part viii

end of june. four weeks, three exams and a final exam later.

wonwoo was finished with calculus for the rest of his life.

mingyu couldn’t have been happier about this.

“well, at least you’re more ahead now,” mingyu nodded the night wonwoo’s final exam was completed, the two already confident about the latter’s performance since he had studied his off and secluded himself from the outside world for those few weeks. the seclusion caused mingyu to miss him more and more, having to actually spend time with amber than finding the excuse of studying with wonwoo like he used to say during the school year.

let’s just say it was a very hard five weeks for mister kim.

“true, but i’m gonna minor in english, too, which is why i wanna get ahead of my engineering degree,” wonwoo mused after taking a long drag of his second beer, “i wish i went into journalism like you did. , that seems so much easier.”

“that’s because it is, smart ,” mingyu laughed, “but the world needs your intelligence to make flying cars and better phone chargers.”

and my world needs you, mingyu almost said.

“how should i spend next week, my dear bestfriend?” wonwoo asked with a smile as he leaned against his tanned companion, completely taken away into his own world since he had previously drank with the other calculus students prior to coming home.

“we should drag jihoon out of the studio and go out for a drive.”

“ah, that’s right. he’s been texting me lately and i.. felt bad because i couldn’t reply to him.”

“well.. call him up!”

wonwoo does so, putting the phone on speaker for the other to hear since it was going to be an innocent conversation with a cute and innocent boy.

“wonwoo, what the . did you fall off the face of the earth or something?!” was the first thing the two heard coming from the other side of the line, causing them to stifle a small laughter.

“sorry, man. summer classes, remember?”

“… right. i forgot. you should’ve at least texted me that or something.”

“i get lazy when it’s not physical confrontation.”

“excuse you, you locked me out of your room!” mingyu protested.

“that’s different.” i didn’t want to think about being with you as much as i was when i saw you pathetically laying on the couch, wonwoo almost added.

“anyway, you lovebirds, i just wanted to—”

“lovebirds…” wonwoo and mingyu simultaneously said as they looked at each other before back at the picture of jihoon displayed on the elder’s phone.

jihoon ignored his ‘slip’ of the tongue, “i just wanted to know if you’re busy next week.”

“hey, you’re in luck! we’re scouting all of the lee jihoons that we know and taking them on a road trip!” mingyu chimed in, causing wonwoo to snort at how much of a dork he was.

“well i better be the only lee jihoon that fits that description. where are you guys planning on going?”

“busa—”

“jeju.” wonwoo interrupted mingyu.

“jeju? sounds like a plan. tell me more deets later, yeah? bye!”

wonwoo ended the call with a hum, meeting a more than confused kim mingyu on his left who could only blink at him with the question that wonwoo seemed to have received just from his eyes. he scrolled through his text messages to a particular thread before pushing the device to mingyu’s chest and standing up to refill their quantity of alcohol, mingyu frowning and reading the messages.

june 17 2016

[ kmg ] pabowoo.

[ kmg ] yah.

[ kmg ] oh my god are you really studying this hard.

[ kmg ] see this is why you’ll never get a good relationship.

[ jww ] say one more thing and i’ll send out the picture i got of you and amber ‘studying anatomy’.

[ kmg ] …

[ kmg ] senpai noticed me.

[ jww ] what do you want. why didn’t you just come to the library?

[ kmg ] too lazy to walk. it’s too hot. anyway, when you finish your finals, we’re gonna go to jeju.

[ jww ] … you do know that i only have a week’s break before my second summer session starts, right?

[ kmg ] i swear we won’t stay! my aunt wants to see you. something about missing you and not seeing you since you were like seven.

[ jww ] aunt hyoyeon?

[ kmg ] exactly.

[ jww ] damn. well if it’s for her, then i can’t say no. alright, let’s do it.

[ jww ] make some dumplings.

[ kmg ] no.

[ jww ] looks like this picture’s gonna get into the hands of the whole university…

[ kmg ] fine FINE I’LL DO IT.

[ kmg ] only because i love you.

