Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

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“Bbama? Bbama, baby? Where are you?” 

Jisung isn’t sure what type of plants he ended up between, but they feel funny, little hairs prickling his fingertips as he pushes the stems away. The plant is taller than he is, and whenever something brushes his hair he shivers. 

He tries to listen for any barking or sniffing—anything small making its way through the field, but he still finds it difficult to focus when there are so many different stimuli around outside. 

He stops in his tracks when a small creature approaches him, but it meows.  

“You’re not Bbama,” Jisung says with a chuckle, and the cat meows again. Jisung wants to crouch and pet the cat, but heavier rustling and footsteps from something bigger startles him, and he freezes. He hopes he isn’t upsetting the people neighboring him, but as far as he knows it’s just an old couple who used to live there. He doesn’t know if they’re still there, though.

“Who are you?” A soft voice asks, and the man sounds wary of him. Jisung might have definitely made his way onto someone else’s property—the climbing of a fence should have given that away, but he’s still caught off guard. 

“Y-You’re not Bbama either,” he mutters with a chuckle. The man doesn’t sound amused, and when he moves, Jisung freezes again, panicking a little. “Please don’t hurt me, I’m just looking for my doggie.” 

“In my grain field…? Out here?” The man is about Jisung’s height, Jisung notices, and he sounds about his age too. He didn’t know that he lived close to someone like this, but then again, he’s only recently starting to find out about what’s to discover around his home.

“I, uhm, he ran off from the porch. I live close, that direction.” Jisung points to where he came from. He’s nervous, and his hands are starting to sweat a little, because the man stays silent for a moment, and Jisung doesn’t know what to expect.

“Okay. What does your dog look like? I can help you find him, perhaps. And Soonie might be able to help, too,” he says eventually. Jisung lets out a breath of relief and he nods.

“Uhm, so, he’s small. About as high as your cat, has really nice fur, uhm… Right! He’s white,” Jisung explains, trying to remember how his brother described him to him. Just thinking about his precious little puppy makes him remember the way his fur feels between his fingertips and the distinct smell of his snout, and he smiles.

“Oh… Okay, let’s go look for him, then, yeah?” The man asks, his voice gentle and reassuring, although there’s something else, something like curiosity lining the timbre of his voice. Jisung likes it. He sounds nice, and his smell is too faint to really catch well, but Jisung thinks he smells like flowers.

In the meantime, the soft padding of small feet betrays the presence of two other creatures, perhaps also cats. The man giggles and softly says hi to the two ‘little ones’. Jisung would love to greet them as well, but he feels too shy right now.

He hears the man turn around and start to walk, but Jisung lets out a small sound of panic. “W-Wait, before you go… There’s something you should know,” he says, pressing his lips together and fidgeting with the edge of his shirt. If he’s going to be searching for his doggie with this man, he can’t really pretend to be normal anymore, so even though his parents told him not to trust any strangers, he has to be open.

“I can’t see anything. I’m blind.” 

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It’s a late summer day, and Minho is working on his garden, making sure that there are no bugs eating any of the produce. His precious cats, Soonie, Doongie, and Dori are accompanying him, padding around the field and keeping him company while enjoying the sun. 

Minho wipes some sweat from his brows using the back of his wrist, but a meow from Soonie startles him. He sits up on his heels and watches his cat speed away. “Soonie, what is it?” he calls after him, but his biggest orange little one ignores him to dash towards the field of grain. 

Minho readjusts his straw hat and slowly stands up, which is wondering if perhaps a mouse made their way into the field. The grain moves and rustles, more than it should with only a cat and mouse in there, though. Minho wipes his dirty gloves off on his overalls and quickly follows Soonie. 

There might be an intruder, but then again, it’s broad daylight, so why would anyone try to steal from him right now? 

“You’re not Bbama.”

There’s certainly someone in his field, and after a short conversation, Minho is already pretty intrigued by the boy. His stance is strange, he’s not looking at Minho at all throughout the conversation. His knees are covered in dirt, as if he’s been working outside, but the grassy drag marks suggest that he might have fallen down recently, or that he has been playing in the grass.

His eyes are lidded, his eyelashes fanning over his tan face, where a mole decorates his round and full cheek. His dark hair is messy and the way he describes his dog is strange, and a little unhelpful.

He says he lives close, but Minho hasn’t seen him around, although he does look Minho’s age.

It all makes sense when he says the following, though.

“I can’t see anything. I’m blind.”

Minho freezes and turns back around, his three cats gathering around his legs. The boy swallows and he looks a little nervous. Minho remembers his grandparents talking about the blind boy neighboring them. He has an older brother, if he remembers correctly. Han Younghyun and Han Jisung, was it?

He takes a step closer, and the boy raises his head, which is when Minho sees it. His eyes are strange, roaming around aimlessly. His pupils are white. It’s unique. Minho likes that, although he isn’t sure how he likes him trespassing. He seems reliable, though. 

“Okay. Uhm, are you okay with following me or should I… guide you?” Minho asks slowly. The boy hums in thought and raises his hands.

“Well, this is kind of unknown terrain to me, so… Do you mind if I hold your arm?” he asks timidly, holding his hands in front of him, ready for Minho to offer his arm. Minho softens, and steps closer, offering his elbow for the boy to hold. 

He belatedly remembers to actually touch his hands with his arm instead of waiting for the blind boy to grab him, because the boy can't see what Minho is doing. “Sure, you can hold on. Let's go look for Bbama.” 

The boy smiles and follows Minho out of the grain field. He sputters when Minho accidentally lets him walk right into a stem, but he laughs it off, giggling as he pushes the leaves out of his face. The way his cheeks bunch up and his eyes disappear is kind of cute, if Minho is entirely honest, and he smiles. 

They walk around the farm, Minho looking around for a small white dog. The blind boy is listening, his body reacting to every sound around. 

“Bbama? It's Jisung! Where are you?” he calls out, confirming Minho’s suspicion about him being Han Younghyun's little brother. He hasn't seen the Han family in a while, though, and he wonders why he's never run into Jisung either. 

“Bbama! Come out,” Minho calls out as well, and suddenly, Jisung perks up, his grip on Minho’s elbow tightening. 

“Bbama?” A soft bark sounds, and Jisung immediately locates it, tugging Minho in the right direction. He has a bright and excited smile on his face, as if he already spots his beloved pet.

When Minho sees the small and fluffy white dog with a simple leash round the corner of the barn, he can't help but coo. He knows the love one can feel for a pet all too well, and he may be a cat person through and through, but Bbama is quite the fluff ball. 

“My baby! There you are,” Jisung says, and he lets go of Minho’s elbow to crouch and welcome his dog into his arms. Bbama jumps at him and happily licks his face, making Jisung giggle. 

Soonie is the first one to come inspect the strangers, and Jisung flinches a little when Soonie headbutts him, but he welcomes the touch, running his fingers through the fur. 

Minho crouches next to him, and Bbama comes to inspect him. 

“So, you are the infamous Han Jisung-ssi?” Minho hesitantly pets the hyper little dog and its fluffy curls, subtly looking at the boy next to him as well. Jisung softly hums.

“Yes. I… I assume you know my brother, Younghyun hyung?” He sits back and turns his head a little, but not quite enough to face Minho. 

“Yeah, a little. My grandparents know your parents, mostly, because we live next to each other and all,” Minho answers. The question of why he has never seen Jisung around is on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it for now. “Also, one of my friends, Chan hyung, is close with your brother.” 

“If you know my family, you can just call me Jisung,” the boy says, smiling when Dori gets brave enough to come join him and investigate. Doongie lazily watches them from a distance, licking his paws as he lies on the sunlit stone path. 

“Okay, Jisung-ah. I'm Minho, by the way,” he says, almost holding his hand out for him to shake out of habit, but he remembers that Jisung can't see it. He does perk up a little when he hears Minho’s name. 

“Oh. Lee Minho? Uh—Minho-ssi?” It's strange, watching him speak and 'recognize' him without sparing him a glance, but Minho doesn't mind, it allows him to watch Jisung without being rude instead. 

“You can call me hyung, don't worry. I think I remember my grandparents telling me that you are two years younger than me,” he says. Jisung nods, seemingly remembering something similar. 

“Sure, Minho hyung,” he responds with a little shy smile. Soonie meows at him, making him snicker as he scratches behind the cat's ear. “Thank you. Soonie, right?” 

Minho’s eyes widen, and he gapes a little at him. How did he know that if he can't see? Dori is right there next to him, so was it a lucky guess? 

“Y-Yeah, that's Soonie. The gray—uhm, the smaller one is Dori. Just a couple of meters away lies Doongie, who… has a little bit more coarse fur than Soonie,” he explains, watching Jisung blindly pet two of his cats. “How did you know?” 

“I've heard him meow before and it sounded similar to the meow just now,” Jisung says with a chuckle. Minho doesn’t even think he can reliably distinguish his cats based on sound. Jisung has nothing else to rely on, though, but it’s still impressive.

The boy opens his mouth to say something else, but Bbama interrupts him with a bark. He chuckles and reaches out to pet him, but his fingers land on top of Minho’s gloved hand. They simultaneously pull back, but Jisung hesitantly reaches out again. 

“I think it’s time to go home, huh, Bbama-yah?” He curls his fingers around the dog’s leash and slowly stands up. Minho stands up with him, a little unsure what’s appropriate.

“You’ll make it home by yourself?” he asks, awkwardly clasping his hands together as he's unsure of what is appropriate now. Jisung simply nods.

“I’m not alone, I have Bbama to guide me home. Thank you for looking for him with me, and for not attacking me for trespassing,” he answers with a chuckle. Minho laughs at the unexpected gratitude.

“Of course. I’m curious how you got past the fence without your dog, but I understand. Be careful of creeks, fences and holes, though, you can hurt yourself,” he says. Minho can see where he’s walking but he’s fallen down ditches around the farm before. Jisung doesn’t look like he has anything to help him get around, though. 

“I will! Bbama will mostly guide me around and warn me about the terrain, but I’ll be careful,” Jisung promises. Bbama happily barks, and he looks way too hyper to be a reliable guide, but once Jisung takes a hold of the leash and they start walking, the dog slows down and they walk around any plants and ditches.

“See you around!” Minho calls after him, and Jisung almost trips over his own legs before he answers a shaky “see you around”, too. Minho snickers, and he hopes that the boy makes it home alive.

“Who was that?” 

Minho starts. He was just trying to get back to the last bit of weeding after Jisung left, and he didn’t even spot Chan climbing over the fence. He squints up at his friend, the sun up too high for his hat to shield his eyes from the light.

“That was Han Jisung. I didn’t think he existed, but there he was,” he answers, looking down again and continuing to pull some weeds out. “You and Changbin should start wearing a bell around your neck, by the way. I know I always invite you, but you guys are unpredictable in summer. Can you help me weed the rest of the crops? There’s some gloves on the bench.”

“Oh, Jisungie? I’ve seen him a couple of times when visiting Younghyunnie. He’s pretty shy, and a bit of a homebody. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him outside. I know they got him a little dog recently, though,” Chan says as he grabs the gloves and kneels to help Minho out. Of course he knows Jisung. Chan knows everyone, and he’s quite close with Younghyun, so it makes sense that he has seen him. 

“Yeah, well, I saw him for the first time today. The doggie, Bbama, ran away and Jisung got lost in my grain field. Soonie spotted him first, and he was a little scared of me, but I think being around the animals made him a little less shy,” Minho reasons. Jisung was a little quiet and he seemed nervous, but not that much. He was pretty endearing, actually.

“I can imagine. Glad that he’s climbing out of his shell a little,” Chan says with a chuckle. He has a little glint in his eyes when he looks at Minho, something in his grin that Minho can’t quite place. 

Little does he know that Chan might be onto something, though, because there’s already this small seed of curiosity planted into the little dirt patch of Minho’s heart. He might not notice it right now, but Minho is the person to take good care of plants, even ones he didn’t plant intentionally. 

And of course, if someone is kind to his cats, then he trusts them, whether he’s a stranger or not. 

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The next time Minho encounters Jisung, he notices his presence because of Bbama. A little ball of white fur speeds over to where the sheep are, jumping through the fence with ease. Minho sees it from where he’s reading a book on the bench near the crop field, and a couple of moments later, Jisung follows, clumsily walking over to where Bbama went, but once he gets closer to the sheep, he gets disoriented and he trips over a root.

Minho can’t hold back a snort, but he immediately feels bad for laughing. He stands up and hurries over to the boy. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Minho hesitantly places a hand on Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung flinches but after a moment, he whispers Minho hyung? to himself. Minho remembers that Jisung might not recognize him and quickly tells him that it's him and Jisung relaxes before he grabs his wrist and lets Minho pull him upright before awkwardly wiping his hands on his shirt. 

“I’m fine, but I think Bbama invaded your property again. We were playing outside and I think he heard the sheep, so he ran off,” he explains. There’s some dirt on his cheek, but Minho doesn’t know if it’s appropriate to help him with that. His clothes are full of grass stains, and Minho wonders how much time he spends in the grass.

“Yeah, I saw him go play hide and seek with the sheep,” Minho responds. He pokes Jisung’s arm with a finger before holding out his arm. “Come, I’ll open the fence for you.” 

Jisung slowly reaches forward and holds Minho’s elbow again, humming and nodding as a timid smile decorates his face.

“He’s probably playing hide and seek with the sheep. Bbama looks like them,” Minho says as he opens the fence and pulls Jisung through before closing it behind him. Jisung tenses and flinches a little when the sheep move around him, and he looks a little scared.

“R-Really? But sheep are so big,” Jisung stammers, wincing again when a sheep bleats. Minho chuckles. He has probably never had to deal with these animals.

“They are, but they are fluffy and white just like Bbama. Come, I’ll let you feel their wool. They won’t harm you,” he says, guiding Jisung towards his beloved sheep Sodangie. Once they stand in front of her, Minho takes Jisung’s hands and puts it into her wool.

Jisung’s face lights up and his tense posture melts away as he puts both hands into the fluffy wool of Sodangie, letting out some sort of high-pitched sound. “Holy sheep! So soft and… squishy? Fluffy!” 

Bbama immediately comes towards the sound of his owner’s voice, barking happily. Sodangie baas in response, and Jisung coos. “Can I hug? Do they like that?” he asks, his timid demeanor nowhere to be found as it's been replaced by excitement, and Minho can’t hold back a fond smile. 

“Yeah, she won’t mind,” he answers, coming closer and caressing the animal as well, running his hands all over her back before giving her a hug together with Jisung. Bbama barks and jumps, so Minho lifts him up to show Sodangie. 

Bbama wants to lick the sheep, but Sodangie draws the line there and runs away. Jisung yelps and falls over because of the movement and Minho quickly puts Bbama down again.

“Shit! Sorry. I guess Sodangie got startled by Bbama,” Minho laughs as he steps over to Jisung with Bbama, who immediately starts licking Jisung again. There’s wool in his messy hair, and his butt must be covered in dirt as well by now.

“It’s okay. I fall over all the time. You’d think I’ve got a trained balance but I still trip over myself all the time,” Jisung says with a chuckle and he reaches out for Minho’s hand, so Minho grabs him and helps him up with a snicker. Jisung wipes his hands on his jeans. “I… I didn’t interrupt anything, I hope? Sorry that I keep trespassing. I’ll tell Bbama to stay close to me.”

“That’s okay. I’m used to my friends just coming here unannounced. And you didn’t interrupt. I was just reading on the bench with my cats before dinner,” Minho assures him. As if on cue, Jisung’s stomach rumbles. Minho barks out a laugh, and Jisung’s face contracts in embarrassment. “Someone’s hungry.”

“Y-Yeah. I’ve been so busy playing with Bbama outside, I forgot to eat,” he explains softly. Minho hums, and his stomach churns a little. He can’t help but be a little concerned about him. He opens his mouth to ask if he has enough food at home, but of course someone else has to invade his property unasked.

“Hey, Minho hyung! Getting cozy with the sheep?” It’s Changbin and Chan. He should have expected them on his farm, since they were going to have dinner together, but it’s always the question whether they feel like coming early or not. 

They approach Minho and Bbama softly barks at them, before running over to Chan and sniffling at his feet. Chan coos so hard Minho thinks he might just burst and explode into a bunch of confetti pieces, but Changbin decides to ignore the little dog, looking a little grumpy.

“Hi, by the way, I’m Changbin,” the latter says, holding out his hand towards Jisung over the fence. Jisung reacts, but he doesn’t face Changbin. He freezes a little, and Changbin’s brows contract in confusion.

“I’m Jisung,” Jisung awkwardly answers. Changbin slowly lowers his hand, and he looks a little offended. Minho can already sense something stupid coming out of his mouth, but he’s not quick enough to stop the words.

“Oh, okay, well… nice to meet you too, I guess,” Changbin says, entirely too sarcastically, and Jisung winces a little. Changbin might have had a rough trip here, but that doesn't mean that he should be rude. 

Minho reaches over the fence and hits Changbin on the chest, and Chan stands up as well to glare at him. “He can’t see you hold out your hand, you idiot! Don’t be an asshole,” Minho scolds him, and Changbin scowls.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know that,” he explains, facing Jisung, but Jisung of course doesn’t notice that he’s talking to him. Minho wants to facepalm, but he doesn’t know how to help them out of this awkward situation.

“He’s Younghyun’s little brother,” Chan explains, but Changbin only seems vaguely familiar with that concept. Minho lets out a sigh and opens the fence before grabbing Jisung’s arm to pull him with him. Jisung flinches and—oh, maybe Minho shouldn’t have done that without announcing anything.

“Sorry. Uhm, Jisung, my friends are here. You might know Chan hyung, he’s friends with your brother, and the other is Changbin, one year older than you,” Minho says, trying to somewhat salvage the situation with his mediocre social skills. “We were going to have dinner together, but if you want, you can join.”

It’s not very like him to offer this to strangers, but then again, he isn’t used to strangers around the small village. Jisung follows him past the fence, but he then lets go of Minho’s arm and he shakes his head.

“I think I should go home. Bbama?” Jisung motions his dog to come with him, before blindly reaching down for the leash. He seems upset, but Minho isn’t sure what to do. He probably shouldn’t push it.

“Okay, see you around,” he says simply, gritting his teeth a little when Jisung doesn’t respond and just stumbles after his little dog. He must turn around with a murderous look on his face, because Changbin goes a little pale as he scowls.

“You two are helping me prepare dinner,” Minho warns them with a stern finger. He’s a little upset, although, rationally he knows that it wasn’t Changbin’s intention. Rationality is overrated, though. Chan could have said hi or warned Changbin just as well.

“What? Hyung! How should I have known that he’s the blind little brother of Younghyun hyung? I forgot he existed, and I can’t imagine you’ve known him for long either,” his friend defends himself with a huff. Minho rolls his eyes, even though he’s right, and continues his way into the house. 

He kicks his shoes off in the mud room, and Chan and Changbin follow his example. Changbin lets out a sigh. “Come on. Were you perfect when you met him, then? I didn’t even know you knew him.”

“I don’t. Not really. I’ve only seen him twice,” Minho admits with a shrug. “He’s kind, though. He was nice to my cats. You didn’t have to scare him off.”

“Oh, so he was nice to your cats and now you’re in love with him. Typical,” Changbin complains, and Chan laughs at him. 

“His doggie Bbama ran onto Minho’s property the first time, Binnie. I’m guessing that was the case this time as well. He’s pretty shy, he never really talked to me much when I came over to Younghyun’s house,” the older explains. “I think I’m going to agree with Minho here, because although you didn’t know, it’s good that he’s going out more now, and his dog is really cute. You shouldn't scare him.”

“Oh my gosh, you two only care about animals,” Changbin says with a sigh. “No wonder you like living on a farm.”

“Whatever. Just keep it in mind and don't run your mouth next time. Now, help me wash the vegetables.”

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Minho doesn't see Jisung for a couple of days again, but this time he thinks about him whenever he takes care of his sheep. When he's harvesting the grain, he can see Jisung playing outside with Bbama a couple of meters away, on the big field behind the Han house. 

Minho almost waves at him, but Jisung can't see him, of course. After he's done with the harvest, though, he decides to call over and say hi. 

“Hi, Jisung! Sorry for the noise just now. I was harvesting the grain,” he calls out to Jisung in the distance. Jisung perks up and laughs when Bbama happily runs over. 

“Hi, Minho hyung. I think Bbama likes you and your farm. Are the cats around?” Jisung grabs a stick and uses it to close the distance without stumbling too much. Minho watches him, happy that Jisung recognized him this time. He notices that Jisung’s clothes are once again green because of grass stains. He starts to wonder if he will ever get those stains out. 

“They're around somewhere. They might come here if you and Bbama stay,” he says with a chuckle. Jisung’s lips spread into a shy smile. Minho suddenly gets the urge to invite him over—just to make sure that Changbin didn't scare him off, of course—so he quickly thinks of an excuse. 

“Oh, by the way, I made strawberry sweets yesterday and I need someone to taste them for me. Are you interested?” he suggests, and his heart is acting up a little for some reason. His nerves melt away when Jisung’s face lights up, a bright heart-shaped smile appearing on his face. His eyes are aimlessly roaming around, but it has something endearing to it. 

“Yes! I would love to.” He looks really excited, shuffling around on his feet and fidgeting with his fingers. 

“Okay, hold out your hand and I'll help you over the fence to the house,” Minho suggests, and Jisung follows his instruction, so Minho grabs his hand and helps him over the fence while he holds his stick. He then guides him to the house, his fingers wrapped around Jisung’s. 

Bbama happily follows them and once they’re inside, Minho tells him to take off his shoes and watch out for the step. Both Bbama and Jisung’s stick warn him for the doorstep as well. 

Once they're inside, Jisung reaches out for Minho’s arm, and Minho feels a little embarrassed to almost forget to guide him to the kitchen with him. They wash their hands and Minho grabs the strawberry sweets from the fridge. 

“The kitchen table is just behind you, we walked around it before. Is there a way I can serve the sweets to you that’s comfortable for you?” Minho asks as he puts the plate down and grabs some fresh strawberries to put around the sweets. Jisung turns around after resting the stick against the counter and feels around for the chair. 

He carefully sits down before he speaks, too concentrated on not bumping into anything to do anything else. Minho holds back a soft snicker at the sight. 

“Uhm, just put it on a plate and give me a fork. If you put them down loud enough I can locate them myself,” Jisung says, his fingers curled into the wood of the kitchen table. Minho hums in understanding and plates some of the sweets and strawberries.

“Plate. Two pieces of sweets, three strawberries,” Minho says as he deliberately uses some extra force while putting it down. He then slaps the fork down on the table. “Fork.”

Jisung softly giggles and smoothly grabs the piece of cutlery before running the pads of his fingers around the edge of the plate. He then uses the fork to feel around the plate as Minho sits down next to him, and Minho watches him eat a strawberry. He then estimates the size of the strawberry sweet with his fork before cutting it in half and eating it. 

