*will be using Seongwu from now on since I heard that that's how Ong likes to spell his name

this chapter is a little shorter than the previous one, i can't extend it anymore :(
blame my little writer's block for not being able to update quickly. i lost the will to write and all, but i'm glad i was able to finish this.
and posting this today in celebration of the boys' first win plus JBJ's and Rainz' upcoming debut!!
and also for hyeri and junyeol dating but heeeh

***

“Daniel, stop screaming. My ears are bleeding.”

“What’s happening, what’s happening???????” 

“If you take your hands off of your eyes, you’d know what’s happening, Daniel.”

Ong Seongwu isn’t a big fan of horror movies as well, but due to Daniel’s consistent screaming and attempts to hide behind the older guy, Se. Instead of getting scared, Seongwu decided to focus on the scaredy cat beside him. He was too busy watching the big guy who looks like a puppy try his best to close his eyes while covering his ears to even care about what was happening on the big screen. Besides, Daniel’s screams were scarier than the movie. How would he be able to concentrate if the person beside him is screaming at his ears?

“Did the guy with the axe appear yet???” Daniel scooted closer to the older boy and held the sleeve of his shirt using it to cover his eyes after Seongwu finally managed to get Daniel’s hands off of his eyes. ”Are they all going to die??”

“Why don’t you use your eyes, you big puppy.” Seongwu pushed Daniel’s head playfully with his hand, smiling slightly as he looked at the boy.

“No, hyung! Cover me, cover me, cover me!!” Daniel pleaded as he tried his best to hide behind Seongwu, who is trying his best to move away from the younger boy. Seongwu didn’t know why he found it fun to tease Daniel, but seeing the reaction the younger boy gave him motivated him to do it more.

“Why would I cover you? Watch the movie!” Seongwu laughed as he pushed Daniel away gently, causing the boy to fall over from the small couch they were on. The younger boy got up quickly, going back to his seat and using the small pillow to cover his eyes instead. For a few minutes, Daniel was silently enduring the movie on his own. He did look a little sulky, probably because Seongwu wouldn’t even lend his back as a cover. Seongwu noticed this and started nudging Daniel on the side gently. “Hey, are you sulking?”

“No.” Seongwu can sense Daniel pouting based on the tone of his voice, and it made him laugh. The boy can look all strong and intimidating due to his build, but underneath that strong exterior is a small and fluffy puppy who’s scared of horror movies.

“You’re mad, are you?”

“I’m not, shut up.”

Seongwu looked at the screen and checked the scene being played. It would be a little fun to tease Daniel more. “Hey, you can look now. It’s not that scary anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Seongwu grinned and quickly snatched the pillow from Daniel. “See? No—”

Seongwu was interrupted by Daniel’s scream followed by a tight embrace, the younger burying his face on Seongwu’s chest. Daniel’s eyes were closed, and he was mumbling the words ‘seongwu’s mean’ to his self in order to distract his self from the continuous screams coming from the speakers. As soon as Seongwu snatched the pillow, the killer with the axe, the character Daniel was most afraid of, appeared on the screen.

Seongwu was frozen on the spot, his arms still raised from trying to shield his self to the punch or hit he thought was coming. He looked at the boy holding onto him as if his life depended on it, and it felt weird. Daniel was warm, and the warmth radiating from the younger boy was making its way to him. Seongwu felt like he could hear his own heartbeat amidst all the screams and cries coming from the movie they were watching. He was quite thankful that it was dark or else Daniel would again because of his blushing cheeks.

“D-daniel.” Seongwu cleared his throat, tapping Daniel on the shoulder lightly. “Get off.”

“No.” Daniel said firmly, hugging the older boy tighter. “If I let go, you’re going to play pranks on me again. I told you, I’m scared.”

“Daniel, ge—”

“No.”

And with Daniel’s firm answer and tight hold, Seongwu surrendered. It would be useless anyways. Throughout the rest of the movie, the two stayed like that: Seongwu awkwardly trying to make his self as comfortable as possible and Daniel hugging the older boy tightly, using his chest to cover his eyes. Even after the end credits were over and the lights went on, Daniel still didn’t let go.

“H-hey.” Seongwu poked Daniel on the shoulder. “The movie’s over, you can let go now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Can you still hear the end credits rolling?” Seongwu rolled his eyes and let out a soft sigh. “Come on, Daniel. Let’s go.”

Daniel slowly let go and ran a hand through his hair. He looks exhausted, as if his soul was drained out of his body. Beads of sweat can be seen on his forehead as he looked into blank space. He looked cute, and with his appearance, Seongwu felt an urge to hug him and tell him that he’s done a good job and that everything will be okay. But he’s not that kind of person usually so he didn’t.

Seongwu let out a soft chuckle as he patted Daniel’s back gently. “You’re okay now. Let’s go? We still have a mission to finish.”

“I’m hungry.” Daniel rubbed his stomach gently as he followed Seongwu out of the movie house. He looked at Seongwu, lips slightly pursed as he waited for the boy’s response.

