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The sky was a mix of greys and blues, as if a painter had dropped their paint water all over it. At least it wasn't raining.
Minho stopped his bicycle in front of the convenience store and hopped off, he could see the cashier look up from his manhwa through the glass front. He frequented that CS24, knew the cashier's shifts, the prices and when discounts were on his favourite products. Minho removed one of his earphones to not come off as rude, and went straight to the coffee aisle. The store wasn't super big, the cashier could see him from his seat at the register and Minho felt as if he was taking in every of his movements. Not in an uncomfortable manner as if the cashier suspected he wanted to steal something, but rather… something positive Minho couldn't quite place.
Minho brought the coffee he had chosen and a few snacks to the register and waited patiently for the cashier to scan them. For the first time, Minho noticed him wearing a name badge and his actual uniform. Hyunjin smiled at him while putting Minho's items into a black plastic bag. His long dark hair was pulled into a low ponytail and over one of his shoulders, making it gather over his shoulder and exposed collar bone. Hyunjin was wearing the vest of his uniform, but the white shirt below it was unbuttoned almost beyond his chest, revealing two necklaces and what seemed to be a tattoo under his right collar bone.
"1200 won," Hyunjin informed him about the price.
"Ah, could you top up my t-money with ten thousand?"
"Sure," Hyunjin gestured to the card machine on the counter and Minho hastily yanked his card out of his wallet. He didn't need a top up, he just… what just?
"Okay, all done." Hyunjin handed him the bag and gave him another smile.
Minho thought he had seen an angel for the brief moment, then two loud school kids ran into the store. Minho walked out, not entirely sure what he had just experienced.
Minho was sitting on the sofa in his shared flat, working through a bunch of quizzes he had to correct for the professor he was working for. He heard Seungmin open the door to his room and within seconds Seungmin had closed the distance between them, waving his phone in front of Minho's face.
"Look, this character looks exactly like you." Seungmin shoved his phone into Minho's face, a webtoon showing on the display. The character had dark brown hair, styled like Minho's and was wearing a shirt he also owned, but Minho looked sceptical at Seungmin.
"That's a nice coincidence, but that's impossible," Minho laughed, still looking at his artfully coloured mirror image in the display.
"Coincidence? Look, the character's even got the same mole as you here," Seungmin pointed at the screen, then at Minho's right jaw, just where it bent up to the ear.
Minho laughed. "Look, this is ridiculous. I don't know anyone who draws like this, let alone does webtoons."
"Still, this is you," Seungmin was staring at his phone again. "Seems like your character is going to be reappearing."
Minho's curiosity finally wanted some answers. "What's the story of this webtoon anyways?"
"Hm, it's not super long yet, maybe 10 chapters? The author doesn't update super fast probably because it's drawn so well. But so far there's the main character who can see ghosts and it follows him through his daily life."
"Can you send me the link? That sounds good."
Seungmin nodded and a second later Minho had a new message.
The coffee shop at the intersection was nearly empty as usual. It was on the second floor with a glass front to look down at the busy street. Sometimes Minho wondered how they made enough money, but the rush hour takeaway orders were probably enough.
While waiting for his order, Minho looked for a place to sit, and scanned the cafe. Two students sat bend over a textbook at the window; a tall man with long hair was sitting in one of the armchairs, a book on his knees and stared out of the window.
The table next to him was free so Minho made his way up that one step and then realised the man was Hyunjin, the convenience store cashier. Minho nodded his head in greeting when Hyunjin recognised him, and Minho almost died of the breathtaking smile he got in response.
"You can sit with me if you like," Hyunjin offered and gestured to the armchair in front of him. Minho was about to decline, but his body moved faster than his brain.
"Sure, thanks." Minho tried his best for a casual smile as he let his bag drop under the table and got out the rest of the papers he had to correct.
Hyunjin eyed the papers curiously, his book forgotten on his knees, absentmindedly brushed his hair to the side and readjusted the blue scrunchy that held his hair together in a low ponytail. Minho was glad he wasn't wearing a dress shirt again, but the white shirt with the wide neckline also was a distraction. The end of what Minho now knew to be a real tattoo peeked out. It was some lettering aligned with Hyunjin's collarbone.
"What's this? Are you a teacher?" Hyunjin asked, but before Minho could answer, the buzzer for his coffee went off.
