♆ those days by the sea

“anyway,” he continues, dropping down beside ducky on the bus bench. ducky scoots away. minghao shifts closer. ducky scoots away again. minghao moves closer. ducky narrowly avoids falling off the bench thanks to minghao’s ninja sharp reflexes, but now it might be a little awkward since minghao has his arms around ducky’s waist real nice and close. he lets go before the other boy can eviscerate him. “you know, with our hair, we’re…” minghao pauses and grabs a lock of ducky’s red mop to hold up against his forest green hair. “christmas!”

and one, two, three… hold the applause, everyone!

ducky looks even more disgusted than before, if that’s even possible. “you’re a weird kid,” he says flatly. “and what the fuck, don’t touch my hair.”

minghao drops his hand. “but… i thought it was cool. we’re matching! also, everybody loves christmas so everybody has to love us. get it? because we’re christmas.”

“no.”

alright then.

the silence stretches on. minghao swings his legs, watching the cars zip by. he half-expects ducky to leave, so when minghao hears his voice again, he almost chokes on his own spit. “weren’t you going to dye your hair red, not green?”

“uhhhhhh i messed up?” it’s kinda true; minghao is of the firm opinion that instructions are optional. ducky snorts and mutters something that sounds like, ‘no one messes up that badly.’ or he’s sneezing. minghao prefers the sneezing. his cheeks heat up. “h—hey, you’re the one who said red was your brand! i don’t wanna… steal it or anything.”

“... you’re a really weird kid.”

minghao scowls, but he can’t argue with that either. he is kinda weird. not as weird as ducky, though. “you know what’s weirder?” he says suddenly. ducky turns his head and minghao swoops in, planting a quick kiss on ducky’s exposed neck, his chapped lips rubbing not… unpleasantly against ducky’s skin. “it would be nicer if i had mistletoe,” he snickers.

he should probably crack open at least one book to make it look like he’s studying. but what’s the point? minghao isn’t going to read it. he continues to study yewon instead, lord yewon of the nerds and his favorite smart person at this school. lord yewon who’s going to go to hogwarts or something after graduation ( the place starts with an H, he’s sure ). when she’s done, he’s probably going to ask to copy her answers—messing a few up on purpose so the teachers won’t get suspicious—but the wait is killing him.

“yewonnie, i’m bored,” minghao purses his lips together and stares up at her through his lashes. “how much longer?” he’s not trying to rush her, honest, it’s just… yeah, bored.

she scratches out an equation before glancing towards him. “oh?” brushing the hair away from her face, yewon gives him an apologetic smile. “you don’t have to sit here with me.”

“uh,” well. he doesn’t, but that’s not the problem. he likes hanging out with yewon. “no, no. it’s cool. i don’t mind, but i just…” he trails off. “my phone died.” darn that short lived battery—and minghao’s own needy, impatient butt. he can’t have the worksheet answers and yewon’s attention and a full charge, “sorry, i’ll be quiet.”

yewon’s pencil stops moving. “you could do your homework?” she suggests carefully, looking up in time to see minghao pull a face. “it’s not too hard. you could try, minghao.”

he bites his lip. ““i’m not a brainy pants like you.” minghao doesn’t admit he’s already tried to finish the stupid worksheet a couple of times but—nope, no luck. his mind doesn’t work like this. “i don’t get it. i don’t get math at all. i’m trying but it’s… i’m dumb.”

“you’re not dumb—”

“i am.”

silence settles between them until yewon sucks in a breath and says, “i could tutor you if you want.” 

