Lost in Love [40/40]
Title: Lost in Love [40/40]
Author: ixjaydee
Rating: PG - 13
Pairing: Woogyu (Woohyun/Sunggyu);; Sungsoo (Sungyeol/Myungsoo);; Wooya (Dongwoo/Hoya)
Genre: drama, high school cliches, and the like.
Disclaimer: Reality is a cruel, cruel place.
Summary: Nam Woohyun: noun - [1] resident pretty boy and one of the most popular juniors in the entire school. [2] has a reputation of being a jerk, but only because most people don’t understand he doesn’t really mean his insults. It’s just how he shows his affection.
Kim Sunggyu: noun - [1] nobody. [2] a junior just trying to make his way through school and do bigger and better things with his life.
Woogyu: noun - [1] a name given to Woohyun and Sunggyu by his best friend Dongwoo, who happens to know that Woohyun has a crush on Sunggyu. [2] the reason Sunggyu gets crippled for life.
AN;; The end. Thank you for reading. Thanks for the comments. Thanks to you silent readers out there. My first chaptered Infinite fic is finally DONE. I apologize in advance for those of you watching my comm. I’ll be posting these to my archives for the next few days. /spams the hell out of your friend page/ And now, let me sob in peace.
--
40
--
Woohyun already started to feel a sense of loneliness on the plane. Sunggyu said goodbye to him probably no more than half an hour ago, but it felt like almost an eternity.
He sighed and sat back in his chair next to the window. He was moving across the country to a brand new school, leaving all of his friends behind. Woohyun was leaving behind an entire chapter of his life and starting a new one at the university, where he would be virtually unknown.
Woohyun stared at the lock screen of his iPod. Dongwoo and Hoya did something to it so that the lock screen wallpaper was permanently a picture of the three of them in their soccer uniforms, drenched in sweat. Sunggyu took the picture on the day of the last game, almost right after Woohyun scored the winning goal. He smiled at the way Dongwoo clung to the upper half of his body, and how Hoya clung to his legs.
When they told him they’d be going to an arts school for dance, Woohyun couldn’t say that he was surprised. In off season soccer, he hardly got to see them because of how much they practiced, but he was happy for them. He was definitely happy for them.
Woohyun turned off his iPod before turning his head to stare out of the window. The seatbelt light turned on, and he strapped himself in before taking a deep breath. In just a few minutes, he’d be thousands of feet in the air, going to the school of his dreams.
So why wasn’t he happy?
--
Sunggyu turned to look at the clock in his living room. Woohyun’s plane should’ve taken off by now. He sat back on the couch, tapping his cane on the coffee table. It felt weird, knowing that Woohyun was gone. He wasn’t gone forever, by any means, but it felt like it was going to be forever.
Sungyeol reached over and patted Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Once school starts up, I’m sure you’ll be so busy being famous that you won’t even have time to miss him.” Sunggyu laughed before shoving Sungyeol over.
“Whatever. I’ll always have time to miss him.” Myungsoo sighed as Sungyeol landed in his lap dramatically.
“If anyone could pull off a long distance relationship, I know you two could,” Myungsoo said, poking Sungyeol in the cheek. Sungyeol blew up his cheeks before taking in a deep breath.
“I should probably get packing too.”
“You haven’t packed?” Myungsoo asked incredulously. “We’re leaving for your hometown tomorrow!”
Sungyeol whined and buried his face into Myungsoo’s lap. “Come help me pack.”
--
The two of them packed in silence. Sungyeol suddenly started to get worried again. How were his parents going to take it? At worst, they would scream and yell and disown him and claim to have never had a son. Maybe his mom would cry and wonder where it all went wrong. His dad would rant about how they should’ve never sent him to the city.
Myungsoo glanced over at Sungyeol and watched as he stopped moving, shirt hanging limp in his hands as he stared off into the distance.
“Woohyun told me about what it was like in your hometown.” Sungyeol snapped out of his daze and turned to look at Myungsoo.
“You don’t have to introduce me if you don’t want to. I understand.” Sungyeol blinked a few times before looking down and shaking his head.
“No. I’m going to introduce you to my parents. They’re probably not going to warm up to you right away-”
“Woohyun said they might disown you.”
“But... at least I told them right? Instead of hiding it from them?” Myungsoo smiled and dropped the clothes he was holding before making his way over to Sungyeol and wrapping his arms around his waist.
“You’re a brave guy. You know that?” Myungsoo said, leaning forward to give him a kiss.
“Maybe I’m just stupid.”
“You’re my stupid guy though.”
“What? You’re not even gonna argue and be like, ‘But Sungyeol! You’re brilliant! I really admire your bravery by going against everything your parents taught you and introducing me as your boyfriend to them!’ Nothing like that?” Sungyeol laughed as Myungsoo gave him a look of disbelief.
“No. My voice isn’t that high pitched. And I’d never use your name, brilliant, and admire so close to each other in sentences.” Myungsoo laughed as Sungyeol scowled and squeezed him hard.
When they finally stopped laughing, Sungyeol pressed their foreheads together and smiled.
“I’m glad I met you.”
--
“You know, this place seemed a lot smaller when we didn’t have to live here,” Dongwoo said to Hoya as they made their way through the winding paths of the university in search of their dorm building. They were rooming together and regretted not being able to read maps. That was always Woohyun’s job.
“Good grief. You know how smug Woohyun would be right now? I can imagine him. ‘I told you guys to learn how to read maps. Blah blah blah’ and whatever.” Hoya squinted at the map before looking around.
“I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”
“Isn’t the map upside-down?” Dongwoo asked, turning his head instead of the map in his hands. Hoya sighed and turned the map, looking around again.
“Maybe it’s that way...”
