cold | junhao

十

"So where're we going today?"

Jun catches Minghao pulling on his coat as he walks out the front door. Immediately falling into step beside him, Jun stuffs his hands in his pocket and deeply breathes in the fresh air.

"I don't know," Minghao answers. "Just for a walk, I guess. You're coming?"

Jun nods.

After a few minutes of silence, Minghao speaks up suddenly.

"Can you tell me about your friends?"

Jun looks up at him, not expecting the question that comes from nowhere, but when he sees Minghao's calm face as he watches him with genuine interest, Jun clears his throat. "I mean," he begins, "You met Wonwoo and Mingyu. Wonwoo is the hospital director-"

"Wait, isn't he your age?"

Nodding, Jun carries on. "His parents brought him up with... questionable methods, but he's the smartest person I know. Mingyu..." he clearly hesitates after moving on to his closest friend. "Mingyu has definitely had some adventures, that I'm not supposed to talk about."

Minghao chuckles, "That makes me even more intrigued. But I won't pry."

"I told you yesterday, Soonyoung works at the café by the beach - d'you wanna go there later?"

After a few seconds, Minghao shakes his internalised fears off and nods. "Sure, let's do it."

Jun smiles, a small skip appearing in his step. "Cool. Anyway, his boyfriend Jihoon is a music producer and has released a few songs of his own - last time I asked him it was going well and he'd been accepted into an agency. Nowadays we both work a lot, so I haven't seen him in a while."

"Is he coming on Friday?" Jun nods.

"So then there's Chan, Seokmin and Jeonghan. Chan is the youngest, he gets babied by Jeonghan for some reason. Seokmin is really sweet, he can be quiet sometimes but when he wants he can be the brightest person in the room and totally set the mood. Jeonghan is a figure skater, the reason we're meeting up on Friday is because his most recent competition is being aired and he's refusing to tell us how it went. Although," Jun chuckles, "We can tell he won - he was too giddy when he got back."

Minghao's step falters. "Shit, Yoon Jeonghan?"

"That's the devil."

He smiles, "We met the other day. He's cool." Minghao doesn't let on his sudden case of butterflies fluttering round his stomach at the realisation that not only is his new friend friends with the Yoon Jeonghan, but Jun also wants Minghao to be a part of said friend group.

Holy fuck.

They turn out into the harbour, where countless boats are currently docked and stranded as the tide is far out. Jun drags Minghao further down onto the boardwalk, slowly cutting across to the line of buildings that step out onto it. They get closer to a café with a canopy draped over the front with large front windows and seating stretching out onto the wooden planks. Jun skips through the door, making the bell above the frame clang loudly upon his entry. Minghao has to jump to catch the door before it closes again to slip through.

Minghao instantly notices how the atmosphere changes as soon as he steps foot in the café. And instantly, he falls in love with it. He follows Jun up to the counter, where a young boy is loitering behind the till. He smiles at them as they approach - particularly to Jun.

"Hey Jeongin," Jun beams, reaching over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Soonyoung's here, isn't he?"

Jeongin nods, "He's making an order through the back. He'll be out in a minute. Jihoon's over there, though." He points behind them and Minghao turns to see presumably Jihoon, sat on a high stool with headphones plugged into his laptop and back hunched over as he stares closely at the screen.