Chapter 9

The Color of Sound

"You seem happier than usual." Heechul commented, breathing out a steady stream of yellow. Sunggyu looked up from his phone. He had been trying to memorize the tune from Nell's new teaser.

 

"Do I?" He asked in a semi singsong tone. Heechul and Jaejoong, who were sitting in the desks in front of him, looked at each other before responding.

 

"Yeah, definitely happier."

 

"Maybe it's because of Nell's teaser?" Sunggyu guessed. He honestly hadn't felt any happier than usual. Well, other than the additional excitement from Nell coming back.

 

"No, it's not that." Jaejoong huffed, unable to wrap his finger around it. The math teacher walked in so they decided to let it slide for now. Sunggyu dropped his phone into his bag, focusing on the teacher.

 

An hour and a half had past. Sunggyu was on his way to the library, taking the outdoor route. There was little to no people outside during the day, making the walk there peaceful. Sometimes he would get headaches from all the white that would surround him in the crowded hallways.

 

This short walk gave time for him to think. Did he really seem happier? He couldn't tell any difference with his mood but so many people commented on it. First it was his parents, then his siblings, and now his best friends. Perhaps they knew Sunggyu better than he did himself.

 

He plopped down at the same table he sat at before. It was a habit of his, as he didn't feel comfortable sitting somewhere different. It applied for the dinner table too. He had claimed his seat as soon as he sat down in it and never sat anywhere else, while his brothers always changed seats depending what was closest to them at the time.

 

The library was silent for once, due to the time of day when everyone had class. Sunggyu started on his math homework that was just assigned, not forgetting to pull out his iPod has he did so. He worked well in silence but worked better with his music playing.

 

He looked to his bag, which vibrated against his leg. He put his pencil down and took out his phone, the source of the vibrating. Sunggyu checked the time on the lock screen before opening the message. To his surprise, it was from Boohyun.

 

Hey, sorry to text you in the middle of the day. I was thinking that it's been so long since we last met up. A year passed since I talked to you! Haha get it? :') Do you want to meet up with us at the café near our house? I have something to give you. – Nam Boohyun

 

Sunggyu smiled to himself. Yes, he badly wanted to hang out with Boohyun again, and surprisingly even Woohyun too. It had only been a few weeks since they last talked, but during that time it became a new year, leading Boohyun to make that bad joke.

 

Sunggyu wondered if Woohyun was coming along too, as Boohyun started using "we" instead of "I". Also, what did he want to give to him? He was already getting excited, texting back quickly saying that the meet up was a go.

 

And now the problem arose. He had to focus back on education until the end of the day. He mentally whined. Why had Boohyun texted him at 9 in the morning, not even half through with the school day? He stomped his foot on the carpet lightly before shoving his phone back into his bag.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Finally, Sunggyu thought, thanking god school was over. Boohyun had texted back saying they should meet up at 4 o'clock, giving Sunggyu an hour to get there. It was good, though, Suyu and his school were on different sides of the city.

 

He looked up the bus schedule and found out that he had five minutes before it came, so he decided to get a snack at the cafeteria.

 

With an ice-cold lemonade in hand, he waited at the bus stop along with five other students in the grade below, one of which he knew from Dongwoo. He sipped on his straw, surfing the official Nell fan page.

 

"Lemonade? In winter?" He heard a voice ask. Sunggyu looked up from his phone.

 

"Yeah, got a problem with that, Hongbin?" He responded rather harshly, but in a teasing manner.

 

Hongbin chuckled, not offended in any way.

 

"You are a lot like your brother. Always doing things people normally wouldn't do." He smiled, breathing out green. Sunggyu's eyes flickered to the little puff before smirking.

 

"Really? I think that you and him are a lot more alike." Sunggyu commented. Hongbin looked puzzled. This had been the second time they talked after all.

 

"Wait. How do you know?"

 

"I just do." Sunggyu laughed, waving it off as the bus arrived.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The bus pulled up to the nearest stop to the café. Sunggyu hopped off and strode over to the door, a little bell rung as he entered. From one side of the café, Boohyun looked up at motioned for Sunggyu to come over.

 

"Hey." They greeted, Woohyun simply nodding his head in acknowledgment.

