As they had arrived at Wooshin's home after around twenty minutes Xiao was fighting his own voice inside of his head while parking the car. Wooshin had said during the ride that the next thing he would do is just pass out on his bed, but Xiao wanted to make sure that his best friend would be alright. Gyujin had said that next to his wounds and cuts he had suffered a slight concussion most probably as he had thrown up right before they had gotten into the car and Wooshin had constantly been complaining about a headache, so Xiao wanted to take care of him.
"Can I come with you?", Xiao asked as he had switched of the engine, trying on a cute sing-sang voice he knew always worked on Wooshin. For someone saying he wasn't gay he fell for Xiao's cuteness rather quickly. It didn't work on anyone else except for Hyemi if he tried very hard, so why and how did it work on Wooshin? Xiao couldn't explain it to himself and it made him fall for his best friend even more.
Wooshin looked over to Xiao for a quick second as they had gotten out of his car. He had actually planned to be alone now with his thoughts, but Xiao was his best friend. He could shut everyone out, but not him. He only meant well and just wanted to ease his own mind and take care of him.

It was when Xiao had asked Wooshin if he would want to watch the prequel of the movie that had just came to its ending credits and didn't get an answer that he noticed Wooshin had fallen asleep already. For a moment he halted all his actions and kept on looking at the older. He seemed calm, one hand placed underneath his head as some sort of pillow while the other one fell down into his lap. Unconsciously Xiao smiled at him and continued to his soft hair. It calmed him down to take care of his best friend like that, as if he was taking care of himself, too. After some more minutes the position he was sitting in got uncomfortable and he decided to lay down while still simultaneously said one's hair. It wasn't a situation they hadn't been in before, but for some odd reason it felt different to Xiao today. Maybe it was because of the fight they had had or how agitated they had been. Something was different and he unwillingly closed his eyes as sleep engulfed him.
By the time Xiao woke up it was already time to go home before his parents would start getting worried sick. He had actually planned to ask Wooshin about how Noir's members had attacked them and had gotten into the hideout, but he could ask him about that another time.
Carefully in order not to wake him up Xiao got into his shoes, put on his leather jacket and grabbed his school bag from the ground. As he was already at the door and looked over to Wooshin with a sad smile since it was painful to see someone so dear to him and someone usually so strong get hurt, he suddenly noticed something and quickly rushed back to Wooshin on his tiptoes to put a blanket over him. At that motion said one stirred in his sleep and Xiao felt himself holding his breath in an instant, anticipating whether or not the older would wake up, though he obviously hoped the latter. As Wooshin's lips left a satisfied sigh and he fell motionless again Xiao let out the breath he had been holding and didn't even dare to say good night to him, even though he had planned to do so. He was too scared to wake him up.
Xiao slowly shut the door behind himself to not make any noise occur and started walking to his home which wasn't for from Wooshin's. If his parents wouldn't be so strict about it he would have just stayed the night. Now that the cold was laying and setting around his body due to the lost contact and body heat of the other he forced his feet to carry on, to keep on going forward, one by one. For emergency cases he did have a spare key for Wooshin's back door so he could indeed still get in there and cuddle up to his friend again, but he kept telling himself that now wasn't the right time - and he didn't want his to get kicked by his parents.

Miyeon couldn't even explain herself why she was so nervous to show up at Wooshin's house since Minsoo had dropped her off just seconds ago. She had never been to his house before, or to explain it more accurately, had never meet him alone anywhere else except for their Saturday coffee shop meet-ups yet. It sure would be different, but they had already gotten closer throughout the past two months, so there was no reason to why was suddenly so dry as she rung the bell and her heart rate shooting up. She simply blamed it on the worry for her friend and didn't allow any other thought about her behavior into her head. Wooshin still wasn't her type. Xiao was extroverted, loud and funny. Wooshin was introverted, closed up and not to the person to start the jokes but to shyly laugh along with the rest while covering his mouth. She wasn't into shy and reserved guys. They were hard to crack so that they would talk a little bit more and show their feelings. Miyeon had noticed within the last couple of weeks that Wooshin had opened up just the slightest, but whenever she commented on something personal about him he had just confessed mindlessly he always put another wall in front of himself and locked it more tightly than the lock from before.
Miyeon was greeted with a sleepy Wooshin still in his everyday wear which wasn't that odd for a lot of people, but what made her widen her eyes was his bruised face. He had come to school beaten up multiple times already, but this is the first time it a) looked so fresh and b) she had seen it since them becoming a little more close.
