"Minghao... How did you even know?" Mingyu mumbled, seated in the back of one of his mother's cars, as he spoke into his phone.
Minghao had demanded he call him during his journey till his accommodation – Mingyu had no idea where he was headed to. He was aware of Minghao zooming behind the car, on his own motorbike; he didn't think it was wise of Minghao to do so, but he couldn't really tell him that.
Minghao chuckled, and then proceeded to tell him what all he had done. "One of our professors announced about an exchange student just this morning, saying it was an impulsive decision to accept such a student in the middle of the year. That kinda clicked it off, because no sane person would go abroad as a fucking exchange student, in fucking November. It could either be you, or that girl Lee... Chaeyeon? Chaeyoung? Same difference, but you get my point. Only filthy rich people have the guts to pull such stunts, within twenty-four fucking hours," Minghao explained, neither stuttering nor stopping even once.
Mingyu was left stumped in awe as he listened to whatever he revealed. Minghao continued, "I then went to the principal's office for more information. He's a menace, but I still wanted to try. I did end up getting him to tell me, though I was like ninety percent sure it would be you. And yeah, since the professor announced a new student would be joining from tomorrow, I figured you'd be arriving today itself. It took too many chances to guess, but they did turn out the way I wanted them to,"
"You're really... Smart, Minghao,"
"Thanks, I get it a lot,"
Mingyu could hear the smirk in his words, causing him to roll his eyes. "Thank you for being there, though,"
"It's alright, I knew communicating would be difficult after me and Soonyoung left, despite the promises we made. This is the least I could do,"
"Have you heard from him?"
"I did, back in term break. He hasn't been easy to find ever since this term began,"
Mingyu's shoulders slumped at the thought of Soonyoung going ghost. All he could do was send him a text, and hope he responded.
"How's life been for you?" Minghao asked, voice a bit clearer, since both him and Mingyu waited at a stoplight.
Mingyu had a feeling Minghao understood enough from the heavy sigh he huffed, as Minghao only hummed in response, remaining silent for a while later.
"It's alright, I guess. At least you won't have your shit mother at your ass for a year,"
"I don't care about that, well, I do, but not that much. I'm more worried about Wonwoo,"
The way Minghao's voice sounded strained afterwards told Mingyu that he clearly hadn't liked Wonwoo being mentioned in the conversation. "Why are we talking about him?" Minghao gritted.
"I uh-" Mingyu was clueless as to how he should go about updating the boy with the new settings in his life without digressing too much. "Is it alright if I call you later? Or you could, like, sneak out or something at night, we'll meet up somewhere,"
"Sure, but I don't like where this is going,"
"You don't know shit, Minghao, it's better if you listen up,"
"Whatever you say,"
--
Mingyu, eventually, found sneaking out, even if his mother wasn't around, wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. His chauffeur was unnecessarily clingy, and it irked him, preventing him from stepping even a toe outside of his line of sight.
"I'll be off to sleep now, you could go... Wherever you're required to be,"
Mingyu politely called the older man off, at ten in the fucking night, as he hadn't left Mingyu alone yet.
"But-" The chauffeur retaliated.
"I said. I'm off to sleep, you can go," Mingyu didn't hold back from showing his frustration openly, hoping the man would understand.
Gladly, he did, and Mingyu slammed the door of his temporary apartment in his face, huffing loudly. Just when he was actually about to go and sleep, probably, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Right, he had to update Minghao too. Mingyu winced, he really wanted to sleep, and avoid the conversation.
"Hi?" Mingyu squeaked, after swiping on the blinking green icon on his phone screen.
"Talk,"
"Yeah, uh, Wonwoo and I are uh- Fr- Closer than earlier. No grappling at each other's throats. Nothing of that sort,"
"Fucking hell, Mingyu, are you insane?!"
"It's a lot of explaining,"
"I have all the time in the world, go ahead," Minghao interrupted.
"I don't think Wonwoo would appreciate his personal business being talked about,"
"Since when do you care about his feelings?"
Mingyu thought twice over whether he should say anything further. He decided to let Minghao in on just a bit of information, just so he didn't grip his neck until he suffocated. "He's, um, been through a lot of shit. That's it,"
"He told you?"
"Nope. I saw it,"
"Gods, Mingyu, how fucked up has this year been for you?!"
"It's been pretty normal, honestly. Just a few... Unexpected things came up,"
"See this is all good, but I would still be careful around him,"
"I am, Minghao, but I really don't think that's necessary anymore. I've seen through him, kinda, and he's told me stuff too. And I don't think he's the kind to lie about shit like this either,"
Minghao exhaled loudly, his voice rippling through Mingyu's phone. Mingyu patiently waited for him to speak, looking out into the night sky as he did. The boy had made his frustration apparent, but Mingyu still anticipated a reply. An accepting one, hopefully.
"See, if you trust him, that's good. But I just want you to be careful,"
"Thank you, Minghao. Others haven't been too fond of me hanging out with him,"
"Others?"
Mingyu groaned, discomfort boiling into him rapidly. "Mother makes it a point I spend most of my time with Lee Chaeyeon,"
"Fucking hell..."
"I know. She was nice in the beginning, but ever since she noticed I talk to Wonwoo openly, she isn't as nice. I didn't know she was so shallow,"
"All rich people are," Minghao said. "Not you, though," he added hastily, realising Mingyu might misunderstand.
Mingyu laughed instead. He knew Minghao wasn't judgmental. "It's fine, Minghao, I know what you meant,"
"It's nice to know you're in a better mood now," Minghao whispered, making Mingyu grateful for having someone to talk to, when earlier he'd thought he'd be stranded for a whole year.
