Chapter Text
Choi Yeonwoo had never gotten anything he truly wanted. When he was a child, he wanted to stay by his mom's side forever. He wanted to eat her cooking, to fall asleep to her voice and to be held in her arms. In middle school, he wanted friends that would look out for him. To defend him when it seemed like it was him against everyone else. Above all, he wanted people to have fun with. People that would laugh with and not at him. By the time he was in high school, he just wished he was dead. After a while, Yeonwoo learnt that wanting something doesn't mean you will get it. So, he figured out how to manage his expectations. Sometimes, in order to get where you need to be, you just need to put your head down and deal things you don't necessarily like.
Now that he's in university, Yeonwoo has been able to quietly do his work in peace. He hasn't gone to any of the orientation events, joined any clubs, and definitely hasn't made any new friends. And that's how he wanted to keep it. He didn't see the point in meeting anyone new. Joohaeng and Minjae were enough for now.
Yeonwoo met Joohaeng and Minjae in his senior year of highschool, quite honestly by accident. He had just moved to their school and sat behind them. Maybe it was the pair’s good personality, or maybe they could sense that Yeonwoo was a loner, but they constantly sought him out again and again, despite Yeonwoo pushing them away. One thing led to another and they became good friends. By the end of the year, he no longer wished he was dead, and life started to look less dull.
But something now threatened the peaceful college life he had gotten used to. Group projects.
“For this assignment, you will all need to work in groups of 2 or 3. There are still a few weeks until the deadline so you don’t have to do much right now, but I expect you all to have picked your group members by the end of the week.” The professor turned off the presentation and shut her laptop. “That’s all, you all can go.”
Like most people, group projects weren’t really his thing. His last one was at his first high school. The people he had worked with assumed that he was smart just because he was quiet. They left him with all the work, but held grudges when the result wasn’t as high as they expected. Since then, Yeonwoo always insisted on working alone for group assignments. But something told him that this time, simply asking his professor wouldn't work. Yeonwoo looked around at the rest of the students in the lecture. Most of them were finishing up their notes and beginning to file out of the hall. Some people were already getting into groups. He was slowly realising that he hadn’t talked to a single one of them the entire semester. This wasn’t the first time Yeonwoo's introversion had caused problems for him, so he’s sure there must be a way out of it.
Just as he had made up his mind to talk to the professor about working alone, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
When he turned around, the first thing that caught Yeonwoo’s attention was the man’s eyes, since it was the only thing not covered on his face. He wore a black mask and his black fringe messily covered most of his forehead. His skin was clear and his eyes had a sharpness about them that could only be caused by makeup. He had silver hooks hanging from his ears and he was dressed like he had just walked off a movie set. He looked like the stock image of an idol, from head to toe.
The man smiled, eyes crinkling, like he could sense Yeonwoo looking him up and down. “I’m Go Yoohan, do you want to be partners?”
Yeonwoo didn’t move for a moment, still unable to look away from Yoohan’s eyes.
“I think you’ve got the wrong person.” He made to turn back around but was stopped by Yoohan’s hand.
Looking up from his arm, Yeonwoo fixed his gaze back onto him.
“I don’t,” Yoohan insisted. “I didn’t catch your name?”
“Yeonwoo. And I’m sorry but I think you’ll have to find someone else," he said, shrugging off his arm. Yeonwoo wanted to ignore him but. if he did, things might get bad. He knew how easily simple things could turn into an altercation. "I’m going to work alone.”
Yoohan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, as if he wasn’t expecting him to say that. “Can you do that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Yeonwoo started to grab his things. “Bye.”
Yeonwoo definitely couldn’t work with that guy. He would attract attention no matter where he went. And it was obvious he was trying to provoke Yeonwoo just to get a reaction. Yeonwoo had seen plenty of his type before. Not reliable at all.
After mostly everyone had eventually streamed out of the hall, Yeonwoo joined the small line of students asking the professor about the assignment. In the end, it was just him and her in the hall.
