#junhao fic

“Junhui,” he whined, squeezing his body pillow or whatever he was wrapped around.

“Junhuiii,” he repeated, flailing a little as he released the pillow.

Minghao finally willed himself awake, opening his eyes more than before and lifting up the bedsheets to find what was definitely not his boyfriend.

Nope, that was definitely a mish-mash of pillows and Junhui’s shiba inu plush, not the boy he wanted to be cuddling with right now. Where did he go, Minghao thought to himself. He finally rolled off of their bed, tossing on a shirt that wasn’t even close to matching his pajama bottoms. That’s what you get for picking your pajamas based off of what’s on the floor closest to the bed. He kept walking toward the door to the rest of the apartment, eyes still adjusting the bright morning sun streaming through the windows of their apartment.

Well, their apartment… plus Soonyoung’s.

Not that Soonyoung spent much time in their apartment now. Alone, at least. Shortly before Minghao moved in, Soonyoung had started spending about half his time at Jihoon’s larger apartment. When Soonyoung was here, Jihoon inevitably was too. It was almost gross watching the two of them steadily become more domestic. Not that Minghao also didn’t notice Soonyoung’s condom stash steadily getting depleted at a rate of three per week.

He figured if he had to take a math class for college, he should at least put it to use, right?

The whole Junhui-and-Soonyoung-getting-boyfriends-at-about-the-same-time thing helped make it easier for Junhui to convince Soonyoung to let Minghao move in. Apparently Junhui had also agreed to be on dishes duty for “til the end the time,” as well.

Oh, Minghao had almost forgotten their fifth family member. Shortly after walking out into the shared living space, she came running up, jumping up into Minghao’s lap as he crouched down to grab her. Lilli having two dads was quite a boon for the young Dachshund -- twice the number of treats, Minghao mused while looking over the Dachshund’s steadily rounding torso. We need to take you to the park more, he thought. And maybe go on more dates at the park.

“Morning, Hao-hao~” a sweet-sounding voice sing-songed from the kitchen. Minghao looked up, seeing his boyfriend in his own soft (and actually matching) pajamas standing in front of the stove with a wooden spoon in hand.

“Morning, Jun-jun,” Minghao replied, putting Lilli back down on the floor. “You know, you might have some competition for who loves me more.”

Minghao wandered into the kitchen, catching the tail-end of Junhui’s incredulous-looking side-eye. “That’s not fair, she only has one setting,” Junhui complained while Minghao wrapped his arms around him.

Minghao furrowed his brow. “That’s not true,” he softly countered. “She barked at Jihoon the other day.”

“That’s probably because she feels threatened that she may not be the smallest thing in the apartment anymore,” Junhui deadpanned with a smirk. They laughed together, Junhui trying not to knock the pan over while he stirred their scrambled eggs. Just then, Lilli sauntered up to them, knowing that Minghao might be weak enough to give her food.

It was tough not being able to resist two sets of puppy eyes every day.

“Did you already feed her?” Minghao lilted, placing a soft kiss on the side of Junhui’s neck.

“Half a piece of bacon.”

Minghao looked down at the pair of puppy eyes staring back at him. “Not today, Lilli,” he cooed. Lilli barked, switching sides. She was probably hoping that Junhui would be clumsy enough to stir something out of the pan he was working on; not a bad bet, if you asked Minghao.

“So why the special breakfast today, babe?” Minghao asked, returning to littering kisses up and down Junhui’s neck.

“Well, all four of us are here…” Junhui started.

“Oh, Jihoon and Soonyoung came back here?”

“Their shoes are by the door, so I think so.” Junhui motioned toward the door with his head, nearly whacking Minghao’s head in the process. “Whoops, sorry Hao. Also, it’s been a month.”

“A month?”

“A month since you moved in with me,” Junhui quietly repeated, leaving the spoon in the pan to gently remove Minghao’s hands from his waist with his own hands. He circled around to face Minghao head-on, pecking him on the lips. Afterwards, Junhui turned the burner off, grabbed the pan’s handle, and dumped the eggs onto a waiting plate near the stove.

Minghao followed Junhui like a lost puppy (even Lilli knew enough to vacate the kitchen), bumping into his boyfriend a few times while he grabbed silverware and chopsticks and plates for the table. “A whole month?” Minghao finally said, “Feels like three days.”

Junhui scoffed. “We’ve gone through half of Soonyoung’s condoms, Hao.”

“Right. Three days,” Minghao repeated, earning a light punch on the arm from Junhui.

“Go wake them up, will you?”

Minghao nodded, feeling a little bit more purpose in his routine now that Junhui had given him a direction.

That’s how he felt in general, too.

Minghao rounded the kitchen counter and walked up to Soonyoung’s door. Looking back to Junhui, he pulled his fist back, ready to bang on the door. Junhui giggled, and Minghao let loose, pounding on Soonyoung’s door five times. “Wake up, you lazy pipsqueaks!”

Junhui started cackling from the kitchen. “I think Jihoon’s gonna have to fight you for his honor now,” he wryly commented.

“Unless he gets a stepstool, I think I’ll be fine.”

Minghao was already halfway back to the kitchen when Soonyoung’s door swung open. “You woke Jihoon up, asshole,” he dryly commented.

“Food,” Minghao dryly replied.

Soonyoung turned back around and whispered something into his room before closing the door and heading over to the kitchen table with the rest of them. Minghao wandered toward Junhui and planted another string of kisses along Junhui’s cheeks until he reached his lips, connecting his lips with Junhui’s for a spell longer.

“Gross,” Soonyoung complained, taking a seat at the kitchen table and pulling some pancakes and strips of bacon onto a plate that he promptly placed at Jihoon’s seat.

“Oh c’mon,” Minghao challenged. “Like we haven’t seen you sucking Jihoon’s face for three years.”

“Yeah, but when you two do it, it’s gross,” Soonyoung snarked.

Minghao looked back at Junhui with an offended face, earning an amused look from his boyfriend. So much for backing him up. “I think you’re really gonna have to fight Jihoon for your honor now.”

“Great,” Minghao defensively replied, picking up a lamp from near the door. “I’ll use this.”

“Hey now!”

“That’s the only thing you can use,” Soonyoung sassed, stuffing his face with more eggs. “The rest of the furniture is mine.”

Minghao’s expression dropped a little, turning back to face his boyfriend. “You only bought a lamp?”

“Um, listen, Soonyoung’s parents, uh, gave him a lot of furniture.”

Minghao shook his head, ignoring Jihoon finally joining them in the kitchen. “We’re gonna have to redecorate, babe. Class this place up.”

“Finally,” Jihoon added, taking his seat at the table. “So when are you two leaving then?”

Soonyoung guffawed, his face still stuffed full of food. It was a resting state, to be honest. Junhui was less offended than Minghao, but that was mostly because Junhui enjoyed any attention, even if it was blatantly insulting. Minghao didn’t dare challenge Jihoon, though -- if there was one thing he had learned about the older boy, it was that he could skewer him with words four times over before Minghao even understood the first insult. Junhui consoled him by intertwining his fingers in Minghao’s hand and leading the younger boy to the kitchen table, their hands still connected when they took their seats.

“So how was last night?” Junhui started, spooning food onto Minghao’s plate.

“Great!” Soonyoung chimed, surprising everyone by not having his mouth filled with food again. Jihoon took another dainty bite out of his pancake, the contrast not totally lost on Minghao.

Minghao smirked, ready to throw some shade back. “I think he meant the play.”

“Yeah, Soonyoung’s screaming was a little loud when we got back…” Jihoon muttered. “Not as loud as your whining for Junhui every hour of the day, though.”

“Awww, babe,” Junhui cooed, pinching his cheeks while Minghao felt his face flush bright red. He knew better and he still went for it… Jihoon could always destroy his puny insults.

