"I am indeed not what you think I am, Ming," Jun said softly whilst regaining rest of his stolen breath from the journey. Ming has only tilted his head in confusion as baby's breath sprouted behind his ears.
"I don't understand. Have you been lying to me this entire time?" Minghao questioned, unable to hide his hurt.
"No, no! I meant- well, this place will explain everything." Jun sighed and ran his fingers through his damp hair as Minghao's confusion only grew more, along with the dahlias that bloomed around his wrists, like heavy bracelets. Jun said nothing and held out his hand for Minghao to take. He led them to the entrance of the cracked, vine covered building and kicked open the door. It nearly caved in with Jun's foot, but opened with a creaky boom.The stepped inside, a warning of carefulness uttered from the scaled boy's lips when he saw the debris strewn about the floor.
Jun remembered it all. Every tile on the ceiling, now caked with dust and mold, he remembered counting them. The layout of the entire research building was ingrained into his memory; every grate that opened to the ventilating system, the secrecy spaces in between the walls, he remembered it all. He was lost in thought until a hand gripped his tighter, and little grape vines wrapped around his skin. Jun looked at Minghao.
"It's so we stick together. Don't want to be lost in here, you know?" Minghao quickly explained. And maybe I like holding your hand.
"Good idea, Ming."
They ventured on ahead. Walking aimlessly, Minghao thought. At least he was with his... friend. Jun lead Minghao into a large room with a plethora of broken equipment. Monitors and Scanners and the like were there, tables covered in broken scalpels and pliers and other tools he couldn't name.
"This was my room," Jun said softly. The boy's appearance seemed to have shrunk, eyes glazed over and his lips turned downwards. Flashbacks littered his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened in this very room.
"Hey, hey," Minghao cupped the hyperventilating boy's face, pressing their foreheads together. "It's okay, you're safe, you're with me, it's alright."
It took a bit to calm Jun down, but when he did, he smiled weakly and continued. "I'm not going to say everything that happened, because frankly, I couldn't handle it. Just know that this was more a prison than anything else."
The flower boy nodded, and grabbed both of Jun's hands. "I don't know your past, and I understand how hard it might have been. But you're here now, with me. It will be okay, okay?"
"Okay."
A/N: (:
