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The moment Wonwoo agreed to this date, he knew it was going to be a disaster.
He sits on his bed and watches as Soonyoung goes through the clothes in his closet, humming in disapproval at every article of clothing he comes across; Jihoon sits on the beanbag chair he dragged from his room and is watching him in amusement while Junhui is leaning against the door of his room, popping pieces of chips inside his mouth.
“Damn it Wonwoo,” Soonyoung grumbles, “don’t you have any clothes here that aren't black?”
“Of course I do.”
Soonyoung turns his head to look at him over his shoulder. “Well where are they?”
“In my drawers.”
Soonyoung sighs and shuts his closet, walking to the drawer near his door and pulling it open. He goes through the colorful set of clothes, checking to see which is suitable for his date.
Wonwoo sighs. Soonyoung acts like this is his first date and not Wonwoo’s. Well, he wouldn’t mind if he took his place instead but he knows Jihoon will throw a fit about it. So he just sits there and lets Soonyoung do what he does.
“Aha!” Soonyoung whips out a plain white dress shirt and a knitted cardigan.
Junhui snorts. “All that for a white shirt?”
Soonyoung laughs and points at him. “Au contraire, Wen Junhui. This is not just any white shirt, do you know how wide Wonwoo’s shoulders look in this white shirt?” Junhui’s face morphs into understanding as he nods. “Exactly! Also, he can roll up the long sleeves and show off his strong forearms.” Wonwoo’s cheeks redden at the comment. “Oh, and here’s a cardigan if you get cold.” He grins, his eyes turning like crescent moons.
Jihoon hums. “Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of his date keeping him warm by wrapping his arm around him or offering him his jacket if he’s bringing his own?”
Wonwoo shakes his head. “Oh Ji, no, you know I easily get cold.”
“But this is for romance, Wons!” Soonyoung exclaims. “He’ll probably bring his own and offer it to you.” He says before he returns the cardigan back into his drawer.
Wonwoo sighs.
“What time is Seungcheol-hyung picking you up anyway?” Junhui asks.
“Half an hour.” He stands up and grabs the clothes from Soonyoung and goes to change in the bathroom.
As he puts on the dress shirt Soonyoung gave him, he thinks about how he ended up going on a date with Choi Seungcheol.
Choi Seungcheol is Jihoon’s senior at the recording company he works at. Coincidentally, he also graduated from the same university Wonwoo and his friends graduated from. From what Jihoon has told him, Seungcheol can be a bit of a hothead sometimes, patience wearing thin easily especially when it comes to deadlines and unmet duties cascaded throughout his team but he does it because he worries about his team and cares about them striving to do their best.
(A true Leo, Junhui comments.)
Now, Wonwoo would like to say he doesn’t know how he ended up agreeing to the date let alone how he was even asked. He knows that Jihoon and Soonyoung—who knows Seungcheol because he brings Jihoon lunch to work—brought it up to him one day at the bar when he was drowning in his sorrows. He sighed, defeated, and nodded “sure, why the hell not?” before rushing to the nearest comfort room to throw up.
After that, Jihoon passed him Seungcheol’s number and they’ve been messaging back and forth about the date for the entire week.
A few minutes later he comes back, wearing the dress shirt, having tucked it in his jeans to accentuate his trim waist then rolled the sleeves up to his elbows to show off his forearms and give the dress shirt a bit of a casual look. He looks at his friends who nod in approval.
“Okay, now let’s do hair.” Soonyoung announces.
Wonwoo reaches up to run his hand through his hair. “What’s wrong with it?” He asks as he takes a seat on his bed while Soonyoung grabs hair wax.
“It looks fine, don’t worry, but we can make it look better.” Soonyoung placates after which he runs his waxed hands over Wonwoo’s hair, molding them into a hairstyle he thinks fits him—with additional comments from Junhui and Jihoon. Once he’s satisfied, he pulls away and the three of them nod in approval.
“Handsome.” Junhui comments.
Wonwoo stands up to look into his mirror and move his head from side to side. The first thing he thinks of when he sees how he looks is that he looks clean; his hair isn’t sticking to his forehead as usual and it’s artfully waxed away from his face and giving him a clean cut look.
Junhui’s right, he does look handsome.
“Glasses or no glasses?” He asks but before any of his friends can say something, he puts his glasses on. “I don’t know why I even asked. I planned on wearing them anyway.”
