Chapter Text
Wooyoung swears seeing the fortune teller was the biggest waste of twenty dollars. Yeosang and San got a big kick out of it, hanging off him and laughing as he explained that the psychic had told him he’d be meeting the love of his life tonight, in just a few hours. He shoved his friends off, wiping his hands off on his jeans before pouting and asking Yeosang to win him a stuffed animal.
It’s New Years Eve and every year their university holds a big carnival. It has the games, rides, fun houses, food, and at midnight they do a countdown and fireworks show. Wooyoung and Yeosang have gone the past two years, but this year they have San with them. San and Yeosang were in a “shiny new relationship”, as San liked to say. Wooyoung had originally wanted to stay home, let Yeosang and San ring in their first New Year’s together, but they weren’t having it and dragged Wooyoung out with them. They were having a good time, standing in line for the inflatable obstacle course, Yeosang and San teasing Wooyoung about the fortune teller.
“I bet he’s shorter than you.”
Wooyoung rolled his eyes as San laughed, “Don’t worry, Woo. I’m sure they have a big personality.”
“You’re both foul. I don’t think it’s true.” They took a step forward in line, “I don’t want to meet the love of my life at a carnival all because a fortune teller said it would happen.”
“You want a good ol fashioned meet cute?”
Wooyoung hummed, hands in his pockets as he rocked on his toes. “Sure. As long as it’s better than yours.”
San went to swing at Wooyoung, but was yanked away by Yeosang. He peeked at the people around him towards the obstacle and frowned, “it’s a two at a time thing.”
“That’s fine. This has always been yours and Wooyoung’s thing, so you two should go. Winner can come back around.”
Wooyoung smiled at San, “You’re so sweet. But no, you two go. I’m still gonna do it, but I really want to watch San get creamed.”
Yeosang laughed when San spluttered, glaring at Wooyoung, “How do you know I’d lose?!”
Yeosang pat San’s hand gently, “You’re awful at games, sweetie.”
San only grumbled, pulling his hand away from Yeosang and getting ready in his spot. When they took off through the first tunnel, Wooyoung yelled out something encouraging before there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned, smile still on his face as he made eye contact with the stranger.
“Did you need someone to go with?”
Wooyoung stared at the stranger, struck for a moment by how pretty he is. He was tall and Wooyoung had to look up to talk to him, and he had always been a sucker when it came to someone taller than him. The guy raised an eyebrow at Wooyoung before he shook his head and nodded. He knew San or Yeosang would come back round and go through with him, but why wait on one of them when he could go through with someone cute?
Wooyoung cleared his throat, “Yes! Yeah!”
“Good, I thought I was going to be stuck alone. I’m Yunho, by the way.”
The name rang a bell and he snapped, “The captain of the basketball team! Mingi’s friend, right?”
Yunho gave a soft smile, “that’s me. You know Mingi?”
“Yeah! I’ve known him since elementary school.” They moved forward, lining up at their designated tunnel. “I’m Wooyoung, by the way.”
Yunho saluted him before saying “see you on the other side, wooyoung” and diving in.
Wooyoung was mad that he let a pretty smile distract him. Yunho had already gone through and Wooyoung knew he was going to have to really work to catch up. He rushed in, knowing it was already over for him when he watched Yunho easily lift himself over the first wall and then he was gone.
“That was cheating!” Wooyoung yelled out, pointing an accusing finger at Yunho.
Yunho laughed, “I’m just tall and long. These things are a piece of cake for me.”
Wooyoung pushed his bangs back, “I call that cheating.” There was a shout of Wooyoung’s name and he looked over his shoulder, seeing Yeosang waving him over. He turned back to Yunho, “thank you for playing with me, Yunho. I’ll see you around?”
Yunho nodded, returning Wooyoug’s smile with one of his own, “I hope so.”
Wooyoung only stared for a second longer before turning on his heel and rushing to his friends. Once he got to them he was bombarded with questions, asking how he ended up with Yunho and how they even knew each other. Wooyoung deflected the questions, instead bringing up how San lost and now he owes them some funnel cake. Wooyoung and Yeosang took off running towards the booth, San running after them and yelling about that not being part of the deal.
