IMB 2012: Wednesdays (2/2)
Working Title: Wednesdays
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Woohyun
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sunggyu and Woohyun like to study together at the library on Wednesdays.
Final word count: 11,612
On the last day of classes, Sunggyu wearily hauled himself back to the dorm sometime around five in the evening. He had just gotten out of a two hour review session for his principles of auditing class, and although it was a Friday and he could hear some students excitedly chattering about going out to parties, he was headed straight back to his room to continue cramming material into his head before finals started.
By the time he reached the door to his suite and had fumbled through unlocking it, Sunggyu was seriously considering the merits of allowing himself a short nap before resuming studying. His eyes felt like sandpaper, and he rubbed at them with one hand while he kicked off his shoes. Then he turned to face the living room and briefly wondered if he had already fallen asleep and was actually dreaming.
“Why are you in my dorm?” Sunggyu asked slowly, staring blankly at where Sungjong and Woohyun were sitting on the floor with their various textbooks and papers strewn all across the coffee table.
“Because finals start in, like, three days,” Sungjong replied absentmindedly as he flipped through some notes. “Getting a seat in the library is pretty much impossible.”
“Ok - but - what -” Sunggyu stuttered, squinting at them and waiting for his exhausted brain to catch up and start processing the situation. “Neither of you even live here,” he eventually managed to get out. “How did you even get in?”
“Dongwoo hyung let me borrow his keys,” Sungjong said, gesturing towards the key ring filled with cute charms sitting on the kitchen counter as Woohyun muffled his laughter behind a spiral notebook. “But even if he hadn’t, I could have just gotten your RA to let me in. He’s done it before.”
“Ok, great, glad to know the person who’s supposed to be keeping my dormitory building safe and orderly is willing to let random people who don’t even live on campus into my dorm.” Sunggyu finally moved forward, walking into the living room and slumping down on the couch.
“Oh no,” Sungjong quickly explained. “He totally thinks I actually live here. One time he even asked me how I can afford to lose my keys so often, since the replacements cost so much.”
Sunggyu stared at Sungjong in disbelief for about three seconds before running a hand through his hair. “Great,” he mumbled. “Even better. Remind me again why you don’t help us pay the rent?”
Sungjong just smiled his best charming smile and shrugged before turning back to his studying. Woohyun reached out and patted Sunggyu’s knee sympathetically.
“Go and take a nap, hyung,” Woohyun said, smiling up at Sunggyu from where he was still sitting on the floor. “I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.”
Sunggyu just nodded and sluggishly pulled himself upright again, shuffling to his room. He fell asleep almost as soon as he flopped down on his mattress.
--
Sometime close to 1 a.m. Sunggyu caught himself dozing off and forced himself to sit upright again, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He shifted so he was sitting more comfortably on the couch pillow he was using to make the floor more tolerable. The telltale tingling all down his legs promised pain whenever he decided to stand up, and sighing to himself Sunggyu tapped the touchpad on his laptop to bring his screen back to life. He blinked owlishly at the practice problems on his computer before his eyes drifted over to check the time.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out to lightly shove Woohyun’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be heading home soon?”
Woohyun looked up from the passage he was highlighting in his notes and pushed his glasses up back into position while quickly checking the time on his phone. He groaned, stretching out his legs under the coffee table and earning an annoyed look from Sungjong when their feet collided.
The three of them were sitting on the floor around the coffee table, which was completely covered in textbooks, papers, and various electronic devices. Sungjong was on the side closest to the couch, leaning back against Howon’s legs while the elder scribbled notes in the margins of his cognitive neuropsychology textbook, his iPod turned up loud just enough that the faint sound of his music could be heard throughout the room. Dongwoo was sitting on the couch as well, microbiology notes forgotten in his lap as he slept with his head against Howon’s shoulder. Sungyeol had gone to bed about an hour before, no longer able to keep his eyes open.
“Crap, I didn’t realize it was already so late. I think the subway already stopped running,” Woohyun mused to himself as he leaned back on his outstretched arms. “And the bus route home from here is so annoying, I have to transfer like three times. This sucks.”
Sunggyu watched Woohyun from the corner of his eye as the younger tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, as if the white plaster held an answer to his dilemma. Dark hair flopped across his forehead, catching on his glasses frames, and he worried his bottom lip in thought. Sunggyu felt something catch in his chest, and there was something, just on the tip of his tongue, some words that he felt he needed to say, except he didn’t know what they were or why he should be saying them.
“Do you want to just spend the night here?” he said instead, before he even realized what he was doing. Woohyun blinked at him in surprise and Sungjong gave him this look, like he was saying “I know what’s going on here,” and Sunggyu really wanted to ask him to explain, because he sure as hell doesn’t know.
“Are you sure that would be ok?” Woohyun asked tentatively, eyes flickering between Sunggyu and where his roommates where sprawled on the couch. Sunggyu just shrugged.
“Sungjong does it all the time. It’s not really a problem.”
“The couch is really uncomfortable, though,” Sungjong commented offhandedly as he reached forward to shuffle through his notes.
“Well I guess Woohyun can just share my room then?” Sunggyu stated it as a question, glancing over at Woohyun.
“That’s fine with me, but are you sure this is ok?” Woohyun looked so concerned that Sunggyu mustered up a grin to try to reassure him.
“Yeah, it’s no problem.”
“Thanks,” Woohyun said, his voice showing obvious relief. Not sure how to reply, Sunggyu just nodded and turned his eyes back to his laptop. He clicked to bring it back from energy saving mode, fidgeting uncomfortably as an awkward silence fell over the room.
Suddenly Sungjong stood up, startling Woohyun and Sunggyu and even breaking Howon out of his trance-like state. Sungjong stretched his arms above his head, bending slightly to one side and then the other while his face pulled up into a slight grimace.
“Well I’m going to head off to bed now,” the youngest announced, moving over to where Dongwoo was still sleeping and grabbing one of his arms. Howon quickly scrambled upwards to help him, and together they started to haul Dongwoo off towards his bedroom. “Good night,” Sungjong called over his shoulder, and all Sunggyu could do was stare blankly after him.
“So,” Woohyun said maybe a minute later, turning to look at Sunggyu.
“We should probably go to bed now too,” Sunggyu mused. “Um, if that’s ok with you, that is.”
“Yeah, that would be fine.” Woohyun gave Sunggyu one of his eye-crinkling smiles and Sunggyu couldn’t help but smile back.
After quickly shutting down his laptop and stacking his notes into a slightly more organized pile, Sunggyu headed off for his room with Woohyun walking close behind.
“I can probably find some sweats for you to wear or something, if you’d like,” Sunggyu babbled as he opened his door and switched on the light.
“Sweats would be nice,” Woohyun said, trying to look around Sunggyu’s room inconspicuously. Sunggyu made a beeline to his dresser and started to rummage through the drawers until he found a pair of clean sweatpants and a t-shirt so old the screen-printed design on the front had faded. He tossed them to Woohyun and then pulled out some clothes for himself.
