chapter 06 |making friends via poetry

 

Sunggyu wonders if it’s the hair.

 

            Maybe Yongguk, being an odd one out with his bleached out hair, felt that he could talk to Sunggyu who also had an unnatural hair colour.

 

            At first Sunggyu thought that he only needed Hoya and Dongwoo to survive through everything but after meeting Yongguk he realizes that another friend won’t hurt. He doesn’t want to call Yongguk friend just yet because they’ve only talked once and he doesn’t want to seem too eager.

 

            The bell rings and Sunggyu begins packing his things. “Oh hey, can I see your phone for a second?” Yongguk asks beside him. Sunggyu nods a little shyly and reaches for his pocket where his phone is usually kept. He remembers something, though, and he freezes midway.

 

            Woohyun has my phone.

 

            “Oh, I’m sorry. I lost my phone recently.”

 

            Sunggyu misses the flash of disappointment that crosses Yongguk’s face. “That’s okay. I hope you find your phone soon. I’d love to hear more about poetry.”

 

            Sunggyu nods and watches as Yongguk leaves. Sunggyu really hadn’t planned on getting close to Woohyun today but he needed his phone so he was going to have to do it sooner or later. Sunggyu gets up, pushes his chair in, and hurries out of the class. He needs to find Woohyun.

 

            Sunggyu tries to look through the crowd of people trying to leave but he can’t see Woohyun anywhere – not even with the popular group. He’s a little confused and starts walking again until someone grabs his arm and pulls him into the janitor’s closet.

 

            “W-what—”

 

            “Looking for someone?”

 

            Oh no. Sunggyu looks up slowly and is met with Woohyun’s face that is very close to his own. Their bodies are pressed together in the limited space of the closet and Sunggyu can feel Woohyun’s breath on his own. His heart starts to race and he’s sure his face is as red as his hair by now.

 

            “U-um, y-yeah…” Sunggyu manages to stutter out.

 

            “It isn’t me, is it?” Sunggyu swears Woohyun’s voice just dropped a few octaves.

 

            “W-well, it was a-actually.”

 

            “Oh? And why might that be?”

 

            “I-I n-need my p-phone…”

 

            The corner of Woohyun’s lips tug into a smirk and his hand goes to his pocket. He languidly pulls out Sunggyu’s phone and slips into the latter’s pocket, his fingers lingering for a little too long.

 

            “The red hair is really hot, by the way.”

 

            And then Woohyun is gone, out the door. Sunggyu is a little breathless and dazed. He’s not really sure what has just happened but people are staring at him as he steps out of the closet a moment after Woohyun.

 

--

 

            Sunggyu sits across Hoya and Dongwoo at their usual lunch table the next day. He pops a large strawberry into his mouth and begins to chew, regretting his decision to eat the huge strawberry whole. Hoya and Dongwoo are going on about something trivial when a new voice speaks.

 

            “Hey, Sunggyu. Mind if I sit with you?”

 

            Sunggyu chokes a little on his strawberry. He looks up, surprised to see Yongguk standing there with only a bottle of water in his hand. Sunggyu glances at Hoya and Dongwoo who are just staring at Yongguk with their jaws hanging down.

 

            Sunggyu swallows the strawberry so he can speak properly, or as properly as Sunggyu ever speaks. “S-sure,” Sunggyu answers, though he’s a little confused as to why Yongguk would want to sit all the way out here.

 

            Yongguk sits beside Sunggyu, uncapping the bottle and taking a big gulp. Manly, is the only thing Sunggyu can describe him as.

 

            “Guys, this is Yongguk,” Sunggyu says, hoping to get Hoya and Dongwoo to snap out of it. “And this is Hoya and Dongwoo. Dongwoo’s my younger stepbrother.”

 

            “Nice to meet you. I hope we get along,” Yongguk says politely.

 

            “Yeah,” Dongwoo says.

 

            “Nice to meet you, too,” Hoya finishes.

 

            There is a bit of an awkward silence until Yongguk thankfully breaks it. “Oh, Sunggyu, I searched up some poetry last night. I think I’m starting to get what you’re saying.”

