Seungcheol almost breaks his neck as he hurries to leave the room. He is the type of a one-hour-shower-person, but he somehow managed to finish in just 5 minutes this time. Why he is so excited he doesn’t know himself. It’s not like it’s the first time he and Woozi go out for a date. It may have something to do with the fact that now it seems more official, given the confession he made last night. The thought makes him smile like an idiot and he once again stumbles over a chair. He successfully catches himself in the last moment, preventing another embarrassing fall. Murmuring a short ‘sorry’ towards the toppled-over the chair, he takes his jacket and finally leaves. 

A quick glance at his phone tells him he left Woozi alone 25 minutes ago and he stops in his tracks. What if the smaller hasn't finished preparing himself? Will he look too eager? Well, that won’t be too far from the truth, but he doesn’t want to look too desperate though. Frustrated by his own indecision, he stomps his feet once before he decides to it all and makes his way up the stairs, towards the second floor.

His impatience shows within his trembling hands and fast pace and he tries to hide it my stuffing his fists in his pockets. He can’t stop his thoughts, though. He recalls this morning, or should he say noon?, and smiles broadly to the floor. The image of the sleeping smaller man in his arms still affects him and makes his feet moving faster.

He is surprised to see that the door to Woozi’s room is opened, even more surprised to see another man standing in front of it. As he approaches it, he sees Woozi staying in the door. He feels his smile falter and his happiness slipping out of him like he was hit with a cold bucket of water. Frowning at his own exaggerated reaction he steps closer. 

It’s not like he knows all of Woozi’s friends, or that the younger isn’t supposed to talk to other people. For all he knows the man could be at the wrong door. But seeing a rather handsome stranger sitting in front of the smaller’s door when they should leave for a date it makes his feet and arms run cold and his chest burn.

“Don't call me that.” He hears Woozi hiss when he is close enough. Does that mean they know each other? That’s when the pink haired man notices him and turns around to face him. 

Woozi eyes widen with surprise, his pupils dilated in fear. Why fear? Seungcheol asks himself. Why is the smaller afraid of seeing him?
By now the stranger must have sensed his presence too. Seeing him up close makes Seungcheol gulp nervously. There’s something about the other’s serene face that draws him in. Knowing that this man is somehow acquainted with Woozi makes him uneasy.

“Oh, you have plans?” the stranger turns towards Woozi once again. Seungcheol is tempted to answer instead and say that yes, they have plans, but the smaller does it before he can open his mouth.
“Yes. Now, if you excuse us…” He trails off, stepping out of the room and turning to lock the door. He plays with the keys a few times before getting the right one. He sighs when he remembers he lost his key yesterday. 

Seungcheol feels a little better seeing how coldly the stranger was sent off. 
“It’s alright.” The stranger talks again and Seungcheol turns towards him to see the same kind smile from before, the man obviously not affected. “I’ll come back later.” Both Woozi and Seungcheol frown at the statement. The shorter finally turns to face the stranger.

“What exactly are you doing here, Josh?” he asks, voice more serious than before. Seungcheol frowns some more at the name. He also kind of feels like a third wheel in the conversation and his stomach turns in anxiety. The stranger, whose name must be Josh or something, finally drops his smile, face mirroring Woozi’s gravity. 

“I got an offer to start teaching here for a year, so I’ll be around for a while. And while I’ll be here I’m gonna keep an eye on you.” The words are heavy, leaving after them an even heavier silence.  By now Seungcheol gave up on trying to understand what is going on, simply waiting awkwardly for Woozi to finish so they can walk away. He does, however, hope that the smaller will explain it to him after this.

“There’s no reason for you to keep an eye on me anymore. I’m fine.” Woozi’s voice is small, lacking its usual confidence. Seungcheol sets his eyes on him once again. The smaller is watching his shoes and there’s a new emotion encrypted on his face, shame? Sadness? Seungcheol can’t exactly point it. There’s a word that echoes in his mind. ‘Anymore’? Had this Josh used to keep an eye on Woozi in the past? Why would he? The questions keep piling up in his head and Seungcheol tries to ignore them, to set them off for later, when he’ll be alone with the smaller. The stranger answers with a hint of a smile.

