When Wooyoung entered the kitchen, Chansung had his head inside the refrigerator. What else was new? That boy ate for at least ten people, and that was just on a regular Monday. Wooyoung's eyes rested on the bowl of bananas that stood on the table. It was the perfect opportunity to test his power. In the cold light of day all talk of powers seemed much more ridiculous than it had this morning. It couldn't really be that he had powers, right? Not actual supernatural powers, that had to be impossible. For if it was possible, why weren't there superheroes and villains like in the comics? Why then, had he not once heard of a person gifted with powers of a higher level than just being good at mathematics or an exceptionally good harp player? This whole thing had a fishy smell that was bothering his nose, he wasn't born yesterday.

Still, it didn't hurt to verify it with some more experiments. Just in case. Wooyoung stuck his hand in his pocket, locking it around the emerald's pouch. He squeezed it tighter as he peered his eyes, thinking repeatedly 'have a banana, have a banana'. Right at that moment Chansung's head resurfaced from out of the fridge. Wooyoung's heart leapt, but he tried to not let it interfere with his concentration. 'Have a banana, have a banana, have a banana.'. He squeezed the pouch tighter. This had to work. Please make it work, he pleaded.

“Uhm.. did last night's beef go down the wrong way? You look like you're constipated.” Chansung frowned, looking at him worriedly. Wooyoung was not going to lose focus, if he stopped now he would never know if it worked or not. Pure, raw concentration. If only Chansung's concerned eyes weren't so cute, melting his determination into a pool of goo. Chansung shrugged his shoulders, closed the fridge and grabbed a banana on his way out of the kitchen. He stopped to pinch Wooyoung's cheeks, mumbling with his mouth full of banana, “...u..so..ch..ute.”. Then he left. He just left like it was nothing. Like he hadn't just been part of a breakthrough in the history of humanity. It had worked, IT WORKED!! It really worked.

Wooyoung was having a hard time focusing on his victory, Chansung's lingering smell was driving him crazy. A mix of banana, some unidentified food and his cologne. And his sweat. Wooyoung loved when the smell of his sweat pierced the surface of his protective cologne shield. It was such a manly smell. It didn't smell good exactly, but the smell made his stomach jump. It pulled him in, made him want to get lost in it. In him.

It worked. Wooyoung was still standing in the kitchen. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but he realized he was still squeezing the emerald's pouch. His hand was starting to cramp up from holding it so tightly for all this time. He couldn't believe it. The shaman had actually been right, he was a Special. A Special, with powers. If he carefully cultivated those powers, sky would be the limit! There wouldn't be anything he couldn't do. He could have his cake and eat it too. His heart panged, he could be the next JYP, like he had always dreamt about. And with Chansung by his side, no less. He had the power to make his life perfect. Starting today.

~~~~~

Chansung lay sprawled on the couch, lost in the book he was reading. Wooyoung cherished the time Chansung spent reading, for then he was too immersed in his fantasy world to notice him, staring at him. Normally he had to be content with stolen glances and hidden gestures but when he was reading he could watch him for hours and he wouldn't notice.

He jumped onto the sofa, planting himself right next to him. Chansung's eyes were glued to the book, not looking up even though Wooyoung bounced up and down, shaking the entire couch. He envied him for his ability to completely detach himself from the real world, going off to meet the adventures that lay in wait on the other side, the imaginary side. Chansung was so engrossed in the story world that his upper lip was protruding even further out than usual, making him look like a pouty 5 year old. The cutest 5 year old that ever was, Wooyoung chuckled to himself. He wondered what it would be like to kiss those soft, dreamy lips, while a lone butterfly fluttered around in his stomach.

He took a deep breath to try and quiet the butterfly since it was messing with his concentration. His fingers enveloped the yellow stone in his pocket as he fixed his gaze once more on Chansung. 'Tell me I'm cute, tell me I'm cute, ..' he whispered inaudibly. And over and over again he whispered, not losing faith even though Chansung remained bolted to the sofa like a permanent fixture, not moving a muscle.

Suddenly Chansung looked up, their eyes meeting. Wooyoung gasped in anticipation, his nose all scrunched up out of concentration. Chansung's face lit up, a dorky smile visiting his lips.

“Aigooo..” he sighed, his eyes turning into two happy half-moons as the smile took over his face, making itself at home. Chuckling heartily, he ruffled Wooyoung's hair with a little too much enthusiasm, leaving Wooyoung feeling glad that his head was still in place and not rolling on the floor after Chansung's bear-like gestures of affection. Did that count? Chansung hadn't explicitly said that he was cute, but he had definitely expressed it with body language.

Mulling it over, he was still unsure whether it counted or not, so he decided to continue. He turned to face Chansung, who had returned to the world of words, completely absorbed. This time it was not only his nose, but his whole face that was squished in concentration, a fire burning in his chest, fueling his desire to succeed.

“Aisshh, Woodong-ah! Stop being so cute, I can't focus on my book!” Chansung guffawed with a silly grin. He said it! He really said it! Wooyoung started jumping up and down on the couch, the excitement taking over his body, making him feel like he was on the top of the world. Except he was, he really was on the top of the world. He had supernatural powers! The world was his oyster, and he wanted to eat it with Chansung. Thankfully, Chansung never said no to food, Wooyoung thought giggling.

His relentless bounces of joy caused Chansung to drop his book to the floor. Instead of scolding him, Chansung got up and started bouncing with him, laughing his off. The overly energetic chaos they were creating caused them to collide, crashing down onto the pillows, so they ended up horsing around on the sofa and eventually the floor, competing over who could imprison whom the longest, tickling, pinching and biting their way to freedom.

When all their excess energy had been turned to sweat, they threw themselves back onto the couch, both completely out of breath.

“Watcha readin'?” he asked when Chansung picked his book off the floor.

“Oh, eh, I joined a book club online, one book a month kind of thing, so I've gotta finish this one before the day after tomorrow.” Chansung goofily flashed him his teeth, slightly embarrassed.

“Under your own name?!?” he exclaimed, his voice colored with worry. That was such a bad, bad idea. The thought of what the antis would do if they found out sent a cold river of ice water down his spleen.

“Nah, course not, we've all got usernames.” Chansung assured him.

“..and...like.. how does it work? Do you have to do something?” he asked, curious to know more about this secret online life Chansung was leading.

“We get a new book every month that we have to read by the deadline and then we discuss it in our group chat. It's super nice, cuz the people there all listen to what I have to say and take my ideas seriously and sometimes add to them their own point of view or offer their own ideas that I hadn't even thought of, making the meaning of the book even deeper. When that happens I often read the book again and it's like opening another dimension.” Chansung explained with a satisfied zoned out look in his eyes.

“I listen to you!” Wooyoung said in a slightly hurt tone, not getting why he needed those internet people when he could be talking to him.

“Mhm.” Chansung chuckled, ruffling his hair as he stood up and headed to his room, leaving Wooyoung behind, all mixed up.

He couldn't believe his powers actually worked and he was even more thrilled over the precious one on one time they had gotten, just chilling and having fun. He could still feel the ghost of Chansung's hand on his head, roughly shaking his hair every which way, accidentally pulling out a few hairs in the process. A sacrifice Wooyoung could live with. He was happy, he really was, but he couldn't help being a bit jealous towards the book club geeks that were getting so much of Chansung's attention. He also couldn't understand why he needed them, why didn't he just come to him? He could listen to all of his ideas, he was convinced he would be a really good listener. If it was Chansung's voice, he was prepared to listen forever.