“I’m gonna go brush my teeth,” Sunggyu mumbled before heading across the hall to the bathroom he shared with Sungyeol.
When he returned Woohyun was wearing the clothes Sunggyu had given him and was staring intently at a picture frame propped up on Sunggyu’s desk, his own clothes and glasses sitting in a neat stack on Sunggyu’s computer chair. Woohyun jumped when Sunggyu entered the room, as if afraid he would get in trouble for being nosy, but for some reason the strange feeling had reappeared in Sunggyu’s chest upon seeing Woohyun wearing his clothes, and all he could do was stutter out, “I’m sorry, we don’t have any extra toothbrushes.”
“Oh, that’s ok,” Woohyun was fast to reassure him. “I think I’ll survive.”
Woohyun left to use the bathroom and Sunggyu sat uncertainly on the edge of his mattress, smoothing his fingers across the fabric of his sheets. Soon there was the telltale sound of the toilet flushing and the faucet running, then the bathroom door opened and Woohyun came back to the bedroom, pulling the door mostly shut behind him.
“If you have an extra blanket, I can just sleep on the floor if you’d rather,” Woohyun said before Sunggyu even had time to open his mouth. “I really don’t mind.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sunggyu snapped back, sounding grumpier than he had intended. “Hurry up and turn off the light.”
Woohyun quickly hit the switch and carefully made his way over to the bed in the dark, moving slowly across the unfamiliar room. Sunggyu scooted over until he was practically plastered against the wall, making room for Woohyun as the other climbed clumsily onto the mattress and pulled up the covers. The entire situation was painfully awkward, as the two of them tried to readjust into more comfortable positions without bumping into each other.
About five minutes later, after settling onto his side with his back facing Woohyun, Sunggyu’s eyes had just started to drift closed when Woohyun quietly said, “Hyung?”
“Hm?” Sunggyu replied, blinking back awake.
“Can I ask you something?”
If his mind hadn’t been blurred around the edges with sleep, Sunggyu might have replied with some cheesy comeback like “You already did,” but as it was he just mumbled, “You know, gossiping during sleepovers is usually a girl thing.”
Woohyun laughed softly, sounding embarrassed, and Sunggyu rolled over just enough that he could see the profile of Woohyun’s face.
“Well, what is it?” Sunggyu asked when Woohyun didn’t say anything further.
“A while ago, you said that you were doing accounting because it would make your parents happy, right?” Sunggyu made a sound of confirmation, and Woohyun continued. “I’ve just kind of been wondering, if you could choose any job you wanted, without worrying about your parents, and if income and stuff wasn’t an issue, what would you do?”
“Anything I wanted, huh?” Sunggyu mused, rolling over so he was on his back as well, shoulder pressed to Woohyun’s. “I guess then I’d probably want to be a singer.”
“You like to sing, hyung?” Woohyun asked, surprised and curious.
“Yeah, but I’d want to be in a rock or indie band or something. None of that mainstream idol crap.” Sunggyu grimaced and Woohyun laughed, shuffling closer to Sunggyu as he tried to keep from falling off the bed.
Once they had settled so that Woohyun wasn’t in immediate danger of becoming acquainted with the floor, Sunggyu stifled a yawn against the back of his hand. Although Woohyun was blocking his view of the clock, Sunggyu figured it was probably sometime close to 1:30. Not too horribly late, especially considering his earlier nap, but even so he still felt absolutely exhausted from his long day.
“You know, me and some of my friends like to get together and mess around with writing songs and stuff,” Woohyun said as Sunggyu fought off another yawn. “You should come hang out with us sometime during winter holidays.”
“Sure,” Sunggyu replied, already feeling himself slipping out of consciousness. If Woohyun said anything more after that, Sunggyu didn’t hear it.
--
Sunggyu woke to the flash of a camera.
“Wha-” he exclaimed as he tried to sit up. Tried being the key word, since Woohyun’s arm, draped across Sunggyu’s waist, effectively kept him from going anywhere.
The camera flashed again, accompanied by a cackle from Sungyeol.
“This is so going on Facebook,” Sungyeol chuckled gleefully as he snapped yet another picture.
“What the hell?” Sunggyu protested as he struggled to dislodge Woohyun’s arm. Instead of letting go Woohyun just clung harder, obviously still at least 90% asleep as he buried his face into Sunggyu’s shoulder and mumbled about not wanting to get up yet.
Hearing the commotion, Sungjong appeared and peeked around the doorjamb, only to hastily disappear back to the kitchen and return to the room with Howon in tow. The two of them giggled together out in the hallway while Sungyeol took some more pictures for good measure and Sunggyu continued to unsuccessfully try to free himself from Woohyun’s grip.
“That should be good,” Sungyeol finally decided, stopping to flip through the pictures. “Time to go upload!”
“Oh my God, Lee Sungyeol,” Sunggyu yelled exasperatedly. “Get back here right now and delete those pictures. Sungyeol!”
Sungyeol just laughed again and left the room, whistling cheerfully.
“Sungjongie? Howon-ah?” Sunggyu tried desperately, sending the two still doubled over with laughter in the hallway what he hoped was a beseeching look.
“Sorry, hyung,” Sungjong giggled. “You’re on your own here.”
With that, Sungjong and Howon headed back towards the kitchen, leaving the utterly defeated Sunggyu alone with Woohyun. Despite the commotion Woohyun was still asleep, his head now resting on Sunggyu’s chest.
“This is entirely your fault,” Sunggyu grumbled as he glared at the top of Woohyun’s head. “You suck.”
Woohyun just muttered something that sounded vaguely like “Too loud” and wrapped a leg around Sunggyu too.
--
Finals passed in the way that finals usually do, with too little sleep and too much coffee. It all blurred together into a week and a half of stress and worry, and then suddenly it was done and Sunggyu was sitting on the one and a half hour bus ride home with a suitcase full of clothes and Christmas presents jammed between his knees.
Being on break felt so strange after months of the chaos that came with school. Having time to just relax at home felt nice, but everything was too quiet. He kept expecting to wake up to Sungyeol’s dolphin squeal, or Dongwoo’s laughter, or Howon’s hip hop music, or even Sungjong complaining about how there was never any food in the dorm. On the first Wednesday of break, Sunggyu even considered going to the closest library and sitting around for a while, just because. Instead he opted for sitting in the living room with the TV on and watching the snow fall outside the window.
He visited with Dongwoo and Howon a couple times, even going to visit Dongwoo’s parent’s restaurant, but otherwise Sunggyu’s schedule fell into the boring monotony of sitting around his house all day.
So when his phone buzzed with a text from Woohyun almost two weeks into break, Sunggyu was irrationally happy while opening it. He fumbled with the device, quickly scrolling through the message.
'hey, hyung' Woohyun had written. 'remember those friends i mentioned before when we were talking about singing? ive been hanging out at their studio pretty much every day i don’t have work haha =_= you should come visit! we wanna hear you sing! even if im not there myungsoo should be so stop by any time!!'
A couple of seconds later he received another text, this one including an address and the name of the closest subway exit to the studio. Without hesitation Sunggyu hit reply and typed out 'will you be there tomorrow?'
