Mingyu seemed quite fond of skinship. It was not that Wonwoo minded exactly, but sometimes it was hard to act natural when Mingyu got too close, when he would grab Wonwoo’s arms, or take his wrist, or lean against his shoulder. The more Wonwoo spent time with him, the more Mingyu did it.

Wonwoo had been going back and forth from his own room to Mingyu’s to transfer his stuff before he had to move out in a week. He went so often, that the receptionist in Mingyu’s dorm had even started treating him like a resident of the building.

This time, as Wonwoo was hanging some his clothes in the half-emptied closest, Mingyu rested his chin on Wonwoo’s shoulders. Wonwoo already learned to expect the skinship from Mingyu, and so he was used to pretending the intimacy didn’t faze him at all.

Wonwoo could tell that Mingyu found skinship natural. It was just something that he did with people to whom he was close. Wonwoo had been introduced to some of Mingyu’s petroleum engineering friends, and Mingyu did it to them as well. It was quite startling for Wonwoo at first, but he got used to it. He was actually happy with the skinship, because it meant that Mingyu was getting more comfortable with him.

“How’s Sena?” Mingyu asked as Wonwoo was hanging up a shirt.

“She’s fine, I think. Better than before.”

“I see,” Mingyu said, “I’m happy to hear that.”

“Are you still pursuing her?”

“No,” Mingyu answered, “I don’t think she’s interested at all.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Maybe I’ll try again later, when she’s feeling better.”

“I’ll make a good case for you to her,” Wonwoo told Mingyu and winked.

When Wonwoo was done hanging his clothes, he sat on the end of the sofa and started closing his suitcase to take it back to his room when Mingyu suddenly also took a seat right next to him, leaning against his shoulder. There he was with the skinship again.

“Do you think you’ll like it here?” Mingyu asked

“A nice room and a nice roommate. How can I not?” Wonwoo replied.

Mingyu smiled, and then adjusted himself slightly in order to be able to lie down on the sofa, placing his head on Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo suppressed all signs of discomfort and tried to act as natural as Mingyu was.

“You know,” Mingyu said as he nestled into the sofa and Wonwoo’s lap, “this sofa is majorly uncomfortable. You won’t be able to sleep on it.”

“I think I can live with it,” Wonwoo said.

“No. Let’s go mattress shopping?”

Before Wonwoo knew it, he and Mingyu were leaving to go mattress shopping together. They had already taken the measurements they needed, researched which areas to go to and which bus routes to take, and were on their way to the bus stop.

Mingyu eventually slid his hand between Wonwoo’s arm and upper body, locking their arms. It wasn’t that much of a surprise to Wonwoo, but it did make him anxious that it was happening in public.

People that Wonwoo knew were passing and glancing at the two of them. It was common for two guys to walk like this around campus, and it had none of the implications of which Wonwoo was afraid. But with Wonwoo, people might think differently.

“Look,” Wonwoo said, unlocking their arms and increasing the distance between them, “I don’t mind this at all, really. But that rumor about me has not died out, and I don’t want to drag you into all of it.”

Mingyu shrugged, “I don’t mind. Let them talk.”

“But do you really want people to think that you and I are…”

“I honestly don’t care what people think,” Mingyu said.

Mingyu’s self-assurance was astonishing, and even somewhat inspiring. Wonwoo wished he didn’t care what other people thought like Mingyu. It would have saved him a whole lot of distress.

They walked a few more steps and Mingyu locked their arms again, looking to Wonwoo to see if he would accept it. Wonwoo only pulled their arms together tighter.

Wonwoo tried to ignore everyone else around them. He knew that people were talking, and Mingyu probably knew too. Wonwoo looked to see how Mingyu was feeling about it; he really did not seem to care at all.

If he can do it, then so can I.

-

Mattress shopping was fun, mostly because it was with Mingyu. Mingyu was amusingly picky about the mattresses, talking to the sales people about the dimensions he wanted and all of the qualities he was searching for.

“It’s not bad,” Wonwoo said when the sales person led them to one mattress.

“It’s made of nylon,” Mingyu told him, “Nylon makes you feel hot, and you won’t be able to sleep.”

“I don’t think that matters given that I’m already hot,” Wonwoo joked, earning him a shove from Mingyu.

The next mattress was apparently too thin.

“It’s fine,” Wonwoo said.

“Your back will break,” Mingyu said, shaking his head.

“It won’t.”

“Nope, sorry.”

They looked at four other mattresses, all of which Mingyu rejected for one reason or the other: too thin, wrong material, too soft, too hard. Once, Mingyu rejected one because he thought the salesperson was rude.

