130121 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: TWENTY-FIVE
Collide
Twenty-five | 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)
-[an: extremely WooGyu packed chapter ahead of you…]
‘Dammit, Woohyun,’ Sunggyu nagged, ‘Your house feels like bloody hell.’
Woohyun closed the door behind him and droned, ‘I forgot to turn the heater off, okay? And when the fuck did you start talking like you’re from a British sitcom.’
‘That’s very stereotypical.’
‘I’m usually cliché,’ Woohyun scoffed. ‘So what brings you here?’
It was Saturday and Sunggyu didn’t have work. Since he was bored, he ended up walking to Woohyun’s house, inevitably without a coat on - Woohyun was a little cross at that, but didn’t expect anything less from the older boy.
‘Hot chocolate,’ Sunggyu said simply, quickly finding Woohyun’s couch.
‘Of course,’ Woohyun sighed, walking to the kitchen.
Sunggyu got up from the couch, having only had sat down for three seconds, and walked over to the kitchen with his hands on his hips. ‘And I wanted to ask you something,’ he stated.
Woohyun was rummaging in the cabinets as he looked up and hummed, ‘Mm?’
‘Have you ever been in love before?’ Sunggyu asked quite bluntly, making the younger student almost drop the saucepan from his hand.
‘W - What?’ Woohyun stuttered, eyes widening at Sunggyu.
‘Myungsoo,’ Sunggyu clarified, ‘I want to know if he’s being serious and it’s not just a phase.’
It’s weird, in Woohyun’s opinion, that Sunggyu expected him to know things about love. Woohyun knew jack shit when it came to proper relationships - the cruel, disposable type was his area of expertise. But maybe that’s why Sunggyu asked him - Sunggyu’s brother worked in the same area as Woohyun.
Sunggyu had to admit he was worried over his brother’s behaviour, although he was sceptical because, no matter what, his brother was Kim Myungsoo. Myungsoo had no appetite, spent every hour in his room, spending his days listening to sappy songs, and being overly sarcastic. Frankly, Sunggyu was sick of it. Heartbroken syndrome wasn’t only horrible for the victim, it was hell for the victim’s family too.
‘It’s not,’ Woohyun said, pretty sure he was right.
Sunggyu furrowed his brow and looked towards the ground in thought. ‘How do you know?’
‘You know, Myungsoo and I aren’t very different - Well, we weren’t,’ Woohyun chuckled, ‘I used to get drunk, sleep around all the time, play anyone stupid enough.’
Sunggyu nodded. He’d suspected that Woohyun was just as much as a horndog as his brother, according to all the rumours. Rumours derived from somewhere, anyway.
‘So I know that it is hard to change and not many things can change you,’ Woohyun continued. ‘Myungsoo has quit the habit, so I’m guessing that Sungyeol changed Myungsoo.’
The answer made Sunggyu confused, tipping his head to one side. Didn’t that mean something changed Woohyun too? Woohyun wasn’t the same person he used to be, according to what Sunggyu heard around the school. Woohyun smiled a little bit at him and Sunggyu questioned in curiosity, ‘So what changed you?’
Woohyun froze up at the unexpected question. ‘What?’
‘What changed you?’ Sunggyu repeated, same straightforward tone.
There was a pause, Woohyun’s mind moving a mile a minute. He didn’t know what to say. It was true that he’d change - it was even evident to him - but how? How was he meant to answer that? Woohyun was going to say something, anything that came to mind at that moment, but the door slammed open.
‘Woohyun, we’re here!’ came a cheery voice.
Sunggyu looked to his right to see two women come in with their big handbags and even bigger smiles. ‘Who are they?’ he asked Woohyun quietly, not wanting to offend the new arrivals in any way. He was always a polite and decent young man.
Woohyun grunted, somewhat frustrated, ‘The maids.’
‘You have maids?’ Sunggyu clicked his tongue. Damn, Woohyun’s parents were rich and it seemed like that didn’t bother with Woohyun, which the other indicated was exactly the case.
The two maids practically suffocated Woohyun with hugs and kisses, making Sunggyu laugh. The hearty laugh alerted them and so they let go of Woohyun and questioned, ‘Who’s this?’
Sunggyu introduced himself with a well-mannered bow and a bright voice, ‘I’m Sunggyu. I attend the same school as Woohyun.’
They narrowed their eyes on him and grabbed an arm each, peering directly into his eyes. ‘You have a girlfriend? I could get you one instead of sleeping with him,’ one of them ranted, using her thumb to point at an annoyed Woohyun.
