Chapter Text
^^ Kim Mingyu
All the times that Mingyu would yell would get him in trouble one day, but luckily for him, his neighbors either don't care or they are out of their own units whenever he happens to tune into a wrestling match. He invited Seungkwan and Hoshi over but they (dramatically) said that if they had to listen to him scream over the same pro wrestler, they’d probably walk out on him - and so they are at the local arcade bar waiting for him to finish up (to their chagrin the bar next door is actually playing the same wrestling match, so the pair venture further into the barcade, joking that it’s as if there were 30 Mingyus next to them).
Mingyu is 100% normal…maybe 80%…? Well, as normal as you can call someone that has an almost strange obsession with Jeon Wonwoo (real name) aka Black Leopard (wrestler name) ever since she started out in the wrestling biz. All the way from the lowest class, strawweight (115 lb/52.12 kg ) to her current featherweight (145 lb/65.7 kg ) - starting out as a college wrestler, she worked her way up the ranks (and Mingyu watched it all). He finishes watching the match and decides against meeting up with Hoshi and Seungkwan right away, sending a ‘gimme another hour, sorry’ text, which receives a couple of thumbs down reactions right away.
He goes over to the bathroom to freshen up, showering and shaving since he didn’t do it this morning before he had his work from home day as a contracted nutritionist. He knew he would have to shave again tomorrow morning before his full day as a physical trainer, but he wanted to look semi-presentable to his friends after nearly shouting his lungs out for the past hour.
Mingyu heads out, turning to lock his front door before he spins on his heel and nearly collides with someone- luckily the other person is much faster than he is, stepping to the side but quickly raising their arm out to support Mingyu before he nearly slams his face into the wall near his unit. Mingyu gasps, then sighs in relief, slumping for half a second before he steps back, both of his hands raised near his chest in a strangely defensive pose.
“Sorry! And thank you, I’m a little too clumsy for my own good sometimes unfortunately.” He laughs shyly but looks his savior in the eye, a dark gray hood pulled pretty low over their forehead and a black face mask and chunky glasses obscuring a large amount of their face.
The stranger nods and removes their hand before waving it once, already turning away from the elevator with a slightly muffled, “No worries, you’re good,” as they head down the same way Mingyu came from.
Mingyu’s already smiling gratefully, his neighbor definitely saved him from a bruised forehead or worse, a knocked out front tooth. He finally heads out of his apartment complex and towards the barcade, which is luckily not even a 5 minute walk from his place. He checks his phone to see if they gave any indication of where they were in the venue, a message from Seungkwan reading ‘in the back, near the pinball’ which luckily means Mingyu just needed to beeline to the back of the venue.
“Gyu! How was the match? I mean I want to ask sincerely, but the game was playing right next door so it wasn’t that much of a difference than being in your apartment." Seungkwan tilts her head towards the neighboring sports bar, the crowds now yelling over a soccer match that started right after the wrestling match completed. She would be more annoyed at the excited shouting, but to be honest, after being around Mingyu for so long, she has grown to become fond of the excitement (but mainly because it was one of her best friends).
Mingyu moves to sit in between Hoshi and Seungkwan, the usual reverse oreo effect with Mingyu being the tall “double stuf” filling right at the center.
“Match was great! You probably heard but Wonwoo won, again! She’s insane, I’m certain this is the year that the championships are in the bag.” Mingyu reaches over for the mango cart IPA waiting on the table for him, his regular drink at the arcade bar ever since it opened up a few months back, just when he moved into his current apartment.
“It would be weird if she didn’t make it this year, since she’s been in the game for a couple years now, she moved weight classes pretty quickly from what you told us.” Hoshi muses before he leans closer and clinks his glass with Mingyu’s, then Seungkwan’s and the three of them cheer to themselves.
Seungkwan flips her hair over her shoulder, the caramel brown spilling down her back before she smacks her free hand onto the table, startling the other two next to her.
“OH! Guys I have big news to share, mostly big news to Hoshi."
Hoshi raises a brow but motions for her to continue.
“So I have a really big assignment next week, you wouldn’t guess who-“.
