Work Text:
Wooyoung’s life ends on a Thursday.
You’re being dramatic, the tiny voice in Wooyoung’s head who sounds suspiciously like Hongjoong says. Whatever.
Which. Fine. Maybe he is being a little dramatic. But that doesn’t change the fact that Wooyoung’s life is over. Nothing will ever be the same after this.
It’s Thursday night. Friday, technically, since it’s late enough for the second hand to creep over the twelve. But that doesn’t matter, since Wooyoung hasn’t gone to sleep yet. The night is still young.
He’s tucked into bed mindlessly playing candy crush. It’s not his bed, since everyone knows that beds are always more comfortable when they don’t belong to you. Not his phone, either, because his is charging on his own bed, which is much too far away for Wooyoung to use it. Makes sense, right?
He’s the only one who plays candy crush on Yeosang’s phone. Yeosang believes himself to be too good for candy crush, and Wooyoung can’t download the game onto his own phone, because he’d spend all his time playing. So he uses small moments like this to steal Yeosang’s phone and tuck himself into Yeosang’s bed and continue his candy crush journey. That’s what best friends are for, after all.
Wooyoung is stuck on a particularly hard level, and is on his last life when Yeosang’s phone buzzes in his hand. It’s from someone who’s contact is saved as nothing more than a “J”, and Wooyoung instinctively brushes the message away before he can process it fully. Contrary to popular belief, Wooyoung does indeed know how to mind his own business. Sometimes.
The phone buzzes again, though, in quick succession, and this time Wooyoung nearly drops it in shock. goodnight sangsang <3 mwah, it says. Wooyoung’s brain finally catches up with the first message, which read going to sleep now.
Fuck minding his own business. Someone is sending Yeosang goodnight messages. Not just that, but cute ones, complete with hearts and kisses and nicknames. Nicknames! Yeosang barely tolerates Wooyoung calling him Yeosangie.
Wooyoung is dying. He’s burning up on the inside. Someone is being cute with his best friend and no one told him. Yeosang hasn’t said anything about talking to a new boy. He hasn’t been going out any more than usual recently, either, which means that they’ve either been very subtle or this relationship has been happening for a while. Wooyoung isn’t sure which option would be worse.
Especially since no one told him!
Wooyoung is dying to press on the messages and read through their chat, but Yeosang definitely has read receipts on. Hell, he’s the kind of guy to purposely open kakao messages and not respond just so the person on the other end knows they’re being left on read.
Luckily (or not, Wooyoung doesn’t know anymore), Yeosang takes that moment to re-enter the room, towel wrapped around his waist. Wooyoung drags his eyes up and down Yeosang’s body, looking for any sign of marks that would indicate Yeosang has been fucking around, but his skin is smooth and flawless. Damn.
“Dude, is that my phone?” Yeosang asks, squinting in Wooyoung’s general direction.
Wooyoung clutches the phone to his chest, like Yeosang is going to snatch it right out of his hands. “Yes.” He replies. “I was playing candy crush. Who’s J?”
Yeosang’s face twists. Wooyoung can’t tell whether it's in surprise or something else. Something darker. Yeosang’s hand jerks upwards, like he’s really about to cross the room and yank the phone out of Wooyoung’s hand.
Is Yeosang purposely hiding this boy from him?
“My boyfriend.” Yeosang says, almost reluctantly. “Can I have my phone back?”
A boyfriend! Not just A Boy, but A Boyfriend? And he didn’t tell Wooyoung!
Fuck it. Wooyoung rolls over, cramming himself into the smallest corner of Yeosang’s bed, and opens the messages. He can hear Yeosang scrambling behind him, but he’s too busy trying to ingest as much information about this boyfriend as he can before Yeosang takes his phone back.
There are no real names shared, which is about what Wooyoung expects, with how often idols get their phones stolen or hacked, but isn’t any less annoying. “J” calls him Sangsang, or A-Sang, or Sangie, or puppy, and Yeosang calls him Hyung in return. Wooyoung despairs for Yeosang’s lack of romantic pet-naming abilities, before scrolling back as far as he can. There are deleted messages, traces found in between conversations that jarringly switch topics with suspicious half-hour intervals. Is Yeosang sexting this man? Sending scandalous pictures? Wooyoung finds himself pondering this question when the phone is jerked forcefully out of his hand.
“Have you ever heard of personal space?” Yeosang’s nose scrunches up. Wooyoung resists the urge to boop it. With how irate Yeosang seems, he might bite Wooyoung’s finger off, and Atiny’s might not think that a nine-fingered Wooyoung is cute.
“We’re best friends, there’s no such thing.” Wooyoung complains. He’s in Yeosang’s bed, tucked under his covers, watching him get dressed and ready for bed. Short of kissing Yeosang directly on the mouth with copious amounts of tongue, there’s not really anything Wooyoung can do to Yeosang that will make him angry enough to yell at Wooyoung about it. And even then, Yeosang might actually like it if he kisses him. Who knows.
This is also the first time Yeosang has hidden anything about his life from Wooyoung, let alone his love life. Wooyoung can’t figure out why it bothers him so much.
“Whatever.” Yeosang says. “Scoot over so I can go to sleep.” He continues, directly proving Wooyoung’s point.
Wooyoung scoots over. He ignores Yeosang hunched over his phone, using his broad shoulders to prevent Wooyoung from seeing his screen. Does he work out just so he can use his newfound bulk to block Wooyoung out? He’s probably texting the boy. The boyfriend. Whatever.
Wooyoung huffs, wraps an arm around Yeosang’s tummy, buries his face in Yeosang’s back, and waits for sleep to take him away.
