Daniel continued to monitor Seongwoo’s food the following day and he doesn’t mind it one bit. Who was he to reject his boyfriend’s efforts? It was pretty endearing too, being cared for in a way only Daniel could possibly think of. At present, Seongwoo and Daniel were in the middle of eating their dinner of chicken when Daniel caught him staring into space.

“Hey,” Daniel started with a small wave towards his face that has Seongwoo flinching back with a blink. “What’s got you zoning out all of a sudden?” The brunette asks with worry evident in his voice but Seongwoo just smiles albeit small. “It’s... It’s nothing.” He finishes with a smile that has Daniel growing more concerned by the second with how forced it looks. Seongwoo diverted the topic away from him before Daniel could inquire any further.

It was already the day before the competition. Minhyun, being a part of the vocal department, needed to stay over at a friend’s place for the final preparations to tomorrow’s big event, therefore, leaving Seongwoo and Daniel alone in their dorm. Maybe it was Daniel fussing over Seongwoo’s food that made him distracted from noticing the small things that changed.

Daniel has done most of the talking the whole day while Seongwoo usually had Niel in his arms (and no, Daniel does not get jealous over a cat receiving more attention than him. Definitely not. Never in a million years. Yep.) though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Seongwoo wasn’t much of a chatterbox compared to Daniel who could talk enough for the two of them anyway. Only then did Daniel realize that Seongwoo has probably been spacing out since earlier and he probably mistook it for him listening.

Aish, how could I be so dense? He mentally slapped himself.

Of course, being the considerate boyfriend he was, he wanted to know what’s wrong but he didn’t want to be too pushy either. He decided to let Seongwoo approach him on his own if he ever needed help while he continued to look after him from afar. Who knows, it might be the nerves for tomorrow starting to get to his head.

Silence ensued in the duration of the evening with Daniel occasionally starting up small conversations that he’s sure Seongwoo would respond to. Eventually, they both washed up and decided to turn in for the night. Seongwoo headed to his room while Daniel made his way to the sofa. The Busan boy looked over his shoulder and saw how his bespectacled companion was still silent, eyes unfocused and distant indicating how he was most probably in deep thought.

Before Seongwoo could turn the knob, Daniel gently held his wrist and looked him in the eyes. “Hey,” He whispered, hands gently cupping the smaller male’s cheek, “I can tell there’s something in your mind. If you need me then I’m right here, okay?” Seongwoo blinked, mouth left agape but he replied with a small nod nonetheless. Daniel smiled, one filled with reassurance before leaving a loving peck on Seongwoo’s temple.

“Good Night.”

~ .oOo. ~

“...el”

“...niel..”

“Daniel…”

The said male groaned when he finally woke up to someone gently shaking him and a voice softly calling out his name. Daniel stirred until he finally opened his eyes. The room was still dim but he could make out the silhouette of the other amidst the darkness. “Seongwoo?” He called out, voice heavily laced with sleep that has Seongwoo feeling bad for waking him up in the middle of the night.

Daniel rubbed the sleep off his eyes before he slowly sat up, now eyeing Seongwoo who sat by the sofa’s edge beside him fidgeting with his fingers. “What’s wrong?” He asked while lacing his fingers in Seongwoo’s to get him to talk but Seongwoo’s mumble was too low for him to make out the words. “What?” The bespectacled male pushed back his glasses, probably blushing if they were in a lit room and looked back at the giant puppy.

“... Can you sleep beside me tonight?” Seongwoo repeated, voice much more clear as he holds onto Daniel’s hand. “Sure. You go on ahead and wait for me there, okay?” Seongwoo nods and slowly slips back into his room leaving Daniel on the sofa who was still trying to be completely functional. Daniel yawned and checked his phone.

1:39 am

At least two hours since the last time he checked (which was before he slept). Daniel stretched his arms over his head and proceeded to Seongwoo’s room with the pillow and his phone in tow. When he enters Seongwoo’s room, the room was just as dark with minimal moonlight pouring in from the windows. Seongwoo sat on the edge of his bed located directly beside the window, gazed unfocused as he stares at the window.

Just as how Seongwoo resonates with the moon, he once again looks ethereal under the moonlight. There’s always something about Seongwoo that radiates confidence when he has his spectacles and comma hair at times. Yet, there was also the Seongwoo that looked more elegant at night. The usually bespectacled male has already removed his glasses giving Daniel an unobstructed view of Seongwoo’s almond-shaped eyes that now reflected a silvery glow from the moon bouncing off his irises. With his hair now combed down to his natural fringe, Seongwoo has never looked more like the child of the moon.

