A few mornings after, Sunggyu was surprised when he woke up to find Myungsoo gone. That wasn’t normal. He had woken up with the annoying beep of his alarm drilling into his ears. Since it was his job to wake up Myungsoo, he had gone into his room only to find his bed empty. They were going to head back to the marine park today, so Sunggyu needed him there.

He figured that Myungsoo would show up sooner or later anyways. It gave him time to sort out his laundry (if sorting meant separating what smelled bad and what didn’t). He also ended up hastily making himself a bowl of instant oatmeal for breakfast. He would have liked cereal, but the milk had gone bad. He sat in front of the television, munching away on his food when there was a knock on the door.

He placed down his near empty bowl and stood up. “Better be Myungsoo,” he grumbled. He unhooked the chain with a clack and unlocked the door. As soon as he opened it, he was surprised to see the face of Woohyun.

“Woohyun?” he said in surprise.

Woohyun looked at him expectedly. “Are you ready to go?”

“Go? Go where?”

He raised an eyebrow confusedly. “Uh, to the park? Where I work? Didn’t Myungsoo tell you we were meeting today?”

“Well, yeah, but – speaking of the devil, where the hell is Myungsoo anyways?”

“He went to the park early to catch Sungyeol before our performances. They wanted to have a tiny date before we started a full day of work. That’s why I’m here.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Didn’t you get my texts?”

“Text? You texted me?” Sunggyu was genuinely surprised. He reached into his back pocket for his phone, only to remember that it was charging on his nightstand.

“Yeah. I texted you two hours ago.”

“You did? Really? Hold on, I’ll be back in a second. Come on inside,” he offered, letting the other in.

Woohyun stepped in as Sunggyu rushed to his bedroom. He yanked his phone off his desk, ripping the charger out at the same time. He clicked the power button, waiting impatiently as the screen blinked on. He stared in surprise, as there really was a message from Woohyun on his screen. In fact, there were three. He tapped on the first notification and groaned inwardly.

Hi Sunggyu :) This is Woohyun. Myungsoo came by really early today to hang out with Sungyeol, so he won’t be there when you wake up. I’m sending this text courtesy of him. His phone battery died so he can’t text you right now. He just needs to say that he won’t be there when you wake up!

He frowned – stupid Myungsoo and his inability to correctly charge his phone. He tapped on the next little notification box.

Sunggyu! It’s Woohyun again. Myungsoo was originally planning on going back to pick you up, but it looks like Sungyeol is keeping him busy. Oh well! So I’ll be coming over to pick you up instead, okay? So get ready, and I should be there in about an hour.

He scratched the back of his nape. This text seemed to be sent when he was awake. He wondered why he hadn’t heard it. Maybe the sound of his blaring television screen drowned it out. Yes, that was probably why. He clicked on the final notification.

Woohyun again! Be there in five! :)

He frowned again, but it was more towards himself than anyone else. How could he have ignored the text messages so easily? With a shake of his head, he cleared the notifications and tucked the phone into his back pocket.

He walked back out sheepishly, where Woohyun stood awkwardly, staring at a picture frame on the wall.

“Sorry, I guess I didn’t hear my phone ring when you texted me,” he admitted.

Woohyun shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I probably should’ve called you or something.” He gestured towards the picture frame. “Is this, uh, you?”

Sunggyu walked over and looked at it. He nodded. “Yeah. That’s me and my sister.”

Woohyun nodded and looked at it. “It’s a nice picture.”

“Yeah. She was graduating college at that time. I was young then.”

“You two really look similar. She’s pretty.” The awkward silence made its reappearance. Woohyun smiled and look at him. “So, are you ready to go?”

Sunggyu nodded. “Yeah, just let me put my shoes on and we can head out.” So he slipped his shoes on and they headed out into the hallway.

The hallway seemed longer than it normally did. Sunggyu couldn’t pinpoint why, but the muffled sound of their shoes walking along the faded, dirty carpeting dragged out for longer than he remembered. The ride in the elevator wasn’t any better. Woohyun tried to stifle the awkward atmosphere with a little conversation though.

“So, you know the whale tank?”

Sunggyu bit back a sigh and nodded. He knew the whale tank quite well.

“Since the last time you were there didn’t end well,” Woohyun continued, “we thought that we wouldn’t have you around there today. We’re going to have you two focus on the dolphin tank today.”

Sunggyu’s eyebrows shot up as the elevator ding-ed as they hit the ground floor. “Dolphins?” he repeated. “You guys train dolphins too?”

Woohyun gave him a funny look as the doors opened with a whoosh. “Yeah. Didn’t Myungsoo tell you this stuff? It is a marine park.”

As he walked out, Sunggyu vaguely remembered Myungsoo mentioning that Sungyeol trained dolphins as well. And maybe sea lions. “Yeah, I think he did.”

