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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

 

(just a heads up there’s only a bit of meanie sorry,,, please try to bare with it… ><)

(holy lord this is another long chapter and i feel people won’t like it so i’m really sorry.)

(i’m regretting this…)

 

Wonwoo closes the book he was reading and brings it closer to his chest. He sighs, shaking his hand — It hurt from writing so much. His eyes shift to Mingyu sat across him, with his head rested on the table.

 

Looking at the time, he looks back at Mingyu and takes the book from his chest and taps Mingyu’s head with it. Mingyu wakes back up with a shock and the older makes his way to Mingyu, squatting until they’re eye-level and quickly pecks the shell of his pierced ear.

 

“Wake up handsome… Let’s head to the garden.”

 

Mingyu sleepily nods then gets up from his chair and walks alongside Wonwoo.

 

As they walk, Mingyu yawns and speaks. “Do you think his name rings a bell?”

 

“Huh…?” Wonwoo hums, startled with the taller’s sudden raspy voice.

 

“That Vernon Chwe guy.”

 

Right, it’s already been a week since the auditions and Al1 haven’t even thought of who was going to be their new member — They were either too busy or they were still arguing over it.

 

“Don’t ask me ‘Gyu, I haven’t met him.”

 

“Well that’s ing obvious, isn’t it Wonwoo?” Mingyu retorts, he’s not sure why he did that. Strike one.

 

“Oh. Okay. Why are you acting so uptight lately?”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“You can talk to me Mingyu, if you need help with tests I can help you-“

 

“I just said I’m not being uptight — And no, you don’t need to help me with studying for tests.” Strike two.

 

“Alright… Can I ask why you seemed so unimpressed with Vernon? He’s a good kid.”

 

Wonwoo lets his thoughts out, it’s been lingering in his mind after it happened, and right now he’s getting a bit annoyed with Mingyu’s attitude to him, even though it’s happened before. Wonwoo doesn’t know, Mingyu’s just a grumpy guy sometimes.

 

The taller runs a hand through his hair and deeply sighs. “Did I? I didn’t mean to look like that… He’s pretty good.”

 

“Your face said otherwise.”

 

“I was focusing.”

 

“Sure…”

 

“Okay Jeon Wonwoo, if you want to act like this, just off for ’s sake!” Finally, Mingyu snaps out of his mind and yells at the older, gritting his teeth.

 

Strike ing three.

 

Blankly, Wonwoo looks at him as if he was going to say something back. However he stops himself. Saying something would just raise up the risks, so the older gives a nod to the younger while stepping back from him. “Got it. I’ll leave you to it then…”

 

Like that, Wonwoo walks off without looking back at Mingyu and Mingyu gets a sudden whiplash of reality thrown at him.

 

His head goes dizzy and tries to chase after Wonwoo, what stopped him is that with every step he took, Wonwoo took a quicker one.

 

Mingyu sighs and stops chasing the older. Great, he just made things worse. Mingyu hasn’t had the best of days and lashing it out on Wonwoo definitely doesn’t help either — He was having a hard time as well. The taller didn’t mean to, obviously. Mingyu probably let his thoughts get the best of him and his mind went on autopilot, giving him the ‘Yell at him’ Option.

 

There was one thing for sure: Wonwoo was mad at him.

 

“Great… Just ing great…” Mingyu groans and rubs his head from the pounding headache that makes him want to smash his head in a wall.

 

Turning around, Mingyu starts to walk again — Not to chase, Wonwoo — Instead to head to the reception. And because it was his first time going there, he had to even ask a student where to go (And the student ran away, this was certainly a good day).

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

A full weekend and dusks and dawns flow by, and there was still no word from Wonwoo. In fact, Soonyoung and Jihoon were beginning to get scared. When they learnt what happened between the duo, they couldn’t help but hit their heads with their hands — The problematic couple, everyone.

 

In homeroom, everyone was talking away, throwing paper airplanes, drawing on the chalkboard or whatever they were doing, and Mingyu was staring outside the window while Soonyoung was trying to remember a certain pattern on his invisible guitar.

