This is... practically a filler chapter tbh but I guess you could say its a filler chapter with a purpose? Somewhere along those lines lol sorry if you were anticipating a lot ; v ;

It was just around 9 am when Seongwoo woke up to Niel pawing on his face. Apparently, the white furball has been feeling hungry but only Seongwoo knew about his eating schedules since he set them himself. The business major slowly sat up with a groan, finally feeling the ache on various parts of his body as a consequence of sleeping on the couch. The comforter (which he didn’t recall getting) pooled around his waist as he rubbed the sleep of his eyes while Niel sat by his side waiting for him to get up.

While Seongwoo was still rubbing his eyes, Minhyun came out of his room now fully dressed. “Finally up I see.” The still sleepy male looked at Minhyun’s general direction, “Oh.. wait..” He muttered while rummaging through the table where he probably placed his glasses. Minhyun chuckled at the sight before making his way over to the table where the glasses were indeed placed, “Here, let me help you with that.” The vocal major picked up the thin wire-framed spectacles and slipped it to Seongwoo’s face.

Seongwoo blinked until his vision finally became clear (along with the usual squeeze of his eyes, that strange blinking habit). The small male looked up and down at Minhyun’s get up. “... Where are you off to?” Minhyun chuckled, “You forgot again, didn’t you? I swear I even slipped this in your planner weeks ago.” The latter only blinked with a tilted head only exposing his cluelessness further, “We all planned on hanging out today just to relax. Daniel already went on ahead and he told me not to wake you up since you look tired but it looks like Niel had other plans”

“Well… he was hungry anyway..” Although sluggish, Seongwoo got up and went over to the kitchen where he placed food and water on Niel’s bowls. “Aren’t you getting ready soon?” Minhyun asked when Seongwoo hasn’t moved from his spot beside Niel in the last five minutes. “Still sleepy… give me ten minutes…” Minhyun only shook his head with a sigh, “Aish, you’re such a child sometimes. Looks like I have to wait for you after all.” He teased with a playful smile while Seongwoo only groaned at being denied his wanted ten-minute power nap.

~ .oOo. ~

“Took you long enough,” Jaehwan said as he saw his fellow vocal major and Seongwoo making their way towards the table. Minhyun wore a long sleeved loose button down with black pants while Seongwoo was in a simple yet comfortable getup. White long sleeved shirt under a black jacket (since he was the most sensitive to the cold), black pants, and black sneakers. Still, in his half-asleep state, he had his usual glasses on but he stuck with the old coconut hairstyle since he was too sleepy to care. 

“Sorry, had to make sure Seongwoo wouldn’t sleep in and ditch us again.” The said male pouted before he spotted Daniel calling him to sit beside the vacant chair beside him. Seongwoo couldn’t help but smile after he finally remembered that Daniel just became his boyfriend last night. It was definitely something new but not one that he was afraid to try. If it was Daniel, then he was sure he’ll be fine.

Seongwoo went over to Daniel’s side and instantly leaned his head on Daniel’s broad shoulders when he sat down on the chair. “Goodmorning..” He softly muttered as Daniel intertwined their hands under the table. “Didn’t get enough sleep?” Daniel replied with a soft voice while Seongwoo shook his head, “Niel woke me up for food…” The dance major brushed off Seongwoo’s fringe as it was softly falling over his now closed eyes. “You can rest if you want to, I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” Seongwoo hummed in reply, probably already half asleep. Daniel held Seongwoo’s glasses by the bridge and carefully slid it off his face before putting it down on the table.

Meanwhile, the two remained oblivious to the observing eyes as they were immersed in their own little world. Minhyun was the only one who remained unfazed as he casually takes out his laptop and sets it up on the table. Once Seongwoo seemed to be asleep and Daniel finally found a position where both of them were comfortable, only then did he notice that all eyes (except Minhyun) were on them. “... What?”

