"There's something different about you, Wonwoo." 

"Nice bag, did you buy it secondhand?"

"Are you wearing your old uniform?"

Those were what greeted Wonwoo the moment he stepped in to meet his friends. He ignored their questions as he took a seat at his desk, putting his– or rather Mingyu's– bag on the ground next to it.

He hadn't thought about what he should tell his friends. Should he tell them about Mingyu? Should he tell them that they're now together? What if they asked how they met, or when did they even hung out? He has never lied to his friends throughout their friendship, but surely, not telling them the fact that he's now the boyfriend of the infamous Invisible Prankster that's been responsible for all the pranks in school would be an exception? 

How would they even respond, once they found out that Jeon Wonwoo liked guys too?

"Yah, Wonwoo, are you even listening to us?" Junhui spoke, slapping the other on the shoulder. 

"Are you ignoring us because I made fun of your new bag?" Soonyoung asked, a slight pout on his lips. "Okay, I'm sorry. Your new bag looks awesome."

Wonwoo finally turned to his friends, laughing at Soonyoung. "I'm not upset. Just... Deep in thought."

"What could you be possibly be thinking about at seven forty-five in the morning?" Seungcheol queried, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing," Wonwoo replied, still unsure if he should tell his friends.

Junhui was about to say something, when his phone started buzzing, followed by the rest of the students. Wonwoo fished out his phone from his pocket, seeing a meesage in the class chatroom.

Have you seen this????
A picture was sent.

Wow.

Heol.

OMG.
Who could have done this?

Obviously, it must be the Invisible Pranksters!

LOL their classroom looks so shiny now. 

Wonwoo opened the picture sent by one of their classmates. As he had expected, it was a picture of his brother's classroom, where desks and chairs were covered in aluminium foil. Now that it was day time, the foils looked shinier than at night. He chuckled.

"This is awesome!" Soonyoung exclaimed excitedly. "Damn, why didn't they do it in our classroom? I want a silver desk too."

Junhui nudged his arm. "And then having to take it off and throwing it all away? Too much work."

"Hey, Wonwoo, isn't this your brother's classroom? That's him right there, right?" Seungcheol suddenly asked, turning away from his phone and looking up at Wonwoo.

Of course, Wonwoo knew that the classroom belonged to his brother. He was the one who planned this after all. He felt his heart swell with pride. 

Pretending to look closely at his phone, he replied, "Yeah, that's my brother. Wow, I guess now I know what he's going to be talking about all throughout dinner tonight." He laughed. 

"That's cool, I guess..." Seungcheol said, as he looked at Wonwoo a little too intensely.

Before anyone could say anything, their conversation came to an end and the chattering in the classroom halted as the bell rang and the teacher entered. 

*

As Wonwoo settled his tray of food on the table, his eyes scanned the canteen, looking for a certain someone. 

Out of nowhere, he felt a poke in the side of his stomach, causing him to jump up in surprise and furthermore, he was ticklish. His other three friends– who were having an argument that the lunch lady was biased towards Seungcheol and gave him more meat– turned to look at him curiously. Wonwoo watched as Mingyu walked past him, turning around to flash him a smile before he sat with his friends.

He quickly took a seat as he felt heat rise to his cheeks. Damn it, Kim Mingyu. 

Seungcheol followed his gaze before and asked, "Who was the guy?"

Wonwoo looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"The guy that just poke you in the stomach. He can't be some random guy."

"Oooooh, Jeon Wonwoo. Are you starting to replace us?" Soonyoung asked, as he casually stole a piece of meat from Seungcheol's tray without the other realising.

"Ah, that guy?" Wonwoo laughed awkwardly. "Just a friend I made not long ago. His name's Kim Mingyu."

"You could've just told us you made a new friend. You didn't have to be all awkward," Seungcheol spoke, amused. 

It was as if light bulbs just flashed above Soonyoung's head as he suddenly sat up straight and pointed a finger accusingly at Wonwoo. "Was that the person you were referring to?"

"Referred to when?" Junhui asked.

"Have we spoken about him before?" Seungcheol added.

Wait, what is he talking–​ Oh no, don't tell me–​

"When we were watching You're All Surrounded at my place. You asked me if–"

"Did you get extra meat, Seungcheol?" Wonwoo interrupted, suddenly reaching over to scoop a piece onto his own tray. "Well that's unfair. Share the love, bro."

"I know right?" The now distracted Soonyoung asked in disbelief. "The lunch lady is definitely more biased towards you." He went in to steal some of Seungcheol's meat as well.