Sunggyu waved his hands at the misunderstanding. ‘No, we weren’t going to -‘
‘Thank heavens!’ the other maid cheered, giving Sunggyu a tight hug. Woohyun chuckled a little at this, recalling that Sunggyu didn’t like touching.
Woohyun interrupted them by asking, ‘Why are you here?’
Hearing Woohyun’s voice, they let Sunggyu breathe and paced through the house, into the living room, inspecting everything. Woohyun and Sunggyu followed along. ‘Well, we haven’t been here in a while and we figured you’d trash the place by now,’ the oldest maid deadpanned dryly. She then shot Woohyun a lopsided smile, scoffing, ‘Guess not. No party, huh?’
Woohyun showed a genuine smile, shaking his head. ‘Nope.’
‘I’m proud, but there is no work for us to do!’ she squealed, pinching Woohyun’s cheeks - not that there was much to pinch. Sunggyu took note to watch out.
Woohyun snorted, shrugging the offending fingers off, ‘Get out then.’
They then trotted back to the kitchen, muttering, ‘But you have a guest! I’m sure we can cook up something.’
‘No, it’s fine. You don’t have to,’ Sunggyu insisted.
‘It’s not a problem, sweetie.’
Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line. He then lied, ‘Actually, we were just leaving.’
Sunggyu felt someone nudge him and glared at Woohyun’s elbow as it pressed into his arm. ‘Yeah, we were going to… my house?’ Sunggyu spat out, a quizzical expression on his face.
The maids sighed and then trudged over to the door. ‘Oh well, we better be on our way then.’
‘Have fun, you two!’ she called, waving as they stepped out of the house, closing the door behind them.
As soon as the door clicked, Woohyun turned to Sunggyu with a raised eyebrow. ‘Why your house?’ he quipped.
‘I couldn’t think of anything else, I apologise,’ Sunggyu said dryly, making his way back to Woohyun’s comfy couch. Before he could, Woohyun caught his arm and Sunggyu almost through it right back at him. He was unwantedly touched more than enough that day.
‘Let’s go then,’ Woohyun laughed.
‘Sorry?’ Sunggyu mumbled, not knowing what the other was implying.
‘Let’s go to your house then. I haven’t been there in a while.’
-
Myungsoo lost count of how many times he tried to call Sungyeol since the incident. He hadn’t picked up the phone or replied to his text once. At school on Friday, Sungyeol avoided Myungsoo like he was a zombie. He even jumped into a recycling bin to avoid the younger student. Myungsoo was gutted, really. He didn’t know what to do.
Even though he tried a billion times, Myungsoo got nothing in return when he called. That Saturday, he was lying on his bed, being miserable. He picked up his mobile again and clicked on Sungyeol’s number, which was now number one of speed dial.
Surprisingly, the ringing stopped and he heard a faint, ‘Hello?’
Myungsoo immediately shot up from his bed and pressed the phone against his ear, exclaiming, ‘Sungyeol?!’
‘No, this is his father…’ he heard, ‘Who is this?’
His father?
Myungsoo didn’t dare to say I had sex with your son and now I realise I’m in love with him, but he’s avoiding me. Could you kindly get him to talk to me? Yeah, thanks. Instead, he hung up the phone without a word and groaned into his pillow.
‘Fucking kill me,’ he mumbled to himself, hoping someone would come flying through his bedroom window and put him out of his misery - something quick and painless though, none of that skinned-and-bled-to-death crap.
-
When they pulled up at Sunggyu’s house, Sunggyu spotted the familiar red car in their driveway. He looked at the time and wondered why his mother was home so early. Nonetheless, they got out of the car and into the house. When they walked in, Sunggyu saw his mother in the kitchen, cooking up lunch - which was also going to be Myungsoo’s breakfast because that lazy asshole could sleep like he was in a coma, especially when he was heartbroken, Sunggyu noticed.
Sunggyu went to greet his mum first, Woohyun trailing behind because he didn’t think he’d been to the house enough to allow himself to go wherever he pleased without permission.
Sunggyu exclaimed, ‘Mum? Why are you here?’
‘I got let off early because I slipped and sprained an ankle,’ his mother replied simply.
Sunggyu’s face immediately fell with concern. He squatted down, inspecting her bandaged foot. ‘Let me see,’ he pestered, earning a kick with said sprained ankle for being a worrywart.
‘It’s fine,’ she insisted, kicking him until he fell on his butt in emphasis that she was okay. Sunggyu shot her a glare, his mother shooting it back right at his face, and stood up from the kitchen tiles.
