to minghao, the most relaxing sound in the world were the clicks of camera shutters.

kshhhhhk

there was something about that simple white noise that calmed his mind instantly whenever he heard it,

kshhhkkk 

nothing could tear his mind away from his tranquil state. just casually shooting photos in his room during golden hour, basking peacefully in the sunlight--

"haooo!!" a scream, followed by a loud bang caused minghao's body to shake violently at the sudden disturbance. curses flew out of his mouth from under his breath, as he tried to calm his heart rate back down to normal.

"mingyu, i swear on every holy being on this damn planet that i will break your ing spine if you do that again." he huffed, drinking his aloe water angrily.

said boy pouted, flopping on minghao's bed and hugged his puppy plushy tightly. "poor mingmongyu has to listen to all of this unholy language," mingyu tsked in disapproval while minghao rolled his eyes.

"last time i checked, you swore a whole lot more than i did last night--"

"let's not have this conversation right now okay thanks." mingyu said in a rushed voice. he got up and pointed at minghao, who was now scrolling through his camera's photos.

"but we should totally have a conversation at a cafe or something. just somewhere cute and aestheticy where we can take pictures for our instagrams." minghao looked up curiously at mingyu, who was smiling brightly.

now that he thought of it, mingyu was dressed rather nicely today. a pair of light washed jeans with a brown leather belt was paired with a white sweater with a simple stitched cloud on the side. and to complete his look, their matching bracelets, paired with a soft, red lip tint and a slightly messy hair-do accented his already natural look. it was a total one-eighty from his normal food-stained shirt and dirty grey sweatpants, and minghao really liked it.

"looks like someone planned ahead for once." minghao chuckled, picking up his camera bag as well as his lense and glasses. mingyu crossed his arms and said, "well, it'd be very ideal that i won't have to get my outfit in under five minutes at the mall again."

"it was comical to see you run into every single store that sold clothes and pick something that was black and throw the money down at the cashier, just saying." he commented.

"what was i supposed to do! the ice cream vendor was going to close in like three minutes and i looked like a mess but that ice cream looked so good," a soft groan left mingyu's mouth as he remembered that eventful day.

"hao!! oh my god hao look at that ice cream! and look at me! that looks delectable and i look disgustable," mingyu complained.

minghao rolled his eyes and the strawberry cone contently. or that was, until he found mingyu just staring at him intensely, or at the cone, he couldn't really tell. "yes?" minghao raised an eyebrow at his friend, who was looking at him even sharper than he was before. it was starting to scare him.

he continued to stare at minghao for another fifteen and a half seconds before mingyu grabbed his hand and took off into the mall. "w-w-wait a second mingyuu --!!" minghao yelped, stumbling up the escalator as he held onto his ice cream for dear life.

then, he proceeded to watch as mingyu frantically ran in and out of stores. the latter sprinted into one store and came out with a baby blue sweater fifteen seconds later, another twenty-three and he got a necklace. 

minghao was both laughing and was amazed at his speed, but could not get over his face when mingyu came back to him, a handful of random clothing articles that he quickly shoved on top of his super mario tee. it was simply hilarious to see a self-proclaimed instagram model change clothes erratically, in the middle of the mall with random on-lookers giggling in amusement.

"hao!! come, we gotta take pictures of me with that ice cream!" he screamed, running back down the escalator with minghao, hand in hand. and minghao was trailing behind him, laughing and muttered half-assed apologizes as he passed by people on the escalators. 

god, he'll never forget the face of that ice cream vendor as he was closing down and a giant puppy-like human tumbling towards him before profusely falling flat on his face. and then there he was, laughing so hard that he nearly dropped his ice cream and his camera.

"i seriously hope you found a cafe to go to and have the directions and have your keys ready because you're driving." minghao chuckled, slinging his camera on his shoulder and shuffled down the stairs.

"wha-- no!! i never agreed to the driving part!! minghao--" mingyu cried, chasing the chinese male all around their apartment, screeching and laughing like they were teenagers again.

---

"you're doing great mingyu, turn your head a bit to the left," minghao commented. they were sitting in the corner of the cafe, right near the window. the cafe they were ate had beautiful decor and a nice atmosphere, and their lattes were amazing. 

mingyu ordered a rainbow crepe cake, that contrasted nicely with his white top. and he stole minghao's latte mug to use as a prop, which completed the scene. " okay, now let's try to not look so creepily at the cake, okay?"

mingyu put his fork down and pouted. "can't you be a bit more uplifting with the comments?" he said as he tried to fix his hair.

"yes, yes queen slay my existence," minghao said in a snobby voice, dramatically placing his limbs in odd places just to be extra. mingyu burst out laughing at minghao's persona, slamming his fist down on the table.

people started to look over at what was happening over in their side, but they paid no attention to them. they were just trying to take some nice pictures, and failing miserably at it because they kept laughing instead.

"it's time to stop--!!" mingyu hollered, pointing his fork accusingly at minghao. minghao snorted and finally went back into a normal position, resting his arms down on the table to get a good shot of mingyu eating that crepe cake.

the two continued to take multiple photos, stealing a few more props from the other tables to add to the ambiance. a bright smile shone on minghao's face; he loved hanging out with mingyu like this. it was just very relaxing.

"alright, now try posing in front of the window." minghao suggested, gesturing over to the window next to them. mingyu nodded and moved over to where minghao pointed, and the two continued to take pictures.

"great, yes, stay like that--" minghao's words got caught in his throat when he saw a very familiar face pass by in the window. " dity --" he was screaming internally.

mingyu seemed to notice his rapid change in mood because he immediately set his fork down and patted minghao's shoulder, "hey, hao, you good?"

minghao nodded nervously, turning his attention away from the window and coughed profusely. it took him a few seconds to readjust his posture but he looked perfectly normal within that time frame, as if he just did not see the last person he'd ever want to see that still walks this earth. aside from the sweat dripping down his back and hands, and his slightly ragged breath, minghao looked relatively okay. 

