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“Aye, aye, aye!”
Daniel entered the building to a shuffling of feet coming from the second-floor lounge. Recognizing the voice counting off the beats to the song playing he jogged up the steps and encountered quite a sight.
“Like this, guys. Move those hips!”
What Daniel would have never imagined was to find his favorite person in the world leading a small group in Zumba. Sungwoon stood in the center flanked by a smiling Minhyun and a concentrated Guanlin. It reminded Daniel of all the aunties from his neighborhood that got together for aerobics on Saturday mornings. A little intense but cute nonetheless.
Daniel joined them quietly, completing the formation by standing between Guanlin and Minhyun.
“Now turn in a circle, pumping your chest and arms!”
Minhyun was laughing by this point and Sungwoon was so invested in those chest pumps he startled when he saw Daniel’s figure following the movements.
“Oh hyung!” Guanlin yelled excitedly with his wide, gummy smile.
“Is this what we’re doing these days? I’m feeling it!” Daniel said finishing his circle.
After taking three steps back, clapping their hands and moving forward three steps, Minhyun spoke. “Sungwoon hyung has been into this lately.”
“Really? Where have I been?”
“Dance practice.” Sungwoon breathed out, putting his all into the workout.
Daniel widened his mouth into an ‘o’ and bobbed his head.
“Last rep!” Sungwoon led them into the end of the routine and Guanlin let out a loud “woo!”
They dumped themselves onto the carpeted floor with labored breaths and lighthearted laughs.
“I learn new things about you every day, hyung.” Daniel said, watching the other three lie on the ground.
Sungwoon sat up and rested his weight on his palms. “Yeah man, I dance. The other day one of these videos was teaching me how to salsa. Another one was about ‘throwing that ass in a circle’?” Sungwoon carefully enunciated the words in English. “Daehwi showed me that one. Said it’s popular in America. Do you know how to do that one? I bet you don’t. Keep up with the American dance moves, Daniel. Come on.”
Daniel wheezed out a laugh in surprise. “Is that the kind of stuff you find while looking up Zumba?”
Sungwoon shrugged. “I saw a lot of things.”
“Careful, hyung. The internet is a scary place.” Guanlin said with all the maturity of a freshman in college.
“Don’t you have class?” Sungwoon replied, raising his left eyebrow at the youngest.
“Don’t you have class?”
“Nope. No classes today. Senior privileges. Now off to school, little one.” Sungwoon wiggled his fingers in a teasing wave.
Guanlin made sure he stood at his full height before mockingly saying, “I’m not the little one!” and running down the stairs.
“Hey!” Sungwoon yelled helplessly after him. “That kid has no respect.”
“It’s because you treat him like a friend.” Minhyun stated. “At least you know he likes you enough to joke around.”
Sungwoon mumbled incoherently still glaring at the staircase.
“So, what are you guys doing now? Any plans? More scandalous Zumba, perhaps?” Daniel looked between the two roommates inquisitively.
Sungwoon and Minhyun turned to each other with identical looks of uncertainty. “Not today, no. Why?”
Daniel clapped his hands together. “Great! Can I steal Sungwoon hyung from you then?”
Minhyun glanced at him funnily wondering why he was asking permission to take his own boyfriend. “Be my guest.”
“What are we doing?” Sungwoon asked dusting off his behind.
“Book store!”
“Ah, there’s a new volume out?”
“No, there’s a new series I want to start.”
“Why don’t you finish the other one first?”
“Because not all the volumes are out and who knows how long that’s going to take.”
“So you’re going to keep starting new ones-”
“Holy crap! Can you just shut up and come with me, mom?”
Sungwoon made an annoyed face and smacked Daniel’s lower back. He pushed him towards the stairs and turned back to Minhyun who still sat gracefully on the carpet waving them goodbye.
“Minhyun, I’ll see you later then.”
“Bye hyung!”
