All eyes followed his every movement. Their heads came together as they decided to discuss this unnatural phenomenon.

“Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” Hoshi asked cautiously.

All heads bobbled up and down.

“And are you guys believing what we’re seeing?”

All heads shook wildly.

“Yah. What are you guys whispering about?” Wonwoo asked from behind them.

Hoshi, Mingyu, The8, Dino, Seunkwan, Vernon, DK and Dino jumped from their seats and consequently their gossiping heads smashed together.

“OW!” they cried out as they held their head in pain.

Wonwoo looked at them confusedly. But later shrugged and went back to preparing his breakfast.

“Morning.” S.Coups greeted sleepily from the doorway. He found the members in a state of pain and curiously approached them. “What’s going on?”

“Hyung!” Dino exclaimed as he pulled the oldest down. “Wonwoo-hyung is acting weird!” he whispered.

“What? How?”

DK came close. “Last night he came home really really mad, hyung. He-- ”

“Didn’t he look sad?” Seungkwan asked.

“I don’t know. “ DK answered. “He had this dark look on his face. It was scary to go near him.”

 “I saw that, too. When I went to go comfort him, he told me to leave him alone.” Hoshi remarked.

“He even kicked me out of our room! I had to sleepover at The8’s.” Mingyu complained.

 “It was cramped.” Minghao commented.

“And?” Seungcheol asked, ignoring the last comment.

“And then…” Vernon whispered. “When I woke up this morning and passed by his room…. I heard a crash like he must’ve fallen or something—“

“Really?” the members said as they almost broke into a laugh.

“Yeah! Then he came out with this huge grin. It was really creepy.” Vernon shuddered.

“What?”

“Then when he came into the kitchen he came up and hugged me!” Dino said. “Not only me but he hugged everyone and he was muttering compliments like he told me I was becoming really cool lately.”

“He said he forgives me.” Mingyu said. “For what?”

“He told me he loves me!” Hoshi cried out.

Everyone involuntarily shuddered.

They all looked at Wonwoo who was busy cooking eggs, while singing.

“This is so weird.” Seungkwan said.

“Ani.”  Seungcheol said, piecing things together. “This is just youth.”

---

“Hi, everyone!” IOI greeted as they entered the practice room.

Wonwoo looked up from his phone. He had been reading his conversation with Sohye over and over again with glee. If you could even call it one.

From: Kim Sohye

…

I’ll be waiting on the end of it.

Bye.

His face could have been torn by the smile he wore on his face and he wouldn’t care. When he first read her message first thing in the morning, he fell off the bed in shock. But he ignored the pain and clutched his phone tightly as he re-read it. His mood instantly shot up and he let it radiate from him into the whole dorm.

He responded immediately.

To: Kim Sohye

Really? Is this real?

He didn’t receive a reply.

To: Kim Sohye

Sohye thank you! I promise I won’t let you down.

To which she replied,

From: Kim Sohye

Okay.

And that’s how it ended. He could’ve tried to open a topic but he didn’t want to push it. It was enough for him that Sohye was willing to give both of them a shot. With that, he couldn’t be any happier.

He stood up with his other members as they greeted IOI back. He bowed to them politely but his eyes searched for someone in particular.

Once she graced his eyes, he didn’t know his smile could get any wider. He walked toward her.

“Hi there.” He greeted with his smile.

“Oh… hi. “ she greeted back. “If you’ll excuse me.” She walked away from him to put down her stuff. Wonwoo followed her with his eyes.

“Someone’s giving special treatment.” a voice said.

Wonwoo looked next to him and found Hoshi also looking at Sohye. “Something up between you and Kim Sohye?”

“No. There is no special treatment.” Wonwoo denied as he walked away. “It was a normal greeting.”

“Bull.” Hoshi said back. Wonwoo ignored him.

Meanwhile, the choreographer-unnie came in and called everyone’s attention. “Alright, everyone! Let’s go through what we finished once and we’ll continue the next steps. Come on!”

---

“Okay, time to partner up, everyone.” The choreographer said after a few practices. “We’ll be practicing the part where you dance in pairs.” Everyone followed as they moved toward their partners. DK and Seungkwan partnered up as a joke and not feel left out.

Wonwoo and Sohye stood next to each other in tension and silence.

“So…” Wonwoo spoke while the unnie was speaking in front. Sohye was silent. “I got really surprised by your text this morning.”

