" sake..." Wonshik groaned as he forced himself to sit up. He'd been woken up by loud knocking on the door, but had decided to try and ignore it and go back to sleep. However, the knocking wasn't letting up, even after ignoring it for a solid five minutes. Exhausted and grumpy, Wonshik threw his duvet to the side and climbed out of bed. As he rubbed his sleepy eyes, he tripped over his shoes from yesterday on his way to the bedroom door. Becoming increasingly frustrated, he kicked them under his bed before making his way to the front door to see who had been incessantly knocking.

"Good morning Wonshikkie~" Hakyeon sang energetically as Wonshik opened the door. He grinned cheerfully at the younger boy until he noticed the furious expression on his face. Hakyeon laughed nervously, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Ah... I guess I woke you up, huh...?"

Wonshik rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" he groaned. 

"Oh, uh... Right~ Is Woonie in? I need to talk to him."

Oh. Wonshik remembered what he had promised Taekwoon the previous night. 

If Hakyeon comes by in the morning, tell him I'm not in or something. Please?

"Sorry, bro, you just missed him," Wonshik replied, yawning mid sentence. "He just went out."

Hakyeon looked at Wonshik suspiciously, not entirely convinced that he was telling the truth. He pushed the door open wider, letting himself in and making his way over to Taekwoon's bedroom. Wonshik panicked a little, not wanting to break his promise to Taekwoon. He followed Hakyeon, leaning on the wall next to Taekwoon's door - he was prepared to block it if it came to that.

"Woonie~" Hakyeon called out, knocking the door just as incessently as he had knocked the front door. "I know you're in there. We have to talk about it... You can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"Bro, I don't know what you're doing," Wonshik shrugged, acting as casual as possible to convince Hakyeon he was telling the truth. "He's not home. I can tell him you dropped by when he gets back, if you want?"

Hakyeon sighed as he finally gave up knocking and concluded that Wonshik was telling the truth. "I'm sorry for barging in," he frowned, looking at Wonshik guiltily. "...And I'm sorry for waking you up. Just... tell Woonie to call me, okay?"

"Sure," Wonshik gestured towards the front door. He felt a little bad about lying to his hyung, but he was too annoyed and too tired to worry about it that much. He walked over to the front door with Hakyeon, becoming increasingly impatient with him. "Bye, Hakyeon-"

"Shikkie?"

Wonshik sighed heavily. "What?"

"Are you free at all this afternoon? I have a longer lunch break today because I've been working overtime lately, and it'd be nice to have company~"

"Sure," Wonshik mumbled, rubbing his temples to try and quell his frustration. "Text me when you're free. Bye, Hakyeon."

"Ah, great~! See you later, Shikkie~" Hakyeon grinned, finally leaving the grumpy younger boy alone.

Wonshik almost slammed the door behind him. He locked it and then leant against it, sighing deeply as he closed his eyes and took a moment to breathe. He glanced over at the clock in the kitchen and realised he probably didn't have the time to get another quick nap in, which only served to dampen his mood further. He frowned, about to walk back to his bedroom when he was stopped by his adorable roommate.

"Has he gone?" Taekwoon asked quietly, popping his head out of his bedroom timidly. Seeing Taekwoon's face cheered Wonshik up almost instantly, especially seeing him with charmingly messy bed hair.

------------------------------------------------------- 

"Thank you for covering for me, Wonshik," Taekwoon smiled softly as he handed the younger boy a plate of toast. He sat on the couch opposite to him, placing his plate of toast on the coffee table, next to his coffee. He picked up his coffee and took a sip, letting out a content sigh afterwards.

So cute, Wonshik thought as he smiled to himself. He rested his plate on the arm of the couch and picked up a piece of toast, taking a bite and chewing it before he spoke. "No problem, Taekwoon. I promised you I would, didn't I?"

"Thank you..." Taekwoon mumbled again, biting his lip shyly. "Ah... He sounded pretty upset, huh?"