--
Woohyun met Sunggyu at the subway station, wrapped up in an oversized knit scarf that covered almost half of his face and was making his glasses fog up.
When he saw Sunggyu, Woohyun waved enthusiastically and called, “I’m glad you could make it!”
“I’m glad you invited me,” Sunggyu replied as he drew level with Woohyun. “I think I was starting to go insane from boredom.”
Woohyun threw back his head and laughed, reaching up to loosen his scarf and make it easier to talk. During the short walk to the studio Woohyun rambled about his friends. Apparently he had known them since high school, and after high school graduation they had decided to try breaking into the music industry in addition to taking some university classes. Now they rented out a small studio and worked as smalltime songwriters as well as occasionally performing in clubs and such. Woohyun and Myungsoo just liked to crash at the studio and play around, sometimes helping them with composing or singing demos.
“Here we are,” Woohyun finally said, stopping in front of a door. Sunggyu just nodded numbly, suddenly overtaken with a feeling of apprehension. He didn’t even know these people, and honestly the only singing he’d done in at least four years had been limited to the pretending-I’m-a-superstar-while-showering variety.
As if sensing Sunggyu’s hesitation, Woohyun reached out to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulder. Sunggyu’s heart felt like it was trying to do flips in his chest.
“Jeesu hyung and Daniel are really nice, I’m sure you’ll like them,” Woohyun said reassuringly, then reached out and opened the door before Sunggyu could react.
“I’m back!” Woohyun announced, dragging Sunggyu inside with him. The studio was small but seemed well loved, with a beat up sofa jammed against one wall and a table in front of it covered in sheets of music and lyrics and littered with water bottles and energy drink cans. There was a control panel full of switches buttons that Sunggyu couldn’t even imagine the uses for, and a small section divided off as the recording area.
Myungsoo was sitting on the couch absentmindedly strumming a guitar, and another guy was sitting next to him making notes in colored pencil on a piece of paper. A third guy was sitting over by the control panel, fiddling with some switches. All three of them looked up when Woohyun and Sunggyu entered and Myungsoo waved to Sunggyu, who gave him an uncertain smile in return.
“Ah!” the guy sitting next to Myungsoo exclaimed, getting up to offer his hand to Sunggyu. His hair was shaved on the sides, creating an oddly styled mohawk, and there was a wide, friendly smile on his face. “You must be Woohyunnie’s boyfriend then! Kim Sunggyu-ssi, right? Myungsoo was just telling us about you. Did you really get him to drink coffee? That’s seriously some kind of miracle!”
He was beaming at them brightly, hand extended, but his smile faltered as Sunggyu and Woohyun both just stood there staring at him, too shocked to even react.
“Boy.. friend..?” Sunggyu finally stuttered out, right as Woohyun let out some sort of strangled yell and launched himself at Myungsoo. Myungsoo, for his part, dissolved into laughter and quickly moved the guitar to safety right before Woohyun tackled him. The guy at the control panel started laughing too, doubling over and almost falling off his chair.
The guy still standing in front of Sunggyu looked over to Myungsoo and Woohyun and then back to Sunggyu, and his eyes widened in a way that would have been hilarious if Sunggyu’s brain was functioning properly. As it was, Sunggyu just continued staring dumbly at him as his brain whirred around going boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.
“So you’re not?” the formerly smiley guy asked, looking utterly confused.
“Ah, I - no?” Sunggyu stammered, brain slowly catching up to the situation. “I’m not his boyfriend, I mean. I am Kim Sunggyu, though.”
“Seriously? Myungsoo was going on and on about how in love you two were and stuff.”
“You fucker, you are so dead,” Woohyun growled, managing to get Myungsoo into a headlock. Myungsoo just continued to laugh, not apologetic in the least.
Sunggyu wondered if he could just die from embarrassment and melt into the floor and never have to face any of the people in this room ever again.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” the standing guy said desperately. “I just believed Myungsoo and made assumptions and I’m so sorry, oh my God.”
“That’s what you get for actually listening to Myungsoo,” the only guy still sitting managed to gasp out between laughter. The glare he received sent him back into a fit of giggles.
“It’s ok, it’s not a big deal,” Sunggyu managed to force out. He felt like his face was on fire, and he could only imagine how red he’d turned.
“Ok, well since everything’s gone to hell anyways, I might as well introduce myself.” The smile came back to mohawk-guy’s face and he extended his hand towards Sunggyu once more. “I’m Park Jeesu, and that idiot over there is Chae Daniel.”
Sunggyu shook the offered hand, and Daniel wiped tears out of his eyes before coming over to shake Sunggyu’s hand too. Woohyun and Myungsoo had finally run out of energy and were laying on the floor breathing heavily, Woohyun using one arm to cover his face. Myungsoo managed to haul himself upright and climb back onto the couch while Sunggyu exchanged introductions with Jeesu and Daniel.
“So, Sunggyu-ssi,” Myungsoo cut in once they had finished. “Woohyun hyung said that you like singing. Are we gonna get to hear you sing?” He gave Sunggyu one of his strange soul-searching stares and Sunggyu faltered, swallowing sharply.
“I don’t know, I haven’t sung in a long time. And I’m not very good anyways.”
“No, you have to sing!” Woohyun declared from the floor, finally sitting up. “You have to!” He did this weird aegyo pout-and-wriggle thing that wasn’t cute at all but somehow still made a smile pull at Sunggyu’s lips.
“Ok, fine, I’ll sing,” Sunggyu relented. Woohyun let out a whoop of victory and Myungsoo reached out with one foot and shoved him over.
Jeesu and Daniel both laughed and Sunggyu found himself laughing along with them, and despite only having just arrived, Sunggyu could easily see himself feeling at home in the cramped little studio.
--
Sunggyu made the trek to the studio almost every day for the remainder of his winter break. Whoever was there already when he arrived would greet him enthusiastically and pull him into whatever they were working on. It got to the point where Sunggyu was close to spending more time at the studio than he was at his house.
So it wasn’t too surprising that one night during the last couple days of break Sunggyu was sitting in the studio at 3 a.m., silently reading over some sheet music. Jeesu had offered to give Sunggyu a ride home after he finished whatever he was working on, and was currently sitting with a giant pair of headphones on, messing around with different beats and melodies. Myungsoo and Daniel had left earlier, after some of their friends from high school had stopped by and asked them if they wanted to go to a movie.
And then there was Woohyun, currently sprawled out next to Sunggyu on the couch, leaning against the elder’s shoulder as he used his phone to surf the internet. Sunggyu glanced down at Woohyun and hurriedly tried to convince himself that the strange feeling in his stomach was because he hadn’t eaten in a couple hours. Woohyun had come to the studio after work, so even though he had changed into a pair of sweats and a hideous leopard print tank top his hair was still styled impeccably and it looked like he was possibly wearing eyeliner. He should have looked rather dumb, but instead all Sunggyu could think was, perfect.