---
If there’s one person who would know more about Yeosang’s boyfriend than what Yeosang was willing to share with him, it would be Hongjoong. Oh captain my captain. There’s no way any of them would even consider entering a relationship without at least discussing it with Hongjoong first. There’s no way any of them can do anything without at least discussing it with Hongjoong first, actually.
Oh captain my captain.
So after a busy day of rehearsal and practice and then more rehearsal and practice, Wooyoung lets himself into Hongjoong’s studio. The rest of the members are back at the dorms, no doubt taking advantage of their downtime to get as much rest in as possible, but Hongjoong is a workaholic who’s never heard of taking a day off.
Hongjoong is talking with Maddox when Wooyoung enters the room, so he sits in the corner and waits for them to be finished. Hongjoong shoots him a suspicious glance when he sits down without making a fuss, but doesn’t say anything. Wooyoung doesn’t know why he bothers trying to keep up appearances of a good leader; it’s not like Maddox doesn’t know how unhinged the rest of the group is.
Maddox takes a long time to leave. Long enough that Wooyoung gets two (two!) texts from Seonghwa asking when he’s coming home, and whether he’s eating dinner at the dorms or not. He replies to the first text with a picture of Hongjoong, bent over his computer, Maddox hanging over his shoulder like a friendly ghost, and the second one with a “¯\_(ツ)_/¯”.
Finally, though, the two of them are left alone. Wooyoung waits thirty seconds after the door closes to make sure Maddox isn’t coming back for anything before he blurts out “Yeosang has a boyfriend.”
“Hm?” Hongjoong doesn’t even bother turning around, still hunched over his computer like a gremlin, shoulders up to his ears and feet on the chair. He must have horrible back pain, all the time. “What about it?”
A ha! “So you knew?” Wooyoung demands. “You knew Yeosang got a boyfriend?” And you didn’t tell me? The last part goes unsaid.
Hongjoong peeks over his shoulder hesitantly. Wooyoung tries to make himself look as threatening as possible. It’s hard with Hongjoong, though, who brings out all of his submissive tendencies and then some.
“Yes?” Hongjoong replies. “You didn’t?”
“No!” Wooyoung wails. What if everyone else knows too? And Wooyoung was the only one Yeosang didn’t tell? Just the thought of it makes Wooyoung sick to his stomach.
Hongjoong finally turns his chair around fully. He must be starting to realize just how big of a deal this is. “Huh. I think it’s been like two months? Maybe three.”
Three months isn’t bad, Wooyoung thinks gratefully. Idol life moves quickly. Three months is like one comeback period. What is three months to eight years of friendship?
“But then again,” Hongjoong continues blithely, seemingly unaware of the crisis Wooyoung is going through, “He said they had been talking for about nine months at that point? So I’d say a year, maybe, altogether.”
A year. An entire year, 365 days, of Yeosang hiding this mystery man from Wooyoung.
“Do you know who it is?” Wooyoung croaks out. A year. He’s going insane. A year?
Hongjoong’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Do you not?”
Wooyoung shakes his head. He can’t even get the words out at this point. He’s never felt betrayal like this before.
“I don’t think I should be the one to tell you, then.” Hongjoong says apologetically. “Did Yeosang really not say anything?”
At least Hongjoong seems just as surprised that Wooyoung has been left out of the loop. It’s a small consolation for what is objectively a very large and growing issue. Wooyoung buries his face in his hands. He can’t look Hongjoong in the eye.
“Just tell me one thing.” Wooyoung begs, unwilling to answer the question for the third time. “Have you met him?”
Hongjoong hesitates before answering, which is really all the answer Wooyoung needed. Fuck, Yeosang introduced his boyfriend to Hongjoong? When he hadn’t even told Wooyoung he existed?
“It was only once. He wanted to meet me, and make sure it was okay that he was dating one of my ki- one of my members.”
Scratch that. Yeosang’s mystery man went out of his way to meet Hongjoong so he could ask permission to court Yeosang like a suitor going to his lover’s father? Wooyoung feels nauseous, but whether it’s because of how sickly cute that is or because Yeosang didn’t think it was important for this guy to meet Wooyoung is anyone’s guess.
“Can I stay here for a little bit?” Wooyoung asks meekly. He can’t go home like this. Can’t let Yeosang see him like this. Or any of the members, really, since they’ll ask what’s wrong and then Wooyoung will have to explain that he’s being a baby about his best friend growing up without him. But Yeosang especially.
“Sure, if you want.” Hongjoong replies. “If it makes you feel any better, I think Yeosang and his boyfriend are really sweet together. He takes care of Yeosang well.”
Great. “Please stop talking.” Wooyoung says. Hongjoong nods once, shuts up, and goes back to work.
---
So Hongjoong was a bust. Wooyoung thinks about asking one of the other members, maybe Seonghwa or San or Jongho, but if Yeosang really has told everyone except Wooyoung he might actually lose it. So Wooyoung anxiously waits for Monday to roll around when all the music shows are done for the week to see the one guy outside the group who will listen to him all the way through and (probably) not laugh at him.
“So Yeosang didn’t tell you about his boyfriend.” Yeonjun summarizes, when Wooyoung is done ranting. “And you’re mad, why? Because he doesn’t share every little detail of his life with you?”
They’re in the HYBE building, sitting on the floor of the TXT practice room. Yeonjun snuck him in under the premise of filming a tiktok together, or something. The fans love that shit. Wooyoung probably will film one with him later, maybe, if they have time to learn one of the viral tiktok dances when Wooyoung is done complaining about Yeosang.
