Mingyu☕:
I'm coming, don't worry.

Relief washed over him like a sandy wave over a pebble on the beach. He sighed through a blanket of tears before stumbling to the bathroom sink to wash his face (and his mind) of all the sadness. He was embarrassed to let it show.

Wonwoo knew he wouldn't be able to hear Mingyu knock when he arrived so he waited by the door, occasionally looking through the peep whole.

He felt weak and frail and ready to burst into tears again but he knew he had to be brave. Mingyu cared so much about him- he truly owed him a straight answer.

When the tall man with honey skin finally walked up the stairs of the apartment complex towards Wonwoo's door each step was nervous and hesitant. Several times he paused and turned away before shaking his head and continuing to approach the apartment. Wonwoo could see him muttering to himself as if he was rehearsing what he wanted to say.

Wonwoo became impatient as he watched Mingyu stall. He wanted more than anything to hear his voice and see his shining eyes. He honestly missed him for the short while they were apart.

He watched as Mingyu nodded to himself and adopted a confident stance before finally approaching. Before he had a chance to greet the doormat with his shoes Wonwoo threw open the door and tackled him with a hug. This wasn't his original plan. He wanted to open the door with a blank face and welcome Mingyu inside to apologise formally and calmly (he assumed that that's what you're supposed to do since his experiences were minimal) but he just couldn't help himself. Mingyu was like his lifeline and he was dying without him.

"I'm sorry, Mingyu. I'm so sorry!" Wonwoo half-yelled into his chest finally letting go of the depressing emotions he had been hauling around on his shoulders all morning.

"It's ok. I'm sorry too." Mingyu held him close and buried his face in Wonwoo's hair. He wrapped his arms around him so gently as if he was worried he would shatter under his touch.

They stood in the doorway cocooning one another in hugs and tears for what seemed like eternities but Wonwoo didn't mind. He wanted to stay like that no matter what. Even if the world came crumbling down around them he would remain enveloped in Mingyu's warm black coat breathing in his honey and vanilla scent.

"Let's go inside." Mingyu said eventually.

"Ok." Wonwoo replied but neither of them moved. They just held eachother closer letting their warm embrace speak a thousand apologies.

It wasn't until Wonwoo's neighbor came out of her apartment that they pulled apart and smiled awkwardly to greet her. As she walked away down the stairs they made their way inside closing the door behind them and leaving the hall in echoed silence.

Wonwoo lead him to his kitchen where Mingyu sat down at the counter. He went to the fridge to get him a drink. Mingyu said he liked the orange juice at Wonwoo's house so he poured him a glass and placed it on the table infront of him before sitting down too. Mingyu's eyes were red and sore and his cheeks looked stained and swollen. It was clear he had been crying. A lot.

Silence filled the space between them and Wonwoo hated it. So he broke it as gently as possible.

"Mingyu, I made a mistake. I'm sorry." He shook his head as he spoke with furrowed eyebrows and teary eyes.

A layer of water formed on Mingyu's eyes too making them even more sparkly than usual. He sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve before suddenly standing up and pulling Wonwoo into a hug. This time his arms were strong and protective as if he was trying to show how much he loved the beige haired boy through the strength of an embrace.

"Don't say that. You did nothing wrong." Mingyu's voice was a whisper as quiet as the summer's wind.

Wonwoo wanted to fix everything that he put wrong but it was so difficult.

"If you want... we can talk about it." Wonwoo's heart clenched.

"Only if you think you are able too." Mingyu paused for a short while then spoke again. "Only if that would make you happy."

Wonwoo nodded and Mingyu loosened his hug so they could pull away from one another. The latter sat back down and they both looked at the floor still trying to blink away tears.

Then Wonwoo took a deep breath. It was shaky and filled with his deepest fears; rejection, loneliness, judgement (something he was possibly about to face in the next few minutes if he finally managed to say what he wanted to).

"Mingyu... I want to let you in on my life and... I want to tell you everything about me but... it's so difficult."

"I know, I know. And it's ok if you need more time." Mingyu leant over and slipped his hand into Wonwoo's. Both of their heartbeats quickened until they were beating in sync.

"Mingyu I'm d--" The words got stuck. The worries and trepidation had knotted in his stomach, building up over the month until they were too large to push passed his throat. Wonwoo couldn't speak or think straight anymore and instead everything he wanted to say came out in floods of sorry tears.

"I'm not normal. And I hate it. I'm an outcast and there's nothing I can do about that but live my life wanting to disappear." He was sobbing now. Something about speaking of his most hated feelings for the first time in his life made him a massive weight lift from his shoulders even if he couldn't physically say the specifics.

"That's not a bad thing. You don't have to be normal to be loved." Mingyu hoisted Wonwoo towards him by his hand and hugged him again. He patted his back to encourage his bravery but instead Wonwoo just cried even more.

"Sometimes I wish I never changed. I don't want to be like this, Mingyu. I want to be like you, or Soonyoung, or Jihoon, or Jeonghan, or anyone but me." A sharp intake of air followed by a heart-breaking sob broke his sentence apart even though the sore catharsis was fairly releaving. "I hate it, Mingyu. I hate it so much... I hate me so much."