“I’m glad we don’t have to drag our stuff with us. This would just make it a million times worse.”
“I don’t think the dorm is too far from the food court, so after we finally get there, we can go grab something to eat.”
“Wait what? It’s near the food court? Then it’s that way.” Hoya let the map crumple against his legs as his arms dropped with the map in his hands before giving Dongwoo an exasperated look.
“Seriously? Seriously? We’ve been wandering around forever in the cold, and you knew where it was the entire time?!”
“You should’ve said something sooner.”
--
Sunggyu sat alone in the house. It felt strange, having the house to himself again. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were gone, visiting the hometown. Sungyeol invited Sunggyu to come, but Sunggyu still had to pack to move to the dorms at his school in a few weeks.
After Dongwoo and Hoya settled in at their school, they promised to come back and help him move his things up there. Sungyeol and Myungsoo would be back by then to help too. The only person that would be missing was Woohyun.
He called after his flight landed to let Sunggyu know he was okay and that his plane didn’t crash in the middle of nowhere. They had a brief conversation on the weather over there as Woohyun grabbed his luggage and headed out to hail a cab.
They talked the entire car ride until Woohyun made his way to the school. Standing at the gates by himself was so surreal. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to be going to his dream school.
“Woohyun? Nam Woohyun?” a taller boy asked at the gates. Woohyun turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Uh... Yeah. That’s me.” The boy stepped out of the gates. He looked pretty intimidating, and Woohyun braced himself.
“You... Oh thank god, it’s you! You have no idea how people I’ve asked and how long I’ve been waiting here. We’re roomies! My name is Joon! Lee Joon. This is my second year here, and when I saw I had a freshman roommate I came down here to look for you, because I didn’t want you to get lost like I did my first year here.” Joon wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him inside.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“Woohyun? Are you okay? Who’s that?” Woohyun heard Sunggyu say through the phone.
“Oh, my roommate apparently. He was waiting for me at the gates.”
“Because that’s not a little bit creepy at all.”
“He seems nice,” Woohyun said turning to look at Joon. Joon grinned like nothing in the world could be better.
“Who’re you on the phone with?”
“My boyfriend.” Joon stopped walking and removed his arm before staring at Woohyun with wide eyes.
“It’s not going to be a problem, is it?” Woohyun asked, giving Joon a mild side eye. Joon blinked at him a few times before furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Then a smile broke out on his face before he wrapped his arm around Woohyun’s shoulders again.
“Well, you’re taken, so I guess it should be okay.” Woohyun heard Sunggyu laughing through the phone.
“He’s kinda weird,” Woohyun said to Sunggyu as he kept laughing.
“What? Your boyfriend is weird? Sorry to hear that,” Joon said, turning down another path in front of a large building. Woohyun rolled his eyes.
“And a little bit slow.”
“Now, that’s not nice to say about your boyfriend. Isn’t he on the phone with you?” Sunggyu’s laughter erupted from the phone again.
--
Sungyeol and Myungsoo got off of the train and squinted their eyes as the cold winter wind blew over them. Sungyeol let out a breath and watched the mist disappear into the air.
“It’s about a half hour walk from here to my house.”
“Really? It’s freezing,” Myungsoo said, hopping up and down to get some feeling into his legs again. Sitting on the train for a few hours made his legs feel useless.
“We can take our time,” Sungyeol said, taking in a deep breath of cold air, trying to calm his beating heart. The nervousness and anxiety was starting to get to him, and he could feel the blood draining from his head.
“You look ridiculously pale, even against this snow. Are you okay, Sungyeol? We can sit on the bench until you’re ready to go.” Sungyeol let himself get pulled over to the bench next to the tracks and sat down before burying his face into his hands.
“I’m scared.” Myungsoo chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“We’re already here. It’s a little bit too late to be scared.” But Myungsoo pulled Sungyeol towards his chest nonetheless and held him.
“I know it’ll be tough. This isn’t an easy thing to tell your parents. Not all of our parents are like Sunggyu’s mom and Woohyun’s parents. Even Dongwoo and Hoya have some opposition when it comes to their parents, and they’ve been together forever. You remember when you met my dad right?” Sungyeol nodded.
“It’s been a few months. He’s stopped referring to you as that boy. He calls you by your name now, and notices when you aren’t there. He says he still doesn’t approve, but I think you’re starting to grow on him.” Sungyeol pursed his lips.
“Whatever happens, will happen. I won’t be leaving you because of your parents unless they shoot me.”
“Don’t give them any ideas,” Sungyeol said, taking in another deep breath. He could feel some of the blood circulation return to his body.
“Come on. It’s freezing out here. The sooner we get there, the better.”
--
Snow started to fall when they were almost to Sungyeol’s house. They walked hand in hand most of the way there, and when they got into view of the house, it took all of Sungyeol’s strength not to let go of Myungsoo’s hand and hide him somewhere where his parents would never find him.
“Hurry up before we get sick,” Sungyeol said, letting go of Myungsoo’s hand and jogging towards his house.
“Wait, Sungyeol! Slow down, you’re going to slip and twist your ankle again!” Myungsoo said, eyeing all of the ice patches on the path to his house. Myungsoo tried to follow him as best as he could.
“I’m not going to sl-” As soon as those words were out of his mouth, he slipped on an ice patch.
“Sungyeol!” Myungsoo ran and dived for him. Sungyeol’s mother heard the commotion outside and made her way to the door to open it in time to see Myungsoo dive under Sungyeol to keep him from falling onto the ice. Sungyeol landed on Myungsoo’s leg though, making him wince.
“Myungsoo! Oh my god. Are you okay?” Myungsoo gritted his teeth before pulling his leg up to look at it.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Myungsoo, your leg-” Myungsoo batted Sungyeol’s hand away.
