ＭＥＴ ＹＯＵ ＢＹ ＴＨＥ ＰＩＬＥ ＯＦ ＳＴＲＡＷ

garbage man minho to the service

the next morning, minho went on his everyday run.
since he promised that he will leave the waterfall to jisung, he went into a different direction.
and also, he wanted to make himself feel better.

running on a path trough a meadow, minho was looking around, trying to remember if he ever ran on this path.
probably not.
at thirteen, Minho didn't like running.
it's a shame tho, the nature around here was beautiful.
almost magical.

making his way back on the ranch, grandma was already waiting for him.

"did you enjoy your run?"
she asked him, giving him a bagel with cream cheese and a glass of water.

"yeah."
minho nodded, immediately grabbing the water and chugging it down.

"well that's good to hear, but unfortunately, you have to go immediately. hyunjin, jake and jay are already waiting for you."
grandma said, literally stuffing Minhos mouth with the bagel, before giving him gloves into his hand.

"what? where should I go?"
minho asked, his mouth full.

"on the side of the ranch, right behind the corner. the truck arrived early, so they already started without you. no go."
grandma shooed him away.

minho nodded and did a quick jog behind the corner of the ranch, seeing the three boys that he was already a bit familiar with.

"oh, look who is here."
jay smiled, bringing the other two boy's attention on Minho.
"you ready to start?"

minho nodded, putting the gloves on his hands.
"mhm. so, what am I supposed to do?"

"see all of these trash bins?"
jay said.
"we have to go through them and see if there is any nice things we could feed the animals with. we don't want anything with mold, and things that are dangerous for the animals."

"after we go trough the bins, we will divide it into three separate containers. one is for horses, second one for cows, and the third one for the sheep's."
jake said, opening one of the trash bin.
"how about you started with this one? I didn't look into this one yet, it could be interesting."

minho sighed.
"well, it's not like I have a choice, do I?"

"you can get out of this ranch."
hyunjin said in a joking way.

"no can do."
minho said, looking into the trash bin.
"so now I shall become a garbage man."

•~•

"you know what guys? this is not that bad. my back is killing me tho."
minho said, as he threw away a moldy apple.

"you're gonna get used to the back pain eventually. this job isn't that hard, it's actually sorta fun."
jake said, going trough one of the last trash bins.

"of course it's fun, he's here with us."
hyunjin chuckled, sitting on one of the empty bins.
"so, how long will you be here?"

"a month."
Minho said, closing the lid of an empty bin he just finished going trough.

"well, that's a good news for you. you will only have to do this three more times and you will be back home."
jay said.

"and trust me, after you will help with the cows, you're gonna BEG for this job."
jake said.

"oh definitely."
hyunjin agreed.

"is it that bad?"
minho asked, actually getting a little terrified.
"jisung told me something similar yesterday."

hyunjin tensed up slightly when jisungs name was mentioned.
"so you were working with jisung yesterday?"

minho nodded.
"mhm. it was fun."
he said, sitting down on the ground.
"but what about the cows?"

"well...it's a one thing taking care of cows, and taking care of cows with mingi, san and wooyoung."
jake snorted.

"and that's all you need to know."
jay chuckled.
"here, take this container and carry it to the stables. since you already know jisung, it would be better if you went to put this somewhere that you actually know. me and jake will go carry the second container to san, and hyunjin can go give the third to yunho."

hyunjin had this frown on his face that minho couldn't quite understand.

minho nodded, taking the container jay was giving him and he made his way towards the stables, where he saw jisung and a guy he was pretty sure was felix brushing the horses.

"yo, jisung!"
minho yelled.
"I survived! I got the vegetables."

jisung chuckled, walking towards minho and taking the container from him.
"thanks. congratulations on your fist time job as a garbage man."

"I forgot to do a selfie for my mom."
minho frowned.
"maybe it's better that way."

felix laughed.
"you're funny. I like you."

"thanks, I like to think my humor is my biggest charm."
minho said proudly, making all of them smile.

"well, thanks for your delivery."
jisung said, putting the container down.
"what are you going to do now?"

"probably shower. I feel like I smell like shit right now, and also I went on a run right before I started working, so I'm a bit sweaty."
minho shrugged.
"then I gotta ask grandma what to do."

"you will probably be free."
felix said.
"it should be around eleven right now, and from one to two pm you have time to go into the close village and buy something for lunch, or you just eat your prepared lunch. you could come with us. me and jisung are going there to get these super good sandwiches."

"oh, okay. well im gonna ask grandma if that's okay, and if it's alright, I will join you?"
minho asked, slowly walking away backwards.

"yeah, we're leaving at one fifteen, so if you will be here, you can come."
jisung nodded, a small smile on his face.

"okay then, I will be right back with the final verdict."
minho gave them a thumbs up, before he started jogging away into the main building.

"he's nice."
felix said, a small smile on his face.

jisung nodded.
"he's fun to be with."

"you think he's gay?"
felix whispered.

"felix, sweetheart, you can't gush over every single hot guy your eyes land on."
jisung playfully rolled his eyes.
"besides, I thought you had a thing for hyunjin."

"we both know that he has eyes only for you."
felix snorted, sitting down on the small chair.

"I still highly disagree with that statement. we're just friends."
jisung said, as he continued brushing one of the horses.
"and I think you and hyunjin would look amazing together."

felix sighed, looking outside of the stables, seeing hyunjin walking around with jake and jay, laughing at some jokes.
"now the only person who has to see that is him."

jisung gave him a small smile, before patting his back.
"he will. you're an amazing person. I'm giving you guys a month and you will be together."

"geez, i wonder how many times you said something like this."

"shut up, you're ruining the moment."