Since he’d started hanging out at the studio, Dongwoo and Howon had been teasing him lightly more and more frequently about his “ridiculously huge crush” on Woohyun and telling him to do something about it “since it’s painfully obvious he likes you too.” Sunggyu insisted that he didn’t have a crush. He just really enjoyed spending time with Woohyun. And he had noticed the way Woohyun acted around him too, he wasn’t blind, but Woohyun was also just all around a nice guy and Sunggyu really didn’t want to interpret things wrong and potentially ruin their friendship.
“I’m gonna go down to the 24 hour convenience store around the corner and get some more water,” Jeesu eventually said, pulling off his headphones and powering down his laptop. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Sunggyu and Woohyun both made noncommittal noises of acknowledgement and Jeesu snorted, letting the door click shut behind him.
Woohyun shifted against Sunggyu’s shoulder, heavily gelled hair prickling against Sunggyu’s neck. Sunggyu squirmed and lightly pushed Woohyun away.
“That tickles,” he complained, pulling a face. “You put too much gel in.”
“Ok then,” Woohyun agreed easily, and flopped over so his head was in Sunggyu’s lap instead.
Sunggyu froze, his entire body immediately going stiff. It wasn’t that the gesture was particularly odd or anything - Woohyun rested his head in Myungsoo’s lap all the time, even though he usually just got shoved off - but Sunggyu didn’t know how to react. Was he supposed to interpret it the way he wanted to, or was Woohyun simply being touchy in the same way he was with all his friends?
Woohyun must have felt Sunggyu tense up, because he blinked up at Sunggyu, suddenly looking uncertain.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked, concerned.
“What? No, I just -” Sunggyu stuttered. He took a deep breath he hoped wasn’t too obvious and tried to smile. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”
Woohyun pushed himself upright again anyways, moving so there was a little space between them on the couch.
“Can I tell you something?” Woohyun kept his eyes fixed on the phone he was gripping tightly with both hands while he asked, even though he was just staring at his home screen.
“Of course” Sunggyu replied uncertainly. He turned slightly to face Woohyun, laying down the music he was still holding on the table.
“You know the first time you came here and Jeesu thought you were my boyfriend?” Sunggyu nodded, and Woohyun continued, “At that time, I really, really wanted to be able to say that yes, you were my boyfriend.”
Woohyun chanced a glance up at Sunggyu, who was staring at him in shock, then swallowed hard and turned his attention back to his phone.
“I’m sorry if I misinterpreted your actions or anything, or if this makes you uncomfortable, but -” he locked his phone and tossed it over to the table, opting to just stare at his hands instead. “But, I really like you. A lot.”
The room fell into silence as Sunggyu’s brain tried to wrap itself around what Woohyun had just said. Woohyun swallowed nervously again.
“I’m really sorry,” Woohyun finally choked out. He seemed to have taken Sunggyu’s silence as a rejection, and Sunggyu’s heart started racing as he willed himself to say anything, to do anything. “I hope this won’t mess up our friendsh-”
Sunggyu braced one hand against the back of the couch and leaned forward. He misgauged the distance slightly and ended up only kissing the corner of Woohyun’s mouth, but it was still enough to stun Woohyun into silence.
“I like you a lot, too,” Sunggyu mumbled against Woohyun’s cheek. And then Woohyun’s hand was resting against Sunggyu’s jaw, angling his face so they could actually kiss.
“I really, really do.”
--
The third Saturday of the second semester of his senior year at university, Sunggyu woke up a little before noon. He squinted his eyes against the sun filtering in through his blinds and briefly considered just rolling over and going back to sleep. Then the smell of something delicious cooking wafted into his room from the kitchen and his stomach growled loudly.
Groaning, Sunggyu hauled himself out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt over his tank top and smiled slightly when he realized it was the one Woohyun had accidentally left at the dorm earlier that week. Still in a sleep-induced daze, he then walked across his room and opened his door -
- and tripped over the barrier of textbooks stacked up in front of it.
“Ow,” he deadpanned from his new position on the floor, face just inches away from the carpet. There was an eruption of laughter from the living room area and Sunggyu hauled himself up so he was sitting normally. Glaring in the direction of the living room, he ruefully massaged his knees.
“What the hell?” Sunggyu grumbled. He reached over and picked up one of the books. It was titled “Ancient Chinese Theatre.”
“It was Sungyeol’s idea,” Woohyun called from the kitchen. While Sungyeol immediately tried to indignantly deny the accusation Sunggyu stood up slowly, wincing at the pain in his knees.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Sunggyu said wearily. He shuffled the rest of the way down the short hallway and chucked the textbook he was still holding in the general direction of Sungyeol’s voice.
“Hey, be careful! That book cost me like 80,000 won!” Sungyeol squawked, hurriedly picking the book up and checking for bent pages.
“Then why did you put it out for me to trip over?” Sunggyu snapped as he rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. Now that he was more fully awake he looked around the living room, surprised by the number of people sitting around.
Sungyeol had returned to his former seat on the couch and was bugging Howon to turn off the variety show rerun he was watching in favor of playing video games. Sungjong was sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, eating an apple and laughing at Sungyeol. About a week earlier Myungsoo and Dongwoo had been introduced via Sunggyu and Woohyun, and had discovered that they were in the same cellular physiology class - apparently Dongwoo had invited Myungsoo over to study, and they were sitting on the floor surrounded by intimidating textbooks with their backs leaning against the wall. Woohyun was in the kitchen, frying up what seemed to be pieces of spam.
“When did my dorm turn into an animal shelter?” Sunggyu complained as he walked over to the kitchen. “It’s supposed to only house four people, but somehow we ended up with nearly twice that amount.” He shot a look at Sungjong, but the youngest was pointedly staring at the television.
“Isn’t it more fun this way, though?” Woohyun asked with a grin. Sunggyu finally reached the kitchen and Woohyun pulled him in for a quick kiss, generating catcalls from Sungyeol and Howon.
“I still think you should all help us pay the rent,” Sunggyu grumbled.
“How about I just keep feeding you instead?” Woohyun teased, offering Sunggyu a piece of the spam. Sunggyu opted not to respond, instead accepting the food and moving over to rummage through the cupboards for a clean glass. Finding what he wanted, he headed over to the sink, only to stop short at the sight of a dirty cereal bowl and a mug sitting in the sink.
“Yah, Lee Sungjong!” Sunggyu yelled, whirling around to glare out into the living room. “What did I tell you before about leaving your crap in the sink?”
“Oh my God, hyung, those aren’t even mine,” Sungjong shouted back, standing up and brandishing his apple. “This is the first thing I’ve eaten all day. Also, didn’t you see that those are Howon’s purple dishes? I mean, I know your eyes don’t open very far to start with, but are you still so tired that they’ve just shut completely?”
There was dead silence for about three seconds, and then Woohyun started laughing. Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Howon, and Myungsoo quickly joined in, and then Sunggyu and Sungjong as well. Soon Sunggyu was clinging to Woohyun’s shoulder for support, laughing so hard that there were tears forming in his eyes.
“Ok, you’re right,” he relented, leaning closer to Woohyun. “It is more fun this way.”