“Sungyeol?” He looked up to see his mother in the doorway.
“Stop staring at me like that and help your friend inside! You probably twisted his ankle or something!”
--
Myungsoo sat across from Sungyeol’s mom with his leg out as she put some herbs on his ankle and covered it with a cloth before putting an ice pack over it. Myungsoo winced slightly but kept his leg still.
“You and Sungyeol... are more than just friends, right?” Sungyeol’s mom said quietly as she cleaned up around Myungsoo. Myungsoo swallowed before looking over to her. She sighed and looked over to Myungsoo with a sad smile.
“A mother knows. I saw the way he was looking at you after you two fell.” She got up to put away some extra towels.
“It bothers you,” Myungsoo said. She sighed again and closed the cabinet to lean her head on it.
“Every mom dreams about her son going off to get married to a beautiful girl and having grandkids.” Myungsoo could feel her heart breaking with every word she said.
“I’m sorry that I’m not a beautiful girl. It’s really too soon to say anything about kids, though.” Sungyeol’s mom chuckled at him before turning to smile at him.
“I hope someday, you’ll come to accept me. It doesn’t have to be anytime soon, but someday,” Myungsoo said, staring at his ankle. Sungyeol’s mom watched his face until she heard a soft knock at the door and saw Sungyeol peek inside.
“Myungsoo?” Sungyeol’s mother sighed and made her way to the door, but not before stopping to give Sungyeol a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She stared at him sadly before patting his face and leaving the room.
“That was weird,” Sungyeol said, moving into the room.
“She knows,” Myungsoo said from the floor.
“She knows what?” Sungyeol sat down beside him, bumping their arms together.
“That we’re together.”
“You told her?!” Sungyeol asked incredulously. The incredulous look turned into a look of confusion when he saw Myungsoo shake his head.
“She knew, just from one look you gave me.” Sungyeol sighed, feeling that nervous and anxious feeling begin to fill his heart again.
“You just need to tell them formally. I’ll be here to support you. Even if you broke my ankle.”
“I didn’t break your ankle!” Sungyeol almost yelled, shoving at Myungsoo. Myungsoo made a few noises of pain before turning to grin at Sungyeol.
“I hate you for being rational at times like this,” Sungyeol said quietly.
“And that’s why we’re perfect for each other.”
--
Dongwoo and Hoya got acquainted with campus eventually. They gave up on learning to read maps and settled for asking people for directions while memorizing where everything was, or where it was located in regards to the cafeteria.
There were a few phone calls from Woohyun, all of which were invaded by his roommate asking him questions about his conversations since he was only hearing one side of it.
“Really, Joon? Do you have to listen in on all of my conversations?” Woohyun asked one day, covering up the bottom half of his phone. Joon just shrugged, throwing a soccer ball up and down from the couch.
“I don’t really have anything else to do.”
“Go work out or something.”
“Oh, you like seeing my body, don’t you? How does your boyfriend feel about that?” Dongwoo’s laughter echoed from the phone.
“I like this guy. He’ll keep you on your toes while we’re not there. But listen, we’re headed back to Sunggyu’s to help him move his stuff to his dorm tomorrow. Anything you want us to tell him?”
“Nothing that I can’t call and tell him myself. That reminds me, I need to text him my Skype name...”
--
Myungsoo could feel Sungyeol swaying back and forth next to him slightly as he faced his parents from across the table. He’d just gotten done telling his parents everything, and all eyes were on Sungyeol’s father. His eyes moved slowly from Sungyeol to Myungsoo, and back to Sungyeol again before moving and settling on Myungsoo.
“You did this to him, didn’t you? You put all these stupid ideas into his head, and now look at him!” Sungyeol winced when his father slammed his hands down on the table.
“I didn’t force him into anything. It was his own decision to-”
“Be quiet! I didn’t raise my son to be one of your kind!” Myungsoo blinked a few times before looking up.
“Excuse me? My kind? Last I checked, I was a human being, just like you are.” Sungyeol’s father started raving again. He started to rant, he started to blame people, including Sungyeol and his mother. Eventually, he got so angry that he stood up abruptly and left the room, slamming doors behind him.
Sungyeol’s mother apologized, saying that the news was a bit of a shock to them. She seemed to be taking it a lot better than Sungyeol’s father, but Myungsoo could see that she still wasn’t ready to accept it all just yet.
She left the two of them at the table to go check on Sungyeol’s father, making Sungyeol let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“That... went better than I thought it would. I thought he’d go get his gun or his hunting knives or something.”
“What makes you think he didn’t?” Myungsoo asked lightly.
“He’d already be in here trying to get a piece of you,” Sungyeol said with some nervous laughter. Myungsoo smiled at him and gripped his shoulder reassuringly.
“I’m proud of you. And no matter what happens, you know I’ll always be here by your side.” Sungyeol brought his hand up to grab Myungsoo’s and sighed.
“I know. Thanks.”
--
“Sunggyu, what is all of this stuff? Why is it so heavy? It’s like your desk all over again,” Dongwoo complained as he carried a box from Sunggyu’s room to the car.
Since everyone was gone, Sunggyu spent his time slowly packing up his things and going through all of his things with fond smiles.
“Sheet music. It piles up over the years. I really need to get around to organizing it,” Sunggyu said, grabbing two of his guitars and bringing them out to the car.
“Do you need the other ones?”
“No, leave them. I’m just taking these two.” Hoya picked up another box and shoved it into the car, having to push a little bit harder to make it fit so he could close the trunk. He squeezed into the backseat and sighed.
Sungyeol and Myungsoo brought out the last of the boxes and put them on top of Hoya in the backseat.