“OMG IS IT WON-” Mingyu interjects.
“No, it isn’t Wonwoo, Gyu.” She deadpans. “I said big news for Hoshi, remember?” She looks expectantly at Hoshi, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Hoshi blinks a couple times before shrugging once.
“I can tell you want to mess with me so it might not even be that important of a pers-”
“Dino. I am interviewing Dino next week.” Hoshi puts his glass down onto the table before standing up suddenly and walking over to Seungkwan.
Calmly, but quickly, he removes the glass from her hand and also places it onto the table before he grabs both of her hands in his and is nearly kneeling on the ground in front of her.
“Seungkwan you know how grateful I am that we’re all best friends ever since college and I would literally do aaanything for you-”
“What do you want me to ask him to sign for you, Hoshi.” Seungkwan deadpans, but is completely serious about getting something signed by her friend’s favorite idol.
Hoshi runs back over to his seat, rummaging in his tote bag for something before he pulls out an entire album and a photocard that is in a very thick and heavy toploader protector and goes back to hand it to Seungkwan.
“If he’s able to sign these, I owe you my life and a forever 50% discount in my store.” Seungkwan rolls her eyes, a playful smile on her lips.
“Oh good, I’ve been wanting an excuse to get the Wondergirls DVD from their last tour, it’ll bring the price down a bit.”
Hoshi doesn’t even skip a beat before he blurts out, “Shoot, you can have it for free if you do this for me-” Seungkwan’s eyes widen but she sticks her hand out with a “You have a deal, Kwon Soonyoung.” (a serious deal requires government names apparently).
Mingyu watches the exchange fondly, they really haven’t changed as a trio since college, which is something that Mingyu is grateful for, especially with his move for his newest job being further from home, but closer to his college friends. He remembers the day that he got the job acceptance, a twinge of bittersweetness from realizing that he would need to travel further to see his family during long weekends and holidays but he would be in the same city as Seungkwan and Hoshi again, which was only the case when they were all rooming together in their college apartment years back.
Mingyu gulps down the last of his beer before leaning closer and wrapping his arms around both of his friends, squeezing them to his chest. “You know I love you guys soooo much-”
“Mingyu, oh god, okay we love you too, please don’t crush my windpipe with your bicep-” Hoshi gasps out as Mingyu releases him, the taller with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, hyung. Didn’t mean to hurt you, just wanted to hug.”
Hoshi sighs and pats the younger’s fringe before ruffling it and cooing, “I know, you oversized puppy. Just be careful, I need to be able to talk to customers and clients when I teach.”
Seungkwan giggles to herself, noting that the elder’s arm is heavy on her frame but the hug she felt was not nearly as painful as Hoshi’s. She moves a hand over to give a light squeeze to Mingyu’s bicep, a brow raising at the definition, “I mean, the nutritionist thing always kept you toned but adding the PT thing once you moved here is doing wonders, Gyu- like look-” She tilts her head down, her eyes glancing up to meet Mingyu’s, “your bicep is literally the size of my head, that’s crazyyyy-” Hoshi barks out a laugh, the other two peering at his curiously. He shakes his head, a hand raising in front of him a little, “Nothing, it just looks like we’re really a throuple or something, wouldn’t that be something.”
“Hoshi, you’re gay. Mingyu is close but isn’t my type, and I am definitely not Mingyu’s type. We talked about this before-” Seungkwan groans and flops over, dramatically laying in Mingyu’s lap.
Mingyu snorts out a laugh and puts his hand on top of Seungkwan so his palm covers nearly her entire face. “Oh I’m close to your type? That’s wild because I thought I was the full package over here-” Seungkwan huffs under his palm before shaking it off and sitting up. “You are, but not for me, dude. Don’t get me wrong, whoever gets to date you next is gonna love the hell out of you, but I’m fine.”
Hoshi chimes in, “You aren’t my type either but I would definitely smash.” Mingyu laughs loud and unreserved before he waggles an eyebrow at his friend, “Oh word? When and where?”
