The next two months passed by pretty quickly. Jongsuk’s diet and workout planned had proven to be rather effective, to Woobin’s surprise. He really wasn’t expecting it to be that effective when he first started out.

While Woobin still didn’t have the build of a model, he wasn’t that overly skinny boy he was two months ago. The curves on his arms were obviously forming and his uniform is now seemingly a little too tight for him. The other kids in class had cut down on their teasing as they looked at Woobin’s transformation.

A lot of times, Woobin had complained about Jongsuk’s exercise routine for him, but he still did it as promised. To encourage Woobin, Jongsuk had joined in quite frequently. Naturally, Jongsuk had buffed up too, although it wasn’t as obvious since he originally already had a pretty good figure.

But what transformed wasn’t only their physical appearances. In the two months, they bonded a lot more. They had spent a lot of time with each other, and Woobin had made a conscious effort to try to get to know Jongsuk better. Especially ever since that day when Jongsuk arrived in school with bruises, Woobin really wanted to find out more about Jongsuk.

He noticed Jongsuk’s ears won’t lie. Every time Jongsuk gets embarrassed, it’s always his ears that turn red. He noticed that Jongsuk was rather afraid of getting close to anyone, to the point where he sometimes wonder if he really was close to Jongsuk. He noticed that Jongsuk didn’t like talking about his family nor dreams and he would always readily change the topic whenever Woobin brought it up. He realized that the reason Jongsuk had agreed to go to the gym with him at the start even if he didn’t work out was possibly because of he didn’t want to go home.

Jongsuk also found himself getting more attached to Woobin than he hoped he would. He found himself relying on Woobin a lot. He found himself showing a lot of who he really is to Woobin. The wall he had built around himself was increasingly useless against Woobin.

Neither would label the other as his best friend. Not that they had closer friends than each other, but they didn’t think best friend was a correct term to describe the other party. To Jongsuk, Woobin was probably like a shelter – he just felt very safe with Woobin. To Woobin, Jongsuk was just someone he really treasured.

In the two months, there were a couple of times when Jongsuk had arrived in school in bruises, like the day two months ago. Every time Woobin tried asking, Jongsuk just shot him a look and Woobin knew that Jongsuk still wasn’t ready to talk about it. 

That day, the two boys had just finished showering after their work out in the gym and were on their way to dinner.

“Satisfied with the results of this diet plan?” Jongsuk smiled and gave Woobin a light nudge as they headed to their dinner place.

“No reason not to!”

“I assume you’ll want me to continue helping you then?”

“Of course. It’s amazing, way better than I thought. But technically you aren’t the one who helped me~”

“Yah!” Jongsuk gave Woobin’s shoulder a hard smack. “UNGRATEFUL! Maybe I should reconsider this…”

“Yah yah! I was joking! You are my BIGGEST saviour. I owe everything to you!” Woobin said exaggeratedly. “But anyway, who is that friend who helped you plan this?”

Jongsuk simply shrugged and shook his head.

“Are you never going to tell me?” Woobin frowned. “I should thank him, shouldn’t I?”

“You can just thank me. Works the same.”

“How is that the same?!”

“Just is.”

“Tell me at least, how did you get to know him?”

Jongsuk shook his head and looked down, a faint smile forming on his lips. It wasn’t the first time Woobin had asked this, but it was the first time Woobin noticed something was hidden behind the smile. For the first time in two months, Woobin felt that the smile was depressing. The look on Jongsuk’s face was one that needed comfort.

He stopped in his tracks and pulled Jongsuk close to him, holding him tightly in his arms. This sudden pull and warmth around him caught Jongsuk by surprise, his eyes widening as he turned to look at Woobin in confusion.

“Yah! What are you doing?!” He said as he tried to free himself from Woobin’s hold. However, the more he struggled, the tighter Woobin held on to him. Woobin had gotten a lot stronger the past two months and it wasn’t as easy for him as he would have two months ago.

 “Everything will be fine…” Woobin whispered by Jongsuk’s ear. “Whatever happens, I’m on your side.” Upon the words, Jongsuk stopped moving. He wasn’t expecting anything like that.

As he stood in Woobin’s embrace, Jongsuk felt a surge of warmth in his heart. It was a feeling he never thought he would feel. It was a feeling that brought tears to his eyes. But he didn’t want to cry, not in front of Woobin. He didn’t want to be appear vulnerable. Jongsuk turned his head away from Woobin and pulled away, not wanting Woobin to see the tear that rolled down his cheek.

This time, Woobin let him go. He had clearly conveyed what he wanted Jongsuk to know. He didn’t need to see the tear to know that -- Jongsuk’s ears were flushed bright red. If Jongsuk didn’t want Woobin to see him crying, Woobin would just not see it.

They walked in silence, Woobin keeping a distance behind Jongsuk. It wasn’t awkward, but Woobin knew Jongsuk needed that time alone.

“Don’t ever give up, please,” Jongsuk finally broke the silence when they were seated at the restaurant, waiting for their food to cook. He was firm, but there was a tinge of pleading in his voice. “Please don’t ever give up being a model.”

“I won’t. Promise. I promise you I’ll make it.”

What Jongsuk needed at that time was really just an assurance from Woobin, and he knew that.

“…”

“…”

A couple of times, Jongsuk looked like he was about to say something, but he ended up saying nothing.

“If you want to talk…about anything at all, I’ll be here listening,” Woobin finally said.

“Thanks,” Jongsuk smiled weakly and shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Woobin didn’t probe further.

The both of them ate in silence before Jongsuk spoke up again. “Remember you asked me what I wanted most in life?”

“Mmhmm. And you told me you wanted to watch me succeed….” Woobin hesitated for a while before continuing, “You were just patronizing me, weren’t you?”

Jongsuk snorted softly and shook his head, “I wasn’t.”

“But, what is it that you really want? How can I succeeding be the one thing you want the most?” Since Jongsuk started the topic, Woobin didn’t see any reason to stop it. It was something he had been rather curious about all along. “I don’t mean to doubt you but it just…doesn’t make much sense.”

“What I really want…” Jongsuk closed his eyes and turned away from Woobin, as if he was afraid another tear would escape his eyes again. He swallowed hard and took in a shaky breath, “It doesn’t matter anymore, whatever I wanted, I don’t want it anymore.”

Woobin watched him in silence. He knew Jongsuk was lying. He knew that lie wasn’t meant for him. It was a lie that Jongsuk was telling himself. Woobin felt like he finally understood why Jongsuk said that what he wanted was for Woobin to succeed.

Woobin felt like Jongsuk had transferred and projected his own dreams onto Woobin. He wanted Woobin to succeed because for whatever reason, he couldn’t achieve his own and perhaps Woobin achieving it would let him feel like he did too. Woobin felt a sudden surge of responsibility. Before that, Woobin’s dreams were just his own – he was just doing it for himself – but now, it encompassed Jongsuk’s dreams.

Whether intentional or not, Jongsuk’s words had given Woobin some sort of pressure. Along with this pressure came motivation. He was determined, more than before, because he didn’t want to let Jongsuk down. He couldn’t bear to see Jongsuk looking this dejected again.