“This is everything, right?” Myungsoo asked, limping over to Sungyeol. He and Sunggyu had to endure a round of cripple jokes after they came back from the hometown.
Sungyeol’s father refused to speak to either of them until they left, and he didn’t even see them off. His mother watched them leave, and even sent some food for lunch with them.
“Yeah. This is it. Thanks guys,” Sunggyu said with a smile. There were hugs and exchanges of goodbyes.
“Do well in school. I better not hear any funny business while I’m away,” Sunggyu said, shaking his finger at them.
“Whatever, old man. We’re the ones at the top of the school now.” Sungyeol struck a pose, making Myungsoo roll his eyes and shove at him.
“I’ll miss you. Make videos on YouTube so I’ll know you’re alive. Become famous.” Sunggyu got into the car and waved to them. Dongwoo got into the driver’s seat and buckled up.
“Alright. Let’s get out of here.”
--
Sunggyu shared his dorm with one other person. There was a piano where the TV would be in the living room, but Sunggyu didn’t mind. It was probably a better thing to have, because he hardly ever watched TV.
He was setting up his desktop when a knock came at the door, making him stand up hastily and knock his head on the bottom of his desk.
“You okay?” Sunggyu nodded and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before pushing himself up off of the ground and limping to the door.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sunggyu. It’s my first year here.”
“Youngbae. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m a fan of yours on YouTube,” he said with a grin, extending his hand. Sunggyu laughed and shook his hand, turning back to his desktop.
“Heard you got a full ride here.”
“I did. And if I didn’t, there were a few record companies that offered to pay for my school if I trained with them.”
“Sweet deal, man, sweet deal.” The more they talked, the more Sunggyu thought there was something familiar about him.
“You know. You look really familiar.”
“I should. You’re subscribed to me on YouTube, too,” he said with another laugh that made his eyes nearly disappear.
“You’re... OH! YGTaeyang, right? Your dance videos are ridiculous.”
“Thanks. I’d say I’d teach you a few moves but... you know.” Sunggyu laughed.
“Yeah, it’s a shame, but it’s all good.”
“Need some help with your desktop?”
“If you don’t mind.” As Youngbae helped him, he caught sight of a new laptop on his bed.
“Why do you have a laptop and a desktop?”
“Desktop is for recording and editing and stuff. Laptop is for notes and school, a few simple edits.”
--
As soon as he was connected to the internet, a call from Woohyun came immediately on Skype. Youngbae glanced at the name on the screen before Sunggyu sat down on his chair and answered the call.
Woohyun’s hair was messy, and he had his glasses on. He looked completely tired, but as soon as he saw Sunggyu on the screen, his face lit up.
“Sunggyu! I miss you. I miss you a lot.”
“I miss you a lot, too. How’s the school?”
“Fine. Cold. Wish I were with you,” he whined, hugging the pillow he was laying on closer to himself.
“He sounds kinda of clingy,” Youngbae said, hovering over Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Who’s that?” Woohyun asked, narrowing his eyes at Sunggyu.
“This is my roommate, Youngbae. Youngbae, this is Woohyun.”
“Ah, the infamous Woohyun. I’m jealous of you. Half of his videos are dedicated to you.”
“Thanks, I- Oh. Joon’s here. I guess since we’re introducing roommates, I’ll introduce mine. Joon! Joon! Goddammit, the one time I actually want you to come here- What? No. Come here!” Sunggyu and Youngbae laughed as Joon rolled into view of the camera, rolling right on top of Woohyun.
“Joon!” Youngbae yelled.
“What? Youngbae? What the hell? I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“Not since I quit that dancing academy. What are the chances?”
“Get off of me!” Woohyun growled, shoving Joon off of his body. Joon kept shoving back and making weird faces into the camera. Sunggyu sighed and shook his head with a smile on his face.
They talked for a little bit, each of them giving each other a webcam tour of their dorms after Sunggyu switched over to his laptop.
“Sounds like you’re going to have a fun time over there,” Sunggyu said, laughing as Joon threw some dirty clothes at him.
“Yeah, if I don’t strangle him.” It was getting late, and Sunggyu was going to have to get himself acquainted with the school in the morning.
“Good night, Namstar.”
“Gnight, Gyubear. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
--
Four Years Later
--
“I told you to come earlier, you never listen to me!” Woohyun said as Dongwoo searched the parking lot for a space.
“Oh, come on! How was I supposed to know? Call Sunggyu!” Woohyun sighed before pushing speed dial two.
“Woohyun? Where are you guys? The show’s about to start. There’s like ten minutes left!”
“We can’t find a parking space!”
“Just come out back to the gates. I’ll tell security to let you in. Seriously, you guys. What are we, back in high school again?”
--
Woohyun, Dongwoo, and Hoya went running down dimly lit hallways until they found Sunggyu’s dressing room. They burst in through the doors, the sounds of people talking and bustling around reaching their ears.
“You guys made it!” Sunggyu said, getting up and hugging each of them.
“Like I’d miss your first concert,” Woohyun said, leaning in to give him a kiss. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were sitting on the couch, Myungsoo with a gigantic camera around his neck.
“Can’t believe you’re a famous rockstar now. How does it feel to have thirteen year old girls screaming your name and marriage proposals?” Sungyeol asked.
“It’s interesting, to say the least.”
“Sunggyu! On stage! Let’s go!” Sunggyu nodded before grabbing Woohyun and kissing him senseless.
--
They all stood at the edge of the pit, closest to the stage. Sunggyu just finished a song and some introductions, and the roar of the crowd was deafening.
“This next song is dedicated to the love of my life,” Sunggyu said, smirking as he searched for Woohyun in the crowd.
