Chapter Text
1. Yunho
Yunho and Wooyoung were in the living room of Wooyung’s shared apartment with Yeosang in varying states of distress. It was currently nearing the end of the exam season for the two dance majors and they had one last theory paper to sit for before they could finish the semester.
“Why do we need to know about the history of dance, isn’t it enough to be sexy hot on stage?” Wooyoung cried from his position on the floor as he buried his head into the textbook in front of him.
“Sadly, being disarmingly charming on stage is not enough to pass the course with flying colours.” Yunho replied while stretching his arms above his head. “Let’s call it a day and go get dinner. It’s already pretty late.”
“Yeosang should be coming back with dinner soon. Lucky bastard has already finished his exams. Why don’t dance minors need to suffer like us?” Wooyoung mumbled with his head still in the textbook.
Speaking of the devil, Yeosang entered the apartment just as Wooyong finished his petulant fit. “Young-ah, I’m back.”
Yeosang was carrying multiple bags of takeout in one hand while the other struggled to lock the door. Wooyoung jumped up from the floor and excitedly bounded towards Yeosang like a puppy after a day of not seeing its owner.
“Chicken again?” Wooyoung whined while clinging to Yeosang’s arm and peering into the bag of takeout, being of absolutely no help to Yeosang in Yunho’s opinion. In fact, only adding to hinder Yeosang’s movements. “But we had chicken last night too, I don’t wanna eat chicken again!”
“Then starve.” Yeosang shook Wooyoung off his arm and placed the bags of takeout on the dining table. “Come eat Yunho, it seems like we have one less mouth to feed so it’s a feast for us.”
“Sir, yes sir!” Yunho made his way over to the dining table and started to demolish the chicken that Yeosang brought back.
Wooyoung was sitting opposite Yunho, his chin resting on the edge of the table with his lips jutted out into a pout. Yunho peered over the piece of chicken in his hand and nudged the box of chicken towards Wooyoung, nodding his head towards it. Eat. Wooyoung rose from his slouch on the table and slowly reached for the chicken.
However, before Wooyoung’s hand could touch the chicken, a bowl of samgyetang was placed in front of his face.
“Here. Eat this.” Somehow, between Wooyoung’s sulking and Yunho eating, Yeosang had managed to make his way into the kitchen to heat up the samgyetang that was in one of the other takeout bags in his hand.
Yunho's eyes widened in surprise. It was to no one’s shock that that was Wooyoung’s favourite dish as he’s made it known countless times whenever their friend group would be deciding what to get for lunch or dinner. What did come as a shock was that the shop that sold Wooyoung’s favourite samgyetang was at the opposite end of where they lived. Yeosang travelled all the way there for one serving of samgyetang? It had to take at least two hours to and fro, not counting waiting time for the dish. And he still bought chicken separately.
“Yeosangie! You do love me after all!” Wooyoung exclaimed, his eyes shining as he eyed the hot, steaming bowl of samgyetang.
“You better ace your dance history test tomorrow. I don’t want to see you come crying to me after the paper.” Yeosang made his way beside Yunho and started to eat the chicken in front of him.
Wooyoung could only make vague noises of agreement as he was busy stuffing his face with the delicious meal.
Yunho looked over at Yeosang who was nonchalantly eating, as if travelling for hours for one meal wasn’t a tiring feat in itself. Ah… I guess you’d go through such lengths for someone who you love.
“Yah, so I don’t get to ace my exam because I don’t have a special meal?” Yunho teasingly asked Yeosang.
With his lips quirked up, Yeosang replied smugly, “You don’t need a special meal to ace your exams Yunho. You’d do well regardless.”
Yunho and Yeosang burst into laughter at the noise of offence that Wooyoung let out after hearing what Yeosang said.
I guess Wooyoung and Yeosang do make a fitting couple, regardless of their dynamics.
2. Seonghwa
It was post exams season, and essentially the start of winter break, for all 8 boys, and they decided that there was no better place for a celebratory dinner than McDonalds. Seonghwa had planned to meet up with Yeosang after his classes as they were in the same building but was pleasantly surprised to be met with both Yeosang and Wooyoung.
When he questioned why and how Wooyoung had reached Yeosang’s classroom before him, considering that Wooyong’s classroom was a good 2 blocks away, he was met with Wooyoung’s smug face and equally smug reply, “I’ve been the one walking Yeosangie back from class the past semester, I’m more surprised to see you here hyung.”
Wooyoung had linked arms with both Yeosang and Seonghwa, trying to squeeze all 3 of them onto the pavement while walking against oncoming pedestrians. Frankly speaking, they probably looked like three waddling penguins with how tightly they were bundled up. Seonghwa had witnessed Wooyong stuffing Yeosang into a padded coat after picking Yeosang up from class, while Wooyoung himself only had his varsity jacket on.
