cold | junhao

十八

"How long are you leaving for again?"

Turning away from his bulging suitcase, Jun slides over to Minghao where he's tipped backwards over the arm of the sofa, staring at him upside down. Jun leans down so their noses brush, and smiles. "A week," he says. Then he sighs, "Are you sure you don't want to come? I could show you where I grew up."

Minghao nods. "I can't leave the animals... Teddy needs someone to look after him too," he motions to the dog curled up on his lap. He taps his finger on the tip of Jun's nose. "Call me every night, yeah?"

Jun nods, "Of course."

And as he promised, that night, Minghao's phone lights up as he lays in the bathtub, bubbles floating all around him. He quickly dries his hand on a towel to snatch his phone up and slide the green button across the screen.

"Hi," he grins, placing his phone back on the side so he doesn't drop it.

"Hey sweetheart," Jun mumbles, his voice gravelly with tiredness. "What are you doing?"

"I'm having a bath," Minghao tells him. "What about you, why are you speaking so quietly?"

Jun sighs, "I've been forced to share a room with one of the other models. He's already asleep and offered me a surprisingly colourful threat if I wake him up." Laughing softly, Jun rolls over on his large double bed and closes his eyes, listening to his boyfriend talk in his ear and feeling the comfort it gives him.

"Wouldn't want that," Minghao whispers, casting a glance to the puppy staring at him over the edge of the bath. "On the other hand, your dog has a scarily strong gaze and he's making me uncomfortable."

Jun lets out a strained laugh - wanting to be louder but heavily conscious of the male asleep on the other side of the room, "Tell him I said to stop being a pervert."

Seconds later he hear the same words echoed back to him. "He just looks confused- oh! Okay he's stopped staring now. Thank God," chuckling to himself, Minghao yawns and stretches his arms up above his head, hearing the water trickling off his skin as he does so. "I think I'm gonna sleep soon," he mutters. "Do you have anything happening tomorrow?"

"Not much," Jun hums, "I think the shoot is only an hour or so, other than that I have no plans." He smiles when Minghao yawns again. "Talk to you tomorrow, love."

He nods, eyes fluttering closed. "Night Jun."

Jun lowers his phone from his ear once he hears the final click as Minghao hangs up, smiling faintly to himself and rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Renjun's heavy breaths are the only sound in the room, each one like a ringing in Jun's ear as he wishes for nothing more in the moment than being able to have his own goddamn room.

---

The next morning - after Jun's fitful sleep leaving him more tired when he wakes up than before he went to sleep - the frantic knocking on the door is only just enough to raise his head off of the pillow. 

"Boys, wake up! You're gonna be late!" he recognises Yuqi's voice and groans, letting his head drop back onto the bed despite knowing he'll be in trouble if he's not up soon. On the other side of the room, Renjun also groans, throwing his arms over his head.

"What time is it?" he asks with a groggy voice.

"I dunno," Jun sighs, but after a delayed glance at his phone he speaks again. "Just gone six."

After hearing that, Renjun tugs his pillow over his head and scoffs, "Fuck that." Right now, Jun doesn't think he's agreed with anything so much in his life. Still, he fights the urge to ignore Yuqi and pushes himself to get out of bed, reluctantly walking over to his roommate, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him head first to land on the floor in a heap before going to the bathroom to wash up.

Jun hears Renjun groan in pain but he doesn't come after Jun, only mumbles a 'thanks'.

And that's just how things work. All of them despise the tight schedules, but Yuqi tends to be the one who keeps them in line despite it, and Jun's the one who manages to get Renjun out of bed. And Renjun keeps them laughing whilst the three of them run on sleep deprivation and caffeine-fuelled anxiety.

He's out of the hotel room within 15 minutes, leaving Renjun wrapping a huge padded coat around himself but still shivering in the early morning chills. Yuqi meets him at the stairs, and they trudge down together to get the meagre breakfast before they head off to the shoot.

"Did you hear about the newbie joining?" Jun asks.

Yuqi nods. "She's a friend of mine. They brought her up this morning because of some last minute stuff."

Jun nods, and they take a seat opposite each other at a table, leaving the spare seat empty for Renjun, who makes an appearance only a couple of minutes later. Once he sits down, Jun stands up again to get them all breakfast; they've been doing it on some sort of rota for years, alternating who gets to stay at the table and sleep for a few extra minutes. This time, it's Jun's turn to make the sacrifice.

He picks up a pain au chocolat for Yuqi, two plain croissants for Renjun and cereal for himself, as well as drinks and haphazardly carries the tray back to the table. 

"So when're we meeting the newbie?" he asks as he sits down.

Yuqi thanks him for the food, taking the plates so they can leave the tray somewhere else. "She's meeting us at the shoot," she says, taking a bite of her breakfast and speaking through her mouthful.

"Eat your food first, fucker," Renjun exclaims in disgust, right in the middle of eating his own breakfast.

Yuqi scoffs, "Says you, disgusting ass creature."

Jun can't help his laugh, having the decency to cover his mouth with his hand as he does so, so that his two friends don't come after him as well. 

Soon enough, their managers stalk up to the three of them, adding a pressure to their shoulders as they hustle them away from the food and into the back of the company van, ready to drive off and put them in front of a camera for the next two hours.