Seungkwan waves her arms in between them, obvious to them that she’s pretending, “Y’all are nasty, no rights. Rights revoked. I’m leaving-”
The night continues like this, the banter and the laughter seeming to echo in the barcade, despite it being filled nearly to the brim on a Friday evening.
^^
Mingyu’s days aren’t always busy, sometimes his clients cancel on him when he’s sitting in the online waiting room and he has some more time to himself to work on reports and workout plans for his side job. He usually doesn’t mind when he is at home, but the day that nearly all of his clients cancel minus one (bless you, Gertrude) he is at his small office at the hospital where he is contracted at. He tries to be positive, but it’s hard when he gets paid by the client so he gets a no show/cancellation fee but really the 25% on each person starts to add up. He decides that with his newly freed up schedule, he is going to go to his favorite coffee shop and get a pick me up before going home and getting some chores done. Before noon hits, Mingyu is striding to the closest coffee shop, thankfully equidistant from his apartment complex and his work, the no car life is really doing it for him.
As he comes up to the counter, Mingyu smiles at a familiar face, “Hansol! I forgot you work Mondays sometimes, it's so nice to see you.”
The barista at the register smiles widely, his gums peeking through, “Mingyu, hey bud! The usual, I’m guessing?”
“Oh yes please, I really need something, all my clients basically canceled on me today.” Mingyu huffs as he pays, sliding over and keeping the barista company as the shop is mostly empty in the middle of the day.
“Damn, that’s tough. Sorry to hear that, man. I hope the rest of your day is okay at least?” Hansol quickly goes through making a large iced Americano, sliding a cardboard sleeve on it before handing it to Mingyu.
“Oh god, Hansol you’re a savior thank y-” Mingyu fumbles the cup, the contents spilling to the ground and the cup seeming to fall in slo mo as he yelps out an “OH MY GOD IM SORRY-”
Hansol laughs and pulls out another drink, seemingly out of nowhere. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll clean it, you go on with your day.” Mingyu smiles gratefully and hugs the barista over the counter before he grabs a handful of napkins and presses them to the ground where the coffee and ice were.
“I’ll help this much, sorry again Hansol. Thank you for the backup drink, you’re the best!!”
~ Jeon Wonwoo
Wonwoo is the last person you would think would become a micro-celebrity, she really doesn’t socialize or party too much. I guess that’s why the wrestling persona worked in her favor, she’s able to get out of her own head and be someone else for a few hours- albeit through hand to hand combat. She lives simply outside of her wrestling work, physical training to keep her in tiptop shape for fights, feeding and playing with her cat (Choco, like Chococat), streaming when she wants to play videogames (in her full makeup, of course), [she would honestly much rather be without her contacts and makeup for her very limited personal time though, her black hair swept away from her face and stylised fringe pinned out of the way- although she does like how pretty she feels whenever there are interviewers that compliment her], order takeout, rinse and repeat.
So when she goes to the local coffee shop to get some emails answered and to be in a new spot that wasn’t her gaming desk for once, she is interrupted by a “OH MY GOD IM SORRY-” and a very calm barista somehow giving a new drink to the-
‘Oh- he’s cute… I wonder if he’s taller than Coups.’ Wonwoo muses to herself, trying to size up the loud but weirdly adorable man to another wrestler that has matches in the same area as her, since she was sitting at a far corner of the cafe that was elevated. Her gaze follows the man as he stoops down and smacks a clump of napkins to the ground to probably help the barista get a head start on the cleaning, and then on his retreating figure as he slips out of the shop.
Right as the stranger leaves, a familiar face slides into the coffee shop, her face confused at the pile of napkins on the ground by the cash register. The woman looks around the shop before she notices Wonwoo’s hand waving her over. “Jun, over here-”
Jun perks up and walks towards where Wonwoo is sitting in a booth, her head cocking towards the cash register, “Now what is that mess over there?” Her eyebrow raises, her gaze sharp. Wonwoo notices that Jun’s hair is a newly dyed almost platinum blonde, the locks pulled back into a low ponytail and tied off with a small blue bow.
