it’s that period of time, when everyone is literally dragging themselves to get through the semester. the amount of work seems to have dragged the earth’s orbit slower because really time is going by too slowly, and it feels like there’s no progress with work at all. not to mention that wonwoo also has a portfolio to hand in and grades to maintain. honestly, life is just cruel.

“i’m going to get coffee,” wonwoo announces after a few hours of silent burial of him and his two friends, who already looked like they’re about to lose their mind.

jeonghan just dismissively waves at wonwoo to go as his eyes bore holes on his sketch board adding fine details to his last portfolio of the semester while seungkwan sits unmoving eyes glued to the slides in his laptop, his brown bear pencil tapping gently against the spread of textbooks.

sometimes wonwoo wonders how do they get along well when they are differently-opinionated in terms of their majors (not in mind because both seungkwan and jeonghan are just plain evil).

wonwoo majored in civil engineering mainly because he was influenced by how well his father did in the field, jeonghan (you could tell) was a really artsy-fartsy person, and seungkwan well, a huge nerd (a cool one i guess) with his interest in medicals and a strong bond with chemistry. they literally do not share any classes except for some supplementary or compulsory lectures that they have to engage in as students.

it’s times like this that wonwoo feels a strong sense of admiration and gratefulness towards the two of his (closest) friends, he thinks as he walks pass corners and getting to the coffee machine. he isn’t very good with starting off topics with strangers, wasn’t very sociable (well he is sociable, just really weird and quirky and most people will stride off after a while), he’s good in cracking jokes though (but jeonghan says he ), and at times like these when everyone huddles around studying in groups he would have two of his best friends. it isn’t like he’s afraid of being alone, wonwoo to be honest, appreciates solitary, it’s just, if you were to put solitary and existential crisis together (which wonwoo experiences a lot when its ‘that’ point in semester) he would rather have his friends around than to struggle alone.

he grabs a hold of his coffee and walked further down to the empty bench by the open area, sits down with a huff as he tries to cool his coffee and mind at the same time. wonwoo watches the twirling motion of the black condensed liquid in the white paper cup, swirling and swirling, and somehow the sense of familiarity settled in his chest, heaving quietly, the scattered remembrances seem to bring him at ease as he remembers his first encounter with mingyu.

“what a weird guy,” he whispers to himself, unknowingly grinning.

the cold breeze sends wonwoo chills down his spine and he thought that perhaps he has been slacking too much (actually been sitting there day dreaming for almost an hour). he gets up hastily, the cup of coffee half emptied and swings around about to half-run back to the discussion room he came from before he aggressively bumps into another person.

“what the fuc—,” there’s a shriek enunciating from his throat that is surprisingly low for a shriek and wonwoo backs up, one and two steps. the coffee is definitely going to stain his shirt and also it really burns.

“, sorry!”

wonwoo would be lying if he says he isn’t angry, but when he hears mingyu’s voice, he really couldn’t bring himself to be angry (ok maybe he was sort of angry but not that angry), “wow, didn’t see you there.”

“oh my god, it’s going to stain, i only walked over because i saw you sitting here, and i wanted to say hi but you sort of turned around real quick, i’m sorry,” mingyu keeps apologizing and he’s doing this really weird gesture over wonwoo’s coffee stained shirt without actually making contact with him.

wonwoo notices that the tips of his fingertips are covered in various acrylic paints and colours. probably why he’s doing that, for a moment they stood there with mingyu apologizing frantically. seeing mingyu this flustered did quite a boosting on wonwoo’s confidence as he lets out a full-blown laughter.

“somehow, our meetings are always filled with beverages, it’s kind of ridiculous,” he says in between laughter, finally speaking a proper sentence after so much stuttering.

mingyu straightens his back a little, bringing his hand over to the lower part of his face and chuckled along, the smears of what seemed to be charcoal on his palms is more visible now. “are you still staying in campus?”

“actually, yeah, i was just going back to the discussion room.”

“well, okay, take my hoodie,” mingyu says and he raises both of his hands up in the air, looks at wonwoo expectantly.

“what?” wonwoo deadpans.

“take my hoodie? and change? i mean you can’t go back like that, right?”