Crumbs gather around his lips as he happily munches on the food, his cheeks filling with food as he lets out a noise of delight. “This is so good! I love it,” he says, covering his mouth with a hand.

“I’m glad to hear that. I tried a new recipe,” Minho tells him, leaning his head on his hand and letting his eyes roam the figure of the boy next to him. 

“I think I could eat about ten of these, they’re that delicious! This is already one of the better days of my life,” Jisung says, shoving another piece into his mouth, his cheeks inflating. Minho snickers, and Jisung’s cheeks grow a little pink. Maybe he notices that Minho is staring.

“Are… Aren’t you going to have any?” Jisung asks softly, tapping the fork on the plate. Minho shrugs, he’s not that hungry, actually. Minho wants to answer, but Jisung perks up and turns his head towards the entrance. Minho spots Dori walking into the kitchen, probably curious about the smell and the talking.

“That’s Dori coming to check up on us. Hi, sweetie. I’ll just grab a strawberry for me and a treat for her. Does Bbama want something?” he says and he stands up to grab one and offers a little treat to Dori. Bbama happily barks, and Minho assumes that’s a yes. “I like how you fill your cheeks with food, by the way. It’s cute. You look like a squirrel.”

“Aren’t squirrels really small?” Jisung tilts his head in confusion, his head turning a little bit to follow Minho’s movement. 

“Yes, but they have very stretchy cheeks, and they store acorns in there,” he tells him as he two-handedly feeds his littlest kitten and Jisung’s puppy, grinning at the adorable animals. “You remind me a little of them. Or a hamster.”

“A hamster is really small too!” Jisung’s eyebrows knit together as Minho lets out a giggle. Jisung doesn’t really seem to get it, but that’s okay. There are some things that don’t need to be understood. 

They sit and eat in silence for a moment, and Minho thinks back on the last time they saw each other. He thinks he wants to get to know Jisung better. He already knows that he can lure him in with sweets or with his cats, perhaps, but he thinks he’d like to find out more. He’s cute, after all, and it has been a while since Minho made a new friend—a friend who he can learn from.

“I wanted to ask you something, by the way,” he begins, touching his lip as he thinks about how to word it. Jisung hums and nods, still munching on the sweets. “Was Changbin too rude the other day?”

“Oh, uhm…He wasn’t. I’m sure your friends are nice. Chan hyung is nice,” Jisung says with an awkward chuckle, obviously trying to reassure Minho instead of telling him what he really feels. Minho lets out a soft huff. 

“That’s not what I meant. You can say it if you were uncomfortable,” he assures him. Jisung taps his fingers against the table and runs the pads of his other hand along the edge of the plate, his half-lidded eyes roaming around aimlessly.

“I wasn’t. I’m just not the greatest with… people,” he answers. Minho isn’t sure if he’s fidgeting because he’s nervous or something else, but Jisung keeps feeling around the edge of the plate and the table.  

“I think you’re doing great,” Minho says with a little smile. He then stands up to put the dishes away, and he waits for Jisung to be done with touching around the plate before taking it away. 

“Well, with you… I don’t know. I guess I was too busy with Bbama to be awkward at first,” Jisung says, and Bbama happily barks, pawing at his owner’s legs. Jisung snickers, his face softening into a fond expression towards his dog. 

“Pets are a blessing. I don’t think I’d survive without my cats. Soonie has been my best friend for years,” Minho responds, picking Dori up in his arms and sitting down again with her. Dori purrs and Jisung gasps under his breath.

“Was that Dori?” he asks and Minho softly affirms, carding his hand through Dori’s fur. Minho scratches behind Dori’s ear, and Jisung beams when Dori purrs again. It looks funny since he’s not even facing Dori, but it’s cute. “It sounds really nice. You’re a great singer, Dori.” 

“Yeah? I guess you have good ears, so you would know,” Minho says, unable to hold back a smile. His friends aren’t cat people, so he isn’t used to someone doting on his cats so much. His cats seem to have missed the attention as well, because they like Jisung. It’s bad for his heart.

“I do, I guess. It helps to not have all the visual stuff happening. It does have its disadvantages sometimes, though. For example, when someone’s harvesting grain with some kind of motorized machine and you can’t focus anymore because your ears are being attacked,” Jisung says with a soft snicker. Minho is a little taken aback by the sudden joke, his lips parting but no sound coming out.

The corners of his mouth twitch up, because although he didn’t expect him to joke, it doesn’t sound like he’s doing it just for the sake of making a joke. It’s a little unexpected, but Minho doesn’t blame him. At least he’s trying to lighten up the conversation. 

“S-Sorry, was that offensive?” Jisung apologizes when Minho doesn’t say anything, and it pulls Minho back to reality. “It was a joke. I’ve lived next to you for my whole life. I can tune it out.”

Minho snorts because of the deadpan way Jisung says it, and Jisung is confused for a second, but he relaxes a little when Minho speaks. “I know you were joking, I was just a little surprised,” he says through a chuckle. “Don’t apologize, though. If I’m upset, I’ll tell you. You can insult me on anything except my cats and my cooking. I’ll get annoyed if you do that.”

“Can I insult you on your appearance?” Jisung asks, blinking innocently and Minho bursts out in cackling. He doesn’t understand how he can be so expressive and look like that when he can’t even see himself or see other people's expressions. 

Jisung smiles and giggles. “I won’t do it, though. I will say that you have a nice voice instead. I like it,” he adds, and Minho’s heart might skip a beat at the kind words. He’s never heard that he has a nice voice, but it’s a sweet compliment.

“Thanks,” he answers softly, unsure of what to say. His stomach is doing something weird. Dori meows softly, probably noticing Minho’s little predicament.

“Can I have another sweet, perhaps?” Jisung asks, completely oblivious of Minho’s pink ears. He runs the pad of his finger along the groves in the wooden table. “If there’s anything left, of course. They are really good.”

“Sure, I’ll get you some more.”

Minho watches Jisung eat for a while longer, and they have a casual conversation in the meantime, mostly talking about their pets and Minho tells him about what he does around the farm, the crops he grows, and all that. 

Jisung tells him that he mostly spends his days playing with Bbama, trying to teach him some stuff. He likes running around the house, listening to documentaries or the radio, and cuddling with Bbama.

It sounds like he’s living a pretty good life to Minho, but he’s still curious about some things. He can always ask him later.

“You can always stop by here if you want, Jisung-ah. I never mind having some company, and neither do my cats,” he tells Jisung when they tell each other goodbye for the day. 

“Oh. Thank you, hyung. Bbama really likes it here, and, well, me too. You’re very welcoming, and also really good at making sweets,” Jisung says and Bbama barks. Dori meows in response, and Minho snickers. 

“Well you and Bbama are nice to have around,” he says, not used to getting so many compliments. He wants to say something stupid back, but Jisung can’t see him and doesn’t know him well enough to tease yet.

And there’s something about Jisung that makes Minho want to be really nice to him. It’s weird because Minho doesn’t know how to be nice in a normal way except to his cats. Jisung seems to think he’s welcoming, though, so he must be doing something right. 

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Jisung is playing with his dog outside. Minho said hi to him this morning, and it made Jisung happy. They’ve been talking a lot more the past couple of days, and he has even spoken to Changbin and Chan two or three times. 

Right now, Minho is working in the garden with Chan, so Jisung is spending some time outside in the sun with his pet. Minho said Changbin would come over as well and he offered all of them to hang out, but Jisung is a little anxious. 

Bbama barks twice and Jisung jogs over to his doggie. He crouches next to where the 

sound came from and threads his fingers through the grass, careful to not get cut. “What did you find, baby?” he asks softly and Bbama puts a paw on Jisung’s hand, pushing it a little to the right. 

Jisung feels a stem of something, and he slowly brings his hand up until he feels the softness of petals. He leans closer to smell the sweet fragrance, until his nose touches the petals. “Oh! A flower? That feels nice. Should I pick it?” 

Bbama woofs, so Jisung picks the flower and puts it behind his ear. “Thank you, Bbama-yah!” He starts ruffling the fur of his little dog. Bbama barks again and enjoys the attention before some sound catches his attention and he slips away from between Jisung’s hands. 

Jisung runs after him, running up a hill. He isn’t sure where Bbama is speeding off towards, but he’s going around the house. Maybe he saw a stick across the dirt road or something, or maybe a squirrel, but Jisung doesn’t want him to get lost. 

“Bbama-yah, stay close,” he calls out, jogging further across the road. He hears someone walking around near his doggie, and he panics a little, running faster. He shouldn’t have done that, because he steps onto a rock and twists his ankle.

He yelps and falls down, scraping his hands on the pebbles on the dirt. Bbama cries and dashes over to him, pushing his snout against Jisung’s shoulder, and Jisung wants to lean into his doggie’s touch, but someone is following him. 

Jisung tenses up because of the stranger, but he can’t run away because his ankle feels uncomfortable in his shoes. Fear pools in his stomach and he tries to hide himself between his own shoulders.

“Fuck, are you okay? That looked like a bad fall,” the man says, but in his panic, Jisung can’t recognize his voice. He swallows thickly and curls his fingers into the coarse ground under him. 

“I’m okay,” he mumbles, unsure if he should ask who this man is, but it’s not Minho, nor his brother, nor Chan, so he doesn’t trust it. Maybe it’s Minho’s other friend, though.

“Here, I’ll help you up. Do you think you can stand on your foot?” Jisung flinches when a hand touches his arm, but he thinks he recognizes Changbin’s voice now. Changbin pulls back but Jisung holds out his elbow for him in apology. 

Changbin pulls him up with ease. He’s a little smaller than Jisung, if Jisung remembers correctly, so he must be strong. Jisung puts some weight on his foot, and it stings a little, but nothing too bad.

“Looks okay. Be careful, though, there are a lot of holes in the road, rocks to trip over. Super annoying,” Changbin kindly says. In the distance, Jisung notices someone running up to him—no, two people, two pairs of feet approaching in hurried steps.

“Thank you, Changbin hyung,” he says softly when Changbin keeps supporting him so that he doesn’t have to put all of his weight onto his ankle yet. Changbin lets out a soft noise and Bbama happily barks. 

“Oh, you recognized me. That makes me happy. I think your little dog recognized me too,” he says with a sort of proud huff. Jisung hears him turn around and the two people arrive next to them. Jisung smells Minho’s natural odor already—the scent calms him a bit—so the other person should be Chan.

“Everything okay over here? Minho saw you trip and fall, Jisung-ah,” Chan says, and a new pair of fingers brush his arm. Jisung shivers a little. He doesn’t like it when people suddenly touch him like that, although he knows that Chan doesn’t mean any harm.

“Yeah, my ankle hurts a little, but I’m fine. Bbama wanted to say hi to Changbin hyung but he didn’t inform me,” Jisung says with a chuckle, and he carefully takes a step backwards, so that Changbin and Chan let go of him. He nervously touches the petals of the flower behind his ear, making sure it’s still there even though he can smell it. “If you talk to Younghyun hyungie, you don’t have to tell him, I’ll tell him. I don’t want him to come home because he’s worrying or something. I’m fine.” 

“Of course. Younghyunnie always tells me to keep an eye out for you, but he also knows that you’re doing just fine on your own when I tell him I’m not going to helicopter you. He’s just a worried big brother, Jisung-ah,” Chan answers with a chuckle. Jisung snickers softly as well. He’s glad that Chan decided to not listen to Younghyun’s request, because he can take care of himself.

“Oh, I didn’t know he was out of town,” Minho says, a little tremble in his voice that Jisung can’t quite place. It doesn’t quite sound like he’s concerned, Jisung knows that emotion all too well in others, but he isn’t sure what he is feeling. 

“Yeah, he and my parents are out for a couple of months to see family,” he explains, but he doesn’t want to go too deep into it. He hopes that Minho or his friends don’t ask further, but he should have expected at least one more question.

“You didn’t go with them?” Changbin is the one asking it, and Jisung hears shuffling from Chan’s direction, but he can’t decipher the movement. 

“No,” he answers simply, awkwardly shuffling around on his feet. Bbama lets out an encouraging woof and Jisung smiles. “I’m staying here with Bbama. I can call them when I miss them.”

“Okay, well, if you want, you can come and eat with us tonight. Chan bought a cake from the bakery in town, and although he could probably eat it by himself, I think he’d appreciate it if we helped him,” Minho says, giggling when Chan punches him somewhere. Jisung automatically laughs too, the high-pitched sound of Minho making him happy as he remembers the playful punches he would give his brother.

He could definitely eat some cake, and he’d love to hang out some more with Minho, even though there are others. He thinks he can trust Changbin now, and he has always trusted Chan, even though he hasn’t spent much time with him alone.

“Sure, let me just find a stick so that I don’t trip again,” Jisung says, mostly to himself. He expects them all to walk away, but someone steps towards him and softly bumps his fist into Jisung’s arm.

“Here, I’ll help you. I can give you my grandfather’s old walking stick when we get to my house. That way you don’t have to find a stick every time,” Minho offers him, his voice so soft and gentle that Jisung starts to feel a little warm. “I like the flower, by the way.”

“Thanks. Bbama found it for me,” he says softly. He grabs Minho’s elbow and shoulder, even though he has never liked relying on others much. His brother always insisted on carrying or guiding him everywhere, and although he liked that when he was younger, he wants to be able to go places by himself too. 

He asked his parents for a guiding stick before, but they didn’t know where to find any and they insisted that he didn’t need one if he just relied on Bbama and stayed around the house—they clearly don’t want him to stray too far.

Bbama is a good help, but not trained well enough yet to not run off by himself at times. He trusts Minho, though, and his voice calms him, so he doesn’t mind him guiding him around the places unfamiliar to him, it’s better than embarrassing himself and tripping again.

Minho lets him decide the pace too, even without Jisung telling him to slow down because he’s a little shaky on his feet. Minho even places his hand on top of Jisung’s one that is on his shoulders, his fingers a little shorter than Jisung’s, but his hand not much smaller. 

Jisung has to admit that he’s a little touch-starved. It’s a fight between wanting to be hugged versus not wanting anyone to put their hands on him unannounced. He loves hugging his brother or cuddling with Bbama, but if someone grabs him or anything without him expecting it, he freaks out.

Now that Minho’s hand is on his own, he feels a bit weak in the knees, because since his brother and parents are away, he’s been missing out on a little bit of affection. He feels a little desperate, getting all fluttery just because someone is touching his hand, and he doesn’t even notice that he’s zoning out until he accidentally kicks Minho’s feet.

“Shit, sorry,” he apologizes, but Minho just laughs, patting his fingers. 

“It’s okay, we’re almost at the house. Do you want to help us prepare dinner, by the way? Otherwise you can just keep the cats company,” he says, before kicking the steps of the porch to warn him about them. 

“Oh no, I’m a disaster in the kitchen. I don’t trust myself with a knife. I hate sharp things,” Jisung answers as he steps up the porch. He has cut himself with a knife way too many times while trying to help in the kitchen, and he is way too prone to accidentally knocking over things or sliding stuff off counters. The kitchen usually has fragile stuff around, so he’s hesitant especially in an unfamiliar room.

“Sure. I’ll call the cats for you. I kind of need someone to keep them out of the kitchen anyway, they like jumping onto the counters way too much,” Minho says easily, something light and delighted in his voice, which makes Jisung feel cared for, rather than belittled for not being able to help him out. Minho has this comforting aura around him, and he makes Jisung feel nice, as if his voice is hypnotizing him, enchanting him with kind words.

It doesn’t help that he smells a little like flowers and plants, either. It’s Jisung’s favorite smell.

Someone sighs from within the house, and it sounds a little like Changbin. “Oh my god, hyung. Why do you always force me to help you out when I’m a disaster too?” he complains, way too exaggeratedly to be serious. (Or so Jisung hopes, he doesn’t want to get special treatment.)

“You don’t have a valid reason to be a disaster. Just because you don’t want to cook doesn’t mean you should be physically unable to do it. Plus, you are scared of my cats, what else are you going to do?” Minho shoots back, and Jisung laughs under his breath when Changbin scoffs and lets out a whine. 

“Come on, Binnie. Let’s get started,” Chan encourages his friend, while Minho gently taps Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung holds out an elbow so that Minho can take him wherever he’s planning to.

Jisung recognizes that they’re going to the kitchen again, remembering the way from the time he had strawberry sweets with Minho. His mouth starts watering just thinking about that day, and he can’t wait to try more of Minho’s food.

He belatedly realizes that this means that he has to eat a whole entire meal in front of others, but if it means spending time with cats and getting delicious food then so be it. He’ll have to suck it up to get a reward. 

Minho guides him to the sink to let him wash his hands. The water stings his sore palms a little, but it doesn’t feel like his hands are bleeding, just chafed, so it should be fine.

When he’s done, Minho pulls a chair back for him from the kitchen table and Jisung clumsily sits down. Immediately a cat jumps onto his lap and Jisung starts, a little startled, but he giggles when the cat lets out a soft meow. It’s Doongie this time, because he’s larger than Dori and doesn’t sound like Soonie.

“Hi there, Doongie.” There’s a cat down by his feet, too, the fur tickling his feet through his socks. Bbama is near him as well, he can smell it, and he wants to feel around for him with his feet, but Bbama might be distracted. Minho hasn’t stepped away from him either, the faint feeling of his fingers on the back of the chair, ghosting Jisung’s shoulder blades, betraying his presence. 

Jisung wonders if he’s looking at him or perhaps at his cat on Jisung’s lap, but maybe he’s looking at Chan and Changbin who are already busy grabbing things in the kitchen. Jisung keeps himself busy by carding his hands through Doongie’s fur, and letting his feet be surrounded by the rest of the pets, wiggling his toes into the fur while listening to the sounds of cooking.

It’s a little overwhelming at first, but he gets used to the mix of sounds and scents in the unfamiliar kitchen after a couple of minutes. The three older are having casual conversation, giving each other instructions and talking about how it’s starting to look gray outside.

Jisung knows that gray outside means rain, but he doesn’t hear any droplets on the windows, and there should be a window if they're looking outside. Jisung likes the rain, it sounds nice, it smells nice, and it feels nice on his skin when it's warm out, but sometimes the cold seeps into his clothing and he misses the warmth of the sun. 

Thunderstorms are not his friend, though, loud sounds but no warning. He hopes that it will just rain today, he’ll be fine if it’s just rain. 

“Jisung-ah, open your mouth for a second and taste this for me, please,” Minho suddenly announces and Jisung perks up, just like Doongie under his hands, and Bbama under his feet. Jisung parts his lips for Minho, and he hears the latter blow on something before he feels the warm metal of a spoon against his lower lip. 

Jisung closes his mouth around the food, and tastes the portion of something that feels like rice and kimchi texture-wise, but there’s something else in there—a vegetable and spices—that makes it taste really good. 

He's glad that Minho isn't preparing noodles, because that usually means a mess of sauce around his mouth, and no way to save him unless he has many tissues or a lot of time to eat properly. He can do it, but sometimes it's difficult to notice if his lips are wet from moisture or sauce, and noodles are slippery, especially the unexpected long ones. 

“Yum! How did you manage to make kimchi and rice taste so good?” he asks, and Doongie meows loudly when Minho puts the spoon down onto a plate or a bowl. 

“Yes, yes, you'll get your food, Doongie dear,” Minho says with a chuckle. “I have a little secret, which is fresh ingredients—and self-made kimchi from two houses over. Channie hyung brought some with him.” 

“Minho is also a master with spices,” Chan adds, and Minho lets out a sigh, the sound of a towel slapping against something making Jisung feel like Chan has been hit. 

“Unfortunately Chan has a spice tolerance of zero. Changbin is better, but not great. Can you eat spicy food, Jisung-ah?” Minho asks, already turned away from Jisung again. 

“Not really. I don't like that it makes my eyes water and makes my lips all numb,” he says with a soft chuckle, curling his toes into the back of Bbama who is resting under his feet, letting him massage him. 

“Okay, good to know. Another thing, if you want, I can give you a couple of treats for Bbama and my little ones,” Minho continues, walking around in the kitchen. Jisung hums, he’d love to bond a little more with Minho’s cute cats.

He receives some treats from Minho and first feeds Doongie a couple, before identifying Dori and leaning under the table and giving her a couple next. Bbama barks and licks his chin, making him snicker. “Patience, Bbama-yah, you’ll get last,” he says with a giggle, leaning a little into the fur of his dog.

Soonie is next, and he makes sure to pet him plenty as well, before giving his own pet some love. By the time he’s done, dinner is almost ready and Minho asks if chopsticks are okay.

“Yeah, chopsticks are fine. I eat better with them,” he assures the man. He can control the size of his bites better and it’s easier to handle for him. 

Everyone sits at the table, and Jisung tucks his feet under the chair, a little self-conscious about eating in front of so many almost strangers. Minho is across from him, Chan on his right, and Changbin next to Minho. 

Rain droplets fall against the window, providing them with a little background noise other than the clinking of their chopsticks. Jisung doesn’t know if he wants the others to stay quiet or if he wants them to speak, because now he isn’t sure if they’re all looking at him.

“It’s really tasty, you did well,” Jisung says, poking his chopsticks into a piece of kimchi. “You three cook together often, right?”

“We do, in summer mostly, but Minho does the hard work, usually,” Chan tells him, and Jisung hears Minho let out a sigh. Chan softly huffs and he moves around before continuing. “I live around here, and Changbin went to school with us, but we like cooking and eating together especially during summer. I like helping Minho around the farm as well, because he’s alone and it’s a lot of land. Changbin lives a little far, though, and we don’t always have time.”

“Yeah, I’d help around, too, but I’m really not a morning person, and my family doesn’t want me to be away for so long. I wish I lived closer, but yeah,” Changbin adds. 

“I appreciate it, but you guys are giving me too much credit,” Minho says with a chuckle, his chopsticks hitting his plate. “You guys really help me out around here, and Channie hyung, you’re a great cook.”

“I think Younghyun hyungie will agree with that,” Jisung says, keeping his head down at his food because he’s a little insecure about his eyes—and also his face in general when he’s eating. He remembers Chan helping his parents out with dinner when he would eat over sometimes, and Younghyun would give him compliments often. 

“Well, I think Minho appreciates your presence as well, Jisung,” Chan deflects, and initially, Jisung is happy with the comment and he smiles, but Chan suddenly starts laughing, and he doesn’t know what to think. Changbin snickers a little as well, and Jisung wonders what’s going on. Are they making fun of him? 

“Stop laughing, oh my gosh, hyung,” Minho says with a sigh, but he can’t quite grasp his tone. He sounds a little embarrassed, maybe? “You’re going to make him think I don’t appreciate him!”

“I’m sorry! I was laughing because of your face, Minho. You keep—” Chan is cut off by the scraping of Minho’s chair, and Jisung shivers because of the harsh sound. Changbin cackles, and Jisung wishes he could see Minho’s expression if it’s really so funny.

