121028 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: NINE
Collide
Nine | 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)
-
‘So…’ Woohyun asked, ‘How long have you known Sunggyu for?’
He and Howon had after school detention for obvious reasons. (Myungsoo was meant to be there too, for stealing the teacher’s keys, but the teacher was female and he was able to talk her out of punishment.) They were sitting on the same row of tables, but at opposite ends. The teacher had left a while ago to photocopy some test papers, leaving the two in silence. Howon was staring off into space as he replied, ‘Longer than you ever will.’
‘I’m beginning to think everything associated with Myungsoo is insane,’ Woohyun scoffed, trying his best to continue the talking. It was absolutely boring and he was afraid Howon would stop him if he were to try and escape - His punches and kicks were pretty intimidating, Woohyun had admitted to himself.
There was a pause, a moment of listening to the new Autumn leaves outside being blown off by the wind, before Howon finally spoke up, ‘Not just everything associated with Myungsoo.’
Woohyun crooked an eyebrow, his hand propping his chin up. Howon finally turned to his left and gave the older some eye contact.
‘Everything is insane.’
Woohyun smiled. ‘Agreed. This world is pretty fucked up,’ he approved. ‘That’s why you need to do everything you can to survive.’
The younger of the two stared off into space again, glaring at the floor as he thought deeply about something Woohyun was curious about.
‘Is that why you give yourself a bad reputation?’ Howon eventually questioned.
Woohyun blinked.
‘You make it look like you’re doing it for entertainment, but there’s reason behind it,’ Howon explained, sensing Woohyun’s confusion towards his question, ‘You’ve got nothing else to show for yourself - Well… nothing you’ve discovered.’
He took a moment to analyse Woohyun’s face in response to his theory - crinkled eyebrows, eyes looking hard downwards, unmoving. Woohyun was obviously contemplating.
‘You found what works,’ Howon continued, ‘You can’t survive with any other method.’
Woohyun decided to laugh it off, ‘You know, this is probably the most I’ve heard you talk.’
‘Changing the subject by trying to turn the topic of conversation towards me.’
Woohyun’s smile faltered. But the more he thought about it, Howon was right. Woohyun hated being in the background, blending in with everyone around him. When he realised he was disappearing into the shadows, he couldn’t sit still. He needed to show everyone that he meant something and that he’d matter. You couldn’t really have blamed him - It’s not like his parents were around to tell him he meant something to somebody. And if no one knew his name, he’d drive himself to a mental hospital. Sure, he had kickass friends that would (not that they’d say it out loud) do anything for him, but he needed more. He grew up hungry for attention.
‘Wow, you’re good at that,’ Woohyun acknowledged. He grinned playfully and pointed towards the other, ‘Remind me not to lie to you. You’d probably catch me out real quick.’
‘Do you have any interest in Sunggyu?’ Howon queried bluntly, unwavering. There must’ve been a reason he kissed Sunggyu - He said it was because he wanted to be bruised and scarred, but he could’ve done that easily with a simply shove or arriving late to class a few times in a row. There must’ve been something, Howon noted.
Woohyun almost fell out of his chair. (He really needed to ease on his leaning habit.) Before Woohyun could deny any interest towards the student body president, the teacher walked into the classroom, bundles keys and papers in hand.
‘Dismissed. The principal has told me to mention that your parents have been contacted about the incident,’ he announced, pushing up his glasses after he dropped the contents of his arms onto the table.
Howon and Woohyun stood up and walked in the direction of the door. Before they left, Woohyun asked sarcastically, ‘Really? Did they pick up the phone?’
The teacher frowned and Howon glanced at Woohyun’s smirking face.
Woohyun shook his head and scoffed, patting the teacher’s shoulder, ‘There’s no use in trying. Save yourself some money - International calls are expensive, sir.’
Howon crinkled his eyebrows together as they walked out.
‘How’s Dongwoo, by the way?’ Woohyun asked. Howon simply turned around and walked the opposite direction. Woohyun scowled to himself.
-
‘I got a call from your principal, Howon,’ was the first thing Howon heard when he got home. His mother walked down to the front door, wearing an apron over her usual attire - which was a navy fitted suit. Howon registered the scent of microwaved meals or something along those lines and began walking to his room, walking up the stairs his mother just climbed down from.
‘He told me you were in a fight,’ she mentioned, not sounding angry or disappointed. Actually, she sounded rather surprised.
Settling his feet flat on the stair, Howon retorted, ‘Not a fight. The other party didn’t proceed violence in return.’
‘What did the other party do for you to begin violence?’
Howon began walking to his room again. ‘I’m still contemplating his motive behind such actions, but I’m beginning to think he tried to survive.’
Howon’s mother clicked her tongue and went to the kitchen, calling out something about Howon coming down after he’d changed to eat dinner.
-
Woohyun was dreaming of pleasant things - things like pillows and doonas and sleeping. It was a littler chillier that morning than other days and so his covers felt so much nicer against his bare skin. The sun had already risen and began penetrating his eyelids, trying to wake him up. Woohyun mentally stuck his tongue out at the sun and threw the doona over his head. But somehow the doona was thrown onto his floor.
Goddamn it, the maids were here.
‘Woohyun!’ one of them called, slapping Woohyun’s back. ‘Woohyun, your school left a message on the answering machine.’
Woohyun snuggled deeper into his pillow, eventually deciding to roll onto his stomach and throw it over his head to muffle the two maids’ nagging. ‘Five more minutes,’ he grumbled, voice still weighed down with drowsiness.
‘You punk! How dare you get into a fight! Look at all these scabs and bruises,’ the other maid screeched, throwing him his school uniform. ‘And how many times have I told you not to sleep naked? It’s unhygienic!’
Woohyun finally sat up, staring at the white button-down and grey trousers. The maids, Bongsun and Miseon, were packing up Woohyun’s dishevelled room. The student didn’t even know how his room became messy - Did he throw tantrums in his sleep?
‘Go home,’ he yawned.
‘This place is a mess,’ Miseon grunted, dusting off the school blazer which had mysteriously ended up on his balcony door knob.
Woohyun warned seriously, ‘Go home or I’m not paying you.’
