For Firespark96

Pairing: Woogyu

 

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Woohyun shoots a smile to the receptionist as he walks into the building. Mijoo sends him a smile and a wink. She’s his kind of girl. Because of a government energy saving drive, they’re not allowed to use the A/C. Most of the staff have resigned themselves to sweat and misery. But not Mijoo – she’s looking like a starlet with her little USB fan blowing her hair back and her smile in the face of perspiration that’s already gathering even at ten to nine in the morning. Woohyun would bet money she’ll still look just as pristine when he sees her in a few hours on his break.

 

He greets Jake in the lift. Jake’s one of their only foreign employees. Woohyun’s not sure what the man actually does – something or other in marketing – nor how he accomplishes it, since he doesn’t speak much Korean. But Jake’s alright.

 

“Nice weather today,” Woohyun says by way of small talk.

 

“Hat,” Jake nods. When Woohyun just stares at him, unsure how to respond, he repeats it, “Hat, hat!” flapping a hand in front of his face for good measure.

 

“Oh, hot! Yes, so hot these days. Welcome to Seoul summer.” He laughs, a little awkwardly, and is happy when the lift reaches the third floor and he can hop out. A man in slacks, a salmon shirt and crocs is shuffling past, clutching his vending machine latte in both hands. Minjun looks the worse for wear – his hair’s a mess and there are deep bags under his eyes.

 

“Morning, Hyung. Good weekend?”

 

Only now registering Woohyun’s arrival, Minjun turns to him slowly, a tired, complacent smile on his face.

 

“The best, Woohyun-ah. The women, the music, the substances… the women. I’m telling you, the ladies would have been enough to turn even you, My young padawan.”

 

Woohyun snorts and continues on his way, leaving Minjun to crawl in in his own good time.

 

“Oh yeah, , take it. Yeah, you like that, don’t you? Mm, come on, you little .”

 

A short distance down the corridor, Woohyun is alerted to Taecyeon fixing the photocopier. He always talks that way to the machines. Woohyun’s not sure the man’s even aware of himself doing it anymore.

 

“Hey, Hyung. Good morning,” Woohyun greets when he reaches the little copy room. Taecyeon, crouched on the carpeted floor, looks up startled. A toothy grin spreads across his face.

 

“Good morning, Pretty Boy. Beautiful day today.”

 

“Yep, it’s going to be a scorcher though. We’ll all have melted by noon.”

 

“Hah! Feel the burn, Woohyun-ah. IT department must be strong in the face of Nature.”

 

Woohyun chuckles at Taecyeon’s nonsense and gesticulating – the man has an unexpected approach to office life. As Woohyun trots towards the office, he has to wonder if Taecyeon will be keeping his trousers on today. The man’s down to a tank top already. He kept his trousers on for most of last week. However, the climbing temperature made Taecyeon fed up and he spent basically all of Friday in boxers.

 

On entering the office – a large, yet somehow permanently cramped room, with a few desks, computers and discarded computer parts stacked up on one wall – a ream of paper is shoved at his chest.

 

“Morning. This is a lot of you need to check,” Wooyoung informs him through a yawn.

 

“Is it all ?” Woohyun asks, leafing through the information.

 

“Mostly. I don’t know,” Wooyoung shrugs, dismissing the conversation. He eyes Woohyun and, after a moment, adds entirely predictably, “So, you have a good weekend?”

 

“Sure. It was alright.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll bet. You get up to anything good?”

 

Woohyun maintains an innocent smile, pretending that he doesn’t know what Wooyoung’s fishing for,

“My friend and I got tacos. That was pretty good.”

 

“Mm, tacos. Nice.” Wooyoung winks. Satisfied, he goes back about his business, smirk on his face. Woohyun gapes at his departing back. What is ‘getting tacos’ supposed to be a double entendre for? Does Wooyoung even know what he thinks it’s a double entendre for? Woohyun sighs. It’s probably . Given the ideas his colleagues have about the gay lifestyle, it’s usually . Tacos are . Last Monday, ‘watching Foxcatcher’ meant . One week, they seemed to decide that ‘visiting the parents’ meant going to a . Woohyun’s life is a lot more interesting in his colleagues’ heads than in reality.

 

Resignedly, Woohyun traipses over to his desk. The tasks on his list all look simple enough (he’s never given anything very complex) but time consuming. Looks like it’ll be a long and slow kind of day. Best to relax and stew in the heat.

 

“Hey, Baby! You’ve got an arse like a melon!”

 

“Hey, y! What’s your name? Smile for me!”

 

Woohyun cringes. Junho and Chansung are leaning out the window near their desks, catcalling passers by. This is a relatively new habit of theirs, only the past month or so. Unfortunately, it’s catching on. Wooyoung and Nichkhun are already coming over to check out who caught Junho and Chunsung’s eyes. They’re all nice guys – Woohyun can’t figure out why they’ve started doing this. Well, that’s not completely true. It began not long after Nichkhun grabbed Woohyun’s phone as a joke and happened to find a picture of Woohyun kissing his ex. The unexpected outing didn’t go as badly as Woohyun had feared. His colleagues have been accepting, more or less. Their bro-ish behaviour ramped up a couple of notches, though, along with their fixation on his life. Catcalling might be one of those ways of re-affirming their heteroual masculinity for them, who knows. Woohyun does his best to studiously ignore them when they’re like this. He flicks on his desk fan and gazes out the window at the busy street and the buses trundling by.

 

❀❀❀

 

Mijoo takes her break early and comes up to the third floor. Woohyun has owed her a few manwon for weeks now. She allows him to start paying her back by buying her ice-coffee and keeping her company.

 

“I’m dying, Oppa. Oppa, I am dying,” she whines, sipping her coffee and leaning down until her nose is brushing Woohyun’s tiny, red desk fan.

 

“There, there,” he mumbles, ineffectually fanning her with a flowery plastic hand fan he got free for letting some religious university student stop him in the street and tell him about Jesus. She leans back – Woohyun likes to imagine it’s because she realised she was blocking his only real source of cool air – and her eyes travel around the room. (She does indeed still look pristine, by the way, with her brown hair cascading over her shoulders, just more damp and shiny than usual).

