final.
Friday the Thirteenth
Despite nicknaming himself the ‘bag of luck’, Jeon Wonwoo’s life is an endless cycle of mishaps and accidents.
Whether it’s obliviously singing aloud in public or accidentally setting a girl’s hair on fire, Wonwoo hasn’t seen a day in his life where he didn’t something up or embarrass himself to the point of seeing it replayed multiple times in his dreams.
He was never a superstitious person. He always dismissed claims by his friends that he was ‘cursed’, or that he had broken a thousand mirrors at some point in his childhood (which was perfectly plausible considering how clumsy he was and still is).
But nothing could explain why his luck went from a -10 to a -2000 whenever it was Friday the Thirteenth.
So it’s a mystery why he decided that Friday the Thirteenth was the perfect day to confess to his childhood crush, Choi Seungcheol.
Pretending to read a book, Wonwoo stood waiting across the hall as students left their classes and filed off to find their lockers before their next class. He had asked for a toilet break five minutes earlier, stealthily slipping his heartfelt confession letter (which he had to rewrite, since his pen broke while writing the first one) into locker #717.
“It’s perfect. You don’t have to trip over your words, and you get to think over what you say before saying it to him. There’s no way you could up something this simple,” his best friend, Junhui had told him.
“You better be right, Jun,” Wonwoo mutters, hiding his face behind his book (which he’s reading upside down, not that anyone would really notice anyway).
Focusing intently on locker #717, Wonwoo doesn’t know how to react when he sees someone opening it at long last. But it’s someone who isn’t Choi Seungcheol.
That Someone sees a red envelope at the bottom of his locker and takes it out to read.
“I’ve liked you for a really long time, and I can’t hold back my feelings anymore,” That Someone reads aloud.
Wonwoo’s horrified gaze moves to the intended recipient of the letter, who has just appeared and is retrieving books from his locker. His locker, which is #718, not #717.
“Ha, another confession letter for Kim Mingyu?” Choi Seungcheol smirks, snatching Wonwoo’s letter from That Someone’s hands.
“Give it back,” That Someone - Kim Mingyu - laughs, grabbing Seungcheol’s wrist.
Wonwoo mentally slaps himself and wonders how he had gotten Seungcheol’s locker number wrong. Snapping out of his stupor, he turns to run without looking in the direction he’s going.
His arms register what’s happening before his eyes do. Bottles of strange liquids crash to the ground in a cacophony of smashing glass as Wonwoo reaches out to steady himself on the handles of the metal cart he just ran into.
His eyes finally take in the scene of spilt chemicals, originating from the chemistry teacher’s trolley that he had conveniently crashed into as he fled from the scene (well, attempted to).
Choi Seungcheol and Kim Mingyu’s attention is ripped from Wonwoo’s confession letter and directed at Wonwoo himself.
Wonwoo stands there for a second, face identical to that of a deer in headlights. Then he bolts.
Jeon Wonwoo, ‘bag of luck’, had just accidentally confessed to the owner of locker #717.
-------------
Today 5:05 PM
Kim Mingyu
> hello
Jeon Wonwoo
> who are u
> what do you want
Kim Mingyu
> am i not allowed to say hello
> it’s kim mingyu...
Jeon Wonwoo
> well i can’t stop you can i
> T^T
Kim Mingyu
> about that letter ...
> did u really mean it ??? :D
Jeon Wonwoo
> mean waht
Kim Mingyu
> jisoos christ wonwoo ur the one who wrote the letter
Jeon Wonwoo
> what letter
> what are you talking about
Kim Mingyu
> -_-
> wonwoo please
> we’ve never really talked before but
Jeon Wonwoo
> exactly we’ve never talked before so what letter would i possibly give too u
Kim Mingyu
> i was really happy when i got that letter from u
Jeon Wonwoo
> oh
> dont u get plenty of letters from the girls in our year
Kim Mingyu
> i guess
Jeon Wonwoo
> yeah well whatveer letter your talking about isnt from me
> you got the wrong wonwoo
Kim Mingyu
> you obviously know what im talking about wonwoo
> i may be an idiot but i’m not stupid
Jeon Wonwoo
> u have no proof
> bye
Kim Mingyu
> “i hope you’ll accept my confession yours truly jeon wonwoo”
> “ps. here’s my number”
> HOW DO YOU THINK I GOT YOUR NUMBER
> U PABO
Seen at 5:07 PM
-------------
Friday the Thirteenth passes with only a few more stumbles and accidental spillages. It’s a few days later when Wonwoo sees Seungcheol again.
