Phoenix: Blow a spark || ATEEZ

22| Manifested

Wordcount; 1,100 words

His eyes were looking softly at the other boy's shyness, while they were hurrying down the corridors at a similar pace. Other students didn't mind them, leaving their get-away to run smoothly. Mingi was not sure of where they were heading to, but his intuition told him to follow along with the even taller kid whose name was, Jeong Yunho.

As his heart was thumping against his ribcage in his chest, Mingi tried to calm his nerves from popping too much under his skin, even though that job sounded easier in his head than it actually was. Especially when Yunho's honey-brown eyes were watching his figure ever so warmly. The boy fidget tensely with his fingers when he noticed the smile cornering Yunho's lips and he glanced down at his writhing hands.

"Hey, I heard from someone that this room normally stays empty for any lessons. Let's stay here?"

Dazed, Mingi nodded along to the other's words without comprehending what was just said, and Yunho grinned triumphantly and reached out for Mingi's wrist while he pulled the door open and led them both into the empty classroom. When Yunho turned around to close it again, Mingi's sight went down to his wrist where Yunho's big hands trapped it in a gentle hold. Mingi knew his hands were quite big in contrast to other boy's but those fingers wrapped around his wrist were longer, and his lips opened slightly in awe from the realization of Yunho's tallness.

When Yunho twirled his body around to face Mingi again, his feet suddenly thumped against Mingi's sneakers and his body tumbled forward, his chest barely colliding with Mingi's before his hands fumbled around for anything to steady their loss of balance. Mingi didn't understand what was happening at all until the taller boy had him enveloped in his embrace and his racing heart was the only thing that could be heard. Yunho's face was so close that the boy could feel his light breath touch the tip of his nose, and Mingi felt the urge to draw his sight across the other's features. And he did.

Yunho was looking exactly as he had seen before. His hair was a blonde slightly red-tinted shade, braided short threads in various colors were fastened to sporadic hair roots. His bangs were faintly divided, so Mingi easily could trail his sight to the honey-brown eyes that twinkled whenever he was looking into them. However, he removed his eyes and trailed them further down his handsome appearance until he suddenly wasn't following Yunho's nose anymore, but staring at his naturally bowed lips. They were slightly pulled ajar, and Mingi fluttered stupefied with his eyelashes.

He was hauled out of his daze when Yunho unwrapped his arms from his waist again and leaned back with a tint coloring his face in red.

"Sorry, that wasn't meant to happen," Yunho clarified with an awkward laugh and his hand rubbing his neck in embarrassment for driving his attention anywhere else.

Mingi took a step back, a small laugh leaving his own lips. He didn't want to know how red his cheeks were at this moment and his eyes shot down at his shoes like always, spotting all the dried paint stains that he never bothered removing.

"It's okay, don't worry," Mingi answered, his voice barely noticeable from how he traced his words like a whisper, but he wasn't lying.

Instead, the boy turned around to find a chair and sit down. When he heard the sound of another chair getting pulled out, Mingi shyly glanced to his side to find Yunho smiling back at him. His heart was racing and he could feel the taller boy's touch again.

In the next second, Yunho's voice startled him, "Mingi?"

It was the third day they sneaked away from the others, but Mingi knew that wasn't true. His dreams had been quiet from the moment he met Yunho in person.

"Don't feel too shy around me, okay? Relax there, or you may force your soul out of your own skin."

Mingi swallowed hassled, nodding at the other's words shortly before Yunho held his hand out for him to take. Yunho was radiating calm energies like mild spring weather, asking the younger to braid his fingers into his warm hold like those other times. Mingi lowered his head and pushed his right hand into his pocket before pulling up a soft red, white, and sand-colored stone. When Yunho noticed the gemstone, his eyes lit up but the corners of his lips dropped. The boy carefully placed the stone in Yunho's outreached palm, and for a split second let his eyes fall into Yunho's before he soon placed his hand in the presented one, trapping the stone between their braided hands.

A small smile played along the lines of Mingi's lips when he searched for the older's honey-brown eyes.

Yunho giggled at him, his teeth could be seen in his grin, "Real smooth, Mingi-ya."

The latter blushed and slowly let his head bump against Yunho's shoulder. This feeling was something he easily could get used to, despite Yunho's energies that kept tickling his senses.

"I know far too little about you, Mingi, can you tell me something about yourself?" the blonde asked while he studied the back of Mingi's hand with his fingers. The touch drew a shudder down Mingi's spines.

"I-I guess I can... Although, there's not much, to be honest," he answers.

But Yunho shook his head which caused Mingi to raise his head from his shoulder until the other urged Mingi to lean on him again.

"You know that's not true. Everyone has tales they never tell anyone about. So, what is yours?"

Mingi held his breath, afraid that the words would spill from his mouth if he inhaled. He gasped when Yunho suddenly grabbed his chin and gleamed down into his eyes.

"My mother told me that the dreams I've had lately have been manifested into reality. That we have seen each other before. Is that not true?"

The echo he heard grew louder and louder under the eye-touch of Yunho. He fumbled with the words in his mouth, letting stutters out to be heard while he was nervous if Yunho would just let go again. A warm feeling spluttered in his stomach when visions from the last two months broadened in his mind and he felt how his one cheek now was glowing with the golden letters. Yunho was real.

"I knew you weren't just in my imaginations."

☯