Him and his friends laugh. Just then, the sound of the front door downstairs opens then closes and they all stop. Junhui, who’s still by the door, peeks out and looks down at the stairs below and his eyes widen.
“What, who is it?” Wonwoo asks.
Before Junhui can answer, a tall figure walks in.
Kim Mingyu. The last person Wonwoo wants to see right now.
Kim Mingyu and Jeon Wonwoo have been friends since forever. The pair met in daycare when Wonwoo wanted to play with the Lego blocks but saw Mingyu was already playing with them and the latter seeing him frown at not having the chance to play, offered if he wanted to play with him instead.
Despite the one year age difference and Wonwoo being a grade above Mingyu, the two of them mostly act like there’s none of that at all. Mingyu still refers to him as ‘hyung’ most times but the way he treats and cares about Wonwoo, it sometimes seems like he’s the older one out of the two.
Which poses a problem for Wonwoo.
As through the years of being best friends with Mingyu, he slowly developed feelings for his friend. But who wouldn’t? Mingyu’s smart, caring, kind, and handsome—and Wonwoo should know as he’s been a witness to everything there is to know about Kim Mingyu.
He’s seen it all: Mingyu happy, sad, angry, joyful—
In love and heartbroken.
He’s seen and bears witness to Mingyu having crushes and falling in love (as he says) for the first time. His first crush, his first kiss, his first girlfriend, his first date, his first time (as much as he loathed hearing every single detail of it), his first heartbreak—he was there through it all.
So he knows. Nothing will ever happen between the two of them.
What a cliche, right? Falling in love with your straight best friend. Wonwoo scoffs when he thinks about how he could live in such a damn movie.
But then university happened—last year to be exact.
Wonwoo was in his last year of university, about to graduate and go off into the real world while Mingyu still had a year left in his course. They were doing so well—roommates and best friends and Wonwoo doing his almighty best to hide his unrequited feelings for Mingyu.
Until Mingyu came out to him.
He can remember Mingyu telling him he might be bisexual and how he was so scared to tell Wonwoo because he didn’t know how he’d react (which is insane since when they were in high school, Wonwoo came out to him) but all of those worries stopped when Wonwoo leaned over to wrap his arms around Mingyu, hugging him so tight and burying his face in the crook of his neck—something they haven’t done since they were children.
And then a while later, Mingyu told him about this guy he’s been seeing and that’s when Wonwoo knew. It doesn’t matter that weeks later, Mingyu cried to him about how he and the guy called it quits because no matter what, Mingyu won’t ever like him, and that’s why he needs to move on.
“Hey hyung.” Mingyu greets, wearing a navy sweater that makes him look so soft and huggable, but pauses in his steps when he sees Wonwoo. Mingyu stares, his eyes running up and down Wonwoo’s form, staring so long that it’s making Wonwoo want to hide.
“Mingyu, what are you doing here?” Jihoon asks, eyes trying to meet Soonyoung’s but his eyes are on Junhui, whose eyes are on Wonwoo, who’s staring at Mingyu, unblinking.
“I’m picking you up for the movies.” Mingyu says matter-of-factly. He tilts his head to the side, all puppy-like. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“He’s going on a—”
Wonwoo cuts Soonyoung off. “Min, what do you mean? I don’t remember us going out today.”
Mingyu looks briefly confused before he takes out his phone and waves it. “Hansol texted me, he said that his brother is going to the movies with you and invited me to come along.”
You could hear a pin drop with how the room fell into silence at that.
“What.” Wonwoo blurts out.
Mingyu nods. “Yeah, he said you guys are going to see the movie we’ve been wanting to watch and Seungcheol-hyung told him to come along if he wanted to.”
That surprises Wonwoo even more. “What.” He repeats.
Mingyu nods. “Yeah, now come on. The show is at seven, hyung’s got the tickets so we gotta go now.” As Wonwoo goes to leave the room, Mingyu stops him. “Aren’t you bringing a jacket? You get cold easily.”
Wonwoo waves him off. “It’s fine.”
Mingyu stops him. “I didn’t bring a jacket with me.”
Wonwoo groans and grabs him by the arm. “It’s fine, Mingyu, let’s go.” He turns to his friends and widens his eyes, shaking his head as if telepathically asking ‘what the fuck is going on?’ to which all three simultaneously shrug their shoulders in confusion before waving him goodbye.
