Junhui loves taking photos, everywhere he goes his camera will be full of moments that he thinks it is beautiful. He does not have any specific topic for those photos, it can be a landscape, an architecture or people in their normal life. He has a giant collection of albums at home that he cherishes them more than anything else, and he spends most of his time going out and finding new things to capture. Unfortunately, his talent is not recognised by other professional photographers. They think his photos are missing something, they think it is not good enough even though Junhui has stared at them thousands of time, he does not know what his work is lack of. Junhui is disappointed, he feels down but he does not give up. He switches to his other talent which is painting.

 

Junhui is a decent painter, he only draws when he likes to. His paintings are landscape and landscape only, but what makes it different is the time. He draws at night when the view is basking in the moonlight, fireflies flying near the grass and the sound of crickets calm him down. He sells his paintings for a living, his customers are mostly his friends and some small galleries. Others are not quite satisfied with his work. It is the same reason: they are missing something. It makes Junhui frustrated and sad, he thinks about giving up but his friends think otherwise. They encourage him to continue, to follow his dream and do not let it slip from his hands. Junhui appreciates them, he really does; however, he needs time to recover. He decides to take a trip back to his hometown in China.

 

That is when he meets Minghao.

 

 

---

 

 

It was a rainy afternoon in Haishan a year ago. Junhui forgot his umbrella back in the motel so he sat under the roof of a random bus stop. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of raindrops when they hit the ground. It was soothing to him. Junhui had almost fallen asleep if he did not hear a faint giggle next to him. He opened his eyes and looked around and then he saw him.

 

There stood a boy with a unique ice-cream hair, he was slim and tall, Junhui guessed the boy was about his height. His right arm extended and his palm wide opened, welcoming droplets of water falling down from the grey sky above. They landed on his palm, seeping through his fingers and hit the ground. The boy’s face was happy, somewhat innocent and peaceful, he seemed to enjoy the rain so much. Junhui unconsciously brought his camera up and ‘click’, the boy had became a part of his collection. The sound of a camera brought the boy back to real life, he stopped staring at the rain and turned his head toward Junhui, his eyes larged and surprised, he looked like a lost puppy to Junhui. They continued staring at each other for a while until Junhui realised he was being rude and he spoke with his heavy Shenzhen dialect.

 

“Oh.. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I-”

 

The boy frowned a little, he tilted his head aside, looking absolutely adorable. Junhui guessed the boy did not understand, so he spoke again in Mandarin. This time, the boy smiled and waved his hand, he said he did not mind. Junhui let out a relief sigh, the other boy sat down next to him and looked at him with excitement in his big, round eyes.

 

“Do I look good?”

 

Junhui was beyond surprised, this boy was not mad at him for taking photo without his consent; in fact, he even asked if he looked good in the photo. Junhui smiled nervously.

 

“You look great, I swear.”

 

The boy smiled, his eyes turned into crescent moons.

 

“My name is Xu Minghao, I live here. What’s yours?”

“Junhui, Wen Junhui. I’m from Shenzhen but I currently live in Seoul, South Korea.”

 

They quickly became friends. It turned out the motel Junhui was staying at was Minghao’s family business, and they became closer as time went by. Junhui found Minghao interesting, so he mostly took photos of Minghao. The boy knew about this and he asked Junhui if he could be his model. Of course Junhui did not refuse. Minghao brought a new feeling in his photos, the boy was bright and beautiful, and Junhui could feel his love for photographing was slowly returning to life.

 

One sunny morning, Minghao brought Junhui to a flower field. Junhui stood there in awe, staring at the blooming flowers in variety of colours, and then the next thing he saw made his heart fluttered. Minghao stood in the middle of the field, facing the sun and he was smiling, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the warm breeze caressing his milky skin. Junhui fumbled with his camera, he could not let that moment fade away. They ended up taking lots of photos at the flower field, both Junhui and Minghao were exhausted when they came back home but they felt happy. That night Junhui looked at those photos again, each time he saw Minghao’s smile, his lips would curl up and smiled along with the boy.

