Archive of Our Own

there’s a lot of reasons yohan doesn’t drink coffee: he doesn’t like the taste, being an athlete means he has to watch what he consumes, and it’s awfully expensive at most places for what he considers ‘bean water’.

and yet, he finds himself in line at a coffee shop on campus every morning even if he doesn’t have classes that day, paying almost $5 for a drink that he doesn’t even like.

“you’re whipped,” a voice cuts in, disrupting yohan’s starry eyed gaze directed at a certain barista, also known as the source of his current situation.

said boy turns to look at his friend and pouts at him. “i brought you here for moral support, junho, not to be criticized!”

“really? i just wanted a free drink,” junho takes a sip of his frappucino and makes a satisfied expression as if to prove a point.

yohan frowns, seriously considering why they’re even friends. “i did not pay for your drink to be disrespected like this!”

junho raises an eyebrow. “need i remind you that you were the one who dragged me out of my nice, warm bed this morning when i don’t have class until the afternoon and i had stayed up all night writing a paper?”

yohan pauses, a sheepish grin present. “you may have a point,” he starts, “but you’re my best friend! you should want to support me!”

before either could get another word in, they hear the sound of a chair scraping against the floor as it’s pulled up to the table they’re sitting at, someone plopping them self into the seat. “are we teasing yohan again?”

junho turns to the new addition--eunsang, another friend of theirs--and nods. “he’s been making googly eyes at seungwoo for the fifth time this week.”

“hey!” yohan yelps, hitting the younger’s arm in retaliation, “i am admiring art. some would say this is educational!”

eunsang snorts disbelievingly and shakes his head. “if that’s what helps you sleep at night then whatever you say.”

“not you too,” yohan whines, flopping himself into the table and bemoaning his company. “i’m surrounded by betrayers!”

“well, he is hot,” eunsang agrees in an attempt to appease their older friend. leaning back in his chair, he glances over at the object of yohan’s affection and gives an appreciative nod. “i can’t blame you for falling in love with him.”

“see!” yohan shoots back at junho, almost proud at someone agreeing with him, to which the latter rolls his eyes.

“i never said he wasn’t,” he replies in a bored tone, taking another sip of his drink. “anyone with even one eye would agree but maybe you should go and actually do something about this crush of yours instead of staring at him creepily like a stalker every day.”

yohan falls quiet, knowing junho is right but it’s not as if he hasn’t tried talking to seungwoo. he just gets tongue tied in front of him which leads to him forgetting what he was going to say (even after meticulously planning out his words and plan of action) and then that causes him to flush embarrassingly before he runs away and tries again the next day.

he really has it bad and he’s barely said more than two words--and they were “thank you”--to him. it’s embarrassing and he wishes he would get over it already so he can finally try and have a real conversation with seungwoo and hopefully put himself on the other’s radar.

but he’s trying! it’s not his fault that seungwoo’s everything is so mesmerizing! the way he leaves his bangs down most days so his eyes only peek out from under them a little (as if he just knows full eye contact with him will kill) or the way he smiles. god. his smile. yohan melts inside solely from thinking of it.

“he’s slipped away again,” eunsang remarks, amusement clear in his voice.

this time junho laughs too. “well, he should come back to earth soon because seungwoo is heading our way as we speak.”

the name ‘seungwoo’ snaps yohan out of his thoughts but unfortunately for him, does not leave enough time for him to gather himself so all he can do is gape like a fish out of water at seungwoo who is now standing next to their table nonchalantly.

“hey guys,” seungwoo greets, primarily at eunsang and junho to which they greet back.

yohan sits up straight alarmingly fast, mildly panicking internally at the realization that his two friends are somehow already on friendly terms with his crush. then, he feels betrayal again for the second time in the past ten minutes because he was only just finding out about this piece of very important information now .

“you guys know each other?” he finally manages to get out, albeit not as smoothly as he was aiming for. his question comes out as more of a squeak than anything and junho and eunsang try to cover their mouths, laughter threatening to spill from their lips.

“i’ve tutored them both before,” seungwoo replies easily, not noticing the inner battle junho and eunsang are currently facing, and flashes an eye-blinding smile at yohan that he swears is brighter than the sun.

in fact, yohan almost dies right there and then because seungwoo smiled at him! him!! if it was possible, yohan was sure that angels would be singing right now.

“oh, cool,” he says unintelligibly instead. (“and very lamely,” the voice in his head that sounds awfully like junho adds.)

“i see you here often though,” seungwoo suddenly mentions and yohan feels his heart stop. he’s been noticed?!

“o-oh, yeah?” yohan squeaks out again, not much better than the first time. his palms start to sweat and he can hear his so-called friends finally let out a snicker under their breath.

seungwoo nods, a pleasant smile on his face, still not paying any mind to the two younger students. his attention is focused solely on yohan and although he’d never tell anyone lest he wants to be made fun of again, it makes his heart flutter.

“i would notice a cute guy who seems to always show up when i’m on my shift.” the earlier smile turns into one more teasing and yohan wants to die - not for the first time this day.

yohan’s heart starts racing, mind working overtime as he tries to form a coherent response to the sudden attack, until eunsang decides to be a kind soul and interjects on his behalf. “since we’re all acquainted now, how about we hang out sometime?”