“The play,” Soonyoung started, accentuating the fact that he was indeed talking about the play this time, “was great, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.”

“Jihoon was too, so his feet could reach the ground,” Minghao added.

“I’ll have you know that he was on my lap for most of it.”

Minghao nearly choked on his food. “He -- he chose to do that!?”

“Well,” Soonyoung mused. “There was a rather tall person in front of him. And my lap is rather comfy.”

Junhui and Minghao turned to look at Jihoon, who looked like he had accepted that Soonyoung was gonna rat him out at one point or another. Or maybe he was secretly seething. You could never tell with Jihoon. Well… except that this was Soonyoung, and Minghao was pretty sure Jihoon couldnever get angry at Soonyoung. Ever.

“If I weren’t dating you, I think you’d be dead in a ditch by tomorrow,” Jihoon calmly replied. Minghao started cackling before Jihoon cut him off -- “Next to Minghao, of course.”

“Oh, beware though Jihoon,” Junhui playfully added. “Minghao might have a lamp.”

Jihoon gave them both a look of total and utter disgust, like their inside joke was ridiculously awful and they should feel awful for having it. Soonyoung giggled a little though, and Jihoon softened up a bit when he noticed that. Minghao looked over at Junhui, and, honestly? He felt the same as Jihoon sometimes. A lot of his moods had gone away since he started dating Junhui; he still was snarky and a little defensive, but Junhui softened him up. As much as he hated to admit it, Minghao wasn’t really all that scary to begin with… but with Junhui, he was extra not-scary. Just like Jihoon around Soonyoung.

*

“Do we have to go in together again?” Minghao whined, standing just outside the shelter with Junhui and Lilli. Last time he went in with Junhui, Dokyeom and Dino wouldn’t leave him alone about it for a week. Actually, they still wouldn’t leave him alone about it -- it had only been a week since last time!

“Yes, we do,” Junhui insisted, putting a hand on his hip while Lilli sniffed some bushes near the entrance to the shelter. Maybe it smelled like Junhui? “Dino loves Lilli, and Lilli loves Dino. And I’ll be damned if I deprive her of all the love she deserves on a daily basis.”

Minghao shook his head. “There’s not enough love in the world,” he muttered.

“What was that?” Junhui questioned. “Did I just hear my boyfriend saying that he doesn’t have enough love?”

“Um, no,” Minghao lied. “It’s just that all of the world that exists in the entire universe goes to you, babe, so I’m a little short on it for Lilli.”

“Gross,” a third voice chimed in. Dino swaggered on into their conversation and scooped Lilli up, disconnecting her leash while she attacked his face with her tongue. “I’ll just take Lilli til her dads are done arguing.”

“Oh, and Junhui?” Dino lilted, halfway in the door. “If you wanna hide from your feelings for Minghao again, the bush is right there!” he finished with a wink.

Minghao looked over at quizzically. The bush? he tried to ask with his confused expression, earning a sheepish look from his sweater-clad boyfriend. “I know you love me Hao,” Junhui explained. “We probably shouldn’t argue in front of Lilli. It’s bad for her.”

“Junhui, I love you, but I don’t think Lilli can hear us,” Minghao retorted, rubbing his temples slightly.

“She knows,” Junhui politely replied, pulling one of Minghao’s hands down from his head to lace their fingers together. “She knows.”

“Ooookay,” Minghao acquiesced, walking into the shelter with Junhui.

Dino may have made fun of him about Junhui, but he knew that Dino secretly loved that they were dating. Well, it wasn’t even a secret -- Dino just couldn’t resist giving Minghao a little bit of shit about how much he softened up for Junhui. And Dino had learned much more about when to lay off; he nearly tore Dino’s head off after Dino exclusively pestered Minghao about Junhui during their first shift together after they were, you know,official. Now it was just a jab here and there, like the little brother Dino always was.

Minghao was working his shift at the shelter today. Unlike last term -- when Minghao worked the afternoon -- he worked mornings before his afternoon class. He hadn’t missed one of his volunteer shifts since the whole debacle last month… not that Dokyeom minded too much about him missing a few shifts. He was a volunteer, after all.

At least for now.

Dokyeom had mentioned something about finding enough money in the budget to throw him on payroll? He was cautiously optimistic, a much healthier attitude than before with the whole Junhui thing. Ya know, when he was actively pessimistic.

“Oh, have you guys made up?” Dino teased, holding Lilli’s floppy ears down. He was sitting on the floor near one of the couches with Lilli in his lap and toys already strewn about around his person. “I guess I don’t need to cover Lilli’s ears anymore.”

“Oh my god,” Minghao protested, vehemently rolling his eyes. As if that every persuaded Dino to stop being a little shit.

“Hey Minghao and Junhui,” Dokyeom called out from the front desk. “What brings both of you here?”

“Um, I volunteer Monday mornings,” Minghao blankly replied. “You scheduled that, like, weeks ago.”

“I mostly meant Junhui.”

“Oh.”

“Well --” Junhui started.

“-- Junhui was here to take Lilli on a…” Dino interrupted. He paused for a moment to cover Lilli’s ears again with his hands. “W-A-L-K.”

“Right,” Junhui agreed with a nod. “Can’t say the ‘W’ word around her, she’ll get too excited.”

“We have the same thing with Minghao,” Dino cheekily continued. “We can’t say the ‘J’ word around him.”

“You little sh--”

“-- Junhui,” he whispered toward none other than Junhui himself, earning a bout of adorable giggling from his boyfriend. Dino was just fortunate that Junhui would be ridiculously upset if anything were to ever happen to the little shit… that was the only thing between Dino and complete and utter annihilation.

“Yeah, he just perks up and looks around for you like a lost puppy,” Dino added, miming what was probably supposed to be a lovestruck Minghao but ended up looking more like a meerkat.

Minghao shook his head. “Don’t mind Dino, he’s actually 12 years old.”

“Wow, babe, you’re getting dissed over and over by a 12 year-old?” Junhui quickly snarked, walking over toward Lilli to hook her leash back on. “Maybe I’ll have to find a new boyfriend…”

Before Minghao could stammer out a response, Junhui floated over to him and pecked him on the lips.

“Gross! ” Dino bemoaned from behind them.

“It’s okay, kid, you’ll get it when you’re older,” Junhui quickly replied, before waving goodbye and blowing a kiss at Minghao. Lilli promptly hopped out of the store with Junhui, leaving Minghao alone with his disrespectful best friend and dopey boss.

Though… he did start to feel a little insecure about being with Junhui.

“Dino… do you -- do you really think Junhui and I argue too much? That we’re not right for each other?”

Minghao watched as Dino looked like he was immediately about to respond with something snarky, but he caught himself, realizing that Minghao was being serious about this. Dino retooled himself, pausing to come up with a good answer.

“Obviously you know your relationship better than me, Hao-hao,” Dino started. “But, like, I know what I’ve seen of you in the past month. And you’re doing a lot better. A lot better. You seem happier. Less on-edge. Junhui makes you a better person, even if there are little bumps along the way, you know?”

“But sometimes I worry that I’m not good enough for him,” Minghao blurted out, earning a befuddled look from Dino.

“You’ve been worrying about that since Day 1, but he keeps coming back to you. If he wanted to get out and move on, he had plenty of chances. Clearly he thinks you’re plenty good enough for him.”

“He asked you to move in with him,” Dokyeom added from behind the counter. Minghao had forgotten about him because, well, Dokyeom was hardly paying attention, absentmindedly filling out forms.

“Right?” Dino agreed. “Hao-hao, he really loves you, and you love him. You rescued each other from crappy spots, you know?”

“I -- I guess.”

“You think too much about it, Hao-hao.”

