I'm starting to see why it's taking me so long to finish this. So since I'll be making hogyu a thing in this, Myungsoo and Sungyeol will just be friends. Which is fine because that's how I wanted it to go. The hogyu will come in in the next chapter. I think I'll go the subtle route for them. With a lot of flirting that goes over everyone else's heads. I look forward to writing it.

i.

Woohyun likes to think that most things don't get past him. He's usually very observant and he sometimes uses it to his advantage. So it's absolutely baffling that he never noticed that Dongwoo's locker is in this hallway. The very same one he walks through every morning to get to his own locker.

How could he have missed that dyed blond hair amongst the crowd of brown and black? Or that blinding smile that makes his fingertips tingle and pulls the corners of his lips up into a smile of their own? Or even that emphatic laugh that fills the entire hallway? (He's not biased at all; these are just facts.)

"Are you planning on moving any time today, Namu," Hoya snaps his fingers in front of Woohyun's eyes. "Or have you decided to take your nickname literally?"

Woohyun reluctantly takes his eyes away from Dongwoo's smiling face. "Yes. I mean no." He clears his throat and takes Hoya's arm to steer him through the hallway (or rather away from Dongwoo, who thankfully hasn't noticed them). "Let's go."

Unfortunately for Woohyun, Hoya is quick at catching onto things. He twists in his friend's grip to see the reason Woohyun had stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Is that him," he asks as he watches a blond-haired boy laugh, head thrown back and mouth gaping, at something the taller boy next to him said. Woohyun had described his newest crush as a gorgeous blond with a smile like an angel's and the manners to match. Hoya can admit the other boy is fairly attractive. His strong features and outgoing aura would be appealing if one was into that.

Woohyun lets out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, that's him." Now there's no way he can get Hoya to continue walking without Woohyun having talked to Dongwoo first. He would have wished it was Sungyeol next to him instead, but he knows his other friend would do the same thing Hoya's about to do so he's screwed either way.

"And you're just going to walk by without doing anything?"

"Well... I thought about it." He mumbles. Ever since the first time they met, Dongwoo has taken up semi-permanent residence in Woohyun's head. There's nothing more he wants than to get to know Dongwoo more and then hopefully become friends (and then hopefully become more than friends). But admittedly, he's too much of a coward to do more than think about showing that he's interested. "What do you expect me to do anyway?"

The last word is barely out of his mouth when Hoya turns back around and yells across the hallway. "Dongwoo!" Woohyun spins him back around and ducks down to hide behind Hoya's body. Not only do they now have Dongwoo's attention, but everyone else's as well.

"What the hell was that?" Woohyun hisses. He chances a peek over Hoya's shoulder and quickly moves back when he sees that yes, Dongwoo is definitely looking at him.

"I'm helping you out," Hoya answers calmly. Woohyun stares at him incredulously. How in the hell was that helpful?

"How in the hell was that helpful?"

Hoya pulls him to stand up straight and then places both hands on his shoulders. "Now you have his attention and you can go be awkward and attempt to flirt. He looks like he might like that sort of thing. And if he doesn't I'm sure he'll be really nice in letting you down."

Woohyun would very much like to throttle his alleged "friend" at the moment, but he doesn't want to be expelled for assaulting a fellow student first thing in the morning. "I really hate you right now."

Hoya smiles like that was a compliment. "Thank you. Now go already." He holds a fist up in a "you can do it" gesture before walking around Woohyun and continuing on to his locker located in the hallway around the corner.

Of course he wouldn't stay to watch Woohyun make a fool of himself. Woohyun wonders if he can wait a couple minutes and then pretend he talked to Dongwoo, but he's always been a crap liar so that plan is pointless. Plus, Dongwoo is still looking his way.

His legs feel stiff as he walks towards the other and he still isn't sure what he's going to say. Dongwoo has a confused look on his face when Woohyun stops in front of him that would be incredibly cute if Woohyun wasn't so damn nervous and trying to look at anything but the other's face.

"Sorry about that," he starts. He rubs the back of his neck, but stops when he feels how sweaty his hand is. "That was my friend's idea of a joke. He's not really that funny, though."

