130222 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: TWENTY-EIGHT
Collide
Twenty-eight | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
‘Come over.’
‘Now?’
‘Please…’
-
‘He did what?’
After getting a call from Sungyeol, Dongwoo rushed over to his house. He awkwardly greeted Sungyeol’s parents as his mother fawned over him. Sungyeol hadn’t come out of his room, so Dongwoo ran up the stairs and found Sungyeol lying stomach down on his bed, entangled in his baby blue blanket. Sungyeol then ranted on about his odd outing with Myungsoo and how they almost/slightly kissed. However, he didn’t mention how he had to muster up all his will power to restrain himself from just jumping into Myungsoo’s lap and kissing him senseless.
Dongwoo made an O shape with his lips as he absorbed every word that flung out of Sungyeol’s mouth. He then realised what was the reason for Myungsoo’s behaviour that evening.
Sungyeol whimpered into the covers helplessly, ‘Dongwoo, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’
‘Do you still like him?’
‘Yes,’ Sungyeol grunted, feeling a faint blush rising up in his cheeks. He found it hard to admit, but it was truth. ‘I love him, but I hate him.’
The older boy looked up to the ceiling in thought, rambling, ‘Isn’t that a… What’s that weird sounding word again?’
Howon’s voice came, ‘Oxymoron.’
‘Yeah, that’s right!’ Dongwoo exclaimed, laughing brightly at his faulty memory. Howon had only taught him the word a few days ago, so it was funny to him that he had already forgotten.
Sungyeol was finally alerted of Howon’s presence in the doorway, standing awkwardly as no one had formally invited him in. ‘Why is he here?’ Sungyeol snapped at Dongwoo.
With that Dongwoo realised he left his boyfriend standing alone and so gestured him to come and sit next to him on the floor, as he sat on Sungyeol’s bean bag. He said simply, ‘He’s been with me the whole day. I can’t just ditch him.’ He then proceeded to card his fingers through Howon’s hair and Sungyeol was reminded of a (crazy) villain and their dog.
‘Dongwoo, you’re so stupid,’ Sungyeol huffed, throwing a pillow over his head, ‘I don’t want to talk to you about personal stuff if your boyfriend is going to be here.’
A light bulb lit up in Dongwoo’s head. ‘But he could help,’ Dongwoo reasoned in revelation, ‘He knows Myungsoo. He’s known Myungsoo since forever!’
Sungyeol wanted to test Howon’s usefulness so he narrowed his eyes at the older student and grunted, ‘Does Myungsoo really love me?’
‘Yes,’ Howon answered.
‘Is he playing mind-tricks again?’
Howon’s mouth didn’t open to answer. Instead, he blinked a few times before looking up at Dongwoo with a furrowed brow.
‘Silence means yes,’ Sungyeol mewled loudly, directing a tensed finger at Howon, ‘Myungsoo wants me to be shipped off to the mental hospital!’
Howon waved his hands in denial at Sungyeol’s jumping to accusations. ‘I didn’t imply that.’
‘Then what?’ Sungyeol snarled impatiently.
Howon assured, ‘Sungyeol, I’m certain Myungsoo won’t do anything to hurt you. I’m sure he’ll do anything he can to make you happy.’
The answer made Sungyeol immediately relax and look towards the window in thought. He was calculating things in his heads, listing pros and cons, and signals. Dongwoo smiled gently, placing a comforting hand on Sungyeol’s head as he gave the younger boy a knowing look, and questioned hopefully, ‘So what do you think, Yeol?’
Sungyeol stared at nothing for a few moments before he pouted and threw the blanket over his head, screaming, ’Your boyfriend hasn’t helped me at all!’
Dongwoo gritted his teeth and looked at Howon with an apologetic grin. The latter had his face in his hands, wallowing in frustration.
-
On Monday, Myungsoo woke up with mixed feelings. He was disheartened yet determined at the same time. If he saw Sungyeol in the halls at school, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He didn’t know what to expect, knowing that Sungyeol was the unpredictable ticking time bomb that he was. Maybe he’d get a dirty look, a slap across the face… Maybe he’d even get a timid wave and a quiet hi as he passed. Myungsoo didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to stop himself from finding out. He obviously wasn’t the type to back down or hide away. Well, you see, Myungsoo never felt embarrassment - He was shameless - not when people stared at him when he walked past, not when his brother scolded and beat him at the cafeteria, not even when he got painfully rejected in front of the entire school population. He never felt it and in a way, that was partly his problem - He didn’t know when to give up.
Sunggyu woke up feeling the blood rushing down his skull, making him feel sick and dizzy. He shook the feeling away and went downstairs to cook breakfast with Howon, gulping down a whole glass of water. He’d given Myungsoo shit for not eating properly the rest of the weekend, but he was Sunggyu and that was completely hypocritical. Howon made sure that fact was known throughout the whole weekend.
The sound of his mother throwing open his curtains woke Howon up. She reminded him that she could make breakfast for him before she had to leave, but Howon insisted that he could eat at Sunggyu’s place and that the latter didn’t mind feeding another mouth. He’d eaten at Sunggyu’s place for years and every day he told his mother that she did not have to cook him breakfast. Every morning she would still ask, in case he would change his mind.
Sungjong’s alarm clock didn’t go off, but he woke up at the exact same time every morning anyway. The alarm was just for assurance. His parents laid out a healthy breakfast at the table like always and he ate as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks, just to avoid any questions he was sure his parents had in store for him.
Sungyeol woke up to Daeyeol screaming girl groups songs at the top of his lungs and his makeshift marching band - saucepan lids made excellent cymbals, Daeyeol mentioned to his annoyed brother evilly. Sungyeol always hated that his brother went to a freaking academy in the city; not because he was jealous of his intelligence or anything like that, but because his brother always woke up earlier than him and always woke him up with the most ridiculous methods when he got ready earlier than expected.
It was five in the morning when Dongwoo woke up. He had no freaking idea why he woke up, so he ended up sitting on the edge of his bed and staring lifelessly at the opposite wall, which was covered in band posters. As soon as he registered his phone on the nightstand, he reached for it and sent Howon a text: Are you awake…? BECAUSE I AM! :D Of course there was no reply - Howon always woke up at six, not five. He frowned and then went back to sitting and staring aimlessly. A few minutes went by before Dongwoo heard his dad’s voice in the next room. He then heard his mother and then listened to his parents’ conversation. They were reminiscing their relationship before they got married and when Dongwoo’s mum teased his father about his hairstyle back then, Dongwoo had to stifle back a giggle. His parents’ relationship was never cold or worn out, it was always strong and loving. He liked that. He liked that after so many years, his parents still loved each other like it was the first day they confessed. He listened to them until his alarm clock went off.
Woohyun woke up a little horny, but it wasn’t to the point where he had a boner. His dream was too soft porn-like to really be remembered and he was starting to think his libido was slipping away from him. He vaguely remembered it was Monday and so reminded himself to grab some hard porn from Yongguk later. That guy was like the fucking adult video version of iTunes.
Everyone woke up with different feelings, but they all had one thing in common: They didn’t know what to expect from this new week.
-
Whilst walking to school that day, Myungsoo was looking down at the concrete and feeling sorry for himself. When he sided a sign pole and groan painfully, Sunggyu and Howon turned around to see him rubbing his abused shoulder with a frown.
Sunggyu sighed, ‘What’s wrong now?’
‘Sungyeol hates me.’
His older brother scoffed at him, ‘So you’re going to give up?’
‘Of course not, hyung. Kim Myungsoo doesn’t give up,’ Myungsoo exclaimed, rolling his shoulders back and lifting his chin up, his mood suddenly up.
‘Myungsoo,’ Sunggyu grunted.
‘Yeah?’
‘I think Sungyeol would appreciate it if you didn’t do anything stupid.’
‘Why, Gyu, I’m always intellectual and sober while making all my decisions.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and gave Howon a knowing look before they proceeded to walk to school once again.
-
‘I missed you,’ Woohyun cooed brightly as he strolled into biology and took his seat.
Sunggyu’s eyes were glued to his phone, but he still mumbled back dryly, ‘I’m sure you did.’
Woohyun frowned at the lack of acknowledgement and so added, ‘I was jacking off while thinking of you the other day.’
‘Nothing new then.’ Again, Sunggyu used the same uninterested tone and his eyes did not move away from his game. Woohyun was pouting now, staring holes into the side of Sunggyu’s face, the older student not flinching from the extremely forward attention.
