• ♬ ♬ ♫♩ •
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

 

(this chapter dragged on way longer than I wanted it to, but there’s a lot of things I wanted to include so…)

(I’m so sorry that this is long,,)

 

“Wonwoo this is stupid.” Mingyu mumbles and puts his drumsticks behind his back, eyes rolled back.

 

The older formed a frown in reply, not taking Mingyu’s reaction lightly, but he tugs on his sleeve and secretly links pinkies with him. “Don’t think negatively ‘Gyu! Please… You said you wanted to go anyway-“

 

“Because you said you were going in a few months too.” The younger snarls and hides his red face in his hands. However, Wonwoo disagrees with the shake of his head and the pout on his face becomes poutier.

 

“That was before. My, Kim Mingyu, you’re so hard to please.”

 

“I can say the same about you.”

 

“Mingyu...” Wonwoo jumps up and down in the place where he’s sat, pouting like there’s no tomorrow.

 

“Wonwoo!” Mingyu says back at him in a mocking tone, leaning to his face. There was a moment of silence between them. He stared at him for a few seconds with puffed cheeks before he quickly kissed the older’s pouty lips. Although Wonwoo would normally take it happily, his face said otherwise.

 

“Okay then, Mr. Mean-‘Gyu. I’m going to help the guys set up.” Wonwoo declares and stands up, still looking at Mingyu. “We could always need a helping hand, so tell me when you’ve stopped being Mr. Grumpy-face, alright?” To cheer him up (Correction: Persuade him), Wonwoo bends down to gently peck the younger’s cheek before leaving.

 

Right after Wonwoo left, and Mingyu still ‘unbothered’, Minghao walks to him with a slushy in one hand and a packet of dried mangoes in the other. He takes a seat next to the taller and presents him with the bag of dried mangoes.

 

Although grumpy, Mingyu takes and ‘grumpily’ eats one.

 

Minghao laughs at his action, and nudges his arm. “C’mon,” He says, “You can’t be like this. I know that you want to help the guys, it’s written all over your face.”

 

“But ‘Hao, it’s a stupid idea.”

 

“Hey, you’re a horrible liar — So don’t even think of pulling that card against me. You know I’m right.”

 

In silence, Mingyu ruffles his hair in frustration. “I’ll think about it. Aren’t you going to help them? Your stupid boyfriend looks like he’s going to die carrying all of those wires and amplifiers over there.”

 

Minghao hums, “I would, but I’ll stay here so I can wait for you to cheer up. Better than being alone, right?” Again, Minghao puts the dried mangoes in front of Mingyu, but this time Mingyu takes the slushy and steals a sip from it. “Hey!”

 

Mingyu laughs before his eyes look back to the five males all scattered around like a mess, and Wonwoo directing them where to go.

 

And this was because of one stupid phone call in the middle of the night.

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

[ narcissist <3 is calling | accept • decline ]

[ accept ]

 

“Please don’t leave me.”

 

“M… Mingyu?” Wonwoo sits up immediately once he hears the words come through the phone. “‘Gyu? It’s early in the morning…” He huffs, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

 

A sharp gasp came through the other side of the phone, followed by a few sniffles. Quickly, Wonwoo manages to hear him say, “, it didn’t go to voicemail?” Under the younger’s breath. “You’re awake?” His voice turns soft. “Oh, uh… Ignore that.”

 

But Mingyu definitely knows Wonwoo wasn’t going to ignore that. “Darling… please?” And Mingyu also knew that Wonwoo was trying to convince him to say what happened whenever he uses that nickname.

 

“I just had a… Nightmare… That’s all.”

 

To Wonwoo, his voice still sounded shaky and it worried the male. He should trust Mingyu, of course, but sometimes he can’t help but worry about him all of the time. Nevertheless, to avoid any bickering early in the morning, Wonwoo covers up his thoughts with a muffled snort.

 

“You sound lame.”

 

“I hate you.”

 

“I hate you too…” Mingyu can picture Wonwoo’s cheesy finger hearts being thrown through the speaker. The younger can’t help but giggle at the thought.

