Sunggyu doesn’t really expect to fall in love when he transfers universities.  He doesn’t expect anything, actually.  He’s only there to take advantage of their famous business program, and put some distance between him and a relationship gone sour.  (He’s not running away, no matter how much Sungyeol screams it at him).  So it completely catches him off guard when he hears the chair across from his seat in the library, scrape against the linoleum flooring, and “I wanna live in your socks so I can be with you every step of the way.”  Sunggyu scrunches his nose and looks up.  He can feel his eyes turn to slits (his eyes always disappeared when he was disgusted.  Or surprised.  Or angry.  Or happy.  All the time, actually.)  The weird across from him has the greasiest looking smile on his face, and Sunggyu feels a little bit like he might puke.  (He also thinks that the has one of the most handsome faces he’s ever seen, but he’ll take that to the grave) 

“What the .”  Sunggyu is a little impressed that the ’s expression doesn’t even falter with his less-than-enthusiastic greeting.  But to be honest, Sunggyu doesn’t have the time to be talking to weirdoes.  He has two papers to finish this week and he thinks he might die. 

“If you were a booger I’d pick you first.”  It impresses Sunggyu even more that this guy can say these lines without even flinching.  He thinks the guy must be crazy if he can say things like that without turning even the slightest bit red.  Sunggyu doesn’t really know what to say, and he’s never been a fan of awkward conversations, so he throws the weird guy a ‘what the is wrong with you, I’m sorry for your life’ look, before closing his laptop and getting up to leave.  He hears a faint “My name’s Woohyun, by the way!”  before he exits the door. 

Sunggyu thinks that’s the end of his encounters with Boohyun, or Junhyung, or whatever the weirdo’s name was, and he definitely doesn’t go home and thinks ‘that guy was actually pretty cute’.  But the next day, he’s surprised to find the weird guy standing at the front gate, sipping a cup of coffee.  Now that the guy isn’t smiling that weird greasy smile, Sunggyu doesn’t feel so ashamed to think that this guy is handsome, because this guy is pretty much perfect, with perfectly styled hair gelled to one side, a perfectly shaped nose, pouty lips, and damn, those arms.   

Sunggyu looks down and walks a little faster, because he just doesn’t want to deal with this, even if a part of him sort of wants to see the body under that shirt.  He thinks ‘’ when he feels a gentle tug on his arm .  “Hi, my name’s Woohyun.”   Sunggyu is a little more than annoyed at himself for how much he likes Woohyun’s voice, and the warmth on his arm.   “Do you live in a corn field, ‘cause I’m stalking you.”  And again, Sunggyu is ashamed that his heart is beating a little faster and , are his cheeks red?  Sunggyu thinks ‘no this won’t do, this won’t do at all, what has my life come to, what is wrong with me??’  before shaking Woohyun off and restarting his trek towards his morning class.  Woohyun falls into step next to him and Sunggyu just wishes this guy would leave him alone.  He wants to get his degree in peace.  He’s definitely not ready for another guy in his life after the disaster his last relationship ended up as.  “So what’s your name?”

Sunggyu can see his lecture hall now, and he’s more than a little relieved that he can escape (and maybe, just maybe, a little disappointed).  “…Sunggyu.”  He makes it a point to mumble it, just barely discernable above the throng of people rushing to their lectures, and darts past the doors.    

Sunggyu can’t say that he’d been expecting it, but a part of him is a little happy when he comes out of the lecture, a little strung out from all the information, and sees a pair of dark chocolate brown orbs smiling at him.   Seeing Woohyun there feels so surprisingly good that Sunggyu almost forgets why he has to fight down a smile.  Almost.  “Do you work at ’s?  ‘Cause you’re sporting the goods.”  And then Sunggyu remembers that Woohyun is a creepy idiot, and relationships equals bad. 

It becomes a daily occurrence for Woohyun to wait at the front gates for Sunggyu then walk him to all his classes.  It also becomes a daily occurrence for Woohyun to pop in some stupid pick-up line.  (“Do you sit in a pile of sugar?  ‘Cause you have a pretty sweet .”  “I swear to god Woohyun, I will chop your off.”  “Does your left eye hurt?”  “Not really…oh my god Woohyun I swear if this is another one of those –“  “Because you’ve been looking right all day!”  “Are you an orphanage?  ‘Cause I wanna give you kids.”  “…you need Jesus.”)  It’s with a lot of shame and a whole lot of wondering about his life choices when he realizes that seeing Woohyun is pretty much the highlight of his day. 

They start to meet off campus, and Sunggyu learns that Woohyun is actually pretty much the sweetest guy in existence, pick-up lines aside.  Woohyun is all smiles that light up the room and make Sunggyu run several degrees warmer, he treats Sunggyu to meals (Sunggyu isn’t one to refuse food.  Ever.), he’s insanely affectionate (Sunggyu will say he hates it when Woohyun hugs him for no reason, but they both know better), he’s smart and funny (majoring in chemical engineering, actually), Woohyun is everything Sunggyu wishes he has when he looks at his parents together. 

They become something, more than friends but still not together; Sunggyu just isn’t ready to take that step yet.  He knows that Woohyun won’t hurt him, because he trusts Woohyun so, so much, but he just can’t seem to get past the trauma his last relationship left him with.  (Sunggyu had loved Jongho so much, almost to a fault.  That didn’t stop Jongho from cheating on him.)  Woohyun steals kisses from Sunggyu, and Sunggyu always hits him half-heartedly afterwards, but he can’t say he doesn’t like the way that Woohyun’s plush lips feel against his own, or the way that when Woohyun pulls away, he nuzzles his face into the crook of Sunggyu’s neck and breathes him in like he's trying to convince himself that Sunggyu is actually there.  Woohyun holds Sunggyu like he’ll break, and it makes Sunggyu’s pulse race and his heart feel so full. 