Heaving bitter sighs, the two relented and proceeded out of the door. ‘Have fun at school. Don’t get into any more fights,’ Bongsun said meekly.
Woohyun forced himself out of bed.
-
Myungsoo was nice and cosy under his covers, not a care in the world. His body clock told him it was time to arise and so his sleepy eyelids slowly opened… They opened to the sight of Howon staring directly at him.
‘Woah, holy shit!’ Myungsoo screamed, falling off his mattress and almost biting his tongue off. Flailing his arms around, he finally untangled himself from the pile of doona and pillows. Once he sat up while still on the floor and sneered at Howon, who was simply sitting at the edge of his bed, he snapped, ‘What the hell are you doing?! I haven’t peed in eight hours and you scare me like that?’
Howon stood up, already accustomed to Myungsoo’s over-the-top reactions, and said calmly, ‘Brush your teeth and get dressed. Sunggyu and your mother are already downstairs with breakfast.’
After crawling back into bed, Myungsoo mumbled into the bed sheet, ‘Five minutes.’
The older of the two checked the time on his phone and proposed, ‘I’ll come back in three.’ Myungsoo’s words of appreciation (something along the lines of Can you be my brother and Sunggyu not be?) were muffled as he drifted back into dreamland.
After precisely three minutes, Howon came back and scared the daylights out of Myungsoo again; except this time, Myungsoo willing stumbled to the bathroom, dragging behind his freshly ironed (thanks to Sunggyu) uniform. Myungsoo took his time up until Sunggyu knocked at the bathroom door and threatened to rid him off his penis with a butter knife. That’s when he hurried the fuck up and jumped down the stairs, ready to throw himself into a food coma at seven in the morning.
‘Oh hey mum,’ Myungsoo greeted as he saw his mother sipping coffee at the dining table. She didn’t usually eat with them as her work started early. ‘Not going to work yet?’
‘You just love it when I’m not home, now don’t you?’ their mother grumbled grouchily, spreading some jam across a piece of toast for Howon. (She would never do that for her own kids.) She sighed to herself, although everyone at the table could hear, ‘I just can’t believe that my youngest son is a manwhore.’
Sunggyu choked on his scrambled eggs and Myungsoo stammered, astonished, ‘M - Mum!’
‘Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking to about! I was seventeen once too and I -‘
Sunggyu interrupted, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the headache he felt was forming, ‘Oh Jesus… Mum, please don’t talk about sex during breakfast, I beg of you.’
Myungsoo complained, ‘What do you mean during breakfast?! Don’t talk about sex at all!’
‘Well, your poor mum has to go to work now,’ she sighed, standing up. As she strutted out of the door, slipping her handbag onto her shoulder, she twiddled her fingers and sang, ‘Bye Howon!’
Howon waved in return.
Myungsoo stood up - Sunggyu always made him do the dishes when he cooked - and went to the kitchen. ‘She only likes you because you don’t talk back to her. Definitely Sunggyu’s source of DNA,’ he commented bitterly.
Sunggyu side-eyed his brother from the dining table.
-
Oh how Woohyun loved walking through the school doors that Tuesday morning. He sported some pretty painful-looking bruises to his cheekbone and jawline, and the deep V-neck he was wearing showed off a part of the blue and green on his chest.
The students walked past him with their hands covering their mouths, whispering things and starting rumours. As he walked to his locker, he heard Howon’s name a few times and theorised the word got out yesterday. Well thank you, Lee Howon. Woohyun’s name was being thrown around all over the five storeys of the school, as well as the gym and the oval. This was how things should’ve been, this was how Woohyun wanted every day to be. It was his self-assigned mission to keep things this way.
‘Oh hey Sungyeol,’ Woohyun welcomed as Sungyeol appeared beside his locker, unusually serious look on his face.
Sungyeol muttered, ‘You really screwed YaDong up.’
Woohyun gave him a quizzical look as if urging the younger boy to explain.
‘Dongwoo’s mad at Howon because of you. Really, really mad, like big time mad,’ Sungyeol voiced, spreading his arms out in emphasis and Woohyun could’ve sworn some sophomores squealed at how adorable he was.
Woohyun mentioned in disbelief, ‘What? Dongwoo doesn’t get angry at people. He’s not like that.’
‘Apparently he’s like that if Howon’s involved.’ Sungyeol shrugged, sucking in his lips slightly. ‘I saw Howon heading somewhere alone and Dongwoo’s looking for us, not him.’
‘Is that why Howon didn’t answer my question yesterday?’ Woohyun groaned and rubbed the back of his head, leaning against the lockers as he sighed, ‘Shit, what have I done?’
-
It was third period and Dongwoo had literature with Sunggyu. Sunggyu was, per usual, on his phone and Dongwoo was trying to absorb what the teacher was saying (to no avail). He got bored and decided to talk to Sunggyu, beside him, who was being unusually quiet - Well, Sunggyu was typically quiet, but he was quieter than any other time they were together in literature.
‘Sunggyu, I’ve been meaning to ask you…’ Dongwoo trailed off. Sunggyu looked up from the device and gave him an acknowledging look before turning his attention back to his game. ‘What exactly happened yesterday?’
‘I’d rather not tell you the details,’ Sunggyu sighed, not wanting to recall what happened before Howon arrived. Howon and Woohyun were involved, so inevitably Dongwoo was curious. ‘Let’s just say, Howon was protecting his friend and Woohyun was at fault.’
Dongwoo questioned unsurely, ‘What did Woohyun do?’
‘I have no idea,’ Sunggyu chuckled slightly, honestly not knowing what the hell Woohyun was thinking or what he was trying to achieve. He ended up in detention with Howon and Dongwoo angry with Howon - Surely, that’s not what he was after.
Dongwoo pouted to himself, feeling guilty. ‘So I shouldn’t be mad at Howon?’
‘You should be mad at Woohyun instead.’
‘I could never be mad at Woohyun, he’s like a brother to me,’ Dongwoo explained. No matter how stupid Woohyun acted or how much he screwed up, Dongwoo would always take his side. The only problem was when Woohyun was fighting with Sungyeol - He’d have no idea who to choose in that situation.
‘Myungsoo’s my biological brother and I beat him senseless,’ Sunggyu retorted.
