chapter 26 | say i love you

 

“Let’s go out.”

 

            Sunggyu blinks. Woohyun is standing at Hoya’s door leaning against the frame nonchalantly. He’s dressed stylishly and casually, a denim shirt under a black cardigan with the sleeves rolled up halfway and jeans that look like they are probably too expensive for Sunggyu to even think about. Sunggyu, on the other hand, isn’t looking so good. His hair is a mess (he’s always had terrible bed hair), his eyes are barely open (they’re small enough already but Sunggyu just woke up), and he’s barely in his right mind yet.

 

            “O-out?” Sunggyu repeats as if he’s never heard the word before.

 

            “On a date.”

 

            “Date.” Sunggyu really needs to wake up.

 

            “Yes, a date. Now get dressed. I mean the Dr. Seuss pajamas are really cute but I don’t think you would want to go out in those, would you?”

 

            Hoya, who had been sitting on the couch and casually listening gets up and walks over to Sunggyu with a bowl of fresh strawberries. He takes one and sticks it into Sunggyu’s mouth. There’s a minute of silence; Woohyun just blinks and Hoya waits. Sunggyu slowly chews and swallows. “Oh, Woohyun? What’re you doing here?”

 

            Woohyun laughs lightheartedly while Hoya shakes his head. “Jeez, just get dressed, Sunggyu. And control that bedhead.”

 

            Hoya pushes Sunggyu into the bedroom and invites Woohyun in for some fresh strawberries while he waits.

 

            Sunggyu grabs some clothes and changes, hoping that Hoya isn’t telling Woohyun any embarrassing stories from their childhood (Hoya definitely would do it, too). He brushes out his hair quickly and pats it down with water, hoping he can get it into some semblance of order. He puts on a white long sleeve with black stripes, rolling the sleeves up to his elbow, and black slacks rolled up to mid-calf. He buckles up a thin yellow belt to make sure his trousers don’t fall – that would be so embarrassing – and steps out of the room.

 

            “… and he would never fight. Once a few boys came up to him and they wanted to fight and Sunggyu just said, ‘Oh no, I’m not the fighting sort’ and just left. The boys were so confused that they just stood there and watched Sunggyu leave.”

 

            “So he’s basically always been Winnie the Pooh?” Woohyun says in between laughs. Sunggyu’s cheeks heat up with embarrassment, although he feels like he should have been prepared for this. A part of him wonders what else Hoya told Woohyun, but then again, no he doesn’t.

 

            Sunggyu steps out into the living room before Hoya can tell Woohyun more about his childhood, hoping Woohyun can’t see his burning cheeks. “Ready to go?” Woohyun asks, recovering from his laughter.

 

            Sunggyu nods and quickly follows Woohyun out, telling Hoya he doesn’t really know when he’ll be back. Hoya pulls Sunggyu over to quietly ask if he is sure he won’t tell Woohyun, which Sunggyu answers that yes he won’t tell Woohyun because Woohyun doesn’t need to worry about that. Hoya lets Sunggyu go, believing that with Woohyun he doesn’t have to worry.

 

            “Let’s take a walk in the park, yeah?”

 

            So they go to the park which is peaceful and the cherry blossoms look beautiful. Woohyun plays a song on Sunggyu’s hand as if it is a piano and Sunggyu thinks he can hear the melody as Woohyun speaks to him. It becomes a duet when Sunggyu answers, and the beat is the sound of their pounding hearts. This is Sunggyu’s favourite song and he wishes it didn’t have an end.

 

            Woohyun suddenly stops and pulls Sunggyu behind a tree. He looks around and when he decides no one can see, he presses his lips against Sunggyu’s. Sunggyu is a little startled but swallows the feelings down, gripping the fabric on Woohyun’s back and pulling him closer. Sunggyu’s pretty sure his face is a brilliant shade of red right now but he stops caring because Woohyun is really warm and it feels very nice.