“oh , that’s right.” mingyu finally remembered, fumbling around with his phone to make sure that his aunt was well aware of their arrival the following week. knowing kim mingyu, though, there was more than just ‘visiting his relative in such a beautiful place’.

with jihoon in the back to observe the other two, mingyu singing his heart out to the newest songs playing on his playlist and fingers riding with the wind as the waved out of the window, and a very stoic jeon wonwoo behind the wheel speeding toward the south most part of their homeland at two in the morning, the scene itself was a very cliché one that jihoon couldn’t help but to chuckle about. there was the occasional bickering about which song is playing next, what wonwoo disliked being what mingyu liked, and often times the stereo would be worn out from entering an endless cycle of crescendo and decrescendo, to which amused the other to no end. there were the pit stops for gas, mingyu coming back with enough food to feed a bus full of kids and a very stern looking wonwoo lecturing him on why he was packing on weight to which mingyu only stuck his tongue out to and climbed back into the vehicle with. there were the quiet moments, though, when mingyu would fall from his sugar rush and rest his head against the closed window, soft music serving as a lullaby for him as his fingers somehow always found wonwoo’s to intertwine through, the driver not minding one bit as he turned his head every so often to check on the sleeping boy. jihoon could tell, he could practically reach out and touch, the admiration and love they had for each other, and he couldn’t help but to be fairly amused by how oblivious they were to each other, how the fleeting glances and the small smiles meant so much more than what others would think.

jihoon couldn’t be happier to witness their natural interactions in the flesh.

one ferry ride later, the trio arrived at their destination, mingyu rushing out of the car once it drove out to the land to glomp his beautiful aunt. actually, even to wonwoo, beautiful was an understatement. mingyu’s genes were perfect, and they definitely ran through the entire family, wonwoo thought to himself as he watched the mentioned kims converse to each other near her sea blue car.

“wonwoo?” jihoon sleepily groaned as he faintly tapped the other’s shoulder, “who’s that?”

“hm? oh, that’s mingyu’s aunt, hyoyeon. she’s the one that invited us to come.”

jihoon slowly nodded, eyes trying to adjust to the two figures still conversing. he stealthily shifted his eyes to look at wonwoo, whose eyes were definitely fixated on his object of interest, and smiled a bit to himself. “are we staying at her place?”

“i’m pretty sure we are.” wonwoo murmured.

“any plans?”

“he wants to go to a café.”

“still?” jihoon chuckled as he shifted to sit in the middle.

“you know mingyu and his drama fantasies.”

“way too well by now.”

as wonwoo and jihoon fell into a comfortable lapse of conversation, mingyu came jogging back to the car, knocking on wonwoo’s window to gain his attention. the other boy rolled down the pane and looked up at mingyu, willing himself the warmth that threatened to spread through his cheeks at the way he looked from this angle. this had wonwoo thinking about how amber felt whenever she got the absolute pleasure to view him from such an angle through their so-called love making.

“hey, mind following her?”

“no problem.”

jihoon slipped to the front when mingyu hopped into aunt hyoyeon’s as they set off through the scenic route toward her abode, mingyu and hyoyeon enjoying their karaoking to any and every song that decided to play through the speakers while the calmer, more conversation prone car followed without a hitch. maybe jihoon was persistently trying to pry some more feelings out of wonwoo with this.

feelings for mingyu, of course.

two hours later, they arrived at a beach house mansion type of house, wonwoo dazed at the sight of such a place that was like heaven compared to the shabby but still comfortable apartment that he shared with mingyu. it was definitely soothing to live next to the sea, wonwoo confirmed as he walked in with his backpack and jihoon in tow, the two standing in the hallway with no clue of where to go.

“the three of us will share the guest room. don’t worry, it’s big enough and we won’t be touching each other or anything,” mingyu reassured them.

afternoon slipped into evening, the whole household, hyoyeon’s husband included as he slipped back from work late at night, falling under the slumber’s spell until ten in the morning dictated the start of a new day.

mingyu had managed to wake jihoon up and get him ready as the two went out and ventured to the café that he visited whenever he was in jeju, leaving wonwoo to wake up on his own promptly five hours later after the exhaustion that came with driving all the way down by himself. he would of offered jihoon to drive, but imagine the expenses that would come with that if they had gotten into an accident.

wonwoo groggily washed up and changed into comfortable wear, walking down the stairs to some sounds coming from the television. confused and still trying to wake up, he looked toward the sunlit room to find a cloud of blond hair focused on the screen in front of it, what seemed to be a video game being displayed on the screen.

wonwoo definitely woke up.

