Gino

“You know~ 

I can’t afford all that, right?” Gino questioned flatly, then watched Min pick out 5 lipsticks at a time. 

Min hummed. His head down as if he were a child being scolded. He might’ve felt the pressure of Gino’s restlessness; a point edging on irritation.

It was amusing, but Gino felt sluggish, with an odd sense of melancholy. He wanted to go home. But Min had been too invested in the store products. He’d pick out lipsticks and hold them against Gino’s lips; matching colors to his skin tone, to see which he preferred. 

He was on a set of 4 different shades of mauve pink. Gino could feel his chapping lips tighten.

“Ju-,” Gino sighed, “just put 'em away. 

~And hurry up; the groceries’ been delivered. Let's do this another time.” 

Min hesitated and played with one of the lip sticks on the shelf, stalling to see if Gino would change his mind. A behavior Gino usually found cute but Min was the one who wanted burgers today; for their ‘picnic’. If they didn’t get back to his apartment soon the ground beef he ordered would be unsafe to eat; especially given that Trish wasn’t home to take the groceries in. 

“Fine, pick one and I’ll buy it,” Gino said in a soft defeated sigh. He’d get home faster if he gave in.

“You’re gonna wear it right?”

“Of course, I’m gonna wear it.”

“sighhhh~; they all look good though,” Min played coy; a frustrated grunt muffling out when Gino didn’t budge. “Let me- you can’t just buy one…” Min mumbled, shuffling back through the ones he was looking at before, “treating me like a kid in a candy store’ he mumbled.

He held out one called blowjob and chuckled. “Sexy,” he whispered, wiggling his head seductively.

“Gross,” Gino chuckled tiredly.

“You know what?... I’ll just buy it then,” Min said, dumping ten shades of carefully selected lipsticks into the basket Gino held. Gino grimaced. 

“Ahhhh. Fuck you,” Gino retorted bluntly, rising a laughter from Min. they'd expire before he’d get through them.

“Aw, ain't I a great sugar daddy,” Min grinned, “Getting you the fancy stuff too lol,

-Oh put this on,” he hummed holding out a dark shade of blue sample lipstick, “this’ll look better on you for your-that goth stuff project thing, than the purple you picked,”

“The theme is black purple, Min.” 

Min held out the lip brush against Gino’s lips in severe concentration; comical, and unneeded for that moment. “Well, this looks better on you lol. Guess some people don't have an eye for these things-

“Lol, I’m not the model,” Gino smirked, poking Min’s head and taking the disposable lip brush from him.

“Tch,” Min clicked his tongue.

“Min-seok?” A soft woman’s voice called. Gino watched as Min’s head energetically turned around. A short, tanned, blonde(dyed) woman stood behind a decorative shelf. Her head peeked out innocently. Her 3b? -ish hair bouncing along with her movements. She smiled at Min. His demeanor changed drastically. To that of a puppy’s. 

“Nya,” Min replied enthusiastically. His voice, something warm and breathy. Gino sighed, resting his body against the table behind him. Min's head jerked back to him for a second, side-eyed. 

Then an eye roll. Lol.

“What’re you doing here?” She asked, walking closer to them. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Her voice playfully stern. Gino chuckled. 

Min smiled sheepishly. Chuckling with no response. She smiled in return. 

 

Chitter chatter. They chittered.

Gino waited, shifting in his feet. Rubbing his lips. Wondering if it’d be rude to…. Maybe interrupt. Or shoo her.

… He wanted burgers and sleep. His eyes were heavy. 

“Oh this is my friend Gino,” Gino turned at the sound of his name. He nodded. Rubbed his lips in the silence. 

She clenched her jaw, furrowing her brow; in.. disgust? “-and this is Nya” he grinned, “my girlfriend”.

Ah, of course.

She grinned along. The sides of her lips locked as she tried not to stare too long. It was the lipstick; maybe.

Gino sighed. It didn’t matter. He reached into Min's hoodie pocket and took his wallet and tapped his head until he nodded in acknowledgement. A bit of visual annoyance on Mins part. 

Lol. 

They sounded like background tv dialogue when Gino left to pay.

He leaned his body against the checking desk. Anvil type heavy. 

The price stared at him. Well, he wasn’t the one paying. 

Lol, his thought bubbled. 

He packed the items into his backpack and returned to Min and the girl. But. They made plans. Min looked at him.

Blankly.

Bitch. 

“Nya likes this restaurant…” he looked at her, grinning. She covered her mouth and chuckled a bit. Cause Min’s cute like that. Ew. 

“It’s a burger joint that just opened up,” she continued, “I’ve already been there several times, thought it’d be cool to go with y’all.” She expressed enthused….excitement.

 The hell? The air must’ve been replaced with laughing gas or something.

“A little trio date?” She whispered and chuckled, Min smiled…..

She paused.

“Oh,” “uh you may not even like burgers or are-“

“I’m fine,” Gino replied, his voice deepening and tired.

“Ok then,” she smiles. “I’ve gotta pay for my stuff so y’all go wait outside.” She held up Gino’s wrist and high fived it. Min giggled as she scurried away. 

They waited outside the store for her instead of leaving the mall like Gino thought. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Min played a game on his phone. The tapping sounded nice. 

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Min started. Gino hummed in response. Something neutral and incoherent. 