“Hi, I was just wondering if, um, if it was possible to do the assignment alone?” Yeonwoo said gingerly. It was his first time this semester talking to her one on one, and, quite honestly, she kind of scared him.
“Why would you want to do the project alone?” she asked. “The workload is clearly designed for two people.”
“I don’t work well... I just feel like I would rather work by myself.”
She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can let you do that. It will be better if you learn how to collaborate well with others early on.”
“Ok, I understand, thank you.”
Yeonwoo turned to leave the lecture hall. What was he going to do now? If he couldn’t work alone, it means he now had to find some other loner to team up with him.
Maybe... he could ask...?
No, definitely not. Yeonwoo’s pride was too big to even think about taking back what he had said before. And he still didn’t trust his work ethic. Anyways, he’ll find someone to pair with tomorrow. Surely, there was someone else who still hadn’t gotten a group.
As he walked down the hall, thinking, he spotted Yoohan leaning against the wall, looking at his phone.
Now that he could look at him from afar, Yeonwoo saw fully how good Yoohan looked. His pants were high-waisted, making his legs look even longer. Even the way he carried himself was that of someone with high levels of confidence. It was something that could only have been born from a lifetime of compliments. The difference between him and Yeonwoo was stark.
He must have been staring for too long because Yoohan lifted his head and gazed in Yeonwoo direction.
Fuck, did he see me? he thought, immediately putting his head down and walking faster.
“Yeonwoo!”
Fuck.
“How did it go?” Yoohan asked excitedly from his side.
“Fine. She told me I could work alone.” Yeonwoo didn’t feel particularly great about lying, but there wasn’t much he could do.
“Really?” Yoohan tilted his head slightly, feigning ignorance. “Because I’ve heard that she’s pretty strict about group work.”
Yeonwoo gazed up and glared at him, unsure if he was bluffing. Yoohan tried to look innocent but there was hint of amusement in his eyes.
Yoohan took his silence as a confession; and as a victory. Smiling, he said, “then, Yeonwoo, why don’t we work togeth-”
“Sorry, but I’m not interested.” Yeonwoo sped up once again and walked out the door. Yoohan ran to catch up.
“You know, you’re really pretty. Which entertainment company are you in?”
The nerve- “Huh?”
Yeonwoo could tell he was smirking underneath that mask. “I’m a trainee too, so I know which one to avoid.”
“I’m not a trainee.”
“Really?” Yoohan’s eyebrows raised. “Such a waste.”
Yeonwoo stopped walked in exasperation and turned to face Yoohan. “I don’t know what your intention is, but you won’t convince me to partner up with you by telling me lies.”
Yoohan faced Yeonwoo as well, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’m not lying though.” He leaned forward. “Your face is really pretty,” he said.
From this distance, he was close enough to see the small moles that spotted Yoohan’s skin. Yeonwoo leaned away from him instinctively and took a few steps backwards.
“So, I’m saying,” Yoohan took a step forward, regaining the previous intimacy, ”Do you want to be my partner?”
Yeonwoo’s brain seemed to be working 5 times slower than usual. Luckily, his body was not, and it did what it was most used to in these types of situations.
He turned around and quickly walked away.
“Yeonwoo!” Yoohan called out. “You’re still pretty when you’re angry!”
---
*unknown number* 22:43
hey
yeonwoo
choi yeonwoo
pretty choi yeonwoo
its me
yoohan from class
Yeonwoo 22:47
how the hell did you get my number?
Yoohan 22:48
when do you want to meet up
Yeonwoo 22:49
why do we need to meet up
Yoohan 22:49
to work on the assignment
Yeonwoo 22:51
don’t worry about it, ill do it and send it to you to read over
Yoohan 22:51
theres no way you could do it all by yourself
It’s true; Yeonwoo would definitely come to regret this decision in a few weeks time, but he’d rather that than working with Yoohan.
Yeonwoo 22:56
ill be fine
Yoohan 22:56
so you say
you know that new cafe by college
Yeonwoo 23:03
no
Yoohan 23:03
youre funny, yeonwoo
lets meet tmrw morning
11?
*read*