minghao tried his best not to sigh. he didn't want to see jun, but he didn't want junhui to know that. he really cared about him; he wouldn't ever forgive himself if he hurt his feelings.

"um," minghao blinked. "hey."

he put down the groceries and stood there for a moment, kind of wanting death. neither of the two said anything for a while; only awkward glances at eachother from opposite sides of the counter. 

"so i-" minghao stopped. of course, jun spoke at the same time as him. "no, you go."

jun swallowed. "you sure?" 

minghao just nods, beginning to put things he got from the store away. jun aborted his mission to find the popcorn to help him. 

"well, i was going to say we should put this stuff away, but i see you've already gotten to that, so..." he trailed off, putting the ice cream in the freezer. 

"oh," minghao paused with his whole body, and he makde a face. did jun really have nothing to say to him? after a week of being ignored by minghao who he was 'in love' with? maybe he was lying. "well i was just going to uh... apologize." 

jun's body visibly tensed up for a moment, before relaxing again. "for..." he paused, taking a deep inhale. "for what?" 

minghao crouched to put the tortilla chips where they belonged. "for being a jealous ."

no one said anything, once again. minghao swore jun could hear his heart beating from inside his chest. 

he grabbed the hem of his shirt and twiddled the fabric in between his fingers. why was he so fidgety?

jun finally turned towards him again. "about what?" he asked. 

minghao felt a lump in his throat form. he doesn't even like thinking about jun liking someone else, let alone saying it out loud, to him.

"you..." he looks away for a moment, trying not to let his tears come. he tried to blink them away, although they weren't even there yet. "you told me that you were in love with another boy."

jun makes a face similar to the one minghao had made a few minutes earlier. "what? minghao, i thought you knew i was gay. and why would you be jealous of that? i thought-"

minghao laughs. for the first time in a week, he laughs. maybe it's for the wrong reason, but he does. "no, jun. i know you're gay." he inhales shakily, looking back in jun's direction. "i am too, obviously. i meant someone who's not me."

jun's facial expressions are transient. the tears were coming, so minghao looked up at the ceiling. 

"minghao, what? who are you supposed to be jealous of?" he ran a hand through his hair. "i don't remember telling you anything."

"i know you don't. we were smashed at that wonderful end-of-exams-party you made me have." minghao smiles, but not because he's happy.

jun said nothing for a while. he just looked at the floor. "minghao, i-" 

minghao cut him off. "no, it's okay. don't apologize. you can't control your feelings." a single tear came out, but he wiped it before jun looked back up at him.

"minghao, please just listen to me." he says softly. minghao wants to die.

"why should i? i know you're in love with some boy who is amazing and you'll never rip your feelings from him to make me happy. and i know-" 

"minghao!" jun said, sharply. minghao recoils at the sudden change in tone. "i'm sorry i startled you, but you need to listen to what i'm about to say, okay?"

minghao just nodded, not looking him in the eyes. 

"i was talking about you." 

minghao looked up, now seeing that jun was now only a few inches from his face. "wait, what?"

"you heard me." 

minghao wanted to die and live at the same time. he sighed, covering his face with his hands. then, he started laughing. and not just giggling, but like hysterically laughing.

"w- what the? minghao," jun was kind of worried; his whole body shook. "what's so funny."

minghao's face had turned red from how hard he was laughing. once he finally stopped, he spoke again. "i'm just so ing stupid, i mean seriously?"

jun smiled. minghao's heart did something similar to the electric slide.

"i really avoided you for a whole week because i-" he laughed once more. "i was jealous of myself."

jun nodded. "yeah, that was a liiiittle stupid on your end. but that's okay," he said, wrapping his arms around minghao. "that's fine."

and that, my friends, is how xu minghao and wen junhui (with the help of mingyu and wonwoo) ended up together.