing thin. Never once in his life had he sat, leaving someone in pain alone. It wasn't something he would want for himself, and it wasn't something he felt comfortable doing.
Seeing his arms and shoulders tense, his veins popping over his muscles, Mingi couldn't resist the severe urge he felt to reach out and touch him to smooth away his tension any more...
Gently reaching forward, he ever so softly flattened his hand against his shoulder blade. Eyes widening a little upon feeling just how tense his shoulders were, Mingi stayed still for a moment, testing the waters.
Beneath his touch, he felt Yunho's entire body tense even tighter for a moment, before, to Mingi's complete surprise, he relaxed... More than half of the tension in his muscles flowed away, leaving knots behind that Mingi just knew must have pained so badly...
Gently rubbing his thumb over one spot, Mingi felt his chest ache as Yunho's torso ever so slightly leaned into his touch. Not pulling away and not telling him to get off, he instead kept his eyes focussed down intently on his glass.
Rubbing with a little more intent, Mingi slowly loosened his shoulder, before gently moving his hand up and massaging his thumb lightly against his tender trapezius... It caused his head to roll around under the tender touch, and just when Mingi had thought he would shrug away, he leant his elbows down on the bench and let his head rest heavy in his hands, allowing him to do as he pleased.
Seeing him so helplessly mad at the world made Mingi's chest pain. It wasn't fair.
No words spoken between them, he slowly felt Yunho tense and relax under his touch, and could sense his emotions causing each exacerbation. The more he was left alone with his thoughts, the more his posture arched, slowly causing him to crumble under the weight of the world upon his shoulders.
And with countless minutes slipping by, when Mingi encouraged him to drink from his water, he did exactly that.
But with each sip, it felt as though something was slipping within Yunho, and by the time he had finished the last drop; the moment the glass touched the countertop, Mingi felt something inside him break.
It snapped like a tightwire and within a split second, he felt everything inside Yunho shatter. Choking up, he dug his face into his hands as his shoulders started to quake, not with anger, but with helplessness. Pain washed over him, and as he reached his end, tears replaced his rage.
Mingi's heart broke for him.
Immediately dragging his stool over, he faced the teary boy and put one arm around his back, rubbing across his shoulder blades. However as he enclosed him in his arms, holding him tightly, Mingi felt him give in entirely. He leant into his touch, collapsing against his chest with his head dug into his hands against his shoulder, and Mingi knew he was completely broken.
And so Mingi cradled him in his arms and let him take refuge against him. He tried to block out the rest of the world and give him the gift of safety and security... A little private space for him to sort through his emotions one by one at the pace he chose, not the one the people and surroundings chose for him.
'Min-ah...'
Mingi's heart paused for a moment as his hyper aware ears picked up the soft sound of Yunho's broken voice. There was such emotion in that one word that Mingi could barely understand how Yunho wasn't far more of a mess now than he was.
'Min-ah,' he repeated, but Mingi didn't detect a single hint of a question. If anything, it sounded like he was saying his name just for the comfort of having something to say... Something to focus his energy on to distract from the pain of having his heart shattered into a trillion little pieces.
'Min...' he whispered, keeping his face covered by his hands.
Mingi spun Yunho's seat a little towards him a little more, and slipping one knee between his, Mingi let Yunho fall more comfortably and intimately against him, wrapping his arms around his back and to massage away the knots in his muscles.
Still covering his face with his hands, Yunho rested the back of his hands against Mingi's shoulder, the side of his head brushing against Mingi's cheek.
And taking Yunho's coat from the bench, Mingi opened it up and put it over his back and neck, covering them with a blanket that shut out the world peering in at them from the outside.
'Min...' he whispered against him, gently and bravely moving his hands one at a time, letting his tear stained face rest in the nook of his neck, and his hands rest down in Mingi's lap, holding ever so gently onto the fabric of his shirt.
Pulling the coat further up around them to create a dark little safe haven, closed off from the rest of the world, Mingi rubbed his back under the coat. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he whispered, and the moment the words left his lips, he felt Yunho's entire back relax a little more, his weight entirely against him.
'Min-ah...
Min-ah...
Min...'
~~~
A/N: Oh my god I laugh. One of the Drs on today was named Dr Aishh... I find that as just peak comedy level hilarious. And on top of that, I somehow managed to end up in a dating scandal with one of the new residents. ➖👄➖ I literally feel like iv'e stepped into a netflix special. Anyways, enjoy the chap. I'm sobbing.