Just then, a very frazzled-looking Seungkwan burst through the door with a worried-looking Hansol not far behind. True to form, Hansol was holding a pet carrier -- again.

“I swear to god, Minghao, if I run into your boyfriend one more time, I’m gonna lose it,” Seungkwan complained, marching up to the front desk. “And we all know how close I am to losing it.”

“How close are you to losing it?” Dino quickly asked, snickering a little.

“Well, if you guys thought my last semester was hard, this semester is even harder. I’m overloading with five science classes -- and we all know that science classes are the hardest, of course -- and two of them have labs. One of them doesn’t even grade on a curve. Can you imagine that? What the hell was that professor thinking, not grading on a curve? We’re all gonna fail. But I have to fail the least so that when they inevitably haveto curve it, I have the best grade.”

“Uh huh,” Dino snorted, glancing over at Minghao with an amused look.

Minghao was more focused on what Seungkwan said first.

“What the hell did Junhui do to you?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, like he didn’t have time for this. Or anything really. Anything unless it was named Buttercup or Hansol, at least. “Well, every time I run into him, he just starts blabbering on and on about his boyfriend -- you -- talking about how in love he is and so on. Like I have time to hear about that?”

Dino glanced over in Minghao’s direction again. “Told you,” he whispered, winking at Minghao.

“And what’s wrong with Buttercup this time?” Dino asked, effortlessly directing his attention back to Seungkwan and all of his Problems.

“We think she lost her voice,” Hansol answered.

Minghao nearly lost his shit. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

*

By the time Dokyeom convinced Hansol and Seungkwan that, no, chinchillas cannot lose their voice, Dino and Minghao had nearly wrapped up their shift. Minghao was in a rush to run back to campus, leaving Dino alone to tidy up the front while he bolted out the door.

It was Monday, so he had an afternoon class and not a lot of time to get lunch. Junhui insisted on getting lunch together on Mondays -- not that Minghao objected -- but this time his boyfriend had invited two of his friends from Prob and Conf to join them.

Junhui casually mentioned that his friends were dating. He winked at the same time.

If that was Junhui challenging Minghao to be as flirty as possible during what turned out to be a double-date… well, Minghao didn’t need a written invitation.

Apparently one of the guys from Prob and Conf suggested a sushi place near campus. Something about an all-you-can-eat option? Not that Minghao needed that… but Junhui? Junhui could eat everything. In fact, in the past few weeks, Minghao had seen Junhui put at least seventeen different things that weren’t food or his toothbrush in his mouth. And sixteen of those didn’t make sense.

Minghao wandered into the restaurant, instantly spotting Junhui and two other boys sitting near a row of windows. Junhui waved him over. All three of them stood up, and… well, Minghao had never felt short before, but one of the other boys there easily had some height on him. And then there was Junhui and the other boy, who were slightly shorter than the tall boy. But Minghao? Minghao was shorter than all of them.

Oh god.

As he got closer, he instantly recognized the other two boys Junhui invited. They were the ones always doing coupley shit in Prob and Conf. This might actually be a challenge if Junhui wanted him to flirt.

The taller boy greeted him first, shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Minghao? I’m Mingyu.”

“Wonwoo,” the other boy waved with a small smile.

“Nice to meet you,” he replied with a smile. “Again, I guess.”

“I’m so glad Junhui finally decided to ask you out.”

“Wait, what?” Minghao asked while Junhui pecked him on the cheek, pulling out Minghao’s chair next to his own. “Junhui talked to you about me?”

“Talked. Vented. Cried. Junhui was absolutely smitten for you,” Wonwoo reported, scooting his seat closer to Mingyu’s once he sat down. Minghao collapsed into his chair, watching Junhui warily while his boyfriend took his own seat, blushing a little. He must’ve known that Wonwoo and Mingyu were gonna bust his chops about this. He must’ve known.

He wanted Minghao to know about this?

It was kinda cute.

He leaned over and planted a kiss on Junhui’s cheek while the two other boys looked through the menu.

“They’re still in the PDA stage of the relationship,” Wonwoo muttered, earning a giggle from Mingyu.

“Like we can’t one-up them, babe,” Mingyu snickered.

So that was the idea.

Minghao leaned over to Junhui, bringing his mouth really close to Junhui’s ear. “Did you plan this?”

Junhui giggled a little. Then he nodded ever-so-slightly, subtle enough not for Mingyu and Wonwoo to catch. Not that they didn’t already know that this was Junhui’s plan as far as he knew.

“Fine then,” Minghao whispered again.

Minghao adjusted his head, and he leaned in toward Junhui’s face again. He placed another kiss on Junhui’s cheek and started smiling shortly thereafter.

“Maybe we should order something,” Junhui lightly suggested.

Minghao quickly replied. “Are you on the menu?”

Wonwoo started choking on his water.

“They… they might have us beat,” Mingyu commented.

Wonwoo put his menu down and gave Mingyu a look. “Do you even know yourself? Do you even know who you are as a person?”

Minghao giggled a little. “Are you gonna do all-you-can-eat?” Minghao asked his boyfriend, scooting his chair a little bit closer so that their bodies were almost touching.

“No, I was actually thinking about splitting something with you, Hao-hao. With Salsa dancing after this, you know.”

Oh right. They decided to take a dance class together.

“That’s what we were gonna do,” Mingyu pouted. “I wanted to split something with you, babe.”

“No, we weren’t?” Wonwoo objected. “I wanted to eat today.”

Minghao started laughing again.

By the time he stopped, Junhui was staring back at him with a soft look. Junhui immediately swooped in and kissed him on the nose. “You are socute.”

After a few more minutes of not-so-subtle flirting, Minghao and Junhui eventually decided on ordering a combination platter of a few different sushi rolls. Wonwoo begrudgingly agreed to split something with Mingyu, but only after the taller boy pouted for about three years. Minghao also thought that maybe Wonwoo wanted to get it over with because the other boy groaned a little every time he and Junhui did something a little flirty.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t just a little flirty.

He loved Junhui so much, and he sucked at the whole words thing most of the time, so they liked to do little kisses here and there and cuddling and touchy-feeling things and -- now that he was describing it, Minghao could see why Wonwoo thought it was a little gross.

It was like the two of them had to get out all the love they had built up over the past few weeks of pining after each other.

By the time their sushi rolls came out, Minghao had already decided exactly what he was going to do next. He quickly grabbed his chopsticks, picked up one of the rolls, and held it up in front of Junhui’s mouth. Junhui giggled, and then opened his mouth.

“Oh my god,” Mingyu muttered. “See, babe! It’s a totally normal thing.”

“I am not letting you feed me,” Wonwoo rejected. “Not after last time.”

“I didn’t know that you couldn’t handle spicy!”

“And I didn’t know that you wouldn’t warn me! Am I supposed to magically read your mind?” Mingyu lightly punched Wonwoo in the arm, earning an amused look from the shorter boy.

Wonwoo chuckled. “You? With magical powers? I doubt the world would trust you with that kind of responsibility, babe.”

Junhui giggled before swallowing the whole sushi roll that Minghao had been holding for like thirty seconds. “You’re worse than Lilli,” Minghao lilted, thinking about Junhui literally ate anything and everything.

His boyfriend tried to make an offended face before falling apart and laughing his butt off. “I love you, Hao-hao. You rescued me from being an old cat lady. Just with dogs. And being a guy. And gay.”

Minghao was new this semester. Junhui knew that. It was one of the few pieces of knowledge he’d gleaned in the months since they’d “met.” Junhui had been putting met in quotations, because he hadn’t actually had the nerve to say much to Minghao, so far. Their daily interactions generally consisted of a “hey” or “what’s up” when either of them walked in and saw the other. Sometimes, just a short, silent nod sufficed. It wasn’t because Junhui was afraid of Minghao, or anything. That would be ridiculous. There wasn’t anything scary about him, really, not his array of tattoos or the piercings dotting his ears, with one in his eyebrow. Certainly not the beat-up leather jacket he wore every day, along with the nearly permanent scowl. It only seemed to leave his face every now and then, when he would fall asleep on his desk.