Woohyun continued trying to gain his acknowledgement, hoping Sunggyu would sneer at him or look at him or something, ‘Best orgasm of my life.’
‘I’m sure it was.’
Finally, Woohyun huffed his hair out of his face and gave up. It was no use challenging Sunggyu’s stubbornness. He whined irritably, ‘Can’t you stop playing for a second and give me some eye contact?’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and purposely lost his game. ‘Fine. I got a high score anyway,’ he muttered. He then lifted his head and gave Woohyun a fake smile of content, chirping, ‘Happy?’
‘Thrilled.’ Woohyun beamed.
The teacher trudged into the classroom and threw a folder down. She then picked up a pile of paper and began handing out the day’s experiment instructions. She spat out rapidly to not waste time, ‘Alright class. This experiment is going to take the whole lesson, so let’s jump right into it and partner up.’
Woohyun blew his cheeks out and made a disgustingly cute pose, asking, ‘Mine?’
After pushing his face away in distaste, Sunggyu sighed, getting out of his seat, ‘Sure. Will you be able to keep up with me?’
Woohyun stood up too and approached Sunggyu from behind, his breath hitting the back of Sunggyu’s neck. ‘Of course. I’m known for being really fast,’ he said huskily, liking the way the hairs on the nape of Sunggyu’s neck stood up from the sensation of his breath.
Sunggyu turned around with a disapproving expression. He gave Woohyun an up-down look before his frown morphed into a playful smirk. ‘And yet your fly is still down,’ he mentioned teasingly.
After peeking downwards, Woohyun saw that indeed his fly was down and grinned sheepishly as he accused, ‘Were you looking at my crotch?’
‘Were you looking at mine?’ Sunggyu countered.
Woohyun smirked, giving the older a knowing look. Well, he wasn’t wrong.
-
Myungsoo wanted to write the teacher’s name into his Death note. The problem was: He had no fucking idea what the teacher’s name was. He didn’t know any teacher’s name. They were all called teach to him. For once, his lack of attention to his own school backfired. He wouldn’t have hated Mr Baek so much if he gave him a detention or scolded him for talking or made him take a seat at the front of the class - No, he wouldn’t really have cared - but unintentionally putting him in a group with Sungyeol? Yeah, the death penalty was in order.
The only thing that made the whole experience less uncomfortable was having the other two students in the group. At least Myungsoo knew one of them - the other Myungsoo didn’t bother finding out about. He wasn’t a looker and so Myungsoo hadn’t hit on him before. Sitting next to Sungyeol would be torture, but Myungsoo was ignorant enough to not think about what sitting opposite him would be like. He found out he would much rather sit next to him.
‘But it’s a mental process…’ Sungyeol mumbled awkwardly after Myungsoo made a suggestion to what they should add to their report, looking towards the side.
Myungsoo made a noise of recognition before scratching his head and looking elsewhere, his passion for doing any work suddenly lost. Sungyeol was pretty much the same, too distracted by his thoughts and not looking at Myungsoo to concentrate on working.
Sadly, by the end of the lesson, neither Myungsoo nor Sungyeol participated in the report and the other two members had to do it themselves.
-
During recess, Sunggyu and Sungjong were walking towards the music room. As they walked through one of the main halls, Yongguk passed and Sungjong didn’t even bat an eyelid. This made Sunggyu rather confused and so he asked as they opened the door to the room, ‘Did you and Yongguk break up? Are you fighting, perhaps?’
Sungjong stepped in with a frown, quickly finding a seat. ‘No, why?’ he muttered, his voice bouncing off the walls.
‘Well, I was a little suspicious when you walked past each other and didn’t say anything.’
‘We don’t really have anything to say,’ he deadpanned, shrugging.
‘I think I’m around you more than he is,’ Sunggyu commented.
‘We’re casual. We’ve heard of those couples who move too fast and end up burning out.’
Sunggyu retorted intelligently, ‘But if you feed a flame too slowly, it will die eventually.’
Sungjong’s head tipped to the side as he thought. Well, he did notice that him and Yongguk hadn’t been talking that much and they hadn’t hung out in a while. In his opinion, they were just giving each other space. He didn’t think it was or was ever going to be a big deal.
-
‘I like chemistry,’ Dongwoo ranted, ‘It’s fun and I might want to do it after school.’
Howon nodded and continued staring at the sky. They were at some park, sitting on the grass by Howon’s car, Dongwoo’s head on Howon’s shoulder as they stared at the pollution-infected sky like it was a projected screen at the movies.
Dongwoo continued, ‘But I like music too… What do you think I should do?’
‘You hate you music class, but you like music. You never had an interest in chemistry until this year, but you like chemistry class,’ Howon stated wisely, finally relaxing from his position and moving to lean onto his elbows. He’d never stared the sky for so long with such interest. He finally realised how beautiful it was, despite the stars being hidden by clouds and suburban life.
‘So you are saying I only like chem because the classes are fun?’ Dongwoo blinked in thought, his mouth agape as he began to make life decisions like he was picking which flavour of ice-cream he wanted. Usually people would stress about these sorts of decisions, but Dongwoo thought it was fun to pick a career path. And if he failed, he would pick a new path and all will be fine - Well, that’s what Dongwoo thought, anyway.
‘That makes a lot of sense, actually,’ Dongwoo laughed, ‘I think I’ll pursue music and maybe I’ll study with Woohyun.’
Howon raised an eyebrow and looked down at his boyfriend, who decided to lay in his lap. ‘Woohyun wants to pursue music too?’
‘He’s not sure what he wants to do. He likes music and he’s good at it, but… I don’t know,’ Dongwoo digressed, ‘It seems like he likes cooking too, since he’s so good at it, but Woohyun’s good at a lot of things.’
‘Like what?’
‘Singing, cooking, driving, sports, fixing things, building things…’ Dongwoo grinned whilst thinking of his best friend (Well, one of them. He became sad when he thought of Sungyeol). Woohyun had potential in pretty much everything - He was an all-rounder - but his bad boy persona tended to hide all of that. Dongwoo sighed in awe, ‘Now that I think about it, he’s a talented kid.’
If he wasn’t so lazy, he’d be perfect.
Dongwoo added in mild disappointment, ‘He’s pretty smart too. He just doesn’t try because he thinks there’s no point.’
Howon nodded and realised that he really did underestimate Woohyun. He figured that Woohyun was somewhat depressed since he thought that trying wasn’t necessary, even with his potential, for whatever reason.
‘Hey Howon,’ Dongwoo called all of a sudden.
‘Mm?’
‘Can I drive us home?’
Howon didn’t find anything wrong with the idea, since Dongwoo had gotten his probationary licence recently - He found out because Dongwoo was laughing at his picture. He’d never seen Dongwoo’s face so serious before and Howon was slightly amused when Dongwoo showed him.
They continued to stargaze and Dongwoo told Howon make-believe stories that lacked any reasonable plot. Howon noted that Dongwoo had hinted the “perverted octopus” in his story was Myungsoo, especially when he mentioned that the octopus liked to trick innocent giraffes into sleeping with him. Dongwoo yawned and Howon suggested they went home to get some sleep for school tomorrow.
After Dongwoo started the car, Howon realised he it was a horrible idea to let Dongwoo drive. How the other got his license was completely unthought-of by anyone.
-
The next few days drawled on in a similar manner until it was Friday and Myungsoo was sick of everything. His psychology classes were filled with Sungyeol-hating-him-related thoughts and awkward exchanges of words with said hating Sungyeol. Luckily, by Friday their report was done. (The other two members of their group had a hard time, but did the work as Myungsoo had instructed. They weren’t stupid enough to dare mess with Sunggyu’s brother.)
The bad thing was: It was December and no matter what anyone said, Christmas wasn’t a day, it was a fucking month. And so the hellish Christmas spirit whizzed through the halls of Paran, leaving Sungyeol to his Winter-themed pranks - Fake snow piling out of Woohyun’s locker? Lee Sungyeol. Yongguk tied to the soccer goals with gold tinsel? Lee Sungyeol. Mistletoe hanging from Howon’s head by a fishing rod? Lee fucking Sungyeol.
As the Christmas decorations started to defile the hallways of Paran, Myungsoo became much more impatient - Watching Sungyeol laughing hysterically from a distance didn’t help.
He missed him and he hated it.