Wonwoo looks away from her manager’s hair before she lets out a snort and starts to tell Jun about ‘the cutest but clumsiest dude she has ever seen’. After the story Jun looks at her curiously before she takes out an iPad and opens a few documents with notes in them. “Alrighty, so I know you usually hate talking business when out and about, but the shop is pretty much empty so we don’t need to worry about anyone recognizing you I think.. I mean especially with these.” Jun reaches over to lightly tap the side of the black glasses frames, to which Wonwoo makes a face.
“I haven’t had the chance to update my prescription, Jun- don’t make fun of me.” Wonwoo huffs but leans closer to the iPad to peek at her manager's notes. There are different categories for marketing strategies, brand collaborations, upcoming fights, etc etc. Wonwoo is so glad that she doesn’t have to track anymore.
…
Way back when, Wonwoo was just an amateur wrestler, trying it out in actual non-school club settings once she was close to graduating from her Computer Science degree. Her college roommate, Junhui, was an exchange student in their first year of college - they didn’t really get to talk at first, their schedules never matching up, but Junhui was in the dorm one night, a badly scrawled mess of ‘Hi, my name is Jun’ on a whiteboard on Wonwoo’s desk. Wonwoo found out that Jun was too nervous to say that she was still learning English, but wanted to make sure she could at least introduce herself properly- and from there they gradually became best friends. From study sessions to movie dates, to sitting in the dark and talking about their greatest fears and dreams, they had done all of that and more by the time their second semester together had passed.
Wonwoo came back from a match one night, Jun was already waiting for her at their dorm since the younger had texted her, and Wonwoo’s face was a) sweaty and b) very very in shock.
Jun looks up from the video she’s watching on her phone, her head cocking to the side in confusion. “Wonwoo? What's up, are you good?”
“Jun.. you would not believe this, I.. won. I actually won!”
“Oh? Oh!! Your wrestling competition? Wait, I thought you said there were like 5 other people that competed in it..?” Wonwoo just nods her head, her hand coming up to show the shabby trophy in her left hand.
Junhui’s eyes widen and she climbs off her bed to give her friend a hug. “Oh my god! You did it, Wonwoo! That’s insane!!”
They celebrated for the rest of the night with some stored soju that they definitely were not supposed to have in the mini fridge that they definitely didn’t own that was stored under one of their desks, covered smartly with a moving box so it just looked like stored items.
~
Before Wonwoo knew it, she was competing more and doing better and better at her matches. One day she gets approached by a wrestling league recruiter, who gives her an offer (her second job offer, actually, after the software engineering internship turned into an entry level job she got the day before), that looks way too good to be true.
She goes back to her apartment to find Jun at her desk studying for an upcoming final before coming up and tapping her lightly on the shoulder.
“Hey, sorry to bother you.. Can I ask you a question, Jun?” Jun turns her head at the touch and nods once, smiling easily at her friend for, at that time, now 3 and a half years.
“No bother at all, what’s up?”
“So you know that I got that software engineering job offer that I accepted right,” Jun nods again, “Um so.. I just won another competition, and an agent or something gave me an offer for some wrestling league? And I think the schedule would actually work fine with my full-time job..”
Jun raises a hand to stop her, her brow quirking “Are you telling me you got two job offers within a day of each other, Jeon Wonwoo?” Wonwoo nods, a bit sheepish now that she realizes that she probably sounds like she's rubbing it in the face of someone that hasn’t gotten any word back from any of her applications.
Jun sighs before holding a hand out, her fingers wiggling until the other hands her the documents. The elder scans them fairly quickly, only stopping to take a sip of her water before she hands the document back.
“This all looks to be in order, I think you would be in the clear to accept it if you wanted to.” Jun smiles again before turning back in her chair to start studying again.
Wonwoo stands there, a bit dumbstruck with her glasses sliding off the bridge of her nose a little from the sweat there, before she reaches up with her free hand to tap Jun’s shoulder again.
