"There are like six unmanned bedrooms, so feel free to choose whichever you like." Jisung showed Minho each bedrooms while Minho could only stare in awe.

Each bedroom has their own charming point; one has a better view, while the other has bigger mattress. This is the first time Minho had ever felt so torn and so poor at the same time.

Still stuck in his own mind's confusion, a hand brushed on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. It was Eunwoo's hand, and boy, he was smiling widely, it scared the shit out of Minho.

Lowering his body, he whispered a little too loudly, "Why don't you share a room with Jisung? His bed is big enough for the both of you."

"Huh—what?!" Minho and Jisung whispered-yelled in unison.

"You heard me, lovebirds." Eunwoo gave the two his 'come-on-don't-be-shy-I-know-you-guys-are-whipped-for-each-other-so-you-two-better-stop-hesitating-and-sleep-together' look, although Jisung was the only one who can decipher Eunwoo's ambiguous expression.

"But—"

"No buts, motherfucker. I only accept butts." Eunwoo turned on his sassy queen mode (influenced by Bambam's queen behavior). His fingers were busy twirling the keys. His movements are so professional, thanks to his fingering ability. "Jisung, you don't know how it feels like to clean multiple rooms, do you? Don't you pity all the house workers?"

"Eunwoo, I am your boss," he deadpanned.

"Oh, come on Karen, you won't ever fired me even if I act like a lil' missy because you can't live without me." Eunwoo flipped his bangs, already pushing the two high schoolers to Jisung's bedroom. Jisung swore he could hear The Eve by SEX-O playing on the background, and the scariest thing is that the song didn't fit the situation. It made it worse.

Eunwoo was right. After all, he couldn't live without his butler-like assistant. He couldn't pinpoint whether his relationship with Eunwoo is considered platonic, brotherly, or otherworldly anymore.

Eunwoo is that kind of guy who would babysit you like you're his little baby, play with you like that one neighbor's kid, assist you in a professional manner, but also act like that one friend who promised you not to tell your secret and then pushed your body right to your crush's face, creating a whole kdrama scene. One thing for sure, all the naughty sides of Eunwoo are mainly caused by his dear Jisung.

"Umm..." Minho forcefully stopped Eunwoo's movement. "Actually, I was thinking about going outside."

Jisung placed a hand on his chin. "We have a garden. Do you wanna go there?"

"You have?!" Minho couldn't believe his ears. Damn, I got myself a sugar teddy. "I mean sure." He would never get used to this privilege.

"Follow me." Minho nodded and trailed behind the blonde. From behind, Eunwoo was making various expressions that would disgust the couple. Slowly, their traces were getting far away until it disappeared.

"They are so gonna get married. Screw it, I better look good for their marriage."

┉┉

Staring at the same dark sky, the couple positioned their arses on the wooden bench, not on each other's lap, not yet.

Dark. The sky was dark, but it was beautifully dark. Minho began to understand Changbin's obsession. Below the dark sky, colorful splatters decorate the emptiness. From dark red to the shade of fuzzy lime-colored spheres, the garden looked like those gardens in paintings. In Minho's eyes though, the prettiest artwork was lying on his shoulder.

"This place is beautiful." Minho killed the silence, eyes perking on his boyfriend, gently stroking the blond locks, muttering, "But not as beautiful as you."

Choking on air, the younger proceeded on scrunching his nose. "Yo, why do you have to act Felix's cheese sticks." His comments kind of ruined the romantic atmosphere, not like they care about it. Kings don't need Goblin OST on the background to interrupt their moment.

Suddenly, the softest fur ball crashed on Jisung's feet. The boy's ass leaped a little in the process. He looked down only to be met by Elizabeth the 3rd's big blue eyes.

"Elizabitch, you never learn." Jisung picked up the cat, then placed her on his thighs. "How did you get here?" he asked the cat, though his question remained unanswered.

