chapter 07 | learning about woohyun

Woohyun’s… house?

            Sunggyu doesn’t know if he’s heard Woohyun right. Sunggyu just kind of blinks at Woohyun as the latter pulls him out of school. They zoom right past Dongwoo and Hoya who are staring after Sunggyu with very confused expressions. Sunggyu doesn’t blame them.

            “U-um, Woohyun? Why are we going to your house?”

            “Because we’re going to bake,” he answers.

            Sunggyu is still very confused but he doesn’t really say anything. The most confusing part is that Woohyun wants to hang out with him. This confuses Sunggyu greatly.

--

            This is the second time Sunggyu has been at Woohyun’s. Even now, the size and grandeur of the mansion is overwhelming. Sunggyu hadn’t really had time to appreciate the architecture the last time and now he finally gets a good look at it.

            “Come on,” Woohyun says, pushing Sunggyu into his mansion.

            “Wait, so why are we baking?” Sunggyu realizes his voice is getting very quiet again as he is getting very nervous but he doesn’t really know how to speak louder in this situation.

            “We’re baking because my little sister has a bake sale tomorrow and she needs cupcakes. I promised I’d help her bake them because our parents are always out but I don’t know how to bake at all.”

            Sunggyu thinks it’s adorably sweet that Woohyun would help his sister like that even if he didn’t know how to do it. Maybe the reason Woohyun wanted Sunggyu to help him was because he knows Sunggyu wouldn’t judge him.

            Sunggyu thinks that’s kind of shallow of Woohyun but he can’t really expect anything else. “Oh,” Sunggyu says. “I’m glad to help.”

            “Great! I hope you don’t mind little kids… but my sister is pretty well behaved.”

            “Oh no, I don’t mind at all. My mom actually works at a daycare and I work there sometimes, too.” Sunggyu doesn’t really know why he’s telling Woohyun this.

            “Really? That’s cool. You must be great with kids then.”

            “I guess so,” Sunggyu admits quietly as Woohyun guides him into the enormous kitchen. The kitchen really is quite something and Sunggyu finds himself gaping at the pristine countertops.

            “Hye Mi!” Woohyun calls.

            Hye Mi must be Woohyun’s little sister. Sunggyu can hear footsteps and then there’s a little girl in the kitchen wearing a very cute sundress. She must be around the age of six or seven. Sunggyu notes how much she looks like Woohyun. She’ll probably be very pretty when she grows up.

            She smiles cutely at her brother and runs into his arms. Sunggyu thinks this might be the cutest thing he’s ever seen. When she’s satisfied with the hug, she turns to Sunggyu. “Who are you?”

            “That’s my friend, Kim Sunggyu. He’s going to help us make the cupcakes.”

            She analyzes Sunggyu, looking him up and down. She takes one step closer, her eyes narrowing a little. “I know you! You slept over a few days ago with Woohyunnie!”

            If that’s what you call it, Sunggyu thinks to himself. “Hi there. It’s nice to meet you,” Sunggyu squats so that he’s roughly the same height as Hye Mi.

            “Can you bake? Woohyunnie can’t bake at all!”

            Sunggyu laughs a little when he glances up at Woohyun who’s blushing just a tad. Sunggyu smiles, a nice big smile. Woohyun’s breath catches a little when he sees Sunggyu’s smile. He clears his throat.

            “I can bake anything you like,” Sunggyu answers sweetly. It seems that with Hye Mi there, he can be a little more comfortable.

            “Like vanilla cupcakes? Those are my favourite!”

            Sunggyu nods. “Especially vanilla.”

            “Hye Mi, go wash up so we can start,” Woohyun says. Hye Mi nods and runs off, though Sunggyu is a little confused because there is a sink in the kitchen but he doesn’t question it.

            Sunggyu makes his way over to the sink and turns the tap on, holding his hands under the running water. He can’t shake the weird feeling of knowing he’s in Woohyun’s house. He’s been in here before, doing much more dirty things than baking cupcakes but now he’s sober.

            “Have you always been so quiet?” Woohyun asks from the fridge.

            Sunggyu is slightly taken aback at the sudden question. “I’m not sure… I never really noticed it until people started telling me,” he answers, drying his hands on a nearby hand towel.

            “Are you shy around everyone?”

            Sunggyu is very aware that Woohyun is stepping closer and closer to him. “I’m not really shy around Dongwoo or Hoya but I know them really well…” Sunggyu is vaguely aware that his voice is on the verge of being a whisper but he can’t seem to raise it because Woohyun is coming closer and closer and he thinks he might have a heart attack.

            “So I just need to get to know you for you to not be shy?”

            Sunggyu doesn’t say anything by this point because Woohyun’s body is practically touching his own and their breaths are starting to intermingle in a tango.

            “I’ll just tell you about me first,” he starts, his voice very close to Sunggyu’s ear. “My name is Nam Woohyun. My birthday is February 8^th. My favourite colour is red. My blood type is B and I’m an Aquarius. I like to sing and I like to play soccer. I hate that my parents are always away but what can I do about that? Nothing. So I just accept it and move on. But that makes me really ing lonely. And I want Hye Mi to know what it’s like to have a parent so I act like a father for her so she can know what it’s like. Everyone thinks my life is perfect but it isn’t. It just looks like that on the outside.”

            Sunggyu is frozen. His heart can’t help but ache at Woohyun’s words and the slight bitterness in his voice. Sunggyu wonders how Woohyun can hold it all in like this. Sunggyu glances at Woohyun’s face, looking for an expression that shows his feelings, but all he sees is the usual playfulness and confidence.

            “How can you hold it in?” Sunggyu asks very quietly.

            “Someone in this family has to be strong. I don’t expect Hye Mi to always be strong because that’s my job.”

            Sunggyu wonders why Woohyun is telling him all of this. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t suspect Sunggyu will judge him? Maybe he just wants to tell somebody who will listen and Sunggyu happens to be that person. Maybe he is silently calling out for help? Sunggyu really doesn’t know.

           “You don’t always have to be strong, you know,” Sunggyu doesn’t even know if his voice is audible anymore. Woohyun doesn’t say anything. He just looks into Sunggyu’s eyes and as Sunggyu gazes deeper, he finds it; the sadness Woohyun is always hiding. Sunggyu wants to erase that sadness but he doesn’t really know how.

            Woohyun’s eyes travel down to his lips and he finds that he, too, is looking at Woohyun’s lips that are growing closer and closer by the second. Woohyun’s lips are so close and they are about to touch—

            “Woohyunnie?” Hye Mi’s voice sounds through the kitchen and Sunggyu quickly pushes Woohyun away, his cheeks burning red and his heart on fire.

            Hye Mi materializes in the doorway and Sunggyu is relieved that she didn’t see anything. But Sunggyu was so very close to kissing Woohyun again and Sunggyu really wonders why this is happening to him of all people.

            Woohyun doesn’t like him, does he? 

Oh my, Sunggyu. It seems your love life is progressing well, despite the fact that you are an awkward, shy and clumsy idiot. 

Short chapter is short. Not proof-read. My apologies.