Wonwoo had taken over both of their jobs for nearly half an hour when two came out of the backroom. Jisoo looked especially ashamed, not making eye contact with anybody as he walked to his station and mindlessly began to wipe the counter.

Jeonghan took his rightful place in front of the register. “Thanks for taking over, Wonwon,” Jeonghan said with a wide grin on his face.

“No problem,” Wonwoo replied.

Jeonghan let out a long, content sigh. He looked happy. “Me and Jisoo just…”

“I don’t want to know!” Wonwoo yelled over Jeonghan before he could say anything.

Jeonghan laughed, “okay Wonwon, I won’t tell you.”

“Good,” Wonwoo replied. “Anyways, you owe me for taking over for half an hour.”

“Here, I’ll give you a tip: just kiss Mingyu for heaven’s sake.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. Jeonghan always gave him the most rash and unreasonable advice when it came to Mingyu.

“I’m serious!” Jeonghan whined. “Look: attraction never really fades away. So if Mingyu was once attracted to you, he still is. I mean I thought all my feelings for Jesus over there were long gone, but boy are they still here. Also, never underestimate the element of surprise in reawakening those feelings. So what I’m saying is just surprise him and make out with him; it would be the most exhilarating experience for both of you!”

“You’re forgetting one very important thing: Me and Mingyu are not the same as you and Jisoo.”

“You’re right. You two are even hungrier for each other.”

“I’m done with this conversation; I’m going back up…”

“… to kiss him?” Jeonghan completed the sentence with a grin.

“Bye!” Wonwoo darted out of the cafe before Jeonghan could nag him again.

Wonwoo went up to his room. Mingyu was sitting on his bed studying, sweating from the stupid broken heater which was . He muttered a ‘hey’ when Wonwoo came in, not looking up from his notes as Wonwoo took off his shoes and coat.

Wonwoo didn’t want to bother Mingyu’s studying, so he didn’t talk to him and silently slipped inside. He just took a seat on the floor and reached into his pocket for his phone. He couldn’t find it, and then recalled that he had left it on the counter in the cafe.

Too lazy to put on his coat and shoes, he left the room in slippers, planning to just grab his phone and head back up. But when he was outside and about to enter the cafe, he stopped to watch Jeonghan and Jisoo through the glass windows.

They were talking. Not screaming at each other or bickering– but actually talking to each other with keen interest, it was as if they were just starting to get to know one another.

Minutes later, Jeonghan went to clear a table of coffee mugs and plates, and Wonwoo watched as Jisoo’s eyes followed Jeonghan.

Something about the way Jisoo was looking at Jeonghan reminded Wonwoo of himself. The expression in Jisoo’s eyes was suffused was this reserved kind of admiration, as if Jisoo knew he had a spark with Jeonghan but was too afraid to actually embrace it. Wonwoo could tell that Jisoo had reservations from the way he seemed so troubled as he stared at Jeonghan.

Jisoo stopped staring and pretended he was looking at the register when Jeonghan made his way back to the counter, towards the sink. Putting the tray in the basin, he raised his sleeves and prepared to wash the tableware. Jisoo then suddenly pushed Jeonghan to the side and rolled up his sleeves, offering to do the chore instead.

Jeonghan smiled at Jisoo and suddenly leaned in to kiss his cheek, surprising Jisoo and making him blush and drop the mug that was in his hands.

They were so cute, Wonwoo thought as he watched them.

They continued talking as Jisoo washed the dishes and Jeonghan dried them. And they truly looked happy, making Wonwoo feel slightly jealous. It must be nice that the two of them worked out like that so suddenly. It must be nice to finally have one another after weeks of tension and denial.

Wonwoo wondered how he’d feel if he and Mingyu ever worked out too. Seeing Jeonghan and Jisoo made him desire it deeply. He wanted the license to start at Mingyu the way Jisoo was now looking at Jeonghan. He wanted to blush when Mingyu kissed him. He wanted to neglect work in order to have violent make-out sessions with Mingyu. He just really wanted Mingyu…

He was getting too cold to stay outside, so he finally decided to go into the coffee shop to retrieve his phone.

“Hey Wonwon! I knew you’d be back,” Jeonghan said as he dried a mug. “Your phone’s in the backroom in my bag.”

Wonwoo got his phone, and slipped out quickly, not wanting to interrupt Jeonghan and Jisoo’s moment washing dishes together. He couldn't help but linger outside the shop for a moment longer to watch them again, but this time with a sense of envy.