“u-uh, i—ok, i guess,” wonwoo lets a low chuckle, unsure of what kind of expression he should wear.

his mind is making such loud alarm noises, because wait, this sort of feels like sharing boyfriend things? wait, is it even appropriate to think so? before he could internally gush over the fact that mingyu is offering his hoodie, the taller does a gesture again, ushering wonwoo to take his hoodie.

“my hands are a mess now, so i can’t really take it off myself.”

wonwoo wants to decline the offer because it’s so much hassle and he may have an extra shirt somewhere in his bag or locker or something, but the idea of having something that so personally belonged to mingyu thrilled him to bits, “okay,” he says confidently this time, setting the ¼ cup of coffee on the bench.

“here we go,” wonwoo cheers, breaking mingyu into a train of laughter as wonwoo removed the black hoodie.

it gets over his head pretty easily, but then they have to struggle to not get the edge of the sleeves in paints as well. and somehow, they end up both, face a few centimetres away from one and another, eyes train on removing the sleeves from mingyu’s arms. wonwoo could distinctively smell the woody aroma of canvas, charcoal and oil paint and a hint of ripe sweet peach, which is really, really alluring.

“don’t worry the hoodie is clean, i swear,” mingyu jokes calmly as he focuses on squirming the rest of his hands out.

wonwoo could only let out a breathy laugh while holding on to the hoodie and focus more on controlling his breathing because damn, they’re quite close to the point that he could see the small mole under mingyu’s cheekbones on the left side of his gorgeous, gorgeous side profile.

before what feels like eternity of blessings, mingyu moves, makes a swift movement as wonwoo held onto the hoodie.

“great and done,” he says giving that victorious toothy smile that wonwoo really, really, adores. “so, i’m guessing you’re pretty hardworking on your portfolios and stuff?”

“yeah,” wonwoo sighs, “good work.”

“must be hard.”

“i could say the same about you, you’re a good-looking mess,” wonwoo replies gesturing at mingyu, and he’s true to his words, mingyu’s hair now dishevelled from the hoodie actions and his hands aren’t exactly clean, his light blue shirt that was underneath his hoodie is slightly wrinkled too.

“um, thanks?” mingyu chuckles, shyly covering the small playing smile on his face while he diverts his gaze to coffee left on the bench.

wonwoo deadpans before he realizes he has just straight-out hit on mingyu and this is only their third (kind of) proper conversation and before he could make a cool joke (or actually try to make a cool joke) about the statement, mingyu has already spoken, “you’re not bad yourself, with your white button-up,” he laughs softly, “except that i may have ruined it.”

there is a series of nervous chuckles from wonwoo and he could visibly see the worry in mingyu’s eyes commenting on his weird demeanour. who could he blame? did his crush just call him good looking? wonwoo shakes his head, tries to hold onto the remaining of his ‘man’ composure, “art,” he sings songs, opening his arms in the air.

it looks lame and embarrassing, and people are starting to stare but it makes mingyu laugh.

so, it’s cool.

just then, there’s a light buzzing from wonwoo’s phone; a text from jeonghan.

(jeonghan)

can you get me milk bun?

wonwoo groans, he wants to stay a little longer but now he’s reminded of responsibilities.

“gotta go?” mingyu asks.

“yeah, my portfolio is going to drag me to hell if i don’t and jeonghan just ordered food.”

mingyu nods silently, “well, better get change first.”

“you’re right.”

“see you then, i’ll have to get back to the art block.”

“what? isn’t that the other building, why are you all the way here?”

“just thought,” there’s a pause, “i could catch a glance of you or something.”

mingyu says it so easily, at this point, wonwoo isn’t sure if he’s just plainly flirting from before or is that his natural act. confused and unable to string a complete sentence, he chooses the option to stay silent. he tries to force a laughter, but all he could manage is to stare blankly at mingyu with his heart racing at an unhealthy rate. mingyu seems to be playing with his shoes, kicking around the dirt before he shies away with a quick see you around before he runs.

wonwoo swore, that he definitely saw the pink shades on both of mingyu’s cheeks.

+++++

he gets back to the discussion room, the coffee stained shirt underneath his arm that’s carrying jeonghan’s milk bun.

“wow, you came back as a changed person,” seungkwan notices the black hoodie, peering from above his laptop.

