cold | junhao

八

The next morning - a Monday - is as dreary and overcast as any winter day, despite it being the beginning of June and perfectly clear the previous day. The rain beats down on Jun's head, falling from the dismal sky above him and soaking through the useless raincoat he's wearing for the first time. If anything, the raincoat is making him more uncomfortable.

He shrugs it off when he reaches the shelter of the doorstep.

Jun knocks on the door, hearing the echo even from outside while he takes a small step back, careful not to step back into the rain. From under the porch, the rain is even louder to the point where his ears ache and a headache slowly starts to appear.

And when the door finally opens, he's greeted by a welcoming scoff and a roll of the eyes from Minghao. But unlike the last two days, Minghao doesn't hold him at the door. As soon as it's open, the younger steps back and lets Jun in without a second thought.

"Morning," Jun greets him as he passes, like turning up at his doorstep is a normality that's been happening for years.

"Hi," Minghao returns, frowning after him as the two of them walk into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting down," Jun announces, and seconds later he climbs onto one of the stools set at the island.

"This is the third day in a row you've showed up on my doorstep unannounced." Minghao settles himself leaning back against the radiator - just the breeze from the period where the door was open is enough to make his skin tingle. He's only wearing pyjama bottoms and a thin t-shirt, but eventually he also tugs on a sweatshirt.

Jun shrugs, "Like I said, I want to get to know you."

"Couldn't that be done in a way so I'm actually aware of what's happening?"

"But then you would've said no."

Minghao looks at him. "I might not have."

"How can I be sure?"

It takes Minghao a moment to reply, but when he does it's with a sigh, "Because you're the only person who actually seems to want to talk to me. It's... nice."

The response takes Jun aback. He hadn't expected something so definite. "Why don't people want to talk to you?"

"Because I'm weird."

He shakes his head, "No you're not."

Minghao sighs again, bringing his hands in front of them and clasping and unclasping them. "I'm also not good at Korean, so that's another reason people don't talk to me. You're the first person I've met in four years that speaks Chinese."

Jun falls silent, unsure of how to reply. Eventually, he just says quietly, "Your the first for me, too."

"How did you get better?"

Leaning his head onto his hand, Jun's purses his lips as he tries to remember. "When I first moved, I was really stuck. That lasted about six months. Then I got hired, and my boss wanted me to be more confident so he paid for Korean lessons. On top of that-" his eyebrows furrow, "I spent a lot of time with Mingyu, and he introduced me to his friends too."

Minghao laughs lightly. "There goes my hope then."

The way Jun's face is instantly consumed by a look of genuine shock and objection sends an electric pulse straight to Minghao's heart, boosting the speed of it until he can almost feel it thrumming against his chest.

"What do you mean?" Jun exclaims, "I can introduce you to my friends! They're all really cool, I promise you."

Shaking his head, Minghao smiles sadly. "I don't want to make people uncomfortable if I suddenly join in on everything you're doing."

Jun holds his hands up, a subtle smirk playing on his face that eventually stretches into a grin. "Trust me, there's no way you'll feel left out. 1, we're all awesome; 2, we were all in positions similar to yours at one point and know exactly how it feels; and 3, we didn't all meet at once - in fact, we met Wonwoo only a few months ago..." he tries to count something on his fingers but eventually gives up. "Or something like that - there's an award-winning movie and a half behind that. And the Soonyoung and Jihoon story is another whole thing I don't even want to get into."

Minghao nods slowly, feeling slightly intimidated yet intrigued by the small snippets of Jun's friend group that the older has supplied him. "Okay," he agrees.

Jun claps his hands, "Yes! We're all meeting up later this week because Jeonghan's gonna be on television - he's a figure skater, by the way - so you can meet them all then."

After Jun responds with a no to Minghao asking if he's eaten anything, the younger rummages through the fridge and pulls out an array of ingredients and washes his hands before starting to cook.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually Jun's eyes widen when he recognises the dishes that Minghao's preparing. Instinctively he leans forward onto his elbows and watches, the saliva already collecting in his mouth. "I haven't had dim sum in so long..." he drawls. He stands up, sliding towards Minghao and standing beside him. "D'you want any help?"

Minghao shakes his head. "It's fine," he says, "It makes it harder when someone else is trying to help too. If you want something to do though," he nods to another part of the counter. "You can dice the onion and grind the ginger for me."

Soon a mouth-watering aroma fills the kitchen as the two of them finish up cooking and place the small dishes onto plates. There aren't as many different types of food as they would've had back home, but to the two boys it's a feast fit for a king.

"This looks so good," Jun enthuses, clapping his hands together like a small child as he ogles at the table in front of him.

"Thank you," Minghao smiles. "I don't get to make this much because I never have enough people to finish it all."

"Couldn't you save it and eat it later?"

Minghao shakes his head. "It needs to stay in the fridge, but the dumplings go soggy when I try to reheat them." He looks at the food longingly for a moment, before composing himself and starting to eat.

For a moment Jun is lost, until it hits him. "You can't eat cold foods."

As a response, Minghao just shakes his head. He feels the atmosphere becoming awkward so hurries to change the topic. "I can teach you to make it one day if you want - it's not that difficult."

Jun nods, but then his mind catches on to a detail in Minghao's offer. "You said 'one day'," he grins, "So we're going to hang out again? Lots?"

Minghao shrugs.

"What were you gonna do today?"

He glances out the window, where the sky is still dark and gloomy and rain falls heavily, splattering against the windows. "I don't know," he replies. "I can't go anywhere, so I guess just stay home."

Jun nods, "I'll stay with you then."

"Why?"

He hums, resting his chin on his fist as if in thought, staring at Minghao with that smirk that the younger already could recognise from a mile away. Finally, Jun speaks. "So you won't be lonely."

"Well, in that case..." Minghao takes another bite of food. "Let's build a fort."

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a/n: askjsadkjsh i don't know what i'm doing anymore 💀

anyway, how are you guys? :)