"Hey, I want some too!" Junhui did the same.

Seungcheol gave Wonwoo a look that indicated that the conversation was not over, before turning his attention to the two boys stealing his meat. He slapped their hands continuously. "Don't touch my meat you tiger-looking human, and Mandarin-speaking– Is that offensive?"

"Yes it is, now give me some of your meat!"

Wonwoo laughed at their friends' antics as he took a bite from his food and looked across the canteen. He could see where Mingyu was seated with his friends. He realised he might have been staring for too long when Seungcheol spoke up.

"Why don't you invite your new friend and his other friends to join us?"

Soonyoung and Junhui seemed to agree with that idea as they nodded.

"Um...I– Okay." There was no room to refuse, as his friends were now staring at him expectantly.

Slowly, he got up from his seat and started walking towards Mingyu's direction. The younger, who was listening to his other friends' talking, saw as Wonwoo approached. He raised an eyebrow.

As Wonwoo stopped in front of their table, Mingyu's other two friends stopped talking, turning towards the intruder.  

 "Wonwoo hyung, what brings you here?" Mingyu greeted first, as he stood up.

The older shifted from one foot to another. "Before I ask, I should introduce myself. I'm Jeon Wonwoo, Mingyu's... Friend."

The other two boys seated stood up as well. "Hello, I'm Jeonghan," the one with slightly long hair spoke. "This is Seokmin. We're not aware our Mingyu had another friend."

Wonwoo scratched the back of his head, laughing slightly as he looked at Mingyu. He had an unreadable expression on his face, but it definitely wasn't a pleasant one. The feeling that sinks in the pit of his stomach indicated that the older had an idea why. 

"Ahh…I kinda figured. Mingyu and I met not long ago. He did tell me about you guys though."

Seokmin's ears perked up. "See, I knew you love us!"

"What did you want to ask?" Jeonghan questioned. 

"Oh yeah," Wonwoo turned to Mingyu. "My friends and I were wondering if you'd like to join us?"

Mingyu's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You told them about us?" That question had a double meaning for the both of them. 

"I mean, you kinda just poked my stomach in front of them. So they asked who you were."

Wonwoo knew the younger wanted to ask who he introduced him as, but instead just responded to his question. "I don't mind eating with your friends, I'm not sure..." He turned to Jeonghan and Seokmin, who were already carrying their trays. "I take that as an okay then." He laughed, the smile back on his face. 

Mingyu picked up his tray, and Wonwoo lead the trio to his table. Fortunately, the table was long enough to fit three other people. He took a seat next to Wonwoo. 

After Mingyu introduced himself, his and Wonwoo's group of friends introduced themselves to one other. Wonwoo turned to Mingyu, but found the other already staring at him. 

"I couldn't say anything more. Not yet," Wonwoo whispered. 

He hoped the younger would understand. If he were to tell his friends that he's together with Mingyu, then he had to plan how he was going to say it without mentioning about Mingyu's pranking. 

Mingyu shook his head, offering a small smile. "I understand," he mouthed, turning back to the group. 

"Normally, our other friend Minghao would join us," Seokmin spoke. 

"More like rarely," Jeonghan countered. "He always has his packed Chinese lunch in class. But on the rare occasion that he does come down, he sits with us."

"So, Minghao's Chinese?" Junhui asked in interest. 

"Yup," Mingyu answered this time. "He's from China. Wait, you're from there too, right? I should introduce you to him, maybe he'll talk more with another Chinese person."

"That'd be great," Junhui grinned.

"So how did you and Wonwoo become friends? He's never told us about you," Seungcheol asked. 

It was a harmless question, yet Wonwoo felt hurt in some way. He thought his friend sounded accusing. 

Mingyu turned to glance at Wonwoo once. "Um, we firstly met at the club carnival when he tried to get me into the book club. You were there too, Junhui hyung, although you may not remember. But we didn't talk after that. We met again at the convenience store Wonwoo hyung works at, and we just started talking from there."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "Ohhhhhhhh."

A concentrated expression appeared on Junhui's face. and upon realising that Mingyu was staring at him curiously, he explained, "Sorry. I'm trying to remember you but the only thing I remembered was going up to people to ask them to join the Book Club, and then getting rejected."

Laughter filled the air. 

"It's okay, Hyung," Mingyu spoke, smiling.