 

            Somewhere in between the clashing of tongue and teeth and bumping of noses, Sunggyu realizes that he’s getting very hot and bothered and it’s getting very dangerous. Sunggyu and Woohyun kiss all the time but for some reason Sunggyu is getting a little more excited than normal. Sunggyu pulls away and breathes in much needed air. “Let’s walk,” Sunggyu breathes.

 

            It takes a few minutes for Sunggyu to calm down and he’s positive his lips are swollen. They walk and Woohyun suggests they go get some ice cream. So they do, and Sunggyu thinks that maybe he can forget everything for even a little while.

 

            His dreams are crushed in a moment when he hears his name being called. He freezes – doesn’t even turn around – and swallows. It’s a voice that terrifies him now for more reasons than one. He suddenly feels dirty and his skin burns. He wants to wash away the lingering touches that gave him nightmares and be rid of the ghost he’d seen in his dreams.

 

            “Woo Bin,” he hears Woohyun spit, “what are you doing here?”

 

            “I came to find Sunggyu, of course. We had business a few days ago that was cut short and I’d like to carry on from where we left off.”

 

            Woohyun doesn’t understand. He looks at Sunggyu’s who has begun to tremble. “Sunggyu? What is he talking about? Did he hurt you? I swear if he hurt you I’ll—”

 

            Sunggyu squeezes his hand, his bottom lip between his teeth. “Stop. Let’s just ignore him and leave.”

 

            “But we were having so much fun, Gyu. We didn’t even get to go very far.”

 

            “What did he do to you, Sunggyu?” Woohyun is trying to get Sunggyu to look at him but Sunggyu refuses, his eyes fixated on the ground. “Sunggyu—”

 

            “Oh, Gyu, you didn’t tell him? Shall I? You really shouldn’t keep things from your boyfriend.”

 

            “What. Happened.” Woohyun is burning with rage.

 

            “Well, let’s see… Sunggyu got into my car with me to have a little chat… and then I kissed him – oh, his lips were so soft – and I touched him – his skin is like silk, did you know that? Or have you not touched him the way I have?”

 

            Sunggyu glances over to Woohyun who is wearing an expression that Sunggyu has never seen before and it sends a shiver down his spine. “You look like you want to murder me. Interesting.”

 

            Woohyun leaves Sunggyu’s side in a flash and is Woo Bin’s collar. “Oh, how scary!”

 

            “What did you do to him?”

 

            Woo Bin relays every small detail (and adds things), building Woohyun’s anger. When Woo Bin starts on how soft Sunggyu’s skin is, he’s effectively interrupted by Woohyun’s fist. Woohyun knocks him to the floor and continues to punch him. Sunggyu breaks out of his trance when he sees Woo Bin not fighting back. He grabs Woohyun’s arm and shoulder and pulls. “Woohyun! Stop! Stop this right now!”

 

            “He touched you and hurt you!”

 

           “You can get charged for this! Please stop! Woohyun, please!” Sunggyu throws his arms (rather dramatically) around Woohyun. This somehow stops him and he stands up. Sunggyu unwraps his arms and stands in front of Woohyun. Woo Bin stands and wipes his mouth.

 

            “Please leave,” Sunggyu musters up every ounce of confidence to seem menacing. “Don’t ever talk to me again and just leave. Move on because I have.”

 

            Sunggyu really doesn’t know what comes over him but he places his hands on each side of Woohyun’s face and brings him close, pressing his lips to Woohyun’s. The world seems to freeze for a moment – Woo Bin is wide-eyed and so is Woohyun while Sunggyu squeezes his eyes shut. His cheeks burn because he’s never really done this in front of someone and he thinks this is the first time he’s actually the one to start the kiss. He’s not sure how much of a point this will prove but he hopes it shocks Woo Bin so much he just leaves.

