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Chapter Text

It's Soonyoung's idea for Wonwoo to have a party for his 21st. Obviously.

It doesn't take much convincing, to be fair. Soonyoung runs into Wonwoo's apartment excitedly an entire two months after his birthday, by the time the first semester of their junior year has already started. But his eyes are brilliantly bright even when half-open, hair atrociously unstyled, and Wonwoo doesn't think he'd be able to say no to anything that would come out of his best friend's mouth right now.

"Did-" Wonwoo begins before cutting himself off with a big yawn, "-did you get a wake-up idea again?"

Wake-up idea: a term coined by Wonwoo two years ago, describing the crazy thoughts that Soonyoung sometimes has the instant he wakes up in the morning. Usually when Soonyoung has these ideas, he'll brush his teeth in record time before sprinting right on over to Wonwoo's apartment to tell him said ideas. 

Wonwoo thinks the whole thing would be a lot easier if him and Soonyoung were roommates, but that's a whole other situation.

"You, my fine friend," Soonyoung says, ignoring Wonwoo's question as he throws his arms out, milking nonexistent cheers from a nonexistent audience, "are about to get the best present in the world from me!"

Despite the situation, Wonwoo feels his chest warm a little bit. "Aren't you meant to keep something like that a surprise?"

"Yes but in this circumstance I can't because then you would probably kill me."

Wonwoo's chest starts feeling less warm. "What?"

"Listen. Imagine this," Soonyoung says, pulling up a chair next to Wonwoo and holding up his hands as if this idea is about to play out in front of their eyes. "You and your beautiful self, the centre of attention."

"I hate it already."

Soonyoung ignores him again. "A room filled with people who love you, all there to celebrate you!"

Wonwoo actually finds himself liking that part. "What, like a party?"

Soonyoung clicks his fingers and springs up, pointing a finger at Wonwoo as he grins like a madman. "You were the one who said it, not me! Now that's settled, I'm throwing you a birthday party, 'kay, love you, bye!"

Then Soonyoung sprints out of the apartment at record speed while Wonwoo sits there, mouth slightly open, cogs slowly whirring in his sleep-sullied brain.

Oh no. 

"You don't understand," Wonwoo stresses two hours later when he's going grocery shopping with Jihoon, who hasn't actually said a thing yet so maybe he does understand and Wonwoo's just being presumptuous. "My birthday was two months ago. Two months ago. And I haven't had a party since I was like, six. My friend tripped into my birthday cake and had to go home crying, so I didn't have any more after that for his sake." 

"Soonyoung would probably punch that guy for being the reason that you haven't had a party for the last fourteen years." 

"I know," Wonwoo says, feeling a little dejected that the first thing Jihoon's said is something pretty positive towards Soonyoung and therefore positive towards this whole party idea. "And that's sweet of him, but, I'm not a party guy. You know that." 

"Mhm," Jihoon hums noncommittally while he browses the sausage row in the aisle. The two of them go a little starry-eyed over snacks and offers for the next ten minutes as they navigate through the store, before Jihoon brings them back to the matter at hand. "How about you just tell him that you don't want a party, then?"

"Because..." And Wonwoo trails off, because he doesn't know how to put his next thought into words. Jihoon gives him a curious look, picking up some paw-shaped spaghetti hoops and holding it out to Wonwoo. 

"Because what?" 

"Because," Wonwoo mumbles, taking the spaghetti hoops and holding them tight in his hand, "I've never had a friend who's wanted to throw a party for me before." 

Jihoon slowly breaks into a grin, which is very disconcerting. "I knew it. This party's totally happening." 

Wonwoo remembers a time in his freshman year, a whole two years ago, when he spent three months mustering up the courage to ask Soonyoung if he wanted to be his roommate the next year. 

Wonwoo's plan had been to move out of the dorms over the summer, and get settled into a nice apartment near his university by the time sophomore year started. He even had a place picked out and everything, so that meant there was just one thing left to find. A roommate. And Wonwoo had already picked out who he wanted that to be, too.

"Can I be your roommate? Please? Pretty please?" his friend from high school would ask all the time, and Wonwoo would probably be zoning him out while trying to think up ways to ask Soonyoung the same question. 

"Mingyu, you'll be a freshman next year, you won't make any friends if you don't live in the dorms." 

"But you're my friend!" 

"Am I, though?" Wonwoo asked, and grinned when Mingyu would frown and rage-quit the video call.

Wonwoo had even started a list of reasons as to why him and Soonyoung would be the perfect pair of roommates. It was a real list, too, one that he typed up on his laptop so he could organise his thoughts and figure out the best way to sell the idea to Soonyoung. Brilliant, loud, bright Soonyoung who seemed to have a million friends, and probably wouldn't look twice at Wonwoo when it came to roommate prospects if Wonwoo didn't play his cards exactly right.

Reasons why Soonyoung should be my roommate

i. He likes my voice. 

Alright, that was probably a pretty niche point to put first, but maybe it meant quite a bit to Wonwoo. Still does. Mostly because it was the whole reason him and Soonyoung even became friends in the first place. 

Jihoon, who had been living in the same dorm complex as Wonwoo back then, had brought Soonyoung over a month into freshman year. Wonwoo had walked into the living area to make some tea only to blink at the new unfamiliar person sitting on the sofa, giggling uncontrollably as Jihoon seemed to be telling him a story. Back then, Soonyoung had blond hair, a diamond stud in one of his ears, and a 1000-watt smile. Everything about him screamed 'bright', and Wonwoo felt a little blinded. 

"What next, what next?" Soonyoung had asked excitedly, patting Jihoon's arm, and Wonwoo tried not to be too obvious about eavesdropping as he rooted around in the cupboards for the teabags. It was just really strange, seeing Jihoon with someone like that. Jihoon was one of the few people that Wonwoo would say he already got along with by then, because they seemed to have a mutual understanding over things that Wonwoo couldn't even name. 

Sometimes, Jihoon would come over to him and ask him to listen to some music. Wonwoo always liked it, and would ask for the name of the songs, but Jihoon would just give him an almost mysterious smile before slinking away. 

Then eventually, Jihoon had told him, "It's mine." 

"What's yours?" 

"The music. I make it." 

Wonwoo's jaw had dropped. 

"I think your voice is pretty nice," Jihoon said, which was so out of nowhere that Wonwoo's ears turned pink. "So I wanted to see if you liked my sound, then if you agreed to it first, you could record some things for me." 

"I got 100 on a karaoke machine once," Wonwoo said distantly, still not quite processing what was going on. Jihoon snorted and patted Wonwoo's back, which felt almost like a friendly gesture. Wonwoo didn't mind it. 

"There we go. So what d'you think?" 

Honestly, Wonwoo's always loved music, and it's always been a guilty pleasure of his to belt out ballads when he's alone, to try to rap along to the songs playing through his earphones, to learn how to beatbox from cool videos on the internet. There's no way he would've said no, and when Jihoon grinned at him, he felt like maybe, maybe he might be making friends quicker than he ever thought he would. 

"Well, he said yes," was Jihoon's reply to his overexcited friend, who cheered so loud that Wonwoo dropped his teabag into his cup before he was meant to. "He's actually in this room. Right now." 

Soonyoung gasped, looking all around him like a dog chasing its tail, and Wonwoo looked around too even if he had no idea who Jihoon was talking about. But there was only the three of them in the room, and it wasn't long before Wonwoo and Soonyoung met eyes. 

"Oh, he's HOT!" Soonyoung yelled, jumping onto his feet, and Wonwoo blinked in alarm. Jihoon grumbled something and pulled his friend back down, turning to Wonwoo so he could apologise, "Sorry, dude, this is Soonyoung. He's...eccentric." 

"It's okay," Wonwoo said. He felt pretty flattered, actually. "Uh, are you guys talking about me?" 

"Holy shit, his voice is epic," Soonyoung said in a slightly more hushed tone, eyes wide in wonder, and Wonwoo could feel a blush creeping up his neck. It only got worse when Soonyoung got up again despite Jihoon's complaints and ran over to take hold of Wonwoo's wrist, dragging him to the sofa. "Sit here with us, man, and talk more! I wanna hear you more!" 

"What the hell, aren't you shy with new people?" Jihoon asked with a wrinkled nose, and Soonyoung snapped back, "Not if they have the best voice ever! Besides, you've been talking about him for like weeks so I basically already know him. Any friend of Jihoonie is a friend of mine!" 

"'Jihoonie' has been talking about me?" Wonwoo teased, sending Jihoon a sly smile and he snickered when Jihoon groaned, dropping his face into his hands. Though Wonwoo faltered a little when he heard a small gasp from his left. 

"Oh, you are so hot," Soonyoung murmured, mostly under his breath, but Wonwoo still heard it and still burned red. "Jihoon, Jihoon, you'll get him on a track, right?" 

"Maybe." 

"Wha- wha d'you mean maybe! He has the voice of Adonis! I mean, I've never heard Adonis before and I don't even really know who Adonis is but I've heard people say stuff like that so..." 

"Adonis is a Greek god," Wonwoo said, before biting his tongue because he didn't want these two perhaps potential new friends to think he was a nerd. But when he saw them both looking at him with curious eyes, as if they actually wanted to know what he was going to say, it gave him a tiny bit of confidence. "Uh, he's the god of beauty, among other things. Him and Aphrodite were a thing for a little while. A whole lot of trouble started because of his beauty actually, but you guys probably don't want to hear all that." 

Soonyoung gawked at him. "I saw a vine once that said knowing Greek mythology is hot girl shit and I'm really getting it right now." 

"I am a rather hot girl," Wonwoo joked, and he felt far too proud when Soonyoung howled in delightfully dolphin-like laughter. 

"Oh my Greek god, I'm so glad I left a rave for this. Funny mysterious stranger, can we talk more? I wish I could listen to your voice all night!" 

And that was the story of how Wonwoo bagged someone's number within ten minutes of meeting them. He still thinks about it sometimes, and grins dumbly into space because of it. 

If Soonyoung were to become Wonwoo's roommate, then Soonyoung could hear Wonwoo's voice all the time. Maybe even all night, just like he wished.

ii. He thinks I'm funny. 

People tell Wonwoo all the time that he'd make a great dad because of his jokes, which, in his opinion, is one of the best compliments ever. He doesn't even care if he gets reactions of eye rolls and groans, because at least his jokes make himself laugh so hard that he might fall off his chair. 

But Soonyoung laughs. He always has. At everything Wonwoo says, all his jokes, all his dumb little quips, even his nerdy ones about relativity and space. It's a bit dangerous because it makes Wonwoo's ego peak a lot, to the point where he'll stay up at night thinking that maybe he should try his hand at stand-up comedy. 

Three months into knowing Soonyoung, Wonwoo decided to conduct a little experiment. 

"Hello?" a voice had crackled through the phone after Wonwoo spent a whole entire minute polishing up this ingenious plan of his and then called Soonyoung. "Wonwoo?" 

"Hey," Wonwoo said, smiling. "You free today?" 

"Maybe?" 

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" 

"I'm a spontaneous guy, Wonwoo! I go where the wind takes me!" 

"Then let the wind take you to me today." 

There was a beat of silence, then Soonyoung said in a slightly strained voice, "O-Oh. You wanna hang?" 

"If we were washed laundry then sure." 

That was the worst joke ever, and even Wonwoo couldn't laugh at it, but he still waited. It took a second like it sometimes does for Soonyoung to get the joke; but sure enough, a hearty giggle reaches Wonwoo's ears a few seconds later. 

"Okay, okay, smartie pants, let's go out!" 

So they did. And Wonwoo, in all his scheming glory, managed to spend three straight hours breaking Soonyoung into tiny laughing pieces on the floor with the very best arsenal of puns that he could muster. 

"Up the stairs we go," Soonyoung said at one point, hopping up steps, and Wonwoo would grumble, "I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something," which made Soonyoung laugh so hard that he lost his balance and fell right back down the stairs. 

"My favourite movie was Dumbo as a kid," Soonyoung said when they looked at the posters by the cinema for the movies that were out back then. When Wonwoo said, "But we can't watch that in this cinema so that's pretty irrelephant," Soonyoung doubled over onto the ground. 

"Don't you ever want to just, I don't know...travel across the world one day?" Soonyoung asked at one point when they were sitting in a park, the sun setting in front of them and casting brilliant shades of orange over Soonyoung's platinum hair. And Wonwoo knew that Soonyoung was being all thoughtful and existential, which is honestly always a beautiful colour on him (and Wonwoo's not just saying that because of how nice Soonyoung looked bathed in the golden shades of the sunset), so he felt really bad when he ruined it with another pun. 

"I don't know, but if you buy a boat for the trip, make sure you get it on sail." 

Soonyoung jolted a little, clearly surprised by the words, and he stared at Wonwoo with wide eyes. Then he promptly burst into laughter loud enough to echo through the park. A few birds in the distance flew away because of it. 

"Wh-What are you doing to me, Jeon?!" Soonyoung guffawed, wiping away tears in his eyes as he fell against Wonwoo's side. "You've been killing me all day!" 

"I know," Wonwoo said smugly. "I just wanted to make sure of something." 

"Of what?" 

"Do you think I'm funny?" 

Soonyoung scrambled to sit up and leant forward. Wonwoo blinked, alarmed at how close Soonyoung suddenly was. "What are you talking about? You're the funniest. I love it." 

Wonwoo bit down on his growing smile. "Just for that, I'll consider travelling the world with you one day." 

The beam Soonyoung sent him in reply was even brighter than the sun spilling across the sky above them. 

If Soonyoung were to become Wonwoo's roommate, Wonwoo would try his best to make him laugh every single day.

That was pretty much as far as Wonwoo got with the list. There were a few other points, but they were boring things like 'we respect each other' and 'we're good friends' and 'I'm pretty sure he likes me enough'. But he was in his room one day looking over the list, chewing on his bottom lip as his fingers hovered over his laptop keyboard wondering what else he could add, when he suddenly heard the loud yell of a familiar voice. He paused. Jihoon must have brought Soonyoung over, or maybe Soonyoung just barged his own way in. 

The saying was 'better now than never', right? 

So Wonwoo snuck out of his room. He made a beeline for the living area, thinking of his list and muttering well-thought-out sentences of persuasion in his head. But he froze before he got there when he heard Jihoon say, "So you're moving out the dorms next year, right?" 

"Yep!" Soonyoung cheered, popping the 'p'. "I'm probably super behind, though. Haven't even got a place. Maybe I should just find a roommate who's already got everything set!" 

"You can room with me if you want, but what about Wonwoo?" Jihoon suggested, which was so unfair. Wonwoo felt his heartbeat spike. "He looks like he's pretty set on most things." 

"Aha, nah, I couldn't be roommates with Wonwoo," Soonyoung laughed, and, ah. There it was. Exactly what Wonwoo was so afraid of. Exactly why Wonwoo spent three months agonising over asking Soonyoung one simple question. "The guy's so...you know!" 

"I don't, but sure," Jihoon snorted, and that was that. They changed topics, and the only explanation Wonwoo would ever get for why Soonyoung doesn't want to live with him is because he's so 'you know'. You know. You know. 

Yeah. Wonwoo knew. He still knows. He's the type of person people like, but not the type they like. He's the type of person people can be friends with, but not best friends. He's the type of person people can hang out with, but not...live with. And it's not a big deal at all.

So Wonwoo went back to his room, promising himself to never think about any of this again, before he called up Mingyu. Even his childhood friend's excited squeals of "WE'RE GONNA BE THE BEST ROOMIES EVER!" wasn't enough to put him in a good mood for the rest of the week.

Even though Wonwoo promised himself that he wouldn't think about it, he still feels a pang of bitterness even now whenever he sees that Soonyoung spends more time at Wonwoo's apartment than his own. What's the point of not living with Wonwoo if they're going to be together all the time, anyway?

"Wonwoo, Wonwoo, my love," is the first thing Soonyoung tells him the day after he springs the party idea onto Wonwoo, having shown up at Wonwoo's apartment unannounced again. "I really do love you. You know that, right?" 

Wonwoo cocks an eyebrow at him. "Uhh, where is this coming from?"

"Just answer me!"

"I...yeah, I do know. What's up? Did you do something wrong?" Wonwoo questions, feeling a little concerned as he lets Soonyoung come inside. Soonyoung looks so cosy, wrapped up in an orange scarf and a massive puffy jacket as he breathes onto his pink-tipped hands. Wonwoo steps towards him and takes hold of them, rubbing Soonyoung's fingers gently. 

"No, but I feel like I did, because I just know that you're probably silently really stressing out about the whole party thing." 

Ah. Wonwoo can't help being a little touched that Soonyoung feels that way, which is just bizarre because that should be the bare minimum. "Well, you seemed pretty set on it." 

"I know and I'm definitely still going to be throwing it, but I spent last night working out logistics to ease your smart little mind that should only be focusing on things like curing cancer!" 

Wonwoo is one of those people who thinks the cure for cancer already exists (and it's money), but he feels so strangely endeared right now that he decides not to bring that up. "Seriously? What kind of logistics?" 

"Come, come, come," Soonyoung says, wiggling out of his jacket before he grabs Wonwoo's hand and pulls him over to the sofa. Soonyoung makes sure they're comfortable first before he starts talking, cuddling up a little bit to Wonwoo before changing his position about five times, and Wonwoo can't believe how fond he is of someone who's really reminding him of a wriggly worm right now. "Okay, so! First things first, I'll be throwing the party at me and Jihoon's apartment, not yours, so your place won't get trashed, I promise!" 

Wonwoo nods. "Thank you. Very considerate." 

"Second, second, I'm only inviting people you know." 

Oh. Wait, that one actually surprises Wonwoo a lot. "Seriously? Or, do you mean only people you know?" 

"No, only people you know! But if they bring people with them then I'm so sorry, and I can definitely kick them out if you want-" 

"No, no, Soonyoung, don't worry. I just...well, it's not going to be much of a party if it's just people I know, right? I don't know that many and you always make it sound like there's hundreds of people at the parties you go to." 