Junhui wasn’t scared, okay? Minghao just...made him feel extra dorky.

He knew he was a dork, pre-Minghao. Junhui never skipped class, even the ones he hated (like Probability and Confirmation, for example). He turned in every assignment on time, studied an appropriate number of days in advance for all his exams. He got decent grades in return.

He enjoyed things like video games, and comic books. Maybe even the occasional, casual game of Dungeons and Dragons.

Truly, he was a massive nerd, and Minghao was just...massively hot. They didn’t match. Their leagues were nowhere near each other’s. It was fine. Junhui wasn’t bothered at all, actually, because college was for studying, not dating. He’d made a promise to himself when he got here: he would definitely, in no way, no way at all, let any cute boy get in the way of his goals. The only problem with that, was that he still sort of needed to figure out what those goals even were.

Philosophy classes were all well and good, when Junhui thought he wanted to become a lawyer, or maybe a professor. Both of those thoughts faded quickly when classes actually began. Now, he was four months into his sophomore year, still floundering and taking whatever classes piqued his interest (and kept his parents off his back, or at least moderately silent and not threatening to “pop up” for a visit every weekend or three), and the minute Minghao walked into Probability and Confirmation, Junhui stopped giving any sorts of damns about what the professor was saying, and instead, he became incredibly concerned with trying to figure out what the tattoo he could see peeking out of one sleeve on Minghao’s leather jacket sometimes was, when he raised his hands above his head. Not to ask questions in class, but to yawn impressively.

Besides scowling and sleeping, the only other thing Junhui had seen Minghao do during philosophy lectures was draw.

He didn’t notice it at first, because Minghao liked to draw with one arm curled around whatever paper he’d dug up to doodle on, as if he was trying to keep a secret, keep it just for himself. But one day, on his way out of class, Minghao got up from his desk so abruptly that one of his little slips of paper floated to the ground while Junhui watched. He watched it until it settled near the toe of his worn Chucks, until he was a hundred percent positive that Minghao had left the room. Then, Junhui leaned over and picked it up. He was already the last student sitting in the classroom. Everyone else had rushed out the door at the first opportunity the professor gave them. He figured he had a few minutes to sit and peruse whatever Minghao had drawn.

Junhui laid the piece of paper face down on the desk in front of him, eyeing it carefully. Suddenly, he felt nosy. Like he was invading Minghao’s privacy, even though it was just a picture and even though Minghao wasn’t even there to see him do it, and would never know. It was just...it felt almost intimate, in an innocent way.

It felt like Junhui was really, really over analyzing things.

Sighing, he flipped over the paper, annoyed at himself and his brain. When he glanced down and saw what was on it, he was torn between wanting to laugh out loud, and a healthy dose of what the fuck.

Apparently, Xu Minghao, local unfriendly bad boy, spent his time in Probability and Confirmation doodling puppies and kittens.

While Junhui was still trying to decide whether or not he should indulge his intense need to chortle, he examined the drawings closer. They weren’t simple line drawings, ones that anyone could pull off with enough concentration. They weren’t photorealistic, either. They had a certain style. Junhui thought about all the art he liked, all the cartoons and comics and anime he enjoyed. He’d spent enough time absorbing all of that art that he knew, without a doubt, that he could pick out the artist’s particular choices anytime he was presented with them: a pen flair there, a splash of color here. He felt like he could probably do that with anything Minghao drew from that point on, and he’d only looked at two puppies playing with a ball together, and a kitten, tangled up in a ball of yarn.

Junhui wondered if this was one of those moments, those important Life Moments where you knew you were being utterly, absolutely ridiculous, and subsequently had to make a decision on whether or not to continue down the path of dumbassery.

He’d gathered his things finally, slipping Minghao’s drawing into the side pocket of his messenger bag, and Junhui pondered his conundrum all the way down the steps of the lecture hall and out the door, into the nearly empty corridor of this building. Junhui had just about decided to swerve out of Loser Lane and coast down..some other...road...that winners used (he was still thinking about puppies and kittens and honestly, he wasn’t really in his right mind, okay? That was the only explanation for all the strange analogies he was coming up with), when suddenly, he bumped straight into the object of his internal confusion.

Minghao was stronger than he looked. Junhui decided that almost immediately. Running into him, literally running into his person with Junhui’s own person, wasn’t unlike how he thought running into a brick wall must feel. Fleetingly, Junhui’s mind wandered to how many more tattoos he would be able to see if he could also see all of Minghao’s many muscles, the ones he now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt definitely existed under all that old leather he wore.

“Uh,” Junhui blurted eloquently, averting his eyes to the ground, where they belonged. They definitely didn’t belong all over Minghao, which was where he currently wanted to put them. Along with his hands.

ANYway.

“Um,” Minghao started at the same time, their words bumping into each other just like their bodies had a few seconds before. Neither of them followed with anything else for a moment, and then finally Junhui came up with something.

“Hi. Um. You’re still here. Wow, that’s so weird, because...because everyone else is like, gone...and…like...you’re definitely not...so…”

Look, he never claimed that what he was going to say would make any sense whatsoever, all right?

Minghao was just watching him melt down, watching quietly and calmly, with only a hint of amusement in his eyes, and Junhui really sort of appreciated that. Minghao didn’t say anything at all until Junhui finally got his mouth to stop moving, twenty or so stumbling words later. He waited a beat, until he was sure Junhui was done with...whatever he was doing, and then Minghao licked his lips and smiled a little.

“Yeah, I’m still here. I have an appointment with the...with the office in like, ten minutes, so I figured there wasn’t any point in burning off too fast,” Minghao said. Junhui was far too out of his mind to notice the awkward, suspicious pauses in Minghao’s words.

“Oh. Well. Sorry I was...in your way,” Junhui tried next, even though it wasn’t much better than any of the nonsense he’d babbled before.

Minghao chuckled. “You weren’t.”

Junhui swallowed thickly. “Oh.”

It was going stunningly well, honestly.

Minghao shifted from foot to foot, hiking his backpack up his shoulder a little. “All right, well. See you Wednesday, Jun.”

Junhui had no idea how or why Minghao knew his name. He only knew that the way Minghao said it made it sound different than anyone else ever had. It sounded better.

Junhui really needed to get more sleep, he decided. It was starting to affect his daily life.

He nodded, and then Minghao nodded, and then they both started to walk in exactly the same direction.

Minghao stopped first, looking pleasantly irritated. Junhui slowed to a halt too. They looked at each other for a second, the silence between them just short of uncomfortable. Minghao shook his head in what might have been disbelief, actual annoyance, or confusion, and started off again, and Junhui had no choice but to follow, because Minghao was walking in the direction of both the administrative offices and the parking lot, where Junhui’s car was. The blessed vehicle that would take him off campus and away from this parade of humiliation he was currently riding the lead float in.

First he walked a few steps behind Minghao, then Junhui sped up for no reason and jogged in front of him for a bit while they crossed the courtyard. When he got tired of doing that, Junhui paused again and waited until Minghao caught up with him, and they walked the rest of the way side by side. Totally normal. Nothing to see here, folks. Certainly not Wen Junhui making a complete ass of himself in front of a Hot Bad Boy Type.

They walked without saying anything, until the quiet got too loud for Junhui, and he said the only thing he could think of, while he was trying to concentrate on walking without tripping and behaving like a cool guy, instead of a giant freaking nerd. “You’re really good at drawing.”