As they turned around the corner, Seonghwa felt himself slip on a patch of slippery ice. He tried to hook his arms valiantly around Wooyong’s in hopes of not completely falling, but instead felt Wooyoung deliberately straightening out his arm to allow Seonghwa to freefall to the ground in pure shame.
“Wooyoung-ah! Why did you let me fall?” Seonghwa asked, cheeks aflame as he picked himself off the ground, waving away a passer-by's concerned gaze. Wooyoung was hanging off Yeosang, laughing boisterously at his hyung’s fall. Yeosang himself was trying to hide his laughter, turning his head away in the opposite direction, but Seonghwa could see those raised cheeks and shuddering shoulders from a mile away and simply let out a sigh of indignation.
“Hyung! You should have seen yourself!” Wooyong managed to stutter out between each breath of laughter.
“Hyung, nice pose.” Yeosang said with his thumbs up, peeking out of his sweater paws, before outright bursting into his own fit of laughter.
“Hyung has eaten one year’s worth of rice more than you two!” Seonghwa cried out while pointing his finger childishly between the two of them, “Karma’s gonna hit you guys!”
Seonghwa stomped off but slowed down his pace to let Wooyoung and Yeosang catch up to him. Wooyoung re-linked their arms together, rubbing his arm placatingly, trying to get Seonghwa to forgive him for his little stunt earlier.
“Hyung, I’m sorry,” Wooyong drawled out, “Don’t be mad at Wooyo-”
“Ah!” Yeosang yelped as he felt the ground beneath his feet disappear. Seonghwa felt like it was in slow-motion, the way he could see Yeosang’s eyes widen in shock before an expression of acceptance washed over his face, as if accepting the fact that this was his karma for laughing at Seonghwa earlier. Serves him right anyways.
Seonghwa was soon broken out of that trance by a blur of motion. In the blink of an eye, Wooyong had both arms wrapped protectively around Yeosang’s waist, preventing him from tipping any further backwards. Using his momentum, Wooyoung had Yeosang pressed flush to his front, their rosey pink noses only inches away from each other.
Yeosang had his hands holding onto Wooyong’s shoulder tightly, knuckles turning white. They remained in that position for a moment, staring into each other's eyes silently. Yeosang broke the moment by scrunching his face up into a smile reserved only for Wooyoung, eyes turning into tiny crescent moons with his cheeks high up.
“My knight in shining armour.” Yeosang whispered into the air cheekily.
“I’ll always catch my prince before he falls.” Wooyoung replied back, smiling at Yeosang with the same enthusiasm.
“And The Fool jingled miserably across the floor.” Seonghwa added after a moment of silence had passed between the two without either of them moving. “Let’s get a move on, kids. You boys can keep flirting elsewhere when I’m not there. Please and thank you.”
Wooyoung and Yeosang broke apart quickly, both looking awfully bashful with their cheeks red and stammering mindlessly. Seonghwa took it upon himself to look past the couple’s shyness and started dragging them to McDonalds, insisting that they were already late.
And if both Yeosang and Wooyoung’s blush stayed high on their cheeks the whole walk there, Seonghwa was none the wiser.
3. San + Jongho
San and Jongho had graciously invited themselves over to Wooyoung and Yeosang’s shared apartment in lieu of having a “besties session” which is just a fancy way of saying sleepover.
“San’s not my best friend though?” Wooyoung cocked his head to the side when he heard the name the sleepover was dubbed.
“NO?” San screeched as he lunged for Wooyoung, attempting to wrestle the correct answer out of him. “You’re my best friend!”
“Oho, Sannie hyung’s jealous.” Jongho commented from his place on the couch. San let out a pterodactyl screech and released his hold on Wooyoung to try and wring his hands around Jongho’s neck.
“I’m not!” San pouted while Jongho held San an arms length away by placing his palm on the top of San’s head. “Yeosang and Wooyoung are boyfriends, so me and Wooyoung are best friends. You and Yeosang are best friends! That’s just how it works!”
Yeosang was attempting to help Wooyoung off the ground, but letting go of Wooyoung’s hand every time he pulled just to watch Wooyoung fall back down again.
“Yeosangie can't be both boyfriend and best friend,” San had stopped struggling against Jongho’s grip and now lay over Jongho’s lap. “Then no one will be my best friend.”
Yeosang got tired of sike-ing Wooyoung and simply abandoned him on the floor. “No, I’m Sannie’s best friend.” Yeosang said as he made his way over to sit beside Jongho, and consequently beside San as well.
San rolled over onto Yeosang’s lap and proceeded to squish his face into Yeosang’s thighs and wrap his arms around Yeosang’s waist, making little noises of assent.