Woohyun just grinned and pulled him in for another kiss.
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Woohyun
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sunggyu and Woohyun like to study together at the library on Wednesdays.
Final word count: 11,612
On the last day of classes, Sunggyu wearily hauled himself back to the dorm sometime around five in the evening. He had just gotten out of a two hour review session for his principles of auditing class, and although it was a Friday and he could hear some students excitedly chattering about going out to parties, he was headed straight back to his room to continue cramming material into his head before finals started.
By the time he reached the door to his suite and had fumbled through unlocking it, Sunggyu was seriously considering the merits of allowing himself a short nap before resuming studying. His eyes felt like sandpaper, and he rubbed at them with one hand while he kicked off his shoes. Then he turned to face the living room and briefly wondered if he had already fallen asleep and was actually dreaming.
“Why are you in my dorm?” Sunggyu asked slowly, staring blankly at where Sungjong and Woohyun were sitting on the floor with their various textbooks and papers strewn all across the coffee table.
“Because finals start in, like, three days,” Sungjong replied absentmindedly as he flipped through some notes. “Getting a seat in the library is pretty much impossible.”
“Ok - but - what -” Sunggyu stuttered, squinting at them and waiting for his exhausted brain to catch up and start processing the situation. “Neither of you even live here,” he eventually managed to get out. “How did you even get in?”
“Dongwoo hyung let me borrow his keys,” Sungjong said, gesturing towards the key ring filled with cute charms sitting on the kitchen counter as Woohyun muffled his laughter behind a spiral notebook. “But even if he hadn’t, I could have just gotten your RA to let me in. He’s done it before.”
“Ok, great, glad to know the person who’s supposed to be keeping my dormitory building safe and orderly is willing to let random people who don’t even live on campus into my dorm.” Sunggyu finally moved forward, walking into the living room and slumping down on the couch.
“Oh no,” Sungjong quickly explained. “He totally thinks I actually live here. One time he even asked me how I can afford to lose my keys so often, since the replacements cost so much.”
Sunggyu stared at Sungjong in disbelief for about three seconds before running a hand through his hair. “Great,” he mumbled. “Even better. Remind me again why you don’t help us pay the rent?”
Sungjong just smiled his best charming smile and shrugged before turning back to his studying. Woohyun reached out and patted Sunggyu’s knee sympathetically.
“Go and take a nap, hyung,” Woohyun said, smiling up at Sunggyu from where he was still sitting on the floor. “I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.”
Sunggyu just nodded and sluggishly pulled himself upright again, shuffling to his room. He fell asleep almost as soon as he flopped down on his mattress.
--
Sometime close to 1 a.m. Sunggyu caught himself dozing off and forced himself to sit upright again, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He shifted so he was sitting more comfortably on the couch pillow he was using to make the floor more tolerable. The telltale tingling all down his legs promised pain whenever he decided to stand up, and sighing to himself Sunggyu tapped the touchpad on his laptop to bring his screen back to life. He blinked owlishly at the practice problems on his computer before his eyes drifted over to check the time.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out to lightly shove Woohyun’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be heading home soon?”
Woohyun looked up from the passage he was highlighting in his notes and pushed his glasses up back into position while quickly checking the time on his phone. He groaned, stretching out his legs under the coffee table and earning an annoyed look from Sungjong when their feet collided.
The three of them were sitting on the floor around the coffee table, which was completely covered in textbooks, papers, and various electronic devices. Sungjong was on the side closest to the couch, leaning back against Howon’s legs while the elder scribbled notes in the margins of his cognitive neuropsychology textbook, his iPod turned up loud just enough that the faint sound of his music could be heard throughout the room. Dongwoo was sitting on the couch as well, microbiology notes forgotten in his lap as he slept with his head against Howon’s shoulder. Sungyeol had gone to bed about an hour before, no longer able to keep his eyes open.
“Crap, I didn’t realize it was already so late. I think the subway already stopped running,” Woohyun mused to himself as he leaned back on his outstretched arms. “And the bus route home from here is so annoying, I have to transfer like three times. This sucks.”
Sunggyu watched Woohyun from the corner of his eye as the younger tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, as if the white plaster held an answer to his dilemma. Dark hair flopped across his forehead, catching on his glasses frames, and he worried his bottom lip in thought. Sunggyu felt something catch in his chest, and there was something, just on the tip of his tongue, some words that he felt he needed to say, except he didn’t know what they were or why he should be saying them.
“Do you want to just spend the night here?” he said instead, before he even realized what he was doing. Woohyun blinked at him in surprise and Sungjong gave him this look, like he was saying “I know what’s going on here,” and Sunggyu really wanted to ask him to explain, because he sure as hell doesn’t know.
“Are you sure that would be ok?” Woohyun asked tentatively, eyes flickering between Sunggyu and where his roommates where sprawled on the couch. Sunggyu just shrugged.
“Sungjong does it all the time. It’s not really a problem.”
“The couch is really uncomfortable, though,” Sungjong commented offhandedly as he reached forward to shuffle through his notes.
“Well I guess Woohyun can just share my room then?” Sunggyu stated it as a question, glancing over at Woohyun.
“That’s fine with me, but are you sure this is ok?” Woohyun looked so concerned that Sunggyu mustered up a grin to try to reassure him.
“Yeah, it’s no problem.”
“Thanks,” Woohyun said, his voice showing obvious relief. Not sure how to reply, Sunggyu just nodded and turned his eyes back to his laptop. He clicked to bring it back from energy saving mode, fidgeting uncomfortably as an awkward silence fell over the room.
Suddenly Sungjong stood up, startling Woohyun and Sunggyu and even breaking Howon out of his trance-like state. Sungjong stretched his arms above his head, bending slightly to one side and then the other while his face pulled up into a slight grimace.
“Well I’m going to head off to bed now,” the youngest announced, moving over to where Dongwoo was still sleeping and grabbing one of his arms. Howon quickly scrambled upwards to help him, and together they started to haul Dongwoo off towards his bedroom. “Good night,” Sungjong called over his shoulder, and all Sunggyu could do was stare blankly after him.
“So,” Woohyun said maybe a minute later, turning to look at Sunggyu.
“We should probably go to bed now too,” Sunggyu mused. “Um, if that’s ok with you, that is.”
“Yeah, that would be fine.” Woohyun gave Sunggyu one of his eye-crinkling smiles and Sunggyu couldn’t help but smile back.
After quickly shutting down his laptop and stacking his notes into a slightly more organized pile, Sunggyu headed off for his room with Woohyun walking close behind.
“I can probably find some sweats for you to wear or something, if you’d like,” Sunggyu babbled as he opened his door and switched on the light.
“Sweats would be nice,” Woohyun said, trying to look around Sunggyu’s room inconspicuously. Sunggyu made a beeline to his dresser and started to rummage through the drawers until he found a pair of clean sweatpants and a t-shirt so old the screen-printed design on the front had faded. He tossed them to Woohyun and then pulled out some clothes for himself.
“I’m gonna go brush my teeth,” Sunggyu mumbled before heading across the hall to the bathroom he shared with Sungyeol.
