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"Hey, you're coming to our party right?" A voice sounds from beside you making you look over, met with Chan's famous smile as he took the seat next to you.
"Well, it's less of a party and more of a… fun-sized gathering." Jisoo corrected, greeting you with a nod of his head while sitting across from you.
You sat in silent thought for a few seconds. It's not like you had anything better to do that weekend besides binging whatever Netflix show you could find in its massive library to satisfy you.
"Hmmm, who's gonna be there?" You ask as you pick up some pasta from your tray with a fork.
Chan is quick to lean over and rob you of your food, loudly slurping up the noodles as if to purposely annoy you. "Just the usual guys… Vernon, Jun, Seungcheol, Seungkwan.." he listed off names as he chewed.
You deadpanned at him, "After that? Yeah, I'm not going."
He looked at you with exasperation, mouth hanging open as he whined, "but you haaaaave to!"
Jisoo looked at him disgusted, hand on the youngers' jaw to free himself of the horrible display. "Close your mouth, you cretin.. Anyways- Minghao, Wonwoo, and Mingyu said they could make it this time too," he informed Chan—and by proxy you.
Chan suddenly gasped looking over at you, talking after swallowing your food, "you should bring some of your friends too; it's gonna be a total sausage fest."
You completely ignored his words as you slumped in your seat, "Wonwoo…" you muttered his name under your breath.
Jisoo catches this, "Yeah, Wonwoo.. What's with that face?"
"I'm pretty sure your friend hates me."
You think back on your very limited, but memorable encounters with Jeon Wonwoo. You had seen him just today, even.
"Hey."
A deep voice quietly spoke up from in front of you, causing you to look up from your phone.
You look around confused as there was no way Jeon Wonwoo was trying to make conversation with you of all people, but seeing no one else near the two of you.
"Uh.. Hey?"
He was silent for a few seconds, staring at you with that usual narrow-eyed glare he'd give you.
"You're in the way."
His voice sounded harsh to your ears, making your heart sink to your ass. Glancing behind you, you remember that you were leaning against the water cooler, quickly sidestepping away.
"Oh… sorry-" you manage to get out before not-so-subtly speed walking away.
"You think Wonwoo hates you? Jeon Wonwoo Wonwoo??" Chan asks with furrowed brows.
"Like,,, fluffy-hair-and-assortment-of-sweaters-and-cardigans Wonwoo?" Jisoo followed.
"Yeah, him! He's always glaring when he looks at me and he's so rude." You pout.
Chan shares a look with Jisoo that goes unnoticed by you. "Really 'cause last time I checked Jeon Wonwoo li-"
He was interrupted when Jisoo picked up a fry from his own tray, hurling it at the formers' head. He laughed nervously, hoping you wouldn't ask any questions as he gave you a lopsided smile. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you, love. You can talk to him at the party."
You grin at the pet name, knowing it's a habit he picked up from Jeonghan before grimacing at the later proposition. It was your turn to whine, "But I don't wannnaaa~"
Jisoo subtly rolled his eyes, a sigh coming from him. "I'll be there with you when you talk to him then, okay? I'll hold your hand through the whole thing." He tried to coax you.
You dramatically groaned as you fell into Chan's side, who laughed at you. "I'll think about it."
ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹▫◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ
Friday rolls around much faster than you expected, having you sprawled in your bed whilst staring up at your ceiling with a pout on your lips.
For the better part of the week you had been slightly dreading the 'fun-sized gathering', knowing full well that when Jisoo said he'd take you to talk to Wonwoo, he meant it.
Groaning, you decide it's best to get out of bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes after your nap-turned-full blown sleep. Your last class ended at 12:45 so you wasted no time running to your dorm, immediately flopping into bed as a pre-party ritual.
As you walk to the bathroom, you look through the notifications on your phone, seeing Soonyoung had blown up your phone an hour before. You rolled your eyes with a grin as you noticed that he had, once again, taken your phone when you weren't looking and changed his contact name.
My love soonyoung best person in my life 🥰💗🥰💙💙💗😊💙🥰😊😚🥰
Hey
Hey
Hey
Hey
Mfer-
ARE YOU SLEEPING???
WAKE! UP!! 🛌🤺
….
Anyways
🙄
Jihoon and I are wearing pink so you better wear pink and match us 🥰
Or else 😁🔪
See you later bestieeee
You laugh as you read through the messages before placing your phone on the sink, not bothering to respond.
You strip yourself of your oversized 'at home' hoodie, it having too many stains of…. you don't even remember what food for you to sensibly wear it out in public anymore. Turning your shower knob to a comfortably warm temp and checking with your arm, you step in, allowing the water to run down your body and hopefully wash away your reservations.