Minho excused himself to get the coffee he had ordered, his head slightly spinning. He had always thought Hyunjin to be rather shy and introverted, but then again, Minho visited the convenience store so often during Hyunjin's shifts, he had probably lost the shyness one of the nights Minho had stumbled in ass-drunk to get seconds and some rice.
Minho balanced his iced americano over to the table and fell back into the chair. Hyunjin had focused on his book while he was gone and looked back up.
"So?" Hyunjin laid his head to the side, expecting an answer. His lips slightly parted after the question.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you are a teacher." Hyunjin laughed at Minho's distracted gaze.
"Teacher's Assistant at the University over there. Professor gave me the entire batch of quizzes and homework to correct and grade," Minho gestured vaguely in the direction of the Uni and sighed.
"Sounds like a lot of work," Hyunjin looked sympathetically at the stack of papers.
"It's not hard, it's just a lot. First years' homework is generally easy to grade because they're just quizzed on things anyone in this field should know…" Minho said while looking for his coloured pen to mark some mistakes.
Hyunjin grabbed one of the papers on the table and read through it.
"History of Urban Planning? This doesn't look particularly easy. What the hell is a Plan Voisin?" Hyunjin tried his best to pronounce the last word, which was so cute Minho had to take a sip of his coffee to hide his reaction.
"It's european and not very practical," Minho laughed and let Hyunjin continue to read through the paper while marking mistakes on the sheet in front of himself.
"So you're an architecture major?"
"Grad student, yes. I don't know why I did this to myself actually." Minho continued to look at his paper while answering, after all he had to get something done, no matter how cute of a man was sitting in front of him.
"I was an art student…" Hyunjin looked out of the window. Minho opened his mouth to inquire further but Hyunjin was faster.
"I dropped out because my professors didn't like what i was doing most of the time. Now I just live off of commissions and what I make at the convenience store." Hyunjin laughed, but it sounded pained.
"I'm sorry…" Minho said, the papers forgotten.
"Don't be, I can live comfortably without a degree. It's just that my parents aren't really happy with their son being a crazy artist you know?"
"As long as you are happy, why should that matter?" Minho had a good bond with his parents, mainly because they supported everything he wanted to do, no matter how stupid they thought it was. But he knew not all parents were like that.
"I guess you're right…"
The conversation was over, and Minho reluctantly removed his attention from Hyunjin and back to his papers. Hyunjin continued reading his book.
They sat in rather comfortable silence for a while, from time to time the flutter of pages and the clank of the mugs on the table made a sound, but overall Minho had forgotten they were sitting in a café. Until two girls sat down at the table next to them, peacefully chatting away. Minho watched them for a while, they seemed to be in their own world, only had eyes for each other. One of them seemed to have bought a book and started paging through it, occasionally showing the other something.
Minho redirected his attention to Hyunjin and to his surprise Hyunjin was already looking at him. It must have shown on his face, because Hyunjin tried suppressing a smile.
"It's nice," Hyunjin said, looking out of the window rather than at Minho.
Minho laid his head to the side, "What?"
"Having a person. I usually sit here alone."
Sun shimmered in Hyunjin's brown hair, turning it golden. Minho was captivated.
Minho didn't quite know what to say. Was Hyunjin that lonely? Alone? At the convenience store he seemed social albeit a bit shy. Why wouldn't people want to spend time with him? Or was he the one who didn't want people around? Too many questions tumbled around in Minho's head so he leaned back in his chair, letting the papers be papers. He was almost done anyways.
Minho was staring out of the window of his office, he hadn't much to do as the project was finishing up and the floor plans didn't need corrections. At least not any he could help with. He had exchanged phone numbers with Hyunjin, and to his surprise, Hyunjin loved texting. A photo Hyunjin had taken of a cherry tree in full bloom had been Minho's lockscreen for a few weeks now. The phone screen lit up: a text from Hyunjin. Minho had never really texted a lot with friends or partners, but since Hyunjin’s and his schedules didn't quite match, Minho took everything he could get.
What if we meet up this weekend? I want to take some photos at the river.
Then within seconds, another text.
Make sure to dress well, I want to take photos of you too.
And a flower emoji.
Minho stared at his phone. Was that a bold move? Was this considered a move? Was Hyunjin making a move on Minho?