Wonwoo didn’t really know what it was that shifted inside of him in that moment. Perhaps it was because he realized just how much he craved what Jeonghan and Jisoo now had with each other. Or perhaps it was Jeonghan’s earlier words that convinced him. Or maybe it was because he was so cold, he ceased to think properly. But something changed, and Wonwoo decided to just… come out with it. He was going to tell Mingyu, straight out, that a) he was attracted to him and b) he liked him a lot and c) he really wanted to kiss him again.

If he got rejected, then so be it. At least he tried, Wonwoo thought.

Wonwoo wished he’d come down in his coat. He was so cold, and he didn’t want to go up just yet before he planned what he was going to say. He considered going back into the café to ask Jeonghan for advice, but glancing through the window pane, Wonwoo could see that Jeonghan and Jisoo were having a conversation that Wonwoo didn’t want to interrupt.

Instead he just stood there in the freezing cold and tried to plan out what he was going to say. Just an “I like you” seemed to suffice, Wonwoo thought. But that was strange– he needed to have some kind of follow-up, right?

And so he planned to say something like: “Lately I’ve been feeling like I need to tell you something. I don’t know how to explain it, but I started to like you a lot sometime between the time I moved in with you and now. And, if you’re still interested, maybe we can go out or something?” It was casual and nice, not too sappy but also not too short and abrupt. Wonwoo repeated it to himself a couple to times before finally deciding to go up.

Wonwoo hadn’t realized how cold it was outside until he entered the warm apartment building.

“Why did you leave without a jacket?” Mingyu asked when Wonwoo came in. “It’s freezing cold out there.”

“It is,” Wonwoo agreed, rubbing his ice-cold arms.

“Come sit here so you can defrost,” Mingyu pointed to the spot next to him on the bed.

Wonwoo nodded and took a seat on the bed beside the heater. He noted that Mingyu was sweating, probably because he was next to the heater for too long.

“Your hands look stiff,” Mingyu noted. He reached out and took one of Wonwoo’s hands.

Warm and soft. Just perfect.

“Damn, you’re cold,” Mingyu note, sandwiching Wonwoo’s hand in between his own, rubbing it to warm it up.

“Thanks,” Wonwoo told Mingyu.

“I’m actually feeling hot right now, so your cold hand actually feels nice,” Mingyu said with a laugh.

“You are hot,” Wonwoo managed to say, meaning it in both senses of the term.

“It’s all that heater’s fault, to be honest. I honestly hate that heater. Either you freeze to death or feel like you’re in a sauna!” Mingyu grumbled.

“Sorry about the heater,” Wonwoo said, wanting to move on and actually say his carefully-planned confession. But when he tried to remember how he had planned to start it, his mind went blank.

“I’ll replace that thing one day,” Mingyu said. “But sadly heaters are really expensive and...”

“I like you,” Wonwoo blurted quickly. So much for being discreet. So much for the careful confession he planned outside…

Mingyu didn’t look surprised at all. Actually, he seemed to misunderstand completely what he meant by ‘like.’ “Thanks,” he replied. “I like you too. You’re fun to have around as a roommate. Even though I now have to sleep next to that stupid heater, it’s worth the…” blobloblo…

Again with that stupid heater! Wonwoo wished that Mingyu would stop thinking about the heater for one second and actually consider what he meant by ‘I LIKE YOU.’

Wonwoo tried again, interrupting Mingyu’s rant with: “no, no. You don’t understand. I’m trying to ask you to… um… I’m asking you to go out with me,” Wonwoo finally managed to say.

“Go outside? Why? It’s freezing cold out there. I mean I do hate the heater but I prefer it to the cold,” Mingyu replied, and Wonwoo wanted to pound his head repeatedly against the wall. Mingyu seemed like he seriously didn’t understand that Wonwoo was asking him out.

How can someone be so thick? How can he still not get it? Did he really internalize Wonwoo’s straightness to that extent? After all of those mistakes that Wonwoo made to mistakenly make Mingyu think he was into him, now that things were serious, Mingyu couldn’t believe him? Wonwoo felt like the boy who cried ‘wolf.’ It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling...

But he decided to try again. “No Mingyu, you don’t understand. I’m trying to tell you that…” Wonwoo hesitated. How was he supposed to put it so that Mingyu and his dumb brain could understand it? He couldn’t say ‘I love you,’ because that’s just weird and too deep for what he wanted to express. He couldn’t just outright say ‘be my boyfriend;’ that’s way too forward. He couldn’t think of any other way to put it besides those three stupid words Mingyu was too dumb to understand. I like you.

“Tell me what?” Mingyu asked in his characteristic perkiness. He didn’t seem to expect that this was a confession at all.

