"I can't stay mad at him," said Yunho. He went to Jongho's apartment after parting ways with Mingi and was now sitting at the dining table with a cup of hot tea around his hands.
Jongho threw a damp rag somewhere near the kitchen sink and sat down next to Yunho. "And what do you want me to do with that information?"
Slightly taken aback by the indifference, Yunho stared down at his tea. Some powder from the teabag drifted around loosely in the liquid. "I know you don't like him because of what happened that nig-"
Jongho interrupted with a loud sigh. "Yes, but I can't judge his character just by that single incident. This is my problem. It's clear that you like him, so I should be happy for you."
The tightness in Jongho's voice didn't go unnoticed. Yunho's heart clenched lightly for the irreplaceable friendship he knew he had with Jongho.
"All I'm trying to say is," Jongho said, placing a hand on Yunho's arm. "Don't give up on what you like because of me."
Yunho smiled.
Jongho removed his hand and continued, "Besides, as I said, Mingi has a certain effect on you. No matter what he's doing, I hope he continues doing it because you seem much happier after you met him."
The smile stretched into a grin as Yunho recalled the first time they met. He knew Mingi's call was special.
Jongho shook his face playfully at Yunho's lovestruck face. Then he stood up and plucked the cup of tea away from Yunho's hands.
"What- I'm not finished with that!" Yunho reached for the cup too, but Jongho angled his body away.
"You've been here too long. You should go now. Don't keep your new boyfriend waiting."
That statement came so abruptly that Yunho didn't have time to react. When the word boyfriend finally sank in, he widened his eyes and stood up, ears already red. "H-he's not my boyfriend!" He paused, then muttered, "...yet."
With a silent smirk on his face, Jongho placed down the cup, suppressing the urge to tease his friend.
"And he's not waiting for me. We parted ways before I came."
"What?" Surprise raised Jongho's voice by a pitch. "Shouldn't you guys be going on a date or something?"
Ignoring the blush creeping out his cheeks, Yunho shrugged. "He said he has to go home for dinner or something. He probably has plans for the night."
Jongho looked out the window. The sky was turning the blue-ish gray color that always came before the darkness fully settled in. The last remnants of sun rays illuminated one corner of the sky, casting a final glow of purplish-red that blended into the expanse of dull color.
Yunho stepped into the open plan kitchen, reached behind Jongho, and retrieved his cup of tea. "It's not the end of the world. It's nice to have time to process our feelings, isn't it?" He took a long sip.
"It's not that," replied Jongho, still staring out the window. His voice sounded distant, like the stars hiding behind clouds in the sky. "There had been a lot of assault cases nearby lately. They all occurred at night when there are fewer people watching."
The playful and light-hearted atmosphere in the apartment dissolved in an instant. They seemed to bring away some of the warmth with them, too.
An involuntary shiver traveled down Yunho's spine even though his brain tried to reason that it was still quite early - the sun had just set.
"It's not like it's the dead of the night right now," he finally said. Voicing the logic in words provided some relief. "I can take public transport if that makes you feel better."
Jongho looked at Yunho with an expression so serious it was almost funny. "And text me when you arrive."
Just to lighten the mood, Yunho answered, "Ok, mom."
With the last mouthful of warm tea still traveling down his throat, Yunho left Jongho's apartment and went out into the night.
The cold air sent daggers to his skin as soon as he stepped out of the building. He wrapped his coat tighter around his body and was instantly reminded of the little interaction he had with Mingi.
Yunho's body battled with the chilly air, just managing to keep him warm until he boarded a bus that would stop at his neighborhood. Looking out the window, he realized it had stopped snowing, the streets now dark and gloomy without the snowflakes compensating the inclement weather.
A small buzz in his pockets redirected his attention to his phone. It was a text message from Mingi.
My flatmate made kimchi stew for me!
Attached was a selfie of Mingi and another young man Yunho assumed to be the "flatmate" mentioned in the message, standing next to a dining table with a large bowl of stew in the middle.
Yunho stared at Mingi's gummy smile, a pang of guilt making his heart clench as he thought back to how he was angry at Mingi throughout the week and realized how selfish it was to do so. It felt so childish now - that he got mad just because Mingi drank a bit too much and was too ashamed to reply to his messages.
The guilt transformed into a sudden impulse to apologize and recompense for his actions somehow. So without another thought, Yunho typed:
Do you want to go out tomorrow?
Yunho's heart beat in anticipation as he waited for a reply. By the time he began to regret his decision, it was too late. The phone vibrated in his hand and a new message popped up.
Sure. What do you want to do?
Yunho hadn't thought so far ahead, but he was sure they could come up with something together. All he could think about was the thumping of his heart threatening to jump out of his chest as it finally dawned on him that his relationship with Mingi was official and developing.
With all the emotions swirling inside him, the fifteen-minute bus ride flew past swiftly.
He stepped out of the bus again, this time with enough body heat trapped beneath his clothes to tackle the freezing temperatures.
The rest of the trip back home had to be made on foot. Keeping in mind Jongho's warning from before, Yunho tried his best to stick to the main roads where there were more people.
Until he eventually reached the last turn and had no choice but to turn into a side road that led to the quieter residential area.
He instinctively sped up his pace, and once he realized the change he told himself it was just him trying to escape the cold as quickly as possible.
The road was empty and dark. With the clouds covering the sky tonight, the only source of light was the yellow circles on the ground cast by old, rusty street lamps. Yunho walked past the gates protecting each of the households' front porches and sped up whenever he came across the occasional forks that led to recycling bins or back doors.
He slowed down almost subconsciously when he was about to arrive at his front door and was about to turn to his gate when he heard distant chatter coming from a bit down the road.
There was no good reason why he should leave the warmth and safety of his house behind - it was only ten steps away - but when he spotted the small crowd spilling out of an alley into the street, he could no longer ignore his curiosity.
The first thing he noticed when he got there was how the alley led back to the bustling city. A police car was parked at the farther end and two police officers were just getting out of it.
Yunho squeezed between the people that formed a semi-circle against one side of the alley, wondering what could have attracted so many people from both the city and the quiet neighborhood where he lived.
He thought for a terrifying moment that it might've been one of the cases Jongho was talking about, but the quiet gasps and mutterings reassured Yunho that it couldn't have been such a horrific scene, or they would've been much more frantic.
When he got to the front of the crowd, he realized he was both right, and very, very wrong.
On the ground next to a dilapidated trolley stacked with folded cardboard boxes were three cats covered in wounds and a lot of blood. Too shocked to look away, he knew he was going to start taking in the horrid details if it wasn't for the police officers ushering everyone to step away.
Someone in front of Yunho stepped back, causing him to stagger. That loss of balance forced him to tear his gaze away from the poor felines on the ground. As he regained his footing and carefully shuffled his way out of the alley, he caught sight of a familiar face.
The man was going towards the opposite side, which meant he probably came from the city. Yunho examined the features - black hair, parted to reveal a bit of forehead, small, almond-shaped eyes, and thin lips.
Soon enough, the dots connected. Yunho recognized the young man as Mingi's flatmate, and the coincidence to find him here was such a surprise that Yunho wanted to call for the stranger's attention, only to realize he didn't know the other's name.
All Yunho saw as he was finally ushered back into the wider street was the slight frown on Mingi's flatmate's eyebrows and the concerned glint in the eyes below them.
The police officers took over the scene and the crowd eventually thinned out. Yunho was the only one left, still occupied with the thought that Mingi might live nearby, if he really did have dinner with his flatmate only fifteen minutes ago.
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Weird stuff is happening O.o