Sea of Stars ∞ ATEEZ AU

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

6 months ago

"So, you're telling me you want to stay here? Temporarily?"

"Well, kind of, at least, until we find, um... a more conventional place to stay."

The blue-haired man sat opposite gestured to his surroundings.

"Is this not conventional enough?"

Mingi forced himself to hold in his sigh. He and Yunho had been sat on the same sofa for at least an hour now. The fabric of the seating reminded him of his patience – worn and frayed at the edges from years of someone absentmindedly picking at the loose strings. He could feel his backside aching from the lack of movement, and the bony structure of his seat didn't help either. Yunho, on the other hand, seemed to be paying no attention to the pain the upholstery inflicted on him, choosing instead to engage in conversation with the odd-haired man on the other side of the sofa.

Now that he thought about it, the figure sat opposite couldn't possibly be a man, could he? Judging by the fact that he had barely reached Yunho's shoulders when he had come to greet them, it would've been easier to classify him as a boy, perhaps a year or so older than him.

Mingi stole a glance at the dark, piercing eyes and elegant nose before concluding that, what he lacked in size, he made up for with his aura. The same, mysterious ambience mirrored in the rustic interior of the warehouse he now observed. Rusty metal beams glinted silver when the sunlight hit whatever part of them still had reflective properties left, and the same rust seemed to have eaten away at parts of the wall by the looks of it, leaving behind a trail of jagged, brown-rimmed holes. Underneath this cavernous and seemingly dangerous structure, several crates joined together to form a makeshift table and chair. A loose-hinged cupboard sat looking sorry in a corner — it's shelves empty apart from a few scattered books — next to which Mingi guessed was a drumkit and musical keyboard of some sort.

The whole structure was dilapidated, but in a dignified sort of way; it was as if the person who lived within refused to conform to their unfortunate situation. Was it strange it reminded him so much of himself? Of course, that was before he had taken his head out of the clouds. Daydreaming was for losers or those who could afford to waste their lives away on fleeting pleasures, and Mingi was adamant he was neither.  

He snapped out of his thoughts the moment a waving hand intruded his line of vision.

"...that okay? I think it's perfect."

Noticing the pair of expectant eyes on him, Mingi quickly cleared his throat, signalling to Yunho that he'd probably missed half of the conversation that had taken place. The latter shook his head in disbelief, partly due to amusement and mostly because he could feel his patience wearing thin as well. It had been a long day, after all. That's when it hit him that Mingi probably didn't care where they stayed for the next few months, as long as they had a place to stay tonight.

"It's a deal."

"What?" The boy sat opposite replied in unison with a perplexed-looking Mingi. Before the latter had a chance to respond, however, the blue-haired boy got up, beaming, as he held out a hand. Now it was Mingi's turn to be in disbelief; was this the same person who had glared at Mingi when he had made a face at the warehouse? Of course not! The boy seemed to have undergone a full 180-degree change.

"Great! I'm Kim Hongjoong — what are your names?"

"Jeong Yunho," his friend burst into a grin as he went to clasp the boy's — Hongjoong's — hand, much smaller than his own, before turning to Mingi with his eyebrow arched in a knowing gaze.

The sofa creaked like it was on its last legs as he hoisted himself up, and Mingi didn't know whether to curse or roll his eyes. Really? Was this Yunho's idea of being "fine"?

He retained the same bored expression as he clasped Hongjoong's hand, perhaps a little too tight for his liking, and stared into an equally emotionless face.

"Song Mingi."

Hongjoong responded with a thin-lipped smile, "A pleasure." He then turned to face Yunho, a sparkle playing in his eyes once again.

"Now, Yunho, was it? What do you say about getting rid of this old sofa? I think it's about time I got a new one!"

The pair of newly-found friends laughed as they sauntered off into some corner of the warehouse. Mingi paused plucking at the sofa to overhear snippets of their light-hearted conversation, most of which included Yunho questioning the reliability of faux leather and Hongjoong making what seemed like a ridiculously cheesy dad joke about cows. On a good day, Mingi may have gone along with it, maybe even burst into hysterics at the stupidity of it all, but today was not a good day: he had just found a new threat to his 17 years of friendship with Yunho, and it went by the name of Hongjoong.