Woohyun stopped in his tracks and pressed his palms on his knees to support himself. His breaths were ragged and short, not to mention heavy. He inhaled deeply before letting out a huge sigh and slammed his head towards a nearby pole.

            “I’m a real idiot…”

            “Can I kiss you?”

Woohyun’s jaw fell. Sunggyu slowly lifted his head and looked at Woohyun. The stern dark orbs met the shifty ones. Woohyun shuddered involuntarily at such intensity Sunggyu’s eyes possessed.

And it happened so quickly. Sunggyu was slowly leaning forward, Woohyun stiffened, and before he knew it Woohyun extended his hands.

And with all strength he had, he pushed Sunggyu away.

Woohyun chose to ignore Sunggyu and didn’t spare any glance as he ran away, leaving the other boy standing alone near the bench.

And then Woohyun realized something. He left his bag on the bench. He slammed his head once again at the pole and sank down to the ground, mentally pulling at his hair for his stupidity.

            “You all right..?”

The voice was really familiar to Woohyun’s ears that he immediately turned his head. His frown was immediately replaced with a bright smile when he saw a surprised Dongwoo.

            “Dongwoo!”

And with the remaining strength he had, he clutched to Dongwoo’s legs, ignoring the looks passersby sent the two of them.

.

.

            “I see. So that’s what happened,” Dongwoo sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. He decided that the best act is to drag Woohyun towards the nearest café and calm him down. “But that doesn’t explain to why you suddenly acted like that.”

            “I’m sorry, I just… miss you all of a sudden,” Woohyun mumbled, his eyes following the patterns on the wooden table.

Dongwoo watched as the other fidgeted on his seat. He chuckled and put his cup on the table gently, earning a blinking Woohyun when he gently pushed his cup towards him.

            “Here, have some and cool your head down,” Dongwoo smiled, mentally high-fiving himself when Woohyun actually complied.

            “Dongwoo… You really have nothing to say about Sunggyu’s—“

            “Weird behavior? I would say that he might find some interest towards you, Woohyun,” Dongwoo laughed. “I mean, you helped us a lot, and from what Howon said you managed to drag Kim Myungsoo into our usual spot.”

Woohyun looked at Dongwoo in disbelief.

            “He kisses the ones who managed to grasp his interest?”

            “No, not like that,” Dongwoo cackled. “I think he likes you.”

Dongwoo watched carefully at how Woohyun bit his lips and drag his fingers on the wooden table, drawing some invisible patterns on it. But what attracted him the most is the dejected look on Woohyun’s face.

            “Woohyun, are you afraid of Sunggyu?”

            “Eh? No… Well, I used to be a bit afraid of him, but now there’s no such thing as that,” Woohyun chuckled awkwardly.

            “Then do you have any resentment towards him?” Dongwoo leaned closer, making Woohyun did the same.

            “Obviously not, what makes you think of that..?” Woohyun raised an eyebrow.

            “So, you hate Sunggyu?” Dongwoo asked softly. Woohyun’s eyes went wide.

            “Absolutely not! There’s nothing hateful about him, he’s like my—ehm, no,” Woohyun cleared his throat and regained his composure. Dongwoo leaned back against his chair and looked at Woohyun in amusement.

            “Then what makes you think so badly of him liking you?”

‘Because that would result to me completely ruining the relationship between Sungjong and I, which means he would be completely unreachable to me,’ Woohyun hissed inwardly.

            “I don’t have any bad feelings towards him…” Woohyun sighed, “It’s just… It’s so sudden…”

            “Well, be it so sudden or anything, but I assure you he means no harm to you,” Dongwoo shrugged. “Sunggyu won’t toy around with you, he’s a really sincere person.”

‘I know…’

            “And for sure, if he asked for your permission before kissing you, that means he actually care about your feelings too. Sunggyu is a sensitive person, by the way. Don’t you think he would feel hurt if you pushed him away that way?”

‘Yeah. He would usually either sulk or give me the silent treatment,’ Woohyun thought.

            “Oh, and another thing. Sunggyu is a very persistent person,” Dongwoo said.

‘Yes—what?’

            “Huh?” Woohyun blinked.

            “Sunggyu is very stubborn. If he really likes you then it might be hard for you to push him away,” Dongwoo smiled teasingly. “I bet he would hug or kiss you within this week.”

