121112 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: TWELVE
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Twelve | 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)
-
Myungsoo came home late because Sunggyu wasn’t there to stop him. After chasing after that junior he found at recess, he found out that Woohyun had already sailed that ship and would rather not rent something that had already been tested out by his friend. At least he had a little respect for morals. However, Myungsoo did manage a make-out session with some girl he’d hopefully never meet again - There was a rumour her boyfriend was either in a gang or a very violent book club. He wasn’t quite sure.
The first thing he did when he opened the door to the house was kick his shoes off hurriedly and trudge into the living area.
‘Gyu, is there something wrong with you today? Everyone keeps bothering me about you,’ Myungsoo called loudly, guessing that Sunggyu might’ve been in his room. He then saw a male figure on the couch and without thinking, approached them, thinking they were his brother. ‘Gyu?’ Myungsoo said softly. But when the figure turned around, it wasn’t Sunggyu. It was Howon, looking blankly at him. ‘Where’s Gyu-hyung?’
And then Myungsoo saw his mother next to Howon. She was crying, sobbing until her face was red and her fingers were trembling.
‘Mum?’ Myungsoo’s voice cracked.
His mother flinched and looked up, realising Myungsoo was there with his hand on her shoulder. ‘Why don’t you sleep over at Howon’s tonight?’ she laughed, trying to disguise her sadness - although the tears gave it away pretty well.
Then it vaguely hit Myungsoo that it was September and every September his mother would send him and his brother off to sleep over at Howon’s. ‘Is it the 18th today?’ Myungsoo sighed, immediately feeling guilty that he’d forgotten. ‘So that was why Sunggyu seemed so down today.’
She tried smiling at him again, but ended up crying more. She took Howon’s hand, but he didn’t respond. Even though he didn’t hold her back, she didn’t care. She knew perfectly well what Howon was like. ‘I’ll be fine in the morning, so go pack your bag, okay?’ she whispered croakily, patting Howon’s hand.
Myungsoo took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her arm a little in comfort. ‘Where’s Gyu?’ he asked.
She replied, ‘He’s in his room.’
‘Well, why isn’t he going to Howon’s with me?’
‘Myungsoo,’ she said quietly. ‘Your brother is really protective over you, huh?’
Myungsoo nodded slowly.
‘Let’s just give him a break for tonight, alright?’
Myungsoo looked over at Howon and saw him looking at the younger intently, gentle look on his face.
Their mother kissed Myungsoo’s temple and murmured against his skin, ‘I love you.’
Myungsoo wavered and Howon went up to Myungsoo’s room to start packing his things.
-
It was ten o’clock and Sunggyu was on his balcony, staring off into space. He was over-thinking just a tad too much over everything that happened that day - Woohyun catching him out, entrusting Woohyun, Nam fucking Woohyun igniting all of his suppressed feelings all at once. And with hearing Myungsoo leave with Howon and his mother still crying downstairs, Sunggyu felt utterly helpless. He didn’t know what to do and he felt so stiff and so utterly lost.
Sunggyu just needed someone to talk to.
He went back into his room and retrieved his phone, stepping back onto the balcony and leaning his elbows onto the railing. Carefully, he scrolled through his contacts and hovered his finger over Woohyun’s name, uncertain about whether or not he should call.
After about a minute of muddled contemplating, Sunggyu decided to man up. ‘What the hell am I going to say?’ Sunggyu thought, squeezing his eyes shut and clicking on Woohyun’s name, calling him.
After four rings, Woohyun picked up the phone, his voice sounding rather friendly as it was Sunggyu calling. ‘Hello?’
Sunggyu didn’t know if he should answer him.
‘Hello?’ Woohyun repeated questioningly after a while.
Sunggyu held his breath and wanted to bang his head on the railing. It was a bad idea - It was awkward as hell and he didn’t know how to start. ‘I’m having the worst day and I thought talking to you would make it better, even though you are somewhat of an untrustworthy breed. Oh and by the way, you’re completely pulverised if you were to tell anybody about my weakest state.’ Yeah, no. Wasn’t that easy.
Before Sunggyu could hang up, Woohyun spoke again, ‘Sunggyu, seriously. If something is wrong, you can tell me.’ There was a small pause before Woohyun asked warily, ‘Are you there?’
‘I’m here,’ Sunggyu said quietly, partly hoping the younger wouldn’t hear and hang up.
After letting out a huff, he could practically hear Woohyun’s smile on the other line as the younger asked, ‘So how are you?’
Sunggyu swallowed thickly and begun talking about just the simple things, nothing too serious or too personal. It was pretty much all small talk and Woohyun was a man of his word - He listened to every syllable that came out of the phone and, more importantly, he understood it. They didn’t say much, they only talked for about ten minutes, but afterwards Sunggyu felt so much lighter. He felt like something was gone and it was a good thing it was gone.
Maybe that’s all Sunggyu needed - not really someone to talk to, but rather someone who’d listen to everything.
-
Woohyun was walking down the hall, frowning as neither Dongwoo or Sungyeol were replying to his texts. He knew Myungsoo was probably flirting up a few students - possibly even a teacher - so it was no use in trying to contact him. The only option left was Sunggyu, but something told him that Sunggyu’s number was reserved only for after school hours. Something told him the number was only for identification for when Sunggyu called or texted to talk. Last night was really pleasant for Woohyun. Sunggyu was talking about this and that, the weather and whatnot, and Woohyun loved the way his voice sounded through the phone. Of course it sounded better in real life, but Woohyun liked it because it was the most Sunggyu had talked to him since they met.
He hoped it wasn’t the last time he saw Sunggyu’s name flash onto his screen.
Before he knew it, he saw Dongwoo and Sungyeol. Sungyeol was crying into the older student’s shoulder, mumbling incoherent things as Dongwoo tried to shush him.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ Dongwoo hushed softly, rubbing Sungyeol’s back up and down.
‘Sungyeol?’ Woohyun gasped, placing two hands on the mentioned boy’s hips. ‘Why are you crying, baby?’ It wasn’t weird to call Sungyeol baby in that situation. Woohyun would always call Sungyeol baby when he was crying because he kind of looked like an innocent, huggable baby when he cried. Dongwoo told Woohyun that every time he called Sungyeol baby he looked like a father comforting his little daughter - Woohyun would just flip him off and cuddle Sungyeol until he stopped sobbing.
Sungyeol panted, ‘George… George…’
Woohyun crooked an eyebrow and Dongwoo decided to finish the sentence for him, ‘George… went to potted plant heaven.’
Sungyeol cried even harder.
Woohyun let out a massive sigh and hugged Sungyeol from behind, patting down his messed-up hair. He had gotten use to Sungyeol’s odd love for inanimate objects - in this case, his potted strawberry plant.