“Yah, Kang Yeosang!” Wooyoung stood in front of Yeosang, hands akimbo and staring Yeosang down. “I’ve seen you eat dirt in kindergarten, seen you trip over your own laces in middle school and have seen you walk into a wall in high school. Does our years together mean nothing to you?” Wooyoung asked accusingly while progressively getting more into Yeosang’s space.
“Yes.” Yeosang’s face remained stoic as he stared back defiantly at Wooyoung. “When are we gonna start the movie?” Yeosang dislodged himself from San’s grip and stood up to set the movie up.
“Fine! See if I talk to you ever again.” Wooyoung announced as he took Yeosang’s place on the couch. San had gotten up and filled up the last spot on Wooyoung’s left, sandwiching himself between Jongho and Wooyoung and leaving Yeosang with no space but the floor.
After Yeosang had set up the movie, Jongho leaned back in his seat and shifted nearer to the arm rest, trying to give Yeosang some space on the couch so he wouldn’t have to sit on the cold hard floor. However, seeing that there was no more space, Yeosang simply nudged Wooyoung’s leg with his own. Despite the petulant pout on Wooyoung’s face, he still spread his legs all the same and let Yeosang sit in between them, his back flush to Wooyoung’s front.
The introduction to the movie had started and the television screen in front of them was flashing bright colours, but Jongho couldn’t keep his eyes away from both Wooyoung and Yeosang who were much more interesting than the movie playing before him.
Wooyoung had still not uttered a single word to Yeosang since the little dispute from before and Yeosang had remained silent himself, seemingly okay with the thin layer of tension between them. Yeosang, however, had taken Wooyoung’s hands that were laying by his side and wrapped them around his own waist, interlocking his fingers with Wooyoung’s. Yeosang then squeezed Wooyoung’s hands three times, rubbing his thumb over Wooyoung’s, causing his stony expression to defrost slightly.
Yeosang leaned his head further back to tuck his face into Wooyoung’s neck and mumbled some words that were incomprehensible to Jongho who was sitting too far away to hear what was being said. From where he was, Yeosang looked like a cat who was trying to snuggle up to its owner and make up for pushing a glass off the table. His mumbles could be mistaken for low purs as well.
Yeosang seemed to rub his nose over Wooyoung’s pulse point, causing Wooyoung to turn his head minutely to see Yeosang better. Wooyoung looked at Yeosang as if he hung all the stars in the sky and a small smile broke out on his face. Wooyoung then proceeded to press a fleeting kiss to the crown of Yeosang’s head and squeezed his hand back three times. Jostling his shoulder, Wooyoung managed to get Yeosang to focus on the screen instead of him and they finally started to focus on the movie playing.
Jongho’s face scrunched up in disgust, and his eyes drifted over to San who seemed to have seen everything as well.
Are you seeing this shit? San’s face seemed to say as he mirrored Jongho’s expression.
Jongho rolled his eyes and relaxed back into his seat. What do you expect? They’re together.
San dry heaved silently and turned back to the screen. Gross.
4. Mingi
“Are those Yeosang’s pants?” Mingi was almost 99% sure that the red and black chequered pyjama pants Wooyoung had on was Yeosang’s. It was a staple piece in Yeosang’s wardrobe, and he wore it at almost every occasion. From lazy nights in to rushed morning classes, it was a Yeosang statement piece.
“Yeah, why?” Wooyoung cocked his head to the side in confusion.
Stunned to silence by Wooyoung’s nonchalant reply, Mingi simply shook his head no. Flatmates share clothes with each other all the time, Mingi reasoned to himself. Hell, even he and Yunho sometimes borrowed each other's shirts when they missed laundry day and had to last another week with two t-shirts and one pair of pants. This is normal water.
Wooyoung was wiping away at a table that a customer just vacated and Mingi continued to sweep the floor from where he was. Wooyoung and Ming had decided on getting a part-time job at the local cafe near school to earn some extra cash this holiday to fund their “material gowrl” lifestyle as Wooyoung had so eloquently called it.
Their day passed fairly uneventfully, ringing up customers and restocking the pastry shelf display whenever it got empty. They had a fun run-in with Hongjoong when he ordered his eight shot espresso coffee that almost sent him to the emergency room once, leading to Mingi having to desperately try to convince him to reduce the number of shots to four. But other than that, their shifts ended without a fiasco and before he knew it, they were in the backroom changing out of their button down white shirt that all staff had to wear and into their own clothes that they arrived in.
“Mingi-ah, let’s go. It’s gonna get even colder the longer we dilly-dally.”
“Dilly-dally . Pfft, what are we? In 1900?” Mingi scoffed as he gathered his belongings.
