Twelve
Unsent Letters"Hey emo boy." Seungcheol greets as he sits beside Wonwoo and puts an arm over his shoulder. When the said boy doesnt greet back, Seungcheol tilts his head to get a better look of his face and studies his expression.
Wonwoo has his gaze fixed straight ahead and doesnt waver when Seungcheol waves his hand by his face. He lowers his gaze to the table and finds a container of spaghetti untouched. He also notices how hard Wonwoo has his grip on his wooden chopsticks, holding both ends with huge force. "Dude, your chopsticks are going to snap in half if you keep gripping it so hard." He advices his dongsaeng but said dongsaeng ignores him again as he continues to stare across the room.
Seungcheol tries to follow the direction of the stare before it lands on a couple that seems to be having a very good time as the girl laughs at something the guy said. The girl is wearing a knee length floral dress with a pair of flats and her hair is curly and wow, she's pretty. On the other hand, the tall guy is wearing a black sweater, white jeans and a pair of converse. Seungcheol notes to himself that they make a good pair and-- wait, is that Mingyu?
Finally grasping the whole situation, he turns back to his friend and tries to get his attention. "Wonwoo."
"Wonwoo?"
"Wonwoo."
"Jeon Wonwoo."
"Emo boy."
"My favorite dongsaeng."
"I will hide away all your beanies if you dont answer me."
"Hey face."
Seungcheol's attempts goes on for another few minutes before he kicks Wonwoo's shin under the table. Wonwoo winces in pain as he exclaims, "Ow! What the , hyung?"
"Well, now that I have your attention, I suggest you stop glaring at them and actually eat your food before it gets cold. Though I'm pretty sure it already is."
Wonwoo rolls his eyes, "I wasnt glaring at them, I was simply just staring at them. And i'm not hungry anymore. Want some?"
"Thanks, but no thanks. Bring it back to the dorm, Soonyoung will probably eat it for supper. Or Seokmin. Or both of them, whatever." Wonwoo hums in approval as he puts the lid back on after putting his chopsticks away.
"So, do you want to tell me what's going on between you and Mingyu?" Seungcheol asks as he folds his arms.
Wonwoo laughs nervously, "Um, what's there for me to tell you? Nothing is going on?" The words come out sounding more like a question instead of a statement and Wonwoo wants to punch himself.
"You at lying and you know that." Seungcheol helpfully points out before he mentions it again, thought it sounds more like a demand this time. "Enlighten me about your relationship because i'm very confused. Well, not just me, everyone is. So spill."
Wonwoo lets out a heavy sigh, "How am I suppose to enlighten you, when in reality, even I dont understand our relationship slash friendship."
"We all know you both already made up but whats the status? Are you both official yet or what?" And Seungcheol immediately feels bad for asking when he notices how worn out Wonwoo looks.
The younger groans in frustration as he runs a hair through his hair, taking a glance at Mingyu before panning back to the hyung next to him. "No, we arent official or anything. He knows I like him but I kept denying so eventually he kinda just, ignores all my denials. And recently he's been hanging with all these girls and-- gah i'm going nuts. I dont even know anymore."
Seungcheol makes a what-the--is-wrong-with-you face, "Why did you even deny it in the first place?"
At this point, Wonwoo his tugging at his own hair, trying to not pull them out. "I dont think it even matters whether I deny or not because he clearly knows I like him and he knows i'm just being my stubborn self. But the thing is, its been weeks since we made up and even after all that time, never once had he told me he felt the same way. I mean, its not like I expect him to or something but if he doesnt, then he should at least tell me. I'm kinda confused and lost."
Seungcheol slowly nods as he tries to understand the information he's receiving before looking back and forth between Wonwoo and Mingyu. After a short while, he says, "From what I see, I think he's trying to make you jealous and maybe messing with you a little bit but I think he's trying to see how long you can go on denying."
"You mean he's trying to make me jealous on purpose?"
"Yeap! And in case you havent notice, he's been occasionally stealing glances at you eversince I occupied this seat. I hope he's not getting wrong ideas though. That would be weird as fu-- wait, he doesnt know Jihoon and I are official, right?"
Wonwoo widens his eyes in surprise, "You both are a thing?"
The older narrows his eyes, "Um, yeah?" There's a short pause before he clasp his hand together, "That's not the important thing here. Since you didnt know, he probably doesnt either. So why dont we join his little game?"
"I dont know if that's a good idea. I mean, it sounds very inviting and all but its just not my thing, you know?"
Seungcheol does not look amused when he says, "Bro, i'm trying to help you escape the friendzone here, if you're even there in the first place. Look, we'll just do it for a short time okay? If we dont get a reaction, then we'll stop and maybe by then you'll know where you stand. Alright?"
Wonwoo huffs before he agrees, "Fine."
So apparently, after explaining this idea to Jihoon, the said boy isnt very fond of it but after abit more convincing and persuading, he finally gives in. Also, Seungcheol's 'short time' happens to last for two weeks.
If there's one thing they agree during that period of time, is that yes, its weird and gross. From afar, it would seem like these two are whispering sweet things in each other's ear when in reality, they're actually insults and sarcastic remarks.
Sometimes when Mingyu decides to just ignore them, they would laugh alot harder and louder even when the joke isnt actually funny, just to get his attention. And occasionally, they made sure to have constant skinship such as making sure to hold hands once in a while, gentle touches here and there and sometimes they would stare at each other lovingly. But the moment Mingyu looks away, they would cringe and throw light punches at each other in disgust.
"That was so gay."
"Why did I even agree to do this."
"Your hands are as rough as sandpaper."
"Feeling your breath againts my ear makes me want to jump off a cliff."