Soonyoung adamantly shakes his head. "No way! I'm pretty sure I know all the people you know and you can suggest some to me too if you want, and there's already like ten people on the guest list which is more than enough." 

"You've started making a guest list?" Wonwoo asks in amazement, and Soonyoung nods, all business. 

"Third, if I'm telling you about the party and you hear anything you don't like, tell me right away, okay? Pinky promise?" 

"I- well, yeah. Sure, promise," Wonwoo says, a little confused even as he links his pinky with Soonyoung's outstretched one. "Though...I trust you, you know? You know a lot more than I do about this kinda stuff." 

"But you need to enjoy it," Soonyoung insists. "That's my only goal. Not for anyone else to have fun, but for you to. I even searched up on the internet 'how to throw a party for an introvert' and the results weren't great, honestly, but one thing it said was that you have to make sure the introvert in question knows what's going into the planning and stuff." 

Wonwoo lets out a snort at being referred to as 'the introvert in question' especially by yet another introvert. "I'll enjoy whatever it is because you're the one throwing it, you dolt. But don't worry. I'll tell you if there's anything I absolutely hate." 

Soonyoung finally smiles for the first time since he's arrived, melting into Wonwoo's side like all his party-related anxiety has been alleviated. Wonwoo wraps an arm around his shoulders, telling him, "And hey, I'm proud that you didn't run here right after waking up again. In fact, it's like two pm now." 

"Oh, I just came back from work," Soonyoung says, sheepish. "My last job wasn't really working with my schedule anymore so I got a new one!" 

"That's nice," Wonwoo says, and he means it, because Soonyoung looks even more bright-eyed than usual today. Soonyoung grins up at him, and now that all the party talk is over, Wonwoo just lets himself relax into the comfort of his best friend, quietly happy that he’s here. He drops his head into Soonyoung’s shoulder almost like an instinct, closing his eyes when Soonyoung absently cards his fingers through Wonwoo’s hair and starts talking his ear off about shenanigans that him and Junhui got up to in class.

Soonyoung is a dance major, and Wonwoo is a computer science major. They probably should've never met for all of Wonwoo's aversion towards things like mixers and clubs, and that's why Wonwoo is wholly thankful towards Jihoon.

"If Soonyoung goes to your apartment so often, then how many times has he turned up when you're not there but Mingyu is?" Jihoon asks through the phone that's on speaker while Wonwoo does the dishes. Yeah, amazingly, Wonwoo and Jihoon call. It seems like the last thing either of them would do but sometimes after Jihoon finishes a track, he'll call up Wonwoo to talk about it, and they'll end up drifting away to other conversation topics.

"Oh, way too many times to count," Mingyu calls out from the other room, and that surprises Wonwoo a bit. He never even clocked that would even happen, and why don't either Soonyoung or Mingyu ever tell him about this? "He's really cute, though. He was super shy the first few times I opened the door, but now he sometimes comes in and we'll talk for hours. He even bought me a birthday present this year."

"He what?" Wonwoo asks with wide eyes. Even Wonwoo didn't do that, he just patted Mingyu's back then took him out for a fancy brunch. 

Mingyu peeks his head through the kitchen door and grins smugly, wiggling his fingers at Wonwoo who wants to gape when he sees the rose-gold ring on the guy's index finger. "That was from Soonyoung?" 

"Isn't it pretty? Apparently it's meant to be a love ring which is adorable. Do you think he was confessing to me?"

"Oh God. Please stop stealing my best friend."

Jihoon snickers in the background while Mingyu just sends Wonwoo a wink and disappears. Wonwoo's still a little floored. Mingyu and Soonyoung would be a devastating duo, all brightness and impossible charisma, and after two years, it's still weird to know that his two worlds are colliding. Mingyu, who Wonwoo knew back when he was a snotty-nosed kid who cried over crayons, now being a confident handsome enigma who might want to ask out a just-as-confident enigma like Soonyoung? Wonwoo doesn't know how he would begin to handle something like that.

"So," Jihoon says, sounding highly amused. "I see you called Soonyoung your best friend there."

Wonwoo drops the sponge in his hand. "Oh, darn. Sorry. I know you guys are probably best friends, I just call him that sometimes."

Jihoon lets out a snort. "You can have him, Jeon. You guys have that kind of vibe anyway and come on, he's throwing you a party."

A giddy feeling curls up inside Wonwoo when he hears that. "...yeah. Yeah, he is."

"It's honestly gross how warm your voice gets whenever someone brings that up."

Wonwoo knows that, because even he finds it pretty gross, but he can't help it. A party. Just for him. Planned by the person he likes probably the most in the world. It doesn't feel real.

"Where is Soonyoung?" Wonwoo asks a little absent-mindedly, really wanting to see the guy right now, and Jihoon says an almost pitying, "At work."

Oh well. Wonwoo knows he'll see Soonyoung tomorrow, or the next day, so it's fine.

Actually, that ends up being a lie. Wonwoo doesn't see Soonyoung for the whole week leading up to his party.

They text a little bit, where Soonyoung mostly whines to him about how busy he's been and how he's had no wake-up ideas recently (you don't need to have wake-up ideas to come over, Wonwoo tells him, and Soonyoung sends him kissy faces in return). They call one night because Wonwoo misses Soonyoung's voice which is the most embarrassing thing ever, and he can't believe they don't do this more often as Wonwoo feels himself relax at the sound of Soonyoung's sweet chatter.

"Gosh, I've missed your voice so much," Soonyoung groans over the phone, and Wonwoo starts feeling less embarrassed. "I'm always asking about you! I grill Jihoon and the others 24/7 to give me updates!"

"Are you preparing for something? Is that why you're so busy?"

"Oh, woah, I didn't tell you? Yeah, I'm helping the theatre department choreograph their new musical. Seokminnie's the main lead!"

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. At least Wonwoo can get rid of the niggling sense of insecurity in the back of his mind now.

"Come back soon," Wonwoo tells him, sort of genuinely, but Soonyoung still bursts into laughter.

"I haven't left! And I'm holding out for the fact that I'll see you tomorrow at your party, that'll definitely give me energy for a good week."

Wonwoo being able to give an eccentric being like Soonyoung energy sounds like the best thing. "Have you even had time to plan that with how busy you've been?"

"Don't you worry, everything's sorted, and I've had a lot of help from our friends. Everyone loves you, Wonwoo!"

Wonwoo shakes his head. "More like everyone loves you and wants to help you out. What time is the party, by the way?"

"Starts at seven, but-" Soonyoung suddenly lets out an ear-piercing gasp, and Wonwoo has to jerk away from the phone. "Shit, I forgot to tell you! At six, go to Minghao's place!"

Wonwoo seizes up a little. "Mi...Minghao?"

"Yeah! I'll text you his address, just wait a second!"

"Wait, why-"

But Wonwoo's cut off by the sound of the end call tone, because Soonyoung is an old man who still doesn't know that he can text and call someone at the same time. Seconds later, Minghao's address does indeed show up on Wonwoo's phone in a text. Wonwoo swallows.

When he shows up at the address the next day, nervous to all hell but sincerely trying not to show it, he really hopes that Minghao actually knows that he's going to be here.

Wonwoo likes Minghao. Let's get that out of the way first. He just...doesn't really know him.

He's tried. Really hard, actually, because Soonyoung talks about his dance major friends with all the fondness in the world, and if Wonwoo really does consider Soonyoung his best friend, then he wants to try to get along with Soonyoung's friends, too.

Wonwoo's gone on awkward coffee dates with a freshman called Chan simply because Soonyoung has sparkles in his eyes when he talks about the kid, and Wonwoo felt pleasantly surprised to find out that Chan really is as sweet as Soonyoung says he is. He's cat-sat for a guy called Junhui multiple times to get in his good books just because Soonyoung says that Junhui is one of the most talented and funny people ever. Wonwoo has never laughed harder than when Junhui eventually comes home and they both watch cat videos (while holding cats, so Wonwoo would like to call that catception) which Junhui dubs in the dorkiest voices.

Then, there's Minghao. Soonyoung talks about him all the time and from what Wonwoo can piece together, Minghao is a fashion icon, can breakdance better than anyone on earth, and he also nags Soonyoung a lot. The way Soonyoung complains about that last part is always full of love.

Sadly, Minghao seems to be on his own wavelength most of the time. Even Soonyoung doesn't ask him to hang out very often, saying things like, "Ah, Hao's probably meditating or something. I'll see him in class!"

But Wonwoo doesn't ever see Minghao in class because of how starkly different their majors are, and he gets too shy to find ways to get to know Minghao. They've met only a few times, when the four of them plan to hang out and Soonyoung decides to drag Wonwoo along with him. They get up to the strangest variety of things. Wonwoo once found himself hiding in bushes while Soonyoung peeked out, face scrunched up in concentration as he peered through binoculars, and Junhui kept asking him what he could see. That was a time before Chan was at their university, but Minghao was there.

"Okay. What the hell are we doing?" Wonwoo had asked one hour into this very suspicious activity, and Minghao chuckled from beside him. Minghao looked amazing, as always, silver hair styled in soft waves paired with a dark-fitting ensemble decorated in some chains that made him look like a fancy e-boy.

"Staking out another dance troupe. They have their dance practice inside the building Soonyoung's looking into."

"Oh," Wonwoo had said dumbly, because he hadn't even registered that they were in front of a building. "Wait. Are you guys a dance troupe?"

Minghao regarded him curiously with his very pretty eyes. Wonwoo doesn't even do eyeliner but he's always wanted to ask Minghao how he does his. "Yeah. You didn't know that? We're pretty much the best in the province."

Wonwoo's head spun. Of course. Of course someone as amazing and passionate as Soonyoung is part of the best dance troupe in the province. Why was Wonwoo even surprised?

"Why are you staking people out? Do you even need to do that?"

"No, but Soonyoung and Junhui like it. They start off going like 'let's watch these losers mess up their weak choreographies' then end up getting super excited over their moves and cheering for them through the bushes."

Almost right on cue, Wonwoo heard Soonyoung holler, "HOLY SHIIIIT, HYUNGWON, THAT WAS SO COOL!" and Minghao stood up to slap a hand over his mouth and pull him back down.

"Why are you here with them?" Wonwoo asked when Minghao returned to his side. "You don't seem as fired up about it as they are."

Minghao had shrugged, smiling. "The same reason you are. They're my friends. I go along with their stupidity and make sure it doesn't kill them."

Ever since then, Wonwoo has kind of desperately wanted to be Minghao's friend. He's never met someone who seems to have such a similar thought process to him, who seems to just get him the few times they've ever spoken. He wants to communicate, to find out how Minghao became friends with Soonyoung, and what his methods are when it comes to dealing with the guy because they might overlap with some of Wonwoo's.

But alas, it never really worked out, and here Wonwoo is feeling like he's overstaying his welcome when Minghao hasn't even opened the damn door yet. Actually, hold on, Wonwoo hasn't even knocked.

He inhales before knocking a lot harder than he's probably supposed to, making him wince. He waits awkwardly, and only a few seconds pass before Wonwoo thinks I should just leave, he's probably not even here when the door swings open.

Minghao greets him with a sweet smile. "Hi, Wonwoo."

The guy looks great. Wonwoo hasn't seen him in a good while, and now his hair is shorter, a chocolate brown colour, and he's wearing what looks like pyjamas made out of the smoothest-looking velvet. Wonwoo really wants to feel it and has to hold his hands behind his back to stop himself.

"Hey," Wonwoo says, relaxing a little bit at how warmly Minghao just greeted him. "Uh. Sorry, but do you know why I'm here?"

Minghao quirks an amused eyebrow at him. "So you blindly showed up to my apartment just because Soonyoung told you to?"

Wonwoo shrugs. Having blind faith in Soonyoung is kind of Wonwoo's thing.

"Well, as it stands, you're here to be my Ken doll," Minghao says, smile growing bigger as he grabs Wonwoo's wrist and tugs him inside. "It's my job to dress you up to the nines for your party."

Minghao has a lot of clothes.

Wonwoo just kind of stands there gaping while Minghao walks him through his gigantic closet, humming thoughtfully and running his hands along so many arrays of clothes. He keeps taking things and holding them up to Wonwoo's frame, pursing his lips before shaking his head and putting them back on their hangers. Wonwoo feels pretty touched at how much effort Minghao seems to want to put into this.

"Now, Soonyoung told me that his vision for you is 'sexy'," Minghao says as he holds up a diamond-studded choker to Wonwoo's neck. Wonwoo blanches a little bit.

"I'm not a very, uh, sexy person..."

Minghao scoffs. "Lies. You're hot, and if someone's hot then they can be sexy."

Wonwoo will never get over how straightforward Soonyoung and all his friends are.

"Soonyoung's always going on about your abs," Minghao says, and Wonwoo's face burns a little because why the hell is Soonyoung going around telling people that? "Ooh...would you mind a crop top?"

"I'm fine with anything, honestly. Not really picky."

"Really?" Minghao asks, eyebrows shooting up. "Geez, you should've said that earlier. There's so much I want to try on you."

It's both scary and quite endearing, the gleam Minghao gets in his eye as he whisks Wonwoo around the closet and gathers clothes and accessories by the dozen. He's like a little fashionable whirlwind and Wonwoo can't help but burst out laughing when Minghao practically tries to wrestle his clothes off him just to replace them with different ones.

"I'm sorry, I really am kinda just using you as a mannequin now," Minghao apologises over half an hour later when he's snapped shot after shot of Wonwoo wearing pretty much the entire closet, and Wonwoo refrains from saying a teasing, 'I can tell'. "But God, you look good in everything, have you modelled before?"

Minghao lets out the cutest giggle when Wonwoo pretends to pose for the camera like the models he sees in magazines (or like Mingyu in front of all his mirrors). All in all, this is shaping up to be a lot more fun than Wonwoo thought it would be.

Eventually, they end up settling on an outfit. A sleek lilac velvet crop top that stops at his midriff (Minghao had let out a loud whistle when he saw Wonwoo's abs and Wonwoo smacked him with a pillow), black skinny jeans which fade into purple, and lilac studded combat boots. Minghao's eyes sparkle when Wonwoo comes out of the bathroom after changing, then he instantly runs over to grab Wonwoo so he can do his makeup.

"I have this friend who's majoring in hair and makeup," Minghao tells him while he hunts through his makeup bag, and Wonwoo feels amazed because he had no clue that was something people could do. Maybe he chose too fast picking his own boring major. "She's gonna be so jealous when I tell her I got to do makeup on you."

"She doesn't know who I am, though?"

Minghao shakes his head. "Hasn't Soonyoung told you that you're kinda famous around the arts department? It's your own fault, you keep waiting for Soonyoung there."

Oh. That might explain why Wonwoo always felt eyes on him when he used to go to the arts department to catch Soonyoung for lunch, back when their schedules lined up better.

"Everyone misses you. They're all like, where's the handsome guy gone! We haven't had enough time to look at his pretty face! I tell them you're a STEM major and they don't believe me."

It's a little hard to focus on what Minghao's saying when Wonwoo's eyes are watering while Minghao lines them with a pencil, so he doesn't really get a chance to reply. But it helps that Minghao is gentle, saying a soft, "Are you okay?" and "Tell me if it hurts a lot," every other second.

"You're so much nicer than Soonyoung makes you out to be," Wonwoo can't help but say, and Minghao does that cute giggle of his again. It sounds like fairies. Straight-up fairies.

"He loves me, I just gotta keep him in check sometimes."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I think sometimes I'm a bit of an enabler for his, you know, Soonyoungness."

"Oh, you definitely are," Minghao snorts, sounding almost affectionate. This is the first time Wonwoo thinks that if Soonyoung talks so much about Minghao to him, then maybe he talks a lot about Wonwoo to other people, too. "But I let it slide 'cause you two are cute. Just don't let him get into too much trouble."

Minghao then tells Wonwoo to look at his face in the mirror, and Wonwoo blinks. Minghao hadn't done that much (which makes Wonwoo feel a little flattered), but at the same time, he'd done wonders. Wonwoo's sharp eyeliner makes him look even more feline than usual which is always a good thing, and purple eyeshadow is brushed over his eyelids, a metallic shade that gets darker the further away it goes from his eyeline.

"I never even knew purple was my colour," Wonwoo breathes, and Minghao laughs, "I'm pretty sure purple is everyone's colour, but it does suit you awesomely."

"You're awesome."

Minghao just pats Wonwoo's shoulder, looking proud of his work.

Wonwoo tries to put on his coat before he leaves, but Minghao quickly stops him and hands him a leather jacket of his own. It looks so cool, and expensive, and it takes Wonwoo forever to put on because he's scared of harming it somehow.

"Alright, let's go," Wonwoo says once they're at Minghao's front door. Minghao nods, smiling as he raises a hand in a wave.

"Hope you have fun."

"Thanks, I wi- hold on." Wonwoo turns around, frowning when he sees that Minghao's almost completely closed his door. With himself on the other side of it. "You're not coming?"

Minghao blinks. "Oh, I wasn't invited. Did you seriously think I was gonna come looking like this?" 

It takes a good while for Wonwoo to process that. "What? Wait, so Soonyoung literally asked you to dress me up for a party that you're not even invited to?"

Minghao just shrugs, leaning against his doorframe. "Soonyoung's been busy and distracted lately, so I don't blame him for not getting the nuances behind that. It's fine, honestly."

Wonwoo's head is spinning. "Wait, wait - are Junhui and Chan not invited either?"

"Not as far as I know."

Holy shit. So Soonyoung really has been taking this 'no inviting people Wonwoo doesn't know' thing seriously. That makes Wonwoo realise that Soonyoung must think that he doesn't know these guys that well. He kinda has been hanging out with Junhui and Chan during times when Soonyoung isn't even there, and Wonwoo just likes Minghao a whole lot. Maybe Soonyoung has no clue about all that.

"Please come," Wonwoo says, because it's not a hard decision to make. "And invite the others too. I think I want you guys there. And Soonyoung will be happy if you come."

Minghao's eyes widen. "Seriously? What, but- I need to get ready and that's gonna take-"

"Don't worry about it, you'll look great whatever you wear. Just call up Junhui and Chan and stop by later? If you want?"