Immediately, Junhui cringed. Internally. He hoped to hell it was remaining internal. It was basically the last thing he should have said, ever, because now he really was invading Minghao’s privacy, and Minghao was going to hate him forever, obviously, and they would never get to know each other and become friends and then become best friends, Kwon Soonyoung be damned, and after best friends came boyfriends, and he would finally, finally get to put his hands all over the 24-pack Minghao was probably hiding under his t-shirt.

Minghao stopped walking again. “You’ve seen my drawings?” He didn’t sound mad. He didn’t sound happy, either. He sounded...carefully careful. Cautious. Whatever.

Junhui scrambled for the right words. Ones that wouldn’t implicate him in any sort of illicit fuckery, preferably. “Um. Well. You see. I...I, uh--”

“You must have pretty good eyes, to see all the way from your desk over my arm,” Minghao mused. “I mean, I don’t do it on purpose, really. Putting my arm in the way of anyone seeing my paper. It’s just...a habit,” he finished, biting his lip. Junhui wondered if Minghao would ever get a lip ring. He had the mouth for it.

“I mean,” Junhui started, his mind still working overtime on a plausible cover story, “I guess I’ve seen maybe...one or two...pictures? Drawings? Like, just by chance, really, passing by or whatever. It’s not like...I haven’t like, been looking on purpose.”

That part was true, at least.

Minghao shrugged. “S’fine. I don’t care.” He didn’t say thank you. He was probably too busy thinking about how Junhui was a total weirdo. He wouldn’t be wrong.

Suddenly, Junhui realized that right then might be his only chance to talk to Minghao like this, one on one, with no one else around. Right then might have been the only time he could say any number of things he’d wanted to, for a long time.

Junhui finished sorting out the most embarrassing ideas, and stashed them in the side of his brain that was probably dead from too much school and too much Minghao exposure. In the end, he went with: “You know, if you ever wanted to like, study or draw or do...whatever, you could come to my apartment, there’s plenty of room there and I have my own room, and--”

Minghao’s expression turned dark before Junhui could register it was happening. He didn’t know what he’d said to cause it, to cause everything to flip so quickly. He just knew that Minghao was frowning now, looking anywhere except at Junhui as he bit some words out. “See you around, Junhui.” With that, Minghao stalked past Junhui and made a sharp right, and Junhui wanted to call out to him, to tell him that he wasn’t going in the direction of the offices anymore, he was going to the parking lot, but he figured Minghao was probably aware of that. It seemed pretty intentional.

He wondered what he’d said to set Minghao off. He wondered it all the way to the parking lot, walking much slower than Minghao had stomped away. Junhui glanced around when he got to his car. No Minghao. He sighed, unlocking the door and flopping down into the passenger seat, and absolutely did not spend the entire ten minute drive to his apartment picking apart every millisecond of the end of his conversation with Minghao, trying to understand what he’d done and how he could undo it.

In the end, Junhui decided (i.e., forced himself upon penalty of...whatever he could come up with, later, when it mattered) that he wasn’t going to let it get to him. He was an adult, sort of, with adult problems. Ones that didn’t include whatever multiple personalities Xu Minghao had at his disposal.

Junhui was fine. The events of that afternoon totally weren’t consuming him and threatening to swallow his thoughts whole.

He was fine.

“Hey, do you know Xu Minghao?” Junhui asked Soonyoung very casually over bowls of noodles at their kitchen table later that night, after he’d spent about four hours living his best, productive life, not obsessing over the Minghao Situation whatsoever, at all.

Soonyoung slurped a noodle between his pursed lips, chewing it as he answered. “Yeah. Why?”

Junhui didn't know why he was surprised. It wasn’t like he was the only person allowed to know Minghao. Even an antisocial Bad Boy™ like Minghao probably had to have at least a couple of friends.

Junhui frowned a little. “From where?”

Soonyoung shrugged. “I dunno. Around? I think I met him like, once, when he stopped by dance team practice. I guess he was thinking about joining, but never did.”

Junhui tried to imagine Minghao on Soonyoung’s dance team, doing all the intricate hip-hop moves and overtly sexual hip thrusts Soonyoung favored. He couldn’t do it. Maybe it was that he didn't want to do it, especially when he considered that last part. Shaking his head to clear that thought out, Junhui went on. “Oh,” he said, picking at his food again like nothing had happened.

Soonyoung raised an eyebrow at him. “‘Oh’? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

Junhui pressed his lips together and hoped he wasn’t blushing. “Yes.”

Soonyoung dropped a few noodles back into his bowl. Junhui decided not to mention that the action made ramen broth splash all over the table.

Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Soonyoung stared at Junhui suspiciously. “Why, do you know him?”

Junhui shrugged. “Kind of, I guess. He’s in my Prob and Conf lecture.”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes. “Whatever that means.” He took another bite. “And?”

Junhui groaned. “And nothing, you mouth-breather. And I just wondered if he had any friends, or whatever. I guess.” He didn't really know why he was adding “I guess” to the end of all these thoughts, suddenly. Maybe Junhui felt like it would acquit him of some of the responsibility, make it okay that he had somehow ruined things with Minghao before they even started, and it would become totally reasonable that he had no idea why.

Soonyoung was smirking, now. “Wen Junhui, you have a crush.”

Junhui’s jaw dropped. “I do not!”

Nodding, Soonyoung started to look more and more victorious. Junhui wasn’t sure what he was claiming victory over, but he probably didn't want to find out, either. “Fuck yeah, you do, dude. It’s cool! You can crush on whoever you want!” he decided, as if Junhui needed his best friend’s permission to do so. Y’know. If he had a crush in the first place. Which he didn’t.

“Thank you,” Junhui muttered, dropping his head into his hands. He used the time to himself to think of how to steer this conversation in another direction, preferably one exactly opposite of where it was currently heading. It had already gone too far for his liking. Luckily, it only took a few moments for him to pinpoint a topic that would have Soonyoung running for the metaphorical hills, or at least his bedroom, leaving Junhui alone with his innumerable thoughts. “So, about the dog I’m definitely adopting soon…”

Soonyoung got up from the table immediately, snatching Junhui’s bowl from in front of him before he’d even finished his ramen. Junhui tried to protest. It didn’t really work, because Soonyoung was always one conversational step ahead of him, even when he was trying to change the subject himself.

“No, Jun. We are not getting a dog. They are horrible creatures who drool everywhere and tear up the furniture, and--”

“--not unlike you,” Junhui interjected, pleased at his own wit. He anticipated the smack on the head with a dish towel Soonyoung attempted to aim at him a half second before it happened, ducking his head as the towel whooshed above him. Soonyoung made sort of a hrmph sound, but he didn’t try for another slap.

“Jun. I don’t want a dog,” Soonyoung said, yelling to be heard over the rushing water at the sink. “I’m not a dog person. I’m not even a pet person!” he exclaimed.

Junhui rolled his eyes. “Well, I am, and I want a dog. It won’t be your dog, dude. You won’t even have to do anything! I’ll feed it and walk it and clean up after it.”

Soonyoung turned off the water, snorting. “Yeah, for about a month, until you lose interest and find some other thing to get into. Y’know, kinda like how you’ve been doing with these rando classes you keep signing up for, with no major in sight, for two years.”

Junhui wanted to argue with that, he really did. But Soonyoung was unequivocally right about the classes, even if Junhui hated to admit it.

He was still wrong about the dog, though.

“That’s not gonna happen, I swear,” Junhui promised. “I’ve wanted a dog since I was a kid, but my parents would never let me get one. Now I’ve got my own apartment--”

“--that you don’t have to pay for, because I pay for it out of my trust fund,” Soonyoung reminded him.

“I pay for groceries!” Junhui protested. “And, I bought that lamp right there,” he said, pointing a finger into the living room at the atrocious, cheap lighting fixture he’d brought home from the local flea market one Sunday afternoon.

