The Sunchaser - Chapter Six

By Eiryia

When Mino pulled away he had expected Seungyoon to smile back at him, simply because he himself was smiling. It might have been a bold move to kiss him, a stupid move too by the look on Seungyoon’s face, but at least he had finally made a move. If Seungyoon wanted to reject him that was fine (not really) and he could start the process of moving on (as if he could). 

    "What is wrong?" he asked seeing the pained and confused look on Seungyoon’s face as soon as he had pulled away. His lips were already longing to go back to Seungyoon’s lips, but instead he had to brace himself for the coming heartache. 

    "I’m scared" Seungyoon admitted after a pause so long he thought his heart might stop from the pain of the suspense alone. 

    "Of me?" he asked confused and he could literarily feel the first crack in his poorly glued together heart as it started shattering. 

    "No, I’m scared of hurting you" Seungyoon replied. His eyes sparkled sadly in the semi-darkness of the shop and he couldn’t make sense of what Seungyoon was saying. 

    "How could you ever hurt me, you have only brought me happiness since the day you walked in here" he said trying to convince Seungyoon of what he himself already knew. That he was the happiest when they were together.

Putting one hand on Seungyoon’s shoulder, the other under his chin, he hunched down ever so slightly forcing Seungyoon to meet his gaze full on. He wanted to communicate that he was certain of his feelings and committed to this, to them, in every single way possible.

    "I’m no good with these kinds of things, it never ends well" Seungyoon said in almost a whisper and a single tear fell silently from the corner of his eye as he spoke. 

    "That was only because you were meant to be here, with me, if things had gone well back then.. Well you would probably never have stepped a foot in this shop" he said, the words just falling out of him in desperation now.

    "It won’t end badly this time, because it won’t end" he added knowing he might be sounding overly cheesy.

Using fate and eternity as his arguments was a bit of a reach, he knew that, but he had said it to make a point. That he was there for a reason and if Seungyoon felt the same then surely it was worth the risk of heartbreak? He himself weren’t even sure he could handle anymore heartbreak, yet here he was taking the risk even so. 

    "Just.. Stay.." he begged in a voice so low he wondered if Seungyoon could even hear him. He then moved his hand slowly up his jaw, cupping Seungyoon’s face in his palm before he began to slowly wipe away the stream of silent tears that had made their way down Seungyoon’s cheeks while he had been talking with slow, soft thumb . 

In his head had he imagined a completely different scenario once they had shared their first kiss, but he knew life wasn’t always that easy and even someone as calm and cheerful as Seungyoon had scars that needed healing however well he hid it in his daily life. 

When Seungyoon had talked about his high school boyfriend cheating he had made note of it, but he didn’t think it had left such an impression even if he probably should have caught on when he realized Seungyoon never dated anyone after that. He got time, they got time and so he still hoped they could figure things out. He could only hope that Seungyoon wouldn't give up on them before it had even had a chance to begin.

Now after they had closed the shop together they were sitting on his sofa like so many times before. The storm had long since calmed down, but he had still lit that citrusy candle Seungyoon had admitted to liking and now they were watching another random late night show. 

    "I’m sorry I sprung this on you, you got a lot going on with the apartment and school.." he began and he truly was sorry. He’d just been overwhelmed with the fact that he had something to feel happy about again and when Seungyoon had made that comment about the bunk bed he’d just assumed.. Well it didn’t matter. He’d acted selfish and needed to get his act together.

    "I’m happy, I just.. Got scared" Seungyoon said, but he let himself slide down to the side until his head was resting on Mino’s shoulder.

    "Fires, murderers, potential homelessness, new jobs or cranky bosses doesn’t scare you" he said, slowly wrapping his arm around Seungyoon’s shoulder, pulling him closer as he spoke, "But me kissing you scares you?"   

    "Because I’m scared of hurting you, after everything you’ve been through" Seungyoon explained, looking up at him as he said the last part. The sadness and fear in his eyes becoming more evident with each word he spoke.

    "I’m fine, I’ll be fine.." he assured him, putting one finger under Seungyoon’s chin angling it up towards his own face even further. He weren’t so sure he’d actually be fine, because his past indicated that he might not be, but he was willing to risk that anyway if it meant he could be with the one person who made him happy. 

    "Start worrying for yourself instead, my track record isn’t exactly any better" he said before leaning in for another kiss, but stopping just an inch before their lips met to give Seungyoon a chance to pull away, but instead he leaned in, closing the distance between them completely. 

It was a slow, soft kiss at a slightly odd angle. But the warmth and happiness that came with it was unprecedented to anything he’d ever felt in his life. How anything could feel so perfectly calm and right at the same time as it was shaking his world in such a fundamental way. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around it, but it didn’t matter. Seungyoon had not turned him down, and so they could figure things out together along the way.

It was Monday morning and he was going to school in Mino’s shirt again. He needed to contact the landlord about getting his stuff, Mino said he could put some of his furniture in the empty garage connected to the shop and he was glad he didn’t have to start selling stuff off just yet. 

Sitting in class he forced himself to just focus on school for a couple of hours and it felt nice. Parts of him felt like the whole weekend had been a dream, it was all so surreal. 

Him and Mino a couple? It sounded really nice in his head, but he couldn’t believe it. He’d been so used to having one-sided crushes that the thought of someone actually liking him back felt impossible. For Mino to like him back, well, that felt even more impossible. He was so perfectly imperfect, handsome and caring, yet moody and locked away somehow. Intriguing was the best word to describe him and he looked forward to getting know him even better from now on.

There was definitely happiness tingling under the surface for him despite his fears. He hoped that maybe this would be his turn for things to work out, but he was still scared. Scared he’d mess up, mess up and hurt them both, but Mino seemed confident and it was infectious. He already knew he liked Mino before his confession, longed to confess his own feelings even, so it wasn’t as if he needed to make up his mind or anything. 

He just needed to be brave. To believe in Mino’s words that this time it wouldn’t end. 

Once his lecture was done had he gone to grab a quick lunch before returning to the library. His usual spot was occupied by a couple of gossiping girls and so he headed further into the library to another good spot directly under the blue glass. Sunlight was filtering though that afternoon and it made his heart feel lighter. 

Taking a big sigh he took in the familiar smells of dust, books and coffee and he already felt calmer and more at ease. He’d initially wanted to research the murders of his neighborhood, but the thoughts of having to contact his landlord to get his stuff made him remember he knew nothing about him. Mino had several theories from potential next murder victim to actually being the murderer. 

Personally he didn’t know what to think, but the fact that the apartments would be rehabilitated had to be a good thing right? 

Searching for the name of the man who’s signature was at the bottom of his latest emails first in google and then in the online archives he wasn’t disappointed. He got several lawsuits behind him because of selling flawed property, avoiding to inform new owners of previous issues to the extent that the property was inhabitable. 

Everything he found was ten years old news reports or older though, maybe he’d gotten tired of playing people dirty. He hoped he wouldn’t get any trouble, but how could he, the rental contract had been terminated and he weren’t so sure he was ever coming back to live there. 

Still he was curious to learn more and so he kept digging. 

While he was working had he noticed the weather changing as heavy rain drops slid down th