 

The male’s eyes moved to look at his best friend, and he didn’t say a word. He was still in a grumpy phase and didn’t want to make things any worse, or repeat what happened with him and Wonwoo. Alternatively, he gets up from his seat and makes his way to the front of the class to the teacher’s desk.

 

Soonyoung watches him in curiosity, wondering what he’s going to say. “Sir, can I go to the nurse’s office? I feel ill.” He then sees the teacher’s lips move, and Mingyu says something back, but the class was too loud it was inaudible.

 

What he could tell, Mingyu was excused to go and he exited the classroom without a word. Soonyoung’s first instinct was to look over to Jihoon and Wonwoo sat at the back of the classroom, who were passing on a quiet conversation as usual.

 

He notices Jihoon kick the back of Wonwoo’s chair and Wonwoo looks up, watching Mingyu leave the room, yet not long afterwards Wonwoo simply rolls his eyes and says, “He’s skipping class… Nothing new.” At least, that’s what Soonyoung assumed from what came from his mouth.

 

Meanwhile, Mingyu wonders around the school for a few minutes until he gets his head around what he has to do — Even when he left the classroom he forgot what he was going to do. Finally, he remembers what he was going to do and walks to the other side of the school.

 

The male arrives in front of one of the classrooms and knocks on the door and slides it open without waiting for a response. Naturally, he leans on the door frame and looks at the classroom’s reaction.

 

He turns to the teacher, who doesn’t look pleased at him, and gives an unbothered look. Seriously, he was tired, nauseous and couldn’t give a . “What are you doing here? Is this some joke Kim Mingyu?”

 

And by the mention of Mingyu’s name, his name was already being whispered.

 

“The headmaster wanted to see Vernon for something. Can you hurry up so I can go?”

 

“Carry on with that attitude Mister and you won’t be going anywhere.” Mingyu pulls a face and a middle finger once the teacher looks to the corner of the class. “Vernon, go with Mingyu.” He demands.

 

Vernon, coming back to reality, quickly gets up from his seat by the mention of his name and makes a loud ruckus by accidentally dropping his textbooks on the floor. Hesitating whether to pick it up, he leaves it and rushes to the door, hoping he wouldn’t hear his classmates say anything.

 

His head is down low, and he now hears his name in the mix of Mingyu’s. He even hears a student in the front of the class mumble, “What’s Kim Mingyu going to do with Vernon?”

 

And he also hears another student mumble in reply, “Probably beat him up or something. You know he’s bad news.”

 

Even Mingyu manages to hear the bastard of a student and a sour expression is painted on his face. ‘Is this what these kids really think of me? Wow, how shallow.’ Finally, Vernon exits the classroom and is now faced in front of Mingyu. Mingyu shuts the door and quickly says thank you to the teacher (And his reaction was a bit of shock and suspect).

 

“Follow me.” Mingyu says and walks in front of Vernon. He then realises he said it in a more commanding way and curls his fingers at how stupid he acted — Now Vernon was probably scared of Mingyu was going to do.

 

Which, he was.

 

Vernon hesitantly follows without a word. It was kind of scaring the boy that they were heading up the stairs to the abandoned corridor of classrooms rather than walking straight ahead. He would run, but doing that would cause more trouble. It was too risky.

 

They both end up in an abandoned classroom, and Vernon definitely knew where this was going to. His voice, still barely a whisper like last time. “This… This isn’t the headmaster’s-“

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“Oh…”

 

Mingyu approaches Vernon as he shuts the door a second time, looking outside to make sure no one is walking past. The closer he gets, the more Vernon feels a churning feeling in his stomach. He closes his eyes, drops his head to the floor and waits for this to be over.

 

Suddenly, a hand is on his head and it starts to mess up his hair. With his eyes still closed, a voice says, “Welcome to Al1, Vernon.”

 

Quickly, Vernon opens an eye, then both eyes, and looks up at the male, confused. His breath hitches. He notices what state he’s in, and takes a step back, walking into the corner of a table. “H-Huh?”