"What happened, anyways?" Wonshik asked, immediately regretting it as he noticed Taekwoon's expression change. "S-sorry, I mean, you don't have to talk about it-"

"It's okay," Taekwoon looked up at Wonshik, offering him a sweet little smile that made his heart skip a beat. "We... Well, Hakyeon insisted we go out for a drink to catch up a bit more. He took me out to this club... I dunno, it's not my kind of thing. Anyways, we got drinking, and... it was nice, at first. It was like nothing had changed..." he sighed, looking down at his cup of coffee as he continued to speak. "...We got a bit too drunk, though, I think."

Wonshik furrowed his brow as he listened, growing a little concerned as he noticed Taekwoon had become fidgety. He recalled from his reading that fidgeting was a sign of anxiety. A part of him wanted to interupt and reassure Taekwoon he didn't have to talk about it, but another part of him was increasingly curious. He took another bite out of his toast as he waited patiently for Taekwoon to continue.

"...Well, we wound up dancing and... we kinda kissed, and..." Taekwoon placed his coffee down on the coffee table, scratching his shoulder nervously. "...Well, we kinda wound up... having... You know, . In the toilets, of all places," he sighed, a look of shame on his face.

Hearing about this made Wonshik's heart hurt.

"...I know how he feels about me," Taekwoon mumbled, assuming Wonshik already knew about it since he had lived with him for a while. Whilst resting his arms on his knees, he fiddled with the sleeves of his oversized white jumper out of frustration. His eyes were fixed on his thumbs as he twiddled a loose thread from his sleeve around it. "I feel really bad about it, like... I don't want to give him false hope."

"...What do you mean?" Wonshik asked. He maintained his composure, but inside he was becoming a little overwhelmed with the jealousy he was feeling.

"Well..." he sighed, sitting back once again. "I know what Hakyeon is like... He'll think it... Well, he'll think it meant something. Like, in his mind he'll be thinking we had because I've realised I feel the same way he does, when... Well, it's just because we were drunk."

"Right," Wonshik mumbled in response, a little bit relieved at Taekwoon's explanation. Knowing that it was merely a drunken mistake in Taekwoon's mind did quell his jealousy a little bit. However, he couldn't help but still feel irrationally annoyed at Hakyeon for having with his crush, even though he knew Hakyeon didn't know he liked Taekwoon as well. Knowing his frustration was illogical, Wonshik sighed, glancing over at the clock to check the time. "I should probably get dressed."

"Oh, s-sorry... I guess I talked too much."

Wonshik looked over at the older boy guiltily, realising that his sudden bluntness had upset him. Seeing Taekwoon look upset made Wonshik's heart hurt in ways he had never felt before. He stood up, placing his empty plate down on the coffee table as he walked over and sat next to Taekwoon. Awkwardly, he placed a hand on Taekwoon's shoulder, prompting the older boy to flinch and look up and Wonshik. A little flustered by their sudden eye contact, Wonshik gulped, trying his hardest to keep his cool around Taekwoon for once.

"S-sorry," Wonshik stuttered, not succeeding in keeping his cool. "Y-you didn't talk too much at all. I'm... I'm sorry, that was a bit blunt of me."

"...I-it's okay," Taekwoon replied, a very small smile tugging at his lips. He placed his hand on top of Wonshik's hand, causing the younger boy to blush a little bit. "Thank you for listening to me, Wonshik. It was really kind of you."

"A-ah... T-that's okay..."

"....Would you like to hang out later?"

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Wonshik couldn't concentrate at all in class, sleep deprived and anxious about seeing Hakyeon. He wasn't feeeling too enthuasiastic about meeting up with him, still irritated from his morning visit on top of the envy he now felt towards him. Wonshik sighed as he shoved his notebook back into his rucksack. throwing it sloppily over his shoulder as he felt his phone buzz in the pocket of his jeans. 

From: Taekwoonie

I'm looking forward to hanging out later ^^

Let's meet at the cafe

Although he wasn't feeling too great, recieving a text from Taekwoon made him smile. He reached into his other pocket, pulling out his earphones and plugging them into his phone to listen to music as he walked to meet up with Hakyeon. 

