Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The glare of the spotlight faded away, vanishing from his gaze on the audience. Even though the dark audience looked like endless rows of obscure faces, Daehwi could make out white smiles that shone like their own spotlights. He finished his song cleanly, with close to no mistakes. Unlike rehearsal, there were no voice cracks nor strained cords present in that performance.

For that reason, he proudly smiled at the audience as the instrumental trailed off, He heard the applause boom around him, vibrating through the stage. The lights above him dimmed, signaling him to run off stage. As soon as Daehwi hit the backstage area, he backed up into the wall and slid down onto the ground.

He sat on the ground in his own silence, the hectic movement of everyone else fading into the background. Yes, he was proud of his performance, indeed. Nevertheless, there was a feeling of emptiness that settled in. Some of the performers had squadrons of supporters come out with big signs and loud cheers, while Daehwi only had his one friend that was available (and even so, he was unsure that Kim Donghyun would keep to his promise). His other friends had been busy with studying for exams, and he didn’t want to make his family come all the way to his university for a single performance. 

With a sigh, Daehwi scanned the hallway to make sure no one was paying attention to him. He then rested his head on his knees and let just a few tears stream down from his eyes. He tried to refrain from completely sobbing, so like that he let out his sadness from his curled up position. There was nothing left for him to do in the show anyways - all he had to do was wait it out and bow with the other performers at the end. 

After the ending remarks, Daehwi quietly dipped backstage to gather his belongings and leave. He received a few congratulatory remarks from his classmates on his way out, but all he could respond with humble nods - especially to his seniors. Maybe on a better day he would kick up his energy and give out more hugs, but he just felt so alone tonight. 

Singing solo without any of those faces in the crowd for him of course was bitter. Daehwi knew that he had a passion for performing on the stage, yet tonight left him with an unsatisfied feeling for once. All he could do was to blame this emptiness on his loneliness. He hesitantly checked his phone for any indication that Donghyun came tonight, but there were not any text messages or social media posts with him tagged. He sighed and headed towards the auditorium doors.

Outside the theater, a massive crowd buzzed with enthusiasm at the outgoing performers. Families posed for pictures, friends exchanged congratulatory greetings, and performers shoved their way through in search of their loved ones. Unlike his co-performers, Daehwi slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the nearest exit. To his luck, someone moved into the middle of the path and blocked him from the door.

“Is that the famous Lee Daehwi?” Donghyun cheekily asked as he approached the other.

“Of course it is,” Daehwi confidently replied, naturally leaning in to hug his friend. If they weren’t in a public space, he might have been tempted to cry in front of the other, but instead he just felt a warm urge to be grateful.

“Thank you for coming,” he said with his cute tone, hands awkwardly fidgeting at his backpack straps. “I think you’re the only one who came for me.”

“Really? Not even Jihoon or Jinyoung were able to come today?”

Daehwi shook his head and frowned in the same delicate way that made him seem cute to everyone. “They were busy with studying.”

“I’m sorry that they couldn’t come, Daehwi,” Donghyun responded, gently patting his friend on the shoulder. “But, at least I wasn’t your only supporter! I brought a friend with me, and he liked your performance so much that he told me to give this to you.” Donghyun held out his hand to reveal the gift. 

It was a simple white origami tulip bulb, and Daehwi knew of its simplicity because he made a horde of them when he was in elementary school. It seemed neatly folded and pretty (the four leaves were bent with extreme precision), but for some reason, the sight of it made his stomach upset.

“Umm, who’s your friend?”

“Park Woojin. He’s in my chemistry class - do you know him?”

“No,” Daehwi replied, trying to dig through his mind for any familiarity with the name. However, he only came up with nothing. Before Donghyun could come up with a follow-up response, Daehwi interrupted him and asked his question. “Does your friend like me, or something?”

Donghyun shrugged. “I think today’s the first time he’s ever seen you. And also, I don’t know him that well, either. He might’ve just enjoyed your performance.”

Daehwi let Donghyun’s doubts sink into his own for a few moments. He was reminded of all the failed crushes he had accumulated over the years: crushes on guys that ended up having girlfriends, being straight, or just rejecting him in the end. With those frustrations in mind, he unapologetically tore the square paper into a pile of strips, crumpling the remains into a mini-ball to be tossed into the recycling pile later. 