 

There was a light knock on his door and Junhui went to open it. Minghao stood with a plate of watermelon in his hands, he asked if Junhui could spend the night with him, and Junhui agreed without thinking. They sat outside the small balcony, enjoying the cool atmosphere and delicious watermelon. They talked about a lot of stuffs, fooled around and laughed so loud that Minghao’s parents had to came up and told them to tone down. Junhui glanced at Minghao, the boy sat with his knees close to his chest, face flushed because of laughter. The moonlight gently landed on his skin, giving it a light glow.

 

“Don’t move.”

 

Minghao looked at Junhui as the taller went back inside and brought out a small sketch book and his pencil case.

 

“You can draw, too?”

“Yes. Now stay still, it won’t take long.”

 

Junhui’s pencil moved quickly but gracefully against the paper, he glanced at Minghao once a while to get the figure. Silence filled the air, only the sound of Junhui’s pencil on the sketch book was heard. After a while, Minghao could feel his body slowly going numb.

 

“Are you done yet? My body is numb.”

“Almost, just a little bit more.”

 

When Junhui placed his pencil down and said that he was done, Minghao breathed out a small ‘yes’ and let his body fall down on the floor, his head landed on Junhui’s thigh coincidentally. The taller froze, he could feel his heart picking up its pace and pounding hard inside his ribcage. Minghao did not notice that, he looked up at Junhui with his big puppy eyes.

 

“Can I see it?”

 

Junhui shook his head frantically. Minghao blinked for a second then he pouted.

 

“Meanie.”

 

Junhui chuckled and pinched Minghao’s cheeks. He glanced at the clock on the wall and realised it was late. He told Minghao to go to sleep, the boy whined and Junhui thought it was so cute.

 

“Do you wanna sleep with me tonight?”

 

The question slipped out of his mouth before he had the chance to rethink about it. However, the smile on Minghao’s face made Junhui thought that it was not so bad after all.

 

.

 

Junhui had to return to Seoul, he did not want to leave Haishan but he still had a job to take care of. Minghao was sad, he did not want Junhui to leave, they had had so much fun and Minghao did not want it to end. Junhui stared at Minghao and he asked without much thinking.

 

“Do you want to go to Seoul with me?”

“What?”

“Please be my model. I’ll work hard to support both of us, I just need you as my model.”

 

 

---

 

 

Minghao changed Junhui’s miserable life. The album of Minghao at the flower field has grabbed other photographers’ attention, they love it and pay a lot for it. Junhui thinks he is just lucky, but after his paintings of Minghao are sold to his dream gallery, he knows that Minghao is the thing that he is lacking of. Junhui is on cloud nine, his dream has came true, he is being recognised by others and it was all thanks to the cute ice-cream hair boy named Xu Minghao. One day Junhui realises that he has fallen in love with Minghao. At first he denies those butterflies in his stomach every time the boy smiles or snuggles closer to him when he is sleeping and the air is too cold. He denies that warm feeling in his heart when he wakes up to a table full of Chinese food made by Minghao and a proud smile on his face after Junhui gives compliments on his cooking. But as time goes by, Junhui can not hide his feeling for Minghao anymore, he has fallen head over heels for the boy with a cute smile and a sweet personality.

 

Junhui takes Minghao out to his friend’s coffee shop named “M & W” for a photoshoot on the second sunday of May, when the air is warmer and the cherry blossoms are blooming. It goes smoothly just as Junhui has planned. After about 2 hours Junhui put his camera down and tells Minghao to take a break. The boy nods happily and runs off to play with the cat that is lying beside the window. Junhui quickly slips inside the staff room to find his best friend, Wonwoo, only to stumble on him making out with his puppy boyfriend, Mingyu. He clears his throat, announcing his present in the room, Wonwoo pushes Mingyu away immediately, earning a displeased groan from the younger. Wonwoo laughs awkwardly at Junhui.

 

“H-hey Jun… Ahaha… What brings you here today?”

“I need your advice, Wonwoo. I have a confession to make and I don’t know how to do it.”

“Junnie bear has a crush on someone? Aw how cute~ Who is he??”

 

Junhui stares at his friend as if he has grown a second head.

 

“A he but not a she? Really Wonwoo?”

“Nah I know you never like girls. Now spill, who is the lucky guy?”

“Urgh fine, he is playing with your cat outside.”