The only option Myungsoo could think of was talking to Woohyun, pushing aside the fact that Woohyun was an uncaring dickhead. As they sat on the rooftop, recess that day, Myungsoo laid his head in Woohyun’s warm lap and muttered in desperation, ‘Is there any way to speed up the plan?’
‘Kim, your love life is really starting to bug me,’ Woohyun growled, rolling his eyes. Sungyeol and Myungsoo really needed to just get together and save everyone from the destruction their little spat was causing.
‘Hyun, please.’
‘Look, I’ll give you a hint,’ Woohyun sighed, defeated, ‘Sungyeol’s dad has work on Sunday night and his mum is easy win over with an innocent smile.’
Myungsoo’s face lit up.
‘Whatever you do, don’t fuck him,’ Woohyun warned sternly. ‘Just show him he means something to you.’
-
At the lockers, right after the end of day bell rung, Sunggyu approached Woohyun with an unreadable expression on his face, his backpack hanging off one shoulder.
‘Hey, cutie,’ Woohyun cooed, beaming brightly at the other.
Sunggyu was unfazed as he stated, holding up a scrunched up piece of paper, ‘I think you dropped this.’
Woohyun inspected the paper before he recalled math homework he didn’t bother doing. ‘You found this on the floor? Damn, I missed the bin then,’ Woohyun chuckled, taking the paper from him and scrunching it up, shoving it in the pocket of his blazer.
‘Why don’t you just do your homework? Do I need to send you to the bleachers?’ Sunggyu threatened rather coolly. The word bleachers had everyone still and glancing in the SBP’s direction. With a wave of his hand, Sunggyu dismissed everyone, ‘Carry on.’ Everyone went back to what they were doing, although some were slightly edgy and wondering if Woohyun was being sent to the bleachers or not.
‘Sunggyu, you know why I don’t,’ Woohyun reminded.
Sunggyu mused, a smile tugging at his lips as he crossed his arms, ‘You are pretty good - slightly below average due to your lack of listening, but better than I expected.’
‘Tell you what, exams are coming in two weeks and if I get a ninety or above in math, I’ll become a fucking rocket scientist,’ Woohyun remarked ironically, making Sunggyu glare.
Sunggyu spat, ‘Well, at least you’ll have to be more cooperative.’
‘I told you already. I get nothing out of coming here and doing work I’ll probably never use,’ Woohyun retorted, beginning to walk away in the direction of the front exit.
Sunggyu caught up and began walking beside him. ‘I’ll make a deal with you,’ Sunggyu offered immediately, ‘Since you so desperately need a reason to do anything, I’ll make a deal with you.’
That gained Woohyun’s interest easily. ‘What?’
‘For every point over sixty you receive, I’ll…’ Sunggyu bit his lip and Woohyun unconsciously stared at the action. The older boy then tipped his head to the side and said, ‘Name it. I don’t know what will motivate you.’
Woohyun grinned playfully, suggesting, ‘Okay, for every point of sixty I get, you take off one article of clothing.’
Sunggyu gritted his teeth, suppressing the punch he was so eager to inflict on Woohyun’s stupid face. ‘Try again,’ he instructed slowly.
‘Cook for me,’ Woohyun proposed, ‘For every point over sixty I get, come over to my place and cook for me.’
Sunggyu pursed his lips and again, Woohyun unconsciously stared at his rosy lips as they moulded flawlessly around the word, ‘Deal.’
‘No take-backs?’ Woohyun laughed.
Sunggyu shook his head and began walking away. ‘None whatsoever.’
Before he could make it very far, Sunggyu bumped into Bang Minsoo and he immediately smirked, knowing that Woohyun was still at a distance he could watch and probably hear their whole encounter. ‘Hi,’ Sunggyu greeted sweetly, his eyes smiling cutely at the younger guy.
Minsoo pretty much froze on the spot and swallowed thickly. Sunggyu tilted his head at him, so he muttered back, ‘Hi.’
Sunggyu could tell he was nervous to talk to him and he was getting bored of the lack of response. So he began walking towards the front again, before Minsoo caught his arm and stopped him. Sunggyu smiled a little, seeing Woohyun watching them from the corner of his eye.
‘Sunggyu.’
Sunggyu looked up from his delicate lashes with mock innocence. ‘Yes?’
Minsoo began rubbing the back of his head as he nervously asked, ‘Are you dating anyone?’
‘No, not at the moment.’ Sunggyu pouted and almost laughed at the way Minsoo’s mood completely lifted at his answer. Sunggyu saw Woohyun leave, their shoulders brushing together as he passed, so he said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll see you on Monday.’
‘Yeah, h - hope so,’ Minsoo replied quietly as Sunggyu walked out.
-
On Saturday, Howon came home late again, having had hung out at the mall with Dongwoo and at the night market afterwards. It was about eleven when he opened the front door - eleven wasn’t so bad for an eighteen year-old boy, but it was Lee Howon and he had a routine he needed to maintain.
It was silent when he stepped in and closed the door behind him. He expected his mother to be in her office or in the dining room, working on her next case. Therefore he didn’t bother with greetings and went upstairs. As he passed through the corridor, he saw the door of his mother’s office open, so he natural peeked in due to curiosity. He didn’t think he’d seen his mother sleeping on her desk, on top of her documents. He would’ve brushed it off and walked away, but she had a mug of coffee that was dangerously near the edge of the desk. Howon stepped forward and picked up the mug of lukewarm coffee, putting it in a safer spot.
As he reached over, a name caught his attention. The name was written messily across a manila folder that was halfway under his mother’s arm. To make sure it was the right person, even though it was not his business and it was probably against client-lawyer confidentiality, Howon carefully slid the folder out and opened it up without thinking.
He read a few lines and realised what he suspected was right. Nam Woohyun
-
‘Who are you?’
Myungsoo stood at Sungyeol’s doorstep, staring right into his mother’s eyes. She had opened the door, given him an up-down look and glared. Even though she asked for his name, Myungsoo could tell she knew exactly who he was. After all, Sungyeol did mention his parents knowing about him and his odd… habit.
‘Kim Myungsoo,’ he answered politely, displaying an innocent and kind smile like Woohyun had instructed.
Her tone was already accusing and sceptical as she snapped, ‘What do you want?’
‘I was in the neighbourhood and I just thought I’d say a quick hello to your son,’ Myungsoo answered, unmoved by her vicious tone. He was used to being snapped at like he was a murderer or something.
She leaned against the door frame and interrogated, ‘How do you know my son?’
‘He’s in my literature and psychology classes.’
After giving Myungsoo one more thorough inspection, she nodded and called up the stairs, ‘Sungyeol, someone’s here to see you!’
As soon as the sentence left her lips, Myungsoo heard something that sounded like a fat cow trotting closer and closer towards the front door - Yep, it was Sungyeol like he had expected. Sungyeol was always a little hard on the floor he walked on.
Sungyeol almost flipped backwards when he saw Myungsoo’s smirking face. ‘What do you want, butthead?!’ he shouted almost immediately, holding an arm up like he was going to bitch-slap him if he was going to pull anything inappropriate.
Since Sungyeol’s mother was still vaguely seen in the living room, Myungsoo put on his best misunderstood expression and tone of voice, mumbling, ‘I’m sorry. Did I do something to offend you? I just wanted to say hi.’
‘Bye,’ Sungyeol grunted, slamming the door shut.
The door reopened a split second later, someone who Myungsoo thought was a Sungyeol doppelganger rushing out.
‘And where are you going, young man?’ Sungyeol’s mum shouted in irritation.
‘To a friend’s house, so we could -‘ Daeyeol finally saw Myungsoo and blinked at him. He then saw his pissed-off older brother before glancing back at Myungsoo. He grinned evilly and greeted, ‘Well, hello.’
‘Hello yourself,’ Myungsoo flirted. He then reminded himself that flirting with his crush’s brother wouldn’t really help the situation he was in, so he cleared his throat and turned back around.
Daeyeol gave a blushing Sungyeol a wave before cheering, running away before his mother could tackle him, ‘Have fun, hyung!’
When he left out of sight, Myungsoo exclaimed fondly, ‘Is that your brother? He looks just like you.’
Sungyeol heaved a sigh. ‘Look, what are you doing -‘
‘May I come in?’ Myungsoo interrupted hopefully.
‘No.’
‘I asked nicely.’
‘No.’
Myungsoo then held up a box he was hiding behind his back, letting Sungyeol take a whiff of its contents. ‘I brought coffee cake,’ he tempted.