“Excuse me,” Wooyoung says hotly, “This is a big deal! How would you feel if one of your members started dating behind your back?”
Yeonjun shrugs. “We still don’t know who Taehyun’s partner is, and I’m gonna be honest, it doesn’t really affect my quality of life.”
“Yeah, but this is Yeosang.” Wooyoung stresses. “We’ve known each other forever. We don’t hide anything from each other. I gave up everything to debut with him. And maybe I get why he wouldn’t tell me when they were only talking, but to have been dating for a few months and to not have said anything? We just don’t do that!”
Yeonjun frowns, and Wooyoung thinks maybe he shouldn’t have brought up leaving BigHit, and by proxy Yeonjun. Oh well, it’s too late for that now.
Thankfully, Yeonjun sidesteps the topic as gracefully as he can. “Glad to hear the two of you are still horrifyingly codependent. Maybe this could be a good thing, though? You have mentioned wanting Yeosang to make friends in other groups. Maybe he was just trying to figure out a way to break it to you without making you jealous. Although half a year is kind of a long time to still be figuring things out.”
There’s a lot to unpack there. “I’m not jealous.” Wooyoung says automatically. He’s not. He’s not in love with Yeosang. Anymore. Not that he ever was. Whatever. A dude can think his best friend is pretty without being in love with him.
Wait. “He’s an idol?” Pause. “You know who it is?” What. “Six months?”
Yeonjun flinches back. “I should not have said that.” He comments dryly. Wooyoung feels like a shark who just tasted blood in the water, his mouth salivating, gums aching.
“Who?” Wooyoung demands. Three months or six? Those are two very different numbers. “Is it one of your guys? Someone else we’re friends with?” He gasps. “Is Yeosang dating a BTS member?”
“What? No.” Yeonjun says. “Well. Maybe.”
“It’s not Jimin, is it?” Wooyoung whimpers.
Yeonjun rolls his eyes and grabs Wooyoung’s shirt to gently shake him by the collar. “Yeosang is not dating a BTS member. Forget I said anything.”
Wooyoung grabs Yeonjun by the wrists in return. “You can’t just say that and expect me to forget it. Why would Yeosang tell you and not me? Has it really been six months?”
“Yeosang didn’t tell me.” Yeonjun sighs, but doesn’t try to pull away. “I heard about it from the other guy’s side of the family. And I’m just guesstimating, I don’t remember the exact day they got together.”
It’s not entirely unbelievable. Yeonjun is friends with a good majority of the industry. The problem is that Wooyoung is also friends with a good majority of the industry, and he knows nothing about Yeosang’s boyfriend other than that he’s older and treats Yeosang well and likes using pet names and subscribes to ancient courting traditions as a method of romance.
That is quite a lot, actually. Maybe he can work with this.
“Okay fine, I won’t ask anymore.” Wooyoung says, his mind already whirring with possible candidates. “Do you really not care that Taehyun isn’t telling you who he’s dating?” He lets go of Yeonjun’s wrists, bringing them up to his mouth to kiss them in apology.
Yeonjun grimaces. “I care so much.” He says, mournfully. “But I can’t let that brat win.”
See? Yeonjun gets it.
---
Wooyoung gets back to the dorm later than he thought he would. After filming a half-hearted tiktok with Yeonjun, giggling the whole way through, the two of them had gone out for dinner together. Wooyoung doesn’t think the tiktok will make it past the BigHit social media regulations committee, not even with how unhinged the TXT tiktok page is, but it was a good excuse to see his friend again despite their busy schedules.
When he gets back to the dorms, however, Yeosang is conspicuously absent. The other members (excluding Hongjoong, of course) are scattered throughout the living room, watching a movie as they chat.
“Where’s Yeosang?” Wooyoung asks, when he’s changed out of his going out clothes. He takes a running start and hurls his body at San on the couch, who of course catches him with a little exhalation of air, hands already creeping around his hips.
“On a walk.” Yunho replies, listlessly. Wooyoung nods in acceptance, already digging his nose into San’s neck, where it is warm and safe, before the words fully process in his mind.
“Wait.” He jerks upright, barely missing San’s chin with the top of his head. “On a walk with The Boyfriend?”
The b-word inspires a mixed reaction from the rest of the group, but the overall consensus is loud. He sees surprise on Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho’s faces, so at least he’s not the only one who’s been left out. San’s hands don’t stop stroking up and down Wooyoung’s side, though, and Seonghwa just seems vaguely exasperated, so they probably already knew. That’s fine. Seonghwa is up there with Hongjoong in terms of leadership in the team, even without the official title, and Yeosang and San have been getting closer lately. That’s all good and well and fine. Wooyoung isn’t mad.
“Yes, he’s on a walk with his boyfriend.” Seonghwa replies. He already sounds tired, like he’s anticipating Wooyoung making this a big deal, so Wooyoung bites his tongue and doesn’t press. Even though it very much is a big deal, thank you very much.
But still. The rest of the group slowly turns back to the movie, dispersing into their own individual conversations. Yeosang having a boyfriend isn’t the craziest thing they’ve ever heard, Wooyoung supposes, but still.
Wooyoung waits until Seonghwa is asleep at his spot on the floor before he tilts his head up towards San’s ear and whispers to him in an attempt to not bother anyone else.
“How long have you known?”
San hums softly in reply, clearly not needing clarification. “Four months, maybe? Yeosang wanted some help picking out gifts. I know he was asking Seonghwa for advice on flirting and romance stuff, so he’s probably known for a little longer.”
