chapter 10 | the competition

Sunggyu doesn’t think he’s ever gotten that many texts from one person. The only people he texts are Dongwoo and Hoya and sometimes his mom or dad, and even then he didn’t text much.

            But Yongguk had other plans. Sunggyu is surprised that he is getting so many texts but he doesn’t really mind because at least Yongguk isn’t annoying like Dongwoo can be and somehow, Yongguk and him have things to talk about.

            When Sunggyu had gotten home after school, Yongguk had texted him about poetry and then somehow it escalated into speaking about other hobbies and then some. Sunggyu’s not really sure why Yongguk wants to talk to him so much but he doesn’t want to question it too much.

            He’d also been texting Woohyun about trivial things that made Sunggyu wonder if this is what everyone talks about to people they don’t really know. Sunggyu thinks that Woohyun really must have better things to do than talk to him, so he’s very confused when Woohyun continues to text him.

            Sunggyu realizes that his life has just become a collection of question marks.

            “Your fingers are practically glued to that thing! Who could you be texting if Hoya and I aren’t texting you?” Dongwoo asks when he settles down in the couch beside Sunggyu.

            “Wait, Sunggu is texting an actual person?” their mom asks.

            “I-I’m not texting any—”

            Dongwoo snatches Sunggyu’s phone out of his hand and Min Ji jumps on him before he can grab Dongwoo, restricting his movement. “M-Min Ji!” Sunggyu yells when Min Ji starts tickling him.

            Dongwoo flips through Sunggyu’s texts and their mom and dad come over to see. “Give me my phone back!” Sunggyu tries but no one’s really listening to his pleas. Min Ji sits on him and peers over Dongwoo’s shoulder, reading the texts with interest.

            “Who’s Yongguk?” their mom asks.

            Sunggyu blushes. “He’s just a friend…”

            “Oh my God! Sunggyu, are you making friends?” Min Ji asks in astonishment. “Dear Lord, our little Gyubear is growing up!”

            “Oh and look at who’s been texting Woohyun~” Dongwoo sings.

            “Woohyun? Is he your boyfriend now, Sunggyu?” Min Ji asks, nudging Sunggyu and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

            “Boyfriend? Sunggyu’s got a boyfriend?” their mom questions, exchanging glances with their dad who just looked very confused (they had known Sunggyu’s ual preference and had accepted it, though their dad was just a little uncomfortable with it still).

            “He’s not my boyfriend!” Sunggyu squeaks.

            “Aw, Gyubear is blushing!”

            “Stop that!”

            --

            Yongguk, Hoya and Sunggyu are sitting in the music room when Dongwoo runs through the door, a small poster in his hand. “I have the perfect gig for us,” Dongwoo says.

            The three of them exchange glances and wait for Dongwoo to continue. “It’s a competition!” Dongwoo holds out the poster for all of them to see. The poster shows the silhouette of a band with bold letters that read: Annual Woollim Battle of the Bands. There is information underneath stating date and place and other pieces of knowledge but Sunggyu doesn’t really get that far yet because he’s stuck on the fact that it says band which really confuses him.

            “I didn’t know this school had something like that,” Hoya says (their school just happens to be named Woollim).

            “It’s a new thing. And it isn’t just for bands from this school; it includes bands from all over the city that are in high school!”

            “So why are you showing us this?” Sunggyu asks.

            “Because we’re going to compete in it of course!”

            What?

            “Who is we?”

            “You, me, Hoya, and Yongguk if he’d like to join.”

            “Battle of the Bands sounds cool. I’m in,” Yongguk shrugs.

            “Me too,” Hoya says.

            “I can’t,” Sunggyu murmurs. There is no way he can perform in front of a crowd; he can barely perform in front of his own family.

            “Yes you can, Sunggyu! You’re the best singer here and we need you,” Dongwoo pleads.

            “No, I really can’t. There’s no way I can perform in front of people!”

            “Think about it. This could be your chance to get out of your little bubble! And Woohyun won’t be able to resist when he sees you up on stage singing your heart out!”

            Sunggyu blushes. “I don’t need to get out of my bubble. And I definitely don’t need Woohyun to not be able to resist me.”

            Dongwoo sighs. “I wasn’t planning on using this, but this is the only way.”

            Sunggyu raises his eyebrows questioningly. Sunggyu watches as Dongwoo pulls out his wallet and fishes around for something before pulling out a photograph—

            Sunggyu dives for Dongwoo, finally understanding his threat. Yongguk and Hoya look very flabbergasted as they watch Sunggyu struggle to get the photograph.

            “Say you’ll do it and no one will see it. If you pull through, I’ll even let you burn it.”

            Sunggyu hangs his head low and sighs. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

            Dongwoo grins widely at Sunggyu’s answer as he puts the photograph back into his wallet. “Great! Let’s get started then, shall we?”

--

            Yongguk manages to actually sit beside Sunggyu in last period. He’d gotten there before Woohyun and practically beelined to the seat next to Sunggyu.

            “What picture was Dongwoo talking about?” Yongguk asks Sunggyu after they’ve exchanged casual hellos.

            “It’s just a picture from my childhood that he got a hand on… It’s really embarrassing,” Sunggyu admits. Yongguk seems to understand that Sunggyu doesn’t really want to talk about it because he changes the topic quickly.

            “So you’ve never performed in front of anyone?”

            “Well, I’ve sung in front of my family and Hoya and you, but that’s about it. If I tried getting up on stage I would just freeze up. Dongwoo knows this so I don’t know why he’s trying to get me to sing. He and Hoya can sing perfectly fine, too. I don’t want to ruin everything by freezing up.”

            “I think Dongwoo just wants you to be able to show off the talent you have. You really are a wonderful singer and it’s a shame more people don’t get to hear it.”

            Sunggyu looks at Yongguk and smiles warmly. “Thank you, that was really sweet. Maybe I should try getting over my stage fright. It might be good for me.”

            Yongguk nods, returning the smile, ignoring his racing heart. 

Not proofread. Sue me. 

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I have literally been playing way too many games. Like I've just been playing Bioshock Infinite non-stop. I've even started writing a woogyu based off of Ib (if anyone's heard of that game). I think I have a problem. 

Can I get therapy for my video game addiction? 

"Hello, my name is Miranda and I'm addicted to video games that make me want to curl up in a ball and sob for the next ten years of my life."