summary: "hey, we now have one thing in common: we both have the worst partners." or where minghao is a victim of cheating in 1960s seoul, and meets someone in a similar situation to himself
inspiration: the vintage bingo challenge that occurred on the seventeen fanfiction amino! it's closed now, but the august challenge is up and ready for people to start participating! the prompt for this was: 'a romantic date at lover's peak - but wait, isn't that your dad?'
song: time and fallen leaves by akmu
a/n: i've never written gyuhao before and this was a new yet fun experience for me! but i still live for junhao don't get me wrong
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"why am i such a damn fool?!" minghao scuffed his toe cap on the gritty pavement, feeling prickly tears beginning to surface. he trusted junhui, but of course he turned on him, just like everyone else did.

he could remember the scene painted in front of him as if it had just happened. it involved two other boys, shirtless on the couch once minghao returned from his day job. he could think of nothing better than spending some time with his boyfriend after a dragged day at the diner. but the picture implied that the other half thought otherwise. he remembers junhui scrambling off of the sofa and enclosing him in a deep hug, running his fingers through the younger's hair. he remembers junhui repeating apology after apology, but no explanation being spoken of. he remembers junhui being pushed away from him by himself and the look on the older's face being shocked, as to why minghao had pushed him away. he remembers junhui gawking while minghao ranted on about how he knew all along that something wasn't right, but how he kept quiet to make junhui smile as the days went on.

entering lovers' peak, the chinese boy felt out of place. it was called lovers' peak for a reason. it was a place for confessions to be made, admirations to be shared, and hugs to be held. it was no place for a victim of adultery, who just wants to reminisce about the times where he didn't know of it. but, unfortunately, there's not a park called 'loners' retreat', so this beautiful piece of artwork with opposing meaning to minghao's reason would have to do instead.

to be honest, it gave off a tranquil aura. with it's refreshing waters that reflected the environment like mother nature's mirror; it's shamrock grass blades that populated the ground, overwhelming the odd daisy here and there; it's sky-scraping trees of oak and willow and maple and mahogany, with each autumn leaf falling delicately into place and fixing the puzzle with the other leaves; with its features, the place allowed minghao to breathe easier, each inhale a curiosity, and each exhale a relief. it was close to sunset, the tangerines and periwinkles only just starting to surface amongst the sapphires and porcelains. it was like a sky cocktail, each colour intertwining with the other. minghao was in awe at its beauty, his feet dragging him towards the small pond in the middle of the park.

glistening in the faded sunlight, it waved at the chinese boy, rippling gently in the silence. he brushed his hand against the liquid, and watched his arm drift his fingers across, the forces of the water pushing and pulling on his muscles. drying his hand on his boot-cut jeans, he stared at his reflection in the pond, watching the natural ripples blur his face. he imagined the water being like junhui not wanting him, and he then saw the ripples start to multiply after his tear droplets collided with the pond. he knew that junhui was lying, he'd just hated to admit it since he discovered the truth.

but then he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he saw a face in the water. not just his own, but a taller, flawless man who just bit his lip. ebony hair parted from his roots at a side parting on his head, and it never seemed to lose its volume. tanned, immaculate skin covered him from head to toe, and situated as the main star of the stage was his kind, coffee eyes, surrounded by a similar rose puffiness to minghao's own. the boy's hand massaged minghao's shoulder as they both carried on staring into the water, and his mind started to drift to the idea of why the man was here. was he here to give the heartbroken support? was he a lover? was he a loner? minghao obviously didn't know the answers, however, seeing as he wasn't a psychic.

"heartbroken as well, eh?" the other spoke up, breaking the silence and minghao's train of thought. his eyes were drawn to taller boy's, his mouth a tight red knot when it came down to answering. he couldn't not admit it - the mysterious guy by the river was cute. all minghao was capable of doing was nodding. "only if people respected our feelings nowadays, it's not like men don't have feelings either. but hey, we now have one thing in common: we both have the worst partners."

the chinese boy managed to untangle himself from his awkward side, and decided to contribute to the conversation. "he would always say he loved me." he whispered quietly, only slightly coming out of his shell for the cute boy.

"hmmm?"

"he would tell me he loved me before i went to work. he would tell me he loved me when i came home from work. he was always there to tell me he loved me when i woke up and when i went to sleep. but now, it feels like my gift was a jumble of lies."

"sounds a lot like my wonwoo," the boy added, "the bag of trash he is- hey, why are you crying?"

"i don't wanna cry," minghao admitted, releasing his hand from the grasp of his pocket in order to wipe away more tears. "but it's just the thought of the guy i put my trust into crushing it up like ice and pouring it into his cocktail, only for it to melt away like it was nothing."

"he must've been a fool." the guy took his hand off of minghao's shoulder and pivoted on the heel of his foot, so then he was facing the emotional boy. "but i hope not to be one, i'm mingyu."

"my name is minghao, and i'm a fool for loving junhui."