Sohye inhaled sharply. “Ah sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She apologized.

“No! It was fine. I was surprised but I was happy.”

“…I’m glad you were.” Sohye said nervously.

Wonwoo pushed on. “Anyway, I just want to say—“

“Can we not talk about it?” Sohye cut off. Wonwoo blinked in surprise and mild hurt. “I mean, it’s not the right time and place to talk about this…” she defended.

“Will you go out with me?” he asked straightforwardly.

“Huh?” Sohye asked back, shocked at how direct he was. He hasn’t even tried anything yet and he’s already asking the question??

“What I mean is if you don’t want to talk about it here, do you want to go to somewhere we can talk about it?”

“You’re confusing me, Wonwoo?”

“I’m inviting you out, Sohye.” He said matter-of-factly. For a date, he added mentally.

“Oh.” she said as she realized. Wonwoo looked at her in anticipation. Sohye thought about it for a moment. “Well, okay.”

Wonwoo grinned happily and seeing it made Sohye’s lips twitch upward.

“Great! Mind if we come?” a male voice interrupted.

Both their heads snapped to the voice. Jeonghan was smirking from his place. Next to him, Sejeong was nodding in agreement.

“Let’s go out and eat together!” Sejeong suggested. “We haven’t really bonded together, have we?”

Sohye and Wonwoo stood stiff under the gazes of the two groups in the room. They didn’t realize their conversation dominated the room again.  Beads of sweat gathered in his forehead while she pursed her lips.

Finally, Sohye spoke. “That’s a great idea, unnie! In fact, that’s what Wonwoo-sunbae intended anyway, right sunbae?” she looked up at him sternly.

Wonwoo scoffed inwardly. He didn’t want to answer. He was annoyed by the sudden change of plans and how Sohye addressed him. It was going so well but they just had to ruin it.

But feeling her elbow nudging him painfully, he had no choice. He nodded.

-----

“Where should we eat?” Mina asked excitedly as she latched onto Sohye’s arm. “I want to eat lots!”

Everyone chuckled as they all listed down what food they wanted to eat. Sohye tuned out of it immediately.

She looked at the front of the group where Wonwoo was. He didn’t speak a word at her after that. She felt really guilty for forcing him into that agreement. She tried to apologize but he was always somewhere else before she knew it.

The group walked forward and she realized they must have decided already. She followed listlessly, letting Mina guide her.

Wonwoo walked in between Jeonghan and Vernon. Vernon was busy speaking with Somi in English so he didn’t really bother listening. Instead he nudged his hyung to get his attention.

“Jeonghan-hyung, what’s up with that?” he asked in annoyance.

“What?” the older male asked innocently.

Wonwoo grit his teeth. “Why did you have to in? It was going fine. I already asked her out why’d you have to involve everyone?”

“Pabo. What would people say when they see only you two together? You think they’d be quiet about it? This is for the best so just go with the flow. It’s not like she isn’t here.”

Wonwoo shut up at that. But still, his displeasure didn’t let up. He was annoyed when Sohye gave in willingly and ignored her, though he didn’t really mean to.  He knew it wasn’t her fault, but his frustration won over.

He walked with an evident frown on his face.

“Look at that. Such a stark contrast from the broad and creepy grin earlier.” Seungkwan mused from behind.

“Hyung is weird.” Dino said.

“Oh, cute!” Pinky exclaimed. She pulled Chaeyeon with her to a large cart which was on display with the vendor next to it. Everyone followed her curiously.

In it was assortment of headdresses, funny sunglasses, cute headbands and hoods. The girls broke into smiles and squeals as they picked up various things and tried them on. The boys stood awkwardly but decided to join in the fun.

Laughter was exchanged when the BooSeokSoon trio wore different colored afros and sunglasses to match and did an impromptu performance. Everyone cheered, even the old vendor laughed with them.

The atmosphere was cheerful but one girl and boy was anything but.

“Sohye, come here!” Nayoung called the lone girl and pulled her in. “Try one on!”

Before Sohye could answer, Mina already placed a pair of fluffy cat ears on her head.

“Ta-da, Cat Sohye!” the girls giggled.

“Aww. Kiyooo, Sohye.” Pinky cooed. Attention centered on her as they gave out compliments. Sohye  cheered p and laughed as she attempted a cat impersonation.