‘Oh no, poor thing,’ Woohyun murmured, ‘George was a good friend, wasn’t he?’
Sungyeol clenched a tight fist as he wailed, his tears somewhat streaming into his mouth, ‘FOR THE SEVEN-POINT-EIGHT-THREE WEEKS I HAD HIM, HE WAS THE BEST PLANT ANYONE CAN ASK FOR.’
Since Woohyun was there, Dongwoo was able to finally let go of Sungyeol. He noticed eyes on him and turned around, spotting Howon giving him a questioning look.
Dongwoo grimaced and said, ‘He’s crying because he lost a special friend this morning.’
Howon nodded and stood there, as if waiting for Dongwoo to finish.
Woohyun threw the oldest of the present group a scowl as he snapped, ‘How the hell did you know he wanted to know that?’
‘I don’t know. He just gave me the look.’ Dongwoo shrugged.
Woohyun scoffed, squeezing Sungyeol’s waist as the latter sniffed into his neck, ‘I’ll never understand you two for as long as I live.’
-
Woohyun made it into biology just as the bell sounded. Unsurprisingly, Sunggyu was gaming on his phone as he sat beside him.
‘Hey,’ Woohyun greeted, small smile on his face.
Sunggyu didn’t respond, but gave Woohyun a glance of acknowledgement.
While stretching his arm muscles, Woohyun asked through a strained voice, ‘So what’s the game of the day?’
‘Angry Birds,’ Sunggyu answered simply, flicking his green bird onto the platform and killing two pigs.
Woohyun snorted at his reply. ‘Horrible choice, in my opinion,’ he commented.
Sunggyu then exited the game, having had lost and looked over at Woohyun. He made a face at the wet patch on the fabric on Woohyun’s left shoulder. The look made the younger follow his line of sight and grimace at what Sunggyu was looking at.
‘Um, Sungyeol was crying,’ Woohyun explained.
Sunggyu finally showed some interest - Why he favoured Sungyeol over everyone else? Woohyun had no clue. However, he didn’t find it very fair. ‘Really?’ Sunggyu gasped, looking worried.
‘Yeah, his plant died,’ Woohyun sighed.
Sunggyu audibly scoffed, turning back to the front.
Woohyun raised his hands in defence and chuckled, ‘I’m not even kidding, student body president.’
Sunggyu was surprised at Sungyeol’s never-ending absurdity and replied cunningly, ‘Sorry for doubting, but I always have to be sceptical with you, ex student body president.’ Sunggyu smirked and Woohyun just gaped for a second.
After regaining his senses, Woohyun laughed cockily, ‘What is there to not trust?’
‘Well, there is a rumour circulating about you being an extreme masochist,’ Sunggyu notified leisurely. He tilted his head a little as he questioned in a teasing tone that made Woohyun a bit dizzy, ‘Is that the actual reason why you wanted me to inflict violence upon you?’
‘Honestly no,’ Woohyun replied - after ignoring how fucking sexy Sunggyu was being at the moment, of course. The older student was definitely asking for it and Woohyun utterly loved it. Sunggyu was being a rebellious little tease and Woohyun couldn’t help but flirt back, ‘But I gotta admit, you looked pretty damn hot doing it.’
Sunggyu clicked his tongue at him and remarked, ‘I should hit harder next time, if you are able to see me hitting you.’
The corner of Woohyun’s lip upturned and he began to lean in a little too close to Sunggyu, invading his personal space and fighting for the oxygen between them. ‘Then next time I’ll make sure not to blink,’ he whispered, voice rich and low. Sunggyu didn’t even bat an eyelash at him and retrieved his phone, returning his full attention to it.
Woohyun immediately pouted. ‘Dammit. He’s too good.’ But that’s exactly why Woohyun liked the challenge so much.
‘Do you even learn shit while playing on your phone every class?’ Woohyun huffed, uncontrollably annoyed at the older boy’s actions.
The teacher started her lesson and began drawing squiggly things on the board (Woohyun vaguely remembered them as being chromosomes and double helix DNA strands). And so Woohyun collapsed into boredom, impatiently tapping his fingers on the side edge of his chair, looking shallowly at the wall behind the teacher. The teacher saw Woohyun’s lack of concentration and quickly became irritated. Therefore she said, ‘Okay class, we will now be learning about the molecular structure of DNA. Woohyun, do you know what DNA stands for?’
‘No,’ Woohyun muttered shamelessly. He didn’t really give a crap about what DNA stood for.
She then looked at Sunggyu, who was doing nothing but drowning pigs with colourful birds. ‘Sunggyu?’ she called.
‘Deoxyribonucleic acid,’ Sunggyu answered effortless, not even looking at her.
She prodded, ‘RNA?’
‘Ribonucleic acid,’ he answered flawlessly again. Woohyun rose an eyebrow.
She clasped her hands together and exclaimed proudly, ‘I see you remember from last year.’ Then she proceeded to blabber on about the four different nitrogenous bases, which base goes with which, difference of bases between RNA and DNA, etc. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting lecture in the world so inevitably, Woohyun fell asleep. It was a very interrupted and unbalanced sleep because Sunggyu found it fun to poke Woohyun’s side with a pencil every now and then.
Class continued that way up until the dismissal bell went off. That’s when Sunggyu gave Woohyun a particularly hard jab and stood up, making Woohyun stand up confusedly with him.
As they were walking out of the class room, Woohyun requested, ‘Want to tutor me?’
‘What? You really want to learn?’ Sunggyu asked in disbelief.
‘No,’ Woohyun retorted. He then hovered his lips next to Sunggyu’s exposed ear and murmured quietly, only loudly enough for the older student to hear, ‘Don’t you know that all students who tutor other students get fucked on a desk and come all over their books?’
Sunggyu shook his head and walked away in distaste. ‘You’re disgusting, idiot,’ he barked in a displeasing voice.
Woohyun smiled in amusement and chose to track down Sungyeol, because Sungyeol’s plant died and he was as devastated as Rose from Titanic.
-
At lunch time, Dongwoo saw Myungsoo approaching Sungyeol - who was sitting on the floor, with his head in his arms - and decided to give those two some space. Myungsoo could probably comfort Sungyeol better than he could, anyway.
Dongwoo walked down stairs and into the gymnasium as he used his telepathy to track down Howon’s whereabouts… Nah, I’m kidding. He actually texted Howon beforehand.
Howon was sitting on the middle seat, looking out towards the courts. Dongwoo took the seat beside him with a sigh of content. He apologised, ‘Sorry about recess. I just needed to give Sungyeol some moral support.’
‘Was his pot plant very meaningful to him?’ Howon questioned.
Dongwoo deadpanned, ‘Howon, he named it George and gave it a welcome home party. He thinks it was his brother in his past life.’