He does like the idea of Minho appreciating him, though. He hopes it’s true, but he won’t blame Minho if he doesn’t really feel like this because Jisung knows he’s often more trouble than he’s worth. Minho seems to want him to think that it’s true, though, so maybe Jisung will allow himself to believe him. 

Dinner passes by in a blink, and Jisung hopes that he survived without too much damage to his face. It’s raining pretty hard out, though, and Jisung worries that he’ll slip and fall a lot on his way home, even with Bbama and perhaps a cane from Minho. 

Jisung helps the three friends with the dishes, drying plates and stacking them for Minho to put away while enjoying the sound of the rain. He’s glad that he can feel a little helpful, still, but he almost drops a plate when suddenly a crack of thunder booms through the room.

Bbama cries and hides between Jisung’s legs. Minho yelps as well and he grabs Jisung’s shoulder in surprise, startling Jisung again. “Shit—I’m sorry, I was caught off guard,” Minho apologizes with an awkward chuckle and immediately lets go of his shoulder. 

“That’s okay, I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets startled by thunder,” Jisung softly assures him, because he kind of wants Minho to hold him more. He likes the way Minho’s hands feel on him, and his scent is also pretty nice. He can’t describe it well, but it makes him feel calm.

“Maybe you should all go home before it gets worse,” Minho suggests while putting away the last plate, and Chan hums towards the window. “Thank you for stopping by, though. And thank you for helping out.”

“Yeah no worries, hyung. Chan hyung, I’ll give you a ride. Jisung, if you want, I can give you a ride, too. Even the short bit can save you from getting soaked in this weather,” Changbin says, patting Chan on the back. Jisung chews on his lower lip as he thinks about it. He’s a little scared of being outside when it’s thundering, and he feels bad for Bbama, but he doesn’t know what else to do.

“I don’t know. Bbama might be too scared, and I’ll be slow with walking to the car, so…I kind of want to wait until it’s over if that’s okay?” He reaches down to pet Bbama’s head, hoping to soothe his doggie a little. Bbama immediately snuggles against Jisung’s hand, hiding as much as possible and making Jisung’s stomach churn.

“Yeah, sure, you can stay,” Minho says, and Jisung feels like he’s smiling, because there’s something light and kind in his voice. “Wait here, I’ll grab the walking stick for you right now, so that I don’t forget. Chan hyung, Changbin, safe travels home. Don’t get a cold. Bye.”

Jisung laughs together with Chan and Changbin when Minho walks away just like that. Jisung fully crouches and scratches Bbama behind his ear. “You hear that, baby? We don’t have to go out in the thunder, don’t worry.” 

“We will have to go now, so see you later Jisung. I think Minho is happy you’re staying around,” Changbin says with a chuckle. Jisung lets out a noise of confusion as he stands up. He felt like Minho was smiling, but he’s curious why Changbin tells him. “He was smiling at you like an idiot, just so you know.” 

“Oh,” Jisung dumbly says, unsure of what that means exactly, but he thinks he likes it. It’s always good to know that someone doesn’t think he’s a bother, especially since Minho has to accommodate him in his own house.

But Minho is very welcoming, and Jisung doesn’t think he has ever met anyone easier to interact with. He likes keeping to himself, or hanging out with his brother, but Minho makes him want to change that, just like he promised himself to do before his family went away.

“Uhm, see you later!” Jisung quickly remembers to say goodbye to Chan and Changbin and the two happily call out a goodbye as well, before closing the door and muffling the sound of the heavy rain. 

Jisung lets out a breath as he waits for Minho together with his dog, but if the sound of someone coming down the stairs is anything to go by, he’s coming back. 

“I’m here, I’m here! I found the walking stick.” Minho jogs up to Jisung and chuckles when Doongie meows, talking back at his owner. 

“Yes, yes, Doongie, he and Bbama will stay. Let's go to the living room?” Minho says, the first part is obviously meant for his cat, but the second part is for him because Minho looks up while speaking. “We can sit down and talk or something—Oh gosh, lightning.” 

Jisung covers his ears in advance, but he still hears the boom of thunder, followed by a muffled gasp from Minho, who is suddenly a lot closer to him, his smell invading Jisung’s nose. 

“I get you, Bbama, that's awful,” Minho says as he gives Jisung the walking stick and lets him grab Minho’s arm so that they can go to the living room and sit on the couch together. 

Jisung tells Bbama to stay on the floor, but he already seems to have found a spot near the cats, huddling together. 

“Thanks for letting me stay, hyung-ah,” Jisung says, putting his hands between his knees so that he takes up as little space on the couch as possible. He belatedly realizes that it might be weird to call Minho hyung-ah, but it’s too late to correct himself now.

“No need to thank me, I wouldn't send you home in this weather,” Minho softly assures him. “And as I said, I appreciate the company.”

“Me too. I’m living alone too right now,” Jisung says, tugging on a loose thread on his jeans. Bbama woofs in protest, and Jisung snickers. “Well, with Bbama, but sometimes it’s nice to have another person next to me.”

“Yes, especially when it’s… gray outside,” Minho says as he shuffles a little closer to Jisung. Jisung’s neck heats up a little, and it only now really hits him how lonely he has been feeling lately. Minho makes him realize that even if he finds comfort and affection in Bbama, he can still need more, even if his family has been away for barely a month.

“It’s somehow lonely weather, I agree. Thunder makes me want to hide. Is gray a lonely color?” Jisung kind of already knows it is, but he has never been able to grasp the concept of colors having feelings. Or the concept of a color in general, it’s fascinating.

“Yeah, it is. To me it is. It… I used to hide in my grandfather’s blanket basket with Soonie whenever it was thundering. If I fell asleep, he’d carry me and Soonie to bed, and if I didn’t, he’d let me sit with him at his desk and he’d teach me how to make wooden sculptures, or he’d read me a book” Minho tells him, fondness shining through his voice as he recalls the memory. Jisung smiles, imagining a younger Minho with a smaller Soonie.

“That’s so cute. I’d love to see your sculptures. Or, well, touch them. If you’re okay with that, of course,” Jisung says with an awkward chuckle.

“Sure. I haven’t done it in a while, I’ve been so busy maintaining the land, but I can show you,” Minho responds, his voice low, just audible above the rain clattering against the windows, making it difficult for Jisung to decipher the emotion in it. “Is it… Is it okay if we do that another time, though?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jisung rubs his hands together and pulls his feet onto the couch. He thinks about sharing some more about himself as well, but he’s still a little anxious about making friends. Minho has been kind to him, so he should try to be open.

“I used to sit with my brother and my parents whenever it would storm outside. I got startled by thunder really easily since I can’t see the flash, so they distracted me by making me calculate the distance away from the lightning,” he tells Minho, smiling to himself when he remembers those times. “They’d tell me when the flash was, and I’d count the seconds to the sound of thunder, and I would figure out the distance.”

“Damn, so you’re some sort of a genius,” Minho says with a laugh. Jisung snickers and shakes his head.

“No, I’m not. I think. I was home-schooled for most of the time, because, well, I’m blind. I tried public school for a couple of months, but it was difficult to fit in and for the school to make special assignments for me and all. I can’t read or write, obviously,” he explains, a slightly bittersweet feeling filling his chest. 

“So you were really home all the time?” Minho hums softly and Jisung does so too. Minho then slides a little closer to him again. “Do you wish you’d gone to school?”

“Yeah, I was always jealous of Younghyun hyung when he told stories about what he did at school, but the school around here was too small to accommodate to my needs and I didn’t want to go to a special school,” Jisung says, feeling a little down about it, still, but there’s nothing he can do about it. He knows he would have hated it at the special needs school. 

“School was fun, but it could be cruel, too,” Minho says with a sigh. 

“Younghyun hyung said that too. He said that people might not have been nice to me if I’d gone to school for longer, and I think my parents were afraid of that as well. I was a naive kid, so… even the couple of months I went to school I think classmates liked pranking me. Nothing too obvious, because I didn’t really notice it at the time, but I think they went behind my back and made fun of me.” He barely even noticed it when it happened, and there was a guy who was nice to him—Felix, was his name—and a couple of girls who told the others to stop whatever their classmates were doing, but when he thinks back on those days, in hindsight, he feels like most kids took advantage of him.

“Oh, ugh. That’s really cruel. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” Minho huffs and leans back on the couch, but Jisung shrugs. It was a long time ago. “I was a quiet kid. Liked staring out of the window and drawing weird characters or writing strange poems. Well, to me it was fun, to others, I was just the odd ball. They didn’t talk to me much, but I had a couple of friends, like Changbinnie—Another flash.”

Jisung covers his ears and counts the seconds until it thunders. It’s far away, thank goodness. He removes his hands from his ears, and notices that he is suddenly right next to Minho. 

He doesn’t know what happened, but he likes the feeling of having their shoulders pressed together. A silence falls, and silence is a tricky thing to Jisung. He likes it, he likes quiet places, but when he’s with people, he is always wondering what they’re thinking, if he’s expected to say something or not. 

It makes him a little bit nervous, but if Minho was a quiet kid, then maybe he doesn’t mind it. He should go home at one point, though, probably. He’ll only be a bother if he stays overnight, it’s been a while since he’s slept anywhere other than his own home.

“I think the thunder has stopped…” Jisung mumbles to himself, into the quiet of the living room. He hasn’t heard any of the pets move or make a sound recently, but he’s quite sure that they’re still around, because their smell lingers.

“Do you want to go home? It’s still raining,” Minho points out softly. He sounds comfortable, but Jisung has this itch under his skin, insisting that he’ll overstep, that he’ll only bring trouble. Minho doesn’t know how much it takes for him to get used to new surroundings. He might have the walking stick now, but he’s not used to that either.

“Uhm, it would be better if I do, I think,” he answers. Minho leans a little into his space, and Jisung tenses up, but he tells himself to relax. 

“Bbama is sleeping, and it’s dark out. You can stay in the guest room if you want,” Minho insists, almost as if he doesn’t want Jisung to leave. 

“I can survive in the dark, it doesn’t make a difference for me. It’s not like I can see in daylight.” He hopes that Minho isn’t being overprotective about him, because that’s the thing that he hates the most after people making fun of him. 

“That’s not what I meant, it’s just that there are night animals you might not expect, Bbama might not be able to see well… And… Force of habit, I kind of forgot, I’m sorry,” Minho apologizes with a chuckle. Jisung relaxes, because he’s actually glad that Minho forgot about his condition for a moment.

“That’s okay. It happens.” He’d rather have that people forget that he’s blind than that they make assumptions. He meant well, Jisung has to keep that in mind.

“So, what do you think? You wanna go home or stay? Anything is fine,” Minho says, curiosity lining his voice. Jisung feels like there’s a particular answer he’d like to hear. “Just so you know, I really dislike the dark, so even though I’d love to offer to bring you home, I don't think I want to be outside alone… I'll walk you to the door of course.”

“I’ll stay. If you really don’t mind,” Jisung decides. Fuck it. He promised himself to get out of his comfort zone, and if Minho offers, then it’s okay to take him up on it. He doesn’t want to wake Bbama anyway.

“I really don’t. Come, I’ll show you the guest room and the bathroom.” Minho sounds excited, and that makes Jisung feel a little more at ease. “Bbama is sleeping next to Soonie on the carpet, he looks comfortable. Does he want a blanket or pillow?”

“No, he’s fine on a carpet, especially if Soonie is there. He likes cuddling,” Jisung says, listening if he can hear the soft snores of his precious pet. He hears the nice sound of a cat purring and it gives him goosebumps.

Minho shows him the guest room, the bathroom next to it, and Minho’s room on the other side of the bathroom. Minho even suggests showing him where the toilet and sink and everything is, but Jisung assures him that he’ll be okay. 

“Okay then, you can use the bathroom first and I’ll be reading on my bed. Just yell if you’re ready, and if you need anything, just knock or barge into the room,” Minho tells him gently, moving around a bit but not touching Jisung. Jisung nods, and Minho pauses for a moment. Jisung just wants to go into the bathroom when he feels Minho’s fingers brush his arm.

“Good night, Jisung.” His breath hits Jisung’s jaw and Jisung shivers a little, the closeness making something stir in his chest.

“Good night, hyung.”

For some reason, Jisung feels a little breathless when he slips into the bathroom, and his neck feels hot. He isn’t sure why he’s feeling like this, but he likes it. It makes him want to hug Minho and keep him close, memorize his scent and textures, but he’s worried about being inappropriate.

It’s not like he knows what’s appropriate. He can’t watch others interact, and the only experience he has is with his family, and with experiences from audio books or movies. He wants to take initiative, but it’s difficult when he has to learn.

With Minho, though, things have been relatively easy, and the smell of his house manages to lull Jisung asleep relatively soon, wondering about what else there is to learn about him.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Minho slept longer than usual. He just couldn’t settle down, with the memories of the old days combined with the thought that Jisung is there with him. The embarrassment of asking Jisung to stay had caught up with him, and he worried that he pressured Jisung into staying. 

He just really needed the comfort of someone in the house with him during the storm, and he wasn’t thinking clearly. He hopes that Jisung isn’t an early bird and is waiting for him right now.

When Minho shrugs on some underwear before leaving the room, though, he almost runs right into Jisung in the hallway. A shirtless Jisung.

Now, he’s not ripped or anything—he’s quite skinny actually—but that’s not Minho’s type anyway. He can’t help but stare—it’s becoming a bad habit to shamelessly run his eyes along Jisung’s features just because he knows he can’t see him do it.

His skin is a pretty caramel color, his chest significantly lighter than his sun-kissed cheeks, a couple of freckles and dots scattered around his face and shoulders, and his waist is terrifyingly small. Minho almost gets the urge to grab him—Shit. That’s bad.

“Oh, good morning hyung!” Jisung’s voice is a little rough, and he sounds like he just woke up, which is a relief. Minho clears his throat and tears his eyes off of his chest, because he’s being inappropriate.

“Good morning, Jisung-ah. I hope you had a good sleep,” he says, hoping that he doesn’t sound like he was just staring. Jisung has his eyes closed and his expression is pretty neutral, so he doesn’t seem to notice anything. That is, if he isn’t somehow capable of feeling Minho’s warm ears from a distance.

“I did. The bed was nice and… it smells nice in here. Is that weird to say?” The boy laughs awkwardly, crossing his arms over himself and seemingly getting a little self-conscious. Minho already feels bad for staring. He shouldn’t have done that.

“No, it’s a good thing. You can use the bathroom first, I’ll get some breakfast ready,” he quickly assures Jisung before promptly turning his back on him. 

Minho rushes downstairs, eager to get away so that he can’t make things more awkward. He’s greeted by Dori and Bbama, who come to check up on him, and Minho feels a little weak in the knees all of a sudden. He crouches and scratches Dori behind her ears, while patting Bbama on his head. 

“Hey there. You two know how to be affectionate, right? How do I deal with these weird feelings? I feel like… like I’m going to throw up. I… I need to do something about it but I don’t know what. He makes me nervous. I never get nervous,” he whispers to the two pets, his heart pounding all quickly for some reason. Dori softly meows while headbutting Minho against his shin.

“Good type of nervous? Dori, what are you saying…” He scoffs, but Bbama barks in agreement. Minho pauses to think about it and lets out a sigh. “I mean, yeah, he’s cute and he’s kind and all and I don’t think he could intentionally hurt a fly, but… I’ve only known him for like a month, and I haven’t talked to him a lot. I almost spilled my heart out last night to him, though… I didn’t think I felt as lonely as I do.”

Bbama woofs and licks Minho’s cheek, making him giggle. “Yeah, yeah. He’s been feeling the same, I know. Cheer up and befriend him. I’ll do that, thanks.” 

Any stress Minho feels melts away when he gets cooking, and when he hears the sound of Jisung using his grandfather’s old walking stick to get down the stairs, memories of that sound in the morning flood his mind and his throat starts to feel a little tight.

It’s okay. Jisung won’t notice. Just like he won’t notice the foolish smile on his face when Minho sees that there’s a grain of rice on the tip of his nose, nor the way his smile widens when Jisung goes a little cross-eyed to remove the grain of rice.

Jisung is getting more and more comfortable to be himself around the house and around Minho, and he feels like they’ve made some big steps in getting closer last night. Jisung also seems to like moving around with the walking stick which warns him of objects in his near vicinity, although he does hit Minho’s leg with it a couple of times. (But maybe that’s Minho’s fault for keeping so close to him.)

When Jisung inevitably leaves, Minho feels recharged to take care of the garden for another couple of days. Those days are spent watching and talking to Jisung whenever he takes a break, and he brings over sweets to his house because he just can’t get Jisung and his happy crumb-covered smile out of his mind whenever he bakes something.

More and more often, he finds Jisung already hanging around the premises, the sound of the walking stick hitting the fence alerting Minho of his presence—Jisung is not the only one with good hearing. Often, Jisung has a little flower behind his ear, picking every one of them now that he still can. Minho finds himself using the flowers around his own farm to rub a little on his wrist and neck as well, hoping that it’ll help Jisung recognize him, and perhaps he wants Jisung to think he smells nice, too.

Something Minho finds out about Jisung which will probably haunt him for at least the three coming days is that Jisung can sing. Really well. 

He hears it when it’s raining one day and Minho decides to grab an umbrella and see how Jisung is doing, because rain means less work, and Chan isn’t going to stop by anyway today. Jisung is under the cover of his roof on the porch and he’s singing to Bbama.

Minho freezes and almost drops the umbrella, Jisung’s voice smooth like honey and pleasant to Minho’s pink ears. He tries to be as quiet as possible while approaching the man, but Jisung’s hearing is too good. He could probably hear a pin drop onto grass and locate it, too.

“Don’t stop singing, it’s nice,” Minho says when Jisung quiets down and turns towards Minho. He smiles when he hears Minho’s voice, and Minho can’t deny that his heart beats a little faster at the sight. 

“You think so?” Jisung stands up as Bbama runs up to Minho and happily greets him. Minho closes his umbrella and crouches to pet the doggie, running his fingers through the curly fur.

“Yes, it’s… quite beautiful,” he admits, his ears heating up even more as he looks up at the other. Jisung presses his lips into a shy grin. 

“Thank you. I don’t know if Bbama likes it, but… I’m glad you do,” he tells Minho sincerely as his lips spread into a heart. Minho’s stomach flips, and he keeps staring at his smile, the mole on his bunched up cheek, the half lidded eyes, long eyelashes, slightly pink cheekbones, and messy black hair. 

Jisung is… quite beautiful, too.

“Anyway, uhm. What brings you here? You didn’t get rained on, right?” Jisung asks softly, taking a couple of steps forward, his hand held out as if he wants to touch Minho, perhaps to feel if his clothes are wet. 

“I didn’t,” Minho assures him, bringing his arm forward to let Jisung feel the sleeve. Jisung’s hand twitches in reaction to the sensation, but he takes the sleeve between two of his fingers, feeling around before getting bolder and putting his hand on Minho’s bicep. 

“All dry, that's good.” Jisung’s touch sends tingles through Minho’s veins. He wants him to keep doing that, touch him more, hug him, but Minho feels like he won’t do it without Minho initiating it first or having explicit permission. 

Although Minho can’t really hug him without asking, because he knows that Jisung doesn’t like it when people touch him out of nowhere, and Minho doesn’t blame him, but he’s too embarrassed to ask or take initiative himself.

“I just stopped by to see how you were doing. I don’t have much work today since it’s raining,” he belatedly answers. Jisung smiles and invites Minho inside.

“My brother is visiting today, and Chan is coming too, because Younghyun hyungie said they missed each other. I was going to order food for tonight, but I don’t think the restaurant will mind it if I get another portion for you, if you want to join us,” he says, his voice getting more timid as he reaches the end. Minho notices that he isn’t using the walking stick, effortlessly venturing through his own house to get to the living room. 

“I’ve been wondering about that. Do you always order food to eat? Since you said you don’t like sharp objects, and I can’t imagine that it’s easy to work with a pan on a stove if you can’t see the food.” The two of them sit down on a spacious couch, and Minho is impressed by how organized everything is around the living room. Everything seems to have its designated spot. 

“I do. My parents made sure to cook a ton of rice and have kimchi ready for me to heat up, but the restaurant in town agreed to deliver meals to me on a discount, since my parents always brought them fresh stuff from the garden,” Jisung explains, his fingers finding the ragged edge of the couch cushions and fidgeting with it. 

“I can make cold food, I can chuck things into the microwave, but I can’t cook. Too much risk of burning myself, burning the food, or misplacing something, forgetting to throw something away… I have to be careful with fruit and vegetables because it’s difficult to identify bad spots… The list goes on.”

“That sucks. It’s good that you can still have fresh meals, though. The restaurant has good food,” Minho says. His stomach churns hearing his words, Jisung deserves to eat well, and the urge to tell him to stay with him so that he can cook for him is getting stronger and stronger. He might come on too strong, though.

“I’d love to join you for dinner and see your brother again,” he adds. He’s tired from getting ready for autumn planting and harvests, and he needs a break. Spending the day with Chan, Jisung, and his brother sounds nice.

Jisung smiles and excuses himself to call up the restaurant. It’s impressive how easily he can find his way through the house, stepping past the coffee table and stopping right before the cupboard where the landline is, and Minho turns around a bit on the couch to watch.

When Jisung is done, however, he sits down right on Minho’s left leg, letting out a squeak as soon as he notices. Minho grabs his waist to stabilize him, and Jisung reaches for Minho’s shoulder.

“Oh my god, sorry. I—” Jisung quiets down, perhaps realizing their situation. Jisung is still half on Minho’s lap, his torso twisted into a sort of embrace, Minho’s arms wrapped around his waist while his hand rests on his shoulder.

Their faces are close, Jisung must have realized it as well, but he doesn’t move away. Minho’s heart stutters as he selfishly leans a little closer and lets their noses brush—he can always play it off as an accident, but he can’t stop himself. He can feel the heat radiating off Jisung’s face, as well as his own ears. 

Minho wants to kiss him. He really does, but his throat feels a little dry, and he can’t bring himself to ask. Jisung’s lips look so soft, though, the gentle arch of his upper lip and the fullness of his lower one entrancing Minho.

When Jisung slowly moves his hand from Minho’s shoulder to the side of his neck, Minho thinks he might explode, a shiver running down his spine. Neither one of them dares to move much more, though, neither moving away nor closer. The only movement is the slow drag of Jisung’s fingers along the column of his neck.

Jisung’s eyes are closed, and although Minho loves the way his long eyelashes fan over his round cheeks, he’d love to be able to see his eyes. Jisung might be insecure about them, though, and Minho is too much at a loss for words to say anything right now.

Jisung is so pretty, though. The soft swell of his pink cheeks, the little peek of his brown eyes and white irises under his fluttering eyelashes, his tan caramel skin, and dainty figure, Minho could look at him forever.