“Finally asked him out I see?” Minki asked with a bit of eyebrow wriggling and Daniel suddenly felt embarrassed after he realized how they did a public display of affection. “Well—“ Daniel started before Jaehwan interjected, “They do look cute together though, like a cat and a dog. Can’t believe you actually scored with someone like Seongwoo.” He finished with that maniacal laugh while Minki scoffed, “Your sorry lonely is just jealous that Daniel actually has someone now.” Jaehwan gasped and held a hand to his chest for dramatics.

Jonghyun interrupted before the two could spiral out of control, “Alright, that’s enough. Why don’t we listen to Daniel now?” The two glared at each other before looking back at Daniel, “So, how long?” Jonghyun started while Daniel suddenly felt embarrassed with all the attention, “Just last night…” Dongho suddenly leaned forward on the table, “What? Seriously? I thought you’ve been dating for like weeks now.” Daniel suddenly turned red, “... Am I that obvious?”

“Yes.” They all said in unison and Daniel suddenly felt like hiding in a hole.

“Seongwoo can be the smartest among us but he’s the densest to things like this,” Minhyun added without looking up from his laptop. “What has you all busy there anyway? We're supposed to be relaxing.” Came Minki’s complaint, “Just editing a recording for someone. It’s for the contest we’re hosting.” The business major perked up in interest. “You mean the anonymous song covers?” The visual vocal major nodded, “You’re still editing that? I already told you it sounded perfect untouched.” Came Jaehwan’s complaint but Minki ignored him, “Can we hear a sample?” Minhyun looked hesitant and looked over at Daniel’s direction. Daniel thought it might have been Seongwoo’s audio files and Minhyun was silently asking if it was okay but the person in question was still asleep, Daniel nodded anyway.

Minhyun did a small nod in reply and plucked one of his earbuds off. “Here, I’ll at least let you hear the chorus.” Minki grinned and excitedly anticipated for the audio. Amidst the random conversations being exchanged, Minki, being a person with huge reactions, suddenly made a surprised sound and even bumped his leg on the table... The others became curious, “What’s got you all worked up?” Dongho said in between laughs. “This guy is good though? The song is for non-vocal majors, right?”  

Dongho, being a fellow vocal major, asked Mihyun for the other earbud. “Oh, he had a nice tone. You can really feel the emotions are there.” Daniel felt the sleeping male on his shoulder stir until he eventually looked up, head still on Daniel’s shoulder. “Ah, sorry. Were we too loud? You can go back to sleep.” Daniel said but Seongwoo shook his head, “No, I’m okay now.” The raven-haired male sat up, rubbing the last bits of sleep off his eyes. Daniel picked up his glasses and gently slid it onto his face. Seongwoo squeezed his eyes, that usual blinking habit he does until his vision finally became clear and he picked up a bit of the conversation.

“What’s going on?” He asked Daniel but the giant puppy lookalike gestured towards their friends fussing over Minhyun’s laptop. “They wanted to hear some of the competitors for the contest hosted by the vocal majors. Minhyun was editing for some of them.” Seongwoo hummed and Minki suddenly grabbed his hand, “Since you’re up, here. You should listen to this. I think this guy did great!” Curious Seongwoo raised an eyebrow and glanced at Minhyun who only egged him on Seongwoo to listen to it too.

Seongwoo just grew more curious so he plugged the earbud into his ear. Minhyun looked hesitant but he knew he had to do it. After a long pause (with the others conversing in the background), a very familiar voice filled his ears and his eyes widened in an instant. The bespectacled male immediately looked at Minhyun, eyes filled with shock and probably a hint of betrayal.Yet, Minhyun looked nonchalant about the whole thing.

There’s no doubt about it.

The recording was his.

Ong Seongwoo’s cover of Kim Jinho’s “Love This Moment”

“Great, right?” Minki suddenly popped up beside him, voice entirely laced with enthusiasm and amazement. “I don’t need to be a vocal major to know that they could convey emotions pretty well.” Seongwoo snapped out of his daze, “Y-Yeah, right. I-It was... It sounded great... Actually.” He replied with a scratch on his neck to hide the shock he was currently experiencing. “Let me hear that too.” Dongho, who has been curious about Minki’s rambling, reached out and plucked the earbud off of Minhyun and listened to the audio. “Oh? He did well though? Did you let Aron listen to it? I’m sure he would love it!”