“Wonwoo!” Seungcheol calls out, jogging to meet up with the younger as he walks to his first class. Seungcheol is holding two cups of coffee from their local Starbucks™.
“For you,” Seungcheol holds out one of the cups to Wonwoo and smiles.
“Why?” was all Wonwoo managed to stutter. He takes the cup with shaking hands.
“You spilt your coffee on me a couple days ago, remember?” Seungcheol laughs. “What a waste. I thought I’d get you another to make it up.”
“Y-you didn’t have to,” Wonwoo chuckles nervously.
“Truthfully,” Seungcheol says, leaning in closer, “the barista has a thing for me and gave me an extra for free,” he winks.
“O-oh, that’s nice,” Wonwoo stammers. He sips his coffee cautiously. Caramel Macchiato.
They continue walking in awkward silence, Wonwoo desperately wracking his brain for something to talk about. He passes by Junhui, and his other friend, Soonyoung. Seeing who he was walking next to, they give him eerily identical -eating grins.
“He’s right there. Confess already, you idiot,” they seem to be saying.
It’s almost like his mouth decides to disobey his rational thought in that moment. Without thinking, he blurts out, “Cheol, I gotta tell you something. It’s really important.”
Seungcheol laughs, and Wonwoo’s heart picks up at the small gesture. In Wonwoo’s eyes, nothing else was more beautiful than Seungcheol’s dorky laugh. It was a laugh that made the worst days better again, the only welcoming sound after a major -up. The only laugh that made him happy amongst all the others that laughed at him rather than with him.
“Oh, you actually sound serious. This is a first,” Seungcheol smiles.
“I am serious,” Wonwoo takes a deep breath. This is it, he thinks.
“I--”
“Hey, Seungcheol!” a voice calls from behind, interrupting their moment. Wonwoo groans. Of course something like this would happen to him. He wasn’t even surprised.
“Mingyu!” Seungcheol turns around, recognising the voice. Wonwoo freezes.
“Wonwoo,” Mingyu puts a hand on his shoulder and turns him around. Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do, so he stares. He never knew how attractive Kim Mingyu was until he actually stared him in the eyes.
“I ... want to talk to you,” Mingyu says as he stares at the ground, clearly nervous.
Seungcheol gives Mingyu a knowing grin and turns to Wonwoo. “I’ll leave you guys to it,” he smirks and walks away, much to Wonwoo’s disappointment.
Wonwoo sighs inwardly as his first love walks away just before he could tell him how he felt. Not that he wanted to offend Mingyu, but he really wasn’t in the mood for whatever Mingyu had to say.
“Wonwoo, why did you give me that letter if you were just going to deny you gave it to me?” Mingyu asks, his voice betraying his hurt.
“It’s... a long story,” Wonwoo sighs, wondering why the universe hated him so much.
“Um, but...” Mingyu continues, looking at the ground, “Whatever you meant by it, I was really happy.” He smiles, and Wonwoo has to admit that he has a really cute smile. His teeth are a nice shade of white - not artificially white but not too yellow either - and his canines stick out, giving him a puppy-like appearance.
“I’ve known you for quite a while, but I always felt like you never noticed me,” Mingyu says shyly. “I’ve always wanted to get to know you better.”
Wonwoo was surprised. His friends always told him he had an intimidating aura, which was probably why not many attempted to talk to him. He didn’t know Mingyu that well, but he knew that the boy was very well liked amongst his classmates. Someone like Mingyu was the last person Wonwoo expected to befriend.
“So... do you want to go out sometime?” Mingyu asks, shutting his eyes as if he was afraid of the response.
Wonwoo doesn’t know how to react. All he wanted to do was confess to Choi Seungcheol, not be asked out by someone he barely knew. So he does what he does best; he bolts.