Min hummed. He said something but his voice sounded small somewhere. Gino might have been sleeping. 

It didn’t matter since Nya came soon after. She grabbed Min by the forearm and led him outside. Gino followed behind. 

They reached the garage. Nya sat with Min. They talked about something. She might’ve caught her dress on Min's bike, but Gino wasn’t looking. He could just hear her squeal, then laughter, then Min’s.

Gino got on his bike. They revved their engines and drove away.  Min led and Gino followed close behind-

Until he didn’t.

He thought he might’ve seen cherry blossoms; or something.

Though. It was July; maybe cooler than usual but it was July nevertheless. 

His engine had stopped when he came to. He was confused; in the middle of the road, in a small suburban neighborhood with yellow houses. It was a little surreal. 

His body weighed him down; ship-tank heavy. 

How did he get there? Was he still in the city?-

He couldn’t remember. Just a static haze of confusion. 

His phone rang.

It was loud. His clammy hands took it out of his pocket. “Hello?” He answered. His voice was dry and breathy. He rested his body against the head of his bike. 

“Where are you?” Min asked softly. A soothing calmness that made Gino think of sleeping. ”Did you go home?”

“No, I just got a bit lost.” Min sighed. Sounding a bit relieved. “Uh,” Gino paused; the fog slowly leaving his head. “Where am I going again?”

“I texted the address to you,” he paused, “l, uh, sent it- nevermind. We’ll be waiting.” 

Gino checked his phone. It was bright. -6:20 pm; the number seemed nice. -It would’ve been nice if he did see cherry blossoms. 

He started his bike and made sure he focused this time. And it wasn't as far as he expected. He thought he may have been cities away. Or something or not, he didn't know. 

The place was busy though; a medley of restaurants and people. Their voices and the sound of cars meshed together into white noise. 

How nice.

The store was gilded with strings of light. Nice and noticeable for his muddled mind. 

He saw Min and Nya seated by the window. It was comforting that he didn't need to call for where they sat. He entered. Their heads turned up to him as he sat across from them. Min stared.

“I got lost.” Gino bluntly stated. His head was empty but somehow worded it for assurance.

“From a five minute drive,” Min mumbled a scoff in response. Gino's feet gently stepped on his. It was meant to be hard but came out otherwise. Min rolled his eyes. 

“So you guys were shopping for make up?” Nya chimed. Her expression was nervous. “That’s nice~?” 

“Yeah I like to get dolled up for my sugar daddy lol,” Gino chuckled and Min laughed. Nya’s eyes widened and laughed in confusion.

“Lol, no” Min started, chuckling through, “it’s his job; and hobby. He’s an esthetician. Beautician.”

“Ohhh, that’s funny,” Nya smiled a bit relieved. “I didn’t expect that, I thought you’d be a student chef like Min-seok.”

“Honestly, true, if you taste his cooking you’d think so too,” Min expressed, excitably. “I’m better though,” he stated sheepishly.

“Whatever,” Gino mumbled with a smile. His voice lowered as he sank into the chair. “I haven’t seen you before, Nya. Though I don’t go to the school anymore, I still come often.”

Nya peeked, “Oh yeah, I actually just graduated,” she smiled. “Um, in software engineering.”

“Ohh, then how did you two meet,” Gino said, monotoned. Devoid of interest, if he asked a few questions Min would eventually get excited enough to carry the conversation.

“Oh, haha, I can’t remember,” Nya flustered, Min chuckled. “Ok, it’s actually funny. She was being weird, cute tho if you think about it…..” Gino’s left leg rested on Min's foot, his voice faded until Gino couldn’t hear him anymore. His body felt paralyzed in comfort. The place was busy. Did they eat already? Gino couldn’t tell. His eyes blurred. It was just colors at that point. 

Then he felt pressure on his foot. “What do you want?” Min asked 

“Chicken lol,” Gino chuckled; no one laughed. The waiter chuckled, probably. Gino sat up, and his mind cleared a bit. “I don’t know, you pick. Or Nya, she knows this place.”

Min crossed his legs. He looked down at the menu. “Well I guess we’ll all have the house special.”

“Cook time?” The waiter asked.

“Well done, thank you,” the waiter wrote it down and left.

Gino looked up, his eyes focusing. The waiter looked tired, well aren’t they both. It was his one day off. Probably not the same, at least Gino got to sit sometimes at work. 

-Did They order? Gino hadn’t heard anyone’s voice in a while. 

-The light felt dimmer than before. The sun was setting. Gino sunk back into the seat. Outside looked nice. A prevalence of orange and deep blue, that only silhouettes of trees and buildings remained.

-oh and there were silhouettes of people and cars and other stuff. The winds were heavy as they ruffled the trees. He could see himself getting up and walking outside. The wind in his hair, in his clothes. Though, it didn’t happen as such. It felt like it did. 

But, it didn’t.

His eyes met Mins. Min was talking.. to Nya, but his foot, in rhythm, kept kicking his. Gino bit his teeth. It was a fine message from Min that he needed to talk. But his mind was empty. On the verge of blurting the color blue or something- what was with him today? He hadn’t reached frustration yet but, ugh.

“I don’t care.” Gino drawled.  Out of context and non malicious but the silence after was awkward. It felt like he was at work.

“Then I guess I’ll eat it then…lol” Min chuckled falsely.