 

Suddenly, a realisation comes up in Mingyu’s mind. “By the way, what are you doing up at two in the morning? You’re normally asleep at this time-“

 

“I’m leaving you.”

 

“WHAT.” The taller said loud enough that he fell off his bed, and that he had to quickly crawl back in his bed and pretend to sleep when his mother came rushing in to check if he was okay.

 

Wonwoo knew what was going on — And he tried to stifle a loud laugh.

 

Once she exited, Mingyu exhaled a shaky breath and immediately put his phone back to his ear.

 

He stutters, “No, please- Wonwoo- Don’t joke with me right now. No Won-“

 

“To another country. Not yet… To say the least.”

 

“Huh?” Again, Mingyu’s eyes widen. “Why? When?! Now?! Just wait, I’ll quickly get changed and head to the train station-“

 

“Idiot — I said I’m not leaving now — Don’t you remember? I told you I was going to Japan soon. Right now, I’m just looking at ferry prices and departures.”

 

Wonwoo soon hears Mingyu mumble, “Geez, that went by ing quickly.” And clear his throat afterwards. “Wait, did you just say ferry? Aren’t you taking a plane? How are you going to get there? I’m telling you Wonu’, don’t go there by taxi or bus, they’re the ones you can’t trust-“

 

Wonwoo chuckles at Mingyu’s questions. “You’re cute when you’re concerned. Yes, I’m going by ferry. I might take the train there, who knows? I’m still unsure…”

 

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

 

“Around a month… Just before the spring break, so I’m not here during break.”

 

“God, you should’ve told me! I would’ve come too…”

 

“No young man — You have studies to worry about.”

 

“YOU HAVE TO STUDY TOO.”

 

The older hushes him. “‘Gyu, remember that it’s two in the morning. And besides, all I ever do is study.”

 

“Fair enough…”

 

“Oh! I’m also planning to give everyone things when I come back, what do you think they’ll like.”

 

“I dunno, you aren’t leaving yet, just ask them.”

 

“Alright. Do you want anything ‘Gyu?”

 

“You.” Mingyu frowns.

 

“Ah… Stop.” Wonwoo closes his laptop and lays on his bed, smiling at the ceiling.

 

“It’s true.” The younger whines, tossing and turning in his bed. “You know, it’ll be easier if I came with you, and maybe with the others too. It’ll be fun…” Patiently, Mingyu waits for Wonwoo’s response, which to his surprise, is nothing. “… Wonu’? Princess? Hello…? Wonwoo-“

 

“Come to my house in three days.”

 

“Huh, needy much? I didn’t know you were like this Won-“

 

“And bring Minghao and Jun with you.“

 

“Eh?! Why ‘Hao and Jun? You know how they are together-“

 

“Relax! Trust me, okay?” Wonwoo quietly laughs. “Hey… You should get some sleep before you start getting curious. I know what you’re like.”

 

“… Okay…”

 

Wonwoo tuts. “Don’t give me that tone — Sleep well Mingyu… I love…” The older pauses pauses, “…Goodnight Mingyu.”

 

Slightly disappointed, with himself to say the least, he hums and nods. 

 

“I love you too.” Says Mingyu.

 

Mingyu hangs up first, and tosses and turns a couple of times before he gets into a comfortable state. Blankly, he stares at the wall and echoes the conversation he and Wonwoo had in his mind. He lets out a small hum before he opens his mouth slightly.

 

“Wonwoo, you’re so ing confusing sometimes…”

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

“I wonder why lover boy number two invites us to his house at such a random day…”

 

Junhui says his thoughts out loud, glancing at Minghao (Who was busy checking his social media — Typical). Right after he said that, he tip toes closer to the male walking in front of them. Once Junhui was millimetres away from touching the taller’s nape, Mingyu answers, “Don’t even think about asking me, .”

 

“Someone’s moody.” The older scoots away from him. He goes back to walking with Minghao at his pace and continues to let his mouth spill out with stupid words. “Ooh, I can’t believe we’re visiting Wonwoo’s house. I’m so curious! It must be nice, don’t you think?”

 

Minghao, who surprisingly could hear Junhui through his headphones blasting with music, nods in reply. “Yeah, I wonder that too. The last time I visited him, his house was really different.”