 

“New pictures,” she comments. Woohyun follows her gaze over to Taecyeon and Nichkhun’s desks. Nichkhun’s has a few cards that change regularly, with various female celebrities as well as gravure idols from Thailand and Japan. However, Mijoo is almost certainly referring to the magazine pullout of two slim, muscular White women with matching pearly smiles. They have flawlessly manicured hands and are posing to show off their powerful arm muscles. They’re dressed in sparkly red sports bras which barely hold in their enhanced s, with matching backside-hugging shorts, knee high socks and oiled up abs. Taecyeon tacked the poster up above his desk that morning.

 

“Yeah. Taec-hyung is into wrestling lately,” he yawns. Glancing to his side, he sees Mijoo making comical attempts to copy their poses.

 

“I need to do more sports. I’m spindly, Oppa. I’ve got no muscles.”

 

He chuckles,

“You’re perfect just the way you are, Mijuliette.”

 

She scoffs then takes a contented sip of her coffee.

 

“By the way, how’s New Girl?” he adds. ‘New Girl’ is Jiyeon, who’s been a part-time receptionist for a fortnight now.

 

“She’s weird,” Mijoo states, “She’s been humming a tune all day. I couldn’t place it at first, but I’ve figured it out. It’s the Sakura Trick theme.”

 

“You like Sakura Trick,” Woohyun points out, reasonably confused.

 

“I don’t go humming it at work. Weird.”

 

Smiling to himself, Woohyun decides to leave it at that. Jiyeon is sort of weird. Mijoo will notice that they have that in common soon enough.

 

“Hey, y! Your are amazing. Come up and let me squeeze them!”

 

Woohyun shudders. Even with a lady present… Blithely unaware of the twin pairs of judgemental eyes on him, Chansung goes back to busily tapping away at his keyboard.

 

“They’re enjoying that these days, huh?” Mijoo remarks, voice dropping a notch so only Woohyun can hear her.

 

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

 

“Bros will be bros. Can’t be helped.”

 

“I guess.” Woohyun frowns. It feels as though he’s more bothered by the behaviour than Mijoo. That’s strange to him. But then, he supposes, she’s probably been on the receiving end before and is used to it. That thought makes him frown more deeply. He doubts any woman’s day is made better by some loser shouting at her that he wants to play with her . He doesn’t understand why the guys have to be like that.

 

“Hey, Cutie! Cutie with the blue dress! Your legs are awesome!”

 

Woohyun blinks. Mijoo’s leaning out the window, snickering. The others are staring at her, too, in a mix of confusion and admiration (and possibly arousal). Woohyun had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed her standing up to get closer to the window. Now she’s sitting back down, poking at the ice in her cup with her straw. Spotting his expression, she laughs shortly.

 

“I wanted to try it,” she explains, “If you can’t beat them join them, you know? And also, her legs were awesome.” Pensively, she prods her own thighs a few times, “I need to do more sports. Take me to the gym with you, Oppa.”

 

❀❀❀

 

Woohyun dwells on Mijoo’s words over the next few days. He’s growing tired of cringing and biting his tongue several times a day. Also, he’s increasingly convinced that the guys’ not knowing how to react to the (accidentally) out gay dude is, if not causing this behaviour, then making it worse. Plus, Mijoo’s taken to joining on her break. (“Ooh, it’s Legs-Cutie,” she cooed when peeking out their window on Thursday. Before Woohyun knew what was happening, she was leaning out and yelling, “Hey, Cutie! Your hair looks pretty today!”).

 

On Friday morning, he’s gazing absentmindedly at the passers by, waiting for his computer to start up. He notices a familiar face. There’s a bus stop on the pavement outside, so naturally Woohyun sees a lot of the same faces again and again. Few of them stay with him though. For some reason, this guy has.

 

One obvious reason is that this guy’s gay – or he has a boyfriend, anyway. Another is that, although this guy isn’t especially attractive, his boyfriend is at least twice as handsome as Woohyun (at a rough estimate). Woohyun spots them standing at the bus stop around this hour a few times a week. They don’t seem talkative – mostly just holding hands cutely whilst staring at their phones or off in the direction their bus will come. The boyfriend has idol good looks, without the sense of style. Everything’s either black or navy, so far as Woohyun can recall. In his defense, the boyfriend seems to be blissfully unaware of the effect his good looks have. Woohyun vividly remembers the day the woman in a nurse’ uniform was so busy checking him out that she walking into a sign post.

 

The last reason Woohyun remembers this guy is just him. Despite not being attractive like his boyfriend, he’s striking. Messy black hair with some kind of pattern shaved in the side. Sharp, slender eyes and a cute round face. Long legs. Broad chest. Slim waist. In regards to fashion, presumably making up for his SO’s lack of colour with an abundance of it – leopard print jacket, rainbow stars all over his backpack, lime green highlights on his trainers. Noticeable. And a little bit cute, actually, now Woohyun comes to think of it.

 

On a whim, he leans out the window.

 

“Hey, Cutie!”

 

About a dozen women look up. Woohyun hadn’t planned for this eventuality.

 

“I- I mean that cutie. W- with the leopard print jacket,” he stutters. Confused eyes find the guy, who gradually notices that he’s the centre of attention. He looks up, his gaze wandering until he finds Woohyun leaning out the window like a wally. He squints in the sunlight - probably wondering what on earth the idiot wants, Woohyun thinks, getting tongue-tied. People-watching from the safety of the third floor is very different to this.

 

“Th-Those jeans make your legs look hot as hell! Heck, you’re so hot you’d make the Devil sweat.”

 

The guy’s expression stiffens and he spins around. The boyfriend shoots Woohyun a sour look – that, from close quarters, could probably actually legitimately kill – and wraps an arm around the guy’s waist. Woohyun picks all this up in the space of milliseconds as he’s recoiling back inside and gazing, dumbstruck, into the middle distance. Where on Earth did that come from?!

 

“Whoa, Dude. You’re not supposed to call when their boyfriends are there.”

 

Coming back to reality, Woohyun sees that his colleagues are all looking at him.

 

“Our Woohyun-ah’s a brave guy.”

 

“Brave or stupid?”

 

“Why not both?”

 

“Bravest arse-bandit in Seoul City.”