Daniel has yet to make his presence known (or Seongwoo just hasn’t noticed) so he quietly closed the door behind him and made his way towards the bed. Seongwoo didn’t move an inch. Even as Daniel wrapped his arms around his thin waist, a small smile graced his lips and he leaned back on the Busan boy’s chest. “...I couldn’t sleep” He mumbles under his breath but loud enough for Daniel to hear.

The brunette hummed in reply, his one hand reaching up to repetitively run through Seongwoo’s black locks. “Are you nervous or excited?” Daniel asked as they both kept their gazes at the window, “It’s a chaotic mix of both I feel like I’m going to puke” Daniel merely chuckled in reply, “It’s natural to feel that way. I felt the same when I joined a b-boying competition for the first time” Seongwoo started to play around with the sleeves of Daniel’s long sleeved shirt.

“How’d you do?”

“I bad, I think I sprained my wrist that time” Lies. I actually won first place but he doesn’t need to know that. “But I used it as motivation to do better until I eventually got my name out there. They knew me as FLAC though so I guess they only knew my face.” The smaller male let out a small laugh, “FLAC? Where did that come from?”

“... That’s a story for another time.”

“Oh c’mon, we have plenty of time to s―”

“Oh would you look at that, it’s already two in the morning and according to research you need to get a good night’s sleep on the day before the performance so we have to go to bed!” Before Seongwoo could even open his mouth, Daniel, who still had his arms wrapped around his waist, suddenly lays down on the bed bringing down Seongwoo with him (who definitely did not yelp in surprise).

“Ack! You’re heavy!”

“Sorry―” Daniel shifts his position to make sure he isn’t putting all his weight on Seongwoo while he somehow doesn’t remove his arms from his waist. “But seriously though, get some sleep,” Daniel repeated with a more serious tone and a small pinch on Seongwoo’s side as a warning. A comfortable silence followed but Daniel kept his eyes open as if he were waiting for Seongwoo to fall asleep so he kept drawing circles on Seongwoo’s waist hoping that it helps coax him to sleep.

Just when he thought Seongwoo was already asleep, the said male squirms and suddenly turns to face him looking rather shocked to see him awake. “H-Hi…” Daniel chuckles and brushes Seongwoo’s fringe to the side. “Can’t sleep?” Seongwoo bit his lower lip as if he were contemplating on his words. “Daniel…”

“...What if I don’t let out another note when I’m at the front? What if I suddenly feel like I can’t do it? What if―”

“Shhh..” Daniel silences him by covering Seongwoo’s mouth entirely, “This mouth is so naughty spitting out bad words.” Seongwoo pouted, “That’s just exactly what they are. Just ‘what ifs’. There’s no guarantee it’s going to happen so just get out there and do what you do best.” Another silence followed with Seongwoo now fidgeting with the blanket draped over their bodies, Daniel only held him closer until the crown of his head was practically on Daniel’s shoulder.

“I don’t know if this is going to help you but… If you feel like you’re fighting alone, then just find me in the crowd, okay? At least by then, you’ll be sure that someone is there to support you. How’s that?” It was just a small gesture really, nothing grand but for Seongwoo, it was all he needed. Daniel was the very source of his small bit of confidence so he was sure he would naturally look for him in the crowd.

“How am I going to find you though? There are hundreds of people with the same physique as you” Seongwoo teased while it was now Daniel’s turn to pout, “I like to believe I am incredibly unique and those other guys actually want to be like me” He defends but Seongwoo only laughs at him, “But don’t worry about that,” Daniel said with a grin, “I already thought of a way to make it easier to find me”

“Oh, really?” Seongwoo challenged, “How?”

Daniel only flashes a mischievous grin, “It’s a surprise, you’ll see.”

“This isn’t some embarrassing sign, is it?”

“Oh don’t you worry, it’s something you wouldn’t expect. I’ve been thinking of doing it for a while now” Seongwoo hummed in thought yet he came up with nothing that Daniel has explicitly mentioned in the past weeks. “Fine! I give up, I guess I’ll just have to wait then” The brunette smiles in triumph and runs a hand through Seongwoo’s soft black hair.

“Well, enough about that. It’s about time you get some sleep” Daniel says as he leaves another peck on the top of Seongwoo’s head. “You’ve got a big day to prepare for” Seongwoo looks up Daniel and flashes him a genuine smile enough to convey all the gratitude he felt without putting it into words.

“Good night” He muttered as he clings onto Daniel’s torso like a koala and buries his face in his chest. Daniel, who finds the entire display adorable, mutters his own good night and holds Seongwoo close until they both fall asleep in each other’s embrace.

~ .oOo. ~

Seongwoo woke up to the sunshine shining down directly on his face that he had to squint to block it out. The business major turned to his side and reached out, hoping to get a hold of a giant figure on the bed but then he only kept grabbing on empty yet warm bed sheets. Frowning at the lack of contact, Seongwoo slowly opens his eyes and notices that there was no sight of the giant brown puppy he instantly pouted in disappointment.

