“I’m going out for a smoke,” Wonho announced grumpily to everyone packing up in the green room, trudging his feet across the floor. “A smoke? Jesus, was today really that bad?” Kihyun popped his head up from his backpack, where he was shoving in a plastic bag full of sweaty clothes.

“If it wasn’t for that constant headache over there,” Wonho said, pointing swiftly in Minhyuk’s direction, only to hear a noise of offended objection, “Then it would have been fine.”

He rolled his eyes and crossed the threshold of the door leading to the parking lot, when of course, he heard Kihyun yell, “Hurry up or we’re leaving without you!”

As he settled himself against the wall, cigarette burning between his fingers, he thought back to what had happened earlier that night.

Seeing Haru again had caught him so off guard he could hardly think straight and Minhyuk had made the situation far worse with his usual antics.

Although, what truly afflicted him more than anything was why they kept bumping into each other. It was inevitable to think that the circumstances were just mere coincidences anymore. Or maybe, it was just him who was reading too much into it?

Yeah, it was probably just his lack of sleep driving him to think such odd things.

Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t been aware that someone else had arrived at the back of the venue. He glanced lazily to the side at the commotion that now filled his ears, wondering who had accompanied him in the dark.

It was none other than Haru, rubbing at her eyes furiously. She stomped her foot in what seemed like frustration, profanities coming out of so effortlessly he couldn’t help but laugh. It was as he had said before. Those expletives flowed out of like poetry. The memory made him laugh even more.

“W-Wonho?”

The hand by his side twitched at the sound of his nickname coming from her. Wonho wondered why it bothered him so much to hear her call him by it, but it just didn’t sit right with him when she said it. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the restless feeling inside his chest to subside.

“Hoseok, you mean?” He said aloud, opening his eyes and lifting himself off the wall.

She stared at him in what he could only decipher as surprised confusion, but he wasn’t the least bit surprised at this point. There was a sort of peace that washed over him at the fact that Haru kept showing up in his life at random moments, almost as if fate wouldn’t have them leave each other alone.

“Fate?” Wonho breathed out dubiously.

An absurd theory, to say the least.

He shook his head, attempting to clear his mind. He just really needed some god damn sleep, because his imagination was starting to run wild.

There she was though, a few feet away from him, blatantly staring at his hand again without saying a word. Not at his face. His hand.

What was it about his hands?

He took his gaze up from his cigarette, now observing how she slowly trailed up his arm with her eyes, as if she were watching something climb up it. But then, she kept going, at such a painfully slow pace that made him wonder if there was something he was missing. It made him nervous, having someone stare at him so meticulously like that. When she finally met his eyes, he stared straight back without an ounce of emotion. In her eyes, though, he could see how much of an open book she really was.

It was astonishing.

The pain in them were evident.

He supposed he had always noticed it. He also supposed he had ignored how much it bugged him, too. Was she aware that it was just there for everyone to see?

He let the cigarette fall from his hand, putting it out with the heel of his boot.

“What are you doing all the way over here?” He heard her ask as he picked up the remnants and made his way over to her.

“Well, if it wasn’t obvious,” He dripped with sarcasm, “I was smoking,” Wonho smirked as he stood in front of her with his palm open. “Do you know where I can cool this off, so I can throw it away?” He asked innocently.

“Uhm, sure?” Haru replied, “Let me just throw these away really quick.” She began to lift the two trash bags he had seen in her hands before and offered to help her, but she shot him down just as swiftly. He stayed back and watched in amusement as she struggled to lift the heavy bags. He also tried to keep down a few giggles when she let go of the lid too soon, barely escaping with all her fingers intact.

“You should ask someone else to do the trash before you end up without any fingers,” He said as he followed her into the small hallway that led into the venue. She sighed, and he raised an eyebrow at the reaction. “I’m doing just fine, Wonho, thank you. Plus, everyone left me to clean up the place by myself.”

He felt his hand subtly twitch again.

The huge pile of trash bags that she had yet to take came into full view. He took his gaze to the side, where she was sitting on a bar stool staring off into space, evidently exhausted. He could just tell something was eating at her. Wonho chewed on his lip in thought, a bit miffed that they would leave her to do all the cleaning by herself.

“Do you think I could help?” He offered again. He did have his lyric deadline tomorrow, but it didn’t feel right to just leave. “Oh, you really don’t have to. I can do it by myself,” She nodded along to her reply, pushing strands of hair behind her ear. “I know you can,” He said with a tiny grin, “But I’d love to help. I know how it is to close by yourself and it really .”

He moved to lean on the bar counter, his palm supporting his face that tilted off to the left, his cheek effectively squished. “What do you say?”

“Oh my god, does that actually work on people?” She asked incredulously. “Does what work on people?” He asked, honestly not understanding the question. “That,” She pointed to his hand that was still supporting his head up with mirth. “Why? What’s wrong with my hand?” He took his hand away to observe it, brows coming together this time.

