Work Text:
Compulsory volunteer work.
Never have Wonwoo ever thought he would be doing volunteer work in his senior year, not to mention being the leader of the group. And he was a hundred percent sure that he didn’t sign up to be in this “mastermind” group. Soonyoung, aka his best friend since toddler, just drag him in with the reasoning that he should be exposed to the sun more instead of buried himself in the library days and nights.
“...Wonwoo what do you think?”
Soonyoung’s voice pulls him out of his scattered thoughts. He looks up to see everyone else staring at him with eyes full of expectation. He tries to collect as much of the previous discussion the others did that actually get into his drifting mind before answering.
“About the accomodation, I’ve ask the village chief of their guest house. However, the house has not been used for a long time, it’s dirty and is not ready to be used until we spend a few days to clean it up. So the chief has suggested that we do homestay at the villagers’ houses about 3 days to clear the big building before moving in. Each house will accommodate two volunteers. All expenses, including meals, water and electricity, for the 3 days will be paid by the fund we collect from the members. Does that sound ok?...”
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 1 - day
Everyone was exhausted from the long rough trip, the road was not a nice one at all. But they reached the far far away village,or they thought it was that far, and a hint of excitement slowly invade their emotion as soon as they got off the bus. They are about to have a month living their lives without any source of modern technology entertainment. There is barely any service in the village, so their phones are basically bricks with some silly games and novels to kill time. There are no fast food restaurants, no precooked foods to buy, only oily stoves, bunch of cooking utensils and raw foods. Instead of that, they have a month of freedom, away from school, works and all those things that basically bother them 24/7 if they were in the city. It seems like a fair trade and everyone feel contended with the thought.
As Wonwoo was struggling to help the girls with all their luggage from the bus, which was a lot, someone finally decided to save his lonely heroic self. The boy was taller than him, and he was standing with his back facing the scorching sun so Wonwoo can’t really see his face well. But judging from the gasp and heart eyes of the girls around him, he should be very handsome. And kind, because he is the only one helping Wonwoo out when Soonyoung is busy discussing with the village chief.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome”
And Wonwoo see a smile that was even brighter than the sun behind.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 1 - night
It turns out the boy with the dazzling smile is Wonwoo house mate. His name is Mingyu and he’s a junior in the same major as Wonwoo. The boy was indeed very handsome when Wonwoo had the chance to look at him properly when they were unpacking their stuff in bedroom. He has a healthy tan skin and a toned body, which is so different from Wonwoo physical condition, the so-called “noodle-like limbs” quoted unquoted Kwon Soonyoung. Wonwoo mentally note to himself that he will also look like that at the end of this volunteering thing because the works will be as hard as a gym training session for one month.
“Is there something wrong?”
Mingyu seems to be struggling with his suitcase for some reason and Wonwoo just have to voice his curiousity.
“I forgot my passcode.”
Mingyu answer with an almost crying voice. His face looking at Wonwoo reminds him of the lost puppy he found on his way home when he was ten. Wonwoo tries his best not to laugh out loud at the thought of the two faces combining to become world’s most pitiful expression. But in the end he just let out a suppressed laugh while taking out a piece of paper and a pen from his bag.
“I’ll help you. Starting with 1...”
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 3
The weather is absolutely playing with the volunteer team. It was hot as hell the first day, raining all day two and on their third day, the cold wind started to blow. Luckily the village chief has warned them before hand about the bitchy weather in this area so everyone prepared some warm clothes, just that they didn’t think they would need it so soon.
The guest house cleaning mission is almost done. They have reposition all furniture and the necessary stuffs for their stay there, only the final cleaning left. The group was divided into pairs according to their homestay partners and clean an assigned area. Who finish first and get an approve check from the leader team will have the rest of their day off and prepare their luggage to move the next morning. With such motivation in mind, everyone was doing the cleaning with heated spirit.
Wonwoo was cleaning a certain stain for quite a long time and Mingyu was about to ask to help him when he suddenly talk to Mingyu.
“Hey, can you pass me the mop?”
“That stain looks old, I don’t think you can clean it with water. “
“Yeah I’ve been trying to rub it off for the last fifteen minutes but it doesn’t come off at all.”
“... Let’s try to cover it with something.”
And for the next fifteen minutes, the two found a mat and a small table that fit perfectly for the spot.
“Do you think the one who made this stain tried to hide it like this too?”
“Well everything looks quite natural if you put a small flower vase on this table, so maybe.”
“Done already?”
“Yeah, let’s go back.”
