❁ཻུ۪۪ 𝙁𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙐 || 𝙂𝙔𝙐𝙃𝘼𝙊

FIVE .

┈─ ˚ . FIFTH ADMITTANCE . ˚ ─┈
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they don't see each other as much as they'd like their senior year. not when the two were both equally as busy with graduation.

maybe if they had met sooner, they'd have more time.

minghao thinks that's a wasted dream.

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he doesn't fall for mingyu again till gradution.

the latter managed to pull minghao aside right before the ceremony. usually, the chinese would be full of protests, but he hasn't seen mingyu in months, and he was beginning to miss his presence.

just who in their right mind would refuse kim mingyu anyway?

definitely not minghao.

not in this lifetime.

"we're going to be left behind if we don't go back–" he begins, but mingyu shushes him in between, biting back a smile as he led him further away from the large crowd of students.

"i promise you won't be late, okay? just humor me!"

minghao's definitely screwed in the future if he can't bring himself to say no to a simple request. he'd do whatever mingyu asks of him if he could.

so, having no choice but to give in, minghao follows close behind, wondering just what it is that mingyu sought him out for.

"okay, just one second. wait right here! i left it in my bag." he watches mingyu scurry off towards a classroom he assumes is his homeroom. he wonders if things would be different if they had the same one, maybe in another life they'd be closer than they are now. maybe, even more. 

to keep himself occupied he plays with a loose string from his graduation gown, figuring he might as well seem like he's not ecstatic to see what gift mingyu may bring him. 

the more he thinks about what it could be; the more he has no clue.  

the blonde was just about to lean against the brick wall behind him before mingyu's footsteps echo throughout the hall. "you couldn't be any louder?" minghao teases and the taller sheepishly shrugs, "sorry, i'm excited heh."

he holds out a small pink box decorated in green splatters, and minghao hesitates. "wait," he looks up from the box, "you were actually serious?" when he receives an eager nod the blonde feels his stomach flutter. 

from the way mingyu looks like he may rip the box open himself minghao takes it, gently lifting the top up to place it underneath the lower part. "a bracelet?" he holds up the silver band, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. 

"it's a charm bracelet!" the dark-haired exclaims, his smile somehow gets bigger. 

and yet, minghao just stands there looking confused, like a deer in headlights. 

"a charm bracelet?" he repeats, enunciating every word slower like mingyu must've gone insane. 

mingyu takes the bracelet and pulls minghao's wrist, "you mentioned you lost it that day we went to the nurse." he mutters, taking an unnecessary step closer to the blonde. "i did?" the chinese questions again, you'd think he'd have amnesia. 

he can't help the way he feels so unnaturally drawn to mingyu's deep chuckle, "yeah minghao, you did. when you got that black eye, remember?" oh. i did say that, didn't i?  he doesn't bother to comment on how long it takes mingyu to finish clasping the bracelet onto his wrist, or how he notices the way mingyu's touch on his arm lingers a bit too long for just a piece of jewelry. 

mingyu doesn't say anything when minghao's finger grazes his knuckles, he never bothers to pull away when they interlock pinkies either. 

"yeah, i remember now." minghao whispers, still looking down at the bracelet, completely missing the way mingyu looks at him with stars in his eyes. 

they pull away when the speaker plays their graduation song. 

minghao replays the way their hands fit perfectly together till he falls asleep, unknowingly blind to the hope that they'd stay in touch.  

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he thinks of mingyu a month later, after landing his first job. 

and when he goes out for drinks with old colleagues. 

mingyu pops up in his mind when he finds himself at a diner with soonyoung. a breakfast platter in front of them, yet all he could think about were talks in the rain and the smell of hot cocoa.

when a year passes and he goes on his first date, the silver band full of new charms sits idly by on his dresser. 

it's two years later when the cherry blossoms spring. he stops in the middle of his walk, raising his hand to block the ray of sunlight that threatens to blind his view. another charm dangles against his wrist as he waits. 

he can't remember what he's waiting for anymore. 

"minghao!" 

when he turns around, he's greeted by joshua and jihoon, old colleagues of his. with a grin he runs up to them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders as they fall into an endless chatter towards their destination. 

he misses the tall, dark hair that rushes past him to his left, just where jihoon stands, wrapped under his arm.