They ended up running into Yunho a lot more throughout the night. San wanted to go through one of the mirror mazes and they ended up behind Yunho and Mingi, Mingi leading them through. They ran into him in line for cotton candy, and at three of the other rides they were going to go on. Wooyoung could count on one hand how many friends he’d run into any of their friends there, but Yunho and Mingi kept showing up. San said they were being followed, but Yeosang was joking that Yunho is actually the love of Wooyoung’s life. Wooyoung wasn’t usually a believer in all that, but he’s rarely seen Mingi around school, let alone Yunho, but now they’re everywhere? Maybe Yeosang was onto something. Did he really want to believe it, though?
They got into line for the swings, Wooyoung’s least favorite ride. He’s not scared of many rides, but there’s just something about the swings that makes him nervous.
Yeosang turned to him, “I’ll ride this one with you.”
San nodded, “Or I will. Yeosang and I could use a break from rides together.”
Wooyoung shook his head, glancing around with small hope that he would be in the line. Luck must have been on his side, because he caught sight of Yunho and Mingi talking before Yunho headed to the back of the line. “It’s fine, I promise. I think I’ll ride with Yunho.”
“Oh?”
Before Yeosang could fully question it, Wooyoung was yelling Yunho’s name and motioning him over. Yeosang and San exchanged looks before greeting the other boy when he stood by Wooyoung.
“Is Mingi not riding?”
Yunho looked towards his friend who was leaning against the gate surrounding the ride, scrolling through his phone. He shook his head, “He’s not a fan of rides that are taken apart and constantly moved around.”
San shrugged, “that’s fair.”
“So,” Wooyoung started, “do you want to ride with me?”
Yunho’s answering smile was blinding and Wooyoung almost wanted to believe the fortune teller. “I’d love to.”
They only had to wait a few minutes longer before they were loading up on the ride. San and Yeosang took the set of swings in front of him and Yunho, constantly sending worried glances Wooyoung’s way. If Yunho noticed, he didn’t say anything. Wooyoung started kicking his feet nervously once they were buckled in, knuckles already turning white on the chains from his grip. Once the ride started moving, though, he felt frozen in place. He felt like if he moved at all that everything started spinning and he hated the feeling. It felt like the ride had been going for minutes, but in reality it was only a few seconds, before the ride came to a stop. Wooyoung was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when he realize how high up they were.
He could hear Yeosang and San trying to get his attention, but he couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact that he’s dangling so far above the ground by chains.
“You okay?”
Wooyoung looked at Yunho whose eyes were full of concern. Wooyoung took a deep breath, “I’m not exactly the biggest fan of this ride? I go on it for Yeosang since it’s his favorite, but this year he has San. But I still came on it?”
Yunho nodded in understanding, “I’m sure Yeosang appreciates that a lot, Wooyoung. We’ll be down soon, okay? Here,” Yunho held a hand out, gently prying Wooyoung’s hand off the chain and interlocking their fingers. “What are you majoring in?”
Wooyoung frowned, staring at their connected hands and confused by the sudden topic change. He squeezed Yunho’s hand, “Um.. film? I’m majoring in film and media. What about you?”
“Film? That’s so cool! I want to be a vet tech. Why film?”
That’s how the conversation went for the next five minutes while they were stuck. Wooyoung held Yunho’s hand in a death grip until they were finally lowered and Yunho had quickly undone the buckles and lifted the lap bar letting Wooyoung jump down. He shook his arms out and thanked Yunho multiple times.
The next instant, Yeosang and San were behind him, their arms around him and they were talking to Yunho. He was about to walk back to Mingi when his arm shot out, catching Yunho’s, “We keep running into each other tonight so why don’t we just stick together?”
Yunho gave him a soft smile, “I’d like that. Let me go get Mingi and we’ll meet back up.”
“Sounds good. We’ll be waiting.”
The rest of the evening went smooth. Their now group of five eating the light snacks they could find and played all the games they could get to, Yunho even winning Wooyoung a stuffed animal. It was nearing eleven thirty and Yeosang mentioned heading to the field to find a spot to watch the fireworks. Yunho said they’d meet them on the field while he and Mingi went to grab some hot chocolate for them. Once the two were out of sight, Yeosang and San turned to Wooyoung, wicked grins on their faces.