“Isn’t that a bit mean?” Donghyun asked incredulously, his eyes still wide with surprise at Daehwi’s actions.

“I just feel done with men,” Daehwi said, as it was the shortest statement that he felt would express the emotional turmoil going on inside him. To him, a random gift from a stranger was asking for another of his tragic trainwrecks, and he was willing to shut it down immediately before it even happened. 

Donghyun only sighed and gave another quick hug to his friend. “I might not know Woojin that well, but I know that he’d feel sad if he knew that you just tore up what he made for you. Don’t you feel any kind of guilt?”

There was a mixture of feelings swirling around Daehwi, but above all, he could identify that he did not want to be scolded by his friend. Clinging to his pride, he simply said, “No, why should I? I don’t even know him.”

Donghyun gave up on the topic and decided to just start walking them away from the commotion. They parted ways at Daehwi’s subway stop, making their usual plans to eat lunch together at their university. On his trip home, Daehwi kept playing with the ball of shredded paper in his pocket, with maybe just a tiny ache of guilt in his heart. But that was something he would not dare to admit just yet. 

“How was the show, Daehwi?” Jihoon asked as he entered their shared room. 

“It went well. I’ll show you the videos once they’re posted,” Daehwi responded, trying to maintain the maximum enthusiasm that he had. “Are you going to be studying up all night?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon sighed. “I didn’t realize how fucked I am for this test until now. I’ll be quiet, don’t worry.”

Daehwi moved over to Jihoon’s seat to give him a short hug from behind. “Don’t stay up too late,” he advised his roommate. After a few friendly pats on the shoulder, Daehwi moved over to his side of the room and changed into his night clothes. He crawled under his covers and sighed, somehow thinking about the ripped tulip again.

The next day, Daehwi ventured into the main cafeteria on campus as always, needing to have a large lunch in between his busy Wednesday classes. He looked down at his phone again, reading through his friend’s message again to make sure he was right. Donghyun said he was sitting at one of the window seats, but all Daehwi saw were occupied tables with more than one person at each one. He slowly paced through the aisle, the sun periodically blinding him with its rays.

“Daehwi-ya!” a voice yelled out from behind, causing the man to whip around. He was met with a smiling Donghyun at the table he just passed, sitting across a figure that he couldn’t make out. Daehwi backtracked his steps and stood in front of the table, immediately swinging a weak punch at Donghyun’s shoulder.

“You need to be more specific when you text me where you are,” he scolded. “There are like 20 tables by the window. Who’s your friend here?” he added, gesturing to the unfamiliar man. Their lunch dates in the cafeteria had always been the two of them, so it was odd to see a newcomer at their usual gatherings. 

“This is Park Woojin,” Donghyun introduced, to which the man slightly nodded with a closed smile. This time, the name reeked of familiarity from yesterday, already triggering fight-or-flight in Daehwi. Nevertheless, he suppressed it for now.

“Hi, I’m Lee Daehwi,” he responded with a small wave.

“Nice to meet you,” Woojin responded in a manner so gentle that Daehwi was not even sure that he heard it. He was undoubtedly attractive, with a cute face and fiery red hair that lit up crimson in the sunlight. Daehwi also took notice of how his eyes bounced with his words.

“Woojin is the one that came with me to your performance yesterday,” Donghyun started out. “He also made that paper tulip for you,” he continued, giving a knowing look to the other. 

Daehwi could feel the ice on Donghyun’s words, as if they were trying to poke at his guilt. And sure enough, Daehwi’s mind froze up, but he was a master at containing his expressions when he needed to. So now Donghyun was meddling in his love life, he thought to himself. 

“Thank you for that. I really appreciated it,” Daehwi directed to Woojin, though he could see Donghyun’s eyebrows raise in the most judgemental way possible.

“You don’t have to say that. I bet you got lots of real flowers yesterday,” Woojin responded with an uncomfortable smile.

“No, I actually only invited Donghyun. Your present was the only one I got,” he nervously said with a laugh, as his insides started to warm and burn up with guilt. It was easy to rip up the flower with the assumption that he would never meet the sender, but now it felt cruel to see him in person with the knowledge of what he had done. The realization that Woojin was one of two audience members that came for him also seared further into the wound.