“Wonwoo!” Mingyu calls, but Wonwoo has already disappeared around the corner.
Watching from down the hallway, Junhui and Soonyoung shake their heads in disappointment. “Of course this would happen to Wonwoo,” Soonyoung sighs.
-------------
As much as Wonwoo wanted to avoid the problem, he knew the time to face it would come. Turns out, that time was two days later, after fifth period biology.
“Wonwoo!” Mingyu’s voice sounds from across the hallway. Wonwoo curses under his breath and tries to walk faster. But Mingyu has long legs.
“Please, can I talk to you?” Mingyu pleads. Wonwoo feels incredibly guilty when he hears the pain in Mingyu’s voice.
“Okay, I’ll explain everything,” Wonwoo surrenders. Mingyu raises an eyebrow.
“That letter wasn’t meant for you,” Wonwoo blurts out.
Mingyu’s face shows his obvious shock. “Wait, what?”
“It was meant for Seungcheol,” Wonwoo says, not meeting Mingyu’s eyes. “I like Seungcheol, not you,” he says.
He regrets what he says as soon as it leaves his mouth - it sounds harsher than he intended it to. He regrets everything. He regrets not writing Seungcheol’s name on the letter in the first place (which would have cleared all the confusion, but of course, past-Wonwoo decided against it).
“Oh,” Mingyu stutters.
“I’m sorry,” Wonwoo says sheepishly. “I mean, I--”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry for misinterpreting,” Mingyu says, his face displaying an indescribable emotion.
“No, that’s not--”
“Sorry for wasting your time,” Mingyu says, rather bitterly. He walks away before Wonwoo can say more.
“No, Mingyu--” Wonwoo calls out. But Mingyu’s long legs had taken him far away before Wonwoo could pull him back.
“ my life,” Wonwoo mutters. “Some ‘bag of luck’ I am.”
Junhui and Soonyoung, who had been watching from across the hallway, approach Wonwoo and pat his back awkwardly.
“You’ll get lucky some day,” Junhui says. “Hopefully.”
-------------
Today 5:45 PM
Jeon Wonwoo
> mingyu
> i’m really sorry
> i didn’t want to be that harsh
> i didn’t mean it like that
Kim Mingyu
> it’s okay
> i mean
> why would you like me anyway?
> you don’t even know me
Jeon Wonwoo
> no, it’s not like that ...
> i meant like...
> i’ve liked seungcheol since we were kids
> you seem nice though but i’m not sure i like you that way
> i’m sorry
Kim Mingyu
> not trying to burst your bubble or anything, but don’t you know that seungcheol’s straight?
Jeon Wonwoo
> well, yeah.
> but that doesn’t change the fact that i like him
Kim Mingyu
> he knows
Jeon Wonwoo
> what?
Kim Mingyu
> he knows you like him in a romantic way
> it’s so obvious
Jeon Wonwoo
> ...
Kim Mingyu
> maybe you should ask him yourself, though
> i shouldn’t put words into his mouth.
Jeon Wonwoo
> i was going to tell him how i felt this morning
> but you interrupted lol
Kim Mingyu
> oh, sorry
> i meant what i said though.
Jeon Wonwoo
> that you wanna get to know me better?
> lol i’m really boring though
> ask my friends, they know.
Kim Mingyu
> i don’t think so.
Jeon Wonwoo
> oh
> thanks?
Seen at 5:47 PM
-------------
“Seungcheol,” Wonwoo musters up all the courage he has and approaches the elder as he exits from his Advanced Calculus class.
“Oh, Wonwoo!” Seungcheol greets. He says goodbye to his friend, Jeonghan, and walks to Wonwoo.
“I still haven’t told you what I wanted to tell you the other day,” Wonwoo says.
“Oh, okay. We have time now, don’t we?” Seungcheol smiles. Wonwoo’s heart flips.
“I like you,” Wonwoo blurts out, without thinking (as usual).
Seungcheol doesn’t look surprised. In fact, he laughs good-naturedly. “I know.”
“I really like you,” Wonwoo persists.
“Can I ask why? How long?” Seungcheol asks with a grin. He doesn’t seem to take Wonwoo too seriously.