“As if I could ever forget you.”
Prev | End
Author: ixjaydee
Rating: PG - 13
Pairing: Woogyu (Woohyun/Sunggyu);; Sungsoo (Sungyeol/Myungsoo);; Wooya (Dongwoo/Hoya)
Genre: drama, high school cliches, and the like.
Disclaimer: Reality is a cruel, cruel place.
Summary: Nam Woohyun: noun - [1] resident pretty boy and one of the most popular juniors in the entire school. [2] has a reputation of being a jerk, but only because most people don’t understand he doesn’t really mean his insults. It’s just how he shows his affection.
Kim Sunggyu: noun - [1] nobody. [2] a junior just trying to make his way through school and do bigger and better things with his life.
Woogyu: noun - [1] a name given to Woohyun and Sunggyu by his best friend Dongwoo, who happens to know that Woohyun has a crush on Sunggyu. [2] the reason Sunggyu gets crippled for life.
AN;; The end. Thank you for reading. Thanks for the comments. Thanks to you silent readers out there. My first chaptered Infinite fic is finally DONE. I apologize in advance for those of you watching my comm. I’ll be posting these to my archives for the next few days. /spams the hell out of your friend page/ And now, let me sob in peace.
--
40
--
Woohyun already started to feel a sense of loneliness on the plane. Sunggyu said goodbye to him probably no more than half an hour ago, but it felt like almost an eternity.
He sighed and sat back in his chair next to the window. He was moving across the country to a brand new school, leaving all of his friends behind. Woohyun was leaving behind an entire chapter of his life and starting a new one at the university, where he would be virtually unknown.
Woohyun stared at the lock screen of his iPod. Dongwoo and Hoya did something to it so that the lock screen wallpaper was permanently a picture of the three of them in their soccer uniforms, drenched in sweat. Sunggyu took the picture on the day of the last game, almost right after Woohyun scored the winning goal. He smiled at the way Dongwoo clung to the upper half of his body, and how Hoya clung to his legs.
When they told him they’d be going to an arts school for dance, Woohyun couldn’t say that he was surprised. In off season soccer, he hardly got to see them because of how much they practiced, but he was happy for them. He was definitely happy for them.
Woohyun turned off his iPod before turning his head to stare out of the window. The seatbelt light turned on, and he strapped himself in before taking a deep breath. In just a few minutes, he’d be thousands of feet in the air, going to the school of his dreams.
So why wasn’t he happy?
--
Sunggyu turned to look at the clock in his living room. Woohyun’s plane should’ve taken off by now. He sat back on the couch, tapping his cane on the coffee table. It felt weird, knowing that Woohyun was gone. He wasn’t gone forever, by any means, but it felt like it was going to be forever.
Sungyeol reached over and patted Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Once school starts up, I’m sure you’ll be so busy being famous that you won’t even have time to miss him.” Sunggyu laughed before shoving Sungyeol over.
“Whatever. I’ll always have time to miss him.” Myungsoo sighed as Sungyeol landed in his lap dramatically.
“If anyone could pull off a long distance relationship, I know you two could,” Myungsoo said, poking Sungyeol in the cheek. Sungyeol blew up his cheeks before taking in a deep breath.
“I should probably get packing too.”
“You haven’t packed?” Myungsoo asked incredulously. “We’re leaving for your hometown tomorrow!”
Sungyeol whined and buried his face into Myungsoo’s lap. “Come help me pack.”
--
The two of them packed in silence. Sungyeol suddenly started to get worried again. How were his parents going to take it? At worst, they would scream and yell and disown him and claim to have never had a son. Maybe his mom would cry and wonder where it all went wrong. His dad would rant about how they should’ve never sent him to the city.
Myungsoo glanced over at Sungyeol and watched as he stopped moving, shirt hanging limp in his hands as he stared off into the distance.
“Woohyun told me about what it was like in your hometown.” Sungyeol snapped out of his daze and turned to look at Myungsoo.
“You don’t have to introduce me if you don’t want to. I understand.” Sungyeol blinked a few times before looking down and shaking his head.
“No. I’m going to introduce you to my parents. They’re probably not going to warm up to you right away-”
“Woohyun said they might disown you.”
“But... at least I told them right? Instead of hiding it from them?” Myungsoo smiled and dropped the clothes he was holding before making his way over to Sungyeol and wrapping his arms around his waist.
“You’re a brave guy. You know that?” Myungsoo said, leaning forward to give him a kiss.
“Maybe I’m just stupid.”
“You’re my stupid guy though.”
“What? You’re not even gonna argue and be like, ‘But Sungyeol! You’re brilliant! I really admire your bravery by going against everything your parents taught you and introducing me as your boyfriend to them!’ Nothing like that?” Sungyeol laughed as Myungsoo gave him a look of disbelief.
“No. My voice isn’t that high pitched. And I’d never use your name, brilliant, and admire so close to each other in sentences.” Myungsoo laughed as Sungyeol scowled and squeezed him hard.
When they finally stopped laughing, Sungyeol pressed their foreheads together and smiled.
“I’m glad I met you.”
--
“You know, this place seemed a lot smaller when we didn’t have to live here,” Dongwoo said to Hoya as they made their way through the winding paths of the university in search of their dorm building. They were rooming together and regretted not being able to read maps. That was always Woohyun’s job.
“Good grief. You know how smug Woohyun would be right now? I can imagine him. ‘I told you guys to learn how to read maps. Blah blah blah’ and whatever.” Hoya squinted at the map before looking around.
“I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”
“Isn’t the map upside-down?” Dongwoo asked, turning his head instead of the map in his hands. Hoya sighed and turned the map, looking around again.
“Maybe it’s that way...”