Dongwoo grimaced a little, feeling truly sorry for Sunggyu’s poor, little brother.
-
Sungyeol was in his psychology class, but weirdly enough he was in absence of harassment. Pretty much everyone were already seated and the teacher was about to start, but he heard no sign of Myungsoo. He craned his neck up and scanned through the heads. He ended up frowning at the empty seat beside his. Where the hell was Myungsoo? It wasn’t like him to leave Sungyeol feeling secure and unviolated.
Just when Sungyeol gave up and decided it was a good thing that pervert was elsewhere, he heard a pst, pst from the door. He looked up and saw Myungsoo gesturing him to follow through the doorway. Sungyeol almost screamed out loud, but the weird look the teacher gave me reminded him he was still in class. He instead mouthed to the younger: ‘Idiot! How?’
Myungsoo pointed towards the whiteboard and surely enough the teacher had his back turned. Sungyeol took in a deep breath and slid onto the floor, on his hands and knees. He began crawling in between the desks and chairs and legs. Myungsoo muffled himself because he wanted to laugh at how crazy Sungyeol looked. With difficulty, Sungyeol made it through the door without being caught. As soon as he stood up, Myungsoo grabbed his wrist and ran, dragging him somewhere.
They carefully (not wanting to be thrown in detention) slithered through a spiralling staircase and made it to the rooftop. It was Sungyeol’s first time there and he admired the view… But then he remembered he had a fear of heights and was scared shitless, sitting right next to the door so he wasn’t near the ledge.
Myungsoo sat beside him and they just listened to each other’s breathing and the breeze for a moment.
Knowing very well Myungsoo brought him out of class to talk about their failed plans, Sungyeol groaned, ‘What are we going to do?’ It was more of a rhetorical question than one that needed an answer.
Myungsoo clicked his fingers, light bulb emerging. ‘How about -‘
‘No,’ Sungyeol stopped, angrily pouting, ‘No more of your stupid plans!’
Myungsoo yelled back, ‘So what do we do then? Sit back and watch them be complicated?!’
Sungyeol brought his knees up to his chest and delved his head between them, muttering quietly, ‘You’re impossible.’
Myungsoo immediately felt guilty for yelling at him and scooted closer to him. ‘Come here,’ he sighed.
The words made Sungyeol flinch and he leaned away. ‘Why?’
‘Why do you always assume that I’m going to grope you?’ Myungsoo scoffed, reaching out for Sungyeol.
Sungyeol leaned away more and argued, ‘Because you do every single time!’
‘Not every single time! There’s grass in your hair.’ Myungsoo reached into Sungyeol’s brown locks and indeed there was a piece of half-green half-yellow grass entangled between the strands. Myungsoo’s hand didn’t leave and instead swirled his fingers in the soft hair slowly, in big circles. Sungyeol instantly felt his eyelids drooping, so he smacked the younger boy away.
‘Stop that,’ he barked.
‘Why? Does it turn you on?’ Myungsoo laughed in amusement.
‘NO!’ Sungyeol used his puppy-dog pout again, confessing, ‘It makes me feel sleepy…’
The hand returned but instead patted the hair softly. ‘You’re adorable,’ Myungsoo commented, leaning in nice and close to Sungyeol’s face. Sungyeol shivered and then felt Myungsoo’s lips on his own, the goddamn bastard.
Sungyeol actually had the willpower to pull away first this time. ‘Could you please stop kissing me?’ he sneered.
Myungsoo smiled and ruffled the other’s hair patronizingly. ‘Sometimes I can’t help it, skyscraper.’
‘Sunggyu isn’t your brother. Woohyun is.’
-
Recess had just begun and Sungjong was walking to his locker, books tightly wrapped in his arms. While halfway through one of the main halls, he spotted a familiar nest of blonde dishevelled hair. ‘Hey!’ he called out, ‘Fuck Yongguk.’
Well, that grabbed his attention… along with every else’s.
Yongguk trudged over to Sungjong, who was sticking his nose up at the other. ‘What did you call me?’ Yongguk laughed.
Sungjong pouted and countered, ‘Why be vague, Mr Fuck?’
Yongguk tilted his head and remarked, ‘You’ve got guts.’
‘I think you’ve mentioned that before.’
Unknowingly, they began walking down the hall together, side-by-side through the sea of students. ‘This is the first time I’ve seen you out of a lunch time activity,’ Yongguk brought up.
Sungjong smirked. ‘I didn’t see you at board games club yesterday, but I still think you’re stalking me.’
The older argued, ‘Hey, it was you that found me this time.’
Soon after the conversation was put to a rest, they reached Sungjong’s locker and the other gladly waited for him. As Sungjong was stuffing his books in, he said nonchalantly, ‘Bang Yongguk, ranked one hundred and sixty-seventh. Failing every subject except for visual communication and music.’
‘You did your research,’ Yongguk chuckled.
‘I needed to check if you were a criminal or not.’
‘Why?’
Sungjong held out his mobile between his middle and index finger, small smile at his lips. ‘Who gives out pieces of paper these days, you caveman,’ he teased.
Yongguk bit back a massive smile and took the offered phone to type his number in.
-
Myungsoo had history with Howon right after (what was supposed to be) psychology. Of course Myungsoo tried spending the duration of the time sleeping, but Howon was sitting right next to him and was thinking about something and not doing his work like usual. Howon was actually second ranked in the whole year level, so it was a little strange that he didn’t do his work. Was he thinking about something important? Someone important?
Myungsoo smirked to himself, laying the side of his head in his arms. He asked, ‘Are you thinking about Dongwoo?’
Howon rose an eyebrow and looked down at the other. ‘Are you sleep talking?’
The younger scowled and denied, ‘No. I don’t sleep talk.’
‘You do,’ Howon protested.
‘Since when?’
‘The middle of sophomore year, when you first started sleeping in class, is when I first heard you sleep talk.’
‘What?’
‘The teacher asked you to make y the subject in x equals 2y plus 8 and you answered her with the correct answer, but your eyes were still closed and you didn’t remember anything afterwards.’
Myungsoo’s eyes widened at the revelation. ‘I answer math questions in my sleep?’