Wonwoo can definitely tell that Minghao wants to judging by the way his face lights up, a grin spreading across it. "Wow. Thanks, Wonwoo, you're so cool. Yeah, we'll see you later - and happy birthday."

Wonwoo grins, deciding not to tell Minghao that it's not actually his birthday, and a warm feeling bubbles up inside him as he leaves and heads on over to his car. He can't wait to see Soonyoung's face when Minghao, Junhui, and Chan show up. Wonwoo bets he'll grin as bright as the sun, then he'll pull the three inside so they can dance the night away. Wonwoo won’t know how to join them no matter how much he’ll want to, but they’re his friends, so he’ll settle with being a weirdo watching them fondly from afar.

There was a time back when Wonwoo was seven when he asked for a best friend. He scraped some mud into a mound, adjusted his glasses, pressed his hands together, then closed his eyes. He didn't know who he was talking to, but he asked them for a friend just for him. A friend who would think he was funny, who would like him a lot, who would hold his hand just because. He didn't feel like he was asking for much.

He went twelve years without getting that friend. 

After a short drive, Wonwoo walks up to Soonyoung's apartment and sends Soonyoung a quick text saying that he's arrived. Instantly, he hears a loud yelp from inside, a familiar high-pitched voice yelling, "BIRTHDAY BOY'S HERE!"  

Disconcerting crashes are heard for the next minute before the door swings open, and Wonwoo's breath hitches. 

Soonyoung looks...wow. 

That's all Wonwoo can think. His mind's gone blank, at Soonyoung's fluffy-looking perfectly styled hair, the orange eye shadow, the sleek long black earring adorning one ear while sparkling orange studs fill his other piercings - oh God, when did he get an eyebrow piercing? - the slim-fitting tiger-striped shirt french-tucked into amazing leather jeans, the black boots with a pretty considerable heel. Wonwoo's mouth goes so dry and it really doesn't help that he thinks he's forgotten how to swallow. 

"Hot, hot, hot!" Soonyoung catcalls, seeming thoroughly impressed as he rakes his eyes up and down Wonwoo, and Wonwoo wishes he knew how to return the compliment. "I knew Minghao would do a great job. Now come in, cheri, your party awaits!" 

When he reaches out to take Wonwoo's hand and pull him inside, Wonwoo thinks that Kwon Soonyoung was always meant to be the friend he asked for. 

The only regret Wonwoo has is, he thinks he should have also asked for the friend to like him just as much as he likes them.

The party is perfect.

It's not too crowded, but Jihoon's there, and Mingyu, and Seungcheol and Joshua from Wonwoo's classes. The four of them are in a heated game of beer pong that they're reacting to like it's a football match, and Wonwoo snickers when he sees Mingyu's big frame crumple onto the floor because he misses a shot.

Bright and happy Seokmin (who Wonwoo only knows because he kind of always seems to be around) is giggling over something with sweet and tricky Jeonghan (who Wonwoo only knows for the exact same reason). They're in Soonyoung's bedroom which Wonwoo peeks his head into, and it's set up with an abundance of cushions and fairy lights and chill music playing from a small speaker in the corner. It's like a little reading nook, and Wonwoo thinks it's the cutest thing ever. Did Soonyoung set it up?

Wonwoo's jaw drops a little when he sees that there's also karaoke. Wonwoo loves karaoke. He used to go to a little coin karaoke in his neighbourhood by himself all the time before he discovered the wonders of going with friends, way before him and Soonyoung would tear up every karaoke place in town belting out love songs like there was no tomorrow.

Right now Seungkwan's jumping up and down on the impromptu stage made out of what looks like three low desks, throwing out beautiful adlibs left and right while Hansol bounces calmly on the spot and sings in monotone. Wonwoo knows those two because they're waiters at a cosy restaurant he frequents whenever Mingyu's not around to make him food, and they get along instantly with any of Wonwoo's friends that he brings with him. It wasn't long before they were dragged into Wonwoo's mess of a friendship group.

A table of food stretches along one side of the room, and it has all of Wonwoo's favourite things. Bowls of candy, plates of sweet and spicy chicken, mini hamburgers, cocktail sausages, delicious food galore. Wonwoo even swears he can see a bowl of pomegranate seeds by the salad platter.

"Here," a slightly nervous voice says from beside him, and Wonwoo turns to see Soonyoung holding out a cup, a worried smile on his face. "Do...do you like the party?"

Wonwoo opens his mouth to answer, but he pauses when he notices something. Something amazing.

The cup Soonyoung is holding out to him is patterned with little cat paw prints.

"I love you," Wonwoo says before he even realises he's saying anything, and out of all the embarrassing things he's ever done, this might be the worst. He doesn't think he cares, though, especially not when Soonyoung's eyes widen in surprise before he bursts into loud relieved laughter, rushing close to throw his arms around Wonwoo.

"I love you, too! I'm so happy you like it!"

"I do, it's- is this really what parties are usually like because maybe I've made a mistake not going to them?"

"Oh no, not really, 'cause I wanted to make this more to your tastes. The karaoke was my idea, obviously, but Seungkwan and Hansol were the ones who knew what food you like, and me and Joshua worked on my room! Isn't it cute?"

"It is but what is it for?"

"For like if you get tired or something, or just want to relax somewhere or chat with someone. Jihoon and I soundproofed our bedroom walls a while back so it won't be too loud. Oh, oh, also, I got Seungcheol to hack into your Spotify so you'll like all the music that'll play tonight!"

Wonwoo was always going to give Soonyoung his Spotify password someday (he read somewhere online that it’s how you truly show someone you love them) so he can't find it in him to feel mad about that. "What's the point of music if there's karaoke?"

Soonyoung looks stumped. "Uh...people won't always be on the karaoke, right?"

"Not if Seungkwan or Seokmin have anything to do with it."

Almost right on cue, Seokmin pokes his head out from Soonyoung's bedroom, eyes wide as he holds out an arm to the karaoke stage. "Seungkwan. Is that you?"

Seungkwan gasps and gets down on one knee, holding out his arm too. "Is that him? The one and only karaoke partner of my dreams?! No offence, Hansol, you try your best."

"None taken," Hansol says good-naturedly, stepping down to give Seokmin his mic. Wonwoo gives Soonyoung a look of 'I told you so' and Soonyoung seems sheepish, but the doorbell faintly rings before either of them can say anything. Soonyoung lights up.

"That might be the pizza! I'll go answer it, yeah?"

"Go for it," Wonwoo tells him, and Soonyoung races off with a spring in his step. Wonwoo looks over to the beer pong table and notices that Mingyu's disappeared, seemingly replaced by Hansol who gapes wide enough for a fist to fit into his mouth when Jihoon gets a shot in. Wonwoo considers joining them, but then he hears Soonyoung saying, "Wha- guys, gosh, not that I want you here but, you're not invited..."

"But we-"

"I'm really really really sorry but I want this party to be comfortable for Wonwoo and-"

"Hey, hey, Soonyoung, it's okay," Wonwoo says quickly, rushing over to rest a hand on a stressed-looking Soonyoung's shoulder. "I invited them."

Soonyoung's jaw goes slack, and Wonwoo smiles at the three people behind the door. They all look brilliant and bold, with Minghao in blue, Chan in green, and Jun in yellow. Since Soonyoung's in orange and Wonwoo's purple, Wonwoo thinks that all they need now is a red and indigo to complete a rainbow. He decides not to voice that out loud and instead rests a hand over Soonyoung’s on the door to open it wider. "Come in, guys."

"HELL YEAH, PARTY TIME!" Chan whoops, and they all give Wonwoo birthday wishes as they file inside. Soon it's just Soonyoung and Wonwoo left at the door as the apartment fills with cheers at the new arrivals.

Soonyoung slowly turns to look up at Wonwoo, keeping their hands linked even as they step away from the door. "You invited my friends."

"They're my friends too, don't hog them all to yourself," Wonwoo taunts, and Soonyoung gawks even more.

"Really?"

Soonyoung doesn't have to look so surprised like that. Wonwoo knows how to make friends. Most of the time. "Really. Now did I seriously see some pomegranates at the food table?"

Soonyoung brightens up, nodding before sending Wonwoo over to them, and Wonwoo looks around inconspicuously. Then he just takes the whole bowl. It's not like anyone else will want them, right?

He shares them with Hansol while they both cheer for Seungkwan, Seokmin, and the new addition of Soonyoung, who all quite literally ruin an IU song while still sounding amazing.

Wonwoo retreats to Soonyoung's bedroom soon after. Jeonghan and Mingyu are in there which is a strange combination, strewn over each other on Soonyoung's bed. Wonwoo feels fondness bloom in his chest when a sleepy-looking Jeonghan instantly beams at him and holds out his arms. "There's our birthday boy~"

"Hey," Wonwoo says with a smile, coming closer so Jeonghan can capture him in a warm embrace. "What are you guys doing?"

"Looking at your birthday gifts and trying to guess what they are," Mingyu says, pointing to the left, and Wonwoo blinks in surprise when he sees that Soonyoung's desk is covered in bags and wrapped boxes. There's even a little placard on top of the desk that says 'presents for wonwoo!' and...that touches Wonwoo quite a bit. He has an awkward kind of birthday that always falls during the holidays, meaning it's common for people to forget it, let alone remember to get him a present. It's got to the point where Wonwoo barely even ends up telling people when his birthday is - Soonyoung's the one who usually makes a big deal out of it.

"I'm pretty sure Seokmin got you like five different things. He was stressing for ages over what to get you, honestly, the poor kid was falling apart."

"I didn't get you anything 'cause I already cook for you every day," Mingyu sings mischievously, making Jeonghan laugh. Wonwoo just grins and shakes his head because he doesn't mind. Mingyu's cooking is the best, anyway, and Mingyu's one of the rare people who got him a gift during his actual birthday. "But a mystery that we can't figure out is who on earth is that tiger lily from? It's not even in a bag or anything?"

Wonwoo has to squint to look (because Minghao made him take off his glasses to put on his eye makeup and he forgot to put them back on), and there really is a lone tiger lily lying across the desk, in front of all the other presents. It's beautiful for sure, the petals full and colourful, and Wonwoo wonders.

"Mingyu-yah, fetch the note next to it," Jeonghan says as he ruffles Mingyu's hair, and Mingyu does as he's told like an obedient puppy. Wonwoo is still 99% sure that these two haven't met before tonight.

"Oh...what the heck? I can't read this at all," Mingyu says with a wrinkled nose when he returns with the note. "It's so messy that I can't even try to recognise the handwriting."

"Ah, dear, they probably wrote it in a rush," Jeonghan tuts as him and Wonwoo both peer at the note. It really is the messiest thing in the world, and the fact that it's scribbled in thick marker doesn't help. In fact, the only word any of them can make out is...'love'.

Jeonghan lets out a warble of excitement as Mingyu yelps, "Holy shit, is this an anonymous love note?!"

"I know the dirt on practically every single person at this party and I know nothing about someone having a crush on you," Jeonghan tells Wonwoo, staring at him with wide eyes. "And to be fair, tiger lilies aren't the most romantic of flowers."

"You know their meaning?"

"Yep, they're a symbol of wealth because they've always been expensive, and pride because of their bright colours. Positivity, too." Jeonghan brushes Wonwoo's hair out of his face gently, telling him, "You're definitely one of the most positive people I've met so maybe that's why they gave it to you."

Wonwoo flushes a little in the dim lighting. No-one's ever told him that before. "Really?"

Jeonghan nods. "I think it's amazing. You've always got a joke in you, you're curious, and you always seem very quietly happy about the smallest things. It's cute when you get loud, too."

"But come on, maybe the person just didn't know the meaning," Mingyu buts into the sweet moment, probably because he's jealous. Wonwoo feels a childlike urge to stick his tongue out at him. "Flowers, a note that isn't named? Seems pretty crushy to me."

"I-It's just one flower. And, it's probably named, we just can't read it. I bet it's just a simple note signed with love, you know, that's common," Wonwoo tries to reason, but his voice sounds small. It doesn't seem real, the concept that one of the people at this party could possibly like him. They're all so amazing and unique and sometimes Wonwoo even doubts that he's friends with most of them, so how could one of them want to...date him?

"Even though you're probably right, I'm still gonna ask around. Is it you?" Jeonghan asks Mingyu, and snickers when Mingyu makes the most grossed-out face he can muster. Wonwoo slaps his roommate's arm before settling onto the bed, comforted by the arm Jeonghan wraps around his shoulders.

"Don't ask people, Jeonghan, that'll make things awkward-"

A head peeks through the door, and Jeonghan immediately calls out, "Sunflower, do you have a crush on Wonwoo?"

"I don't think so?" Minghao replies, looking confused as he steps inside. Wonwoo watches Mingyu and Minghao stare at each other for a second.

"I don't know you," Mingyu eventually whispers, sounding horribly shocked, and Wonwoo rolls his eyes.

"Don't act like you know all my friends, you and Jeonghan literally just met today."

"And we're already besties so fuck you," Mingyu snaps, sticking his tongue out as he pulls Jeonghan into his side. Despite how tired he looks, Jeonghan seems very happy at all the attention he's getting.

More people keep filtering into the little soundproofed room every hour or so, filling what was meant to be a quiet space with loud tipsy laughter and incriminating stories. Wonwoo learns that Junhui's cats are all consisted of strays that Soonyoung and Junhui sometimes find in a little alley outside the dance studios, which just makes Wonwoo like the both of them a million times more. He also learns that Jeonghan and Soonyoung almost got married once on impulse. Married.

"His only reasoning was that I knew how to cook his favourite food and I was the first person to ever support him in all his tiger endeavours, and honestly, I just went 'fuck it, sure'," Jeonghan giggles at the memory, and Jihoon sighs, "I was the one who talked them out of it when they were already halfway to Vegas."

"Why did it have to be in Vegas?"

"Soonyoungie wanted it to be in Vegas! I've got a lot of trouble saying no to him."

"Wonwoo and Jeonghan coddle Soonyoung the most," Seungkwan tuts, and Wonwoo doesn't know why he's suddenly being brought into this conversation. "At least Wonwoo teases him too. Yoon Jeonghan just straight up spoils him!"

Then Mingyu and Minghao, who have become suspiciously fast friends, suddenly burst out laughing so hard over something that Minghao loses his balance and falls into the mound of people who have migrated to the middle of Soonyoung's bed. That makes the entire room fill with deafening shouts as the balance of twelve people trying to fit onto a queen-sized bed is disrupted.

"This is the actual best," Wonwoo says, grinning uncontrollably as he watches his friends fall off the bed one by one like screaming dominos. And Joshua must think he's cute because he pets Wonwoo's head in reply.

"Is THIS where you've all been?!" a voice suddenly screeches, and everyone turns around to see Soonyoung trying his best to shove the door open, but it doesn't really work since Seungkwan and Chan are lying in front of it. "I was scared that everyone had already left and I'd thrown Wonwoo a dead party!"

"We'd never leave Wonwoo's party early!" Chan yells in horror, and the warm feeling in Wonwoo's chest that's been there since he first arrived amplifies. Soonyoung then goes over to wrestle one of his pillows away from Jeonghan so he can start slapping people with it, making groans fill the air. 

"Everyone out, I want some alone time with my birthday boy! Go do karaoke and eat food like the drunk old uncles you are." 

That warm feeling from earlier becomes fire when Wonwoo hears Soonyoung call him his, and he sits there playing with his hands as the others run out, calling dibs on what songs they're going to sing. Jeonghan, probably tipsy from all the cocktails that Mingyu kept bringing him, tries to kiss Wonwoo's cheek before leaving but misses drastically and kisses Wonwoo's eye instead. Wonwoo grins at Jeonghan who beams back before yowling when Soonyoung starts beating him with the pillow again. 

Soon it's just Wonwoo left in the room, because Soonyoung leaves for a second too. But he hurries back inside with a plate of chicken and two beers, jumping onto the bed before he lays the refreshments down between him and Wonwoo. 

"Hi," Soonyoung says, a little breathlessly, and Wonwoo's face is hurting from how much he's smiling. 

"Hi." 

"I've missed you a lot." 

"Me too." 

"What were you guys doing in here?" 

"I don't even know but it was really fun. We mostly gossiped about you." 

Soonyoung gapes. "Whaaat? That's so mean!" 

"Did you seriously almost get married to Jeonghan?" 

Soonyoung turns pale, making Wonwoo snicker. "I...I was going through something, okay?" 

"Don't worry. I get it. I'm pretty sure I had a massive crush on him too when I first met him, for like a week," Wonwoo reassures Soonyoung as the guy moves to sit next to him, their sides pressing up together. "He's that kind of guy."  

"What else did you talk about?" Soonyoung asks, reaching out to take Wonwoo's hand in his so he can play with it. "I wish I was there. I think I genuinely knocked out for the last hour, ugh, I suck..."

As amazing as Soonyoung looks, he does look tired too. He's clearly trying to keep his eyes open which is suspicious in itself because now they're way wider than usual, and he seems to be melting into his bed like he never wants to leave. So Wonwoo tells him, "You should really sleep. We'll be fine without you." 

Soonyoung frowns. "Is this your way of telling me you don't want me here?" 

"Oops, was it that obvious?" 

Now Wonwoo's the one getting smacked by the pillow, and he raises a hand in surrender while he chokes on a laugh. It's a miracle that the chicken and beer stay on the bed.  

"I know, I know I'm tired but I still want to dance!" Soonyoung whines. "I wanna let loose and have fun and be able to see my Wonwoo without feeling exhausted!" 

"I'm not yours," Wonwoo tells him amusedly, even though it feels like a lie. Soonyoung argues, "You're mine if I say so! And I say so- what the hell, is that the whole bowl of pomegranate seeds?" 

"I might have kinda stolen them all away," Wonwoo says with zero shame, looking over at the bowl that only has two seeds left in it. He hands the bowl to Soonyoung who laughs but still eats what’s left. 

"Woah, these are good." 

"Right?" 