As soon as they leave the house and get into Mingyu’s car to drive to the movie theater, Mingyu comments, “I didn’t know you and Seungcheol-hyung knew each other.”
“Yeah, Ji introduced us a while back when we went out for drinks.” He looks down and starts fiddling with his fingers to do something other than have this conversation. He wants to whip out his phone and text Seungcheol, ask him about the change in plans, but Mingyu might notice so he holds himself back.
“Oh.”
Wonwoo’s brow raises and he turns to look at Mingyu’s, who’s busy driving. Having known him since they were kids, he can identify any type of Mingyu-ism he puts out so when he hears the tone of his voice as he says it, he can’t help but wonder. “What?”
“Huh?”
“What’s that about?”
“What do you mean?” Mingyu asks as he makes a turn.
“That ‘oh’ you just did. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Mingyu blurts out but then flickers his eyes towards him before paying attention to the road again. He shrugs his shoulders. “I just—I was just surprised, is all.”
“About?” Mingyu’s silent again and he sighs. “Come on, Min, what is it?”
“I’m just surprised,” Mingyu repeats, “you don’t usually hang out with new people easily. You know, you’re like a cat, you know? It takes a while for you to open up to someone and be comfortable with them. So I was just surprised you’re hanging out with him alone and not with Jihoon-hyung and anyone else.”
Wonwoo purses his lips. He wants to say it. He wants so badly to tell Mingyu why he and Seungcheol are hanging out together.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he nods. “We were talking and we both found out we wanted to see this movie so we thought why not see it together?”
A half truth and a half lie. Wonwoo doesn’t really care if he sees a movie by himself or not and he certainly wouldn’t have seen it with an almost stranger if he had to. And he can tell Mingyu knows it too, having asked multiple times if Wonwoo ever gets lonely about watching a movie all by himself to which he would respond with no, he actually likes watching movies alone.
Instead, Mingyu nods too and states, “You could’ve asked me, hyung.”
Wonwoo smiles and reaches across to pat Mingyu’s hand, lying on the console. “It’s okay, Min-ah, I know you’re busy with finishing school and I don’t want to bother you.”
Mingyu sighs. “Here we go again with that. Hyung, I told you, just because I’m graduating doesn’t mean I’ll be too busy for you. You made time for me when you were graduating last year, why can’t I do the same?”
Wonwoo looks down, trying to hide the blush he’s sure painting his cheeks. “It’s okay, Mingyu, I promise.”
Mingyu sighs but doesn't press further.
As soon as they reach and enter the movie theater, they hear an excited “Hey guys! Over here!” and the pair turn to see Hansol, waving enthusiastically, and Seungcheol standing beside him with a small smile on his face.
Both of them walk towards them. “Hey Sol!” Mingyu greets, reaching to clasp his hand with Hansol’s and pulling him close to pat him on the back. He pulls away and does the same to Seungcheol. “Hi hyung!”
“Hi hyung!” Hansol greets Wonwoo with a wave.
Wonwoo waves back then turns to Seungcheol. “Hi.”
Seungcheol grins. “Hi.” He’s got his hair styled down, half parted effortlessly, and he’s wearing a white sweater that makes his shoulders look broad and he’s got a jacket hanging off his arm. He looks at Hansol and Mingyu, who are now having an in depth conversation about the movie they’re about to watch. “I’m sorry for not telling you about this.”
Wonwoo nods. “It’s okay, hyung.”
Seungcheol sighs and shakes his head. “It’s not. Hansol found out I was going to see this movie and he wanted to tag along and I told him I’m already going with you but he can tag along if he wants—and I meant that sarcastically, by the way—and I thought that was the end of the conversation but then he comes out earlier and tells me he bought tickets with Mingyu so all four of us can watch together.”
Wonwoo shouldn’t find it funny but he lets out a laugh regardless which in turn makes Seungcheol smile. “It’s fine, hyung. Honestly.” He gestures to the snackbar. “Are you going to buy food?”
Seungcheol nods. “Yeah, you too?” Wonwoo nods. “Let’s go.” The two of them start walking to the snackbar and that prompts Mingyu and Hansol to stop talking and follow them.
They’re in line to the snackbar, a few other people in front of them which gives Wonwoo time to browse the selection. “What are you getting?” Seungcheol asks.
“Just a large cheese popcorn and a large Coke.” Wonwoo muses.
Seungcheol nods. “Okay, I’ll pay for it.”