When he smiles, he’s especially beautiful, his lips spread into a heart, his cheeks bunched up and his eyes forming crescent moons. It always manages to make Minho’s heart swell, especially when he’s the reason for that smile.

They stay frozen for a while, but Minho doesn’t mind it, Jisung’s hand on his neck is making his stomach flutter like crazy, and he wishes he could just lean in and kiss him.

Their moment is unfortunately interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Jisung jumps, and he stands up to get the door. Minho finally releases a breath, his heart pounding in his ears, and he watches Jisung almost run into the wall as he rushes towards the entrance.

Minho already misses him, but his stomach is filled with butterflies at the thought that Jisung touched his neck like that—the thought that he might not mind physical affection or that he even might want to touch Minho.

He might be falling in love, he realizes. It’s been only around two months since they met and started talking, but Jisung is such a nice person to be next to. A shy man, but once he opened up, Minho found him to be a beautiful, funny, and kind person. Most of all, Jisung has a unique mind that seems to fit Minho’s own odd mind perfectly. 

And the more time Minho spends with him, the more Jisung reveals of himself, the more Minho falls for him, and the more Minho wants to be close to him. 

Jisung comes back from the entrance with Younghyun and Chan, so Minho stands up and bows a little before greeting both of them, hoping that they don’t see his flushed neck. Younghyun has another idea, though, and he comes up to Minho to envelop him in a hug.

“If it isn’t Lee Minho! Jisungie told me you’ve been feeding him lately,” he says as he claps Minho on the shoulder. Minho snickers and nods, but Jisung lets out a sigh and comes up to hit his brother on the back.

“Hyung-ah! God, you make it sound like I’m five,” he protests, but Younghyun just laughs and hugs his younger brother. Jisung gasps, but he hugs him back anyway, extra tightly. Chan fondly watches the interaction and says hi to Minho as well.

“I just missed you, Jisungie, and I’m excited that you’re doing well,” Jisung’s brother tells him fondly, and Jisung grabs Younghyun’s face before placing a big fat smooch on his cheek. Minho can’t help but smile and stare a little. Maybe the staring is becoming a problem, but he likes seeing Jisung being himself and being affectionate. 

He might also be fantasizing a little about how it would feel if Jisung kissed him on the cheek like that as well, but he’ll store those thoughts away in a little pocket at the back of his mind for later. 

The four of them catch up while they wait for the food to arrive, and Jisung sits down right next to Minho, their knees touching just ever so slightly. It’s obvious that Jisung is comfortable in his own home, having his brother next to him, but he also seems to appreciate Minho’s presence. 

When someone knocks on the door again and Jisung commands everyone to stay seated and that he will get the food, Minho can't help but watch him maneuver through the room. It’s nice to see him move around with such confidence.

“Ah, Channie told me about this,” Younghyun suddenly says, watching Minho with a slight grin. Chan has a stupid smirk on his face as well and Minho lets out a sigh.

“About what?” he asks, although he already has a slight idea what he’s talking about.

“About the staring. It’s cute, don’t worry,” Jisung’s brother explains, and Minho presses his lips together. Of course Chan told Younghyun, the two are inseparable. 

But maybe it’s Minho’s fault for getting too shameless while falling for a blind boy and thinking he can just look at Jisung without anyone noticing. He’s gotten too used to being able to watch and admire Jisung without consequences.

“Y-You’re not Jeongin,” Minho suddenly hears coming from the entrance. Younghyun stands up immediately to see what’s going on, and Chan and Minho share a look of confusion. Minho knows that Jeongin works for the restaurant, and it sounds like Jisung was expecting him to bring the food, so he wonders what’s up.

“It’s me, Felix! Remember me from school? I started working for the restaurant recently and when I heard they had a delivery to you I asked Jeonginnie to fill in for him—Oh, hi Younghyun hyung,” a deep voice speaks. Jisung sounds relaxed when he speaks again, happy even. 

The conversation is kept short, and Minho can tell that Jisung is quite shy throughout, but Felix sounds very polite and excited to have seen him again for a moment.

During dinner, Jisung tells the rest that Felix was one of the few people who wanted to interact with Jisung at school. Minho knows the guy a little, from when he does groceries in the town, and he knows that he’s a kind man. 

“And how is Bbama doing? Is he a helpful companion?” Younghyun asks. Jisung immediately lights up again and tells his brother all about Bbama, that he has finally taught him to not run away whenever he sees a cat or a sheep, and that he’s super helpful when it comes to exploring outside. 

Minho smiles as he remembers how Bbama ran off so many times, and the way Jisung plays around with him in the grass so often. He doesn’t realize that he’s staring again, until Younghyun and Chan start muffling their laughter.

“You were right, Channie,” Younghyun says, elbowing his friend as they snicker. Minho holds back a sigh and he glares at the two. Jisung looks entirely lost, his eyebrows drawn together. 

“Right about what?” he asks curiously, and Minho already knows he’s doomed. Younghyun isn’t going to spare him—not even Chan spared him last time. Minho would be the same, though. He thinks he wouldn’t be able to lie to Jisung either, no matter how embarrassing, but Younghyun will probably be ruthless.

“Right about that there’s someone who likes looking at you,” Younghyun tells him with a grin—putting it milder than Minho expected. Jisung’s cheeks grow pink, and Minho feels his ears heat up, because it’s obvious that they’re talking about him. 

He’s not going to deny the statement, though, not when it earns him a shy smile from Jisung and another reason to let his gaze linger. 

“Oh, okay. That’s…nice? I hope,” Jisung mutters, running his fingers along the edge of his plate, the corners of his lips twitching up. 

“It is,” Minho simply admits, because he’s not an asshole, and it’s the truth, no matter what kind of conclusion Younghyun and Chan might be getting from the words. He isn’t going to leave Jisung hanging, wondering if he might be secretly judging him or whatever. 

The night ends peacefully, but Minho still has some work to do—weeding, checking if his sheep have enough to eat, and feeding Soonie, Doongie, and Dori—and he hates to say goodbye to Jisung so soon. 

“Thank you for having me, but I really have to go now,” Minho tells Jisung, his brother, and Chan with an apologetic smile. Jisung takes him to the front door, reminding him to take his umbrella back home with him.

“Thank you for stopping by, hyung. I appreciate that you made time to come see me,” he says softly, as if he’s speaking just for Minho to hear. “Have a nice night and say hi to the little ones for me.”

“Will do,” Minho answers, a fond smile growing on his face, and he just wants to turn around and go home when he feels a set of fingers on his wrist. He pauses and turns back to face Jisung. His heart beats against his chest when he sees Jisung’s curious expression. 

“Can I give you a hug?” Jisung asks, his fingers still lightly touching the back of Minho’s hand. 

“Yes,” Minho breathes out, not a second of hesitation passing before he reaches out and places his hands on Jisung’s waist. When Minho steps closer, Jisung naturally wraps his arms around Minho’s shoulders to pull him into a hug.

Minho’s neck heats up when Jisung presses himself flush against him, and his whole body starts tingling. Who knew a hug could be this nice? 

He almost doesn’t want it to end, but there’s only so long Minho can stand the way his heart pounds like he has just ran two laps around the farm without worrying that Jisung will hear it. And so he reluctantly starts to pull away, slowly until Jisung steps back as well. 

Minho feels a little weak in the knees, and uncomfortably hot in his overalls, but he wills his voice to work for just a moment longer. “Good night, Jisung-ah.”

Jisung smiles, oh so sweetly, and it feels like it’s just the two of them in the world at that moment. “Good night, hyung.”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Jisung can’t stop thinking about Minho. Can’t stop thinking about their hug, or about him accidentally sitting on Minho’s lap. It felt so nice to be close to him. It’s not a surprise that he likes skinship with Minho, but it also allows him to get a feel of what Minho is like. 

He now knows that Minho is broader than him—not as broad or tall as Younghyun, but definitely nice to hug. Since Jisung can’t see him, touch is something he relies on to get closer to people, and although he has had many difficulties with that, Minho makes it easy for him.

And now that they’ve hugged, Jisung hopes they can do it more often. It’s partly why he came almost straight to Minho’s farm after waking up this morning, his elbows leaning on the fence as he taps the walking cane against the wood.
Bbama is patiently waiting by his side, but it’s taking a while for Minho to notice him. Maybe he’s on the other side of the farm, or maybe he’s inside somewhere. Jisung would take off his shoes to make sure he doesn’t step on anything before going to the house, because he forgot where the stone path is, but it’s a little chilly outside this morning, and the grass might still be wet.

“Minho hyung? Are you outside?” he calls out before listening for a response, but he can only hear the wind blowing and Bbama panting next to him. It doesn’t smell like Minho or the cats around either. 

Jisung lets out a sigh and pouts. He really wants to go see how Minho is doing, maybe offer him some help because Minho sounded tired when he left last night, but he’s afraid of ruining the garden with his feet.

“Bbama can you lead me to the stone path?” Jisung crouches and pets his doggie, hoping that he can help him, but as soon as a meow from Soonie sounds quite close to them, Bbama is off, dashing under the fence, and Jisung is too late to grab his leash.

Jisung straightens with a sigh. “Bbama-yah! I told you not to run off…” he calls out, but his dog barks and keeps running. Soonie meows, too, but they aren’t coming back. 

Jisung contemplates climbing over the fence and running after them, but he decides to step over the fence and slowly search for Bbama and Soonie, carefully moving his stick around to see if he can identify crops like that, but he’s too worried about stepping on something. 

A minute later, Bbama comes back, barking at him kind of urgently. “What’s going on Bbama-yah?” Jisung crouches, and he feels that Bbama has the leash in between his jaws, so he grabs it and lets Bbama guide him along the fence until he feels stone under his feet.

He can’t help but feel a little proud that Bbama understood him, but he’s also a little worried. They come closer to where Soonie and Doongie are meowing, and Bbama barks before coming to a stop.

Jisung taps the walking stick to the ground, but he can’t quite identify where he is. Bbama jumps and pulls on the leash, and Soonie paws at his leg, so he crouches and lays down the stick to instead use his hands.

Now that he’s closer to the ground, though, he can hear shallow breathing, and he smells none other than Minho through the smell of the pets. His heart jumps up into his throat and he reaches forward, his hands meeting Minho’s arm.

“Hyung? Minho hyung? Are you okay?” Jisung desperately asks, falling forward onto his knees as his fingers move up along Minho’s arm and chest to his face. Minho’s face feels hot under Jisung’s hand, and his hat lies under his limp shoulder. Jisung panics a little, unsure of what to do.

Minho is still breathing, that’s good, but it sounds like he’s in pain, and Jisung’s eyes are starting to feel a little hot and damp. He puts his hands under Minho’s shoulders and tries to lift him up, but he’s too weak to get him anywhere other than closer to his chest. 

Maybe he should call Younghyun or Chan, but for that he’ll have to find his way back to his house, or be lucky enough that Minho left his door open and he can find his phone. He doesn’t really want to bother them on their day out, though, but he can’t leave Minho on the ground like this.

Bbama has started licking Minho’s face, and Jisung can feel him twitch under his fingers, where he unconsciously caresses his cheek. A soft groan sounds from under him, and Jisung quickly cups his face. 

“Hyung? Oh gosh,” he whispers when he hears Minho taking a deep breath, wiping some sweat from his forehead. His voice is shaking, but he can’t be bothered by it right now. “What happened? Why are you on the ground? Your face feels all hot. Are you sick?”

“Jisung-ah?” Minho breathes out, and Jisung feels Minho moving to sit upright. His cats softly meow, and Bbama barks. “Shit. I must have briefly blacked out from the heat or something. I—I’m okay.”

“Hyung, I might be blind, but I’m not stupid. It’s not hot out, and you didn’t respond to me calling out to you like three minutes ago, so unless you passed out right after you overheated inside, I don’t believe you,” Jisung argues, his voice wavering when he can feel Minho swallow thickly and he can hear his breaths still coming out heavy. “Soonie had to warn Bbama, who brought me here.” 

“I… Okay, maybe it’s been a while,” Minho croaks out and he tries to stand up, but Jisung quickly wraps his arms around him to help him stay steady. Minho almost collapses again, and he’s shaking a little on his legs.

He grabs Jisung’s arm, and Jisung would think he’d just need to eat something if it wasn’t for the obvious fever burning his skin. “Oh gosh, hyung. You need to lie down. You’re burning up,” Jisung whispers, groaning a little as he tries to hold Minho up and take him somewhere. 

The problem is that he isn’t sure where the house is.

Thankfully, Soonie comes to his rescue and meows in the general direction he needs to go.

“You don’t have to take care of me, ‘Sung-ah. I… I’ll have something to eat and I’ll sleep it off,” Minho says, still heaving as he takes a couple of steps. Jisung shakes his head and tightens his grip on Minho.

“No, the past couple of days have obviously been hard on you. I want to stay and help, and make sure you’re okay,” he says, his heart clenching in concern for his friend. It sucks being sick and having to take care of yourself, and Jisung would only be worrying if he goes home right now. He wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else.

Minho goes silent for the rest of the bit to his house, except for warning Jisung about the steps and the door. Jisung remembers vaguely where the couch is and as soon as he arrives there with Minho’s help, the latter sighs and sags onto the cushions, groaning in pain.

Jisung grimaces. “Do you have a blanket I can get?” he asks, unwilling to let go of Minho’s arms yet, must he want to get up again.

“Uhm, yeah, I can get it,” Minho croaks out, already moving to get up again, but Jisung lets out a noise of protest. 

“No, no! What if you black out again, hyung? Just tell me where it is, and I’ll try to find it. If you can somehow make Bbama or your cats help me that would be great though,” he says, pushing Minho down on the couch. Minho swallows audibly and lets out a breath.

“F-Fine. There… My grandfather’s blanket basket is in the closet next to the stairs, you can find one the easiest in there,” he answers softly, his voice low as Jisung is still quite close to him, probably. 

“Okay,” he whispers back before straightening and trying to remember where the stairs are. He vaguely remembers, but Minho helps him with a soft ‘little to your left’ so that he doesn’t run into anything. 

Jisung opens the little closet and he feels around, also using the cane to see if he can step forward. There’s something blocking his way, though.

“On the floor,” Minho comments, and Jisung crouches, his hands landing on something soft in a wicker basket. He thinks he might have found the blankets. He searches for the handles and lifts the basket up to bring to Minho. 

“Is the top one okay?” Jisung asks, and Minho lets out a soft giggle before humming in agreement. Jisung unfolds the blanket and carefully places it over Minho, moving his hands up until he finds Minho’s shoulders. 

“Thanks,” Minho says with a deep sigh, coming all the way from his toes. Jisung purses his lips in thought, crouching and leaning his head on his arms on the couch next to Minho’s face. 

“How are you feeling? And please don’t lie to me, I’ll notice,” Jisung says, letting his fingers run along the edge of the blanket, but he makes sure that he doesn’t hit Minho’s face. Minho lets out a huff and moves on the couch, coming to face Jisung.

“I feel like a wet rag, to be completely honest. The changing of the weather and new things to do… It’s a lot, and I hate to be relying on others, but I just can’t keep up on my own, apparently,” Minho tells him softly. Jisung lets out a breath as his stomach churns in compassion. “I have a headache and I feel like I’m overheating. I kind of just want to sleep.”

“You should eat something, first, if you’re not feeling nauseous. Is there something I can get for you?” Jisung reaches out to rest a hand on Minho’s shoulder, but he accidentally touches his jaw instead. 

“Sorry,” he says as he pulls away, but Minho sighs.

“No, it’s nice, your hand is cold,” the older man says. Jisung hesitantly puts his hand back on Minho’s heated skin, slowly caressing his cheek and forehead, enjoying the relieved breaths Minho releases.

“I have some porridge in the fridge, I was going to eat it yesterday, but yeah. I can help you heat it up,” he adds after a moment. Jisung really doesn’t want Minho to get up, but he’s frustratingly useless in the kitchen, especially if it’s one he’s unfamiliar in. 

He thinks about taking the risk and trying to heat it up himself, but there’s the dread and possibility of him setting the house on fire, breaking something or spilling the food, so he decides that it’s not worth the stress for either of them.

“Okay, when you feel ready,” he says. 

Minho rests for a moment and Jisung very carefully gets him a glass of water and wets a cloth for Minho to wipe his sweat, after the latter told him where to find everything. He helps Minho pat the cloth on his forehead before he hands him the glass of water. 

Listening to Minho gulp down the drink makes Jisung feel a little embarrassed for some reason, but maybe the itch under his skin is due to the guilt of being unhelpful. He just wants Minho to be able to rest, but he’s too unfamiliar with his house to do much.

Once Minho feels well enough to get up with Jisung’s help, they go to the kitchen together, Minho bringing the blanket with him. He can rest on the dining chairs while Jisung carefully gets the pan of porridge out of the fridge. 

Minho turns on the stove and hands Jisung a wooden spoon to stir before he sits down again with a sigh. “I’m sorry that you’re sick and you still have to help me,” Jisung apologizes as he slowly and carefully rotates the spoon, chewing on his lower lip while keeping the pan steady with his other hand. 

“You’re okay, if you weren’t here I’d have to do everything myself, and even if you can’t do everything for me, that’s not your fault. I still appreciate you being here and lifting some of the burden,” Minho argues, his voice tired, but there’s a spirit and seriousness behind it that makes Jisung gulp. 

And Minho even has the energy to continue, “You’re blind, and there’s going to be some things you just can’t do—but that’s okay. That doesn’t make you worth any less. It’s not like you’re taking advantage of anyone, you’re doing what you can.”

Jisung bites on his lower lip and blinks, his throat closing up because he’s touched by the words. He didn’t expect Minho to reassure him so firmly, but it only supports how kind he is. 

“Thank you. You’re right. I just wish I could do more,” he says with a soft sigh, blinking away the dampness that threatens to spill from his eyes. “It’s okay, though, thank you for reassuring me, hyung-ah.”

Minho hums and comes to check how the porridge is doing, his chest bumping against Jisung’s back as he leans his weight on him. “Think it’s done, let me grab a bowl. Spoons are in the drawer just on your left. If you want some, I can grab an extra bowl.” 

“No, it’s fine. I had breakfast not too long ago,” Jisung assures him, and they both go to the living room again, now a bowl of porridge richer. Jisung sits on the floor again, accompanying Minho while he eats, leaning on the cushions next to Minho’s legs, mirroring Soonie’s position. 

“You can sit on the couch or the chair, Jisung-ah, you don’t have to take the floor,” Minho says with a soft chuckle, but Jisung shrugs. He’s fine with the floor, the carpet is soft, he can easily pet Bbama or one of Minho’s cats.

“I know,” he answers with a smile, and he feels a hand on his head in response, ruffling his hair a little. Jisung giggles softly and leans into the touch, his chest feeling warm and fuzzy because of the gesture.

“Go eat,” he whispers weakly, and Minho hums, the sound of the wood of the spoon hitting the ceramic of the bowl signifying that he’s listening. Jisung wishes he could do something in return, like ruffling Minho’s hair or hugging him, but now might not be the best time to try something out.

Minho eats in silence, and afterwards, he slumps down to take a nap. Jisung makes sure he’s tucked in well, and once Minho’s breathing evens out, he sits down again in his previous position. 

“Sleep well, hyung. Get well soon and please don’t overwork yourself,” he whispers against his arm, listening to the calming sound of Minho’s breathing. He doesn’t have anything to do while Minho naps, but it’s okay, Jisung doesn’t mind doing nothing and just listening to the purring of Minho’s cats, the wind blowing outside, and the soft sounds of Minho sleeping.

His own heart is beating a little faster than normal, though, his hands are slightly sweaty and his cheeks are warmer than usual. He doesn’t think now is the right time to have realizations about his feelings for Minho, but he can’t help the way he feels. 

Minho is such a fun person, so kind and also really cute. He smells really nice as well, a flowery smell always accompanying his presence. He’s caring and funny, good at cooking and a sweetheart with animals, all traits that fit well with Jisung and that Jisung admires, and Jisung can only hope that Minho thinks half as highly of him.

It doesn’t matter now, though, as long as Jisung can be there for him today. 

Minho wakes up groggy after a couple of hours, so Jisung refills his glass of water for him, only bumping into the walls and door frame twice on his way to the kitchen and back. It’s getting better. 

Minho isn’t feeling great yet, but he probably just needs a good night’s rest to sweat it out. Until then, Jisung will stay and help, whether it’s wiping sweat, stirring porridge, feeding the cats, or just being there with him, he can do it.

They both get a bowl of porridge for dinner, and Jisung eats some cold rice and kimchi with it, but he doesn’t mind. The food gives Minho some energy to talk, which is nice.

“I hope you’re not bored,” he says softly. 

“I’m not. I like sitting and quietly playing with the pets,” Jisung replies happily, and Bbama barks in agreement. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better, but not great. I’m not looking forward to all the work I have to do tomorrow either,” Minho answers, and Jisung pulls a sour face. He feels really bad for Minho, and he wishes that he could stay and help. Maybe he can. He has a tiny bit of experience in the garden, but also there’s a lot to learn.

“I can maybe try to help you while Chan hyung is making use of the time he can spend now that Younghyun hyung is back for a couple of days,” he offers, feeling a little hesitant because maybe it’ll only be more work for Minho to teach him. 

“I do want to show you around the property one day, so maybe that’s a good opportunity to teach you some things if you want,” Minho replies with a hum. Jisung smiles in excitement, he’d love to be shown around, discovering new things is one of his favorite things to do, but he’s often too scared to do it alone, must he run into something unexpected.

“I’d love that. I really want to go out more, but there aren’t many places I can traverse on my own.” If he learns how to find his way around Minho’s land, it’ll really start to feel like the barriers that make it difficult for Jisung to get close to people are coming down. 

“Then I’ll make sure to show you everything you need,” Minho says, and that makes Jisung feel relieved. He really hopes that it’s not any trouble for Minho to accompany him and help him get familiar with the land, but he’s sure that once he’s used to his surroundings, he can be useful. 

“Can I ask you a question, by the way?” Minho asks after a moment of silence. He’s probably already done with eating, but Jisung is still slowly making his way through dinner, finishing up the last bits. He hums through the rice in his cheeks.

“Haven't you gone out with Younghyun hyung when you were younger? I was wondering why I haven’t seen you around much until recently, when we met,” Minho says softly. “And I was also wondering why you’re alone at home. Do you want to tell me about it?” 

Jisung freezes, his heart jumping up in his throat. He doesn’t really like talking about his fears and anxieties from when he was younger, but then again, maybe it'll be good to get it off his chest now that Minho and he are closer. 

“You can say no,” Minho assures him, his voice still sounding a little rough, but Jisung shakes his head.

“Yeah, no, sure. I want to tell you. Uhm… I already told you about my school life, but outside of that… I was always quiet and shy. My brother was my best friend, and I saw Felix sometimes too, but not for long. My parents home schooled me and they taught me a lot, but they were scared of me going outside and getting hurt, so I never really learned how to interact with people,” he begins, unconsciously rubbing his fingers along the edge of his bowl.