It was probably the fastest turnaround that Daehwi had experienced since he learned what post-nut clarity was.

“Too bad you don’t have it anymore,” Donghyun pointed out, immediately sending Daehwi into a silent rage. So now his friend was also going to throw him under the bus like this .

“What do you mean?” Woojin innocently asked. Woojin had a puzzled look on his face (an admittedly cute look, if Daehwi may add), so Daehwi knew that he had to do damage control on whatever else Donghyun was going to spout. 

“Daehwi tore it up yesterday after the show.” And there it was. Kim Donghyun had no sense of loyalty, it seemed. Oh, if it was just Daehwi and him together right now, he would pound some sense into the older man’s head.

“Oh…” Woojin said, completely at a loss for words.

“It’s not like that!” Daehwi quickly protested, obviously trying not to make Woojin (who he met five minutes ago) upset. “I was just upset yesterday, and I actually thought that no one came for me because Donghyun didn’t say anything to me,” he pouted in Woojin’s direction, eliciting a soft smile from the other.

Because this revelation was new to Donghyun as well, he quickly moved to defend himself. “Hey! Of course I would come. I knew how important this showcase was to you. Please don’t be mad at the person that showed up to support you.”

Woojin seemed to be the most uncomfortable person in the entire cafeteria, stuck between the bantering friends and confused whether it was friendly or aggressive. Daehwi noticed his awkward shifting in his seat and felt more guilt twinge in his heart. He decided to just end the feud and postpone it to when he and Donghyun were alone.

“Okay, I won’t get mad,” he said in compromise. “And I’m sorry I ripped up your gift, Woojin,” he directed at the other. “I’ll make it up to you!” Daehwi knew to switch to his cute tone when he wanted to charm people, and judging by Woojin’s warm reaction to it, it was a notable success.

“You don’t have to do that. I can just fold another one - I’ve been trying to fold more complicated things, too,” Woojin responded for the first time with an open smile, and the sight struck Daehwi like a freight train.

“Umm…okay if you say so. That sounds great!”

After a few generous compliments on the performers from last night (“Especially you, Daehwi. Your voice was the best,” Woojin had said), they closed out any more discussion on the events from yesterday. Instead, they finally got up to grab their lunches from the cafeteria and indulged on basic school conversation for the rest of their meal.

Daehwi had learned that Woojin and Donghyun were both in the same engineering department together, hence their shared chemistry class. He also learned that Woojin liked to compose his own songs, too, so Daehwi even threw out an invitation to work on a musical project together. Only Donghyun seemed to catch the blush on Woojin’s face when Daehwi made his offer.

“We should get going, Donghyun,” Daehwi said, noting the time until their next class. Their next class was in the same building as each other, so they always opted to walk together after Wednesday lunches. With a quick farewell to Woojin, the two took their dirty dishes and left the table. 

“What the hell was that?” Daehwi asked as soon as they exited the cafeteria.

“Payback for being so heartless to Woojin,” Donghyun shrugged. “I invited him to lunch today so you could see him in person. Sorry if I abandoned you there, but you can’t just tear up people’s gifts just because you’re ‘done with men’. You didn’t even know who he was, and you destroyed his present.”

“Yeah, I guess I am an asshole,” Daehwi gloomily remarked.

“It’s okay because I made you feel bad today for your actions. However, now I actually think there’s a possibility that Woojin likes you. Just a guess, though.”

“What makes you think that? You’re not that close with him, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t know him that much outside of class. But I know that he’s just quiet in general, and I haven’t seen him that smiley and willing to talk since today.”

“Why did you take him with you to the showcase?” Daehwi asked, his curiosity starting to flare up. 

“He just wanted to come because he likes composing music, too. I told him that I was going to this show for my friend in the music department, and he said he wanted to go because he was interested in hearing talented musicians perform. After your performance, he literally pulled out paper from his bag and started folding the flower. Kind of cute, if you ask me.”

Daehwi rolled his eyes at Donghyun’s last sentence. “Okay yeah, it’s kind of cute,” he admitted.

“Well okay then.”