And here I was hoping I’d wake up with an important person in my life for an important day…

Just as he sat up, the door suddenly swings open and in comes the very brunette he was looking for. “Oh, you’re awake” He simply says with a smile while Seongwoo was pouting at him. “I thought I’d wake up beside you, I wanted to cuddle a bit” Daniel has the audacity to just chuckle at his misery yet he takes Seongwoo’s spectacles from the bedside table and carefully puts it onto Seongwoo.

“As much as I want to do just that, you need to at least eat something light so you wouldn’t go hungry and end up stuffing yourself later.” Even though Seongwoo wants to object, he can’t deny that Daniel was right and ended up begrudgingly getting up from the bed. “I can cuddle you as much as you want later, don’t worry~” The Busan boy reassured using that thick accent of his that makes Seongwoo weak on his knees. “...Fine. Don’t back down on promises”

After making Daniel promise for more cuddles, only then does he let himself be dragged into the kitchen where a glass of juice was already prepared alongside bread slices with peanut butter. “...No wonder why you weren’t in bed.” Seongwoo mutters to himself as he takes a seat with Daniel who followed suit as he sat beside him with his own breakfast. “Of course, I’m still not done with the meal monitoring thing. This is going to be the last day though…” Daniel murmurs the last part but it was still loud enough for Seongwoo to hear. He chose not to comment on it.

“Oh, and another thing…” Daniel starts as Seongwoo takes a bite of his toast, “Before you say anything, yes, this is also part of the research I did.” The latter chuckled, “As much as possible, try not to talk too much, okay? You know like, save your voice for later. You can still sing if you want to though, think of it like a vocal warm up but don’t strain yourself too much.” Just as Daniel finishes explaining, Seongwoo instantaneously starts humming to ‘Galaxy’ that has Daniel smiling from ear to ear.

Breakfast went on without much conversation, just Seongwoo occasionally humming or Daniel telling him stories about Rooney and Peter at home. They didn’t have a problem with the current atmosphere. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary since Daniel usually talks enough for the two of them anyway, Seongwoo has always been more of a listener after all. That was until Daniel opened up another topic that has Seongwoo feeling a little disappointed.

“I forgot to tell you but… I won’t be able to go with you later to the venue for the competition.” Daniel said with much hesitation in fear that Seongwoo would be disappointed and he wasn’t wrong in expecting such a reaction. The bespectacled male was looking at him with… was that a tinge of fear in his eyes?

“B-But… why?” Uh oh, he’s stuttering! Daniel thought so he slipped his fingers in Seongwoo’s own in hopes of calming down what Daniel thinks was an incoming surge of anxiety. “Don’t worry, I only won’t be able to be with you on the way but I promise I’ll be there before the competition even starts. I just need to attend to something and I’ll go straight to the area. Okay?”

Seongwoo remained silent but he trusted Daniel enough to know that he wouldn’t break his promise so he nodded in reply. “Just… Just promise you’ll be there, okay? I-I need to see you in the crowd since you calm me down” the much larger male flashed him his thousand-watt smile and kissed the hand he held in his own, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world” That was enough to coax another upward curve on the corners of Seongwoo’s lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too you little hummingbird” The conversation ended on a good note and in the end, they both did the dishes together with Seongwoo back to being Daniel’s part-time radio but he made sure not to strain his voice too much in preparation for later. By the time they were done, they still had a couple of hours before noon. Daniel said he had to go now if he wanted to finish his errands earlier so he left after getting dressed while Seongwoo opted to stay behind with Niel.

Of course, Daniel didn’t forget the last few reminders before he had to leave. “Make sure to eat the chicken I left in the fridge for you, just heat it up and you’re good to go. Also a quick reminder, contestants were requested to be there by two in the afternoon so you can try on the masks for any adjustments needed so Minhyun will pick you up at 1:45 pm on the dot like he said, so be ready by then. I suggest you immediately take a shower after lunch so you’ll be completely ready by then. Remember not to strain your voice too much!”

“Yes, mom!”

~ .oOo. ~

“Welcome!” Came a voice of one of the female employees as Daniel enters the establishment with Jisung in tow. He’s been thinking about doing this for a while now, but lately, he thinks it's the perfect way to make it easy for Seongwoo to spot him in the crowd so he decided to be daring push through.

“Niel, are you really sure about this?” Jisung asked for the nth time while Daniel playfully rolled his eyes. “Yes, Hyung. I’m sure.” He replied with hints of excitement and what Jisung interpreted as affection. “You’ll really do anything for that Ong kid, won’t you?”

