Chapter Text
Chapter 5
Sleep was hard to come by for Wonwoo that night—he didn't think he got much more than maybe an hour of rest. Actually, sanity was a bit hard to come by as well after he'd stepped out of the music room, leaving Sana alone and probably a little more than hurt. Her words haunted him and gave him no more than half a minute of rest at a time. That half a minute didn't come often, either. The words were driving him crazy. She was right, but so was he—what was he supposed to do? Kill his pride? He didn't think so. There was no way in Hell...
So, when he saw Mingyu the next day he immediately avoided his eyes, and pretended to have not seen him at all. He wanted nothing to do with Mingyu, and was better off without him.
Unfortunately, Mingyu-less moments were just as hard to come by anymore. Lunch was difficult to get through. He remained silent, trying so hard to drown out Mingyu's voice when he was talking, but then the song began playing in any language he knew any words to, and then Sana's words took over that. There was no escape—especially when he began remembering bits of conversation between himself and vernon.
After school, Wonwoo didn't bother even thinking about going to the music room. He had a strong feeling he knew someone might be there skipping her softball practice. Plus, the others mentioned something about reviewing their English homework so he was obligated to go and help.
But, of course, Mingyu joined them not too long afterward.
In a further attempt to drown out Mingyu's annoying voice (he had to come up with something...), Wonwoo had taken to talking over him. He'd ask the others if there was something they didn't understand, or if there was anything he could get the others, like a drink, or snack. Mingyu didn't seem pleased with these outcomes, but Wonwoo wasn't paying attention to him, so he didn't care. He also drowned out the little Shoulder Angel telling him he did care.
So he most definitely and determinedly did not care.
There was no sleep that night, either. Not even the hour he might have gotten the previous night. He felt like he was on the brink of madness. Virtually no sleep for the last two days, and voices, and songs, and emotions running rampant within him. It was unpleasant and he wanted it to stop now. He didn't ask to harbor feelings for idiot trees—they were shoved upon him like some mad and frothing squirrel. (Which was a scary thought but to his sleep-depraved mind it fit rather well.)
So he continued to ignore Mingyu, and with his irritability up by 134, no one was very happy. Jun tried his best to help ease the tension—Wonwoo appreciated the effort, but it was nothing he needed to get involved in. If he met someone's eyes in the hallway, all he did was glare even if he didn't know them. He even passed by Sana, but she glared back just as hard if not harder.
Lunch on the rooftop began with Seungcheol dragging everyone away from the roof for 'practice'. Wonwoo nearly mourned the loss more than he usually did. Surely the others didn't expect him to eat lunch alone with Mingyu? Unless it was a prank or some kind of test, checking his ability to ignore annoying presences? He could do that. He could prove that. They moved to their respective 'seats' and sat there, pulling out their lunches in silence and trying to see who could make the least amount of noise.
It was hard for Wonwoo to tell how much noise he was or wasn't making. The voices grew louder, and his blood was pumping louder than he could remember—Mingyu couldn't hear it? Oh well, he was an unobservant idiot with sod-for-brains, anyway. As he chewed his lunch, Wonwoo could feel his eyes start to shut, and his mind begin to shut down—he was so tired. He didn't know how much more he could take. But—! He had to look alive! He was NOT going to lose to the idiot tree.
"This has gone on long enough, Won. Just tell me what your problem is."
That jolted him awake—to his feet, even. Wonwoo glared down at Mingyu (it was an automatic reaction—he swore), soon to Mingyu, once he had risen to his feet as well. Wonwoo couldn't take it much longer, but he had to stay mad. He had to. His pride was at stake and he would not lose it...
As he had the other day with a wall, Wonwoo shoved Mingyu against a fence, his shirt in his grasp. Glare intensified, and almost barking like a dog yelled, "You wanna know what my problem is, idiot? You. You are my fucking problem. You always tag along with us, saying you wanna be part of us, but only when it's convenient for you. You think you can throw your arm around my shoulders, smile that stupid, brainless smile, call me your god damn best friend and think that that makes everything okay!" Wonwoo wasn't sure when he lost track of his argument, or when he'd snapped, but Mingyu's eyes had widened slightly as if he'd gone crazy and lifted a hand to his face.
"You're crying."
Wonwoo hadn't felt anything like tears fall down his face; only when Mingyu's hand made contact with his cheek did he feel anything. The air in Wonwoo's lungs left in a rush, leaving his heart to give a particularly odd thump. Though he felt the fatigue rush through his body he tightened his grip with a soft, "You fucking idiot." He yanked Mingyu down, kissing him. Forget the air leaving his body, and the tempo his heart was beating. Their lips parted just enough for, "You stupid..." before he kissed him again. Instead of his own hair twisted between his fingers in frustration it was Mingyu's in what felt like fear, excitement, and anxiety in one—Mingyu was not getting away. Just small snippets of familiar phrases, such as, "Lo—", "—ve you—", "—I love you—", and "Don’t Forget me" were whispered on their lips.
Now Wonwoo could feel as more tears spilled from his tired eyes, and Mingyu wiped them away still with a slightly surprised grin, and an unsure one at that. Wonwoo stared at him worriedly until Mingyu kissed him back softly, and Wonwoo, feeling absolutely wiped out, rested his head on Mingyu's chest. The voices in his head stopped, and that blasted song had finally stopped playing in the background.
Wonwoo was about ready to call it a night.
—END—
A little stunned (and almost deliriously happy—it was Wonwoo, how could he possibly have even dreamt something like this would happen?), Mingyu rubbed Wonwoo's back and rested his cheek on his dyed hair. It felt like the closing credits to some epic romance... All up until Wonwoo went limp in his arms. Nearly falling to the ground with the sudden dead weight, Mingyu panicked.
"Wonwoo? Are you all right?"
Of course, his only answer was a snore. Heart still racing, but relieved, Mingyu sank down onto the roof, so he wouldn't drop his friend (Wonwoo would kill him if he even thought of calling him his boyfriend). He laughed softly (affectionately) and smoothed the hair out of Wonwoo's fa—
"Eh?! What happened?! You didn't hurt him, did you, Mingyu?" Jun yelled, running back across the roof with Minghao smirking and Hoshi with his mouth open. Mingyu watched as what little color Jun had left in his face drained once he was close enough to realize a few things about the situation. "Wait! No. No, no no no no...! You and Wonwoo...! But—! No."
Minghao kicked him in the shins. "You shouldn't be so ignorant of your friends that these things shock you."
And Mingyu just laughed.