 

Woohyun pulls himself together enough to laugh it off. His colleagues soon find something else to be interested in and Woohyun goes back to his regular schedule. Honestly, now that he’s chilled out and the initial embarrassment has passed, he has to acknowledge that was pretty fun.

 

❀❀❀

 

Woohyun spots the guy (and his attractive boyfriend) again on Tuesday morning. He’d better not think about repeating that behaviour from Friday. Bad, stupid behaviour. Mijoo thinks it’s OK so long as she’s calling nice things, but Woohyun doesn’t trust her reasoning. His colleagues still catcall and Woohyun’s still bothered by it – so what’s been accomplished? Right, exactly. A stupid idea.

 

He glares at his screen, not registering anything on it. It’s not even half past nine and he has sweat everywhere. He can feel it on his eyelids. He can feel droplets trickling down his back. This is horrible. Even his dazzling powers to grin and zen-master his way through the Seoul summer are being sorely tested. Also, it’s so darn noisy with all the cars and buses outside.

 

To hell with this.

 

He leans out. His guy is about to get on a bus. He’s laughing at something his boyfriend said.

 

“Hey, Cutie! Leopard-print Cutie!”

 

The man’s eyes go wide, fingers worrying the straps of his leopard-print backpack. Uncertainly, he glances up.

 

“You have the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen! Of all the beautiful curves on your body, your smile is my favourite!”

 

Some bystanders snicker or even ‘aww’ at them. The guy, in contrast, might be frozen. His boyfriend – with an expression that speaks of bloody murder in the not so distant future – shoves him on to the bus.

 

Woohyun drops back in to his seat. His face is bright red. At least the chill of fear from the boyfriend’s look helped to cool him down.

 

❀❀❀

 

On Wednesday and an hour or so later in the day, Woohyun sees the guy. Leopard-print Cutie. Dating-an-anime-villain Cutie. Legs Cutie. (Except not, because Mijoo’s claimed that nickname for “her” girl. But really, Woohyun can’t imagine that Mijoo’s target has nicer legs than this guy. Secretly Legs Cutie). Woohyun catcalls him then.

“Let's commit the perfect crime: I'll steal your heart, and you'll steal mine.”

And the next day.

“If you stood in front of a mirror and held up 11 roses, you would see 12 of the most beautiful things in the world.”

It’s a rush. He’s starting to see why his colleagues got addicted to it. He tries to only say good things – as he continually justifies his actions to himself. And, just, lines. He’s not sure if the lines are ‘good’ per se. The cheesiest of lines are the only ones he knows, so they surely can’t be offensive.

Hopefully.

If Woohyun ever runs into the boyfriend, he assumes he’s doomed.

 

On Friday morning, Mijoo arrives in the third floor office on a flimsy pre-text and gravitates to Woohyun’s desk.

 

“You’re a terrible sunbae. How can you up and leave Jiyeon on her own like this?”

 

“She’ll be fine.” Mijoo slaps his arm for teasing her. “When I left, she was explaining the plot of Maria Holic to Jake,” she adds, not reassuringly.

 

“In English?” Woohyun raises an eyebrow. Mijoo guffaws. Before she can reply, a commotion draws their attention.

 

“Yes! You dirty ! Keep coming for me, !”

 

“Ah, yeah. This bad . She’s loving it, Hyung.”

 

Mijoo is agog, jaw slack. Woohyun shuffles awkwardly.

 

“Minjun-hyung’s computer was buggy. Seem’s like Taec-hyung’s fixed it,” he explains. She nods slowly. A scary thought leaps into Woohyun’s mind. “I know you said ‘if you can’t beat them,’ but you don’t have to join them in that… Please don’t join them in being like that.”

 

She shakes her head and promises him he doesn’t have to worry.

“That’s a bit… It’s kind of… Probably not for the reception desk. Anyway,” she flaps the flowery fan at him, “A-ny-way. When’s your guy passing? I want to see, Oppa.”

 

Woohyun coughs.

“He’s not mine. You… Well, soon-ish. If he’s coming. It was a different time yesterday, so – Oh.” His gaze had drifted to the window quite against his will. There his guy was, pleasantly strolling hand in hand with his boyfriend. Tight jeans despite the heat, a baggy yellow t-shirt, a backpack with red straps to match his trainers. No leopard-print today – Woohyun would have to call him something different. His pale skin looks almost white in the bright sunshine. It always piqued Woohyuns’ interest. He had to wonder how the guy and his equally pale boyfriend didn’t burn. Factor 50 for days, Woohyun guesses.

 

“He’s handsome,” Mijoo comments.

 

“Hm? No, that’s his boyfriend. Mine’s the one in the yellow t-shirt.”

 

“I meant him,” she rebukes, shoving Woohyun lightly, “The boyfriend’s the plaid-on-plaid guy, isn’t he? He’s handsome – your guy is.”

 

Woohyun watches the couple come closer. He weighs up the guys features in his head. Mijoo’s strange, he concludes. Some parts are handsome, but not overall. He’s guys not really handsome.

 

His not-handsome guy looks up. Their eyes meet. Woohyun’s heart does a somersault. The guy’s too far for Woohyun to read his expression well.

 

“Hey, Cutie! You’d better learn CPR, because you take my breath away!”

 

Woohyun stays hanging out the window like a , distantly aware of Mijoo and a few pedestrians giggling at him. His guy smiled. Woohyun’s almost absolutely certain. He smiled and bowed his head, picking up his pace to keep up with his boyfriend, who was now stomping towards the bus stop. His smile really is the prettiest. What an odd thing for an unattractive person to possess a smile like that.

 

When Woohyun finally pulls himself in, he almost bangs into Chansung’s chest. The man is standing rather too close, arms crossed, lips in a thin line.

 

“You need to teach me, Dude. Your lines work on as well as , right?”

 

While Woohyun is stuttering for a response, Mijoo is nodding like the bobblehead shiba inu Woohyun’s mum has on his dashboard and promising Chansung that Woohyun’s lines can make all manner of knickers drop. Thankfully, Junho trots over, takes a hold of his friend and guides Chansung back to their desk.