“Let’s talk later. Your friend is waiting for you.”
Seungcheol doesn’t know if he should be happy because they can finally leave or disturbed for being called a friend. Somehow, he wants to correct the other, but he frowns a little when realizes that doesn’t know what he should say. He hears Woozi sigh heavily before he feels a small hand tugging at his own. He lowers his eyes to meet the smaller’s. 

“Let’s go.” Woozi says and Seungcheol nods. The shorter then turns to the stranger and gives him a wave. 
“I’ll see you later, then.” He says and Seungcheol tenses once again, but he keeps his mouth shut. The man smiles, his usually calm façade back. 
“I’m glad you are finally opening to other people.” He says lowly, but Seungcheol catches on it anyway. Woozi ignores him and walks away, dragging Seungcheol after him. The older follows him, but he moves Woozi’s hand so he can grasp it into his own. He makes a little show by swinging them back and forth a few times. He himself finds it childish, but he still can’t stop himself. It seems to brighten the smaller’s mood too, as he looks up at Seungcheol with a small, but genuine smile.

Somehow, they end up at their usual coffee place, their walk quiet. It’s just after they both have their coffee cups in hand and are seated at the window that Seungcheol breaks the silence.

“So… Who was that?” he asks. The way Woozi tenses up, smile gone once again, raises his anxiety’s level, but he can’t take it back now nor does he want to. He knows he won’t be able to sleep at night if he doesn’t get an answer.
“Joshua is an old… acquaintance.” The smaller answers after a few moments, eyes set on his cup. Somehow it stirs Seungcheol’s nervousness even more. The answer is more than vague, setting up more questions than giving answers. There’s also the name, Joshua. That means that ‘Josh’ was a nickname? Were they that close? 

The smaller seems to notice his uneasiness and he reaches for Seungcheol’s hand, giving it a small squeeze. 
“Don’t make that face.” He tries to laugh it off. Seungcheol graces him with a small smile, but his seriousness doesn’t wear off. Woozi gives a small sigh before he places the coffee on the table and turns to face the window, beautiful fingers braiding around the warm cup.

“Joshua is a friend that helped me a lot in my darkest period. Sincerely, I wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for him.” 
The affirmation worries Seungcheol, making him want to ask more questions. But he keeps silent, settling to just watch the smaller, hoping that he’ll keep talking. 
“I didn’t see him in two years, though.” Woozi says and finally faces Seungcheol. His face is serious, searching in Seungcheol eyes for something. A moment later he must have found what he was looking for because he opens his mouth again.

“Let’s say I did a few things Joshua didn’t agree with. I also started university here and he went to Los Angeles. At that time he received a request to work there and he couldn’t say no. I think that was when we lost contact with each other.”
“Work?” Seungcheol frowns. “How old is he? He also said that now he is teaching here.” 

At that Woozi gives him another tiny smile. “It’s not that he is old, but he is well known in the industry. He’s actually a pretty famous guitarist and producer. But to answer your question, he’s just a year older than me. He’s 24.”
“Wait.” Seungcheol raises a hand to stop the smaller and shoots him a confused look.
“How old are you?”  

It’s quite a basic question, something people ask when they first meet. But knowing that they are in the same year of university made Seungcheol think that they are also of the same age.  
“I’m almost 23.” Woozi answers with a bright smile. It makes Seungcheol gulp at his own, just accomplished, 21 years. Woozi laughs at his sour expression.

“I know everyone assume that I’m younger and my looks don’t help. But I started university two years later than most of you.” 

Seungcheol is still shocked. He knew that he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but it really never pasted his mind that the other could be older than him. Woozi seems to find this amusing, even letting out a small laugh, adorable as Seungcheol thinks. It takes him a few minutes to finally gasp the situation, but that doesn’t mean that he accepts it.

“You should call me hyung, kid.” Woozi laughs again, this time louder. Just that it strikes Seungcheol. In no way he will call the other hyung. Trying to get over the subject so that the smaller can’t notice how this really affects him, he recalls what the other said.

“Why did you start university later?” he asks. It seems to do the trick, as Woozi’s laugh dies, even his smile making a 180° down turn. Seungcheol thinks that he could endure the embarrassment if that’ll make the smaller laugh again. But the mood was ruined anyway, so he waits for his answer. 
Woozi seems to take his time giving it, playing with his coffee, taking a sip and then looking out, his features brought together in a frown. It’s a hard question, Seungcheol thinks and at the same time he realises that it is probably the most personal question he ever asked the younger. It may seem shallow, but if it takes the other so much to answer then it probably is more important than Seungcheol has predicted. 