He doesn’t know how Woohyun managed it, because god knows Woohyun’s first impression wasn’t that great, but Sunggyu has come to love Woohyun.  He knows it, but he can’t find it in himself to say it.  He’s not ready to give a name to what they are, he just wants to be.  He tells Woohyun that, and Woohyun finds he’s okay with it, because he still gets to cuddle Sunggyu in between his sheets, he gets to wake up to Sunggyu’s face nuzzled into his chest and watch Sunggyu sit at his kitchen table and eat breakfast with eyes closed (everything about Sunggyu is just so cute). 

Sunggyu almost never sleeps at home anymore; he doesn’t think he can even sleep alone now.  It takes one day in his own apartment, to realize that everything he needs is at Woohyun’s apartment.  It’s like a splash of cold water when Sunggyu realizes that they practically live together.  (“Did you know we live together?!”  “Oh…yeah I guess we do.”)  Sunggyu cancels the lease on his apartment that month, and he finds that he isn’t scared to call Woohyun his boyfriend anymore, but it doesn’t feel right either.  The word just doesn’t seem like enough to mean everything that Woohyun means to Sunggyu.  (Woohyun agrees with him wholeheartedly, but they still end up calling each other ‘boyfriend’ for convenience.)

Living with Woohyun is easy.  Woohyun always wakes up before Sunggyu does (he likes to spend a few minutes watching Sunggyu sleep before setting off to make breakfast).  Sunggyu always wakes up to the smell of food and shuffles to the kitchen table with their large comforter wrapped around him, swallowing him in warmth.  He spends a few minutes with his cheek on the table, napping and waiting for Woohyun to finish, before he finally opens his eyes the slightest bit to eat.  (Sometimes Sunggyu falls asleep again so deeply that Woohyun can lean over and kiss him until Sunggyu is forced to wake up and figure out why he can’t breathe.  It always leaves Sunggyu squawking in indignation when he opens his eyes and Woohyun is centimeters away from his face.)  After they both eat and Sunggyu finally opens his eyes fully, they go to their classes.  They have classes on the same days except for Friday which Sunggyu had purposely left as an early weekend.  When they’re both done for the day, they both walk home together, fingers tightly laced.  At night when they both settle into bed, Sunggyu always inches closer and closer to Woohyun (Sunggyu is always so cold and Woohyun is always so warm) until he’s safely cuddled in Woohyun’s arms.  As Sunggyu relaxes into the now familiar warmth, all he can think is ‘I’m happy’ as his mind fuzzes and eyes close. 

On Fridays, Sunggyu stays at home most days, and sometimes he goes out to meet old friends (Sungyeol and Myungsoo and Dongwoo always complain that Sunggyu doesn’t spend enough time with them).  Every Friday, Woohyun sets his shoes out in the doorway before he heads out to the campus, because he thinks “maybe it'll scare potential burglars away if they see my shoes there”.  Sunggyu is always offended because “I’m a man too, I can protect myself”, but it warms his heart because Woohyun cares so much.  It becomes a tradition and Woohyun never forgets.  He says it’s a sign that even when Woohyun isn’t there, he’s there.  (No matter what Woohyun says, Sunggyu does not blush when Woohyun tells him that). 

The day it happens, Sunggyu is at home taking a nap on the couch.  They say a drunk driver careened off the road, onto the sidewalk where Woohyun was walking to get home.  They say his death was instantaneous.  Sunggyu sits on the couch, still swaddled in his blankets.  He thinks ‘it’s cold, cold, cold’.  Everything is numb, like his body isn’t really his.  He doesn’t move, doesn’t think he can even if he wanted to.   There’s a warmth on his hands and are his fingers wet?  For a moment he thinks ‘is it raining?’ before remembering he’s inside.  Soon he becomes aware of the warm trails on his cheeks and there’s a moment of clarity ‘ah.  I’m crying.’.  Sunggyu pulls his knees up to his chest and burrows further into his blankets and the couch. 

When Sunggyu wakes up, he thinks ‘it’s so, so cold’.  He stumbles groggily towards the kitchen and ‘where’s Woohyun?  Why isn’t he making breakfast?’.  He ambles towards the bedroom and sees the bed made with Woohyun’s pyjamas laid on top.   Sunggyu falls into the bed and thinks ‘why is it so cold?’.  It takes his brain a moment to catch up and realize that he’s crying, sobbing so hard that he can’t breathe.  It feels like there are pins in his eyes and each gasp for air burns his throat.  He claws at his chest because “everything hurts, Woohyun, make it stop, please.  Please.  Please. Please.”, but it doesn’t stop.  It just hurts more and more and more and more and more and Sunggyu can’t breathe.  It’s freezing.   “Where is Woohyun?”

It’s Friday again.  Sunggyu goes through the motions every day, because what else can he do?  He takes Woohyun’s shoes from the closet and sets them at the entrance, where they belong every day now.  Sunggyu sits on the couch and waits.  ‘Maybe Woohyun will come back today.’

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And there it is folks!  I hope you enjoyed it!  Hopefully you guys didn't think it was too bad.  It seems I'm always torturing the Woogyu couple haha.  There may be some mistakes here and there because its 3:21 am as I'm about to post this, and I've been writing for the past few hours, but everything should make sense (I really, really hope it does at least).  As always, comments are appreciated!