what was woohyun doing there? he’s not sure. he wants to go back home, not to his shared apartment, back to his hometown. seoul is big, it’s intimidating. the stupid bar he is standing in front of is even more intimidating.

sungyeol told him to go, they’re having a lgbt+ evening. woohyun wondered why sungyeol couldn’t come with him, he was faced with the ”i’m straight” statement.

who goes to a bar alone? a bar with a special evening theme? he looks around outside where he’s standing, unsure if he can even bring himself to step inside. 

to say he was scared is an understatement, surely he has kept himself somewhat under the radar when it comes to his uality, or – you know, not at all. he’s not sure. people probably know, people don’t just say anything. inside there he would probably be able to talk freely about being gay, the question is if he could do it or not. 

”you’re going inside?” someone with a cigarette asks. woohyun widens his eyes a little at the question. he found himself at a loss of words. 

”i don’t.. i don’t think so.” woohyun answers hesitantly, his hands clasped together nervously. 

”oh, it’s you!” another voice calls and woohyun looks over. that’s definitely someone that he recognises. he almost panics at first, eyes wide and he’s not sure at who to look at because both of them are eyeing him in a way that makes him want to leave and go back. 

”jonghyun, be careful! you’re scaring him, he’s like a deer caught in headlight.” the guy with the cigarette says and woohyun presses his lips firmly together. he should leave before he actually panics. 

”i’m sorry, i shouldn’t stay–” woohyun says quickly, a nervous hand coming to rub the side of his neck and he’s already stepping away from the both of them. soon enough, he’s hurrying away. 

a voice follows him, the voice of that ”jonghyun” – telling him to slow down, to not leave. woohyun already doesn’t like jonghyun, in fact, he’s scared of jonghyun too. they told him things will get better when he was caught getting teary-eyed in the bus. he wasn’t supposed to get caught. he’s already left a first impression, he doesn’t want to feed that impression. 

that jonghyun grabs his arm, forces him into a stop and woohyun tenses up. immediately he says sorry.

”what are you apologising for?” jonghyun asks him. woohyun detects concern in his voice.

slowly, woohyun pulls his arm out of jonghyun’s hold and he takes a deep breathe before he even tries to explain. when he does, he ends up speaking shakier than originally intended.

”i was already considering it, but then that guy with the cigarette asked if i was going to and then you came into the picture. it.. it was too much at one time.” woohyun says, teeth digging into his lip after he’s done.

”oh– i’m sorry, we didn’t mean to trigger anything.” jonghyun speaks softer and woohyun doesn’t look at jonghyun yet. 

”you don’t have to come back with me, i don’t want to force you into anything. if you want, i can walk with you home? you seem like you live close around.” jonghyun suggests. woohyun wonders how he comes to that conclusion, then he realises he’s not wearing a jacket. that could be a thing. had he lived far away, he would have needed one. 

”no, i can walk alone.” woohyun wouldn’t feel calm until jonghyun was out of his sight. that’s why he’s not looking at him. 

woohyun hears jonghyun shuffle around before a card is held out for him to see. woohyun flicks his gaze away from the lights down the street, to the card with a name, an occupation and a phone number.

”what’s this?” woohyun eyes it carefully. it states jonghyun’s a pianist. that could explain he was at the bar. he was going to play there? when? doesn’t matter.

”my number, if you want to talk some time, you know about anything… how you feel about the bar’s theme night, your relation to it.. anything.”

”alright…” woohyun utters out, taking the card into his hand. he’s not sure how long he will save it.

”please text me when you arrive back to where you live.” woohyun widens his eyes at the request. he didn’t expect that, he didn’t even expect jonghyun to follow after him.

moments later, jonghyun tells him should get back to the bar after a quick look at his watch and woohyun was left having to deal with the surprise that overthrew his mind.

when he gets home, his roommate asks him why he’s back early and woohyun comes up with a quick excuse; a sick stomach and he’s hurrying to his own room.

as he had never promised, woohyun sends a text to jonghyun about how he’s back home. in return, jonghyun sends him a ’great’ alongside with a heart emoticon.

woohyun doesn’t text back.