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“I mean, it’s clear what we do next.” There was a smirk on Donghyun’s face that made Daehwi incredibly uncomfortable, especially since he had never seen his friend as a schemer. 

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” the younger asked with a hint of aggression.

“Well, Woojin might like you, and you might like Woojin, so we just hang out together and see where it goes. And then if things happen, I dip out before I become third wheel.”

“Why would you think that I like Woojin!” Daehwi exclaimed, taking full offense to the accusation.

“Oh come on, Lee Daehwi. You are super easy to read, and I just know these things. Don’t try to fight with me when you know I’m right.” 

All Daehwi could do was frown, as he knew that Donghyun could easily read his feelings. “I don’t even know if I want to go through this process again,” Daehwi whined. “What if it’s like the last time, and he gets creeped out and blocks me on everything?” 

“Then it happens, I guess. But I don’t know, after today I have a feeling it might work out. Just a feeling, though.”

“Don’t give me that much hope, please.”

Donghyun simply shrugged his shoulders.

Daehwi didn’t know whether it was Donghyun sending invitations or it was Woojin’s own volition, but the next week’s lunches were spent with the three of them together. They started getting comfortable with their window table spot, to the point where they didn’t need to send text reminders to each other. The three college students just showed up to their usual spot in the cafeteria each day.

It would be a lie to say that Daehwi did not look forward to lunch more often. He felt his heart slightly jump each time he walked in at the sight of Woojin sitting there, patiently waiting for Daehwi and Donghyun to get there so that they could get food together. On a few days when Woojin was tired, he would put his head down on the table and close his eyes, later awoken by a smiling Daehwi.

Daehwi had the courage to pet his head and ruffle his hair one time, to which Woojin playfully swatted his hand away. “Where’s Donghyun?” he asked, noticing that the other member of their trio was later than usual. 

“He told me that he’s busy studying for an exam today, so we should eat without him,” Daehwi responded. The statement was indeed true, but the main reason Donghyun did not show up was to let them talk without him. As he had said to Daehwi, he was doing his “duty as a third wheel” by not being present at some of their lunches.

“Oh okay. I’ll wish him luck then,” Woojin replied, pulling out his phone to send a quick message.

Without the shared presence of Donghyun, it was slightly awkward for the two of them to hold a conversation. Nevertheless, Daehwi persisted. As they chewed on their bibimbap and side dishes, he took breaks to ask questions about Woojin’s personal life. He learned that they both lived on different floors in the same dormitory, that Woojin was the oldest of five siblings, and that Woojin loved going to karaoke but hated singing alone.

“Oh, before I forget,” Woojin said, digging through his backpack for something. “I made you another tulip,” he proudly said as he pulled out another paper bulb, this time made from a pinkish paper. He also pulled out a green paper stem from the bag, neatly attaching it to the tulip.

“If you don’t like it, you can tear it up -”

“Shut up, it’s cute,” Daehwi interrupted. He looked at Woojin’s face to see his warm smile and his shaking eyes, unaware of where to look. 

“I can teach you how to make it if you want,” he offered to the other.

“I think I already know how to make it, but I won’t be as neat as you. These folds look so clean,” Daehwi playfully teased.

“I pay attention to detail,” Woojin emphasized, smirking as he took another spoonful of rice. “Anyways, I think you should try more origami with me. I find it really relaxing,” he added, expectantly holding out his phone to the younger.

“Why are you giving me your phone?” Daehwi asked, clearly confused.

“Phone number,” Woojin gestured, slightly shaking his phone up and down.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Daehwi shyly responded. He obediently typed in his number and smiled, returning it to Woojin. As they finished up their lunch, they cleared up their trays and walked towards the exit. For the first time, it was just him and Woojin together (something that Daehwi could get used to).

“So… I guess I’ll see you around campus?” Woojin hesitantly asked.

“We live in the same dorm,” Daehwi pointed out with a laugh. “Of course we’ll see each other a lot here.”

“Oh, that’s right,” the other awkwardly laughed. “We’ll have to hang out more often, then. Have fun at class, Daehwi,” he added, giving a small farewell wave. Daehwi returned it and separated from the other, feeling somewhat shocked that he was able to keep himself together.