Sungyeol hated himself, but agreed anyway, ‘Five minutes tops.’
-
‘Why would your mother have Woohyun’s file?’
Howon visited Sunggyu at the bookstore, quietly thankful that there were no customers around to overhear their conversation. The store was always pretty bleak.
‘The only thing I know is she is prosecuting a thug who’s notorious for domestic violence and drugs,’ Howon stated simply, watching Sunggyu’s composed expression distort into a confused one.
Sunggyu narrowed his eyes and mentioned, ‘Isn’t this information meant to be confidential?’
Howon shrugged uncaringly.
-
‘Hello,’ Myungsoo greeted Sungyeol’s mother, who was reading magazines on the couch. He then followed a stomping Sungyeol up the stairs and into his room. Sungyeol made sure to lock the door behind him, so his mother wouldn’t catch them in a weird position - He was sure as hell Myungsoo was trying to pull something perverted and was using cake as bait. Too bad Sungyeol couldn’t resist coffee cake.
‘What do you want?’ Sungyeol spat, glaring.
Myungsoo’s lips upturned into a gentle smile that had Sungyeol’s heart on accelerate. ‘Sungyeol, you know what I want,’ he said lowly.
After clearing his throat, Sungyeol regained his glare. ‘Remind me.’
‘You,’ Myungsoo said simply, stepping forward and catching Sungyeol by the belt loops of his jeans.
Sungyeol’s eyes widened, stepping back. He eventually hit his bed and ended up sitting on it, Myungsoo sitting beside him. Sungyeol began shouting as he felt Myungsoo’s arms wrap around his waist, trying to push him off hurriedly, ‘Hey, what are you doing, you…‘
He didn’t expect a hug. A proper, innocent hug.
‘Missed you, skyscraper,’ Myungsoo murmured sincerely into the pale skin of Sungyeol’s neck. He held him close, trying to show Sungyeol he was serious about this - he was serious about them.
The breath hitting his skin made Sungyeol shiver, his eyelids fluttering at Myungsoo’s sweet voice. Myungsoo took the shiver the wrong way, let the other go and pulled Sungyeol’s blanket over his shoulders. ‘It’s cold, isn’t it?’ he chuckled, giving Sungyeol a peck on the cheek before holding him closely again. ‘Better?’
Sungyeol didn’t know what to do when Myungsoo was acting like this, like the sweetest thing in the world. He didn’t know what to do when Myungsoo’s voice was like that, when his arms were wrapped around his waist so warmly or when his soothing breath tingled his skin. Gritting his teeth, he told himself not to believe any of this was honest. He clenched his fists and stood up, surprising the younger student.
‘W - Why are you doing this?’ Sungyeol stammered angrily.
‘Like I said, I missed you,’ Myungsoo answered, staring into Sungyeol’s eyes to show he was genuine, ‘I missed this.’
Sungyeol’s eyes were tearing up now and he didn’t know why. ‘Please stop messing with my mind,’ he choked, his voice cracking.
‘I’m not messing with your mind,’ Myungsoo sighed, standing up and placing a hand on Sungyeol’s shoulder as his first tear rolled down his reddened cheek.
Sungyeol shook him off and screamed, ‘Then what is this?!’
‘This is me wanting to be with you!’ Myungsoo shouted back, making Sungyeol freeze up - He’d never heard Myungsoo raise his voice like that. Myungsoo shook his head before stepping closer and taking Sungyeol’s trembling hand in his, whispering hoarsely, ‘Don’t you get it?’
-
‘Howon?’
Howon closed the front door behind him and began approaching the stairs. He didn’t expect his mother to be home so early, but he wasn’t really interested.
‘I was hoping you would come home earlier,’ she said with a hopeful smile, making Howon turn around halfway up the stairs.
Howon looked almost annoyed at her, looking down at her from where he was on the stairs. He blinked slowly as he mumbled, ‘Why?’
She lifted up her oven mit and spatula. ‘I made dinner for us,’ she stated, a smile tugging at her lips. It had been a long time since she was able to come home early and make dinner for her son. She tried her best this time, working from a recipe book, although she was never very good at cooking.
Howon opened his mouth, ready to reject the offer and ask Sunggyu if he would mind him eating dinner at his place, but what Dongwoo told him rang in his ears. He remembered that he should appreciate his mother more.
‘Okay,’ Howon said quietly, walking back down.
Miss Lee was biting back a smile and Howon saw tears starting to swell in her eyes. As Howon approached her, his hands trembling slightly, he wrapped his arms around her torso and hugged her tightly.
‘Thank you,’ he muttered quietly into her jet black hair.
She really cried this time.
-
Woohyun and Sunggyu sat in silence, the younger boy driving Sunggyu home after work. Breaking the comfortable silence, Sunggyu called to gain the other’s attention, ‘Woohyun.’
‘Yeah,’ Woohyun mumbled, his eyes not moving from the road ahead.
Sunggyu asked bluntly, ‘Do you have a criminal record?’
‘What?’ Woohyun spat, looking at the other in shock.
He then heard the car behind him beeping, before turning his attention back to the road and swerving so they didn’t hit the truck in front. ‘Shit!’ Woohyun cursed, Sunggyu swaying to the side because of the sudden movement. After regaining control over the car, Woohyun was back to driving normally. He asked, ‘What the hell would make you think that?’
‘Do you or don’t you?’ Sunggyu probed, his tone stern like his presidential self, ‘Answer me.’
Woohyun licked his lips as he said carefully, ‘I’ve been convicted before, only once.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Assault.’
Sunggyu’s eyes widened and Woohyun felt the look from his driver’s seat.
‘Nothing that bad, third degree. Don’t give me that look, President Meet-me-at-the-bleachers Sunggyu,’ he scoffed.
‘Continue,’ Sunggyu sighed, rolling his eyes.
‘House party back in sophomore year. Some drunk dipshit was messing with Dongwoo and I just lost it at him,’ Woohyun elaborated, ‘Have to admit I was a little drunk too, but I still knew what I was doing.’
Sunggyu nodded, taking in the information.
‘How’d you know?’ Woohyun questioned as they turned off the freeway.
‘None of your business,’ Sunggyu snorted.
Woohyun raised his voice, ‘You just stuck your nose into my past and I’m not allowed to know how you did it?’
‘Howon told me.’
‘How did Howon know?’
‘His mother’s a lawyer.’
An amused smile tugged at Woohyun’s lips. ‘So he got his mother to run a background check on me? Is he really that protective over you?’
‘No, he found out by accident,’ Sunggyu corrected. ‘Now I’m trying to figure out why his mother has your file.’
Woohyun’s expression fell as he recalled that day he was at the police station. ‘I might know why,’ he added.
Sunggyu shot him the go-on look.
‘The guy I assaulted was part of a drug heist. That’s why the judge let me off easy,’ Woohyun explained. ‘…Plus, my parents did a little pushing.’
‘Wouldn’t he be in jail by now?’ Sunggyu questioned in disbelief, ‘And why did your parents fish you out of that shit? You made it very clear to me that they didn’t give a fuck what you do.’
‘Wouldn’t you be sent to the authorities by now? You know how shit these systems are,’ Woohyun retorted, ‘And you’re being nosy again.’
‘I’m not trying to be hypocritical, I’m just trying to understand the situation.’ With a huff, Sunggyu whined, ‘And I’m not being nosy. I’m just trying to understand what kind of relationship you have with your parents.’
‘A parasitical one.’
Sunggyu tilted his head.
‘Only reason they kept me clean was so they could keep up their reputation,’ Woohyun mumbled quietly.
‘What reputation?’
‘They own companies.’ Explains Woohyun’s house and maids.
‘What companies?’ Sunggyu spat in frustration, ‘Would you be so kind as to not be so vague?’
‘They own a home tutoring company, a healthy snack franchise, and a home décor DIY computer program,’ Woohyun listed.
Sunggyu began thinking of which brand-names Woohyun’s parents could possibly be owners of.
Woohyun clicked his tongue before mentioning casually, ‘Oh, and they own Paran.’
Sunggyu almost had a heart attack.
-
AN\ 8 reasons why MyungYeol should be separated has been translated into Vietnamese! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Thanks to Hitoirohtori
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen (NSFW) Twenty Twenty-one Twenty-two Twenty-three Twenty-four Twenty-five Twenty-Six Twenty-Seven Twenty-Nine
Twenty-eight | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
‘Come over.’