Wonwoo’s eyes go large. “Hyung, no, you don’t have to—”
Seungcheol waves him off. “It’s fine, Wonwoo. It’s the least I can do for…” He directs his thumb towards Hansol and Mingyu which elicits a chuckle out of him.
“I told you, it’s not your fault.”
“But at least let me still buy your food. We’re on a date after all.” Seungcheol grins and Wonwoo can’t help but blush at the attractive smile he has.
Wonwoo fakes a sigh as if he can’t really do anything about this and nods. “Okay, your choice.”
Seungcheol grins again and when it’s their turn to order, he orders for him and Wonwoo. As he’s pulling his wallet out, Mingyu taps Wonwoo’s shoulder. He turns and Mingyu tilts his head towards the selection of food. “Large cheese popcorn and a large Coke, right?”
Wonwoo nods but then shakes his head when he realizes what Mingyu’s about to do. “Oh no, Min—”
“It’s okay, man, I already paid for our food.” Seungcheol says after he takes the receipt from the cashier and moves to the side to wait for their order.
Wonwoo looks at Mingyu who’s got a confused look on his face but that drops when the cashier calls for him and Hansol to order.
“Here’s your ticket.” Seungcheol passes him his movie ticket. “You said you preferred sitting in the middle of the row so I got us those.”
Wonwoo looks down and smiles. “Thanks hyung. I’m actually kind of excited to watch the movie, I heard it’s pretty fun.”
Seungcheol nods. “Me too. Hansol wouldn’t stop talking about it since the trailer came out.”
They were off to watch a newly released comic book movie. In Wonwoo’s defense, he wasn’t excited to watch this comic book movie at first because in his opinion, for the past few years, the state of comic book movies have decreased a lot so he doesn’t really follow them as much as he does before but with this new one, he’s heard great things about it so he actually planned on watching it some time.
Soon, all four of them enter their assigned cinema just as the trailers are rolling. Funnily enough, Hansol got tickets for him and Mingyu behind Wonwoo and Seungcheol. Wonwoo turns around to see Mingyu sitting right behind him and his friend offers him a toothy grin back.
He and Seungcheol make hushed small talk as the trailers roll, mostly about what they know about the trailer being shown—Seungcheol thinks this horror movie is worth watching; Wonwoo thinks this romcom looks corny; Seungcheol thinks this action movie is gonna be part of a franchise; Wonwoo plans of seeing this kids movie with Soonyoung and Junhui.
“So, how’d you meet Jihoon?” Seungcheol asks, already taking bites of his popcorn.
“University. I met Soonyoung and Junhui there as well. We were grouped together for a project and we just loved hanging out after that so we never stopped and then after graduation we rented out a house together so all of us live there now.”
“Is that where you met Mingyu as well?”
Wonwoo shakes his head. “Oh no, Mingyu and I have known each other since we were little.”
That surprises Seungcheol. “Oh really?”
Wonwoo nods. “Yeah, I’ve known him for decades now. I’m surprised as you are.” He laughs. “I’m assuming you met Mingyu through Hansol right?”
Seungcheol shakes his head. “Surprisingly no. He and Hansol became roommates because of me. I've known Mingyu because I was his club president.”
“Oh, the year he was the treasurer, right?” Seungcheol nods and Wonwoo laughs. “I remember he used to tell me how stressed out he was about the budget and finances. He was so scared he was keeping so much money.”
Seungcheol laughs. “Yeah, he told me that but for what it's worth, he was the best treasurer we’ve had. But yeah, he and I hung out a lot because of meetings and he met Hansol through there and they became friends as well. So when he found out Mingyu’s roommate was graduating last year, he asked if they could be roomies instead.”
Wonwoo grins and raises his hand slightly. “I’m the roommate, actually.”
Seungcheol laughs. “Oh wow, really? Small world.” He smiles. “What course did you take?”
“Computer science.” Wonwoo takes a sip of his drink. “I’m I.T. Support at this company, it’s all pretty boring.”
Seungcheol snorts. “It probably isn’t, I bet you have a lot of stories about clueless boomers not knowing how to save a file.”
Wonwoo laughs. “Actually, I do.”
Before he can go on a tangent though, the lights go out. “Ah, it’s starting!” They hear Hansol squeal, making the three of them laugh.
Wonwoo has to admit, the movie’s been enjoyable so far. It’s got all the bits and pieces he thought was lacking in the franchise for a couple of years now—it’s got a good storyline that you can follow, likable characters, a great balance between comedy and drama, and the cameos are pretty fucking awesome too.