Minho couldn't help but chuckled with the sight in front of him. Well, more like beside him. Jisung with a cat in a garden full of flowers. God, how he wished to have captured this ethereal moment in a photograph and put it inside his transparent phone case, so the world would know how much he loves the boy named Han Jisung.

"Hey, Jisung." The mentioned boy quickly switched his attention to Minho. Hearing his name being spoken instead of his pet name 'Sung-ie' surely caused him to give his attention to Minho.

"Yes, Hyung?"

"Do you remember our first kiss?" Minho abruptly asked.

Not having any clue where this conversation would flow, he responded, "The snicker kiss? How can I ever forget about that." He glared at Elizabeth the 3rd, added, "this bitch and your cats are the culprit. We better thank them."

Minho freed his laughter. "It's funny to think that we wouldn't be where we are now without the cats. Well, to be honest, it all thanks to Felix. After all he was the one who thought we'd make a cute couple."

"His freckles are indeed magical." Jisung recalled every time Felix managed to predict every situation. "But we also work together to reach this destination. Never forget that we can't be us without U."

Minho took Elizabeth the 3rd from Jisung's lap and placed her on his thighs. "All the hard work we've done. Life is so hard."

"And so is my dick."

"What?"

"Never mind." Jisung's cheeks flushed in beet red once again. Stop saying weird things! He cursed under his breath, regretting every words.

They stayed silent for a while to calm their tits down. It was Elizabeth the 3rd's purring that continuously distracted their train of thoughts.

Coming back to his senses, Jisung figured that now's the perfect time to discuss what's been bugging him for a long time.

"Hyung." They stared at each other's eyes before continuing, "why do you have cats?"

"Huh?" Minho was a bit startled upon responding to Jisung's question. "My Auntie gave them as a present." He petted Elizabeth the 3rd's head while thinking about his cats who were sleeping inside the mansion.

Jisung felt unsure as he asked a simple "Really?" to Minho. He didn't mean to push the older, but his words are like toothpaste; once the content is out, there's no going back. What's said cannot be unsaid. It can only have purpose if someone allows it to.

Minho was taken aback. Perhaps he shouldn't lie anymore; not to Jisung and not to himself. At least that's what he's thinking.

"N-not really..." he said, stuttering. "I was just so lonely back then, but they were indeed a gift from Auntie."

"... so your cats are given to you with the sole purpose of replacing the feeling of lost? Is that so?" Jisung and Minho stayed silent for a second before Minho could react.

"How do you know?" His eyes widen in surprise. Jisung calmed the older by placing his warm hand on Minho's already warmed ones. Slowly their fingers connected the way their hearts are.

"It's just a silly thought. Perhaps you and my dad are so much more alike than what I thought firsthand."

"So I'm your father now?" Again, Jisung was beyond pissed with Minho's density, but guess what? He's about to break some walls and we're not talking about the fourth wall, nor the iron wall. We're talking about Wall Maria. (wtf is wrong with me)

"Do you know why I used to hate cats?" Minho hadn't had the chance to answer. "It's because I'm jealous. Elizabitch received more attention than me, thus I despise her with all my life... but you know what? It's all in the past now."

"I can't see any correlation—" He was cut off again.

"I kinda understand why my dad acted that way." He rested his head on Minho's shoulder again. "Pouring his love toward Elizabitch was his way of grieving. He can't move on, believing that his dear wife is still by his side. Truth is, she isn't. That's why he was being all lovey dovey with Elizabitch like she's her wife."

"But it can't be replaced because Elizabeth is a cat," the latter continued his sentence. When he saw Jisung's smiling at him, he knew that he was right. He had been thinking about this too for a while.

"I heard from Eunwoo that my mother gave him Elizabitch's ownership before she's gone MIA. She gave him a cat to accompany him, giving him subtle signal of her farewell." Jisung had finally finished his story.

"That's... sad." Minho couldn't find the appropriate word to describe this new information he's given.

"Hyung, they're dead." Jisung's hand find his way to Minho's cheek, wiping out fresh tears. "Your cats are not your parents."