Minho shoved the thought aside. Hyunjin knew he had no plans for the weekend so declining would be a bit rude. Not that he wanted to, but Hyunjin seemed so sure of himself. It itched Minho in his hands to tease him, but better not over text.
Friday couldn't come fast enough for Minho. He had dressed better than usual, even styled his hair, surprising his coworkers. He met Chan, one of the office's visual artists, in the lounge where he was waiting patiently for a hot chocolate from the machine.
"Hello young man, you look like the sun today," Bang Chan joked. He was a senior, had finished his degree last year and was a full time employee now, while Minho only worked part time to somehow manage University.
"Don't look directly at me, I'll burn your retinas," Minho laughed and grabbed an energy bar from the counter.
"Don't tell me you have a date?" Chan was playful, but Minho knew the question was partly serious. Not long ago Minho had whined to him about being lonely (and drunk) and how he wanted to hold someone (in the innocent and not so innocent ways).
Minho hid his face behind the energy bar. "I don't exactly know if it's a date. I don't even know if i like him like that."
"Trust me, sweetheart, you haven't been this… sunshine-y ever. You outglow Felix today." Chan giggled. Felix was the "secretary" of the office, handling customers and managing the communication with construction sites and companies. Minho had never seen Felix have a bad day.
"Okay, maybe I like him a little." Minho bit into the energy bar to avoid talking more.
"See. What's he like?" Chan had assumed his gossip pose, mug in hand, leaned against the counter, but ready to run out of the lounge as soon as the boss came in.
"He's sweet. A bit carefree. He's an artist."
"That's certainly interesting." Chan's eyes sparkled at the mention of art.
Minho had to suppress a laugh. Bang Chan was way too easy to impress.
"Is.. Is that him?" Chan was looking through the glass wall behind Minho where he could see Felix at his welcome desk and with that everyone who walked into the architecture office.
Minho spun around. A tall man with long brown hair that was carefully put into a low ponytail was talking to Felix. He was wearing a white dress shirt and loose Jeans that he had cuffed at different heights showing off two different colourful socks.
Minho saw Felix gesture to Minho's office and he panicked.
Bang Chan was there to hold down his shoulders. "Minho, breathe. You're acting like a teenager in love for the first time."
"Chan… What if I am?"
"Oh, then may god help you, that man is fine. "
Minho slid through the glass door into his office and found Hyunjin standing around, looking at the huge plotting machines that were at the far wall of the office, peacefully beeping away. Minho could somehow handle them, that was the only reason he even had an office of his own, to be the printer babysitter.
"Hi, sorry for showing up suddenly I thought I could pick you up and… well," Hyunjin scratched the back of his head and then began twiddling his ponytail.
"It's fine, I'll just pack up real quick," Minho said and wanted to go to his desk but Hyunjin stopped him.
"You got.. a… there on your mouth, wait," Hyunjin took Minho's face in his hand and wiped at his lips with his thumb.
Minho could feel the blood shooting into his head, but he just stared at Hyunjin who hadn't yet let go of his face.
Minho blinked a few times and Hyunjin realised what he was doing and quickly bowed. Minho made his way over to his desk, trying to stop his hands from shaking as he shoved his note book and phone into his bag and shut down his computer.
"Go ahead, Hyunjin. I don't necessarily want to be the office talk for the entire next week," Minho said, as playful as he could and winked. He hoped Hyunjin didn't take it bad, but the tall man nodded knowingly and went ahead, out of the office and Minho noticed the heads turning for Hyunjin. He couldn't hide a grin.
Half a minute later Minho stepped out of his office and the first thing he heard was "Is your friend single?" He quickly replied with a shrug and hurried out of the main doors, almost forgetting to wish Felix a nice weekend.
Hyunjin was waiting in front of the elevators, leaning against the wall opposite and Minho wondered how aware Hyunjin was of his beauty.
Minho pressed the button for the elevator as Hyunjin stood straight. He was tall. Minho had to slightly tilt his head to look at his eyes.
"How was your day, Hyunjin?"
"Good. I painted a bit, made a cake, thought of you," Hyunjin said and the ding of the elveator announced its arrival.
Hyunjin went first, letting Minho sink his head into his hands in embarrassment.