And it was the truth. Wonwoo couldn't bare living in the silence and he blamed himself for it entirely despite his deafness being completely uncontrolled and an unfortunate incident. The words ate away at Mingyu's heart. Hearing the one person he cared about more than anyone he knew say that he hated who he was was utterly agonizing.

"Please don't say that. Please don't hate yourself." He buried his face deeper in the sandy hair that smelt of chocolate and honeysuckle.

"You'd hate yourself too if you were like me."

Then Mingyu pulled away with fustrated force grabbing his friend by the shoulders and holding him at arms length.

"No." He scolded looking straight into his eyes. "Don't you dare say that. You are the most wonderful person I have met and I would never dream of hating you. You're clever, you're funny, you're handsome. I couldn't wish to have met anyone better." Wonwoo kept shaking his head and there came another hug from the taller boy. "I wish you saw yourself the way I saw you."

"I wish I could explain the reason I feel this way." Wonwoo's voice had turned hoarse and fragmented. It cracked at every syllable and reflected his broken heart.

"You don't have to." Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo by the hand again. It was obvious he was struggling to cope with his feelings and needed a reason to smile. "Let's go do something fun to take your mind off of everything."

Mingyu lead Wonwoo to the living room where he sat down on the sofa.

"Wait there." Mingyu said before wandering off.

He came back with a book in his hands. It was aged and well-used and more importantly Wonwoo's favourite from the top of his bookshelf.

"Why did you pick that one?" Wonwoo asked as he tried to dry his face with his sleeve.

"Because it looks like it's been read many times so you must like it a lot."

"I do. It's my favourite."

"Good. Then it must make you happy." Mingyu sat down next to him and flicked to the front page.

He began to read aloud. His voice was calming and gentle and gave Wonwoo butterflies that cooled down the pain in his chest with the flapping of their wings.

The story was about a girl born blind. She felt like an outcast for most of her life until she met a boy who took her by the hand and showed her the beauty and colours she couldn't see in the world through his voice. Wonwoo loved the story because he related to it so much and hoped that one day someone would take him by the hand and show him the sounds of the world with their voice. He also secretely wished it would be Mingyu.

The boy with raven hair read and read. He seemed intrigued and fascinated by the story unfolding and Wonwoo was proud to have such an empathetic person as a friend. His small smile and soft voice drew Wonwoo in and made him feel comfortable. Comfortable enough to lean down to rest his head on his friend's lap. Mingyu then brought his hand over to fiddle with Wonwoo's hair as he continued to read out loud to him.

Wonwoo had read this story a thousand times before but hearing it being told by a soft, caring voice made Wonwoo want to hear it over and over again.

He watched Mingyu's glossy eyes pan across the words on the page moving back and forth like a typewriter. His own eyes began to grow heavy as time sped by so he eventually closed them and let his hearing become his only sense- something Wonwoo never thought he would be able to do since the age of 6.

He nearly lost consciousness. Sleep was so close to taking over his mind and body he didn't notice Mingyu had put down the book and started talking about something else. Wonwoo quickly blinked awake to listened to Mingyu's rambling with his head still in his lap.

"-and it's crazy." Mingyu continued. "I've never felt like this before. Sometimes I feel like it's eating away at me and I urgently need to do something about it. Other times it absolutely exhilarates me. I just feel so alive and bubbly like I could dance for hours on end and never get tired.

"And Jeonghan teases me about it a lot. I haven't said anything to him about how I feel but somehow he just knew. He said I was being obvious which isn't much of a surprise. But I can't help it. All the emotions are swelling up inside me and if I didn't let any of them out I would have burst!

"But I'm glad. I'm glad I feel like this. Especially when I'm here with-"

"You're so good at speaking, Mingyu."

Mingyu jumped slightly and looked down at the boy on his lap. "Oh my God, I thought you were asleep."

Wonwoo chuckled tiredly in response. "Why? Was I not supposed to hear any of that?"

"W-well, I just wasn't expecting..." His voice trailed off rather awkwardly. "It's 6am. We should sleep." He finished.

"Yeah." Wonwoo closed his eyes again.

"Not on my lap, silly!" Mingyu tried to move him off but he still didn't move. "Where should I sleep? I don't mind crashing on the sofa." Mingyu tapped Wonwoo on the forehead to open his eyes.

"Let's just sleep on the pillow fort." Wonwoo mumbled before rolling off the sofa and landing in a jumble of white and cream bed covers left from the night before.

Mingyu stood up and pulled a cover over the top of Wonwoo's curled up body and tucked a pillow under his head before doing the same for himself.

Wonwoo's heartbeat quickened as he felt Mingyu's breath brush against his nose. He opened his eyes to find golden skin inches away from his face. It somewhat comforted him as well as sending fiery shivers down his spine.

And that's how they slept until late hours of the afternoon. In a position too close to be platonic but too far away to be romantic. Just contently in between.