To: Taekwoonie

Looking forward to it ^^

See u later ^^

The florist Hakyeon worked at wasn't too far away from campus. Once he arrived, he took his earphones out before pushing the beautifully decorated door open and entering. The florist had always had a uniquely overwhelming aroma that hit you once you entered that made Wonshik feel so out of place. The shop was so pretty and delicate, quite the opposite of his scruffy and rough appearance. Now that he thought about it, the place kind of reminded him of Taekwoon.

"Shikkie~!" Hakyeon greeted him cheerfully from behind the counter. "I'll be with you in a minute~!" He was putting the finishing touches to an arrangement for the sweet elderly lady he was serving. Wonshik nodded at him and leant against the wall, waiting by the door and taking his phone out to keep him occupied. He smiled as he realised he had another text from Taekwoon.

From: Taekwoonie

How's your day going so far?

To: Taekwoonie

Ah~ So dull...

u?

From: Taekwoonie

Me too

You don't have any fun classes today?

To: Taekwoonie

nah, mostly music history.. ZZZzzz

From: Taekwoonie

haha^^ 

Yeah, that stuff gets really dull, huh?

"Wonshikkie~~~ Hellooooooooooooo~?"

"Huh?"

"Yah... So rude~" Hakyeon joked. He had been waving his hand in front of Wonshik's face, trying to get his attention. "Come on, let's go," he gestured towards the door, imploring Wonshik to follow him.

Hakyeon made several attempts to make small talk with Wonshik as they walked to the park together, but his efforts fell on deaf ears. He noticed that Wonshik was practically glued to his phone, grinning to himself every time he recieved a notification. Once they reached the park and found a quiet picnic bench to sit at, Hakyeon decided it was time to invesitgate the cause of Wonshik's bright smiles.

"Did you meet a girl, Shikkie?" Hakyeon asked as he placed his lunch box on the table, opening it and taking out a sandwich he had made before work. After being ignored once again, he grew a little frustrated. He placed his sandwich back down inside his lunch box, scrunching up the tin foil it had been wrapped in into a ball and throwing it at the younger boy in order to get his attention.

"Yah! What was that for?" Wonshik whined, finally drawing his eyes away from his phone to give his hyung a dirty look. He placed his phone down on the table, picking up the tin foil ball and throwing it back at Hakyeon. Much to his chagrin, the older boy dodged it with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I don't like being ignored, Wonshikkie~" Hakyeon pouted. "I asked you a question. Did you meet a girl?"

"Huh?"

"Aigoo, seriously..." he rolled his eyes, picking his sandwich up again and gesturing towards Wonshik's phone with it before taking a bite out it. "It's like you're surgically attatched to it," he quipped sarcastically, taking another bite out of his sandwich. "You've been smiling a lot, Shikkie. I wondered if you met someone."

"Oh, right..." Wonshik mumbled, somewhat embarrassed. He picked his phone up and slipped it into the pocket of his jeans, finally taking his rucksack off and taking his lunch out to eat with Hakyeon. "No, it..." he hesitated, concluding it wasn't the right time to tell Hakyeon that they both liked the same person. "I haven't met anyone."

Hakyeon raised an eyebrow. suspicious of Wonshik's behaviour. "Are you sure about that, Shikkie?"

"I'm sure," he mumbled in response, feeling his phone vibrate against his thigh. As much as he wanted to read the text he just recieved, he didn't feel like being put through an interrogation from his hyung. He slipped a finger into his pocket and switched the phone onto silent before turning his focus to his food.

------------------------------------------------------- 

"Honestly, I'm a little jealous..." Hakyeon sighed as he put his lunchbox away and took a bottle of water out of his bag. "I wish I had something to smile about."

"... What's up? Did something happen?"

Hakyeon sighed heavily, unscrewing the cap of his water and taking a sip. He placed the bottle on the bench as he rested his elbows on the table. Looking up at Wonshik hopelesssly, he frowned, interlocking his fingers and resting his head on them before he decided to finally explain what was bothering him.