Howon laughed a little breathlessly as Dongwoo laughed at his own statement. After he took a sip of his bubble tea, he nodded and commented, ‘Sungyeol’s an interesting character.’
‘He’s silly at times, but he’s a good friend,’ Dongwoo chipped in, leaning back in the seat.
Howon mentioned informatively, ‘He’s taken a liking to Myungsoo.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I can tell,’ Howon explained, ‘He’s interesting, but he’s easy to read.’
‘Really?’
‘Sunggyu agrees with me.’ It was true - Sunggyu had known about Sungyeol’s odd behaviour towards his brother for a long time. First he’d detest everything about the younger and scream at him, but then he’d prank Sunggyu and Woohyun by taking every order from Myungsoo. If that wasn’t a really weird crush, neither Sunggyu nor Howon knew what is was.
‘What about Myungsoo? Does he like Sungyeol?’ Dongwoo asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in his seat.
Howon shook his head slowly. ‘He doesn’t like him, rather he’s infatuated with him.’
Dongwoo grinned slyly and wolf-whistled.
-
At lunch, Sungyeol felt a shiver up his spine as he felt someone sit next to him. He immediately knew who it was. ‘GO AWAY, YOU BUTTHEAD! I DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU TODAY!’ Sungyeol screamed, poking his head up. Myungsoo flinched at the streaks of tears running from Sungyeol’s eyes and his reddened cheeks and lips. He had a strong urge to hug him for eternity, but he figured that wouldn’t be the correct way to handle the situation.
‘Why are you crying?’ he asked, putting on that singsong voice people put on when children cried… Well, except for Sungjong. Sungjong hated kids, but that’s a different matter.
Sungyeol wailed and threw his head back, shrieking at the top of his lungs, ‘George died!’
‘Oh.’ Myungsoo immediately felt sympathy towards him, draping an arm over Sungyeol’s hunched back. ‘Did he mean a lot to you?’
‘He meant the world to me!’ Sungyeol cried, ‘Now he’s sitting there lifelessly, on my window sill.’
Myungsoo’s mouth went dry.
‘If only I gave him more food and water,’ Sungyeol mumbled, ruffling his own hair.
The younger of the two opened his mouth up, but had no idea what to say.
Sungyeol fist-pumped and exclaimed in agony, ‘I should have eaten his fruit when I had to chance!’
Myungsoo almost pissed himself. ‘W - What?’ he spat, thinking that he heard incorrectly.
‘He wasn’t even old enough for his fruit to be ripe, but I still should’ve eaten them.’
Myungsoo was more than a little freaked out and robotically patted Sungyeol’s shoulder, stammering unsurely, ‘T - There, there.’
‘If only I didn’t pee on him that one night,’ Sungyeol sniffed.
If Myungsoo was drinking something, he would’ve showered the group of freshman that walked past. ‘What?!’
Sungyeol clarified in a shaky voice, ‘Woohyun slipped me some alcohol and locked me in my room. I needed to pee so bad and George looked so thirsty, so I quenched his thirst.’
Myungsoo swallowed thickly, feeling very uncomfortable.
‘I’m going to hold a funeral for him,’ Sungyeol mumbled before returning his head to his arms. ‘And bury him in my backyard.’
‘I… forgot I needed to go somewhere,’ Myungsoo stuttered hurriedly, standing up with a stumble. ‘Yeah, that’s right. I need to go somewhere.’ He ran off into the distance and Sungyeol began to feel lonely.
Maybe someone should’ve told Myungsoo George was a plant before he had a complete mental breakdown.
-
Woohyun was holding the stethoscope protectively, pressing it against his torso. He was on the third floor, looking for Sunggyu to give it back to him. He suspected Sunggyu to be in the music room, but when he spotted him, Sunggyu was making his way down the stairs.
After catching up, Woohyun shouted, ‘Hey.’
‘Hi,’ Sunggyu greeted.
‘You left this in the music room yesterday.’ Woohyun handed Sunggyu the stethoscope and Sunggyu gladly took it. Sunggyu had forgotten he left it yesterday and went to the music room to check.
‘Oh thank you,’ Sunggyu granted, supplying a subtle smile.
Woohyun taunted, pursing his lips, ‘Don’t I get a kiss?’
‘In your dreams,’ Sunggyu scoffed, continuing to walk down the stairs.
‘You know, you can’t be mad at me if I have a wet dream about you tonight,’ Woohyun called after him.
The older student raised a hand in acknowledgement, not looking back. ‘Bye, idiot!’
‘Where are you going?’
Sunggyu smirked and turned around, looking up the stairs at the younger. ‘Bleachers,’ he answered slyly, ‘Want to come with?’
Woohyun stumbled on air. ‘N - No thanks,’ he stammered in return, making Sunggyu laugh. Before Sunggyu could disappear completely, Woohyun bolted down the stairs, two at a time, and asked, ‘Who’s the lucky one today?’
‘A junior from your campus named Lee Chanhee.’ Sunggyu quirked an eyebrow. ‘Know him?’
Woohyun licked his lips as he thought. ‘I’m afraid so,’ he uttered breathily.
Sunggyu tipped his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean I’ve hit that before.’
‘You do seem like the bullying type,’ Sunggyu approved.
‘No, I mean,’ Woohyun rejected, shaking his head. He then leaned into Sunggyu’s ear and whispered, ‘I’ve hit that ass before.’
Sunggyu looked horrified for a split second before he started walking away. ‘I’m going to pretend we did not go that far into details, but yes you do know him,’ he stated.
Woohyun chuckled, ‘Have fun smashing the shit out of under-achievers.’
‘Oh I’m already excited from the thought,’ Sunggyu said sarcastically. Woohyun laughed and watched Sunggyu’s leaving figure for a few seconds.
-
After the news of Lee Chanhee being the next on the list to get his ass kicked got out, it spread like wildfire. Every Paran student crowded at the windows and fought for a good spot to watch the show. Sungjong was walking with Yongguk until the latter forcefully pushed his way to the window. He saw Sunggyu standing before Lee Chanhee, who looked fearfully at the student body president. Yongguk clicked his tongue and shoved through the students and made his way to the exit door.
‘We’re you heading off to?’ Sungjong complained, tugging at Yongguk’s elbow.
‘Bleachers,’ Yongguk grumbled, ‘I don’t know who this Lee Chanhee kid is, but I’m saving him.’
‘You can’t,’ Sungjong protested, standing in front of him to stop him from opening the door.
The older of the two barked, ‘Well, why not?!’
Sungjong twitched his nose at him and answered through gritted teeth, ‘He did something wrong and now he has to face the consequences.’
‘All he did was skip a period and now he gets beaten senseless?’ Yongguk argued, ‘It’s fucking insanity.’