Gifts. He could have asked Wooyoung for help with that. He could have asked Wooyoung for romance advice too, even if Wooyoung is more of a one night stand kind of guy and refuses to actually acknowledge the c-word when it comes to relationships.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Wooyoung asks. It’s the first time he’s voiced the question out loud in the four days since he’s found out, and it hurts more than he thought it would. Maybe he is jealous. Jealous that Yeosang told other members before he told Wooyoung, despite their history together. Did he think Wooyoung would tease him unendingly about a crush? Wooyoung knows when to back off, he swears. Does he just not trust Wooyoung enough?
San goes back to rubbing Wooyoung’s side. “I don’t know, baby.” He says, pressing a kiss into Wooyoung’s hair.
Shit.
It’s fine. Everything is fine. Wooyoung retreats to his room the second the movie is over, extricating himself from San’s grip and tucking himself into bed as quickly as he can. He hears Yeosang come back, hears the other members asking about The Boyfriend and whether Yeosang Had Fun, and stuffs his head under his pillow so he won’t be able to hear any of Yeosang’s answers.
If Yeosang doesn’t want him to know about this very big life update and milestone, that’s fine. It’s not like Wooyoung is his best friend or anything.
When Yeosang enters the room, Wooyoung is pretending to be asleep. By that he means he’s almost entirely asleep, with just enough coherence to recognize the door opening and closing.
It’s fine. Everything is fine. He feels a brush of skin against his bare shoulder, and a whisper of words that feel suspiciously like a goodnight. Wooyoung would think it’s a kiss, only Yeosang likes to pretend that he hates kissing Wooyoung, and always refuses to humor him when he’s sulking. So it can’t be.
Whatever. It’s fine.
---
Days pass. Wooyoung does his best to avoid the topic of Yeosang’s boyfriend, which sucks, because it’s somehow turned into the rest of the members’ new favorite topic. Even Seonghwa and San seem to be in on it, teasing Yeosang about cheesy dates and gifts he’s both given and received. Yeosang takes the teasing in stride, but shuts down the conversation before names or other incriminating information can be shared. Which is fine. Wooyoung has his list, he can figure it out on his own. He doesn’t need the rest of the members’ help.
He does try to treat Yeosang like normal. Maybe he’s a little less clingy, changing targets to Mingi instead. Which is cool, because Mingi loves cuddles, and would also never be able to get a boyfriend without the rest of the band finding out (mostly because they’re all waiting for him to make things official with Yunho). It’s less cool when Yeosang gives him suspicious looks, like he doesn’t know why Wooyoung is changing his behavior but is also too afraid to ask. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
It all comes to a head about a week and a half later. Another Thursday. Wooyoung is really starting to hate Thursdays.
Yeosang is dressed up, in a nice shirt and slacks and a cute jacket he definitely stole from Hongjoong’s closet. This is already enough to make Wooyoung suspicious, but what makes it worse is that Yeosang keeps checking his phone, like he’s checking the time. Or waiting for someone to text.
He’s definitely going on a date tonight. Wooyoung has plans with Changbin, but he texts that he’s gonna be late. He has to see what happens, and Changbin won’t care.
When Yeosang goes to buzz his boyfriend in and open the door, Wooyoung takes a seat in the living room as innocently as he can. Yeosang definitely gives him a strange look, but that’s okay. He doesn’t directly ask Wooyoung what he’s doing, which means he’s in the clear.
On the other side of the door is none other than SEVENTEEN’s Dino. He’s holding a bouquet of multicolored roses and a tiny yellow gift bag.
“Hi, Yeosang!” Chan greets, before poking his head into the rest of the apartment, spotting Wooyoung on the couch. “Hello, Wooyoung!”
“Hey.” Yeosang replies, sounding bemused. Wooyoung waves as Yeosang steps back to allow Chan into the dorm. “You got me flowers?”
“Yeah, Hyung insisted I get something. The perfume, too. He still feels awful about having to cancel.”
Yeosang laughs slightly. “I told him he doesn’t have to feel bad. I get it, these things happen.”
Chan shrugs. “Well, he’s not going to turn down a chance to spoil you, so you’re just going to have to accept it.”
“Give me a moment to put these in water and stick the perfume in my room.” Yeosang says, taking the flowers and bag from Chan. He bites his lip, seeming to hesitate for a moment, before continuing. “You can sit with Wooyoung in the meantime. He won’t bite unless you ask him to.”
Wooyoung jokingly gnashes his teeth at the cue, and Chan laughs before sitting politely next to Wooyoung on the couch as Yeosang disappears into the kitchen.
“So, where are you guys going?” Wooyoung asks. Chan is also dressed up, in a blazer and a nice watch, but based on their conversation and the fact that Chan neither is a Hyung nor has a “J” in his name, Wooyoung thinks it’s safe to assume that Chan isn’t Yeosang’s boyfriend. It’s probably someone else in SEVENTEEN, though, and Wooyoung stores this knowledge in the back of his mind for later. HYBE group, experienced idols, possibly a little more traditional in nature with their Gen 3 training. Check, check, check.
“Hyung made a reservation at this really fancy French place, but woke up with a cold this morning and didn’t want to spread it to Yeosang or the rest of you guys.” Chan explains. “He didn’t want to cancel the reservation, so he sent me in his stead, since the members like to annoy me about making more same-age friends.” He gestures with his hands as he talks, devoid of rings except for the one on his right pinky.
“Well, if you want more same-age friends, you should take my Kakao ID.” Wooyoung says, reaching for his phone. Chan looks comfortable in their living room, so much so that Wooyoung can’t imagine him wanting for friends. “You’re friends with Yeonjun too, right? I’m meeting up with Changbin later, but next time you should definitely come with us.”