Howon shook his head and continued, ‘Not just math questions and not just when the teacher talks to you. The other day you asked me about whether Dongwoo and I had sexual intercourse together.’
Patting himself on the back, Myungsoo complimented himself, ‘My subconscious state is genius.’ He yawned, returning his face back into his arms, ‘Good night.’
‘It’s eleven o’clock in the morning.’
‘Shut up and wish me sweet dreams.’
‘Myungsoo, I can’t do both.’
Myungsoo thought about that statement. ‘Oh right, you can’t.’
-
By lunch time, the whole Woohyun-got-beat-up-by-Howon ordeal died down and was replaced by the new Yongguk-and-Sungjong rumour. Fucking Lee Sungjong and Bang Yongguk stole his spotlight. Woohyun grunted, and began hitting the back of his head against the metal locker, trying to devise a plan. Just like magic, Sunggyu appeared out of thin air, walking while texting someone. Woohyun grinned and caught up to him.
‘Sunggyu,’ Woohyun exclaimed, clutching the other by the elbow.
The older tried to shake him off, but Woohyun’s grip was relentless. ‘Woohyun, I’d rather not speak with you, not after what happened yesterday,’ Sunggyu tried to sound calm. In actuality, he felt the temptation to drag the jerk to the bleaches and beat him into oblivion.
Woohyun dragged him somewhere and Sunggyu tried to use the grip on his shoes to stop him, but Woohyun was fucking determined. He gently pushed Sunggyu into the emergency staircase and shut the heavy door behind them. ‘About that…’ he said quietly, but confidently nonetheless, ‘I’m not sorry.’
Sunggyu thought he heard wrong. He was not sorry?
‘Excuse me?’
‘I actually came looking for you to… return the favour, I guess.’ Then Sunggyu saw the way Woohyun licked his lips, the way his eyes averted downwards as if looking for something, as if stealing something. And then Woohyun’s hand grabbed his crotch and Sunggyu’s reflexes sent Woohyun’s back hitting against the stairs.
‘Nam Woohyun! What the hell!’ Sunggyu’s angry voice echoed throughout the stairwell. He then rolled up his sleeves and pulled off his tie, his eyes narrowing dangerously into Woohyun’s. Everything was spinning to Woohyun - he was already dizzy from the first punch. Sunggyu’s voice came out velvety and deep as Sunggyu was finally able to beat the shit out of the bastard, ‘Hopefully I’ll knock some sanity into that worthless head of yours.’
-
After the end-of-day bell had rung, Woohyun’s eyes opened and suddenly he was on a bed, his head and back throbbing. The first person he saw was Myungsoo who was sitting beside him with his backpack placed on the white floor. Woohyun registered unleashing Sunggyu’s dark side and copping it at maximum speed. Damn, Sunggyu could throw a punch. (Or fifty, for that matter.)
Myungsoo sighed in exasperation, ‘Hyun, you need to stop this before it actually starts.’
‘I’ve been beaten up worse before,’ Woohyun laughed. He really was a masochistic dumbass.
Myungsoo slumped back into the chair and wailed, ‘Don’t you get it? You’re dancing with life and the song’s about to stop!’
It was kind of really hilarious because Woohyun had never seen Myungsoo so serious or so desperate before. ‘Kim, seriously, I can take care of myself,’ Woohyun argued, making to sit up but the pain in his lower back forced him back down. Landing on stairs isn’t fun, Woohyun learnt.
Myungsoo was almost growling, ‘Shut up and listen. I don’t care how many punches get thrown at you or how much blood you fucking lose.’
Woohyun’s brow furrowed in confusion.
‘I want you to stop because you’re hurting my brother and not many people can do that.’ Myungsoo swung the black backpack over his shoulder and stormed out of the first aid room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Shortly after, Woohyun finally noticed Dongwoo standing near the sink, Woohyun’s bag hanging from his hand.
‘You heard all that?’ Woohyun asked, although the answer was rather obvious.
‘Yeah,’ Dongwoo answered simply, not smiling in the slightest. Jeez, why was everyone being so serious? Woohyun really thought he was in a coma and dreaming ridiculous things. Dongwoo persisted, ‘Woohyun, Sunggyu is my friend now. You can’t make me choose between you.’
Woohyun let his head fall back to ease his headache. ‘Don’t make this complicated, Jang.’
‘You’re the one who made it complicated and now -‘
‘Dongwoo,’ Woohyun interjected.
‘- you’re getting others involved and -‘
‘Dongwoo,’ Woohyun interjected again.
‘- I really don’t want to see you get hurt or hurt anyone for that matter.’
Woohyun rolled his eyes and snapped, ‘You dickhead, look at the door.’
Dongwoo obliged and saw Howon standing at the doorway, looking directly at him. Dongwoo then placed Woohyun’s bag on the chair and gave him a bitter smile, following Howon into the hallway. Woohyun just saluted him off and decided to take a nap.
-
‘Howon!’ Dongwoo called after the said boy. He was walking off somewhere real fast, down the stairs, and Dongwoo had to run a little to catch up to him. When the older student finally caught up, they were on the staircase.
Howon turned around and questioned, ‘Are you angry at me?’
‘No, not really,’ Dongwoo replied shyly, both guilty and embarrassed for ignoring and being mad at the other all day. ‘Not anymore.’
Howon nodded slowly, not sure why Dongwoo was angry at him in the first place. Before he could ask, Dongwoo’s arms were around his neck and he had to press his hand against the wall so they wouldn’t fall down the steps. Dongwoo kissed him faster than Howon could feel and his mouth was opened and his tongue was trying to penetrate through Howon’s sealed lips. His eyes were closed and Howon felt the need to close his eyes as well.
And so he did.
Dongwoo separated them, his breathing wavering as he whispered against Howon’s soft lips, ‘I’m sorry.’
Howon swallowed and let Dongwoo hug him for however long he wished.
-
AN\ I’m finally incorporating their parents into the story, but I hope this fic doesn’t progress too fast… It’s already too fast for my liking and I don’t know how to slow it down (other than dump in a few paragraphs of blah.)
Oh! And I have a tumblr acc! ^^ I was lucky enough to get spiritfelty - but then again, who on earth would have the spiritfelty username except for me? Unless they were weird enough to impersonate me, LOL!