Was that it? Was something wrong with his hands? Was that why Haru stared at them? Sure, they were veiny and a bit callused from working out, but otherwise, they seemed like normal hands.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” He said, looking at her as if she was losing it.

“Jesus, Wonho.” She exploded into the melodic laughter that had engrained itself in his memory without his permission. It was immediate, the tightness that formed inside of his chest. The reaction was something he had only felt once before, but no, he didn’t think of Haru that way. Without a doubt, she was a gorgeous girl, but he just couldn’t. Not again.

“Don’t tell me you act cute without actually knowing you’re being cute. Because that’s bull,” She said as she slipped off the stool to grab more trash bags. “Act cute?” He scoffed, “Why would I need to act? I am cute.” He grabbed a few trash bags himself and turned back towards the hall. “My mom even says so!” He announced proudly, giggling as he made his way down the hall.

Being around Haru was easy; comfortable. And that’s how he wanted to keep things.

It was all he could handle.

“God, I’ll never upset Yoongi on my night shift ever again,” Haru said sulkily, wiping down the bar counter for the last time.

“Yoongi? Is he your boss?” Wonho asked curiously as he dried the rest of the glasses Haru had washed.

Haru flinched at the memory of who her boss was but knew she needed to reply. “Oh no,” She sighed, “Yoongi is one of my best friends and in charge of the venue while my actual boss is away,” Haru finished.

“Was it the guy that was with you in the crowd tonight?” Wonho raised an eyebrow, “You guys did seem close.” Haru took her gaze in his direction, only to see a pleasant small smile on his face. Haru felt so comfortable around him when she wasn’t trying to fight with the fact that she could see his emotions in the form of colors.

“Ah… You saw us?” Haru questioned, but knew that of course, he had. It was nice to confirm that she wasn’t completely insane, though. “Yeah, that was him. He’s one out of seven that I’m really close with. All eight of us run this crazy joint.” She couldn’t help the warmth that spread through her at the thought of them, a grin definitely plastered on her face now. “They’re basically my brothers. Well, no, they are my brothers… My family.” It was strange, talking about her boys to someone else that wasn’t her parents.

“Seven?!” Wonho exclaimed, nearly dropping the glass he was drying back into the sink. “That’s really…. Cool. You talk about them in such a loving way.” He paused for a brief second before going on. “But, I think I can relate,” He smiled down at the glass in his hand before putting it into its rightful place. “Oh?” She simply responded, waiting for him to go on.

“Besides the guys in Monsta X, there are two others. All together it’s seven of us. We’ve been close for a really long time and I’d honestly do anything for them, you know?” He looked at her then and she understood his feelings completely. She would do anything for her boys, too. Absolutely anything. “Like you said, they’re family.”

“That’s amazing,” Haru exhaled, the reply barely audible. It felt like such a lackluster answer, but their similarities had left her nearly speechless.

They ended up cleaning the rest of the venue in pleasant silence. Haru took the opportunity to take a few quick glances at Wonho now and then, observing how his gold flecks danced around his hands in contentment.

“Thank you so much for helping me out, I don’t know how I could ever repay you, to be honest.” Haru was now leaning against the green room door that led to the parking lot, letting a light breeze in as Wonho gathered his things. “Don’t worry about it,” He emitted a small laugh, “Think of it as a thank you for letting me borrow your stuff for the performance.” He swung his backpack onto his shoulder, a slight blush on his cheeks to match the color on his hands. His shade of embarrassment was a much lighter and prettier pink than hers, and it made her kind of jealous. Although, she found it interesting how the gold flecks never changed colors, no matter how much his mood fluctuated.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” She followed him out of the door and into the night, taking in the sky that was a stunning shade of navy blue. “How did you even get my beanie in the first place? Did you break into my locker?” Haru side-eyed him as she continued to tilt her head upwards. “No, I- I swear I didn’t. I didn’t even know it was yours. Kihyun just gave it to me and told me to put it on,” He explained, taking his gaze from her face to the sky.

“I wonder who I’m going to have to kill the next time I come in for work. Six of them are up for grabs,” She laughed.

“Six? Not seven?” Wonho inquired.

Haru couldn’t stop the fall of her smile.

She scratched the side of her face, a nervous habit she could never really get rid of. “One of them is out of the country. So, six,” She answered simply, watching her hands turn from the light green they had been to a deep purple. “Oh,” Wonho replied with a nod. She guessed he had sensed the change in atmosphere at his question.

Looking past her hands, she realized that they had long since reached the sidewalk and were walking aimlessly now.

“Do you have a ride?” Haru changed the subject, becoming aware that she needed to get home and feed Butter. Wonho stayed quiet and said nothing, the seconds becoming minutes of silence. “I would drive you home, but I don’t have a car. I usually walk home…” She trailed off, suddenly nervous f