The Sunchaser - Chapter Seven 

By Eiryia

It was a sunny, but cold morning and Seungyoon had just submitted his thesis formulation for approval and was giving himself a silent pat on the back when Mino popped up into the apartment. 

    "Should we go out for dinner today to celebrate?" he suggested leaning on the doorway by the hall. 

    "Sure, it’s not much to celebrate, but at least I’m done with the first thing on the list for this big last step that is the completion of my degree" he replied and closed his computer slowly feeling like he had forgotten about something, but couldn’t think of what that could be. 

While he’d been double checking his submission had a message ticked in on his phone and he’d just thought to check it. 

Mino had appeared to be on his way back into the shop, but must have seen his sudden change in expression as he kicked of his shoes and walked over. 

    "What is it? Bad news?" he asked looking down at his phone screen. 

    "Who is Lee Seunghoon?" he continued before reading the rest of the message. "And why is he coming here?" 

Amidst everything had he completely forgotten that Seunghoon was coming to town and now he had nowhere to stay because, he himself got nowhere to stay, officially. 

    "He is a childhood friend of mine, we are from the same town. He studies abroad, but comes home for spring break every year and always stops by for a couple of days before going home" he explained trying to sound casual. 

    "Then whats wrong?" Mino asked, angling his neck a little while giving him a quizzical look. 

    "He got nowhere to stay right" he replied, but that wasn’t really the issue because he could easily take that hotel room he had been promised. 

    "And?" Mino asked tilting his head over to the other side, never breaking eye contact. 

He was a terrible liar and so he knew it was probably best to say it as it was, Seunghoon had been his first in a long line of one-sided crushes and he still nurtured a bit of a soft spot for him, although no romantic feelings lingered was he still terribly fond of him. 

    "One-sided eh" Mino said after he had told him and while he had been talking had Mino's posture changed to a slightly more defensive one, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows wrinkled with worry. 

    "I never picked up the courage to confess. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship and as far as I know isn’t he gay so whats the point" he said, voice getting weaker and weaker the further into the sentence he got. 

    "So you never told him?" Mino said shaking his head at him, but his expression had softened considerably. 

    "Never, so don’t you tell him now if you meet him" he said pointing a finger at Mino to make a point of how important this was to him. 

    "I wont, what if he turned out to be gay after all. Not like I want competition" Mino said jokingly, but his eyes said something else. 

It was kinda sweet how Mino was so worried about this, he and Seunghoon had known each other for most of their lives, nothing was going to change now. If only he could convince Mino of that though. 

Allowing himself one day off before tackling the rest of his school work and an article on the local film festival happening in a month he joined Mino in the flower shop. A large delivery of spring flowers had arrived and there were potted onion-like things everywhere. 

    "It’s daffodils, not onions" Mino had snorted as he’d commented on exactly how many there were of these bulb plants all over the shop now. "They are really popular, people buy them as they wait for spring to arrive" Mino added putting a couple of bulbs in the window display as well. 

He wished he got more time to learn about flowers, because he really was interested in the topic and not just so he could be of more help to Mino. Once school was over they would have time he told himself while making a mental note of the daffodils for later so he wouldn’t forget. 

The afternoon had been a sunny one and filled with a heavy flow of customers. Despite his lack of flower knowledge had he become pretty confident around the shop and he felt that he and Mino was a pretty good team while dealing with both the daily routines and the customers. 

They went out for a late dinner together after closing the shop at a ramen shop at the end of their street. The evening rain had come sneaking in on them, but unfazed they’d picked up an umbrella from a nearby convenience store and huddled together under it. 

The tight grip of Mino’s arm around his waist as they made their way home afterwards made the butterflies in his stomach dance a rumba so violent he wondered if he had to threaten to tie them down with the ramen to quiet them down. 

Everything was so quiet on this side of town at night and it was only the two of them walking up the streetlight lit street. 

    "We should make the trip down there to eat more often" he said as they dodged the splash of a car hitting a puddle just barely. 

    "Only when it rains" Mino said smugly, placing a peck-like kiss on his cheek while angling the umbrella closer just to make sure no one could see them. 

    "I’m fine with that" he replied, smiling brightly over at Mino before returning the kiss just as quickly. He felt like he would be able to handle whatever kind of rain the world threw at him if he only got Mino at his side like this. It was a nice comforting feeling, to finally not be facing the world on his own anymore. 

He could tell that Mino was really sleep when they got back and he urged him to go to bed ahead of him because he wanted to watch this late night documentary about crime investigation, but Mino just got changed into his pajamas and slumped down beside him on the couch with a woolen blanket over his lap. 

    "You should have told me you watch this show every week" Mino said squinting his tired eyes to try and read the title of the tv show from the tv. 

    "Thats okay, It’s not a big deal as there are usually re-runs after the season ends" he said looking at Mino instead of the tv. He could tell that Mino was making an effort to watch the show, but it was also really obvious that he was fighting a losing battle to stay awake. 

The investigators had barely arrived at the crime scene when Mino started sagging sideways against his shoulder. 

    "Sleep" he urged him but Mino just rested even more onto his side. "Come here then" he murmured, putting an arm around Mino’s shoulders, pulling him downwards so that his head was resting onto his lap. 

It only took Mino a good five seconds to go to sleep and before he knew it was he rather contently playing with Mino's long black hair as if Mino was some grumpy house cat who had finally caved into its owners endless requests about laying on it’s lap. 

He had to admit it was a rather nice feeling. To have someone this close to care for. He hated to admit it, but the fact that he felt that Mino needed him in more than a romantic way made him really happy. As if he was the only person who could make his life better. He knew that weren’t the case, surely there must be others out there who’d be just as compatible and capable, but here they were together. 

A small piece of him wondered what Seunghoon would say about him being in a relationship. He was the first person from his side, from his past, to learn about his current life with Mino. He knew he would be happy for him, but Seunghoon got a talent for spotting and saying things that could make people uncomfortable and so he wondered how Mino would react to him. 

Once the show was over had he woken Mino up with a kiss. He weren’t sure where the courage had come from, but after staying so close for so long didn’t it feel like such a big deal. He’d been stealing glances at Mino’s face and quite specifically his lips for the last half an hour and so when the show had ended and they were left in almost darkness had he gone for it. 

    "Don’t stop" Mino had mumbled half asleep, lifting his arms aimlessly up into the air. 

    "Okay" he whispered back, leaning down for another kiss allowing for Mino’s searching arms to find him to pull him even closer. 

    "If only I could wake up like this everyday" Mino mumbled between kisses. 

    "Technically it’s not day, it’s night" he replied after trying to save his bottom lip from getting chewed on too enthusiastically. 

    "Oh shush" Mino replied pulling him down again to his lips with the light hold he got on his nape and neck. 

They’d wobbled of to sleep a long while later, lips bruised and slightly out of breath, but the cool air of the bedroom had calmed them down quickly enough as they hurried in under the covers. 

    "Is it raining again" he mused, turning slightly so that his forehead was resting on Mino’s arm. 

    "It’s always raining" Mino sighed, stretching out his arm so that he could cuddle closer. 

    "Good night" he yawned deciding to leave the matter of the rain to some other time. 

    "Good night" Mino replied placing a soft kiss on the top of his head. 

He fell asleep smiling and woke up smiling. That had to be a first in a very long time. 

He weren’t smiling however when Mino started nagging him over breakfast about what kind of guy Seunghoon was. 

    "What made you fall for him?" he asked sipping out of