“I always listened to Younghyun hyung and Chan hyung when they’d be at our house together, and I used to join them playing sometimes, but not much after we grew up. I also had to go to the hospital often as I grew up, to check out my eyes, and it made me tired. Whenever I wasn't tired, I had to play by myself or with my brother. Younghyun hyung kept me from being lonely, but of course he had his own life as well. I got used to being by myself, though, and I spent my time learning, listening to audio books, listening to the radio or TV, and just being inside or in the garden.” 

“My grandparents can't live alone anymore since a couple of months ago, and my family wanted us to move closer to be there for them. I didn't want to move, because it takes me so much time to get used to an environment, and my parents were hesitant as well because this is such a quiet and peaceful place,” Jisung continues, nervously rolling his chopsticks between his fingers. A lump settles in his throat, he hates thinking about his family, but he swallows it away and continues. 

“My family doesn't like me anyways, they were always complaining that I was rude or that they wanted me to wear sunglasses because my eyes are too distracting. They said I was impossible to talk to and that I never reacted when they were talking to me, even though they didn't make it clear. Long story short, I stayed here, and they went to take care of my grandparents. They got me Bbama as a companion a couple of weeks before they left, and I still call them often, but my brother told me to go out and explore the world now that my parents wouldn't be there to talk fears into my head.” 

“I promised myself to do so, to take Bbama out and broaden my horizons bit by bit. Younghyun hyung told me all of his life experience in the couple of days before he left, and it definitely made me less scared of being by myself. Bbama has been a great companion, but between taking care of him and myself, it's difficult to find adventure. Ever since I met you, it's been like I experience something new everyday, but in a comfortable way. I discover new sides of myself, find that I actually like being taken care of if it's done in a way that makes me feel valued. And I have finally found someone I can take care of every once in a while, too. I never had that before Bbama, but I like that. Thank you, Minho hyung.” 

A silence falls after Jisung finishes speaking, and he feels like his cheeks are on fire. The longer it stays silent, the more nervous he gets. He can’t gauge Minho’s reaction like this. He tried to end his story on a positive note, but maybe Minho thinks he’s pathetic or dramatic or a loser anyway. 

“C-Can you please say something, hyung?” he asks softly, putting his chopsticks down and digging his fingers into the groves of the wooden table. Minho lets out a soft sound of realization.

“Yeah, sorry, I just—I was just taking in what you said,” Minho answers, his voice a little wobbly for some reason. He sounds touched, which is a relief. “I’m sorry to hear that you… don’t have the greatest family, but… I think you made the right call. And I think you’re admirable for doing your own thing but still going out to look for adventure. I—”

Minho cuts himself off with a soft and slightly shaky sigh. “I’m too tired to say this properly, but… I’m happy to have met you, Jisungie. I want to tell you a little more about myself, too, but I think I’m going to embarrass myself if I tell you tonight when I’m all shaky. I think it’ll be better to tell you when I show you around.”

The turbulent grimace on Jisung’s face melts away and makes place for a wobbly smile, because Minho sounds so sincere, even if he sounds tired. Jisung’s blush doesn’t disappear, and he might start thinking he is catching a fever too if it wasn’t for the nice feeling blooming in his chest.

“Should I help you get into bed, then? I can try to wash the dishes, but I don’t trust myself to put them back by myself,” Jisung suggests. Minho hums, and he offers to stay and relax at the dinner table with the pets while Jisung washes everything.

Once everything is in the drying rack, Jisung hooks an arm under Minho’s shoulder to support him going upstairs to his room. Minho wraps his arms around Jisung’s chest, leaning his head against Jisung’s, and Jisung just hopes that he doesn’t notice the way his heart is pounding harshly against his ribs.

Minho guides him to his bedroom, and Jisung sits down on the bed while Minho changes into his pajamas. 

“Thank you so much for taking care of me today, Jisung-ah, I… I’d like it if you stayed again,” he says, and Jisung can hear the rustle of clothing while Minho redresses himself. Jisung nods, he thinks it’ll be good to stay in case Minho doesn’t feel well tomorrow, but most importantly, he wants to stay because it’s comfortable. “I’ll get you a shirt and some joggers.” 

Jisung feels the soft material of clothing on his lap just a moment later, and it feels so nice, he immediately takes his shirt off to change. Minho lets out a choked sound from just in front of him, and Jisung freezes. 

He’s a little confused, but then Minho asks “I, uhm, do you want me to look away?” and Jisung realizes that it might be inappropriate to change in front of him.

“Oh, uhm. I don’t know. I kind of forgot that you can see me,” he admits, shyly. He knows what kind of connotations are attached to being naked, but he also knows that it isn’t always that way. He has been completely naked in front of his brother countless times, and he knows that Chan and Younghyun have gone skinny dipping together too. 

He likes the idea of Minho looking at him, but it’s difficult to set boundaries when he can’t tell how Minho is looking at him. “Younghyun hyung said you like looking at me, so if you want… you can? I don’t know. It’s not like I’ll know whether you do or don’t anyway.” 

“Right. If you’re okay with it,” Minho mumbles softly, crawling on the bed and getting under the covers. Jisung changes into the joggers as well, before wishing Minho a good night and visiting the bathroom so that he can go to sleep. 

Today has been tiring, but not in a bad way. Jisung feels accomplished, like he has actually been useful to someone. Together with opening up to Minho and getting a positive reaction, it makes him feel all giddy and happy. 

And he can’t wait for Minho to show him around the property, and just to spend more time with him in general. Jisung is starting to suspect that the feelings he has for Minho aren’t entirely platonic, because he doesn’t get shy in a way that doesn’t make him feel anxious and nauseous, but instead in a way that makes him want to hide for comfort next to him, and whenever he blushes, he feels warm instead of icky. 

But most of all, he can’t stop thinking about Minho, can’t get enough of his smell, and his heart skips a beat whenever he hears Minho speak.

He falls asleep thinking about what it would be like if he was lying with Minho, maybe cuddling with him, remembering how his firm body felt against his own. He wants to feel it again, but he has to be patient.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Minho wakes up feeling significantly better. He’s sweating a lot, but he might have slept the fever away. He remembers last night as if he dreamt it, Jisung’s story replaying in his head over and over again so that he wouldn't forget. He got embarrassingly emotional when listening to him speak, especially when he thanked Minho for making him feel valued. 

Minho wishes he could give Jisung the love and support he deserves, but instead he might be able to help him find a little adventure, show him things he would be scared to explore by himself. In return, Jisung gives Minho the strength to open up as well, to perhaps start doing his own thing more. 

He needs some adventure in his life as well. He hasn’t left the farm for anything other than groceries in a while, and he’s happy—he thinks—but Jisung is changing his view on the world bit by bit, showing him how many things there are to see in a different light, different ways to be even happier. 

And now Minho can’t even look at Jisung without his heart going wild, fearing that Jisung will hear him. It’s a whole different way of dealing with someone, because Minho is used to using body language as a main source of communication, rather than words, while Jisung quite literally needs him to say what he means. 

He promised to show Jisung his woodworking, something he hasn’t done in a while, as well as his farm, and after Jisung got him a blanket from his grandfather’s basket and they talked about family, Minho doesn’t think that there’s any way around spilling everything anymore.

(Okay, maybe he’s not ready to spill his feelings just yet, but the rest is there for Jisung to take.)

“Minho hyung? Are you feeling better?” Jisung slowly creaks open the door to Minho’s bedroom and peeks inside. Minho automatically smiles. 

“A lot better. I guess I really needed to rest,” he answers. Jisung snickers and comes into the room to sit on the bed to keep him company. Minho takes a moment to admire Jisung’s messy morning look, his fluffy hair looking soft. He wants to run his fingers through the locks. 

“I’m pretty hungry, though, so I’ll make us some breakfast,” Minho adds, getting out of bed and quickly changing into something he can get dirty in. Jisung helps him cook up some breakfast, their shoulders touching and bumping together. 

“You won’t overwork yourself again, right, hyung? I don’t want you to get sick again,” Jisung says, his cheeks once again filled with rice. It’s adorable, and Minho would love to kiss him on the cheek one day, but for now he’ll just wonder what it’s like.

“I’ll try not to, but I’ll have to make some changes around the farm. I… I guess I should just do things differently from now on,” he answers with a sigh. Old habits die hard isn’t the expression he’d use for the situation, because it’s more of a tribute than a habit, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t break it. 

“Why are you in charge of everything alone, by the way, hyung?” Jisung asks the terrifying question Minho has been dreading all along, but today he told himself he’d finally face himself.

“I’ll tell you today, as I’m showing you around, okay? I… It’s a long story,” he says, quickly standing up and cleaning up the dishes. He’s nervous, but also excited, because he’ll open up his world fully to Jisung, and he just hopes that it’ll go well.

“Sure, take your time, hyung. I like spending time with you, so I don't mind having an excuse to come back,” Jisung says with a chuckle. Minho lets out a sigh and reaches out to grab Jisung’s hand, before he realizes that he shouldn't grab him without warning. 

“First of all, I'm going to hold your hand, and second of all, I'm going to tell you everything today. You don't need to have an excuse to come by,” he says, slowly lowering his hand and curling his fingers around Jisung’s ones. Jisung smiles and accepts the gesture by standing up and letting Minho guide him somewhere. 

“We'll start in the kitchen, which is one of my better loved rooms. My favorite part is the window behind the sink. Let me show you.” Minho stands behind him and places both hands on top of Jisung’s, pushing them down onto the counter and letting him explore the stone top with his fingers before gently guiding him to the metal of the sink. 

Jisung is already a little familiar with the sink, but once they get higher, to the windowsill, Jisung's face lights up as his fingers bump into the potted plant perched on the wooden plank. Minho is pressing him into the counter a little so that they can reach the windows, but Jisung doesn't seem to mind, he is more focused on gently feeling up the leaves of Minho’s small snake plant. 

“What is the view like? You can see the road from this window, right?” Jisung inquires softly, his fingers now tracing the wooden beams of the window. Minho’s hands follow the movement with a light touch to the back of Jisung’s hands. 

“Yes, the road, there's an orchard past the road, and you can see a lot of the sky as well. If you look down, you can see some of my plots of vegetables and fruits, too,” he adds. Jisung hums and leans forward until he’s standing on his tippy toes and his nose touches the glass.

“It’s so strange how you can see things that are so far away. I can only sort of see things that are an arm’s length around me,” Jisung says, fogging up the glass with his breath. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to see it all at once. Can you see past the road?”

“Yeah, I can see past it. I can see the clouds too, those are way further away than the road.” Minho hums as Jisung softly gasps in awe. He never thought about things like that, seeing comes natural to him, but Jisung can’t do it, and it sounds like he has never been able to see. Minho hopes that he can grant him a little bit of the experience second-handedly, though.

He lets Jisung feel around the kitchen, warning him of where the knives, glasses, and ceramics are, but also letting him feel the decorations engraved into the cupboards. In terms of the rest of the house, Minho only shows him the important rooms for now, the bathrooms, the living room, the couch, his bookcase, and some of his grandfather’s handmade wooden sculptures.

“Okay, wait, I want to guess what it is,” Jisung says with a grin, running his fingers along the shapes of one of the sculptures. Minho lightly keeps his hands on Jisung’s wrists just because he likes holding Jisung’s hands, and that way he has an excuse to hold him in an embrace. 

“Okay, wait, uhm… Is this, uhm…” Jisung scrunches his nose, having a hard time to recognize something Minho would figure out in an instant, even blindly—but Jisung is different, he can’t link a visual shape to touch. 

Minho helps him by guiding his hands to the pointy ears of the sculpture, and then to the tail, pressing his chest to Jisung’s back a little more. 

“Is this familiar?” he asks softly, his face right next to Jisung’s. His ears feel warm from being so close to him, but he likes it. And either Jisung doesn’t mind it as well, or he’s too focused on his sense of touch to notice.

“Cat!” he exclaims happily, and Minho’s heart melts. 

“Yes, it’s Soonie. My grandfather made this for my birthday when I just got him,” he explains, his chest feeling a little tight when he remembers that time. He swallows away the lump forming in his throat when Jisung gently caresses the head of the sculpture with his thumb, and blinks away the unshed tears from his eyes.

Keep it together, Minho. It’s just a sculpture. Don’t cry in front of him.  

“So pretty,” Jisung whispers with a fond smile. Minho feels like his heart will jump out of his chest, the adoration he has for Jisung overwhelming him a bit. He tightens his grip on Jisung’s hands to pull them away before he explodes or starts crying anyway. It’s too soon. He hasn’t even told Jisung any details yet. 

“Come, I’ll take you to the workshop,” Minho tells him softly, and Jisung relaxes, letting Minho take him wherever he needs to, trusting him to keep him safe. “We’ll pass by the couch and the stairs, to the side exit. It’s a shortcut to the shed, where the workshop is. You can borrow some gumboots for outside if you want.”

Jisung intertwines their fingers as he steps into Minho’s pair of boots. They fit him well, which is a relief. Together they make their way to the shed, which is just at the side of the house. The breeze is nice and cool on Minho’s heated neck and ears, but his hands are getting sweaty because of the butterflies and nerves swirling in his stomach.

“Here’s the shed, next to my vegetable and fruit plots. Your house is all the way to the left, and to the right is the barn, as well as bushes and some trees, my tiny little orchard,” Minho explains, letting Jisung feel the door to the shed so that he can open it. 

“There’s a little window on the left and right, as well as racks with garden equipment. Baskets, shovels, hedge trimmers, shears, you name it. It’s a little bit of a mess, so maybe I should have let you bring the cane, but… Yeah, watch your step. The wood working table is at the back wall,” he says, slowly guiding Jisung the couple of steps through the shed, holding Jisung’s hand as Jisung holds his arm with his free hand. 

Jisung squeezes his hand as he shuffles after him until they arrive at the woodworking table. Minho’s sculptures are all lined up on a shelf above it, so Minho takes them down one by one. “These aren’t as good as my grandfather’s ones, but they’re all animals. Bunny, cat, sheep, wolf… more cats.” He goes to stand behind Jisung again, gently pushing his hands onto the first sculpture, just like his grandfather used to do when teaching him.

While Jisung is busy exploring, Minho thinks it’ll be good to open up. His heart is already up in his throat because of his proximity to Jisung, so it doesn’t make much of a difference if he adds in the nerves. 

“So, you can probably guess that this farm belonged to my grandparents,” Minho begins slowly, his heart pounding heavily against his ribs. Jisung softly hums to show that he’s listening, and maybe also to encourage Minho to continue. “My parents were busy with work, so I stayed with my grandparents a lot as a kid. I basically lived here and grew up with them, playing outside on the farm and seeing my parents on weekends. My grandfather did most of the work outside, while my grandmother was mostly in charge of actually using the stuff we harvested to cook, or the wool to make clothing.”

“I learned a lot from both of them. My grandmother insisted I’d learn how to cook because it’s a basic survival need, and my grandfather sometimes joined our sessions. Other than that, I learned how to take care of the garden and the sheep, as well as how to work with my hands, which we did in school as well,” he continues softly, a little smile growing on his face as he thinks about his childhood. 

“My grandmother passed away right before I got Soonie, when I was about thirteen years old. I think grandpa wanted to fill the gap a little, and although Soonie wasn’t my grandma, I could really find peace and comfort in him.” Minho swallows, and Jisung’s movements slow down as he moves his hands to the next sculpture. 

It’s the bunny he made during a storm with his grandfather, one of the best ones, but also one of the last ones. The lump in his throat comes back when he watches Jisung treat the wooden sculpture so gently.

“My grandpa couldn’t keep up with the work on his own anymore, so I had to help him after school and such. I didn’t mind it, I like getting my hands dirty, and I really liked cooking with fresh ingredients, but most of all I loved spending time with my grandpa,” he says, his voice shaking a little. He blinks a couple of times and wills himself not to cry. He’s had enough time to get over it, there’s no need to shed any tears.

“We were really close, but I knew that he didn’t have long left either, he was almost ninety years old, and the work in the garden got tougher and tougher on him. I knew that I wanted to take care of the farm after he passed, but it was still hard when he passed. I got Doongie a couple of months before he died, and Dori about a year after—which is almost two years ago,” Minho continues, pausing to take a deep breath. Jisung’s hands lie limp on the wood now, Minho’s fingers curled on top of them.

“Chan hyung and Changbin as well as my cats helped me through it, and working in the garden kept me busy. I didn’t want to change anything because it felt wrong to do so, but Chan hyung and Changbin got busier, and as I got Dori, I became aware that I was lonely and it’s been getting harder for me to do the same thing over and over again.” Minho presses his lips together. It’s becoming more and more difficult to keep himself together, and Jisung probably notices it as well, from the way his breathing is all over the place. He tightens his arms around Jisung’s middle, resting his forehead against Jisung’s head and trying not to cry.

“I… I just feel like I can’t change it, like I need to do it exactly like how my grandparents did it, like how I did it with my grandpa,” he adds in a whisper, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

As if Jisung hears the tear drop, he turns around between Minho’s arms to give him a hug. Jisung pulls him closer, his arms wrapped around Minho’s neck, one of his hands caressing the back of his head as the other moves over his shoulder blade.

Minho lets out a soft whimper and hides his face in the crook of Jisung’s neck. He doesn’t understand why he’s crying all of a sudden—yes, he misses his grandpa, but he thought that he had made peace with him not being there, just like he did with his grandmother.

“I’m sorry, Jisung-ah. I—I don’t know why I’m suddenly like this,” he whispers, but Jisung squeezes him tighter and keeps gently caressing him, soothing him.

“You miss them. It’s okay. That can happen. It can suddenly sneak up on you, even if you thought you were okay,” he responds softly. It sounds like Jisung is sniffling as well, and Minho lets out a little noise of confusion.

He pulls back slightly to see that he’s indeed crying, a couple of tears dropping from his eyelashes. Minho takes a deep breath and uses his thumb to wipe away a tear from his pink cheek. “Why are you crying, too?”

“I can’t help it. I feel so bad for you. Your story is so beautiful but hearing you cry makes me sad,” Jisung answers with a shaky chuckle. Minho huffs, the corners of his lips twitching up. “Come here, hyung! We need to hug a little longer,” the younger one says as he pulls Minho back into the crook of his neck.

Minho chuckles, but he sighs as he relaxes into Jisung’s arms, letting himself cry for a little longer while holding Jisung. “I’m so proud of you, Minho hyung. I’m sure your grandpa is too, and he’ll want you to do whatever’s comfortable. You don’t need to keep things as they were, he lives on in the sculptures, in the blanket basket, in your memory, just like your grandmother lives on in your cooking. And now, I can remember them too,” Jisung tells him, and he almost makes Minho cry all over again.

He’s right, though. There are many things that remind him of his grandparents, and just like he knows his grandmother would love to see him cook for his friends, his grandfather would probably love to see what he does to the farm by himself, what other sculptures he can make, or who he’ll allow to visit him and get close.

He’s sure that his grandfather liked Jisung, even if Jisung was probably too shy to interact much with him whenever his grandparents would visit or talk to the Han parents. 

“Thank you, ‘Sungie. I… I want to change things,” he whispers before pulling back again and running his thumbs along Jisung’s sides. It feels good to hug him like this, and to empty his heart out without feeling embarrassed. It’s cathartic.

“I’ll help you, if you want. You’re making my world ten times bigger than it was, so let me at least make yours a little bit more comfortable,” Jisung responds softly. Minho swallows and nods.

“Yes, yes, of course. If you want. I’ll show you the rest of the farm right now,” he says, his stomach flipping because of how kind Jisung is and how much Minho appreciates every little thing he does. Every little gesture makes Minho feel a little softer, a little calmer.
“Right now?” Jisung asks with a snicker and Minho lets out a sigh.

“Okay, maybe we should take a little break and drink something. Do you think you can find your way back to the kitchen?” Minho means it as a joke, but Jisung touches down Minho’s arm to grab his hand and take the lead while dragging him along. 

He stumbles about three times while trying to get out of the shed alone, and finding the door proves to be really difficult for him, but it’s entertaining how he keeps trying and doesn’t let Minho scoot him in the right direction. Once he finds the doorpost it’s easy, but sometimes he finds the edge of a window instead.

The rest of the afternoon Minho spends showing Jisung around the farm, letting him know all the places he needs to watch out for, as well as the places he can walk on. Minho is thinking about getting more stone pathing to put down, because Jisung will be able to get a sense of where he can walk better. 

Jisung says that he can do well with bare feet, but it’s not ideal in autumn and winter. Minho wants to make sure that Jisung can be around his property in a comfortable way. He’s already comfortable on the path around where the sheep are, the orchard in the back, as well as the area around the grain field, but he sticks close to Minho around the fruit and vegetable patches.

Once Soonie, Doongie, Dori, and Bbama join them outside, though, Jisung gets a little more confident and relaxed. It seems like the smaller pets make it easier for him to figure out where he can and can not stand when they’re off the path. 

“Here, have a blackberry,” Minho says before he feeds the berry to Jisung, who lets out a hum in satisfaction. He pauses to watch Jisung munch happily, and his heart flutters.  

“You’ll have one, too, right?” Jisung asks softly, and Soonie meows in agreement. Minho snickers and reaches through the bush to pick a good looking blackberry for himself before popping it into his mouth.

“Come, let’s sit on the grass while it’s still warm out,” Minho says and he gently places his hand onto Jisung’s wrist. Soonie immediately jumps onto Minho’s lap, while Bbama is still playing with Dori, and Doongie is somewhere else, exploring the bushes. 

Jisung immediately starts rubbing the blades of grass between his fingers, the evening sun illuminating his pretty caramel skin. Minho cards his hand through Soonie’s fur and stares at Jisung with a fond little smile.

“I think I’ll go home in a bit,” the man says softly. Minho lets out a breath. He wishes he could see him for longer. He has always thought that there are too few hours in a day, but instead of too little time to do all of the work needed, Minho wants to spend more time with Jisung right now. “I’ll help you around the farm, too, but I want to spend some time with my brother while he’s still here, too.”

“Of course. Yeah, no. I won’t keep you here longer,” he immediately assures Jisung. He doesn’t want to hold him back from being with his beloved brother, that would be too selfish. “I’ve held you hostage for long enough.”

Jisung snorts. “More like I forced myself into your house to make sure you don’t work while having a fever,” he counters. Minho huffs as he thinks about yesterday, Jisung’s cool hands on his face, sitting beside him on the floor while he leans on the couch. It was nice, even though Minho felt awful. He thinks it made them feel closer.

“Do you want to have dinner with me or did you want to go already?” Minho asks, just because he wants to make sure that Jisung eats well. He’d cook for him every day if Jisung would ask.