"Is this the 'Make Lee Minho blush Olympics' and are you trying for a gold medal?" Minho laughed as he saw Hyunjin grinning at him in the elevator mirror.
"First of all, it's not my fault this cheesy stuff is working for you," Hyunjin said and brushed his hand through his hair. The movement exposed part of his collar bone. The one with the tattoo.
"I've just never had someone flirt this aggressively with me other than when they wanted to get laid," Minho produced a smirk, but his heart was actually racing. People often flirted with him, but they mostly just wanted sex. The innocence and purity that swung in Hyunjin's playful flirting was something Minho had never encountered.
"Who knows, maybe I want to get laid." Hyunjin said and like on command, the elevator arrived on the ground floor and opened its doors.
The river park wasn't busy yet, as most people were probably still at work, but the first teenagers were riding bikes and running around. Hyunjin had taken out his camera and let it hang off his shoulder, seemingly looking for a good motif.
"Why not sit on the grass there, I brought some gimbab," Hyunjin suggested and pointed at a very green patch of grass. Minho nodded and let himself fall on the grass, stretched out.
click.
"Oh no why now, I wasn't prepared," Minho whined and looked at Hyunjin who was still standing and holding his camera in front of his chest.
"That's the whole point. I'll call this one 'Exhausted business man'." Hyunjin giggled to himself as he sat down next to Minho.
Hyunjin then pulled a blanket from his bag, a small red blanket that wouldn't fit both of them when lying down, so they just sat next to each other, staring at the water for a while.
"How's work at the convenience store? Did you change your shifts? Haven't seen you in a while there."
"Oh, I quit." Hyunjin was playing with his hair and staring off in the distance.
Minho didn't say anything.
"Well, my parents own that convenience store, so I can't quit for long anyways. I told them I had another job offer, which is a lie, but I need to finish some paintings."
Hyunjin's voice sounded happy, but felt icy. The constant arguing with his parents must have tired him out a lot. Minho put his hand on Hyunjin's knee for lack of idea on what to say. Hyunjin stared ahead, but put his hand over Minho's, following his knuckles with his thumb, stroking over the soft skin.
Minho lifted his hand, and with it Hyunjin's, and placed a kiss on the back of Hyunjin's hand. Hyunjin's head shot around to stare at Minho. At first Minho thought Hyunjin didn't like it, it had been a spur of the moment decision, Minho hadn't really thought about it. But Hyunjin put his hand to Minho's jaw, his long fingers touching Minho's ear.
Hyunjin moved closer, their foreheads touching. Hyunjin must have loosened his ponytail for his hair created a nice curtain between them and the outside world.
"Can I kiss you?" Hyunjin asked and Minho's heart fluttered just from the thoughtfulness of that question. After all they were in public.
"Yes."
Hyunjin moved closer and put his hand around Minho's waist, pulling him in. Minho's hands moved automatically to Hyunjin's neck. Hyunjin's hair was so soft Minho almost couldn't believe it. Minho didn't want to close his eyes, because Hyunjin up close was even more beautiful.
Their lips met, softly, like Hyunjin was testing the waters. Minho responded to the kiss and parted his lips, Hyunjin slightly sucked on Minho's lower lip and immediately laughed. He lost his balance, making Minho fall on his back and into the grass but Hyunjin was dragged down with him by the hands firmly around his neck.
Hyunjin's face landed in the middle of Minho's chest. An embarrassed smile met Minho through a curtain of hair strands.
"Sorry, I'm a bit clumsy." Hyunjin buried his face in between Minho's muscles.
Minho couldn't resist and patted his head. "A bit? Sweetheart, you're a walking force of nature." Minho laughed and Hyunjin grabbed Minho's shirt at his sides and whined theatrically.
Minho brushed through his hair for a while but Hyunjin didn't move. "Hey, do you want to cry into my chest for the rest of the evening or can i get another kiss?"
Hyunjin's head shot up. "You're not irritated by me?"
Minho stared and laid his head to the side. "Should I be?"
"Most people are. Sooner or later. More often sooner." Hyunjin was by now wrinkling the shirt. Minho didn't care.
"I'm often called crazy. Sooner or later. You're not irritating, Hyunjin."
Hyunjin's eyes seemed watery, he was fighting hard with the tears and Minho didn't quite understand. So he just caressed Hyunjin's cheek and made him sit up.