Chan grins. “That sounds great.” He says.
Wooyoung nods. If there’s one thing he can do, it’s talk. “I’m friends with Seungkwan, too. I’m surprised we haven’t connected earlier.” If Wooyoung and Yeonjun know a good majority of the industry, then Boo Seungkwan definitely knows the rest. And then some.
Chan shrugs right as Yeosang exits his room. “I’m shy?” He offers, before laughing. Wooyoung laughs with him.
“Ready to go?” Yeosang asks. “Wooyoung played nice, right?”
Chan nods eagerly and stands. “Yup, Yup. You’ve trained him well.”
Wooyoung barks, once, just to see Yeosang and Chan giggle at each other. They take their leave, chatting comfortably with each other, and Wooyoung sits on the couch pondering the entire situation until Changbin texts him wondering whether he’s actually coming or not.
As Wooyoung rushes out of the apartment, he sees the roses on the kitchen table. Wooyoung thinks about the way the colors reflected off the light of Yeosang’s glasses, and the slight blush that appeared on his face when he first saw them. Maybe Yeonjun was right, in some ways. This could be a good thing: Yeosang, surrounded by friends and people who love him.
---
One of the world’s greatest mysteries is why K-POP boy group and international superstars SEVENTEEN don’t have seventeen members. Normally, Wooyoung would take the time to ponder this question. For now, however, he’s grateful, because that’s four less members he has to consider as Yeosang’s potential boyfriend.
He narrows it down to four. Five, if you consider that the “J” might refer to his family name, instead of his first name. Twelve, if you consider that the “J” might not be referring to a name at all, but Wooyoung can’t think about that, or he might just give up altogether. They’re all older, more experienced sunbae, who from afar seem like they would treat Yeosang well and use cute pet names with him. Maybe a little bit too old, since the youngest “J” option is still a good two-and-a-half years older than Yeosang, but hey. Yeosang once confided in Wooyoung about a crush on a (married) dance instructor when they were still at BigHit. It wouldn’t be completely out of nowhere if he was dating Yoon Jeonghan, born October 4th, 1995.
Wooyoung ponders his choices. He thinks about the hints Yeonjun dropped and the hints Dino dropped before ultimately deciding that to make a decision right now would be done in haste, and would not be as accurate as it could be.
So when Yeosang grabs his skateboard the next day and announces to the rest of the group that he’s going to the park to skate, Wooyoung jumps at the opportunity.
“Let me come!” He says, running to their bedroom to get a hat and mask. Yeosang, for some reason, waits patiently in the doorway for Wooyoung to return. It’s suspicious that Yeosang wouldn’t just leave Wooyoung behind, especially if he’s so intent on hiding his boyfriend.
What Wooyoung realizes quickly is that when Yeosang said he was going skating, that was not in fact code for meeting his boyfriend. Instead, he takes Wooyoung to an actual skate park, leaving him on a bench to the side while he does his thing. His skating thing. Whatever. Wooyoung knows nothing about skating, but after sitting on the bench watching Yeosang do tricks, he kind of feels like a mother watching over her child.
They stay at the park for an hour. Wooyoung finally caves and downloads candy crush on his phone, just for something to do. He has to start from the beginning, which sucks, but at least he can breeze through the early levels with minimal effort. Sweeping through fifty levels in one go also does amazing things for his ego.
“You don’t normally like to watch me skate.” Yeosang observes, as they’re walking back to the dorms.
Wooyoung shrugs. He can’t exactly admit that he thought Yeosang was meeting his boyfriend and was planning on crashing their date.
“I thought it’d be nice to spend some time together.” He says instead. “Maybe next time you can teach me a trick or something.”
There will be no next time. Wooyoung will make sure of that.
Yeosang laughs, probably imagining Wooyoung on a skateboard. Whatever. Elbow pads and knee pads and helmets exist for a reason, after all.
“This was nice.” Yeosang says, after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Wooyoung feels slightly bad about lying, but not enough to keep him from linking his arm through his best friend’s and swinging their bodies on the pavement as they walk.
---
Wooyoung’s feeling a little desperate at this point. A couple weeks pass, and Yeosang seems to be making a point to go only see his boyfriend when Wooyoung is already out with Yeonjun or Changbin, which also explains why Wooyoung hadn’t noticed anything before now. Whenever Wooyoung returns to the dorm, if Yeosang is still out with his boyfriend, the rest of the members tell him that Yeosang is “on a walk”. Like he’s just a little puppy-dog, being led around by the leash by his older and more successful (assumedly) boyfriend.
So. Yeosang is still being cagey, and no one else will tell Wooyoung who exactly the boyfriend is, so obviously the solution is to steal Yeosang’s phone and go through his messages again. So in a move almost exactly like the one that first started this whole mess, Wooyoung waits for Yeosang to leave the room to go shower before grabbing his phone and diving into the blankets. Thank goodness Yeosang never takes his phone with him to the bathroom, and always leaves it charging on his bed.
Under the safety of Yeosang’s covers, knowing he has at least ten minutes to figure this out, Wooyoung combs through Yeosang’s messages carefully. “J” talks about his day, asking Yeosang about his in turn. He sends pictures of pretty scenery, sends more pictures of stray cats, and sends even more pictures of his meals featuring what seems to be an excessive amount of chilis. Cute, and slightly terrifying, but not what Wooyoung is looking for.
