Chapter Text
Usually, Wonwoo treated class with a nonchalance that was almost insulting given his nearly perfect score on everything. (Almost insulting because nothing coming from Wonwoo could really count as an insult. At least not seriously.) But today, Mingyu saw him writing and erasing furiously in his much-neglected notebook. (He wasn't perfecting his rap parts, they just finished an assessment for one of their songs) This was enough to earn him some good-natured ribbing between subjects ("Haha, so even Wonwoo needs to take notes now.") which he by and large ignored ("Shut up, Tree. I was transcribing music from memory.").
While they were eating lunch (one the roof, like during middle school because even high schoolers were afraid of Jihoon) Wonwoo spent half of his attention on Jun and half on his notebook (Mingyu took that opportunity to steal the sweet bun from Wonwoo's ignored lunch) where he was still scribbling. Jun looked more uncomfortable than usual, so Mingyu took it upon himself to keep a conversation going.
"Hey, Jun-hyung, what's 'transcribing' mean anyway?"
"Uh..." Jun gave a few nervous glances around before shrugging and looking at Wonwoo for the answer.
Still nose-deep in his book, Wonwoo didn't notice the two stares on him, waiting for a definition.
And just when Mingyu thought the situation couldn't get any more awkward (for Jun, at least. Mingyu was used to being ignored by Wonwoo), the door to the roof opened and three cute, giggling girls (probably from a lower grade) pushed a fourth in Mingyu's general direction. The fourth girl (she looked a little like Minhyuk-hyung from baseball. His sister?) tip-toed towards the seated boys, as if they didn't already know she was there. She stopped a meter away and stared at Jun and Wonwoo in horror ('Oh, she's probably going to confess to me. Haha.' Mingyu thought) when they didn't leave to give her some privacy (though, to be completely honest, Jun looked just as terrified).
"Um..." She shifted from foot to foot and smoothed down her skirt (or she tried to, the love letter in her hand made that kind of awkward). "Um..." she said again, but still, Jun and Wonwoo were frozen in place. Eventually, she shuffled around until she couldn't see the other two anymore and could at least pretend that they were alone. "Um, Mingyu-oppa, I really like you and would you please go out with me?" Amazingly, she managed to say everything in the same time it took her to thrust out her love letter.
Mingyu smiled kindly and took great care in opening and reading the love letter. (he never read them if the giver wasn't watching, he wasn't really interested in a girlfriend, but he wanted to be polite.).
The letter was more of a home-made card than a letter. The outside simply said "Can we please go out? From: Sana" and inside was a picture of him, mid-swing in the batter's box and a pair of tickets to the regional finals match in fifteen days. Suddenly, having a girlfriend seemed to coincide quite nicely with baseball practice and idol training. Turning on the 100 Watt smile, Mingyu stood up and handed her back the tickets. "Sure. Sana. But why don't you hold onto those for now?"
———
The next day, Wonwoo was still buried in his notebook (Mingyu had looked up transcribing, it meant copying) and Mingyu himself not paying a lick of attention to their math teacher. No, his thoughts bounced around the regional teams he'd be watching in fourteen days from just behind the home dugout. (Sana was Minhyuk-hyungs sister and after practice and the "Don't Hurt or Touch My Sister" lecture, hyung had told him that he'd actually won the tickets in a contest and given them to his sister a week before for the express purpose of asking Mingyu out.) During the class change, while he and the other students waited for the English teacher, he realized his notebook was full of baseball playing stick figures rather than notes and equations. 'Hopefully, Wonwoo-hyung will be done copying that song of his by the end of practice today, so he can explain the math lesson.' It sounded sheepish even in Mingyu's thoughts.
When lunch rolled around (it was the only part of the day that didn't involve sports and still managed to capture his full attention) he walked up towards the roof with Jun and Wonwoo. Halfway up the staircase to the third floor, Wonwoo looked up from his notebook long enough to glare at Mingyu. Mingyu checked his "Minimum Distance To Be Remained Away From Him" (20cm) and after finding that to be "up to par" (Wonwoo always had to word things strangely. Why couldn't he just say he was copying that song?) he mentally prepared himself for the "Why Do You Smile So Much, Idiot?" speech that Wonwoo gave every three days or so.
"Aren't you going to go sit with your girlfriend?"
Surprised hit Mingyu in two waves. The first came from Wonwoo's suggestion itself (though it might have just been a ploy to get him away from them). The second came from the fact that Wonwoo asked in a complete monotone. No yelling, no inflection, just a question a finger pointed in the other direction. "Haha. I didn't even think about that. Do you guys think I should?"
"She'd probably like that. I mean, she went through so much to come see you at lunch yesterday," Jun said.
"Haha, all right. I'll see you guys back in class!"