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Ten
Nine | 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)
-
‘So…’ Woohyun asked, ‘How long have you known Sunggyu for?’
He and Howon had after school detention for obvious reasons. (Myungsoo was meant to be there too, for stealing the teacher’s keys, but the teacher was female and he was able to talk her out of punishment.) They were sitting on the same row of tables, but at opposite ends. The teacher had left a while ago to photocopy some test papers, leaving the two in silence. Howon was staring off into space as he replied, ‘Longer than you ever will.’
‘I’m beginning to think everything associated with Myungsoo is insane,’ Woohyun scoffed, trying his best to continue the talking. It was absolutely boring and he was afraid Howon would stop him if he were to try and escape - His punches and kicks were pretty intimidating, Woohyun had admitted to himself.
There was a pause, a moment of listening to the new Autumn leaves outside being blown off by the wind, before Howon finally spoke up, ‘Not just everything associated with Myungsoo.’
Woohyun crooked an eyebrow, his hand propping his chin up. Howon finally turned to his left and gave the older some eye contact.
‘Everything is insane.’
Woohyun smiled. ‘Agreed. This world is pretty fucked up,’ he approved. ‘That’s why you need to do everything you can to survive.’
The younger of the two stared off into space again, glaring at the floor as he thought deeply about something Woohyun was curious about.
‘Is that why you give yourself a bad reputation?’ Howon eventually questioned.
Woohyun blinked.
‘You make it look like you’re doing it for entertainment, but there’s reason behind it,’ Howon explained, sensing Woohyun’s confusion towards his question, ‘You’ve got nothing else to show for yourself - Well… nothing you’ve discovered.’
He took a moment to analyse Woohyun’s face in response to his theory - crinkled eyebrows, eyes looking hard downwards, unmoving. Woohyun was obviously contemplating.
‘You found what works,’ Howon continued, ‘You can’t survive with any other method.’
Woohyun decided to laugh it off, ‘You know, this is probably the most I’ve heard you talk.’
‘Changing the subject by trying to turn the topic of conversation towards me.’
Woohyun’s smile faltered. But the more he thought about it, Howon was right. Woohyun hated being in the background, blending in with everyone around him. When he realised he was disappearing into the shadows, he couldn’t sit still. He needed to show everyone that he meant something and that he’d matter. You couldn’t really have blamed him - It’s not like his parents were around to tell him he meant something to somebody. And if no one knew his name, he’d drive himself to a mental hospital. Sure, he had kickass friends that would (not that they’d say it out loud) do anything for him, but he needed more. He grew up hungry for attention.
‘Wow, you’re good at that,’ Woohyun acknowledged. He grinned playfully and pointed towards the other, ‘Remind me not to lie to you. You’d probably catch me out real quick.’
‘Do you have any interest in Sunggyu?’ Howon queried bluntly, unwavering. There must’ve been a reason he kissed Sunggyu - He said it was because he wanted to be bruised and scarred, but he could’ve done that easily with a simply shove or arriving late to class a few times in a row. There must’ve been something, Howon noted.
Woohyun almost fell out of his chair. (He really needed to ease on his leaning habit.) Before Woohyun could deny any interest towards the student body president, the teacher walked into the classroom, bundles keys and papers in hand.
‘Dismissed. The principal has told me to mention that your parents have been contacted about the incident,’ he announced, pushing up his glasses after he dropped the contents of his arms onto the table.
Howon and Woohyun stood up and walked in the direction of the door. Before they left, Woohyun asked sarcastically, ‘Really? Did they pick up the phone?’
The teacher frowned and Howon glanced at Woohyun’s smirking face.
Woohyun shook his head and scoffed, patting the teacher’s shoulder, ‘There’s no use in trying. Save yourself some money - International calls are expensive, sir.’
Howon crinkled his eyebrows together as they walked out.
‘How’s Dongwoo, by the way?’ Woohyun asked. Howon simply turned around and walked the opposite direction. Woohyun scowled to himself.
-
‘I got a call from your principal, Howon,’ was the first thing Howon heard when he got home. His mother walked down to the front door, wearing an apron over her usual attire - which was a navy fitted suit. Howon registered the scent of microwaved meals or something along those lines and began walking to his room, walking up the stairs his mother just climbed down from.
‘He told me you were in a fight,’ she mentioned, not sounding angry or disappointed. Actually, she sounded rather surprised.
Settling his feet flat on the stair, Howon retorted, ‘Not a fight. The other party didn’t proceed violence in return.’
‘What did the other party do for you to begin violence?’
Howon began walking to his room again. ‘I’m still contemplating his motive behind such actions, but I’m beginning to think he tried to survive.’
Howon’s mother clicked her tongue and went to the kitchen, calling out something about Howon coming down after he’d changed to eat dinner.
-
Woohyun was dreaming of pleasant things - things like pillows and doonas and sleeping. It was a littler chillier that morning than other days and so his covers felt so much nicer against his bare skin. The sun had already risen and began penetrating his eyelids, trying to wake him up. Woohyun mentally stuck his tongue out at the sun and threw the doona over his head. But somehow the doona was thrown onto his floor.
Goddamn it, the maids were here.
‘Woohyun!’ one of them called, slapping Woohyun’s back. ‘Woohyun, your school left a message on the answering machine.’
Woohyun snuggled deeper into his pillow, eventually deciding to roll onto his stomach and throw it over his head to muffle the two maids’ nagging. ‘Five more minutes,’ he grumbled, voice still weighed down with drowsiness.
‘You punk! How dare you get into a fight! Look at all these scabs and bruises,’ the other maid screeched, throwing him his school uniform. ‘And how many times have I told you not to sleep naked? It’s unhygienic!’
Woohyun finally sat up, staring at the white button-down and grey trousers. The maids, Bongsun and Miseon, were packing up Woohyun’s dishevelled room. The student didn’t even know how his room became messy - Did he throw tantrums in his sleep?
‘Go home,’ he yawned.
‘This place is a mess,’ Miseon grunted, dusting off the school blazer which had mysteriously ended up on his balcony door knob.
Woohyun warned seriously, ‘Go home or I’m not paying you.’