"What the hell happened?", she asked both in worry and fear. The neighborhood wasn't known for much rumble, but these constant rumors about him being part of a gang seemed laughable to Miyeon and she never believed them. His whole mannerism and behavior was far too soft-hearted and kind to be part of a gang, to be able to seriously hurt or even kill someone.
Wooshin was caught red-handed and didn't know what to do so he looked down onto his feet quickly. He started thinking of an excuse and went through his hair with his hand which made Miyeon quickly grab that hand as it had caught her attention. The stitches had opened in his sleep due to tossing and turning around; it was bleeding. Without any further word she pushed past Wooshin while said one was still sleepy, rubbing his eyes with his better hand while closing the door behind her, "Where is your bathroom? Do you have a first aid-kit?"

"You really don't have to-", Wooshin spoke up as he was sitting on the rim of his bath tub while Miyeon was cleansing the wound, not knowing that Gyujin had taken care of it already and Wooshin couldn't tell her about it. She was a curious-natured person and the questions would keep on coming and coming if he'd let it slip that someone, not himself, had taken care of it already.
"I have to since you can't take care of yourself properly.", she scoffed while grabbing a bandage and some cream to cool it down.
A sudden wave of stubbornness kicked in and Wooshin protested as he pulled his hand out of her grasp, "I can actually! You wanna see?"
Miyeon let her hands fall back into her lap as she looked up to him. Usually he seemed like an older brother with his choice of words, his calming voice and his protecting and mature behavior, but now another side came out and pushed past the surface. He suddenly acted like a young, playful boy and she couldn't help but to think it is cute. Why couldn't he be more like that?
"Okay you can take care of yourself, but let me help you", she cooed softly without knowing what it would do to Wooshin's heart who just let her take his hand as she started to put the bandage around his hand, "because putting on bandages by yourself isn't so easy and you still seem tired."
Wooshin just smiled at her weakly, silently thanking her for her help. They didn't spoke for a few minutes from then onwards, but it wasn't the uncomfortable silence you might get with some people. It was the comfortable one were you could get lost in the other's presence without any worries. If Wooshin could compare the current situation and feeling he had with Miyeon in that exact moment he would compare it to the comfortable silence he often had shared with Xiao. With Xiao he didn't always need words for every situation and now the same was fitting the situation with Miyeon now. He was just comfortable watching her roll the bandage around his hand, being very focused to do well obviously which made his heart feel warm. Did she really worry about him? Did she care?
"Now be careful when you lay down or do anything with that hand.", Miyeon ordered as she hopped off of the bathtub after finishing her job.
Wooshin thanked her with a shy smile while following her out of the room, receiving the question he had dreaded and made his smile falter instantly as she turned around to him.
"In return you're gonna tell me how you got", she gestured to his face with both of her hands, "all of this."
For a split second, Wooshin wanted to be honest, but then he decided to follow the other rumor that sometimes went around in school. It was the lesser evil. Walking into the kitchen and telling her to follow him he poured them both some water.
"I got into a fight", Wooshin started his lie after taking a sip of his water. He felt guilty for lying to her and he even felt like he would be able to open up to her and tell her everything about their gang business, but there were so many outcomes to this. Either she would think he is crazy, he's being funny and following the rumors or she believes it and never wants to see him ever again. He also couldn't prove it to her if he told her. It was certainly not allowed and he was glad that Miyeon had arrived at a time where Xiao was already gone. Otherwise it would have been hard to hide it further from him and the gang. Xiao had already witnessed and suspected enough. He had to keep a low profile from now on in school. He didn't want any more fights to happen between him and his best friend and he didn't want to endanger his deepened friendship with Miyeon.
"I saved Wei from some dudes in the neighborhood who were threatening him because of money. That's where I got this from.", he finished his explanation as he pointed to his face and held up his left hand for a second. Miyeon shot him a confused look and tilted her head to the side, "But you know taekwondo?"
Well, damn.
"Yeah, but they outnumbered me quickly and I barely got out of it.", Wooshin shot back quickly and gulped down his last sip of water to avoid her eyes, the drop and fast pace of his voice indicating that he was done with this topic.