Minhyun shook his head, “I think they were going to get him as a judge so he can’t listen to them yet.” Meanwhile, Seongwoo remained quiet while he listened to his own vocals. It came out better than he expected. That, he was sure. Hearing his friends compliment it made him feel all the more relieved. Daniel, who noticed Seongwoo not moving, stood up and slipped himself beside the bespectacled freshman.

“What’s wrong?” Said bespectacled male practically flinched in surprise. “Um... I-It’s just…” He couldn’t form a coherent sentence. On the other hand, Minhyun only plucked off the earbud off of Seongwoo’s ear before placing it on Daniel’s. Minhyun replayed the chorus for Daniel and he immediately felt giddy. Of course, he would know who sang this of all people.

It was Seongwoo’s unconscious confession after all.

Speaking of Seongwoo, the smaller male looked like he banged his head on the table since he was whimpering. Not because he did, but because Daniel obviously remembered what transpired during the song and now he was just trying to hide the intense blush on his face. “What’s wrong with Seongwoo?” Came Jonghyun’s innocent question so Daniel peeked by the side and saw how red Seongwoo’s ears were which made a mischievous grin spread on his face.

“Aw, are you embarrassed? Of course, I remembered this song~” Daniel teased while he tried to make Seongwoo look up from the table. However, Seongwoo was stubborn and extremely embarrassed about the ‘confession song’ that he couldn’t look at Daniel after being reminded of it. “Why? What is he so embarrassed about?” Jonghyun, who has been silent majority of the time, suddenly looked interested (and so was gossip queen Choi Minki who was again leaning forward on the table).

“Don’t you want to tell them, Seongwoo?” The latter fervently shook his head.

Daniel only grinned.

“I’ll be the one to tell them then!”

“WHA―”

“Seongwoo confessed to me with this song~,” Daniel said similar to how a proud mother would while Seongwoo groaned and hid his face in his arms, face once again planted on the table. “Aw~ Don’t be like that! It was cute!” Daniel teased while repeatedly poking Seongwoo’s head. However, the others were shocked, “Wait, you weren’t the one who confessed?” Minhyun finally spoke after a while and Daniel grinned.

“Nah, of course, I confessed first! Seongwoo unconsciously confessed without even knowing he was~” Daniel said with the teasing very evident in his voice. “Wait,” Dongho started, “How do you even confess without knowing?” The brunet stood up with one leg on the chair for the sake of dramatics, “This guy here,” With a gesture to the still hiding Seongwoo, “Has just recorded the very audio you heard!” Minki practically screeched.

“I knew it sounded familiar! I knew it!” Minki kept going on while Jaehwan finally caught on.

“Wait, so the audio Minhyun was editing was Seongwoo’s recording?” Daniel being the supportive boyfriend he was, nodded as he patted Seongwoo’s back. “He did great, didn’t he? I actually can’t believe we got him to join this contest! It’s the perfect chance!” Daniel said while he was basically bouncing on his seat. Amidst the noisy praises, Jonghyun finally interjected. “So... what does this have to do with the confession?” The others blinked.

“Oh, right.” Daniel sheepishly smiled, “He was practically staring at me throughout the whole chorus probably thinking he wasn’t obvious~ Confronted him about it later on in the dorms but he didn’t deny or stop me so I decided to confess there.” Minhyun sighed, “So that’s why you were both asleep on the couch.” Daniel felt embarrassed at that, “Y-Yeah…”

“So Seongwoo finally decided to show some vocal prowess, huh?” Came Jaehwan’s teasing voice while repeatedly elbowing Seongwoo’s arms since the boy has yet to lift his head. “Please stop...” Seongwoo finally said with a groan although he still had no plans of lifting his head. He was too embarrassed. Jonghyun walked over and patted his head, “No need to be shy, you actually did really great. You should be proud.”