“Shut the fuck up, I’m bringing it back. Don’t you know that trends repeat themselves.” Wooyoung passed him his phone as they locked up and left the cafe.
They were making their way towards the apartment and chatting about nothing really. Discussing among themselves how many shots of espresso is truly too many. If Hongjoong went to the ER for eight espresso shots, then how many was just right before getting hospitalised?
As they were talking, Mingi realised that Wooyoung’s hoodie looked suspiciously familiar. Mingi tried to pinpoint the last time he had seen this abysmally huge grey hoodie, the sheer size of it tickling an itch at the back of Mingi’s mind.
“-and I had to tell Yeosang that ‘no, mixing red and blue clothes will not make them purpl-’”
A lightbulb flickered in Mingi’s head.
Bingo.
“That’s Yeosang’s hoodie!” Mingi pointed an incredulous finger towards Wooyoung. “He literally almost chewed my finger off the other day for accidentally sitting on it and blaming it on me when it was clearly him who was in the wrong! If he valued his hoodie so much he would have put it somewhere more safe. It’s not my fault that his hoodie and your couch are the same colour. Maybe you should get a couch cover-” Mingi stopped himself.
“You made me distracted! Back to the point,” Mingi took in a deep breath, “That’s Yeosang’s hoodie that he’s mad protective about. How’d you get it?”
Wooyoung shot him a deadpanned look and rolled his eyes. “Firstly, you weren’t even listening to my story? Secondly, it’s our house. We can put our clothes wherever we want! And lastly, this isn’t even Yeosang’s hoodie.”
Mingi let out a noise in question.
“It’s mine.”
Enter static noise in Mingi’s brain. It was Wooyoung’s? There’s no way! Mingi has seen first hand just how often Yeosang would wear this hoodie. The hoodie sleeves reached far beyond Yeosang’s fingers and ended right above Wooyoung’s knees. Regardless of who’s hoodie it was, who even bought a hoodie that huge anyways? Wait, no. How has he never seen Wooyoung wear, supposedly, his own hoodie until today, four years into their friendship?
It seems like the question showed itself on Mingi’s face clearly enough for Wooyoung to answer him.
“He gave me this hoodie a few years back, probably even before we met. It was meant to be oversized but we didn’t expect that it would be this huge.” Wooyoung emphasised by spreading his arms out and looking absolutely dwarfed by its size. “Yeosang felt really bad and promised to return it, so he took it back. But I found him a few days later in my room all snuggled up in this giant monstrosity looking like the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen and just told him to keep it. I didn’t end up getting another present after that but it’s, you know, whatever. Seeing Yeosang wear this hoodie always makes me want to squish him. Maybe give him a little kiss.”
“So you guys are dating!”
Looking baffled and cheeks slightly red, Wooyoung replied, “No! Totally platonic! Like, don’t you ever just find Yunho super handsome when he dresses up and puts on makeup, and it makes him look like an angel sent from heaven? And the urge to kiss him just rises within you like… like… like how Bruce Banner can feel the rage build up within him before he explodes and becomes The Hulk!”
“... No? I have not felt the urge to kiss Yunho like how Bruce Banner turns into The Hulk.” It was Mingi’s turn to deadpan Wooyoung.
“Argh! Okay, fine. Maybe I am a little bit in love with Yeosang.” Wooyoung was positively pulling his hair out at this point.
“Damn, the L-word?”
“But you can’t tell him! I’m not ready yet!” Wooyoung put his hands together in front of his chest in a begging manner.
Mingi then opened his arms in a reverent manner. “God shall accept your plea. Rest easy now young one.”
“Shut up! I always knew you had a God complex. From the day you told me that you were an atheist-” Wooyoung smacked the back of Mingi’s head as they continued their trek back to their apartment.
They ended up chattering all the way home, and Wooyoung’s love confession was pushed to the back of Mingi’s mind, content to sit there in wait for the right moment to present itself.
5. Hongjoong
Now, Hongjoong was not a clumsy person by nature. So the fact that his ass is now currently muddy, poo-brown coloured is NOT because he shat his pants but the fact that the weather was getting warmer and the snow has begun to melt into water. And, okay, granted that trying to race Yeosang across their campus field was a losing game to begin with, but neither of them really had the foresight to think that the ground would be muddy and slippery and fall-prone.
Standing outside Yeosang’s apartment while he struggled to put the key into the keyhole due to how hard he was laughing at Hongjoong’s predicament, Hongjoong was not your happiest camper.
“Yeosang I swear to god, if you don’t open the door in the next three seconds I’m gonna tell Seonghwa that you were the one who ate his leftovers, and you know that he’s an aries.”
