Chapter 17

The Color of Sound

A couple of weeks passed by, finals had finished in Sunggyu's college and were now just starting in Woohyun's. The freshman had not seemed stressed at all when Sunggyu met up with the Nams for café hour, something that Boohyun had insisted on starting every Saturday. In fact, Woohyun seemed even more laid back than usual – which was quite strange since he always had his guard up one way or another.

 

"So," Sunggyu said on the café hour after his finals week, "how is your studying going?" Woohyun looked up from his chocolate moose parfait and shrugged.

 

"I'm not." He stated simply. Sunggyu nearly spit out his iced coffee and started coughing haphazardly. Boohyun, who was sitting next to him in the booth, started patting his back.

 

"What do you mean you're not studying?!" Sunggyu yelled, bewildered. "You go to Ace Academy!" Woohyun shot him a glare.

 

"Hey, not so loud." Boohyun whispered, looking around the to see how many people were staring. Basically everyone in the café had their heads turned to them, which wasn't unexpected when the most prestigious school in all of Seoul was mentioned, making them the center of attention.

 

Sunggyu understood the meaning behind Woohyun's glare. From his past experiences, he could tell that the younger wasn't very fond of being the center of attention. He also realized that he might have spoken in a not-so-public-appropriate voice. Sunggyu felt his cheeks heat up in an instant.

 

"You still should study!" He whispered, ducking his head down. No matter his current embarrassment, he still had to scold Woohyun for his carelessness. Boohyun laughed light heartedly while Woohyun scowled and continued to eat his parfait.

 

"Don't worry, Sunggyu. Woohyun's brain is like a sponge. He can soak up every little detail of anything shown to him. Therefor, something like studying isn't needed." Boohyun smiled. Sunggyu stared at Woohyun with wide eyes.

 

He knew Woohyun was intelligent but not that intelligent. He just seemed like a normal, well, sort of normal, teenage boy living life as he wants. It was hard to see the other's traits because his persona was hiding everything from view. Sunggyu huffed, remembering all the studying he had to force himself to do in order to get a decent grade the week earlier. It wasn't fair how this younger boy could just get into the best college around and not have to study.

 

"When is your first test, then?" He asked Woohyun, who had just put his spoon down next to the empty parfait cup.

 

"Monday. I have an English test in the morning."

 

Sunggyu nearly cried. He had so much trouble in English this semester and Woohyun couldn't care less about having a freaking final on Monday. Life truly wasn't fair. Sunggyu had to find something Woohyun wasn't good at, just to keep what little pride he had left alive.

 

"Are you any good at speaking?" Sunggyu asked in English with a heavy Korean accent. Woohyun met his eyes, not expecting the elder to know how to speak English.

 

"Yeah, but you aren't." Woohyun responded, quite sassily. Sunggyu blinked; there was barely any accent to Woohyun's voice, in fact, there wasn't any accent at all! Boohyun quietly laughed on the side at the younger's reaction.

 

"What is 'aren't'?" Sunggyu asked. His college hadn't learned how to conjoin two words yet. Woohyun rolled his eyes.

 

"Do I really have to give you English lessons now?" He sighed. "'Aren't' is 'are' and 'not' put together." Sunggyu nodded slowly, trying to remember that information for use in the future.
 

"You're really good. Can you tutor me? Please?" Sunggyu almost begged. He knew he didn't get a very high score on his English final and desperately needed someone to help him. Dongwoo had chosen French as his foreign language so he couldn't help him. The rest of his brothers didn't have to learn a different language yet because they were still in high school so they were out of the picture.

 

"No." Woohyun flat out rejected. Sunggyu's soul was crushed with the one worded answer.

 

"Hey, Woohyun. Lend him a hand." Boohyun lightly scolded his younger brother. "I'm sorry I can't help you, Sunggyu. I didn't have the chance to learn English." He apologized.

 

Sunggyu shook his head. "No, it's okay. I just thought it would be easier on my parents if Woohyun could tutor me rather than them going through the trouble of finding me one."

 

Woohyun looked at his brother but regretted it. The look that Boohyun was giving him was a stern one. His message was evident in his eyes. Woohyun sighed, giving up.

 

"Fine. I'm free everyday after 12. We can meet up whenever you want."

 

Although his tone was dull and sounded forced, a red cloud leaked out of his mouth. Sunggyu smiled, thanking him multiple times and even thanking Boohyun. Their café hour was coming to an end so they paid the check and chatted for a while longer before parting ways.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

On the morning of Monday, Sunggyu sent Boohyun a text wishing Woohyun well on his test. Woohyun had insisted on keeping his phone number a secret, leaving Sunggyu with no other choice but to text Boohyun. Although it was inconvenient, he didn't mind the conversation that struck up between him and Boohyun. Sunggyu may still have a small crush on the elder.