But he doesn't think it's that great to warrant the reaction it’s getting from Mingyu and Hansol behind them. Every time something funny comes on, the pair would laugh so loud. Wonwoo admits he laughed too but that he didn't think the snarky one liner was that funny.
When one of the multiple character cameos came on, the entire theater screamed in delight. Wonwoo gasps, seeing the character he hasn’t seen in so long appear on screen and whoa, aren’t they supposed to be dead—oh wait, he forgot what franchise this is. Nonetheless, it seems like Mingyu and Hansol are more excited than him and Seungcheol as he felt a kick in the back of his seat suddenly.
“Oh my gooooooooooooooood!” Hansol shouts, his legs pushing forward, kicking the back of his older brother’s seat, causing the popcorn in Seungcheol’s arms to fly off onto the floor.
“Holy shit!” Mingyu yells and leans in between Wonwoo and Seungcheol’s seats. “Hyung, hyung, did you see that?!”
Wonwoo nods and he can hear Seungcheol laughing. He turns to him and sees him looking back and he shakes his head, waving him off. He smiles.
At least someone’s enjoying themselves.
It’s an hour into the movie when Wonwoo feels himself getting cold. He subtly rubs his arms to fight off the cold in the theater then when that doesn’t work, rolls his sleeves down to his wrists. He curses himself and Soonyoung when he realizes the dress shirt is too thin and he can still feel the chill on his skin.
“Wonwoo-hyung,” Mingyu whispers, he leans down again and he can hear the worry in his friend’s voice, “you okay?”
Wonwoo nods. “Mhm… yeah, just a bit chilly.”
Mingyu tuts. “I told you to bring a jacket.” He sighs. “I’ll just go and get one from my car, I probably have one there.”
Before Wonwoo can tell him it’s fine and he doesn’t need to, Seungcheol speaks. “It’s okay, Gyu, I’ve got one.” Seungcheol says, passing his jacket to Wonwoo. “Ji told me you get cold easily so I brought one in case.”
“Oh.” Mingyu says.
Wonwoo’s cheeks reddened, touched by the gesture, then takes the offered jacket. “Thanks hyung.”
Through the lights emanating from the movie screen, Seungcheol grins. “You’re welcome.” He quickly puts the jacket on, noticing how it’s a bit snug around his arms but he’s comfortable so he’s not complaining. He leans back into his seat, snug and warm, and if he takes a small whiff to smell Seungcheol’s cologne, that’s between him and himself.
The rest of the movie goes without much preamble and they all leave the cinema satisfied with what they’ve watched. Hansol most especially—talking animatedly about the pros and cons he loved about the movie, something the three of them rarely get to see knowing how quiet and aloof he usually is. So they indulge him, as this is something they rarely get to witness.
He’s talking to Mingyu now, hands flailing as he tells him pieces of trivia he picked up regarding one of the cast members. Wonwoo and Seungcheol hang back, walking side by side as they watch the two roommates talk with each other.
“I never got to ask this earlier,” Seungcheol starts and that catches Wonwoo’s attention, eyes flickering from Mingyu towards him, “what did Jihoon tell you about me?”
“Oh, all of a sudden?” Wonwoo can’t help but laugh.
Seungcheol smiles. “Sorry, it’s just—I’m curious. I’m practically a mentor of his at work and I obviously give off a different personality to him than as a friend so I’m curious what he told you.” When he notices that Wonwoo is still hesitant, he shakes his head. “Don’t worry, I won’t take it to heart or get mad over it. It can be a little secret between the two of us.” He winks.
Which causes Wonwoo to laugh again. “Well… he mentioned that you’re really nice, very driven about your passion in producing and songwriting, and you’re very hands on and helpful with your subordinates.” Seungcheol nods, accepting Jihoon’s description but then he continues, “He also told me you can be a bit of a hothead.”
Seungcheol bursts out laughing. “Really?” Wonwoo blushes but nods. “I can’t say I’m surprised or peeved he said that because it’s true.” He bows his head, feeling embarrassed, then tilts his head to look at Wonwoo through his eyelashes. “Does that turn you off?”
Wonwoo hums. “I’d be lying if I said I’m not.” Seungcheol nods. “But he also told me you only get frustrated and upset when your team is under stress and it’s a way for you to show how much you care.” He pauses. “Also I think Jihoon is more of a hothead than you are and I’ve been best friends with him for years.”