 

Mingyu chuckles at his reaction. “I said, welcome to Al1.” He then moves his hand to the back of his neck, scratching it sheepishly. “Well… I haven’t really discussed it with the others, but them, they were the ones who dragged me back into this and it means I should choose who’s going to be in the group.”

 

“B-But… I was late-“

 

“And? Just because you were late doesn’t mean you have points knocked off. I was like that when I auditioned. Here, sit.” 

 

The taller pulls out a chair next to Vernon then sits backwards on another so he can rest his arms against the back of the chair.

 

This was certainly awkward. Mingyu was out of ideas, and he still wanted to let Vernon loosen up to Mingyu before he officially joins Al1. Mingyu sighs. It’s going to be hard.

 

“So… You’re a second year?” Vernon nods and the older’s eyes glance over to the window. “Cool. And you’ve been playing since you were four?”

 

“Uh, yeah…”

 

“Impressive. I wish I could do that. I wish I could improvise on the spot, and playing by ear is frustrating to me. It’s cool you can do that.”

 

“No it isn’t… Anyone can do it with practice.”

 

“Still. You also play a lot of instruments, you can probably create your own one-man band if you wanted.” Mingyu jokes, secretly looking over to Vernon’s to see if he reacted — The latter’s face wasn’t a smile, but somewhat a smile.

 

“It’s like I said… I have a lot of free time.”

 

“Really? Don’t you go outside or something-“ He stops himself as he sees Vernon tilt his head away from the taller, inhaling a deep breath. “Ah! Forget… Forget what I said. Sorry.”

 

“N-No! It’s okay Hyung.” The room falls back into silence again, and like that, Mingyu now has a bunch of questions that could make out conversations.

 

“Your name rings a bell y’know.”

 

“Wh-… Mine…?”

 

“Yeah. ‘Vernon Chwe’… I’m sure I heard it somewhere.”

 

“Probably… Probably it was someone else-“

 

“No, I’m sure it was you Vernon.”

 

“You’re not going insane, are you?” Vernon teases, then suddenly realises it sounds offensive and the fact he said it to Kim Mingyu makes the situation risky. ‘Risky, risky risky…!’ His head alarms him, red flashing lights mentally going off. “Wait, I meant that as a j-joke-“

 

“Nice joke.” Mingyu releases a laugh before Vernon finishes. His eyes shift up at Vernon who’s smiling in relief. Soon, he clears his throat. “Hey, this seems out of the blue, but I’ve decided I’m going to wait for you after class more often.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Yep, you heard me.”

 

“I don’t think that’s necessary-“

 

“What could go wrong? Besides, if you disagree with me, I’m still going.” Slowly, Mingyu moves his hand to rub Vernon’s arm to reassure him. “And if you’re going to be in Al1, I don’t want you to be awkward around us.”

 

He notices something in the younger as he says that, like something has struck him, then it turns into something else. Something unexplainable. Mingyu doesn’t want to question it.

 

So with that, Mingyu gets up from his chair and ruffles Vernon’s hair, patting it soon after. “I’ll see you soon Vernon.”

 

Just as Mingyu gets to the door, he hears the small sneaky gasp from Vernon. “H-Hansol.”

 

His hand was already going to slide the door open, Mingyu sees Vernon with at shock first, but the shock turns into a toothy smile.

 

“I’ll see you soon, Hansol.”

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

And Mingyu keeps his promise. Not a lot of days after (Unless two days count as a lot of days) He heads straight to Vernon’s homeroom and stands parallel to the door so that the male can see him straight away.

 

His day was ty anyway — Ignoring Wonwoo was difficult — And everything seemed so boring. Not even being a thirdwheel to Junhui and Minghao (Considering Wonwoo was with Soonyoung and Jihoon the whole day) Would make him want to complain or groan like he normally would.

 

The students walk out from their homeroom, and just like last time, it didn’t take long for the students to be mumbling his name. He was right there — He wasn’t ing deaf.

 

’Stupid second years.’

 

…

 

‘Except Hansol.’