“... what?” the dreaded T word. minghao has gone through far too many already. “but—you’re busy with hogwarts and stuff—”

“it’s harvard,” yewon corrects, trying not to giggle. “and… it would be fun! it’ll help me learn better too.”

minghao hates tutors with a passion, but… with yewon, it wouldn’t be too bad. yeah, maybe it’d actually be okay for once and then he won’t have to beg to copy off her all the time because she’ll be there to help him anyway. “o..okay.” he nods once, firm and resolute.

yewon’s eyes widen in surprise. “really?” minghao’s the kind of person to RUN when things like study sessions are even hinted at, so he the fact that he’s still here and grinning at her has gotta be weird. “we can start with this worksheet, then—”

she gasps as minghao pulls back, heat flooding her cheeks. yewon’s hands fly to her eyes. minghao managed to catch her off guard as she was talking and planted a gentle, whisper soft kiss on her eyelids, and now he leans back in his chair looking smug. “that’s your payment, lord yewon.”

he stares up at the same ceiling now and sighs. the glow of the stars has dimmed with age—it’s so faint that the room in plunged in darkness, the only other source of light coming from his digital alarm clock. 2:30am, the red numbers read. minghao feels like knocking the clunky plastic monster off his nightstand. he can’t sleep and it’s starting to piss him off. insomnia is one issue minghao has never had to deal with, so this is new. he doesn’t know what to blame. maybe it’s the heat or the stress of living an alternate life as a magical hero or—maybe it’s vernon’s loud snoring.

nah, it can’t be the snoring. vernon sleeps in minghao’s bed more often than he does in his own. minghao is used to the sound and sometimes he can’t sleep without it. the noisy, chainsaw-like confirmation that vernon is there beside him is reassuring. better than any safety blanket minghao has ever had. no, it’s definitely the stress and the heat and the stupid bruise on his hips that hurts every time he touches it. heck. gotta hide that one from vernon.

speaking of whom… “vernon?” minghao asks, still staring up at the ceiling. “you awake?” their legs are tangled together, vernon’s arm draped over minghao’s bare chest. his face rests close to minghao’s neck and every time he exhales, a thrill shoots down minghao’s spine. he’s ticklish as heck and that’s his sensitive spot. “vernon?” he tries again. no answer, just snores. “vernon, i wanna talk about some stuff wake up.”

he shifts until he’s staring at vernon’s sleeping face. his eyelashes are so long that minghao gets distracted for a second trying to count them. wait, no, not the point. he pokes vernon’s cheek instead. “vernon… VERNON… “

“the fuck, hao?” vernon mumbles, reaching over and trying to… minghao doesn’t know what he’s trying to do, but vernon ends up almost sticking his fingers up minghao’s nose before minghao bats his hand away. “i’m trying to sleep.”

“i can’t sleep.” minghao cringes as the words tumble out of his mouth. he was going to lead into this differently, but it’s too late to dance around the topic. and this is vernon, for crying out loud. he can never keep anything from his best friend.

vernon’s eyes flutter open in alarm. “what…” he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and glares at minghao, now wide awake. “you… how long have you been awake? and why didn’t you tell me earlier?” the concern in his voice makes minghao wish he’d never woken vernon up in the first place, not when he doesn’t know how to answer.

“a while,” he says finally. “and, i dunno, i just…” there’s a lot going through his mind, he decides. that’s the problem. there’s way too much going on in his mind and he just needs to settle down. but he can’t because everything is weird and different ever since they signed that stupid contract. “do you… do you ever regret stuff? like… regret…” minghao trails off, frustrated. part of him doesn’t want to admit it.

“regret letting you put anchovies on the pizza tonight? yeah.” vernon tries to smile, but all minghao can see are his sea-glass eyes filled with worry. “do you mean… aku and…”

minghao closes his eyes and turns over, burying his face in vernon’s chest. “maybe. yes. it’s just.” he pauses. “i never asked for this, y’know? we didn’t. and what if something bad happens? what are we supposed to do? what if i can’t protect you and you get hurt? what if—”

“hao, you idiot.” vernon cuts him off. “why are you stressing over this now?”

“but—”

“just go to sleep, dude.” when minghao doesn’t respond, vernon wraps his arms around him and pulls him closer. “regrets aren’t for 2:30am. uh, they could be, but you’re stressing about dumb stuff. nothing’s going to happen to me or to you.” his voice drops down to a low whisper. “i promise.”

minghao wants to laugh, he really does. he stays still in vernon’s arms before pulling his head back and pressing his lips to vernon’s chest, right above his heart. “you know what?” minghao murmurs. “i regret some stuff, but i don’t regret meeting you.”

he can hear vernon’s breath catch. “come off it,” he grumbles, and minghao finally chuckles. vernon’s right, maybe. nothing is going to happen to them because he won’t let it. “hao,” vernon continues, “want me to count down from 100 with you? it might help you sleep.”