Minho felt his heart ache in every minute. Jisung was only stating the truth and Minho was having a hard time believing what's real since he's still stuck in between times. Unable to differentiate reality and fantasy. It was a hell he created himself, thinking he had created paradise. In the end, the truth always hurt like hell. However, it shows you a glimpse of paradise: a satisfactory result.

"Move on."

"I can't!" His tears wouldn't stop falling.

"You can," he reassured.

"It's not that easy!"

"I never said it was easy." Intertwining their fingers, Jisung carefully placed their connected fingers on Minho's chest. "You have to keep going forward. Despite all the circumstances, they're always here... in your heart, so you don't have to be sad because it will make them sad as well."

"How?" He used his free hand to gripped their connected hands a little to hardly. "How am I suppose to move forward?" His voice sounded so weak, it shattered Jisung's heart.

"With me."

"Huh?"

"Open your eyes, Hyung." He planted soft kiss on his side. "I used to close my eyes too, and then I realized that I have Jumin, I have Eunwoo, Bambam, Felix, Straight Kids, other dumbasses, and I have you. It might sounds ridiculous, but trust me, the world looks more beautiful when you have surpassed the clouds."

"I wish I can see that too." They looked up, diving into the abyss.

"Chunhua told me that you're a nice guy. You gave her an umbrella when it's raining. You make her world more colorful. Despite she's not yours anymore, she said she's always praying for you, so that you can find someone who would give you an umbrella like how you gave people your umbrella."

Hearing his past being mentioned surely put him off guard. He never thought about it until now.

Suddenly it hit him. Everything made perfect sense. It was Jisung. Jisung was that guy who gave him his umbrella during his rainy days. The person that Chunhua had been praying this whole time is Jisung.

Again his tears took control over his face. Smiling, he stared at Jisung's glassy iris.

"I'm glad it's you."

Jisung couldn't help it anymore. Swiftly he moved his head closer to Minho. His hands were both on his cheeks, wiping all the tears away as his lips slowly kissing Minho's salty ones.

They were being extra careful, remembering that Elizabeth the 3rd was still sitting on Minho's lap. Minho returned the kiss as he cupped his hand on Jisung's face, then gradually traveled to his hair, ruffling each strands as the kiss went deeper, slower, more tender. It felt like their first kiss all over again.

Jisung was the first to broke the kiss for some air. Their eyes met in the process, both were sparkling. They had never felt so alive. That kiss they shared was a sign of their rebirth as new people; still with the same heart. However, the walls were broken down. Now their scars are visible, waiting for the time to kill the sorrow and eventually heal the wounds.

Jisung placed soft kisses on Minho's knuckles. One by one, he made sure to make the older happy. "Hyung, I wanna walk with you under the rain. It's not about who's giving an umbrella to whom, it's about us. I wanna feel the rain with you just as much as I want to see the rainbow with you."

"I don't like the idea of getting ourselves drenched on purpose." Minho lowered his voice. "Let's make our own umbrella and walk together. This time I promise to open my eyes."

And so he did. It wasn't easy at first. Seeing life from a whole new perspective surely felt satisfying. Minho looked at the sky. He stared at every object on the endless sky. Many stars, a bright moon, city lights, flying objects. All of a sudden the sky looked way different than how he saw it before. It's way different.

The sky wasn't so dark after all.

"Bambam?!" Jisung yelled upon seeing a ghostly figure behind one of the plants. The mentioned guy began to show himself soon after.

Bambam approached the two, more like Minho. "I've captured a beautiful picture of you two with Elizabeth the 3rd in the garden beneath the moonlight. This is something that you should put inside your transparent phone case." Bambam handed him a photo just as he described then left without goodbye.

┉┉

Finally I feel so satisfied with Minho and Jisung's emotional encounter. I hope I've done a good job. Kinda feel like I'm going way too slow with the plot, but at the same time it's doing a good job for their development. Idk tho, I'm starving.