“i’m down,” seungwoo approves quickly.

“same,” junho chimes in, already looking forward to seeing yohan embarrass himself more.

“yohan?” eunsang asks while glancing at him (although he already knows what the older’s answer will be).

he nods furiously, as predicted. “yes! of course!”

seungwoo chuckles. “send me the details later then, okay? i have to get back to work.”

eunsang gives him a thumbs up to say he will and after saying their goodbyes, seungwoo walks back to his position behind the counter.

the second he’s out of ear shot, yohan loses all traces of the bumbling, flushed, love struck idiot he was moments before and glares at his so-called friends. “i can’t believe you two knew him and didn’t say anything after all those times i dragged you guys with me to come here!”

“it was funnier this way,” junho responds matter-of-factly, “and we wanted to see if you’d do anything on your own.”

“which you didn’t so i guess fate decided to step in,” eunsang adds while stealing junho’s drink and taking a sip from it himself.

yohan sighs dejectedly, slumping over the table again. “you guys are the worst friends ever and i want a refund.”

“you’re the one who constantly drags us here,” junho reminds him again. yohan makes a face at him but doesn’t deny the accusation.

“oh but look on the bright side - at least you have a sort-of date with him now!” eunsang brings up, trying to be helpful. (yohan’s beginning to think that eunsang is definitely the better friend between him and junho.) “and if it helps, we can invite some others too like wooseok? i’m pretty sure they’re friends.”

“another betrayal,” yohan mutters. he also did not know wooseok was friends with seungwoo. what else were these monsters hiding from him?!

junho takes one look at the miserable male in front of him, then at eunsang and gives him The Look™--the one he knows that eunsang will understand as “cheer him up”. the duo were essentially good cop and bad cop, junho doing the bulk of the teasing and eunsang cleaning up after him so the latter gives an affirmative nod and turns his attention to the athlete. “yohan, you finally got to talk to him though!”

at that, yohan lifts his head up, a hopeful look on his face. “true…”

“and he called you cute!”

yohan flushes at the memory. “right…”

“i’d say this is a success, wouldn’t you?” eunsang tries again.

as if third time’s a charm, yohan perks up entirely and all but slams his hand on the table in an eureka kind of moment, his mind already taking off into its own world. “you’re right! i’ve made more progress in a single day than i have these past few weeks!”

(“past few weeks?” eunsang whispers to junho, not realizing that his friend’s crush had escalated to this extent over such a short period of time even with no action taken whatsoever.

junho just nods a bit sadly, having nothing else to say about the situation as it already spoke for itself. for someone who was so talented and skilled at taekwondo, their friend was truly hopeless in other ways.)

“i am amazing,” yohan praises himself to which eunsang oohs and ahhs supportively.

“yeah yeah,” junho says as he gets up from his seat, deciding he had endured enough of yohan’s antics for the day. “can we go now? i need to stop by the library and take a nap before class later.”

“i’ll come with you,” eunsang offers as he too stands up, looking down at yohan who’s still sitting. “are you coming with?”

“i’ll pass,” he replies with a faraway look in his eyes. “i think i’ll stick around for a bit longer.”

the two others look at each other and shrug while gathering their things. “see you later then,” junho waves, taking off with eunsang.

yohan sends a wave back and soon goes back to staring at seungwoo dreamily.

- - - - - -

“the usual?” seungwoo asks the next morning, as yohan reaches the front of the line. to no one’s surprise, he’s at the coffee shop yet again but unlike the previous times, seungwoo asks his co-worker if he can take his order instead.

“please,” yohan answers, unable to say anything more. he was half in shock that the other specifically requested doing yohan’s order but his facial muscles didn’t miss an opportunity to show a goofy smile on his face.

seungwoo smiles back and punches in the order, yohan paying the total before being told he’ll be called when his drink is ready. yohan walks over to the side of the counter with everyone else waiting but unlike those around him who are all on their phones, yohan opts for looking at seungwoo instead. (in a non-creepy way, of course.)

he watches the other bustle around preparing drinks with practiced ease and he can’t help but be in awe. to be able to juggle all the orders and make them so quickly without error is one thing but to do all that while still looking good is something else.

just another thing to add to his ‘reasons why seungwoo is amazing’ list, yohan thinks to himself.

his thoughts are soon interrupted by his name being called so he walks to the pick up counter and reaches for his drink. as he goes to grab it though, seungwoo flashes another grin at him, even throwing in a quick wink before turning away to start on the next order.

yohan malfunctions momentarily, as he blinks at what just happened. he just winked??? at him ???? he needed to sit down or get out of there before he fainted for real so he booked it as fast as he could and didn’t stop until he had reached the building his class was in.

it’s only once he’s entered the classroom and is safely sitting in his seat that he notices the cup sleeve on his drink.

yohan may have fainted after all.