He’s so engrossed in digging through “J”’s messages for hints of who he could be that he almost forgets to check Yeosang’s side of the conversation. Wooyoung sees his own name mentioned more than once, mentioned in anecdotes in what always seems to be a fond tone, which makes something glow warm in his chest, before he comes across some familiar looking hanja.
No, wait. It’s not hanja. The characters are similar enough, but no one uses hanja when texting. Plus, Wooyoung has seen these characters before, in comments left on tweets and posts from international Atinys. Gege, which translates to hyung. Yeosang’s Hyung.
The pieces are falling into place. Yeosang’s comprehension of Mandarin is about as good as Wooyoung's, which is essentially non-existent. If Yeosang is calling someone gege, that must mean that whoever he’s texting must be Chinese.
Which means his boyfriend must be none other than Moon Junhwi. “J”, for Jun.
Wooyoung is a genius. Weeks of gathering clues, putting the pieces together, sneaking around to get information. He feels proud of himself. Who knew he was this smart?
His internal celebration is cut short by Yeosang’s voice, coming from directly above him. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
Shit. Shit shit shit. Wooyoung guiltily looks up at Yeosang’s face, standing over the bed. He was so absorbed in figuring on Yeosang’s boyfriend (Moon Junhwi!) that he forgot to listen for the sound of the shower stopping. Or the door opening. Or Yeosang getting dressed.
Oops.
Still. Wooyoung refuses to be the victim in this situation. Or ever, really, but this is the perfect example.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Wooyoung grumbles, pressing himself against the wall so Yeosang can sit on the edge of the bed and take his phone back out of Wooyoung’s limp hands. “This could have been avoided if you had at least told me his name, you know.”
“Wooyoung,” Yeosang sighs heavily, running a hand through his freshly washed hair, not even bothering to pretend like he doesn’t know what Wooyoung is talking about, “You never asked. All this time, from when we were talking to flirting to dating, I was waiting for you to ask about it. Normally you can’t keep your nose out of my business, and it was like you didn’t even care. And I thought maybe you don't want to know. So I just figured I wouldn’t tell you about him unless you asked.”
Wooyoung’s jaw drops. He thought they were over this, that they had already established that Wooyoung cared and that Yeosang cared and that they both cared about each other very much the way best friends do even if they didn’t always show it.
But. “I did ask!” Wooyoung denies. “I asked when I saw Junhwi’s messages, and you said he was your boyfriend and that was it.”
“Yes, but you didn’t ask anything after that.” Yeosang says gently, his lack of denial confirming that Wooyoung had indeed gotten the name right. Score! “You didn’t ask what his name was or how I met him. Instead you went around asking everyone else but me, like you didn’t think it was even something worth having a conversation about. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
Wooyoung’s gasps as dramatically as he can. “That is so very not what was happening.”
“That’s how it felt to me.” He says, raising an eyebrow. Wooyoung hates the expression on his face, so he wraps his hand around the back of Yeosang’s neck and pulls him down so they can have this conversation on even ground, face to face.
“I thought you didn’t want to tell me.” Wooyoung fiddles with Yeosang’s blanket, his hands needing something to hold on to. “I thought you were leaving me out of the loop on purpose, and that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me you were dating someone new.”
Yeosang’s mouth makes an “O” shape, but he doesn’t say anything else. Great. Now they both feel bad about misunderstanding the other, which is pretty much the last thing Wooyoung wanted to happen. Misunderstandings and false assumptions made about the other person. He swears they got past this ages ago! But then again, being alone with Yeosang always makes Wooyoung feel like he’s seventeen all over again, unsure about everything in life except his best friend.
“I thought you remembered.” Yeosang says. He takes Wooyoung’s hands in his own, and Wooyoung takes advantage of the opportunity to fiddle with Yeosang’s fingers instead. “You asked before, right when Hyung and I started talking. I wasn’t ready to talk about it then, because I wasn’t sure if it was anything serious, and I liked having something completely to myself, so I asked you to ask again later. Only you never did.”
Wooyoung’s jaw drops. He thinks he remembers that, but, “That was over a year ago!” How long have they been dating? Hongjoong said three months at most, talking for nine before that, but Yeonjun said six. Shit. He should have put the pieces together sooner.
“I didn’t ask because you stopped being all blushy and cute pretty quick.” Wooyoung mourns the thought. It was actually really adorable. “I thought you guys stopped talking, so I didn’t want to bring it up in case there were hard feelings.”
Yeosang blushes, exactly as cute as he did back then. Nice. “I just got better at hiding it.” He says bashfully. “I thought it would help me avoid teasing, but I guess I didn’t realize how good I was at misdirecting you all.”
Well. There’s only one thing Wooyoung can say in response to that. “I’ll just have to tease you extra hard now, then, to make up for it.” He jabs Yeosang in the ribs for good measure, but Yeosang just rolls his eyes in response, which means he must be confident enough in his relationship to not mind a bit of friendly ribbing.
Damn. Junhwi must be someone pretty incredible, in Wooyoung’s opinion.
“How long have you guys been dating?” Wooyoung asks, patting Yeosang’s ribs twice in apology. Funny enough, this is what makes Yeosang squirm. “I don’t think I’ve actually gotten a concrete answer for that one.”
Yeosang smiles. It’s a gorgeous smile, not the least bit self-conscious, like he’s completely satisfied where he is in life right now.
“It’ll be six months in exactly a week.” He says. Wooyoung counts the days, and realizes that it’s a Thursday. Another one?
Well, he thinks, at this rate, he might grow to love Thursdays. Only for Yeosang, though.