‘It’s rather fortunate you work at the hospital,’ he scoffed, cringing at the mess she made. Sunggyu never understood how a nurse could work in such a messy environment. He theorised the hospital was such a sterile place that she had to be messy at home just to balance herself out. OCD isn’t pleasant, you know.
‘I know right,’ she snorted like a freaking teenage girl. She acted like one on too many occasions, in Sunggyu’s opinion. She looked up from the chopping board and caught eye with Woohyun, who almost shat himself. Her eyes were sharp and her cat-style eyeliner didn’t help. She looked suspiciously at him before she murmured to Sunggyu, ‘Who’s this?’
‘This is Woohyun. He goes to Paran as well,’ Sunggyu said uncaringly, gladly taking the chicken salad sandwich his mother passed to him.
Woohyun bowed and politely-but-awkwardly said, ‘It’s nice to meet you.’
She then gave Woohyun the up-down. After grabbing Sunggyu around the shoulders, she whispered, although Woohyun could hear it perfectly fine, ‘Has Myungsoo influenced you?’
It took a few moments for the two boys to realise what she meant, especially Woohyun because he didn’t really know what their mother was like.
‘…What?’ Sunggyu sighed, his jaw dropping slightly at his mother’s assumption.
She then clutched Woohyun’s sleeve and turned him around, scanning over his back-view. ‘I have to admit, you’ve got good taste,’ she clucked in content.
Sunggyu groaned, ‘Mum, he’s not -‘
‘He was a hard can to pry open, huh?’ she whispered loudly to Woohyun.
And then Woohyun realised what she meant - Oh how Sunggyu’s mother wanted her son to get laid. ‘Very hard,’ Woohyun kidded, smirking at Sunggyu.
Sunggyu gritted his teeth. ‘Mum, he’s just a friend.’
‘A very good-looking friend,’ she added, patting Woohyun’s shoulder. What he didn’t know was she was checking his shoulder strength, meaning how rough he would be on her son.
‘Mum, honestly,’ Sunggyu huffed in exasperation.
She whined childishly, ‘You haven’t brought someone over since Howon! I already fawn over him, so why can’t I fawn over this one too?’
‘You can have him actually,’ Sunggyu said, pushing Woohyun to her, ‘Just take him.’
‘I’d rather you keep him.’
Woohyun mumbled, twitching his head, ‘Do I have a say in this?’
‘Of course you do! You want your owner to be Sunggyu, am I wrong?’ Sunggyu’s mother cooed. She then pushed the two boys towards the staircase and sang happily, ‘Now go upstairs and I’ll pretend I can’t hear you!’
As they began trudging up the stairs, Woohyun mentioned fondly, ‘I see where Myungsoo gets his personality from.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t you feel sorry for me? I have to thrive with two Myungsoos.’
‘It must be fun though.’
There was a large family portrait on the wall, catching Woohyun’s attention. Sunggyu noticed and gazed at the photo with him, standing only one stair above him.
‘I feel like a parent to a thirty-nine year old,’ Sunggyu sighed, feeling rather sorry for himself.
‘Is that why your mum looks so young?’
‘Her and dad got married early,’ Sunggyu explained, looking at his father’s smiling face in the photo.
Woohyun asked as he too looked at Sunggyu’s father, ‘Have I ever told you that you and your brother look nothing like each other, or your parents?’
‘We get that a lot actually,’ Sunggyu chuckled. His smile then fell as his hand met his father’s hand in the photo. Woohyun watched his crestfallen expression silently, noticing how Sunggyu’s fingertips were trembling as they met the cold glass of the photo frame. Sunggyu continued, his voice barely heard, ‘But I was always told that I acted like him because we were so close.’
Woohyun sucked in a sharp breath. He looked down, glancing at Sunggyu’s other hand hanging limply from his wrist. Woohyun slowly intertwined their fingers, Sunggyu showing no reaction in return. When Woohyun’s fingers were fully threaded with Sunggyu’s, he squeezed the cold palm a little.
Before either of them said anything to do with the action, Sunggyu shook him off, muttering, ‘Let’s go to my room.’
-
After entering Sunggyu’s room, the two boys inevitably began arguing about the strangest of things. Woohyun made another strange dick joke, making Sunggyu snap as he hit Woohyun’s head, ‘Idiot!’
‘I’m smarter than you think,’ Woohyun retorted, sitting down on the floor.
Sunggyu scorned, ‘Oh really? Which subjects are you passing again?’