"perfectly peachy, mingyu, just continue eating your crepes. i did not pay like, what, twenty-one thousand won for them to get uneaten and for the latte to get cold." minghao said in a tone that made mingyu smile a little - that was the minghao he was used to hearing; sassy and straightforward.

the pair continued to do their thing in their in their secluded corner in the cafe. minghao completely brushed away the fact that that motherer was within one-hundred meters of him, and continued to take pictures with mingyu.

or at least he tried his best to when he heard that voice he loved hearing years ago talking to the cashier with some deep-voiced individual. mingyu seemed a bit distracted but he couldn't tell if it was because of him, or the other people in the cafe. he just hoped mingyu doesn't ask him about his lack of focus at home. 

"let's take a couple more shots, and we can call it a day. it that cool mingyu?" minghao asked and the latter nodded. just a couple of photos and then they could sit contently and drink their over-priced lattes.

kshhhhhk

he took one last photo before setting his camera down and breathing out a heavy sigh. "thank god we're done. i don't think i could have stared at you fake eating the crepes. like, jeez, how many times has that one slice been in your mouth?" a jolly laugh accompanied his question, pointing to mingyu's fork. that poor seven-layer crepe had probably been put into mingyu's mouth, but the latter couldn't eat it because teeth. 

mingyu pouted and shoved the crepe in minghao's face, booping his button nose with the tip of it. "enough times to transfer all of my germs to you, sweetheart~"

a look of disgust grew on minghao's face and he threw his crumpled up napkin in mingyu's face. "hah, there, you just kissed all of my boogers and snot, baby," his signature grin caused mingyu to roll his eyes dramatically, but not before two figures walked up to their table.

"hey, long time no see, hao." minghao froze on the spot. he lost his ability to move and completely forgot how to breathe. it felt like someone was holding a goddamn knife to his throat, and it was horrible.

"hey... junhui," he managed to choke up, fighting the urge to both scream and cry in a quiet cafe full of strangers, his best friend, and his ex. just saying his name hurt more than he ever thought it would, it made him want to throw up.

"how are you doing-- sorry, how are you two doing?" junhui corrected himself midway through. he threw a glance at mingyu, who tilted his head in confusion and looked at minghao. minghao stared back saying, "we're doing fine, junhui, thanks." in a monotonous voice.

"wonwoo, why didn't you greet them?" he pivoted his head towards the male standing next to him.

minghao noticed his polished, yet casual look. it was much like the combined styles of mingyu and minghao; it was pleasing, to say the least. slowly, his eyes traveled upwards and saw those dark, cloudy eyes staring right at mingyu. he had structured facial features, every angle on his face was sharp enough to cut - his eyes certainly did that enough though. minghao's focused back on mingyu, who was staring into his latte cup with an emotionless look on his face. 

before minghao could whisper something to mingyu, the unknown male spoke before he could speak, "ah, yes, forgive me." it was extremely familiar, and he swore he saw mingyu's become glossy for a second before sparkling with his usual glint in his eyes.

"good afternoon mingyu, and i'm assuming you're minghao. hope you both are having a pleasant day," his ears perked up at his words, head immediately turning towards this "wonwoo" character with a questioning look on his face.

"before you call me a creep or stalker or whatever, junhui has spoken about you a couple of times, as well as mingyu," a pale hand rested on mingyu's shoulder. mingyu shot minghao a small smile, but it was too uptight and forced to be considered a smile from mingyu. this was the man who smiled whenever he heard his name, but this time, it was painful.

minghao tapped the table as he thought, muttering out a soft, "is that so..." and junhui replied with a short, "don't get the wrong idea, minghao."

minghao couldn't believe his ears. junhui, the sweet and loving junhui he loved with all his words, spoke with such bite that it just dealt a large blow to minghao's heart. it was like he was a complete one-eighty of the junhui he knew, and was just a hardened exterior version of that junhui. 

he didn't even think about his words as he spoke to junhui, "i didn't, i hope you aren't too disappointed."

"wasn't even hopeful." he said nonchalantly before huffing the tiniest breath, but minghao heard it. he wanted to question him about everything; like why he was back in korea? who is that wonwoo person? how did he change so much? did he have regrets?

there were so many things he wanted to ask. he wanted to confront him, but before he even got the chance to, junhui turned his back to the both of them. "c'mon wonwoo, we need to get going."

"right, goodbye you two." junhui shot minghao one last look before walking away with wonwoo. it was only then that minghao noticed that the two were holding hands, and it seemed that mingyu saw this as well.

silence hung in the air around them for a moment before either one of them spoke, let alone breathe. "gyu? who--"

"i need to go to the bathroom, give me a minute." he whispered lowly, before dashing to the restroom. he was sure that mingyu didn't even know where the bathroom was, but he didn't want to intervene. all because he saw a glistening stream trail down the side of mingyu's face. and minghao could feel his heart throb, not even for the pain of seeing his ex once again, but for the pain mingyu must be going through at this moment. and god, it felt horrible.

--

hey, did anyone miss me? highly doubt anyone did, but i've gone through a few roller coasters in the past couple of months so that's part of the reason why i haven't been active.

hopefully, i'll be able to write more, as it's a much more efficient way of releasing stress and anxiety than trying to distract myself with mindless deeds.

so yeah. i hope y'all are doing well and that you enjoyed this chapter. it sorta fell apart towards the end, but i enjoyed writing it nonetheless.

have a good day or night, and stay happy and healthy kiddos :D <3