---
Wooyoung spends the next two weeks asking as many questions about Moon Junhwi as he can. He asks them the second they pop into his head, no matter where they are, and the members quickly get tired of Wooyoung’s incessant questions. Yeosang doesn’t seem to mind, though, giggling as he answers each and every one.
Wooyoung learns that Junhwi doesn’t actually buy Yeosang flowers all that much, which explains why he’s never seen any in the common areas before. (The multi-colored roses and perfume is what happens when Lee Chan is set loose with an undetermined budget, apparently.) Instead, he likes to buy Yeosang snacks, or clothes. Things that he’ll actually use. Junhwi is a morning person and a cat person, which is where the pretty scenic pictures and the cat pictures come from. He also really likes spicy food, and Wooyoung stores that knowledge away just in case the day ever comes where he has to impress Yeosang’s boyfriend with his cooking.
Wooyoung also finds out that Yeosang is close with all of the SEVENTEEN members, and that they all know about his existence and approve of his relationship with Junhwi. This then leads to the realization that maybe Yeonjun is right about a lot of things, and Wooyoung is jealous. Not of Junhwi, or of Yeosang’s love, but that someone else might take his place as Yeosang’s best friend.
(The members don’t count. 8 makes 1 team, and all that.)
It’s a horrible realization. Wooyoung sulks for two whole days after, before Yeosang whacks him over the head and sneaks into his bed that night. Problem solved.
On Yeosang and Junhwi’s six month anniversary, Yeosang locks Wooyoung and Jongho out of their room for a two hour facetime call with his boyfriend, since Junhwi is abroad and therefore unable to meet in person. Wooyoung totally does not press his ear against the door and listen for signs that Yeosang might be having phone sex with his very attractive older boyfriend.
Hongjoong, who is actually home for once, drags Wooyoung back by the collar of his shirt and forces him into the living room to socialize and give Yeosang his privacy back. It’s only a little bit hot, and totally does not give Wooyoung a boner.
A week later (on another Thursday— what is up with Yeosang and Thursdays? Do the JunSang couple only have dates on Thursday, or something?) Yeosang tells the rest of the group that he’s going on a walk. Wooyoung doesn’t have any plans, but with the pointed way Yeosang stares at him afterward, he wonders if he should make some. Is Yeosang hinting that he should leave? After all, every date before this had been planned on a day when Wooyoung was already occupied, and he’s pretty sure “going on a walk” is code for “date with boyfriend”.
He thinks about texting Yeonjun, only his phone is stuffed somewhere into the couch cushions, and he can’t be bothered to find it. As it turns out, he wouldn’t have had the time anyway, since about five minutes after Yeosang makes his announcement there’s a suspicious knock at the door.
Yeosang leaps up off the couch to answer it. Wooyoung, whose head was lying on Yeosang’s lap, tumbles to the floor. Yunho, who was holding Wooyoung’s feet on his own legs, laughs at his misery.
Which is fine, for the most part. Wooyoung doesn’t have much dignity left to begin with.
It very quickly becomes not-fine when Yeosang opens the door to reveal none other than Moon Junhwi himself, mask and hat and all. Yeosang reaches up to pull Junhwi’s mask down, placing a kiss on his cheek, and it takes every single muscle in Wooyoung’s body to stop himself from squealing as loud as he possibly can.
“Hello, Yunho.” Junhwi greets when he enters, carrying what looks like a black plastic convenience store bag around his wrist. He stops for a moment, seemingly taking notice of Wooyoung still on the floor, craning his neck to be able to Junhwi’s face. “Hello, Wooyoung.”
“Hey.” Wooyoung replies, one second behind Yunho. It’s an odd first impression, but Junhwi lives with twelve other men. Everyone’s heard the stories about what the SEVENTEEN members get up to in their own dorms. He’s definitely seen worse.
“Hongjoong and Mingi are at the studio, but everyone else is in their rooms.” Yeosang is explaining. “Jongho’s in some video game tournament on his computer right now, otherwise I would drag him out to say hi.”
Junhwi laughs. “That’s alright, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet him in the future.”
Junhwi’s smile is just on this side of shy, and he rests a hand against the small of Yeosang’s back almost instinctively. He carries the same easy charm Dino does, a settled weight of knowing his place in the industry. It’s not the first time Wooyoung’s seen it, especially among older groups at music shows, but it’s weird to see in the middle of their dorm, tied so closely with one of their members. Wooyoung still feels raw at the edges sometimes, like he’s living a life that isn’t entirely his, an imposter among real artists and singers. But Junhwi walks and talks and breathes like he’s been doing this his whole life.
“Are you ready to go?” Junhwi turns to Yeosang, and Wooyoung immediately forgets his jealousy. It’s the way Junhwi keeps his hand pressed against Yeosang’s body, like he doesn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t connected to Yeosang at all times. He keeps looking down and smiling at Yeosang, like the very sight of his face is enough to make his day.
Maybe Junhwi isn’t all that bad.
“I’m ready.” Yeosang says, before turning to Wooyoung. “Wooyoung? You ready?”
Wooyoung opens his mouth and points at himself in confusion. “Me?” He asks.
Yeosang rolls his eyes. “Yes, idiot. I told you we were getting dinner together tonight, right?” Junhwi, still standing awkwardly between Yeosang and the door, laughs heartily.
Wooyoung vaguely remembers this. Maybe. Yeosang had asked when Wooyoung was half awake and zoned out of his mind, some time in between rehearsal and the gym and vocal lessons and sleep. Actually, it could have been any time at all.
Maybe Wooyoung doesn’t remember after all. Oops.
“Yeah.” He says, pulling himself off the ground as elegantly as he can. “Lemme find my phone.”