Heaving bitter sighs, the two relented and proceeded out of the door. ‘Have fun at school. Don’t get into any more fights,’ Bongsun said meekly.
Woohyun forced himself out of bed.
-
Myungsoo was nice and cosy under his covers, not a care in the world. His body clock told him it was time to arise and so his sleepy eyelids slowly opened… They opened to the sight of Howon staring directly at him.
‘Woah, holy shit!’ Myungsoo screamed, falling off his mattress and almost biting his tongue off. Flailing his arms around, he finally untangled himself from the pile of doona and pillows. Once he sat up while still on the floor and sneered at Howon, who was simply sitting at the edge of his bed, he snapped, ‘What the hell are you doing?! I haven’t peed in eight hours and you scare me like that?’
Howon stood up, already accustomed to Myungsoo’s over-the-top reactions, and said calmly, ‘Brush your teeth and get dressed. Sunggyu and your mother are already downstairs with breakfast.’
After crawling back into bed, Myungsoo mumbled into the bed sheet, ‘Five minutes.’
The older of the two checked the time on his phone and proposed, ‘I’ll come back in three.’ Myungsoo’s words of appreciation (something along the lines of Can you be my brother and Sunggyu not be?) were muffled as he drifted back into dreamland.
After precisely three minutes, Howon came back and scared the daylights out of Myungsoo again; except this time, Myungsoo willing stumbled to the bathroom, dragging behind his freshly ironed (thanks to Sunggyu) uniform. Myungsoo took his time up until Sunggyu knocked at the bathroom door and threatened to rid him off his penis with a butter knife. That’s when he hurried the fuck up and jumped down the stairs, ready to throw himself into a food coma at seven in the morning.
‘Oh hey mum,’ Myungsoo greeted as he saw his mother sipping coffee at the dining table. She didn’t usually eat with them as her work started early. ‘Not going to work yet?’
‘You just love it when I’m not home, now don’t you?’ their mother grumbled grouchily, spreading some jam across a piece of toast for Howon. (She would never do that for her own kids.) She sighed to herself, although everyone at the table could hear, ‘I just can’t believe that my youngest son is a manwhore.’
Sunggyu choked on his scrambled eggs and Myungsoo stammered, astonished, ‘M - Mum!’
‘Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking to about! I was seventeen once too and I -‘
Sunggyu interrupted, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the headache he felt was forming, ‘Oh Jesus… Mum, please don’t talk about sex during breakfast, I beg of you.’
Myungsoo complained, ‘What do you mean during breakfast?! Don’t talk about sex at all!’
‘Well, your poor mum has to go to work now,’ she sighed, standing up. As she strutted out of the door, slipping her handbag onto her shoulder, she twiddled her fingers and sang, ‘Bye Howon!’
Howon waved in return.
Myungsoo stood up - Sunggyu always made him do the dishes when he cooked - and went to the kitchen. ‘She only likes you because you don’t talk back to her. Definitely Sunggyu’s source of DNA,’ he commented bitterly.
Sunggyu side-eyed his brother from the dining table.
-
Oh how Woohyun loved walking through the school doors that Tuesday morning. He sported some pretty painful-looking bruises to his cheekbone and jawline, and the deep V-neck he was wearing showed off a part of the blue and green on his chest.
The students walked past him with their hands covering their mouths, whispering things and starting rumours. As he walked to his locker, he heard Howon’s name a few times and theorised the word got out yesterday. Well thank you, Lee Howon. Woohyun’s name was being thrown around all over the five storeys of the school, as well as the gym and the oval. This was how things should’ve been, this was how Woohyun wanted every day to be. It was his self-assigned mission to keep things this way.
‘Oh hey Sungyeol,’ Woohyun welcomed as Sungyeol appeared beside his locker, unusually serious look on his face.
Sungyeol muttered, ‘You really screwed YaDong up.’
Woohyun gave him a quizzical look as if urging the younger boy to explain.
‘Dongwoo’s mad at Howon because of you. Really, really mad, like big time mad,’ Sungyeol voiced, spreading his arms out in emphasis and Woohyun could’ve sworn some sophomores squealed at how adorable he was.
Woohyun mentioned in disbelief, ‘What? Dongwoo doesn’t get angry at people. He’s not like that.’
‘Apparently he’s like that if Howon’s involved.’ Sungyeol shrugged, sucking in his lips slightly. ‘I saw Howon heading somewhere alone and Dongwoo’s looking for us, not him.’
‘Is that why Howon didn’t answer my question yesterday?’ Woohyun groaned and rubbed the back of his head, leaning against the lockers as he sighed, ‘Shit, what have I done?’
-
It was third period and Dongwoo had literature with Sunggyu. Sunggyu was, per usual, on his phone and Dongwoo was trying to absorb what the teacher was saying (to no avail). He got bored and decided to talk to Sunggyu, beside him, who was being unusually quiet - Well, Sunggyu was typically quiet, but he was quieter than any other time they were together in literature.
‘Sunggyu, I’ve been meaning to ask you…’ Dongwoo trailed off. Sunggyu looked up from the device and gave him an acknowledging look before turning his attention back to his game. ‘What exactly happened yesterday?’
‘I’d rather not tell you the details,’ Sunggyu sighed, not wanting to recall what happened before Howon arrived. Howon and Woohyun were involved, so inevitably Dongwoo was curious. ‘Let’s just say, Howon was protecting his friend and Woohyun was at fault.’
Dongwoo questioned unsurely, ‘What did Woohyun do?’
‘I have no idea,’ Sunggyu chuckled slightly, honestly not knowing what the hell Woohyun was thinking or what he was trying to achieve. He ended up in detention with Howon and Dongwoo angry with Howon - Surely, that’s not what he was after.
Dongwoo pouted to himself, feeling guilty. ‘So I shouldn’t be mad at Howon?’
‘You should be mad at Woohyun instead.’
‘I could never be mad at Woohyun, he’s like a brother to me,’ Dongwoo explained. No matter how stupid Woohyun acted or how much he screwed up, Dongwoo would always take his side. The only problem was when Woohyun was fighting with Sungyeol - He’d have no idea who to choose in that situation.
‘Myungsoo’s my biological brother and I beat him senseless,’ Sunggyu retorted.