“We’ve known each other since we were learning how to walk,” Wonwoo says, reminiscing. “Ever since then, I guess.”
“Seriously?” Seungcheol’s eyes widen.
“Well, there was one incident that triggered it,” Wonwoo says thoughtfully. “That one time in primary school when I wet my pants during assembly because I was nervous,” he felt incredibly embarrassed admitting it out loud. “You gave me that jar of cookies to make me feel better. That was really sweet.”
“Oh, that!” Seungcheol exclaims. “Yeah, that wasn’t actually me. It was Mingyu’s idea.”
Wonwoo tilts his head in confusion.
“Don’t you remember? Mingyu was in the class next to yours,” Seungcheol says, oblivious to Wonwoo’s ignorance. “But then he had to move away because of his dad’s job. He moved back here last year when his dad got transferred again.”
Wonwoo’s brain couldn’t process what he just heard.
“Mingyu felt really bad for you, but he was too shy to give those cookies to you,” Seungcheol sighs. “That idiot. He made me give them to you since we were friends. And he made me swear not to say it was from him.”
“Those cookies were Mingyu’s idea?” Wonwoo repeats.
“Yeah,” Seungcheol laughs. “He really likes you. I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your feelings... but maybe Mingyu can,” he adds with a wink.
“Are you seeing someone else?” Wonwoo asks emptily.
“No, but I just can’t like you that way,” Seungcheol says quietly. “You’re a great friend, but so is Mingyu. And I’d never get in the way of Mingyu’s feelings for you.”
“Oh,” is all Wonwoo can say. He doesn’t feel as devastated as he expected, though.
He isn’t sure what else to do, now that Seungcheol has given his answer. His thoughts are interrupted by a loud thump.
Behind him, in the bushes, is Mingyu himself. He’s rubbing his head as he stands up sheepishly. Seungcheol facepalms.
“If you want to run away, make sure you’re not in the path of a tree,” Seungcheol sighs, walking over to help Mingyu up. It seemed like Mingyu had run straight into the tree and fell over into the bushes. Wonwoo wonders if he overheard the whole conversation.
Mingyu stares at Wonwoo, a scared expression distorting his handsome features. Wonwoo feels like bolting out of sheer embarrassment and confusion.
But Mingyu bolts before Wonwoo can.
-------------
Embarrassed is an understatement.
“So, you fell in love with the wrong person?” Soonyoung asks for the fifth time.
“No, it’s not like that,” Wonwoo shakes his head in exasperation.
“So, do you like Mingyu?” Junhui presses.
“I don’t know,” Wonwoo sighs.
“Do you only like Seungcheol because you thought he gave you cookies?” Soonyoung asks.
“I don’t know!” Wonwoo repeats, his voice rising.
Soonyoung is about to ask another question, but is stopped when someone appears behind Wonwoo. Following his friend’s shocked expressions, he sees Mingyu standing behind him.
“Wonwoo, I’m sorry,” Mingyu says quietly, not caring that he has spectators. “Can we talk?”
Soonyoung and Junhui slowly stand up, leaving the table discreetly. Wonwoo shuts his eyes, praying for the ground the swallow him up right then and there.
“I... really do like you,” Mingyu continues, unfazed. “You’re really cute,” he admits, his tone so honest and pure that Wonwoo melts under the sound of it.
“No, I’m really embarrassing,” Wonwoo buries his head in his hands, trying to convince himself that whatever Mingyu thinks he feels is a lie. “I’m cursed, for sure. Don’t get yourself involved with me.”
“But that’s why I like you,” Mingyu laughs.
“You sound like you’re pitying me,” Wonwoo sighs.
“No, it’s not like that,” Mingyu insists. “I find your unluckiness really cute.”
“I don’t,” Wonwoo looks up at Mingyu. “I hate it. The universe hates me.”
Mingyu sits down next to Wonwoo. “I’m sure not everything you do is unlucky. I’m pretty clumsy myself.”
“Everything in my life goes wrong,” Wonwoo says, exasperated. “This morning, my mum told me to change the light bulb in the hallway. But as I climbed the ladder, the rung broke and I crashed right into a vase my mum’s had since she was a child.”
