"Hey."

 

Myungsoo's forehead is covered with wet sweats. He sighs, didn't expect summer to come fast than he thought it would be. "Today is hot." He laughs as his mind trying to search which topic he should start. "Lee Howon, do you still remember.."

 

°

 

"Myungsoo?" Howon made fishes and chips for breakfast, something that doesn't disturbed Myungsoo's sensitive stomach's system. Myungsoo didn't responded, doesn't even gave any hum, perhaps he was so sleepy to let out any sound from his throat. "Can you do groceries today?"

 

Myungsoo honest to a God whine, stretch himself even further before dragged his hand on his head to get away the itchy feeling there. "I just did two weeks ago~."

 

"It's okay if you don't want to." Howon chuckled as he turned over the turner to turn the gas off. 

 

"No, I can-- I want. But can you come with me as well? Last time I did there were two shameless girls trying to chase me and they stopped only after I got onto the taxi." Howon's smile is enough to wake Myungsoo fully up, eyes widened as he finally caught something. "What's wrong with your chin?"

 

Howon looked as confused as his boyfriend was, rubbing at the said-spot. "Nothing serious. Ey, you make me so nervous."Myungsoo was pouting, hand still can't got off of Howon's swollen, reddening chin only until the elder pushed them away tenderly.

 

"I will do groceries alone. I'm okay, trust me."

 

After what felt like an entirety of his life, Howon finally gave up and let Myungsoo got out of the house alone.

 

×

 

Myungsoo came back from his part-time job in the convenience store near their apartment, frustration wrapped around his mind. His step was heavy, knowing well that Howon isn't here, still teaching his students to dance in his personal studio. He plopped himself on the sofa heavily and sighed loudly as his eyes flit past the clock that were attached on the wall neat and orderly, still needed a full-four-hour for Howon to come back. He wondered what Howon will react after know Myungsoo has dropped off his work — the boss has gotten more and more annoyingly erter nowadays.

He stays where he was, on the couch, sat down with his legs under him whilst neck leaned against the couch with an awkward angle. He slowly closed his eyes, waited until sleep welcoming him.

 

"Do you need anything else?" Howon asked, concern coated over his face as his thumbs still wiping off the tears on Myungsoo's cheeks, the humiliation as well.

 

Myungsoo shakes his head so slowly as he stares down his laps where Howon put his left hand onto. Myungsoo mentally told himself to stop sobbing as it gets worse when he rewound the moment where his boss left his mouth and hand onto every part of his body. "I'm- sorry, I don't like- th-guy."Myungsoo raised his hands and wrapped them around Howon's neck, felt ridiculously small. "I'm so cheap."

 

Myungsoo himself don't know why it turned out to be.. Pathetic. But what he knew was that when he opened his eyes, he shrouded by an emotional feeling of scare, tears streamed down his eyes and Howon's panicked face popped out. Howon wasn't panicked now, he looked completely, obviously mad — Myungsoo can feel how closed Howon was to splash his angriness into himself. "No Myungsoo." Myungsoo's eyes have gone to a bigger size, doesn't recognized Howon's voice. "You're not. You tried to push him away when he tried to touch you. You hit him and you ran away and that's not what a ing bountiful person would do." Howon's voice wasn't raising to another level of tone, he still remained calmed (as possible) but Myungsoo still can tell his mind was not.

 

It took a minute for Myungsoo to recognize that he doesn't sobbing anymore, and his tears was all wet on his cheeks. His eyes were then get dragged from the floor to Howon's lips, and nose, and then eyes. "This guy is attractive," he had said out loud, which remained Howon to raise his eyebrows. "I noticed it a year ago, but I didn't know that he is attractive inside out."

 

Both of them freeze in their seat, each one didn't want to be a spoiler to this kind of atmosphere.

 

"Kim Myungsoo."

 

Myungsoo hums in responded. Almost smiling but fought the urged to.

 

"Don't ever change."

 

×

 

"Keep where you are and don't move even an inch before I order you something to do."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Keep that smile on your face even when you want to scream."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Clean and tidy yourself." Myungsoo automatically looked down to himself to see a little stained of chocolate cake landed on his uniform. Howon looked down as well and saw the same, so he quickly took some tissues to wipe the stained away but ended up spreading them more.

 

"Ey, just say it as a pattern of your uniform. Art these days is so weird anyway, and the boss is easy to be fooled. Now, go back to your work, your first customer will show up later."

 

Myungsoo's "yes, sir!" echoed around the cafe and he was standing by the door before Howon had a chance to smack him on the head for shouting. But not close to twenty-minute, Myungsoo stood by the counter, face so close to Howon's and his expression is so blank. "What kind of order you want me to do?"

 

Howon mentally smacked himself on the head for not telling Myungsoo from the start. "Wipe the table, mop the floor and if you lucky enough, flush the toilet." Myungsoo starts whining, Howon takes no risk to look at his boyfriend.

 

"You said you don't want me to be a cleaner. And I never touch the broom in our apartment, how the world for me to do those?"

 

"Okay, extra. Sweep the floor." Myungsoo made a derp face before turned his back on Howon dramatically. "It's boss's order, I can do nothing with it!"