‘It’s fucking how the system works. It’s how every system works. You mess up and you get punished so you learn to not do it again.’
‘Whatever,’ Yongguk sighed, easily making his way past Sungjong and out the door.
Sungjong rolled his eyes and asked dryly, ‘You know what happens if you try to stop this?’
‘What? What could possibly happen?’
‘You become the next on the list,’ Sungjong informed.
Yongguk just walked away, heading for the bleachers. Sungjong had to admit that he was more worried than he expressed.
-
‘There is a plausible excuse for being late once or twice. Perhaps there’s even an excuse for staying home, whether it be a stomach virus or a religious event.’ Sunggyu flicked out the dirt from under his fingernail. ‘And I must admit there could also be a reasonable excuse for missing out on a period or two, being it an appointment or whatnot.’
He then grasped the junior’s shivering shoulder, his fingertips bruising against the younger boy’s skin. ‘But I do not think I slept in is an excuse that could get you out of shit in life,’ he stated darkly, eye’s turning wicked and his smiled turning scornful.
‘In your case, it won’t get you out of very deep shit.’ Sunggyu raised a fist, wetting his bottom lip with his tongue.
A foreign voice came and Sunggyu stopped what he was doing in fascination, ‘Stop!’ It was Yongguk. He stepped in front of the junior and grasped the Sunggyu’s wrist. Sunggyu didn’t hesitate.
Yongguk raged on, ‘This is fucking ridiculous! What kind of SBP are you?’
‘A very bad one,’ Sunggyu lisped, tilting his head to one side as he smiled toothlessly.
Yongguk had nothing to say to that, so he hauled Lee Chanhee to his feet and dragged him towards the entrance of the school building.
As he watched them, Sunggyu crossed his arms and thought, ‘Bang Yongguk… Sungjong has been talking about you a lot lately.’ His lip quirked as he saw Sungjong with Woohyun through the window on the first floor.
-
After the end of day bell rung, everyone crowded at the lockers. Sunggyu found Sungjong and tapped his shoulder, causing the other to turn around and look at him.
‘Sungjong,’ Sunggyu said smoothly, ‘You’re acquainted with Bang Yongguk, are you not?’
Sungjong felt dread all throughout his body. He gulped inaudibly and mumbled, ‘I am, hyung.’
‘Tell him I wish to speak with him tomorrow, at lunch time, and that I’d appreciate it if he were to meet me behind the bleachers.’ Sunggyu patted the younger boy’s shoulder and set off, leaving Sungjong to bang his head against the locker door.
‘Whether I tell Yongguk or not, either way I’m screwed.’
-
Howon was leaning against his locker, watching Sunggyu and Sungjong’s conversation. As he began walking, Sunggyu started walking beside him. They were walking to the front gates to wait for Myungsoo so they could go home together.
As they were making their way down the last staircase, Howon asked, ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’
‘Do what?’
‘Make Sungjong the messenger,’ Howon replied.
Sunggyu nodded. ‘I’m sure.’
They walked down the last hall, the one with the main exit, and Howon opinionated, ‘I personally think it’s a bad idea, since Sungjong does show a liking towards Bang Yongguk.’
‘That’s exactly why I bestowed that duty upon him,’ Sunggyu informed, pushing open the double doors.
After walking to the front gates and the red brick walls, Howon’s brow furrowed as he questioned suspiciously, ‘What are you planning?’
Sunggyu smirked. ‘I am not planning for I have already planned.’
‘So it’s true,’ Howon stated.
The older student knitted his eyebrows together. ‘What’s true?’
‘You are Myungsoo’s biological brother,’ Howon said, making Sunggyu snort and sit on the footpath. Howon sat down with him and interrogated in somewhat contempt, ‘What’s your status with Nam Woohyun, by the way? Growing to like each other?’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t think I remembered the last time I heard you start this many conversations in such a short time span,’ he changed the subject patronisingly, ‘Did Dongwoo teach you how to open your mouth, by any chance?’
‘Are you ignoring my question?’ Howon countered.
Sunggyu shrugged. ‘No, I’m depriving you of an answer.’
-
After dinner, Sunggyu took a hot shower and felt all his tensions disappear afterwards. There was nothing on his mind and his homework wasn’t due the next day… It was due the day after the next day, but he’d do it tomorrow instead. With a towel around his neck, he opened up his balcony doors and sat on the platform. The cold air made Goosebumps appear all over his arms, which were exposed by his short-sleeved tee. It was such a quiet and peaceful night that he honestly didn’t find any need in calling Woohyun to vent anything.
It was kind of worthless and stupid, but he called him anyway. Just in case.
Woohyun picked up after the first ring and all Sunggyu heard was, ‘I heard about you and Bang Yongguk.’
Sunggyu did an eye-roll and spat, ‘And hello to you too.’
‘Sunggyu, are you insane?! Do you know what that guy is capable of?’ Woohyun badgered on.
Sunggyu didn’t really care what he thought. He already knew how to deal with Bang Yongguk and he’d handled these situations for a long time. Sunggyu sighed uncaringly, ‘We shall see tomorrow.’
‘Sunggyu, he can hurt you!’ Woohyun wailed on the other line, making Sunggyu chuckle soundlessly at his ignorance. It was funny to hear how devastated Woohyun was over him. He must’ve felt really guilty for the past weeks.
Sunggyu hummed in agreement, ‘I don’t deny that fact.’
Woohyun groaned. ‘What the hell are you thinking?’
Sunggyu purposely moaned, ‘About what you’re wearing.’
The younger asked dumbly, ‘How could you - Wait... Did you just flirt with me?’ Woohyun’s breath caught in his throat and he stared into empty space.
‘You are honestly too easy, Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu scoffed. ‘Now shut up and listen.’
Woohyun pouted because he thought Sunggyu was flirting with him… And yeah, that moan just now was kind of, really pleasing to hear - not that Woohyun wanted to admit it.
‘Sungjong’s like a brother to me,’ Sunggyu started to explain, ‘Even though Sungjong acts very cocky, he is actually very vulnerable, especially when it comes to the relationships.’
Woohyun nodded, forgetting that he was on the phone.
Sunggyu took the pause as a sign to continue. ‘I’m just doing everything I can to protect him, like any brother would, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.’ He added scornfully, ‘Well, only mentally if you factor in Myungsoo.’
After hearing Sunggyu’s weird explanation, Woohyun decided to just give up. He didn’t care anymore and would deal with it tomorrow, at lunch time. The two proceeded to talk about absolute nonsense for the next ten minutes or so, until Sunggyu got sick of hearing Woohyun’s voice and hung up abruptly. Woohyun sneered at the phone and decided to go out and eat.
-
AN\ I loved writing the WooGyu in this chapter.