Sobering up, Yeosang miraculously managed to unlock the door and swept his arms open and behind his back, bowing his head much like a butler would. “After you sire.”
Hongjoong kicked him in the shin and stumbled into the house, dusting off his muddy shoes and taking them off.
While waiting for Yeosang to do the same, Hongjoong decided to look around their apartment. It’s not like he hasn’t been here before, Yeosang and Wooyoung shared a two bedroom apartment that has a living room that acts as a dining room, one toilet and one small kitchen. But that was enough for the two of them.
Hanging on a string of fairy lights above the sofa were multiple pictures of all eight of them together. A picture of all eight of them by the beach front in Jeju after their first major university exams, with big smiles on their faces and arms wrapped around each other. Another picture of Yunho, Yeosang and Seonghwa at the arcade. Yunho focused on the claw machine with a big grin on his face, his arms already filled with three stuffed toys while Yeosang and Seonghwa were behind him, clearly mid scream as they watched Yunho win his nth plushie while they both had none. A polaroid of Jongho, San and Mingi sitting around the coffee table, eyebags in plain sight with books and notes scattered all around them. San and Mingi held up peace signs with a lazy grin on their face while Jongho flipped the camera off without looking-
“Hyung, let’s get you changed. Can’t have the world thinking that you pooped your pants like a little baby.” Yeosang rudely interrupted Hongjoong reminiscing.
“You are insufferable. Has anyone told you that before?”
Yeosang shrugged his shoulders, “Once or twice, no big deal.”
Yeosang led him into his room, and now this was something he didn’t see often. They normally congregated in Wooyoung’s room or the living room whenever they wanted to chill, and for some reason, Yeosang’s room was treated as if it was some sacred territory. Looking around now, Hongjoong could understand why.
Yeosang was shuffling about his closet, trying to find some pants that would fit Hongjoong’s tiny legs. Yeosang’s room was nothing scandalous, a simple bed pushed to the corner of the room, his desk placed in front of the window with little succulents lining said window. A closet in front of his bed where Yeosang currently stood. There was nothing special about it.
It was the small details that one would miss if they didn’t look closely enough. Littered all across Yeosang’s room were pictures of his family. His family, and Wooyoung. Wooyoung, Wooyoung Wooyoung.
A picture of baby Yeosang and his parents on the shelf beside the door. A picture of baby Yeosang and baby Wooyoung, grubby little fingers holding on to each other. Baby Wooyoung had faint tear tracks on his face but still smiling a gummy smile while baby Yeosang had his large pearly eyes peering at the cameraman, eyes scrunched up as he smiled. A picture of Wooyouung and Yeosang’s family together at a theme park. They looked to be in middle school, all scrawny limbed and awkward smiles. They were standing at two opposite ends of the photograph, but they weren’t looking at the camera when the photo was taken, their gazes still met each other’s, something inexplicable between them.
Hongjoong averted his eyes, it seemed just a tad bit too intimate for him.
His eyes drifted to Yeosang’s desk, a photo frame of him and Wooyoung at the beach at night in highschool. Yeosang was leaning back, back pressed tightly to Wooyoung’s front with Wooyong’s arm practically bracketing Yeosang’s form. With windswept hair, Yeosang had his nose scrunched up in laughter and his eyes closed tight. Wooyoung was laughing along with Yeosang, but his eyes were fixed on Yeosang, looking at him like he was the most precious thing on earth.
By Yeosang’s bedside table, there was another photo frame that was decorated red with sparkly glitter and puffy stickers that said “YS & WY”. It seemed to be the most recent photo of them in the room, Yeosang with brown highlights in his hair, Wooyoung with the top half of his hair dyed ash silver. Wooyoung was facing Yeosang, lips puckered into a kiss as he kissed Yeosang on his cheeks. Wooyoung’s hand was wrapped delicately around the side of Yeosang’s head to prevent him from moving away, Yeosang’s right eye was winked closed where Wooyong’s lips came into contact with his skin but a smile graced his face regardless.
“Damn, if you just told me that your room was a Wooyoung loving space I wouldn’t have been that interested in what was in your room.” Hongjoong returned his gaze upon Yeosang.
“What? Here’s a pair of pants. It’s from highschool but it should fit you just right.” Yeosang said as he tossed Hongjoong a pair of joggers and plopped down onto his bed.
“I always thought that you didn’t let people into your room because you were hiding a secret monster inside or that you were secretly emo. I just didn’t think it was because you were disgustingly in love with Wooyoung.” Hongjoong began to unbutton his pants in Yeosang’s room. They were friends, nothing they hadn't seen before.
Yeosang remained quiet for a moment, before sitting up on his elbows. “I’m not in love with Wooyoung.”