"I'm an idiot..." he sighed, closing his eyes. "I got my hopes up for no reason again."

Wonshik frowned. It had always been jarring when he saw Hakyeon upset, because he was such a positive and cheerful person usually. Unsure of what to say, he waited for Hakyeon to open his eyes and elaborate. 

"...I went out with Woonie last night," Hakyeon began to explain, opening his eyes and sitting up straight again. He folded his arms, looking off to the side as he continued to speak. "We got drunk, and... well, we had ," he grimaced, sighing afterwards and dropping his arms down by his sides. He finally turned to face Wonshik once again. "I got my hopes up, Shikkie..."

"...What do you mean?" Wonshik asked calmly, managing to hide the jealousy he felt better than he had when Taekwoon told him. 

"He called me just before my shift," he sighed, peaking Wonshik's interest. "We talked, and... well, I guess deep down I knew that it was just drunk , but... I wanted it to be more. I wanted it so bad that I think I tricked myself into thinking it meant Woonie's feelings had changed."

"Ah, that , bro," Wonshik responded, relieved but sympathetic towards Hakyeon's feelings. "I'm sorry."

"...Honestly, I'm really jealous of you, Shikkie," Hakyeon mumbled, picking up his bottle of water to take another sip before putting it away in his bag again.

Wonshik was utterly baffled. "...Huh?" What did he have to be jealous of? Wonshik thought to himself as the frustration he felt towards Hakyeon began to bubble inside of him again. 

"We were meant to be catching up, which... Well, we did. But otherwise, all Woonie wanted to talk about was... well, you."

"...M-me?"

"Mhm," Hakyeon nodded. 

"...W-why would he want to talk about me?" he asked, nervously scratching his neck.

"...Seriously?" Hakyeon sounded exasperated, rolling his eyes once he realised Wonshik really was that clueless. "You're so dense sometimes, Wonshik."

"H-huh?"

"I have to get back to work," he sighed, standing up and slipping his bag onto his shoulder. He brushed down his floaty white blouse, making sure he was presentable. "...Sorry if I've been a bit off with you. My head's all over the place."

"Uh, yeah. It's alright," Wonshik stood up, a little bit all over the place himself. "I'm sorry too."

"Come here~" Hakyeon sang out, opening his arms up to invite Wonshik into a hug. Noticing the reluctance on the younger boy's face, he chuckled to himself, walking up to him and wrapping his arms around him. After their brief one-sided hug, Hakyeon ruffled Wonshik's hair playfully. "Talk to you later~" he smiled, before taking his leave.

Wonshik waved at his hyung, waiting for him to be out of sight before groaning and fixing his hair. He yawned, stretching his arms out sleepily before he put his earphones back in and began walking back to campus for his next class. On his way, he remembered he had an unread message on his phone.

From: Taekwoonie

What do you like to eat?

To: Taekwoonie

I dunno... I like everything^^

From Taekwoonie:

Ah, okay^^

I'll cook pasta tonight then?

Wonshik smiled.

To: Taekwoonie

Sounds good :^)

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"Wonshik~"

Wonshik smiled as he noticed Taekwoon waving at him. He was sat at a secluded table near the window, with a shy smile tugging at his beautiful plush lips. Cute....

"Hey, Taekwoon," Wonshik grinned, walking over and slipping his rucksack off before taking the seat opposite his handsome roommate. He'd been looking forward to seeing him all day, letting out a content sigh now that he was finally with him. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"No, I only just got here," he smiled, blissfully unaware that his smile was making Wonshik's heart race. "A-ah, I'll get us drinks. What would you like?"

"Oh, uhm... Whatever you're having."

"Okay, I'll be right back then~"

Wonshik watched as Taekwoon walked over to the counter and ordered two medium vanilla latte's. He took a mental note of this order, wanting to learn and remember everything he could about Taekwoon.

Whilst Wonshik waited for him to return with their drinks, he found that he couldn't take his eyes off Taekweoon - something about him was simply mesmirising. Even the way he nervously fiddled with his clothes as he leant on the counter was captivating, endearing. Wonshik sighed dreamily as he smiled to himself, his eyes wandering and taking in every detail they could about his crush.