With Moon Junhwi comes a very nice car that takes them to a very nice restaurant with a private room that specializes in spicy noodles that set Wooyoung’s tongue on fire. Yeosang, who got his noodles with half the recommended amount of spice because he’s a coward with no one to impress, nearly falls off his chair in laughter with how red Wooyoung’s face turns. Junhwi just smiles kindly and orders him another soda.
Damned HYBE money. Is this the life he would have lived if he had debuted with TXT? Wooyoung should make Yeonjun buy him nice things more often.
As much as Wooyoung hates to admit it, because no one will ever be good enough for his best friend, Junhwi is kind of perfect for Yeosang. He listens attentively whenever Yeosang opens his mouth, slipping extra pieces of meat onto his plate when he’s not paying attention. He gently nudges Yeosang back into the conversation when he gets quiet, and seems to genuinely want to get to know Wooyoung, asking him about his life and interests and family.
It’s horrifying. How did Yeosang manage to get someone so good?
Junhwi, of course, pays the bill, but Wooyoung expects nothing less. The car is still there when they exit the restaurant, or maybe it’s a different car, but it takes them to a nearly empty cafe with expensive looking drinks and cute pastries and waiters who look like they know better than to ask questions.
Here, Junhwi orders them dessert, starts to talk more about himself. He talks about moving to Korea and leaving his career in China behind, wondering if he’s made the biggest mistake of his life. He talks about his baby brother and how much he loves him and misses him, and how he makes sure to call his mom at least once every two weeks. He talks about his members, and how he’d do anything for them. He talks about Yeosang, and how he’d do anything for him, too.
Wooyoung listens carefully before he realizes that Junhwi might in fact be trying to impress him. And, despite the age gap and the money and the amount of time they’ve each individually spent in the entertainment industry, they might not be so different after all.
The ride back to their dorms is playful and relaxed, Wooyoung half-asleep from stuffing himself with good food. He sits in the front, and watches through the rearview mirror as Yeosang and Junhwi hold hands across the middle seat. Junhwi fiddles with Yeosang’s fingers as they talk quietly, and Yeosang bonks his head against Junhwi’s shoulder when he says something funny. They look almost painfully good together, two of the prettiest people Wooyoung has ever met, which is kind of saying a lot, because Wooyoung works with pretty people on a daily basis.
When they arrive back at the dorms, Junhwi walks with them until they’re out of sight from the street, and hands Wooyoung the bag he was holding the whole time.
“Sorry.” He laughs awkwardly. “I couldn’t figure out a good time to give you this, but it’s for you.”
Inside the bag are a couple of skewers, two large strawberries on each of them, covered in a clear, hard, sugar. Each individual skewer is wrapped in a little bit of plastic, protecting the fruit inside, with cute little pink bows sealing them tight.
“It’s tanghulu.” Junhwi says, pronouncing the word carefully. “They’re kind of a New Year thing, or like a street food thing, but you’re supposed to give them to children to represent happiness. My dad used to make them for me when I was a kid, so hopefully mine didn’t turn out too bad.”
Wooyoung looks up from the bag in surprise. “You made these?” He asks. Junhwi does seem like the type of person who is secretly capable of several different things, but Wooyoung is surprised he would go through so much effort for him, even if he and Yeosang did seemingly plan this whole evening as a way for Wooyoung and Junhwi to get to know each other.
“Yeah.” Junhwi nods seriously. “Sangie mentioned you were good at cooking. I had to try and impress you somehow.”
Wooyoung is very impressed. Mostly that Yeosang compliments him behind his back, but also that Junhwi would be thoughtful enough to remember something like this and try to get on Wooyoung’s good side.
“They look good.” Wooyoung says honestly. “I haven’t ever had any before, but I’ll do my best to be a fair and honest judge.” He plays up the sass as best he can at the end of his sentence. It pays off, because both Junhwi and Yeosang laugh.
“Please enjoy.” Junhwi bows a little bit at the end of his sentence, which makes Wooyoung bow in return, politeness hardwired into him through years of training, and sets off a little bowing chain that doesn’t stop until Yeosang is physically pulling their bodies up and apart with his insane upper body strength.
Wooyoung unwraps one of the tanghulu and takes a bite, stepping back as much as he can so Junhwi and Yeosang can say their goodbyes in private. It’s good, sweet and tangy and fresh, settling into this stomach next to the noodles and cake he had earlier in the night. He feels a little bad for their trainers, but. Whatever. He’ll just spend a little extra time at the gym tomorrow.
Junhwi kisses Yeosang three times as they say goodbye. Once on the top of his head, his nose digging into Yeosang’s fluffy hair, once next to his eye where his birthmark lies, a careful press of lips that Yeosang closes his eyes for, and one final time on the mouth. Yeosang giggles, through it all, clutching desperately at Junhwi’s shirt, hands fisted in the cotton. It’s the same Yeosang who instinctively moves away whenever San’s lips get within arms length of his face, the same Yeosang who scrubs at his face vigorously after the kissing challenges variety shows like to enforce on them.
His cheeks are still red, even when Wooyoung drags him into the apartment. They sneak into their room together, Yeosang because he probably doesn’t want the other members to tease him, and Wooyoung because he definitely doesn’t want the other members to steal his candy.
“I like him.” Wooyoung says, tucked into Yeosang’s side an hour later.
Yeosang chuckles lightly, both of their bodies shaking with the weight of his laughter. “I thought you would.” He replies.
The clock ticks over into Friday, and Wooyoung falls asleep. Warm, full, and sated.