Subtle Differences | Junhao oneshots

Roses, love and other things

In which Minghao receives a rose every morning, but doesn't know who's gifting them to him.

     Minghao woke up to a single blood-red rose perched delicately on his bedside drawer. Its exquisite petals curled outward, and its stem had been cleared of any prickly thorns. He noted that there was also a small piece of paper tied with a thin gold string to the rose. With a slight frown, both in pure confusion and also early-morning grogginess, Minghao picked up the rose, deeply inhaling its luscious scent. Oh, how he loved flowers. He gently untied the string, and opened the note. 

'A rose for you, 
because you have the most precious giggle.
~u'     

     Minghao smiled involuntarily as his eyes flicked over the short sentence that made up the note. "Who could this be from?" He muttered. However, when he flipped to the back of the note, it was blank. No matter how hard he tried to recall, there really wasn't anyone who he had met whose name started with 'u'. Besides, how would they even get into Seventeen's dorm in the first place. Minghao rolled over on his stomach, and shook his roommate's shoulders.

     "Hao, it's 7 in the morning. I know you're an early bird but I actually appreciate my beauty sleep." Junhui sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He struggled to open his eyes, and glanced at Minghao's direction. "Did you hear anyone coming in last night?" Minghao asked. He lifted the rose and the letter, as if it would help. Junhui shook his head. He raised an eyebrow at the items in Minghao's hands. 

     "Where'd you get that?"

     "Beats me. I woke up and it was just on the drawer. The person who left it signed off as 'u' though..."

     "'U'? Who would name their kid starting with the letter 'u'?" Junhui laughed. He shut his eyes and stuffed his face into a pillow.

     "I don't know. Ursula's parents?" Minghao countered. He pushed the covers aside to stand up and grab a vase from their kitchen to place the rose in. He had to admit, whoever left the rose there certainly had great taste in flowers. It was his favourite flower for a reason. 

     "Ursula's a mermaid witch in Disney!" 

     Throughout the day, Minghao couldn't help but keep thinking about the rose. Or more specifically, the compliment in the note attached to the rose. His cheeks grew hot whenever the compliment surfaced in his head.

     "Ooo, who's got you blushing like that hyung?" Seungkwan prodded Minghao's side cheekily. And so, Minghao told the rest of the members about the mysterious rose person. The members seemed just as confused when they heard the story, each swearing they had not left it there. 

     "The person's right though. Your laugh is so cute... just like my Jihoonie!" Soonyoung exclaimed. He hurriedly turned around to grab Jihoon's waist. "Ew, get off!" Jihoon cried. He shoved Soonyoung away, which didn't fail to get laughter out from the members. Minghao, on the other hand, was deep in thought. Who could it be?

     For the next two weeks, Minghao received another four roses, accompanied by one-sentence letters each. They started off the same way, but each letter complimented different parts of him. His dance, his button nose, his serenity and his kindness among many other things. The sign-off on the letters were different too. So far, he'd gotten 2 'u's, an 'i', an 'h' and an 'n'. Every time he received a rose, Minghao would show it to Junhui, much to the older's surprise. Despite not knowing who they were from, Minghao was quite enjoying it. After all, waking up to a rose was never a bad thing.

     Oh, but if only he knew .

Junhui's pov

     Junhui didn't know if Minghao had figured it out by now. It seemed like he hadn't just yet. But tonight, he was finally going to confess. A proper confession. He felt like he was going to combust if he didn't get his true feelings out soon. 

     It was time. The clock read 2:30a.m. Usually he would place the rose and letter at around 2 in the morning. This time, he spent half an hour pacing quietly around the living room, rose in hand. The letter was different this time. Much different. "Oh my god, just do it you idiot." Junhui scolded himself under his breath. He sucked in a deep breath. He walked right up to the room which Minghao and he shared together, and promptly turned right back around. He opened the letter to quadruple check for the last time.

'A rose for you,
because I like you a lot.
~junhui'

     Yep. Very different. And so very scary.

     With one final small pep talk, Junhui tiptoed into their room and left the rose on Minghao's bedside drawer. Then, he silently dove into his bed before he could take back the rose and throw it out the window. He could deal with the aftermath and the likely rejection later. 

     The next morning, Junhui got up extra early to witness Minghao's reaction, but was shocked to see that he was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a rose now waiting on his bedside table. It was identical to the ones he had been giving Minghao for weeks now. He unfolded the letter.

'A rose for you,
because I like you too.
~minghao'

     Junhui was absolutely ready to roll off his bed and out the window. The saints have answered his prayers. Xu Minghao liked him too! Junhui kicked off his covers and scrambled to their dorm's living room. 

     He skidded to a halt when he saw Minghao standing right there, a small smile plastered on his face. Minghao lifted the rose. 

     "Do you really..." Junhui trailed off.

     "like you too? Yep, I'm positive." Minghao grinned. Junhui dashed forward and picked Minghao up in one swift motion, hugging his waist tightly and swinging him round and round. Minghao giggled loudly. It was like music to his ears. 

     "Wait, but how did you know I was going to confess last night?" Junhui asked once he had put Minghao down. He was genuinely curious. 

     "Well, I didn't. I mean, I knew it was you from the start. Not everyone in our dorm has both letters 'u' and 'i' in their name. I didn't know how long it would take for you to finally confess, so I didn't bother waiting too long. I guess our timing's just impeccable." Minghao explained. Junhui blushed bright red, and scratched at the base of his neck, feeling rather embarrassed. He stared down at Minghao's lips. 

     "Can I..?" Junhui whispered. Minghao gave a brief nod, almost breathless at the thought of it. He'd been thinking about this day for a very long time.  The two males came closer, and closer. There was only an inch of space between them. Junhui hooked one arm around Minghao's waist. He closed the gap, placing his lips on the younger's in a sweet kiss. Minghao's eyes fluttered shut, enjoying it for what it was. The older male tilted his head just a few degrees to the right, and suddenly pulling the startled younger flush against his front. Minghao let out a small gasp, and Junhui took the opportunity to push his tongue deeper in. There was a clash of tongue and teeth for a few moments until Junhui took the lead. 

     "Aww, they're so cute!" The two stumbled apart. They rolled their eyes in unison when they spotted Seungkwan and Soonyoung who were trying but failed to spy on them in the hallway. "Busted." they said, eyeing each other and quickly ran away. 

     "Shall we continue?" Junhui smirked. Minghao quickly turned shy and hid his face in Junhui's neck. 

     "Are we boyfriends now?" Minghao asked innocently. He dragged Junhui back to their room and fell on his bed, eager to fall back asleep. 

     "I think so."

This one didn't come out as smoothly as I hoped, but I think I'd keep it this way. Confessions are meant to be awkward anyway.

~lilyl<3vely