As he stared, he found himself drawn to Taekwoon's shapely thighs once again. Wonshik bit his lip as his eyes switched focus to his hyung's cute , which looked especially fetching in the tight skinny jeans he was wearing. His mind began to wonder to less than innocent thoughts, but this was cut short as Taekwoon glanced over and smiled at him.

Wonshik jumped, his face turning bright red as he worried he had been caught red handed. Luckily for him, though, it appeared Taekwoon hadn't noticed, and was instead looking at him with a somewhat confused expression on his face. Wonshik nervously scratched the back of his neck, smiling back before he turned away and fanned himself with his hand to stop himself from becoming too flustered.

"Here you go," Taekwoon smiled, placing a hand on Wonshik's shoulder to get his attention as he handed him his coffee.

"A-ah, t-thank you," he stuttered, taking the drink and smiling at Taekwoon as he finally sat back down opposite him. Wonshik gulped, a little bit nervous about being so close to Taekwoon after checking him out. 

"...Are you feeling alright? You look flushed," Taekwoon frowned, reaching across the table to place his hand on Wonshik's forehead. "A-ah, you're all warm-"

"N-no, I'm fine!!" Wonshik insisted, swatting the older boy's hand away frantically. He slipped his jacket off, hanging it off the back of the chair before turning back to his hyung and fanning himself. "I-I'm just a little hot~ I'm sure I'll cool down now, haha...~"

"R-right."

Wonshik took a deep breath, internally cringing at himself for acting so awkward. He looked out the window whilst taking a long drink from his coffee, trying to calm himself down a little bit before he sparked up a conversation. 

"I-I... I like your tattoo's."

"Hm?" Wonshik raised an eyebrow, turning his attention back to Taekwoon, who was looking at his arms. Little did Wonshik know, Taekwoon had been checking him out too, albiet far more subtly. "O-oh, thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," he smirked, looking away shyly as he bit down on his lip. 

------------------------------------------------------- 

"I think he'll be fine."

"Ah... good," Taekwoon sighed, relieved. "I hate upsetting him..." he mumbled, nervously scratching his shoulder. "He's like a brother to me, I can't stand to see him sad. ...What's your family like, Wonshik?"

"Hm? Oh, uh... Just normal, I guess," he shrugged, finishing his coffee and placing the empty cup on the table. "My dad works at a factory and does taxi driving as a side job for extra money, and my mom stays at home and looks after the house. Oh! I have a little sister," he grinned. Wonshik adored his sister, and it really showed - his face lit up just thinking about her. "She's so cute~ Ah... I miss her~"

Taekwoon smiled, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He stared at Wonshik dreamily, finding the way he grinned so brightly to be simply precious. The boys eyes met, and Taekwoon flinched, looking away whilst his chubby cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. He bit his lip, concious that he had been caught swooning over Wonshik.

"What's your family like?" Wonshik inquired, a little confused about why Taekwoon was blushing. He furrowed his brow as he noticed Taekwoon's expression change. Worried that he'd hit a nerve, he opened his mouth, ready to apologise when Taekwoon turned to look at him with a weak smile.

"Ah, my family situation is a little complicated," he mumbled, looking down at his hands as he began to fiddle with his sleeves. He bit his lip, considering his words carefully before he continued to speak. "I'm... Uhm, I'm adopted. My adoptive parents are amazing, though. I consider them my real parents."

"I... If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"I don't mind at all," he offered Wonshik a small smile. "I promised you could ask me anything, remember?"

"Y-yeah," he smiled, finding Taekwoon's willingness to be open with him admirable. Little did he know, he was the only person besides his parents that he had opened up to about his biological parents. Not even Hakyeon knew the full details of what had happened to Taekwoon, just fragments he had managed to piece together through conversations with Taekwoon's adoptive parents.  

"My real parents were..." he glanced out the window, as if he were searching for the words he wanted to use. "...They were... I guess the right word to use is 'abusive'."