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 5
They have all moved back to the guest house. There were three small rooms for 3 each and 2 big rooms for 10 each. They decided the room by drawing lots. Mingyu, Wonwoo and Soonyoung find themselves being roommate. Wonwoo is quite satisfy with the result. He is not one to warm up easily to strangers, Mingyu was different case because he helped him first, so it natural he befriend him. Plus, staying with one that already familiar with you makes things much easier.
Mingyu turns out to be a clean freak. He’s a very organized person, which is the opposite of Soonyoung. But he gladly help Soonyoung in tidying his stuff, and in the process clean up Wonwoo stack of books here and there too.
“Mingyu, where’s the book on the table?”
“On the shelf, third row.”
“Thanks.”
And that was they daily conversation of them. Soonyoung is always in the big room playing and chatting with the volunteer group, so basically the room belongs to Mingyu and Wonwoo. After a few days of co-habitation, they have already warmed up to each other, and they talk about themselves more. They were different in a lot of aspects, but they can both understand each other’s preferences and encourage it. From small things such as Wonwoo being a bookworm since birth to Mingyu passion and dream in the future, all of them are revealed one by one everytime they spend time talking with each other.
Wonwoo think this whole volunteer thing might not be a bad thing at all.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 7
“Is the class always this crowded?”
“I don’t know. It’s my first time teaching in this class too, why are you asking me?”
“But aren’t you in the planning team? There should be information on the number of people attending the class.”
“Just shut up and start the class, we’re late.”
And that was the bickering of the two handsome volunteers before they open the door to the project class designed for the villagers to learn how to read and write. Every pair will teach the class by routine, so at the end of the month each pair will be standing in the classroom for at least two times. Today is the “scandalous duo” (named by the one and only Kwon Soonyoung), Wonwoo and Mingyu. It is not enough that they made all girls in the volunteer team blush and giggle everytime they pass by, now the victim range expand to all female human beings in the village. Well, everyone adores the beauty, aren’t they?
After a sleepless night struggling with the curriculum and Wonwoo trying to fix Mingyu’s pronunciation, the two were able to keep calm in front of twinkling eyes directing at their every moves. There were chaos here and there everytime they get close to their “students”, but the rest seems fairly well-done. The fact that everyone wants to impress their “teachers” so they were learning more and more active in asking and answering questions. The two boys complete their mission of the day with feelings like they were some kind of celebrities. And they had a good laugh on the matter for the rest of their day.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 13
They are doing some carpenter works today. The village is still in need of some kind of playground for the children, and they are here help make the toys and play things for the kids. Mingyu suggested the idea of making a swing from old tires and after a few minutes of discussion, he was chosen to be the one in charge of the swing. He can choose up to four people to work with, and of course one of the four would be Wonwoo. The two boys, even though they were not the only house mate to each other anymore, still close to each other after they moved to the guest house.
“You are good at this.”
“Is that a praise?” Mingyu tried to hide the pride and excitement of his but the upturn in the corner of his mouth gave him away without him knowing.
“No, I just state the obvious.”
“I used to help my dad with his carpenter works when I was young. After that I just do it for fun.”
“After that?” The curious cat within Wonwoo scratched him again.
“My dad got injured during his work and he could not do carpenter works since then.” Mingyu tell the story in a nonchalant voice.
“I’m sorry...” Wonwoo silently scream at his stupid nosy self.
“Ah, don’t sweat it, at least he’s safely staying at home now. He just do another job, so all is fine.”
“Glad to hear that.”
“Do you want me to introduce the tools to you?” Mingyu suddenly change the topic, maybe he senses the tenseness in Wonwoo.
“Sure, let me test your knowledge.”
“That’s a big talk you have there. So first, this is the metal soothing plane,...”
Half of the trip passed, Wonwoo learnt that Mingyu is a sensitive person behind his nonchalant face and that when he talk about something he like is his expression was most handsome one Wonwoo ever seen.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 17
A girl went missing.
She was in the same field working team with Wonwoo. Others said they last seen her at noon after lunch, when she was wandering around the forest edge. It’s 9 PM, and they just found out no one has seen her since.
The village chief send out his most skilled hunters to search for her, as the forest is like their second home. The volunteer can just sit in the guest house worrying about their friend. The leader team, including Wonwoo, was in a meeting in a different room.
Wonwoo has never felt so scare in his life. It’s not merely scare, it’s horrify. He felt his whole body paralyzed the moment he heard the news. But he manage to find his voice among the stunned volunteers and find the village chief to ask for help first hand. It was night time and it’s the best that they don’t wander around the forest in case of getting lost, which hopefully is the case of the missing girl and she can be found safely. After getting assurance from the village chief, he come back to announce the situation to others volunteers and have a meeting with others leaders.