Seongwu let out a sigh as he read the instructions Jonghyun gave them on how to get to their next mission. “Says the one who ate all the bread and hoarded the popcorn.” He studied the instructions before placing it in the envelope again.

“Screaming is exhausting. And when you’re exhausted, you get hungry.” Daniel said, using his hands to explain how those two statements were related. “The next mission is related to food, right? So where are we going to eat? Pasta and wine? I like pasta a lot, and wine too. There’s this certain brand of w—”

“Talk slowly, Daniel. Don’t eat your words.” Seongwu shook his head in amusement, gesturing for them to start moving along afterwards. The Daniel inside the movie house and the Daniel beside him right now is totally different, and it was as if the horror movie didn’t happen. The boy was back to his bright state after five minutes of mumbling ‘don’t be scared daniel’ to his self. “You have all day, so don’t speak like you’re in a rush.”

“Mm. I do have the rest of the day to spend with you.” Daniel said with a small smile, nodding slowly.

“You’re really enjoying this, huh?”

“Is it that obvious?” Daniel rubbed his nape shyly as he looked away.

Seongwu laughed softly. The boy wasn’t shy when he was hugging him tightly inside the movie house, yet now that he’s stating an obvious fact he gets all bashful. “Wow, you’re getting shy now? That’s weird. You really are unexpected, Daniel.”

“I am unexpected? In what ways?”

“Well, you’re talkative. Second, you’re not that awkward around new people, and lastly, it’s weird that you don’t have grudges against me for dumping you on that blind date.”

There, Seongwu finally said it. Ever since Daniel’s confession about knowing what actually happened before, he got curious and intrigued as to why this boy acts like nothing’s wrong. If he was in his position, he would’ve glared at the other until his gaze bore holes on the back of his head, or simply remove the string and leave, even if it means having to pay thrice the price of the red string package.

“To be honest, I’m totally okay about it.” Daniel nodded slowly, placing his free hand inside his pocket. “We are all entitled to our opinions, and if you thought I was a weirdo laughing by myself during our first date and decided to dump me, I wouldn’t really blame you. It was your choice, based on your life principle, even if it is a little silly if you ask me,” he looked at Seongwu with a small smile, earning a scoff from the older. He chuckled softly and shook his head slowly. “We all believe in something in order to keep ourselves sane, and that was yours. I don’t have anything against you. It did hurt a little, but it’s all in the past. Don’t worry about it.”

“So why did you agree to go on with this? If it was me, I would’ve said no.”

Daniel shrugged, smiling slightly. “You know, I actually saw you around campus after the blind date. I wanted to say hi to you, but since you were the one who dumped me, it might seem a little weird. For both you and me, of course. Since I got dumped and you didn’t want anything to do with me before.”

“Wow, you make me feel guilty.” Seongwu scrunched his nose, slowly admitting to his self that maybe, he made a judgment a little too early. After seeing the different sides of Daniel on today’s date, he started having second thoughts. What if he stayed a little longer, would their date turn out just as good as this one? Would he get to see Daniel laugh as if he’s losing his breath because of a joke he randomly blurted out? Would he hear those beautiful words come out of Daniel’s lips if he had stayed a little longer?

“You should feel guilty, you lemon law-ed me after all.” Daniel grinned, wiggling his brows teasingly as he looked at Seongwu.

“Alright, alright. Guilty.” Seongwu chuckled softly, raising his hands in the air as if he was surrendering. Due to this, the strap got pulled, tugging slightly on Daniel’s pale wrist. The boy winced in pain but laughed softly afterwards, finding the whole situation funny. It seemed that after a few hours of spending time with each other, they got comfortable with each other’s company and forgot about the existence of a certain red string which keeps them together literally. Seongwu stole a glance at Daniel and saw the boy smiling widely as he fixed the red strap on his wrist. “You do know how to make people feel guilty, mm?”

“I know, Jisung hyung told me. I guess it’s a talent.” Daniel sounded like he was a child bragging of his newly-found skill.

“You have a really great talent, Daniel.” Seongwu clapped his hands gently, giving Daniel a small smile.

“What do you think your talent is?”

“Mm..” Seongwu pursed his lips together as thought of something. Dancing and singing is pretty normal compared to Daniel’s talent of making people feel guilty. “Since I was gifted with this face, I think my talent is attracting people and making them fall for me. A lot of people have cried over this face, you know.”

Daniel’s lips formed a small o as he nodded slowly. “I accept that answer. You do have a beautiful face, but I think who you are draws more people in than what lies on the outside. I think I like you, not because of your beautiful face but more because of the sides of you I’ve been seeing today. I like it so far.”

If Seongwu was drinking something at the moment, he would’ve choked. He didn’t expect the answer and tried his best to not sound surprised. However, one specific word from Daniel kind of ticked him off. “You think you like me?” His ego was speaking, and it was a little bruised with what Daniel said. “You’re not sure if you like me?”