“So… yunho?”
San’s smile widened. “You did meet him tonight and you two clicked really quick. Do you think-“
“Maybe.” Wooyoung interrupted, “I… I think I’d want the fortune teller to be right? But, I also think Mingi and Yunho are together.”
Before either boy could answer, Mingi and Yunho walked back to the small group. They passed around the hot chocolate before they slowly made their way towards the open field.
It’s Yeosang who clears his throat and decides to ask, “How long have you two been together?”
The laugh Mingi let out was loud, frantically shaking his head. “Yeah, no. We aren’t together. Yunho has his eyes on someone else.”
“Mingi!”
Yunho’s ears turned bright red and he turned away from the group. At Yeosang’s glare, Mingi subtly motioned to Wooyoung and Yeosang was able to relax.
They found an open spot in the middle of the field, settling down to get comfortable to watch the fireworks display. Yeosang leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky and listening to the conversations going on around him. Yunho and Mingi were off to one side, talking quietly and Yeosang tried not to listen, but when he heard the words ‘fortune teller’ it was hard to tune out. He frowned, trying to block out San and Wooyoung’s loud talking to focus on the quieter two. He heard Yunho say something about the fortune teller again followed by love and Wooyoung. It was’t hard to put two-and-two together.
He scrambled towards Wooyoung and San, putting his arms around their shoulders and pulling them close. He dropped his voice. “Yunho went to the fortune teller and got the same fortune as you.”
Wooyoung scowled, “I told you it was bullshit. What a waste of twenty bucks.”
“Stop being dramatic.” San his his arm, “Yunho likes you.”
Yeosang stood, holding his hand out to help San to his feet. They turned to Yunho and Mingi, getting curious glances. “We’re gonna go make out.”
Yeosang closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Yep. We’re gonna go do that.”
They both gave Mingi a pointed look before heading away from their friend. There was a hiss of Mingi’s name when the other boy didn’t move and then he was jumping to his feet once he got the hint.
“I heard Jongho is secretly handing out alcohol and keeps moving his spot because Hongjoong and Seonghwa keep finding him.” Mingi claps, pointing over his shoulder. “So I’m just gonna go find him.” He quickly darts away in the same direction as Yeosang and San.
Yunho had his head in his hands, shaking it and muttering out apologies for his friend. Wooyoung only laughed, reaching forward and pulling Yunho’s hands away, keeping one in his and lacing their fingers together.
“Hey, it’s fine. My friends aren’t subtle either.” Wooyoung wasn’t sure how he wanted to go about this. He was never one to back down from something, facing anything head on and dealing with the repercussions later. He’s also never had such strong feelings towards anyone he’d just met before. He cleared his throat, “listen, I don’t know if it’s because you’re so fun to be around or because this fortune teller go in my head or what, but -“
“Oh my god, I saw her, too.”
Wooyoung hesitated only for a moment, “she told me I’d meet the love of my life tonight.”
Yunho laughed, thumbing gently rubbing against Wooyoung’s hand. “She told Mingi he’d find five dollars and he did.” Wooyoung felt both relieved and reassured that not everyone ended up with the same fortune. “But, um.. she told me that, too. That I’d meet the love of my life today. Mingi’s been convinced it’s you all night.”
“San and Yeosang were stuck between you following us or you being the love of my life.”
They laughed together, the air feeling lighter and Yunho smiled down at their joined hands. Wooyoung realized he wanted to see Yunho laugh and smile more, and he wanted to be the one to do it. He kind of wanted to kiss him.
“Can I kiss you?”
Wooyoung would have been more shocked if he hadn’t been thinking it, too. He nodded quickly, letting go of Yunho’s hand and lunging forward, hands now resting on the sides of Yunho’s neck, and pressing their lips together.
Sparks. That’s all he could describe it as. He had never felt so many feelings go through him when he kissed someone. He felt comfortable and safe and Wooyoung couldn’t get enough.
Yunho pulled back, fingers gently brushing against Wooyoung’s jaw. He looked up, smile taking over his features. Wooyoung watched mesmerized as the fireworks reflected in his wide eyes. He looked back at Wooyoung, whispering a “happy new year, Wooyoung” before meeting him in the middle for another kiss.