- - - - - -

the next day, yohan has morning practice specially scheduled for him just because he’s the school’s star taekwondo athlete and needs to put in the extra effort and time to match.

that doesn’t stop him from getting his now daily coffee though and considering that seeing seungwoo’s face gives yohan a burst of energy for the rest of the day, he figures it’s beneficial both for him and the team.

so he walks in to the gymnasium that morning, the familiar cup in his hands, as he greets the coach. “morning!”

said coach grunts out a greeting but soon notices the drink in the younger’s hand. “another coffee, yohan? you know that’s not good for you if you drink it too often.”

“i know but it hasn’t affected my training or progress at all, right?” yohan returns, using the fact that they both know it would take more than coffee to throw off yohan’s game to his advantage. he was here on a sports scholarship and was being considered for the national team, after all.

the coach lets out a dissatisfied sigh but doesn’t fight the other knowing he’s right. “just get changed and out here quickly,” he orders.

“yes sir!”

- - - - - -

“heard you annoyed coach again today.”

yohan looks up at the new voice, recognizing it as his friend and teammate hangyul’s, and laughs. “it wasn’t on purpose!”

the other laughs too and settles in next to him, giving him a knowing look. “did you go in with coffee again?”

“so what if i did...” he says petulantly.

hangyul shakes his head, “you are so whipped for him.”

“so everyone keeps saying,” he sighs and takes a bite of his lunch. “i can’t help it okay, seungwoo is just--”

“--just the most amazing, loveliest, perfect person in the world?” someone interrupts in a voice that’s trying to mimic yohan’s but exaggeratedly.

“wooseok please,” yohan frowns. why are all his friends so mean to him?

the older smirks and slides into the seat across from yohan and hangyul, his own lunch placed on the table in front of him. “so i heard we’re going out this weekend,” he starts.

“we are?” hangyul pipes up looking puzzled at the announcement. it’s the first he’s heard of these plans.

“eunsang got seungwoo to agree to hanging out with some of us in an attempt to kick start yohan’s love life because he couldn’t do it on his own,” wooseok explains.

“ah,” the other athlete nods in understanding. “i mean, seungwoo’s pretty easygoing, it probably wasn’t hard to get him to agree.”

yohan whips his head to look at his friend, an offended look present. “you know him too?!”

the former shrugs as he unwraps his sandwich. “i met him through seungyoun.”

“i can’t believe you were all literally conspiring against me,” he states, holding a hand to his chest. “i’m hurt!”

“you’ll get over it,” wooseok retorts without missing a beat, digging into his own meal and effectively ignoring yohan’s dramatic cries. “what are we planning to do though?”

hangyul chews his food, a thoughtful expression on his features. “karaoke?”

“oh, that’s a good one! seungwoo is an amazing singer.”

yohan almost drops his fork. “hold on, seungwoo sings ?!”

the two look at him like they can’t believe he didn’t know. “why is this new information to you?” wooseok asks disbelievingly, “better question, what do you know about seungwoo?”

the male looks down, avoiding the other’s glances as his hand moves towards each other, fingers twiddling. admittedly, he’s never really had the chance to talk to seungwoo much, if at all, before the recent incident with junho and eunsang so his knowledge was limited to what he’s glimpsed or noticed from watching him at the coffee shop. “i know… things…”

“like?” hangyul probes, eyes squinting skeptically at the other.

“like!” yohan starts indignantly, “how attractive... he is…” he trails off as he realizes, he doesn’t really know much about seungwoo after all.

he knows he works the morning shift at the coffee shop, that he sometimes hums to himself as he cleans tables but not to the point where yohan would realize he can sing well, that the way his face scrunches up when he smiles or laughs is probably the most beautiful thing in the world--

“we lost him,” wooseok comments dryly.

hangyul looks down sadly, hands pressed together as if he were praying. “may he rest in peace.”

“stop trying to kill me off!” yohan snaps, coming back down to earth. “i wasn’t that zoned out!”

“close enough,” hangyul retorts with a chuckle before going back to his food.

“you are all horrible friends.”

wooseok grins. “but you still keep us around~”

and why, he’s not sure anymore.

- - - - - -

the blessed day finally arrives: yohan’s “date” with seungwoo.

(“it’s not a date if it’s a group of people hanging out together,” junho remarks when they were in the library earlier that week, all of them either studying or working on something.

“shh, let him live,” eunsang chides him. “he finally gets to hang out with him!”)

he spends the entire time trying to decide what to wear but by mid afternoon he still can’t decide and is close to just going in his pajamas out of frustration so he sends a message to the group chat he and his friends are in out of desperation.

taking the older’s advice, yohan digs through his closest for the mentioned pieces and changes into them. with the glasses, he definitely has a boyfriend vibe going on if he can say so himself and he hopes seungwoo agrees when he sees him.

the days leading up to today were nerve wracking to say the least but yohan tried to take it one day (and coffee) at a time. he found that he had gotten used to the taste now and it was pretty effective at keeping him awake during his awful morning classes.

he has seungwoo to thank for that and again, is another thing to add to his list of positive traits about the other.

taking one look in the mirror and a few deep breaths, he grabs his phone and wallet and heads out of the dorms to meet with the others. they had decided on dinner and karaoke after all and since it was the weekend, no one was rushed or had to wake up early the day after.

it doesn’t take long to arrive at the arranged meeting place but as if fate was playing tricks on him yet again, yohan sees that seungwoo is the only one who has arrived already which quickly turns him into a mess of even more nerves.

he slowly walks towards the other, trying to get his thoughts together enough and plan what to say so he doesn’t combust right there on the spot but once seungwoo turns in his direction and notices him, yohan almost stops breathing.

the older is beaming at him, waving a hand in greeting, and yohan thinks there’s nothing in this world more beautiful than him. to add insult to injury, he’s also dressed in a low cut shirt, a tattoo peaking out, and his hair’s been pushed off his face. it took all of yohan’s willpower not to drool.

