Donghyun got off the stage, satisfied than ever, when the crowd were still cheering and screaming behind him. His voice was mesmerizing, as if pouring honey into the audiences’ ears, and his dance had an aura of charisma, leaving the crowd asking for more.

“Did you enjoy it, hyung?” Donghyun kept a smile on his face while asking, until he realized a cool can drink was given to him, along with a hand that shook his calmly.

“Your moves weren’t sharp enough, you know.” The reply wasn’t his manager’s familiar welcome, but a somewhat high-pitched voice out of nowhere.

He turned his head to see a stranger in black outfit sitting next to his manager. The stranger wore a white cap which covered most of the face, leaving Donghyun able to see only a pair of lips pouting showing the man’s displeasure. He looked more like a dancer, but Donghyun was certain this man never performed with him before, not even once.

“Oh, not that bad, Minwoo.” The manager simply smiled, introducing the small boy to Donghyun. “No Minwoo. This boy has the potential to be your choreographer in no time. Actually, he has always been the choreographer for most of your hit songs, but he has to wait 1 more year until he’s old enough to officially be called your choreographer.”

Donghyun raised an eyebrow, scanning the boy from top to toe, before turning the other way.

“So you’re 17, huh, kiddo?”

“You should have done better, but I wasn’t there, so the dance director who taught you the moves is at fault.” Minwoo continued, ignoring the question.

“Uh huh. An encouragement from you to others must hurt you so bad. Thank you for ruining my mood, Mr. Scowl.” Donghyun’s voice could not be any colder, when he turned his back to get on the limousine that awaited him.

Seriously, how could this kind of unsympathetic human being even exist?

*

It was the first day he worked with the young choreographer. When Minwoo stood up to give him his greetings, Donghyun almost choked on his saliva.

This boy was awfully fun-sized. Awfully.

He never felt like he could protect anyone since he was not a huge creature. Yet beside this small baby, he felt like it was his responsibility to look after him.

The daylight helped Donghyun realize how pretty the boy was. His face was small, and resembled that of Mickey Mouse. His eyes sparkled, looking at him with a cute blink, and that smile was precious, like a gift from heaven.

“Shall we practice now?”

And that voice didn’t feel so sarcastic anymore right now.

*

It’d been 2 months since Minwoo started to be his instructor. Except for the time they had to practice with the crew, they mostly learnt the moves with each other, 1-to-1. Their mutual displeasure had soon become erased, when Donghyun finally understood how awful Minwoo felt watching some random guy sing his song in an unacceptable way.

Then, there were times, when Donghyun couldn’t endure the pain in his ankles and was about to give up, Minwoo voluntarily sat down to massage the older’s limbs. There were times, when Donghyun spent his entire day recording, and Minwoo was the one who bought or brought him dinner, and ran into the studio just to give him the box of food. There were times, Donghyun fell asleep on the studio’s couch, just to wake up to see himself being covered with Minwoo’s jacket. There were times, when Donghyun caught Minwoo’s eyes on him, which made the younger avert his eyes seconds later with a light blush colouring his cheeks.

And that was when he knew he became addicted to the lectures from Minwoo, the light scent from his jacket, the meals the younger made for him.

And that was when he pulled the younger towards himself. Minwoo felt a hand rubbing his back carefully, the other hand covering his as gently as possible. Donghyun’s chin nuzzled against the top of his head, and he let the other breathe in the scent from his hair.

“Would you mind teaching me for the rest of your life?”

He let a smile formed on his lips, and Minwoo buried his face into Donghyun’s broad shoulder, feeling those arms wrap around him even tighter.

“If you don’t mind me scolding you in the meantime.”

“I would love to, Mr. Scowl.”

*

Donghyun didn’t have to sleep alone since then. Minwoo visited his house twice a week, to help him with his piece of music, to come at him like an animal and kiss him passionately on bed. Still, they kept this relationship under wraps, because it would be a disaster for them to be revealed. Whenever they got together, they wore masks, and big glasses also helped a lot in order to cover their faces.

But they forgot one thing: Donghyun was a celebrity.

