_

and then before he knew it, mingi had turned back to the sidewalk and was speaking to the passers-by, asking if they had anything they could spare.

he really meant it when he told yunho not to worry. he was clearly used to having no one to help him but himself.

so without saying another word, yunho simply got up from the ground, which was still cold, and proceeded into the store. but there was no way he was going to not worry - he just wasn't that kind of person.

he logged into the computer and checked the orders for the day: he had two wedding bouquets to prepare and a further four flower displays for corporate events. and this would be on top of the walk-in customers, of which there was always plenty.

a particular order caught his eye: this customer wanted a "bright bouquet heavily featuring sunflowers" for their girlfriend whose favourite flower it was. sunflowers were yunho's favourite too. the rich intensity of their yellow colouring was like a huge boost of serotonin for the onlooker. they were bigger and taller than other flowers, and yunho found this poetic: happiness will always prevail, something like that. and aside from that, they were simply very aesthetically pleasing and a great foundation for arranging.

his sister had always loved sunflowers too, but he tried not to get too lost in those thoughts as he set to work - it was going to be a long day. it wasn't the first time yunho had thought about how much he really could use another member of staff, an assistant or something like that.

he usually didn't mind working alone, he would just turn on the radio and get on with his work and the hours would go pretty quick. plus he always had a break to go see san, which broke up the day nicely.

and that wouldn't be any different today.
at 12:30, yunho stopped what he was doing, locked up the shop and made his way round to aurora.

as soon as he stepped out of the door, he was immediately hit by a wall of heat. this summer was turning out to be a particularly warm one and the streets were bustling with people in shorts, eating ice cream and drinking iced americanos. undoubtedly many were heading for the park to enjoy the sun with friends.

yunho felt happy that the streets were busy, hoping that this would mean that mingi would receive more spare change than usual. but as he looked down into the cup, he saw that, so far, the day had been no better than usual.

"hey mingi" yunho said, trying to sound positive.

"oh, hi yunho!" mingi replied brightly.

"how are you today?"

mingi looked up to yunho, shielding his eyes from the sun, "very hot" he said with a chuckle.

"I love this kind of weather", yunho informed him, "but you're right, it's way too hot today", he conceded.

"it's better than the cold, that's for sure" mingi laughed awkwardly.

yunho furrowed his brows, "do you have enough water, mingi?"

mingi glanced down to the plastic bottle beside him, "I have a little"

"shit, that's not enough..." yunho replied concerned, "... wait, I'll be right back"

mingi looked confused as yunho scurried away towards the door of aurora "what are you doing?

"hang on a sec...!"

_

mingi waited while the other male disappeared into the coffee shop, wondering what yunho was up to. he had a pretty good idea: he was going to buy him a drink - or even worse, some lunch.

he didn't want him to do this, he hated being a burden to society as it was and he didn't want to be a burden to yunho either. and aside from this, it fucking embarrassed him to need to be bought food to actually fucking live from a guy he practically could have gone to school with. he thought about getting up, walking away and returning later on, when yunho had gone home. but before he could, yunho came back into sight with, as he feared, food clutched in his arms.

it was very kind of him, mingi should be grateful... and he was so hungry - he really couldn't afford to turn it down.

yunho placed a sandwich, an apple, a cookie, a smoothie and a bottle of water down on the floor next to mingi. "please... eat" he said as he straightened back up slowly.

mingi face softened as he saw how genuinely concerned yunho's expression was. "you didn't have to..." he whispered.

"I wanted to" yunho argued, and then paused before he asked the next question, one mingi never expected: "...can I eat with you?"

mingi didn't have time to answer and almost did a double take as the other boy sat down on the ground next to him, pulling his own food out from a crumpled paper bag.

"what are you doing?!" mingi asked, dumbfounded.

"well, I want to eat my lunch with you" came the reply.

mingi's usually bright features darkened, "no, you don't" he disputed.

yunho was bound to get up now, whatever stupid idea had been in his head had surely been dispelled by mingi's harsh tone. but what he did instead was unexpected, to say the least. he picked up mingi's sandwich and peeled back the plastic film, then placed it back down in front of the red haired boy. he stuffed a large piece of sandwich in his mouth as he ordered: "eat".

mingi simply stared at him in disbelief, causing yunho to repeat the order. "eat" he said again.

what a sight: a successful, well-dressed shop owner sat on the actual ground, eating a sandwich from a paper bag with a homeless boy. yunho must be out of his mind.

"isn't this... bad for business?" mingi asked, repeating the words of the woman who owned the bookstore.

yunho let out a short laugh, "I don't even know how to reply to that-"

"-I'm serious. what if one of your clients see you?"

yunho smiled softly, "I think we'll be okay"

mingi looked down at the sandwich. it was chicken and lettuce, which he loved, but it really could have had any filling right now. his stomach groaned in yearning for the food. it would be the first thing he had eaten that wouldn't be past its sell by date in the longest time.

he felt embarrassed, yes. this boy was obviously pitying him. but he didn't feel like a charity case, per se. he felt like - for some bizarre reason - yunho actually wanted to eat with him. but why?

"what about your friend?" mingi pointed out.

"hmm?" yunho asked, mouth full of sandwich.

"the friend you usually eat with? from the coffee place"

"oh, he's super busy today. everyone wants their iced coffees due to the hot weather"

of course, mingi thought. there's no way he would have chosen to sit and eat with an actual homeless boy if he didn't have any other choice. in fact, this was probably some kind of joke the two had concocted together: "I bet you won't talk to the homeless guy", some shit like that.

"are you making fun of me?!" mingi questioned, his tone suddenly sharp.

"what?"

"is this some kind of game? a bet or something?" he pressed.

yunho's eyes were wide as he watched mingi push aside the sandwich he had been enjoying not two minutes ago.

"of course not... I only wanted to h-"

"-yeah, you wanted to help right? do your bit for charity?!" mingi's voice was slightly raised now and he was drawing the attention of people on the street.

yunho was astounded. this boy was usually so mild, so sweet. he couldn't understand how his well-meaning actions had led to him reacting this way.

"just leave me alone" mingi said finally, "...I'm better alone"

"mingi... please..."

"leave me alone!" he yelled, causing yunho to quickly scramble to his feet.

"I'm...sorry..." he spoke as he picked up the remainder of his food before entering the flower shop and locking the door firmly behind him.

_

and then mingi buried his face in his knees and cried.

why did his life have to be like this? why was he forced into this shitty position? and why did he push away any chance of help?

he cried and cried, but yunho didn't see him as he busied himself with another arrangement, pretending he didn't care about what had just happened, even though he really did.

more than he should.

_