“Jun, one more question-”
“I don’t know all the legalities so if you wanted insight on that you might need to look it up-”
“Do you want to be my manager?” Jun looks at her friend again, her head turning so fast Wonwoo swears she heard a crack from her friend’s neck.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said, I need a manager for my wrestling stuff. Do you want to do it? I would be able to pay you.” Jun is quiet for a few seconds before she lets out a semi-loud cheer, a quiet bang on the wall nearest to her reminding her that it was pretty late.
“My first job offer! Oh Wonwoo you’re gonna be managed so hard you won’t need to worry about anything-”
And as Wonwoo became more successful in her wrestling career, she was able to keep paying Jun more and more over time.
~
After the coffee shop incident, Wonwoo starts to notice the very handsome and very tall stranger everywhere. When she sees him in the mailroom of her apartment complex (which she calls Encounter 2, Encounter 1 was the coffee shop), she connects two and two that this was the guy that she saved from smashing his entire head into a wall a week or so ago.
Luckily, Wonwoo was done up from a business meeting with Jun and a potential brand collaboration, she’s dressed smartly in a cool lavender sweatsuit which Jun told her was very in-fashion and stylish, and her makeup is a soft and neutral with a light pop of mauve in her blush and lipstick. She enters the mail room area and goes to her box, the door hiding her face as she ducks lower to think- her brain is wracking about what she should even say to the guy (she affectionately has dubbed him ‘Americano’ in her mind and in conversation with Jun). ‘Hi nice to see you again, glad you’re not stumbling into a wall? I haven’t tried an americano before, do you recommend it? I have a cat named Choco, do you want to see her?’ Right when Wonwoo decides she’s just going to stick with a simple, ‘Oh hi, it’s funny seeing you here’, she looks over the mailbox door to see that Americano is gone.
Encounter 3, Wonwoo is coming back from a workout session, her makeup still intact since she had to do a test for a new concealer she wanted to try for a match and a cute matching workout set from a recent brand collab, when she spots Americano himself with his back to her as he enters the elevator. She calls out for the door to be held, and the man does, his eyes trained on his phone.
“Oh, thanks-” She looks towards the guy, his eyes still not meeting hers, and he replies with a “No worries” and zones into his phone. Wonwoo only then notices that his earbuds are in and she can’t help the frustrated pout in her lip when she leans away. She gets so much attention when she’s in the ring and yet she’s pouting over some guy that doesn’t want to look her in the eye? Wonwoo wonders what floor the other lives on, not in a creepy way, just curious- but she doesn’t find out because the man gets off the elevator on a lower floor where the laundry rooms are.
“Goodbye handsome man, see you maybe never-” Wonwoo huffs to herself, if she had a tail it would be drooping. What Wonwoo didn’t see was that the man was actually watching a play by play of her match from a couple days before, the commentator loud in his ears as he soaks in all of the details of the match.
Encounter 4 is somewhere pretty random, in Wonwoo’s opinion. She’s at her local sports supplier store to grab a new kettlebell (a higher weight than the one that came in her at-home set), but has to head to the customer service desk to see if they have a certain brand (she likes it when her workout stuff matches, sue her) and lo and behold, Americano is at the front of the line talking to the sales rep. She can’t help but be a little nosy and she listens in on the conversation, her head lowered as she scrolls on her phone, her cropped sweatshirt hood pulled up and her airpod case (a little black cat one to match her Choco) strapped to a belt loop in her ripped jeans.
“Ah, yeah the order should have come in today- it should be under _____.”
Wonwoo can’t make out if Americano said a name or not but the conversation is wrapped up after that, the sales rep grabbing a package from behind the counter with both of their arms wrapped under the box to hand it over to the other. Americano’s viewpoint is obscured as he turns and heads towards the door, Wonwoo notices that the man is wearing a cropped tank top and she snaps her head forward to talk to the sales representative next, her face hopelessly heating up at the sight.
Encounter 5, or the time that Wonwoo is actually unprepared to be perceived is of course the first time that Americano actually makes eye contact with the unsuspecting Wonwoo. It’s a very late Friday evening and Wonwoo was so tired after coming from a match plus an interview (for the winner, she might smugly add), she didn’t bother to scrub off her stage makeup with a wipe like she usually would. Jun calls after Wonwoo, reminding her to “take care of her skin for the cameras but also for future her” and Wonwoo raises her arm limply in acknowledgment as she heads into her apartment lobby.