 

Sunggyu swung into the booth next to Woohyun, trying not to feel embarrassed. On New Years Eve he was pretty sure Woohyun was his red sun man, but now, now he wasn't so sure, especially upon seeing Boohyun.

 

"I'll order us something, my treat." Boohyun offered, flagging down a waitress. Sunggyu looked at him, surprised.

 

"Ah, no. I can pay for myself." He shook his hand no. It seemed like that weak statement didn't get through to Boohyun, as he continued to tell his order to the waitress, who was diligently writing it down while glancing up once in a while to ogle the two eye candy at the table.

 

Sunggyu looked to Woohyun for help. However, Woohyun didn't seem engaged in the conversation at all, as he appeared to be staring out the window sipping his coffee quietly. Sunggyu sighed, figuring that he would have to force Boohyun into letting him pay by himself.

 

"Here." Boohyun said, attracting Sunggyu's attention to a small box in his hand.

 

"Oh, is this what you wanted to give me?"

 

"Yeah. Merry Christmas." Boohyun smiled. Sunggyu opened the box. Inside was a silver chained necklace with a gold pendant. It was beautiful. He put it on, the gold infinity sign dangling on his neck.

 

"I love it. Thank you." Sunggyu smiled, eyeing the new addition to his outfit.

 

"No problem." Boohyun smiled back.

 

A half hour passed. Sunggyu and Boohyun were chatting away. Woohyun was staring at the older man next to him, although he didn't realize it. He noticed that Sunggyu had reddish brown hair, bangs swept to one side. It was a lot brighter than his own, which was a dark, almost black, brown.

 

Sunggyu's eyes slanted ever so slightly upwards, giving him a fox like vibe. As he smiled, those eyes would scrunch up into thin lines, the white of his eyes disappearing completely.  He was handsome, no doubt. And like everyone else, had a crush on his brother.

 

Woohyun's gaze moved to Boohyun. He knew his brother well. Those kind eyes and silent chuckles were what made most people fall for him. Too bad for Sunggyu, those eyes and laughs screamed "Platonic!" at Woohyun. Boohyun only had one actual love in the past, and it wasn't with a male.

 

"Hey Sunggyu, would you mind running to the store with Woohyun? We are out of a few ingredients we need for tonight. It's just down the way, Woohyun can show you there." Boohyun asked, taking this chance to pay the bill while Sunggyu was distracted.

 

"Of course." Sunggyu smiled, turning to Woohyun to see if he had heard the plan. When he heard his name, Woohyun's attention shifted to them. He slightly nodded.

 

"Okay, I wrote down what I need on this napkin." Boohyun handed it to Sunggyu as they all got up.

 

"Hey wait, you paid the bill didn't you." Sunggyu frowned. Boohyun laughed at his defeated expression.

 

"That I did." He admitted before walking ahead of the younger two. "I'll be heading home first then. I have to prep for when the restaurant opens tonight."

 

Sunggyu and Woohyun nodded and said goodbye. Sunggyu waited for Woohyun to start heading in the direction of the store, which took a minute because he waited until Boohyun was out of sight before walking away.

 

The way there was quiet. Sunggyu kept fiddling with his hands, the awkwardness getting to him. He looked over to Woohyun, who in turn, was staring back at him. Sunggyu quickly looked away, flushed about getting caught.

 

Wait, he thought, shouldn't Woohyun be the one to be embarrassed about getting caught staring?

 

He looked back. Surprisingly, Woohyun was eyeing the ground, his cheeks an almost invisible shade of pink.

 

Ha! I got him!

 

Sunggyu's victory ended shortly after when they reached the grocery store. He gasped. If he knew it was going to be this big he would've brought a map. Woohyun calmly walked ahead of him, like he had came here frequently.

 

Suddenly, Woohyun took a sharp turn around a large stack of orange crates, disappearing from Sunggyu's line of vision. Worried, Sunggyu sped walked to the crates. Woohyun was already gone from the isle.

 

Sunggyu was lost.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiiiiiiiiii.....well my tests are over yay! I think I did pretty well. You know what this means? More updates~ Well thats in the case I don't have writers block. Chapter 10 is part two of this chapter so be ready for some Woogyu~

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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-