            “T-that’s harassment!” Woohyun spluttered, his face suddenly felt very warm. Dongwoo just hummed at him.

            “At least I warned you~ But seriously, Woohyun,” Dongwoo smiled lightly, “what’s so wrong about people developing feelings for others?”

Woohyun looked down and sighed. Dongwoo was right, there was nothing wrong about that. If there’s anything wrong, that would be him being unreasonable for going all frantic about Sunggyu liking him when in the future Woohyun would be the one going on his knees to propose to him.

‘This is stupid,’ Woohyun thought, ‘and not to mention one complicated too.’

.

.

In the end, Woohyun ignored Sunggyu for the next three days. No, not only ignoring. Woohyun completely avoided Sunggyu for a few days.

He didn’t know how he did it, but he managed to escape Sunggyu during school hours—except during lessons, since they’re classmates—and he ended up spending recess and lunch hours with Hoya, Myungsoo and Sungyeol on the rooftop.

            “You know, this whole ‘running away from Kim Sunggyu’ plan won’t work for long,” Myungsoo said.

            “And why is that?”

            “Because I’ll be ditching you soon.”

            “Wow, such a friend you are,” Woohyun sighed. Myungsoo chuckled.

            “I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything, but have you seen the way Hoya and Dongwoo stare at each other lately?”

Woohyun gasped.

            “They’re going out?!”

            “No. They’re just flirting with each other,” Myungsoo shrugged.

            “Why do I not know any of this?!”

            “Because you have been too busy spending time avoiding Sunggyu! Gosh, grow a ball and face him, will you? It’s not like he would pounce on you the moment you show up,” Myungsoo frowned.

Woohyun groaned and banged his head against the railing. He wouldn’t hear any end from Myungsoo. He knew from experience that a nagging Myungsoo is a real pain in the neck.

Anyhow, Woohyun just let Myungsoo dragged him down towards the cafeteria and cheered with the others at how Woohyun finally joined them on the table.

Woohyun mentally thanked Myungsoo for actually forcing him to sit with the others. He missed them too much.

.

.

Woohyun mentally killed Myungsoo for the third time that afternoon. He had forced him to sit next to Sunggyu, and the moment his bottom landed on the chair, Sunggyu stood up and grabbed his wrist. The next thing he knew, he was dragged out of the cafeteria.

            “So how did you finally convince him to go down here?” Sungyeol blinked at Myungsoo.

            “I told him that Sunggyu won’t pounce on him just by sitting there,” Myungsoo motioned to the empty spots.

            “And your intuition is wrong,” Dongwoo laughed loudly. He saw how Woohyun glared daggers at Myungsoo throughout the time Sunggyu dragged him away.

            “He would kill me, wouldn’t he?”

            “Nah. I don’t think Woohyun would want to get arrested,” Hoya shrugged. “But personally, I think it’s a good thing for Sunggyu to actually drag him away.”

            “You think so too?” Myungsoo smiled.

            “What am I missing here, guys?” Sungjong tilted his head and blinked.

            “We’re thinking of setting up Sunggyu with Woohyun,” Dongwoo smiled widely. “They would make a good couple.”

            “It’s funny how Sunggyu was all grumpy when Woohyun just showed up and now the role is practically reversed,” Sungyeol laughed. “Long gone the cutiepie Woohyun~”

Sungjong stiffened and gently placed his spoon down on his plate. He raised an eyebrow at Dongwoo.

            “Setting up… the two of them..?”

            “Yeah. Woohyun had been avoiding Sunggyu lately, right? Sunggyu came to me asking me for help,” Dongwoo chuckled.

            “But it’s stupid, seriously,” Hoya sighed. “Why would someone avoid others for days just because of a kiss?”

            “Try kissing Myungsoo and see how he’d react after that,” Sungyeol said nonchalantly, earning a hard smack on his back from Myungsoo.

            “Anyway, Sunggyu seems to develop some feelings for Woohyun,” Dongwoo said waving his hand dismissively. “There’s nothing we can do but to wait for the results.”

‘Oh, obviously there’s something I can do,’ Sungjong thought.

.

.

            “Sunggyu, it hurts…”

The latter stopped walking suddenly, making Woohyun bumped into his back. Woohyun grimaced as Sunggyu’s shoulder hit his mouth, but he let out no sound of pain.

            “You don’t know how much it kills me, Nam Woohyun.”

