Thus far, the search had turned up no results. Granted, it had only been implemented a few hours ago, but thankfully those called forth to action--Woohyun, Sungyeol, Sunggyu, and Hoya (the latter two joined after a bit of convincing, thankfully)--agreed to search for the owner of that gaze. Each of their methods varied, depending on who it was, and they all kept in contact with Dongwoo, who was cleaning Sungjong’s room while the younger was sleeping after eating enough.

Woohyun opted to take selcas with anyone who had an interesting pair of eyes (typically these ended up being female and their eyes were all too round to really apply, but only Sungjong knew that), Sungyeol decided to just straight up ask to take a picture of their faces, and Sunggyu and Hoya just reported in through text message--neither were as bold as the former two.

Until Sungjong was up and about, though, no answers would be found. Only Sungjong knew what they looked like, and the most that anyone else could do was wait. 

Dongwoo sighed as he swept up the hardwood floor, stretching his arms above his head. He heard a knock at the door and looked over, curious as to who it was. There was a strong possibility that it could be any of the four, or at least half (Woohyun and Sungyeol arriving together seemed very plausible), but you never knew. Setting aside the broom and pan, he walked over and opened the door slightly, poking his head out to see who was intruding on his cleaning time.

Of course, his previous predictions were correct--Sungyeol and Woohyun were at the door, the latter holding a box of...something.

“Dongwoo hyung, how’s Jongie?” Of course, the elder put a finger to his lips to silently tell them to be quiet.

“He’s still sleeping, of course. What’s that?” He pointed to the box as he moved aside for the two to come in, shoes removed at the door.

“Small sweets to hopefully make Jongie feel better!” Sungyeol cheered, all three freezing and snapping their glances to the shifting body on the bed, a soft sleep-induced groan escaping his lips before he completely settled.

At once, Sungyeol received a smack to his arm and a hand clapped over his mouth to silence the sounds of the loud youth. He was left whining quietly and rubbing the affected area, moving to pull out the table as quietly as possible so that the box had somewhere to sit. All three seated themselves and discussed the situation.

“So now that Jongie’s asleep, can you please explain what exactly this is all about?” Woohyun’s lips were pursed into a thin line as he glanced over at the aforementioned male before returning his attention to the elder.

“So what I have from everything he told me is that when he met eyes with someone he’d never met before, it left such a huge impression that it has affected most of him. You can see what exactly--sleep patterns, dietary habits, ability to concentrate... He’s lost weight from not eating enough, and he just seems so dependent on caffeine to get through the day--it’s really worrying considering how little he would consume the stuff previously.” Even though Sungjong was sleeping now, it was going to take quite some time before he would be able to be as healthy as he was before--weight, sleep patterns--all that good stuff.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. He’s been not-so-responsive to any of our teasing, and all he does is respond with ‘Yes, yes, I understand’. No bite or sass whatsoever!” Even though he was whispering, Sungyeol still couldn’t withhold his frustration, his voice slightly rising. He quickly quieted himself, instead opting to open the box and proceed to eat one of the cakes.

Woohyun sighed and he took a pudding, sitting back as he ate it. “We need to find whoever is troubling Jongie and put this whole thing to rest. Sunggyu voiced his concerns a couple days ago, since he saw Jongie looking skinnier than he was used to, and you know Gyu--he’s not really vocal about his worries unless it’s really serious.” He held the plastic spoon in his mouth, tongue swirling the pudding about in his mouth.

Dongwoo nodded in agreement, stealing a bite of the cake Sungyeol was eating, “Hoya seems to have grown fond of Jongie since their first meeting, and he’s been worried for a while. He doesn’t like how little energy he’s had, putting some of the drinks given to Jongie on his paycheck.”

They all sighed collectively as they realized how Sungjong-centric all of their daily lives have been as of late. Normally, college students would worry about going on dates and passing their college assignments--things like that. Instead the five of them were concerned about their friend (which wasn’t a bad thing at all) above all else.