❀❀❀

 

“So, that’s your Legs Cutie,” Woohyun remarks. It’s the following Thursday. He’s received three further smiles in the intervening week. Mijoo hasn’t invaded the third floor in the morning again. It’s a combination of being scared off by the sounds Taecyeon emits when he’s working hard and not wanting Jiyeon to traumatise anymore workers. (Since last week, Jake’s been eyeing her nervously every time he passes the reception desk. Jiyeon’s single response is a cheery, poorly pronounced ‘Good morning! Let’s have a beautiful day~.’ This hasn’t done much to help matters). However, now it’s almost afternoon. The boys’ animal instincts have been quenched by the heat and it’s much quieter at reception.

 

“Yep, that’s her,” Mijoo replies, holding her ice-coffee to her face. (She’d told Woohyun he still hadn’t paid off his debt. He suspects she just wanted more free coffee). “Pretty, isn’t she?”

 

Woohyun hums a response. The woman in question is short with minimal make-up and long, mousey blond hair in a loose ponytail. She’s exceptionally slim – a fact not hidden by the large, boy style shirt she’s wearing open over her neat, floral summer dress. Woohyun doesn’t think she’s particularly pretty or that her legs are in any way remarkable. Although, he can concede that he’s not an expert in the matter of women’s legs.

 

“Then that’s your type,” he muses.

 

“What?”

 

“Your type,” he clarifies, “I wouldn’t have expected.”

 

Mijoo’s face is creased in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, I don’t know. Just, if you’d asked me to guess what kind of girls you like, I wouldn’t have pictured her. She’s cute and all.”

 

There is a pause before Mijoo bursts out laughing.

 

“Oppa, what?! You thought I was a lesbian?”

 

He arches an eyebrow.

 

“Oh, come on, Oppa. Appreciating female beauty doesn’t make me gay.”

 

“It makes you a bit gay,” Minjun pipes up, looking deep in consideration.

 

Woohyun smirks. He tries to return to a neutral expression.

“Sure, sure,” he placates, “I’m not gay either. I simply happen to appreciate the out of male beauty.”

 

Mijoo scoffs. Using her coffee cup to make bullet points in the air, she launches into a defence of herself. She gets blown off course (her course had mostly consisted of repeating that she was straight) when Nichkhun noisily whispers to Taecyeon,

“Why is Mijoo-sshi pretending to be straight?”

 

Taecyeon takes a deep breath, tapping his chin as he mulls this issue over.

 

“Because,” he eventually declares, “We’re playing Bizarro World. Woo!” He claps his hands at Wooyoung, “Come sit on my lap. I want your arse.”

 

“Take me hard, you hunk of man,” Wooyoung plays along, obediently prancing over and perching on Taecyeon’s knees, throwing his arms around the man’s neck. Woohyun cracks up, laughing till he’s struggling for breath. Indignant, Mijoo makes one final bullet point with her cup.

 

“You guys are weird and I have work. Goodbye. Why is everyone so weird?”

 

She marches out, long hair bouncing as she goes. Woohyun wheezes an apology to her departing back. He tries to avoid looking directly at where Taecyeon and Wooyoung and still acting out their crazy charade. It might scar him for life.

❀❀❀

 

The following Monday, Woohyun doesn’t see “his” guy. (In his head, he’s referring to the man like that, even though he reminds himself that doing so is gross and nonsensical). He’s worked out that the guy doesn’t catch that bus on Mondays though – or, if he does, it’s at a different time and Woohyun’s never spotted him. So that’s OK. On Tuesday, he spots him around the usual time. Alone. Scary Boyfriend must be sick, Woohyun tells himself. The guy is trudging along amidst the throng of commuters, eyes on his feet, thumbs hooked in the straps of his backpack. Woohyun watches him move, the slope of his shoulders and his slow gait. Any speculation, Woohyun tries to push from his mind. He doesn’t want to be any creepier than he already is.

 

The guy looks up. Their eyes meet. He’s done that a couple of times before, looking up before Woohyun’s called. Woohyun’s stomach has no right to do quite so many flips. The guy’s hair, in need of a cut, is clinging to his perspiring face. The close heat makes it difficult to even breathe sometimes.

 

The guy waves at him. Without thinking, Woohyun waves back. He’s tongue-tied, no greasy lines find their way out. The guy smiles, dimples showing on his round cheeks, and trots over to the bus stop.

❀❀❀

 

On Wednesday, he’s alone again. Woohyun thinks of a line off the top of his head. (Cheesiness before making sense, that’s Woohyun’s method of approach).

“Do you have a map? Because I keep getting lost in your eyes!”

The guy scoffs and turns away. Woohyun’s sure he likes it a little bit. His walk and his whole demeanour seem less depressed. (Woohyun really hopes that’s true and that he’s not simply become a creep who’s projecting his creepiness on to a cute stranger).

 

On Thursday, it’s the same story. On Friday, Woohyun gets the balls to ask what’s on his mind.

 

“Hey, Cutie! Where’d your boyfriend go?”

 

The guy turns and looks up at him. He has one hand on his hip and the other is shading his eyes from the Sun. It’s impossible for Woohyun to tell what expression he has. The guy’s only standing, not responding. He stands like that for long enough that Woohyun starts to feel like a terrible person for having asked that question. But he’s asked it now, so there’s nothing he can do but wait. He throws a few finger-hearts to passing ahjummas – because, if he’s going to be a bastard, he can at least be an adorable one. Finally, the guy let’s his arms drop and he answers,

 

“He left me for a young model!”

 

Even from floor three, Woohyun hears a few sympathetic ‘aww’s. They really have picked up a smattering of fans over the past weeks, it seems. More importantly, how can those two have broken up? It always made Woohyun happy to see an apparently sweet, open gay couple in this district – even if one half of said couple did frighten him.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve always appreciated maturity myself.”

 

The guy’s hands find their way back to his hips.

 

“Just how old do you think I am?”

 

The words the perfect age for me are on the tip of Woohyun’s tongue. However, since he’s not genuinely interested in picking anyone up on the rebound, he instead opts for the far classier,

“As old as the man you feel?”

 

The guy facepalms. Nevertheless, Woohyun’s almost entirely convinced that he’s giggling (along with their fan-ahjummas). He feels oddly accomplished.