“it’s mingyu’s,” wonwoo answers proudly.

he raises both of his arms in the air, and gives himself a self-hug, breathing in the scent of mingyu from the black sleeves, there’s one thing that he could confirmed today, that the ripe sweet peachy scent is definitely from mingyu himself. the sleeves were a little long on wonwoo but just the way he likes it.

“wow,” jeonghan says flatly.

“must’ve been a great date,” seungkwan chimes.

“what? no, he just bumped into me and i accidentally spilt coffee—“

“bumped? he should be in the art block today, doesn’t his batch have fine art visualization today?” jeonghan asks, voice raising suspicion.

“that’s the thing!!” wonwoo says while pulling his chair next to jeonghan eagerly, expression mimicking the scene from despicable me’s ‘it’s so fluffy’. “i did ask him what was he doing all the way here and guess what?”

“what? what?” seungkwan asks excitedly, already pulling his chair next to wonwoo, eyes glimmering with excitement.

“he was like,” wonwoo clears his throat, “just thought i could catch a glance of you or something.”

“wooooooow,” seungkwan coos clapping his hands and simultaneously shaking his head, “i don’t know about you guys, but sounds pretty hella gay to me.”

“which is good for wonwoo apparently,” jeonghan adds, and finally a less mocking and a more genuine happy-for-you kind of smile.

“he got the hots for you, doesn’t he?” seungkwan asks again, this kid literally has more questions than wonwoo.

“well, i did accidentally called him a good-looking mess…”

“accidentally?” jeonghan scoffs.

“it just slipped right out okay.”

“did you go to get coffee or were you just out-right flirting with mingyu?”

“i went to get coffee!!!” wonwoo argues, flustered. “the thing is, i don’t know if he was saying it for real, or did he meant it in a more playful way, you know, because of what i said.”

“don’t think too much into it,” jeonghan advices shaking his head. “just go with the flow.”

“he was very cute, we were standing real close because—“

“ok, shut up and get back to work.”

“tell me! tell me about it!”

“shut up seungkwan!”

the afternoon goes by smoothly, and wonwoo feels strangely alive, considering that it is the season of death in the semester’s period. every now and then, he would lift the sleeves of the black hoodie up and rest his face on it, thinking that he would love to see mingyu painting, he’s sure the sight will be the best.

that night, he gets back to his dorm room, squealing about the event.

++++

“seriously, why don’t you just go into my class and call him out yourself?”

“because—“

“why do i have to tell him that you told me to tell him that you want to meet him outside the class now when he is literally there?”

“please, for the sake of one of your closest friend’s happiness!” wonwoo begs, pulling the close friend card out.

jeonghan rolls his eyes, irritated of course but thankfully gave in, “ok, wait here.”

the reason is easy, art people are intimidating. and wonwoo honestly has little confidence around people who are creative and are born with talents. sometimes, life is quite unfair.

he peeks into the room from a corner seeing jeonghan, half stomping over to mingyu who had his back faced against wonwoo, shoulders slouching a little as he sat on a stool; legs crossed and balancing a palette with smudges of colours on top with another hand holding onto a brush, a large canvas and a painting of what seemed to be a scenery of an old English building, wonwoo could tell that mingyu’s really talented. even with little information of art, he could feel the synthetic swirls of brushes dotting over the lilac sky, the reflection of the river by the street and the defined buildings illuminated a sense of loneliness. it’s absolutely breath-taking.

“hey,” jeonghan calls out.

mingyu’s expression resembles a frightened puppy for a moment because who wouldn’t be afraid of a senior who looks like jeonghan to be honest.

“wonwoo wants to see you,” jeonghan says with little emotions, pointing at wonwoo who is peeking by the door.

mingyu turns around and for that moment, wonwoo couldn’t tell which was more beautiful, mingyu’s painting or mingyu himself or mingyu’s really cute surprised face.

when he snaps back to reality, mingyu has already gotten up from his stool and is already making his way to wonwoo, his grip around the paper bag with mingyu’s black hoodie (washed with a lot of reluctance because then it would have meant he had to get rid of mingyu’s scent) tightens.

“hey,” mingyu croaks and he lets himself laugh at his own voice later clearing his throat, “morning, wonwoo.”

“good morning.”

mingyu’s hair isn’t combed back today, he let it flow above his eyes like their first encounter, though the bags underneath his eyes look heavier than before and fatigue is definitely chasing him close behind. wonwoo is glad that he made the choice to put a pack of natural milk in the paper bag with mingyu’s hoodie.