They walked out the lobby when the security guard let out a loud cough and looked in Woohyun’s direction. Woohyun rolled his eyes.

“Ignore him. He wouldn’t believe me when I told him I was here to pick you up and wouldn’t let me through the gates. I ended up calling Myungsoo through Sungyeol’s phone to tell him to let me in.”

Sunggyu laughed and waved at the guard. “No worries, Heechul-hyung; Woohyun is with me.”

He gave a satisfactory sniff and went back to reading his newspaper. Making sure he couldn’t see him, Woohyun stuck out his tongue as the two of them exited the building. Sunggyu chuckled and hit him playfully as they crossed the parking lot.

“Don’t be so immature. Heechul-hyung is just making sure no one comes to kidnap me.”

Woohyun snorted. “That doesn’t mean he has to start speaking Japanese in order to confuse me and to make me leave. I even know Japanese! So when I spoke it back to him he looked really frustrated.”

“He’s a little straight-laced but he’s trustworthy. He’s more fun once you get to know him. Plus, you should taste the cupcakes he makes when it’s Christmas season. He bakes a dozen for every tenant and delivers them in baskets with ribbons on them.”

“That’s a lot of cupcakes,” Woohyun mused.

“Yeah, well, there are only five floors in the whole building. And he likes baking, so you can’t blame the guy.” Sunggyu paused and contemplated. “He has a nice smile,” he added.

Woohyun shrugged as they stopped at what Sunggyu assumed was his car. The car was nothing flashy – just a deep navy blue car, big enough for four people. It had slightly tinted windows and inside was pale gray leather seats.

“Impressive,” Sunggyu remarked, slipping inside.

Woohyun shrugged as he slid into the driver’s seat. “It was a hand-me-down. Nothing special. It’s sturdy though, so I like it. It also has a great stereo.”

Sunggyu nodded as he ran his hands over the cool leather he sat on. “Pretty nice for a hand-me-down car.”

Woohyun started the engine and they pulled out of the lot. They sat in a silence as Sunggyu fiddled with his phone, the dull hum of the engine serving as the only noise.

“Do you have a favorite song?” Sunggyu asked suddenly.

“Favorite song?”

“Yeah – or band, it doesn’t really matter.”

Woohyun pouted then un-pouted his lips. “Well… I guess I like some Brown Eyed Girls songs,” he said softly.

Sunggyu tapped around on his phone excitedly, punching in the commands with gusto. When they stopped at a red light, he grinned and turned to him excitedly. “Text me.”

“I–”

“Right now.”

Woohyun turned to look at him in surprise. “Now? As in, now?”

Sunggyu nodded. “Yeah, now!”

Reluctantly, Woohyun picked up his own phone and thought to himself for a second before tapping away. As he hit the send button, Sunggyu’s screen lit up, adorning a notification as it sang Brown Eyed Girls’ Kill Bill. Woohyun stared at it in amazement.

“Isn’t it cool?” Sunggyu asked. “Now whenever I get a text with a Brown Eyed Girls ringtone, I’ll know it’s from you.”

Woohyun stared at the phone and puffed his cheeks for a second then turned to his own phone screen again. He typed something furiously and seconds later, Kill Bill rang through the car again. Sunggyu touched the little notification on his screen.

Can you change it to Orange Caramel please?

Sunggyu laughed and typed a reply back.

Any song requests?

Kill Bill rang again.

Funny Hunny would be nice :]

“You got it,” Sunggyu replied, changing his ringtone. He smiled when he was done. “Okay, now text me again.”

Woohyun smiled as he sent a message and Funny Hunny sang throughout the car.

Thanks Sunggyu-ssi! I should give you a ringtone too! Any requests?

Sunggyu smiled to himself and typed back a reply.

Any Nell song would be okay.

Woohyun smiled and started changing his ringtone. “Okay, Sunggyu-ssi.”

Seconds later, Nell sang in the car and Woohyun clicked on the new text message from Sunggyu.

You can call me hyung by the way.

“You have some serious explaining to do!” Sunggyu shouted as soon as Myungsoo came into view.

Myungsoo exclaimed, “Oh, hyung! You made it! I’m happy.”

“I’ll bet you are!” he cried, shoving Myungsoo’s face under his armpit. “Abandoning me at home to go play with your boyfriend must make you really happy!”

“Hyung, I can’t breathe!” Myungsoo cried, muffled by Sunggyu’s arm. “And your armpit smells bad! Why didn’t you shower?!” With an exaggerated struggle, Myungsoo ripped away from his underarms and took a huge gasp of breath. “You’re such a face!”

“You’re the face!”

Sungyeol popped into their spat. “At least you guys would be prettier than me if everyone had butts for faces. You guys have nice butts.” He turned to show them his backside and glanced over his shoulder to look down at his own rear. “My is so flat and dull.”