"You really do look hot, by the way," Soonyoung says, reaching up to play with Wonwoo's hair now. "Hot as fuck. I mean, you always do, but right now it's like zayumn, you know?" 

"...'zayumn'?" 

"Like damn, but like dayumn, but also with a z, you get me?" 

Wonwoo doesn't, but he indulges Soonyoung anyway. "You look very 'zayumn' too." 

Soonyoung gasps sharply. "How very scandalous of you, Jeon Wonwoo! Does your boyfriend know you flirt with other men like this?" 

Wonwoo knows Soonyoung's joking but for some reason, that flusters him a little. "I wasn't fli- you literally know I don't have a boyfriend." 

"Yeah but you could've got one in the past week while I've been busy! You're a total catch and without me beside you to put people off with my tiger predator vibes, I was sure you'd be snatched up in no time." 

"No tiger-predator-ing or snatching has ever or will ever go on," Wonwoo scoffs. "Besides, I've been busy too. Holing myself up in my room." 

"Because you were missing me?" Soonyoung teases, nudging Wonwoo's side suggestively, and before Wonwoo loses his wits and gives an honest answer to a joke, he grabs a piece of chicken and shoves it in Soonyoung's mouth to shut him up.

The rest of the party feels a little bit like a fever dream. But a wonderful one. 

Soonyoung and Wonwoo show their friends the real way to do karaoke, with Soonyoung spitting the rap like it's going to pay his bills and Wonwoo hitting a wailing high note at the very end that has the entire apartment erupting into cheers and catcalls. Then the karaoke machine, sadly too abused by all the wannabe singers in here, starts to splutter and its lights blink out so they have to give up on it. Maybe it's some kind of sign that Wonwoo and Soonyoung doing a duet is the last song this machine would ever play. 

Wonwoo holes up in a corner of the apartment with Jihoon and Junhui after that, watching Soonyoung and Minghao dance to one of Wonwoo's favourite songs from his Spotify. The two of them are breathtakingly sexy (Wonwoo's picked up the habit of calling people that from Mingyu and it's kind of changing his whole perspective on life), all telepathic coy smiles and effortless moves that flow like water. Wonwoo wonders that if he could dance better, maybe someone would smile at him like that. Maybe he could get close to someone like that.  

Those things probably aren't about whether he can dance good, though.  

Wonwoo manages to tear his eyes away from them soon enough to turn back to Jihoon and Junhui, and he barely stifles his laughter when he sees Junhui knocked out on Jihoon's shoulder with Jihoon giving Wonwoo a look that screams 'who the fuck even is this guy?'

It's not long before people start leaving, mostly because one beer too many has Seungkwan falling flat on his face so Hansol trips over him and stumbles right into Seokmin who collapses under the weight. Seungcheol bursts out laughing at them before instantly feeling concerned that the three of them might be hurt so he rushes over to help, only to trip over his own two feet and grab the nearest person to him who happens to be Jeonghan, and suddenly there are five men down. Apparently that's the kind of thing that marks the end of a party. 

"Happy birthday, you cool guy!" Chan cheers, hugging Wonwoo for the first time ever which, Wonwoo must admit, is rather nice. He leaves arm in arm with Seungkwan and Hansol, and then Seokmin gives Wonwoo a little kiss on the cheek before hopping away with a stumbling Jeonghan. Joshua and Seungcheol are sleeping on the sofa, looking quite cute and cosy, and Wonwoo hopes it's okay to just leave them there. 

"What the hell do I do with this guy?" Jihoon asks in slight disgust, still stuck in that same corner but now with Junhui's face in his lap. "I literally live here, I'm not about to leave to take him home."

"Oh, hold on, sorry about him," Minghao says, then he slips his hands under Junhui and somehow manages to wrestle him onto his back. Wonwoo can't help but feel impressed, even though Minghao kind of looks like he's dying. Jihoon holds out an arm and Wonwoo helps him up, patting the guy's back as Jihoon mumbles something that's a mix of a birthday wish and a statement that he's going to sleep.

"Wonwoo, hey," he hears, and he turns to see Minghao smiling at him warmly even while he struggles to keep Junhui up. "Thanks for inviting us. Seriously. And I'm around, you know, if you ever wanna hang out." 

Wow. After months of trying, it's suddenly this easy to find a way to be friends with Minghao? Life is crazy. "I'd like that. Here, let me help you with the big guy." 

After Minghao and Wonwoo bundle Junhui into Minghao's car and they drive off, Wonwoo goes back into Soonyoung's apartment. He feels surprised to see Mingyu still there, looking a little awkward as he wrings his hands behind his back. 

"Um, want a ride?" 

"Thanks, but I brought my car. And also, I...I think I'll stay," Wonwoo states, in a sudden spontaneous decision. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

Mingyu perks up. "Wha- you should've said that earlier! I've just standing here doing nothi- okay, I'm leaving. Is it weird if I ask you to give me that Jeonghan guy's number?" 

Ah, yet another victim of Jeonghan's wiles. "It's a bit weird." 

Mingyu pouts, but doesn't kick up much of a fuss before he gives Wonwoo a big bear hug and leaves with an even bigger wave. The instant Wonwoo closes the door behind him, the apartment fills with a deafening silence. 

"Soonyoung, where are you," Wonwoo sings under his breath as he tiptoes around dropped cups and spilled alcohol (he considers cleaning up before he gives up on the idea after about two seconds) before finally reaching Soonyoung's room. He opens the door, then seizes up a little when he's met with the sight of Soonyoung trying (and pretty much failing) to shimmy out of his leather trousers. But when Soonyoung looks up to see Wonwoo, he stops trying and instead throws his arms out. 

"Wonwoo! You didn't leave!" 

"I didn't," Wonwoo smiles, feeling wholly endeared when Soonyoung runs up to him and drags him over to his bed. "Wanted to make sure you were okay, and say thank you." 

Soonyoung beams at him, all sleepy and tipsy and soft, before he rolls into his blankets and Wonwoo has no choice but to follow him. "I'm so glad. I got so happy whenever I saw you having fun." 

"I did have a lot of fun," Wonwoo murmurs, a little muffled by Soonyoung suddenly hugging his head. "I didn't get to see you much, though." 

"Yeah..." Then Soonyoung suddenly gasps. "Wonwoo, Wonwoo. You should stay here. Right now. Sleep with me. Please?" 

"Huh? Why?" 

"Because then I won't have to miss you in the morning because you'll be right here! In my arms! Isn't that amazing?" 

Oh. Wonwoo had almost forgotten about that warm feeling that's been plaguing his chest all night, but now it comes back full force. 

"Okay," Wonwoo says, and Soonyoung looks so extremely shocked that it pulls a laugh out of Wonwoo. "What? You're the one who asked." 

"I know but- I didn't think you'd say yes! Man, I didn't plan this far ahead..." 

"You don't need to plan anything, dummy, just fall asleep," Wonwoo chuckles, and Soonyoung seems to agree with that sentiment because he immediately closes his eyes. And, for how tired he is, it isn't surprising that Soonyoung starts snoring in seconds. 

If we lived together, Wonwoo thinks as he wraps his arms around Soonyoung and closes his eyes too, you'd see me every morning. You wouldn't ever have to miss me.

But Soonyoung doesn't want that, and Wonwoo needs to start getting the fuck over it already.

Chapter Text

When morning comes, Wonwoo wakes up to a warm arm around his waist and a head of fuzzy hair resting on his chest. It makes him smile, but when he groggily blinks his eyes open, he doesn't get to see Soonyoung's sleeping face because the guy's managed to completely submerge himself under the covers. Wonwoo wonders how he can breathe like that, and when he ducks under too to join him, Soonyoung starts to stir. 

"Wonwoo?" Soonyoung asks confusedly, voice thick with sleep as he blinks one eye open to peek at Wonwoo. Wonwoo's morning vision without his glasses might be even fuzzier than usual but even he can tell when something about Soonyoung enigmatically brightens. Watching the tired but so sweet beam that spreads across Soonyoung's face has him feeling a little devastated. "Wonwoo."  

Wonwoo's throat feels a bit sore, probably from last night's karaoke, so he doesn't say anything. Just entwines his fingers with Soonyoung's that are lying between them. Soonyoung immediately nuzzles against their joined hands and Wonwoo doesn't think he'll ever be able to stop smiling. 

Not long later, they get up to bundle all the presents into Wonwoo's car. Because he feels bad, Wonwoo asks, "You seriously don't want me to help clean up?"

"No, no," Soonyoung assures him before letting out a loud yawn, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Don't worry about it. Just get on home, big guy."

Wonwoo hesitates for a second, but then he just goes for it and wraps Soonyoung up into a hug. Soonyoung makes a surprised noise but still immediately loops his arms around Wonwoo, squeezing. "What's this for?"

"Just...in case I don't see you for a while again."

When Wonwoo pulls away, Soonyoung pinches his cheeks. "You told me to come back soon, so I'll come back soon! Don't you worry!"

"Well, you better hurry, because there might be someone who wants to 'snatch me up' as you so eloquently put it last night."

Soonyoung blinks, narrowing his sleepy eyes like he's really trying hard to decode that sentence, and Wonwoo decides to just do it for him. "Someone got me a tiger lily last night and Jeonghan thinks whoever it was has a crush on me."

Soonyoung's eyebrows shoot up. "R-Really?"

Wonwoo nods. "The note that came with it was practically unreadable, seriously. I've never seen worse handwriting."

"Maybe they were in a hurry," Soonyoung defends, and Wonwoo replies, "Yeah, Jeonghan said that too. But we could at least make out the word 'love'."

Soonyoung's eyes are pretty wide now. "And...how...did that make you...feel?"

Wonwoo eyes Soonyoung strangely. What is he, a therapist? "I guess it was nice." 

"Just nice?" 

Wonwoo finds himself smiling. "Well, yeah, no, it's honestly a pretty cute gift, I just need to figure out a way to not let it die right away. I want to take care of a gift from someone who likes me enough to sign off a card to me with love."

"Ah," Soonyoung says, nodding. His tone sounds a little distant. "Um...everyone who came last night adores you, you know that, right? It could be from anyone."

'Adores'? That's a bit of a strong word. Wonwoo highly doubts that there's anyone out there who 'adores' him but the sentiment warms his chest all the same, and he squeezes Soonyoung's arm. "I'll see you later."

Soonyoung waves after him, and Wonwoo walks backwards for a little while so he can wave back before jolting when he almost trips over a rock. It's maybe a bit worth it when he sees Soonyoung giggling at him.

"I coulda died, Kwon!" Wonwoo yells before he finally turns around, and Soonyoung calls back, "Over a rock? Weak!"

Now Wonwoo's the one laughing, and he has a smile on his face when he gets into his car and drives home, surrounded by many wonderful presents from many wonderful people. He still can't believe any of them got him anything - maybe Soonyoung might be the tiniest bit right about this 'adoring' thing.

"Jeonghan got me a rock," is the first thing Wonwoo says to Seungcheol and Joshua when they meet in class that day, and Joshua promptly bursts into laughter while Seungcheol grins.

"Yep. That's our Jeonghan."

"He said in my card that I should give it a name. And, like, water it."

"Not water it, give it a bath! Treat it as your child, Wonwoo."

Why are all the seniors Wonwoo knows weirdos?

"Here's your real present from him, though," Joshua says, reaching into his bag to take out another rather big bag. "He just wanted to mess with you a little."

Wonwoo blinks in surprise, slowly taking the bag. He would've been fine with just the rock, honestly, and now he's feeling warm all over again. He carefully opens the bag up, then stares in surprise.

It's a little cat vase. Calico cats curl across the fine china, playing and stretching and sleeping, and they have little colourful flowers growing into their coats. It's downright adorable and Wonwoo can't stop looking at it.

"He got it a few weeks ago. I asked Jeonghan why he bought you this and he said he just had this sense that you'd need it from now on," Seungcheol shrugs, and Wonwoo is floored. Is Jeonghan really some kind of psychic? Or did he already know about the tiger lily, before it was given to Wonwoo?

"He works at this super cute flower shop so don't be too touched, he probably got it on discount."

"He does?"

"Mhm."

Wonwoo pauses to think. He thinks and thinks, to the point that his brain starts hurting, but there's only one conclusion he can take from this if he thinks about the tiger lily and maybe the way Jeonghan treated him last night. "Guys, does Jeonghan have a crush on me?"

Seungcheol and Joshua suddenly both groan in unison, garnering a few looks from the people in front of him, and Wonwoo furrows his eyebrows. He feels a little hurt, honestly, but then Joshua pats his shoulder.

"Sorry, Wonwoo, we just- we get that question a lot. It's like every person in a ten-mile radius seems to think that Jeonghan treats them specially but that's just the way he's like."

"Right. I just thought...it could be possible," Wonwoo mumbles, but he doesn't think he's upset. Jeonghan was just a viable contender for his secret flower admirer, and now he's not. They work much better as friends, anyway. "Then maybe no-one does."

"Dude," Joshua says, alarmed, and Seungcheol asks with wide eyes, "Hey, are you about to get all existential on us? I bet there's tons of people who have a crush on you, you're such a looker!"

That's not what Wonwoo meant, but he smiles all the same to let the other two know that he's fine, and they finally decide to listen to the lecture.

When it's over, the three of them leave the room together, chatting about gaming. Or that's more Seungcheol and Wonwoo, and Joshua keeps trying to get them to change the subject. But suddenly someone that Wonwoo's never met before comes to a stop in front of him, and holds out a pristine tiger lily.

"Someone wanted me to give this to you."

Wonwoo's eyes bug. Joshua and Seungcheol make twin 'oooooh' sounds from beside him, clutching each other.

"Who?" Wonwoo manages to ask even though his throat is suddenly very dry, but the person is already gone, casually going on with his day.

"Didn't we just say that there had to be people who have a crush on Wonwoo?" Joshua asks in wonder, and Seungcheol yells excitedly, "We're psychics! Or cupids! Or guardian angels!"

While the two of them shake each other about, Wonwoo just leaves. He heads straight home without stopping once. Mingyu's not there, so Wonwoo makes for his room and feels glad to see that the lily from yesterday is still pretty in tact. He fills up the cat vase with water about halfway, then he carefully places the two tiger lilies inside.

They look pretty on his windowsill like that.

Wonwoo, in a little bit of a daze, also spends a good ten minutes making an ugly makeshift crown for his rock out of orange paper ripped from a folder divider. He colours it a little with black pen, too, so it kind of looks like the pattern on the lily petals.

He places the little crown on his rock's head and thinks, tiger prince.

He names the rock Soonyoung #2.

When Minghao finds out about all this, he bursts out laughing. Which is probably an accurate reaction but Wonwoo still feels offended.

"It's a pretty rock," Wonwoo argues as Minghao doubles over the café table they're at. "I took pictures, do you wanna see?"

"I think you're going a little mad," is Minghao's giggled reply.

Wonwoo had managed to find out the location of the theatre where the musical rehearsals are taking place from Seokmin, and so was debating over whether he should start surprising Soonyoung by turning up, maybe for lunch. He was sort of hovering outside the arts department undecided when he ran into Minghao.

"I'm not going mad. I just..."

"You miss him," Minghao says, suddenly solemn. Wonwoo shuffles a little awkwardly in his seat. He doesn't care about admitting that sort of thing, but it's strange, and even stranger to tell Minghao who knows Soonyoung so well.

"Sure. But can we talk about how you look like you walked straight out of heaven or something?"

Wonwoo's not joking. Minghao has on a golden dress shirt tucked into white jeans, all cloaked in a long white open over-shirt that reaches his shins, and golden heels. Gold round-rimmed glasses rest on his nose and his hair looks fluffier than usual. Wonwoo wants to touch it. He needs to stop wanting to touch things.

Minghao snorts. "That's the worst pick-up line ever."

Wonwoo blinks. That wasn't meant to be a pick-up line at all, but maybe he'll run with it. "Only the best for those so impeccably dressed."

"Ugh, rhyme? You're so lame," Minghao groans, and Wonwoo grins smugly behind his coffee cup. "I can't believe I asked someone like you out."

Wonwoo uses artistic licence (because jokes are definitely a form of art) to assume that Minghao's messing around. "You didn't really ask me, you just said 'let's go' and I followed you."

"And who told you to follow me?"

"You're super gold and shiny today, Minghao, it was brainwashing me."

"Okay, magpie," Minghao scoffs, probably a cross reference to Wonwoo's very simple black and white attire today. But the two of them share smiling glances over the rim of their cups.

Wonwoo loves this. He's making a friend, and it doesn't even seem to be that hard. It took him ages to start talking to Seungcheol and Joshua and that only began because they had a project together in sophomore year, he put so much effort into getting to know Junhui and Chan, and the others all started talking to him first. He doesn't really ever go out with any of them alone. But Minghao is cool, and confident, and fashionable, and he still seems to want to hang out with Wonwoo.

"Soonyoung misses you, too. Really. You're all he talks about," Minghao says, and Wonwoo perks up a little.

"What...kind of things does he say?"

"He just associates you with everything. He's like, 'Wonwoo likes this colour'. And 'Wonwoo would ace this dance'."

"Was it a robot dance?" Wonwoo asks, and feels satisfied when Minghao nods.

"I kid you not, we were going out for dinner the other day and he was like 'Wonwoo usually eats dinner at this time'."

"I probably do," Wonwoo says solemnly, even as a giddy feeling rises up inside him. "Well, good. He deserves to miss me. At least Soonyoung the rock will room with me."

Minghao gives Wonwoo the most weirded out look, and Wonwoo realises that no-one but himself knows anything about the grudge he's harbouring over living arrangements. He quickly clears his throat, and starts saying, "I mean, nothing-"

"No, shut up, what were you saying?" Minghao asks, eyebrows knitted together. "Room with you...you want Soonyoung to room with you? First off, why, second off, why, and third - just ask him?"

"I can't. Can we change the subject?" Wonwoo pleads a little bit, wiggling his phone in the air. "I still haven't shown you the photos of Soonyoung the rock and I bet you wanna see them~"

"To be entirely frank, Wonwoo, I do not care about your rock," Minghao says, and his deadpan delivery has Wonwoo stifling a shocked burst of laughter. "What's going on? Did you already ask? Did Soonyoung really say no or something? I can go slap some sense into him."