Dongwoo waves away the apology. "I don't mind. Woohyun, right?" Woohyun nods (hopefully not too enthusiastically). Dongwoo smiles widely and Woohyun can't help smiling back. The sound of someone subtly clearing their throat interrupts what Woohyun is hoping was them sharing a moment. They both turn to Sunggyu who is leaning against a locker and watching their exchange. (Although, Woohyun gets the feeling he's mostly just watching him. Which is very unnerving.) "Oh, Sunggyu, remember when I told you that I accidentally hit someone with a door a couple weeks ago?" Dongwoo doesn't even wait for his friend's answer, affirmative or not. "This is him. Sunggyu meet Woohyun. Woohyun meet my best friend Sunggyu."

The two regard each other for a moment, Sunggyu with a knowing look and Woohyun apprehensively (mostly because of the other's narrowed eyes). Sunggyu is the first to extend his hand. Woohyun accepts it and shakes firmly like he was meeting Dongwoo's father rather than friend.

"You're in the play, right?"

Woohyun nods. "By some miracle, I'm sure."

"You must have been pretty good if you made it into the cast," Dongwoo chuckles. He reaches out to squeeze Woohyun's shoulder reassuringly.

As much as he wills himself not to blush, Woohyun can feel his cheeks getting hotter by the second. It wasn't even that big of a compliment. "I don't know about that..." He can feel Sunggyu's (probably judging) stare and he figures he should end the conversation now (especially since he hasn't yet embarrassed himself). "Uh, I should go. My friend's waiting for me."

Dongwoo nods amicably. "Okay, I'll see you at rehearsal later then."

"Bye." Woohyun's sure he has the stupidest grin on his face as he waves at Dongwoo. "Oh, you too, Sunggyu," he adds as an afterthought. The assistant director nods coolly in return.

Woohyun manages to contain himself all the way down the hallway and around the corner before he stops to fan his burning face and giggle to himself. The questioning and sometimes weirded-out glances from passing students don't even faze him. He's much too caught up in the fact that he just talked to Dongwoo for the second time (well, technically the third time, but it's the second time they've properly talked rather than after he's possibly suffered a concussion) and Dongwoo remembered him and was happy to see him. The first thing Hoya tells him when he finally makes it to their adjacent lockers is that he's acting a lot like a love-struck teenage girl. He would have denied it if it wasn't so unfortunately true.

ii.

Kim Sunggyu's face is not the first thing Woohyun expects to see when he closes his locker after stopping by to get his books for the rest of the day. And yet the assistant director's cold gaze is on him, not even flinching when the younger student nearly has a heart attack.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Woohyun exclaims while clutching his chest. He's much too young to go into cardiac arrest. Someone should tell his heart this with the way it's pounding in his chest. "It wouldn't hurt to announce yourself, you know? I think I just almost died."

"Almost." Sunggyu's voice is even and his face is expressionless. Woohyun briefly wonders how someone can be so stiff all the time. Especially with a friend like Dongwoo.

"Uh, can I help you with something?" Surely if someone goes through the trouble of finding someone else's locker and showing up suddenly, they must want something.

"We need to talk," Sunggyu starts. By his tone alone, Woohyun can tell he's not going to like what Sunggyu has to say. "Dongwoo's my friend and I think I'm doing both of you a favor by telling you this."

"Okay...?"

"Dongwoo's straight. So you should probably stop flirting with him." Sunggyu looks thoughtful for a second before adding, "Or what you think qualifies as flirting."

Yep, Woohyun definitely doesn't like what Sunggyu had to say. Of course, it was a fifty-fifty shot that Dongwoo would be into guys, but it doesn't make the news any less disappointing. Honestly, he had been so caught up in his own infatuation that he hadn't really thought about Dongwoo's ual orientation. Thankfully, the hallway is empty save for the two of them, so Woohyun can feel the sting of this round-about rejection in private.

"Dongwoo's a good guy," Sunggyu continues. "It's hard not to like him. Impossible, actually. I wouldn't want you to take his friendliness as anything more than that and then later on think he was just leading you on or messing with you." Woohyun wants to say that it's fine and he understands where the other is coming from, but the words won't leave his mouth. They stick in his throat and form a lump he can't seem to swallow past. He had known Dongwoo was too perfect for him the first time they met. And now that fact is staring him right in the face. "He can be a bit...unaware, I guess, most of the time, so it’ll probably take him a while to realize you like him like that. But once he does, I'm sure he’ll hate to hurt you. So it might be best if you weren't so, you know, obvious."