Seungcheol laughs. “Yeah, he can be a bit of it sometimes. I’m glad he has Soonyoung there to calm him down. A lot of us don’t get those types of people in their life.”
“What do you mean?”
“People who can ground them; make them feel like it’s not the end of the world and there's still hope for them. I see that in them—whenever Jihoon gets angry and upset about something, he tells me Soonyoung is there to comfort him and tell him everything’s going to be alright.” Seungcheol smiles but Wonwoo notices they don’t quite reach his eyes. It looks like there’s something behind them; something hidden… something sad. “Kind of makes you envious, you know? Having a person like that in your life.”
Wonwoo nods, eyes straying towards Mingyu. “Yeah, I agree.” He looks back at Seungcheol, who’s looking at him with a small smile… almost understanding.
Hansol turns to them. “Are you guys up for dinner? ‘Cause Mingyu-hyung and I know a place just around here.”
Both Wonwoo and Seungcheol look at each other before they look back at Hansol and nod. “Yeah, that’s cool. I’m kind of hungry too.” Wonwoo says.
“Great, it’s just a few minute walk from here, we can just go back here for our cars—”
“Seungcheol?”
Wonwoo turns to see two men walking towards them, one tall and one small—the tall one, hanging back, while the small one (admittedly only a few inches shorter), who called Seungcheol’s name, tugs him by the hand as he walks towards them.
“Jeonghan.” Seungcheol says, surprised.
Jeonghan smiles, and Wonwoo can’t help but be at awe at the beauty of this guy. “Hey, I knew that was you! Fancy seeing you here, are you guys about to watch a movie?”
Seungcheol shakes his head. “No, we just finished. What about you?”
Jeonghan laughs. “About to watch because someone,” he tilts his head to the man he’s with, “booked the last showing.”
The man behind him laughs. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
Jeonghan turns to him and playfully glares, a smile still on his lips. “No, you know I like sleeping early.”
The man shakes his head then smiles at Seungcheol. “Hi Seungcheol.”
Seungcheol nods. “Hi Hyungwon-hyung.”
Jeonghan looks behind Seungcheol and Wonwoo and waves. “Hi Hansol! Hi Mingyu!” Wonwoo turns to see Mingyu and Hansol waving at Jeonghan and Hyungwon too. When he turns back around, Jeonghan’s smiling at him, eyes briefly flickering down his body then back at his face. “Hello, I’m Jeonghan.” He introduces himself, putting his hand out.
Wonwoo smiles and shakes the offered hand. “Hi, I’m Wonwoo.”
Jeonghan drops his hand first then looks at Seungcheol. “I’m surprised to see you here at all, Cheol. Normally, you’re the ‘I’d wait for it on streaming services’ type of guy. Was the movie really that great?”
Seungcheol smiles. “I’d give it a three-point-five but no, actually, Wonwoo wanted to see it and I thought ‘why not?’.”
Jeonghan’s smile drops a bit. “Oh.” He looks at him then back at Wonwoo. “Are you two…”
Before Wonwoo can answer, Seungcheol nods, reaching out to grab Wonwoo’s hand, squeezing it. “Yeah, we’re on a date actually.”
Wonwoo’s eyes widen and he looks down at their intertwined hands. He briefly hears a faint “what.” from behind him but chooses to ignore it.
“Oh,” Jeonghan repeats, his smile back on his face, “that’s cute. So, do you normally bring your brother and his roommate to your dates?”
Before Seungcheol can respond, Wonwoo says, “No, we just bumped into them here. We were surprised as they were.” He lies, a grin set on his face. Seungcheol squeezes his hand in thanks.
Jeonghan nods. “That’s cool. Well, I’ll leave you guys to it, we still have to buy our food.” He smiles and waves. “Bye, it was nice seeing you again!” He pauses, eyes on Wonwoo. “It was nice meeting you, Wonwoo.” Wonwoo nods before Jeonghan pulls Hyungwon away.
It’s silent for the four of them, Wonwoo and Seungcheol still not turning to look at Hansol and Mingyu’s reactions. Wonwoo looks at Jeonghan and Hyungwon getting farther away before he drops Seungcheol’s hand. “I think I should get home now.”
Seungcheol agrees. “I’ll drive you home.”