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven
Twelve | 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)
-
Myungsoo came home late because Sunggyu wasn’t there to stop him. After chasing after that junior he found at recess, he found out that Woohyun had already sailed that ship and would rather not rent something that had already been tested out by his friend. At least he had a little respect for morals. However, Myungsoo did manage a make-out session with some girl he’d hopefully never meet again - There was a rumour her boyfriend was either in a gang or a very violent book club. He wasn’t quite sure.
The first thing he did when he opened the door to the house was kick his shoes off hurriedly and trudge into the living area.
‘Gyu, is there something wrong with you today? Everyone keeps bothering me about you,’ Myungsoo called loudly, guessing that Sunggyu might’ve been in his room. He then saw a male figure on the couch and without thinking, approached them, thinking they were his brother. ‘Gyu?’ Myungsoo said softly. But when the figure turned around, it wasn’t Sunggyu. It was Howon, looking blankly at him. ‘Where’s Gyu-hyung?’
And then Myungsoo saw his mother next to Howon. She was crying, sobbing until her face was red and her fingers were trembling.
‘Mum?’ Myungsoo’s voice cracked.
His mother flinched and looked up, realising Myungsoo was there with his hand on her shoulder. ‘Why don’t you sleep over at Howon’s tonight?’ she laughed, trying to disguise her sadness - although the tears gave it away pretty well.
Then it vaguely hit Myungsoo that it was September and every September his mother would send him and his brother off to sleep over at Howon’s. ‘Is it the 18th today?’ Myungsoo sighed, immediately feeling guilty that he’d forgotten. ‘So that was why Sunggyu seemed so down today.’
She tried smiling at him again, but ended up crying more. She took Howon’s hand, but he didn’t respond. Even though he didn’t hold her back, she didn’t care. She knew perfectly well what Howon was like. ‘I’ll be fine in the morning, so go pack your bag, okay?’ she whispered croakily, patting Howon’s hand.
Myungsoo took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her arm a little in comfort. ‘Where’s Gyu?’ he asked.
She replied, ‘He’s in his room.’
‘Well, why isn’t he going to Howon’s with me?’
‘Myungsoo,’ she said quietly. ‘Your brother is really protective over you, huh?’
Myungsoo nodded slowly.
‘Let’s just give him a break for tonight, alright?’
Myungsoo looked over at Howon and saw him looking at the younger intently, gentle look on his face.
Their mother kissed Myungsoo’s temple and murmured against his skin, ‘I love you.’
Myungsoo wavered and Howon went up to Myungsoo’s room to start packing his things.
-
It was ten o’clock and Sunggyu was on his balcony, staring off into space. He was over-thinking just a tad too much over everything that happened that day - Woohyun catching him out, entrusting Woohyun, Nam fucking Woohyun igniting all of his suppressed feelings all at once. And with hearing Myungsoo leave with Howon and his mother still crying downstairs, Sunggyu felt utterly helpless. He didn’t know what to do and he felt so stiff and so utterly lost.
Sunggyu just needed someone to talk to.
He went back into his room and retrieved his phone, stepping back onto the balcony and leaning his elbows onto the railing. Carefully, he scrolled through his contacts and hovered his finger over Woohyun’s name, uncertain about whether or not he should call.
After about a minute of muddled contemplating, Sunggyu decided to man up. ‘What the hell am I going to say?’ Sunggyu thought, squeezing his eyes shut and clicking on Woohyun’s name, calling him.
After four rings, Woohyun picked up the phone, his voice sounding rather friendly as it was Sunggyu calling. ‘Hello?’
Sunggyu didn’t know if he should answer him.
‘Hello?’ Woohyun repeated questioningly after a while.
Sunggyu held his breath and wanted to bang his head on the railing. It was a bad idea - It was awkward as hell and he didn’t know how to start. ‘I’m having the worst day and I thought talking to you would make it better, even though you are somewhat of an untrustworthy breed. Oh and by the way, you’re completely pulverised if you were to tell anybody about my weakest state.’ Yeah, no. Wasn’t that easy.
Before Sunggyu could hang up, Woohyun spoke again, ‘Sunggyu, seriously. If something is wrong, you can tell me.’ There was a small pause before Woohyun asked warily, ‘Are you there?’
‘I’m here,’ Sunggyu said quietly, partly hoping the younger wouldn’t hear and hang up.
After letting out a huff, he could practically hear Woohyun’s smile on the other line as the younger asked, ‘So how are you?’
Sunggyu swallowed thickly and begun talking about just the simple things, nothing too serious or too personal. It was pretty much all small talk and Woohyun was a man of his word - He listened to every syllable that came out of the phone and, more importantly, he understood it. They didn’t say much, they only talked for about ten minutes, but afterwards Sunggyu felt so much lighter. He felt like something was gone and it was a good thing it was gone.
Maybe that’s all Sunggyu needed - not really someone to talk to, but rather someone who’d listen to everything.
-
Woohyun was walking down the hall, frowning as neither Dongwoo or Sungyeol were replying to his texts. He knew Myungsoo was probably flirting up a few students - possibly even a teacher - so it was no use in trying to contact him. The only option left was Sunggyu, but something told him that Sunggyu’s number was reserved only for after school hours. Something told him the number was only for identification for when Sunggyu called or texted to talk. Last night was really pleasant for Woohyun. Sunggyu was talking about this and that, the weather and whatnot, and Woohyun loved the way his voice sounded through the phone. Of course it sounded better in real life, but Woohyun liked it because it was the most Sunggyu had talked to him since they met.
He hoped it wasn’t the last time he saw Sunggyu’s name flash onto his screen.
Before he knew it, he saw Dongwoo and Sungyeol. Sungyeol was crying into the older student’s shoulder, mumbling incoherent things as Dongwoo tried to shush him.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ Dongwoo hushed softly, rubbing Sungyeol’s back up and down.
‘Sungyeol?’ Woohyun gasped, placing two hands on the mentioned boy’s hips. ‘Why are you crying, baby?’ It wasn’t weird to call Sungyeol baby in that situation. Woohyun would always call Sungyeol baby when he was crying because he kind of looked like an innocent, huggable baby when he cried. Dongwoo told Woohyun that every time he called Sungyeol baby he looked like a father comforting his little daughter - Woohyun would just flip him off and cuddle Sungyeol until he stopped sobbing.
Sungyeol panted, ‘George… George…’
Woohyun crooked an eyebrow and Dongwoo decided to finish the sentence for him, ‘George… went to potted plant heaven.’
Sungyeol cried even harder.
Woohyun let out a massive sigh and hugged Sungyeol from behind, patting down his messed-up hair. He had gotten use to Sungyeol’s odd love for inanimate objects - in this case, his potted strawberry plant.