‘But have you ever seen me actually try in class?’
Has he? ‘True. I haven’t,’ Sunggyu admitted attentively. ‘Well, why don’t you?’
Woohyun instantly scoffed at that, ‘What’s the point?’
With his nose scrunched, Sunggyu somewhat glared at the other. ‘Getting a job, earning money, having a future,’ he spat matter-of-factly. The younger boy was beginning to get on his nerves. In Sunggyu’s opinion, education was a priority above all else. He was taught that learning things and knowledge got you places.
‘Getting a job to earn money to have a future. That’s how it works, right?’ Woohyun mused, lopsided smile gracing his lips.
‘Yes,’ Sunggyu answered sternly, sitting on the edge of his bed.
‘Well, if my parents are just going to keep shoving money in my face, why get a job?’ Woohyun questioned, ‘You see my point?’
Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at Woohyun, who was still sitting on the floor in front of him. He snapped, ‘How you think is absolutely absurd. Do you really want to have to depend on your parents for the rest of your life?’
‘Sunggyu,’ Woohyun sighed, ‘You don’t get it. It’s not that I want to, but in a way I will always belong to them, so they get a say in everything they can stick their noses into.’
Sunggyu nodded a little, finally beginning to understand. Woohyun’s parents weren’t like his and they didn’t care. He couldn’t really argue against something he didn’t understand.
‘Why do you think I rebel?’ Woohyun chuckled.
With a pout, Sunggyu kicked his side. ‘Because you’re a dumbass,’ he mumbled.
‘Let’s improve my grades then,’ Woohyun said all of a sudden.
Sunggyu rose an eyebrow. ‘What?’
‘Let’s do it. The tutoring thing,’ he explained, standing up while tugging the waist band of his jeans higher. It wasn’t like Sunggyu was a perv or anything… not that he’d mind the attention if he was.
‘You just want to have sex with me,’ Sunggyu scoffed amusedly, recalling how Woohyun described private tutors weeks ago.
There was a sinful smirk, hands being placed on the edge of the bed, on either side of Sunggyu, and hot breath hitting Sunggyu’s neck. ‘That’s not what I’m aiming for, but if it’s included in the package, who am I to complain?’ Woohyun said lowly, meeting Sunggyu’s eyes from their close distance. Sunggyu’s expression didn’t falter, not until Woohyun’s hands closed in and swiped against the material of his sweat pants.
He swiftly shoved the younger boy back and spat in disbelief, ‘You really want me to teach you something?’
‘Sure, why not?’ Woohyun shrugged uncaringly.
Sunggyu grinned a little challengingly at the question and Woohyun’s heart skipped a beat. The older boy then stood up, narrowing the distance between them until there were only mere centimetres of air amid their faces. ‘Because I am not able to go easy on you,’ Sunggyu exhaled, tilting his head a little.
‘Don’t worry. I like it rough,’ Woohyun commented, laughing at how Sunggyu pushed away his face at his suggestive words.
-
Dongwoo and Howon finally had their first proper date. They decided on something simple - movie marathon at Dongwoo’s house. They stopped by Howon’s house to grab some clean blankets, since it was washing day at the Jang residence. After arriving by Howon’s car, the two entered the house. Howon said he’d go upstairs to collect the blankets, so Dongwoo naturally stayed at the bottom of the staircase and waited. Howon’s house was pretty fancy, in Dongwoo’s opinion. It was modern, but still had an old fireplace that was in use. In front of the fireplace was a grey couch and sitting on the grey couch… was a crying woman.
Dongwoo’s instincts awakened so he approached her slowly, smelling the thick stench of red wine. On the side table next to the couch, there was an empty bottle of wine and an empty glass. Dongwoo’s brow furrowed as he met eyes with her, her eyes blood shot and swelling with tears. His heart pretty much broke at the sight of her, so he sat down next to her and draped an arm over her shoulders. She cried harder.
After a moment or two, Howon came downstairs and looked for the older boy. ‘Dongwoo?’ he called, strolling towards the living area. He caught sight of Dongwoo’s coloured hair and his mother’s head resting on his shoulder.
Howon didn’t care. He said, gaining Dongwoo’s attention, ‘Let’s go.’
‘Howon, we can’t leave when your mother is crying like this,’ Dongwoo complained, hugging Miss Lee tighter.