Miyeon furrowed her eyebrows for a few seconds as she was thinking about his story. She would have never imagined that Wooshin would seriously go and beat up some people. He just didn't look like it in her eyes, yet she thought it was very brave of him to try and save one of his friends and carry a few wounds out of the fight. She voiced her admiration and respect for him which Wooshin brushed off quickly. He didn't want it. Not when it hadn't happened like that, when it was a lie and she was looking at him with her big blue eyes that showed said pure admiration. He didn't deserve this and he most certainly didn't deserve her kind heart. If she knew she had complimented him for erasing another few lives today she most certainly would take it back and call the cops.
"Anyways", he trailed off, "since you're here should I help you out with math like every other Friday evening?"
Her expression changed and she grinned at him, "Are we having our own Friday study meetings now?"
Wooshin couldn't help it but to chuckle at her cute demeanor. It was the fact that she didn't realize it which made it worse for him. She really got a spot right into his heart, friend or not. Though he had to admit that as they sat down on his bed and started talking about what she hadn't understood this week while munching on some cookies, he had this urge to pull her into a hug when she pouted after getting something wrong, to kiss her head in encouragement to keep on going and to kiss her lips whenever his eyes trailed off to them while she wasn't looking either too focused on the numbers in front of her or mindlessly chewing on her pen. Wooshin hadn't thought that meeting at home instead of outside in a loud place would be so different to him and his feelings towards her. During their Saturday meetings he had been able to push the feelings for her to the back of his head, especially whenever his best friend's name fell and he was reminded which type of guys Miyeon actually liked. Wooshin was shy and rather quiet, rarely his goofy self and Xiao was loud, funny and cute. They were complete opposites, so he couldn't even blame her for not falling for him. He was so far from her type, but now that they were casually hanging out in his room, all alone since his parents were still at work, he had never wished more to just pull her into his arms randomly, away from her textbooks and just fall asleep to the sound of each other's breathing while the current rain was smashing against his windows.
"If you're too tired please just tell me...we'll meet up tomorrow anyways.", Miyeon said as he hadn't reacted to her question for the third time already. As he snapped out of his thoughts though he quickly shook his head at her, promising her to finish up with the tasks quickly. Truth be told he was tired, but he was enjoying this way too much to end it while it pained his heart at the same time. It would always stay like this. Sitting next to each other, not too far away but also not close enough for his liking.
"We need you to be prepared enough to ace Monday's exam.", Wooshin explained as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tiredness. For a few seconds she kept on looking at him and he dared to return her gaze. He couldn't figure out what the small movement of her eyes and the wires behind them obviously tossing and turning meant, but a rumbling thunder broke their eye contact as she flinched in fear and even knocked her textbook off from his bed. Wooshin was tall enough to grab it from the ground while still staying seated and opened page 46 again while placing it in front of her. He was completely unbothered by the thunder and the now raging storm behind his windows that showed clear darkness anyway, but as he looked up from the textbook in front of him to the owner of the neat cursive handwriting, Miyeon was obviously troubled and seemed to fear thunder. She had her knees pulled up to her chest while leaning against the frame of his bed, arms around her legs as she laid her head onto her knees and faced the left so he wouldn't be able to look at her facial expression. Wooshin contemplated whether to say something or not and if yes, what would he possibly be able to say to Miyeon so she would calm down?
Relying on the fact that he was known for not being good with words anyway he carefully touched her hand in an attempt to over it carefully with his fingers. Her head shot up quickly and her features visibly displayed the distress and fear she was feeling. He had known and still knew some people that were scared of storms and thunder. Xiao came into his mind quickly since the younger one was also slightly scared of the bad weather. Is he doing alright without me?, Wooshin wondered and glanced back to his phone which wasn't lighting up to indicate that he had gotten a message. Yet he had never seen someone actually be so terrified of thunder and storms.
Taking in a deep breath she slowly outstretched her legs again and away from her chest, "I'm sorry.", she quickly mumbled and breathed out while grabbing her textbook and pen again, already getting back to the task they had stopped at. For some reason Wooshin kind of admired that, how she was able to force herself to shake it off and get back to what's important yet he was curious about the reason why she had reacted so intensely to it.
"It's fine!", Wooshin reassured her with a quick smile, "but may I ask why you reacted like that in particular?"
As Miyeon stopped her writing and looked up to him quickly he almost regretted his question and realized that it had been too soon to ask such personal things, but then she cleared and opened up to him the slightest bit. "When I was younger my older brother always thought that a storm meant I had done something wrong and had to be punished", Miyeon started slowly as she was being pulled back into her memories.