The sun had begun to set.
"Well, I think we should take some more photos." Minho said and gestured at the camera sitting next to Hyunjin. Hyunjin nodded and fought his hair into a messy bun, strands sticking out and falling into his face.
Minho didn't quite understand himself yet, but he had a feeling that he would deeply regret ever letting go of Hyunjin if he did.
Minho hadn't even noticed that he was falling in love until it was presented to him on a silver platter. Or more accurately: on white bedsheets in the morning sun in an art studio loft. Hyunjin looked peacefully asleep, his eyelashes almost touching his cheekbones. The sun made his hair light up golden in parts and Minho wondered if the hair was dyed or natural.
Minho had never done this before, stay overnight with a guy and not even sleep with each other. Let alone stare at the other while the first sunlight was falling through the window. They had talked away half the night, without even noticing, and Hyunjin had fallen asleep while Minho had taken a shower. Minho still didn't know why he had laid down next to him, let alone why he willingly accepted the cuddles that promptly befell him in the form of long limbs.
Hyunjin still had one of his arms thrown over Minho's waist, his hand sometimes grabbing into the skin while he dreamt. Minho couldn't sleep anymore with all the light in the room, but Hyunjin didn't seem bothered. Carefully, Minho removed Hyunjin's arm and placed it on a pillow. He got up from the mattress. Hyunjin didn't have a bedframe, just a mattress on the ground and a shitton of pillows, next to one of the huge loft windows that ran over the whole height of the apartment. Minho wondered how he had got up there without complaints as he went past the railing and looked down. The ground floor was at least three and a half metres away from him. He took a step back and went with a safety distance to the railing parallel to it to the winding stairs leading down. He had picked up his trousers on the way and held onto them as if they could somehow steady him. Three and a half meters lower, he finally felt as if he had good enough floor beneath his feet again and walked straight to the bathroom.
Minho was trying to figure out the coffee machine in Hyunjin's open kitchen when he noticed someone very naked standing at the loft railing. Hyunjin had slung part of the blanket around himself, although not covering much, and leaned casually on the railing, his hair falling over his shoulder and into his face.
"You didn't leave?" Hyunjin asked, perplexed and confused.
Minho stopped his movements. Was he supposed to leave?
"Why would you think that?" Minho stopped trying to understand the coffee machine and looked up at Hyunjin.
"When you weren't in my bed … I thought… Like all the others..." Hyunjin let his head fall and pushed himself away from the railing. He turned around and let the blanket fall and went to the closet next to his bed. Minho was still thinking about Hyunjin's sweet ass when another thought set in.
So he had noticed Minho sneaking into his bed.
"Oh by the way, you have to plug the coffee machine in, the outlet is on the counter." Hyunjin said as he picked a shirt and boxer shorts from the wardrobe.
Minho had taken the time to look around the loft which served as Hyunjin's art studio while Hyunjin was calmly singing away under the shower. A large watercolour painting was stretched on a slab of wood, brushes, dirty cloth and colours around it. It was a study of a bunch of flowers who stood, now wilted, also on the table.
In front of the window was a huge massive wooden desk, with two monitors and a huge drawing tablet. A pink headset was balanced over one of the monitors.
Printouts and sketches lay everywhere. On the desk, the ground, sticking out of drawers. Minho put down his coffee mug and took one of the papers.
It showed a raw sketch of a few webtoon panels. Minho had thought Hyunjin was a crazy traditional artist, taking his work too seriously and doing exhibitions while not making any money. Hyunjin had told Minho about commissions and how he often painted murals, but nothing about a webtoon.
"It's currently on hold." Hyunjin had sneaked up behind him and put his jaw over Minho's shoulder. "They don't like where my story is going so i need to resubmit my plot. Which I don't want to, but the flow of capitalism ..."
"Well, what is the original plot? And why would they want to change it?"
"My original plot is, hot guy a and sweet guy b fall in love while solving murder mysteries."
"That's indeed a very intriguing plot."
"Right? I only introduced the second main character fairly recently but the publishers don't like the sexual tension between them. Is this 1890 where I'm Arthur Conan Doyle trying to make my characters as gay as possible but will never be able to have them say I love you?"
Minho couldn't help but laugh. Hyunjin sure loved to dramatize. Which was a wonderful trait for a storyteller, Minho found.