During their sleep through the day Soonyoung entered the house with his spare key to check up on Wonwoo but quickly left upon seeing the two sleeping together subtly intertwined. He hurried down the apartment block stairs with a grin on his face on his way to the coffee shop to assure Jeonghan that everything was ok again (and that Mingyu wouldn't be coming to work today either).

When Wonwoo finally did wake up it was to the smell of hot chocolate and Mingyu; something he wished he could wake up to everyday.

"Morning...or afternoom." Mingyu mumbled through a smile and handed Wonwoo a home made hot chocolate.

"Afternoon, probably." He smiled back after a jawbreaking yawn.

Mingyu loved how Wonwoo's hair stuck up in every direction and how he blinked himself awake.

Wonwoo loved Mingyu's 'morning' voice and his shining eyes and the taste of his hot chocolate.

They both shared the same comfortable warmness that heated their entire bodies starting from their hearts and trailing outwards. It may have been their warm drinks making them feel this way but Wonwoo wanted to believe it may have been something a lot more beautiful instead.

Mingyu left to shower in Wonwoo's bathroom. Leaving Wonwoo alone, still under the covers on his living room floor. He noticed the book Mingyu had read to him earlier still open on the page he finished on before he had started rambling on about something Wonwoo hadn't heard. He was curious as to what sentence inspired Mingyu's talk so he leant over and picked up the book.

The first line at the top of the page read:

'love comes in many different forms; love is blind, love is mute, love is deaf. It just takes a miracle to come around and make that possible.'

Mingyu was talking about love.

Wonwoo grinned from ear to ear for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on and when Mingyu came back into the room he tackled him into a hug. The force made Mingyu stumble slightly as he lifted Wonwoo off the floor a little and spun him around. They both giggled before Wonwoo's feet touched the ground again and they locked eyes like in romantic movies. Their smiles suggested a long awaited renuinion whilst their eyes held strong emotions that shone like a sea of fireflies.

Wonwoo thought he saw Mingyu lean in a little closer to his face and he held his breath.

"Let me take you out." Mingyu said suddenly. He seemed breathless. In a good way. The kind of breathlessness inspired by a fast beating heart and a tingling tummy.

"Out?"

"On a date."

Wonwoo didn't have to answer. He knows his smile did that for him.

-

This was the first official date Wonwoo had ever been on. He had never known someone long enough to get that sort of opportunity. Everyone either left him early on to avoid the struggle of his lifestyle or only liked him platonically (like Soonyoung).

His stomach flipped continuously as he quickly dressed and stumbled out of his room as if he was drunk on excitement. Mingyu was waiting at the door with a gentle smile.

Side by side they slowly walked down winding streets and turning pathways. Wonwoo didn't know where he was being taken but when Mingyu subtly intertwined their fingers he felt like it no longer mattered. Being with Mingyu was all that mattered.

However, when they turned a final corner arriving at a vintage music store in the middle of town Wonwoo instantly regretted not telling Mingyu he was deaf when he had the chance.

"Minghao and I used to come here all the time. It's really special to me and I want it to become special to us too."

Wonwoo didn't have the heart to deny his offer but one word did stick in his head.

Minghao.

Why was Mingyu taking him to the same places they had visited. Was it a pattern? Did Mingyu feel the same way about Minghao as he did about Wonwoo?

He tried it shrug it off as if it was nothing but the thoughts still lingered.

Mingyu spent hours showing Wonwoo everything he loved about the shop. He showed him all of his favourite albums and the people who inspired him explaining his thoughts behind songs special to him as he did. He even insisted on buying Wonwoo some "must-hear" albums and even though he refused to take them (Mingyu was awfully persistent).

Wonwoo left the music shop feeling significantly low. Every smile that stretched across Mingyu's face and every twinkle in his eyes when he spoke about the music just made Wonwoo feel increasingly more jealous and worthless.

He would never know the sound of Mingyu's favourite songs or the one Mingyu called "our song because the melody is sweet like you."

"Hey, are you ok?" Mingyu squeezed Wonwoo's hand as they walked towards a restaurant for their dinner.

"Yeah." His answer was not at all convincing.

Mingyu's eyes filled with embarrassment and panic "Did you not enjoy it? I'm sorry. You could've said and I would have taken you somewhere different."  His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Did I just ruin our first date?" He asked but it seemed more like a question to himself.

"No! No. I loved it, really. It was great." Wonwoo smiled to reassure Mingyu he was doing okay.

"You should choose where to go next time." Mingyu chuckled slightly under his breath.

"Next time?"

"Yeah, next time. I want to go on dates with you every single day!" His childish excitability was showing and Wonwoo thought it was beyond cute.

"Me too."

Mingyu lit up his entire life from the moment they first met. He wanted things to stay that way for as long as they lived.

They ate dinner at an expensive restaurant that Mingyu continuously promised to pay for even when Wonwoo stubbornly decided to split the bill (but to no avail).

They spoke about sweet nothings and learnt pointless truths about one another whilst forever getting lost in each others eyes.

If this is what liking someone felt like in stories Wonwoo had read then he was living in a novel and he never wanted it to end.