“just wanted to return this, i washed it too,” he says, trying to sound as casual as possible so nobody notices about his little pout that he has to return the hoodie and handing over the paper bag.

“thanks, um,” mingyu starts, hesitation lulling around his voice.

“yes?”

“i was just wondering if you’re interested in a concert,” mingyu says slowly and waits for wonwoo’s respond when he gets none he continues, “i got these two tickets, and none of my friends are interested in it, well i’m not saying you will be interested but i’m saying maybe you’d be interested? so i’m like asking first.”

wonwoo blinks taken aback by how much mingyu’s fidgeting, “what band?”

“the and famous.”

“what, none of your friends wants to go?” wonwoo raises his voice slightly.

mingyu seems even more nervous because now his absent-mindedly ruffling his hair, and wonwoo should probably stop him because he’s smearing little smudges of paint on his face and hair. “you don’t have to…”

with mingyu looking that dejected, it brings wonwoo in a circle of nervousness.

“w-wait, i didn’t meant it that way,” wonwoo interrupts, “i’d love to go.”

mingyu’s beaming again, happiness is so contagious, because it literally has wonwoo beaming back (and wonwoo does not beam a lot especially when it’s in the early morning). “well by next week everyone’s assignments and portfolios would be, over right?”

even though the weight of his portfolio is heavy on both his shoulders, the idea of going to a concert with mingyu made the tough journey worth it. wonwoo nods, “um you should probably stop touching your hair, you’ve got like paint on your hair and face,” motioning on a part of his face to show where the smeared paint was.

“oh,” mingyu says in realization; a little embarrassed. he brings his hands over to his face to try to remove the paint but only to made it worse.

“that,” wonwoo says reaching over to hold onto mingyu’s wrist, it was warm just like the feeling pooling around his stomach, “just made it worse.”

“right,” mingyu chuckles, “i should probably clean it in the washroom.”

“you should,” wonwoo says still holding onto mingyu’s wrist.

“yeah, um…” mingyu’s eyes falls on his wrist. at that, wonwoo jerks back letting go of the wrist, warmth seeping out from his cheeks again. from the corner of his eyes he could see jeonghan shaking his head with a teasing smirk. .

“sorry.”

“no need to be,” mingyu laughs gleefully, “if you don’t mind we could exchange numbers so i could tell you more about the things because i’m quite sure that you’re running late for your morning class.”

“!” wonwoo curses as he takes a peek at the wall clock over mingyu’s shoulder.

“here, just key in your number real quick,” mingyu says handing over his phone, the familiar panda casing, over to wonwoo.

wonwoo does as told, his heart’s racing so quickly. he’s actually getting a hold of a way to contact mingyu, literally what the is going on. just few weeks ago, they were talking about ing coffee and salt and just few weeks ago, wonwoo was gushing over him. and now, he’s running late to his lecture. wonwoo tries to keep his fingers from trembling from excitement, but hearing mingyu’s soft hm-hm chuckles, he’s already defeated.

he hands the phone back and shouts a goodbye to jeonghan and later a soft see you around to mingyu before trotting off in another direction far from the art block. if he has turned around, he could’ve witnessed mingyu adoringly staring at his phone. but man, wonwoo would’ve been blinded by his own feelings to tell anyways.

++++

(mingyu) 09 45

hi!

this is mingyu!

(mingyu) 10 05

:)

thanks for the milk

words count: 3166

yeah about that part when i said i’d try to keep chapters’ length equal. lol

anyway, a rather quick update this month like a double update for february?! a little worried for the next update, because my semester is starting and so there goes my fun time. and also, if you haven’t noticed…. i’ve written a new oneshot on meanie (because i’m such A FCKing trsAH, SOMEONE JUST DELETE ME ALREADY) it's called a dork with the internet i don't usually self-advertised (i may be lying???) but i honestly have so much fun writing this oneshot because men,, oneshots are so fun to write and chaptered fictions are so scary!

i'm sorry that if theres any confusion done, i'm trying to keep track of my brain

thanks for reading this chapter, leave some comments because (honestly, it keeps me going, its like fuel) i always screech and squeak when i read comments idk never gets old man.

ps: did anyone notice the double texting? i did ;-)