 

Mingyu feels worried when he sees Vernon as the last person to exit from the class. The boy was talking to the teacher — And it looked like he was being told off. Strange, Vernon seems like the last person who would be told off, he was so quiet.

 

The taller finally relaxes when Vernon rushes away from the teacher and gets his things (Mingyu assumes), but what’s more odd is that the teacher continues to tell of him, or that’s what it looked like. Maybe someone else was in the room with him.

 

Vernon exits the room slowly, his head hanging low again. Mingyu frowns and jogs over to the younger, greeting him with a pat on his head. Actually, he should probably stop, it reminded him of Wonwoo.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you, you took so long!” Mingyu smiles. “What happened in the classroom? Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Mingyu stops again. , he misses Wonwoo to the point he’s acting like him. How’s Wonwoo anyway?

 

‘You little Mingyu you’re going off track.’

 

Vernon raises a hand and shakily moves it left to right. “No big deal… Just some homework stuff.”

 

“’Homework stuff’? You should’ve told me and I’d give it to my friends to do it!”

 

“Wow Hyung, that’s helpful…” Vernon says. He did it again — It slipped. “Wait, Hyung I didn’t mean to say that-“

 

“They’ll give in. They always give in. I’m either too irresistible or too intimidating.” Mingyu cockily smiles, flicking his non-existent hair. Vernon just rolls his eyes and hides a smile. “C’mon — I don’t want to be in this hell-hole any longer — Let’s go!”

 

In fact, Mingyu had no idea where they were going to go. He just thought if he dragged Vernon with him to somewhere it would make him feel a tad bit better. This wasn’t the case.

 

They bye ice cream on their way out (Well, Mingyu buys the ice cream for Vernon, because he can’t eat it of course) And walk together through the busy town. Both of them have no where particular in mind, because every other place is full with students eating and shopping.

 

“Thanks… Hyung…” Vernon mumbles, liking his ice cream.

 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

“So… Where are we going again?”

 

“Um, I don’t really know. I just had a thought to walk with you.”

 

“Me?” Vernon points at himself and his jaw drops a bit. “Don’t… Don’t you have the other Hyungs in Al1 to hand out with?” He mumbles something towards the end, but Mingyu doesn’t pick it up.

 

Mingyu raises his shoulders and a firm line is drawn on his lips. “Eh, Jun and I are on okay terms, but it’s likely we’ll argue about something. Minghao… I need to catch up with him, we have classes together but he’s so busy and all he ever talks about is Jun these days…” He taps a finger on his chin and hums. “And Soon’ is probably with Jihoon. Before you ask, I don’t know what they’re doing and I don’t want to know what they’re doing.” The taller shudders at the thought.

 

“Jihoon…? As in Lee Jihoon?” Vernon tilts his head, his eyes bulging in surprise. Little does Mingyu know, Jihoon was a reason why Vernon was inspired to do music so much, although he didn’t want to state it out loud, he doesn’t like the focus to be him.

 

“Yeah, they’re stuck to each other almost all the time… Annoying really. Well, I can’t say much.” He shakes off the thought and looks over to Vernon. “Ah... don’t think you’re like a plan B or some second choice , I don’t mean to put it that way-“ Mingyu gets interrupted by the sound of a car beeping it’s horn and Mingyu groans at the sound with a facial expression spelling ‘God, shut the up’.

 

“Hyung… It’s alright… I get it.” Suddenly, Vernon asks. “Why me though? Don’t…” He stops to take in a deep breath. Is it worth the risk? His mind is debating while his thoughts are scattered across the globe. One thing or another, it naturally slips out by mistake. “Don’t take this offensively… But you’re kinda the last person I’d expect to be nice to someone like me especially. And it’s surprising you’re aware that I exist, or have heard my name before…”

 

Again, Mingyu shrugs. “I want to apologise for the audition I guess? I’ve been told that i looked a bit intimidating… And now Wonwoo is pissed at me for it… I want to apologise to you Hansol.”