As soon as he got home from classes that night, Daehwi put the paper tulip on his desk. “Ooh, did you make that yourself?” Jihoon called out from his bed.

“No, it’s a gift from a friend,” Daehwi vaguely responded. 

Jihoon looked at the gift in approval and shifted his attention back to his phone. After throwing his backpack to the bottom of his bed, Daehwi pulled out his own phone to go through his contacts. He scrolled down to Woojin’s contact, making sure to add a few hearts after his name.

Chapter Text

The day after receiving his second tulip, Daehwi decided to push his confidence a bit further. He was sitting in bed, eyes fixed on the pink tulip on his desk. After a few mental hurdles, he decided to grab his phone and send a text to Woojin.

D: Are you busy tonight?

W: No, why?

D: Do you want to study together in the study lounge?

W: Yeah, sure. What time?

D: 8?

W: Okay, I’ll see you there

Daehwi smiled to himself, proud that he was able to finally send a text. As he exited to his home screen, he took notice of the date: February 14th . He tossed his phone in a minor panic. Everything should be fine, as long as Woojin did not think too much about it. They were only hanging out and studying together on a night of a holiday for love. Damn it , now Daehwi was starting to overthink it.

He went from class to class without any issues that day, other than the crippling anxiety of having to see Woojin 1-on-1. To make matters worse, the Valentine’s Day atmosphere seemed to heighten Daehwi’s anxiety. It was as if the entire day was colored red and pink, as he walked by countless people holding roses and saw public displays of affection everywhere. By the time Daehwi returned to his dorm in anticipation of Woojin, he only had one hope - that Woojin was single. Picturing him being overly affectionate with someone else was like an injection of jealousy into his veins. 

Seated at a table in the first floor study lounge, Daehwi started throwing out his books and notes so he could at least look studious while he nervously waited. He looked at his phone - 8:05 with no text messages. With a deep exhale, he took out his laptop and surfed his social media, anything to distract him from the possibility of being stood up.

8:15. The notification sound of a text message instantly caused Daehwi to look at his phone screen. Sorry, I’m running late. I’ll be there in 5. Daehwi felt his heart slightly sink upon reading the message, but he responded regardless with a bunny sticker that said “It’s alright!”.

When he finally saw Woojin enter the doors to the lounge, he perked up and instantly closed his web browser. “Sorry I’m late. I really feel bad,” Woojin said, pulling out a chair and tossing his backpack onto the ground. “But, I come with gifts.” After rummaging through his bag, he presented Daehwi with a pink plastic bag neatly tied with ribbon. 

“Ooh, what is it?” Daehwi wondered aloud, curiously eyeing the bag.

“Chocolates. I won’t eat them all, so I figured that you could help me.”

As cute as Woojin’s offer was, Daehwi clenched up upon hearing his statement. He decided to carefully navigate the situation. “Where did these come from?” he innocently asked.

“My friends just bought them for me to celebrate I guess,” Woojin replied. “Although there isn’t much for me to celebrate today,” he later added.

Daehwi realized that this was the time to strike. “Oh, are you dating anyone right now, Woojin?”

“No,” he quickly responded. His tone had a degree of finality in it that comforted Daehwi, as if he was clearly available. “Are you dating anyone?” he asked Daehwi, who confidently shook his head in reply.

“Single buddies,” Woojin cheekily remarked, thrusting out his hand for a fist bump. Daehwi happily returned the action.

“I know we’re supposed to study right now, but can you teach me to fold something? I need a break,” Daehwi asked the other. It was a complete lie in that he had not touched any schoolwork, but he was okay with the lie as long as he got to interact with Woojin.

“Sure, what do you want to fold? A flower?”

“Yeah, do you know any other types of flowers?”

“Of course I do,” Woojin remarked with confidence, pulling out a booklet of square origami paper. He flipped through the detachable papers to display the variety of colors he had for Daehwi. This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, Daehwi immediately thought to himself.

Turned out, Daehwi also verbalized that thought aloud. “Thank you,” Woojin chuckled, deciding on two light purple sheets from his booklet. “Let’s make an iris.”

“O-okay,” Daehwi choked out, still recoiling from his mistake. He cursed his lack of control over his mouth, yet he was comforted by the fact that Woojin still seemed upbeat.