Woohyun gasped when Sunggyu turned around and pulled him into a tight hug. It was nowhere near gentle. His arms were trapped on his sides from how hard Sunggyu was holding him. He felt suffocated from both Sunggyu’s strength and the way their bodies pressed together like that.

Oh, how much he missed him.

            “I didn’t even do anything to you and you suddenly ran away from me,” Sunggyu said. “And it wasn’t only that time. You avoided me for days too!”

            “W-well… I…”

            “You’d better not apologize because I seriously have enough of that coming from you,” Sunggyu tightened his grip around Woohyun. Woohyun’s breath hitched.

            “I… I was scared… Sunggyu, you scared me…”

            “Even if I say that I did it because I like you?”

            “N-no… Sunggyu, it hurts…”

            “Can’t you like me back?”

The grip around him tightened even more, just like how the tightening feeling in his chest started to suffocate him. Woohyun fisted his hands, trying hard to keep them placed on his sides.

            “I… I don’t know, Sunggyu…” His voice came out shaky and his eyes started to threaten him. The feeling was too much for him to handle.

            “Is it wrong of me… To like you like this..?” Sunggyu kissed the other’s shoulder. Woohyun shivered slightly.

            “I don’t know…” His voice was even smaller than before. Woohyun could feel the other’s hold on him started to weaken slightly.

Woohyun felt like breathe out a sigh of relief, but then his eyes went wide when Sunggyu placed his lips on his gently. It was a short kiss. Only a small peck. But Woohyun could feel how sincere it was, and his conscience started to crumble upon the affection Sunggyu gave him.

            “Why can’t you like me back, Woohyun..?” Sunggyu looked at him sadly.

‘Because you’re not you…’

            “Because I can’t,” Woohyun looked down.

            “Do you have someone you like..?” Sunggyu asked cautiously. Woohyun shook his head weakly.

            “Then, is it your parents..?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. Woohyun looked up slightly and shook his head once again.

            “Is there a definite reason to why you can’t like me?” Sunggyu gently squeezed Woohyun’s arm and the other once again shook his head ‘no’.

            “I just can’t, Sunggyu. I just told myself that I should not fall for anyone. At least not yet,” Woohyun his lips and looked down once again. Sunggyu fell silent.

            “It’s just… you..?”

Woohyun nodded and shot Sunggyu an apologetic smile. He certainly didn’t expect the other to land another soft kiss on his lips. He quickly took a step back, his eyes were wide. Sunggyu just smiled gently at him.

            “Then until the time you where you can allow yourself to like someone,” Sunggyu extended his hand and gently brushed away the hair covering Woohyun’s eyes, “I will make sure that someone will be me.”

Woohyun was at loss for words. He knew he had lost. He knew he would never win against Sunggyu. He never knew Sunggyu could be this stubborn.

Sunggyu just chuckled as he patted Woohyun’s hair gently. Woohyun looked like a lost kid, and Sunggyu thought he looked really adorable being so blank like that. Cupping his cheeks, Sunggyu gently brushed his thumb on the other’s cheeks.

            “Why are you crying, Hyunnie?”

“Hyunnie.”

Woohyun looked down, trying to hide his face as he reached up to Sunggyu’s hands and squeezed them. He was beyond relief. He was glad that Sunggyu fell for him, of all people.

            “Right now… It might not be the right time…” Woohyun muttered out, loud enough for Sunggyu to hear. “But when it’s time… I will tell you when I can bring myself to like anyone.”

Sunggyu’s eyes went wide. Gently, he caressed the other’s cheeks, feeling warm liquid underneath his fingertips.

            “S-so, I hope you will be waiting for me…” Woohyun chuckled breathily. “You will, will you not, Gyu..?”

Smiling gently, Sunggyu pulled the other’s face closer and kissed his forehead softly.

            “Of course I will. I will wait for you.”

“This Sunggyu is not your Sunggyu.”

‘I know…’

“This period of time will determine your future.”

‘Then I will wait until the future comes.’

Woohyun clutched to Sunggyu’s shirt and smiled, slowly resting his forehead on the other boy’s shoulder.

‘I just can’t bring myself to lose him once again… Even if this will affect my future, please let him stay by my side until the time comes.’

.

.

From the end of the hallway, Sungjong sighed before he his heels and walked back to the direction he came from.

            “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Woohyun.”