‘I just… wanted to be a mother - I wanted to have children… I - had three,’ she sobbed into his shoulder, drenching his black coat with her tears. She choked, her voice growing louder, ‘Now I have… one - I only wanted to r - raise my child… I only wanted…’
Due her crying, she shouldn’t continue her sentence, so Dongwoo hushed her, rubbing her back soothingly. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispered.
Howon clenched a fist, looking elsewhere as he waited.
-
Woohyun wasn’t really surprised when Sunggyu wheeled in a whiteboard and pushed it up against the balcony doors. They rearranged the desk’s position until it was in front of the board and Sunggyu’s room kind of looked like a one-man classroom.
They started off with Sunggyu’s chemistry lecture and, out of habit, Woohyun started feeling drained. He hadn’t had a class yet that he was interested it, honestly. Once Sunggyu finished speaking, Sunggyu announced that he was going to test Woohyun on what he just spoke about and Woohyun was going to throw a fit.
‘You’re fucking killing me,’ Woohyun groaned, laying his head on the desk.
‘Language, Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu nagged, pointing the whiteboard marker at him threateningly.
Woohyun sat up and saluted playfully. ‘Sorry, teach,’ he sighed.
‘Pay attention,’ Sunggyu emphasised, biting back a smile. The situation amused him too much. He then cleaned the whiteboard with the duster and wrote something else for Woohyun to solve. He asked expectantly, ‘How do we balance this equation?’
‘How do we what the what?’ Woohyun chuckled, blinking to recompose himself. He was actually staring at Sunggyu’s ass again and wasn’t really paying attention to what he just said.
‘Balance the equation so the reactant side and the product side has an equal number of atoms,’ Sunggyu clarified. He then narrowed his eyes at Woohyun and hissed, ‘Do you need me to teach you something we are taught in freshman year?’
When Woohyun finally took a look at the board, he supplied a cheeky grin. Cellular respiration. ‘Multiply the oxygen on the reactant side, carbon dioxide on the product side and the water on the product side by six,’ he answered confidently, ‘Right?’
‘So you do know something,’ Sunggyu mused. He then picked up a different coloured marker and wrote up Woohyun’s answer. ‘Just for your information, playing dumb isn’t as cute as it used to be.’
‘Continue, Mr Kim,’ Woohyun exclaimed somewhat challengingly, ‘Teach me a lesson.’
-
Sungjong had absolutely no idea how he caught a stomach bug that morning, but he did. It was torture. He knew he was going to throw up the second he opened his eyes that morning. As he ran out of his room and downstairs, to the bathroom, he knocked over... pretty much everything. After breakfast - which was just plain porridge because his mother had a feeling the bug hadn’t gone away - Sungjong immediately felt sick and ran to the bathroom again. After throwing up, he felt a lot better.
While walking up the stairs to go back to his room and have a little nap, his father, who was sitting at the dining table whilst reading the newspaper, called his name. Sungjong looked down with a head-tilt.
‘You alright, son?’ his father asked rather awkwardly.
‘I’m fine,’ Sungjong assured.
‘You sure? Well… Study hard,’ his father muttered, turning his attention back to the paper in his hands.
Sungjong pouted and stomped up the stairs, thinking to himself, ‘If only I earned a dollar for every time I heard study hard or do your homework.’
-
Howon’s mother took longer than expected to calm down. When she did, she fell asleep with her head propped on Dongwoo’s shoulder. Howon stood in front of them and waited the whole time. Dongwoo eventually laid her onto the couch and draped a blanket over her. He then took the glass and placed it on the edge of the kitchen sink. Howon looked at him with a stern expression until Dongwoo gave him a quick hug and took his hand to pull him towards the front door.
As Howon was driving, Dongwoo asked in curiosity, ‘What did she mean?’
Howon crooked an eyebrow and gave him a quick glance.
‘She said she had three children,’ Dongwoo mentioned, ‘You’ve mentioned before that you had two siblings.’
Howon swallowed before answering rather unsteadily, ‘My older and younger brother… My father raised them.’
‘Then why aren’t you with your father?’
The car stopped a red light and Howon clenched the steering wheel a little harder than necessary. ‘She won,’ he mumbled so quietly Dongwoo barely caught what he said.
Dongwoo asked slowly, watching Howon’s changing expression, ‘What did she win?’
‘The custody battle.’
Dongwoo’s eyes immediately widened. He then realised he probably shouldn’t have asked so openly because it must’ve been hard on Howon to have to live with a someone he obviously didn’t like very much.
Howon added bitterly, ‘She’s an exceptional lawyer. She never loses.’
Dongwoo bit his lip.
