Before Wooshin could voice his question Minsoo already caught up on him, "Miyeon likes you too!", he said a little bit louder and a little too excited. He hadn't had time to talk to Wooshin since Miyeon had confessed to him on Saturday. Wooshin hadn't been at uni throughout Monday and Tuesday, not answering any of his calls so the excitement that had built up within the past few days was huge. Some of Wooshin's classmates looked at them for a quick second, but luckily he wasn't friends with anyone that much and couldn't care less. They probably didn't even know who Miyeon was to begin with.
Wooshin suppressed a bitter smile and kept his cold facade. He went back to his photography, now sorting them out while the ones he put on the left where ready to go and the ones on the right needed some color, contrast as well as saturation correction. Minsoo wasn't done with him yet and grabbed his hand that had just picked up a print.
"I know you like her. Why aren't you happy now?", Minsoo questioned him and Wooshin drew his hand back quickly. "Because", he started while trying not to get worked up and too emotional, "she and I haven't talked to each other since freaking Saturday night and it's Wednesday afternoon. She ignores me. Completely.", Wooshin stated matter the fact. They still both sat at the table all together with the group today, but they completely avoided eye contact and rather got up to get certain food from the table during lunch rather than asking the other to pass it on to them. They were just completely awkward with each other and Wooshin couldn't even blame her. They didn't fit well anyway. He was too closed up and shy, she was curious about everything and loved meeting new people. He would keep her too locked up while she would constantly try to pry on his deeply shut walls and on top of that it was getting too risky that Kuhn and the rest of the gang would find about her. He was just glad Xiao hadn't told them anything. Also, he was busy being worried about Jinhoo who had fallen into some kind of coma. There was just too much going on inside of his head currently and he had no time to clear up anything of that while love was the worst evil of them all.
Minsoo wanted to explain her behavior to him, but Wooshin already stopped him again, suddenly being very talkative since a long time, "Remember how we talked about this whole falling in love thing? How it would hurt when the other person doesn't reciprocate your feelings?", Wooshin asked while putting the photography that was ready to go into a small white folder, "I know it now. It hurts. It hurts so freaking much. But, isn't that what I had wanted? I wanted to feel normal and be like everybody else. I wanted to fall in love, but you never told me there is no way of getting back up once you let all these feelings and one person get inside of your heart."
Wooshin sighed as he felt actual tears pry at his eyes. He wasn't one to get that emotional and he cried rarely, but all these past events since Friday were almost unbearable for him; for one person only. He wanted to take a break from everything, but it wasn't possible. Yeah, he could quit school for a week so he wouldn't have to deal with studies and seeing Miyeon, but he couldn't quit his job as gang member. It was a full-time job and full-time stress.
Minsoo just kept on staring at Wooshin as he was putting the photography he would have to edit later into a black folder, carefully studying his face. With each day passing Wooshin seemed more and more hurt. Maybe his plan hadn't been planned out well from start to finish. He hadn't expected it to be like that. In the movies the couple would slowly get to know each other. Wooshin and Miyeon had met up for the past few weeks continuously each Saturday. Check. The couple would be intimate on accident. Miyeon had woken up in Wooshin's embrace. Check. They might be awkward with each other for a little while, but end up talking to each other and figure it all out. Then they would happily get together. Until their first intimate moment everything had been fine, but why were they halting their development out of sudden? Why did nobody dare to speak to the other? And most importantly: Why did it sound like Wooshin gave in and was okay with it? That he wanted it to be like this? He was being so hard on himself.
"Have you tried talking to her?", Minsoo asked, his cheerfulness gone now and his worried persona taking over as Wooshin put the folders into his bag and swiftly threw it onto his back. He knew first-hand that Miyeon had texted him not just once but exactly 12 times before she had given up.
"I shouldn't- I don't think I should talk to her.", Wooshin explained and got out of the room. Minsoo wasn't sure if he was walking away from him or if he had an actual place to go to.
"Why not? She really likes you back.", Minsoo tried talking into him as he pushed in front of the smaller one so he would be forced to stop in his tracks.
"There's literally nobody stopping you two. You just have to explain to her how you got into that situation and you'll probably laugh about it together.", he advised and noticed how Wooshin's expression dropped even further. If he could just let him now that it wasn't that easy. Over the past few days of not seeing her Wooshin had figured out for himself that it wouldn't work out. Gang members weren't made for love and the strict rule of Kuhn's was to be taken serious. After all he only meant well for innocent citizen and Wooshin wouldn't be able to bear the guilt that would fill his soul if something would happen to her due to him being in this business. She would become an easy target; the only target of his gang. It wasn't meant to work out. He wasn't meant to fall in love, not meant to have a romantic partner on his side. It would be fine. Not tomorrow, not next week and probably not even next month, but time could heal all wounds. A small voice at the back of his head was being annoying though and telling him that this certain wound wouldn't heal just like that.