Woohyun clears his throat and clutches his books tighter to him. He's embarrassed and discouraged and he just wants to go find someplace to wallow in the unfairness that is his life. "Well, um, thanks for being a good friend and telling me. I'll see you at rehearsals, I guess." He turns to leave, but Sunggyu stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not like I have anything against you. I'm not telling you to spite you. I'm just looking out for my friend. There's nothing wrong with you guys being friends, but..." That's all they'll ever be. He doesn't need to finish his sentence for Woohyun to know what he means to say.

"It's okay," Woohyun says. It almost sounds convincing to his ears. "It's not the first time. I'll get over it."

The warning bell for the next period rings and Woohyun uses that as an excuse to end the conversation. He mumbles out a goodbye before turning around again. Sunggyu doesn't say anything else as he walks away. But Woohyun can almost feel the other's pitying eyes on his back.

iii.

Sungyeol drops his slice of pizza back onto his plate when Woohyun sighs for what must be the eighth time since the start of lunch. His friend had looked rather down during History, but Sungyeol had figured he would explain when he got the chance so he didn't bother asking. Now he wishes he had because all Woohyun's doing is pouting into his bowl of soup and occasionally sighing.

"Sigh one more time and I swear I'll dump that whole bowl of soup on your head." Sungyeol threatens.

Woohyun props his head on one of his hands and looks over at Hoya sitting across from him. "You have it so easy, you know that?"

"What'd I do," Hoya asks through a mouthful of spaghetti and meatballs. Honestly, once he had sat down with his food the rest of the world didn't really matter. He's a simple guy with simple interests. (Sungyeol prefers to call it just simple-minded.) If Woohyun hadn't brought him into it he probably wouldn't have noticed anything was wrong.

Woohyun lets out another sigh. Hoya quickly reaches across the table to hold Sungyeol's hands as they reach for the soup. Woohyun doesn't even notice. "The world revolves around you in a sense. It's always boy meets girl and of course they fall in love because there's no question as to whether they're straight. It's normal, right?" He pushes his lunch tray out of the way so he can lay his head on the table. "You don't have to wonder if she likes you because you're a boy and she's a girl and that's how it's supposed to be apparently."

Hoya lets go of Sungyeol's wrists and sits back down. The latter had stopped struggling in Hoya's hold once it became clear what had made Woohyun upset.

"He found out you had a crush on him?" Sungyeol lays a consoling hand on his friend's back. Between the three of them, Sungyeol usually tends to be the one wallowing in love-related misery. He’s convinced he’ll only ever know about one-sided love. So he can empathize with Woohyun at the moment.

Woohyun tries to shake his head, but in his current position it doesn't work very well. "His friend told me not to get my hopes up," he replies instead. "Said he was doing us both a favor."

"What an ." Sungyeol has already decided to be on Woohyun's side no matter what. He hates seeing the other dejected and it helps if there's someone to blame.

"He does have a point, though," Hoya chimes in.

Sungyeol glares at him, but he only shrugs and resumes eating his pasta. "You're really not helping."

"No, he's right." Woohyun sits up, making Sungyeol retract his hand in the process. "They're both right. It would have been worse to think there was something between us and then have him reject me."

Sungyeol can see the sense in that. "Fine," he huffs. "What's so great about this guy anyway?" One look at the dreamy smile that settles on Woohyun's face tells Sungyeol all he needs to know. "Ugh, please don't say 'everything'."

"He's really nice." He thinks about the concerned look in Dongwoo's eyes after he'd hit Woohyun with the auditorium door. And the way he smiles at him. Even if it's the same one he gives everyone else, it still makes Woohyun feel all warm and special.

"Nice? That's it?"

Woohyun rolls his eyes at his friend's unimpressed tone. "There's nothing wrong with being nice. Plus, I don't actually know that much about him yet. We literally just met and we've barely talked to each other."