 

“O-Oh! No, you weren’t intimidating at all! If… If I may say so myself, it’s kinda cool seeing you focused like that…”

 

“See?!” They stop by a traffic light and Mingyu slings an arm around Vernon, lazily huffing. “You get it Hansol. Wonwoo doesn’t get it…”

 

“To be honest, being under pressure helps… Sometimes.”

 

‘What the hell does he mean by that…?’ Mingyu thinks, thinning his eyes in confusion.

 

“… Can I ask you something too?”

 

Mingyu blinks and shows the biggest smile to Vernon — He’s asking questions, that’s probably a good sign — “Hm? Yeah! Hit me!”

 

“So… You and Wonwoo Hyung. You’re…?”

 

“Huh?” Mingyu finds himself blushing stupidly. “Well, it’s like what Soon’ said, it’s only between us.” He starts biting his lip to cover up a laugh. “I dunno, it’s weird. Someone like me, someone like him, the thought of us two put together would sound unusual, when it’s really… Not complicated. It just… Works?” Mingyu pulls a clueless face and laughs for real this time, he doesn’t know what the hell he’s saying, but he goes with it.

 

Speaking what’s in his mind is tough yet natural. That, or it just comes out a total mess when it comes to Kim Mingyu.

 

“Congratulations Hyung.” Vernon smiles fully with the addition of a thumbs up, it was a rare combination but it definitely made Mingyu proud of himself.

 

“Ah, thanks, you’re too nice.”

 

“I’m just being supportive Hyung.” And that’s when Mingyu thinks the same thought he has for the past few days.

 

‘Why does this guy always go against me when I compliment him…?

 

—♩—♪—♫—♬ —

 

So the taller turns determined. Like a puppy, he follows Vernon around everywhere — And when people notice this, they’re surprised that Kim Mingyu is following someone they weren’t aware of. And like all high school news, it somehow goes all the way to Wonwoo.

 

As for Wonwoo’s reaction, I’m not the correct person to ask that exactly…

 

However, with all of these attempts, Mingyu concludes he’s going nowhere with Vernon. From the classroom, to the dining hall and hallways, the rooftop, the practice room, even the ing bathroom. 

 

He knows Vernon is in an uncomfortable state, probably, but all he wants from Vernon is a simple ‘Go away’ And he’ll go away. Vernon doesn’t complain, and Mingyu wants to let the male get comfortable with him until he can casually speak to him. He’s just too polite.

 

Yet Hansol thinks otherwise, like always.

 

Mingyu must’ve thought the weekend was Vernon’s favourite part of the week — Since he didn’t have to see Mingyu’s stupid face trailing behind him every second for a whole day.

 

To take his mind off things, and mainly the fact everything is so dull and boring lately (Despite his adventures with Vernon), he takes a walk around the town another time. Alone, more preferably.

 

Mingyu even decides to try the ice cream he got Vernon in the same shop. It didn’t end well, Mingyu ended up rushing to the bathroom no less — It was so sweet it sickened him.

 

‘You know what else is sweet but doesn’t sicken you Mingyu?’ Mingyu thought, making a conversation by himself. 

 

‘I dunno, what do you think Mingyu?’

 

‘Wonwoo.’

 

‘Yeah, you’re right… I miss Wonwoo.’

 

‘I miss him too.’

 

He starts getting to the outside parts of the main town, the ones which lead to the neighbourhoods and bridges over to the countryside. It was still loud, but not as loud as the main part of the town — That was on a different level.

 

“Wait, Jiwoo?” The male gets to his senses after trying to identify the girl for a few good minutes. He decides to approach her and say hi, since it has been around a month since he last saw her on New Year’s. “Hey! Jeon Jiwoo!” He yells out.

 

Jiwoo stops on her skateboard and looks over to the direction the voice calls her in. She gasps, surprised to see Mingyu waving his hands like an idiot and beckoning Jiwoo over.

 

“Oppa?” She hops back on her skateboards and skates towards the male, fixing her snapback. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

 

“I’m bored, so I thought going out would do any better.”

 

“How’d it go?”