"She's better off without me.", Wooshin confessed and bit onto his lower lip as he was trying to think about other reasons except for the fact that he was part of a gang and a horrible human being that killed others for a living. He couldn't possible tell Minsoo that, but the way he raised his eyebrows indicated that he needed and wanted an example.
"We don't fit. We're very different.", he explained and pushed past Minsoo to get into the computer room yet the older wouldn't let loose. He was fighting for his best friend like a mom did for her children.
"Opposites attract, they say.", Minsoo suggested and tried to light up the atmosphere with a suggestive grin. Wooshin stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds and just went back to his work and started his laptop he had placed onto the desk. Minsoo definitely didn't mean the opposite of murderer and innocent 19-year old University student. He was probably thinking about cute teen-drama worthy opposites like him being introverted and her extroverted, him very closed up and her an open book. While the laptop was booting Wooshin did smile about these opposite characteristics. It was kind of funny to think about two people being in a relationship that were so completely different from head to toe.
"Additionally", Minsoo started as he pulled a chair from behind next to Wooshin and took a seat, "Opposites can learn a lot from each other." It annoyed Wooshin that he couldn't comment anything back on that to deny that theory. He was simply right. The opposites that Minsoo was thinking about were actually educational for both sides and might help them change for the better.
"Yeon trusts people way too easily and is friendly to literally everyone, which has hurt her a lot in the past. She could learn from you to not let get everyone too close to her and not wear her heart on her sleeve.", Minsoo started babbling as he put his elbows onto the table and placed his chin onto the palms of his hands while Wooshin was getting the black folder out of his bag.
"On the other hand she could make you open up a little bit more and be less reserved and shy.", Minsoo added and shot him a quick smile. Wooshin on the other hand froze, "What's wrong with being reserved and shy?"
Minsoo chuckled at his confused look and for a second he could understand why Miyeon was slowly falling for him. He was cute. "Nothing's wrong with that, it's just that it makes it obviously hard for you to meet new people and develop new friendships - especially relationships.", he said, empathizing the last word with a sly grin. Wooshin groaned and went back to his work as he opened the folder and started deleting the pictures that weren't part of the black folder. "Good for me I don't want to develop relationships.", Wooshin answered, mimicking the way Minsoo had empathized the last word. Next to him, Minsoo sighed. Miyeon had been right. He was really hard to crack.
"She likes Xiao.", Wooshin threw into their conversation before Minsoo would start asking anything else that would endanger his secret. The older on the other hand now smiled again.
"I don't really think that's the case anymore. She's been eyeing you the whole day and hasn't talked about Xiao to me at all since that Saturday.", Minsoo tried encouraging him in hoping for a future between them both. Wooshin didn't buy it though. Not that he was saying Minsoo was lying to him, but there were different motives to Miyeon's behavior. He couldn't possibly like her after Saturday and it was better to think like that in order to get over her.
"She's just being kind and too worried about me, that's why."
Minsoo was seriously getting frustrated at this point. Somehow Wooshin always found a way to excuse Miyeon's behavior and not make it look like in his favor. He had thought arriving only a few minutes later to practice would be fine. He was one of the best students and the coach wouldn't slice him instantly, but he was sure he would be arriving way later than the five to ten minutes he had planned to spare for his friend. Why was Wooshin literally fighting back against Miyeon's possible interest and worry, maybe even love, for him?
As Wooshin had completely stopped talking and got so focused on his editing, Minsoo realized that it was no use to keep on pushing him like that. Maybe he would be successful on any another day in a different setting, but not right now.
Minsoo got up and pushed the chair to its original place. He had planned to not say anything to the other anymore, but there was something at the tip of his tongue that needed to be said. Not just for the sake of him wanting Wooshin and Miyeon to end up happily together, but because he was worried about him. He wasn't that close to Wooshin as Xiao was, but he dared to say that he's closer to him than some other shared friends.
"If you think it's about you not deserving her...", Minsoo pointed out as he put a hand onto Wooshin's shoulder and felt the younger tense at his words. He was hesitant to go on with his sentence as he hadn't expected this reaction from Wooshin. He had assumed that deserving this something or someone played a big role in his head, but according to how to tense Wooshin went within a second and how he had stopped his work simultaneously it played an even bigger role than Minsoo had thought. "I'm being honest when I say you deserve her more than anyone else."
They both halted in that position for a few seconds, an uncomfortable and unfitting silence laying onto them. Minsoo was hoping for any sort of reaction coming from the younger one and therefore stayed a few seconds longer than actually intended. Just as Minsoo gave up and was about to pull away Wooshin laid his hand onto Minsoo's that was still resting on his shoulder, squeezing it just strong enough so you could feel it slightly. Unknowingly Minsoo smiled at him and he found new hope and excitement as he heard Wooshin take in a deep breath to possibly say something. Had a succeeded at least a little? Was Wooshin feeling better about himself? Would he try to talk to her?
"Good luck at practice."
No. He wouldn't.