As they heard a knock on the door, all three heads looked over simultaneously as the two remaining “spies” arrived, Hoya holding another box that resembled the box Woohyun and Sungyeol had brought. “How’s Sungjong?” Hoya questioned hesitantly as both stood a bit awkwardly at the door.

“He’s sleeping still,” Dongwoo informed him, gesturing for them to join their small get-together.

As everyone was seated, Hoya and Sunggyu provided what information they were able to collect based on the simple question, “Is there a person with an intense stare that makes people uncomfortable?”

There were a few candidates that could be named, and Sunggyu had successfully pulled up information and their school photos. About five or six people were brought to light, and Sunggyu pulled each of their pictures from his bag and placed them on the table.

“Kim Myungsoo, Kim Jonghyun, Kim Taehyung, Do Kyungsoo, Son Dongwoon, and Cha Hakyeon.” He spoke each of their names for clarification on who was who, even though their names were next to their photos.

As they analyzed each photograph, Dongwoo couldn’t help but wonder if any of these people were the owners of the thing that bothered Sungjong so much. They were grasping at straws, but this was closer than they had been hours prior, and they worked quickly considering how much time had passed since what Sungjong had said was the first time he’d met gazes with the stranger.

Honestly, this whole situation was angering--it was frustrating. How dare some stranger affect and hurt their friend like this? If any of them got their hands on the person guilty for everything, there would be hell to pay and a probably-high hospital bill concerning a trip to the ICU.

For now, though, they could focus on trying to narrow things down for their friend.

As it turned out, Sungjong had really needed that period of sleep--it extended to a two days’ worth of rest, and there was always at least one person to hang out and make sure that he was resting fine or to tend to his needs, should he wake up.

When he did wake up, it was well into the middle of the night--his alarm clock read 01:28. He felt groggy and lethargic, but he also felt rested. Sitting up in bed--or at least attempting to--he paused and glanced around the dark room sleepily, his eyes meeting several shaded figures, as well as the one that seemed to be holding him down in a hug of sorts.

“Dongwoo hyung...” he murmured sleepily, garnering no response from the sleeping body. Of course he wouldn’t get a response. Sighing softly, he resigned to going back to sleep and hoping that he would wake up well the next morning.

Which did happen, thankfully.

The sound of bodies shuffling about the room woke Sungjong, and he sat up without any resistance. “Hyung...?” he questioned softly, blinking sleepily as he rubbed his eyes clear of the dried mucous. 

All froze as they heard the question, and five pairs of eyes met with a very sleepy youth. Dongwoo was the first to approach him, sitting beside him on the bed, holding a glass of orange juice and a plate with toast. “Morning, Jongie. You slept for like two days, you know?” He smiled, relieved, as the other drank the juice that was presented to him and petted his hair gently.

A little more awake at this news, he pulled the glass away from his lips, a slight pout finding its way across his lips, “Sorry for worrying you all. Thank you for taking care of me, then, Dongwoo hyung, Woohyun hyung, Sungyeol hyung, Hoya hyung, and Sunggyu hyung.” It wasn’t as if he knew who was actually taking care of him, but he assumed they all did, considering who was currently in the room.

He took a bite of the toast and glanced around the room at all of the relieved faces (or hints of, since Hoya and Sunggyu didn’t seem to be willing to show their fullest affections), and he couldn’t help but smile at the love he felt from all the friends in the room.

“Good to see you’re doing well. I’m going to get going then...” Sunggyu murmured, seemingly feeling awkward as he left, Hoya nodding in agreement as he left quickly.

“I’ll be back later for a play date!” Sungyeol called as he left soon after, waving enthusiastically.

“I think that we both have time to hang out for a bit,” Woohyun grinned, walking over to the bed and sitting on Sungjong’s other side wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “After you’re done eating that, let’s eat some sweets!”

