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The story begins when a young lady picks it up from the nursery, taking it home away from the others of its like. It has thought that it will be its final home but a few days later he travels away to bigger city, where it's much noisier.
"It's been quite some times since I see you, oppa."
The woman gives a light punch on the arm to a taller man as a greeting, before he moves aside to let her in.
"Sorry, we've been quite busy lately. I'll try to visit more often."
The man's sounds regretful, waiting for her to take off her shoes while standing at the hallway looking like a guilty child admitting his wrongdoing.
"I understand, even mother and father told me to inform you not to worry. They say you always call home so it's fine."
"It's the least I could do."
He immediately notice the thorny plant in the pot and picks it up with amusement, examining it carefully while they have started moving inside.
"Cactus?"
"Yeah, I can't think of much better plant to gift oppa as housewarming gift, so I think this is the safest choice though I hope he would at least pay attention to it from time to time. Even a cactus would die in his hand, you know."
"That's so thoughtful of you, Jihye."
The voice belongs to another tall man, with his hand occupied with a large box, comes into view. He has a goofy smile on his face when he saw her.
"Of course, you're aware that I'm the smarter one between us two, right?"
"You wish."
The man who is still holding its potted figure stay back and watches they hug each other in greeting. There is a smile on his face while watching the two.
"I really don't know what does Changmin oppa sees in you. You really need to treat him well for putting up with you all this time."
Now the man holding the cactus - Changmin, it supposed - walks away leaving the two alone and stops by a large window.
"I'm really good to him, you can ask him if you want."
"Hyung's redeeming quality is he's really generous - he buys me things and food a lot."
There's teasing tone in his voice, as if he's waiting that it would pulls a reaction out of the person and there really is one after his statement.
"Changdollie!"
"Wow, such a deep relationship you have there!"
The man - Yunho - and the woman - Jihye - reacts to it in different way. Yunho sounds like he is whining in complaint and the other says it with faux apathetic, while there's hint of laugh in her voice.
"Aww, look at him. Fine, there's that love too that make me stay. Stop sulking or I'll go home and leave you to clean everything alone."
It is placed at the spot by the window when Changmin joins them again. Jihye smiles at something that Changmin says to Yunho before all three of them moves to another corner with Yunho linking his hand to Changmin.
The view by the window is perfect. It gets the perfect amount of sunlight during the day and when the night comes the city lights dazzles like a distant memory.
Jihye, whom it only stays with for few days take one last look at it before leaving, whispering in low voice only for it to hear.
"I'll leave oppa in your care."
***
Yunho, it soon figures, always goes out early and returns late and sometimes there are days when he's only home after a few days or even weeks later.
During those times, there are days where Changmin would come to water him and and sits by the window, often bringing a book with him and hums lowly while flipping through the pages. Sometimes he would walk around picking up the mess before laying down on the couch and watch the television tills he falls asleep.
There are also days where a big scary looking man comes into the house to water him when both of them are nowhere to be found. Though the man looks scary when it first saw him, he actually has a gentle smile and sometimes would try to touch its thorn with his finger.
Finally, when Yunho's home, he doesn't exactly water it everyday. Sometimes he does, sometimes after a few days of dry spell he would come running with phone to his ear and pours a little too much water while apologizing profusely.
Yunho isn't perfect but it likes Yunho a lot. Yunho often animatedly talks about various stuff. Songs, dance, choreography, recordings, TVXQ- things it has never heard before. Sometimes he would speak in foreign tongue. He isn't one dimensional for sure cause there are days he sounds excited but there are also moments he sounds tired, scared, hopeful.
Yunho has a lot of friend, that's for sure. There are a lot of names comes out from his mouth but the one name he mentions the most is of someone the little cactus knows well : Changmin. Changmin laughed at this, Changmin complained at that, Changmin ate this, Changmin cooked that.
The moment it likes the most is when both of them are home. There are mornings where Changmin would comes to water it with his hair looking like bird nest it once saw as decoration at the nursery. He would look all sleepy but still know the right amount of water he should give the little plant. Sometimes he would be joined by Yunho looking equally rumpled and talk about mundane things with sleep heavy in their voice.
Living with a human like Yunho is fun. For a little cactus, it is probably the best kind of life it could wish for.
***
"Changminnie, have you seen my phone?"
Yunho has turned the living room into a mess when Changmin comes. He is sitting on the floor while trying to peek under the couch.
"You must be joking, right? I literally just arrived, hyung."
"I can't find it, Changminnie."
The way he said it almost mournfully makes Changmin takes out his own and after a few taps there's a music blasting. It's from the back of Yunho's jeans.
"Oops."
"You're cleaning this on your own."
---
In rains heavily that night but the storm in the room doesn't lose to the sound outside.
"Why don't you just shout it in the next live we have, is that what you want?"
"Why did I do?"
"Can you be more discrete about us? Have you seen the titles in those articles? We are lucky they don't out us, Yunho!"
"Is it my false when the reporters are just doing what they are paid to do?"