Hongjoong scoffed. “Your room is 80% Wooyoung pictures. Don’t worry, there’s no shame in loving your boyfriend.”
“Wooyoung isn’t my boyfriend,” Yeosang frowned. “We’re just friends.”
Hongjoong raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, pulling on the joggers. “Um… Well, don't you want to date Wooyoung? He looks at you like you’re the love of his life and you treat him different from how you treat us. You care for him in ways that we don’t and you’re always Wooyoung’s first priority.” Hongjoong tried to gently coax Yeosang into recognising his own feelings.
Yeosang remained silent once more. This time, he didn’t speak up, but a wonderful blush crawled onto his face up til the tip of his ears and down his neck. Yeosang brought an arm up to his face and buried his face into the crook of his elbow.
“Oh my god. I’m in love with Wooyoung. What the hell? What am I supposed to do hyung?” Yeosang croaked.
“Well, you could confess. I’m about 100 percent sure that Wooyoung wouldn’t reject you.” Hongjoong took a seat on the bed next to where Yeosang lay, now in clean fresh pants.
Yeosang looked at him ridiculously. “Hyung, I literally just found out I’m in love with him. Let me stew in my feelings for a bit before jumping to confessing.”
“Well, good thing you actually plan on confessing. The rest of us thought you guys were already dating.”
“What? For how long? Did everyone know that I was in love with Wooyong and no one told me?”
Rolling his eyes, Hongjoong replied “With the way you guys were acting, there was no doubt about how you guys felt about each other. We just didn’t know that you weren’t aware of your own feelings. You can be a little oblivious sometimes.”
“Oblivious? Yeah, okay. Next time I’ll be oblivious to your shit stained pants and let you walk around campus like that poopoo man.”
“I didn’t shit my pants-”
+1 Wooyoung
It was the weekend and the boys decided to go for a picnic lunch at the park instead of being cooped up in their rooms since the new semester has started. They had laid out a picnic mat in the shade of a large tree and were scattered around it.
“Yah, Wooyoung. The bibimbap isn’t spicy at all! Who let you cook?” San complained, mouth full of said bibimbap.
“Swallow your food before you talk, Sannie.” Came Seonghwa’s voice.
“I provide you food and this is how you treat me? Spit it out right now Choi San.” Wooyoung glowered at San.
San however just ignored Wooyoung and shovelled more food into his mouth. Stupid San. He couldn’t make it too spicy if not Yeosang wouldn’t be able to eat it.
Coming to his defence, Yeosang piped up. “Oh? I think it’s fine though.” San had fed him a bite after making his statement to get Yeosang to taste test.
They sat around in a circle, Yesoang being flanked by San and Yunho. Beside San was Hongjoong, followed by Mingi and Wooyoung. And beside Wooyoung was Jongho and then Seonghwa beside Yunho, closing up the circle. Wooyoung was directly opposite Yeosang and could see the satisfied little expression on Yeosang’s face as he ate Wooyong’s bibimbap.
Blowing a raspberry at San, Wooyoung grabbed a strawberry sandwich that Seonghwa made. Majority of the snow had melted away and the flowers were in full bloom. It was still a little chilly but the warmth of the sun rays and just being outside with each other made Wooyoung feel warm enough.
“Yunho, pass me the drinks.” Mingi said with his arms reaching out.
“Ow- I said pass it to me!” Mingi rubbed his arm where the bottle had hit him, “Not hurl it at me. What the hell man.”
Rolling his eyes, Yunho replied “You’re being a baby.”
“A baby? You get hit with a one litre bottle and tell me how you feel!” Mingi raised his arm and pulled his arm back, fully intent on throwing the bottle back at Yunho.
“No one is throwing bottles at anyone else.” Hongjoong snatched the drink from Mingi’s hand and gently pat Mingi’s knee.
“Boo.” Jongho jeered, giving Hongjoong a thumbs down. “Things were just about to get interesting. Hyung you’re no fun.”
Hongjoong let out an undignified screech and shot out of his seat to reach for Jongho but was pulled back by San’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
“Don’t hold me back Sannie.” Hongjoong griped. “The little devil deserves what's coming for him!”
The rest of the picnic followed in similar fashion, harmless bickering, jokes and laughter all around. Wooyoung felt content in the moment, just coexisting with his closest friends and enjoying themselves.
“There’s no point in brushing your teeth before you eat breakfast! You’re just gonna eat and get your teeth dirty again!” Yunho said while waving his burger around.
“If you don’t brush your teeth before you have breakfast, your breakfast is just gonna taste like yucky morning breath! Who wants to start out their day with a terrible tasting meal?” Hongjoong retorted.
The rest of the boys were taking sides with either of them, trying to argue for their own preference. Fingers were being pointed and crumbs were flying about, but all Wooyoung managed to do was look at Yeosang who sat opposite him.