Wonwoo bites his lip, and slowly sets his cup down. Minghao's expression turns from protective to concerned, head tilting to the side in question, and Wonwoo wonders why he even cares. And he wonders why he wants to tell Minghao everything, even though saying it all out loud will make him feel like the most pathetic person ever.

But then Minghao nudges his foot under the table. "Okay. You don't need to tell me anything, but I'm going to buy you some cake. Do you like cake?"

"I- huh? Yeah, but-" 

Wonwoo doesn't get to finish a coherent sentence before Minghao swiftly gets up and goes to the counter of the café. All Wonwoo can do is blink into space for a little while, thoroughly confused.

But Minghao doesn't come back after that. Instead a waiter brings him the cake, a delightful butter sponge filled with pomegranate seeds, and on the side of his plate is one single beautiful tiger lily. Wonwoo is so amazed that he forgets to thank the waiter, and he looks all around the café, but there's no sign of either Minghao or any conspicuous-looking person who could've given him the lily. 

Wonwoo's phone then lights up with a text, and he stares at it in wonder. It's from Minghao, and he never even knew Minghao had his number. Maybe he took it from the massive group chat that Soonyoung shoehorned Wonwoo into a year ago. 

sorry wonwoo, jun said he had an emergency with superglue so I had to run out! please enjoy your cake though and I'll see you later

Hm. That sounds suspiciously like a fake cop-out, but Wonwoo also thinks it's very possible that Junhui could get into a predicament with superglue.

He wonders if he'll ever figure out any of this mystery.

Wonwoo musters up the courage, and he does go visit Soonyoung at the theatre during lunch.

When he steps inside, it's like a burst of colour and vibrancy hits him like a brick. The place is filled with people left and right, some painting a brilliantly bright set on the stage (of what looks like Rainbow Road from Mario Kart?), some warming up beautiful vocals, and Seokmin is standing at the center of the stage, eyes wide and alert as he nods sincerely at everything the director seems to be telling him. 

Then off the stage, with the seats pushed back to make room for them, is a whole array of people. They're all moving like a well-oiled machine, dancing to booming music (Wonwoo has no idea where it's coming from) in what seems like synchronised perfection. And crouching down to the side watching them is none other than Kwon Soonyoung.

But it's strange. This Soonyoung isn't like the one Wonwoo usually knows. His eyes are sharp, and Wonwoo hates to say this but they really do seem tiger-like as he assesses the dancers and flits his gaze over each and every one of them. He looks so deathly serious, and it sends a little bit of a chill through Wonwoo.

Maybe it was a bad idea to come here. He's just going to be an unwanted distraction, isn't he?

He's about to turn on his heel and walk straight out, but then a voice calls out, "Wonwoo? Woah, it is you!"

Wonwoo smiles weakly when Seokmin runs up to him from the stage, a big beam on his face. "You really came!"

"How's it going?" Wonwoo asks. He gets a semblance of an answer by the way Seokmin hugs his arm and slumps against him, sighing.

"I'm exhausted, but it's so fun, really. And Soonyoung is amazing. He's so on it, and it's a bit scary, I'm kinda glad I'm not in the number that he's choreographing right now."

"Again!" Soonyoung's voice then rings through the room, heavy and strict. Wonwoo and Seokmin wince in unison.

"Does...does he usually take a lunch break?" Wonwoo asks, though he thinks he already knows the answer. Seokmin's smile turns a bit pitying as he shakes his head.

"Not really. While others go for lunch, he'll usually eat bits and pieces throughout his breaks and stay behind to work through more of the choreography or help anyone who's struggling. He's incredible."

That does sound like Soonyoung. "Doesn't he have classes to go to?"

"Oh, the dance majors are just as much a part of this as the theatre majors, so some of their classes are taken up in this musical. Minghao, Junhui, and Chan are involved, too! Not as much as Soonyoung, though."

Wonwoo wonders why Soonyoung does this. Why he pushes himself so hard. How he can have so much passion for something like dance to be able to do this much of it without crumbling under the weight of it all.

"Does he have a part in the play?"

Seokmin grins, nodding excitedly. "Mhm. But it's a secret! He told me to specifically not tell you. Oh, wait..."

Seokmin is very cute when his eyes grow wide and he slaps a hand over his mouth, but that can't take Wonwoo's mind off the fact that Soonyoung doesn't want him to know something like that? What the hell? Every time that Wonwoo feels like they take a step forward in their friendship, something like this will happen that'll take them two steps back.

Wonwoo finds his eyes wandering over to Soonyoung then, hurt probably blatantly showing on his face but he can't help it. Yet he seizes up when sharp eyes meet his, and suddenly they widen a little. They soften, too, and maybe that eases Wonwoo's heart a bit.

Soonyoung slowly stands up, keeping eye contact with Wonwoo the entire time, but then a conflicted look crosses over his face as he looks at the dancers then back at Wonwoo. He chews at his bottom lip for a moment before he sighs, shaking his head, and he blows Wonwoo a kiss before going right back to observing the choreography.

"Right. He's busy," Wonwoo mutters, dejected. But Seokmin makes a big show of 'catching' Soonyoung's kiss and slapping it against Wonwoo's cheek.

"But he loves you enough to give you a kiss!"

Honestly. This must be what people mean when they say theatre kids are their own kind of breed, and Wonwoo is definitely relating that to both Seokmin and Soonyoung.

He squeezes Seokmin's arm in goodbye, wishing him luck for rehearsals, and he starts to go on his way. He's almost out the door when his phone starts ringing and he pauses, fishing it out of his pocket. Then he just stares at the Caller ID for a little while. Is he imagining things? Does the rock Jeonghan gave him have some kind of hallucinogenic effect?

"PICK UP THE PHONE, JEON!" Wonwoo hears being yelled across the auditorium, and that startles him into swiping left. Slowly, he brings the phone up to his ear, and turns around at the same time. There Soonyoung is, still watching the dancers but his phone is up to his ear, too, a bright smile on his face.

"He...llo?" Wonwoo begins, unsure, and Soonyoung's smile gets bigger.

"Hey. I wanted to say hi, but I didn't want to leave these guys because I'm really serious about practice, but then I felt stupid because- Eunwoo, wrong leg! - you're literally right here so I have to say hi somehow!"

"Okay," Wonwoo says, feeling a little dizzy when he sees Soonyoung laugh to himself. Wonwoo feels like he hasn't heard Soonyoung's laugh in forever. "I came here to see if you wanted to, uh, lunch. But Seokmin said that's probably not possible. Which is fine."

"Damn, really? Aww, look at my Wonwoo being all clingy," Soonyoung teases as he corrects a dancer's position, and Wonwoo feels a short burst of something fiery hot go through him. It's from an amalgamation of things such as, yeah, so what if Wonwoo's feeling clingy? It's Soonyoung's own damn fault for being so touchy all these years. And why does that dancer get to have Soonyoung touch them and not Wonwoo?

"Is it really a crime if I wanna eat lunch with my best friend?"

"Nope, but I can still think it's the cutest thing ever," Soonyoung tells him dotingly, and the fierce feeling disappears as quickly as it came. Now Wonwoo feels calm, and he stands there just listening to all the sounds in this bustling theatre for a moment. Then a giggle reaches his ears.

"Heh, you called me your best friend."

Wonwoo freezes. The newfound calm inside him whips up into a frenzy in seconds.

"Oh," he mumbles, sounding a lot more choked up than he'd like to. "S-Sorry."

Wonwoo watches Soonyoung's expression turn from gleeful to confused in an instant. "Huh? Why? You've just never done that before."

"But I don't- you- we're not, right?"

"Not what?"

"I mean-" Now Wonwoo's floundering, and he doesn't know how to stop. He wishes for an asteroid, a stray baseball, anything that'll cease this oncoming train wreck. "I think you're my best friend. No, I know you are. But I- I know I'm, uh, probably not yours? It's not a big deal."

Wonwoo feels a weight settle heavy in his chest when Soonyoung locks eyes with him then, from the other end of the theatre. Dancers completely forgotten. If Wonwoo was a cheesier person, he would say that it feels like they're the only two people in the room.

"Jeon Wonwoo. Shut up."

"Okay. Sorry."

"No, don't- just shut up! What the hell are you talking about? You've been my best friend for so long, don't you know that?"

Oh. This is a new turn of events for what Wonwoo's brain (and heart) had been so sure of.

"Right," Wonwoo breathes, and Soonyoung's eyebrows are furrowed so deeply as they both keep staring at each other. "Yeah. Cool. I'll...I'll see you later."

"You will," Soonyoung tells him earnestly, and it sounds like a promise. So Wonwoo hangs up, and he breaks the eye contact because he kind of feels like he needs to go straight home and sleep for a little while. He doesn't know how long it's gonna take him to recover from knowing that brilliant, bold, talented Kwon Soonyoung thinks of him as his best friend, so lunch can definitely wait.

Oh God. He legitimately feels lightheaded. This isn't good.

But before he can leave, he hears the thud of footsteps thunder across the floor, getting louder and louder. Then hands grab Wonwoo's shoulders and whirl him back around, before a warm familiar body envelops him in the tightest of hugs.

"You idiot, you smart little big idiot," Soonyoung tells him, voice hushed but almost angry, filled with fire. Wonwoo still can't help but melt against him a little. "You've really gone how long thinking you're not my best friend? Or even one of them? Do you know how offended I am right now, Jeon Wonwoo?"

"Sorry," Wonwoo murmurs, because that feels like the only thing he knows how to say. "I'll do a robot dance for you. To make up for it."

"You'll do a million robot dances for me," Soonyoung grumbles, but his arms tighten around Wonwoo. "Thank God we settled this. I've marked my territory so now no-one can steal you to be their best friend. I'm coming for you, Yoon Jeonghan!"

"Why him?" Wonwoo laughs, pulling away to see Soonyoung frowning.

"'Cause you guys were cute at the party. Well, actually, you were cute with everyone. I was both very happy and very jealous about it, it was exhausting."

"Get back to dancing, you moron," Wonwoo tells him fondly, flicking Soonyoung's forehead. Soonyoung's eyes grow wide like he's just remembered that he's in the middle of practice, and he gives Wonwoo another quick cuddle before sprinting off with a sprite wave. Wonwoo grins after him.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets, ready to leave for the millionth time. But then he gets an ingenious idea.

"SOONYOUNG!" Wonwoo yells, raising his hands to his mouth to create a makeshift megaphone. Soonyoung blinks at him in amazement, and so do quite a few of the other people in the theatre.

"WHAT?!" Soonyoung yells back, and Wonwoo takes in a deep breath.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME BEING CUTE WITH OTHER PEOPLE, BECAUSE WE'LL ALWAYS BE A MILLION TIMES CUTER!"

The most smug grin ever spreads across his face when he sees Soonyoung turn bright red, eyes blowing wide. Wonwoo walks out to the sound of everyone in the room whispering about him, and he feels like some sort of bootleg legend.

He thinks it might be a good idea to start owning how embarrassing he is.

Days pass by, and as the amount of time that Wonwoo gets to see Soonyoung decreases, his tiger lily collection grows. The methods in which he receives them start getting more and more creative, from sailing towards him perched on a big paper aeroplane to showing up between the pages of one of his textbooks.

"Minghao, Minghao," Wonwoo begins one crisp Thursday morning, tiger lily clutched tight in his hand, and the guy turns around from where he's waiting in line at the café. Minghao frowns at him.

"How did you find me?"

"Saw you through the window, anyway, Minghao, one of the dance majors literally just danced towards me then ended up on one knee holding up this tiger lily towards me."

Minghao bristles. "Who the fuck?"

"That's what I want to ask you!"

"Hold on, there's a note this time," Minghao says, pointing, and Wonwoo looks to see that Minghao's right. Attached to a small fine string around the flower's stem is a tiny note gilded with gold, so he opens it up. Minghao peeks over his shoulder to read it, too.

'Where is he? I'll find him
Where is he? I miss him so much
I don't think I can stand it anymore'

"These," Wonwoo says, staring, "are literally Twice lyrics in Jeonghan's handwriting."

Minghao bursts into giggles, and by the time they get to the counter, Minghao's laughing so hard that it takes a good while for him to get his order out. The barista looks more enamoured with him than annoyed, though, which is relatable.

"Alright, didn't you say you already ruled Jeonghan out?" Minghao asks when they walk out after getting Minghao's coffee. The barista drew a heart on it which Minghao called cliché. "And he works at the nearest flower shop, right? I think he was just told to write the note by the person who's sending you these."

That makes a whole lot of sense, actually. "Huh. If it really does end up being Jeonghan, I feel bad about how many excuses we're making for it not being him."

Minghao grins. "He can handle it. Men fall at his feet all the time."

They don't talk for a little while, their steps taking them somewhere that Wonwoo doesn't even know, and he feels a little disheartened when he sees Minghao take out his phone. He racks his brain for potential conversation topics, really not wanting to bore his new friend; but his thoughts get interrupted by What is Love? by Twice starting to play, the very song that his secret admirer quoted. It runs all too sweet and saccharine through the air. 

Wonwoo whips his head around to see Minghao giving him the most evil grin.

"I wanna know know know know," Minghao sings, only to run away snickering when Wonwoo tries to grab his phone.

This time of year calls for many impromptu rain showers, and Wonwoo finds himself caught in one on his way back home one day. 

He grimaces, wishing to all hell that this could've been one of the rare days where he took his car. But luck isn't usually on his side, so he decides to take things into his own hands and duck into the nearest store to outlive the rain. Hopefully the clerk will let him stay.

A bell tinkles when he opens the door and he shakes his head, nose wrinkling at the raindrops that trickle down his sweater. Then he looks around, and feels pleasantly surprised by the fact that he seems to have stumbled into the sweetest little flower shop. Colourful potted plants line shelves that almost curl over the dark green walls that are painted with leaves and vines, and to the left are things like gardening tools, vases, plant-themed merchandise. Then in the middle of the place is an array of single flowers and succulents in little wooden pockets. Like a pick-'n-mix, but with plants instead of sweets.

Wonwoo snaps out of his childlike wonder when a bright familiar voice calls out, "Welcome! Ah, it's really pouring out there, huh?"

Wonwoo turns, and his jaw drops a little. There Soonyoung is behind the counter and he's unmistakable, a big personable smile on his face with a dark green apron covering a tiger-striped shirt. But when they meet eyes, that smile falls to make way for a shocked gape. "Wonwoo?"

There are probably a few things Wonwoo could do right now, normal things to do when running into your best friend that you've been missing. But instead, what he actually does is run right behind the counter and wrap his arms around Soonyoung so he can drench him in all the moisture clinging to his clothes.

"Wha- HEY!" Soonyoung squawks, slapping at Wonwoo's shoulders as Wonwoo lifts the guy off his feet. "WONWOO! YOU'RE GETTING ME WET!"

"That's the whole point, dummy," Wonwoo chuckles, shaking his dripping hair into the crook of Soonyoung's neck. He grins when Soonyoung's laughter mixes with his own, and arms loop around Wonwoo's shoulders.

"I hate you, I'm working," Soonyoung groans when Wonwoo sets him back down, reluctant to pull away. "What am I gonna do if the boss sees me like this?"

"You're barely wet, don't be a drama queen," Wonwoo snorts, looking down at himself pointedly, and Soonyoung's eyes widen in concern.

"Oh, shit, right - you're soaked! Come on, take off your sweater, I can dry it."

Soonyoung helps Wonwoo pull his sweater off, wolf-whistling when Wonwoo's shirt almost comes off with it which makes Wonwoo slap at him, then he disappears into the back for a moment. So Wonwoo goes back to the pick-'n-mix flowers, and runs his fingers over a few of them. There are tulips, roses, carnations, orchids...but Wonwoo's hand pauses when he comes across a familiar bold-coloured plant. 

Tiger lilies.

"Hey, Soonyoung," Wonwoo calls out when Soonyoung returns, still looking at the lilies. "So this is your new job?"

"Yep! Jeonghan helped me get it," Soonyoung says brightly, stepping out from behind the counter to go join Wonwoo. "It's honestly the best. My nose tickles a little sometimes from all the pollen, but this place is beautiful and everyone who works here is really nice."

"So, do you know the meanings of all these flowers and stuff?" Wonwoo asks as Soonyoung picks up a red aster and reaches up to tuck it behind Wonwoo's ear. Soonyoung snorts, shaking his head.

"No way, I wish! Jeonghan's the one to go to if you want something to do with that."

"What's the point of you, then?"

Soonyoung snickers. "Oi, I'm a diligent worker."

The bell rings then, making them both jump, and Soonyoung gives Wonwoo an apologetic look. Wonwoo doesn't mind, though, because it seems like the rain's stopped and he needs to get home anyway. He shouldn't be disturbing Soonyoung during work.

He points at the flower behind his ear. "Do I need to pay for this?"

Soonyoung shakes his head, smiling. "Nope. A free pretty flower for my pretty Wonwoo."

Oh. Okay.

Wonwoo goes home in a little bit of a trance. It doesn't help that the clouds have now opened up and the sunlight keeps blinding him. But when he gets to his apartment, the first thing he does is look up what red asters mean. He knows the mythology behind the flower, but maybe that won't match up with the modern definition.

And it really doesn't. In fact, his heart beats a little fast when he reads what the internet says.

Undying devotion.

Not that Soonyoung even knew that was what it meant. And it's not like Wonwoo believes in fate.

Nevertheless, he tucks the aster by Soonyoung #2, then gets ready for a nice warm shower. He doesn't remember until weeks later that Soonyoung still has his sweater.

Jeonghan's invited Wonwoo over for what he's dubbed 'relaxing from taxing', and Wonwoo has no clue what that means. But he feels pleasantly surprised to find Minghao, Jun, and Chan also there when he shows up.