With that, Mingyu spun around and jogged back down the stairs towards their classroom and further on to the lower grades. Unfortunately, Sana was eating her lunch somewhere that wasn't her classroom. He checked Class 2's room and even went up to 4th year's Class 2 room to see if she was eating with Minhyuk-hyung. All of the classrooms a bust, he hiked back down the stairs and out onto the grounds to find Sana and-or her friends. He was only halfway around the main building by the time the bell signaling the end of lunch sounded (of course, this was mostly due to the fact that Juyeon from year one, class 2 had a mint condition, Seattle Mariners Ichirou card he was looking to trade). Then, he sprinted back up to the second floor and his own classroom, which he managed to somehow reach before the history teacher. Lunch was uneaten and looking disheveled (not that his hair didn't always stick up), though satisfied at not being late, Mingyu collapsed into his seat from which he waved at Jun and the still-unresponsive Wonwoo.
———
During the rest of the two obligatory weeks Mingyu had to date Sana leading up to The Game, Mingyu discovered that Sana was interesting for reasons beyond having baseball tickets (which were one use only). Apparently, she went to every one of his games that she could (originally, she went to see her brother play, but that's where Mingyu caught her attention) and the times she couldn't because she was playing club softball outside of the Pledis public schools. She also knew a lot about sushi (apparently, Class 2 had a history project on things influence to Japanese culture and she'd picked out sushi) and found things other than gossip about their classmates to talk about (though, she did tell him all of the rumors regarding Jun, Wonwoo, himself and the other trainees).
Eventually, the big day came and went and Mingyu couldn't really find a reason to break off the relationship. They'd taken to eating lunch together every other day (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) and eating with their friends on the others. Sometime during those two weeks, Wonwoo finished copying that song and started translating it (or so Jun told him during a study session at his house).
"I don't really get it. You already speak Japanese, so why are you translating the song into Korean? It's just a song," Mingyu asked on day twelve of the countdown.
"You already play baseball, so why do you also play basketball?"
And that cryptic retort was all Mingyu could get from Wonwoo on the subject (and it didn't even make any sense. Mingyu was talking about a song, not a sport).
———
As the days passed (or, since it was Mingyu, as the practices passed) he spent more and more time with Sana. At first, that was because she was interesting and loved baseball, but as time progressed, Mingyu used spending time with Sana as an excuse to avoid Wonwoo. Not that he wasn't used to Wonwoo's seemingly random bouts of depression and violence, but they were getting rather old and Sana (not to mention Jun) got all worked up when Mingyu showed up with singed sleeves and a black eye (he could avoid the world's fastest pitch, yet somehow Wonwoo's fist always managed to connect).
However, today, he wasn't hiding from Wonwoo; in fact, he was trying to find Wonwoo. Worried about him, Jun had asked Mingyu to find Wonwoo and try and figure out what was wrong (Jun only approached Mingyu after Minghao forbade him from "interfering"). But finding Wonwoo was proving to be quite difficult. Jun said that Wonwoo would still be on campus after baseball practice ended, but when Mingyu went to look around the school, it was deserted. Still in his practice uniform, Mingyu hopped up the stairs of the main building to get to his classroom. With a slight frown at the empty Class 1 room, Mingyu went back into the second story hall and just...wandered. Pledis High School was bigger than it's younger counterpart and Mingyu was sure he wasn't going to find Wonwoo (he probably burned some tables or two and then went home), so he just relaxed and strolled down the empty halls. (He was lucky Jihoon was prowling the third floor at the moment.)
As he neared the music rooms, Mingyu started humming "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" (horribly out of tune, but that wasn't the point), which always lightened his mood. However, that lightened mood plummeted once he was close enough to hear the sad strains of a piano melody coming from one of the practice rooms. He was no balladeer man, he was more into hiphop for now, but heart-wrenching was heart-wrenching. He opened the last door on the left and found himself directly behind Wonwoo.
Wonwoo must have heard him open the door because he stopped at the same moment. Mingyu froze in place, for once without a smile or witty (lame by most people's standards) comeback to whatever accusation Wonwoo was going to fling at him this time. But then... Wonwoo started playing another song and Mingyu let out his breath. This one wasn't nearly as sad. If anything, it was upbeat and... It just felt like memories. Unfortunately, the frivolous thought made Mingyu laugh, which seemed to break the music's hold over Wonwoo, who spun around on the piano bench and glared.
"What are you laughing at, idiot?"
"The song is just so nice and gentle, but it's you playing it. Even you can admit that's funny." Mingyu grinned and then chuckled at Wonwoo's expression (it was a common one; he looked torn between beating Mingyu into a bloody pulp and simply pretending he didn't exist all together).
Apparently settling on the latter, Wonwoo said, "Forget I said anything," before turning back to the piano and restarting the song.
Since he was on a mission for Jun, Mingyu walked farther into the room and pulled a folding chair over next to the piano so he could try to figure out what was wrong with Wonwoo. Without actively disturbing his playing (which would ruin any chance of talking to him once he finished the song), Mingyu sat silently and watched Wonwoo's fingers dance over the piano keys. The most in-depth thoughts Mingyu had about music were "This sounds nice" or "I don't like the way this sounds," he was still new to this idol training, so he was in no position to judge how good of a player Wonwoo was, but the way his fingers flew over the keys was impressive and Mingyu knew he'd never be able to do it.