“Let’s just choose something and leave,”

“You at this domestic stuff,” Mingyu rolled his eyes, “choosing the right mattress is one of the most important decisions you could ever make, by the way. The comfort of all your nights is at stake.”

They went around to at least seven other mattresses before Mingyu seemed satisfied with one of them.

“Perfect, let’s get it.”

Wonwoo, however, was not satisfied. The number on the price tag was simply way too high.

“No, I don’t like this one,” Wonwoo said. He tried finding a fault in it so that he didn’t have to admit that it was the price that was driving him away from it. “I just don’t think it would be comfortable.”

Mingyu saw right through him. He narrowed his eyes and said, “if this is about the price, I’ll take care of it.”

“No.”

“Wonwoo…”

“No, Mingyu. You’ve already done enough for me. I’m going be to the one to buy the mattress.”

Mingyu eventually conceded after he saw how insistent Wonwoo was about paying. They looked for about an hour more, and Mingyu was not satisfied with anything.

Wonwoo wondered why he cared that Mingyu was satisfied. It wasn’t like Mingyu was the one who was going to sleep on it. Why were they going about it as if they were a married couple?

“I’m just going to buy the third one we saw,” Wonwoo informed Mingyu. It was cheap and fairly comfortable; it didn’t matter if Mingyu didn’t like it.

Mingyu pursed his lips, but he seemed to understand.

“Okay, I get it,” Mingyu said. “But can I give you some advice? There’s another mattress shop in Seochu. It might be cheaper and better. Go there tomorrow or whenever, and then make your decision.”

Wonwoo agreed.

-

When they arrived at campus, Wonwoo went back to Mingyu’s dorm to collect his suitcase. Mingyu made him to stay longer in order to listen to After School songs and try the tea he never had the opportunity to taste.

When Mingyu finished making the tea, he offered the mug to Wonwoo.

“Wait until it cools before you burn your tongue like last time,” Mingyu reminded him, laughing.

“I won’t make that embarrassing mistake again,” Wonwoo reassured. “I always embarrass myself around you. And somehow you still want me around.”

“You don’t embarrass yourself around me,” Mingyu claimed.

Wonwoo raised an eyebrow, and then cleared his throat to give Mingyu the list that Wonwoo knew all too well: “when we first talked, I was Sena’s babysitter, and you were helping me carry her home. I insulted religionwithout knowing you were religious. I was bullied and called names in front of you. I fell in the bus when we were going to the restaurant together. I couldn’t pay for the food. I burnt my tongue when I first tried your tea. Not to mention the entire modeling experience being the most humiliating thing I have ever experienced in my life. And just now I couldn’t pay for the mattress. How do you even like me?” Wonwoo asked as he recalled of those moments.

“I guess I like clumsy, embarrassed people,” Mingyu said, amused at the long list.

“I don’t think you’ve ever done anything embarrassing around me,” Wonwoo whined.

“I beg to differ. I went after Jin when you had feelings for her. I implicitly insulted Sena. I exposed my inner After School fanboy to you.”

“That’s not nearly as big a list as mine,” Wonwoo replied.

“You’re going to live with me soon, so that list will eventually grow; trust me.”

“My list will too,” Wonwoo pointed out.

“I’ll make sure to be twice as embarrassing,” Mingyu laughed. “Now try the tea. Don’t burn your tongue!”

Wonwoo put the mug to his lips and carefully took a small sip as Mingyu waited eagerly for the verdict.

“Amazing,” Wonwoo said truthfully, earning a grin of satisfaction from Mingyu.

“Really?”

Wonwoo nodded eagerly. It truly was a wonderful taste that Wonwoo never thought tea would have. It was delicious, Wonwoo wished it were not so hot so that he could drink more of it at once.

As Wonwoo was about to take his second sip, his phone rang, startling him. Unfortunately, the result of that startle was the scorching tea hitting his tongue before he was prepared for it.

All that Wonwoo could think was that here was another embarrassing moment to add to that list…

Mingyu burst out laughing when he saw that Wonwoo blow to cool his tongue. Mingyu took the mug from Wonwoo’s hands as Wonwoo stood up and drank cold water from the tap of the kitchen sink.

“Sorry, you’re not allowed to finish the tea,” Mingyu stated as he took a sip from the mug himself.

Wonwoo pouted but then took out his phone that was ringing loudly in his pocket. When he saw the name that was on the screen, he froze.

Dad.