Luckily, there is never anyone really around on Friday evenings, older residents typically tucked into bed and younger residents probably out bar hopping or clubbing, so Wonwoo heads straight for the elevators, her eyes downcast as she scrolls passively on her phone. Right as she leans back against the elevator rails, someone’s hand pushes through the line of the elevator doors, which forces them open and jolts Wonwoo to look up in surprise. Oh fuck, of course it has to be him.
As if to taunt her, Americano, in the flesh, looking her in the face, his own cheeks flushed and his eyes a little dazed.
“Um-” Wonwoo starts, before she’s cut off by a -
“Oh WOW! You have a really good Black Leopard cosplay on. I’d ask for a picture but I am so sloshed, just trying to get back to my apartment.” Americano clambers into the elevator before squinting at the panel of floor buttons.
“I don’t remember pressing my floor.. Oh well, sorry for all the noise, miss. My friends tell me I get super loud when I’m drunk, and I’m already pretty loud.” The man barks out another laugh, and Wonwoo can’t help but laugh in reply.
They ride up in the elevator in almost silence, the only noise coming from the man’s phone as he rewatches his social media story from the sound of it, the cut off yells and singing an indication that he just came back from a nightclub.
The elevator dings and they both look up as the doors slide open, Americano has some conscious thought to wave at the other person, to which Wonwoo meekly returns. Almost as if on cue, the man’s foot catches on the edge of the floor carpeting and he is sent tumbling to the floor with a loud thump and a groan. Wonwoo quickly comes up next to him, kneeling with a hand reaching out to check the other’s head for any injury, and she sees no obvious signs of a concussion (which she was unfortunately quick to spot from experience).
“You alright there? How much did you even drink?” Wonwoo’s hand lingers at the other’s chin, tilting it up a little bit to see if the other could make eye contact.
Wonwoo is glad that her face is caked with makeup, because it would have been a little too obvious how much she flushes when the guy’s eyes meet hers, even if he did just fall on his face from the apartment carpet.
“Uhhhhh… I can’t remember honestly, I got treated because I won a bet and also I was watching the Black Leopard match so I lost track of how much I was having…" The man unconsciously leans into the girl’s palm, his drunk brain telling him that her skin was soft and she was nice and smelled like lilacs, so she must be safe.
Wonwoo sighs, and against the alarms’ in her head’s wishes, she reaches to carefully pull the man up to stand, her arm wrapping around his waist to steady him. “Alright bud, let’s get you to your place. Can you tell me the apartment number? I promise I’ll just get you home, no funny business.”
Wonwoo takes him over to his door and she politely looks away as he enters in his keypad code before she carefully steps inside and brings the man along with her, his weight nothing too bad, if she could estimate, it was close to her PR for bench press.
Americano obediently follows the stranger’s lead, his feet stumbling over each other as he kicks his sneakers off and the other does the same to her shoes. She brings him over to his couch and carefully lays his head on the closest pillow, his eyes already starting to close. Wonwoo sighs quietly to herself, happy with her probably last encounter with the guy. Suddenly, the man’s eyes open and he is looking up, up at her, somehow making her rooted to the spot before she steps away.
“You’re really pretty, Black Leopard cosplayer. My name is Mingyu, and I am a big fan of Black Leopard, so for me to think you’re just as pretty as her is a big deal.” Americano, now Mingyu, to Wonwoo, says this so matter of factly that it pulls a loud laugh from her lips, her head thrown back. As she comes down, she smiles widely and crouches down so that they are semi-eye level.
“Ah, Mingyu. Nice to meet you. Not sure if this would be weird for you, or if you’d remember anything. But I’m not a cosplayer, I’m actually Black Leopard. The name is Wonwoo, but you probably already knew that.” Wonwoo’s eyes twinkle with something mischievous and Mingyu blinks back dumbly, the words seeming to sober him up a little.