‘Oh no, poor thing,’ Woohyun murmured, ‘George was a good friend, wasn’t he?’
Sungyeol clenched a tight fist as he wailed, his tears somewhat streaming into his mouth, ‘FOR THE SEVEN-POINT-EIGHT-THREE WEEKS I HAD HIM, HE WAS THE BEST PLANT ANYONE CAN ASK FOR.’
Since Woohyun was there, Dongwoo was able to finally let go of Sungyeol. He noticed eyes on him and turned around, spotting Howon giving him a questioning look.
Dongwoo grimaced and said, ‘He’s crying because he lost a special friend this morning.’
Howon nodded and stood there, as if waiting for Dongwoo to finish.
Woohyun threw the oldest of the present group a scowl as he snapped, ‘How the hell did you know he wanted to know that?’
‘I don’t know. He just gave me the look.’ Dongwoo shrugged.
Woohyun scoffed, squeezing Sungyeol’s waist as the latter sniffed into his neck, ‘I’ll never understand you two for as long as I live.’
-
Woohyun made it into biology just as the bell sounded. Unsurprisingly, Sunggyu was gaming on his phone as he sat beside him.
‘Hey,’ Woohyun greeted, small smile on his face.
Sunggyu didn’t respond, but gave Woohyun a glance of acknowledgement.
While stretching his arm muscles, Woohyun asked through a strained voice, ‘So what’s the game of the day?’
‘Angry Birds,’ Sunggyu answered simply, flicking his green bird onto the platform and killing two pigs.
Woohyun snorted at his reply. ‘Horrible choice, in my opinion,’ he commented.
Sunggyu then exited the game, having had lost and looked over at Woohyun. He made a face at the wet patch on the fabric on Woohyun’s left shoulder. The look made the younger follow his line of sight and grimace at what Sunggyu was looking at.
‘Um, Sungyeol was crying,’ Woohyun explained.
Sunggyu finally showed some interest - Why he favoured Sungyeol over everyone else? Woohyun had no clue. However, he didn’t find it very fair. ‘Really?’ Sunggyu gasped, looking worried.
‘Yeah, his plant died,’ Woohyun sighed.
Sunggyu audibly scoffed, turning back to the front.
Woohyun raised his hands in defence and chuckled, ‘I’m not even kidding, student body president.’
Sunggyu was surprised at Sungyeol’s never-ending absurdity and replied cunningly, ‘Sorry for doubting, but I always have to be sceptical with you, ex student body president.’ Sunggyu smirked and Woohyun just gaped for a second.
After regaining his senses, Woohyun laughed cockily, ‘What is there to not trust?’
‘Well, there is a rumour circulating about you being an extreme masochist,’ Sunggyu notified leisurely. He tilted his head a little as he questioned in a teasing tone that made Woohyun a bit dizzy, ‘Is that the actual reason why you wanted me to inflict violence upon you?’
‘Honestly no,’ Woohyun replied - after ignoring how fucking sexy Sunggyu was being at the moment, of course. The older student was definitely asking for it and Woohyun utterly loved it. Sunggyu was being a rebellious little tease and Woohyun couldn’t help but flirt back, ‘But I gotta admit, you looked pretty damn hot doing it.’
Sunggyu clicked his tongue at him and remarked, ‘I should hit harder next time, if you are able to see me hitting you.’
The corner of Woohyun’s lip upturned and he began to lean in a little too close to Sunggyu, invading his personal space and fighting for the oxygen between them. ‘Then next time I’ll make sure not to blink,’ he whispered, voice rich and low. Sunggyu didn’t even bat an eyelash at him and retrieved his phone, returning his full attention to it.
Woohyun immediately pouted. ‘Dammit. He’s too good.’ But that’s exactly why Woohyun liked the challenge so much.
‘Do you even learn shit while playing on your phone every class?’ Woohyun huffed, uncontrollably annoyed at the older boy’s actions.
The teacher started her lesson and began drawing squiggly things on the board (Woohyun vaguely remembered them as being chromosomes and double helix DNA strands). And so Woohyun collapsed into boredom, impatiently tapping his fingers on the side edge of his chair, looking shallowly at the wall behind the teacher. The teacher saw Woohyun’s lack of concentration and quickly became irritated. Therefore she said, ‘Okay class, we will now be learning about the molecular structure of DNA. Woohyun, do you know what DNA stands for?’
‘No,’ Woohyun muttered shamelessly. He didn’t really give a crap about what DNA stood for.
She then looked at Sunggyu, who was doing nothing but drowning pigs with colourful birds. ‘Sunggyu?’ she called.
‘Deoxyribonucleic acid,’ Sunggyu answered effortless, not even looking at her.
She prodded, ‘RNA?’
‘Ribonucleic acid,’ he answered flawlessly again. Woohyun rose an eyebrow.
She clasped her hands together and exclaimed proudly, ‘I see you remember from last year.’ Then she proceeded to blabber on about the four different nitrogenous bases, which base goes with which, difference of bases between RNA and DNA, etc. It wasn’t exactly the most exciting lecture in the world so inevitably, Woohyun fell asleep. It was a very interrupted and unbalanced sleep because Sunggyu found it fun to poke Woohyun’s side with a pencil every now and then.
Class continued that way up until the dismissal bell went off. That’s when Sunggyu gave Woohyun a particularly hard jab and stood up, making Woohyun stand up confusedly with him.
As they were walking out of the class room, Woohyun requested, ‘Want to tutor me?’
‘What? You really want to learn?’ Sunggyu asked in disbelief.
‘No,’ Woohyun retorted. He then hovered his lips next to Sunggyu’s exposed ear and murmured quietly, only loudly enough for the older student to hear, ‘Don’t you know that all students who tutor other students get fucked on a desk and come all over their books?’
Sunggyu shook his head and walked away in distaste. ‘You’re disgusting, idiot,’ he barked in a displeasing voice.
Woohyun smiled in amusement and chose to track down Sungyeol, because Sungyeol’s plant died and he was as devastated as Rose from Titanic.
-
At lunch time, Dongwoo saw Myungsoo approaching Sungyeol - who was sitting on the floor, with his head in his arms - and decided to give those two some space. Myungsoo could probably comfort Sungyeol better than he could, anyway.
Dongwoo walked down stairs and into the gymnasium as he used his telepathy to track down Howon’s whereabouts… Nah, I’m kidding. He actually texted Howon beforehand.
Howon was sitting on the middle seat, looking out towards the courts. Dongwoo took the seat beside him with a sigh of content. He apologised, ‘Sorry about recess. I just needed to give Sungyeol some moral support.’
‘Was his pot plant very meaningful to him?’ Howon questioned.
Dongwoo deadpanned, ‘Howon, he named it George and gave it a welcome home party. He thinks it was his brother in his past life.’