“super smash?”

the voice seemed to have scared the other occupant of the room as the game paused, head turning to meet a still dark and gloomy looking wonwoo at the foot of the stairs ruffling his hair.

“super smash,” the other confirmed in a soft voice and offered a smile, holding up a controller as if to ask if he wanted to join.

who would pass up the offer?

wonwoo gladly sat himself aside the other male on the floor, leaning back against the foot of the couch and playing with the controller as he waited for the other match to finish. being the curious boy he was, he turned his head to look at the other male’s profile. he was nothing short of attractive as well, hair lazily coming down to just above his lids to make him more casual and homey yet still alluring. he had brown eyes that the sun perfectly accentuated from where he was, a nice jawline and a really pretty smile that he showed when he won the battle. he turned to face wonwoo, the smile faltering a little having not excepted the other to already be looking at him.

though, when wonwoo got his entire face to look at, he didn’t seem to be a native.

“you’re wonwoo, right?” the other male asked, confirming wonwoo’s hunch as he heard the slight accent that was in his voice.

wonwoo nodded his head, “the one and only. i guess i’m even popular down here, huh.”

that earned a small chuckle from the blond, “you’re all my mom’s been talking about lately.”

“your mom…?”

“oh, sorry. i guess mingyu hasn’t told you about me? wow, he’s such an ,” the boy rolled his eyes, smiling brightly to the other boy, “i’m minghao. not korean, i know. hyoyeon adopted me when i was two.”

that would definitely explain why he didn’t look like anyone else that lived in this house.

“ah, i see. but…,” wonwoo tilted his head, “why would mingyu forget to mention you to me?”

“something about you having a soft spot for really cute or seductive guys or whatever. it’s not like we’re going to date anyway,” minghao shrugged as he directed his attention back to the screen in front of them. “so, how long has it been?”

wonwoo blinked, hovering over potential fighters as well as he selected princess peach. “how long? since what?”

“you know,” minghao mused as he chose dark pit, changing his color scheme before setting the other six players to cpus and selecting random characters. “team?”

wonwoo nodded.

“ever since you and mingyu’ve been dating.”

wonwoo almost stopped breathing.

minghao turned to look at him, receiving the message almost immediately as he widened his eyes a little and began to spill apology after apology. “i.. i’m sorry! , maybe i shouldn’t have asked that… i.. i mean…”

“you mean?”

“i just though, you know..,” minghao paused as he searched for a stage for them to battle on, “that you two were together. i’ve heard the stories, from you two meeting in elementary school and all the little things in between, even getting your parents to live closer together just so you guys could go to school together, and now college together, living together, i just.. thought that there was more to that than just two really good friends who live together.”

“but.. there are plenty of guys who are just like us,” wonwoo argued feebly, though on the inside he was thinking more thoroughly of what minghao was trying to convey.

“i know there are, yes, but.. you two just seem so different. it seems more romantic to me from what i’ve been hearing from my mom and mingyu.”

wonwoo stopped.

“from mingyu?”

“ever wonder who he calls whenever he’s drunk out of his mind and slurring about in some weird language?”

wonwoo could recall the few times this has happened.

two weeks ago. tuesday. there was an instance that happened that night in which he received a call from jeonghan about mingyu over at his place drunker than he could handle. wonwoo thought that he could brush it off and that mingyu would just crash at one point, but this was that type of drunk where he made supposedly random phone calls and ranted in some alien language, that’s what wonwoo had always thought since the syllables were slurred and it definitely wasn’t korean, and wonwoo always feared who was on the other end that had to suffer that hell.

he hightailed over to jeonghan’s just in the middle of mingyu’s rants through the phone, managing to snatch the phone from mingyu’s hand who tried very lazily to grab it back though he fell over sideways on the couch and continued the mumbled slurs. wonwoo apologized to the other person without waiting to hear an acceptance or looking at who was the person he had dialed, apologizing next to jeonghan who had to sit through drunkgyu though he missed the small comment jeonghan made about mingyu being so lucky to have someone to run to his side at any given time as he watched the scene of the drunk taller male being dragged out of his place.