“hi,” yohan manages to say once he’s closer to the other, hands shoved into his jean pockets in an attempt to hide his shaking. “you’re here first?”

seungwoo shakes his head. “junho and eunsang were here not too long ago but eunsang forgot something at his dorm so they went back to get it. they should return soon?”

‘those traitors,’ yohan thinks, mentally cursing his younger friends. he 100% knew they had made up that lie to leave him and seungwoo alone, and were probably hiding nearby watching the entire thing play out.

“you look good though,” seungwoo says next, changing the subject.

the compliment makes yohan’s heart soar and he makes a note to profusely thank wooseok later and buy him something for his advice.

“you too,” he replies, a bashful smile on his lips.

it’s at that moment that junho and eunsang choose to walk up to them with matching smirks that only yohan seems to notice, confirming his suspicions of the two setting him up.

the rest of their friends follow soon after, hangyul even bringing seungyoun along. yohan thinks for a brief moment that maybe there’s something going on with them--at least from hangyul’s end--but quickly dismisses the idea once they start walking as his attention is stolen by something (or more specifically, someone) else.

yohan suddenly feels a brush against his hand but when he looks down, the last thing he expects to see is seungwoo’s dangerously close to his own. when he looks up at the other’s face upon realizing, he’s gifted another smile, this one more soft, leaving yohan weak in the knees.

he can’t help but avert his eyes though, the reaction a nervous habit of his, as he tries to move his hand away due to embarrassment-- only to hear seungwoo laugh quietly next to him so only he can hear.

- - - - - -

dinner comes and goes but not without some more scheming from their ‘friends’ like obviously trying to make sure seungwoo was seated next to yohan and encouraging seungwoo to cook some meat for yohan as they just so happened to choose a bbq restaurant to go to.

the worst (or best - yohan’s not sure yet) part of it all is that their plans actually worked.

seungwoo gladly sat beside him and even tried feeding yohan a wrap he had made. it was too much for the younger to handle all at once so he ended up grabbing it and shoving it into his mouth on his own instead, much to seungwoo’s and everyone else’s amusement because he almost choked on it in the process. (junho had to hurriedly shove a glass of water at him out of pity.)

they were now at karaoke, in a big room they reserved to fit their group of seven, more snacks and drinks on the table in front of them. things were already in full swing, a variety of songs having been sung and rapped to varying degrees of success.

it was seungwoo’s song choice up next and yohan was on the edge of his seat in anticipation. he had never heard the other sing before past the quiet humming he heard a few times while loitering at the coffee shop and after wooseok called him amazing, he was looking forward to it all night.

so the moment seungwoo opens his mouth and delivers the first lyrics of the song, yohan’s jaw drops open. he can vaguely hear hangyul, seungyoun, junho, and eunsang laughing in the background--most likely at him--and a comment from wooseok but he chooses to ignore them all in favor of giving his undivided attention to the god that is han seungwoo.

as he finishes the last notes of the song, yohan stares at him, a dreamy look on his face due to being mesmerized by the other’s talent. “i think i’m in love,” he lets slip out absentmindedly, not realizing he had said it out loud and not inside his head like he thought.

“well, thank you,” seungwoo replies unfazed, another grin on his face. “i’m glad you liked it so much.”

“i, uh, no, i mean,” yohan stutters, trying to explain the sudden declaration. he was not planning on confessing his love this soon or at any time in the near future yet here he was doing just that and he had no one to blame but himself.

seungwoo doesn’t say anything but the mirth in his eyes is obvious enough - that he’s enjoying seeing yohan try to justify his words but doesn’t want to discourage him. why, yohan’s not sure, but he wants to believe it might be because seungwoo likes him too.

or maybe he’s only humoring him because he’s such a nice guy but he much prefers his first idea.

“you liked the song that much?” seungyoun asks suddenly, taking pity on the younger and diverting the attention from the now flustered yohan to give him an opportunity to spin his confession into something else.

“yes!” yohan quickly replies, not missing a beat. he mentally reminds himself to also thank seungyoun later in some way for the assist. “i love the song but of course, seungwoo was really good too! that’s what i meant…”

seungwoo lets out a small laugh but doesn’t call out yohan’s obvious bluff like the angel he is. he then takes a seat next to him and yohan almost groans. he swears seungwoo is doing this to him on purpose now, like he knows that yohan likes him and wants to poke fun at him so he can’t fight the blush that he’s sure has rushed to his face by now.

“who’s next?” someone asks and time resumes like normal although yohan is much more careful with what he says and does for the rest of the night.