‘She was allowed to keep one child, even though she’s an alcoholic, works full time and is never home,’ Howon went on, ‘She chose me.’
That made Dongwoo’s chest hurt a little.
‘She won me.’
-
‘The exact value of sin60° is…?’
Woohyun did not understand why math was important or how it could be helpful, but he tried his best to absorb the gibberish Sunggyu was spewing at him. He squinted his eyes and propped his head in his hand as he tried to remember. ‘Square root of three over two?’ he said unsurely, earning a hit on the head with a ruler. ‘Ow!’
‘I told you just two seconds ago!’ Sunggyu scolded, stepping closer so he could hit Woohyun harder.
‘Why do you think I forget? You keep beating this shit out of my head,’ Woohyun argued back, trying to use his hands to protect himself.
Sunggyu’s death glare was switched on at Woohyun’s argument. ‘Shit?! Are you calling my lesson shit?’ he barked, raising the ruler up.
Woohyun squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, preparing for pain and suffering.
Just then, Myungsoo strolled in with a blank expression, muttering, ‘Hey, mum went to buy groceries…’ He then saw Woohyun and Sunggyu’s positions and furrowed his brow at them. He gave Woohyun a knowing look and Woohyun vigorously shook his head.
‘I swear this is not how it looks,’ Woohyun shouted.
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and put the ruler down, the sound of it hitting the floorboards making Myungsoo shiver. The ruler was the worst. He was the most experienced victim of that torture device.
‘What do you want?’ Sunggyu spat, placing his hands on his hips.
Myungsoo questioned, ‘If you’re done with your BDSM, can I borrow your masochist?’
‘Take him,’ Sunggyu scoffed. He waved Woohyun off, announcing, ‘Class dismissed.’
As Myungsoo and Woohyun walked out of the room, Myungsoo said in amusement, ‘You like that stuff, huh?’
‘Go back to hating yourself, dick,’ Woohyun scorned, putting Myungsoo into a headlock.
-
Myungsoo took Woohyun to the backyard so he could fix the back sliding door. It had been broken for a while, but Myungsoo never had time to fix it. It was kind of his responsibility because he was the one who broke it… Remind him to never try and break cinnamon bun packets with the sliding door again - the door broke and the cinnamon bun container still wasn’t opened. Myungsoo had only called Woohyun out to help him as he screwed the screen back in, but Woohyun somehow ended up fixing the door all by himself, not that Myungsoo minded.
As he sat on the outdoor chair swing, swaying his legs back and forth, Myungsoo commented, ‘You’re really good at that, you know.’
‘Hey, if you’ve held as many house parties as I have, you wouldn’t be surprised,’ Woohyun said.
Myungsoo frowned to himself - Sunggyu never let him hold a house party.
As Woohyun was fixing the frame, he asked, ‘How’s Sungyeol going? Have you talked to him since your failed attempt at a confession?’
‘I’ve called and texted him but he hasn’t replied,’ Myungsoo muttered, his mood instantly fallen.
‘Dude, you’re coming off desperate.’
‘Of course, I shouldn’t call or text him to see if he’s okay,’ the younger gasped sarcastically, ‘Of course, telling him that I loved him in front of the entire school was totally not desperate at all. You are right, Hyun. You are truly someone I admire.’
Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line. ‘Are you done with your sarcasm?’
‘Yeah, talk,’ Myungsoo spat, crossing his arms around his chest. It was getting colder and colder these days.
‘I have no idea what you should do. What the fuck do you even do in your situation?’ Woohyun sighed.
Myungsoo chuckled, ‘Should I watch some dramas to see what they did?’
‘I don’t think you’ll find a female lead like Sungyeol though,’ Woohyun retorted playfully. ‘You’re on your own, Kimster.’
Before Myungsoo could say something, Woohyun slid the door closed and reopen like it was brand new. ‘Done,’ he declared proudly.
Myungsoo jumped up from the chair and inspected the repaired door, exclaiming in awe at Woohyun’s handy work, ‘That was quick.’
‘Experience.’ Woohyun shrugged. He then walked back into the house and towards the stairs.
‘Going back to your BDSM lesson so soon?’ Myungsoo sang jokingly, earning a cut-throat hand gesture from Woohyun.
‘Mr Kim,’ Woohyun called, opening Sunggyu’s bedroom door. However, when he looked around the room, there was no SBP in sight. ‘Where’d he go?’
-
During the boring part of the movie, Dongwoo began, ‘I think…’
Howon looked at him with the go on look, even though they were practically melded against each other on the couch, Dongwoo’s head on Howon’s shoulder as they sat beneath the blankets they brought over.