Dongwoo grimaced a little, feeling truly sorry for Sunggyu’s poor, little brother.
-
Sungyeol was in his psychology class, but weirdly enough he was in absence of harassment. Pretty much everyone were already seated and the teacher was about to start, but he heard no sign of Myungsoo. He craned his neck up and scanned through the heads. He ended up frowning at the empty seat beside his. Where the hell was Myungsoo? It wasn’t like him to leave Sungyeol feeling secure and unviolated.
Just when Sungyeol gave up and decided it was a good thing that pervert was elsewhere, he heard a pst, pst from the door. He looked up and saw Myungsoo gesturing him to follow through the doorway. Sungyeol almost screamed out loud, but the weird look the teacher gave me reminded him he was still in class. He instead mouthed to the younger: ‘Idiot! How?’
Myungsoo pointed towards the whiteboard and surely enough the teacher had his back turned. Sungyeol took in a deep breath and slid onto the floor, on his hands and knees. He began crawling in between the desks and chairs and legs. Myungsoo muffled himself because he wanted to laugh at how crazy Sungyeol looked. With difficulty, Sungyeol made it through the door without being caught. As soon as he stood up, Myungsoo grabbed his wrist and ran, dragging him somewhere.
They carefully (not wanting to be thrown in detention) slithered through a spiralling staircase and made it to the rooftop. It was Sungyeol’s first time there and he admired the view… But then he remembered he had a fear of heights and was scared shitless, sitting right next to the door so he wasn’t near the ledge.
Myungsoo sat beside him and they just listened to each other’s breathing and the breeze for a moment.
Knowing very well Myungsoo brought him out of class to talk about their failed plans, Sungyeol groaned, ‘What are we going to do?’ It was more of a rhetorical question than one that needed an answer.
Myungsoo clicked his fingers, light bulb emerging. ‘How about -‘
‘No,’ Sungyeol stopped, angrily pouting, ‘No more of your stupid plans!’
Myungsoo yelled back, ‘So what do we do then? Sit back and watch them be complicated?!’
Sungyeol brought his knees up to his chest and delved his head between them, muttering quietly, ‘You’re impossible.’
Myungsoo immediately felt guilty for yelling at him and scooted closer to him. ‘Come here,’ he sighed.
The words made Sungyeol flinch and he leaned away. ‘Why?’
‘Why do you always assume that I’m going to grope you?’ Myungsoo scoffed, reaching out for Sungyeol.
Sungyeol leaned away more and argued, ‘Because you do every single time!’
‘Not every single time! There’s grass in your hair.’ Myungsoo reached into Sungyeol’s brown locks and indeed there was a piece of half-green half-yellow grass entangled between the strands. Myungsoo’s hand didn’t leave and instead swirled his fingers in the soft hair slowly, in big circles. Sungyeol instantly felt his eyelids drooping, so he smacked the younger boy away.
‘Stop that,’ he barked.
‘Why? Does it turn you on?’ Myungsoo laughed in amusement.
‘NO!’ Sungyeol used his puppy-dog pout again, confessing, ‘It makes me feel sleepy…’
The hand returned but instead patted the hair softly. ‘You’re adorable,’ Myungsoo commented, leaning in nice and close to Sungyeol’s face. Sungyeol shivered and then felt Myungsoo’s lips on his own, the goddamn bastard.
Sungyeol actually had the willpower to pull away first this time. ‘Could you please stop kissing me?’ he sneered.
Myungsoo smiled and ruffled the other’s hair patronizingly. ‘Sometimes I can’t help it, skyscraper.’
‘Sunggyu isn’t your brother. Woohyun is.’
-
Recess had just begun and Sungjong was walking to his locker, books tightly wrapped in his arms. While halfway through one of the main halls, he spotted a familiar nest of blonde dishevelled hair. ‘Hey!’ he called out, ‘Fuck Yongguk.’
Well, that grabbed his attention… along with every else’s.
Yongguk trudged over to Sungjong, who was sticking his nose up at the other. ‘What did you call me?’ Yongguk laughed.
Sungjong pouted and countered, ‘Why be vague, Mr Fuck?’
Yongguk tilted his head and remarked, ‘You’ve got guts.’
‘I think you’ve mentioned that before.’
Unknowingly, they began walking down the hall together, side-by-side through the sea of students. ‘This is the first time I’ve seen you out of a lunch time activity,’ Yongguk brought up.
Sungjong smirked. ‘I didn’t see you at board games club yesterday, but I still think you’re stalking me.’
The older argued, ‘Hey, it was you that found me this time.’
Soon after the conversation was put to a rest, they reached Sungjong’s locker and the other gladly waited for him. As Sungjong was stuffing his books in, he said nonchalantly, ‘Bang Yongguk, ranked one hundred and sixty-seventh. Failing every subject except for visual communication and music.’
‘You did your research,’ Yongguk chuckled.
‘I needed to check if you were a criminal or not.’
‘Why?’
Sungjong held out his mobile between his middle and index finger, small smile at his lips. ‘Who gives out pieces of paper these days, you caveman,’ he teased.
Yongguk bit back a massive smile and took the offered phone to type his number in.
-
Myungsoo had history with Howon right after (what was supposed to be) psychology. Of course Myungsoo tried spending the duration of the time sleeping, but Howon was sitting right next to him and was thinking about something and not doing his work like usual. Howon was actually second ranked in the whole year level, so it was a little strange that he didn’t do his work. Was he thinking about something important? Someone important?
Myungsoo smirked to himself, laying the side of his head in his arms. He asked, ‘Are you thinking about Dongwoo?’
Howon rose an eyebrow and looked down at the other. ‘Are you sleep talking?’
The younger scowled and denied, ‘No. I don’t sleep talk.’
‘You do,’ Howon protested.
‘Since when?’
‘The middle of sophomore year, when you first started sleeping in class, is when I first heard you sleep talk.’
‘What?’
‘The teacher asked you to make y the subject in x equals 2y plus 8 and you answered her with the correct answer, but your eyes were still closed and you didn’t remember anything afterwards.’
Myungsoo’s eyes widened at the revelation. ‘I answer math questions in my sleep?’
Howon shook his head and continued, ‘Not just math questions and not just when the teacher talks to you. The other day you asked me about whether Dongwoo and I had sexual intercourse together.’