That only makes him more curious, wanting more to know the answers, to dwell in the subject. So he patiently waits until the smaller finally starts answering him, eyes still set somewhere outside the window even though Seungcheol can tell that he is looking somewhere farther away.

“When I finished highschool I didn’t have the… resources to attend university.” Woozi starts. Seungcheol already has other questions, like the fact that Woozi has a scholarship, but he refrains himself from asking them, letting the other speak on his own rhythm. If something, he can ask them another time.

“I was alone at that time, barely finding a job and a place to stay. I was trying to raise money for some musical instruments, but even that was hard.” The frown on the other’s face grows inversely proportional to his voice. Seungcheol just listens, trying to stop his own tumult of thoughts.

“I was thinking of attending university, but sincerely speaking now, if nothing would have changed, I wouldn’t have ever been able to go to one.” The smile Woozi forces on his face is, little being said, sad. The shorter seems to reek of anguish and Seungcheol kind of regrets ever asking. 

“It was after you got out of the orphanage?” he asks instead. The questions, however, visibly confuses the other.
“Orphanage?” he asks and Seungcheol nods, frowning as well. “I was never into an orphanage.” 
“Didn’t you say that you are an orphan?” the brunet asks, remembering the day they first met and Seungkwan’s argument with Woozi. Said boy frowns some more.
“I never said I didn’t ever had parents, though.” He answers and yeah, Seungcheol notices, he never said that. But isn’t that what being an orphan meant? 

“So, you became an orphan after highschool?” he tries to decipher the situation. The smile Woozi gives him is nothing else than elusive. Seungcheol waits, but when the shorter ignores him in favor of his coffee, he knows he won’t get an answer. And he thinks that it’s okay, he pried enough for a day, that he can wait. But can he? And how long will it take? 

Instead, he tries to go back to their subject, maybe the smaller will let him know more about his past that way.
“So what changed? How did you get the scholarship?” he asks and Woozi throws him a quick look, amused that the other didn’t give up yet. 
“The short story will be that somebody taught me to use every opportunity that I see.” He answers after another short pause. 
“Is that somebody Joshua?”
Woozi nods in response and Seungcheol can feel the cold anxiety filling him again.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting jealous?” The smaller male incredulously asks, the shadow of a smile playing on his lips. Seungcheol shakes his head, denning the scandalous accusation. Woozi laugh out loud, pointing at his ‘amusing’ face. Seungcheol pouts a little and gets up, claiming that he needs another coffee. The smaller continues to laugh even when he is left alone. 

When Seungcheol returns, a new warm cup in his hand, he finds the smaller concentrated on a beat he plays with his fingers on the table.
“Your inspiration came?” he asks as he takes his seat. The smaller give him another of his mysterious smiles, the ones Seungcheol can’t even hope he will ever understand, as he stops.
“No. It’s actually an old song, one of my first. I was trying to remember it.”
“You lost it?” Seungcheol asks, remembering all the music notebooks Woozi has and how the latter said that he always notes everything down so he won’t forget them. The smile becomes somehow somber.

“No. Somebody burnt it.”

 A.N:

Oooookay... I just finished this (I hope it doesn't have too many spelling errors) and I was thinking if I should wait and finish the whole chapter... but the I realized how long this is going to be (yes... this lazy author finally made a plan for a chapter) so I decided to post this now. Hopefully the other part (parts?) will be up these days as well.

This part is short, just 2 scenes, but I contains a lot of information. Slowly, Woozi's past starts to be revealed. I really have a lot planned for this story so please anticipate it.

I should leave now.. I wrote the whole thing at a cafe and I'm here for like... 4 hours? 

Thanks for reading this guys!! You are the best!!! Thank you a lot to all those who commented and I didn't get to answer. Your comments always make me smile <3

Also.. almost 150 subscribers :O I'm shock.. I just saw the number.. I mean, yes I saw when each of you subscribed.. but I never realised that there's so many of you. So.. THANK YOU!!! I hope I won't disappoint anyone with this story. 

See you in a few days!!!

P.S. This new album is killing me!! What's your favorite song on it? Mines are Chuck and 유행가 (Popular song?).