‘You should be nicer to her,’ Dongwoo continued, smiling a little.
‘I try, but it’s hard,’ Howon said.
‘I understand why… You got separated from your brothers and your father, but…’ Dongwoo picked his words carefully, seeing as it was a sensitive topic. ‘She raised you.’
‘Since I’ve been cutting for months, I don’t think she did a good job,’ Howon retorted bluntly.
‘Cutting doesn’t define you, Howon,’ Dongwoo whined childishly, ‘I wouldn’t love you if you weren’t a good person.’
Howon smiled, receiving a small peck to the side of his cheek. ‘In a way, Sunggyu raised me,’ he mused, ‘We grew up together, but we taught each other every new thing we learnt.’
‘You make him sound like a father,’ Dongwoo laughed.
‘If you ever see him at home, you wouldn’t be laughing.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Sunggyu really is just like a father. And Myungsoo is really just like a child. Not only that, his mother his like a child too.’
Dongwoo nodded.
‘I just don’t understand why she keeps mentioning abandoning Myungsoo and adopting me instead.’
Dongwoo laughed.
-
‘Sunggyu, I told you already. I’m a grown woman! I can handle a shopping basket!’ Mrs Kim growled, tugging at the handle of her red shopping basket. Sunggyu’s hand was gripping the handle too, trying to take it from her.
‘Mum, seriously! Your ankle is sprained,’ Sunggyu nagged, not relenting even when his mother looked like she was going to bite his fingers off. ‘I am perfectly willing to do the shopping for you.’
She smacked his head and shouted loudly, making everyone around them at the supermarket look at the mother and son in confusion, ‘You are really something. Just like that stubborn father of yours!’
Sunggyu finally let go of the basket and grasped his hair with hands at his sudden misery. ‘Oh God, please don’t tell me I am fated to marry someone like you,’ he cried.
‘I beg your pardon, mister?!’
The two then began glaring at each other without fail, Sunggyu’s hand finding the handle of the shopping basket again.
His mother was the first to give up as she huffed, pointing to someone in the vegetable section, ‘Alright, enough of this. If you want to help, ask that grocer where the dried pasta is.’
Sunggyu finally agreed with her, so he walked over to the nearest grocer and said, ‘Excuse me.’
The grocer turned around and almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of Sunggyu. ‘Yes… Sunggyu!’ Doojoon exclaimed, fumbling with the apples in his hands.
Sunggyu smiled lopsidedly at his sudden clumsiness. ‘Oh hi. I didn’t know you worked here.’
Doojoon scratched the back of his head awkwardly as his other hand straightened out his green apron. ‘Yeah, um, I’m working to help my parents pay off the new mortgage,’ he replied.
‘Well, that’s very kind of you,’ Sunggyu commented. ‘May I ask where the dried pasta is?’
‘The third aisle.’
‘Thank you. See you at school,’ Sunggyu farewelled, before walking back to his mum.
She was inspecting Doojoon from the distance and when Sunggyu arrived to her side, she wrapped an arm around his, whispering, ‘You know him?’
‘Yes.’
She murmured, squinting her eyes so she could see Doojoon better, ‘Damn, you’ve got a whole collection of hot boys, now don’t you?’
‘Who on Earth allowed you to become a parent?’ Sunggyu huffed in bewilderment at his mother’s attitude.
‘Fertility, sweetie. Fertility believed in me,’ she muttered, her son dragging her towards the third aisle.
-
A goodbye kiss was inevitable when Howon announced he was leaving. Dongwoo made sure it was a very long and deep goodbye kiss, holding the younger tight and messing with his hair. By the time Dongwoo pulled away, Howon was breathless, panting.
Howon swallowed before he muttered, ‘Goodnight.’
‘Sleep well,’ Dongwoo giggled, watching as Howon took a few steps down the path. ‘And Howon.’
The said boy turned around after hearing his name.
‘Dream of me,’ Dongwoo sang before closing the door shut, making Howon utterly confused.
-
AN\ Really long chapter and it’s about only one day… :\
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen (NSFW) Twenty Twenty-one Twenty-two Twenty-three Twenty-four Twenty-Six
Twenty-five | 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)
-[an: extremely WooGyu packed chapter ahead of you…]
‘Dammit, Woohyun,’ Sunggyu nagged, ‘Your house feels like bloody hell.’
Woohyun closed the door behind him and droned, ‘I forgot to turn the heater off, okay? And when the fuck did you start talking like you’re from a British sitcom.’