“What, no baby, your is beautiful,” Myungsoo said immediately. He placed his hand on it as if to prove a point. “See, it fits in my hand all nicely.”

Sunggyu stared at them with confusion and disgust and told himself to hold down his breakfast because it was surely starting to come up now. Woohyun came up behind him, adjusting the neck of his wetsuit that he had just changed into. “Are they being gross again?” he asked.

Sunggyu nodded. “Gross is an understatement. I mean look at them – Myungsoo is complimenting his !”

Woohyun shrugged. “Not that bad compared to earlier. You should’ve seen them; Myungsoo had a whole speech ready about Sungyeol’s teeth.”

“His teeth?” Sunggyu repeated, completely stunned. “See, that’s just stupid.”

“Well, you have to admit, Sungyeol has some really nice teeth. They fit behind his lips really nicely, which, by the way, are quite soft–” Sunggyu gave him a weird look and Woohyun coughed. “Anyways, let’s just go to the dolphin tank then. Let’s go lovebirds,” he called towards the other two.

“Coming!” Sungyeol responded, hopping over with Myungsoo on his heels.

Together the group walked to a different area of the park where a dolphin tank was placed. The water still rose high and splashed over the sides of the tank, making Sunggyu’s stomach flip itself inside out at least four times. Woohyun glanced behind him to send a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be okay. The dolphin tank isn’t as deep as the whale tank. No need to worry!”

Sunggyu swallowed as he stared at the clear blue water splashing over the rims. “Are you sure? I-I mean… this looks pretty deep.”

Woohyun scoffed playfully. “Don’t worry! It’s only twenty-six feet deep!”

Twenty-six feet. It wasn’t as deep as the orca tank, but it was still deep enough for Sunggyu to be uncomfortable. His fingers gripped his sleeves as Woohyun led them around the tank to the staircase behind the stadium’s stage. Like the orca tank, it was a lot of free space where dolphins just swam. Sunggyu found a bit of comfort in the fact that the dolphins were not as large as the whales. They were much smaller and friendlier looking. Plus, dolphins were known to help humans in danger! He shouldn’t be afraid of them.

Sungyeol squealed happily as he ran ahead of the group and up the metal steps to the edge of the tank. Myungsoo only laughed and snapped a picture from the bottom of the stairs when Woohyun ran up also. Myungsoo smiled at Sunggyu. “Come on, hyung. I promise I won’t leave your side this time.”

Sunggyu nodded as he began plodding up the metal staircase towards the sounds of Woohyun and Sungyeol yelling excitedly. When the water was close to Sunggyu’s toes he backed away reluctantly, but Myungsoo put and arm on his bicep and smiled. “Don’t worry, hyung. Dolphins are harmless.”

Sunggyu nodded. “Right. Dolphins are friendly.”

“Yep! Besides, they could never be dangerous. Look at how cute they are!” he said, pointing towards the water.

Woohyun and Sungyeol were crouched at the edge as five dolphins swam up, immediately nuzzling into their sides. Laughs and cooes filled the air as the dolphins squeaked in happiness.

“Hi, baby,” Sungyeol sang as he rubbed one’s head. “Did you miss me? You did, didn’t you?” The dolphin shook his head side to side, saying ‘no’ and Sungyeol laughed. “Well, fine! I didn’t miss you either!”

After Woohyun had kissed a few dolphins, he ran back to Sunggyu, the water splashing up behind him. “Hyung,” he said, “let’s go touch one, okay? Just one.”

Sunggyu’s eyes widened. “Touch one? So you want me to go to the ledge again–?”

“You’re not doing that again,” Myungsoo said from his side.

Woohyun shook his head. “No, no, no – you don’t need to go to the ledge. I can call them up.” Sunggyu and Myungsoo sent each other questioning looks while Woohyun just smiled at them. He took both of Sunggyu’s hands, bringing him out slowly. “Come on, hyung. You want to get better, right? We can just take baby steps.” He flashed a cute grin framed by dimples. “Don’t you trust me?”

Seemingly entranced, Sunggyu only nodded slightly while slowly following as Woohyun led him. Woohyun’s hands felt safe and comforting and it almost made him ignore the water sloshing around his ankles. It didn’t exactly make him less scared, but it stifled the queasiness. Woohyun stopped them half way to the edge and held up his hands. “Wait here.”

He ran to the edge of the twenty-six foot drop and waved his hands, catching the attention of one of the dolphins swimming near the middle of the tank. He signaled something with large gestures and grinned as the dolphin came racing in his direction. It came closer and burst out of the water. Woohyun laughed scurried backwards on his toes, reminding Sunggyu of something like a dancer. The dolphin landed on the platform and slid in Woohyun’s direction on its belly, making Sunggyu back up immediately. It came to a stop at Woohyun’s feet, looking up with squeaks of delight that reminded him of laughter.