 

After a few texts back and forth, Sunggyu turned off his phone as he entered the dining room. The room was empty other than his parents sitting at the table. His college semester had finished for the time being, giving him an early start to spring break. The rest of his brothers, minus Dongwoo, who was currently sleeping in, still had school until the end of the week.

 

"Good morning. You're up early." Mrs. Kim greeted. It was unexpected for Sunggyu to be awake and moving at seven in the morning during a long break off of school.

 

Sunggyu moved to the seat next to his father, who gave his shoulder a pat as he sat down. Sunggyu's personal butler served his breakfast shortly after being seated. The plate was adorned with many fruits and finger foods along with Belgian waffles and a side of maple syrup.

 

"Hey, is it okay if Woohyun comes over sometime this week to tutor me in English?" Sunggyu asked. His father didn't seem to mind and his mother swooned at the thought of another handsome boy coming to the house, the first being Sunggyu's father.

 

"Of course. He and Boohyun can come over any time." She smiled. Sunggyu smiled too. Mrs. Kim's smile always brightened his day. She was an amazing woman and he really loved her. She was his motivation to do well.

 

After his big breakfast – apparently it was in celebration on finishing his finals – they woke Dongwoo up and went to a movie. His mother and Dongwoo wanted to watch the romantic comedy showing while Mr. Kim wanted to watch an action movie. Sunggyu had no preference and just went with the majority. Mr. Kim sighed as he hesitantly trudged into the room showing the romantic comedy film.

 

"What a lovely movie." Mrs. Kim said as they exited. "The main character was such a romantic guy. I'd love to marry someone like him." She said, daydreaming of the perfect date with the character.

 

Mr. Kim clicked his tongue. "I am romantic, too." He argued. "Remember that one time when I first took you out to dinner?" Mrs. Kim frowned.

 

"Yes, I do. I just wish I had that experience with that actor."

 

Sunggyu ignored the rest of his parent's squabble. It was a good movie, he had to admit, but it wasn't his style. As they walked to their car, Sunggyu's phone chimed, signaling a new text. He glanced down to read the preview of the message on the lock screen.

 

Unknown Number: Today at 4.

 

Wait, what's at 4? Sunggyu thought, entering the car after Dongwoo. It was only 11 o'clock now. And whose number is this, anyway? Sunggyu questioned. As if reading his mind, the sender texted him again,

 

Unknown Number: It's Woohyun.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Hi everybody~ I just want to say thank you to all my subscribers and upvoters! From now on, I will be updating back and forth through this fic and my new one. I want to get a good start on the other one with my idea fresh in mind. Once again, thank you! :D

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gotaemin
I just got a lot of subbers. Was I in a fic rec recently?

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DaniaOthk #1
Chapter 13: OMG!!!!!!
DaniaOthk #2
Chapter 10: Hahahaha Sunggyu would have held on to Woohyun's arm to not lose him 😂
Aws they are already moving forward!!!
Why are you like this author-nim? 🤧 Don't make them suffer 🥺
DaniaOthk #3
Chapter 7: Omg I thought maybe the photo site had gone down and put a random photo instead of the original photo or it was advertising hahahaha sorry! I really like your story. I'm dying to read woogyu
DaniaOthk #4
Chapter 6: Wow, I'm dying of curiosity about Woohyun's voice 😍
Handsome and intelligent, what more do you want Sunggyu?
DaniaOthk #5
Chapter 5: Does Woohyun also have white color in his voice? He made me curious since Sunggyu didn't mention anything.
Zd7394
#6
Chapter 5: How much I love the family you make for Gyu they are really fun
closedbook7
#7
Chapter 21: I'm here for the second time and I know I'll be here again in the future^^
closedbook7
#8
Chapter 22: Thanks for sharing this story with us! I loved their cutely awkward relationship and your synthesis concept was really cool, which made the story more interesting! I will hope to read more of your works!
natsumi4ever
#9
Chapter 23: I’m low key worried for them because I actually don’t think purple was a good thing when it came to romance?
Like lol, I only I know this because of Colors by Halsey but I think purple represents tragedy???
Anyway I really did enjoy the story! Synthesis is always an interesting topic too!:)
LoveTwentyFour
#10
Chapter 23: I enjoyed reading this!! Thank you authornim! Ahhh my heart is exploding-