Without using anything for reference, Woojin showed Daehwi what folds and creases to make. “The edges need to perfectly line up,” he lightly scolded the other a few times, leaning over to grab the paper and fix the mistake. Daehwi felt Woojin’s fingertips slightly brush over his hands when he did that, and it sent minor shocks up his arm.

“Have you ever been in a relationship before?” Daehwi decided to ask the other.

“Just a few, but nothing long-term,” Woojin replied, handing Daehwi’s origami paper back. “You?”

“Nope.” Daehwi followed Woojin’s next fold before he continued asking, “Do you prefer being in a relationship or being single?”

“Since all of my relationships ended badly, I would say single,” he laughed.

“Me too,” Daehwi joked, causing them both to giggle in unison. Their eyes met for an uncomfortably long time, long enough that their laughing subsided and Daehwi was left alone with his thoughts and the man in front of him. Flustered, he grabbed one of the chocolates from the bag and started chewing his anxiety away. 

“Sorry your relationships ended badly, though,” Daehwi added after he finished chewing his chocolate. “Sounds like bad luck.”

“They were good people, but we didn’t get along in the end. What can you do?”

Daehwi simply hummed in agreement. He felt his heart thump from the way Woojin was talking in gender-neutral language. Maybe there’s a chance , Daehwi thought to himself, although he had to keep his hopes under control. 

“Well here it is,” Woojin remarked with a smile, presenting the delicate paper iris he finished folding. Daehwi did the final fold on his own paper and looked between the two flowers, instantly noticing the difference between his and Woojin’s craftsmanship.

“I don’t think I did a good job,” he weakly whined.

“You did fine. You just need to pay attention to what you’re doing,” Woojin teased. Daehwi shoved Woojin’s shoulder back in retaliation, giggling when Woojin feigned pain. “No need to be mean - let’s just switch flowers so you can know what a good one should look like. You can hang this up even so that you can see what true art looks like.”

Daehwi scoffed at Woojin’s advice, but on the inside he knew that he would put the iris next to his tulip so he could look at it in his room. “Fine,” he pouted, hastily swiping Woojin’s perfect paper iris off the table.

Woojin smiled at the action, saying, “Don’t be so sad. Origami isn’t that hard as long as you have a careful eye and the right paper. It’s probably a lot easier than the practice you have to do with singing,” he pointed out.

“I don’t know, I feel like this folding is more of a struggle than hitting notes,” he laughed, wanting to argue more but instead interested in something else. “Do you sing, Woojin?” he asked the other.

“I always wanted to, but I don’t know where to start.”

Daehwi felt a rush and clapped his hands in excitement. “Then this is something I can teach you, hyung. I’ll have you singing like Beyonce in a few months!” he exaggerated, making Woojin burst out in laughter. Daehwi hit him again, gesturing to the other students studying around them.

“Sorry,” Woojin whispered aloud. He turned his attention back to Daehwi and leaned in to speak a bit quieter. “I’m just excited that a great singer like you is willing to teach me,” he said in a low voice, and to Daehwi it definitely sounded like a flirty comment.

“Stop praising me,” he muttered, again reaching for a chocolate to ease

“You deserve it, though,” Woojin answered, making direct eye contact with Daehwi as he said it. Noticing how serious it sounded, he directed his attention towards his notes to save himself from any future awkwardness.

Daehwi’s mind went entirely blank for that brief moment, and it was enough confirmation for him that he liked Woojin. Daehwi found the other to be shy and mysterious, yet capable of being warm and enthusiastic at the same time. Not to mention, there was a certain twinkle in Woojin’s eyes that stuck with him that whole day, a twinkle that even slipped into his dream of being Woojin’s boyfriend that night. Being Woojin’s boyfriend… Yeah, perhaps Lee Daehwi needed some help. 

When Daehwi woke up to Jihoon’s intense snores, he was kindly greeted by the sight of Woojin’s tulip and iris on his desk. With the sun gradually rising behind his window, the warm lighting made the paper flowers pop in their colors. It had only been a few days since his study date with Woojin, so the iris still satisfied his eyesight. As he scanned his eyes over the flowers, he wished he had a larger collection of Woojin’s origami creations for his desk.