 

“I just came back from visiting Minghao, and I also had ice cream… It didn’t go well.” Jiwoo laughs loudly, clapping her hands. “Do you come here often?”

 

“Me? ‘Often’? All the time Mingyu Oppa! I even have a nickname here.”

 

“Really? What is it?” The taller crosses his arms and smirks.

 

“Jiwoo.”

 

“Jiwoo that’s just you name-“ He then huffs and reveals a breathy laugh. “You know what, never mind…”

 

“By the way, you know Wonwoo Oppa is still mad at you right?” Jiwoo then comments, and from seeing Mingyu’s reaction, she knows what he’s going to say (Or guesses so).

 

“I think him kicking me a few days ago in science class because I was being too touchy already tells me that…”

 

“Ouch… Actually… At the same time, he seems more down. I’m not blaming you Oppa, Wonwoo Oppa has been stressed again… It’s always on and off…”

 

“That’s Wonu’ for you. I wish he wouldn’t worry so much, he’s too busy.” Shaking his head, Mingyu pouts his bottom lip. “Anyway, what about your studies?”

 

“They’re getting better.”

 

“Good. Work as much as you can, alright kiddo?” Playfully, Mingyu punches the younger on the shoulder

 

“You’re sounding like my Mom.”

 

“I’m just trying to encourage you.”

 

“Don’t worry, I know. Thanks Mingyu.” The older then looks down to Jiwoo’s knees, showing a red and purple spot on her knee.

 

“Harsh fall?”

 

“Yep, I was trying to pull a trick earlier on, but I ended up getting matching bruises with someone.” Jiwoo nervously chuckles, patting on the mark — It hurt, but Jiwoo liked the addictive pain of poking it.

 

“Be careful next time, okay? It looks painful-“

 

“JIWOO!” 

 

A voice calls out in the distance and Jiwoo clicks her tongue, smiling. “Speaking of matching bruises…” She turns around and shouts, “I’m over here punk!”

 

“HEY! DON’T CALL ME PUNK!” The laughter gradually got louder as the person skated towards Jiwoo and Mingyu.

 

…

 

Closer…

 

…

 

And closer…

 

“HANSOL?!”

 

“MINGYU HYUNG?!”

 

Vernon stops skating and jogs to the duo, shocked that Mingyu was here.

 

“You’re friends with Jiwoo?” Mingyu proceeds to take off Jiwoo’s snapback and puts it on his head, laughing not long after when he watches Jiwoo try to jump to get it. Vernon nods and chuckles quietly.

 

Jiwoo comments, “I’m his best friend!”

 

“No you aren’t.”

 

“WELL IN MY HEAD I AM, OKAY-“ She’s interrupted by Vernon’s laugh and is slightly pushed by the male, which he pushes him back rougher. Mingyu notices the bruise on Vernon’s knee too and understands the matching bruise story. it was kinda cute.

 

“I didn’t know you’d be here Hyung…”

 

“I was just passing by. You skate?”

 

“A bit, I’m not that good though.” And as always, the pessimistic Vernon strikes up.

 

So there’s the pessimistic Vernon, the narcissistic Mingyu, the dramatic Junhui and the epic Jiwoo. What a squad — Jiwoo decides to call them the ‘Icy’ (“You know, because it all ends with the letter I and C-") Squad (“Jiwoo that makes no sense.” “Wonwoo Oppa says you grades make no sense.” “Don’t you dare.” “I JUST DID BRO.”).

 

Jiwoo makes a loud ‘Tch’ Sound and hits the back of his head gently. “He’s so cool Oppa! Hansol’s just speaking nonsense! One time, he did this trick and went ‘WOOSH’! And the people were like ‘WOAH’! But then Hansol went ‘CRASH’! And everyone gasped like ‘OOSH’! Then his board suddenly went ‘SNAP’! And I said ‘HAHAHA’!”

 

The youngest of the three continues telling the story with hand movements and exaggerated sounds and Mingyu tries to understand what she’s saying, but he literally has zero clue. Same with Vernon.