‘Now?’
‘Please…’
-
‘He did what?’
After getting a call from Sungyeol, Dongwoo rushed over to his house. He awkwardly greeted Sungyeol’s parents as his mother fawned over him. Sungyeol hadn’t come out of his room, so Dongwoo ran up the stairs and found Sungyeol lying stomach down on his bed, entangled in his baby blue blanket. Sungyeol then ranted on about his odd outing with Myungsoo and how they almost/slightly kissed. However, he didn’t mention how he had to muster up all his will power to restrain himself from just jumping into Myungsoo’s lap and kissing him senseless.
Dongwoo made an O shape with his lips as he absorbed every word that flung out of Sungyeol’s mouth. He then realised what was the reason for Myungsoo’s behaviour that evening.
Sungyeol whimpered into the covers helplessly, ‘Dongwoo, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’
‘Do you still like him?’
‘Yes,’ Sungyeol grunted, feeling a faint blush rising up in his cheeks. He found it hard to admit, but it was truth. ‘I love him, but I hate him.’
The older boy looked up to the ceiling in thought, rambling, ‘Isn’t that a… What’s that weird sounding word again?’
Howon’s voice came, ‘Oxymoron.’
‘Yeah, that’s right!’ Dongwoo exclaimed, laughing brightly at his faulty memory. Howon had only taught him the word a few days ago, so it was funny to him that he had already forgotten.
Sungyeol was finally alerted of Howon’s presence in the doorway, standing awkwardly as no one had formally invited him in. ‘Why is he here?’ Sungyeol snapped at Dongwoo.
With that Dongwoo realised he left his boyfriend standing alone and so gestured him to come and sit next to him on the floor, as he sat on Sungyeol’s bean bag. He said simply, ‘He’s been with me the whole day. I can’t just ditch him.’ He then proceeded to card his fingers through Howon’s hair and Sungyeol was reminded of a (crazy) villain and their dog.
‘Dongwoo, you’re so stupid,’ Sungyeol huffed, throwing a pillow over his head, ‘I don’t want to talk to you about personal stuff if your boyfriend is going to be here.’
A light bulb lit up in Dongwoo’s head. ‘But he could help,’ Dongwoo reasoned in revelation, ‘He knows Myungsoo. He’s known Myungsoo since forever!’
Sungyeol wanted to test Howon’s usefulness so he narrowed his eyes at the older student and grunted, ‘Does Myungsoo really love me?’
‘Yes,’ Howon answered.
‘Is he playing mind-tricks again?’
Howon’s mouth didn’t open to answer. Instead, he blinked a few times before looking up at Dongwoo with a furrowed brow.
‘Silence means yes,’ Sungyeol mewled loudly, directing a tensed finger at Howon, ‘Myungsoo wants me to be shipped off to the mental hospital!’
Howon waved his hands in denial at Sungyeol’s jumping to accusations. ‘I didn’t imply that.’
‘Then what?’ Sungyeol snarled impatiently.
Howon assured, ‘Sungyeol, I’m certain Myungsoo won’t do anything to hurt you. I’m sure he’ll do anything he can to make you happy.’
The answer made Sungyeol immediately relax and look towards the window in thought. He was calculating things in his heads, listing pros and cons, and signals. Dongwoo smiled gently, placing a comforting hand on Sungyeol’s head as he gave the younger boy a knowing look, and questioned hopefully, ‘So what do you think, Yeol?’
Sungyeol stared at nothing for a few moments before he pouted and threw the blanket over his head, screaming, ’Your boyfriend hasn’t helped me at all!’
Dongwoo gritted his teeth and looked at Howon with an apologetic grin. The latter had his face in his hands, wallowing in frustration.
-
On Monday, Myungsoo woke up with mixed feelings. He was disheartened yet determined at the same time. If he saw Sungyeol in the halls at school, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He didn’t know what to expect, knowing that Sungyeol was the unpredictable ticking time bomb that he was. Maybe he’d get a dirty look, a slap across the face… Maybe he’d even get a timid wave and a quiet hi as he passed. Myungsoo didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to stop himself from finding out. He obviously wasn’t the type to back down or hide away. Well, you see, Myungsoo never felt embarrassment - He was shameless - not when people stared at him when he walked past, not when his brother scolded and beat him at the cafeteria, not even when he got painfully rejected in front of the entire school population. He never felt it and in a way, that was partly his problem - He didn’t know when to give up.
Sunggyu woke up feeling the blood rushing down his skull, making him feel sick and dizzy. He shook the feeling away and went downstairs to cook breakfast with Howon, gulping down a whole glass of water. He’d given Myungsoo shit for not eating properly the rest of the weekend, but he was Sunggyu and that was completely hypocritical. Howon made sure that fact was known throughout the whole weekend.
The sound of his mother throwing open his curtains woke Howon up. She reminded him that she could make breakfast for him before she had to leave, but Howon insisted that he could eat at Sunggyu’s place and that the latter didn’t mind feeding another mouth. He’d eaten at Sunggyu’s place for years and every day he told his mother that she did not have to cook him breakfast. Every morning she would still ask, in case he would change his mind.
Sungjong’s alarm clock didn’t go off, but he woke up at the exact same time every morning anyway. The alarm was just for assurance. His parents laid out a healthy breakfast at the table like always and he ate as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks, just to avoid any questions he was sure his parents had in store for him.
Sungyeol woke up to Daeyeol screaming girl groups songs at the top of his lungs and his makeshift marching band - saucepan lids made excellent cymbals, Daeyeol mentioned to his annoyed brother evilly. Sungyeol always hated that his brother went to a freaking academy in the city; not because he was jealous of his intelligence or anything like that, but because his brother always woke up earlier than him and always woke him up with the most ridiculous methods when he got ready earlier than expected.
It was five in the morning when Dongwoo woke up. He had no freaking idea why he woke up, so he ended up sitting on the edge of his bed and staring lifelessly at the opposite wall, which was covered in band posters. As soon as he registered his phone on the nightstand, he reached for it and sent Howon a text: Are you awake…? BECAUSE I AM! :D Of course there was no reply - Howon always woke up at six, not five. He frowned and then went back to sitting and staring aimlessly. A few minutes went by before Dongwoo heard his dad’s voice in the next room. He then heard his mother and then listened to his parents’ conversation. They were reminiscing their relationship before they got married and when Dongwoo’s mum teased his father about his hairstyle back then, Dongwoo had to stifle back a giggle. His parents’ relationship was never cold or worn out, it was always strong and loving. He liked that. He liked that after so many years, his parents still loved each other like it was the first day they confessed. He listened to them until his alarm clock went off.
Woohyun woke up a little horny, but it wasn’t to the point where he had a boner. His dream was too soft porn-like to really be remembered and he was starting to think his libido was slipping away from him. He vaguely remembered it was Monday and so reminded himself to grab some hard porn from Yongguk later. That guy was like the fucking adult video version of iTunes.
Everyone woke up with different feelings, but they all had one thing in common: They didn’t know what to expect from this new week.
-
Whilst walking to school that day, Myungsoo was looking down at the concrete and feeling sorry for himself. When he sided a sign pole and groan painfully, Sunggyu and Howon turned around to see him rubbing his abused shoulder with a frown.
Sunggyu sighed, ‘What’s wrong now?’
‘Sungyeol hates me.’
His older brother scoffed at him, ‘So you’re going to give up?’
‘Of course not, hyung. Kim Myungsoo doesn’t give up,’ Myungsoo exclaimed, rolling his shoulders back and lifting his chin up, his mood suddenly up.
‘Myungsoo,’ Sunggyu grunted.
‘Yeah?’
‘I think Sungyeol would appreciate it if you didn’t do anything stupid.’
‘Why, Gyu, I’m always intellectual and sober while making all my decisions.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and gave Howon a knowing look before they proceeded to walk to school once again.
-
‘I missed you,’ Woohyun cooed brightly as he strolled into biology and took his seat.
Sunggyu’s eyes were glued to his phone, but he still mumbled back dryly, ‘I’m sure you did.’
Woohyun frowned at the lack of acknowledgement and so added, ‘I was jacking off while thinking of you the other day.’
‘Nothing new then.’ Again, Sunggyu used the same uninterested tone and his eyes did not move away from his game. Woohyun was pouting now, staring holes into the side of Sunggyu’s face, the older student not flinching from the extremely forward attention.