 

            When Sunggyu (and frankly Woohyun) can’t take much more, Sunggyu pulls away and instantly grabs Woohyun’s hand and breaks into a run, dragging a dazed Woohyun along until they somehow end up in Woohyun’s neighbourhood. Woohyun is simply out of breath whilst Sunggyu is on the ground panting because he can’t even walk up his stairs without tasting blood (an exaggeration, of course). Unlike Woohyun who is incredibly athletic and strong, Sunggyu barely goes outside.

 

            “First of all: that was very unexpected. Secondly: why the hell did you let him touch you?”

 

            Sunggyu coughs, unable to answer. He feels Woohyun pick him up (like a princess, no less) and bring him inside. They go upstairs and to Woohyun’s bedroom before Sunggyu finally regains somewhat normal breathing. When Sunggyu is able to form words, Woohyun throws him on the rather large bed and before he can use his refound ability to make sentences, Woohyun is on top of him, his face over his.

 

            “Sunggyu… why didn’t you tell me?” his voice is a whisper and it makes Sunggyu gasp.

 

            “I…” Sunggyu turns his head and looks away, unable to meet his eyes. “I didn’t want to bother you,” he murmurs.

 

            “Bother me?”

 

            “I didn’t want you to get tired of always having to protect me and look after me so I didn’t tell you!” Sunggyu blurts out and slaps a hand over his mouth to stop himself from saying anything more.

 

            When Woohyun doesn’t answer, Sunggyu thinks that he’s totally right and Woohyun is going to get tired of Sunggyu until he takes a glance at Woohyun and sees that Woohyun looks very hurt. “Woohyun—”

 

            “You thought… I would get tired of you? You didn’t tell me because you thought that you would bother me?”

 

            Sunggyu fixes his eyes on the curtains that are pulled close. “Is it really that ridiculous to believe? I always worry that you’ll get tired of me. Isn’t that a natural thing for someone in a relationship? Especially for someone like me who has never been in a relationship before. Is it so wrong to be scared that you’ll leave me some day?” Sunggyu looks into Woohyun’s eyes as he says the last sentence, causing Woohyun to swallow.

 

            Woohyun regains his composure after seeing Sunggyu’s worried and pained expression and looks at him with soft features. “How can I make you stop thinking like this? Is there anything that I can do to convince you that I won’t leave you?” he whispers.

 

            Heat rises to Sunggyu’s face and paints his neck, cheeks and ears a brilliant shade of cherry red. He wonders how Woohyun can say such greasy things with a straight face. “Tell me… you love… me…”

 

            Woohyun chuckles and Sunggyu wants to crawl in a hole and die because wow that was just as cheesy as Woohyun. Now he’s embarrassed himself beyond belief. “I love you,” Woohyun says and Sunggyu wants to faint because this is the second time Woohyun has said that to him but the three words definitely haven’t lost their touch. “I’ll say it as many times as you want me to.”

 

            “... Again…”

 

            “I love you.”

 

            “… Again…”

 

            “I love you.” Woohyun leans down and softly presses his lips against Sunggyu’s and leaves lingering kisses that trail down his jawline to his neck and to the collar of his shirt. Somewhere in between the loving kisses and the burning touches their shirts are removed and thrown to a corner. Sunggyu has become a writhing mess beneath Woohyun and he thinks that it’s still daytime and slowly dissolving into evening and it’s probably not the time for this but he can’t really get himself to stop Woohyun because he wants this, too. As much as he thought he’d be totally nervous – nervous enough to vomit – he’s not really very anxious at all, surprisingly enough.

 

            “Won’t you say you love me, too?”

 

            Sunggyu squeezes his eyes shut. “… I love you.”

 

            “Again.”

 

            “I love you.”

 

            “Once more.”

 

            “I love you.”

 

 

HAHAHAHAHA NOT PROOFREAD SUE ME AND IT.

I'm very sorry that was out of line (not sorry).

Hahahahahaha I will not write hahahahahaha what is hahahahahaha THIS WAS SO CHEESY AND GREASY AND OMFG WHY DO I LOVE CLICHES SO MUCH I DONT EVEN KNOW AND IM NOT EVEN SORRY.