“I’m glad we don’t have to drag our stuff with us. This would just make it a million times worse.”
“I don’t think the dorm is too far from the food court, so after we finally get there, we can go grab something to eat.”
“Wait what? It’s near the food court? Then it’s that way.” Hoya let the map crumple against his legs as his arms dropped with the map in his hands before giving Dongwoo an exasperated look.
“Seriously? Seriously? We’ve been wandering around forever in the cold, and you knew where it was the entire time?!”
“You should’ve said something sooner.”
--
Sunggyu sat alone in the house. It felt strange, having the house to himself again. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were gone, visiting the hometown. Sungyeol invited Sunggyu to come, but Sunggyu still had to pack to move to the dorms at his school in a few weeks.
After Dongwoo and Hoya settled in at their school, they promised to come back and help him move his things up there. Sungyeol and Myungsoo would be back by then to help too. The only person that would be missing was Woohyun.
He called after his flight landed to let Sunggyu know he was okay and that his plane didn’t crash in the middle of nowhere. They had a brief conversation on the weather over there as Woohyun grabbed his luggage and headed out to hail a cab.
They talked the entire car ride until Woohyun made his way to the school. Standing at the gates by himself was so surreal. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to be going to his dream school.
“Woohyun? Nam Woohyun?” a taller boy asked at the gates. Woohyun turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.
“Uh... Yeah. That’s me.” The boy stepped out of the gates. He looked pretty intimidating, and Woohyun braced himself.
“You... Oh thank god, it’s you! You have no idea how people I’ve asked and how long I’ve been waiting here. We’re roomies! My name is Joon! Lee Joon. This is my second year here, and when I saw I had a freshman roommate I came down here to look for you, because I didn’t want you to get lost like I did my first year here.” Joon wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him inside.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“Woohyun? Are you okay? Who’s that?” Woohyun heard Sunggyu say through the phone.
“Oh, my roommate apparently. He was waiting for me at the gates.”
“Because that’s not a little bit creepy at all.”
“He seems nice,” Woohyun said turning to look at Joon. Joon grinned like nothing in the world could be better.
“Who’re you on the phone with?”
“My boyfriend.” Joon stopped walking and removed his arm before staring at Woohyun with wide eyes.
“It’s not going to be a problem, is it?” Woohyun asked, giving Joon a mild side eye. Joon blinked at him a few times before furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Then a smile broke out on his face before he wrapped his arm around Woohyun’s shoulders again.
“Well, you’re taken, so I guess it should be okay.” Woohyun heard Sunggyu laughing through the phone.
“He’s kinda weird,” Woohyun said to Sunggyu as he kept laughing.
“What? Your boyfriend is weird? Sorry to hear that,” Joon said, turning down another path in front of a large building. Woohyun rolled his eyes.
“And a little bit slow.”
“Now, that’s not nice to say about your boyfriend. Isn’t he on the phone with you?” Sunggyu’s laughter erupted from the phone again.
--
Sungyeol and Myungsoo got off of the train and squinted their eyes as the cold winter wind blew over them. Sungyeol let out a breath and watched the mist disappear into the air.
“It’s about a half hour walk from here to my house.”
“Really? It’s freezing,” Myungsoo said, hopping up and down to get some feeling into his legs again. Sitting on the train for a few hours made his legs feel useless.
“We can take our time,” Sungyeol said, taking in a deep breath of cold air, trying to calm his beating heart. The nervousness and anxiety was starting to get to him, and he could feel the blood draining from his head.
“You look ridiculously pale, even against this snow. Are you okay, Sungyeol? We can sit on the bench until you’re ready to go.” Sungyeol let himself get pulled over to the bench next to the tracks and sat down before burying his face into his hands.
“I’m scared.” Myungsoo chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“We’re already here. It’s a little bit too late to be scared.” But Myungsoo pulled Sungyeol towards his chest nonetheless and held him.
“I know it’ll be tough. This isn’t an easy thing to tell your parents. Not all of our parents are like Sunggyu’s mom and Woohyun’s parents. Even Dongwoo and Hoya have some opposition when it comes to their parents, and they’ve been together forever. You remember when you met my dad right?” Sungyeol nodded.
“It’s been a few months. He’s stopped referring to you as that boy. He calls you by your name now, and notices when you aren’t there. He says he still doesn’t approve, but I think you’re starting to grow on him.” Sungyeol pursed his lips.
“Whatever happens, will happen. I won’t be leaving you because of your parents unless they shoot me.”
“Don’t give them any ideas,” Sungyeol said, taking in another deep breath. He could feel some of the blood circulation return to his body.
“Come on. It’s freezing out here. The sooner we get there, the better.”
--
Snow started to fall when they were almost to Sungyeol’s house. They walked hand in hand most of the way there, and when they got into view of the house, it took all of Sungyeol’s strength not to let go of Myungsoo’s hand and hide him somewhere where his parents would never find him.
“Hurry up before we get sick,” Sungyeol said, letting go of Myungsoo’s hand and jogging towards his house.
“Wait, Sungyeol! Slow down, you’re going to slip and twist your ankle again!” Myungsoo said, eyeing all of the ice patches on the path to his house. Myungsoo tried to follow him as best as he could.
“I’m not going to sl-” As soon as those words were out of his mouth, he slipped on an ice patch.
“Sungyeol!” Myungsoo ran and dived for him. Sungyeol’s mother heard the commotion outside and made her way to the door to open it in time to see Myungsoo dive under Sungyeol to keep him from falling onto the ice. Sungyeol landed on Myungsoo’s leg though, making him wince.
“Myungsoo! Oh my god. Are you okay?” Myungsoo gritted his teeth before pulling his leg up to look at it.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Myungsoo, your leg-” Myungsoo batted Sungyeol’s hand away.