"Oh..." Wonshik frowned. He was a little bit shocked to hear that someone would deliberately hurt someone as sweet as Taekwoon, let alone his own family. "That's... that's awful..."

"Yeah," he shrugged weakly. "I don't remember too much about it, really. Every therapist I've seen says I've repressed it, which... they're probably right," he mumbled, frowning as he nervously itched his collar bones. "I remember being shouted at all of the time. They would blame everything on me... I got insulted constantly. One thing I do remember clearly, is what they would call me," he scoffed, sighing afterwards. "Apparently, they would beat me a lot, too. That... I don't remember as much. I guess I spaced out or something."

"Taekwoon..." 

"It's alright," the older boy insisted, glancing up briefly to shoot Wonshik a reassuring smile before switching his focus back to his hands.

Unsure of what to say, Wonshik reached out a hand and grabbed Taekwoon's. Although he initially flinched, Taekwoon seemed to appreciate the understanding gesture and smiled at Wonshik warmly whilst giving his hand a grateful squeeze.

"Thank you, Wonshik," Taekwoon smiled shyly, looking down at his empty cup of coffee out of embarrassment. "You're a really good listener. I... I really like talking to you."

"I-I like talking to you, too," Wonshik stuttered. A little embarrassed by the way he always became tongue tied around Taekwoon, he moved his hand back to his lap. "M-maybe we could make this a regular thing? Getting coffee and talking. I mean, if you want to."

"I... I'd really like that."

------------------------------------------------------- 

It was beginning to make sense to Wonshik why Taekwoon was the way he was. It was no wonder he would flinch being touched, after growing up in a household where he was regularly beaten. He was probably so shy and quiet as a result of being constantly berated, so hesitant and careful to speak out of fear of the consequences. It was no doubt he likely devloped his illness as a result of the trauma he had been through.

Although it made Wonshik sad to know what a rough start in life Taekwoon had, it made him admire him and his strength dealing with it and talking about it so openly. If anything, learning about it made Wonshik like Taekwoon even more.

As they walked home together, Wonshik ocassionaly glanced over at Taekwoon, noticing that the older boy kept looking at him and smiling. Flustered, Wonshik fixed his eyes on his feet, wondering to himself why his crush kept smiling at him so brightly. As he became lost in thought, Wonshik began to wonder about Hakyeon's words earlier. 

Honestly, I'm really jealous of you, Shikkie ... all Woonie wanted to talk about was... well, you.

"Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Wonshik laughed, realising he had spaced out. The concerned expression on Taekwoon's face soon changed into a shy smile that made Wonshik's heart melt. "I'm good."

------------------------------------------------------- 

Taekwoon let out a content sigh as he removed his oversized jumper, changing into a much cooler vest. Although it was a somewhat chilly Spring, wearing oversized clothes all of the time was becoming almost unbearable. But he couldn't face wearing something that showed off his body - he was far too self concious of the scars covering his porcelain skin. Most of them were from self harming, but some were grim reminders of the abuse he suffered as a child. All of them, however, were something he felt ashamed of, and didn't want anyone to see.

He especially didn't want Wonshik to see them. Taekwoon walked over to his bed and sat down, taking his medications out of their boxes and swallowing them down with water. As he climbed into bed and got comfortable, he caught himself smiling, thinking about the time he had spent talking and drinking coffee with the younger boy earlier in the day. Taekwoon had noticed that ever since he moved in with Wonshik, he was smiling far more often than usual.

It was a strange, foreign feeling. The way Wonshik made his heart skip a beat, the way simply being close to him gave him butterflies in his stomach. Something about Wonshik compelled Taekwoon to actually talk. Normally, he would remain practically silent, watching the world pass by quietly and hoping no one spoke to him, hiding his real self away. But, with Wonshik, it was... different. Taekwoon actually wanted Wonshik to notice him. He didn't want to push Wonshik away like he did with everyone else - instead, he wanted to open up to him. He wanted Wonshik to know the real him. 

Taekwoon had a big crush on Wonshik, and it felt so weird. He had never taken interest in anyone before, and he didn't know what to do.