cold | junhao

五

Jun's not entirely sure how he finds himself in front of Minghao's front door. He stares up at the extravagant manor house while the sun shines high above him on the bright Saturday morning, his hand inching towards the knocker situated in the centre of the polished oak. The door looms above him, so much bigger than he'd anticipated now that he's standing so close to it.

Finally, he works up the courage to raise the knocker - shaped as a fox's head - and drops it, repeating his action twice more and listening to the booming echo reverberating from behind the door.

Minghao's eyes are half closed and his phone is held up in front of his face when a loud sound resonates through his house. His head whips up, face quickly contorting into a frown.

"But I didn't order anything??" he questions, taking a quick glance at the time. He shakes his head at the 8:00 blinking at him from his bedside cabinet. "Someone must've got the wrong house." He groans to himself, sluggishly slipping on sliders to trail down the two flights of stairs, eventually coming to the ground floor.

Whoever is on the other side knocks again.

"I'm coming, Jesus!" he exclaims, gripping the door handle and yanking it open. He's about ready to get annoyed at the person daring to knock on his door so persistently this early in the morning, but the words die in his mouth when he spots someone familiar.

"Junhui?" his jaw drops. "Um, why are you here?"

Jun shrugs, hands stuffed in his pockets. He tries to seem as unbothered as possible, but in reality his eyes can't help trailing up and down Minghao's figure - which is clad in low rising joggers and a loose fitting t-shirt that exposes his sharp collarbones.

"I wanted to hang out..."

"Why would you want to do that?" Despite his apparent attempt to push Jun away, Minghao steps aside and gestures for the boy to come in. After closing the door behind them, Minghao's arms come up and secure around his torso, trying to shake off the crisp morning air that follows them in.

Jun takes a while to respond, too busy with his mouth wide open and in complete awe of what he's seeing. The foyer is grand like a hotel lobby, with a high ceiling and decorated with regal colours of red, gold and white. Minghao pushes past him to the kitchen, sighing to himself. This is one of the main reasons he never has anyone over.

That, and he doesn't exactly know anyone and like them enough to have them over in the first place.

After taking a seat at the breakfast counter, Jun starts twiddling a loose thread around his finger. "I like you," he finally answers, "You seem pretty cool."

"That's ridiculous," Minghao challenges. He stares at the visitor in genuine confusion with his eyebrows furrowed. "You don't even know me."

"I want to though."

Jun glances around, noticing for the first time how there's so much less actually in the house than he first thought. Not nearly enough for a whole family to live here. "Wait, you don't live here alone, do you?"

Minghao nods nonchalantly.

"What about your parents?"

"In China."

Jun purses his lips, suddenly feeling a little bit sorry for the boy in front of him. "Same," he says quietly. He gets the feeling that Minghao doesn't really have anyone to keep him company - unlike Jun with his huge group of friends. "How long have you lived here for?"

Minghao thinks for a second, quietly counting the years out on his fingers. "Almost 4 years now, I think?" He can feel the eyes on the back of his head, knowing they belong to Junhui and they probably hold pity, he quickly takes the subject away from him. "What about you?" he asks. "How long have you lived here?"

"Two years," Jun says. "Had a bit of a rough start, but everything worked out in the end."

"What happened?"

He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. I don't like dwelling on it."

Minghao nods, and after one glance at the clock, he turns to walk from the room. "I'll be back in a minute." He hopes Junhui thinks he's just going to the toilet, when in reality he swoops into the 'dining room' (which is actually where Lulu, Xing, Mei and Shizi live) with a bright smile on his face. He keeps quiet though, because he doesn't want the boy in his kitchen to hear, and also because when he looks around, he finds both Lulu and Shizi fast asleep.

Mei and Xing still pounce on him though, and he lets out a soft chuckle before rushing to feed them. They get agitated and loud if he doesn't feed them early enough, and he kind of wants to keep his babies a secret for a little while longer. Minghao feels bad as he has to peel Mei from his trouser leg for the umpteenth time, but he can't risk taking too long and making Junhui suspicious.

Thankfully when he returns, Junhui's facial expression is indifferent.

"So," the older starts. "Did you have any plans today?"

"No," Minghao denies. "What's it to you, anyway?"

Jun shrugs. "I was gonna follow you round for a bit."

"Why?"

"Like I said, I want to get to know you."

"I don't think stalking me is the way to go about that." Minghao's sharp tone makes Jun's head snap up.

"I didn't mean-"

Minghao just rolls his eyes, "Whatever. I don't need you here, just in case you're feeling obligated or some shit like that. You're probably just hanging round because you feel sorry for me. But Junhui, I don't need your pity, so if you're done, you can take your leave." Except it's not a suggestion... more of a demand. There are flames flickering dangerously bright in Minghao's eyes and as much as Jun is ready to argue back, he can tell it won't do any good.

"Alright," he says, shocking Minghao by how easily he gives in. "I'll go." The two of them walk towards the door, the younger following Jun warily a few paces behind. When Jun has opened the door, and is half in the frame, he pauses. As he glances over his shoulder, Minghao just about hears him speak.

"And by the way, what you said isn't true."

With that, he steps out into the fresh air, where the wind instantly picks up his soft hair and the sun casts a golden glow on his skin. As Minghao watches, he throws the younger one last sad smile before pulling the front door shut behind him.

Minghao stays still for the better part of the next five minutes, staring at the exact place where Junhui's face disappeared, his head rumbling with chaos and fleeting thoughts that are constantly overshadowed by new ones. That one moment where the light had hit Jun so flawlessly as he looked back at Minghao was picture perfect, and he desperately wishes he'd had his camera ready to capture that split-second. It would've looked amazing in his portfolio.

When Minghao finally walks back into the kitchen, he finds a slip of paper in the spot where Junhui had been sitting. On it, there's a number scrawled out in a rapidly fading pen that's only just legible. Picking it up, Minghao squints at where Jun has written his phone number, followed by a wonky smiley face. He rolls his eyes and contemplates binning it.

He can't, of course.

Reluctantly, he types the number into his phone, adding a simple contact name of 'junhui' before switching it off again. He doubts he'll ever need to contact the boy, but it's nice to know he has someone who seems willing to talk with him - just in case.

After that, Minghao disappears back upstairs, and gets himself ready for the rest of the day, which he plans on being uneventful and relaxing.