“I won’t say no to not eating alone, because my brother and Chan hyung are out again together today,” Jisung says with a giddy smile. Minho bites his lip to hold back the grin that is taking him over at full force. His fingers are tingling with the urge to hold Jisung’s hand again, to cook for him and enjoy the warm feeling of being by his side for just a little longer. 

“Okay, then.” 

Jisung is really not of much help in the kitchen, and Minho would be annoyed if it was anyone else than him. And he's not sure anymore if the lack of annoyance is just because Jisung physically can't do some things or if Minho is perhaps really falling for him—or at least growing a major soft spot for him. 

That last statement is definitely true, and ever since Jisung said he could look at him if he wants, he has been indulging more and more, and even when Chan and Younghyun come pick him up in the evening he can’t stop himself from fondly watching Jisung as he tells his brother about his day with Minho today.

“Thank you again, and don’t overdo it, please,” Jisung says as he turns around to face Minho one more time before he leaves with his brother, his hands clenching and unclenching next to his body. 

“I won’t, don’t worry,” he answers with a chuckle. He steps a little closer to Jisung, his eyes roaming along the soft curves of his cheeks, the gentle flutter of his eyelashes, and the soft smile spreading his pretty pink lips into a heart. “Thank you for taking care of me, yesterday. I’ll see you later.” 

Minho pulls Jisung into a hug, his ears reddening because of the audience, but being close to Jisung is enough of a reward to make it worth it. He knows that Chan and Younghyun are drawing conclusions from their interactions, but he can’t find the energy to care right now.

“Bye, Jisung, bye, hyungs.” He pulls away and tries to ignore Younghyun's prying eyes. 

“Actually, I’ll stay here for a bit longer if that’s okay. Younghyunnie, Jisungie, I’ll see you around! Call me lots, yeah, Younghyun?” Chan says, pointing a stern finger at his friend. Younghyun laughs and shrugs before patting Jisung’s shoulder and walking away with a wave. 

Chan turns to Minho with raised eyebrows, but Minho doesn’t even notice it at first, embarrassingly enough. Only when Chan bursts out laughing Minho snaps out of his daze. “Are you still a bit feverish, Minho, or are you just falling for a certain blind boy?”

Minho whips his head towards his friend and splutters for a moment. “I—I’m feeling better. I was just overworked,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his flushed neck.

“Hey, I’m just worried. And I’m sorry for leaving you to do all the work by yourself… I didn’t realize you were so overworked. If I knew, I would have stopped by more often,” Chan says sincerely, leaning back against the wall of the hallway. Minho shakes his head and waves him off.

“It’s not your fault, hyung. I needed this to realize that I need to change some things around the farm. I don’t think I would have listened to you if you’d warn me anyway. Yeah, I got sick and it sucked, but Jisungie took care of me, and… I told him about my grandpa,” he admits softly, pressing his lips together. 

“Oh. That’s… That’s really good. I’m proud of you, Minho,” Chan tells him, stepping closer and resting a hand on his shoulder. Minho shrugs, but a small grin finds its way onto his face.

“That’s what he told me too,” he mutters, his stomach flipping. Chan snorts and pushes at Minho’s shoulder.

“I can’t tell that you were sick yesterday—Although, you do look a little lovesick,” he jokes, and Minho rolls his eyes at him. Chan laughs and holds up his hands. “No, but you look happy with him. I think he’s doing you good.”

“He is.” Minho doesn't doubt that in the slightest. Jisung is good for him in the same way a good night's sleep is—he can survive without it, but a day is better if he has it. And he’s glad that Chan acknowledges it, it always feels nice to have a friend support you.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

“Jisung-ah. Did you know that Minho looks at you really often? I haven't seen you two together a lot, but Chan confirmed my suspicion as well,” Younghyun says out of nowhere. They're sitting outside after having played with Bbama for a while. 

Jisung lets out a noise of confusion as he ruffles Bbama's head. “You said he likes looking at me already, right? He didn't deny it when I said it either. I told him that he can do it if he wants to.” 

“You did? When?” Younghyun's voice is curious and Jisung hears him shuffling closer. Jisung’s cheeks grow a little hotter when he thinks about that moment, but he wills his beating heart to stay calm. His brother will probably tease him if he notices the crush he’s developing on Minho.

“I… I forgot he could see me when he gave me some pajamas to sleep in, so I took my shirt off in front of him—” he begins, but his brother cuts him off with a choked noise. 

“You took your shirt off and told him he can watch if he wants to? Jisung-ah, you flirt!” Younghyun almost squeals as he grabs Jisung’s shoulders and shakes him. Jisung yelps and grabs his brother’s arms.

“No! Let me finish!” Jisung protests with a laugh, and Bbama jumps out of his lap and against his brother's arm. “He asked me if he should look away and I didn't know what to answer, so I said that he could decide, and if he likes looking at me, then he can.” 

Younghyun hums and lets go of him. “Okay, if you say so. But do you know in what way he's looking at you?” he adds and Jisung snorts. “Because that matters.” 

“Hyung. How do you expect me to know that?” He thought Younghyun would be more aware of what Jisung knows and has no good way of knowing. 

“I don't know, maybe he told you or something, but I mostly meant it as a rhetorical question. I'll tell you how he looks at you—no, he stares at you like he can’t stop, Jisung-ah. It's fond, and I'd almost say it's loving.” Jisung would think Younghyun is joking if it wasn’t for him sounding completely serious, and Jisung flushes from head to toe. Loving? He wonders what that looks like, and how Younghyun can tell. He knows that he himself starts smiling when he hears or smells Minho, but that isn't necessarily a loving expression, right? 

“How can you tell?” he asks softly. Younghyun moves and sits closer to Jisung, Bbama in between them, and he wraps an arm around Jisung’s shoulder. 

“I can tell because he doesn't hide it. Staring happily at a friend happens to everyone every once in a while, but when you smile, he lights up and he doesn’t look away even when you've stopped, and it’s like he forgets about everything around him. He really likes you, 'Sung. That much is obvious,” his brother tells him as he rubs his hand along Jisung’s shoulder. 

Jisung lets it sink in. Minho really likes him, and it’s so obvious that even his brother can see it? Jisung’s heart flips and twists and beats in his ears, because he really likes Minho too, and maybe there’s even more to his feelings than that.

Younghyun snickers softly, probably because of Jisung’s pink cheeks, but he doesn’t tease him too much about it, only gently pinches him between his fingers. Maybe he can already tell that Jisung is realizing some things.

“Just take it easy with him, yeah, Jisung-ah? I’m sure he’s kind, but since you don’t have much experience with relationships like this, I want you to make sure that you don’t do anything you’re not ready for or not comfortable with,” Younghyun says, clapping his hand on his shoulder again. “From experience, people who care about you like it when you tell them your boundaries, so that they don’t have to read it from your face or make assumptions. You shouldn’t let anyone walk over you just because you don’t want to step on their toes, yeah?”

“That makes sense. I’m just scared that I will say something weird or do something inappropriate,” Jisung says with a chuckle, his hands becoming a little sweaty at the thought of touching Minho a little more, or asking him some of the things he would like to try with him. 

“Trust me, Minho doesn’t mind. He’s quite the oddball himself. Just ask,” his brother assures him with a chuckle. Jisung snickers, he wouldn’t know what counts as odd, but maybe Minho really is. 

Younghyun suddenly stands up and grabs Jisung by the waist, hoisting him up as the latter yells in surprise. “Okay, come on. Let’s go to the town to get some food and I’ll make you some dishes for the coming days,” he says, holding a spluttering Jisung in his arms. “Bbama-yah, come!”

Bbama happily barks and Jisung laughs before hitting Younghyun’s shoulder so that he’ll be put back on two feet. He grabs his cane and puts a leash on Bbama so that they can leave.

It’s his brother’s last day here, and Jisung was dreading it, but now that the day is here, he feels okay. He’ll miss his brother, but now that he knows that he can always visit Minho, he thinks that he’ll feel a lot less lonely.

And he’s right about that. He spends the days after his brother leaves with Minho, and occasionally Chan, learning things about gardening and taking care of sheep. He can’t do much yet, has no experience telling apart plants from weeds, or bad fruits from good ones, but he can water trees, fill food, help make changes to the soil, or trim hedges if he gets a small trimmer.

He gets to know the ins and outs of the land around Minho’s farm, but he knows that Minho wants to change things around there. Minho sounds a little bummed out when they’re taking care of the sheep, and Jisung can already feel the news coming.

“What’s up, hyung?” he asks as he’s leaning onto Sodangie the sheep, enjoying the nice feeling of her wool on his face and hands, between his fingers and against his arms. 

“I think I’m going to sell the sheep,” Minho replies with a sigh. Bbama and Sodangie are disappointed, and Jisung is, too, but he understands. “I’ve been selling the wool anyway, and I’m sure that someone else will take better care of them. It’ll just save me a lot of time.”

“I’ll miss them for sure, but I think it’s a good decision,” Jisung tells him, his hand inching down until he feels Minho’s arm, gently caressing it. Minho’s skin is soft under his fingers and he smiles a little.

“Yeah, I’ve been talking to one of the neighbors, I think they’ll be good to my sheep,” Minho says as he stands up, a hand coming to rest on Jisung’s back. Jisung stands up and gives Minho a quick hug, before getting a little insecure about it and turning back to Sodangie.

Minho’s hands linger on Jisung’s middle for a bit, but he doesn’t say anything, nor does he pull him back to continue the hug. Jisung swallows, suddenly thinking about his brother’s words from a couple of days ago. 

“Are you looking at me right now, hyung?” Jisung asks softly, just because he’s curious. Minho inhales sharply, and Jisung winces—he hopes that it isn’t weird to ask. “It’s just that you went still all of a sudden.”

“Well, yes. I was looking at you,” Minho mumbles, slowly pulling away. “Do you mind it?” 

“No, I don’t. I think I like it.” Jisung whispers the last part, a blush creeping up his neck. He really wishes he could see Minho’s face right now, or have any indication of whether he heard him or not. 

Minho stays quiet, though, and Jisung just hopes that it’s because he’s still looking at him, and not because he’s uncomfortable. Bbama woofs happily, so it can’t be too bad.

“There’s something I want to show you, ‘Sung. Do you want to come with me? Bbama, you can come, too.” Minho suddenly says, fingers curling around Jisung’s wrist and softly tugging him along. Jisung lets out a noise of surprise, but he follows Minho out of the barn, through the orchard, and to the edge of his property. 

“Fence. I’ll help you over it.” Minho intertwines their fingers and climbs over it before helping Jisung do the same while holding his cane, even though Jisung has climbed these fences many times already. 

They walk through a grassy area, the crunch of autumn leaves satisfying to his ears, it means that they are between trees, and that Jisung should stay close to Minho to avoid walking into tree trunks. “Where are we going? It smells nice here.”

“There’s this secret little lake, and since it’s a warm autumn day today, I wanted to take you there,” Minho tells him softly. Bbama is happily walking with them, and Jisung thinks Soonie is there as well, an extra set of paws following them.

“Oh, I like water, but it surprises me sometimes,” he says, thinking about how cold water can suddenly be. Minho hums softly. “I’ve been to a lake before but I don’t remember much. Is it just like a bath? There are fish and plants like a river or the sea, right?”

“Both. But I don't go in often. I don’t like swimming that much, but I like dipping my toes in and relaxing. My grandpa liked fishing with me. It’s a nice view, and I thought it’d be nice to show you,” Minho answers before warning Jisung about a tree root. Jisung is too distracted by listening and by Minho’s hand in his own and he trips. 

Bbama barks right as Jisung feels a set of arms wrapping around his waist to catch him right before he falls face first into the mud and leaves. Minho pauses for a moment before he pulls Jisung upright, but Jisung bumps into him, chest to chest, nose to nose. 

Jisung feels his face heat up from the proximity, his breath getting caught in his throat. He can feel their noses brushing, but that only makes him want to lean closer and feel it properly. 

He gets the sudden urge to kiss Minho’s cheek or his entire face, just so that he can memorize his features. Minho’s breath hits Jisung’s warm cheek, making Jisung’s heart go a little haywire.

“Be careful, Jisungie,” Minho whispers before slowly letting go. Jisung hums, but his voice is caught in his throat. He hopes that he doesn’t look like a fool, because he certainly feels like one, freezing like that and getting all flustered. Minho just tugs him along with him until he announces that they’ve arrived.

“Oh, nice, there are mushrooms around the lake already,” Minho says, and he pulls Jisung down to crouch with him, leading his hand to feel the fungi. Jisung shivers a little at the feeling, but he likes it. As long as what he’s touching is not alive he’s okay. 

“Wow, there are so many textures on this little thing! I like it,” he says with a smile, running the pads of his finger under the hood of the mushroom. He hears Bbama splashing the water, and it sounds as if he’s having fun. “How close are we to the water, by the way? I don’t want to accidentally step in it.”

“A couple of centimeters. Here, let me show you,” Minho tells him, before he takes Jisung’s hand and moves it to his side, letting his fingers graze the water. Jisung shivers a little, but the water doesn’t feel too cold. “The lake is really clear, you can see your reflection in it, as well as the trees and the sky.” 

“I’ve always wondered how that works. The trees and the sky aren’t in the water, how can you see them there?” Jisung asks, dipping his fingers into the water, and then his hand, all the way until he feels the sand. “A mirror is flat, and so is glass, but water is deep, like I can put my hand in it. How can it reflect things? Milk doesn’t reflect, right?”

“Look, you don’t have to ask me such difficult questions. It’s just like that? I don’t know how it works,” Minho says with a chuckle, and Jisung laughs. Apparently there are things you can see and you don’t know why. He’s sure other people know why. Maybe he can find out some day. 

Minho shows him around the lake, lets him feel the plants, the needles of the pine trees, as well as explaining what everything looks like. Jisung can’t imagine ninety percent of the things Minho describes—the sun shining through the foliage in patches? Ripples in the water changing the reflection? Trees higher than Jisung’s height ten times? It all sounds wild—but he likes hearing Minho talk about it. He knows about most of the concepts, but hearing them get explained in person feels different.

At some point, they’re relaxing on a tree stump, with their toes in the water that is warmed by the autumn sun and their fingers loosely intertwined on the wood. Soonie and Bbama are playing together somewhere off while Jisung moves the lake water with his legs. 

He accidentally kicks up the water into Minho’s face, judging by the latter’s spluttering. He laughs, but chokes slightly when Minho splashes water into his face in retaliation. It becomes a splash fight, both of them kicking the water up, grabbing at each other’s arms to make it stop.

“Ack! Was that a leaf?” Jisung yelps when he tastes something bitter, Minho cackles and makes some indecipherable noises, so Jisung pushes his shoulder, but he doesn’t expect Minho to lose his balance and disappear from his side.

“Ah!” Minho shouts and then a big splash sounds from just in front of Jisung. Jisung panics a little, holding his hands out for Minho to grab, but he can only hear splashing, so without thinking, he jumps in after Minho, his arms stretched out so that he can hopefully grab onto Minho and help him.

“Holy shit—! What are you doing?!” Minho yelps before Jisung feels a set of arms around his waist. Minho seems surprisingly steady in the water, but Jisung doesn’t dare to try and find the ground with his feet, because he might go under.

“I’m going after you! In case you can’t swim or need help! I don’t know. I was kind of panicking,” Jisung rambles, clutching Minho’s wet shirt between his fingers. Minho lets out a breath and a chuckle, but he sounds a little stressed as well.

“It’s okay, I can swim a little, I just don’t like it, since I slipped and fell when I was a kid and I just can’t get myself to get over it. It’s shallow enough to stand here, so it’s fine—Can you swim, though?” he asks, holding Jisung close to him even though he just said it’s shallow enough to stand. 

“I can. Younghyun hyung taught me how to swim in the river near our house, just in case I’d ever fall into deep water. I’m afraid of swimming alone, though,” he answers, gulping now that he realizes how close they are yet again as he feels Minho’s nose graze his cheek. 

Minho’s breath hitches a little if Jisung heard correctly, but he masks it with a chuckle before hooking an arm under Jisung’s legs and hoisting him up. 

“Hyung! What are you doing? I said I can swim!” Jisung bursts out laughing as he grabs at Minho, one hand on his back and the other accidentally slaps him against the jaw. He quickly apologizes through his laughter and rubs his hand along the spot he hit. 

“Ow! Jeez, I'm just trying to get you to dry land quickly and safely,” Minho whines, but Jisung can hear the smile in his voice. He's quite strong, carrying Jisung out of the water like this, and Jisung has to admit that he feels pretty safe in Minho’s arms. 

“I appreciate you playing prince charming for me, hyung-ah. It's quite comfortable,” Jisung softly mumbles, his neck flushing. Minho lets out a hum, and Jisung feels the skin under his hand heat up, perhaps from exertion, but Jisung likes to think that Minho is blushing a little as well. 

Once he's back on the ground, they go back to the house, huddling together to protect one another from the cool autumn breeze. They take a shower and put on some fresh clothes, holding hands all the way to the bathroom. Jisung can't stop thinking about how close he has been to Minho’s face today, multiple times. The urge to explore Minho’s features is getting more and more difficult to ignore, and he can’t stop blushing every time he thinks about the possibility that Minho might be looking at him again— lovingly. 

“Thanks for taking me to the lake, Minho hyung. I still can't believe that there are so many places close to home I've never been,” Jisung says with a sigh, leaning against the older as they sit together on the couch. His hair is still a little fluffy from the shower, and so is Minho’s, and Jisung can’t help but notice how nice he smells. 

“Of course. I told you I would show you around, didn't I?” Minho replies, sneaking an arm around Jisung’s shoulder and pulling him closer into a side hug. “If there's anywhere you'd like me to take you, anything you'd like me to show you, let me know.” 

Jisung opens his mouth to answer, because this is the perfect opportunity to ask if he can touch his face, but the words get stuck in his throat, his heart pounding in anticipation. Just do it, Jisung. Just say it. 

“Actually, there is one thing I haven't explored yet. Maybe it's weird, but can I touch your face?” He throws the words out, as if that will make it less embarrassing. Minho doesn’t go easy on him with his silence today, and Jisung’s hearts pounds harshly against his chest.

“You want to touch my face?” Minho asks him, and Jisung can’t tell if he’s apprehensive or just confused. He doesn’t move away, though, he only turns his body towards Jisung a little. 

“...Yes. Is that too weird? I just want to know, uhm, what you look like?” Jisung presses his lips together, digging his nails into his palms in a futile attempt to calm his anxious heart. “I kind of see with my hands, you know?” 

“Yeah, sure. You can do that,” Minho says with a low voice, unfurling his arm around Jisung’s shoulder so that they can face each other properly. Minho’s fingers brush Jisung’s hands, which encourages him to bring them up to Minho’s jaw. 

He has felt his face before, when Minho was sick and Jisung tried to assess if he had a fever or not, and he has accidentally touched it before, but he hasn’t had the chance to take the time and really feel it.

His thumbs feel across Minho’s sharp jawline, his fingers caressing his neck before feeling just below his ear and inching further to the back, where the short hairs on his nape are. Minho’s neck feels warm again as the older shivers, and Jisung hopes that he doesn’t have a sunburn or something, but he doesn’t flinch under his touch. 

Jisung threads his fingers through Minho’s hair, touching the back of his head. Minho shivers again, and Jisung knows all too well how nice it feels to have someone combing their hands through your hair, so he continues gently massaging Minho’s scalp. Minho’s hair is a little shorter than Jisung’s, and also a little straighter, less fluffy, but also less knotty.

His hands come back to the shells of Minho’s warm ears, the only sound is the soft inhale and exhale coming from both of them, as well as the sound of Jisung’s heart beating against his ribcage. Minho’s ears feel the same as his own, a thin shell, and a slight curve going down to his earlobe. 

Next are Minho’s cheeks. His cheekbones are sharp, unlike Jisung’s own, and his cheeks are soft, but have significantly less fat compared to Jisung’s. His cheek feels nice under Jisung’s hand, and he can’t help but wonder if it would feel even nicer under his lips.

He unconsciously leans forward, but he stops himself just in time. Minho’s breathing falters, and his head twitches under Jisung’s fingers, but Jisung doesn’t dare to interpret it. 

“You like it so far?” Minho asks in a whisper. Jisung nods, and he realizes that he hasn’t moved his hands in a while. He really likes Minho’s soft skin, though.

“You have nice cheeks. Very different from mine,” he answers, a little breathlessly. He drops his left hand to Minho’s shoulder, his right one continuing the journey across the hills and valleys of Minho’s face. 

Minho’s nose has a high bridge, pointing into a sharp tip, and Jisung’s remembers every time their noses brushed, or Minho’s nose grazed his cheek. If they’d kiss, he would certainly feel his nose against his own, right? Is it weird that he wants to try? Or that he wants to kiss the tip, or rub them together in a nose kiss?

He needs to stop thinking about kissing Minho, because he might accidentally do something he’ll regret. He might underestimate how close they are and actually kiss him if he doesn’t pay attention.

Jisung focuses his attention upwards, along his cheekbone to the flutter of Minho’s eyelashes. Minho closes his eyes—does that mean he was watching Jisung as well?—and Jisung gently grazes the pads of his fingers along his eyelid. Then he goes up once again, along Minho’s eyebrow and forehead, brushing his bangs out of the way.

He finds a way back down along Minho’s hairline, temple, and jaw, to his chin. It’s quite short and smooth, unlike his other sharper features, which is quite fascinating.

Jisung accidentally bumps into Minho lower lip, and he’s a little nervous to touch it, since he knows how sensitive lips are, but Minho isn’t stopping him, so he runs his fingers along his lower lip before finding his plumper upper lip. His lips seem to have a natural pout, and they are shaped sort of like a diamond.

Jisung almost gets the urge to touch his own lips to see if they’d fit against Minho’s, or to just find out by pressing them together. Minho’s breathing has become a little heavier, and he might be magnetic, because Jisung doesn’t even realize that he’s leaning closer. 

Closer and closer, until his fingers make way for his lips to ever so lightly brush Minho’s ones. The soft sensation gives Jisung goosebumps and he unconsciously presses even closer. At the same time, his nose bumps into Minho’s and they’re snapped out of the moment.

Jisung quickly moves back and away, his entire face heating up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry! Oh gosh—I…” He trails off and swallows before hiding his face in his hands. He doesn’t dare to say anything, because what can he say? I thought it would be nice? I thought I’d feel more if I kissed you?

“Hey, it’s okay.” Minho’s hands gently touch Jisung’s fingers before they push them away from his face. “If it was an accident, that’s okay. If you did it on purpose, that’s okay too. I’d just—I’d just want to know.”

Minho lets out a shaky chuckle as he retracts his hand. Jisung already misses touching him, but he’s a little frozen in place, heart going wild in his chest. He’s unsure what to do. “It was—I don’t know,” he stammers, but he knows that this isn’t quite the satisfying answer for Minho. 