- - - - - -

after hours of karaoke, everyone agrees to call it a night and go their separate ways. since seungwoo lived off campus with seungyoun, and hangyul was going with them, that left yohan with wooseok, junho, and eunsang much to his dismay. he knew they were going to tease him all the way back to the dorms and he was already dreading it.

as everyone prepared to part, seungwoo is quick to whisper something for only yohan to hear. “i’ll see you on monday?”

yohan nods like an overly excited puppy which makes seungwoo look at the other with what he hopes is fondness in his eyes before they finally say goodbye for the night.

once they’re far enough away, junho and eunsang jump on him, shit-eating grins already on their faces as well as wooseok’s, who’s walking in front but still facing towards them.

“so you loooooove him, huh?” junho begins in a singsong voice, eunsang following after with his hands clasped together as he attempts to imitate yohan.

“i think i’m in love,” he coos in a fake-dazed state, causing yohan to shove him away.

“please let me live,” yohan tries, unsuccessfully.

wooseok lets out a cackle, “friends don’t let friends do embarrassing things without teasing them mercilessly about it first!”

the athlete groans for the long night ahead. he really needed new friends.

- - - - - -

the weekend comes and goes but yohan’s not complaining. it just means he’s one day closer to seeing seungwoo again, him visting the coffee shop now part of his daily routine regardless of whether he has anything to do or not. he would brave through a full day of classes and late practices if he could see seungwoo’s smiling face for even a second.

so he walks into the coffee shop like usual and places his order. he doesn’t get seungwoo this time but he had spotted the barista behind the counter busy making drinks so he wasn’t worried. this way, he at least has some more time to ge his act together (hopefully).

as his name is called out for his finished order, he takes the cup from seungwoo’s hands but not without their fingers brushing each other’s which almost causes him to retract instinctively. yohan’s thankful he’s a bit more aware of himself today than normal because he forces himself to stay calm and tries to play cool, not wanting to seem deeply affected by the sudden contact.

as expected, seungwoo remains unfazed by the entire situation but it doesn’t change the dazzling beam he flashes at yohan and yohan only.

the latter returns the grin sheepishly and finally takes firm hold of his drink, almost clutching it to himself to make sure he doesn’t drop it because knowing him, it was a very real possibility.

he knows he should leave now but for some reason, he stays rooted in place which causes the older to tilt his head in confusion.

“um,” yohan speaks up in a hesitant voice. now that he’s come this far, he has to go for it or else he risks being seen as even more weird than he’s sure he’s already viewed as. “i’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?”

it’s a weak attempt but still better than anything he’s ever tried previously. it even earns another smile from seungwoo so yohan considers it a win already.

but then the older opens his mouth, and his next words make him stop in his tracks.

“well maybe even sooner?” a hopeful and expectant look graces seungwoo’s features.

yohan blinks once, then twice, then once more as he tries to figure out what seungwoo means. he doesn’t get to think about it for long though as he’s soon broken out of his reverie by someone else almost elbowing him on their way to grab their drink.

seungwoo lets out a chuckle at the sight and shoos yohan away good-naturedly. “don’t you have a class to get to?”

that causes yohan to snap out of the reverie he was in and nods. “right, i should get going.”

the barista mimics the action and waves him off before yohan spins on his heels and exits the shop as quickly as he can, eager for some air to breathe.

once he’s a block away from the shop, he finally comes back to his senses and looks down at his drink to take a sip only to see a new message on the cup.

yohan may have let out a scream.

- - - - - -

- - - - - -

contrary to what he said in the group chat as he closed the app on his phone, yohan continues to stare at the number written on the coffee cup he’s been holding onto all day.

junho was right; he couldn’t trust himself to even call seungwoo and not hang up the moment he picked up--if he did anyways which was a whole nother issue yohan didn’t want to get into right now--let alone hold an actual conversation with him.

and what if he didn’t mean to leave his number in the first place? or that the cup was meant for someone else? yohan was having a lot of doubts, unable to believe that the object of his affections for so long would reciprocate even a sliver of his feelings. it probably wasn’t healthy to put seungwoo on such a high pedestal but yohan was so used to admiring him from afar for so long, he couldn’t not view the other as above him.

at that moment, he feels his phone vibrate and looks closer at the screen to see what the notification is from. he sees junho’s name and a message underneath it so he opens the text, curious about what the younger has to say when they were talking not too long ago.

yohan’s mouth formed an ‘o’, wondering how the other knew about his predicament. was he really that obvious? could junho read minds?!

he’s what?

bewildered, yohan gets up from where he’s sitting on his bed and makes his way to the door, opening it very cautiously. junho couldn’t possibly be outside, right?

or so he thought as he’s soon face to face with the very boy, an unimpressed look on his face while he asks, “you going to let me in or am i going to have to stay out here all day?”

“are you going to provide actual help or just make fun of me?” yohan counters, skeptical of the other’s intentions. “because if it’s the latter then no.”

the younger rolls his eyes and nudges yohan’s arm where he has it propped up against the doorframe in a half-hearted attempt to block the other from inviting himself in. junho tries, anyways, and as expected, yohan lets him.