 

            Hoya and Dongwoo are flabbergasted because Sunggyu doesn’t talk to people, especially not about poetry. They silently decide to watch this develop.

 

            “Oh, really?”

 

            “Yeah. I was looking at a Chinese poet, Li Bai, and I was trying to listen to the pattern of the words like you said.”

 

            “Do you like it?”

 

            “Yeah, I think I’m starting to.”

 

            Sunggyu doesn’t realize how fast time can fly when you talk to someone about something interesting until the bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch period. He didn’t realize Yongguk would take so much interest in poetry after talking to Sunggyu once about a German poet.

 

            “I’ll see you last period, then?” Yongguk says as he chucks his empty water bottle at a recycling bin expertly and watches as it goes in without fault. Manly, Sunggyu repeats in his mind.

 

            “Y-yeah,” Sunggyu says and kind of stares at Yongguk’s back.

 

            “Oh my god, Sunggyu, you are blushing,” Dongwoo says, snapping Sunggyu out of his daze.

 

            “No, I’m not! What are you talking about?”

 

            “Do you like him?”

 

            “I barely know him!”

 

            “Just like you barely know Nam Woohyun?”

 

            “That’s—” Sunggyu stops midway because the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he can’t find a valid argument. Why does he like Nam Woohyun? He doesn’t even know the guy. Maybe it would be better to like Yongguk, someone he could talk to without getting all hot and bothered?

 

            Sunggyu doesn’t really know anymore.

 

--

 

            Sunggyu sits down in his usual seat at the back. He’s the first to arrive – it’s not surprising – and he pulls out his copy of Neue Gidichte. When someone sits down beside him, he expects to see Yongguk, but is very taken aback when instead he sees Nam Woohyun.

 

            “Hey, Gyu.”

 

            Gyu? Sunggyu’s heart pounds in his chest and butterflies infest his stomach. “H-hi,” he mutters back.

 

            “Did you get my text?” Woohyun asks expectantly. Text? Sunggyu pulls out his phone – he hadn’t checked it since he got it back – and sees that there is indeed one new text. He opens it and reads it.

 

            Want to hang out after school tomorrow?

 

            Sunggyu almost drops his phone. 

 

            When Sunggyu looks back up, he sees Woohyun is a lot closer than before. “Oh, I didn’t see it,” Sunggyu’s voice is barely a whisper.

 

            “So what’ll it be?”

 

            Sunggyu doesn’t think he can say no to Woohyun. “S-sure,” Sunggyu says quietly.

 

            “Great!”

 

            Sunggyu glances around the classroom. The popular kids are glaring at Sunggyu and Yongguk’s expression is blank, unreadable. Sunggyu feels very awkward even if Woohyun doesn’t seem to notice.

 

--

 

            When class is finished, Sunggyu packs up his things and puts away his reading glasses. “Are you ready to go?” Woohyun asks. Sunggyu nods shyly and squeaks a little when Woohyun grabs his hand and pulls him out of class. He reminds himself to text Dongwoo and Hoya.

 

            “W-where are we going?” Sunggyu asks as Woohyun pulls him through the throng of students.

 

            “Do you bake?”

 

            “Kind of,” Sunggyu answers. He does bake because his mother loves to bake and used to bake with him all the time. He can’t really see Woohyun baking, though. He tries to imagine it but the image is blurry. “U-um, you still haven’t told me where we’re going.”

 

            “My house.”

 

Not proof-read. I'm sorry. 

I'm actually trying to think up something like a special chapter for Sunggyu's birthday that's coming up but I'm not sure what I should do yet. All I know is that there will be fluff. 

On another note:

100+ subs! Thank you so freaking much like I don't think you understand how happy this makes me. 

Oh and I read your comments. I'm sorry if you ship Yongguk with someone else and you don't want Sunggyu getting in the way of that ship, but it's for me to decide who Yongguk ends up with. You already know that the final pairing won't be Yonggyu, it will be Woogyu. So take a deep breath, calm down, and ship Yongguk with whoever you want. 

(I don't even ship him with anyone. I don't ship anyone in B.A.P so I'm sorry my views are different from yours.)