But even so, the plan works perfectly. Mingyu would always be glaring at them from wherever he is and he doesnt even bother to pretend he isnt when one of them glances at him. Sometimes he would come up to both of them and 'borrow' Wonwoo for whatever reason he has which the older finds very endearing.
With the amount of times Mingyu interrupts them or gets to Wonwoo first, Seungcheol eventually stops trying and let Mingyu have it his way. But yet again, Mingyu never brought up the topic.
So after gathering all his courage, Wonwoo finally asks, hoping to get a clear answer. Its almost one in the morning when they're speaking to each other on the phone. There's a short silence before Wonwoo continues, "I mean I totally get it if you dont feel the same way, you know? I just want to make sure I'm not getting my hopes up for nothing."
Mingyu doesnt sound surprised when he asks, "What makes you think I dont like you back?"
Wonwoo sighs, "Well you never told me you like me back? I dont know, Mingyu. I dont know whats going on in that head of yours. You're pretty hard to read and the more I try, the more confused I get. Clearly you dont seem to like the fact that Seungcheol hyung and I are 'too' friendly with each other. And thats probably you being jealous, but you never told me how you feel. If you're worried I'd get hurt of you rejecting me, just know that me not knowing anything hurts more. I dont expect you to like me back but I want a definite answer."
The line is silent before Mingyu says softly, "Its not that I dont want to tell you. I'm still trying to confirm my feelings, hyung."
"Then you better confirm it soon because I'm not going to wait around for you forever, Mingyu. I cant." His voice cracks at the last word and he hangs up immediately after that. He buries his head in his pillow and screams as loud as he can.
Wonwoo doesnt see Mingyu around the next few days but he shrugs it off. The exams are approaching so the younger is probably studying somewhere. Later in the evening he receives a text from Soonyoung, telling him get some groceries. He argues with his friend over the phone, demanding him to get them himself but when Soonyoung says he has to attend something urgent and sounds like he's on the verge of tears, Wonwoo gives in.
He grudgingly gets everything written on the list and walks home in maximum speed because he's very very cold. He makes it home in exactly eighteen minutes and its pitch black when he steps through his front door. He turns on the light and settles the groceries on the kitchen counter. Seungcheol doesnt seem to be in as his shoes are missing.
When he opens the door to his room, he wasnt expecting to see pictures and sticky notes attached to the used-to-be plain wall. He gapes at the sight and moves closer to inspect them. He gasp in surprise as he recognizes the pictures. These were all taken through out the last four years with Mingyu's camera. The notes were filled with inside jokes only they knew about.
Wonwoo backs away slowly in surprise and sits on his bed. He lies down and kicks his legs playfully because wow, its not even his birthday? What a pleasant surprise. When did Mingyu even prepared this? He tilts his head to the left and immediately his gaze falls onto a familiar box on his desk. He pulls himself to his feet and scrambles towards it.
The box contains only one envelope and he doesnt hesitate to open it.
Dear Wonwoo hyung, I'm sorry I've been confusing you this whole time. I was so confused by my own feelings, I didnt know they were affecting you too. When I found out you had feelings for me, I was so happy because for a moment, I actually thought you hated me. But you kept denying it so I decided to make you jealous, to see how long you could keep up but it backfired, I guess? I always knew you and Seungcheol hyung are close but with all the contact you guys had, I thought you both were more than just friends. It scared me because what if I lost my chance? (Eventhough I hadnt figure out myself completely at that time). And that night when you told me you wouldnt and couldnt wait for me forever, it hit me pretty hard. So I spent the past few days trying to figure out my feelings and yeah. I'm writing you this because I dont think i'm able to confess to you in person.
Wonwoo hyung, when we met four years ago, never once had I thought you'd be this important to me. I never even dreamed of falling for you. But look what happened! :( Feelings and crushes are stupid but you arent hehehehe. The past eleven months had been but thanks to Seokmin, we came to this. If he hadnt gave you the box, both of us would still be miserable as . I want you to know that you're the only person who has the power to either make me the happiest or saddest person. Your presence lights up my entire world and I dont know what would I do without you. Jeon Wonwoo, will you be my boyfriend? But just so you know, if you say yes, I'm never going to let you go. I'm going to constantly annoy the crap out of you for the rest of your life. I know 'forever' doesnt always last forever but I really want you to stay forever, hyung. I mean, if one day we do break up, I hope our friendship goes on.
But lets put that aside for now. I hope you like what I did to your room, emo boy. I love-love-love-love-love you!
Yours hopefully-forever, Kim Mingyu.
By the time he's done reading, Wonwoo has a huge grin on his face. He settles the letter down before jumping and running around excitedly because oh my god, is this really happening?
Wonwoo decides to calms himself down by taking a shower, eating dinner and even putting away the groceries for Soonyoung. And when he's done with all that, he goes back into his room and plops onto his bed and dials his best friend's number.
Mingyu answers almost immediately and Wonwoo says the first thing that pops into his mind. "I hate you."
The younger chuckles, "No you dont. You're in love with me."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I am in love with you."
"I'm always right, though?" Mingyu says, sounding very full of himself.
"No, dont flatter yourself."
"I love you."
Wonwoo smiles, "I love you too."
and the story is over! i want to thank those who had been patient and stayed until the end. i want to thank you guys for reading this and giving lots of support! if it wasnt for you guys, i wouldnt have been able to finish this. i'm sorry for my inability to write long stories, i know some of you are sad its ending already but tbh i am too :( you guys have been a great source of motivation especially the frequent commenters, (you know who you are). *winks* but still, thank you to all of you who voiced out your opinions and also to those who spent their time reading this. compared to the rest of my fics, i'm very satisfied with how this fic turned out. so once again, thank you so much! and for the final time, i would like to know your thoughts and opinions of this story overall :D thank you!
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