When he returned Woohyun was wearing the clothes Sunggyu had given him and was staring intently at a picture frame propped up on Sunggyu’s desk, his own clothes and glasses sitting in a neat stack on Sunggyu’s computer chair. Woohyun jumped when Sunggyu entered the room, as if afraid he would get in trouble for being nosy, but for some reason the strange feeling had reappeared in Sunggyu’s chest upon seeing Woohyun wearing his clothes, and all he could do was stutter out, “I’m sorry, we don’t have any extra toothbrushes.”
“Oh, that’s ok,” Woohyun was fast to reassure him. “I think I’ll survive.”
Woohyun left to use the bathroom and Sunggyu sat uncertainly on the edge of his mattress, smoothing his fingers across the fabric of his sheets. Soon there was the telltale sound of the toilet flushing and the faucet running, then the bathroom door opened and Woohyun came back to the bedroom, pulling the door mostly shut behind him.
“If you have an extra blanket, I can just sleep on the floor if you’d rather,” Woohyun said before Sunggyu even had time to open his mouth. “I really don’t mind.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sunggyu snapped back, sounding grumpier than he had intended. “Hurry up and turn off the light.”
Woohyun quickly hit the switch and carefully made his way over to the bed in the dark, moving slowly across the unfamiliar room. Sunggyu scooted over until he was practically plastered against the wall, making room for Woohyun as the other climbed clumsily onto the mattress and pulled up the covers. The entire situation was painfully awkward, as the two of them tried to readjust into more comfortable positions without bumping into each other.
About five minutes later, after settling onto his side with his back facing Woohyun, Sunggyu’s eyes had just started to drift closed when Woohyun quietly said, “Hyung?”
“Hm?” Sunggyu replied, blinking back awake.
“Can I ask you something?”
If his mind hadn’t been blurred around the edges with sleep, Sunggyu might have replied with some cheesy comeback like “You already did,” but as it was he just mumbled, “You know, gossiping during sleepovers is usually a girl thing.”
Woohyun laughed softly, sounding embarrassed, and Sunggyu rolled over just enough that he could see the profile of Woohyun’s face.
“Well, what is it?” Sunggyu asked when Woohyun didn’t say anything further.
“A while ago, you said that you were doing accounting because it would make your parents happy, right?” Sunggyu made a sound of confirmation, and Woohyun continued. “I’ve just kind of been wondering, if you could choose any job you wanted, without worrying about your parents, and if income and stuff wasn’t an issue, what would you do?”
“Anything I wanted, huh?” Sunggyu mused, rolling over so he was on his back as well, shoulder pressed to Woohyun’s. “I guess then I’d probably want to be a singer.”
“You like to sing, hyung?” Woohyun asked, surprised and curious.
“Yeah, but I’d want to be in a rock or indie band or something. None of that mainstream idol crap.” Sunggyu grimaced and Woohyun laughed, shuffling closer to Sunggyu as he tried to keep from falling off the bed.
Once they had settled so that Woohyun wasn’t in immediate danger of becoming acquainted with the floor, Sunggyu stifled a yawn against the back of his hand. Although Woohyun was blocking his view of the clock, Sunggyu figured it was probably sometime close to 1:30. Not too horribly late, especially considering his earlier nap, but even so he still felt absolutely exhausted from his long day.
“You know, me and some of my friends like to get together and mess around with writing songs and stuff,” Woohyun said as Sunggyu fought off another yawn. “You should come hang out with us sometime during winter holidays.”
“Sure,” Sunggyu replied, already feeling himself slipping out of consciousness. If Woohyun said anything more after that, Sunggyu didn’t hear it.
--
Sunggyu woke to the flash of a camera.
“Wha-” he exclaimed as he tried to sit up. Tried being the key word, since Woohyun’s arm, draped across Sunggyu’s waist, effectively kept him from going anywhere.
The camera flashed again, accompanied by a cackle from Sungyeol.
“This is so going on Facebook,” Sungyeol chuckled gleefully as he snapped yet another picture.
“What the hell?” Sunggyu protested as he struggled to dislodge Woohyun’s arm. Instead of letting go Woohyun just clung harder, obviously still at least 90% asleep as he buried his face into Sunggyu’s shoulder and mumbled about not wanting to get up yet.
Hearing the commotion, Sungjong appeared and peeked around the doorjamb, only to hastily disappear back to the kitchen and return to the room with Howon in tow. The two of them giggled together out in the hallway while Sungyeol took some more pictures for good measure and Sunggyu continued to unsuccessfully try to free himself from Woohyun’s grip.
“That should be good,” Sungyeol finally decided, stopping to flip through the pictures. “Time to go upload!”
“Oh my God, Lee Sungyeol,” Sunggyu yelled exasperatedly. “Get back here right now and delete those pictures. Sungyeol!”
Sungyeol just laughed again and left the room, whistling cheerfully.
“Sungjongie? Howon-ah?” Sunggyu tried desperately, sending the two still doubled over with laughter in the hallway what he hoped was a beseeching look.
“Sorry, hyung,” Sungjong giggled. “You’re on your own here.”
With that, Sungjong and Howon headed back towards the kitchen, leaving the utterly defeated Sunggyu alone with Woohyun. Despite the commotion Woohyun was still asleep, his head now resting on Sunggyu’s chest.
“This is entirely your fault,” Sunggyu grumbled as he glared at the top of Woohyun’s head. “You suck.”
Woohyun just muttered something that sounded vaguely like “Too loud” and wrapped a leg around Sunggyu too.
--
Finals passed in the way that finals usually do, with too little sleep and too much coffee. It all blurred together into a week and a half of stress and worry, and then suddenly it was done and Sunggyu was sitting on the one and a half hour bus ride home with a suitcase full of clothes and Christmas presents jammed between his knees.
Being on break felt so strange after months of the chaos that came with school. Having time to just relax at home felt nice, but everything was too quiet. He kept expecting to wake up to Sungyeol’s dolphin squeal, or Dongwoo’s laughter, or Howon’s hip hop music, or even Sungjong complaining about how there was never any food in the dorm. On the first Wednesday of break, Sunggyu even considered going to the closest library and sitting around for a while, just because. Instead he opted for sitting in the living room with the TV on and watching the snow fall outside the window.
He visited with Dongwoo and Howon a couple times, even going to visit Dongwoo’s parent’s restaurant, but otherwise Sunggyu’s schedule fell into the boring monotony of sitting around his house all day.
So when his phone buzzed with a text from Woohyun almost two weeks into break, Sunggyu was irrationally happy while opening it. He fumbled with the device, quickly scrolling through the message.
'hey, hyung' Woohyun had written. 'remember those friends i mentioned before when we were talking about singing? ive been hanging out at their studio pretty much every day i don’t have work haha =_= you should come visit! we wanna hear you sing! even if im not there myungsoo should be so stop by any time!!'
A couple of seconds later he received another text, this one including an address and the name of the closest subway exit to the studio. Without hesitation Sunggyu hit reply and typed out 'will you be there tomorrow?'