Woohyun continued trying to gain his acknowledgement, hoping Sunggyu would sneer at him or look at him or something, ‘Best orgasm of my life.’
‘I’m sure it was.’
Finally, Woohyun huffed his hair out of his face and gave up. It was no use challenging Sunggyu’s stubbornness. He whined irritably, ‘Can’t you stop playing for a second and give me some eye contact?’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and purposely lost his game. ‘Fine. I got a high score anyway,’ he muttered. He then lifted his head and gave Woohyun a fake smile of content, chirping, ‘Happy?’
‘Thrilled.’ Woohyun beamed.
The teacher trudged into the classroom and threw a folder down. She then picked up a pile of paper and began handing out the day’s experiment instructions. She spat out rapidly to not waste time, ‘Alright class. This experiment is going to take the whole lesson, so let’s jump right into it and partner up.’
Woohyun blew his cheeks out and made a disgustingly cute pose, asking, ‘Mine?’
After pushing his face away in distaste, Sunggyu sighed, getting out of his seat, ‘Sure. Will you be able to keep up with me?’
Woohyun stood up too and approached Sunggyu from behind, his breath hitting the back of Sunggyu’s neck. ‘Of course. I’m known for being really fast,’ he said huskily, liking the way the hairs on the nape of Sunggyu’s neck stood up from the sensation of his breath.
Sunggyu turned around with a disapproving expression. He gave Woohyun an up-down look before his frown morphed into a playful smirk. ‘And yet your fly is still down,’ he mentioned teasingly.
After peeking downwards, Woohyun saw that indeed his fly was down and grinned sheepishly as he accused, ‘Were you looking at my crotch?’
‘Were you looking at mine?’ Sunggyu countered.
Woohyun smirked, giving the older a knowing look. Well, he wasn’t wrong.
-
Myungsoo wanted to write the teacher’s name into his Death note. The problem was: He had no fucking idea what the teacher’s name was. He didn’t know any teacher’s name. They were all called teach to him. For once, his lack of attention to his own school backfired. He wouldn’t have hated Mr Baek so much if he gave him a detention or scolded him for talking or made him take a seat at the front of the class - No, he wouldn’t really have cared - but unintentionally putting him in a group with Sungyeol? Yeah, the death penalty was in order.
The only thing that made the whole experience less uncomfortable was having the other two students in the group. At least Myungsoo knew one of them - the other Myungsoo didn’t bother finding out about. He wasn’t a looker and so Myungsoo hadn’t hit on him before. Sitting next to Sungyeol would be torture, but Myungsoo was ignorant enough to not think about what sitting opposite him would be like. He found out he would much rather sit next to him.
‘But it’s a mental process…’ Sungyeol mumbled awkwardly after Myungsoo made a suggestion to what they should add to their report, looking towards the side.
Myungsoo made a noise of recognition before scratching his head and looking elsewhere, his passion for doing any work suddenly lost. Sungyeol was pretty much the same, too distracted by his thoughts and not looking at Myungsoo to concentrate on working.
Sadly, by the end of the lesson, neither Myungsoo nor Sungyeol participated in the report and the other two members had to do it themselves.
-
During recess, Sunggyu and Sungjong were walking towards the music room. As they walked through one of the main halls, Yongguk passed and Sungjong didn’t even bat an eyelid. This made Sunggyu rather confused and so he asked as they opened the door to the room, ‘Did you and Yongguk break up? Are you fighting, perhaps?’
Sungjong stepped in with a frown, quickly finding a seat. ‘No, why?’ he muttered, his voice bouncing off the walls.
‘Well, I was a little suspicious when you walked past each other and didn’t say anything.’
‘We don’t really have anything to say,’ he deadpanned, shrugging.
‘I think I’m around you more than he is,’ Sunggyu commented.
‘We’re casual. We’ve heard of those couples who move too fast and end up burning out.’
Sunggyu retorted intelligently, ‘But if you feed a flame too slowly, it will die eventually.’
Sungjong’s head tipped to the side as he thought. Well, he did notice that him and Yongguk hadn’t been talking that much and they hadn’t hung out in a while. In his opinion, they were just giving each other space. He didn’t think it was or was ever going to be a big deal.
-
‘I like chemistry,’ Dongwoo ranted, ‘It’s fun and I might want to do it after school.’
Howon nodded and continued staring at the sky. They were at some park, sitting on the grass by Howon’s car, Dongwoo’s head on Howon’s shoulder as they stared at the pollution-infected sky like it was a projected screen at the movies.
Dongwoo continued, ‘But I like music too… What do you think I should do?’
‘You hate you music class, but you like music. You never had an interest in chemistry until this year, but you like chemistry class,’ Howon stated wisely, finally relaxing from his position and moving to lean onto his elbows. He’d never stared the sky for so long with such interest. He finally realised how beautiful it was, despite the stars being hidden by clouds and suburban life.
‘So you are saying I only like chem because the classes are fun?’ Dongwoo blinked in thought, his mouth agape as he began to make life decisions like he was picking which flavour of ice-cream he wanted. Usually people would stress about these sorts of decisions, but Dongwoo thought it was fun to pick a career path. And if he failed, he would pick a new path and all will be fine - Well, that’s what Dongwoo thought, anyway.
‘That makes a lot of sense, actually,’ Dongwoo laughed, ‘I think I’ll pursue music and maybe I’ll study with Woohyun.’
Howon raised an eyebrow and looked down at his boyfriend, who decided to lay in his lap. ‘Woohyun wants to pursue music too?’
‘He’s not sure what he wants to do. He likes music and he’s good at it, but… I don’t know,’ Dongwoo digressed, ‘It seems like he likes cooking too, since he’s so good at it, but Woohyun’s good at a lot of things.’
‘Like what?’
‘Singing, cooking, driving, sports, fixing things, building things…’ Dongwoo grinned whilst thinking of his best friend (Well, one of them. He became sad when he thought of Sungyeol). Woohyun had potential in pretty much everything - He was an all-rounder - but his bad boy persona tended to hide all of that. Dongwoo sighed in awe, ‘Now that I think about it, he’s a talented kid.’
If he wasn’t so lazy, he’d be perfect.
Dongwoo added in mild disappointment, ‘He’s pretty smart too. He just doesn’t try because he thinks there’s no point.’
Howon nodded and realised that he really did underestimate Woohyun. He figured that Woohyun was somewhat depressed since he thought that trying wasn’t necessary, even with his potential, for whatever reason.
‘Hey Howon,’ Dongwoo called all of a sudden.
‘Mm?’
‘Can I drive us home?’
Howon didn’t find anything wrong with the idea, since Dongwoo had gotten his probationary licence recently - He found out because Dongwoo was laughing at his picture. He’d never seen Dongwoo’s face so serious before and Howon was slightly amused when Dongwoo showed him.
They continued to stargaze and Dongwoo told Howon make-believe stories that lacked any reasonable plot. Howon noted that Dongwoo had hinted the “perverted octopus” in his story was Myungsoo, especially when he mentioned that the octopus liked to trick innocent giraffes into sleeping with him. Dongwoo yawned and Howon suggested they went home to get some sleep for school tomorrow.
After Dongwoo started the car, Howon realised he it was a horrible idea to let Dongwoo drive. How the other got his license was completely unthought-of by anyone.
-
The next few days drawled on in a similar manner until it was Friday and Myungsoo was sick of everything. His psychology classes were filled with Sungyeol-hating-him-related thoughts and awkward exchanges of words with said hating Sungyeol. Luckily, by Friday their report was done. (The other two members of their group had a hard time, but did the work as Myungsoo had instructed. They weren’t stupid enough to dare mess with Sunggyu’s brother.)
The bad thing was: It was December and no matter what anyone said, Christmas wasn’t a day, it was a fucking month. And so the hellish Christmas spirit whizzed through the halls of Paran, leaving Sungyeol to his Winter-themed pranks - Fake snow piling out of Woohyun’s locker? Lee Sungyeol. Yongguk tied to the soccer goals with gold tinsel? Lee Sungyeol. Mistletoe hanging from Howon’s head by a fishing rod? Lee fucking Sungyeol.
As the Christmas decorations started to defile the hallways of Paran, Myungsoo became much more impatient - Watching Sungyeol laughing hysterically from a distance didn’t help.
He missed him and he hated it.