"What's this about?" Wonwoo asks, taking a seat next to Minghao who smiles serenely at him, raising a glass of something red to his arrival. Jeonghan's apartment in general is a very serene place. There's a colour scheme of warm reds and pinks, quite a bit of furniture and sofas but not enough to feel cluttered, and there are loads of photos all around. Wonwoo feels a little shy when he sees a new addition on the fridge, of him and Soonyoung grinning at each other while singing karaoke at his party all those weeks ago. Jeonghan really loves all of them too much.

"Didn't you understand from the title?" Jeonghan asks, coming from the kitchen with more wine and also soda. "This is a time for all of you to relax from your taxing busybody events. Minghao, Junhui, and Chan have been working hard on the musical and deserve a nice break. I invited Soonyoung and Seokmin too but they sadly didn't have the time."

"So...why am I here?" Wonwoo asks, and no-one answers for a moment. Until Chan points at him and says, "Because you're cool," then looks at Jeonghan for affirmation, but the latter gives a playfully disapproving shake of his head.

"No, Wonwoo's here because he has also been having a taxing time while missing Soonyoung. Minghao's been telling me all about it."

"He bewitched it out of me. I'm not kidding," Minghao insists when Wonwoo gives him a look.

"So, aster, relax and drink up," Jeonghan says, taking a seat and holding out both wine and soda towards Wonwoo. He appreciates the choice, really, but he furrows his eyebrows at what Jeonghan just said.

"What did you call me?"

Jeonghan's smile is innocent. "Aster! I like giving my friends flowers. Like Minghao is a sunflower, Jun is a buttercup, Chan is a sugarbush - it took me ages to think one for you but I think aster is a good fit."

This is so strange. Does Jeonghan know what happened the other day, at the flower shop? Did Soonyoung tell him? "...why?"

"Well, aster is Greek for star. I think you have a quiet shine about you, Wonwoo, constant and positive. As for other reasons, that's for me to keep to myself," Jeonghan grins, tapping his nose, and Minghao tells Wonwoo with a roll of his eyes, "He always does that."

"Can...can I tell you something?" Wonwoo says after a small beat of silence, and suddenly all eyes are on him. It's a little bit daunting, but he pushes on. "Um. Astraea. She's the Greek goddess of justice, and innocence. People call her 'maiden of the stars'. There's a myth that she was so upset by how there were barely any stars in the sky, so she cried. When her tears hit the ground, they turned into star-shaped flowers. They were named after her. Asters."

"Woah," Junhui gasps, looking mind-blown, and Minghao says in wonder, "That's amazing. It's like she was so sad about it that she ended up making some stars herself."

"But her stars are on the ground," Wonwoo says. "So that mere mortals like us can live with them, and touch them."

"And give them as gifts," Jeonghan murmurs, a soft smile on his face. "Thank you, Wonwoo. I'm always happy to hear a new fact about flowers."

The five of them spend the rest of the afternoon together, getting tipsy and giggly as they play terrible games of charades and watch bad movies just so they can bully whoever made all the plot holes. It isn't until it's dark outside that Junhui, Chan, and Minghao all get a text, and they look at each other like confused meerkats.

"Oh no," Junhui says from where he's checking his phone while hanging upside down from the back of the sofa. "It's Soonyoung. We have an evening rehearsal!"

"Since when?!" Minghao squawks, but he still jumps into action, and you could barely tell that the three of them have any alcohol in their system when Chan grabs the others' arms and they all leg it out of Jeonghan's apartment. Wonwoo, who is hiccupping a little bit, decides this might be a good time for him to leave, too.

"Call me sometimes, Wonwoo," Jeonghan tells him with a bit of a pout when they stand at Jeonghan's front door. "We don't talk enough. All of the guys have been saying that, actually. We like you so much but you keep hiding away from us!"

Wonwoo blinks. 'The guys', huh... "I'm part of the guys?"

Jeonghan stares at him like he's mad, which is actually extremely validating. "Please tell me you didn't just say that."

"I didn't just say that," Wonwoo says obediently. Jeonghan smiles, radiant as ever as he pets Wonwoo's head.

"Good boy. Go home and get some rest, okay?"

So Wonwoo does just that. Mingyu greets him with a big smile, which is always nice, but it's less nice when he bursts out laughing because Wonwoo trips right over the threshold and lands flat on his face. At least Wonwoo gets to kick him for payback after he gets back up.

It's three hours later after Wonwoo's practically all sobered up and is leafing through his Python Programming textbook with a nice mug of tea in his hands, when he hears a small rap on the door. 

"Something cool was in our mailbox for you!"

Wonwoo furrows his eyebrows, and goes to open the door. There Mingyu is, a goofy grin on his face as he holds a gorgeous tiger lily in his hand. Mingyu wiggles his eyebrows at Wonwoo. "What is this, the fiftieth one?"

"Forty-third," Wonwoo corrects, not that he's counting or anything. "Damn, they keep dying but it doesn't even matter because I keep getting more."

"They really haven't missed a day, huh?"

They haven't, which is crazy. How long are they planning to keep this up? Wonwoo has no idea, so he just takes the tiger lily and closes the door in Mingyu's face when the guy starts making kissy faces at him.

He's already sitting down again when he notices that this one has a little note attached, all golden again. They usually don't. The last one that did was the Twice lyrics a couple weeks ago. But this one, oh God, this one hits Wonwoo right where it hurts.

'My star.'

Wonwoo's ears are red for the rest of the evening.

Wonwoo calls for an intervention the next day because he can't take this any longer. And he's prepared.

"Alright, thank you everyone for coming and thank you, Minghao, for rounding up everyone who didn't come," Wonwoo says as he walks into the living room with a big whiteboard tucked under his arm, where all twelve of his friends are trying to cram onto one tiny sofa.

Minghao gives him a thumbs up, while Seungkwan whines, "I'm sorry, I just didn't see the text!"

Wonwoo ignores him because there are more pressing matters at hand. "Everyone. I'm sure you all don't know why you're here."

"It's totally about the tiger lily thing," Mingyu says casually, and Jeonghan agrees, "Totally."

"So maybe some of you know why you're here," Wonwoo says, exasperated. "But this is getting out of hand. I've been receiving a tiger lily every single day for months, and the person who's giving them definitely knows where I live and roughly how my schedule works, so that means it has to be one of you. So can we settle this already?"

"But don't you...like the tiger lilies?" Soonyoung asks from where he's squished between Chan and Mingyu, his voice small, and Wonwoo hesitates. Soonyoung wasn't meant to turn up to this. It would've been totally understandable if he was busy, and Wonwoo didn't want to disturb him, so he didn't text him about the intervention. But Minghao took 'everyone who's not here' literally, and dragged Soonyoung over too.

"I do. They're beautiful. But Jeonghan's vase really isn't enough to hold them all."

"He's using my vase, guys," Jeonghan tells everyone happily.

Wonwoo sets up his whiteboard on a tripod that he's glad he bought a while back even if this is his first time using it, and he points to the three names written on the board. "These are the top contenders right now."

Seungcheol, Joshua, and Jeonghan all squawk in creepy unison. "What?!" 

"It's not Jeonghan-" Mingyu insists, before shutting up with wide eyes when Wonwoo snaps at him, "Stop it, Mingyu, this is nothing to do with your little crush. Can I say my reasoning?" 

"You can," Jeonghan says carefully, peering at Wonwoo with furrowed eyebrows as he extends a comforting hand to kicked-puppy-looking Mingyu. Wonwoo is again 99% sure that the two of them haven't even seen each other since his party. 

"The person knows my schedule, so it's pretty likely that it might be you two 'cause you're in a lot of my classes," Wonwoo says, pointing at Seungcheol and Joshua who share a wide-eyed look. Then Wonwoo turns to Jeonghan who suddenly looks rather smug. "And Jeonghan, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that it could be you. You work at the flower shop that sells these lilies as singles."

"So does Soonyoung," Jeonghan quips, smile still in place.

"The notes are always written in your handwriting."

"I'm just writing what I'm told to write!"

"How about the very day that we were talking about asters, one of the tiger lilies came back with a note that said 'my star'?"

Jeonghan's smile softens, and he tilts his head to the side, like he's trying to tell Wonwoo something but not in words. The silence is unnerving, because everyone else seems to have been shocked quiet too until Chan says a hushed, "Woah. That's so sweet."

"No, it's not. I'm not a star," Wonwoo growls, but he instantly feels bad when wide-eyed confused gazes fall on him. He doesn't even know why he got so mad all of a sudden, but this whole thing...he's starting to entertain the idea that it might just be a big joke. It would make sense, because he knows, he's known all his life that he's not the type of person people like. He's just there.

"Shit," Wonwoo mumbles. "Sorry. Just- there's this too."

Wonwoo flips the board around, and names are written once more. "These are people I'm pretty sure it isn't. Minghao because he's kind of been trying to help me figure out who it is. I doubt it's Junhui or Chan because we only recently became friends."

"But I would totally send you flowers, bro," Chan says, which does crack a smile out of Wonwoo.

"Thanks. It's not Mingyu because ew."

Mingyu pouts.

"It's not Jihoon because I just really doubt it, sorry, Jihoon."

Jihoon raises his arms in a candid 'you do what you gotta do' way.

"And it's not Soonyoung because...well, it's just not."

"What?" Soonyoung yelps, jumping onto his feet. Wonwoo looks at him in surprise. "Why wouldn't it be me?!"

Wonwoo blinks. "Because...why would you ever send me flowers?"

And almost instantly, Soonyoung actually starts rattling off reasons. "Because you're pretty, you're smart, you're cute, you're funny, you're my best friend and I love you!"

Wonwoo bites his lip, knowing his ears are probably bright red right now as the others start whispering and giggling amongst themselves like an audience. "Okay. Fine. You're back in the running. So can one of you fess up before I go mad and start having full conversations with my pet rock?"

"I gave him the rock, guys," Jeonghan tells everyone happily.

"What's the name of your rock?" Junhui asks Wonwoo, and Minghao giggles, "You do not want to know."

"Is it something dumb like 'Peter'?" Seungkwan asks, and Hansol says, "Wow, you really just offended the millions of Peters around the world like that."

"There's millions of them? That's fucking terrifying."

"Why don't I know about this rock?" Soonyoung accuses, looking too offended for the circumstance at hand, and Wonwoo sighs, "Can we stop talking about my rock? If none of you confess then I'm keeping you here all day."

Soonyoung's eyes widen then. "Wait, Wonwoo, as much as I'd really love that, me, Minghao, Chan, Junhui, and Seokmin have rehearsal, I'm so-"

"No, it's fine, you guys can go," Wonwoo digresses, because he sort of doubts that it's Seokmin either. Seokmin's too bright and talented to like someone like Wonwoo. Well, that goes for all of the people in this room, actually.

The five of them get up, giving Wonwoo goodbyes and good luck wishes for finding his admirer, and Wonwoo's about to go straight back to grilling everyone else when a hand slips into one of his.

"Hey," Soonyoung tells him, voice soft and oddly serious. "I know I'm leaving but you'll...you'll keep me in the running, right? Because I'd give you flowers, if I wanted. I would. You really suit them."

"Soonyoung, you're weird," Wonwoo snorts because he has no clue why Soonyoung wants to be considered, but it leaves warmth in his chest. "Sure, just go."

Soonyoung beams at him, and for a moment, Wonwoo thinks that he wants to ask him to stay. He wants to scrap this intervention that he was so ready for just a minute ago, he wants to kick everyone else out, he wants to keep holding Soonyoung's hand and watch some shitty romcom running on the TV that Wonwoo will love because he's a sappy romantic at heart and Soonyoung will be sceptical about because he's surprisingly not.

God. Wonwoo misses Soonyoung more than he really knows how to deal with, and he wonders, if he says that out loud, maybe there's a possibility that Soonyoung would stay. Maybe there's something in the 'best friend code' about that, if that exists. Soonyoung would probably know if it exists.

But Wonwoo thinks for too long because before he knows it, Soonyoung is rushing out after the others yelling, "WAIT FOR ME!" and that's that. Wonwoo's so busy watching after the guy that he doesn't get to put up much of a fight when someone grabs his wrist and tugs him away from the others. He doesn't even register who it is until they rest hands on his shoulder, facing a familiar angelic smile towards him.

"...Jeonghan?"

"Wonwoo," Jeonghan says. "I'm going to come clean. I'm not your tiger lily admirer, but I do know who it is."

"I knew it," Wonwoo grumbles, crossing his arms. "Tell me. Or I'll tickle you."

"I'm not ticklish, love," Jeonghan laughs, looking infuriatingly pleased with himself. "But don't keep the guys here, okay? Because I'm going to tell you a hint: the person is someone who's on your list of who you don't think it is."

That shocks Wonwoo so much that all he can do is stare for a good minute, eyebrows shooting up.

"Chan," he fires, and Jeonghan just smiles. "Jihoon. Wait, Junhui? Actually, I hope it's Junhui. Then I can live with him and all his cats will be mine, too. He's also handsome and all which doesn't hurt, but it's more about the cats."

"My feline-inclined friend, I can tell you nothing more," Jeonghan chuckles. "You need to understand that this is for them to say, when they're ready. Right now, they're just trying to do something sweet for you to fulfill some of the love they have for you. Please don't turn this into a negative thing, alright?"

That stumps Wonwoo a little, and Jeonghan just pats his shoulder before going back to the others. And only hours later, when everyone's long gone, does Wonwoo think up things he could've said in reply to that. Things like: 'But what about me? Do I just sit here and take their love without giving any back?', or, 'If they're not ready, will they ever be? Or will they just give up on me someday and I'm meant to be fine with it?'

Wonwoo wonders, if maybe the admirer wants to be found. Maybe they've been leaving a trail, waiting for Wonwoo to discover them, but he's just been blind to it.

Yeah. He's going to crack this case in no time.

Except he doesn't, and a few days later finds him sighing in Minghao's apartment because he has no clue where to go from here.

He observed Mingyu for two days straight - he apologised about the Jeonghan thing, it was never his place to say anything like that in front of the others, but Mingyu hugged him tight and said he was just worried that Wonwoo was mad at him for some reason - and though Mingyu seemed to love the attention, Wonwoo still received lilies so it's not him. He went to a computer room with Jihoon to try and get some intel, but ended up contributing to a damn song with the guy because the room was empty. Junhui and Chan have been too busy with rehearsal, and Minghao too. This is the first time Wonwoo's even seen Minghao since the intervention.

"Is it you?' Wonwoo asks, exhausted, and Minghao shakes his head pityingly. Wonwoo narrows his eyes at him. "Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be sure, Wonwoo?"

"I know, but, are you sure you're sure?"

"Just drink your tea, you looked like shit when I found you outside the theatre," Minghao sighs, nudging the mug towards Wonwoo. "Why were you even there?"

"I was gonna burst in and interrogate you guys..."

Minghao raises an eyebrow, but doesn't make any kind of sarcastic remark. "What triggered this? You seemed fine with just living with it and taking the flowers as they came, but then suddenly you got all worked up about it, and it's weird." 

"Because," Wonwoo mutters, and Minghao looks unimpressed. 

"That's not much of an answer." 

"Well, it's my answer." 

"You're acting like a kid." 

"Fine, it's because this is the first time, okay?" Wonwoo erupts, not able to hold it in any longer. "This is the first time I can think of that someone's showing some kind of special interest in me, that they're doing something for me that they're not doing for anyone else, because that doesn't happen, Minghao. I'm just the guy who's there. The only reason I'm friends with any of you is because I really try. It took two seconds for Mingyu to make friends with all of you, but it took me months, or years, and it took up so much of me because I'm not used to trying to make friends but I like all of you so much and I wanted to try."

Wonwoo thinks that might be the most he's talked in one go in his life. And Minghao must be thinking the same thing because he's staring at Wonwoo with wide eyes, an open mouth, the perfect picture of shock.

This is a time when Wonwoo being embarrassing couldn't ever be a good thing.

He rests his hands heavily on his thighs, wondering why he's so stupid sometimes. Minghao didn't want to hear all that. Now it's going to be awkward between them, and then it'll end up being awkward between all of them, then Soonyoung will find out that Wonwoo's made his beloved Minghao uncomfortable and then he'll cut Wonwoo out of his life forever-

A hand taps against his knee, and Wonwoo looks up to see Minghao crouching down in front of him, giving him the softest smile. "You absolute overthinker. And here all our friends are, thinking that you're one of the calmest people in the world."

"I'm not," Wonwoo mumbles. "I just...I keep a lot of my thoughts to myself."

"Yeah. Me too. But listen, Wonwoo. I don't just invite anyone to my apartment. Jeonghan doesn't call everyone 'aster'. Junhui doesn't watch cat videos with just anyone. And Soonyoung does not throw everyone parties."

Wonwoo feels his resolve crumble. He's being petty, isn't he? Petty, and ungrateful, because his friends are amazing and he doesn't wish for any better. He doesn't need any more. 

But then Minghao takes his hand, squeezing it. "Those are mostly little things, the kind that people miss. I'd definitely miss them. But they're still there, and you're still special, even if you don't think you are."

And despite how that makes him feel a million times better, Wonwoo - because he's still the most embarrassing person in the world - croaks, "Then why doesn't Soonyoung want to be roommates with me?"

Minghao's eyes grow big, but before he can give any semblance of an answer, the sharp sound of a ringtone cuts through the air. Minghao blinks in surprise before quickly patting at his pockets, taking his phone out. "Gah- it's Soonyoung."

"Answer it," Wonwoo says tiredly, but Minghao shakes his head.

"No way, you-"

"Just take it, will you? It's probably important. Musical stuff."

Minghao gives him the saddest eyes, but nods warily. He stands up, hesitantly letting go of Wonwoo's hand so he can swipe right on his phone. "Hey, Soonyoung. What is it? I'm kind of busy."

Wonwoo feels pretty touched that Minghao wants to keep the call short for him. He reaches out to tug on Minghao's sleeve. "Hey, can you put it on speaker? I wanna hear him."

"Sure. Soonyoung, I'm putting you on speaker, Wonwoo's here."