"So you're going to try to be friends with the guy you have a huge crush on," Sungyeol asks with a raised eyebrow, his tone bordering on reproachful.

Woohyun already knows what he's going to say so he cuts him off before he can say it. "I know I tried that before and it didn't really work out very well for anybody."

"That's an understatement," Sungyeol mutters, but it comes out loud enough for Woohyun to hear. Which is probably intentional.

"Okay, so it was a disaster," he concedes with another eye-roll aimed at his friend. "But that doesn't mean this'll be the same thing." Sungyeol opens his mouth, most likely to say something else sarcastic, but Woohyun continues before he can. "And if it is, your welcome to say 'I told you so' all you want."

"You make it sound like I wasn't going to anyway," Sungyeol scoffs as he returns his attention to his pizza.

iv.

"Is this seat taken," a deep voice asks, interrupting Sungyeol's focused reading of his lines. More annoying than having his concentration broken is the fact that he can already tell who's standing over him without having to look up. Kim Myungsoo, the thief. Woohyun and Hoya don't think it was intentional, but Sungyeol is still angry and the easiest person to direct that anger towards is the freshman he lost to. The rational part of him knows Myungsoo isn't to blame for the outcome of the play's casting. He should grow up and embrace the role he was given—the whole "no small parts, only small actors" bit. And that had been Sungyeol's plan for all of five seconds until he put a face to the name of the student who got the part he wanted. Sungyeol can't say anything about his acting skills, but Myungsoo is undeniably good-looking. (Which is totally unfair because shouldn't he still be going through puberty and looking all weird and pimply like everyone else?) He knows that's not all there is to Myungsoo; that he probably didn't get the part on looks alone. But Sungyeol is petty when he's angry (and a little spiteful) and all he wants is to make someone else feel as bad as he does.

Sungyeol lets out a vague grunt. Woohyun's disappeared somewhere, most likely avoiding Dongwoo, and Hoya's off probably painting trees or something so Sungyeol can't use either of them as an excuse. He tries instead to ignore Myungsoo's presence in the hopes that he'll eventually leave. Of course, he should have known better. For some strange reason Sungyeol has yet to be made aware of, Myungsoo seems to idolize him. He'd introduced himself briefly to Sungyeol during the first meeting for the play and Sungyeol had been flattered to hear that his performance—albeit for a very minor role—in the local theater's production of Cinderella had been well received. (His parents had complimented his acting as well, but they're his parents; they're supposed to be supportive.) Even though it had come from someone he's intent on disliking, Sungyeol had still felt his chest swell with pride. He appreciates a good review from someone he isn't related to by blood.

What he doesn't appreciate is Myungsoo thinking one compliment makes them friends. He'll just have to make his disdain for that assumption and Myungsoo a lot more obvious.

"I had asked my friend to help me with my lines," Myungsoo is saying, eyes trained on his lap as his nervous fingers fiddle with the edges of his script. "But since he's part of the stage crew he'll be just as busy as me for the next couple of months. I was wondering if you'd want to. Go over our lines together, I mean. We could help each other out, I guess, although you probably know more than me. This is actually my first play. I wasn't going to audition at first because I was afraid people would say I , but Sungjong—he's my friend. You know, the one I mentioned before. But, yeah, he pushed me to do it. Said it was worth a shot even if nothing came from it. I guess he was right." Myungsoo smiles shyly over at Sungyeol, looking at him from under his eyelashes.

Sungyeol can only stare dumbly at the other student. Looking at Myungsoo, Sungyeol would never have expected so many words to come out of him. But looks can be deceiving. Especially on someone who seems to stare intensely at nearly everything and yet has trouble meeting Sungyeol's eyes when there's barely a foot of space between them. "Uh, I'll think about it," Sungyeol says slowly in answer to Myungsoo's seemingly forgotten question. He would say no outright, but he's always had a weakness for cats and Myungsoo bears an uncanny resemblance to one. Sungyeol's finding it hard to be mean when Myungsoo's lips curl up slightly at the corners and he's looking at Sungyeol with a mixture of awe and bashfulness.

"Okay, that's, um, okay." Myungsoo fights back a smile as he goes back to playing with his script. He's practically b with happiness as if Sungyeol's just told him he'll be his mentor for the next three years.