“Good job, Mavis!” he cried enthusiastically, clapping his hands together. “That was so good!” He turned to Sunggyu. “Would you like to touch her?”

Sunggyu clenched and unclenched his hands and looked down at the dolphin. He couldn’t say it wasn’t cute – it looked as if it was constantly smiling. He looked at Woohyun again who nodded in encouragement before he hesitantly crouched down near the dolphin’s eye level and placed a gentle hand on it’s head. The dolphin nudged his hand in a friendly manner, making itself comfortable.

Sunggyu gasped slightly as it sort of lunged in his direction, but calmed when he realized it was only nuzzling his palm. He chuckled to himself. It was cute.

“What kind of dolphin is this?” he asked.

“Atlantic Bottlenose,” Woohyun answered, also bending down to scratch behind its fins. “Her names Mavis. She’s one of our veterans.”

“Mavis,” Sunggyu repeated, rubbing beneath her bottlenose. The foreign name rolled of his tongue in a way he wasn’t used to. “Do all your animals have foreign names?”

“A lot of them do, since they usually come from somewhere else first. We have another dolphin named Kwansoo. He’s one of the newer ones.”

Sunggyu smiled and tilted his head, staring into the dolphin’s eyes. “She’s cute,” he said.

“She is, isn’t she?” Woohyun looked at him happily. “And you know what the best part is? You’re not scared.”

His eyebrows rose as he paused. “Huh?”

“You’re not scared, are you?” he repeated. “You feel comfortable and safe, even though you’re standing in water.”

Sunggyu shrugged it off. “It’s just this moment, though.”

Woohyun nodded. “And we need to build more of those moments so that the feeling lasts longer!” He chuckled as Sunggyu shot him a confused look. “I know, I know. I don’t really make sense, but trust me,” he smiled, “ it makes sense in here.” He pointed a finger to his brain and Sunggyu laughed.

“Wow, you guys are here earlier than normal,” a new voice broke in.

The two turned their heads to find a boy and a girl in wetsuits, walking towards them. Woohyun waved them over. “Sunggyu, this is Bora and Gongchan. They’re the lead dolphin trainers. Since Sungyeol and I are more concentrated on the whales, these two are the show trainers for the dolphins. People really like them, because they’re siblings.”

Sunggyu smiled up at them. The girl with a fluffy ponytail stuck out her hand with a grin. “Nice to meet you! I’m Bora!”

Next her brother grinned and offered him a handshake as well. “And I’m Gongchan. You’re advertising our park, right? Thanks so much!”

It was obvious that they were siblings. They both had cat like features that accentuated their faces. Sharp cornered eyes and kitten-like mouths were present on each face.

“I see you’ve met Mavis,” Gongchan said, leaning down to give her a good rub. Bora had gone over to play with the dolphin Sungyeol was currently playing with. “Don’t tell the others, but she’s my favorite.”

A loud splash was heard and Bora popped her head up from the water. “Get in Gongchan! It’s playtime!”

“I’m coming, noona!” he cried and leaped in with a graceful dive. Woohyun pushed Mavis back into the water and watched her swim towards the other dolphins and the two trainers.

“Aren’t they just adorable?” Woohyun asked as he watched. “I love dolphins. They’re so fun.”

Sunggyu nodded as he stood up. “They’re definitely cute.” He glanced warily at the edge of the submerged platform. “I’m glad I didn’t have to be up close and personal with the deep end, though.”

Woohyun placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry – you won’t need to be up close and personal with that until you’re ready.”

Their eyes met and Sunggyu gave a real and genuine smile filled with gratitude. “Thanks, Woohyun. I know you’re really trying to help with some psychology stuff or whatever. I wouldn’t really know,” he laughed, “I majored in graphic design. But that aside, thanks for wanting to help. You really don’t have to.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Woohyun brushed off. “It’s a pleasure.”

Sunggyu opened his mouth to speak again when Sungyeol came over, Myungsoo right behind him with his ever-present camera in hand. “Hyung,” Sungyeol said to Woohyun, “Bora said that they need some help over at the seal tank. One of them isn’t acting normally.”

Woohyun’s face changed into one of concern. “Really? We should head over then.” He looked over to Sunggyu and gestured. “Follow me. We need to go check up on some sea lions.”

( A/N ); oh well, howdy do look who decided to finish the chapter haha XD

as you can see there's some woogyu feels that i've been dying for lately. texting and cuteness and dolphins and yey. plus the introduction of (fictional) siblings Bora from Sistar and Gongchan from B1A4! i swear they could be real siblings. i swear they got the same smile and like eyes and like face.

anyways! i hope you enjoyed that as much as i enjoyed writing it and don't forget to subscribe, upvote and comment if you're pleased ^ ^ thanks for reading!

~ Quinnie