"If you don't give them anything to write, we wouldn't see such things! We aren't obligated to do fanservice but do you really have to be so transparent with your feelings? Can't you just look at me like any normal person would?"
"Oh, so now I'm not 'normal' to you? Tell me what should I do then. Should I just spew some lies on TV and pretend I don't know any Shim Changmin? You've done it nicely, maybe I should do the same, right?"
"You know the company's order as much as I do, hyung! Stop being stubborn and treading on a thin line."
"Fine, let's do it your way. We'll not acknowledge each other's existence outside of work. Sounds ideal to you, doesn't it?"
Both are equally stubborn and prideful men with neither of them are willing to back down, the fight have been going on for a while. What's merely started as a simple argument has turned ugly when shouting and fingerpointing involve.
There are no more words spoken but there might be sparks flying from the glare they throw at each other before Changmin leaves and slams the door shut, almost at the same time as thunder cracks in the sky. The only man who is inside the room slowly approach the window to look at the road below, as if trying to find someone though it's impossible from the height they're from.
The next few days Yunho mostly stays at home. The sound of television always buzzing in the background whether it's day or night. He doesn't say a word when he sprinkles water on the little cactus. Only looking at it almost he's wishing it knows the little secret at the corner of his heart.
It isn't until another few passing nights it finally hears Yunho's voice again. It's quiet but he's finally speaking again to whoever it is on the other side of the phone.
"No, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be unreasonable when I know we share the same fear."
"It's okay, you're not wrong about that."
"Me too, I miss you a lot. When will you be back?"
"I'll come to yours. You would be tired at that time."
"I miss you."
"Good night, love you too, Changmin."
The sun has just risen but Yunho has just wished Changmin good night which is something a little cactus like it couldn't understand. It doesn't care about the little thing but Yunho is smiling again.
It does understand though that the storm has finally passed.
---
"Long time no see!"
Yunho's voice sound funny, it thought. Not long after that, a white small thing runs in the living room. A small dog, it notes.
"Mangdoongie, come here."
Changmin calls and the dog turns back to follow the voice. It takes a while before Yunho and Changmin comes into the room with Yunho's arm around Changmin and Changmin holding the dog to his chest.
When Yunho disappears to another room, Changmin comes closer to inspect the plant.
"Hyung, did you forget to water the cactus again?"
The dog look at the plant closely when Changmin went away. Yunho indeed forgot to do so today.
"Thank you, Changdol."
Yunho joins him by the window and takes Mangdoongie into his hold, both of them watching Changmin taking care of the plant.
"Why are you acting like stranger? What's there to thank between us."
***
"Hyung! Hyung!"
Changmin is the first to rise that day, on his way to kitchen after coming out of the room when he walks past the window before something in yellow caught his attention.
When the person he calls doesn't come to him, Changmin disappears before returning with a barely awake Yunho. He still tries to get the other man to look at the plant though the said man is actively avoiding from the morning sun.
"Hyung, look at the cactus, it has its own little flower now!"
It makes Yunho to stop curling away and peer at the cactus while standing behind Changmin's body. He jumped forward after noticing the bloom at the top of the cactus.
"Changmin, it's flowering!"
"That's what I'm telling you."
Yunho leaves Changmin without a word and reappear with his phone in hand, a flash aimed at the cactus before he types something and finally put it away.
"I told Jihye that I did good in taking care of her gift."
"I hope I got credited for this milestone as I'm sure I play quite an important role here."
"It would flower earlier if you brought this home."
"Have you lost your mind? It's Jihye's gift when you move here."
"There's another solution."
The contemplative pause before the offer makes Changmin wary of it but he's as curious of what Yunho gonna say.
"Which is?"
"Move in with me."
They share a stare with each waiting for the other's reaction - Yunho for Changmin's answer and Changmin for Yunho to tell him the punchline.
"That's not funny."
"It shouldn't be, I'm serious."
Changmin waits for a while more and Yunho looks like he's patting the cactus in the height of his nervousness. The sun has gotten brighter in the in the background and the world outside is starting to roll for a new day with people going to work or school.
"The management will flip out."
It is his answer when he feels like he needs to stop the insanity before either Yunho or the cactus would get injured first.
"We don't have to tell them. We'll keep your apartment and if some talks reach their ears, it would look like sleepover, sort of, to save time when we works."
Words stumbling like a reckless accident as he didn't has any concrete plan but as he keeps talking it sounds reasonable to his own ears. Changmin is quiet before he leaves for the kitchen.
"Changdol?"
"Gross, is that something you could ask when you literally just rolled out of bed."
Changmin can no longer be seen but his answer is clear.
"That's not a 'no', right?"
Yunho turns with a smile brighter than the sun outside. He touches the flower one more time before disappearing in the same direction as Changmin before Changmin's loud voice and Yunho's laughter reach the little cactus.
It's nice. The morning is lovely and the little cactus looks at the world outside with ease as the cheery voices in the house resembling a familiar tune they always play when they lost in slow dance by the window, when they can pretend there's only them, away from responsibilities and lies.