*

Minwoo woke up, feeling a pair of muscular arms around his waist. He turned around to face a sleeping prince with eyes shut, breath ever so regular, unlike his own. The boy caressed the older’s cheek with his fingers, seeing him stir a little before blinking slowly, and he reciprocated with a small smile.

“Good morning, pretty.”

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Minwoo giggled, leaning forward for a soft kiss.

“I’m not, cutie pie.” Donghyun tightened his hold, nuzzling his nose into Minwoo’s neck, letting the younger kiss his forehead. “What are people doing outside? Today is my day off, I want to sleep more, but they keep making so much noise.”

“You mean it’s my fault that I woke you up?”

“No, cutie pie, not even close.” He pinched Minwoo’s cheek, before the younger got out of bed and opened the dark curtains to see what was going on outside.

Just to see a bunch of people armed to the teeth with cameras, several cameras.

And those annoying things flashed lights on his face.

“HOLY!” He closed the curtain to return to tug on the hem of Donghyun’s shirt and squealed. “You ing told them I was here the entire night or what?”

“What…what? What are you talking about-” Donghyun stammered, and intended to check the door, but Minwoo slapped him before he could do so.

So hard.

“A bunch of people out there are taking photos of me inside your house and you act like you don’t know ? Does that even make sense? How much do you get? Tell me and let me see if I should divide the amount into 2, because I helped a lot you know, genius!”

Celebrity, goes with paparazzi.

“I did not, Minwoo. If you want to suspect my sincerity, I will convince you that I did not-“

“So how will you explain the scene out there? Huh? They just suddenly nosed around you and found out about us, huh?”

His face was glowing red.

“So I guess my career ends here? I’m not even old enough to find a job and this made me the black sheep of my family, hah.” Minwoo let out a poignant laughter, eyes shut tight. Tears started to form until his eyes couldn’t hold them back anymore.

And then they fell.

“Baby, I really can’t-” Donghyun tried to explain, but Minwoo had already left.

*

It had been 2 months since then, and winter came so soon. Couples held hands and walked side by side, and the two of them seemed to move on, despite a bit of struggling.

Donghyun didn’t show up at shows, since the rumour of him being gay was spread all over the newspapers.

He lost the contract with a few national clothing brands. His album was delayed. Yet the song he composed, ‘MINWYL’, was released online, and people could download it for free. The melody was slow, and the lyrics were so painful.

“No words can tell how much I adore you

Minutes being with you means more than a life without you

Wooing you, so I won’t see you cry.

I’m begging you, don’t give up on us.

Love is pain baby, I know you’ve suffered enough.

You deserve better than me, but I won’t let you go, my love.”

“Who is the lyrics describing, huh, Minwoo?” His teammate asked nonchalantly, and didn’t notice Minwoo’s darkened face. “Trying to make up with some random girl or what?”

“I don’t know.” The boy cut the other off. No, he was not one to judge the lyrics written by Donghyun. He didn’t care. Not anymore.

“…okay.” The other hesitated, keeping quiet for a while before continuing as he saw the expression on the younger’s face worsen. “Oh, by the way, why did he name the title ‘Minwyl’, there’s no such thing as ‘Minwyl’ on the dictionary. ‘Meanwhile’ or something-”

“I don’t know.” Minwoo wanted to hiss, but he couldn’t. “Don’t mind me for a second.”

Scrunching up his nose, the guy walked to another corner of the room to stare at himself in the mirror and started with some basic moves, while Minwoo turned to face the wall, fingers reaching to touch his philtrum.

His very own habit whenever his emotion reached its peak, to calm himself down.

Minwoo was chased whenever he was on the streets. Once, when he was caught by 2 pressmen and was asked unstoppably about his relationship with Donghyun, he bursted into tears.

He still danced, but he had to hide, and that was hard.

“Why don’t you give him a chance?” asked the teammate.

“He’s at fault. He must have told the press…” Minwoo murmured.

“He lost many things. He lost those pricey contracts. Do you think the press paid him enough? Obviously not. So, I don’t think he did.” The other shrugged. “I worked with him several times and I know. He’s not that kind of jerk. He’s not stupid.”

The guy prepared his way to leave, but left a last comment. “Think about it.”