Mingyu tries his best, but he ends up laughing. “I’m sure that was just coincidence--”
“That’s not all! Yesterday, I had a major history test that I’ve studied for since the start of this semester. But you know what happened?”
“What happened?” Mingyu asks, trying to hold back his laughs.
“It was entirely multiple choice, and I ended up filling in the answers one question ahead of what it was meant to be. So I failed,” Wonwoo sighs.
Mingyu’s laughs became uncontrollable. “That ,” he manages to say.
Wonwoo pouts slightly and punches Mingyu’s shoulder. “Stop laughing.”
“You’re too cute,” Mingyu insists, holding Wonwoo’s shoulder tightly as he continues laughing.
“Stop.”
Mingyu doesn’t stop. Wonwoo isn’t sure he even wants Mingyu to stop. His laugh isn’t mocking, and it sounds pleasant to Wonwoo’s ears.
His uncontrollable laughs trigger memories in Wonwoo. Wonwoo isn’t sure how he forgot about Kim Mingyu. He vaguely remembers a puppy-like boy whose smile lit up even the darkest of rooms. He remembers giving up early because he knew he would never catch the attention of such a boy. He remembers returning to school one day to find out that the puppy-like boy wasn’t there anymore. He doesn’t know why he ever forgot.
“So,” Mingyu says as his laughter calms down, “Nothing lucky has ever happened to you?”
“If something lucky happened to me in the past, I would remember it,” Wonwoo says with a bitter laugh.
Mingyu purses his lips and looks Wonwoo directly in the eye. Wonwoo’s heart stops.
“I’m sorry that you gave your confession letter to me instead of Seungcheol,” he says quietly. “Though I have to say, I’m heartbroken that it wasn’t actually for me in the first place. But I’m glad it gave me an excuse to talk to you.”
“I’m not so sure anymore, actually,” Wonwoo admits, his mouth moving before his brain can filter his thoughts. Mingyu looks up.
“I mean, you’re pretty cute yourself,” Wonwoo fiddles with his thumbs.
Mingyu’s eyes light up and his canines flash as he smiles. “Really?”
“Maybe giving that letter to you instead wasn’t a bad thing,” Wonwoo says quietly, staring intently at a spot on the ground.
Wonwoo’s certain of it now. Seungcheol may have a beautiful laugh, but Mingyu’s sincere smile pierced through the darkest corners of Wonwoo’s heart that nothing had ever reached before. Seungcheol may have made Wonwoo’s heart flip on multiple occasions, but Mingyu was the first person to make it completely stop (for a second, of course, otherwise he’d be dead. Which was kind of how he felt in that moment anyway).
The sincereness of Mingyu’s smile projected comfort and warmth into Wonwoo; something he has never felt before at such a concentrated level. He honestly believed his whole life was a joke up till this point; but Mingyu gave him irreplaceable reassurance that maybe, he isn’t such a up after all.
Wonwoo suddenly feels like all his bad luck was worth it; since it led to him meeting a boy with a smile that emanated rainbows, puppies and everything beautiful and bright in the world.
Mingyu is everything Wonwoo needs, and more.
“What do you mean?” Mingyu asks, head tilting in confusion, which only makes him look even cuter and , Wonwoo’s heart isn’t able to handle the sight of such a precious expression.
“Maybe I’m not the unluckiest person on Earth,” Wonwoo continues before his courage wears out. He’s quite certain that Mingyu can hear the erratic thumps of his heart.
“Wonwoo, in what universe would confessing to the wrong person be a good thing?” Mingyu asks seriously.
Wonwoo looks up and smiles at him. “This one.”
And seeing the way Mingyu smiles at him in that moment, Wonwoo decides that maybe, the universe doesn’t hate him as much as he thought it did.
[a/n]
this is absolute trash i have no clue why i wrote it lmao
it was a written in one sitting during a particularly boring part of my family visit to singapore so i didnt expect anything valuable to come out of it :')
i was going to make mingyu the unlucky one since he’s normally characterised as the “clumsy” one
but after OFD i really had to do a fic on wonwoo’s whole “bag of luck” persona :’)
thank u for reading~
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