“yeah. uh. that’s chinese. and he calls me.”

“… that er said he didn’t know chinese!”

“oops. he must’ve lied.” minghao shrugged, chuckling at the dumbfounded boy who sat there with his jaw slack.

“wait… what does he say?”

minghao was about to spill the beans but bit on his tongue when mingyu announced his arrival back with a tired jihoon, who calmly excused himself to the guest room, and a few bags in his hands before lifting them up with a bright smile on his face.

“i got us lunch!”

“did you grab the soju like mom asked?”

“that’s why i brought jihoon,” mingyu chortled, “and he already ate, so we can eat right now. oh, what! you guys were going to smash without me?!”

wonwoo, still in the daze of minghao’s words, misinterpreted that statement and absentmindedly gave mingyu a hard slap on the back of his head.

“what the , wonwoo!”

“smash?!” the mentioned boy frowned.

“super smash, you ing idiot!”

“… oh.”

sometime later that night, after the four boys enjoyed the authentic tastes that caressed each and every item on their plates thanks to hyoyeon, they all climbed into the hot tub that overlooked the waters, the sun setting beautifully in the horizon as the night brought laughter and ease as they got to know minghao more and jihoon somehow found out that they shared the same hypothesis between mingyu and wonwoo.

“right?” minghao whispered to jihoon as the other two fell into their own conversation on the other side of the hot tub as they watched their every action and listened to how their pitches changed from their words to their chuckles.

“i thought i was the only one,” jihoon exhaled in relief as he downed the shot of soju that was in his hand, “it’s so much worse when you witness it. driving down to the edge was.. so interesting. i’m so surprised they haven’t tried to kiss.”

“from what mingyu’s told me, apparently they’ve kissed before.”

jihoon almost sputtered the alcohol out of his mouth. “what?!”

minghao nodded, “yeah, they have. mingyu was sad about it though, something about amber killing him and wonwoo having an eye on someone else.”

“when was this?”

minghao was yet again interrupted when his vision was blurred by water, mingyu having playfully pulled his foot and making him take a nice dip into the water. he emerged from the water, having to push his hair back to glare at the snorting mingyu and the seemingly innocent wonwoo as he waded back to jihoon in a huffy mood.

“i hate mingyu, damn. he always bullies me.”

“maybe he’s getting back at you for making you spill the soup on his lap.” jihoon laughed quietly.

“he had a !” minghao almost exclaimed loud enough for the others to hear.

“probably got it from just sitting there and listening to wonwoo’s voice when he talked to your mom.”

“i’m pretty sure you’re right.”

“wonwoo!”

the four boys turned to the source of the sound, which belonged to hyoyeon who was holding up a phone that was blasting hyuna’s red. she walked outside and handed him his phone, mingyu trying to peer over his shoulder to check the called id but he was a second too late as wonwoo immediately picked the call up.

“hello? oh hey! oh, no, i’m on vacation. mentally getting myself ready to take physics next week. mhm. mhm… what? you are?! (mingyu frowned a little at how excited wonwoo sounded, minghao and jihoon watching closely) really?! i guess i’ll be seeing you soon then, hm? alright, thanks for telling me.”

“who…” overprotective mingyu started as wonwoo threw his phone onto his towel and turned back to face the boy talking to him with a bright smile.

“junhui is coming to seoul!”

jihoon almost snorted.

minghao almost choked.

and mingyu?

mingyu could only feign a replication of happiness toward wonwoo and also feel his heart sink further down than the titanic. 

HI GUYS IT'S BEEN TOO LONG BUT YOU KNOW HOW COLLEGE IS. told you i'd bring junhui back into the story. until next time! rants would be much appreciated. chokes. HAVE YOU LISTENED TO CHOCOLATE YET OH MY GOD FAN WITH ME.