You weren't sure why Jisoo was so adamant about you having this conversation with Wonwoo, the former male having checked in with you multiple times this week to make sure you were still going to the party.
If Jeon Wonwoo was going to hate you and stare at you with his harsh, judgmental glare, then you were perfectly fine with returning the energy.
"Petty." You thought to yourself as you finally reached for your washcloth, pouring some of your new peach-scented soap onto it.
As you scrub at your body, your mind once again turns to Wonwoo. Your head swarmed with anxious questions: What if he walks away the second he sees you approaching? What if he just flat-out ignores you when you speak? Or even worse.. What if he tells you exactly why he hates you?
You grumble to yourself, lightly smacking your cheek with your free hand. Stop. Thinking. About. Jeon. Wonwoo!
ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹▫◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ
Around 7:38 you arrive at Seungcheol's place. The whole group always joked about being jealous of him seeing as he is the son of two fairly well-known doctors that oh so graciously gifted him with a spacious apartment. You knock a few times, wiping your hands against your pants to calm your nerves.
Only a few seconds later, the door swings open to Vernon who gave you a wonky grin and fist bump. "Hey man."
"Hey… dude don't tell me you're already tipsy-"
"Of fuckin course he is," someone piped up from behind him, "I told him to cool it on all the beers but does anyone ever listen to me? No."
Seungkwan shot Vernon a look, swatting the latter away before turning to you with a smile and giving you a side hug.
You stepped in, looking around as you see all the guys sitting around in their own little sub-groups. It had been a while since you all had last seen each other all at once what with all the assignments piling on as the school year started winding down. It brought a smile to your face as you watched all of them happily chatting away.
Your body lurches backward as you're suddenly attacked with a hug, the person squeezing hard before pulling back with a gasp.
"You look so goood!" Soonyoung squealed as he took in your outfit; a cropped blush pink cardigan over a plain white tank with a pair of white pants. You knew you were going to regret the color of those pants but anything for a cute outfit right?
You look him over yourself as a frown forms on your face, eyes snapping to Jihoon who leisurely followed after Soonyoung. "What the hell? Why aren't you guys wearing pink??"
"Uhh," Soonyoung glanced at Jihoon who smirked at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering how he was going to get out of this, "we decided to switch to red last minute?"
"And you did that without saying anything to me?"
"Well, you didn't respond to my texts in the first place." Soonyoung huffed as he crossed his arms.
"Whatever, I'm getting a drink." You say, playfully glaring at Soonyoung before smiling towards Jihoon as you step past him.
You walk into the kitchen, going straight for the punch bowl sitting on the island. Taking the ladle you scoop some into one of the plastic cups nearby, taking a whiff of the drink. Ah, vodka.
The drink was sweet, the alcohol barely detected by your taste buds. It definitely was a fuck-you-up punch.
"Oh, you came!"
You look over and your heart stops. Mingyu walks over to you with a big smile, leaving behind… Jeon Wonwoo.
"Oh, uh.. Hi-" you manage to get out, trying your hardest to keep your eyes from glancing at the other male in the room.
Mingyu wraps you in a hug as he smiles down at you. "How have you been? It's been a while."
"I-I'm fine. How are you?"
A pout immediately takes over his face. "Animal science kicking my ass as usual."
You laugh. It always amazed you how good Mingyu's ability to calm the people around him was.
The two of you settle into a friendly conversation, catching up and all the likes. It doesn't go unnoticed by you, though, the way Wonwoo stood planted in his spot whilst staring at you. Any other time it would offset you, make you squirm under your skin, but again, with Mingyu by your side you hadn’t felt the need to run.
Sooner or later you moved on from the kitchen, grabbing another cup of the dangerous punch as you moved around the apartment to greet everyone else. You eventually end up settling on the couch with Jisoo and Jeonghan, Chan sitting on the floor between your legs as you played in his hair.
Everything seemed to be going well for a while before Jisoo leaned over and whispered in your ear, “So? When should we go and have a chat with Woo?” the nickname, you assumed, meant Wonwoo.
You leaned toward him to whisper back, “Actually, I would rather not do that. Thanks.”
Jisoo gave you a disapproving look. “You know you can’t always run away from your problems, right?”
He was right. Well.. sort of. In theory, his words were those to live by but when it came to having to ‘talk it out’ with someone who clearly hated you? Yeah, you’d rather just fucking haul ass away from the problem.
“What are you two whispering about? Whose secret are we telling~” Jeonghan butted into the conversation with a grin, ears always open for whatever gossip he could find around campus.