“Sungyeol?” He looked up to see his mother in the doorway.
“Stop staring at me like that and help your friend inside! You probably twisted his ankle or something!”
--
Myungsoo sat across from Sungyeol’s mom with his leg out as she put some herbs on his ankle and covered it with a cloth before putting an ice pack over it. Myungsoo winced slightly but kept his leg still.
“You and Sungyeol... are more than just friends, right?” Sungyeol’s mom said quietly as she cleaned up around Myungsoo. Myungsoo swallowed before looking over to her. She sighed and looked over to Myungsoo with a sad smile.
“A mother knows. I saw the way he was looking at you after you two fell.” She got up to put away some extra towels.
“It bothers you,” Myungsoo said. She sighed again and closed the cabinet to lean her head on it.
“Every mom dreams about her son going off to get married to a beautiful girl and having grandkids.” Myungsoo could feel her heart breaking with every word she said.
“I’m sorry that I’m not a beautiful girl. It’s really too soon to say anything about kids, though.” Sungyeol’s mom chuckled at him before turning to smile at him.
“I hope someday, you’ll come to accept me. It doesn’t have to be anytime soon, but someday,” Myungsoo said, staring at his ankle. Sungyeol’s mom watched his face until she heard a soft knock at the door and saw Sungyeol peek inside.
“Myungsoo?” Sungyeol’s mother sighed and made her way to the door, but not before stopping to give Sungyeol a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She stared at him sadly before patting his face and leaving the room.
“That was weird,” Sungyeol said, moving into the room.
“She knows,” Myungsoo said from the floor.
“She knows what?” Sungyeol sat down beside him, bumping their arms together.
“That we’re together.”
“You told her?!” Sungyeol asked incredulously. The incredulous look turned into a look of confusion when he saw Myungsoo shake his head.
“She knew, just from one look you gave me.” Sungyeol sighed, feeling that nervous and anxious feeling begin to fill his heart again.
“You just need to tell them formally. I’ll be here to support you. Even if you broke my ankle.”
“I didn’t break your ankle!” Sungyeol almost yelled, shoving at Myungsoo. Myungsoo made a few noises of pain before turning to grin at Sungyeol.
“I hate you for being rational at times like this,” Sungyeol said quietly.
“And that’s why we’re perfect for each other.”
--
Dongwoo and Hoya got acquainted with campus eventually. They gave up on learning to read maps and settled for asking people for directions while memorizing where everything was, or where it was located in regards to the cafeteria.
There were a few phone calls from Woohyun, all of which were invaded by his roommate asking him questions about his conversations since he was only hearing one side of it.
“Really, Joon? Do you have to listen in on all of my conversations?” Woohyun asked one day, covering up the bottom half of his phone. Joon just shrugged, throwing a soccer ball up and down from the couch.
“I don’t really have anything else to do.”
“Go work out or something.”
“Oh, you like seeing my body, don’t you? How does your boyfriend feel about that?” Dongwoo’s laughter echoed from the phone.
“I like this guy. He’ll keep you on your toes while we’re not there. But listen, we’re headed back to Sunggyu’s to help him move his stuff to his dorm tomorrow. Anything you want us to tell him?”
“Nothing that I can’t call and tell him myself. That reminds me, I need to text him my Skype name...”
--
Myungsoo could feel Sungyeol swaying back and forth next to him slightly as he faced his parents from across the table. He’d just gotten done telling his parents everything, and all eyes were on Sungyeol’s father. His eyes moved slowly from Sungyeol to Myungsoo, and back to Sungyeol again before moving and settling on Myungsoo.
“You did this to him, didn’t you? You put all these stupid ideas into his head, and now look at him!” Sungyeol winced when his father slammed his hands down on the table.
“I didn’t force him into anything. It was his own decision to-”
“Be quiet! I didn’t raise my son to be one of your kind!” Myungsoo blinked a few times before looking up.
“Excuse me? My kind? Last I checked, I was a human being, just like you are.” Sungyeol’s father started raving again. He started to rant, he started to blame people, including Sungyeol and his mother. Eventually, he got so angry that he stood up abruptly and left the room, slamming doors behind him.
Sungyeol’s mother apologized, saying that the news was a bit of a shock to them. She seemed to be taking it a lot better than Sungyeol’s father, but Myungsoo could see that she still wasn’t ready to accept it all just yet.
She left the two of them at the table to go check on Sungyeol’s father, making Sungyeol let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“That... went better than I thought it would. I thought he’d go get his gun or his hunting knives or something.”
“What makes you think he didn’t?” Myungsoo asked lightly.
“He’d already be in here trying to get a piece of you,” Sungyeol said with some nervous laughter. Myungsoo smiled at him and gripped his shoulder reassuringly.
“I’m proud of you. And no matter what happens, you know I’ll always be here by your side.” Sungyeol brought his hand up to grab Myungsoo’s and sighed.
“I know. Thanks.”
--
“Sunggyu, what is all of this stuff? Why is it so heavy? It’s like your desk all over again,” Dongwoo complained as he carried a box from Sunggyu’s room to the car.
Since everyone was gone, Sunggyu spent his time slowly packing up his things and going through all of his things with fond smiles.
“Sheet music. It piles up over the years. I really need to get around to organizing it,” Sunggyu said, grabbing two of his guitars and bringing them out to the car.
“Do you need the other ones?”
“No, leave them. I’m just taking these two.” Hoya picked up another box and shoved it into the car, having to push a little bit harder to make it fit so he could close the trunk. He squeezed into the backseat and sighed.
Sungyeol and Myungsoo brought out the last of the boxes and put them on top of Hoya in the backseat.