“You… oh you’re funny… I must be having a dream then, a really good and realistic dream… yeah. Um. Dream Wonwoo, if you could get me a glass of water for later, I would really appreciate it. Um… goodnight?” Mingyu is now holding a pillow to his chest, his brain foggy but starting to clear, but clearly not completely as he’s ordered (even the dream version of her) The Black Leopard to get him water.
Wonwoo snorts and stands up, complying to the request by grabbing a cup that was on Mingyu’s counter and filling it with water, before setting it down at the coffee table. She notices that the man has already started to drift off, but she doesn’t really mind, taking the time to carefully toe her shoes back on and shut the door behind her, allowing herself one last peek at the man asleep on his couch, who is apparently a big fan of hers.
~
The next morning comes and Wonwoo wakes up early, as usual. She luckily doesn’t have any schedules for the day but she has some personal errands to run, so she piles her hair high on her head in a bun and slips into some comfy sponsored athleisure that she was kindly gifted by a sponsor. She can’t help but think about Americano - now Mingyu, and she finds herself heading to the coffee shop where the fated Encounter 1 occurred.
“Ah, hey- the usual iced coffee for you?” Hansol, the barista that happened to be the main employee that Wonwoo interacted with greeted her, his eyes kind and his hair a warm auburn.
“Hi Hansol, yes please! Also I’m not sure if this is some kind of privacy violation…” Wonwoo starts, noticing the other raise his brows in curiosity, “But you know that guy, um.. Mingyu? The one that had that crazy spill a week or so ago?” Hansol nods with a quick ‘yup’ and Wonwoo continues, “Could I grab one of his order?” (she doesn’t add on that she already knows his order, a large iced americano, since the other probably knows it just as much as she does).
Hansol says nothing but nods, already adding it to her tab and turning to make the drink after Wonwoo pays. Wonwoo waits on the side patiently, offering Hansol a small smile as he finally gives her a “Say hi to him for me, I hope he doesn’t spill this one.” Wonwoo laughs and raises her elbow in a semblance of a wave since her hands were now full with both drinks before heading to another stop, mentally checking her to dos in her brain as she does so.
^^
Mingyu wakes up confused but it morphs into relief as he realizes that he is safe in his own apartment, his eyes trailing over to the water cup on the coffee table, which seems to jog some of his memories.
…
After coming up in the elevator with a very pretty cosplayer, he had fallen and was helped up by her. He remembers thinking that she was very strong, and that was saying something since he worked with so many people in his personal training gig.
Mingyu leaned comfortably into the stranger’s frame, and in the back of his mind he realized that he wouldn’t mind if this pretty savior did try anything funny with him. He remembers replying with the apartment number, that information pretty ingrained in his head as Hoshi and Seungkwan made him repeat his address back to them 10 times before they let him get into his Uber home, just in case.
A flurry of conversation comes to his mind, something about her and Black Leopard, but the details were escaping him in his hungover state. Right as Mingyu is about to lay back down, he hears a quick knocking on his door. He grunts as he pulls himself up off the couch, and looks down into the door’s peephole to see who could be visiting him on a Sunday morning, maybe it was Soonyoung or Seungkwan, checking to make sure he got back alive.
.
The door opens, a little too quickly, which catches Wonwoo off guard and she steps back a little, the drinks in her hands getting jostled. In front of her, now fully awake and not drunk (but maybe a little hungover) is Mingyu, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
“You’re… wait-” Mingyu starts, his head starting to spin from how quickly his face flushes.
Wonwoo smiles despite herself, her hands raised in an offering. “Hi again. I have an iced Americano for you, and some Mexican food. If you felt like eating something after being shit faced last night. I can also just leave it with you, since you look like you might puke…?”
“No! I mean, please, you can come in if you like, if you’re not in a hurry..” Mingyu steps aside, his arm raised towards his living room, the shakiness in his limb betraying him. The other, now registering in Mingyu’s mind as The Wonwoo, The Black Leopard, the Not Dream Person that helped him home, offers a smile, stepping inside the other’s apartment with bags and drinks in tow.
~~~~~