*

A thin layer of snow covered the road. The person walking alone left his footprints wherever he went. Around him, the sound of the wind made him shiver. His smile faltered, before fading and disappeared to make place for tears to fall. How thoughtless and mindless could he be to act like he didn’t know anything, while the one being attacked by the media was exactly the one he should have supported…

The more he blamed himself, the more his body trembled.

There was snow, falling gently from the sky, playfully landing on top of his head. Minwoo stretched out both hands to catch the snowflakes with his hands, watching them melt slowly between his small fingers, blending with the tears that were falling unstoppably. The winter breeze was strong, threatening to blow away his thin body, leaving the young boy unconsciously hugging himself tighter for warmth. The bouquet he was holding buckled under the wind, yet still looked so elegant, so beautiful.

He thought of the song, thought of the time they spent with each other at the dance studio, thought of the flowers he was given, thought of the confession, and he smiled between his tears. They used to be so clingy, before all of these happened…

He wanted to see Donghyun, but should he stand up to make a move? Did he deserve the older, since the mistake he made should never be forgiven?

The boy made himself as small as he could on the couch, tightening his hold around the bouquet of flowers, trembling. The loneliness filling the air was as if teasing him.

He didn’t even know that someone was there, watching him sobbing from behind.

*

Donghyun let a sigh escape his mouth, watching the snow start to fall from outside the window.

He hated it, that annoying white and dirty thing, but Minwoo loved it.

He would find Minwoo to say he was sorry. The fault was on him. It was him who couldn’t protect Minwoo from such criticism. It was the media who made things up, and they nailed it, but he knew, ‘that’s what they do’.

He saw a trembling silhouette outside the door. Who is crazy enough to sit there alone in this weather?

The dark locks from behind, why is it so familiar…

Until he realized, that was the one who he was dying to meet.

All of a sudden, the older smiled. He pinched himself to make sure this was not a dream. He needed an explanation on why the feeling of happiness gets to him whenever he saw the boy. His lips suddenly curved into a smile, but at the same time, the tears he was holding back rolled down his cheek, and dripped when it reached his chin.

Silly, silly boy.

Donghyun swung the front door open. He dashed to the boy’s place, feeling the thickened snow threaten to make him fall several times before he reached Minwoo, and from behind, he pulled the younger into his arms, as if his life depended on it.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Minwoo tugged onto Donghyun’s shirt while tears started to fall even more. He didn’t even realize how the older was shaking since his body was falling lower and lower, both hands covering his mouth to try to stop the sound from being heard. Only until Donghyun cupped his face to make him look straight did he see how red Minwoo’s eyes were.

“It’s my fault, I…”

But Donghyun stopped him.

The lingering warmth from the older’s finger on his lips, was replaced by his own pair of lips, lovingly, carefully, and yet so gently.

And Minwoo could taste his very salty tears, but it soon gave way to allow him to feel the immense happiness, when Donghyun tightened his hold around Minwoo’s small waist.

“I don’t wanna fight. I don’t want to make you disappointed…”

“I should have been by your side instead…”

“You came for me.” He smiled, letting the younger wipe his tears for him.

“You ugly crying mess.”

“We both are.”

Minwoo let out a small laugh, head naturally leaning against Donghyun’s chest.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“The song is an apology isn’t it? But you are not wrong in the first place…”

“Oh. If you want it to be an apology, then it is.”

The older intertwined their fingers, looked back at the staring eyes of Minwoo, the chorus of the song then caressed Minwoo’s ears.

“No words can tell how much I adore you

Minutes being with you means more than a life without you

Wooing you, so I won’t see you cry.

I‘m begging you, don’t give up on us.

Love is pain baby, I know you suffer enough.

You deserve better than me, but I won’t let you go, my love.”

Donghyun leaned close, waiting for the other to respond, until seeing the tears escaped his lover’s eyes once more.

“I love you too.”

And there, the snow began to fall again.

They stood there under the scene, when Donghyun himself suddenly acknowledged one thing.

Snow is beautiful, isn’t it?

End.

-

Lack this and that, yeah?

Right, say whatever you want, bahaha XD