--
Woohyun met Sunggyu at the subway station, wrapped up in an oversized knit scarf that covered almost half of his face and was making his glasses fog up.
When he saw Sunggyu, Woohyun waved enthusiastically and called, “I’m glad you could make it!”
“I’m glad you invited me,” Sunggyu replied as he drew level with Woohyun. “I think I was starting to go insane from boredom.”
Woohyun threw back his head and laughed, reaching up to loosen his scarf and make it easier to talk. During the short walk to the studio Woohyun rambled about his friends. Apparently he had known them since high school, and after high school graduation they had decided to try breaking into the music industry in addition to taking some university classes. Now they rented out a small studio and worked as smalltime songwriters as well as occasionally performing in clubs and such. Woohyun and Myungsoo just liked to crash at the studio and play around, sometimes helping them with composing or singing demos.
“Here we are,” Woohyun finally said, stopping in front of a door. Sunggyu just nodded numbly, suddenly overtaken with a feeling of apprehension. He didn’t even know these people, and honestly the only singing he’d done in at least four years had been limited to the pretending-I’m-a-superstar-while-showering variety.
As if sensing Sunggyu’s hesitation, Woohyun reached out to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulder. Sunggyu’s heart felt like it was trying to do flips in his chest.
“Jeesu hyung and Daniel are really nice, I’m sure you’ll like them,” Woohyun said reassuringly, then reached out and opened the door before Sunggyu could react.
“I’m back!” Woohyun announced, dragging Sunggyu inside with him. The studio was small but seemed well loved, with a beat up sofa jammed against one wall and a table in front of it covered in sheets of music and lyrics and littered with water bottles and energy drink cans. There was a control panel full of switches buttons that Sunggyu couldn’t even imagine the uses for, and a small section divided off as the recording area.
Myungsoo was sitting on the couch absentmindedly strumming a guitar, and another guy was sitting next to him making notes in colored pencil on a piece of paper. A third guy was sitting over by the control panel, fiddling with some switches. All three of them looked up when Woohyun and Sunggyu entered and Myungsoo waved to Sunggyu, who gave him an uncertain smile in return.
“Ah!” the guy sitting next to Myungsoo exclaimed, getting up to offer his hand to Sunggyu. His hair was shaved on the sides, creating an oddly styled mohawk, and there was a wide, friendly smile on his face. “You must be Woohyunnie’s boyfriend then! Kim Sunggyu-ssi, right? Myungsoo was just telling us about you. Did you really get him to drink coffee? That’s seriously some kind of miracle!”
He was beaming at them brightly, hand extended, but his smile faltered as Sunggyu and Woohyun both just stood there staring at him, too shocked to even react.
“Boy.. friend..?” Sunggyu finally stuttered out, right as Woohyun let out some sort of strangled yell and launched himself at Myungsoo. Myungsoo, for his part, dissolved into laughter and quickly moved the guitar to safety right before Woohyun tackled him. The guy at the control panel started laughing too, doubling over and almost falling off his chair.
The guy still standing in front of Sunggyu looked over to Myungsoo and Woohyun and then back to Sunggyu, and his eyes widened in a way that would have been hilarious if Sunggyu’s brain was functioning properly. As it was, Sunggyu just continued staring dumbly at him as his brain whirred around going boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.
“So you’re not?” the formerly smiley guy asked, looking utterly confused.
“Ah, I - no?” Sunggyu stammered, brain slowly catching up to the situation. “I’m not his boyfriend, I mean. I am Kim Sunggyu, though.”
“Seriously? Myungsoo was going on and on about how in love you two were and stuff.”
“You fucker, you are so dead,” Woohyun growled, managing to get Myungsoo into a headlock. Myungsoo just continued to laugh, not apologetic in the least.
Sunggyu wondered if he could just die from embarrassment and melt into the floor and never have to face any of the people in this room ever again.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” the standing guy said desperately. “I just believed Myungsoo and made assumptions and I’m so sorry, oh my God.”
“That’s what you get for actually listening to Myungsoo,” the only guy still sitting managed to gasp out between laughter. The glare he received sent him back into a fit of giggles.
“It’s ok, it’s not a big deal,” Sunggyu managed to force out. He felt like his face was on fire, and he could only imagine how red he’d turned.
“Ok, well since everything’s gone to hell anyways, I might as well introduce myself.” The smile came back to mohawk-guy’s face and he extended his hand towards Sunggyu once more. “I’m Park Jeesu, and that idiot over there is Chae Daniel.”
Sunggyu shook the offered hand, and Daniel wiped tears out of his eyes before coming over to shake Sunggyu’s hand too. Woohyun and Myungsoo had finally run out of energy and were laying on the floor breathing heavily, Woohyun using one arm to cover his face. Myungsoo managed to haul himself upright and climb back onto the couch while Sunggyu exchanged introductions with Jeesu and Daniel.
“So, Sunggyu-ssi,” Myungsoo cut in once they had finished. “Woohyun hyung said that you like singing. Are we gonna get to hear you sing?” He gave Sunggyu one of his strange soul-searching stares and Sunggyu faltered, swallowing sharply.
“I don’t know, I haven’t sung in a long time. And I’m not very good anyways.”
“No, you have to sing!” Woohyun declared from the floor, finally sitting up. “You have to!” He did this weird aegyo pout-and-wriggle thing that wasn’t cute at all but somehow still made a smile pull at Sunggyu’s lips.
“Ok, fine, I’ll sing,” Sunggyu relented. Woohyun let out a whoop of victory and Myungsoo reached out with one foot and shoved him over.
Jeesu and Daniel both laughed and Sunggyu found himself laughing along with them, and despite only having just arrived, Sunggyu could easily see himself feeling at home in the cramped little studio.
--
Sunggyu made the trek to the studio almost every day for the remainder of his winter break. Whoever was there already when he arrived would greet him enthusiastically and pull him into whatever they were working on. It got to the point where Sunggyu was close to spending more time at the studio than he was at his house.
So it wasn’t too surprising that one night during the last couple days of break Sunggyu was sitting in the studio at 3 a.m., silently reading over some sheet music. Jeesu had offered to give Sunggyu a ride home after he finished whatever he was working on, and was currently sitting with a giant pair of headphones on, messing around with different beats and melodies. Myungsoo and Daniel had left earlier, after some of their friends from high school had stopped by and asked them if they wanted to go to a movie.
And then there was Woohyun, currently sprawled out next to Sunggyu on the couch, leaning against the elder’s shoulder as he used his phone to surf the internet. Sunggyu glanced down at Woohyun and hurriedly tried to convince himself that the strange feeling in his stomach was because he hadn’t eaten in a couple hours. Woohyun had come to the studio after work, so even though he had changed into a pair of sweats and a hideous leopard print tank top his hair was still styled impeccably and it looked like he was possibly wearing eyeliner. He should have looked rather dumb, but instead all Sunggyu could think was, perfect.