Mingyu shifted his gaze from Wonwoo (who was either deeply involved in his playing or ignoring him) to the handwritten music perched on the piano. 'Oh, so this is the song Wonwoo's been working on...' Content with the fact that he wasn't going to get anything out of Wonwoo until he played the song to the end, Mingyu leaned back in the metal folding chair and let his thoughts drift. 'Hmm, does Sana like music? What kind? Maybe I could get her a CD for her birthday, when is her birthday?'
He snapped out of his thoughts when Wonwoo ended the song by slamming the cover down over the keys. "Did you have a reason, or did you just come here to annoy me?"
"You've been acting depressed lately and Jun’s starting to get worried."
"Che, as if. If Jun is worried he'd ask me about it, not act like a pansy and have someone else do it for him." Wonwoo picked his notebook up off the piano and shoved it in his bag.
"Minghao stepped in and said Jun should let you work it out on your own."
"And it didn't occur to you that maybe you should do the same? Did you lose what few brain cells you had left?"
"Haha, come on, what are friends for? You don't have to do everything on your own."
"Just shut up, you have no idea what you're talking about. Friends..."
Without responding (What was he supposed to say? He didn't know what Wonwoo's problem was.) Mingyu just sat and watched Wonwoo pick up his bag and leave the room.
———
So far, Mingyu's date has been going very well. He had picked her up ten minutes early, service had been good at the restaurant and now they were en-route to a cute, little café Seungkwan had recommended (not that Mingyu had thought up any of the date's other elements, but it went without saying that he had Wonwoo plan everything else. Mingyu was, after all, "unable to even dress himself properly" for a date.). The cafe sat on top of a music store and shared the elevator with a hair salon across the hallway. Mingyu did a double take when he opened the door for Sana.
The "cafe" looked like some fairy tale park, with benches for chairs and garlands of flowers hanging all over everything. Of course, Sana squealed in delight and rushed in. Once he got over his surprise that a cafe like this actually existed, Mingyu followed her in and walked up to the counter to pay for the drinks (fruit smoothies) and snacks (shaved ice and cream bread, whatever that was) Sana already ordered for them.
Sana literally bounced with excitement as she picked a table for them to sit at. Mingyu laughed and smiled widely at the sight of his usually calm and laid-back girlfriend bursting with energy.
He took the seat across from her at a heavily decorated park bench and table that looked out through the large window onto the shopping district. When Sana began gushing about how perfect the café was, Mingyu let his thoughts wander (during the rare times Sana did get excited, she tended to repeat herself and say obvious things and Mingyu knew from experience that she didn't really mind if he wasn't really listening). Just as the barista brought them their smoothies, the song playing in the cafe changed to a more familiar tune. Without thinking, Mingyu smiled and said, "This is that song Wonwoo was playing."
Sana paused mid-sip and tilted her ear towards the speaker in the ceiling. "Oh! I love this song! It's so sad!"
"Sad? But it sounds so nice..."
"Can't you hear the lyrics? Oh, it's so heartbreaking..." She gave a wistful sigh and took another sip of her drink.
"Haha, Wonwoo wasn't singing along when I heard him play it, (And Wonwoo singing? Haha.) I’m not that good in Japanese either and they're singing really fast." He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged his shoulders in a "What can you do?" gesture.
"Well," Sana sat up with perfect posture to explain, "the song is about a guy who falls in love with his best friend, only he didn't realize it until she got married to some other guy and even then he doesn't say anything because he thinks she'll be happier with her husband, never knowing how he really felt."
"That's it! Haha, I never would have figured that out."
Sana tilted her head. "Figured out?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just something with my friends." Smiling broadly at his girlfriend, Mingyu made a mental note to remember to tell Jun about this development. Wonwoo was depressed because the girl he liked was dating someone else. 'Haha, I never pictured Wonwoo as the type to get all mopey.' With that in mind, Mingyu put his attention on the shaved ice and cream bread that the waitress just put on the table.
———
"Oi, Wonwoo!" The sight of the older flinching just lightened Mingyu's mood that much more (because an angry, volatile Wonwoo was better than a moody, depressed Wonwoo). He easily caught up with his cantankerous friend and slung an arm over his shoulders. "So, Sana and her friends invited me and my friends to karaoke and since the others were busy with special training from Seungcheol anyway, I thought you should come."
"Why would I want to tag along on your date?" Wonwoo snapped.
"Haha, it's not a date, it's a bunch of friends hanging out. And singing karaoke."
"And what makes you think I want to sing?"
"You really like that "Why whatever, whatever" song. You spent three weeks copying it down and! You were playing it on the piano the other day in the practice room." Mingyu smiled after he made his point. "Come on, it'll be fun."
Wonwoo shrugged off Mingyu's arm. "Shut up, idiot. I was practicing converting songs to piano arrangements. And even if I did want to sing karaoke, I wouldn't tag along with you and your girlfriend." Grumbling, Wonwoo stalked off towards the school gates.
'Well, plan "Introduce Wonwoo To Sana's Cute Friends And Set Them Up" failed. Haha, I guess I'll have to try a different approach with Wonwoo.' Not the least bit deterred by this early failure, Mingyu grinned and went to find Sana.