Sungyeol turns back to his script, even more determined to ignore Myungsoo. He's afraid that if he gives the younger boy any more attention he might end up liking him (or at least not disliking him). And that just won't do.

v.

Woohyun is too busy transferring his books from his locker to his book-bag to notice the presence next to him.

"Boo," a voice says close to his ear. For the second time that day, Woohyun's heart almost jumps out of his chest. He clutches at it as he turns to see who will surely be held responsible for his untimely death and to tell them exactly that. The words dry up in his mouth when he sees Dongwoo's mischievous grin. He quickly turns back to his locker even though he doesn't really need anything from it.

All throughout rehearsal Woohyun had managed to keep his distance from Dongwoo, but his efforts to avoid him will be useless if he's just going to randomly pop up.

"I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." With his back to Dongwoo, he can only hear the frown in his voice. Woohyun knows the smile is gone and his eyes are probably full of concern. He feels bad for acting cold, but he doesn't know what to say or what to do. His other one-sided crushes had been short-lived and not nearly as genuine. He can't explain it, but there's just this feeling he gets when he's around Dongwoo. Like, he wants to know all that he can about him and always be next to him and always make him happy. Being his friend doesn't seem like it'll be enough. "You looked upset during rehearsal. I was just trying to cheer you up. You must think I'm some weirdo who likes to go around scaring random people. I-I guess I shouldn't have—" His voice had been getting quieter, but it stops completely when Woohyun spins around. He takes a step back, both surprised and confused by the stricken look on the younger student's face.

"You don't have to apologize," Woohyun insists. He really can't take Dongwoo thinking he did something wrong. It isn't his fault if life is sometimes unfair and Woohyun doesn't do a very good job of handling it.

"Did something happen?"

Woohyun doesn't understand why he suddenly wants to spill his heart out to Dongwoo as if he was a psychiatrist who could help him sort out his problems. Except, Dongwoo is the problem. Or rather, the source. Instead, he presses his lips together (in case the words just jump out on their own) and zips up his bag before shouldering it and slamming his locker shut. The noise fills up the silence in the empty hallway.

"It's nothing," he says finally. He wishes Sungyeol or Hoya would show up. They would be able to keep things from getting as awkward (maybe "serious" is a better adjective) as they already are. "I have to go." He starts to walk around Dongwoo, making sure to put an ample amount of distance between them, so he can get to the school's front entrance. But then Dongwoo's hand is on his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Come with me." His grip is loose, as if he's not trying to restrain the other. Just let him know he's there.

"Why?" He doesn't think he needs an answer (which is a bit scary; that he would follow him, destination unknown). Woohyun watches Dongwoo's eyes as he asks the question. They flicker like he's still thinking; still figuring out what he wants to do.

"I don't know what's bothering you, but I want to take your mind off of it. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But it might be good to not think about it for a little bit." Woohyun is still watching Dongwoo's eyes. If he didn't remember Sunggyu's words so clearly ("Dongwoo is a really nice guy...I wouldn't want you to take his kindness as anything more than that and then later on think he was just leading you on or messing with you."), he would think there's more than just concern in them. He would think he feels more for him than Woohyun is sure he actually does.

"Okay," Woohyun breathes. Not that he had ever been thinking of saying anything else. "Where are we going?"

Dongwoo's smile is more relieved than anything else. He slings an arm across Woohyun's shoulders and pulls him to start walking with him. "It's a surprise. But I will say it's where I go when I need to be cheered up."

"You? Unhappy?" Woohyun has trouble recalling ever seeing Dongwoo unhappy or anything close to it. Confused, concentrated, even sleepy, but never upset.

Dongwoo laughs, "It's possible."

"What could possibly bother you?" It's weird. Five minutes haven't even passed, but Woohyun already feels better. Dongwoo's presence alone seems to have a mood lifting effect. That could be a problem later on when Woohyun's crush (inevitably) becomes so glaringly obvious and Dongwoo, being the nice guy that he is, decides that distancing himself will make things easier. But for now Woohyun is willing to accept whatever comes with being friends with Dongwoo. He just hopes he won’t regret it.