"Wonwoo? As in Wonwoo my love? As in Wonwoo my bestest buddy to have ever buddied?" Soonyoung gasps, his sweet voice ringing through the room once Minghao puts him on speaker. Minghao gives Wonwoo a bit of a 'see?' look, and Wonwoo hides behind his sleeve-covered hands.

"Hey, Soonyoung," Wonwoo says with a smile, and Soonyoung's voice gets impossibly brighter when he cheers, "It really is you! Wait, WAIT, why are you with Minghao? Minghao! Why are you stealing my Wonwoo away from me?!"

"Wonwoo is still very much yours, Soonyoung, don't have any doubts about that," Minghao sings, and snickers when Wonwoo tries to kick him.

"Bestie, please excuse me while I talk to Minghao about some boring technical things; I shall return!"

"Yeah, I know," Wonwoo says fondly, and Minghao gives him an apologetic look before he walks over to his apartment's kitchen area and him and Soonyoung start speaking in the foreign tongue of musical terminology. Wonwoo sort of listens, but his mind wanders, to things like information from his lectures today, or how many colours of asters there are, or if Junhui would let him name one of the cats he ever brings in.

But at some moments, there are no thoughts in his head, and he just listens to Minghao and Soonyoung talking. Minghao’s forgotten to take Soonyoung off speaker which Wonwoo’s pretty thankful for. They're all soft tones and serious words, except for minute bursts of giggles if Soonyoung does something dumb or Minghao makes a snarky comment. Wonwoo thinks they're both adorable.

He gets up soon, because there's not really any point of him being here. Minghao looks up at him then, eyebrows furrowed, and Wonwoo raises a hand.

"I'll head on home. I've got to wash Soonyoung, anyway."

"Sure, I'll see-"

"You've got to do WHAT to me?" a scandalised voice coming out of Minghao's phone yelps, and both Minghao and Wonwoo freeze. They share thoughts through panicked eye contact for a moment, mostly consisting of Wonwoo asking how the fuck he's meant to explain this and Minghao telling him how the fuck is he meant to know? "Uh, hello? Why is no-one talking?!"

Wonwoo decides to rationalise things. Soonyoung is a silly person. Wonwoo owning a pet rock that he treats a little bit like royalty is a silly thing. Hopefully these two notions will cancel each other out if Wonwoo comes clean.

So Wonwoo says, "My pet rock is called Soonyoung #2."

A tense silence fills the air for the next few moments. Minghao covers his mouth with his hand, looking like he's trying very hard not to burst out laughing which is not helping. But eventually, Wonwoo gets an answer.

"Oh my God," Soonyoung says hoarsely, sounding choked up. Wait, is he crying? "I'm busy for a few months and my best friend replaces me with a rock."

Minghao has to hastily leave the room before his laughter comes out, throwing his phone at Wonwoo who fumbles to catch it. "I didn't- I would never replace you!"

"But you did!" Soonyoung cries. "With a rock! And now you and Jeonghan both have pet rocks like a couple-"

"First, I didn't know Jeonghan also had a pet rock though that now makes a lot of sense, and how is that a couple thing?"

"It just sounds like a couple thing, okay?!"

Wonwoo doesn't know how to reply to that, so he just sits there listening to Soonyoung sniffle. This might be the dumbest conversation Wonwoo's ever had, and yet, it feels like things are going to start falling apart because of it. Any second now.

"I miss you," Soonyoung says softly. "So much."

"I think we've become a little too dependent on each other if a musical is making us act like this," Wonwoo mumbles because he's an idiot who can't just say 'me too'. Soonyoung gives a watery laugh.

"Wonwoo. I think I'm near your apartment. Can I come?"

"What?" Wonwoo's heartbeat accelerates. "Wait, seriously?"

"Mhm. Ah, I was heading home to take a quick nap but-"

"You can sleep at my place," Wonwoo blurts out, immediately getting up and grabbing his coat. "Please come. If you get there before me, wait for me."

"You're not there?"

"No, I'm at Minghao's."

"Oh my God," Soonyoung says, sounding teary all over again before he just hangs up, and Wonwoo's already out of the apartment by the time he does, yelling, "BYE, MINGHAO, YOUR PHONE'S ON THE SOFA!" as loud as he can.

Then Wonwoo runs. Well, he runs for about two seconds before realising he lives close enough to get there quickly just by walking. But, he would run for Soonyoung, if he wanted to, and he hopes Soonyoung knows that. Except the guy would probably make fun of him for it since Wonwoo apparently runs like an energetic but under-oiled robot.

Still. Wonwoo starts picking up his pace again, because there's no way he's getting away with not seeing Soonyoung as soon as possible.

Wonwoo's red and panting by the time he reaches his apartment, and he slams a hand against the door in an aggressive form of a knock. He hears a yelp from inside, then a small commotion probably made up of Mingyu stumbling somewhere, and finally the door swings open to reveal who might be the best person in the world, but Wonwoo's being subjective.

He's also wearing Wonwoo's sweater. It's an ugly blue thing with a print of Garfield on it, the very sweater Wonwoo left behind when he went into Soonyoung's flower shop that one rainy day, and it's drowning Soonyoung a little bit. He looks so sweet that Wonwoo's mind goes blank.

Soonyoung starts opening his mouth. But Wonwoo doesn't let him say a single thing. He just wraps his arms around Soonyoung, and lifts him up over his shoulder.

"Mingyu, we'll be in my room," Wonwoo says casually as he starts walking in that very direction, Mingyu gaping at them from the couch while Soonyoung slaps at Wonwoo's shoulders.

"WONWOO! THAT WAS LIKE SUPER HOT AND EVERYTHING BUT PUT ME DOWN!"

"Sorry, not yet."

Wonwoo kicks his way into his room as Soonyoung slumps, having seemingly given up on fighting, and then Wonwoo finally puts Soonyoung down. Or more like throws him onto his bed, and Soonyoung's eyes widen with the impact. Then he stares up at Wonwoo.

"What was that all about?"

"It wasn't about anything," Wonwoo says, and he can't help the bitterness that seeps into his voice when he takes a seat next to Soonyoung. "I just wanted us to be alone."

"Oh no," Soonyoung says, sounding anxious as he quickly sits up and takes hold of Wonwoo's hands. "You're mad at me. Are you mad at me? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do...whatever I did?"

Wonwoo tries to relax a little, shaking his head. "What are you talking about, you didn't do anything. I just think we need to talk."

"Okay. We can do that. I've got a lot to say."

"About what?"

"About...how much I like you?" Soonyoung suggests, and Wonwoo lets out a snort. "No, don't laugh, I'm one hundred percent serious. Because it's getting out of hand, Wonwoo. You're so wonderful and I can't deal with it. I know all the little things you do, I know you always try to make me laugh, I know you wait for me sometimes even when I'm busy, I know you talk about me a lot even when you don't talk that much in general; and I know you've been trying to get along with my friends just to be a good BFF, and when I realised that, I thought my heart was going to burst."

"BFF? What are you, nine?" Wonwoo asks, but his voice is quiet, because Soonyoung was never meant to find out about that last one. It's embarrassing. But Soonyoung squeezes his hands, and tells him earnestly, "Junhui and Chan tell me about how you always try to talk to them. And you've become such good friends with Minghao. Minghao! You were even at his apartment, it took me like a year to find out where he lived! He talks about you a lot and it's the best thing ever so I wouldn't mind if he steals you away from me. Except that's a lie. I would mind a lot. But I'd pretend not to!"

"You keep talking about me being 'stolen' or 'snatched'," Wonwoo mutters so fondly. "That's never gonna happen, Soonyoung. I don't know if you know but I'm kind of a little bit obsessed with you. It's horrible, actually."

Soonyoung slaps Wonwoo's chest, batting his eyelashes. "Oh, stop it, you charmer."

"You're totally obsessed with me too," Wonwoo teases. "I don't go a single day without hearing about how much you apparently miss me."

"Because I do," Soonyoung says, suddenly frowning, and Wonwoo falters. "Don't joke about that. It's not just apparent. I always miss you. Even before I started working on the musical. Even when you're right in front of me. Because I know at some point I'll have to leave and I'll go back to wondering how I'm even friends with someone like you in the first place."

Someone like Wonwoo? What does that even mean?

"And clearly you don't believe that I think you're the best thing since sliced bread," Soonyoung continues, sounding stressed. "Because you didn't even know that I think of you as a best friend, which is the worst thing ever, because guess what, Jeon Wonwoo?!"

"...what?" Wonwoo asks, wary, and then all of Soonyoung's ferocity dissipates. He suddenly looks so small as he looks down, tracing circles into Wonwoo's palm.

"Do you know what Jeonghan's designated flower for me is?"

"Um." That sure seems like a non-sequitur. "No?"

"Guess."

Wonwoo actually takes the time to think quite hard about it. "Uh...daffodil? Because you bloom when the world's in brightness, or something?"

Soonyoung stares at Wonwoo. "What the heck, that's so cute even though I have no clue what it means."

"Because daffodils bloom when the earth, or where we are on earth, tilts towards the sun, so basically spring which is when days start seeming brighter-"

Soonyoung waves his arms about. "Okay, just- hush with your stupid sexy brain, that's not it!"

"Then...how about...a dahlia? 'Cause there are a lot of layers to you?"

"Huh? No..."

"A rose? 'Cause you have a lot of love to give and you're also very cheesy?"

"Hey! No, that's not- look, this is really obvious. It's not a trick question or anything."

Wonwoo feels like his intelligence is being questioned by the guy who just called his brain 'sexy'. "But I've already said all the obvious ones."

"No, you haven't, 'cause it's literally right here!" Soonyoung yells, throwing an arm towards the cat vase on Wonwoo's windowsill filled to the brim with tiger lilies. "In your room!"

And in one singular moment, it all clicks. 

Maybe Wonwoo really does deserve to have his intelligence questioned.

"It's you," Wonwoo breathes. Soonyoung nods, looking both determined yet wretched at the same time which is a remarkable feat.

"It's me. They were all me, and I thought it would be obvious, but apparently you're not always super sexy smart."

All of Wonwoo's friends say the word 'sexy' too often. He's not even sure of its meaning anymore. "Wha- huh?"

Soonyoung seems to finally notice how brain-fried Wonwoo seems and he frowns, rubbing Wonwoo's hand. "Are you okay?"

"No, not really," Wonwoo says, dazed. "Can you...God. Can you, like- start from the beginning?"

"But the beginning's embarrassing," Soonyoung pouts, but he bursts into laughter when Wonwoo shoots back, "And I named a goddamn rock after you, we're way past 'embarrassing'."

"Okay, okay! So...you know I work at the flower shop. I started the job like a few weeks before your birthday party. And I wasn't going to get you a physical present because the party was my present and everything, but I had work right before the party, and I was stressing the entire time wondering 'but what if I'm the worst person ever if I don't get Wonwoo a gift?!' - I mean, I know I got you a gift for your actual birthday but I always felt bad about that 'cause it wasn't a great one-"

"But I loved it," Wonwoo says, remembering how honestly elated he was when Soonyoung got him a whole backpack full of the vegetable crackers Wonwoo binges during every exam season. Soonyoung smiles at him in reply, smacking a fat kiss on Wonwoo's cheek that makes his face scrunch up. 

"I know, you simple silly thing, but that was still a gag gift! So when my shift ended that day, I scribbled a note super fast, took a tiger lily, then legged it. And I paid for it, I swear!"

"Okay," Wonwoo says, slowly nodding as he manages to process all of that well enough. "Alright. Fine. That was all very stupid, but at least understandable. But what's not is why you didn't tell me it was from you when we talked about it the next day. Why you started sending me one every day. For weeks- no, months?"

"I'll tell you, but don't be mad," Soonyoung pleads. "I don't like it when you're mad. When you're mad, I'm sad."

Wonwoo can't help but smile at that, not missing the way Soonyoung lights up a little when he does. "You're so stupid. I'm not mad at you. I think. So just tell me."

"Well...you know, you get this kind of look, when someone does something for you that makes you happy. It's one of the best looks. You get this tiny curly smile on your face and your eyes sparkle and the tips of your ears go all pink. And you had that look on you when you told me that someone got you a tiger lily."

Woah. This is news to Wonwoo. "You seriously pay enough attention to me to know I have a look like that?"

"Yes, Wonwoo, I pay all the attention to you but that's not the point!" Soonyoung groans, banging a fist against Wonwoo's knee. "You were so cute about it and I got too shy to tell you it was from me and suddenly there I was, ordering another one for you, just to see if it would make you have that look on your face again. But then I didn't even get to see the look because I was so damn busy, so then I just...kept sending you lilies. It's really eating into my paycheck, Wonwoo! But that's a joke. I really don't mind the money. This isn't about the money- forget I said anything about money!"

"Hey, stop it, I knew it was a joke," Wonwoo tells him, though he's probably not in the best place to reassure someone when his own head is spinning like a tornado. "Just...tell me more."

"Okay," Soonyoung says immediately, back to holding Wonwoo's hand tight. "Yeah. So, I started having a lot of fun with it because it was the only sort of fun I could grant myself with all the work I've been doing for the musical and just uni in general - and I thought it would make you smile, too, because I haven't been around enough to make you smile directly which is the worst thing ever, actually."

Oh God. Wonwoo thinks he's about to die from cavities. "It's probably not the worst thing ever."

"Don't dictate my feelings, Jeon!" Soonyoung scolds. "And Jeonghan found out about all of this because I'm an idiot who called up asking for a lily when he was on shift. But he's been so good about it. I told him that I gave you an aster, then the very next week he told me that you guys were talking about asters and you did your Greek mythology hot girl shit, and I thought, hey. To me, Wonwoo is the hottest, and the brightest, and he lights my way when I need it. He's my star. So I'm really happy that I was part of the reason Jeonghan chose the aster flower for you."

"But why," Wonwoo begins, but he loses steam a little, faltering because it's so hard to get his head on straight when Soonyoung's saying things like that, and looking at him like that. Like Wonwoo is the only person ever. Which can't be true, because Soonyoung's the type of guy who's surrounded by people all day, but right now...it's just them. They're the only two people in this room, so maybe Wonwoo can start believing that he really is special. "Why tiger lilies? They're not romantic. They're not universally known for friendship, or any kind of love."

"Well," Soonyoung says, all quiet again. "They're my favourite flower, and you're my favourite person."

It's as simple as that.

"Move in with me," Wonwoo says in a rush of breath, four words that feel like they've lived inside him for far too long. Soonyoung's eyes grow wide.

"W-What? You mean, with you and Mingyu-"

"No, I'll kick Mingyu out. Or we can find a new place. Together."

"Where did this come from?" Soonyoung says, breathless as his fingernails dig into Wonwoo's palm but Wonwoo doesn't care one bit.

"It's not a new thing. I've been wanting to ask you for two years."

Soonyoung goes bright red, spluttering, "Two- Wonwoo, what the fuck?!"

Wonwoo shakes his head, not wanting to get into that right now. "Forget I said that, just give me a yes or no right now or I'll probably never leave my room again, I'm not even joking, Soon-"

"Yes."

Wonwoo pauses. Maybe he imagined that. Maybe he's just hearing what he wants to hear. "Come again?"

"Wonwoo, my love, my bffie, my star, why would I ever say no?" Soonyoung asks, looking awed as his hands cup Wonwoo's face. They're so warm. "I'd love to. Let's do it."

Oh God. Now Wonwoo doesn't know what to do. Not ever in a single one of his (very few but it's weird that it happened more than once) nightmares of him asking Soonyoung to room with him has he said yes.

So Wonwoo asks a very important question. "Can we get a cat?"

Soonyoung laughs, squishing Wonwoo’s cheeks. "If you seriously want to move in with me then I'll let you have all the cats in the world."

Wonwoo wants to swoon when he hears that. Instead, he just melts a little bit, slumping so he falls forward and his head meets Soonyoung's chest. He's tired, his brain hurts, and he still thinks he's a bit confused about some parts of Soonyoung's story; but when Soonyoung wraps arms around him and cuddles him close, none of it matters.

"I think I like you more than anyone ever," Wonwoo mumbles into Soonyoung's shirt, feeling like a little kid confessing to their playground sweetheart. Soonyoung coos at him so it's probably an accurate metaphor.

"Oh, hey, I got you a ticket for the musical. You'll come, right?" Soonyoung asks, and he doesn't even let Wonwoo answer before continuing sheepishly, "Hehe, I've kinda got a part...not a massive one or anything! I tried to keep it a secret from you because I really wanted to surprise you and make you go all 'wow!' but Seokmin already told you, didn't he? The little blabbermouth."

"Don't worry," Wonwoo assures, lifting his head. "You'll definitely still make me go 'wow'. You always do."

"I love you so much, Jeon Wonwoo," Soonyoung tells him, voice and smile so soft that it makes Wonwoo’s chest ache. And he loves that he can believe him. 

But he doesn't say that out loud - instead he just asks Soonyoung if he wants to meet his pet rock, and Soonyoung gushes over the little crown and the 10:10 eyes that Wonwoo drew on it one boring day when Soonyoung was too busy to keep him company. Soonyoung even whips out a marker out of nowhere and draws a cute little nose and mouth to go with it, as well as tiny whiskers.

"Because I'm a tiger," Soonyoung explains, beaming, "so Soonyoung the rock is also a tiger."

One hour later finds Soonyoung curled up into Wonwoo's side, fast asleep, and Wonwoo's stroking his hair while he reads an e-book. This is it. This is exactly the kind of thing he wants, because he loves having fun with Soonyoung, he loves laughing with him and going out with him, but he wants the domestic moments too. He wants to make Soonyoung coffee at midnight when they're both working on assignments, he wants to see Soonyoung off in the mornings if he doesn't have classes, he wants to wake up and go to sleep knowing that his best friend's there.

Wonwoo looks from left to right, then he leans down, brushes away some of Soonyoung's hair, and presses a light kiss to his forehead. And though Soonyoung doesn't open his eyes, his lips do curl up into a serene smile, and Wonwoo instantly springs back up and goes back to his phone with red ears.

Though, it's not like he'd truly mind if Soonyoung was awake for that.