The weirdest thing is, no one in the leader team scold him, or even remind him for future happening of this case. All they did was discussing their next action in any case happen to the girl and the plan for the volunteer work of the next day. The oblivion of the other leaders made Wonwoo even more worry. Even Jihoon, the usually serious boy, didn’t mention a word regarding the responsibility of him in the case. Soonyoung seems to notice his concern, but he just pat him gently on his knee to calm him down, which doesn’t work at all.
He want to get out of this room, and be criticized by all other members. Maybe if they tell him he did wrong it would feel less suffocating than this weird atmosphere. He feels like he’s having an asthma attack, or a mental breakdown at some point. His mind was a total crumbled sheet of paper, his body feels like there’re millions of ants moving in his veins.
“Wonwoo? Are you ok?”
He feels like he nodded.
“Don’t worry, they will find her. First you have to take a rest, ok?”
He feels like he nodded again, and his body feels like it just moving on its own without his mind commanding. He doesn’t know how he ended up in front of his room door, and just paralyze there. The night cold breeze just casually absorb into every cell of his body, slowly make him feel his body weight more and more. When his legs are about to give up on standing, the door suddenly open, revealing a worry Mingyu.
“Hyung? Why are you standing out?”
Mingyu looks up and down trying to find if there’s something wrong with Wonwoo. Wonwoo wants to reply to his questions so much, but again his brain failed him, and he still keep the same pose and blank expression.
“Hyung? Wonwoo? Hey, Wonwoo?”
Mingyu immediately realize there was something off, and pull him into the room. And by that action, he realize how cold Wonwoo hands and body was. And he just snap.
“Wonwoo! Come back to your sense! Wonwoo!”
The strong grip in his hand and warmness from the hand in his cheek make Wonwoo shudder a bit. His eyes slowly come back to life, staring at Mingyu confusedly. Mingyu was angry. Like, really really angry. His eyes were not a warm sun anymore, it’s a hot lava pool that mildly burn to the depth of Wonwoo’s consciousness. His face doesn’t have the usual dorky bright smile, only a vivid frown can be seen.
“... Mingyu?”
Wonwoo hesitate. He knows Mingyu is mad at something. Part of him expect it to be the scolding he was waiting for. It’s gonna hurt, but maybe it will settle his messy mind and heart at this moment. What he didn’t expect was the warm hug coming from the boy in front of him. Mingyu just silently hug him, so tight that it’s almost suffocating. His mind gone blank in the matter of second. No more worries, no more scare, no more uncertainty. Mingyu’s warm and strong arms wrapping around his body is the only thing left in his mind. The cold emptiness he felt ever since the incident was filled up with heat.
And he never felt more calm.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 21
The first snow has come to the village. It was an unplanned event, as the weather forecast never said anything about this region receiving its first snow in this period. Even the local people were surprise. They tease the volunteers that the sky was trying to welcome and thank them for coming to help the villagers with everything. Those kind words made some of the girls cry on the spot, bringing a good happy laugh for all, and also bring tears to the eyes of the rest of the volunteers. What they did were only a small thing compare to the lacking state of the village, and the villagers have also help them a lot in the process. This acknowledgement will always be in their heart and memory.
Wonwoo silently watch everyone hugging each other out of gratitude, some cry together, some clean the tear-stained face of the others. The missing girl incident was luckily solved with ease, as later at that night she was founded deep in the wood with ther ankle sprained. She seems fine other than that, continuously apologized to everyone and was transferred back to the city to treat her injury. Until then did everyone say words of comfort and encouraging to Wonwoo, saying that he wasn’t at fault. He accepted all with gratitude and calmness, thanks to a certain hug of the night. For that reason, just by hearing the kind words of the local, he feels all the burden in his heart just lightly flew away and his relieve now makes him also want to cry out. Yet he is not one to express his feeling openly, so he just hold it in and be the bystander in the crying mess in front of him.
Suddenly he felt his vision turns dark and his whole body is wrapped in another very warm body. The others arm were hugging around him so tight that he doesn’t feel any tinge of coldness from the snow anymore. The warm is foreign yet familiar, as he felt the other’s chin rest on his head, and his chest vibrates with a chuckle.
“You look like you’re about to cry.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No...”
“Then who is wetting my coat now?”