“Did you know that, uhm, our lips and hands are two of the parts with the most nerve endings in our body? You can feel the most detail with those parts of your body,” he blurts out, as a sort of explanation, although he’s probably only making the situation worse. 

Minho cackles, though, lightening the mood significantly, and allowing some of the nerves to seep away from Jisung’s tense shoulders. “I didn’t know that, but I’ll keep it in mind. But you can just ask me to kiss me, yeah? That way you don’t have to worry whether you’re overstepping or not.” 

“Yeah. It’s just… I don’t know if it’s weird, you know?” he admits softly, resting his hands on his knees, the tips of his fingers touching Minho’s thigh. “I… I worry if the things I want to do or say are odd or inappropriate.”

“It’s not. I might be a little bit of a hypocrite because verbal communication is definitely one of my own weak points, but since you can’t see me to read my face, you can ask me anything you want. You’ve never been weird,” Minho assures him softly. “I know how you feel, though. I understand.”

Jisung smiles. Minho says that communicating verbally is difficult for him, and yet he always knows how to make Jisung feel comfortable. “Can I kiss your cheek, then, hyung?” he asks, leaning forward as excitement sparks in his chest. 

“You can.” Minho lets out a soft breath before he puts a finger under Jisung’s chin, coaxing him to come closer. Jisung steadies himself by placing his hands onto Minho’s neck, so that he doesn’t embarrass himself by missing.

He places a brief but firm kiss on Minho’s soft cheek, incredibly endeared when Minho giggles. Jisung can’t hold back a big smile, happy to hear that Minho liked it. “You can do it, too. You don’t have to ask,” he blurts out. “Although a warning every once in a while is appreciated.”

Minho grows quiet, but Jisung can hear him move, and can feel his torso lean forward under his hands. A soft pair of lips press a peck onto the swell of his cheek, and Jisung’s stomach fills itself with butterflies. 

Suddenly, Jisung’s cheeks are squished between a pair of small hands, another giggle escaping Minho’s lips and blessing Jisung’s ears. “God, you’re so cute, Jisung-ah,” Minho says with a coo. 

Jisung laughs, and it sounds funny as his lips are squished, which makes him laugh even more. And he swears that he feels Minho placing another brief and tiny little peck on his nose, but he's not entirely sure. 

What he does know for sure is that he’s falling in love with Minho, and that he loves it when Minho gives him kisses and affection. It's getting easier for him to do so himself as well, and he is beginning to feel less embarrassed about speaking his mind and telling Minho about his wants and needs. 

Even if Minho briefly makes him anxious with his silence, he has never regretted speaking up so far, and if it earns him a giggles and affection, he might try to find the courage to do so more often. 

“Will you stay tonight, ‘Sung? It might be warm during the day, but it’s been past the equinox for a while. It’ll start cooling down quickly these days,” Minho asks when they’ve settled down. Minho is reading a book, and Jisung is leaning on his shoulder, with Bbama and Dori in his arms. Minho suggested reading to Jisung, but Jisung didn’t want him to start over just for him. He doesn’t mind just listening to him turn the pages anyway.

“Or am I keeping you away from your home too often?” Minho adds with a chuckle, the rustle of paper accompanying the turning of a page. Jisung shakes his head, his hair moving against Minho’s shoulder.

“I don’t mind being away if I have Bbama and you here,” he admits. The thought of eating breakfast with Minho again and cuddling him for longer makes his stomach flip, and as long as he has his doggie and Minho by his side, he thinks he’ll be just fine. 

“Great. I like having you here, too,” Minho whispers back, sounding satisfied. “There’s a lot more that I want to show you.”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Minho really likes autumn. The trees change color, he doesn’t sweat his ass off while working on the farm, and he can wear the fuzzy cardigans his grandma made for him again.
This year’s autumn is special because of Jisung alone. Seeing his happy face when he walks on the crunchy leaves is already a treat, and he loves it when Jisung runs his hands all over the fuzzy materials of Minho’s clothing, or when they cuddle for warmth at night.

Minho takes him to the forest a couple of times, where they pick mushrooms and enjoy the autumn weather. Minho tells him about everything he can see, and in return, Jisung tells him about all the things he notices. Textures he finds satisfying to touch, soft sounds Minho never noticed, faint smells he can describe better than Minho ever could, but Jisung also gives his thoughts about the world.

Minho learns to appreciate the cricketing of the crickets at night, as well as the comfort that silence can bring, because with Jisung pressed against his side, it doesn’t sound so lonely anymore. 

Jisung sings to him sometimes, too, when he somehow notices that Minho is feeling a little melancholic, or even when Chan and Changbin ask him to. He is crazily good at imitating anything and everything with his voice, but his singing is even better. Minho finds it soothing, comforting, and even a little sexy, if he’s honest. 

He finds himself mesmerized by Jisung’s lips more than he’d like to admit, the memory of Jisung almost kissing him replaying in his mind until Minho starts to forget if he dreamt it or not. He knows he didn’t because Jisung still asks if he can give him a peck every once in a while, and Minho has gotten to know how soft Jisung’s cheeks are quite well by now, but they’ve kept it strictly around the lips so far.

Jisung touches his face, too, just absentmindedly caressing his skin. He tells Minho that his skin is soft and warm—unaware of the fact that Jisung is the reason that he flushes so often—and that he likes touching it. 

They’re starting to spend more and more nights together as well, either because Jisung falls asleep on the couch after dinner, or because they decide that it’s too cold or too dark outside or that it’s too comfortable in each other’s arms for him to go home.

He’d love for Jisung to stay with him in his room one night, but he hasn’t gathered the courage to ask him, yet. The autumn nights are getting colder, though, the winter solstice is approaching, and Minho’s heart craves Jisung’s presence to warm him.

He has the feeling that it won’t be tonight, though, because although it’s quite cold, Jisung has been complaining about sore muscles the past couple of days, so Minho tells him to take it easy and stay home for the day.

“It’s cold at home,” Jisung says with a pout, and Minho hates to deny him, but he knows how heavy farm work can be, especially if you’re not used to it, and Jisung needs to rest before he passes out like Minho did.

“You really need rest. I can come by to light the fireplace for you if you want, though. Or I can bring you a blanket,” he suggests, but Jisung waves him off. 

“It’s fine. I know how to light the fireplace. I’ve done it a couple of nights already, recently. I get cold easily, but I can do it by myself,” Jisung assures him. Minho accepts and gives Jisung a hug before sending him back into his house. 

Minho meets up with Chan and Changbin instead, who’ve mostly gone back to their working lives, so they haven’t met up a lot lately. He has to put up with their annoying questions about Jisung, but their presence is worth it. 

“Come on, Minho. He almost kissed you, right? What are you waiting for, honestly?” Changbin shakes his head as he continues to slurp up his noodles. Minho sighs and runs a hand through his hair. His heart clenches when he thinks about confessing how he feels to Jisung, because he’s afraid of ruining something so beautiful.

“I don’t know. It’s—I can’t tell if he wants me the way I want him. It’s not like he can stare at me like I do,” Minho mumbles, stabbing his chopsticks into his food with a little too much force.

“Doesn’t he literally touch your face all over and kiss your cheeks?” Chan points out. “Isn’t that his way of staring, kinda?”

“Well, maybe.” Minho isn’t sure what to say, because Chan actually makes a good point, frustratingly enough. And he wants the argument to be convincing, but he’s just so scared. 

First of all, what would he even say? He never knows how to word serious things, and he’s too embarrassed to practice by himself. He won’t know whether or not he’s doing well anyway. 

Second of all, what if he fucks up? What if Jisung doesn’t feel the same and he starts thinking that Minho will violate him or something. Minho gets nauseous at the thought of making Jisung uncomfortable, or worse, possibly taking advantage of him. 

He just wants to make Jisung happy, give back for what he has given Minho—peace of mind, a way to find back his happiness in farming, and a new look on life—and the uncertainty of confessing is weighing on him heavily.

“You’re overthinking Minho, but I think it’s good to not rush into this, because how long have you been talking, three or four months? Just—Just don’t leave yourself and him hanging for too long,” Chan says with a hum. Minho gives him an incredulous look, and Chan laughs. “With too long, I mean a year or more. But you two see each other almost every day, and you’ve already grown so close.”

“Chan hyung is right, Minho hyung,” Changbin says, cocking his head towards their friend and raising his eyebrows. Minho purses his lips and sighs. 

“Fine. You’re right, but let’s talk about something else. How’s the song making going? Are you two still planning on expanding on that?” Minho changes the subject so that he won’t explode from thinking too much about the possibility of being together with Jisung. They’re great friends, which Minho is already incredibly grateful for. 

When it’s time for Chan and Changbin to leave again, Minho puts on some shoes to walk them to the car, but it’s quite chilly out. He tugs his cardigan over his chest and blinks against the darkness. 

“God, it’s so cold already, it cools down so fast these nights,” Changbin says with a shiver, zipping his jacket all the way up. It’s partly cloudy, but clear nights are always the coldest. 

“You don’t have to walk us to the car, Minho-yah, you can just stay inside if you want,” Chan adds as they step off the porch and onto the stone path.

“Nah, it’s just for a bit, I’ll warm up once I’m back,” he says, waving them off. They walk to the road, but before Changbin slips inside the warmth of the car, he freezes. Minho hopes that he didn’t forget his phone inside or anything, because he’s kind of getting cold right now.

“What the fuck is that smell?” Changbin looks around, and Minho sniffs, a faint smokey smell invading his nose, but not the good smokey meat kind of smell, more a burning wood and wool type of smell. 

Chan and Changbin turn their heads toward Jisung’s house, and when Minho follows their gaze, his heart drops. They’ve found the source of the smoke, and it doesn’t look like it’s just coming from Jisung’s fireplace. 

“Oh fuck,” Minho curses and he immediately starts running towards the house. Chan and Changbin dash after him, and they meet a barking Bbama halfway. Bbama has some ashes on his fur, but it’s good to see that he got out. Maybe Jisung is outside as well.

They look around the house while Changbin dials the fire department, but Jisung is nowhere to be found. Bbama is barking non-stop, and Chan crouches to try and calm him down. Bbama bites Chan’s sleeve, though, and tugs him towards the house. Minho runs up to the window and tries to see if he can find Jisung, but the smoke is quickly building up, and it looks like the living room has caught fire.

Minho bangs onto the window. “Jisung-ah! Are you in there?!” he yells, but there’s no answer. His chest and throat are starting to feel tight in panic, and he tries to see if he can find him through the window one more time before running to the door. 

“Hey, hey, hey! You can’t just go in there, hyung!” Changbin calls out in a panic, holding his phone up as he tries to get cell service. “Do you even know that he’s in there?”

“No, but I can’t take the chance, I need to go look before the house burns down,” Minho shouts back. He doesn’t have time for doubts. If Jisung is in here, if he’s hurt, scared, or in danger, Minho would never forgive himself for not going inside.

“Be careful, Minho. Don’t—” Chan tries to warn him but Minho already slips inside the house, keeping the door open so that the smoke can escape. He calls out to Jisung before coughing into his arm. 

“Hyung?” Minho hears suddenly, and he whips his head towards the sound. It’s coming from the living room, and his heart jumps up into his throat. At least he’s still able to answer, that’s a relief, but the problem now is how Minho is going to slip past the burning console table that has fallen over in front of the doorway to the living room.

He should have brought a blanket or something, or a bucket of water, but it’s too late for that now. The only thing he can do is carefully step in between the legs of the table and make sure his cardigan doesn’t catch on fire.

“Jisung-ah! It’s me, I’m here—Oh god.” Minho runs up to the curled up figure of Jisung behind the couch, surrounded by fire coming from the fireplace. Jisung’s face is tucked between his knees, shoulders up beyond his ears, bare feet and hands blackened by ash.

“Jisung-ah come, I’ll—” Minho cuts himself off to cough in his elbow, but Jisung stays frozen. Minho tries to peel his hand off his arm so that he stands up instead. “Let’s get out of here, can you stand up and get on my back—? Oh my god, your hands.”

Minho carefully holds Jisung’s wrist to see the insides of his hands completely burned. Jisung’s breathing is entirely erratic, his cheeks stained with tear streaks, and Minho is just about to start panicking if Jisung doesn’t come with him right away.

“Hey, Jisung? Are you with me?” Minho cups Jisung’s cheek with his hand to make him look up, but he’s blinking rapidly, chest heaving as tears fall from his eyes. He seems to be panicking too much to process what Minho is saying, so Minho takes matters into his own hands, and turns around before hooking Jisung’s arms around his neck, and then his legs around his middle.

Jisung hides his face into Minho’s neck and holds on tight as Minho hoists him onto his back, and he pushes himself off from the floor with help of the couch before starting to walk towards the hallway.

“B-Bbama,” Jisung stutters between uneven breaths and hiccups, tightening his limbs around Minho’s torso.

“He’s outside, d-don’t worry. Channie hyung and Changbinnie are with him. Help is coming,” Minho assures him, his chest feeling heavy in worry. His legs are shaking, but he takes determined steps towards the hallway, sweating because of the heat of the flames licking the furniture around them. 

Smoke is clogging up his lungs, and Jisung’s legs are crushing his hips with the tight grip, but he pushes himself to step over the burning wood that barricades the doorway and to get Jisung outside. 

He can't see much, but luckily it's not that far to the front door. Jisung is coughing into his arm and Minho stumbles, steadying himself on the wall before pushing himself to walk the last bit. 

“Minho? Minho, are you coming? Did you find Jisung?” Chan calls from outside, and Minho yells a choked yes in response, which is all Chan needs to come in and drag them out. 

Minho collapses as soon as Jisung is on the ground, supported by Chan. Changbin comes running to see if he's okay, but Minho just has to get the smoke out of his lungs, just like Jisung. 

“The emergency people are on their way, but it's going to take a couple minutes, since we're not exactly close to society here,” Changbin explains, rubbing his hand along Minho’s back as he checks if he’s breathing. Minho swallows thickly and nods as he takes a couple of deep breaths. 

He quickly stands up to see how Jisung is doing, who is currently being soothed by Chan and Bbama. As soon as Chan sees him, he makes some space for Minho to take Jisung into his arms. 

“Hey, you're safe now. Bbama is here, too. The emergency people are coming,” he whispers, gently wiping away some tears from his cheeks. Jisung is obviously trying to calm down, and Minho isn't sure what to do, but he wants to help him somehow. 

“Can you talk to me? What can I do for you to help?” he asks, because his heart is still acting up a lot—especially when he sees Jisung’s burnt hands hanging off his knees, palms turned up—and he just wants Jisung to stop crying. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, hyung. I don’t know what—what happened,” Jisung whispers, his hands twitching in place. Minho pulls him closer into his chest, carding a hand through his hair and hoping to soothe him a little.

“No, don’t apologize. I’m just glad you’re relatively okay. Do you want to tell me what happened?” He continues to rub his hands along Jisung’s back and through his hair, telling him to take his time to calm down. Bbama is helping him, cuddling up against Jisung’s side.

“I… I was cold, so I sat near the fireplace with a blanket. I—I made sure I sat far enough away to not accidentally drag the blanket near the fire, like I did the past couple of days, but… I was dozing off, and Bbama woke me up and suddenly the blanket was burning—I don’t know how,” he tells Minho through shaky breaths. “I tried to extinguish it, but suddenly—suddenly I heard more fire around me. I-I guess I noticed t-too late? I panicked and I couldn’t f-find the cane… I-I bumped into the side table and I burned my hands while trying to get it upright, but—”

Jisung takes a deep breath, coughing and wheezing a bit. Minho softly encourages him to continue when he’s ready, trying to contain the panic in his chest. “It was so hot. I tried to find Bbama to leave, but it was so hot, I was disoriented. I thought taking off my socks would help me reorientate, but the fire—the fire was too hot. M-My house… I felt so helpless.”

“You’re not. It’s not your fault, Jisungie. You were careful,” Minho assures him, his own eyes feeling a bit wet from hearing Jisung’s shaky voice. He cups Jisung’s face with his left hand, dragging his thumb along his cheek. 

“Thank you, hyung. Thank you for coming for me.” Jisung drops his hands onto Minho’s thighs, palms still turned up, and he leans into Minho’s touch, tilting his body forward into Minho’s space. His eyes are red from crying and from the smoke, and Minho wishes he could do more.

“Are you in pain?” he asks softly, and Jisung slowly nods.

“Breathing hurts. And—M-My hands. I’m scared—I can’t live without my hands,” he whispers, and Minho’s heart cracks. He hates seeing him like this so much, and he hates how his voice gets stuck in his throat when right now is the time to reassure him with words.

“If you’re feeling pain, it should be okay. You’re going to be okay. You’re still feeling,” he says, even though he’s not sure about this at all. He does know that feeling pain after burning yourself is good, it means your nerves aren’t burnt, but he’s definitely not a medical expert. If it comforts Jisung for now, he’s fine, even if it’s a little white lie.

He’ll do his darned best to make sure it’s the truth, though.

The rest of the night is hectic. The fire doesn’t manage to spread much or do too much damage since the house is relatively empty and uncluttered, and the fire department manages to extinguish everything before Jisung is done being examined by an EMT. 

Changbin decides to go home for now, but Chan wants to tag along with Minho to the hospital where Jisung will get a more thorough examination, as well as his hands and feet treated. The EMT briefly examines Minho as well, but other than a couple of bruises and some clogged up lungs, he’s fine. 

Chan calls Jisung’s family to inform them, who decide to come over immediately. Jisung’s parents and brother are very grateful for Minho and Chan to have brought Jisung to safety, but Minho excuses himself so that he can stay with Jisung in the meantime, while Chan keeps his family updated. 

The doctor concludes that Jisung will probably have trouble breathing for a couple of days as well as pain on his burns. They’ll heal, and Minho intently listens to the doctor’s instructions on treating the burns and changing the bandages. The doctor also tells him that his eyes might hurt for a couple of hours, as well, and that he should inform his eye doctor of this next time he visits.

“I hate to say it, but you’ll have to be careful using your hands and feet for a while. And don’t exert yourself too much. Rest a lot and if you feel out of breath, sit down and don’t push it. You should get someone to help you around the house if possible,” the nurse informs Jisung and his family when they arrive. Jisung grimaces and bites on his lip, obviously troubled.

“You can’t stay in the house with the fire damage, and we’ll get the insurance done in the meantime, but it might be best if you and Bbama stay with us for a while, Jisung-ah,” Jisung’s father says with a gentle hand on Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung sighs, and he doesn’t look too happy about staying with his family. 

Younghyun doesn’t look satisfied either, even though he must miss his little brother a lot. He shares a brief look with Minho before Jisung’s father continues, “I know you don’t want to spend time with our relatives or get used to a new environment, but I don’t see another option. You can’t stay home alone, not when the house is like this, nor when you can barely use your hands.” 

“He can stay with me,” Minho suggests, looking between Jisung’s parents. He wanted to spend more time with Jisung anyway, and if it means that he’ll be more comfortable, it’s a win-win. “He is pretty familiar with my house already, and I like having him around, so it won’t be any trouble to house him.”

“Are you sure?” Jisung’s mother asks, her eyebrows drawn together. Minho can imagine that she would be hesitant to just leave her son in the hands of someone she only knew when he was a child. “We really appreciate you keeping an eye on our son and all, Minho-yah, but you don’t have to take responsibility.”

“Yes, I’m sure. I know I was a kid back then, but my grandparents considered you two a part of our family, and I really like having Jisung around. But of course it’s up to Jisung to decide,” he assures her, stepping closer and resting a hand on Jisung’s thigh. Jisung lets out a breath, pressing his lips together. Minho initially assumes he’s thinking about it, but the corners of his lips twitch up.

“I’d like to stay with Minho hyung,” he decides, and maybe Minho is imagining things, but he swears that Jisung looks a little happy about it. Minho holds back the small grin threatening to grow on his face, averting his eyes for a moment. 

“I’ll still call you guys a lot,” Jisung assures his family, who are quick to agree once Jisung explains that he’s been coming over a lot already, and that he feels comfortable with Minho. Even Younghyun attests to that fact, agreeing that he thinks it’ll be good if Jisung stays with Minho, and it makes Minho feel better about being enough to take care of Jisung.

They end up spending almost the entire night at the hospital, making sure everything is done and discussed, so that everyone can go home with a calmer heart. Minho is dead tired when they get back home, exhaustion catching up on him now that he doesn’t have to worry about Jisung’s wellbeing as much anymore.

“How are you feeling now? Is the pain a bit better?” Minho carries Jisung on his back so that he doesn’t have to walk on the bandages on his feet, and puts him on the couch once they’re inside, followed by Bbama. 

“Yeah, it’s better. But…” Jisung trails off, pulling his knees up to his chest, but changing his mind when he puts his feet onto the couch. Minho sits down next to him, humming in curiosity as he puts an arm around Jisung. 

“I feel pretty useless right now. I can’t even do anything anymore,” he whispers, his eyes squeezed shut for some reason. Minho makes a noise of disagreement in the back of his throat before placing a kiss on Jisung’s temple. 

“There. You can do that, too, right?” he says as he caresses his fingers along Jisung’s arm. Jisung’s face grows from a grimace into a tiny shy smile and he bumps their shoulders together.

“I can, but I can’t aim that well without my hands,” he admits, his head slowly turning towards Minho as he licks his lips. Minho zeroes in on his mouth, and he won’t mind it if Jisung happens to miss-aim and kiss him on his lips.

“That’s okay,” Minho absentmindedly tells him, his eyes flicking up but only meeting Jisung’s closed ones. He hopes that Jisung’s eyes aren’t too irritated.

Jisung leans forward and presses a kiss right on the corner of his mouth. Minho’s eyes flutter shut on their own, a blush creeping up his neck as he imagines Jisung’s lips if they were just a centimeter to the right. 

Minho almost wants to use the hand on Jisung’s cheek to push him there, but he won’t. Not tonight. Not when they’re both tired and Jisung is hurt. 

“See? I appreciated that,” Minho says softly. Jisung smiles widely, making Minho’s heart skip a beat as the sadness finally melts away from the younger’s expression. He gently squeezes Jisung’s cheek and adds, “Besides, I definitely understand how you feel. I used to cut or burn my hands a lot when cooking or doing woodworking, and I always felt so useless.”

“It sucks. And I’m sorry that you have to take care of me now.” Jisung sighs, once again leaning against Minho’s hand. Minho lets out a soft scoff and shakes his head.

“Stop apologizing, ‘Sung-ah. I have three cats for a reason, I don’t mind. And…” Minho trails off, removing his hand from Jisung’s face, regrettably, but he’s too tired and his brain-to-body filter is starting to malfunction a little. “I like knowing you’re okay,” he adds softly.

Jisung’s smile isn’t fading, and Minho is starting to feel a little weak in the knees. He needs sleep.

