“Oh yeah, about that…” Mino was a bit bewildered by the sudden question. He did not expect that Seungyoon would ask him again about that painting. “How about I tell you about it over drinks?” He smiled faintly, hoping Seungyoon wouldn’t mind if he pushed the timing again just to give him more time to think about it. Hopefully, he could come up with a reasonable way to tell the truth on their way back.

Seungyoon laughed. “Okay, no problem.” He started the engine and the car started moving. “Any recommendations for a place to drink… and eat? I haven't eaten anything yet today, actually.”

“What? Why?” Mino asked with a concerned tone. He looked at the time on his phone screen. “It’s almost 5pm…”

“I was busy editing my latest photos while waiting for Bohyun… didn’t realize that the lunch time had passed.” Seungyoon answered. “Besides, my mood was kind of distracted from eating earlier.”

Mino just noticed that Seungyoon looked different before and after they went to the memorial park. Seungyoon seemed to be feeling better now. Mino secretly wished it was him that made Seungyoon feel better.

“Remember when I told you that I have four friends who owned a restaurant?” Mino said and Seungyoon nodded. “One of them owned a barbecue place not far from here, let’s go there. They have the best pork belly.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

***

The restaurant took place in a road filled with many places offering various types of street foods. Since cars weren't allowed on that street, they had to park the car in the parking lot near the area and walk through the street to find the place. There were many people passing by, but it was not too crowded.  

Seungyoon took some photographs with his camera along the way, and Mino had to wait every time Seungyoon stopped to capture what he thought was nice with his camera. Mino didn’t mind though. It wasn’t the first time he watched Seungyoon working his camera. He secretly loved it.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, the sun was already set. Once they got in, Mino greeted his friend who just finished taking an order from a table. “Hi, hyung!”

Mino’s friend saw Mino and smiled widely, “Oh! Mino! Hi! Come on, pick a table, sit comfortably.” He transferred the order he just took to one of the waitresses and gave Mino a quick hug.

Mino laughed as he hugged back his friend. “Looks like your business is running so well.” He teased, looking around the place that was packed with customers.

“It’s going well, yes. I’m happy with the result so far.” The friend noticed Seungyoon who was standing behind Mino. “You bring a friend?” He asked.

“Oh, yes, yes.” Mino turned to Seungyoon and gently pushed him by the shoulder to move forward. “This is Seungyoon. Seungyoon, this is Kyuhyun-hyung.”

“Glad to meet you!” Kyuhyun smiled and offered a hand for a handshake which Seungyoon welcomed politely after he bowed.

They chose the table beside the window and Kyuhyun himself took their order. “Please wait for a few minutes. Hope you like the food here! I have to go back to work.” He said and left to continue maintaining the orders and supervising his employees.

“How did you know Kyuhyun-hyung?” Seungyoon asked after Kyuhyun left.

“I worked together with him at the museum before. He moved to Seoul a few months before I did, to start this business. So, it has been almost four years, I guess.” A waiter brought them their soju and cola to the table, Mino paused and thanked him, then he continued. “He planned this way before he moved to Seoul. I remember he stayed at the museum even though it was closed already, to work on his business plan.”

Seungyoon listened and nodded as he poured soju into Mino's glass. “I see. He indeed looks like a well-planned and hardworking person.” He said followed with a soft laugh.

Mino poured cola into Seungyoon’s glass in return (Seungyoon was driving so he couldn’t drink alcohol at that moment). “Yes! Even though this place has been running for almost four years, he still came here often to service his customers directly, like now. Last time, he said he was preparing to open two more branches.”

“To Kyuhyun-hyung who is very well-planned and a hard worker.” Seungyoon raised his glass and smiled.

Mino raised his own glass. “To Seungyoon who is going to have his first official exhibition.” He added with a proud smile.

They toasted and drank their drinks up. Not long after, their barbecue set was served. The waiter carefully placed the pork belly slices one by one on the grill, flipped it after a few seconds, and cut them using a scissor. Seungyoon watched the whole process without turning his eyes from the pork belly. Mino, on the other hand, watched Seungyoon watching it with a look of admiration.

When the pork bellies were cooked well, the waiter left them. Mino took one slice of the pork bellies and placed it on top of Seungyoon’s bowl of rice. “Eat well. You haven’t eaten anything all day, you should eat a lot now.”

Seungyoon was dumbfounded by Mino’s action, but he laughed after. “Of course, I’ll eat a lot.” He also picked one slice of the pork bellies and put it on Mino’s plate. “You too.”

“It’s good, right?” Mino asked after Seungyoon took one bite, anticipating.

Seungyoon nodded. “It is! Whoa,” He exclaimed, “I’m not just making it up, and I don’t think it’s because I haven’t eaten anything either, but because it’s actually really good.”

Mino smiled proudly. “Glad you like it. I should tell Kyuhyun-hyung later.”

They continued to enjoy the pork bellies, surrounded by the sounds of people talking and laughing, sizzling sounds from the meat on the grill, glass bottles knocking, and the music playing in the background (Kyuhyun said that music was one of the important elements for a restaurant). Mino was thinking if it was the right time to bring up the topic about his painting.

If you turn around

Will our eyes meet?

My heart bounce bounce and pounds

I’m scared that you’ll hear it

“About the painting…” Mino started carefully, checking Seungyoon’s reaction.

Upon hearing that, Seungyoon looked up to pay attention to Mino, he even slowed down chewing the remaining food in his mouth.

“It was about me. My own experience, yeah.” Mino said followed with a nervous laugh, hoping it was enough and Seungyoon would not follow that up with more questions. He couldn’t look at Seungyoon’s eyes, pretending to be calm by pouring more soju into his glass.

Which obviously, Seungyoon did the opposite. “Really? Tell me more about it.” He asked, the look on his face clearly showed his curiosity and interest.

“Uh, so I met this guy, not long ago.” Mino glanced at Seungyoon and turned back to the grill on the table. “He was a nice guy, we spent a couple of times together, I felt like we had a good chemistry… I like him. I waited for the right moment to tell him, but I couldn’t.”

Seungyoon seemed to not acknowledge that the guy Mino described was actually him, as he kept asking. “Do you still like him?”

Mino dared himself to look Seungyoon, right in the eyes. He silenced for a few seconds, then gulped and answered. “Yes… I still like him.” His heart was pounding so fast, but he was also curious on how Seungyoon would react if he said it directly to his eyes, even though he made it sound like it was someone else.

Seungyoon looked a bit baffled as he awkwardly avoided Mino’s gaze by flipping the already-cooked pork bellies on the grill, but he continued asking. “Why couldn’t you tell him?”

Mino pretended to scratch his nose to cover his lips that were forming a little smile after seeing Seungyoon’s reaction. He somehow gained a slight confidence after that. He quickly flattened his expression back and answered. “Because it turns out that he has someone else now.”

“Ah… that’s too bad…” Seungyoon responded as he nodded and glanced over the window beside him to avoid the awkward tension that was suddenly raised up between them.

“And he seems happy with his current partner, so, I’m gonna be fine as long as he is happy.” Mino added. “That’s why the painting expressed both sorrow and joy.”

“That’s what makes it beautiful.” Seungyoon replied, but he seemed distracted with something outside the restaurant as he still looked through the window.

“Seungyoon?” Mino noticed that Seungyoon was lookin