The only option Myungsoo could think of was talking to Woohyun, pushing aside the fact that Woohyun was an uncaring dickhead. As they sat on the rooftop, recess that day, Myungsoo laid his head in Woohyun’s warm lap and muttered in desperation, ‘Is there any way to speed up the plan?’
‘Kim, your love life is really starting to bug me,’ Woohyun growled, rolling his eyes. Sungyeol and Myungsoo really needed to just get together and save everyone from the destruction their little spat was causing.
‘Hyun, please.’
‘Look, I’ll give you a hint,’ Woohyun sighed, defeated, ‘Sungyeol’s dad has work on Sunday night and his mum is easy win over with an innocent smile.’
Myungsoo’s face lit up.
‘Whatever you do, don’t fuck him,’ Woohyun warned sternly. ‘Just show him he means something to you.’
-
At the lockers, right after the end of day bell rung, Sunggyu approached Woohyun with an unreadable expression on his face, his backpack hanging off one shoulder.
‘Hey, cutie,’ Woohyun cooed, beaming brightly at the other.
Sunggyu was unfazed as he stated, holding up a scrunched up piece of paper, ‘I think you dropped this.’
Woohyun inspected the paper before he recalled math homework he didn’t bother doing. ‘You found this on the floor? Damn, I missed the bin then,’ Woohyun chuckled, taking the paper from him and scrunching it up, shoving it in the pocket of his blazer.
‘Why don’t you just do your homework? Do I need to send you to the bleachers?’ Sunggyu threatened rather coolly. The word bleachers had everyone still and glancing in the SBP’s direction. With a wave of his hand, Sunggyu dismissed everyone, ‘Carry on.’ Everyone went back to what they were doing, although some were slightly edgy and wondering if Woohyun was being sent to the bleachers or not.
‘Sunggyu, you know why I don’t,’ Woohyun reminded.
Sunggyu mused, a smile tugging at his lips as he crossed his arms, ‘You are pretty good - slightly below average due to your lack of listening, but better than I expected.’
‘Tell you what, exams are coming in two weeks and if I get a ninety or above in math, I’ll become a fucking rocket scientist,’ Woohyun remarked ironically, making Sunggyu glare.
Sunggyu spat, ‘Well, at least you’ll have to be more cooperative.’
‘I told you already. I get nothing out of coming here and doing work I’ll probably never use,’ Woohyun retorted, beginning to walk away in the direction of the front exit.
Sunggyu caught up and began walking beside him. ‘I’ll make a deal with you,’ Sunggyu offered immediately, ‘Since you so desperately need a reason to do anything, I’ll make a deal with you.’
That gained Woohyun’s interest easily. ‘What?’
‘For every point over sixty you receive, I’ll…’ Sunggyu bit his lip and Woohyun unconsciously stared at the action. The older boy then tipped his head to the side and said, ‘Name it. I don’t know what will motivate you.’
Woohyun grinned playfully, suggesting, ‘Okay, for every point of sixty I get, you take off one article of clothing.’
Sunggyu gritted his teeth, suppressing the punch he was so eager to inflict on Woohyun’s stupid face. ‘Try again,’ he instructed slowly.
‘Cook for me,’ Woohyun proposed, ‘For every point over sixty I get, come over to my place and cook for me.’
Sunggyu pursed his lips and again, Woohyun unconsciously stared at his rosy lips as they moulded flawlessly around the word, ‘Deal.’
‘No take-backs?’ Woohyun laughed.
Sunggyu shook his head and began walking away. ‘None whatsoever.’
Before he could make it very far, Sunggyu bumped into Bang Minsoo and he immediately smirked, knowing that Woohyun was still at a distance he could watch and probably hear their whole encounter. ‘Hi,’ Sunggyu greeted sweetly, his eyes smiling cutely at the younger guy.
Minsoo pretty much froze on the spot and swallowed thickly. Sunggyu tilted his head at him, so he muttered back, ‘Hi.’
Sunggyu could tell he was nervous to talk to him and he was getting bored of the lack of response. So he began walking towards the front again, before Minsoo caught his arm and stopped him. Sunggyu smiled a little, seeing Woohyun watching them from the corner of his eye.
‘Sunggyu.’
Sunggyu looked up from his delicate lashes with mock innocence. ‘Yes?’
Minsoo began rubbing the back of his head as he nervously asked, ‘Are you dating anyone?’
‘No, not at the moment.’ Sunggyu pouted and almost laughed at the way Minsoo’s mood completely lifted at his answer. Sunggyu saw Woohyun leave, their shoulders brushing together as he passed, so he said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll see you on Monday.’
‘Yeah, h - hope so,’ Minsoo replied quietly as Sunggyu walked out.
-
On Saturday, Howon came home late again, having had hung out at the mall with Dongwoo and at the night market afterwards. It was about eleven when he opened the front door - eleven wasn’t so bad for an eighteen year-old boy, but it was Lee Howon and he had a routine he needed to maintain.
It was silent when he stepped in and closed the door behind him. He expected his mother to be in her office or in the dining room, working on her next case. Therefore he didn’t bother with greetings and went upstairs. As he passed through the corridor, he saw the door of his mother’s office open, so he natural peeked in due to curiosity. He didn’t think he’d seen his mother sleeping on her desk, on top of her documents. He would’ve brushed it off and walked away, but she had a mug of coffee that was dangerously near the edge of the desk. Howon stepped forward and picked up the mug of lukewarm coffee, putting it in a safer spot.
As he reached over, a name caught his attention. The name was written messily across a manila folder that was halfway under his mother’s arm. To make sure it was the right person, even though it was not his business and it was probably against client-lawyer confidentiality, Howon carefully slid the folder out and opened it up without thinking.
He read a few lines and realised what he suspected was right. Nam Woohyun
-
‘Who are you?’
Myungsoo stood at Sungyeol’s doorstep, staring right into his mother’s eyes. She had opened the door, given him an up-down look and glared. Even though she asked for his name, Myungsoo could tell she knew exactly who he was. After all, Sungyeol did mention his parents knowing about him and his odd… habit.
‘Kim Myungsoo,’ he answered politely, displaying an innocent and kind smile like Woohyun had instructed.
Her tone was already accusing and sceptical as she snapped, ‘What do you want?’
‘I was in the neighbourhood and I just thought I’d say a quick hello to your son,’ Myungsoo answered, unmoved by her vicious tone. He was used to being snapped at like he was a murderer or something.
She leaned against the door frame and interrogated, ‘How do you know my son?’
‘He’s in my literature and psychology classes.’
After giving Myungsoo one more thorough inspection, she nodded and called up the stairs, ‘Sungyeol, someone’s here to see you!’
As soon as the sentence left her lips, Myungsoo heard something that sounded like a fat cow trotting closer and closer towards the front door - Yep, it was Sungyeol like he had expected. Sungyeol was always a little hard on the floor he walked on.
Sungyeol almost flipped backwards when he saw Myungsoo’s smirking face. ‘What do you want, butthead?!’ he shouted almost immediately, holding an arm up like he was going to bitch-slap him if he was going to pull anything inappropriate.
Since Sungyeol’s mother was still vaguely seen in the living room, Myungsoo put on his best misunderstood expression and tone of voice, mumbling, ‘I’m sorry. Did I do something to offend you? I just wanted to say hi.’
‘Bye,’ Sungyeol grunted, slamming the door shut.
The door reopened a split second later, someone who Myungsoo thought was a Sungyeol doppelganger rushing out.
‘And where are you going, young man?’ Sungyeol’s mum shouted in irritation.
‘To a friend’s house, so we could -‘ Daeyeol finally saw Myungsoo and blinked at him. He then saw his pissed-off older brother before glancing back at Myungsoo. He grinned evilly and greeted, ‘Well, hello.’
‘Hello yourself,’ Myungsoo flirted. He then reminded himself that flirting with his crush’s brother wouldn’t really help the situation he was in, so he cleared his throat and turned back around.
Daeyeol gave a blushing Sungyeol a wave before cheering, running away before his mother could tackle him, ‘Have fun, hyung!’
When he left out of sight, Myungsoo exclaimed fondly, ‘Is that your brother? He looks just like you.’
Sungyeol heaved a sigh. ‘Look, what are you doing -‘
‘May I come in?’ Myungsoo interrupted hopefully.
‘No.’
‘I asked nicely.’
‘No.’
Myungsoo then held up a box he was hiding behind his back, letting Sungyeol take a whiff of its contents. ‘I brought coffee cake,’ he tempted.