Yeosang’s lips were pouted as he chewed on a powdered donut, the sugar coating his whole lip and the skin surrounding it. He looked absolutely adorable, head turning this way and that to listen to everyone’s argument, much like a meerkat. Just as he finished his last mouth of donut and licked his fingers clean, Yunho reached over to take Yeosang’s chin between his hands and helped Yeosang wipe the residual sugar from his mouth and hands.
Wooyoung’s heart clenched pathetically. That should have been him!
Yeosang turned away from Yunho once he was done and was going to pour himself a drink when he locked eyes with Wooyoung.
Wooyoung looked to the bibimbap and back to Yeosang, raising his eyebrows. Is it nice?
It’s perfect. Yeosang curled his lips up and nodded. He tilted his head to the side and raised his cup. Want a drink?
Wooyoung shook his head. Wooyoung looked at Yunho then at Hongjoong and nodded towards Yeosang. Who’s side are you on?
Yeosang cocked his head to the side. What are they arguing about?
Wooyoung stifled a laugh behind his hand and rolled his eyes fondly. About whether you should brush-
“Hyung, Wooyoung and Yeosang are doing their weird telepathy thing again.” San complained.
“I don’t know what you expect, Sannie. They’ve been doing this since we knew them.” Seonghwa replied.
Wooyoung sputtered, “It’s not telepathy-”
“It’s definitely telepathy.” Yeosang cut in with a straight face. “I was telling Wooyoung about that time you stole his-”
“Okay!” San cut Yeosang off before he could spill the rest of the story.
Wooyoung squinted his eyes suspiciously at San.
Jongho slapped his knees like an old man. “Welp, this conversation is getting boring. Yunho hyung, come play soccer with me.”
Jongho picked up the soccer ball from where it was lying with the rest of their belongings while Yunho jumped up from his seat and brushed his fingers off.
“Oh, I want to join!”
“Me too!” San and Mingi said as they made their way over to an open field to run around like little puppies.
Seonghwa stacked all the empty boxes together. “I’ll join them after I clean this up. How about you Joong?”
Hongjoong laid out on the mat and stretched, “I’ll help you. Then take a nap.”
“Me and Yeosangie are gonna go for a walk!” Wooyoung piped up. “Thanks hyungs, love you.”
Wooyoung walked over to where Yeosang was still seated and held his hand out. Yeosang held Wooyoung’s hand and Wooyoung preened over the little fact that Yeosang’s hand was slightly bigger than his own. It made him feel safe and protected.
Walking along the park, Yeosang swung their intertwined hands between them while humming a little tune. Wooyoung always thought that Yeosang had the richest singing voice ever and could hear him talk and sing for hours on end without ever getting bored.
“Oh, these flowers look pretty.” Yeosang pulled Wooyoung off to the side of the pavement onto the grass patch. Wooyoung lagged slightly behind Yeosang and couldn’t help but stare at their hands, this was nice. He smiled slightly to himself, he wouldn’t mind if they stayed like this forever.
“They’re daisies!” Wooyoung voiced out as they crouched down in front of the patch of daisies. Yeosang let go of Wooyoung’s hand and wrapped his arms around his own knees as he squatted down to admire the flowers a little closer. Wooyoung pouted at the loss of warmth that holding Yeosang’s hand gave him but said nothing, opting to squat down beside Yeosang and mirror his pose.
The sun was shining brightly, giving Yeosang a soft glow and Wooyoung couldn’t help but to pluck a daisy from its stem and gently tuck it behind Yeosang’s ear. Yeosang turned to face Wooyoung inquisitively.
“Do I look pretty?” Yeosang asked him while batting his eyelashes.
“Mmhm.” Wooyoung nodded in assent. “Remember when we first met at the playground in kindergarten? It kinda reminds me of that moment now.”
“You mean when you fell off the slide because it was too slippery and you just sat on the ground and cried because your butt hurt and it was too fast for your liking?” Yeosang replied while nudging his shoulder against Wooyoung’s, making him lose his balance and falling onto his butt.
Wooyoung huffed and dragged Yeosang down by the elbow to sit with him on the grass. “Yeah, okay, I was a little loser back then. Don’t need to rub it in.”
“But you were like the coolest hero to me at that time,” Wooyoung continued as he played with Yeosang’s fingers. “You came up to me all cool and asked me to be your friend. Did you know I stopped crying because you were so cute that I completely forgot what happened?”
Yeosang breathed out a little laugh and squeezed Wooyoung’s fingers with his own.
“Then you just dragged me off to your dad and told him that you made a new friend. Your fingers were so sticky from that popsicle you ate beforehand.” Wooyoung dragged out the ‘so’ as he spoke.