Both of them turn around and walk past Hansol and Mingyu and out of the movie theater, the pair going after them a few seconds later.
“Hyung!” Mingyu calls out. Wonwoo and Seungcheol turn around to Mingyu, looking at Wonwoo. “I’ll drive Wonwoo-hyung home.”
Wonwoo shakes his head. “Min, it’s okay. Besides, wouldn’t it be much better if you and Hansol drove home together since you two live together?”
Mingyu vehemently shakes his head. “I’m driving you home.” He says with such finality Wonwoo’s never heard before.
Nevertheless, Wonwoo sighs, hoping he can convince Mingyu not to. “Min—”
“It’s okay, Wonwoo.” Seungcheol pacifies. He looks at Hansol, “Sol, can you get the car ready, I’m just going to talk to Wonwoo real quick.”
Hansol, who’s been silent the whole time, nods. “Okay hyung.” He looks at Mingyu. “Let’s go.”
Mingyu, looking like he’d rather not be away from Wonwoo, reluctantly nods and they both walk off, leaving Wonwoo and Seungcheol alone at last.
“I’m sorry about that.” Seungcheol starts.
“It’s okay.”
Seungcheol sighs. “It’s not. I—” He sighs. “I shouldn’t have put you into that type of situation.”
“Hyung, it’s okay. I promise.” Wonwoo reaches to grab his hand.
Seungcheol sighs. “I keep putting you into these types of situations and it’s only our first date.”
“Oh?” Wonwoo teases. “Our first date? So that means there are still more to come?”
He watches Seungcheol's cheeks redden and he can’t help but laugh. “I—sorry, fuck. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”
Wonwoo laughs, not unkindly. “It’s okay, honestly. I haven’t been on a lot of dates but I don’t think this was a disaster. Weirdly enough, I actually enjoyed myself.”
Seungcheol is surprised as he asks, “Really?” Wonwoo nods. “So… does that mean if I asked you out again…” He trails off.
Wonwoo shrugs. “I wouldn’t be opposed.” He purses his lips as if thinking. “Besides, you still owe me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You never told me what Jihoon told you about me.” Wonwoo grins. “I told you what he told me about you but you didn’t do the same.”
“Oh yeah, right.” Seungcheol grins. “Do you want me to tell you?” Wonwoo nods. “Well, he said you’re a really great friend and you’d do anything for them, even if it means making yourself uncomfortable. He also told me that you’re really quiet and may come off aloof but once people get to know you, your crazy side comes out. Lastly, you’re just really fun to be around with.” He nods. “And I agree with all those things he said.”
Wonwoo smiles. “Thanks hyung.”
“Thank you again for doing that, Wonwoo. You didn’t have to.” Seungcheol smiles sadly.
“It’s fine. I just know… how it feels like.” Wonwoo leaves it at that, hoping Seungcheol can connect the dots.
And he does as Seungcheol nods. “Does he…?” Wonwoo shakes his head. “You should tell him.”
Wonwoo shakes his head again. “It’s okay, I actually like where we are. Besides, I don’t think he even feels the same way.”
“Then he’s a dumb ass.”
“Hyung!” Wonwoo scolds and both of them burst out laughing.
Once their laughter dies down, Seungcheol sighs. “I really had a great time with you, Wonwoo.”
“Me too.”
“And I hope we can do this again sometime,” His eyes flicker behind Wonwoo, “in a different setting.”
Wonwoo nods. “I agree.”
Seungcheol smiles and leans forward, pressing a kiss on Wonwoo’s cheek. He gasps, eyes widening at the contact and as Seungcheol pulls away, he grins. “Good night.”
Wonwoo can’t help but smile back. “Good night.”
Seungcheol turns and walks towards Hansol’s car, leaving Wonwoo standing there by himself. Or so he thinks.
“Are you done?”
Wonwoo jumps, whipping around to see the car already there, the window rolled down to show Mingyu, an arm leaning against the window.
“Oh!” Wonwoo exclaims, running around Mingyu’s car and then getting into the passenger, buckling his seatbelt in. “Sorry.”
Mingyu doesn’t say anything as he rolls his window up and drives off. They’re out of the parking lot when he asks, “Are you hungry?”
Wonwoo opts to say “no” but then hears his stomach grumble. So did Mingyu. “Uh, yes.”