The live showings for the musical begin, and it's a little bit like torture. Wonwoo doesn't get to see Soonyoung at all, nor Seokmin, Minghao, Junhui, and Chan for days on end, and it's the worst. They don't even really call, don't text, because they have no time.

But Wonwoo still gets sent a tiger lily every day, sometimes wrapped in a bow, sometimes with a polaroid of Soonyoung making faces, sometimes with cute notes. They make Wonwoo smile for hours.

He hates that he can't think up anything to do in return except for quietly loving Soonyoung from afar.

He goes to the play alone, because he's not sure if any of his friends are going on the same night as him and he forgets to ask. Soonyoung got him a ticket for the closing night, and Wonwoo's so excited to finally see him.

He sits in the third row, and he claps when everyone else claps, cheers when everyone else cheers, even tears up when everyone else does. Seokmin's performance is amazing. His voice is so beautifully strong and all kinds of emotions seep right through his act, reaching Wonwoo in ways he didn't even know they could.

And the choreography. Oh, the choreography. It's so powerful that it seems to shake the whole theatre, and that's probably just the power of excitable theatre majors and experienced dance majors. Minghao, Junhui, and Chan are in a lot of the dances, usually in the front line or centre, and they're brilliant. Perfectly synchronised, effortless from practice, and the expressions are perfect, all wide eyes, playful gazes, or bright smiles. Wonwoo needs to go to one of their dance troupe performances and fast.

Soonyoung's character is so fun. He's meant to be an eccentric otherworldly being, dressed in a pristine white suit and top hat as he dances onto stage out of nowhere at times to help out the main character and give him courage. There's a whole plotline at the end where he ends up just being a figment of Seokmin's imagination. When Seokmin realises that, he says, "Maybe I really do have all the answers I need. Maybe I don't need anyone else!', and Soonyoung gives an enchantingly bright and proud smile before slinking away into the shadows.

It's a cheesy musical, but most musicals are, and Wonwoo doesn't mind. He loves the over-the-top characters, he loves the bad humour, he loves the songs, and when Soonyoung has a few lines in one of them, Wonwoo really short-circuits a little. Holy shit, Soonyoung's singing voice is...stunning. It's unique, strong, perfectly controlled - why the hell has Wonwoo never heard it like this before? If Wonwoo had that voice then he'd never shut up.

Wonwoo tries to cheer a bit louder than everyone else when the musical ends and everyone comes out to bow. Seokmin is front and centre, his grin as big as ever as he waves to the whole crowd. 

Soonyoung gets to have his chance too, making an extravagantly low bow before casting his arm over the rest of the people on the stage so they can share his applause. Then the producer, the director, the stage manager, the musical director, and a lot of the stage crew for the play are called onto stage, probably because this is the last show. And of course Soonyoung, as head choreographer, gets pushed into that spotlight as well despite how he seems to protest.

Wonwoo realises, while clapping as the stage crew are given bouquets, that none of these people are professors, and he's pretty sure he's seen all of them around uni. Wow. This was probably an entirely student-led musical, and Wonwoo's an idiot for not realising that earlier because why else would Soonyoung have been so busy with it?

He grabs his things and slips away just before the curtain goes down, with only the task of finding Soonyoung on his mind.

Wonwoo's probably not allowed here. He's managed to stumble across a dressing room that's massive but seems tiny with all the people inside it, either hugging, crying, cleaning, or all three. Wonwoo just stands there at the front, not knowing where to go from here while people bustle right past him.

Though, eventually he starts getting noticed, and Wonwoo doesn't know how he missed the stares and whispers whenever he visited the arts department for Soonyoung when they seem so obvious now.

"IS THAT OUR VERY OWN JEON WONWOO?!" a voice hollers, and before Wonwoo can even match it to a name, four people barrel right into him with a force so strong that he topples over onto the floor.

"Wonwoo, how was it?!" Chan's eager voice yells, and Wonwoo manages to raise his head to see Minghao, Junhui, Seokmin, and of course Chan all grinning at him. He realises that Minghao's holding the back of Wonwoo's head, probably to save it from the impact of hitting the floor, and Wonwoo feels immensely touched.

"It was amazing, seriously, you guys were...wow," Wonwoo says, grinning when the others erupt into proud beams and words of gratitude. Then Seokmin notices what's in Wonwoo's hand and he clasps his hands together, saying sweetly, "Are those for me~?"

Wonwoo blinks, looking down at the flowers he brought with him, and his eyes grow wide. "Oh- shit, Seokmin, I'm sorry, they really should be for you-"

"That means they're for me, I'm Wonwoo's favourite," Chan says, sending a wink Wonwoo's way, but Junhui barks, "No way, they're for me, Wonwoo loves my cats!"

"That doesn't mean he loves you," Minghao tells him, and giggles when Junhui gapes. Minghao then smiles at Wonwoo. "We know who they're for, don't worry. Seokmin won't be upset."

"Hey, don't speak for me!" Seokmin huffs, but his smile is sweet and understanding when he tells Wonwoo, "Yeah, I'm not upset at all."

"Do you guys know where he is?" Wonwoo asks, and the others all look around from their terrible vantage point on the floor. Then Chan clicks his fingers.

"Last I saw him, which was like a minute ago, he was changing. Maybe wait for him for a sec? We'll leave you be!"

"Thanks, guys," Wonwoo says gratefully as they all help each other up. It takes a hot minute. "I'll see you. You guys deserve to celebrate tonight."

Chan and Seokmin whoop in agreement, high-fiving, and them and Junhui dance away. Minghao lingers behind, though, and he's giving Wonwoo a strange sort of smile. It's somehow making Wonwoo feel a little emotional. "Wh-What? Is something wrong?"

Minghao shakes his head. "You just look great. Expression-wise. You're all bright and happy. It's lovely."

"Oh come on, there was already enough cheesiness in the musical, don't you start," Wonwoo groans, but he still holds his arms out. Minghao's smile grows into a grin as he steps forward to give Wonwoo a big hug, and Wonwoo hugs him back tightly. He wants to say a million things, like how he's so happy they managed to become friends, and how he's such an incredible pillar of support that Wonwoo doesn't deserve, but he thinks Minghao probably already knows all that. The guy just has that kind of wise, telepathic feel about him, and maybe that's why they get along so well. Because Wonwoo doesn't need to talk for Minghao to know what he wants to say, but Minghao's such a sweet listener that it makes him want to talk anyway.

"I think that you're probably going to be the godfather of my future children," Wonwoo tells him instead of saying any of that. It's horribly embarrassing, but he's long accepted by now that that's his brand. He's accepted that there are people important enough for him to want to show his embarrassing sides to.

Minghao smiles proudly before leaving with a fluttery wave, and Wonwoo calls out for him not to party too hard before he goes back to awkwardly standing around.

He spots Soonyoung soon enough. He's half-changed, still clutching the bouquet he was given, laughing and wiping away tears while he seems to stop every single person passing by just to give them a hug. Wonwoo watches him for a moment, wistful, and the bouquet in his own hands suddenly feels pretty inadequate.

But when Soonyoung finally spots him across the room, the guy drops his jaw. And his bouquet, too.

Wonwoo doesn't know when he started running. He doesn't know if he started running first, or if Soonyoung did, or how many people he bumped into while saying rushed apologies, but suddenly the two of them close enough to touch and Wonwoo catches the firecracker who practically cannonballs into him.

"Wonwoo, Wonwoo, Wonwoo," Soonyoung breathes into Wonwoo's shirt. "You came."

Wonwoo furrows his eyebrows. "Of course I- I literally texted you when I was on my way."

"Phones are always off just before and during performances," Soonyoung says, wagging a finger in Wonwoo's face. "But whatever, you CAME! Did you love it, did you, did you?"

"I did love it," Wonwoo says amusedly, and Soonyoung makes an elated noise before he smushes his face against Wonwoo's shirt again. "Seokmin was incredible, obviously. Kinda hated that weird white suit guy though."

"Oh yeah?" Soonyoung laughs. "What d'ya hate about him?"

"Well, I hated how angelic he looked in white."

Soonyoung gawps, fanning himself.

"I hated his awesome effortless dancing."

"Of course!"

"I hated that he's been keeping his beautiful voice from me for two years."

Soonyoung giggles at that one. "C'mon, I sing all the time. You just never noticed it, sir."

"Well, I also hated that he was given a bouquet for all his incredible hard work," Wonwoo says, holding up the flowers that he brought with him. "'Cause then what am I supposed to do with these?"

Soonyoung gasps, and lets go of Wonwoo to grab at the flowers. "Oh my gosh, you brought me asters."

"I know your favourites are tiger lilies, but that's kinda what you get me, so," Wonwoo says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, yet Soonyoung quickly shakes his head.

"No, no, it's perfect, because you're my favourite and you're an aster so asters are also my favourites."

"Sound logic," Wonwoo says wryly, even though his heart beats fast under his chest, and Soonyoung just laughs at him. 

In the giddiness of it all, Wonwoo almost doesn't even clock when Soonyoung reaches up to peck his lips, but oh. It feels a little bit like getting a lick from an excitable kitten, but Wonwoo could definitely get used to it. He hopes Soonyoung will do it again sometime.

Soonyoung beams at him, takes his hand, then pulls him through the room to introduce him to as many people as possible. It's a little overwhelming, but it's not too hard to keep up a nod and a smile. It helps that everyone's so nice and they get pretty excitable about the fact that they're meeting 'pretty guy who knows Soonyoung'. A lot of them take the opportunity to tell him how good-looking he is, very unsubtly touching his arms or even his hair. Wonwoo tries to stifle his laughter when Soonyoung keeps whining at them, "Stop flirting with my Wonwoo!"

Then Wonwoo overhears someone saying something about an afterparty, and he feels a bit disheartened thinking that he'll have to leave Soonyoung so the guy can go to that. Or maybe Wonwoo will tag along. He's not really in the mood, but when is he ever? He wouldn't mind pretending to be a party person for Soonyoung. Maybe he could even muster up the courage to ask Soonyoung to dance, just like Soonyoung and Minghao did at his party...oh. Wonwoo's palms get a little sweaty just thinking about doing that.

But Soonyoung tugs at his sleeve, and Wonwoo turns to see his best friend sighing. "That was exhausting, huh? Sorry, I forgot how many people there are. We can go now!"

"Sorry in advance, you know I'm not the most fun at parties," Wonwoo apologises, but Soonyoung blinks up at him in confusion.

"Huh? What party?"

"...your musical's afterparty? That's a thing, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, nah, I'm not going to that," Soonyoung says nonchalantly, and Wonwoo stares at him. Soonyoung just grins back. "I'm tired, okay? I see these people all the time, I've already partied with most of them before. But I haven't spent a nice evening-in with you in so so long so, if you're okay with it, can we...just do that?"

"Woah, I really love you," Wonwoo tells him, unable to believe his ears (even if he feels a bit disappointed about not being able to dance with Soonyoung but he can park that idea for another time), and Soonyoung playfully grumbles, "You only ever say that during times like these."

Before Wonwoo can reply, though, someone else comes up to Soonyoung to congratulate him, and Soonyoung has to let go of Wonwoo to respond. In fact, that just keeps happening, so Wonwoo decides to step to the side as Soonyoung says adulations and well wishes to all his crew members. He hides his smile behind his hand when he notices that Soonyoung seems to be getting a bit annoyed by all of it, having developed a sort of twitch in his eyebrow the more that people come up to him.

When he's just waved goodbye to the hundredth person, Soonyoung makes a beeline for Wonwoo who straightens up, wondering if they can finally go now. But before Wonwoo can ask, Soonyoung wraps an arm around his back, then bends down to hook an arm under the back of his knees. 

Suddenly, Wonwoo's being lifted into the air so quickly that he physically feels his heartbeat jolt.

"OKAY!" Soonyoung yells, loud enough to alert most of the people in the room while Wonwoo scrambles to grab Soonyoung's shoulders. "I'M TAKING MY BESTIE HOME, SO NO-ONE ELSE COME UP TO ME, GOT IT?! I'LL SEE YOU AT SCHOOL!"

Then Soonyoung absolutely bolts out of the dressing room, and Wonwoo makes an embarrassing sound. "Soonyoung-!"

"You're not the only one who works out, Jeon!" Soonyoung tells him with sparkling eyes and the biggest grin, and Wonwoo feels so taken by him. He just bursts out laughing and drops his head into the crook of Soonyoung's neck, making Soonyoung hold him tighter as he really does run the rest of the way home with Wonwoo in his arms. 

It's both thrilling and terrifying, because Wonwoo has never been carried bridal style in his life, never had anyone who would want to carry him bridal style in his life - but it's all worth it when they burst into Soonyoung's apartment and there Jihoon is on the sofa, the chopsticks he's using to eat some ramen suspended in mid-air as he stares at the two of them in disgust.

Soonyoung gives him a look, and Jihoon scoffs, "You literally do not need to tell me to leave. You think I wanna stay for whatever this is?"

"That's why I didn't tell you! Telepathy!"

Jihoon rolls his eyes and does indeed get up to leave, but not before sending Wonwoo an amused yet reassuring smile after Wonwoo mouths, 'Sorry'. Jihoon's the best.

"This could be your life every day, Wonwoo," Soonyoung says happily when he finally puts Wonwoo down on the sofa and Wonwoo's heartbeat starts decelerating to a more reasonable pace. "We'll move in together then I'll wait for you after lessons to be your own personal carrier. You won't even need your car! You should totally sell it then you can buy like the most expensive and high quality cat treats for our future cat-"

"Tac," they both say in unison, and they stare at each other in amazement.

"Because if you say cat backwards," Wonwoo starts, and Soonyoung points at him, continuing excitedly, "It's Tac! Wonwoo, we're SOULMATES!"

"Can we get another one called Tic?"

"And another, Toe!"

"You better stop before I fall in love with you," Wonwoo breathes genuinely, clutching his heart. Soonyoung laughs at him as he falls into the space by Wonwoo's side, resting his head on Wonwoo's shoulder. A peaceful, comfortable kind of silence blankets them for a few moments, which hasn't happened in so long since you need to be able to spend time together to have silences. Wonwoo sort of feels a piece of his heart lock back into place, because the musical's over, they've got through the drought, and here they are better than ever. Just Soonyoung and Wonwoo. Two best friends against the world.

"I've always thought," Soonyoung eventually says, his voice quiet, "that you'd never want to room with me. That it might ruin things, you know?"

"Wait," Wonwoo murmurs, almost inaudibly. Is he seriously about to get an explanation for that time two years ago? Right now? He doesn't think he's ready, but Soonyoung's still talking and Wonwoo has to force himself to listen.

"Because we've always had such a good thing going. I remember there was a time back in freshman year, when Jihoon told me you were looking for a roommate-"

"Hold on, Soonyoung-"

"-and I just...I don't know. We didn't know each other as well as we do now back then, and I was worried, because I'm not always fun, or loud, and I know you know that now but you didn't then, and I didn't want to disappoint you. You're funny, but you're quiet, and you're diligent and smart and you get cold easily-"

"Why are you bringing that up-"

"- and just everything that didn't seem to align with me. So I also started worrying that maybe I'd be too loud for you, and maybe we'd fight a lot, and maybe our living styles would be incompatible, and then I got stressed because I liked you so much and I didn't want us to, like, end when I knew we had the biggest potential to be the bestest besties to ever bestie, and I still kind of think all those things, so when you asked me the other day, I was just so happy but then also so-"

"Soonyoung," Wonwoo says, slipping his hand under Soonyoung's. That finally stops the guy who seems windswept, looking at Wonwoo with wide unsure eyes. "It's okay. We'll figure it out as we go. The instant we sense hostility between us or something, let's talk about it, and if it gets too bad then we'll just make new arrangements. A bad living experience doesn't have to be the end of us. I...I'd like to think we're stronger than that."

"We are," Soonyoung agrees, nodding in awe. Then he furrows his eyebrows. "We are, right?"

"Right," Wonwoo says, watching fondly as Soonyoung links each one of their fingers carefully. "But we'll think about that later."

"Because you're so excited to live with me that you can't think about anything else right now?" Soonyoung teases him, but his face drops when Wonwoo says a solemn, "Exactly."

Soonyoung gapes at him, and Wonwoo retorts, "What? I've been waiting for this for literally ages, I'm not gonna be pessimistic about it anytime soon."

"Have you...really? You've really wanted to live with me for a long time?" Soonyoung asks, voice soft and concerningly low, and Wonwoo nods.

"Ever since you came to me with your first wake-up idea."

Wonwoo remembers that like the back of his hand. Midnight, late January, him and Soonyoung had only been friends for a few months, but Soonyoung came along throwing rocks at his window outside of his dorm complex just to yell up at Wonwoo that he'd created the perfect dance move. Wonwoo had felt like he was at the climax of a beautiful romance movie right up until Soonyoung opened his mouth.

"Oh God, I remember that," Soonyoung groans, covering his face. "I don't even know why I went to you about it, I just- you were the first person who popped into my mind!"

"That's such a fat lie, you just couldn't figure out where Jihoon's window was."

Soonyoung splutters. "Don't expose me like that!"

"I'm just saying. It was still the first time I realised I wanted to live with you. I thought 'if we lived together, he wouldn't have to run all the way over to me to tell me whatever's on his mind'."

"You really wanna hear everything that's on my mind? Even the random things? Even the dumb things? Because my thoughts aren't always straight-up genius, Wonwoo, even if they often are as you already know."

Wonwoo rolls his eyes. "You're gonna make me regret this, but yes. Everything. Or, at least, anything you want to tell me."

Soonyoung slumps, wrapping his arms around Wonwoo's middle before squeezing him tight. "Damn it. You're the best, why are you the best?"

Wonwoo smirks down at Soonyoung. "'Cause I'm your 'best'ie."

He laughs when Soonyoung makes the purest, happiest noise known to man and squeezes Wonwoo even tighter. Wonwoo can feel his lungs constricting a little, but he doesn't tell Soonyoung to stop, because he's feeling so happy right now that he'll live with it.

Just like he's finally going to live with his best friend.