Since he’d started hanging out at the studio, Dongwoo and Howon had been teasing him lightly more and more frequently about his “ridiculously huge crush” on Woohyun and telling him to do something about it “since it’s painfully obvious he likes you too.” Sunggyu insisted that he didn’t have a crush. He just really enjoyed spending time with Woohyun. And he had noticed the way Woohyun acted around him too, he wasn’t blind, but Woohyun was also just all around a nice guy and Sunggyu really didn’t want to interpret things wrong and potentially ruin their friendship.
“I’m gonna go down to the 24 hour convenience store around the corner and get some more water,” Jeesu eventually said, pulling off his headphones and powering down his laptop. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Sunggyu and Woohyun both made noncommittal noises of acknowledgement and Jeesu snorted, letting the door click shut behind him.
Woohyun shifted against Sunggyu’s shoulder, heavily gelled hair prickling against Sunggyu’s neck. Sunggyu squirmed and lightly pushed Woohyun away.
“That tickles,” he complained, pulling a face. “You put too much gel in.”
“Ok then,” Woohyun agreed easily, and flopped over so his head was in Sunggyu’s lap instead.
Sunggyu froze, his entire body immediately going stiff. It wasn’t that the gesture was particularly odd or anything - Woohyun rested his head in Myungsoo’s lap all the time, even though he usually just got shoved off - but Sunggyu didn’t know how to react. Was he supposed to interpret it the way he wanted to, or was Woohyun simply being touchy in the same way he was with all his friends?
Woohyun must have felt Sunggyu tense up, because he blinked up at Sunggyu, suddenly looking uncertain.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked, concerned.
“What? No, I just -” Sunggyu stuttered. He took a deep breath he hoped wasn’t too obvious and tried to smile. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”
Woohyun pushed himself upright again anyways, moving so there was a little space between them on the couch.
“Can I tell you something?” Woohyun kept his eyes fixed on the phone he was gripping tightly with both hands while he asked, even though he was just staring at his home screen.
“Of course” Sunggyu replied uncertainly. He turned slightly to face Woohyun, laying down the music he was still holding on the table.
“You know the first time you came here and Jeesu thought you were my boyfriend?” Sunggyu nodded, and Woohyun continued, “At that time, I really, really wanted to be able to say that yes, you were my boyfriend.”
Woohyun chanced a glance up at Sunggyu, who was staring at him in shock, then swallowed hard and turned his attention back to his phone.
“I’m sorry if I misinterpreted your actions or anything, or if this makes you uncomfortable, but -” he locked his phone and tossed it over to the table, opting to just stare at his hands instead. “But, I really like you. A lot.”
The room fell into silence as Sunggyu’s brain tried to wrap itself around what Woohyun had just said. Woohyun swallowed nervously again.
“I’m really sorry,” Woohyun finally choked out. He seemed to have taken Sunggyu’s silence as a rejection, and Sunggyu’s heart started racing as he willed himself to say anything, to do anything. “I hope this won’t mess up our friendsh-”
Sunggyu braced one hand against the back of the couch and leaned forward. He misgauged the distance slightly and ended up only kissing the corner of Woohyun’s mouth, but it was still enough to stun Woohyun into silence.
“I like you a lot, too,” Sunggyu mumbled against Woohyun’s cheek. And then Woohyun’s hand was resting against Sunggyu’s jaw, angling his face so they could actually kiss.
“I really, really do.”
--
The third Saturday of the second semester of his senior year at university, Sunggyu woke up a little before noon. He squinted his eyes against the sun filtering in through his blinds and briefly considered just rolling over and going back to sleep. Then the smell of something delicious cooking wafted into his room from the kitchen and his stomach growled loudly.
Groaning, Sunggyu hauled himself out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt over his tank top and smiled slightly when he realized it was the one Woohyun had accidentally left at the dorm earlier that week. Still in a sleep-induced daze, he then walked across his room and opened his door -
- and tripped over the barrier of textbooks stacked up in front of it.
“Ow,” he deadpanned from his new position on the floor, face just inches away from the carpet. There was an eruption of laughter from the living room area and Sunggyu hauled himself up so he was sitting normally. Glaring in the direction of the living room, he ruefully massaged his knees.
“What the hell?” Sunggyu grumbled. He reached over and picked up one of the books. It was titled “Ancient Chinese Theatre.”
“It was Sungyeol’s idea,” Woohyun called from the kitchen. While Sungyeol immediately tried to indignantly deny the accusation Sunggyu stood up slowly, wincing at the pain in his knees.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Sunggyu said wearily. He shuffled the rest of the way down the short hallway and chucked the textbook he was still holding in the general direction of Sungyeol’s voice.
“Hey, be careful! That book cost me like 80,000 won!” Sungyeol squawked, hurriedly picking the book up and checking for bent pages.
“Then why did you put it out for me to trip over?” Sunggyu snapped as he rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. Now that he was more fully awake he looked around the living room, surprised by the number of people sitting around.
Sungyeol had returned to his former seat on the couch and was bugging Howon to turn off the variety show rerun he was watching in favor of playing video games. Sungjong was sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, eating an apple and laughing at Sungyeol. About a week earlier Myungsoo and Dongwoo had been introduced via Sunggyu and Woohyun, and had discovered that they were in the same cellular physiology class - apparently Dongwoo had invited Myungsoo over to study, and they were sitting on the floor surrounded by intimidating textbooks with their backs leaning against the wall. Woohyun was in the kitchen, frying up what seemed to be pieces of spam.
“When did my dorm turn into an animal shelter?” Sunggyu complained as he walked over to the kitchen. “It’s supposed to only house four people, but somehow we ended up with nearly twice that amount.” He shot a look at Sungjong, but the youngest was pointedly staring at the television.
“Isn’t it more fun this way, though?” Woohyun asked with a grin. Sunggyu finally reached the kitchen and Woohyun pulled him in for a quick kiss, generating catcalls from Sungyeol and Howon.
“I still think you should all help us pay the rent,” Sunggyu grumbled.
“How about I just keep feeding you instead?” Woohyun teased, offering Sunggyu a piece of the spam. Sunggyu opted not to respond, instead accepting the food and moving over to rummage through the cupboards for a clean glass. Finding what he wanted, he headed over to the sink, only to stop short at the sight of a dirty cereal bowl and a mug sitting in the sink.
“Yah, Lee Sungjong!” Sunggyu yelled, whirling around to glare out into the living room. “What did I tell you before about leaving your crap in the sink?”
“Oh my God, hyung, those aren’t even mine,” Sungjong shouted back, standing up and brandishing his apple. “This is the first thing I’ve eaten all day. Also, didn’t you see that those are Howon’s purple dishes? I mean, I know your eyes don’t open very far to start with, but are you still so tired that they’ve just shut completely?”
There was dead silence for about three seconds, and then Woohyun started laughing. Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Howon, and Myungsoo quickly joined in, and then Sunggyu and Sungjong as well. Soon Sunggyu was clinging to Woohyun’s shoulder for support, laughing so hard that there were tears forming in his eyes.
“Ok, you’re right,” he relented, leaning closer to Woohyun. “It is more fun this way.”
Woohyun just grinned and pulled him in for another kiss.