Mingyu nods and takes a turn to the nearest drive-thru. Once they’ve ordered and Mingyu’s paid (ignoring Wonwoo’s offer to pay for his own meal), they’re back on the road. Wonwoo busies himself by taking a bite of his cheeseburger, eyes on the road and looking at every closed establishment and every lit up lamp post.
“I didn’t know you two were on a date.”
Wonwoo looks at Mingyu, whose eyes are still on the road. He’s quiet and stoic, something he’s rarely seen before. “What?”
“I didn’t know you two were on a date.” He repeats, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think it was that big of a problem.” Wonwoo answers. “You and Hansol looked so excited, we didn’t want to make it awkward.”
Mingyu sighs. “We wouldn’t have minded if you just told us. It’s not a big deal, we could’ve just fucked off and left you two on your date.”
“Min, it’s fine. No harm, no foul. Honest.” He placates him. “I actually enjoyed it, come to think of it.”
All of a sudden, the car screeches to a stop. He turns to Mingyu, surprised, but the latter is already looking at him with an upset look on his face. “I hate it when you do that.”
“What—”
“I hate that you try to make everybody else around you feel good at your expense.” Mingyu glares. “I hate it, hyung! I hate it so much! I hate that you’re hurting yourself and depriving yourself of happiness just to make everybody else happy.” He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, frustrated. “Hyung, it’s okay to be selfish for once, you know? It’s okay to want things for yourself.”
“Mingyu, it’s fine, it’s not a big deal.”
“But it is a big deal!” Mingyu shouts and Wonwoo leans back, surprised at the outburst. Mingyu, still frustrated, groans. “I’ve always seen you bending backwards to please everybody but I never see you do something for yourself.” He turns in his seat, as much as the seatbelt will allow, and grips his shoulders. “Hyung, it’s okay to want something for yourself, alright?”
Wonwoo nods. “I know that, Min.” He says and Mingyu slowly lets go of him, watching a serene smile on his lips as he says, “But I’m happy when I see you guys are happy.”
“Hyung…”
“Can we just let this go? Please, I’m really tired and I have to be up early tomorrow.” Wonwoo looks down at his food.
Mingyu sighs. “Fine.” He turns back and starts the car again, the ride to Wonwoo’s place filled with silence.
They reach Wonwoo’s house in a few minutes, Mingyu turning off the car and the two sitting there, none making a move to do anything else.
“Thanks for the ride.” Wonwoo finally says.
“Don’t mention it.” Wonwoo nods and wraps his food up in the paper bag.
He unbuckles his seatbelt and then opens the door when Mingyu says, “Seungcheol-hyung’s a great guy.”
Wonwoo looks at him and nods. “Yeah, he is.”
“Are you two going on another date soon?”
Wonwoo shrugs. “I don’t know. Probably?”
“Oh. Well, I hope you two have fun then.” Mingyu smiles.
“Thanks, Min.” Wonwoo opens the door again when Mingyu calls his name. “What?” Mingyu doesn’t say anything, instead he pulls Wonwoo in a tight embrace, burying his face in the crook of his neck. Wonwoo gasps but quickly hugs back, balling his fists in the fabric of Mingyu’s shirt.
“Good night.” Mingyu murmurs.
“Night, Gyu.” Wonwoo pulls away and smiles at him before he turns and finally gets out of the car.
Once he’s inside his house is when Mingyu finally leaves. He watches as his car drives off through the window before turning to follow the light emanating from the living room.
He smiles, seeing the scene unfold before him: Jihoon and Soonyoung are lying on the couch, on top of each other, fast asleep. Junhui’s sitting on the floor, eyes on him.
“How was the date?”
“Eventful. I’ll tell you guys about it tomorrow. Good night.”
Junhui waves. “Night.”
“So how’d it go?”
Hansol sighs, not knowing where to start. He’s lying in bed, on his stomach, staring at the expectant face of his boyfriend looking right back at him on FaceTime.
“Well?” His boyfriend repeats.
“I actually thought the only awkward thing that would happen was between your cousin and my brother bumping into each other.” He moans, burying his face on his bed, cringing at the thought of the events from earlier. “That’s why I agreed to doing this!”
“What! What! What happened!” His boyfriend presses.
Hansol lifts his head up and shushes him. “Kwannie, stop. You’re gonna wake Mingyu-hyung up.” He whispers, eyes on his boyfriend on screen. “Anyway, I think he’s in love with Wonwoo-hyung.”
Seungkwan’s jaw drops. “Tell. Me. Everything. Now.”