Once in the freedom of the outside air, Daniel put his arm around Sungwoon’s shoulder. Sungwoon put on the hoodie of his heather gray sweatsuit and tightened the strings. It wasn’t too cold that afternoon, but the skies were cloudy and gray promising light rain. They arrived at the book store after a fifteen-minute walk and Daniel walked Sungwoon through the aisles rattling off different manga names and freaking out when Sungwoon said he never watched ‘Your Name’.
“And the male protagonist is named Taki and he switches bodies with the female protagonist Mitsuha. Then-”
“Why don’t we just watch the movie?” Sungwoon interrupted, holding the café door open for him.
“Oh. Yeah, we could do that.” Daniel smiled, and they stood in line to order their drinks.
“One Americano, medium and a large peach tea, please.” Thinking of the torturous month he had spent ordering peach teas and having to cancel the orders, Sungwoon sighed gratefully. Fortunately, that was over. “Where do you want to sit?”
Daniel nibbled his bottom lip and tilted his head towards what used to be their table. After they got together, they kind of avoided that booth. They weren’t quite ready for what thoughts would be brought up if they sat there. But apparently Daniel was feeling courageous today so Sungwoon followed him over.
The dancer scooted into his side and Sungwoon sat in front of him cradling his warm mug of coffee.
“Any reason why you chose to sit here today?” He asked carefully. He watched Daniel’s face as it went through a variety of emotions before settling on thoughtful.
“It’s a been about a month. We had to face it eventually, right?”
Sungwoon nodded slowly. “I guess so.” Suddenly, memories of the day they became friends floated through his mind and Sungwoon was happy not everything had been tainted by that fight they had had. “Remember the day you first kissed me?”
Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise at the change of topic. Given the opportunity, Sungwoon would rather bring up the good times they had rather than the bad one and effectively, it brought a smile to Daniel’s face.
“Yeah. After we hung out here.”
“In front of the Arts building.” They said simultaneously and laughed.
“You really caught me off guard. I think I might have stood outside for like five minutes afterwards like,” Sungwoon’s eyes and mouth opened in imitation of how he thought he looked that afternoon.
“I saw my chance and I took it.” Daniel said and took a confident drink from his tea.
“Yeah, I realized that.” Sungwoon kept his eyes on the other as he lifted the mug to his lips and Daniel placed his elbow on the table, tucking his fist beneath his chin with a small smirk.
“You didn’t enjoy it?”
Sungwoon gulped, trying to stop himself from going pink at that forward question. “I guess I did.”
Daniel smiled brightly at him and Sungwoon couldn’t hold back his own toothy smile.
“You tried so hard to push me away.”
“I wasn’t pushing you away! I was just keeping you at arms length.”
Daniel rolled his eyes playfully. “Same thing, hyung.”
“No it’s not! I never physically pushed you away.”
“Yes you have.”
Sungwoon gaped at him. “I don’t remember that.”
“I remember everything clearly, hyung. I almost cried.” Daniel told him jokingly.
“No, you didn’t.” Sungwoon replied doubtfully. “I’ve never made you cry.”
Daniel looked at him briefly and dropped his gaze to the table rolling his lips into his mouth. When he looked back up the corners of his lips were inching upwards and Sungwoon was looking directly at him. “Actually, you have. It was after we had that fight.”
Instantly, Sungwoon felt terrible. He would always feel embarrassed for how he treated Daniel that day. How he treated him in general back then. Maybe that was one of his reasons for avoiding their booth. It reminded him of how dumb he was.
Seeing the crestfallen look on Sungwoon’s face, Daniel was quick to continue. “I wasn’t like ugly crying or anything but more like I was upset and angry and I couldn’t hold back some tears.”
Daniel laughed lightly as if it were a light matter and Sungwoon frowned. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t one of my proudest moments.”
“It’s okay, babe.”