Howon laughed a little breathlessly as Dongwoo laughed at his own statement. After he took a sip of his bubble tea, he nodded and commented, ‘Sungyeol’s an interesting character.’
‘He’s silly at times, but he’s a good friend,’ Dongwoo chipped in, leaning back in the seat.
Howon mentioned informatively, ‘He’s taken a liking to Myungsoo.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I can tell,’ Howon explained, ‘He’s interesting, but he’s easy to read.’
‘Really?’
‘Sunggyu agrees with me.’ It was true - Sunggyu had known about Sungyeol’s odd behaviour towards his brother for a long time. First he’d detest everything about the younger and scream at him, but then he’d prank Sunggyu and Woohyun by taking every order from Myungsoo. If that wasn’t a really weird crush, neither Sunggyu nor Howon knew what is was.
‘What about Myungsoo? Does he like Sungyeol?’ Dongwoo asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in his seat.
Howon shook his head slowly. ‘He doesn’t like him, rather he’s infatuated with him.’
Dongwoo grinned slyly and wolf-whistled.
-
At lunch, Sungyeol felt a shiver up his spine as he felt someone sit next to him. He immediately knew who it was. ‘GO AWAY, YOU BUTTHEAD! I DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU TODAY!’ Sungyeol screamed, poking his head up. Myungsoo flinched at the streaks of tears running from Sungyeol’s eyes and his reddened cheeks and lips. He had a strong urge to hug him for eternity, but he figured that wouldn’t be the correct way to handle the situation.
‘Why are you crying?’ he asked, putting on that singsong voice people put on when children cried… Well, except for Sungjong. Sungjong hated kids, but that’s a different matter.
Sungyeol wailed and threw his head back, shrieking at the top of his lungs, ‘George died!’
‘Oh.’ Myungsoo immediately felt sympathy towards him, draping an arm over Sungyeol’s hunched back. ‘Did he mean a lot to you?’
‘He meant the world to me!’ Sungyeol cried, ‘Now he’s sitting there lifelessly, on my window sill.’
Myungsoo’s mouth went dry.
‘If only I gave him more food and water,’ Sungyeol mumbled, ruffling his own hair.
The younger of the two opened his mouth up, but had no idea what to say.
Sungyeol fist-pumped and exclaimed in agony, ‘I should have eaten his fruit when I had to chance!’
Myungsoo almost pissed himself. ‘W - What?’ he spat, thinking that he heard incorrectly.
‘He wasn’t even old enough for his fruit to be ripe, but I still should’ve eaten them.’
Myungsoo was more than a little freaked out and robotically patted Sungyeol’s shoulder, stammering unsurely, ‘T - There, there.’
‘If only I didn’t pee on him that one night,’ Sungyeol sniffed.
If Myungsoo was drinking something, he would’ve showered the group of freshman that walked past. ‘What?!’
Sungyeol clarified in a shaky voice, ‘Woohyun slipped me some alcohol and locked me in my room. I needed to pee so bad and George looked so thirsty, so I quenched his thirst.’
Myungsoo swallowed thickly, feeling very uncomfortable.
‘I’m going to hold a funeral for him,’ Sungyeol mumbled before returning his head to his arms. ‘And bury him in my backyard.’
‘I… forgot I needed to go somewhere,’ Myungsoo stuttered hurriedly, standing up with a stumble. ‘Yeah, that’s right. I need to go somewhere.’ He ran off into the distance and Sungyeol began to feel lonely.
Maybe someone should’ve told Myungsoo George was a plant before he had a complete mental breakdown.
-
Woohyun was holding the stethoscope protectively, pressing it against his torso. He was on the third floor, looking for Sunggyu to give it back to him. He suspected Sunggyu to be in the music room, but when he spotted him, Sunggyu was making his way down the stairs.
After catching up, Woohyun shouted, ‘Hey.’
‘Hi,’ Sunggyu greeted.
‘You left this in the music room yesterday.’ Woohyun handed Sunggyu the stethoscope and Sunggyu gladly took it. Sunggyu had forgotten he left it yesterday and went to the music room to check.
‘Oh thank you,’ Sunggyu granted, supplying a subtle smile.
Woohyun taunted, pursing his lips, ‘Don’t I get a kiss?’
‘In your dreams,’ Sunggyu scoffed, continuing to walk down the stairs.
‘You know, you can’t be mad at me if I have a wet dream about you tonight,’ Woohyun called after him.
The older student raised a hand in acknowledgement, not looking back. ‘Bye, idiot!’
‘Where are you going?’
Sunggyu smirked and turned around, looking up the stairs at the younger. ‘Bleachers,’ he answered slyly, ‘Want to come with?’
Woohyun stumbled on air. ‘N - No thanks,’ he stammered in return, making Sunggyu laugh. Before Sunggyu could disappear completely, Woohyun bolted down the stairs, two at a time, and asked, ‘Who’s the lucky one today?’
‘A junior from your campus named Lee Chanhee.’ Sunggyu quirked an eyebrow. ‘Know him?’
Woohyun licked his lips as he thought. ‘I’m afraid so,’ he uttered breathily.
Sunggyu tipped his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean I’ve hit that before.’
‘You do seem like the bullying type,’ Sunggyu approved.
‘No, I mean,’ Woohyun rejected, shaking his head. He then leaned into Sunggyu’s ear and whispered, ‘I’ve hit that ass before.’
Sunggyu looked horrified for a split second before he started walking away. ‘I’m going to pretend we did not go that far into details, but yes you do know him,’ he stated.
Woohyun chuckled, ‘Have fun smashing the shit out of under-achievers.’
‘Oh I’m already excited from the thought,’ Sunggyu said sarcastically. Woohyun laughed and watched Sunggyu’s leaving figure for a few seconds.
-
After the news of Lee Chanhee being the next on the list to get his ass kicked got out, it spread like wildfire. Every Paran student crowded at the windows and fought for a good spot to watch the show. Sungjong was walking with Yongguk until the latter forcefully pushed his way to the window. He saw Sunggyu standing before Lee Chanhee, who looked fearfully at the student body president. Yongguk clicked his tongue and shoved through the students and made his way to the exit door.
‘We’re you heading off to?’ Sungjong complained, tugging at Yongguk’s elbow.
‘Bleachers,’ Yongguk grumbled, ‘I don’t know who this Lee Chanhee kid is, but I’m saving him.’
‘You can’t,’ Sungjong protested, standing in front of him to stop him from opening the door.
The older of the two barked, ‘Well, why not?!’
Sungjong twitched his nose at him and answered through gritted teeth, ‘He did something wrong and now he has to face the consequences.’
‘All he did was skip a period and now he gets beaten senseless?’ Yongguk argued, ‘It’s fucking insanity.’