"you're not a fool, it's just that he kept a lot of secrets up his sleeve that you weren't expecting at all. think of it as...a terrible plot twist."

"care to explain?"

"it doesn't make sense. it was like high school musical suddenly happened to gain the powers of harry potter and they all transferred to some school in mordor. complicated and confusing. it would've been fine without it, but they decided to throw it into your life like a chef with his salt."

"that's an odd way to describe a plot twist." minghao giggled,

"but it got the point across, as i can tell." mingyu grinned, then rubbing his hand on minghao's arm, subtly asking for permission to hold his hand. "come, let's sit down and get to know each other's struggles."

legs swinging back and forth on the crooked bench, minghao began to feel more comfortable with the mysterious man called mingyu. after taking him to a seat adjacent to the sidewalk and opposite the shimmering lake, mingyu began to talk a lot. he talked about his own boyfriend, and how he was betrayed as well by the love of his life. but he never got emotional, not once. minghao could cry a river over junhui, about all the good times they'd experienced going to waste, but not mingyu. he talked about all the good times, but he reminisced in them, and seemed as if they were not effected by the adultery that had occurred in his life. minghao was quite awed by that.

"how do you do it?" he questioned, mingyu pausing to process the question for a second before answering.

"you mean reminisce?" minghao nodded, "it takes a lot of strength, but you just have to breathe and remember the times where you didn't care. those times when you loved him truly were the happiest, and remembering them with the right mindset can change your upset mood in an instant."

"that's only something i can dream of doing, he broke me so much that not even super glue can put me back together."

"there's no harm in trying though, is there?" mingyu gave the younger a reassuring smile, but minghao looked away and to the pond.

"maybe another day."

a silence sat in the atmosphere bordering the two, thoughts circulating both of the boys' heads. minghao felt quite heated, maybe it was the humid weather, or the fact that he's sitting next to such a handsome boy. a handsome boy who happened to be stuck in the same situation as he, and still managed to stay positive. a handsome boy who happened to be as cheesy as he was kind, and somehow made minghao smile more in the past half an hour than he had during this year with junhui (although they'd been together much longer). a handsome boy who had a golden heart, covered by a somewhat sexy exterior. he felt quite blessed to be situated in a time where the kindest of strangers would be out and wandering at eleven o clock at night. it was a beautiful silence for minghao to reflect on his time with mingyu, but it was interrupted by an unnatural vibration from his pocket.

"hello?" the young boy answered his phone,

"minghao! nice to hear your voice again!" an old voice rang through his ears, the chinese boy noticed the voice once it came out of the device speaker. "how are you?"

"alright, dad."

"me and your mother were wondering if you wanted to invite your boyfriend of yours to dinner back here in china? it would be lovely to meet him, and from everything you've said, he seems like a nice boy." minghao could feel the bile begin to rise up his throat, as his stomach swirled with fear and his heart pulsed swiftly.

"b..but what about getting there?" nervously questioned minghao, trying to get himself out of the situation.

his father chuckled, "of course we'd pay for it, you fool! come on, it'd be nice to finally meet your boyfriend!"

giving a worried look to mingyu, he mouthed a sentence to the older, pleading for help and advice. subsequently thinking for a second, mingyu faintly whispered for minghao to tell the truth, leading the brown haired to gulp down his nervousness. "i can't, father."

"why not? are you nervous? we'll support you, we are your parents after all!"

"it's not that, it's junhui." minghao sniffed, "he...well, he kinda cheated...on me." letting out a choked sob, he could feel an arm snake around his waist, pulling him closer to a warm body, making him feel relatively toasty inside. "he cheated on me with another man and i've just come out for a walk to calm down."

"oh son," his father sighed, his child allowing two tears to drip down his face with closed eyelids. "your first is never the one, you know? your mother was my fifth, and she's perfect. who knows? you might be lucky, and have your second be the one."

"maybe, dad." his mind went straight to mingyu, and thoughts of minghao waking up to a gorgeous face like his every morning only seemed like a fantasy. "just maybe. see you soon." then, he hung up, and looked up at mingyu with beaming eyes, yet the black-haired boy just sweeper any collecting dust off of his beige trousers, and balanced himself once his body was perpendicular to the ground.

"it's nice to have met you, minghao." he reached out his hand, and shook the younger's, giving the muscle a good squeeze before letting go and strolling back home.

"likewise!" he shouted, smiling from ear to ear. minghao took a breath of cold air that the tall boy left behind, letting it linger in his lungs for just one second, and then exhaled. as he went to wipe his weary eyes, he noticed something smudged on his hand in azure ink, a small messages and a set of numbers. as he went to read the scruffy writing, out of the corner of his eye, the handsome boy dropped a pen, scrambling to pick it up and flashing a cheesy smile at the chinese boy who apparently didn't notice him at all.

maybe i like you, maybe i like you not. the only way to find out is if you call me ♡