Wonwoo face is gently pushed out from Mingyu chest. He cringed a bit at the coldness hitting his wet eyes. Then a warm finger comes up and clean off the little tear stains on his face, bringing back the warmness. Wonwoo just stare blankly at Mingyu’s coat the whole process, before being push back to a short hug again. He didn’t realize the situation yet, and all he can take in was a faint whisper.
“You did well.”
And Wonwoo felt his heart skip a beat.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 23
Mingyu has developed a new habit these days: hugging Wonwoo out of nowhere. He literally hug Wonwoo everytime he doesn’t take notice of his surrounding, resulting in Wonwoo stunned having a mini heart attack or Mingyu getting hit by a bewildered Wonwoo. Either way both of them have fun.
The volunteers have accustomed to life in the village. They totally shake off the nervous feeling when they reach this place, getting used to life with barely strong enough service to call their families sometimes, and enjoying each other company instead of digging their head into the technology world like when they were still in the city. Some girls found their new hobby to watch nightly soap opera on the old TV in the guest house with no cable channel, and discuss it with the local mothers and grandmothers the next morning. They sometimes even get into heated debate with the others over the prediction of the next episode. The boys finally found a way to ease their crave for video games, a fake battle with the children. They would play as many countries and fight others with multiple weird games they can think of from blowing candles with their noses to simple rock paper scissor to determine the best kingdom.
Wonwoo also find himself a new hobby: read books for the villagers. Some kids found him reading the books he brought along one day and they asked him to read for them. And the next day more kids come, and the following day there’re some teenagers tagging along. It has become a routine for him to read books for the villagers everyday for at least one hour in the village chief house (because he has a nice big garden to gather people). Today was a bit different. He was finishing one book for the audience, and it lasted longer than normal. When his voice reach to “the end” part, the sky has totally darkened. He bid goodbye to the villagers and find his way back to the guest house. The road is not a smooth one, and there was no street lights so Wonwoo’s only source of light to see the road was from his handphone. And to add up to the extraordinary day it is, his phone buzzed from the notice of low battery, and the light was dimmer to save the energy left. This is not a good sign for anyone, not to mention Wonwoo’s bad eyesight when the night comes. He speeds up, hoping the energy left would be enough for him to reach the house.
Wonwoo let out a relieve sign when he hear faint sounds of the other volunteers. As he let his guard down, he tripped over a rock. It would be a painful fall, he thought while falling down.
“Be careful!”
The strong warm arm that Wonwoo has been familiarized in just a few days catch him on time.
“Mingyu?”
“Lucky you I’m here, or else you would kiss the ground, hyung”
“And that would definitely not a French kiss.”
“... Haha, why are you so random?”
Mingyu laugh out loud, and swing himself on hugging Wonwoo. Wonwoo felt his heart acting weird again and he think he knows exactly why. Before he was able to utter any words, Mingyu let go of him and pull him back to the guest house, talking about random things while hand unconsciously interwined with each others.
Wonwoo felt like he has developed a new habit: being embraced in Mingyu’s warm out of nowhere.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 25
They only have a few days left in the village. Everyone has started to collect their stuffs and finish up all the works they’ve come here to do. The leaders have to go re-check everything and do some final touch up before handing all of their products and results to the village chief. Aside from all the final works, they are planning on a surprise performance on the goodbye party on their last day here. Soonyoung is in charge of directing this performance and it doesn’t even surprise Wonwoo anymore when his best friend choose him to do his infamous “One Candle” performance.
That one performance was from their high school year, when Wonwoo has to do the rapping part in substitute for a sick classmate. It was a total unexpected situation, Wonwoo never thought he would be up on stage, under the spotlight, rapping to his favourite song. Soonyoung, being the only one who heard him rap before, urged him to go on the stage or else their class performance would be ruined. And so he did it. It was an one-time event, he never did the rap after that, no matter how many praise Soonyoung gave him. He just want to enjoy his life among the woody smell of bookshelves.
Since this time Soonyoung is the one in charge, and they are in no situation to say no, Wonwoo finally agreed to the offer. But with one condition, that he will go on stage with Mingyu. It turns out Mingyu works part time as an underground rapper. Wonwoo has once listen to his rapping and was really impressed. So he used this chance to bring his friend’s potential to the light.
“Sounds good. But I don’t know you rap too?”
“It was only one time, and Soonyoung keep insist that I’m good enough even though it was not a very good stage in my memory.”
“I can hardly imagine you rapping. Mind to do some phrase?”
Wonwoo looks at Mingyu’s expected eyes, then he tried to spit out some rap lines he still remember while looking away. In reply to his rapping was a total silence. He feels embarrass and a bit upset, about to snap at Mingyu for making him do this when his hands were held by another pair of big warm hands. Mingyu is staring at at him with his puppyish expression again, eyes full of excitement and something else he cannot decipher.