Jonghyun has always had that calming voice that magically coaxes anyone and today wasn’t an exception either. Seongwoo carefully lifted his head and looked at Jonghyun, “...You mean it? About doing well I mean…” Jonghyun smiles and nods without any hesitation. Daniel, who was just sitting right beside him, fixed the glasses that have gone askew on his face and went back to reassuring Seongwoo by holding his hand underneath the table and giving a peck on his cheek. “See? You have nothing to worry about.”

“Well , do we have to deal with all this PDA from now on?” Jaehwan complained, making Seongwoo blush but Daniel stuck his tongue out. “You’re just jealous since you’re still living the single and lonely life.” Before the argument could get more ridiculous, Minhyun decided to interject. “I’ll finish this up now since there’s nothing much to edit and I’ll give you any feedback if they tell me anything. Oh, do you want to have any pseudonym for your entry?”

“Ongcheongie” Daniel suggested out of the blue which only earned him a hit to the shoulder. “I’m fine with not using one.” Minhyun nodded and saved the file with whatever his contestant number was. The couple was practically arguing (more like bantering) since Daniel kept teasing the poor bespectacled boy. Amidst all the conversations (and flirting at the side), Minhyun tapped on Daniel’s shoulder to get his attention. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” The brunet raised an eyebrow but he still came along when Daniel said he’ll be right back.

“What’s up?”

“There’s something I didn’t tell him.” Straightforward as always. Daniel thought.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t tell him what happens after the eliminations” Minhyun simply said, now Daniel was getting more confused by the second. “Hey, I’m not going to know if you don’t tell me either, you know?” Minhyun only sighed, “I know, but he’s not going to like it.” Daniel raised an eyebrow, “Why not?” Minhyun glanced back at their table where the others were conversing with one another with Seongwoo as the center of attention. He hasn’t been with them for long, Minhyun was just relieved his friends were actually considerate enough to help him loosen up to them more.

Then he looked back to Daniel, “I didn’t tell him we adapted the format of the tv show ‘King of Masked Singer’ for the semi-finals and such.” Daniel blinked, he wasn’t clueless. That show was one of the hot shows among their age so he definitely knew how it works. But Daniel suddenly tensed at the reminder, the show usually judges people who sang live and Seongwoo can’t do that yet.

“He’s going to freak out! What do we say―!” Minhyun immediately shushed him when his voice was getting too loud. “That’s exactly why I asked him to pick three songs. Unlike the King Of Masked Singer, they pick their own songs from the start. Seongwoo picking songs with different vibes is actually advantageous since he gets to show more of what he has. We can’t tell him yet but we have to raise his confidence somehow. Starting with our friends is one so I let them hear his recording on purpose. Getting complimented by them is actually a big thing for him already so we just need to give him small pushes.”

Daniel chewed on his bottom lip as he looked back at the bespectacled male. Thankfully, he looked more relaxed with a smile gracing his features. Seongwoo’s eyes came in contact with Daniel’s own and he instantly gave a small smile along with a shy wave. Daniel always wanted to see him like that, all happy and carefree about the world. If him achieving his dreams could lead to days filled with his smiles, then Daniel will do anything to help him get where he wants to be.

Slowly but surely.

Anything for that sweet smile on his shy and innocent boyfriend.

Okay so I miscalculated, the double update is actually for CH16-17 so yeah, today is not a double update. I am so sorry ; n ; though if I happen to finish the entire story, then I could post CH15 earlier so the waiting time for CH16-17 wouldn't be so long. You'll know in the next chapter why it has to be a double update. Initially, the set scenario for those two chapters was only for CH16 but the length got out of hand and it reached a total of 6.4k words, more than twice the usual number of words I post per chapter so I split it into two. Though, the contents of the chapter aren't really something I wanted to split so yeah. At least the good news for everyone is that after CH15 is a sure double update lol look forward to it~ :D