“This is everything, right?” Myungsoo asked, limping over to Sungyeol. He and Sunggyu had to endure a round of cripple jokes after they came back from the hometown.
Sungyeol’s father refused to speak to either of them until they left, and he didn’t even see them off. His mother watched them leave, and even sent some food for lunch with them.
“Yeah. This is it. Thanks guys,” Sunggyu said with a smile. There were hugs and exchanges of goodbyes.
“Do well in school. I better not hear any funny business while I’m away,” Sunggyu said, shaking his finger at them.
“Whatever, old man. We’re the ones at the top of the school now.” Sungyeol struck a pose, making Myungsoo roll his eyes and shove at him.
“I’ll miss you. Make videos on YouTube so I’ll know you’re alive. Become famous.” Sunggyu got into the car and waved to them. Dongwoo got into the driver’s seat and buckled up.
“Alright. Let’s get out of here.”
--
Sunggyu shared his dorm with one other person. There was a piano where the TV would be in the living room, but Sunggyu didn’t mind. It was probably a better thing to have, because he hardly ever watched TV.
He was setting up his desktop when a knock came at the door, making him stand up hastily and knock his head on the bottom of his desk.
“You okay?” Sunggyu nodded and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before pushing himself up off of the ground and limping to the door.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sunggyu. It’s my first year here.”
“Youngbae. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m a fan of yours on YouTube,” he said with a grin, extending his hand. Sunggyu laughed and shook his hand, turning back to his desktop.
“Heard you got a full ride here.”
“I did. And if I didn’t, there were a few record companies that offered to pay for my school if I trained with them.”
“Sweet deal, man, sweet deal.” The more they talked, the more Sunggyu thought there was something familiar about him.
“You know. You look really familiar.”
“I should. You’re subscribed to me on YouTube, too,” he said with another laugh that made his eyes nearly disappear.
“You’re... OH! YGTaeyang, right? Your dance videos are ridiculous.”
“Thanks. I’d say I’d teach you a few moves but... you know.” Sunggyu laughed.
“Yeah, it’s a shame, but it’s all good.”
“Need some help with your desktop?”
“If you don’t mind.” As Youngbae helped him, he caught sight of a new laptop on his bed.
“Why do you have a laptop and a desktop?”
“Desktop is for recording and editing and stuff. Laptop is for notes and school, a few simple edits.”
--
As soon as he was connected to the internet, a call from Woohyun came immediately on Skype. Youngbae glanced at the name on the screen before Sunggyu sat down on his chair and answered the call.
Woohyun’s hair was messy, and he had his glasses on. He looked completely tired, but as soon as he saw Sunggyu on the screen, his face lit up.
“Sunggyu! I miss you. I miss you a lot.”
“I miss you a lot, too. How’s the school?”
“Fine. Cold. Wish I were with you,” he whined, hugging the pillow he was laying on closer to himself.
“He sounds kinda of clingy,” Youngbae said, hovering over Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Who’s that?” Woohyun asked, narrowing his eyes at Sunggyu.
“This is my roommate, Youngbae. Youngbae, this is Woohyun.”
“Ah, the infamous Woohyun. I’m jealous of you. Half of his videos are dedicated to you.”
“Thanks, I- Oh. Joon’s here. I guess since we’re introducing roommates, I’ll introduce mine. Joon! Joon! Goddammit, the one time I actually want you to come here- What? No. Come here!” Sunggyu and Youngbae laughed as Joon rolled into view of the camera, rolling right on top of Woohyun.
“Joon!” Youngbae yelled.
“What? Youngbae? What the hell? I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“Not since I quit that dancing academy. What are the chances?”
“Get off of me!” Woohyun growled, shoving Joon off of his body. Joon kept shoving back and making weird faces into the camera. Sunggyu sighed and shook his head with a smile on his face.
They talked for a little bit, each of them giving each other a webcam tour of their dorms after Sunggyu switched over to his laptop.
“Sounds like you’re going to have a fun time over there,” Sunggyu said, laughing as Joon threw some dirty clothes at him.
“Yeah, if I don’t strangle him.” It was getting late, and Sunggyu was going to have to get himself acquainted with the school in the morning.
“Good night, Namstar.”
“Gnight, Gyubear. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
--
Four Years Later
--
“I told you to come earlier, you never listen to me!” Woohyun said as Dongwoo searched the parking lot for a space.
“Oh, come on! How was I supposed to know? Call Sunggyu!” Woohyun sighed before pushing speed dial two.
“Woohyun? Where are you guys? The show’s about to start. There’s like ten minutes left!”
“We can’t find a parking space!”
“Just come out back to the gates. I’ll tell security to let you in. Seriously, you guys. What are we, back in high school again?”
--
Woohyun, Dongwoo, and Hoya went running down dimly lit hallways until they found Sunggyu’s dressing room. They burst in through the doors, the sounds of people talking and bustling around reaching their ears.
“You guys made it!” Sunggyu said, getting up and hugging each of them.
“Like I’d miss your first concert,” Woohyun said, leaning in to give him a kiss. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were sitting on the couch, Myungsoo with a gigantic camera around his neck.
“Can’t believe you’re a famous rockstar now. How does it feel to have thirteen year old girls screaming your name and marriage proposals?” Sungyeol asked.
“It’s interesting, to say the least.”
“Sunggyu! On stage! Let’s go!” Sunggyu nodded before grabbing Woohyun and kissing him senseless.
--
They all stood at the edge of the pit, closest to the stage. Sunggyu just finished a song and some introductions, and the roar of the crowd was deafening.
“This next song is dedicated to the love of my life,” Sunggyu said, smirking as he searched for Woohyun in the crowd.
“As if I could ever forget you.”
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