Sungyeol hated himself, but agreed anyway, ‘Five minutes tops.’
-
‘Why would your mother have Woohyun’s file?’
Howon visited Sunggyu at the bookstore, quietly thankful that there were no customers around to overhear their conversation. The store was always pretty bleak.
‘The only thing I know is she is prosecuting a thug who’s notorious for domestic violence and drugs,’ Howon stated simply, watching Sunggyu’s composed expression distort into a confused one.
Sunggyu narrowed his eyes and mentioned, ‘Isn’t this information meant to be confidential?’
Howon shrugged uncaringly.
-
‘Hello,’ Myungsoo greeted Sungyeol’s mother, who was reading magazines on the couch. He then followed a stomping Sungyeol up the stairs and into his room. Sungyeol made sure to lock the door behind him, so his mother wouldn’t catch them in a weird position - He was sure as hell Myungsoo was trying to pull something perverted and was using cake as bait. Too bad Sungyeol couldn’t resist coffee cake.
‘What do you want?’ Sungyeol spat, glaring.
Myungsoo’s lips upturned into a gentle smile that had Sungyeol’s heart on accelerate. ‘Sungyeol, you know what I want,’ he said lowly.
After clearing his throat, Sungyeol regained his glare. ‘Remind me.’
‘You,’ Myungsoo said simply, stepping forward and catching Sungyeol by the belt loops of his jeans.
Sungyeol’s eyes widened, stepping back. He eventually hit his bed and ended up sitting on it, Myungsoo sitting beside him. Sungyeol began shouting as he felt Myungsoo’s arms wrap around his waist, trying to push him off hurriedly, ‘Hey, what are you doing, you…‘
He didn’t expect a hug. A proper, innocent hug.
‘Missed you, skyscraper,’ Myungsoo murmured sincerely into the pale skin of Sungyeol’s neck. He held him close, trying to show Sungyeol he was serious about this - he was serious about them.
The breath hitting his skin made Sungyeol shiver, his eyelids fluttering at Myungsoo’s sweet voice. Myungsoo took the shiver the wrong way, let the other go and pulled Sungyeol’s blanket over his shoulders. ‘It’s cold, isn’t it?’ he chuckled, giving Sungyeol a peck on the cheek before holding him closely again. ‘Better?’
Sungyeol didn’t know what to do when Myungsoo was acting like this, like the sweetest thing in the world. He didn’t know what to do when Myungsoo’s voice was like that, when his arms were wrapped around his waist so warmly or when his soothing breath tingled his skin. Gritting his teeth, he told himself not to believe any of this was honest. He clenched his fists and stood up, surprising the younger student.
‘W - Why are you doing this?’ Sungyeol stammered angrily.
‘Like I said, I missed you,’ Myungsoo answered, staring into Sungyeol’s eyes to show he was genuine, ‘I missed this.’
Sungyeol’s eyes were tearing up now and he didn’t know why. ‘Please stop messing with my mind,’ he choked, his voice cracking.
‘I’m not messing with your mind,’ Myungsoo sighed, standing up and placing a hand on Sungyeol’s shoulder as his first tear rolled down his reddened cheek.
Sungyeol shook him off and screamed, ‘Then what is this?!’
‘This is me wanting to be with you!’ Myungsoo shouted back, making Sungyeol freeze up - He’d never heard Myungsoo raise his voice like that. Myungsoo shook his head before stepping closer and taking Sungyeol’s trembling hand in his, whispering hoarsely, ‘Don’t you get it?’
-
‘Howon?’
Howon closed the front door behind him and began approaching the stairs. He didn’t expect his mother to be home so early, but he wasn’t really interested.
‘I was hoping you would come home earlier,’ she said with a hopeful smile, making Howon turn around halfway up the stairs.
Howon looked almost annoyed at her, looking down at her from where he was on the stairs. He blinked slowly as he mumbled, ‘Why?’
She lifted up her oven mit and spatula. ‘I made dinner for us,’ she stated, a smile tugging at her lips. It had been a long time since she was able to come home early and make dinner for her son. She tried her best this time, working from a recipe book, although she was never very good at cooking.
Howon opened his mouth, ready to reject the offer and ask Sunggyu if he would mind him eating dinner at his place, but what Dongwoo told him rang in his ears. He remembered that he should appreciate his mother more.
‘Okay,’ Howon said quietly, walking back down.
Miss Lee was biting back a smile and Howon saw tears starting to swell in her eyes. As Howon approached her, his hands trembling slightly, he wrapped his arms around her torso and hugged her tightly.
‘Thank you,’ he muttered quietly into her jet black hair.
She really cried this time.
-
Woohyun and Sunggyu sat in silence, the younger boy driving Sunggyu home after work. Breaking the comfortable silence, Sunggyu called to gain the other’s attention, ‘Woohyun.’
‘Yeah,’ Woohyun mumbled, his eyes not moving from the road ahead.
Sunggyu asked bluntly, ‘Do you have a criminal record?’
‘What?’ Woohyun spat, looking at the other in shock.
He then heard the car behind him beeping, before turning his attention back to the road and swerving so they didn’t hit the truck in front. ‘Shit!’ Woohyun cursed, Sunggyu swaying to the side because of the sudden movement. After regaining control over the car, Woohyun was back to driving normally. He asked, ‘What the hell would make you think that?’
‘Do you or don’t you?’ Sunggyu probed, his tone stern like his presidential self, ‘Answer me.’
Woohyun licked his lips as he said carefully, ‘I’ve been convicted before, only once.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Assault.’
Sunggyu’s eyes widened and Woohyun felt the look from his driver’s seat.
‘Nothing that bad, third degree. Don’t give me that look, President Meet-me-at-the-bleachers Sunggyu,’ he scoffed.
‘Continue,’ Sunggyu sighed, rolling his eyes.
‘House party back in sophomore year. Some drunk dipshit was messing with Dongwoo and I just lost it at him,’ Woohyun elaborated, ‘Have to admit I was a little drunk too, but I still knew what I was doing.’
Sunggyu nodded, taking in the information.
‘How’d you know?’ Woohyun questioned as they turned off the freeway.
‘None of your business,’ Sunggyu snorted.
Woohyun raised his voice, ‘You just stuck your nose into my past and I’m not allowed to know how you did it?’
‘Howon told me.’
‘How did Howon know?’
‘His mother’s a lawyer.’
An amused smile tugged at Woohyun’s lips. ‘So he got his mother to run a background check on me? Is he really that protective over you?’
‘No, he found out by accident,’ Sunggyu corrected. ‘Now I’m trying to figure out why his mother has your file.’
Woohyun’s expression fell as he recalled that day he was at the police station. ‘I might know why,’ he added.
Sunggyu shot him the go-on look.
‘The guy I assaulted was part of a drug heist. That’s why the judge let me off easy,’ Woohyun explained. ‘…Plus, my parents did a little pushing.’
‘Wouldn’t he be in jail by now?’ Sunggyu questioned in disbelief, ‘And why did your parents fish you out of that shit? You made it very clear to me that they didn’t give a fuck what you do.’
‘Wouldn’t you be sent to the authorities by now? You know how shit these systems are,’ Woohyun retorted, ‘And you’re being nosy again.’
‘I’m not trying to be hypocritical, I’m just trying to understand the situation.’ With a huff, Sunggyu whined, ‘And I’m not being nosy. I’m just trying to understand what kind of relationship you have with your parents.’
‘A parasitical one.’
Sunggyu tilted his head.
‘Only reason they kept me clean was so they could keep up their reputation,’ Woohyun mumbled quietly.
‘What reputation?’
‘They own companies.’ Explains Woohyun’s house and maids.
‘What companies?’ Sunggyu spat in frustration, ‘Would you be so kind as to not be so vague?’
‘They own a home tutoring company, a healthy snack franchise, and a home décor DIY computer program,’ Woohyun listed.
Sunggyu began thinking of which brand-names Woohyun’s parents could possibly be owners of.
Woohyun clicked his tongue before mentioning casually, ‘Oh, and they own Paran.’
Sunggyu almost had a heart attack.
-
AN\ 8 reasons why MyungYeol should be separated has been translated into Vietnamese! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Thanks to Hitoirohtori
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen (NSFW) Twenty Twenty-one Twenty-two Twenty-three Twenty-four Twenty-five Twenty-Six Twenty-Seven Twenty-Nine