“Nothing serious; just them being a wimp,” Jisoo responded. You looked at him incredulously.
“Too scared to talk to a crush or something? Who is it?” the blond looked at you with sparkling eyes, leaning over Jisoo’s lap and latching his hands to your thigh to shake it.
You huffed, “There is no crush goddammit.”
His face fell as he pulled away, suddenly less interested in you and more into Chan who rambled on about shots.
Jisoo looked back over to you with a raised brow. You stared back, silent as the two of you entered a staring contest.
You end up blinking first, “Argh, FINE. Let’s get this over with.” You stood from your spot as you grabbed your drink, downing the rest of it whilst Jisoo stood up beside you with a triumphant yet gentle smile.
You look around the room, finding the tall meanie in a corner now talking to Seungcheol, Minghao, and Seokmin. Jisoo notices as you take in a shaky breath and holds your hand in his own to reassure you.
“Wonwoo, can we talk to you for a second?” Jisoo speaks up for you.
Wonwoo looks at him then down to you… and next down to your enclasped hands.
Seokmin laughs, “Oooh he’s in troubleeee ~” Minghao snicked beside him while Seungcheol slapped his shoulder, muttering something about how nosey he was.
Wonwoo looks back at you with narrowed eyes, making you frown. He passes his cup to Seungcheol before pushing himself off of the wall. “Yeah sure.”
Jisoo suggests talking in Seungcheol’s room for more privacy and so the three of you make your way down the hall. Somewhere along the way Jisoo who walked behind the two of you let go of your hand without you noticing because of your bubbling nerves.
“Have fun you two!” he said in a sing-songy voice.
“Wha-” you barely get out before turning around, seeing the room door close behind you with Jisoo on the other side. You shook the doorknob but to no avail, as you heard Jisoo say something about not letting you out until you settle this.
You slowly turn back around, watching as Wonwoo’s gaze turned from the door down to the floor as he stuffs his hands into his jean pockets. "What did you want to talk about?.." he trailed off.
It's now that you finally take in his outfit. Black jeans with rips in the knees… and a blush pink sweater similar to your cardigan.
Kwon Soonyoung strikes again it seems.
"I- well you um.." You stammer, gulping as you conjure up all of your courage, "Why.. why do you hate me so much?" You manage to get out your question, your hand absentminded twiddling with your chain bracelet.
His eyes widened as they snapped back to yours, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What're you talking about?"
Your eyes looked between his own, mirroring his expression. "What do you mean 'what am I talking about'," you fold your arms in front of you defensively, "you're always glaring whenever you look at me and that mouth of yours is quite rude!" Huffing, you point your chin up at him while throwing your head to the side in feigned confidence.
He scratches the back of his neck as a blush settles onto his cheeks. "That's not.." He sighed, "my glasses broke a few months ago while I was playing soccer with the guys and they're kinda expensive to fix so… Wasn’t glaring, I’m just pretty fucking blind."
"Oh.." You whisper out. Well, there's the mystery of his infamous glare solved but..
"And," he starts again, his voice a little louder than before to make sure you're listening to his every word, "I'm sorry if I came off rude—I just.. don't know how to talk to people I like."
You stare at him, "you talk to the guys just fine, though?"
"No, I mean I like you in the sense that," he paused as he looked away in thought before returning his gaze to your eyes, his own looking softer than you’re used to, "I want to take you on a date, tomorrow—if you'd let me?"
Months of longing stares in your direction, small words muttered toward you. It felt as if a large weight was lifted from Wonwoo's shoulders after finally getting to tell you his feelings, even if it were in such a roundabout way.
He studied your silent, stunned expression as his heart sped with the sense of impending rejection.
"I- me?" You ask dumbly,
He couldn't help but laugh, this being the first time you'd ever seen a smile on his face in your presence. You took in the way his eyes screwed shut, the way his nose scrunched, and the deep, melodious sound that vibrated in his throat.
"You're the only other person in this room."
Heat rushed to your ears as embarrassment washed over you. "Oh, right um.. Sorry-" you stumble before clearing your throat. "I would… like that, yeah." You answer, barely containing the smile that wanted to swim its way onto your face as you finally resolved the problem that had been plaguing your thoughts for a while now. You were getting the chance to learn more about Jeon Wonwoo—gain a new friend or maybe something even more.
The shy glances exchanged between the two of you were interrupted when the door opens up behind you, revealing Chan, Seokmin, and Soonyoung standing there with shit-eating grins, your eyes catching as the rest of the guys ran down the hall to act as if they weren't there eavesdropping the entire time.
Jisoo's head pops into frame from the side as he laughs,
"Okay, I think our work here is done!"