Wonwoo had had enough at this point. Actions proved easier than words, and so he pinned Mingyu down on the bed and kissed him again. All Mingyu needed was a second to process what was happening before he also wrapped his arms around Wonwoo’s waist and kissed him back. Wonwoo was so glad that he did…

It felt just as good as the first time, except this time, it was a confession, and Wonwoo wanted Mingyu to know that. He didn’t want it to be shrugged off as a mistake like the last one was. He didn’t hold back at all, using his tongue, hands and body to transmit everything that he wanted to express to Mingyu.

Wonwoo was no longer cold, for he had absorbed the heat that was now building between their bodies. The sparks were flying between them, and Wonwoo was hyper-sensitive to everything that was happening: Mingyu’s soft, warm hands his bare waist, Mingyu’s long legs entangling themselves with his own, Mingyu’s tongue in his mouth, Mingyu’s breath on his lips. The touches sent spurring sensations all throughout of his body, and Wonwoo didn't want it to stop.

Mingyu suddenly turned his face and broke the kiss.

“You’re not straight?” Mingyu asked, breathing heavily.

“What do you think?” Wonwoo replied sarcastically, wanting the conversation to be over so that they could continue what they were doing.

“Since when?”

“I don’t know, Mingyu,” Wonwoo groaned.

“What does this mean?”

“Stop asking questions…”

“No, I need to know what you want from me before I go any further,” Mingyu insisted. “Is this a one-time thing? Do you want us to , and if so, are we just gonna and forget about it? Or do you want us to be friends with benefits or what?”

“I’m not Minghao,” Wonwoo replied, almost offended.

“Then what do you want? Be crystal clear about it!”

“I want you to be my boyfriend,” Wonwoo replied, but the last word came out as a mumble (‘boyfriend’ is such a strange word).

 “Really?” Mingyu narrowed his eyes doubtfully.

“Yes,” Wonwoo said.

“You’re not drunk or on drugs or anything?”

“No,” Wonwoo said.

“Are you sure?” Mingyu asked again.

“Mingyu, for crying out loud, I’m sure!” Wonwoo exclaimed, starting to feel a little restless.

“You can’t blame me for having my doubts! You literally told me that you’ll never be interested in me ever, and that if anything ever happens that makes me think so, it’s a mistake.”

Wonwoo climbed off from on top of Mingyu, realizing that he was still the boy who cried wolf right now. Mingyu needed reassurance from him.

He felt a little silly for thinking he could just kiss away the doubt, and that things would just come together without them having to talk about it. But that wasn’t the case. Wonwoo had not thought about how Mingyu would feel about this whole setup.

He realized how much of a thoughtless boyfriend he was being to Mingyu before their relationship even started. Mingyu was obviously not just about the physical aspect of being in a relationship, not just about the kissing and the . Wonwoo knew that because of how hurt Mingyu was by what happened with Minghao. Of course Mingyu would now have reservations against the physical affection Wonwoo was showing him, because Mingyu had learnt that physical affection and actual affection were two completely separate things– Minghao had made that clear.

Mingyu therefore couldn’t see the genuine affection that Wonwoo held for him from the kisses. Wonwoo should have been aware of that, and he realized that he had to use his words and tell Mingyu exactly what was going on in his heart if this was ever going to work out. There was no backing out now.

“I like you, Kim Mingyu,” Wonwoo confessed, and Mingyu sat upright and watched Wonwoo with wonder. “Not just like you, but I… I mean… I… I have feelings for you. I realized this a long time ago, but I only got the courage to say it to you now.”

Wonwoo could see a small smile starting to form on Mingyu’s lips, which gave Wonwoo so much relief. It told Wonwoo that the rejection that he had been so afraid of was probably not going to take place after all.

“You aren’t going to change your mind, right?” Mingyu asked adjusting his position slightly so that he was facing Wonwoo. “I swear to God, if tomorrow you tell me that this was all a mistake, I’m going to throw you out the window!”

“I won’t,” Wonwoo promised.

“Okay,” Mingyu said. “So I guess there’s mutual attraction between us…”

“Really?”

“Why are you surprised?” Mingyu asked. “You knew I liked you ages ago.”

“You told me that you were over me.”

“By that I meant that I came to terms with the fact you were straight. I didn’t just magically stop being attracted to you,” Mingyu laughed. “You are so hot, Wonwoo. And so ing adorable too.”

Wonwoo blushed. He’d never thought he’d see the day where another man would make him blush. Mingyu laughed at his reaction and put and arm around his shoulder.

“I would love to be your boyfriend, Jeon Wonwoo,” Mingyu said with a cheerful smile on his face.

A/N: FINALLY! but the story isn’t done yet there’s more fluff/comedy coming your way, so please hang in there for just one more chapter :)