“relax, i really am here to provide moral support,” he replies, almost exasperated. “i clown you a lot but we’re still friends and friends help each other,” a pause, “or so i’ve been told.”

yohan shoots a knowing look. “so you mean eunsang told you to do this and you agreed because you’re in love with him.” junho’s face flushes just the tiniest bit at that which piques yohan’s interest and gives him a sense of satisfaction. “oh? are you admitting that you love eunsang? finally?”

“shut up,” he mumbles, red dusting his cheeks. “i’m here to help you; not to talk about me.”

“but you didn’t deny it so i’ll remember that,” yohan grins mischievously, finding it hilarious that he has something to hold over junho now. he knows better to push his luck though so he decides to spare the other and changes the subject. “so about seungwoo…”

junho eagerly nods his head, obviously happy to move on, and settles himself on his yohan’s bed while the older takes a seat at his desk and turns to face his friend. “what do i do?”

“give me your phone,” the younger demands and without question, yohan complies. junho then opens his own phone and looks to be searching for something before he begins typing on the other’s phone.

yohan watches the scene before him, mildly confused about what’s happening until he suddenly hears the telltale sound of a call connecting. “wait, what are you doing--” is all he can get out before a click cuts him off and a voice he’s become achingly familiar with rings out in the otherwise silent dorm.

“hello?”

“oh my god,” yohan all but gasps out and not for the first time, junho has to force himself to be quiet. he had put the call on speaker so he can hear what’s going on and give advice to yohan but the plan was quickly backfiring thanks to yohan’s reactions.

“hello? is this yohan?” the voice tries again.

hearing his name seemed to break him out of his trance but not without yohan fumbling with his phone as it’s handed back to him. once he’s steadied himself and his frantic heart beat, he brings the device closer and wills himself to reply.

“it is,” he finally breathes out. “sorry about that, i almost tripped on something.” the excuse is lame and he knows it (junho too, judging by his desperate attempts to stifle his guffaws) but he’s in no position to be picky. the goal is to get through the conversation as unscathed as possible (read: without embarrassing himself even more) so he had to choose his battles in a sense.

“are you okay?” seungwoo’s voice quickly turns concerned and yohan wants to melt. how can one guy be so perfect? he’s already concerned about him??

if it weren’t for junho waving his hands in front of his face, he’s sure he’d be swooning even more. “yeah, i’m good.”

“oh, i’m glad,” seungwoo replies with what yohan thinks might be relief in his words. “so what’s up? i was beginning to think you’d never call me.” his tone is now teasing, making yohan blush.

“so you did mean to leave your number on the cup?”

seungwoo laughs. “of course i did. who else would i leave it for?”

yohan swears he could cry right then and there. seungwoo, the love of his life, is flirting with him?! it was too much to handle. thank god junho was there though as he catches sight of the younger holding his phone up, squinting to read the message that was displayed on the screen.

he wants to feel offended by the other’s choice of words but he doesn’t want seungwoo to think he’s talking to him so he mercifully lets it slide and turns his attention back to the phone call.

“i just wanted to be sure,” yohan starts off hesitantly. he takes a deep breath as he prepares his next words and exhales before continuing. “i actually wanted to ask you something…”

seungwoo makes a noise to show he’s listening, encouraging the star athlete to go on.

“well, would you… like to go on a date? i mean, with just me?”

a silence.

yohan feels his pulse speed up and he wonders if this is how he goes - passing out from nerves while trying to ask his crush out. it’s not the lamest way to leave this world, right?

then, he hears a small noise that sounds like a giggle.

it soon turns into full on laughter and yohan wants to die. maybe he should just hand himself over to the other side. it’ll probably be less painful than this embarrassment.

luckily, his thoughts are interrupted before they get even more carried away once the older’s chuckles subside.

“sorry, that must’ve caught you off guard,” he begins, voice still slightly shaking as he tries to steady himself. “it was just so cute hearing you ask me out.”

cute?

seungwoo just called him, kim yohan, CUTE?! was he hearing things correctly?

he looks over at junho for confirmation to which he holds up his hand and makes an ‘ok’ sign.

okay so he heard right but that didn’t help him at all. if anything, it made the situation worse. how was he supposed to deal with this now? he was barely getting through the call as it is!

“you still there?” seungwoo calls out through the speakers on his phone, confusion clear in his question.

“oh sh- yeah, yeah i am!”

junho inaudibly slaps his forehead comedically.

“okay good, i thought the call got disconnected or something.”

‘the only thing that got disconnected is my brain,’ yohan thinks to himself offhandedly. but he has to reply, and fast, because he’s sure seungwoo is thinking weirdly of him for taking so long to reply.

“no, you’re good, i was just thinking for a moment.”

the other hums in acknowledgement but doesn’t press the issue. “so, about that date?”

“yes!” yohan responds, glancing over at junho who’s now holding up another message.

again, he could do without the name calling but it was junho after all and yohan had to admit, he is acting pretty dumb.

“uh, when are you free?” he tries again, hands nervously gripping his pants as he waits in anticipation.

“friday night? i have classes in the morning and work during the day but i’m free after 5,” seungwoo answers easily.

and honestly, yohan finds it a bit easier to talk too now. he’s not sure why or how but who is he to question it? he needed all the help he could get. “how about friday at 6?”