❀❀❀

 

Woohyun doesn’t get to leave work until a quarter to eight that Friday. One of the managers managed to get a virus. Woohyun, being the newest member of the IT crew, was tasked with staying late to fix the problem. (In the end, this was for the best. Woohyun can’t imagine any of his colleagues maintaining tact upon stumbling upon Manager Cho’s folder marked ‘Hardcore Hairy Brazilian Girl on Girl ’).

 

Sipping on a bottle of melon tea, he drops into the back seat of the bus and sends a message to his flatmate, Kibum.

 

On my way. Did you save me food~ =3=??

 

A woman gets on carrying a stack of 20 or so keyboards as well as her handbag and a large tote bag with wires spilling out the top. After manoeuvring down the aisle, she collapses into the seat beside Woohyun and he shuffles over a centimetre towards the person on his other side to give her more space.

 

Of course, My Hyun ✰ Soyuyu’s here too. Hurry back before she’s eaten everything!

 

A slew of KaTok messages arrive. Woohyun chuckles, reading Soyu berating Kibum for being mean and cruel and a terrible oppa. The person beside Woohyun gets off and is immediately replaced by a man in plaster and paint stained overalls. The bus is passing through a university district and more and more people are piling on.

 

Btw, Hyun…! Jjong’s in Daejeon T__T So it’s just us 3. U r coming out tonight, yes? Yes???

 

Woohyun tsks. ‘No’ is clearly not an acceptable option. Kibum’s even trying to play on Woohyun’s emotions, sad-facing like that because his boyfriend is out of town. Having said that, truthfully, Woohyun’s excited to spend time with his best friend without Jonghyun around. It’s not the nicest feeling in the world when your best friend/flatmate is very much in love and the closest things you have to relationships are an in-denial lesbian and a stranger who probably thinks you’re a socially retarded, mostly harmless loser.

 

Sure thing, My Beom =v= Looking forward to it.

 

The woman with the keyboards accidentally pokes Woohyun quite hard as she’s clambering off. He watches her squeezing through the crowd with some sympathy. There must be some event on, because the aisle is crammed with people despite it being post-rush hour. Woohyun cranes his neck to peek out the window. He’s trying to see exactly where they are so he doesn’t miss his stop.

 

As he’s peering at the horribly non-descript view of conbinis, hair salons and a Paris Baguette, a face catches his eye. It’s someone who just disembarked and is bustling past the bus window, thumbs hooked in the straps of his backpack, nodding his head to whatever’s coming through his headphones. Sharp eyes, round cheeks, slender face, nice jaw. Woohyun’s never been able to appreciate his jaw from this angle before – it actually is kind of handsome. He’s also never been able to appreciate him with this hair colour before. At some point since that morning, the guy’s hair turned auburn. It’s falling into his eyes and making his pale skin seem softer, less cold. It matches his style, Woohyun opines, noticing with amusement the leopard print detail on the guy’s t-shirt collar.

 

“Bugger got prettier,” Woohyun mumbles to himself. On Tuesday, he decides, he’s going to try asking his name.

❀❀❀

 

After squeezing his way off the bus, Woohyun hurries home. Because they’re beautiful human beings – as Woohyun unhesitatingly tells them – Kibum and Soyu really did leave a big portion of blackbean noodles for him. It’s sort of lukewarm and congealed and all the more sustaining for it. Kibum asks him how his day went. Woohyun has to bite his tongue to keep from telling him about ‘the guy’ being newly single and getting the bus to near the uni and looking really very attractive with his fluffy, newly coloured hair. Kibum knows about his being a creep lately (he’d advised Woohyun to play it by ear and that Woohyun’s lines were so terrible that no one could be seriously offended). Soyu, on the other hand, is innocent to his creepiness. Woohyun thinks it’d be great if she could continue believing he was a slightly cool oppa rather than a massive loser.

 

“I found out my boss likes hairy Brazilian lesbians,” he says instead around a mouthful of food, “That was a bit interesting.”

 

After food and after Woohyun’s a much needed shower – the summer heat isn’t abating any time soon – the trio head out to a bar. Kibum knows a couple of members of the band that’s playing. Woohyun’s met them once or twice as well. Actually, he’s pretty sure he made a drunken pass at the bassist one time, but who can keep track. There are a surprising number of fangirls in the crowd, so Woohyun and Kibum end up hanging back, drinking cocktails and attempting to flirt with a couple of Japanese students. It’s not going well. No one minds much when Soyu comes back to interrupt.

 

“What do you think of him?” she asks Woohyun, gesturing to a mixed group at a table nearby. A tall, foreign-looking man with white hair and a high nose is looking at them curiously. Blushing, he turns away when he notices them noticing him.

 

“Oh my,” Kibum sing-songs, following Woohyun’s eyes. The guy is sort of overly good looking and the long legs in black skinny jeans poking out from under the table aren’t bad at all. Woohyun likes long legs.

 

“I’m pretty sure I’m barking up the wrong tree,” Soyu quips, poking Woohyun’s arm, “But he sure seems interested in you, Oppa.”

 

“I apologise for my handsomeness,” Woohyun deadpans.

 

“You want to meet him?” she checks.

 

Woohyun glances uncertainly at Kibum, who just rolls his eyes.

 

“Go on, My Hyun. I won’t die of loneliness. Kenji and Ryosuke are here to keep me company.”

 

So Woohyun follows Soyu over to the other group. Which turns out to be a good move. Foreign Looking Guy, Dongwoon, turns out to be full Korean (or, at least, he says he is, and who is Woohyun to question perfect genes?). This means conversation is already easier than it was with Ken-chan and Ryo-chan. Dongwoon and his friends are funny and they like to embarrass their tall friend. Yeah… guys who are tall, funny and prone to blushing – Woohyun will need to remember to thank Soyu later.

 

When later comes, Woohyun’s on his knees in the gents’, Dongwoon’s thick in his mouth. His head’s starting to ache from the loud music and maybe also from lack of oxygen. Dongwoon’s fingers are in his hair and digging into his shoulder, mostly letting Woohyun control the pace. Dongwoon’s muttering curses and occasional words of praise. Woohyun’s enjoying himself quite a lot - it’s been a while since he did this. Except then a thought sparks up in his head. Moth-like, he can’t ignore it. Would that guy curse? Would he ? Woohyun’s only heard a little of that guy’s voice and it was enough to intrigue him. Speaking of, what would his taste like? Feel like? That guy’s got such a pretty mouth. Would he open it and whimper around Woohyun’s ? Would he rather grip Woohyun’s hair in his snow white hands and his throat? Both options sound fun to Woohyun.