 

Wonwoo and Mingyu peaks out from behind the counter, looking very suspicious in Junhui’s point of view. Mingyu nudges Wonwoo and points his finger at Minghao’s direction, smirking slightly. Wonwoo turns to Junhui with a wide smile.

 

“Your crush is your model? Awww this is so cute~”

“Shut up, stinky bean.”

“Are you blushing? Oh my Mingyu-ah Junhui is blushing!”

 

Junhui slaps Wonwoo’s shoulder, the other laughs along with his boyfriend. Wonwoo whispers something to Mingyu, the tallest nods and walks towards Minghao. They begin talking and Wonwoo takes the chance to pull Junhui into a serious conversation.

 

“Tell me, Jun. How do you feel about him?”

“He’s adorable, kind and sweet. He is the one I always think about every time I pick up the brush, and all of my paintings are about him.”

“So he is your muse?”

“Yes, but lately I have figured it out that warm feeling and those butterflies in my stomach when I see him. I have fallen for him, Wonwoo.”

“Aw, you’re so cute.”

 

Junhui glares at his friend.

 

“Stop calling me cute!”

“Okay, okay.” Wonwoo put his hands up in surrender. “I have a plan, Mingyu used this to woo me and I think it will work for you, too. Now listen closely to what I’m about to say, my dear Junnie bear.”

 

 

---

 

 

Minghao returns home only to find it empty. He calls for Junhui but no one replies. He takes off his shoes and walks inside, that is when he notices a small arrow sticker on the wall, pointing upstairs. Minghao follows the direction, he is confused but he decides to see where this will lead to. What he sees surprised him, the corridor leads to Junhui’s bedroom is decorated by photos, his photos. From the day he stood in the middle of the flower field to the nearest Sunday when Junhui and him went to a coffee shop for a sweet, romantic theme photoshoot. Minghao can see his face in each of them, which is not revealed in any of Junhui’s albums. He smiles at the little note on the photos, saying random things such as how nice the weather that day was, Minghao did a great job and Junhui is proud of him. He arrives at Junhui’s bedroom door, a large “Open me > v <” sticker on it makes Minghao chuckles and mutters a small “so cute and cheesy”.

 

There is a small table in the middle of the room and an envelope with Minghao’s name on it. He walks toward the table, picks up the envelope and opens it. The first thing he sees is another photo of him, standing under a bus stop with an arm reaches out to catch the raindrops. Minghao immediately remembers, it was the day when they first met in Haishan, the day they became friends. Minghao flips the photo over, reading the note written on it. He can feel the tears coming up as he reads.

 

“Dear Minghao,

You remember this day, right? It was the first time I saw you, standing there and let your mind drifted away with the rain. At that moment I thought I had seen an angel descended from heaven, that angel was standing in front of me and somehow lighten up my world. You came to me in a very unexpected way, even until now I’m still wonder what have I done in my previous life to deserve you. You have changed my life and I’m grateful for what you have done. I know this is kind of sudden but I don’t want us to be friends anymore…”

Minghao can not read anymore, his tears have blurred his vision. He feels hurts, how could Junhui say those words? He does not want them to be friends?  All their time together means nothing to him? He wipes the tears away and continue reading, maybe there will be an explanation for Junhui’s sudden change of attitude.

 

“Turn around Minghao and listen to what I’m about to say.

Wen Junhui.”

 

Minghao turns his head slowly, he sees Junhui standing at the door, hair styled up and he is wearing a suit. His face dusted in pink and he speaks up when Minghao has fully turns around.

 

“Minghao, everyday and everynight, I only think about you. I have noticed this strange feeling I have towards you and I’m sorry for taking too long to understand.”

 

He takes a deep breath and takes out from behind his back a beautiful bouquet. He sees the surprised look on Minghao’s face, he smiles lovingly at the cute boy in front of him.

 

“I love you, Xu Minghao. Will you be my boyfriend?”

 

Minghao accepts the bouquet, he cries and hit Junhui’s shoulders.

 

“Idiot, and here I thought you were going to leave me. Of course I will be your boyfriend, you cheesy, greasy human I have ever seen in my life.”

 

Junhui laughs and pull the boy in for a hug. He wipes Minghao’s tears away and kiss his lips, softly yet sweetly and Minghao feels so happy he cannot ask for more in his life.