Wonwoo was pulled out of his sulking when he saw the scene unfold in front of him. He couldn’t resist a smile at her cuteness as she played with everyone.

“Waah. She really is cute.” Mingyu remarked from beside him with a smile.

Wonwoo’s eyebrows scrunched together. He looked between him and Sohye repeatedly. Bitter memories resurfaced in his mind.  Then on impulse, he covered Mingyu’s eyes firmly.

“Yah, hyung?!” Mingyu cried out as he struggled against his hands. The tall male flailed as he tried to break free. Wonwoo smirked in satisfaction and let go. “What was that for?”

“Nothing, there was a fly.” He said innocently. Mingyu just stared at him in obvious disbelief.

 Wonwoo decided to leave him and look for something to wear his self, but his eyes rested on a particular item.

“Okay, enough, enough. My stomach is going wild with protests already.” S.Coups spoke up. Everybody agreed as they put back the items and bid the vendor farewell.

Sohye put back the cat ears and went to follow but a hand caught her wrist.

“Wait.” He said.

Sohye turned around in surprise and stared at the hand on her wrist. Before she could question him, a hat was placed on her head.

“Yup. This suits you much better.” Wonwoo said as he took in her appearance.

Confused, Sohye took off the hat and looked at it. It was a pink beanie with a print of a penguin. On top were what seemed to be panda ears, far from its concept but still cute nonetheless.

Just by seeing the penguin, Sohye broke into a smile. She marveled at how soft and warm it was and how adorable it looked.

“Do you like it?” he asked cautiously. “I know its childish but—“

“I love it! It’s fine, don’t worry.” She cut off happily.

Warmth crept in his chest when he saw her smile. He returned it genuinely with one of his own.

“Are you going to buy it?” the old woman asked, breaking their moment.

Sohye was starled. “Oh…uh, no. My wallet is—“

“We’ll take it.” It was Wonwoo’s turn to cut her off. “How much is it?”

“But my purse is—“

“I’ll buy it for you.” Wonwoo said simply as he took out his wallet.

“I can’t let you do that for me.“

“Just let me. This is me trying, Sohye.”

Sohye shut up. All words of protest dissolved into nothing. A warm feeling spread in her and she felt giddy all of a sudden. She couldn’t resist a smile forming on her face as she watched him interact with the vendor.

She fondly recalled the times he used to buy her penguin stuff for her in the past, just like this.

“Really. Thank you.” She said sincerely. For trying.

Suddenly a small group of teenagers rounded the corner. Alarms rang in Wonwoo’s mind as he recalled his hyung’s words. “Yah. Sohye, you can go on ahead.” He said in the middle of paying. “I’ll just pay this real quick.”

“You sure?”  Sohye asked unsure.

“Yes. Now, hurry! And wear your new hat.”

“What?” Sohye asked with a laugh. “Fine, I’ll see you there.” She dashed to the direction her group went and left him alone. Wonwoo felt a slight pang of disappointment as she left, but he knew it was for the best.

The old lady handed him his change. He decided to linger longer and tried out other items while waiting for the group to pass him by. The group was getting close to him, four teenage girls to be exact, and he immediately wore a wig and sunglasses to hide his self. Better safe than sorry.

“Yah. Don’t you think that guy is hot?” one of them whispered, but he could hear clearly. “I mean he’s wearing those stupid things but you could see from his body he’s handsome!”

“How could you tell his handsome when we can only see his back, pabo!”

“I feel it! Don’t you think he could be an idol?”

“Nonse—“

Wonwoo glanced at them meaningfully. The girls stopped whispering and froze upon being caught. One of them found the courage to run away and the others immediately followed. He shook their head at their fleeing figures and took off his ‘disguise’.

His phone beeped.

From: Uji

Yah. Where are you?? Hurry up we’re seated already.

He didn’t bother to reply as he walked toward the restaurant.

Fifteen minutes later he was at the doorway of a mostly empty restaurant. Which could hardly be called empty by how big their group was. They already had side dishes and were conversing loudly.

“I’m here.” He announced. Heads glanced at him, he thought nothing of it at first. But he noticed that they stopped eating. “What’s wrong?”

“Wonwoo-ah.” Nayoung spoke. “Where’s Sohye?”

-----

I have LSS on Crazy in Love and My I guys. How to be free T^T

Anyway, please tell me what you think of the story so far! If it's boring or cringy or idek.

Hope you liked this one, bai~