Patting himself on the back, Myungsoo complimented himself, ‘My subconscious state is genius.’ He yawned, returning his face back into his arms, ‘Good night.’
‘It’s eleven o’clock in the morning.’
‘Shut up and wish me sweet dreams.’
‘Myungsoo, I can’t do both.’
Myungsoo thought about that statement. ‘Oh right, you can’t.’
-
By lunch time, the whole Woohyun-got-beat-up-by-Howon ordeal died down and was replaced by the new Yongguk-and-Sungjong rumour. Fucking Lee Sungjong and Bang Yongguk stole his spotlight. Woohyun grunted, and began hitting the back of his head against the metal locker, trying to devise a plan. Just like magic, Sunggyu appeared out of thin air, walking while texting someone. Woohyun grinned and caught up to him.
‘Sunggyu,’ Woohyun exclaimed, clutching the other by the elbow.
The older tried to shake him off, but Woohyun’s grip was relentless. ‘Woohyun, I’d rather not speak with you, not after what happened yesterday,’ Sunggyu tried to sound calm. In actuality, he felt the temptation to drag the jerk to the bleaches and beat him into oblivion.
Woohyun dragged him somewhere and Sunggyu tried to use the grip on his shoes to stop him, but Woohyun was fucking determined. He gently pushed Sunggyu into the emergency staircase and shut the heavy door behind them. ‘About that…’ he said quietly, but confidently nonetheless, ‘I’m not sorry.’
Sunggyu thought he heard wrong. He was not sorry?
‘Excuse me?’
‘I actually came looking for you to… return the favour, I guess.’ Then Sunggyu saw the way Woohyun licked his lips, the way his eyes averted downwards as if looking for something, as if stealing something. And then Woohyun’s hand grabbed his crotch and Sunggyu’s reflexes sent Woohyun’s back hitting against the stairs.
‘Nam Woohyun! What the hell!’ Sunggyu’s angry voice echoed throughout the stairwell. He then rolled up his sleeves and pulled off his tie, his eyes narrowing dangerously into Woohyun’s. Everything was spinning to Woohyun - he was already dizzy from the first punch. Sunggyu’s voice came out velvety and deep as Sunggyu was finally able to beat the shit out of the bastard, ‘Hopefully I’ll knock some sanity into that worthless head of yours.’
-
After the end-of-day bell had rung, Woohyun’s eyes opened and suddenly he was on a bed, his head and back throbbing. The first person he saw was Myungsoo who was sitting beside him with his backpack placed on the white floor. Woohyun registered unleashing Sunggyu’s dark side and copping it at maximum speed. Damn, Sunggyu could throw a punch. (Or fifty, for that matter.)
Myungsoo sighed in exasperation, ‘Hyun, you need to stop this before it actually starts.’
‘I’ve been beaten up worse before,’ Woohyun laughed. He really was a masochistic dumbass.
Myungsoo slumped back into the chair and wailed, ‘Don’t you get it? You’re dancing with life and the song’s about to stop!’
It was kind of really hilarious because Woohyun had never seen Myungsoo so serious or so desperate before. ‘Kim, seriously, I can take care of myself,’ Woohyun argued, making to sit up but the pain in his lower back forced him back down. Landing on stairs isn’t fun, Woohyun learnt.
Myungsoo was almost growling, ‘Shut up and listen. I don’t care how many punches get thrown at you or how much blood you fucking lose.’
Woohyun’s brow furrowed in confusion.
‘I want you to stop because you’re hurting my brother and not many people can do that.’ Myungsoo swung the black backpack over his shoulder and stormed out of the first aid room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Shortly after, Woohyun finally noticed Dongwoo standing near the sink, Woohyun’s bag hanging from his hand.
‘You heard all that?’ Woohyun asked, although the answer was rather obvious.
‘Yeah,’ Dongwoo answered simply, not smiling in the slightest. Jeez, why was everyone being so serious? Woohyun really thought he was in a coma and dreaming ridiculous things. Dongwoo persisted, ‘Woohyun, Sunggyu is my friend now. You can’t make me choose between you.’
Woohyun let his head fall back to ease his headache. ‘Don’t make this complicated, Jang.’
‘You’re the one who made it complicated and now -‘
‘Dongwoo,’ Woohyun interjected.
‘- you’re getting others involved and -‘
‘Dongwoo,’ Woohyun interjected again.
‘- I really don’t want to see you get hurt or hurt anyone for that matter.’
Woohyun rolled his eyes and snapped, ‘You dickhead, look at the door.’
Dongwoo obliged and saw Howon standing at the doorway, looking directly at him. Dongwoo then placed Woohyun’s bag on the chair and gave him a bitter smile, following Howon into the hallway. Woohyun just saluted him off and decided to take a nap.
-
‘Howon!’ Dongwoo called after the said boy. He was walking off somewhere real fast, down the stairs, and Dongwoo had to run a little to catch up to him. When the older student finally caught up, they were on the staircase.
Howon turned around and questioned, ‘Are you angry at me?’
‘No, not really,’ Dongwoo replied shyly, both guilty and embarrassed for ignoring and being mad at the other all day. ‘Not anymore.’
Howon nodded slowly, not sure why Dongwoo was angry at him in the first place. Before he could ask, Dongwoo’s arms were around his neck and he had to press his hand against the wall so they wouldn’t fall down the steps. Dongwoo kissed him faster than Howon could feel and his mouth was opened and his tongue was trying to penetrate through Howon’s sealed lips. His eyes were closed and Howon felt the need to close his eyes as well.
And so he did.
Dongwoo separated them, his breathing wavering as he whispered against Howon’s soft lips, ‘I’m sorry.’
Howon swallowed and let Dongwoo hug him for however long he wished.
-
AN\ I’m finally incorporating their parents into the story, but I hope this fic doesn’t progress too fast… It’s already too fast for my liking and I don’t know how to slow it down (other than dump in a few paragraphs of blah.)
Oh! And I have a tumblr acc! ^^ I was lucky enough to get spiritfelty - but then again, who on earth would have the spiritfelty username except for me? Unless they were weird enough to impersonate me, LOL!
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Ten