 

"Yes, sir!" Howon knows he is not imagining Myungsoo's remained pout when he turned around to throw a smile, so Howon came to another description for the younger. Myungsoo might be whining-King, might be drama Queen — according to the manhwas he always read, but he is Howon's boyfriend and he always remember not to annoy anyone — especially Howon. And Howon loved him to the end of the world.

 

The cafe was, as always, filled with countless customers — even the ty one counted, right? And slowly, when day transformed to night, the surrounding began to chap due to heat. Perhaps Howon was so lost in his thought that Sunggyu has to take another chance to poke Howon's side — the most sensitive part. "Bull-"

 

"-." Sunggyu mocked Howon's face and voice , watched the other rolled his eyes and continued staring. "Is that the boy that you told me last week? About him had been by his ex-boss?" Sunggyu's voice gone to a whisper, kept Howon's privacy — Howon owed him something, yesh! 

 

The younger gave him a glare that could made even Dongwoo peed his pants. "I don't want to talk about that okay? And I told you and Ingguk for some reasons. I wish you appreciated it." They stayed in silenced for a while and Howon still not took his eyes off of his boyfriend — he might be a creeper for this and might be sued if Myungsoo was a stranger. "He is handsome isn't he?" Howon ended up blurting out, finally could peered his eyes to look at Sunggyu.

 

"Yeah, he is so handsome that I feel bad for him to stay with you long enough." Sunggyu made a faked sob, both hands covered his face but it didn't last long because then he backed to his sense. "But, seriously. He is not just handsome. He is--" Sunggyu paused, took another look at Myungsoo. "- gorgeous."

 

"He is mine." Howon said with both hands extended to each side, proud grin formed on the lips.

 

Sunggyu smiled as well, before ran for the oven just to reveal an overbaked-cake.

 

×

 

"How was it? Working on the cafe, everything alright?" Howon asked once they got on the taxi.

He can see Myungsoo's smiled lightened up in the dim light before he spoke, "it's fantastic. At least it's feel much better if there's anyone dared to touch me though."

 

Howon frowned at that. "What makes you think like that?"

 

"Well, there's you, by my side. I'm not scare." The other replied with a shrugged, grin shown on his sweet lips.

 

"Oh my God, Myungsoo has gotten cheesier than Woohyun?" A fake gasp. "Myungsoo seriously." Myungsoo made a face, pouting and frowning and all, brought Howon's guiltiness out of nowhere.

 

It's not long for the taxi driver for finally rolled his eyes as he accidentally looked at the couple disgustedly through the sided-mirror.

 

°

 

"Myungsoo, please." Myungsoo's is quick and strong when he pulled back from Howon's grip, immediately stopped his stepping. "You, you seriously heard it wrong."

 

And the younger chuckled at that as soon as the words rolled off of Howon's tongue, back turned completely facing his soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. "Heard it wrong? Oh wow." He paused to make a fake gasped and it's more than succeed to annoy Howon. “'Oh come on, it just one-night-stand. My girlfriend wouldn't be offended by it’ and do I have to admit that I heard it wrong?”

 

"Myungsoo, listen-"

 

"Listen to what?! Listen to your another fake broken voice with broken words in order to get me brokenly pitying over you?" Howon's heart broke a little but he tried so hard to pull himself together — his heart was broken enough. He didn't realized that he was trying to reach for Myungsoo's hand when the other pulled it dramatically hard.

 

"You are broken enough so get lost." Howon watched Myungsoo's back get farther for the last time until it got off of his sight — he was hoping for a nanosecond for Myungsoo to run back on him, hug him as tight as he can as if it will keep him alive and young and handsome, but then Howon thinks what Myungsoo will react if he knew that Howon was suffering Pancreatic Cancer this whole time. But just because he was broken enough that Myungsoo can't stand it, he watched Myungsoo lost out of his sight (he sort of wishing the same to happen in his heart too—he don't care how chessy it sounded).

"Myungsoo, I love you!"

"And.. That's the first day you told-- admit to me that.. you loved me." He grins. "That has been.. What? Two years?" Myungsoo fixes his position, leg slowly started to feel numb. "Does it makes sense?"

 

It is.

 

Myungsoo pauses. Half part of himself telling him that he should stop now as the sun comes brighter as the summer noon always looked like. But another part of him telling him that he should be going. He hooks between the first option, but ended up speaking, "I'm sorry for moving on. It's faster than I thought it would be." Myungsoo pauses, staring deeply on Howon's picture. "But I still keep your last shirt by my side, although it started to give a faint scent of you."

 

"It's been a year. I miss you."

 

"Soo."

Myungsoo quickly gathers his things, leaving Howon's grave without a single turned-back.

"Done?"

Myungsoo hums, lets Sunggyu helps him to bring his things. The elder takes the silent as opportunity to kiss Myungsoo.

 

Bye Howon, he just in time whispers the words before Sunggyu pulls him in (still doesn't turn back even once-they're going to leave for Seoul anyway, Myungsoo doesn't want to remember anybody else than Sunggyu).