“Hyung, your rapping voice sounds so nice! When we come back to school do you want to join my band?”
“You’re exaggerate it. And I don’t think I will do rap again after this. This time is a special occasion that’s why.”
“Oh come on... With voice like this and that sense of rhythm, you will easily be famous. Trust me, I’m in that industry long enough to see it.”
“Let’s focus on finishing with this swing, won’t you?”
“Ey, you’re trying to distract me. Fine, then promise me one thing.”
“Hm?”
“Promise me you will go to my performance when we come back to school.”
“For what?”
“For maybe you will find your passion for rapping after seeing me do it of course. Promise?”
“... You really do meaningless thing. Ok fine, promise.”
“Then we have a date. Now continue on...”
“Date?”
“... we should finish this swing fast before it gets dark.”
Mingyu is obviously flustered. Wonwoo is too dazed by the word “date” to recognize his different attitude.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 29
The goodbye night was an awesome finish touch to the volunteer month. All villagers and the volunteers were gathering in the community house, dining, chatting and watching performance prepared by both sides. And of course some alcohol to spice up the party. When the liquors kicks in, everybody was on their feet singing nonsense and dancing to their own made up beat. It was a crazy scene.
Wonwoo has gone out to catch some last clean breezes of the countryside. He has taken in a few glasses, his walk is relatively unstable now, but his mind still in a fairly conscious mode. He lies on the grass enjoying the night sky beauty. It’s a different yet the same sky that he can see in the city. The light emitting from the stars here shine more than the same stars that got overshadow by city lights.
“What do you see up there?”
Wonwoo doesn’t even flinch at the sudden presence of Mingyu. He can feel the heat from the other boy when he sit beside him. The alcohol must have made him hot, because he radiate more warmth than his usual self. Wonwoo finds himself heating up at the realization.
“Stars. They shine more brightly here than in the city. I’m just trying to record them in my memory.”
“Hm... Do you know the name of the stars?”
“Nope. I read a lot about them, but I never had the chance to see them like this. I’m a bookworm, not a traveller, remember?”
“Then I should salute the worm part in you that help you done the superb job the volunteer this one month.”
Maybe it was the alcohol that made Wonwoo think the joke was funny, or just the way Mingyu say it made any joke laughable. He doesn’t know the reason, but he just have himself rolling around laughing at the remark. When he find himself calm enough to wipe the overjoyed tears, he was greeted with Mingyu’s intense gaze, an inch from his face. Mingyu handsome face with the dazzling stars and breezy wind blowing made a masterpiece in Wonwoo’s eyes. Still keeping his lips curved up, he casually ask the boy, pretending his heart is not racing like a crazy horse right now.
“What are you up to, Mingyu-ah?”
“What if I say I want to kiss you?”
“What if I say just do it?”
“Are you drunk?”
“You talk too much.”
And the warmth that Wonwoo has accustomed to is now gently touch his lip. There was no sound, not even breathing sound, no movement, nothing. The moment just stop at that exact second when they kiss. It was only a chaste kiss that last for a few second, but that was enough for the heart to see its answer. Both of them stare and smile sheepishly to each other. Mingyu gently hug Wonwoo, nudged the crook of the boy’s neck with his nose for a short moment, then roll to lie beside him, hands intertwined. Wonwoo feels like his drunken state has worsen, his cheek heats up a lot and his heart is beating in an incredibly fast pace.
They just lie under the clear night sky. Then, hidden in the sound of wind rushing through the grass, the faint sound of the party that is still continue inside, Wonwoo still manage to hear the soft whisper from Mingyu.
Wonwoo thought to himself that this volunteer trip is not a bad idea at all.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Day 30
Everyone is both excited to go back to the city life, yet sad to leave behind a month of life-changing experience they had in the village. All the villagers come to bid them goodbye and say final words of thanks. The softies in the group cry a bit, but promise that they will find time to come back to the village one day.The whole trip was satisfying and everyone feel contended with what they have done.
Carrying the gifts from the villagers into the bus, Wonwoo turn around to find his helper since the very first day they arrive here, carry some luggages in for him. The boy was taller than him, and he was standing with his back facing the scorching sun so Wonwoo can’t really see his face well. But he knows that he was a very handsome boy with a kind heart. And most important of all, Wonwoo knows he is the warmth that he was seeking for.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome”
And Wonwoo see a smile that was even brighter and warmer than the sun behind.