Minho thought for a moment and looked through the other sketches. "Hm… what if they say it in some kind of code, or puzzle? Your characters can rest easy knowing they love each other and your readers get a fun thing to think about."
Hyunjin stood up straight, held Minho's shoulders and pressed a kiss on his cheek, leaving him stood in shock. Hyunjin grabbed a pencil and the papers Minho was still holding and scribbled onto the backside.
"You may have just saved my income for the next months." Hyunjin grinned.
Minho was perplexed. "You're welcome, I guess?"
The silence in Minho's apartment was deafening. After Breakfast he had excused himself, grabbed his bag and gave Hyunjin a slightly too long kiss. They didn't live that far apart so Minho walked home instead of using the metro. It was only two stations anyways.
He let his bag fall against the shoes drawer, slipped out of his oxfords and with three fast steps he was in the bathroom and under the shower.
When he had put on fresh underwear and was drying his hair with a towel, he checked his phone for messages. Nothing.
His apartment was still too quiet so he turned on the TV just to have a bit of noise.
After ten minutes of pacing through his flat, he couldn't stand it anymore. His finger hovered over the call button for a short while before he pressed it.
Hyunjin immediately picked up. "Yes, what's up?"
Minho didn't know what was up. Nothing and everything at once. "I want to see you."
Hyunjin laughed softly. "You just left, but you're very welcome to come back. Or should I-"
"I'm on the way."
Minho grabbed a few things he would surely need and stuffed them into a small bag pack, slipped into a pair of sneakers and was out the door.
"Minho are you okay?"
Minho could almost hear how Hyunjin was biting his bottom lip.
"Yes, yes. I just," Minho was sprinting down the stairs and slightly out of breath. "I just need to see you."
Silence.
After the longest 30 seconds of Minho's life, Hyunjin spoke again.
"You're acting weird. Is there something going on?"
"No, i promise. I just- don't worry I'll tell you when i get there."
Minho hung up and raced the entire way to Hyunjin's loft. Uphill.
Out of breath and with chaotic hair, he rang the bell. Hyunjin opened the door as if he had stood in front of it since Minho had called.
Minho was trying to catch his breath, leaning against the doorway.
"This is going to sound absolutely bonkers." Minho said while trying to calm his breathing.
"Come in, I'm prepared for bonkers stories."
He stepped through the door and let his backpack fall to the ground without looking away from Hyunjin. His breathing was back to normal but his face was still hot.
"Hyunjin," Minho extended his hand to hold Hyunjin's face, his thumb caressing his cheek. "I love you."
Hyunjin's eyes went wide. Then he smiled his crescent eye smile. And then the first tear fell from his eyes down his cheeks.
Minho's head blanked. "Oh my god, don't cry. Why are you crying? Are you okay?"
Hyunjin nodded but more silent tears fell down. Minho wiped them away as good as he could.
He pulled Hyunjin into a hug, his heart beating like it was trying to win the "loudest heart in human ever" award.
Hyunjin sobbed quietly on his shoulder. Minho brushed through his hair, getting stuck in the long strands.
"I’ve liked you since-" A huge sob broke Hyunjin's sentence. "Since the first time you walked into the convenience store. You were the first person that week who even had a normal conversation with me."
Minho's heart stung. He maneuvered Hyunjin out of the doorway and towards the sofa in the middle of the loft.
Hyunjin let himself fall onto the sofa and Minho had to force his entire body to not sit on his lap but next to him. All he wanted to do was kiss Hyunjin, long and messy until he stopped crying. Hyunjin wiped his eyes with the sleeve of the beige cardigan he was wearing.
"I'm sorry for crying so much. I'm a bit overwhelmed that you like me back. Love…"
"I know love is a big word. I don't know how else to describe it. Love is when you can only picture your life with the other, isn't it?" Minho was playing with the hem of his shirt.
Hyunjin put his hand over Minho's. "I don't think we need to know what love is at 21,22. Maybe we can figure that out together..?"
Minho nodded slowly. Like a stone in water Hyunjin's words sank into Minho's mind. He still thought he was crazy for confessing to a man he barely knew, while at the same time it felt like they had known each other forever.
Minho leaned in to Hyunjin and placed a kiss on his cheek. The salt from Hyunjin's earlier tears stinging on Minho's lips.