Soonyoung plopped down into his chair across from Junhui again. “Congratulations, you own a lamp,” he said dryly.

Junhui ignored that jab, still thinking. Trying to find a way to get what he wanted. “I’ll do the dishes for a month,” he said finally. Soonyoung hated dishes. Junhui used that fact as a bargaining chip more frequently than he liked to admit.

Soonyoung rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Three months, and I’ll think about it.”

Junhui sat forward, his elbows on the table. “Two months, and I’m definitely getting a dog.”

“Two and a half, and you can have a gerbil,” Soonyoung countered.

“Two and three quarters, plus laundry, plus I’ll talk to that mean little midget T.A. you have a giant heart boner for on your behalf,” Junhui proposed, and when Soonyoung started to blush beet red, he knew he’d won.

He didn’t answer for a long while. They stared each other down at the table, neither of them wanting to break eye contact first. After a while, Junhui started to wonder if Soonyoung had fallen asleep with his eyes open. He wouldn’t put it past him. They’d known each other for ten years, and he’d seen it happen before.

“Two and three quarters, plus laundry, plus you’ll talk to Jihoon using only an approved list of comments and facts which I make for you and you do not go off book, got it, and I’ll continue to think about it,” Soonyoung decided.

“Go with me to the shelter this weekend, and you’ve got yourself a deal. The minute you lay eyes on those sweet little puppies, you’ll change your mind,” Junhui said confidently.

Soonyoung groaned. “I hate my life.”

Minghao took a left, shuffling through the crowded crosswalk.

Screw Probability and Confirmation for being the biggest waste of his time ever. After the second class of the professor droning on and on and on about capital E Existentialism and John Locke, he lost total interest in paying attention to the lectures. He was 110% sure he could literally put anything on his written exams, and the professor would think that it was “insightful” and “profound,” to use his favorite philosophy buzzwords. This, despite the fact that his written exam would probably be 110% word vomit with those precise buzzwords.

He practically walked through some random dude, his shoulder pushing the other guy aside. He took a right.

It wasn’t like he didn’t write anything down during class. No, he had a half-page of semi-coherent notes with multiple words triply-underlined, probably because he heard the prof repeat them at least seventeen times. How do you even take notes in a philosophy class? Half of the lecture slides are just random pictures of random bronze statues of random Greek dudes who had some random ideas that they wrote in a random book 2000 years ago. The class was randomly structured with a nonsensical syllabus that emphasized random discussions that the same two students participated in with no goddamn end in sight every class. He learned more by doodling cats from the shelter.

Minghao swung another left, ignoring the senile-looking old dude playing harmonica on the street corner. No, he didn’t have any money, he thought, clutching the two dollars in his pocket.

And, most of all, screw Wen Junhui for existing. Of all the people who he could run into after class in a desolate hallway, it had to be Wen Junhui. Of all the people who could know about his lame-ass doodles, it had to be Wen Junhui. Of all the people who could invite him over to their apartment, it had to be Wen Junhui. And of course he did all of that while be the biggest freaking dork ever. It was Too. Goddamn. Cute.

He tapped his foot waiting for the next light to change. Minghao was impatient, but he didn’t know why.

Yes, you heard that right, random person tuning into Minghao’s inner monologue: Xu Minghao, the twenty year-old college student who wears leather jackets, has three tattoos, and five piercings, is in love with a twink like Wen Junhui. Are you surprised? He was too for about five minutes. When Jun walked into their first class together, he remembered actually perking up a little bit to check him out. He thought Junhui was so fucking cute with his sharp, bookish features, his messy raven-black hair, and his tall, lithe frame. Minghao was a master of playing it cool around people who caught his eye, but he knew deep down that he was seriously intrigued. Junhui ticked off all the boxes on the checklist entitled “Minghao’s Type.” It was only a matter of time before he fully admitted that Wen Junhui was half the reason he was distracted in Prob and Conf.

The light switched to green, and he crossed along with what seemed like the rest of humanity. He shoved his way to the right and switched directions yet again, his worn boots stomping down on puddles without much care.

So why did he snap at Jun? Why did he go against all of his feelings?

Minghao stopped again, staring down at one of the puddles. Nobody was around him -- it was quiet off of the main street.

He didn’t know. Half of him was so goddamn smitten. When Jun physically ran into him and immediately apologized even though it wasn’t his fault, when Jun stuttered in the cutest way possible, when Jun talked about how he liked his stupid little anime drawings -- god, Minghao just wanted to melt right then and there. But the other half of him knew it was fake. How did he know? He just knew, okay. It was inevitable. He knew that Jun didn’t actually like him, that Jun was just apologizing because he was scared of the weird guy with a bunch of piercings in his philosophy class, that Jun was just making fun of him when he talked about his chibi-kittens. He got so angry -- no, upset was the right word -- that he just wanted to walk away. He let his feelings flash in front of Jun, mostly just to push him away, He knew Junhui would hate the real Minghao, so he just made it easier for both of them: push him away before Jun learned too much about who he really was.

A single raindrop splashed in the puddle he was staring at, the ripples distorting his features. Shit, it was starting to rain. Minghao ran his hand through his dark hair, wondering where he was; he had been walking aimlessly for what seemed like an hour.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, recognizing where he was. He didn’t want to be here of all places; what if Jeonghan was here? He searched frantically, analyzing each street corner while licking his lips nervously. Swarms of people were coming and going along the main road, so it was hard to see. He crossed the street he was on to get a better look; Jeonghan had long blonde hair the last time he had seen him, but who knew what he looked like now. All he knew is that he did not want to talk to him today of all days. Giving up, Minghao ducked inside one of the convenience stores.

He licked his lips again, feeling out of place. Convenience stores were always a little overwhelming, so much crap packed into such a small space. He hated squeezing past people to get through the narrow aisles… everybody always gave him weird looks, and he would always just tut back, rolling his eyes. They were probably judging him because of his tattoos and piercings while they went about their boring day during their boring life. He normally hated normal people -- why did he like Jun then?

Ugh, focus, Minghao. Why did he go to the convenience store again? He jammed his hands into his pockets, immediately feeling the two dollars again. Oh, right: food. That’s why he was here despite his undying hatred of convenience stores. Luckily, it was pretty empty. He didn’t even need to go search for what he was looking for; why was he so worried? Why was he so on-edge?

He grabbed a Snickers bar and a pack of gum, shoving them toward the clerk at the counter, who scanned them both.

“Three dollars.”

Minghao reached into his pocket, pulling out only two.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Um, I’ll only take the candy bar, I guess.”

The clerk sighed. Apparently he didn’t get paid enough to deal with this. At least he was getting paid, Minghao thought to himself.

“Two dollars.”

Minghao shoved his cash down on the counter, grabbed his candy bar, and didn’t wait for the receipt before darting out of the store. He shoved the Snickers bar in his jacket pocket and checked his phone: 1:52. He only had eight minutes to make it to the shelter; Minghao knew he was going to be late. He threw his hood over his head, and ducked back into the crowds of people. Hopefully Dokyeom didn’t chew him out this time.

Why would Dokyeom chew him out? Dokyeom was literally the least confrontational person ever, and, honestly, it seemed like he was just happy to get the extra help at the shelter. Who cared if Minghao showed up ten minutes late -- he was a volunteer anyways. At least, that’s how he rationalized showing up late to himself.

Yes, Xu Minghao, the leather jacket-clad street-certified bad boy volunteered in his free time. Where, you might ask? At the pet shelter of course. Street trash was his name and cats and dogs were his game. His sidekick?

“Hao-hao, you’re late!”

Don’t even ask.

“Not today, Dino,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. He knew he should have entered through the back -- the bell at the front was dead giveaway. Not that it would’ve mattered much anyways: Dino was going to annoy him eventually.