“I’m not okay. I don’t want to hear that I made you cry.” He paused for a second and looked at the ground. “If we’re being honest, that day we were out in the field,” He made sure Daniel knew what he was talking about before proceeding. “I thought you only wanted to talk so you could rip me a new one and tell me you didn’t like me anymore. That was one of the scariest moments of my life. That almost made me cry.”
Daniel processed all of Sungwoon’s words and saw how he caved into himself, making himself look smaller.
“Good. I’m glad.” He said with all the pity in the world.
Sungwoon scoffed out a laugh and picked up his coffee.
“Seriously, hyung. I’m grateful that you realized your mistakes and how important I am to you but don’t feel bad anymore. It’s in the past. We’re happy now.”
Sungwoon agreed; they were happy, and he wished it would stay like that.
“But if you ever make me upset again, you know on this campus I’m a hot commodity-”
“Shut up and drink your tea.” Sungwoon cut off his joke and shook his head but moved over to his side with his coffee mug and leaned into him fondly.
+++
An hour later they were back in the dorms still reminiscing on their earlier days of Fight my Way and jalapeño flavored popcorn.
“You know, Minhyun hyung totally cockblocked me that day.”
Sungwoon laughed and put his hands on Daniel’s hips. “No, he didn’t. I told him to come.”
“You did? Why?” Daniel looked genuinely upset. Sungwoon cooed at him.
“Because you made me a little uncomfortable.”
“I made you uncomfortable?” Daniel’s small eyes widened into puppy dog eyes.
“No! Not like that.” Sungwoon tilted his head giving his puppy an amused look. “You were a tall, hot, buff guy who was trying to hit on me.”
“Correction, I wasn’t trying. I was hitting on you.”
Sungwoon corrected himself. “Okay. But I didn’t even like you like that back then. I thought you were going to make me your little bitch on that couch.”
“And I didn’t eventually?” Daniel replied slyly.
“Hey. We both know how that first night went.” He gave Daniel knowing eyes.
Daniel blushed making that bunny face of his.
At the same moment the door flew open and in came Minhyun waving his phone around.
“Sungwoon hyung! Our movie is out! Do you want to watch it?”
Sungwoon and Minhyun had been waiting months for this specific movie to be released online and they had agreed that whenever it came out they were to watch it immediately.
“Yes! Connect your laptop!” Sungwoon turned to Daniel excitedly. “Watch it with us!”
Daniel looked unsurely at Minhyun who was connecting his laptop to the tv wondering what our movie was. “Um, what’s it about?”
Sungwoon gave him a short synopsis and reassurance that he would catch on quick to the plot. Daniel, seeing his boyfriend so excited, couldn’t say no so he gave an okay and moved himself to the end of the couch to fit all three of them onto the cushions. The opening credits rolled out to Sungwoon’s nervous chatter and Minhyun’s surprising enthusiasm. Apparently, the movie was an adaptation of a webtoon that Daniel- the webtoon lover- had somehow not known about.
“It came out a long time ago and was really underground. Not a lot of people knew about it but hyung and I bought the full collection and now they’re rare collector’s items.”
Daniel had nodded his head at that, watching the roommates exchange high fives. Throughout the film, although they went out of their way to include him in the conversation and explain things along the way, Daniel had started to feel like an outsider. It felt like déjà vu. Like that time they shut him out with their vocal major inside jokes.
Daniel was also a bit miffed because he and Sungwoon, although they were dating, didn’t have a shared hobby anymore like the older had with Minhyun. He wasn’t jealous per-say, because he was happy that as roommates they had something to share, but he also wanted that for himself. He thought maybe he would ask the older to start a new drama together later. It was what helped bring them together after all.
Moving into a sunnier disposition, Daniel and the roommates finished the movie. While Minhyun praised the actors, Sungwoon complained about missing scenes and details.
“What do you think, Daniel?”
He shrugged his shoulders lightly. “I liked it. I actually understood what was going on.” He grinned at Sungwoon who was pursing his lips.