 

Dongwoon comes on his face. Woohyun wakes up from his daydreaming. His own hand’s around his . He feels dirty, and not because of what Dongwoon did.

 

“, sorry.”

 

He hears Dongwoon uttering apologies as he’s picked up and tugged off. Dongwoon’s mouth is on his, sealing Woohyun’s thoughts up for now.

❀❀❀

 

Over the weekend, Woohyun debates having a good talk with Kibum. He can rely on his best friend to set his head straight. Unsure where to start though, all he tells Kibum that Saturday is that it was fun with Dongwoon, but that they’ll probably just be friends. On Sunday afternoon, Jongyun arrives back from Daejeon and that effectively puts an end to the possibility of talking anything over with Kibum. The couple have lots of catching up to do, supposedly, after two nights apart. Kind friend that he is, Woohyun exits the apartment, leaving them to it with a warning that, if they try “catching up” on the sofa again, he’ll make them buy a new one.

 

So Monday arrives and Woohyun’s still confused about how he’s supposed to feel and still feels like he’s done something dirty. To make matters just that little bit worse, Mijoo had a date. (“With a guy,” she emphasises, “A male guy. A manly male guy. He had stubble and everything, OK?” When Nichkhun asks what’s going on, Wooyoung helpfully translates that ‘Mijoo-sshi had a date with some poofter’). Mijoo’s not obsessed with her Legs Cutie. So what’s wrong with Woohyun?

 

Happily, his Monday is lifted up in an unexpected way towards the end of lunchtime. Chansung pokes his head out the window. Woohyun watches out of the corner of his eye, already tensed for another gross comment being catcalled at a passing female. The IT crew’s second youngest takes a deep breath, eyes sparkling with a smile.

 

“Hey! Lady in the blue dress! Yeah, you! You look as pretty as a bluebell!”

 

After a moment, he pulls back in with a proud grin. Junho, looking more than a little bemused, pats his back.

 

“Nice, dude,” Taecyeon affirms, fist bumping his younger colleague.

❀❀❀

 

On Tuesday morning, Woohyun is practically bouncing at his desk. Even the sweat beading on his forehead can’t dampen his mood. Even Taecyeon yelling that the accounting software is a and Wooyoung seemingly deciding that ‘4G enabled’ is gay code for something can’t bring Woohyun down. With immoderate haste, he pokes his head out the window at the time he knows. There’s his guy, dressed inappropriately in full-length jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. His auburn hair makes him even easier to spot.

 

“But, soft! What light towards the bus stop breaks?

It is the east, and this cutie is the Sun.

Arise, fair Sun, and kill the envious Moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief,

That thou, oh Cutie, art far away from he.”

 

Amongst a few giggling bystanders, the guy looks up, rolls his eyes with a grin, and walks on a pace. Then back. He hesitates for a moment before looking up to Woohyun.

 

“That was poetic!”

 

“You like? I’m a poetic guy!”

 

“So I’ve noticed.” He’s laughing. Woohyun feels like his head is full of bubbles.

 

“Really, that colour suits you. It looks soft. I want to touch it.”

 

(Nearby at the bus stop, an ahjumma whispers something to another and they both start cackling. Woohyun knows that cackle. It’s the one his mum and aunt get when they’ve just told a dirty joke. Gosh, society these days…).

 

“You’re weird,” the guy shoots back, giggling, and starts to move off.

 

“Hey!” Woohyun yells, surprising himself, “Am I too weird for you to tell me your name?”

 

The guy vacillates for so long it’s painful. Woohyun hears a fan-ahjumma calling – what he hopes is – encouragement is his guy. The guy chews his lip and tugs at the straps of his backpack. Finally, his bus turns the corner, approaching the stop. This appears to make up his mind for him.

 

“Sunggyu. I’m Sunggyu.”

 

“I’m Woohyun,” Woohyun shouts back. Before he dashes off, Sunggyu leaves him with a sweet, blushing smile.

❀❀❀

 

As was to be expected, knowing Sunggyu’s name does not help to alleviate Woohyun’s obsession. Sung-Gyu, he whispers the name to himself, luxuriating in the feel of those syllables on his tongue.

 

“If I had to choose between breathing or loving you, I would say "I love you" with my last breath!”

 

“That line was so cheesy I think my cholesterol level just shot up. How can you do this to me?”

 

For a while, he hangs about after work to catch the bus at different times. He never does see Sunggyu on there again. Eventually, Woohyun forces himself to give up. Perhaps Sunggyu had been visiting someone. Given when Woohyun saw him that first time, perhaps he was visiting his scary ex.

 

Logically, Sunggyu must live near Woohyun’s office. However, that brings up a whole other set of questions. The only flats in the vicinity are studio apartments that businessmen who don’t yet have families pay excessive amounts of money to rent. Sunggyu certainly doesn’t look like a high-powered salaryman. The daily uniform of jeans plus shirt and backpack make that hard to fathom.

 

“You’re like a dictionary – you add meaning to my life.”

 

“You’re like a cheese burger – laced with grease.”

 

“Hyung, apart from stealing my heart, what do you do every day?”

 

Sunggyu wavers at Woohyun’s unexpected question. He scuffs his shoes on the pavement. Woohyun can’t comprehend the hesitation – despite it being adorable to watch – as he’s already figured out that, even though he rides the bus, Sunggyu must make good money. If he lives in this area and going by his love of brand name clothes, there’s no way he’s skint.

 

“Actually, I write songs.”

 

“Yeah?” Woohyun notices, with slight consternation, a few more people turn to look at the auburn-haired guy who’s yelling at an open window. “Anything I might have heard?”

 

“Well… I’m not sure. I’ve got a few B-sides to my name. That’s all.”

 

Woohyun can’t help but smirk. Sunggyu’s blushing hard and it’s obvious that he’s playing things down, being cagey for whatever reasons. Even so, he has enough sense to know this isn’t the forum for pushing it any further, and leaves it with,

 

“That’s cool, though. I’m just an IT guy. If you’ve got any computer problems, you come straight up to the third floor, OK? I’ll handle you personally.”

