𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞•𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞

eight

wonwoo was somewhere in mingyu's peripheral vision, and he was painting. mingyu was too busy admiring and running around the backyard, since it was too pretty to be ignored. wonwoo had already excused himself from playing with mingyu to start on his painting.

wonwoo was smiling with every stroke of his brush, liking how his painting is turning out so far. he watched mingyu, getting more ideas on what to put in his painting. his gaze leaves mingyu to the canvas, and then when he looks at mingyu again he almost drops his brush."

"mingyu, stay away from the beehive!" wonwoo shouts, but too late, mingyu's painful wince had already wafted around. wonwoo sighed, placing his brush and palette somewhere safe. he runs to the taller, grabbing him somewhere safer.

"that actually hurt. i thought bees don't sting that hard." mingyu hissed through his teeth, before angrily glaring at the beehive. "IF I EVER GET A CHANCE, I'LL STING YOU TOO!"

wonwoo's serious expression suddenly fades. he laughs out loud at mingyu's stupid and weird statement, completely losing his braincells. there's no turning back now. he decided to be with mingyu, he loses braincells.

"hey, stop laughing! it hurts!" mingyu pouts, pointing at his swollen palm. wonwoo composes himself and grabs mingyu's wrist without warning, so mingyu tensed. wonwoo noticed.

"don't worry, i'm just going to help you." wonwoo meets mingyu's worried gaze before his soft lips came in touch with mingyu's palm, sucking on the bite. it was something that wonwoo learned from being a boy scout. probably the only thing he learned.

to mingyu, it all happened in slow motion. it wasn't like wonwoo kissed him or anything, it just looked so charming to him. god, when did mingyu last had a kiss? at sophomore year, when a drunk senior kissed him sloppily in a party?

wonwoo pulls away feom mingyu's palm and spits, and then smiles at mingyu. "it's all okay now." wonwoo's eyes shrink, thanks to his smile. mingyu was staring blankly at him.

"hello?"

"earth to mingyu?"

"oh." mingyu shook his head, turning away to thoughts of his sad love life. "sorry for interrupting!"

"that's okay!" wonwoo chuckled, going back to where he left his canvas. mingyu sighed, smiling a little. he decides to go closer to wonwoo, so he won't get stung by a bee again.

wonwoo paints, the smile on his face was never erased.

mingyu hated the silence. so, he decides to bring up a question. "why did you want me to be the subject of your painting?" mingyu asks. "it looked beautiful, by the way."

wonwoo sighed. finally, mingyu broke the ice. he was too awkward to bring up a conversation, and he relied on mingyu to do it. mingyu indeed brought up a topic so the faint rock music on the stereo and the car horns weren't the only thing that the two could hear.

the traffic was heavy on the way back. the sky was a splash of orange and pink, telling the two boys that they spent too much time in the sunflower fields.

"because your words were kind of moving," wonwoo chuckles, watching the unmoving picture of the road filled with cars. "that sunflower shit? i live for it. if i had drawn a dick on your face, i would never have probably had this idea."

the painting that wonwoo ended up with was a portrait of mingyu running his hands through the petals of the sunflowers, the sun shining brightly upon mingyu. to others, it might look like just a simple portrait and may look like it's nothing special. but luckily, wonwoo gets to explain his painting in the finals; maybe people would appreciate it.

"i still don't get it, but okay." mingyu chuckled nervously, scratching his scalp. wonwoo sighed, preventing the smile that was about to show on his face. "i'll send you the official explanation that i would send to the judges along with my painting, too. it's hard explaining impromptu."

"i'll be waiting." mingyu clicks his tongue, winking. wonwoo laughed a little.

it's getting late. the traffic was moving slow, and mingyu was itching to have another conversation.

"you know, wonwoo," mingyu opened the front compartment, only to find lots of bubblegum tape in it. "i wonder why i've never met you. how long have you been living in seoul?"

"i lived in the poorer part of seoul as a kid, and when i grew up and got a shitty career, i moved into an apartment nearby your cafe. your cafe just opened then, too." wonwoo said. "i never really went in your cafe before."

"oh, what an insult." mingyu acts as if he was just shot, making wonwoo laugh. "let me treat you sometime. your favorite coffee, on the house, then maybe you'll realize how good my cafe is."

wonwoo rolled his eyes. "oh, it's not because of the coffee. i don't doubt that your coffee is good, but the employees? snarky and loud. the sign outside doesn't shout 'cafe that everyone would want to hang around because it's such an aesthetic', because the signs are too dull. there are potted cactuses everywhere, that's not minimalistic—that just implies that the owner is probably a cowboy." wonwoo looks at mingyu, who wiped away fake tears.

"i'm sorry it's like that! if you're so good yourself, why don't you suggest me options on how to make it more nice?" mingyu raised an eyebrow.

"add a neon sign inside, something that says 'home' or something like that. remove half of the cactuses inside. put bar chandeliers that have yellow light. make sure the cafe smells like coffee beans. the sign outside? change the color palette so it stands out more." wonwoo pointed to things that mingyu can't see. maybe it's a mannerism when he talks.

"you could be an interior designer."

"yeah, i know." wonwoo huffs, proud of himself. mingyu laughs at this.

"wonwoo?" mingyu tilts his head, and then wonwoo meets mingyu's eyes again.

"yeah?"

"i hope you win." mingyu smiled warmly.