Daniel looked back with a smile that has Jisung shaking his head in defeat.

“More than you’ll ever know”

Jisung is just happy someone else can make Daniel this loving and happy besides his cats.

~ .oOo. ~

Just as Daniel instructed, Seongwoo reheated the chicken he prepared at exactly twelve noon and prepared Niel’s food so he could eat alongside his cat to make sure it wasn’t lonely. To avoid straining his voice too much, he ended up borrowing Daniel’s portable speaker that was conveniently on the coffee table to play any background music as they ate.

It was… kinda lonely. To think he quickly got used to being with Daniel in a span of two days, he must be beyond ‘whipped’. Seongwoo went straight to the shower afterward, he still had at least an hour and a half before Minhyun comes to pick him up. He definitely took his time, no doubt he zoned out more than he could count and decided to finish up when the steam from the hot water started to make the bathroom feel a little stuffy and his fingers taking on a pruny appearance.

“Hm, what should I wear…” Seongwoo said to no one in particular as he stares at the various pieces of clothing in his closet, “First thing’s first, black jeans would probably be fine. Not too casual or formal and people have loads of those anyway.” He mutters to himself as he browses through his jeans where he pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans that fit him just right. “...All black shouldn’t be a problem, right?” He asked to... no one in particular. Probably Niel who was lounging around on the foot of his bed where he placed him earlier.

Seongwoo first wore the black jeans and dried his hair off with the towel. Still not knowing what to wear, he was back to staring at the rack of clothing (now with pants on, at least). “Well… It’s not like I have to dress well…. Or do I?”

“Yes, you do” Suddenly came Minhyun’s voice from the door that has Seongwoo muttering out a curse while covering his ears out of surprise, “M-Minhyun… What the hell?” Yet, his roommate only chuckles at his friend’s current state, “I made sure to come earlier in case you slept in again. Besides, Daniel left earlier so how was I sure you didn’t sleep after he left?” Seongwoo just rolls in eyes before a sudden thought came to him.

“Wait, what time is it?”

“1:17 pm, you still have some time but I suggest you hurry.” The younger of the two sighed in relief, “Then while you’re here, I need you to help me pick what to wear.”

“Didn’t you say you were going with all black?”

“What the f― How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear you talk to yourself”

“Wait, what― “

“So, all black was it? Why don’t you use the suit jacket you had in the back?”

“Hey, I wasn’t fini― “

“It could go well with the white dress shirt, the silk-like one with a black collar. Then you can finish it off with the black necktie” Minhyun finishes while pointing at the black necktie that hung by a hook on the door of Seongwoo’s closet. “...Not sure if I should be creeped out that you almost know every piece of clothing I have in here or not” Yet Minhyun has the audacity to smile as if it shouldn’t be an issue in the first place.

“Aren’t you getting ready?” Minhyun pipes up and Seongwoo is suddenly reminded of his time constraint. “Oh ― “

“Language.”

“S-Sorry..” Seongwoo says as he pulls out the outfit that Minhyun suggested. Black suit jacket, white dress shirt with black collar, and black necktie. Though he has to admit, the whole ensemble isn’t so bad. It actually looked like it gave more of a classy vibe. “I already saw your mask earlier so I thought the outfit would go well with it. It actually looked great, they’re definitely not art majors for nothing.”

“... Guess for now I’ll be thankful you know what’s in here then” Seongwoo says while making his way to the bathroom to change. In a span of 5 minutes, Seongwoo was completely dressed and Minhyun most definitely deserved that mental pat on the back because he looked stunning. “You still have at least half an hour to go so you should get to styling quick.”

“Aren’t I going to wear a mask though?”

“Yes, but it’s not like you’re going to wear it during the whole competition so you need to look your best too.” Hm, he did have a point. Seongwoo sighed at the realization that his worries have yet to cease, “I can help you with the hair styling if you need me to.” Minhyun offered but Seongwoo waved him off, “Nah, I could do that bit on my own. You can just wait by the living room.”

And so he did.

For like, 20 minutes or so until Seongwoo finally came out of his room in a comma hairstyle just as how he styled it when he first tried it out alone. “Perfect.” Minhyun simply said with a smile that has Seongwoo’s lips curving up in a shy smile. “Shall we go?” Minhyun asked and Seongwoo took in a deep breath before nodding.

“Okay, let’s go”

So ... here lol  tbh I'm suppose to be studying for my midterms right now but heyyy it's not like it'll take me an hour to update this anyway. If you haven't noticed, the word counts already start to get longer from the previous chapters since this is where the story obviously focuses on. 

I guess this is still somewhat a filler chapter? Though it's more of a transitioning kind so I think it's important in a way

Hopefully this was enough to make the week long wait worth it ^^'

'til next Sunday :D