“Come, let’s go to bed. I’m beat. You must be, too,” Minho says as he stands up and pats Jisung on the head. Jisung stands up on wobbly feet, and Minho stands ready to support him or even carry him upstairs if needed.

Jisung seems relatively fine on the carpet, as the burns on his feet are less painful than the ones on his hands. They forgo washing up for tonight, because they’re both exhausted, and Jisung can’t do much for now.

Minho almost falls asleep while changing into his pajamas after giving Jisung a set of comfy clothing as well, but Jisung whimpers softly and suddenly, Minho is wide awake again. Jisung is struggling while taking his shirt off, only using the pads of his fingers while kicking his pants off as well.

Minho shouldn’t watch. He really shouldn’t. But Jisung always seems to attract his gaze. He just wants to see if he needs help or not. Jisung throws on a shirt pretty smoothly, though, and Minho won’t suggest helping him put on pants—he’ll go red for sure. 

“Do you need anything else, Jisung-ah?” Minho yawns and stretches his arms above his head. He notices that it’s getting brighter outside already—they’ve really been up all night. Minho isn’t a night person, he needs his sleep.

“Yeah, uhm, Minho hyung?” Jisung slowly approaches the bed, careful steps on the rug. Minho hums in question as he watches Jisung worry his lip between his teeth. “Is… Can I maybe stay here tonight? Like, next to you?”

Minho’s eyes widen, and he almost blurts out a yes before his brain can even catch up. Instead, he almost forgets to answer. It’s a bad habit to stare and not talk, because he can tell that it makes Jisung insecure if he stays quiet for too long.

“Sure, of course,” he quickly assures Jisung, who relaxes a little at the words. “I think I’d feel better with you next to me, too.” 

Jisung smiles and Minho holds up the covers before inviting him in. Jisung crawls in next to Minho, politely turned away from him. Minho is too tired to think anyway, they both want to sleep as soon as possible.

“Good night, hyung. T-Thank you for everything tonight. Sleep well,” he whispers, and Minho lets out a breath, getting comfortable and feeling warm from the good night wish.

“Wake me up if you need anything, yeah? Sleep well,” he whispers back, a little smile on his face as his eyes droop and he slowly drifts to sleep.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

Minho wakes up with the sun once again, his internal clock too used to getting up early to work on the farm so that he can rest in the evening. He thinks he didn’t sleep more than three hours, but he can’t seem to fall back asleep.

Jisung is fast asleep, his arms crossed over his chest and his lips slightly parted. He looks endearing, and even though Minho wants to know if he’s okay, he can’t bring himself to wake him up just yet. Jisung needs his sleep.

Minho does decide to get up and take a shower to wash away the gritty feeling of having barely slept. He almost forgets that he can just open the curtains to let the sunlight in, but the sun helps him become awake as he puts on some clean clothes. His cats immediately come check up on him once he goes downstairs, and he spots Bbama still asleep in the corner. Like owner, like pet.

“Good morning, Soonie sweetie,” Minho greets his precious little one, who nuzzles his face against Minho’s. “You’ll get your breakfast soon, baby. I’m sorry I got up late, but Jisungie needed me. You understand, right? Did Bbama tell you what happened?”

Soonie meows and lets Minho kiss his nose before going back to sit with the others. Minho smiles and stands up again to make sure all of the animals are taken care of before starting on some breakfast for himself and Jisung.

He takes a tray upstairs and puts it on his lap as he sits on the bed next to Jisung, slowly eating his breakfast while listening to Jisung’s calm breathing. Every time Jisung’s breath hitches a little, Minho worries, but he’s right next to him in case anything happens.

One by one, Minho’s cats slip into the bedroom as well, probably noticing his absence from downstairs. Maybe they’re worried about Jisung, too. 

After breakfast, Minho grabs a book to read and to pass the time. In the back of his mind, he’s dreading the work he’ll have to catch up on around the farm, but now that his sheep are safely with the neighbors a couple farms away and since Chan and Changbin helped him yesterday, he’s sure that he won’t fall too far behind.

He’s dozing off a bit while reading, Doongie purring in his lap, but he’s pulled back to reality when Jisung stirs next to him, the covers rustling with the movement. Minho turns to look at him and he meets Jisung’s eyes, small from sleep. 

The younger one groans softly and uses the back of his fingers to rub his eyes, but he is surprised when he feels the rough texture of the bandages on his hands. Minho lets out a breath and smiles at the sleepy face of his friend.

“Good afternoon, Jisung-ah,” he says softly. Jisung inhales, smelling the food before becoming more alert, blinking rapidly and turning his head towards the tray. 

“Good afternoon, hyung,” Jisung whispers back, his voice a little rough from having just woken up. Doongie purrs, which makes him smile, but his expression contracts when he tries to sit upright, flinching as his hands touch the mattress.

Minho quickly reaches out to help him, his arm slipping under his back so that he doesn’t have to put his whole weight onto his hands. “Careful,” he adds and Jisung nods, his eyebrows drawn together in discomfort.

“I thought it’d hurt less by now,” he mumbles, sitting upright against the pillows and letting his hands rest on the covers. Minho gently caresses his shoulder for a moment, feeling bad that he thinks Jisung is cute at this moment, his hair messy from sleeping, eyes and cheeks a little puffy, because he’s in pain, but he can’t help the way his heart pounds a little faster.

“I made you some breakfast, but I can also change your bandages first if you want,” he says, and he slowly lets his hand trail down Jisung’s arm, softly caressing his wrist at the edge of the bandage. 

“Uhm, second option, please. And you can just go on with your day after that. No need to worry about me, and I don’t want you to give up your day for me,” he says, picking at the tape keeping the bandages together. Minho lets out a sigh and presses his lips together.

“I’ll say it again, Jisung-ah. I like knowing you’re okay. And besides, we both had a long night, so I’m okay with relaxing here with you today,” he assures him before getting the supplies he left on the nightstand last night. “If you insist that I leave you alone for a while, I’ll go water the plants and pick some berries for you while you eat breakfast, though.”

“I know. I know, I never said you have to leave me alone. If it’s what you want, you can stay with me the whole day!” Jisung replies, animatedly moving his head to accompany his words. Minho softly snickers when Jisung adds, “Some berries sound good, though.”

“I hear you. Now let me change the bandages for me while you tell me how you slept,” he says as he starts to peel the bandages off Jisung’s feet and hands. He grimaces when he sees the damaged skin, but the way Jisung wiggles his toes makes him smile again.

“It took a while for me to fall asleep since I feel like my lungs are still filled with smoke, and I had to find a comfortable position with my hands and all, but I slept for a couple of hours,” Jisung tells him with a shrug as Minho opens a small pot of ointment to put on his the soles of his feet. “What about you, hyung?”

“I woke up early and I couldn’t fall back asleep,” he says, keeping Jisung’s face in his vision to see if he’s uncomfortable or in pain when Minho applies the ointment. He seems fine, but his feet look better than his hands.

“Was it okay with me there? In the bed?” Jisung then asks softly. He flinches when Doongie suddenly plants himself on his lap, but he quickly relaxes as the cat belatedly announces his presence by meowing. Minho giggles at the scene, and he starts rebandaging Jisung’s feet.

“Yes, it was nice, actually,” Minho answers, looking up again briefly. Jisung seems like he’s looking right back at him, although his eyes are half-lidded. At least he’s keeping them open now.

“That’s good to know. It really brought me comfort… to know that you were next to me,” Jisung admits, and Minho looks back down, his ears growing warm once again. He knows that Jisung was the one who suggested sleeping next to each other, but it’s still nice to know that he was comfortable and felt safe.

Minho moves to redress Jisung’s hands, making sure to treat him extra gently. “You can sleep here every night, if you want,” he says, absentmindedly running his thumb along Jisung’s wrist. Jisung hums, a small smile appearing on his face.

“I don’t know how to thank you enough, hyung,” he adds softly. Minho feels the blush spreading to his neck because of the sincere tone in his voice. 

To be entirely honest, he doesn’t need anything in return. Jisung’s presence is already enough, and he likes taking care of him. It makes him feel nice, and it’s easier to show his appreciation for Jisung this way, instead of trying to use words.

“You don’t have to. Just you being here is enough.” Minho doesn’t dare to speak louder than a whisper, but he’s sure that Jisung will hear him anyway. He just focuses on treating Jisung’s hands with care, noticing the twitch in his fingers and the hitch in his breathing and trying not to think about it for too long with his sleep-deprived brain.

“There, all patched up.” Minho stands up and wipes his hands on his pants, but he pauses when he sees Jisung’s expression. His eyes are glassy all of a sudden, and Minho’s heart clenches. 

“W-What’s up? Did I hurt you?” He hesitantly cradles Jisung’s face, seeing if he can find any sign of hurt. Jisung’s hands come up to touch Minho’s arm as the former shakes his head.

“No, I’m just touched. And tired. And I'm thankful. And…” Jisung trails off with a deep sigh, using the back of his hand to dab the unshed tears away. Minho holds his breath, anticipating Jisung’s next words, but they don’t seem to come. “Hungry.”

Minho barks out a laugh and grabs the tray of breakfast for him to eat, a towel underneath in case Jisung unknowingly spills something. “Here. If you need my help, tell me, otherwise I’ll go do a little work.”

Jisung grabs the chopsticks and moves them in his bandaged hands a little before trying out a bite. “I think I’ll be fine. Thank you, hyung.” Jisung smiles and starts stuffing his cheeks with food. Minho’s expression softens, and he indulgently watches him eat for a bit.

“No worries. Have a good breakfast. I’ll be right back. Oh, and there’s a window on the wall to your right, so if you need me urgently, you can open it and call for me from there,” he says, and in a moment of bravery—or perhaps weakness, who knows—he leans forward to kiss Jisung’s full cheek. 

There are two things wrong with what he did. First, he should have warned Jisung somehow, either verbally or with a hand on his jaw or something like that. Warning him would mean that Minho has to think before he acts, though, and that makes his feelings a lot more real. 

Second, this was way too domestic for Minho’s heart to not throw a major fit. Who thought it was a good idea to kiss the cheek of the person you’re in love with while he’s sitting in your bed, eating the breakfast you made? 

Oh god. 

“Bye.” Minho storms out of the room before his head overheats and he melts, thinking about domestic scenarios with Jisung. What the heck is wrong with him? Since when is he dreaming of sappy domesticity with a person instead of independence and freedom with his three beloved cats? 

He knew he liked Jisung a lot and that he’s definitely crushing on him, but this is on another level.

Falling in love is both scary and nice, in a way that makes Minho’s head spin. He never thought that someone could flip his world upside down like this, because not only does Jisung make Minho feel like he's not lonely anymore, but he also manages to help him heal the wounds on his heart that came to be after his grandparents passed away. 

And on top of that, Jisung makes him feel so positive and happy, showing him new ways to experience the world, and making him rediscover things he left behind in his grief. 

His farm looks better than it ever has—even if winter is around the corner—and he feels like the days aren't so repetitive anymore. And now that Jisung is in his bed, Minho doesn't think that he wants him to leave. 

It might be selfish to think like this when Jisung is basically bedridden with his burns, but Minho also realizes that it's okay for him to be vulnerable around Jisung again as well, and that Jisung might even appreciate it, since he is basically forced to trust Minho to take care of him.

Minho shivers even thinking about being in Jisung’s situation, and he really admires him for pushing through and allowing himself to be vulnerable around Minho, because shit, being vulnerable is difficult. 

Minho is not good at it, but he’ll try. For Jisung. (And also for himself, because maybe it’ll bring him something good. He felt good about telling Jisung about his parents, so perhaps opening up more will keep it going.)

For now, he’ll distract himself by watering his plants and picking some berries to eat. He puts on his hat to protect himself from the afternoon sun and gets to work, Dori by his side for support and company. 

Bbama joins him as well, happily trotting along next to Dori. Minho asks him if he doesn’t rather want to be with his owner, but he’s not that well-versed in dog-speak as he is in meows, so he doesn’t understand what he answers. 

“Hyung!” Minho suddenly hears coming from the house, and he almost drops his basket as he jumps around towards the sound. Jisung is looking out of the window, leaning his elbows against the windowsill, his upper body sticking out way too far for Minho’s liking.

“Jisung? Why are you hanging out of the window?!” Minho is getting fear of heights from merely looking at the younger, a shiver running down his spine. 

“Hi!” Jisung waves in his general direction with a big smile on his face and Minho can’t hold back a huff, the corners of his mouth twitching up. “I just wanted to see if you could hear me from here. And I’m not hanging, I’m still inside. Can’t you see me?”

“I can. But… I’m getting scared just looking at you. You’re a whole floor up from the ground,” he calls back with a chuckle. Jisung tilts his head in confusion. 

“Scared that I’ll fall? I won’t. I’m inside,” he replies innocently. Minho snickers and shakes his head. The boy is obviously not scared of heights. Jisung then waves again. “I’m getting cold now, so I’m going back to the bed, see you soon, hyung.”

Minho fondly watches Jisung slowly close the window before he goes back to picking the last couple of berries. Seeing Jisung for a bit gave him a little rush of energy, as well as a nice and warm feeling in his chest. 

“Come on, Dori, Bbama, let’s go back and see Jisungie?” Minho suggests when he thinks he’s picked enough berries, and the three of them go back inside. Minho kicks off his boots and dashes upstairs, where he hears Jisung softly hum a melody. 

He finds him sitting on the bed, petting Soonie and Doongie, who are snuggled on his lap. Minho lets himself watch the endearing scene while listening to the soft humming before he crawls next to Jisung and offers to feed him some berries. 

Jisung lets Minho feed him, Minho’s heart going crazy behind his ribs as he realizes how domestic this is once again. Watching Jisung’s lips closing around his fingers does something to Minho, his stomach flipping.

It doesn’t get better when they simply spend the day next to each other, Minho reading to Jisung for a while since he finished his last book, and both of them cuddling their pets.

When Minho’s throat goes dry from reading aloud, they decide to just sit together, softly talking about trivial stuff—things they like about autumn and winter, colors, smells, food, or the sound of the rain. 

The day passes by slowly, Minho falling asleep somewhere right after dinner, and waking up with the feeling of Jisung’s fingertips on his forehead, brushing his hair out of his face. He finds his head resting against Jisung’s shoulder, their arms linked.

“Ah, sorry for falling asleep,” Minho softly apologizes as he stretches his arms above his head. Jisung’s hand falls down to Minho’s chest, but he retracts it completely all too soon. 

“It’s okay. But now that you’re awake, I’d like to take a shower,” he says, but he seems a little hesitant. “I don’t know if it’ll be a hassle, though. It might hurt my hands, but I feel a bit gross.”

“I can help you if you want,” Minho sleepily suggests, already getting out of his bed. “It might be good to change your bandages after, too, so we can just do that as well,” he adds as he starts gathering the supplies, his brain not yet quite caught up to reality.

Jisung stays quiet for a bit too long, though, and Minho realizes that he’s skipping a step. Jisung might be affectionate and blind, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay with everything. “I-If you’re comfortable with me helping you, of course.”

“Yeah, I am. I think I am. It’s just that I’m in my head a little about these things… Thinking like, if only I was normal, things would be easier, you know? For both of us. But mostly for you. But you’re being so kind to me. Anything I say or do, it’s so easy? You make it so easy to just… be myself. Sometimes I wonder if you’re even real,” Jisung rambles cutely. His words go straight to Minho’s heart, though, and they bring a wide smile on his face.

“Well, I can assure you that I’m very much real, so you better get used to it,” he says as he steps closer and gently takes Jisung’s arm in his hand, his heart all the way up in his throat. His face is probably completely pink right now, but Jisung can’t see it anyway. 

He wants Jisung to know how happy this made him, though. He wants him to know what Jisung means to him in return. Minho takes a deep breath and rubs his thumb along Jisung’s arm. “But… I want you to know that I feel the same about that. Life’s a little easier when you’re here.”

“Don’t lie, hyung.” Jisung stands up and bumps their shoulders together, his lips pushed out in a slight pout. Minho scoffs and links their arms before he tugs him along to the bathroom.

“I’m not lying. You have some audacity thinking that I’d say something like this without meaning it. Words are hard, you know?” he protests, making sure to exaggerate the tone of his voice so that Jisung knows that he means no harm, but that he wouldn’t say something like that without being sincere. Jisung laughs and comes up to hug Minho from behind.

“Thank you, then. I appreciate it,” he whispers, his arms wrapped around Minho’s neck. Minho’s ears heat up as Jisung gently noses there, sending shivers down his spine. Minho almost traps him against the bathroom door to kiss him silly right then and there, but he can’t.  

Jisung has to take the first step—Or at least he has to show Minho enough signs for him to gather the courage to do it himself. Logically, he knows that he’ll have to work twice as hard to get signs across because it’s not like Jisung can see him staring at him at every opportunity, so it’s only fair if Minho tries a little harder. 

Before Minho can properly process his own thoughts, they’re both in the bathroom, and Jisung is shamelessly undressing himself. Minho points his gaze towards the ceiling, hoping that the blood will rush out of his face that way, but he’ll have to see his naked body eventually.

It feels so intimate, though. Jisung trusts him enough to just let him take care of him, enough to put the power in Minho’s hands, and Minho feels the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. The responsibility to make sure that he doesn’t regret this, that he doesn’t step over a line, but rather makes him feel safe the same way Minho feels with him.

He slowly lowers his gaze, catching Jisung’s concentrated face as he searches for the toilet so that he can sit there and peel off his bandages. He likes these moments, where Jisung’s eyes are unapologetically open, and he moves in his own distinctive and unique way. 

Jisung is so animated in the way he moves, even though he can’t even see himself. It’s so endearing—the way his eyebrows move, his tongue peeks out every once in a while, or his eyes widen and close.

“Hyung? Are you staring at me again?” Jisung suddenly asks, and Minho’s face might as well burst into flames at that statement. “You sometimes grow so quiet and still all of a sudden and I wonder what you’re doing.”

“I… I was. Just staring at your face,” he admits softly, hoping that Jisung won’t think he’s a creep. “It’s just… I like watching you.”

“That’s okay,” Jisung happily says, before lifting his hands. “I get it. I like touching you, but I can’t really do that right now… Can you help me with these?”

“Y-Yes, coming,” Minho stutters, wondering how Jisung can just say stuff like that, unaware of the effect his words have on Minho. He tries not to think about Jisung running his hands over his face right now, nor their lips brushing together. 

Good god. He’s so gone.

Minho helps Jisung unwind the bandages and gets him into the shower. Jisung sits on a little stool so that he can more easily protect his hands from the water. He flinches a little when the water hits him, but soon, he relaxes under the stream and lets Minho wash away the sweat and grime.

Minho rolls up his sleeves and just rubs some soap onto Jisung’s shoulders and lets it wash down the rest of his body. It’ll have to do for now, because Minho isn’t going to touch him any lower. 

Jisung has his eyes closed, reacting to every little touch, almost seeming to want to lean into them. And Minho almost gets the urge to undress and take a bath with him, maybe even snuggle, because even though it’s intimate, helping Jisung wash himself is pretty relaxing. 

“This is nice,” Jisung whispers, and it feels like it’s just the two of them in their little bubble of universe. Minho wonders when he’ll finally get the courage to acknowledge this thing growing between them, but he keeps being afraid that he’ll ruin the moment by speaking. 

“It is.” He puts the soap down and gently caresses Jisung’s shoulder as he runs the stream of water over it. Their skins are a little flushed from the temperature of the water, and Minho can’t help but think of a little less innocent, but not less intimate, scenarios. Would Jisung like touching other parts than his face?

Okay, nope—Time to turn off the shower. He’s not going there today.

Minho gets him a towel and helps Jisung pat himself dry, before he goes and grabs him some fresh pajamas, and helps him put on some ointment, redress the bandages, and wash up before bed. They lie down facing each other, Minho’s heart still pounding fast from the domesticity of it all. 

“How’s the pain now?” he asks softly, tapping the back of Jisung’s hand with his finger. 

“It’s getting better with my hands. And the pain in my heart isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I don’t miss my house as much. As I said, you make everything easy for me, even something I hate as much as being somewhere unfamiliar. I guess your house is familiar enough, or you make me feel comfortable enough for me not to mind,” Jisung tells him, shuffling a little closer. Minho swallows and carefully places his hand over Jisung’s bandaged one, caressing his wrist. 

“You gotta stop saying these things. I don’t know what to say back,” he admits with warm cheeks after a pause. 

“As you told me this morning, you don’t have to say or do anything in return. Just you being here is enough,” Jisung tells him sincerely, and Minho might just explode with the way his stomach fills with butterflies. Jisung moves even closer until Minho’s nose bumps against his cheek.

Jisung raises his head until his lips brush Minho’s nose, and then he presses a firm kiss onto Minho’s cheekbone, his free hand resting on Minho’s chest. Surely he must feel the way Minho’s heart rams against his ribs, even through the bandages. 

“Jisung-ah…” Minho breathes out, a confession on the tip of his tongue. The question if he can kiss him is burning in his throat, begging to be asked, because good lord Minho would do anything to be able to kiss Jisung right now. But Jisung suddenly lets out a shaky breath and Minho freezes.

“Hyung. Not yet… Not when I’m still like this,” Jisung whispers, backing off a bit, but keeping his hand on Minho’s chest. His cheeks are red, but Minho feels like a whole tomato. Jisung’s fingers crawl up to Minho’s neck, the rough texture of the bandages not enough to mask the warmth of his hand. “Later. Please tell me later, okay?”

Minho malfunctions for a moment. How did Jisung know what he was about to say? Could he hear it in his voice? Can he feel or hear Minho’s pulse going crazy? Or did he guess? 

And what does not yet, later, mean? Does that mean he feels the same thing growing between them? Does he want to kiss Minho as badly as Minho wants to kiss him, or does he want to let Minho down gently, but he’s afraid that he’ll lose the person who is taking care of him?

Is he saying please wait for me, or please don’t make me hurt you right now ? Minho hopes it’s the first one, but he’ll make peace with the second option as long as it prevents him from hurting Jisung instead. He’ll take any damage if it means that Jisung stays unharmed.

“Sure,” he belatedly says—stupid habit of going quiet. He takes Jisung’s hand and places a brief kiss on his fingertips as a sort of promise, perhaps just like Jisung just did. “I’ll… I’ll tell you later. Let’s go to sleep now.”

“Yeah. Good night, hyungie,” Jisung says, his mouth twitching up into a little smile. His lips tremble as if he wants to say something else, but he swallows and simply adds, “I… Sleep well.”

“Sleep well, Jisung-ah,” Minho returns, his chest once again feeling warm. He’s very tired, though, so he falls asleep quickly, despite the fact that his mind is racing. In the end, he thinks he’s glad that Jisung stopped him, because confessing on three hours of sleep when Jisung is still injured wasn’t the greatest idea.

He finds peace in the knowledge that Jisung does somehow know what Minho feels, that means he’s at least doing something right. 

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ End of chapter 1 ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