 

And with that said, Mingyu swung his head back quickly enough to give himself whiplash. “‘Really different’? Wonwoo never told me about this…”

 

“It isn’t anything major to know. There was a fire in his kitchen and it managed to damage the kitchen and his room or something…”

 

Once Minghao glances over to Mingyu, he knows that Mingyu wants to hear about Wonwoo’s old room.

 

“His room was pretty cute… Walls plastered with posters of violinists he wanted to meet and stages he wanted to perform and visit, he had video game consoles hidden under his bed — I think his bedsheets were stars and galaxies — I remember he had a collection of stuffed animals that his sister won for him, and to this day I’m still surprised of how his albums haven’t been burnt from that fire.”

 

He stopped talking once Junhui lightly pushed him on the arm, attracting their attention Mingyu. “‘Hao, you made him do that thing again — Go into deep thoughts about Wonwoo.”

 

“Leave him. As long as he’s keeping his fantasies to himself, we’re fine!”

 

“I don’t think it works like that-“

 

“Hey! We’re here!”

 

Quickly, the youngest of the three grabs the two males by the wrist and pulls them closer to Wonwoo’s house. Minghao fixes his clothes and clears his throat before confidently knocking on the door. And he patiently waited (Meanwhile, Junhui was busy trying to wake Mingyu up from his thoughts).

 

There was no response. “Huh, odd…”

 

So for the second time, Minghao knocked again — More aggressively this time.

 

Of course, no response. Minghao let out a breathy laugh. “Okay then.” His voice turned stern.

 

One more knock —The third knock — And there was still no response — Which made Minghao go from one to one hundred.

 

He clenched his fist and banged on the door as hard as he could yelling, “YOU PUNKS OPEN UP THIS DAMN DOOR OR I’LL RIP YOUR GUTS OUT AND GIVE THEM TO JUNHUI’S DOGGO.”

 

Suddenly a random burst of laughter comes from the living room all the way to the door, followed by a loud thud. To top it all of, the out of breath laughter and wheezing soon says (Loud enough for Minghao to hear), “TOLD YOU HE’LL YELL BY THE THIRD KNOCK! YOU OWE ME CHICKEN WINGS FOR THE WHOLE WEEK ‘HOON!”

 

Followed by that, another voice mumbles, “A’ight. Besides, no one said that I can’t buy the spicy chicken wings-“

 

“YOU WOULDN’T DARE LEE JIHOON-“

 

“STOP BEING DRAMATIC AND OPEN THE DAMN DOOR GUYS.“ Minghao knocked aggressively and kicked the door (Before he started apologising to the inanimate object). Mingyu taps his shoulder, innocently looking at him, and silently tells him to move aside.

 

Mingyu took out a chain of two keys (Along with a tiny keychain of Gudetama) and started to put the key in the door.

 

Junhui leaned to Minghao. “‘Gyu has a key?” He soon spoke up, “Since when did you have a key to get in?” A smirk forms on Junhui’s face and made hissed in reply, rolling his eyes.

 

“Wonu’ gave this to me a while ago. I think he got tired of me just entering his room by window in the middle of the night and just gave me the key to his house and said, ‘Stop entering through the window. And stop visiting late at night’.” Mingyu shrugged. “But he still gave me the keys to his window, so it’s a win-win.”

 

The sound of the doorknob clicked and a smile formed on Mingyu’s face and Junhui and Minghao were trying to not throw up at how whipped Mingyu sounds.

 

“Gotcha.” As soon as Mingyu swings the door open, he startles a certain Jeon Wonwoo who quietly jumps in shock at Mingyu’s sudden entrance. And even before Wonwoo can get his thoughts back together, Mingyu pecks the older’s lips and pulls him for a tight hug before he walks off to Soonyoung and Jihoon in the living room.

 

“Kids these days.” Junhui sighs as he takes off his shoes, shaking his head.

 

Minghao follows suit and adds, “Imagine what they’d be like if they were married. Actually, don’t.” Minghao shivers as he walks past Wonwoo.

 

“Ah, it feels weird with all of us together like this — It’s been a while.” Mingyu falls on the couch, allowing his arm to brush the floor and long legs to stick out. Not long after, he gets a tingly feeling and instantly sits up. “We’re missing a person.”

