"I'm Mingi."
Yunho stared at the blue hair and the brown eyes, the memories from a few days ago fresh in his mind.
He didn't know where to begin, but he remembered what Mingi said to him last night, and how that would mean nothing now, after what he did.
"Wha-" Yunho jerked his head, tearing his gaze away from Mingi's pupils. "I'm...uh, I'm sorry for the inconvenience back there. I made a scene and I disrupted you, didn't I? You should go back in. I can help you with whatever you need."
Feeling as if he was being rude by avoiding eye contact when talking, Yunho braved a glance towards Mingi again. He didn't expect to see an amused expression on the other man's face.
"You don't have to be so nervous. It's not your fault, and I'm not mad at you." Mingi broke into a smile as he spoke, his eyes reacting similarly by squinting into tiny curved slits with wrinkled edges.
Yunho took a moment to realize that Mingi wasn't kidding. He reminded himself that he was talking to the person who complimented him and called him nice, not the person he encountered during the night shift - that had to have been a silly mistake on his part.
Something hot and sour rose up to the back of his nose. The chilly temperatures were getting to him, stinging his eyes, reddening his cheeks, and giving him dry lips.
His heart had to pump harder to deliver warm blood everywhere, and maybe that was why it abandoned its other responsibility to control his emotions.
So Yunho opened his mouth and poured his heart out to a stranger he had just met.
"I'm just...I don't know why - I try so hard but I don't seem to be good enough no matter what I do." His cheeks were flushed red and his upper body was enveloped in a swirl of heat radiating from the inside out.
Yunho rubbed some feeling back into his cold hands before he continued. His body temperature was a mess. "Maybe I've been deluding myself all along. I'm pathetic and useless."
There was a long pause before either of them did anything. Yunho stirred first, suddenly uncomfortable after revealing his insecurities. He couldn't blame anyone though - it took him years to open up to Jongho, so he should've been more careful.
Yunho was wondering how to step out of this social predicament when Mingi wrapped his hand around his freezing ones.
The action came so abruptly that Yunho didn't know what to do other than to feel the warmth from Mingi's hands slowly seeping into his skin. When he finally came to his senses he flinched and recoiled to break the contact.
Embarrassment turned his ears red as he tried to compose himself by clearing his throat and straightening his posture.
Mingi retracted his hand when he saw Yunho's reaction. "Sorry...I," he said, scratching the back of his neck with the same hand he had use to touch Yunho. "It's just me...I'm used to taking care of people, and your hands looked cold, so..."
Yunho wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry at the goofy smile on Mingi's face. The sensation of Mingi's touch lingered on his skin, which turned the awkwardness of the situation into pure discomfort.
He didn't know what Mingi wanted from him, but he knew he had to return to work soon. And work was a good excuse to leave this situation politely.
"It's fine. I should probably go back in now." Yunho stood up, putting his hands inside his coat pockets.
Before Yunho could stand up completely, Mingi grabbed him by the elbow. "Wait, you still haven't told me your name."
Yunho shook his arm free and turned to Mingi, trying not to get annoyed. "It's Yunho," he said, only then remembering the name tag hung on his shirt for everyone to see. Either Mingi wasn't paying attention or he was playing around. "Happy now?"
Mingi stood up just as Yunho was getting ready to leave again.
"I still have something to say," Mingi said to Yunho's back.
Yunho stopped and dipped his head so he was staring at the ground.
"It won't take long," Mingi continued. "I pro-"
"But what if I don't want to hear it?" Yunho finally turned around, frustration leaking through his stony voice. "What if all of this is just a disguise to make me loosen up my guard so that you can hurt me deeper once you show me your true self?"
Mingi blinked, too taken aback to say anything.
Yunho couldn't stop once he started talking. He didn't know what to think, so all he could do was voice out his thoughts. "You're going to tell me what I did wrong earlier, that I chose the wrong job, and that I have no idea what I'm doing. Right?"