‘It’s fucking how the system works. It’s how every system works. You mess up and you get punished so you learn to not do it again.’
‘Whatever,’ Yongguk sighed, easily making his way past Sungjong and out the door.
Sungjong rolled his eyes and asked dryly, ‘You know what happens if you try to stop this?’
‘What? What could possibly happen?’
‘You become the next on the list,’ Sungjong informed.
Yongguk just walked away, heading for the bleachers. Sungjong had to admit that he was more worried than he expressed.
-
‘There is a plausible excuse for being late once or twice. Perhaps there’s even an excuse for staying home, whether it be a stomach virus or a religious event.’ Sunggyu flicked out the dirt from under his fingernail. ‘And I must admit there could also be a reasonable excuse for missing out on a period or two, being it an appointment or whatnot.’
He then grasped the junior’s shivering shoulder, his fingertips bruising against the younger boy’s skin. ‘But I do not think I slept in is an excuse that could get you out of shit in life,’ he stated darkly, eye’s turning wicked and his smiled turning scornful.
‘In your case, it won’t get you out of very deep shit.’ Sunggyu raised a fist, wetting his bottom lip with his tongue.
A foreign voice came and Sunggyu stopped what he was doing in fascination, ‘Stop!’ It was Yongguk. He stepped in front of the junior and grasped the Sunggyu’s wrist. Sunggyu didn’t hesitate.
Yongguk raged on, ‘This is fucking ridiculous! What kind of SBP are you?’
‘A very bad one,’ Sunggyu lisped, tilting his head to one side as he smiled toothlessly.
Yongguk had nothing to say to that, so he hauled Lee Chanhee to his feet and dragged him towards the entrance of the school building.
As he watched them, Sunggyu crossed his arms and thought, ‘Bang Yongguk… Sungjong has been talking about you a lot lately.’ His lip quirked as he saw Sungjong with Woohyun through the window on the first floor.
-
After the end of day bell rung, everyone crowded at the lockers. Sunggyu found Sungjong and tapped his shoulder, causing the other to turn around and look at him.
‘Sungjong,’ Sunggyu said smoothly, ‘You’re acquainted with Bang Yongguk, are you not?’
Sungjong felt dread all throughout his body. He gulped inaudibly and mumbled, ‘I am, hyung.’
‘Tell him I wish to speak with him tomorrow, at lunch time, and that I’d appreciate it if he were to meet me behind the bleachers.’ Sunggyu patted the younger boy’s shoulder and set off, leaving Sungjong to bang his head against the locker door.
‘Whether I tell Yongguk or not, either way I’m screwed.’
-
Howon was leaning against his locker, watching Sunggyu and Sungjong’s conversation. As he began walking, Sunggyu started walking beside him. They were walking to the front gates to wait for Myungsoo so they could go home together.
As they were making their way down the last staircase, Howon asked, ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’
‘Do what?’
‘Make Sungjong the messenger,’ Howon replied.
Sunggyu nodded. ‘I’m sure.’
They walked down the last hall, the one with the main exit, and Howon opinionated, ‘I personally think it’s a bad idea, since Sungjong does show a liking towards Bang Yongguk.’
‘That’s exactly why I bestowed that duty upon him,’ Sunggyu informed, pushing open the double doors.
After walking to the front gates and the red brick walls, Howon’s brow furrowed as he questioned suspiciously, ‘What are you planning?’
Sunggyu smirked. ‘I am not planning for I have already planned.’
‘So it’s true,’ Howon stated.
The older student knitted his eyebrows together. ‘What’s true?’
‘You are Myungsoo’s biological brother,’ Howon said, making Sunggyu snort and sit on the footpath. Howon sat down with him and interrogated in somewhat contempt, ‘What’s your status with Nam Woohyun, by the way? Growing to like each other?’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t think I remembered the last time I heard you start this many conversations in such a short time span,’ he changed the subject patronisingly, ‘Did Dongwoo teach you how to open your mouth, by any chance?’
‘Are you ignoring my question?’ Howon countered.
Sunggyu shrugged. ‘No, I’m depriving you of an answer.’
-
After dinner, Sunggyu took a hot shower and felt all his tensions disappear afterwards. There was nothing on his mind and his homework wasn’t due the next day… It was due the day after the next day, but he’d do it tomorrow instead. With a towel around his neck, he opened up his balcony doors and sat on the platform. The cold air made Goosebumps appear all over his arms, which were exposed by his short-sleeved tee. It was such a quiet and peaceful night that he honestly didn’t find any need in calling Woohyun to vent anything.
It was kind of worthless and stupid, but he called him anyway. Just in case.
Woohyun picked up after the first ring and all Sunggyu heard was, ‘I heard about you and Bang Yongguk.’
Sunggyu did an eye-roll and spat, ‘And hello to you too.’
‘Sunggyu, are you insane?! Do you know what that guy is capable of?’ Woohyun badgered on.
Sunggyu didn’t really care what he thought. He already knew how to deal with Bang Yongguk and he’d handled these situations for a long time. Sunggyu sighed uncaringly, ‘We shall see tomorrow.’
‘Sunggyu, he can hurt you!’ Woohyun wailed on the other line, making Sunggyu chuckle soundlessly at his ignorance. It was funny to hear how devastated Woohyun was over him. He must’ve felt really guilty for the past weeks.
Sunggyu hummed in agreement, ‘I don’t deny that fact.’
Woohyun groaned. ‘What the hell are you thinking?’
Sunggyu purposely moaned, ‘About what you’re wearing.’
The younger asked dumbly, ‘How could you - Wait... Did you just flirt with me?’ Woohyun’s breath caught in his throat and he stared into empty space.
‘You are honestly too easy, Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu scoffed. ‘Now shut up and listen.’
Woohyun pouted because he thought Sunggyu was flirting with him… And yeah, that moan just now was kind of, really pleasing to hear - not that Woohyun wanted to admit it.
‘Sungjong’s like a brother to me,’ Sunggyu started to explain, ‘Even though Sungjong acts very cocky, he is actually very vulnerable, especially when it comes to the relationships.’
Woohyun nodded, forgetting that he was on the phone.
Sunggyu took the pause as a sign to continue. ‘I’m just doing everything I can to protect him, like any brother would, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.’ He added scornfully, ‘Well, only mentally if you factor in Myungsoo.’
After hearing Sunggyu’s weird explanation, Woohyun decided to just give up. He didn’t care anymore and would deal with it tomorrow, at lunch time. The two proceeded to talk about absolute nonsense for the next ten minutes or so, until Sunggyu got sick of hearing Woohyun’s voice and hung up abruptly. Woohyun sneered at the phone and decided to go out and eat.
-
AN\ I loved writing the WooGyu in this chapter.
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