“sounds good,” the older confirms. “meet you at the coffee shop then? i know you’re very familiar with it.” the teasing lilt is back and yohan wishes the ground would swallow him whole. he won’t ever live this down.

with a sheepish smile and a nod he knows seungwoo won’t see, he replies probably a bit over-excitedly, “i’ll be there!”

a chuckle escapes from the other line. “great; i’d say i’ll see you then but i get the feeling i’ll be seeing you a few more times this week before friday rolls around.”

yohan flushes at that, unable to deny the implications. he most definitely is going to continue visitng the coffee shop every day and everyone knows it. junho even rolls his eyes before dropping his gaze to his phone, uninterested in the conversation now that his job was done.

“well, you aren’t wrong,” the athlete admits embarrassingly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“don’t worry, i like seeing you every day,” seungwoo assures the other and with comments like these flung at him when he least expects it, yohan wonders if he’ll even live to see his date.

before he can say anything else though, seungwoo speaks up again. “sorry but i have to go now; seungyoun just showed up looking like he’s in some sort of crisis.”

“is he okay?”

“he’s probably just being dramatic,” the older responds with a snort, his voice switching into something a bit sweeter shortly after. “i’ll text you, okay?” and with that, the line goes dead, yohan frozen in place as he processes the last ten minutes.

“did i-” he starts then stops, mouth opening and closing as he tries to figure out what to say.

junho looks up from his device and at his friend expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“did i… did i just ask han seungwoo out on a date and he said yes?” yohan finally gets out, amazement clear on his face.

the younger laughs at his reaction. “and he even flirted with you,” junho confirms with a smirk. “i can’t believe he actually reciprocates your feelings and wasn’t creeped out by your constant visits.”

yohan throws a pillow at his friend but much to his dismay, junho dodges it almost expertly, even going as far to catch it and hug it to his body, plastering on an exaggerated hurt expression. “is that how you treat your best friend who helped you ask your crush out?”

“you called me varying versions of idiot, junho,” the older deadpans. “who would thank anyone for that?”

“i am so underappreciated,” he replies sadly. “but i will accept thanks and payment for my assistance in the form of another frappucino.”

“yeah yeah, whatever you say. don’t you have to go make heart eyes at eunsang or something?”

junho splutters, caught off guard by the sudden topic change and this time, yohan grins victoriously knowing he had succeeded in flustering his friend. “i get it, i’m leaving! and not because of eunsang!”

“if that’s what helps you sleep at night, junho,” yohan teases. the former huffs and promptly leaves the older’s dorm, leaving him to his own devices.

- - - - - -

friday comes quicker than yohan anticipates and he finds himself in his room, once again asking his friends for help.

exiting out of the group chat, yohan tosses his phone onto his bed and goes through his closet once more. eunsang’s words did help him calm down and he’s thankful to the younger as he’s now able to think more clearly and easily figures out what to wear.

(admittedly, he did get advice from wooseok earlier in the week about it but still .)

he pulls on his outfit--black jeans that wooseok swears make his legs look like, and he quotes, ‘a snack’, whatever that means along with a loose v-neck shirt that buttons up and shows a peek of his chest--and gives himself one last look in the mirror. he’s got to hand it to wooseok because he does look good. he only hopes seungwoo will think the same when he seems him later.

or so he thinks, once he picks up his phone again and sees the time. “shit,” yohan mutters, quickly grabbing his wallet and keys, making sure he has everything before throwing on his jacket and rushing out the door. he can’t believe he’s late on his first solo date with the crush of his life.

he all but runs to the coffee shop seungwoo works at, making it with a few minutes to spare before their agreed meeting time and not as out of breath as most would likely be in his place (a feat he’s able to pull off thanks to his athelticism and all the training he’s done over the years). noting that the older wasn’t there yet, yohan assumes he must still be working and thanks his lucky stars for the chance to catch his breath. perhaps the dating gods are on his side today?

a jingling sound breaks him out of his thoughts and he turns to see the very person who has been occupying his thoughts so often. yohan wonders how seungwoo can look so good even after just finishing a shift at a busy coffee shop but he quickly waves away the internal question and accepts that some things just be like that.

“you weren’t waiting for long, were you?” seungwoo asks first, running a hand through his hair as he pushes his bangs away from his face before they fall back into place moments later.

‘damn him’, he thinks, careful to not start drooling on the spot. clearing his throat to try and rid himself of his thirsty thoughts, yohan shakes his head.  “oh no, i just got here.” he lets out a sheepish chuckle. “honestly, i thought i was going to be late.”

a laugh escape seungwoo’s lips as well and yohan finds himself at peace. maybe eunsang was right and he would be able to get used to being around seungwoo without tripping his own two feet quicker than he thought; he really didn’t want to be awkward throughout the entire date.

“should we get going then?”

yohan nods and the two set off on what the younger hopes will be a successful date, and one that leads to more.