Anxious, Wonwoo hesitated. He couldn’t imagine what his father wanted from him now. He wasn’t ready for the verbal abuse he was so sure he would receive.

“Ah, excuse me,” Wonwoo said, entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

He hesitantly answered his phone.

“Hi dad,” Wonwoo answered.

“Why did it take you so long to answer?” was the first thing that he said. After not speaking to him for months, that was the first thing that came out of his dad’s mouth.

“Sorry, I was drinking tea and burnt my tongue when you answered,” Wonwoo replied honestly. “How is mom?”

“Have you found a girlfriend yet?” his dad asked gravely.

“I’m not seeing anyone at all at the moment,” Wonwoo answered. Of course that would be the first thing they would ask about…

“Do you still think you’re… you know…?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, dad,” Wonwoo complained to his father.

“So you haven’t changed?”

“I’ve changed a lot, but I don’t want to talk about it. I miss you, and I miss mom, and I just want to talk to you guys for once without bringing up religion and homouality. Can you please grant me that?” Wonwoo begged.

His dad fell silent on the other end of the line. It took a good couple of seconds for him to say something: “your mom wants a divorce.”

Wonwoo felt his blood freeze. “What? Why?” he managed with a stutter. He knew that he had problems with his parents, but never did his parents have problems with one another.

“She feels like her marriage was a sin,” his father explained. Even his stoic father could not hide the hurt in his voice when he said it.

“Because of me?” Wonwoo asked, his voice wavering, feeling that itch in his nose threatening to make him cry.

His father fell silent again. He didn’t want to say it, but the implication was clear as ice. His mother felt that her marriage was a sin, because it brought about a sinner. She wanted to divorce, not because of his father, but because of him. And Wonwoo felt like his world was crashing. No matter how many problems he had with them, he loved them, and the thought of them apart hurt him like nothing else could.

“I was calling hoping to hear that you’ve changed,” his father said. “Maybe she would change her mind if you’ve changed…”

 “God frowns upon divorce,” Wonwoo explained in frenzy, “Corinthians 7:39. ‘A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.’” Wonwoo quickly recited the verse he had learned in one of his classes.

“Tell her that,” his father said, and the phone was handed to someone else.

“Hello,” the voice of Wonwoo’s mother came through.

“Mom, what are you doing?!”

“I’m leaving your father,” she stated, though he could sense a sniffle in her voice.

“Because of me?”

“I feel like God is angry with me,” his mother explained, “that’s why He…” her voice trailed off.

“That’s why He sent you an abomination like me?” Wonwoo felt like crying as he spoke out the words that he knew his mother was thinking.

“That’s not what I meant,” she claimed quietly.

Wonwoo tried to think of something to say to change her mind. He tried the Corinthians verse again, but to no avail.

“I… there’s this girl,” Wonwoo said quickly, feeling like it took everything inside of him to say it, “I think I like her.”

“What?” his mother asked, stunned.

“Her name is Jin. I’ll send you a picture of me with her as soon as I hang up.”

“Really?” She sounded so astonished.

“Yes, really. I’m going to ask her out soon. She’s been one of my best friends throughout this year. She’s a good Christian girl, who’s studying theology because of her love of God. She made me question everything that I thought I knew so well. I see you in her so much, mom. Maybe that’s why I feel this warmth towards her.” It was so hard to say those words. They weren’t complete lies, but a lot of them were.

He heard his mother wheeze on the other end of the line, as if she were crying.

“And I’m not an abomination, mom,” Wonwoo said, feeling tears roll down his cheek.

“You’re not, darling,” she said through her tears, “you’re not.”

“You’re not going to divorce him anymore, right?”

“No, I won’t. You made me so happy right now, Wonwoo…”

Wonwoo felt his body tremble. He was such a liar. Such an abomination.

When his parents hung up, Wonwoo stayed in the bathroom for a while to collect himself before going out to face Mingyu. He stopped crying and tried not to think about the conversation that just took place.

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asked Wonwoo when he was out.

Wonwoo felt his lower lip quiver. He cursed at himself for not being able to keep himself together. But he couldn’t. He broke down at the thought that his mother had wanted to divorce her father because of him. He broke down at the thought both of his parents believing that he was an abomination. He broke down at the thought he lied to them and gave them false hope.

“I’m crying in front of you,” Wonwoo managed to say through his sniffles, “that’s another thing to add to the long list of embarrassing things I’ve done in front of you.” He covered his face with his hands.

Mingyu just extended his arms and wrapped them around Wonwoo supportively.

A/N: I’m having a whole lot of writer’s block for this story ;;

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