Seongwoo woke up the next day feeling more refreshed after an exhausting night filled with too much ‘human interaction’. Although he appreciates Minhyun’s efforts to help him meet more people, it was still a huge struggle for him to talk properly. When he went out of his room, only then did he realize that he was all alone. Minhyun must have left for his morning class.

After going through his planner lying around on his bedside table, Seongwoo decided to get started on his small choreography project for his dance class. He still had at least three hours before he had to get ready for his afternoon classes.

In the end, he spent at least half of his time singing along with his playlist. The walls of the dorms were thick enough that the people outside wouldn’t be able to hear him and that was probably the best part about the dorm. Whenever he was alone, he would sing as much as he can since no one else would be there to scrutinize him. Seongwoo may have lost his shot at getting a slot for a vocal major, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming on pursuing singing.

It was one of those times when he would let himself get lost in the flow of music that for a moment, he would forget about time and his surroundings. Music has always been his coping mechanism. With its wide range of genres, there will always be one song that corresponds to his mood.

Seongwoo was jerked out of his own little world when another voice harmonized with his own. And lo and behold, there in the doorframe stood Minhyun with takeout boxes in tow. “Thought you might have been hungry by the time I get back.” The raven-haired male just nodded and settled for humming along with the tunes while he helped Minhyun set the table and the food.

“You know you can sing when I’m around, no one else is going to judge you. Heck, I like your voice so I wouldn’t judge you either.” Seongwoo responded with a small smile, “I know, but.. maybe I can some time soon” Minhyun patted his back in a comforting manner, “You’ll get there, no worries. Then you can show this university how foolish they were for turning down talent like you.”

Seongwoo chuckled at his friend’s words, “Maybe someday... Thanks, Minhyun” Said male smiled back and proceeded to eat their lunch. After putting away all the tableware and trash away, Seongwoo took a shower and changed into a more comfortable set of clothes for his afternoon dance classes.

Although his class usually starts at around 3 pm, Seongwoo goes to one of the dance studios that are usually vacant by 2 pm to get some alone time and evaluate what he usually has to work on. In the middle of his routine, the door to the dance room suddenly opens and Seongwoo’s eyes widened when he spots the all too familiar pink hair with earphones on both ears.

It took Daniel a while to realize that he wasn’t alone but the pink-haired male broke out into a wide smile at the sight of a familiar face. “Oh hey! You dance too?” Suddenly, Seongwoo was once again struggling with words. “Y-Yeah.. um... It’s... I also took up a m-minor in dance..”

Seongwoo thought Daniel’s expression can’t possibly get any brighter, and yet Daniel himself looks like the happiest kid in the world. “Business and dance, huh? That’s pretty tough yet amazing!” Seongwoo looked back at the mirror to cover his probably reddening face and muttered a quick thanks while pushing up his glasses.

Daniel tilted his head at the action and Seongwoo could have sworn he saw a puppy in that gesture. “Don’t you find it hard?” Seongwoo raised an eyebrow to portray his confusion. “The what..?” Daniel only pointed to the bridge of his nose. “The glasses, doesn’t it fall off or get hit?” The bespectacled male looked at the mirror and pushed his glasses back up his nose bridge, “Well almost.. but.. I c-can’t.. See much w-without it..”

Daniel hummed in acknowledgment and shrugged, “Well it depends on you anyway, so what were you working on?” Seongwoo fidgeted with his fingers at the sudden attention he was not used to receiving, even the instructors thought he was doing fine on his own that he didn’t need help. The routine was practically a collaboration between their specialties and only now was Seongwoo relieved to know at least basic footwork in b-boying.

Class during that afternoon just flew by in a blink of an eye that Seongwoo barely noticed if it weren’t for Daniel who would roam around the room and help the other students. After changing out of his sweaty clothes, Seongwoo went straight out of the building while texting Minhyun that he was already on the way home.

“Wait up!” Came a voice behind him and Seongwoo looked back only to see Daniel running towards him. “Hey... Thought we could hang out a bit more you know?” Seongwoo somehow felt a little tense, probably because he hasn’t adjusted to Daniel’s company yet. Daniel was quick enough to notice. Luckily, he was aware of how shy Seongwoo was based on Minhyun’s stories and boy he was most definitely not lying when he said he was extremely shy around new people. But Daniel wasn’t in a rush, he wouldn’t want to pressure Seongwoo into a friendship.

Seongwoo didn’t know if he should be happy or not to actually have another person to talk to. Although it will take a while, Daniel seemed patient enough until he could fix his speech patterns and stuttering around him. Minhyun telling Daniel about his speech problems was probably the only good Minhyun has done when it came to telling people about him.

Soon enough, both have already reached the entrance to the dorms and was about to go on their separate ways when Daniel’s eyes suddenly widened. “Woah, that’s amazing!” Seongwoo was pretty sure Daniel was staring at his direction but it wasn’t really clear why. “What..?” Suddenly, Daniel was a lot closer with his expression still filled with childlike wonder.

“Your moles!”

“... what?”

“You’re probably tired of hearing people say this but your moles look amazing! It looks like a constellation up close!” Seongwoo remained silent not knowing how to react to the comment. Soon enough, Daniel noticed his weirded out expression and immediately backed away. “Sorry sorry... It’s just... It looks really amazing to me” Seongwoo blinked and averted his gaze, just like what he usually does when he gets shy. “T-Thanks..”

