my yellow | yungi

3

In the blink of an eye, it is the new year, and soon, the month of January passes as well. The cold weather, however continues and snowfall becomes less frequent. Mingi spends the last few days of winter break wrapping up his part time job at the record store, and completing the rest of his holiday revision. He was much more productive than he thought he'd be. Seeing everything that he managed to get done during those weeks gave him a huge sense of satisfaction, he also gave himself a pat on the back.

On the first day back in school, mingi reunites with his best friend hongjoong and they sit next to each other for all their classes, including lunch time.

"Sigh, I already feel stressed. It's the first fucking day of school and the teachers are already briefing us on our next exam. I'm still in holiday mood mingi-yaaa." Hongjoong complains, stuffing a piece of kimchi into his mouth.

Mingi gives him a knowing look, he's been thinking about the exam schedule ever since first period. He turns to hongjoong, "can we go to the studio after-"

"Yo small fry! Did you get a haircut? Looks so cute on you!" Mingi and hongjoong hear someone mock from across the cafeteria. They know who that someone is, and they know it's directed at them.

Hongjoong freezes as his face goes red, feeling a hundred pair of eyes staring at him in all directions. Why did they have to do this to him on the first day of school?

For as long as mingi can remember, this group of boys their age have been mocking and taunting the two of them whenever they can. Most of the time the things they say are harmless, but on other occasions their words can get nasty, nasty enough to trigger tears. They try to ignore the bullies, unsure what exactly they did that caused the bullies to target them in the first place. Maybe they seemed like easy target, maybe they were just unlucky, maybe it was mingi's fault because the main bully was the one who made fun of mingi's music.

Hongjoong grips tightly onto mingi's forearm, fingernails digging into his skin, and he tells him that they should leave now. They return their lunch trays and briskly walk out of the cafeteria.

Just as hongjoong's about to punch a fist into the wall, someone calls his name and it's not mingi.

They turn around to see a tall and handsome boy leaning against the lockers. His school uniform fits perfectly around his slender figure, black hair styled trendily, and his lips are a beautiful shade of pink. As soon as hongjoong sees this boy, he nearly folds to his knees, mingi has to hold him up.

"Seonghwa..." Hongjoong breathes, "I'm gonna pass out-"

This pretty boy who can make anyone's jaw drop just by his looks is seonghwa. He's one of those quietly popular guys that everyone, including hongjoong, has a crush on. Before winter break, hongjoong mustered up the courage to confess his feelings to seonghwa, who unexpectedly kissed him right there after the confession. They haven't quite figured out their relationship, but mingi knows they have a thing for each other.

Seonghwa catches hongjoong just before he collapses. His scent is enough to shake hongjoong from his unconsciousness. Seonghwa doesn't speak much, unlike hongjoong who yaps and yaps, but he is the only person that looks at yapping hongjoong with fondness and affection in his eyes, at least from what mingi has observed in the past.

I wish I had someone who liked me like that, mingi thinks everytime he sees the two together. He is glad that hongjoong has a saviour in school, but what about himself? Who will save him?

Seonghwa gets his friends to go back to the cafeteria to scare away the bullies, mingi follows to observe. True enough, the 4 bullies bolted for the exit the moment they walked in, bowing and apologising profusely. Mingi wonders why he can't get that reaction out of them.

He goes to find hongjoong and seonghwa, but they've already left. Now all alone, he feels vulnerable in the middle of the corridor. With nowhere else to go, he allows his feet to bring him to the music studio, where band practice takes place. Mingi pushes past the studio door, taking in the smell of old instruments, before picking up a headset and drumsticks. He plays a few beats, just to get the critisising voices out of his head.

Feeling empty, he whips out his phone to text jongho, asking him if he was free to work on the song now.

Jjong🐻
Hyung I got two people to sing with me, you don't have to ask for me!

Me
That's great🤩
Can't wait to meet them

Jjong🐻
Aren't you with hongjoong hyung?

Me
His very lovely boyfriend took him from me haha
Please come keep me company till my next class

Jjong🐻
How sad :(
We're on our way, with some snacks too cause we haven't eaten lunch

Me
Thanks jjong🙏

Not long after, jongho arrives at the studio, along with two other people behind him, one girl and one boy. He recognises the boy, kind of, where'd he seen him from?

"This is Sera, she's in my year, my class. I thought it'd be interesting to have a female vocalist. And this is Yunho, he's in your year, he's the vice president of the school choir." Jongho explains, pointing to each of his friends as he introduces them.

Mingi introduces himself. He can't take his eyes off Yunho. "I'm sorry, but we met during the winter break didn't we?" He asks, praying that he didn't make a mistake.

Yunho takes one step closer to mingi and a huge smile appears on his face. He nods enthusiastically, saying: "yeah I remember now. It's nice to know you, mingi."

Mingi blushes like an idiot.

"So, jongho. I was right. The singers you had in mind were your senior and someone you liked." He says to distract himself.

That got jongho equally as flustered. "Ah it's not like that. Sera is a close friend of mine. We- we're close. Yeah, close." Jongho protests, eyes fuming when he glares at mingi, but softening when he looks over at Sera.

They work on the song, recording some parts of the chorus and discussing on the line distribution. Jongho knew what he was doing by bringing in two of the most talented singers, who have in fact, never stepped foot into a recording booth before.

"Sorry I'm just so used to singing with lots of other people. Can we try again?" Sera says as they were working on her part.

"No worries, take your time." Jongho reassures, and mingi feels like he's watching hongjoong and seonghwa again.

They have their snacks and wrap up after a few more recordings as mingi has to head back for lessons.

"Thanks hyung for your help. Let's hang out after exams okay?" Jongho suggests.

"Sure, take care. Call me." Mingi gives his cousin a hug before he leaves with Yunho to the seniors' classrooms.

He manages to chat more with Yunho, learning how he and jongho met, what the drama his class had going on, and how his revision was going. The more Yunho talks, the more he feels himself wanting to get closer, like they have so much in common, from hobbies, to favourite musicians. They even agree to exchange numbers, as well as their favourite playlist; it's a music lovers' way of communicating.

Mingi returns to his classroom, feeling much lighter and happier, until he sees hongjoong at his seat, blushing intensely at his phone.

What a long day it has been, he thinks to himself, staring out the classroom window, trying his best not to look emotional.