Daehwi checked the time before breaking out of his covers and gathering his belongings for a shower. It was probably a half hour earlier than when he usually woke up for class, but he had the energy to do his morning routine so he went ahead and did it. Entering the community bathroom, he went to a vacant stall and started running the water.

It was probably just Daehwi and two or three other guys in the showers, which made it more entertaining to him when he heard one of them humming. The person’s humming went slightly off pitch at certain times, causing Daehwi to slightly chuckle to himself. As he finished cleaning up and changing into his school clothes, he went over to the sinks to brush his teeth.

Daehwi was rinsing out his mouth when he heard a few hums come from behind. Looking into the mirror, he made eye contact with the humming man himself, Park Woojin. “What are you doing here on my floor?” he asked in surprise.

“I was just hanging out with my friend and I ended up staying over,” he replied, pulling out his own toothbrush and toothpaste. Noticing Daehwi’s confused expression, he added, “Just a friend.”

“Why would I care…” Daehwi muttered aloud, just loud enough for Woojin to hear. The other just smiled to himself.

“So, do you have an 8:00 class today?” Woojin asked, starting to brush his teeth. Daehwi was finishing up his cleaning routine, but he couldn’t help looking at Woojin’s wet hair in the mirror and how attractive it made him look. 

“Yeah, it’s my humanities class.”

“Where is it at?"

“The BCB at north campus,” Daehwi answered. He finished cleaning up his bag and leaned against the counter, turning to look at Woojin directly.

“I’ll walk you there, if that’s okay. I have some time to kill.”

Daehwi felt his cheeks start to warm up. “Sure,” he calmly responded.

After the two gathered their belongings from their room and met in the lobby of the dorm, they then set off for north campus. As they walked along the concrete path, puffs of last night’s snowfall floated off tree branches and rooftops. Daehwi shivered slightly at the cold hitting his face. Both of them waddled along with their hands in their pockets, jackets zipped up to the very top.

“Do you usually eat breakfast?” Daehwi asked.

“Not really, but sometimes I’ll grab something from a bakery or something. I feel weird about the breakfast food they serve here,” Woojin replied.

“I haven’t really tried the cafeteria breakfast yet. I feel like - ” 

“Watch out,”  Woojin interrupted, grabbing Daehwi’s arm and pulling him aside. A biker from behind steered to the left of them, speeding ahead down the path. Daehwi made a brief squeal noise as the biker passed, suddenly feeling flustered as he realized that Woojin probably heard it clearly.

“How can you be biking to class when it’s this cold?” Daehwi harshly asked no one in particular. 

“I don’t blame him. Bikes will always be faster than walking,” Woojin pointed out. 

Daehwi deeply exhaled a frosty breath and shrugged. “I guess,” he briefly responded. He noticed that Woojin still had his hand on his arm, slightly squeezing it as they continued walking. To his dismay, it only lasted for another minute before Woojin returned his hands to his jacket pockets.

Besides the remainder of their cafeteria breakfast conversation, the rest of the walk was spent in peaceful silence. Daehwi decided that it was too early in the morning to make a fool of himself in front of Park Woojin, so he refrained from basic conversation and awkward attempts to get to know the other. Hopefully, Woojin would not think of him as a bland person who didn’t know how to talk with people well. 

Daehwi did wonder what Woojin was thinking at the moment, but he assumed that it was not as severe as his emotional turmoil over the man. As the entrance to the building came into sight, Daehwi simply wished that he could part from the handsome man without any awkwardness. All he had to do was gather his confidence and use his astounding social skills.

“Umm… I guess I’ll see you at lunch, then,” he said to Woojin, immediately reprimanding himself internally. There were so many better words that he could have used instead.

“Yeah, I’ll see you at the usual place. Have fun in class,” he teased the other. Woojin separated from Daehwi and started on the path to his own class, sparing a wave over the shoulder for his walking buddy.

That morning class probably broke Daehwi’s record for ‘longest amount of time spent daydreaming.’ As he sat through the two-hour lecture, his thoughts kept drifting towards Woojin, with his charming smile and his cute origami (not to mention how adorable he looked in his large padded winter jacket). Although he was scared of this crush ending like the others, there was something that made Daehwi want to believe in this one.