 

“Huh, who?” Soonyoung looks left to right. His mouth forms an ‘O’ shape and agrees with Mingyu. “Right, we’re missing Hansol.”

 

Jihoon gasps quietly. “Vernon? Should we call him?” The shorter pulls out his phone, searching for Vernon’s name on his contacts.

 

“Didn’t he come with you guys?” Minghao points to Soonyoung and the latter shakes his head.

 

“Are you sure he’s just coming later?” Junhui asks.

 

“Well we don’t even know what we’re doing here in the first place-“ Says Mingyu before he hears a loud slurping noise from the kitchen, opening his left eye as he lays down to see a glimpse of the person.

 

Walking in, all of their heads turn to the figure stood in the kitchen slurping some ramen from a large bowl.

 

“Oh hey hyungs.” Vernon casually says with a stuffed mouth, shaking his head as he tries to remove his headphones with no hands. He walks towards everyone and sits next to Mingyu (More like, literally sits on his legs).

 

“Give me some.” Vernon passes the bowl to Mingyu, who sleepily eats it and passes it onto Jun, and everyone in the room has a section of the ramen Vernon was eating.

 

“You were here this whole time Hansol?” Soonyoung widens his eyes, scooting his further away from Vernon as his sudden appearance. Vernon nodded.

 

“I was here before you and Jihoon hyung came, Jiwoo and I were drinking some bubble tea I made in the garden. Does anyone want some?”

 

In unison, all of them raise their hands (Even Wonwoo, who doesn’t know what’s going on and just came back from closing the door) so Vernon gets up and rushes to the kitchen again.

 

From that point, everyone was arguing and fighting over who was going to finish the bowl of ramen Vernon left in Mingyu’s hands.

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

“Ok… Now that everyone has their bubble teas and are now settled, let’s get started shall we?” Wonwoo claps his hands and places his drink in between his legs as he opens his laptop. “God I sound like a mom.” He groans.

 

“Why do you want us all here though? You haven’t told us that yet.” Minghao asks, slurping on the last pieces of ramen in the bowl.

 

Although Wonwoo doesn’t reply, Jihoon scoots closer to the older and rests his chin on his shoulder, squinting at the dimly-lit screen. Soonyoung tugs on Jihoon’s sock but the shorter gently kicks him way, indicating him to shush.

 

By Jihoon’s reaction, everyone in the room start to feel tense as they see the shock in Jihoon’s widened eyes.

 

“What?!” Jihoon finally says, ruffling his hands in his hair and jumping away from Wonwoo. “Are you serious Wonwoo?!”

 

Junhui shift his eyes from Jihoon to Wonwoo and back to Jihoon. “What the hell is going on? ‘Hoon, are you alright-“

 

“Let’s go to Japan!” Wonwoo interrupts, his eyes finally away from the laptop. The male didn’t know whether the reactions from the rest of them were good or bad. “Uh… Guys?”

 

“Japan?! All seven of us?” Soonyoung’s jaw drops, although he’s getting excited inside.

 

“Huh, doesn’t sound like a bad idea. We should get away from Korea every now and again.” Minghao tilts his head, yet nods his head.

 

Vernon takes a long sip of his bubble tea and looks up at Wonwoo. “Wow Japan… Cool.”

 

“Wait,” Mingyu then says, silencing everyone, “Are you even sure this is a good idea? Have you thought this through?”

 

The look on Wonwoo’s face changes as he hears Mingyu say those words. Nervously, he bites his lip and tries to avoid any eye contact.

 

“About that… I kind of thought this through. But trust me, I have it all written down!” Wonwoo moves to sit on the floor and gestures his hands for the rest of the group to huddle around the male.

 

When they all squish to see the screen, they look at all the open tabs filling the screen, with notes, ferry costs, ferry departures from Busan to Fukuoka, the earliest train departures from Seoul to Busan — The list goes on.

 

“So I was thinking that we should get a bus or train from Seoul to get to Busan early in the morning, but that would mean we would have to get to the stations by midnight, so we don’t miss the ferry. Busan is only four hours away so we can sleep while we go there.”