Wooyoung looked up to see that Yeosang was already staring at him with an inexplicable emotion on his face, something that he could only wish for but dare not say out loud in fear of jinxing himself.
Wooyoung could feel his hands trembling minutely where they were in Yeosang’s grip, and his palms started to feel a little sweat from the nerves. Taking a deep breath, Wooyoung soldiered on, “I just think that it’s amazing that we’ve essentially been in each other's lives for the past 21 years.”
“And it would be my absolute pleasure,” Wooyoung brought Yeosang’s arm closer to his chest, staring into his eyes, “If you would let me be by your side forever.”
“Kang Yeosang, will you be my boyfriend?”
Yeosang untangled his hand from Wooyoung’s and immediately wrapped his arms around Wooyoung's shoulder, throwing himself into Wooyoung’s embrace, making both of them topple backwards onto the ground.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Yeosang’s voice was a little watery and it shook as he replied, but Wooyoung could practically hear the smile in his voice.
“This all happened faster than I expected.” Yeosang said as he sat up with the brightest gummy smile on his face, straddling Wooyoung’s waist. Wooyoung could see the residual tears clinging onto his lashes, but that only made Yeosang look that much more ethereal.
“Faster than you expected?” Wooyoung sat up and placed his arms on Yeosang’s thighs where they lay by his side, caging him in. “I’ve been in love with you even before I knew what being in love felt like, and you’re saying it happened faster than you expected?”
As Wooyoung spoke, Yeosang’s gaze casually drifted from his eyes down to his lips to watch him speak. Wooyoung’s lips quirked up at that realisation.
“Hm? Yeah…” Yeosang replied distractedly. “Can I kiss you, boyfriend?”
Eyeing the cheeky look on his boyfriend’s– boyfriend’s! Wooyoung thought gleefully –face, Wooyoung replied, “I thought you’d never ask, boyfriend.”
Wooyoung cradled Yeosang’s jaw within his hands and gently pulled him closer til they were breathing the same air. “Close your eyes, you’re making me shy.”
With a small giggle, Yeosang obediently closed his eyes and leaned in. Their lips slotted together perfectly and seemed to melt against each other.
It was a simple press of lips but kissing Yeosang was better than anything Wooyoung had ever imagined. Kissing Yeosang felt like a delicate breeze in the humid spring weather. It felt like sweet but refreshing lemonade in the hot summer and it felt like hot chocolate in the coldest of winters. Kissing Yeosang felt so right that he wondered why he even waited so long to kiss Yeosang if this is what he could have been experiencing all along.
They eventually broke apart and Yeosang pulled back, staring at Wooyoung as if he was what Yeosang was waiting for all along.
“Wow…” Yeosang smiled down at him, blush high on his cheeks.
“Oh wow indeed.” Wooyoung smiled back at him.
Eyes widening and mouth forming an ‘o’ shape, Yeosang jumped up and started tugging on Wooyoung’s hand. “We gotta tell the rest!”
Wooyoung couldn’t help the smile that broke out onto his face, seeing Yeosang with nothing but pure joy on his face, so excited to share the good news with their friends. Yeosang had the mannerism of a little puppy who was so eager that Wooyoung didn’t have the heart to tease him.
As soon as Wooyoung got to his feet, Yeosang took off running, lugging Wooyoung behind him.
“Guys, guys!” Yeosang yelled as he neared the group of boys who were playing ball. Hongjoong had unfortunately been roped into being the referee of the match, looking absolutely disgruntled.
“Wooyoung asked me to be his boyfriend!” Yeosang exclaimed as he shoved their intertwined hands in front of him.
“Congrats bro!” Came Mingi’s shout as he ran towards Wooyoung, lifting him up in a tight hug and twirled him around.
There was a cacophony of shouts in the foreground, ranging from Hongjoong’s “Nice going Yeosangie!” to San’s pure shouting of no words but just sound.
“Wait, what do you mean he just asked you to be his boyfriend?” Yunho asked, “Haven’t yall been together this whole time?”
Yeosang rubbed the back of his head while looking away sheepishly. “Let’s just say I’m really slow on the uptake.”
“You mean you guys haven’t been together all along but still acted like that?” Jongho screeched. “You heinous gays sicken me!”
Seonghwa proceeded to kick the soccer ball at Jongho, smirking slightly in success when Jongho let out an “oof” when the ball hit him. “Shut up Jongho. You’re literally just a secretly thirsty bisexual wh-”
“Hyung!” Came Jongho’s cry as he flushed in embarrassment.
Looking around at his friends and eventually back to Yeosang who shined brighter than the sun, Wooyoung couldn’t be more happy to be where he is than right now.