Sungjong stopped chewing mid-bite and stared at the elder, toast still in his mouth. Pulling it from his mouth, he chewed and swallowed, “I’m still not done with this, you know.”

“I know, but I said after, you know?” He gasped as he received a slap to his arm, pouting, “You still hit like a girl, though.”

“Ya!”

Laughter filled the room between the three males as breakfast was shared.

Later on during the day, with Sunggyu and Dongwoo in charge, they brought up the topic of the gaze and the owner, and Sungjong was on-board for discussing it. Anything to really dismiss or pursue the reasoning behind it. Maybe he could get back at them someway or somehow. Nothing too harsh, though, especially considering that they were another human being with their own life.

“We’ve managed to come up with six students that attend here, and we have their profiles and photos. Look through them to see if any of them match the pair of eyes that seemed to be so distracting for the past several weeks.”  He handed the small pile of organized files to Sungjong, who gratefully took it before looking and analyzing each other the photos (especially their eyes).

None of them were sure if Sunggyu intended for his words to sound so harsh, but Woohyun figured that it wasn’t intended, per se, but it just came out like that.

“This one!”

All eyes focused on the youngest, and he presented the culprit.

Taking the stack of papers, Dongwoo and the rest of the upperclassmen took a look at the profile.

“Kim Myungsoo--photography major. Birthday: March 3, 1992; blood type O... There’s not much we can discern from this concerning his daily schedule.”

“Well, that sounds like enough, right? It shouldn’t be hard to track him down--I mean, there’s only one photography department in the whole campus!” Sungyeol looked exasperated at the eldest’s words, as if it was the plainest fact in the world. “Nevermind his daily schedule, we can just ask around to see if anyone knows where he is!”

“Lower your voice, Sungyeol; we’re all right here.”

Hoya had an eyebrow raised, his composure calm for the most part. His eyes were the only thing giving away any hint of emotion: Anticipation and a possible hint of something else that nobody could figure out. Anticipation for the fact that he would be able meet the person causing Sungjong issues and possibly be able to do something to help the youngest out.

“So do you want to go today and maybe talk to him?” It was Sunggyu who questioned, and all eyes turned towards the youngest.

Pursing his lips, Sungjong took a moment to make his decisions. On one hand, he could actually talk to the other and put all of this to rest if he was able to meet up today. On the other hand, there was also the whole situation that half of his being accepted--that this whole situation was an incredibly irrational reaction to being in love, and that he’d unwillingly fallen in love at literal first sight. He wanted to accept that as the answer, yet didn’t--he was too young to fall in love. He was only nineteen, for pete’s sake! Love was too complicated at such a young age, and everything was not okay with this answer.

A sigh escaped his lips as he resigned himself to his fate, “I want to go. I want to be able to put all of this to rest as soon as possible.”

“The sooner the better, right?” Woohyun piped up, sounding rather excited.

Sungjong took a look at the picture of his perpetrator again, analyzing his features. He wasn’t bad-looking overall, so that wasn’t much of a minus of him being the root of all of his issues. The main minus was that it was a guy, though; however, this was a plus, as he would be free to hit the guy if there was necessity to.

All of them stood and got ready to leave, packing up a few things that were left out, making sure they were closed so as to avoid attracting pests of any sort.

As soon as he was ready, Sungjong was pushed out the door in the lead, after Sungyeol, with others trailing behind. Woohyun draped an arm across the youngest’s shoulders, Dongwoo following suit on the other side, as the group left the dorm and walked across the campus to the coffee shop so as to recharge Sungjong’s energy levels for the time being.

While waiting at the table, Dongwoo and Hoya were called in for a last-minute shift change, seeing as two other employees didn’t show up.

“Do you want to wait for us, or can you handle it from here?” Dongwoo questioned Woohyun and Sunggyu, and the former nodded while the latter gave a somewhat half-hearted shrug and a quiet, “sure” as a response.