"No." Mingi's curt answer came immediately. "I told you before. You're nice, and amazing at your job. Whoever tells you otherwise is wrong. They just don't know you."
Those words almost slipped out of Yunho's brain without being registered. He heard that from Jongho multiple times before. What made this different, and somewhat ludicrous, was that Mingi couldn't possibly know anything about Yunho.
As if reading Yunho's mind, Mingi added, "I know this sounds hypocritical, but I can usually see the good in people, even if they hide it. Unless, of course, they don't have any. But you're not that. You just hid it so well I almost thought you were."
Yunho stared at Mingi blankly, trying to understand simultaneously what he just heard and the weird feeling that came with it. The discomfort dissipated, letting something more abstract take its place.
"You know what, you're not going to listen to me no matter what I say." Mingi stepped towards Yunho.
"What are you doing?" Yunho found his voice again as Mingi pulled his hand out of his pocket.
Instead of recoiling, Yunho stood there and let Mingi hold his wrist. He figured that curiosity was one part of his odd mixture of emotions.
"You'll see," Mingi replied, tugging at Yunho's wrist.
Yunho resisted. "Don't say that like you know me." Irritation fought over the curiosity.
Mingi smirked. "You're right. But I know what you're like."
Yunho hesitated at the certainty in Mingi's voice and the confidence that shone in his eyes. Mingi used this opportunity to pull again, and this time Yunho succumbed to the force.
The third and final emotion surfaced as Yunho trailed behind Mingi with clumsy strides. It was hope - hope that he made the right decision to follow a man he had just met.
They reentered the lobby, where everything was back to normal operation.
Manager Park was waiting at the door. When he saw Yunho he said, "Don't worry. That man is notorious for his tantrums. He always causes trouble here after a Sunday night out. You did everything you could." He patted Yunho's shoulder and walked away, completely disregarding Mingi.
Mingi beamed. Yunho barely had time to interpret the meaning of that before he was dragged along again.
They stopped in front of two staff members standing at the self-service stations.
"Hello! Do you know Yunho?" Mingi asked the two women. Once again, Yunho didn't get a chance to figure out what was happening.
After giving Yunho an awkward smile, the shorter woman finally replied, "Yes." The other one nodded.
"Great! What do you think about him?" Mingi gestured to Yunho excitedly.
"Well..." The shorter woman wasn't a slight bit flustered, as if she had been expecting the question for a long time. "He's very tolerant. I don't think I've ever seen him get mad before. He's quiet most of the times, but he talks things through in a mature fashion instead of getting mad."
Her friend assented with more nods. "You're cool, Yunho," she said, cheeks going pink. "I bet you don't know that you're popular among the female workers here."
That erupted a series of giggles from the two women. Everything above Yunho's collarbone flared up.
Mingi grinned and winked at his interviewees. "Thank you. Have a good day!"
Just as Yunho thought it was over, Mingi turned on his heels and walked back outside, bringing Yunho to the parking lot.
There, he did the exact same thing with the security guard manning the shroff office.
Yunho didn't even drive; he had talked to the guard maybe once or twice. He tugged at Mingi and urged him to leave before an awkward situation arose, but Mingi just kept prodding the old man through the tiny window.
Yunho met a pair of wrinkly eyes that squinted into an eye smile when they recognized him.
"Oh, it's you," the security guard said. "You're the man who gave me your umbrella last time. I'll never forget that."
Mingi thanked the man swiftly and turned to Yunho. "See? I told you I know what you are like."
Yunho flung his wrist loose and took a few steps away from Mingi, trying to steady his breathing as he organised his thoughts.
"Do you realize what you have been hiding from others, and yourself, now?" Mingi asked.
Yunho's heart raced. He didn't want to be too happy in fear that he was deluding himself again, but there was no denying the fact of what he had just seen and heard. That everything Mingi said - that Jongho said all those times - were true.
He smiled, then said, "I think so."