- - - - - -

yohan really did not know what to expect on his date with seungwoo.

he had gone through multiple possibilities while over thinking every single part about the date leading up to it but now that it was actually happening, his mind was empty.

he looks over at the older and takes in his side profile, marveling at how one person could be so attractive. seungwoo was just breathing and yet yohan wanted to die.

as if feeling the athlete’s stare on him (yohan doesn’t doubt that he was not being as subtle as he had hoped), seungwoo turns his head and smiles at yohan. the latter’s heart speeds up more, if it was even possible, but he still returns the grin. despite his first date jitters, he finds that he doesn’t feel pressured to say anything-- that just being with seungwoo even in silence is comfortable.

“we’re here,” seungwoo announces as they come to a stop in front of a building, breaking yohan out of his thoughts.

the younger looks up at squints. “and where are we?” the building shows nothing that can give away what they’re going to be doing but apparently find it amusing, seungwoo just flashes a mischievous smirk and grabs yohan’s hand, pulling him through the entrance. it’s then that yohan realizes, “oh, we’re ice skating?”

his next thought is, ‘oh shit, we’re ice skating.’

you would think that being an athlete means he’s good at anything active and while he admits that it’s mostly true, ice skating was something else. yohan still had war flashbacks of falling on his ass way too many times and even a few stumbles where he landed on his face, too. it wasn’t so traumatic but it was enough to convince himself that ice skating was not for him.

seungwoo, obviously unaware of the inner battle going on in yohan’s head currently, just nods happily before explaining his choice. “honestly, i wasn’t sure where to take you at first but then junho suggested ice skating and since it’s the season for it, i thought why not?”

it takes everything in him not to curse because of course he would suggest that; junho was with him the day he realized he and ice skating did not get along. yohan swears he’s going to have several words with him later.

“ah, i see,” is all yohan says instead, albeit weakly and accompanied by a nervous laugh that he hopes isn’t as obvious as he thinks it is.

seungwoo gives him a look. “do you not like ice skating?”

“well…” he starts, wondering if he should tell the truth. if he didn’t say anything and just went along with it, he was bound to fall multiple times and make a fool of himself. then he realizes seungwoo would find out about his inability to skate regardless of the choice he makes so to save him even more embarrassment, he decides to answer honestly.

“i actually… can’t skate at all…” he drops his head in defeat, suddenly feeling too shy to look at the other.

(if he did, though, he would’ve seen the fond smile lighting up seungwoo’s face.)

“it’s okay,” the older assures him, taking a step closer and tapping on yohan’s chin to get him to lift his head. “you can hold onto my hands and i’ll help you.”

yohan’s cheeks turn bright red hearing seungwoo’s words and he can’t help but splutter unintelligibly in response. seungwoo just laughs again and pulls him to the counter so they can get their skates.

before he knows it, yohan’s on the rink and he’s already unstable on his feet. it doesn’t take long until seungwoo comes up behind him though and holds out his hand. “shall we? i promise not to let you fall too much.”

yohan lets out a snort at that. “too much, huh? so you’re already preparing to let me fall at least a few times?”

seungwoo just grins, eyes full of mirth as he shakes his hand, inviting the younger to grab it. yohan obliges and the two set off on a lap around the rink-- although they don’t complete it without yohan collapsing a couple of times (or more but who’s counting? not yohan, that’s for sure).

“are you sure you’re actually trying to help?” he huffs out, his lips pulling into a pout.

“for an athlete, i didn’t know you could be this bad,” seungwoo retorts, amused.

yohan groans and pushes himself up for what feels like the hundredth time but instead of standing up, his foot slips and he feels his body falling once more. this time, however, he ends up pulling seungwoo down with him.

the older is obviously not prepared and can’t save either of them in time so lands on top of the the younger causing their faces to be within breathing distance.

time passes so slowly as they stare into each other’s eyes like a cliche scene straight out of a romance movie that yohan wouldn’t be surprised if music started playing in the background.

seungwoo is the first to break the moment as he lets out a little laugh. feeling his breath on him makes yohan blush profusely so he turns his head away before speaking. “um, are you going to get up anytime soon?”

the older just smiles peacefully but makes no move to get off of the other. “you’re strong enough to push me off, aren’t you?” is his reply, a challenging tone underlying his words.

“i’m injured from all the falls,” yohan protests weakly. truthfully, he doesn’t mind the position they’re in especially if it were any other time-- but not now when they’re in a very public space and people are staring. “and aren’t you supposed to help me up? that’s what you promised!”

“but i like this,” seungwoo says easily, that relaxed smile never leaving his face.

“i can’t believe i’m about to say this,” the athlete almost groans, already trying to fight the heat that’s rushing to his face. “but if you really want to cuddle can we do it another time? like not in public?”

seungwoo quirks a brow. “is that an invitation for another date, kim yohan?”

“if you want it to be,” he mumbles, his eyes looking everywhere but the person he’s speaking to.

despite his efforts though, he still catches the smile that blooms on the older’s face and it makes yohan’s heart sing. however before he can get carried away in yet another episode of ‘han seungwoo is too perfect’, the former finally rolls off of him and stands up then holds his hand out again.

yohan grabs on to it thankfully and pulls himself up, this time smart enough to promptly put a hand on the skating rink’s wall to keep him steady. and good thing he did because the next thing that seungwoo says threatens to make him weak in the knees and fall again.

“it’s a date, then.”

- - - - - -