 

Wonwoo puts up another tab, searching something and clicking through the many links appearing on the screen.

 

“As for the ferry, that’s the cheapest way we could go to Japan besides plane, and is only a three hour ride, as I’ve checked, the earliest departure is eight in the morning, but since you guys are all a pain to deal with when you’ve all woken up,” All of them groan at Wonwoo’s comment, making him laugh, “I think that two in the afternoon will be the best time and we’ll get there by five. Actually, nah, eight o’clock will do.”

 

“Really?!” Everyone exclaims, sighing.

 

“Oh, whatever — Drama queens. And after that… I don’t know. I’m not sure how we’ll get from Fukuoka to Tokyo, and if add the cost of the hotel we’ll stay in that’ll be too much.” Wonwoo shuts his laptop and tosses it to the side. “I’ve already saved up money since I was planning to go there in a couple of months by plane, but that’s only enough for one person and some leftover money for another person.“

 

Everyone all sat around Wonwoo’s living room after breaking away from the tight huddle they were in and lowly hum in unison.

 

Vernon puts a finger to his lips then puts it up to say something. “Maybe… Maybe we can go there by car than bus… Mingyu hyung knows how to drive right? And Jun hyung as well right?” Vernon looks over to the two males and they slowly nod. “Yeah, we can get there in Mingyu’s car can’t we? It has enough seats for all of us anyway-“

 

“Hold up.” Minghao butts in on the conversation, “Since when did you have a car?” He points his long finger at Mingyu and Wonwoo chuckles.

 

“A Jeon never breaks their promise.” Wonwoo smugly smiles and shrugs before Mingyu mouths ‘I hate you’ to the male.

 

“That saves up some money doesn’t it? The only thing we need to pay for is our food and gasoline…” Vernon slowly bobs his head and high-fives Soonyoung who has stars in his eyes after listening to Vernon’s brilliant idea.

 

To keep track of things, Mingyu grabs Wonwoo’s laptop and adds on to the notes he already has written down in a new note (“How do you know my password?” “Wonu’, your password is ‘wontonsoup1707’ for everything, how can I not know?” “I should change my password more often.” “You should.”)

 

“Great — We have that down, so what about from Fukuoka to Tokyo? That’s eleven hours away…”

 

Junhui clicks his fingers to make up for the loss of words to attract the group. Once all of them look at him, Junhui takes out his phone and shows a picture of a male.

 

“Seungcheol!” Soonyoung and Mingyu say.

 

Minghao and Wonwoo tilt their heads. “Seungcheol?”

 

Vernon and Jihoon look at each other, raising their shoulder and walking together to the kitchen to get more bubble tea.

 

“He has a ride too!” Exclaims Junhui. “I think it can fit all of us — And if not, Jihoon can go in the trunk.”

 

“Or we can just amputate your limbs and you can fit in the trunk.” Jihoon yells from the kitchen.

 

The male flinches at the thought. “Ouch. Anyway! I also know he has enough rooms for us to stay in at his place — His place is pretty nice. But I think one or two of us has to sleep on his couch or bring an inflatable bed.”

 

“Jun hyung, I know you’re just sugarcoating that sentence to really mean ‘Vernon, why don’t you sleep in the living room because you’re the seventh wheel out of all of us’.” Vernon gulps then hitches his breath. “Wait, doesn’t Seungcheol have his own partner? So I’m going to be a tenth wheel?! !”

 

As soon as Vernon covers his mouth for swearing out loud, Minghao laughs until he can’t breathe and claps his thigh with one hand as the other tries to hide his red face behind Junhui. “He isn’t wrong!”

 

“Don’t worry ‘Sol.” Mingyu pats the younger’s back, “It’s better to build up yourself while your friends are being with their significant other.”

 

“Hyung that doesn’t make it sound any better-“

 

“I know, I’m not good with words ‘Sol you should know that by now.”

 

“Shouldn’t you call him to ask if it’s okay?” Wonwoo points at Junhui’s phone.

 

“Nah, I think he’ll be cool with it. Plus, it’s great to surprise him, right?”