“Alright then. Well, I’m hungry. I think I’ll get some ddukbokki and come back, yeah?”
Minhyun raised his thumb silently, drinking from his soda can.
“Should I come with you?” Daniel asked.
“Nah. I’ll be back quick.” Sungwoon smiled at him and saluted before throwing a jacket on and leaving the dorm.
Daniel headed over to the kitchen and leaned on the counter. “Minhyun hyung, how did you become good friends with Sungwoon hyung?”
Minhyun rounded the kitchen table putting down paper plates and chopsticks and moved to the refrigerator. “We’ve had all the same classes since freshman year then we were put in the same group for vocal lessons and it just progressed from there.”
Daniel rested his face in his palms and watched Minhyun flit around the small kitchen. “You both have a lot in common, right?”
Minhyun smiled placidly and hummed. “Yeah. We have pretty much the same music taste and some other things like that movie we just finished watching.” He paused and looked at Daniel. “Are you asking because you’re just curious?”
Daniel lowered his gaze to the counter. “Yeah and well… Can I be honest with you, hyung?” Minhyun gestured for him to continue. “There were a few times when I kind of… disliked you?”
Minhyun laughed aloud, his eyes crinkling into crescents. “And why was that?”
“Because you were close to Sungwoon hyung and I had trouble even trying to be his friend. I really thought if you wanted to you could steal him from me.”
Again, Minhyun laughed, but this time shook his head. “Never. We don’t see each other like that. You really don’t have to worry. You had trouble being his friend because even if he didn’t know it at the time, you were something different to him. We all knew it, but as you know, hyung is stubborn.”
“I agree wholeheartedly with that.”
“Plus, I already have someone.” He continued with a secretive smile.
“What? You do? Who is it?”
Minhyun stayed quiet and took a sip from his drink.
“I’m back! With not only ddukbokki but jalapeño popcorn!” Sungwoon shook the bag in Daniel’s direction but he was too busy trying to decipher Minhyun’s cheshire-like grin. “Wow. Are my favorite dongsaengs bonding?” Sungwoon dropped the bag on the table and enveloped both taller boys into his arms happily. “How’s my number one doing?”
Obviously, Daniel was his number one, so he opened his mouth to respond but Sungwoon turned his head to Minhyun expectantly. Daniel’s jaw dropped, and his eyebrows furrowed in shock.
“Hey! I’m your number one!”
Sungwoon snickered mischievously and released Minhyun to hug Daniel. If he was having a little fun teasing Daniel because he caught the end of their conversation it was all in good humor.
Epilogue : Misspoken Words
Whoever thought drunk Sungwoon and drunk Daniel would be a comedic sight was right.
Both men loved to drink; it was a known fact. Out of precaution, as most good friends would do, one would always stay somewhat sober enough to get in a taxi or maneuver around the subway to get back to the university. It was easy for Daniel to carry a tipsy Sungwoon, but a tipsy Daniel was another story. He would drape himself over Sungwoon’s thinner body and place almost all his weight on the other. (He would put all his weight on him, but drunk Daniel’s few remaining brain cells of the night would remind him that if he did that they both would end up on the floor.)
Tonight, they had both gone a little crazy with the drinks (they were completely wasted.) Fortunately, they had not ventured out of the safety of Sungwoon’s dorm.
“Nielie, I’m cold. Hug me.”
“I’ll hug you forever, baby.”
On a normal night, Daniel and Sungwoon would already be half naked in a bed, moaning less than innocent things to each other. On an unusual night, they were fully clothed, baby-talking one another as they cuddled on the couch. They showered each other in ridiculously cheesy sayings that they wouldn’t remember the next day. (And thank goodness because boy would they be embarrassed.)