“Oh come on, Minghao,” Dino protested, shooting Minghao a fake-hurt look. “What if I told you I brought you ramen today?”

Minghao stopped. He thought about how hungry he was and how that Snickers bar wasn’t going to be enough. Dino liked to bring him food: at first, he used to refuse until Dino finally convinced him that it would be going to waste if Minghao didn’t eat it. He sighed, and Dino knew then that he had acquiesced, a big smile breaking across his face.

“Fine--”

“--Let me grab it, Hao-hao!” Dino interjected before Minghao could finish his long, exasperated concession. He shook his head while Dino abandoned the front counter, running back to his bag to grab what was now half of Minghao’s lunch. Snickers and instant ramen? He’d had sadder lunches, believe it or not. Or no lunch.

“Here you go,” Dino announced, putting the cup-ramen back on the counter.

“Thanks, kiddo,” he replied, ruffling Dino’s hair as he headed to the small employee “lounge” as they affectionately called it. “We can get started on our usual routine after I eat, okay?”

Dino nodded in response.

In reality, the “lounge” was no more than small round table with two chairs, a microwave, and a mini-fridge that no one but Dokyeom used. Minghao threw his ramen cup in the microwave and let it heat up for two minutes.

Their pet shelter certainly wasn’t one of the largest in the city, but it served its purpose. About two dozen dogs and cats called this shelter their temporary home. The obvious goal was that these cats and dogs would be adopted, or, more accurately, rescued, by a loving and caring owner. Of course, practically that didn’t always happen. Minghao formed connections with most of the adoptable cats and dogs, serving as their primary day-to-day caregiver aside from Dokyeom. Dokyeom was technically his boss as the only employee of the shelter who was actually paid; he was a mix between an administrator, who managed the day-to-day paperwork and things like that, and also a vet tech, who could perform basic check-ups for the days when the actual vet wasn’t in. Minghao was a senior volunteer, devoting lots of hours at the shelter. It was like his home. Volunteer was a bit of a misnomer too -- Dokyeom did pay him a little each month, just not nearly at minimum wage. It was an arrangement that Minghao was okay with, considering how much he worked here. Finally, Dino was the newest volunteer; Minghao and Dokyeom had just finished formally training him. They were quite the team: Dokyeom was quiet, supremely qualified, and a little mopey, Dino was bright, enthusiastic, and sunshine-y, and Minghao? Well, Minghao was Minghao. Jaded and a bit sarcastic around people, but soft and caring with the two-dozen pets under his care.

The microwave started obnoxiously beeping, signaling that his food was done. He carefully removed the ramen cup, fished out a plastic spork, and took his Snickers out from his jacket pocket. Bon appetit: gourmet meals by Minghao in two minutes.

Dino must have been distracted with something else because usually he bothered him 24/7 once he walked in the door.

“Hao-hao!”

-- he spoke too soon.

“How was your day? How was class?” Dino was standing in the doorway to the lounge, halfway between the employees-only area and the front desk.

“Boring,” Minghao replied. He fished out a spoonful of ramen, blowing on the noodles to cool them down.

“You always say that!”

Minghao shoved the ramen into his mouth and started talking while chewing: “Because class is always boring.”

“C’mon, Hao-hao. Something interesting must’ve happened,” Dino insisted, not missing a beat.

Minghao scooped out another spoonful of ramen. He thought about his encounter with Junhui earlier, made a face, and then decided to lie.

“Literally nothing interesting happened, Dino.”

“Nothing? Nothing at all?”

Minghao swallowed. “Well, now that I think about it…” he started, watching Dino’s eyes light up in anticipation, “I did run into this annoying kid at the shelter who wouldn’t leave me alone during lunch…”

Dino frowned. “Not funny, Hao-hao.”

Minghao just smirked in response, going for more ramen.

“You’re literally the most interesting person I know, how can nothing ever happen in your life?”

Minghao? Interesting? He scoffed in response. “You only see me on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I have Prob and Conf. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are more interesting,” he explained.

“Okay, well what happened yesterday?”

“Got an A on my dance practical.”

“Really? That’s great! Good job, Hao-hao!” Dino held up his left hand for a high-five. Minghao was still in the middle of eating, but he decided to humor his friend, fist-bumping Dino’s open palm while slurping down his last spoonful of noodles. Dino just made an amused face in response.

“It’s not that impressive,” he elaborated, tossing his spork in the empty ramen cup. “They’re starting us off with real basic stuff, and I wish they’d just move onto harder things already. I get that this class is a pre-req or whatever, but come on.”

“I’m--”

Before Dino could start saying much, the bell at the front rang, meaning someone (Dino) had to take care of it.

“You got it?” Minghao half-asked, half-suggested, waving his Snickers bar at Dino.

“Yeah!”

Dino disappeared back to the front desk, leaving Minghao to eat his Snickers in peace. Still, he listened in, half-concerned that it might be something that Dino wasn’t comfortable handling on his own. He unwrapped the candy bar took a large bite, demolishing the first-third of the Snickers.

“How can I help you?” he heard Dino say from the front.

He took another bite. So far, so good. He could hear the customer respond, but he couldn’t make out the words. It sounded like a guy, though.

“I’m sorry, sir, we only work with cats and dogs.”

Minghao rolled his eyes. Did someone bring in their pet hamster again?

“You talked to Dokyeom about it this morning?”

He definitely did not, Minghao thought to himself. This was going to get out of hand; Dino was too nice, he wasn’t going to turn the visitor away like he was supposed to. Minghao left his candy bar on the table and headed to the front desk; he was so ready to turn this random dude and his hamster away.

“Dino, what’s going on?” he asked, standing next to his shorter friend at the front desk. He sized up the guy who Dino was dealing with. He couldn’t be much older than either him or Dokyeom, and he was holding an opaque pet carrier that was far too small for either a cat or a dog.

“Um, he says that Dokyeom agreed to see his chinchilla.”

He made a face -- oh, even better than a hamster.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Minghao muttered.

“Look,” the other boy started, his voice a good octave below either Minghao or Dino’s, “I swear I talked to Dokyeom this morning, and he agreed to look at Buttercup.”

“Its name is Buttercup?”

“Her name is Buttercup,” the boy corrected.

“Look, buddy, we only work with cats and dogs here. I can give you the phone number and address for our vet runs an animal clinic downtow--”

“--Hansol?” Dokyeom interrupted from behind them. Minghao and Dino spun around at the same time; apparently Dino was equally shocked that Dokyeom agreed to see a chinchilla, of all things.

“You know this dude?” Minghao asked.

“Yeah, we spoke on the phone this morning,” Dokyeom explained, shifting his focus back to Hansol. “And I’m guessing this is Buttercup? Come on back.”

Hansol nervously smiled in response, and Minghao turned back toward Dokyeom. “Since when did we start seeing chinchillas, DK?”

“Right in here,” Dokyeom said, directing Hansol and Buttercup into the small examination room. Minghao’s de facto boss then turned his attention back to him: “Look, he couldn’t afford to go to the vet, and he sounded really worried.”

“Yeah, but you don’t even know how to spell chinchilla, not to mention medically examining one,” Minghao protested.

“C-H-I-N-C-H-I-L-A,” Dokyeom spelled, “and I’m taking a night class on rodent health this semester, Hao.” With that, Dokyeom turned around, heading to the examination room that Hansol and Buttercup were in.

“It’s two L’s, dumbass!” Minghao called out just as Dokyeom closed the door. Minghao shook his head and turned his attention to Dino: “I swear to god,” he complained.

Dino just smirked in response. “I’ll start tidying up the front while you finish your candy bar?”