“I can’t really say that for now, but I am interested in you. Isn’t that why people go on dates? To get to know the people they’re interested in.” Daniel looked at Seongwu and smiled.

“I don’t know. I go on dates to have fun. It’s not like I fall in love with all of them.” Seongwu shrugged, trying to avoid Daniel’s gaze.

“You can’t be in love with each and every one you date. Some people are just too blinded by the concept of love, but most of them mistook the feeling of interest as love. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that people can learn how to love.”

Seongwu stared at the puppy-like boy beside him, a little confused and mostly amazed at what he said. Daniel may be talkative, and blurt out nonsense most of the time, but when he does get in the zone, he says some pretty deep that Seongwu can never think of. He never fails to surprise Seongwu every time he opens his mouth.

“I’m not in love with you yet, don’t get your hopes up too much.” Daniel warned in a joking manner as he looked at Seongwu. The older boy rolled his eyes before letting out a chuckle. “But I’m not saying that it’s impossible. Maybe in the near future, who knows?” He poked Seongwu’s cheek with his finger, smiling at the older boy with adoration. “Falling in love with you doesn’t seem too hard, you’re a person who deserves to be loved and adored that much.”

Just as the two expected, the next mission lead them to one of the finest restaurants near the university. It’s an Italian restaurant with a really romantic ambiance, and most people who ate the same time Seongwu and Daniel did were couples.

A meal was prepared for them as soon as they arrived. Much to Daniel’s liking, they were served with exactly his favorite brand of wine, the one he was supposed to talk about before Seongwu told him to not eat his words. However, he had to order a separate meal for his self since the dish included in the package is Seafood Marinara, and eating seafood can turn him into a big ball of red rashes. Seongwu ended up finishing the whole plate of Seafood Marinara good for two people, while Daniel munched on the small four-cheese pizza he ordered, dipping it in honey before popping it into his mouth.

Their small romantic almost dinner was interrupted by the waiter holding the stamp, telling them that they completed the last mission and are qualified to go back to the campus for the closing remarks. Daniel was a little crestfallen because he was already getting into the part of his story which excited him the most, but decided to just tell the story next time.

“Welcome back, destined couples! How was your date? Did everything go well?” Choi Minki smiled, his hands clasped together across his chest as he looked at the ‘couples’ in front of him. He turned to look at the young couple, smiling after seeing the length of their string. “Mm, seems like it worked for you two.” Daehwi and Jinyoung looked okay, and were busy talking and ignoring Minki. Their string was still the same length as before, seems like the two really hit it off.

Beside them were Jaehwan and Minhyun, whose string is the shortest. Turns out the two fought about little things throughout their date, like where to seat or who would leave first. Every mission they went to deducted 20cms from the red string connecting the two of them. After seeing the string, Minki laughed and shook his head. He told the two to ‘if you both had a hard time, blame your friends for putting you two together’. But it wasn’t the case. Minhyun and Jaehwan seemed okay together but just liked to bicker about the smallest things which resulted to their string getting shortened.

One couple was late, Park Jihoon and Park Woojin. If one thought that the Minhyun and Jaehwan’s string was short, Jihoon and Woojin’s were shorter. It’s so short it would make one think about how much bickering these two did for their string to end up like that.

Just like what Minki before, the punishment is something that they wouldn’t like. Instead of getting the strings removed, the strings got locked instead, forcing the couple to stay together overnight. They can only claim the key on the next morning. Daniel jokingly told Seongwoo that they should’ve walked slower so they can arrive at least a minute late. Seongwu ended up pulling on the latter’s cheek.

“I’m really thankful for your cooperation, and I hope you guys had fun on your dates. Until then, this has been the head cupid, Choi Minki, for this year’s The Red String of Fate. Thank you very much.” The members of the drama club behind Minki started clapping, while the others headed to the couples to untie them.

Everyone went on their own ways afterwards, while Daniel and Seongwu started walking towards the field where the fireworks display can clearly be seen. The university spends a lot on the fireworks display, and it is one of the most romantic highlight of the event.

Daniel and Seongwu stood beside each other without saying a word, waiting for the start of the festival’s most awaited event. Seongwu didn’t feel like speaking, while Daniel didn’t know what to say, since he’s feeling a little nervous. Seongwu might turn him down, and he wouldn’t get the chance to get to know this guy better.

Just as soon as the fireworks went on, Seongwu intertwined his fingers with Daniel, holding onto the younger boy’s hand tightly. All of the worries Daniel had slowly went away as soon as he felt the warmth coming from Seongwu’s hand. He turned to look at Seongwu and saw a big smile on his face as he watched the fireworks display.

Seongwu gave Daniel’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Falling in love with you doesn’t seem too hard either, Kang Daniel.”

won't be editing this because i am too lazy forgive me loool
GIVE SOME LOVE TO MY OTHER WORK AS WELL <3
Kaleidoscope Heart