❀❀❀

 

The humidity skyrockets, signalling the cooling rains. A week later, the skies break and it all pours forth. For ten days, the rain seems never-ending. Woohyun sees most of this through his bedroom window. He’d been working too many late nights trying to get Accounting’s new operating system running (in time for a deadline that the manager had known about and ignored for almost a full year). Lack of sleep along with too much instant noodles and coffee and the change in the weather had Woohyun down with a nasty fever.

 

Great friends abound for Woohyun. They put up well with his whining and demands for comfort. Dongwoon even comes over and makes him vats of soup. Nonetheless, Woohyun can barely wait to get back out into the world. Being cooped up doesn’t suit him at all.

 

“Oh. You’re back.” Sunggyu greets him, a smile playing on his lips.

 

“Did you miss me, Gyu-hyung?” Woohyun coos, fully expecting a put down. What he gets instead is,

 

“I guess so.” Sunggyu twists the silver umbrella he’s holding against the drizzle, then adds, “How dare you not take care of your health? My commute was lonely.”

 

Woohyun opens and closes his mouth a few times, at a loss. His goldfishing makes Sunggyu laugh out loud and Woohyun remembers what he’s doing.

 

“Extensive apologies, Gyu-hyung. I’ll work harder. If I do it again, you should come up and punish me.”

 

Woohyun’s obsession continues as the rains depart and the temperature goes on gradually falling. As everyone packs away their desk fans and jumpers and jackets appear on the daily commuters. As Woohyun tries to keep under wraps just how often he thinks of that guy, but in the end, each and every one of his friends is asking him what’s up and why is having this run of celibacy. As the nights grow longer and he sees his flatmate less and less. It’s not a surprise by the time Kibum tells him he’s moving out to live with Jonghyun. Woohyun had figured it would happen sooner or later.

 

“Is there a rainbow today? I just found the treasure I’ve been waiting for!”

 

Sunggyu scoffs, as he often does.

“We’d need sun for there to be a rainbow.”

 

“That’s OK. I never need to see the Sun again, because your beauty lights up my world.”

 

Sunggyu wipes a hand over his face in an exaggerated gesture. Woohyun knows well the guy doesn’t hate this stuff, especially when he looks up at Woohyun’s window and adds for no real reason,

“But really, I like this weather. I prefer the cold, I think.”

 

“Yeah?” Butterflies flutter in Woohyun’s stomach. “Me too.”

 

Sunggyu hides his smile behind a pale hand,

“We’ve so much in common,” he jokes.

❀❀❀

 

Woohyun’s not sure what to do about the new flatmate business. It won’t be difficult to find someone. But Kibum is his Best Friend Forever and the only person he’s lived with since graduation. Should Woohyun look for someone he can get along well with? Or would there be less of an emotional toll if he rented it to some nightworker he’d never lay eyes on? Should he, in fact, stop being a and rent it to whoever’s got the money and half-decent hygiene.

 

Tossing and turning in his bed on a Saturday morning as he mulls, Woohyun growls into his pillow. He’s obviously just sour. His best friend’s moving in with his SO. Just about all his friends are in relationships, serious or otherwise. If not, they’re scoring promotions and buying cars and generally being fully functioning adults. Here he is as the runt of the litter in an IT crew full of bros – all of whom prefer basketball to football, so Woohyun simply doesn’t know what to do with them. He’s reliant on public transport. The highlight of his day is gabbing with the (he still suspects) lesbian and the otaku on reception. Also this weird flirtation with an – admittedly good looking – passerby…

 

He needs to clear his head. Woohyun rolls out of bed, pulls on some clothes and drags a comb through his hair. He’ll work that public transport card, he decides. A short stroll brings him past a soup restaurant and a mechanic’s, where they’re, as usual, blasting hip-hop songs to the morning. At the bus stop, Woohyun hops on the first one that arrives. With his earphones in, playing preppy songs that don’t match his mood, he stands in the aisle and watches the familiar scenery pass by. He gets off a couple off a couple of stops before his normal weekday commute. He transfers. Then does so a few more times. Once he’s thoroughly lost, Woohyun gets off and goes for a walk.

 

As soon as he starts moving, his stomach reminds him that he hasn’t eaten yet. Being as it’s still morning and he doesn’t feel like stopping yet, he purchases a powerful black coffee from the first café he sees to feel his stomach into keeping quiet for a while.

 

There is a high school across the road. A few students are wandering in for weekend activities. One side of the ground is full of tall trees. The rich, damp smell reaches his nose across the quiet road. Woohyun drifts over.

 

Strolling along the cracked, leaf-strewn pavement is pleasant. Even so, the proximity to the school gives him decidedly mixed feelings. (High school was not Woohyun’s best period). A colourfully painted house down a narrow side-road catches his eye, so he heads that way. He winds his way this way and that, enjoying escaping from life for a time and certainly not minding the odd looks a few of the neighbours are shooting him.

 

It’s one of those warm autumn days, such that Woohyun hasn’t even brought a jumper. The sky is clear after drizzle all yesterday. The air smells fresh and good. The trees haven’t yet lost all their leaves. Sometimes, when a breeze blows the right way, a blizzard of golden leaves will twist and tumble to the earth. The houses here are mostly old row-houses. Unlike in the newer districts, the homes are much less uniform. Here’s one painted in bright reds and blues. Here’s one with new, ostentatious balconies shining in the light. Many of them have flowers spilling out of every window, as well as a host of plants arranged around the front door. Everywhere, there are little brown birds busily fluttering here and there.

 

Woohyun stumbles upon a park. It’s tiny, just a square of grass squashed between the houses. There are a couple of skinny trees, a bench painted sky blue and a climbing frame. A little girl, 4 years old or so, over-dressed in a puffy purple coat, is struggling at the lower bars. Sitting on the bench and swinging her legs, the little girls grandmother is calling encouragements to her. Maybe it’s just the ballad playlist he set his mp3 player to, but the scene makes Woohyun misty eyed. He wants that. He wants to be silly grandpa Woohyun. Resting on his laurels in an eccentric old neighbourhood. Minding the grandkids while his grown up adopted kids are off making their fortunes. Well, first step is to find someone to adopt the kids with. Or, actually, the first step is to get better at this being an adult thing so that someone might want to stick around that long.