“Oh, shit.” He ran back to the lounge, shoved the last third of the candy bar in his mouth, and threw out the candy wrapper, ramen cup, and spork before returning to the front. Dino had already moved onto tidying up the front area of the shelter, which doubled as a waiting room and play area. The couches were a little worn and had several tears on the cushions, but it was expected when you think about just how many meet-and-greets they facilitated in the front. Every time a visitor wanted to adopt a pet, they would have to sign in with the front and wait until either Minghao or Dino brought out the dog or cat they were interested in. They had cat toys in one bin and dog toys in another, and it was their job to supervise the adopter-adoptee interaction. Minghao explained it to Dino like this: it was as much about how the pet fit the adopter as the how the adopter fit the pet. Minghao and Dino were there to be the rescue’s advocate, to make sure that they wouldn’t just end up right back in the shelter because the adopter was a poor match. Minghao was perhaps the fiercest advocate. He hated having dogs and cats at the rescue longer than they needed to be there, but he thought it was even worse for a rescue to get a taste of rescued life just to return back to the gutter of shelter life -- or, even worse -- street life. It was heartbreaking. At least he and Dino could take care of them to the best of their ability.

By the time Minghao got back to the front, Dino had already picked up most of the toys and returned them to their respective baskets. Minghao picked up some of the worn-out pillows that were strewn about the floor… Dokyeom must’ve had a lot going on this morning.

“Cats first?”

Dino nodded in response, and they went to the back of the shelter together.

“I’ll do social first,” Minghao announced. Dino nodded again.

It was so much easier when they had two people to work the cat room: one was the “social,” or the person who handled the cats, and the other was the “cleaner,” or the person who replaced the litter and refilled the water and food. Minghao was going to be the social first, which was arguably the better job. It was essentially five minutes of cat handling -- times six, until they switched. Usually they went smoothly.

Usually.

Minghao removed the first cat, a black-and-white tuxedo, and cradled her in his arms. She was dying for attention, pawing at Minghao’s face. Dino chuckled, dumping out the old litter into a waste bag. He pulled out the bag of fresh litter, and he refilled the mini litter box. Dino then grabbed the gigantic 25-pound bag of food, starting to pour out kibble into the tuxedo’s food bowl. Just then, Minghao heard the bell in the front ring, and he looked at Dino. Without missing a beat, the younger boy shoved the heavy bag of food into Minghao’s free hand and disappeared to go take care of the visitor at the front desk. Minghao wasn’t weak, but Dino gave him the bag at a weird angle, and he was forced to let it fall to the ground. Kibble spilled out everywhere, all of the cats were meowing, the tuxedo squirmed her way out of his arms -- it was a total mess.

“Why didn’t you put it on the ground, Dino,” Minghao muttered, massaging his temples. “No-no-no, don’t go for the kibble on the floor.”

The tuxedo was going straight for the kibble, the rest of the cats meowing up a storm. Minghao groaned, quickly picking up the tuxedo and throwing her in her cage. “One moment,” he whispered.

Minghao started scooping kibble up off of the ground, crouched over with the waste bag at his side.

“What happened here?” Dino asked from behind him.

Minghao sighed again. “You happened.”

They made it to through the rest of the cats without incident (Dino was a little more timid with them, having been scratched one too many times), though Dino was reluctant to put away his last furry friend. She was the friendliest of the bunch and loved to nuzzle up her face into Dino’s while he was holding her. Honestly? It made Minghao so happy to have someone else around who loved cats and dogs as much as he did. He may have been all tattoos and piercings on the outside, but he was a big softie on the inside. Dino put his last friend back in her cage once Minghao was done cleaning and refilling the food and water.

“I have to go study tonight, Hao-hao,” Dino announced, checking his phone. “I have an exam in two days, and I’m not ready for it.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll take care of the rest,” Minghao replied. “Good luck if I don’t see you before then?”

Dino smiled in response, his eyes forming into little crescents. Dino went back to the lounge to grab his belongings, but not before pushing Minghao’s buttons: “You’re cute when you care, Minghao.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Minghao waved him off dismissively, turning his attention to the dogs. Before he could even get to the first one, her tail wagging in anticipation, he heard the bell ring at the front. “Already?” he murmured to himself.

“One moment!” he hollered to the front. He brushed off all the cat hair on his jacket and pants before moving out front where he could help who he hoped would be the last visitor of the day.

“Hey, how can I help yo…” His voice started trailing off as soon as he realized who he was talking to. “Junhui?”

“Minghao?”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, moving behind the front desk. Was he actually here to adopt? Or did he find out where Minghao spent most of his free time? How much did Junhui know about him?

“W-what are you doing here?”

Junhui seemed genuinely confused to see Minghao here, so maybe he really was just here to adopt?

“I asked first,” Minghao retorted. He kept his facial expression steady while Junhui just stood near the front door, seemingly still in shock.

“I… I was dropping off… an application. I wanted to a-adopt.”

“Hmmph,” Minghao replied. “I can take it.”

“O-oh, yeah, just give me a sec,” the taller boy murmured, putting his messenger bag down on one of the coffee tables near the couches.

Why?

Why here? Why now? Why him, of all people?

Why did Junhui have to be so goddamn cute all the time!? The way he stammered out responses, the way he fumbled through his bag looking for his application, the way he always seemed so nervous around Minghao… it was too much. He just wanted to scoop Jun up into a hug and not let go -- sure, Junhui might have been taller (and older, too), but the way Junhui seemed to get so… timid? At least, he always seemed so unsure of himself around Minghao. Was that just how Junhui normally was? Or was Minghao special?

“Here you go,” Junhui said, interrupting Minghao’s train of thought. He was holding out his two-page application, and Minghao took it wordlessly. Looking through the app to make sure everything was filled out correctly, he couldn’t help but notice how… pretty Junhui’s handwriting was. It was free and elegant, just like how Junhui was when he walked through campus. Nothing like the Junhui right now, who stammered and stumbled through his words, sentences falling out in jumbles. Minghao set the paper down and looked up; Junhui looked away, like he had been watching him carefully before Minghao’s gaze met his. Maybe Junhui was just intimidated by him?

“Our administrator will look through this and call you once everything checks out. After that, you can come back and meet some potential rescues that we think match your application. Anything else?”

“You -- you never answered my question.”

“Hmm?”

“You work here?”

“Volunteer, actually,” he tersely corrected.

“Really?”

“Surprised?”

“Y-yeah, kinda.”

Minghao sighed. Yes, surprise-surprise, the boy with tattoos, piercings, and leather jackets who slept through class also doodles cats and works at a shelter five days a week. Even if Junhui thought he was cool when he was a bona fide bad boy, he surely just thought he was a total loser now that his façade was falling apart. Ha, you thought Xu Minghao rode a motorcycle to school and hadn’t cried in eight years? Joke’s on you, he plays with kittens every other day.

“Alright, well, if that’s it--”

“--Actually, I did have a question about my application…” Junhui interjected, this time looking directly at Minghao with his big brown eyes.

“Okay.”

“So, um, my apartment only allows me to have dogs that weigh under 30 pounds. Do you have any smaller dogs right now?”

Minghao ran through their current rescues in his head. He couldn’t help but start thinking about which of their current rescues would suit Junhui, which ones he would trust with someone like Junhui… which one would be happiest with Junhui.

“Yeah, I’d say we have at least three or four that are under 30 right now.”

Junhui just smiled in response. Minghao thought he was going to melt, but he couldn’t smile back. He knew Junhui was probably just being polite.

“Thank you for your help,” Junhui finally replied. “And I guess I’ll see you in class on Thursday?”

“Yeah, guess so.”

Junhui just smiled again, grabbed his messenger bag from the coffee table, and exited without another word, leaving Minghao alone with two-dozen rescues and a whole lot of feelings. The one thought he couldn’t shake?