Daniel smiled at him for the last time before bidding him farewell and going into the opposite direction towards his dorm room. Meanwhile, Seongwoo was left dumbfounded in the hallway at what just happened. He brought his hand to the three moles on his cheek and absentmindedly traced along the so-called constellation.

No one has ever complimented his moles before.

At least a month has passed since Daniel started approaching the business major. Seongwoo has made no complaints. Instead, he’s rather happy that he now has another person he can actually approach besides Minhyun. For their past meetings, Seongwoo has been making an effort to fix his talking around Daniel. The dance major doesn’t miss the effort and instead patiently waits for Seongwoo to finish talking without making any comments towards his speech patterns.

Daniel, of course, would show how he appreciates Seongwoo’s efforts by offering him encouraging smiles when Seongwoo would voice out his thoughts and opinion on whatever they were discussing (Then again, Daniel is always smiling either way). When Seongwoo would finish a whole sentence with barely any stuttering, Daniel would sometimes point it out to let the other know that he’s gradually improving while Seongwoo would avert his gaze to hide his embarrassment at the compliments.

It’s been at least two months since they first met and Seongwoo has been doing a better job of handling his speech problems. It won’t be long ‘til he can finally talk to Daniel with ease. It was now around late November where the winter season was now fast approaching that no student now leaves without their hoodies or coats to protect themselves from the cold.

Daniel just finished his morning classes and was now on his way to the fast food joint just outside the campus to meet up with Minhyun and the others. The dance major just left the building with earphones plugged in his ears when his phone suddenly went off because of an incoming call.

“Hello?”

“You just finished
class, right?” Came Jonghyun’s voice from the other end

“Yeah, I just did. I’m already on the way actually” Daniel replied as he continues to walk through the campus.

“Minhyun said he also invited Seongwoo to come over but he might ditch it if no one checks on him” Jonghyun continues to talk
through the phone when a black hunched figure caught his attention.

“Hyung, you mentioned something about Seongwoo, right?” Daniel asked without looking away from the hunched figure up ahead.

“Yeah, I was just about to-“

“Would you mind checking our dorm room? He might just be occupying himself with another paper that's probably due in two weeks” Minhyun suddenly said cutting Jonghyun off from whatever he intended to say.

“I think that won’t be necessary. Promise we’ll both be there though so I’ll see you later.” Without waiting for a reply, Daniel ended the call and approached the hunched figure. Just as Daniel thought, the black hunched figure was actually Seongwoo in a black hoodie with his usual thin-framed round glasses and coconut hairstyle.

“Seongwoo!” Daniel called out with a wave when the said man looked over to his direction as Daniel continued to walk over to his side. “What are you doing down there?” Seongwoo glanced back to his arms and back at Daniel. “Well.. you see..” Seongwoo slowly stood up while keeping his gaze on his arms before he finally faced Daniel. “I dropped my ring somewhere in the snow so I was just digging around hoping I can find it but then..”

Daniel’s eyes widened at the sight. Resting in Seongwoo’s arms was none other than a snowy white kitten sleeping comfortably while Seongwoo behind its ears. If Daniel were to be completely honest, nothing could possibly be fluffier than the scene of Seongwoo in a large hoodie and beanie cradling a kitten in his arms.

For a moment, Daniel was distracted before his attention finally went back to the problem at hand. Seongwoo was looking at him with his head tilted to the side to express his confusion and Daniel only blinked in response. “What?”

Seongwoo chuckled at the reaction, “I said I don’t want to leave him here. He was freezing by the time I found him so I’ve been warming him up ‘til he fell asleep” The raven-haired male said as he fondly stared at the cat while he continued to its ears.

Daniel was torn. Should he react to the lost cat Seongwoo spontaneously decided to save for the sake of his love for cats? or should he be happy that Seongwoo actually managed to say something to him without stuttering? Although the bespectacled male didn’t seem to notice so he went for the white furball.

“What do you plan on doing with him though? From what I know, pets are not allowed in the dorm” Seongwoo’s shoulders slumped at the reminder but he couldn’t let go of the small feline. “I know.. I was planning on smuggling him in but I wouldn’t want to risk my dean’s list status for it..”

Daniel was practically beaming by the time he was sure Seongwoo has finally adjusted to him. His speech pattern was clear evidence of that. Although for the love of cats, Daniel didn’t want to leave the poor feline either.

“I’ll smuggle him in.”

Daniel blurted out the first thing that came to him but he doesn’t regret it. He also wanted to save it anyway. Seongwoo practically shone at that statement that Daniel would probably see sparkles in his eyes if he squints “Really? Do you mean it?”

Sometimes Daniel questions who the puppy lookalike really is. “Of course, don’t you remember I said I love cats?” Daniel has never seen a smile as bright on Seongwoo’s features but he would most definitely like to see it more often. “Do you want to take him to the dorm now?” Seongwoo hummed and nodded in reply, “He might be feeling cold, let’s go!”

“Can I hold him?” Daniel asked with outstretched arms and Seongwoo gently placed the white feline inside Daniel’s arms. “I’ll hide him in my jacket to get past security, let’s go!”

Both males then proceeded to walk back to the dorms with the kitten hidden in Daniel’s jacket. Not once remembering that they were supposed to meet up with the others.

“You’re not stuttering anymore.” Daniel pointed out with a smile while leaning forward to see Seongwoo’s reaction. The bespectacled male looked away, not realizing that he indeed didn’t stutter. “D-Don’t point it out, stupid!” Daniel only laughed as Seongwoo repeatedly hits his shoulder out of embarrassment. But what Daniel didn’t catch was Seongwoo smiling to himself at the new accomplishment.