“Then it’s settled--when we’re done here, we’ll meet up with you guys later to see how the search is coming along!” Dongwoo cheered, hurrying along to cover the shift as he glanced at Sungjong out of the corner of his eye.

Sitting outside with his newly-retrieved caffeine fix, the youngest sat in the sun, basking in the warmth of the otherwise-chilly season. He knew that his hyungs would give him some quiet time to mentally prepare himself before meeting the source since anything could happen, but really, all he was doing was taking a moment to relax and rest in the sun.

It was a really nice moment of peace and quiet.

Hearing a click, Sungjong opened his eyes and looked around. His eyes landed on a figure holding a camera, seemingly pointed at him, and he sat up, feeling very self-conscious before remembering that he had made sure to cover his imperfections before leaving his room.

A seemingly nervous smile made its way upon the lips of the stranger (Sungjong couldn’t tell what his eyes were conveying due to a pair of sunglasses, unfortunately) as he uttered a half-hearted apology, “Sorry, but I couldn’t resist taking a picture when I saw how perfect it looked. Wanna see?”

Wearily, Sungjong took a sip of his coffee before nodding and watching as the stranger approached, seemingly going through the photos taken until the matter of interest was at the forefront, presented to him. His eyes widened slightly as he took a good look at the picture.

It seemed incredibly professionally done--the composition was fantastic, and the lighting was just right to complement Sungjong’s features and figure best, any imperfections completely lost to other factors. He didn’t even know that much about photography, but basics were basics, right?

“That...is that me?” he questioned softly, his eyes unable to look away from the picture until it was pulled away and the stranger stepped away, seemingly preparing to take another picture as he nodded.

“You’re the best model I’ve seen--very photogenic.” Another smile seemed to sneak its way onto his features as he took another photo of Sungjong.

“Oh...um...thank you...?” He wasn’t sure how to respond.

“No problem. To be honest, I have an upcoming project for my graphic design class, and I wanted to use you as a model for it, if that’s not too much to ask. I can understand if you say no, since we’ve never talked before now, and you don’t know me, but I’ve been meaning to ask you, since I’ve seen you around campus a lot, and you have a really good face and figure--the perfect model for my photography.”

What was he supposed to say? After letting all of the information process, he pursed his lips before speaking, “If I were to do this, can I at least know how to contact you? I’m not saying I’ll do it, but it’s a possibility, and I want to know exactly what I’m getting myself into if I decide to take this up.”

The other seemed to be excited at Sungjong’s possible acceptance of his offer. “You have a phone, right?” he questioned as he took out his phone and offered it.

Sungjong nodded and took his out, exchanging for the moment so he could put in his contact information.

Trading once again, another charming smile was shown as the other looked at his phone (“charming”? Since when was that a thing?). “Lee Sungjong,” the stranger tested vocally, causing Sungjong to flush lightly for some reason. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Sungjong-ssi. I’ll message you the details later,” he informed him as he waved, leaving the area and walking away from campus.

Sungjong blinked as his mind attempted to grasp what had just happened from start to finish, and he almost dropped his phone. His eyes wandered down to his screen and he read the name the contact was listed under.

“L? What kind of name is that?”

a/n: Well would you look at that? I pooped out another chapter. A few hours maybe after I posted that update, no less. But guess what? I have no idea how to go from here to the happenings of the next chapter--I'll make issues with meeting a certain Kim Myungsoo evident for our group of six, but at the very least, Jongie will be sleeping alright~ And now that Sungjong and L (//coughcoughMyungsoobutwhatever) have met, let the possible s/fluffinesses begin~ I hope ya'll are excited for this shiznit bc I sure am~

I apologize for no beta-ing/proofreading, but I'm no longer willing to look at this chapter again for a while unless it's to read. If there are any other glaring issues (aside from flow as usual), then by all means, mention it~

(here's a gift as an apology of sorts)