 

“Jun, I don’t think calling Seungcheol last minute would work…”

 

“Let’s just pray he doesn’t kill us because we called him last minute.” Mingyu mumbles.

 

“I heard that!”

 

“What about the ferry?” Jihoon asks as he places his phone next to him. “To pay for all seven of us for a ferry to Fukuoka and back — Emphasise ‘seven’ — Wouldn’t that be somewhere over a million won?”

 

“How do you know that?” Wonwoo turns his head to look at him surprised.

 

“I still remember the conversation I had with your dad about cruise ship prices and just put it into context for all seven of us on a ferry — It’s not that hard.” Jihoon forms a straight line on his lips. “We have one person down so that’s fine, but what about the other six of us?”

 

All of them start thinking and try to come up with ideas, yet nothing comes to mind.

 

In a little while, Mingyu, Junhui and Soonyoung shift their eyes at each other in unison. Their eyes speak to each other and everyone else wonders what the hell is going on with the trio.

 

“You don’t think…” Mingyu squints his eyes.

 

“Is their any other option?” Says Junhui. “Can you still remember how to set it all up?”

 

“How much did we get paid again?” Soonyoung pouts bottom lip, which turns into a look of restored hope. “Wait, I think it’ll work! If we split up-“

 

“Alright, we get you three just had a light bulb moment, but we don’t speak idiot so can you please care to tell us what the you’re going on about?” Jihoon groans, sighing deeply.

 

The trio look at each other and decide by the look on their faces — Mingyu’s face certainly spells out ‘unsure’ and ‘I don’t want to go through that again’, Soonyoung’s face says the complete opposite with ‘What the hell could go wrong’ and ‘Plus we get free snacks if it’s a good day’ whereas Junhui’s face just says ‘Go for it’.

 

Soonyoung gasps in happiness and turns to Jihoon with a wide smile painted on his face.

 

“We should do busking!”

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

And that brings us back to where we left off.

 

“Mingyu? ‘Gyu? Kim Mingyu? Mingyu!”

 

The sound of Wonwoo’s voice shakes Mingyu up, snapping him back out of his flashback. “Oh, Wonu’! What’s up?” He stutters, trying to look natural. A smile forms on the older’s face.

 

“Don’t try and hide the fact that you were thinking of something, it’s okay.” Wonwoo giggles. “We’re done now, care to join us.”

 

“Already?” Mingyu gasps, looking down at Wonwoo’s hand held out to him. It takes him a few seconds to process everything, but in the end Mingyu comes to a conclusion and takes Wonwoo’s hand, walking with him nearer to the group.

 

Awkwardly, the taller scratches his nape.

 

“You know Wonu’, I feel really bad for not helping you guys… I think I blanked out more than I normally do…” He softly chuckles, “Everyday I’m becoming more like you, aren’t I?”

 

“Of course! Because you cling onto me all of the time.” Wonwoo joins in with Mingyu’s laughing and lets go of his hand. “Well, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing either.”

 

The older jogs closer to the group and Mingyu follows closely behind him. 

 

“Now what’s the plan?” Mingyu loosens his tie and takes off his blazer, tying it around his waist. “And wouldn’t it be better if, I dunno, we weren’t wearing these deathtraps called uniforms?! And perform right after the school day?”

 

“If we have our uniforms, they’ll tell that we’re students, and wouldn’t that cause more publicity?” Minghao replies. “And if more publicity, more money! And if more money, the more closer we are to Japan!”

 

“We might as well make a start.” Rolling up his sleeves, Jihoon makes his way to pick up the cajon and a black bag that swung around his shoulders, slowly going back to the group. “No one said that this will be easy.”

 

“Agreed.” Vernon nods. “So… What’s the plan again?” And Wonwoo claps his hands, ready to explain to the male.

 

“To put in context… We have a week and probably a few days — Just in case — To get over a million won. Insane, I’m aware, but if we split up we can earn money quicker that way. All we have to depend on is the public and whether they think we’re good or bad musicians.”

 

“Which if I’m included in this, we’ll definitely fail-”

 

“Vernon for the last time stop being negative about yourself!” Wonwoo glares at Vernon.

 

“Sorry. Force of habit.”