Chapter 23- Friendship Mended

“Won-ah! Wake up! We’re gonna be late for class!” Jihoon said, shaking Wonwoo by his shoulders. Wonwoo groaned, putting 5 fingers up, asking for another 5 minutes.

“No! We don’t have to follow the freshies around today so it’s lessons. Are you sure you wanna be late?” Jihoon said, pulling the blankets off Wonwoo. Wonwoo groaned even more before stomping off into the toilet. He washed up before changing into his uniform. Once he was done, he grabbed his bag and headed downstairs. He grabbed a bottle of milk and quickly followed Jihoon out of the house. Throughout the entire journey, there was silence between the two. Wonwoo held onto his bottle of milk tightly, not sure if Jihoon was angry at him. After a torturing 15 minutes, they arrived in school. Jihoon and Wonwoo were in different classes, so they went separate ways.

Wonwoo was sipping on his milk when he saw a clueless Mingyu walking around. He tried his best to hide in the sea of students in the hallways. But Mingyu’s tall height benefited him at times like these.

“Err…hyung! Any idea where my class is at? I’m kinda lost…” Mingyu asked as he approached Wonwoo, who was holding onto his milk. Wonwoo had his eyes closed, as if it would help him appear invisible. When Mingyu finally placed his hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder, the older opened his eyes before sighing. He took a look at Mingyu’s timetable before leading the younger to his class without talking. Turns out his class was above Wonwoo’s class.

“Thanks hyung! That’s all you’re having for breakfast?” Mingyu asked, looking at the now empty bottle in Wonwoo’s hand. Wonwoo nodded meekly.

“Did you receive my message yesterday?” Wonwoo asked curtly, looking at Mingyu.

“Ah…I did see it this morning but I forgot to reply…I fell asleep while waiting for your reply yesterday night.” Mingyu said, smiling sheepishly.

“Okay. See you later.” Wonwoo said, walking off to his own classroom.

As he stepped into his classroom, the girls were smiling at him. He gave them a curt smile before speed walking to his seat. It was at the second last row, next to the window. He had the first few lessons with Soonyoung. He rested his head on his table, sensing a headache coming. He was the one who planned and asked for the meet up. But here he was not knowing what to say. I’m sorry for hurting you back then Mingyu. Do you forgive me? Urghhhh. Too cheesy. I’m sorry about what happened back then, 8 years ago. I hope you wouldn’t hold a grudge against me. Ahhhh…I’m losing my mind. I have no idea what to say… Wonwoo snapped out of his thoughts as Soonyoung settled next to him.

“Good morning Won~! I missed you so much after not seeing you for like weeks!” Soonyoung greeted chirpily. Right. The last time they met was during the holidays. They went out to the beach with Seungcheol, Jihoon and Jun. It was quite a fun day.

“It’s never a good morning if Jihoon has to wake me up…” Wonwoo sighed.

“Huh? Jihoon woke you up this morning? That means…there’s something important today right? What is it?” Soonyoung asked, now facing Wonwoo.

“Ahhh…you mean you didn’t know? Well…I guess if things go badly, you would know. So just stay patient for today…” Wonwoo replied, his head still on the table, but he was looking at Soonyoung. He was surprised that Mingyu didn’t go round announcing to everyone that he was meeting Wonwoo after school today. The first half of the day went on as usual, with Soonyoung doodling on Wonwoo’s notebook, and the latter would try his best to copy notes written on the board. The bell for lunch rang, and the two packed their stuff, walking out of class to the cafeteria.

“Soonyoung-ah! You can head to the cafeteria first. I gotta get my Math books from my locker.” Wonwoo said, before walking off in the direction of the lockers. He punched in his passcode and opened the locker. There were pictures of him, Soonyoung, Seungcheol and Jun fooling around when they were in freshmen year. There was one picture in particular which he would never replace. It was a picture of him and Mingyu that they took back in the orphanage. He sighed as he dragged a finger across the picture. He switched his Science textbooks for Math, before slamming his locket shut.

“Oh! What a coincidence! Our lockers are just next to each other!” Mingyu exclaimed as he saw the person who just shut his locker. Wonwoo turned around, not believing his luck. Firstly, he was schoolmates with Mingyu. Secondly, he was going to be working with Mingyu at the same place. And now? Their lockers were next to each other.

“Oh. Erm yeah…such a coincidence…” Wonwoo muttered before trying to escape from the lockers. But Mingyu was not letting him go so easily.

“Wonwoo-ah! Are you going to have lunch with Seungcheol hyung and Soonyoung hyung? Can I tag along? The guys have left me to go play basketball…and I’m really hungry…” Mingyu pouted. Wonwoo hesitated for a moment, before nodding his head. Mingyu grinned widely, following Wonwoo into the cafeteria like a little puppy. He held onto Wonwoo’s left arm, not wanting to lose him in the crowded cafeteria. As the two walked up to the table, everyone stared in amazement.

“M-mingyu?! What are you doing here? Won-ah.” Soonyoung said, shooting a questioning look at Wonwoo. Jihoon glared holes into Wonwoo eyes, not pleased about the company he brought.

“Hyung! Why do you act so shocked to see me here? We’ve seen each other every day back home.” Mingyu said before he went to queue up to get his food.

“Jeon. What’s this?” Jihoon asked.

“He just wanted to eat with us…he didn’t have any company so…” Wonwoo explained, taking his seat.

“You better not have an attack. If not I’m kicking his far away from here.” Jihoon said, finally calming down. Jun raised his hand, agreeing that he would be the next after Jihoon to kick Mingyu’s . When Mingyu came back to the table with his food, the entire table was filled with quietness. Everyone was eating in silence, and Wonwoo just was playing games on his phone.

“Aren’t you eating?” Mingyu asked, looking over to Wonwoo’s screen. He was playing some racing game. Wonwoo shook his head before concentrating back on his game.

“Don’t even bother talking to him when he’s playing games. He’s too trapped in it.” Soonyoung said, nudging Mingyu to continue eating.

“You need to eat something. Here. Have my fruits then.” Mingyu said as he snatched Wonwoo’s phone out of his grip, pushing his bowl of mixed fruits towards Wonwoo. The entire group stared at Mingyu in astonishment. Wonwoo hated it when someone took his phone when he was playing a game. It would break his high record streaks. Wonwoo stared at his now empty hands. Kim Mingyu did not. Just do that.

“Yah! I was on a streak! I was about to break my personal best records for crying out loud?! OH MY GOD. SOMEONE CHAIN THIS KID UP.” Wonwoo broke out, while staring at Mingyu, who was eating his food as if nothing happened.

“Ayyy. Stop making a fuss out of nothing. Your highest records are nowhere near mine. Just quit the game and start eating.” Mingyu said while he unlocked his phone with one hand. He showed Wonwoo his highest records.

“Show off. You must have cheated somehow…no one ever broke my records before…” Wo