Typically, Sungwoon would rather die than let his disgustingly cute side out, but when the alcohol levels had reached their maximum, all his little heart wanted was for Daniel to hold him, and of course Daniel was more than willing. (He’d be willing to do it when they were stone cold sober but there was minimal chance of Sungwoon repeating those words when he was sober.)
Sungwoon nuzzled further into Daniel’s embrace and sighed contently. “Your arms are my safe place.” He murmured.
Daniel clutched his chest dramatically. “Babe, when I’m with you I swear my heart is this close to exploding.” (Daniel was also a loud drunk.)
Sungwoon’s eyes started to shut peacefully. “My favorite thing is making you smile, my puppy.”
“If other couples aren’t jealous of us already they should be.” Sungwoon made a noise of agreement, and nodded his head affectionately.
Feeling his nose tickle, Sungwoon lifted his head abruptly and scrunched his face sneezing right into Daniel’s lap.
“I’ve been blessed by an angel.” Daniel whispered putting on his puppy dog eyes and gazing fondly at his lap before moving his eyes to Sungwoon.
The older pet his cheek lovingly. “No, you’re the angel.”
“Thousands of stars in the sky but you’re the one that caught my eye.”
Sungwoon was deeply touched by Daniel’s overly sappy words; looking at him as if he’d hung the moon for him. (As if Daniel hadn’t read that from a greeting card at the dollar store last week.)
“I don’t deserve to be this close to you.” Sungwoon said back. However, contradicting his own words, he stood up as best he could, Daniel following after him to try to balance him, which didn’t make a difference because they were both on wobbly legs, and climbed onto the couch grasping onto Daniel’s shirt for support. He pulled Daniel into him by throwing his arms around the dancer’s neck and wrapped one leg then the other around Daniel’s torso, clinging to him.
“I’m tired. Take me to my bed.” Sungwoon pleaded with his best cutesy voice.
“What’s the magic word?” Daniel asked but was already concentrating on making it to the bedroom.
Sungwoon whined, shaking his shoulders with his eyes closed.
When they banged the door open and Daniel deposited Sungwoon onto his bed they were shocked to see Minhyun tucked into his with a book in hand.
“Minhyun, when did you get here?”
“I’ve been here for an hour.” He answered judgingly. “You guys said hello when I walked in.”
Daniel shook his head, his hair flopping around with the movement and he giggled before holding his head in pain and diving into Sungwoon’s bed. Already forgetting that Minhyun had been speaking, Sungwoon stroked Daniel’s aching head.
“You’re like the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. And I’ve only had two!” Daniel mumbled.
“You really mean that?” Sungwoon grabbed the other’s head and kissed him hard.
Forgetting to breath, he gasped obnoxiously into Daniel’s face.
“Minhyun, do you know that I love this man? I act like I don’t, but I do.”
Minhyun glanced over at his roommate briefly. “Are you going to regret that tomorrow?”
“Regret what? What did I say?”
“Yeah,” Minhyun chuckled to himself. “Okay. Nevermind.”
“I want to be the little spoon!” Daniel slurred, the sleepiness taking over, and curled up as best he could on the twin sized bed. Sungwoon snaked an arm under Daniel’s armpits and squeezed his leg between the dancer’s toned ones. Forgetting that Sungwoon was attached to him, Daniel leaned back, squishing him into the bed.
“Hey!” Sungwoon pushed him away giggling as he did so instead of yelling like he usually would have done.
“Hyung, tell me you love me.”
Minhyun’s eyes popped open and he put his book down anticipating what Sungwoon would say back.
The older smiled into Daniel’s back feeling completely giddy. “I love you most in the entire world.”
A huge, giddy smile spread across Daniel’s features. “I love you most in the entire world more.”
They went back and forth with their proposals of love for all of two minutes until Daniel knocked out mid-sentence.
“I love-” Instantly, snores were heard and seconds later Sungwoon’s deep exhales joined.
Minhyun, who had caught the entire thing, sighed and picked up his novel. “I should have recorded this.”