“isn’t it counting sheep?”

“... no. just listen to my voice, okay?”

this is more than revenge; minghao needs to contain a public menace.

thankfully, he knows what the guy looks like. the glimpse he got when he came out of the water was fleeting, but he can’t forget a face like that anytime soon. on the other hand… the guy is a ninja. no matter how hard minghao searches for him, not matter where he goes or who he asks, no one has seen a hair of him. someone else might have given up by now—he’s chasing a ghost—but minghao refuses to fold so easily. he will find him. he WILL.

like fate or a bad drama, he sees the guy again at the beach beside a sand castle and YES that is definitely the barnacle sucking butt. minghao would recognize him anywhere. “YOU!” he says, pointing at the man dramatically. the other people at the beach turn and stare. “YOU—WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU—” the man takes off and minghao, momentarily stunned, sprints after him soon afterwards. this slippery piece of kale—!

minghao chases him into the side streets when the man stumbles. narrowly avoiding plowing into him, minghao stops and grabs him by the collar. he slams him against the wall, breathing heavily as the sweat trickles down his back. the expression on the man—card’s—face is priceless in that moment. minghao’s lips twist into a triumphant smile. he can’t believe this is it. this is it! he’s finally got the sand attacker after so much and—and minghao doesn’t know whether to punch him or yell at him or keep staring into his eyes ( why are they so nice? too nice for a sand butt ).

so he goes with the first thing that pops into mind. minghao kisses him hard enough to bruise, teeth knocking against his as he accidentally bites down and draws blood. the metallic tang fills his mouth as he pulls away, eyes shaking. “i—” well, he’s done stupider things. not by a lot, but he has. “d— don’t send sharks after people, got it?”

but inter-league rookie training sessions always go like this. minghao transforms, yoojung teases him, and he sulks the whole time until it’s time to go home. he usually cracks at this point and offers to walk her to her house because it’s late and yoojung is his precious little underclassman friend, even though sometimes he’s sure she is way more mature than he is. just sometimes.

now isn’t the time to dole out a punishment, though. they stand together in the middle of the field, ready to train. and yoojung is still laughing at his bow, sheesh. minghao reaches over and taps her on the forehead. “shouldn’t you be worried about doing a good job, not how dumb my outfit is?” wait, heck, he just admitted his outfit is dumb—and it definitely is, but minghao would like to keep some shred of his pride intact. “a-anyways!” he says quickly, adjusting the hairpiece. with fumbling fingers, he slips his ring off and  activates his trident. “let’s go over the drills before it gets late.”

fortunately or maybe unfortunately, yoongi’s the first tiny young friend minghao has been able to latch onto. in some ways, he’s a guinea pig for whatever ‘big-brother’ things minghao wants to try out: laser tag, horror movie marathons, rollercoasters, mukbang broadcasts, you name it. today’s supposed to be the day minghao drags yoongi to the beach with him, but it starts raining halfway through the walk there.

they duck under the awning of a flower shop, minghao holding his jacket above yoongi’s head to shield the other boy from the rain. “i can’t believe it ‘s raining!” minghao exclaims, frowning at the fat raindrops falling at an alarming rate. “maybe we should have checked the weather—i mean, hyung should have checked the weather, ahaha.”  he ducks his head, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. why does he mess up so often? all minghao wants is to be a good brother.

“but this isn’t so bad. the rain’s… soothing.” minghao loves water, falling from the sky kind included. “and i have snacks. there’s a chocolate bar in my pocket. it could have melted though.” with his luck, it probably did melt. wow, he sucks really bad. minghao winces as his arms start to cramp up. “i’m sorry for being a terrible hyung! we were supposed to have a GOOD time, not get stuck with… this.”