 

The old woman is gesticulating at him. It takes him a minute to realise that she’s not being rude, but is telling him to turn around. He does so and is confused at first. All he notices is a lot of little industrious thrushes. His eyes follow one of them as it flits up to the top floor of one of the four storey houses. The balcony up there is a veritable forest. There are bird feeders and bird baths hidden amongst masses of soft looking greenery. Standing in the midst of it is a figure with pretty eyes, a deep blush and an amused smile. Sunggyu’s hair practically shines in the late morning sunshine and Woohyun thinks stupidly that he looks nice even from this angle. He plucks his earphones out and the melody that greets him is,

 

“Hey, Handsome! That shirt makes your arms look amazing.”

 

Woohyun’s flabbergasted. He hears an ‘oh dear’ from behind him and can’t tell if it was disapproving or encouraging.

 

“Yeah? You’ll never guess what it’s made of.”

 

Sunggyu covers a snicker behind his hand.

“Tell me.”

 

“100% boyfriend material.”

 

Sunggyu doesn’t bother hiding his laugh this time.

“That might be the worst one yet!”

 

“What? Are you suggesting that you don’t believe me? Well, you should come down and get a better look. I promise these arms look even ier from up close.”

 

The man bites his lip. He sets something down and disappears into the house. Behind him, the old woman guffaws. Woohyun grimaces. She can disapprove all she likes so long as Sunggyu emerges from that house. Which, it occurs to Woohyun, the man didn’t actually say he would. It could be he’s ignoring Woohyun, assuming the weirdo will go away. It could be he’s phoning the police to take his harasser away. And Woohyun’s just hanging around like an idiot, being judged by an old lady and…

 

The door opens. Sunggyu shyly steps out in skinny jeans and a massive black hoodie. He waves and scurries across the empty road, purple sandals slapping on the tarmac.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hello,” Woohyun squeaks. This angle’s good too. It’s like Sunggyu’s sketched in sweeping curves, from his eye-smile to his long neck and his round thighs. He’s taller than Woohyun – not by much, yet somehow his legs appear impossibly long. Pale fingers peek out of the sleeves of his hoodie, worrying the cuffs. The action belies his embarrassment – as if his face, flushed pink from ear to ear, didn’t do so already.

 

“Have you eaten?” Sunggyu enquires when Woohyun remains speechless.

 

“Er, not yet,” Woohyun manages.

 

Sunggyu grins,

“My treat, OK?”

 

All Woohyun does is nod happily. He’s having a little trouble being sure that this is real life.

 

“Grandma, my friend and I are going out for a bit. Do you want anything?” Sunggyu calls to the old woman. As she simply waves him off, he’s already holding Woohyun’s arm to lead him down the street. The autumn leaves rustle and the little birds seem to watch as they go. Sunggyu’s chattering excitedly – “I can’t believe you just strolled by. How did you do that? You’re all real and stuff.” – and Woohyun feels like he’s walking on air.

 

✿❀✿ Epilogue ✿❀✿

 

“I simply don’t think you should lie, Unnie. Lies are bad for your soul,” Jiyeon explains, a picture of patience and tolerance, “True beauty can’t shine through if your soul is troubled by lies buzzing around like bees. Angry, angry bees.” She shakes her hands about to demonstrate. Mijoo looks pained. Woohyun presumes this isn’t the first time she’s heard this bee speech.

 

“Is anyone on reception right now?” Minjun enquires and is utterly ignored by the receptionists. It’s unclear exactly why Jiyeon decided to follow Mijoo to floor three and have this talk here. Woohyun suspects she’s wilier than the effervescent exterior would have one believe.

 

“Yeah, Jiyeon-sshi’s right,” Junho pipes up, “Lies are terrible for you.”

 

“A lady is honest,” Nichkhun agrees sagely, “What is Mijoo-sshi lying about?”

 

Jiyeon opens , but Mijoo cuts her off.

 

“It’s really nothing, Nichkhun-sshi. It’s nothing and I don’t know why Jiyeonnie’s making a big deal out of it. The boys don’t care, Jiyeon-ah. You think they care? Of course they don’t.”

 

“We’re very caring!” Wooyoung exclaims, feigning hurt.

 

The girls have a staring contest for a few moments. It’s edge of the seat stuff. That is to say, it’s more interesting than going back to work.

 

“It’s only that,” Jiyeon begins, a look of determination on her ever sweet face, “That I’ve heard Mijoo-unnie describe her boyfriend to you guys and I don’t think that the description of her boyfriend accurately matches the person I’ve seen pick her up a bunch of times. Particularly not since that person happens to be -”

 

“OK, fine!” Mijoo interrupts. She pinches the bridge of her nose dramatically. “If you insist on being this way, at least let me tell them.”

 

Perched on the edge of Chansung’s desk, Jiyeon hums agreement and folds her hands in her lap. (Chansung’s gaze is vacillating wildly between embarrassed Mijoo and Jiyeon’s absolute territory).

 

“Right. OK. Look, do you remember Legs Cutie?” Mijoo begins. All the boys nod readily. “Well, to be perfectly honest, I knew her already. She’s an unnie from my high school. She works at the printer company down the street. We met up again and… er, yeah. We’ve sort of started seeing each other.”

 

The whole IT office is quiet. Woohyun glances around at the guys’ lascivious smiles, anticipating what stupid remark they’ll make and who’ll make it first.

 

“Do not worry,” Wooyoung declares, raising a finger as if he’s about to say something of great importance, “In this office, we are accepting of both fags and female fags. Isn’t that right, Taec-hyung?”

 

Looking towards the eldest, they find him with his eyes trained out the window. Taecyeon holds up a hand to tell them to wait. Suddenly, he shouts,

 

“Hey! Milf in the red jacket! Your smile is like sunshine on a rainy day! Don’t let anybody bring you down!”

 

The man turns back to them, a satisfied smile for what he’s accomplished. While the others are complimenting him, Woohyun makes an escape with the girls, promising to buy them hot coffees. He’s dreaming of double dates. It’d be perfect. Mijoo plus Legs Cutie and his plus True Legs Cutie. Woohyun chuckles to himself, earning a leery look from Mijoo and a pleased, pixie-like giggle from Jiyeon.