Wonwoo allowed himself to admire the younger's smile before turning back to his lunch, scooping some rice into his mouth. He caught Soonyoung looking thoughtfully between him and Mingyu, and hoped that his friend wouldn't make any conclusions. Looking at Seungcheol next, his friend raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Mingyu. Wonwoo didn't know what he meant by that gesture, but he was pretty sure Seungheol had an inkling of what's going on.

This terrified him.

He wasn't ready admitting his feelings towards another boy to his friends. What would they think of him then? 

What would the school think?

What would the neighbourhood think?

What would everyone think?

Wonwoo allowed those negative thoughts swim in his mind. He knew he shouldn't. Mingyu was right next to him. He stole a look at said person, who was now happily talking to Junhui. Wonwoo had seen how bothered Mingyu had looked when he had introduced himself as his friend. Sooner or later, he knew he had to come out to his friends, for the sake of Mingyu. He wondered if the younger had done so with his friends.

Everyone was now paying attention to their lunch, with some small conversations being brought up while eating. Seokmin could be heard talking loudly about the aluminium foil prank to Soonyoung, who gushed that he wanted a silver desk too. The former agreed wholeheartedly.

Mingyu nudged Wonwoo, causing the older to turn to him. 

"Are you okay?" Mingyu asked softly. "You seem out of it."

Wonwoo nodded, attempting to smile. He knew it seemed fake to the younger. Mingyu glanced at his watch.

"Ten minutes..." He murmured to himself. Suddenly, he spoke up. "Oh yeah, Wonwoo hyung, you said you were going to show me that book from the library, didn't you? Let's go see it now before our break ends."

All eyes were now on Wonwoo. He shifted uncomfortably, replying, "Oh? Oh. Right. Let's go. Um, see you guys later."

He ignored the curious look from his friends and stood up with Mingyu, bringing their trays to the return section. Then, they left the canteen, walking towards the staircase. What was once filled with excited chattering was now replaced with a painful silence. Wonwoo knew Mingyu had a lot going on in his mind, and was adamant on talking it out. 

Mingyu had led the older towards the rooftop, where they sat at the bench. They allowed the silence to fill the atmosphere before Mingyu spoke up.

"You're afraid," he concluded out of the blue. Wonwoo snapped his head towards him. "You don't want to come out to your friends just yet." He then turned towards the older with sad eyes. "I understand, Hyung. I understand that this whole thing is...foreign to you. That you're still trying to get used to your feelings. You don't have to be afraid, Hyung. I'm here. Don't give me a fake smile, I hate it. I hate that you're conflicted now."

Wonwoo could feel his heart beating rapidly. His eyes glossed before tears pooled in them. He looked towards the bright blue sky– the opposite of his feelings– and blinked the tears back. 

"Hyung, I just wanted you to know that it's okay if you're not ready to tell your friends. I can wait. Heck, I was the one who asked you to give us a try."

The older turned back to face Mingyu. "Mingyu, I'm really sorry for doing this to you. Thank you so much for understanding." He sighed. "It's just that... All that's on my mind at this point of time is that: what would everyone think of us? Yes, I'm afraid. Seungcheol gave me a look like he knew something was going on that I was just so overcome with fear. I shouldn't do this to you. I'm sorry."

Mingyu pulled Wonwoo closer and wrapped his arms around him. He gently the older's head. 

"It's okay. We're going to be okay. We'll tell them together when you're ready and just act like normal friends when we're outside, okay?" Mingyu whispered comfortingly.

"Aren't we outside now?"

The other chuckled. "Don't get to sassy with me now, Hyung. We're alone now, that's all that matters."

As Wonwoo brought his arms to arap around Mingyu, he felt his lips curve into smile.

Yes, I'm going to be fine. As long as Mingyu is by my side, I can overcome anything. 

I can tell my friends about us when I'm more comfortable. 

***

Click.

***

A/N: I guess this chapter is to mainly introduce both sides together. And previously, I actually wanted to just make Wonwoo accept his feelings wholeheartedly, but if I made him to be someone who's just finding out that they're attracted to the same gender, I'm gonna have to be slighly realistic and make him conflicted. Sorry if this chapter isn't well written or if I've been using repetitive expressions. >.< I've been trying to write whenever I found free time so sometimes I forgot I wrote a certain expression already in the chapter.

That last line...

Foreshadowing? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm............

Every story needs at least one conflict and that conflict is coming real soon.

Thank you to everyone who commented, and even if I don't reply, I do read your comments. Thank you for showing your support, especially when I can't update as often due to school. ;u; Love you all muah muah. Let's all be as cheesy as Mingyu in Younghee VLive LOL.