‘That’s very stereotypical.’
‘I’m usually cliché,’ Woohyun scoffed. ‘So what brings you here?’
It was Saturday and Sunggyu didn’t have work. Since he was bored, he ended up walking to Woohyun’s house, inevitably without a coat on - Woohyun was a little cross at that, but didn’t expect anything less from the older boy.
‘Hot chocolate,’ Sunggyu said simply, quickly finding Woohyun’s couch.
‘Of course,’ Woohyun sighed, walking to the kitchen.
Sunggyu got up from the couch, having only had sat down for three seconds, and walked over to the kitchen with his hands on his hips. ‘And I wanted to ask you something,’ he stated.
Woohyun was rummaging in the cabinets as he looked up and hummed, ‘Mm?’
‘Have you ever been in love before?’ Sunggyu asked quite bluntly, making the younger student almost drop the saucepan from his hand.
‘W - What?’ Woohyun stuttered, eyes widening at Sunggyu.
‘Myungsoo,’ Sunggyu clarified, ‘I want to know if he’s being serious and it’s not just a phase.’
It’s weird, in Woohyun’s opinion, that Sunggyu expected him to know things about love. Woohyun knew jack shit when it came to proper relationships - the cruel, disposable type was his area of expertise. But maybe that’s why Sunggyu asked him - Sunggyu’s brother worked in the same area as Woohyun.
Sunggyu had to admit he was worried over his brother’s behaviour, although he was sceptical because, no matter what, his brother was Kim Myungsoo. Myungsoo had no appetite, spent every hour in his room, spending his days listening to sappy songs, and being overly sarcastic. Frankly, Sunggyu was sick of it. Heartbroken syndrome wasn’t only horrible for the victim, it was hell for the victim’s family too.
‘It’s not,’ Woohyun said, pretty sure he was right.
Sunggyu furrowed his brow and looked towards the ground in thought. ‘How do you know?’
‘You know, Myungsoo and I aren’t very different - Well, we weren’t,’ Woohyun chuckled, ‘I used to get drunk, sleep around all the time, play anyone stupid enough.’
Sunggyu nodded. He’d suspected that Woohyun was just as much as a horndog as his brother, according to all the rumours. Rumours derived from somewhere, anyway.
‘So I know that it is hard to change and not many things can change you,’ Woohyun continued. ‘Myungsoo has quit the habit, so I’m guessing that Sungyeol changed Myungsoo.’
The answer made Sunggyu confused, tipping his head to one side. Didn’t that mean something changed Woohyun too? Woohyun wasn’t the same person he used to be, according to what Sunggyu heard around the school. Woohyun smiled a little bit at him and Sunggyu questioned in curiosity, ‘So what changed you?’
Woohyun froze up at the unexpected question. ‘What?’
‘What changed you?’ Sunggyu repeated, same straightforward tone.
There was a pause, Woohyun’s mind moving a mile a minute. He didn’t know what to say. It was true that he’d change - it was even evident to him - but how? How was he meant to answer that? Woohyun was going to say something, anything that came to mind at that moment, but the door slammed open.
‘Woohyun, we’re here!’ came a cheery voice.
Sunggyu looked to his right to see two women come in with their big handbags and even bigger smiles. ‘Who are they?’ he asked Woohyun quietly, not wanting to offend the new arrivals in any way. He was always a polite and decent young man.
Woohyun grunted, somewhat frustrated, ‘The maids.’
‘You have maids?’ Sunggyu clicked his tongue. Damn, Woohyun’s parents were rich and it seemed like that didn’t bother with Woohyun, which the other indicated was exactly the case.
The two maids practically suffocated Woohyun with hugs and kisses, making Sunggyu laugh. The hearty laugh alerted them and so they let go of Woohyun and questioned, ‘Who’s this?’
Sunggyu introduced himself with a well-mannered bow and a bright voice, ‘I’m Sunggyu. I attend the same school as Woohyun.’
They narrowed their eyes on him and grabbed an arm each, peering directly into his eyes. ‘You have a girlfriend? I could get you one instead of sleeping with him,’ one of them ranted, using her thumb to point at an annoyed Woohyun.
Sunggyu waved his hands at the misunderstanding. ‘No, we weren’t going to -‘
‘Thank heavens!’ the other maid cheered, giving Sunggyu a tight hug. Woohyun chuckled a little at this, recalling that Sunggyu didn’t like touching.
Woohyun interrupted them by asking, ‘Why are you here?’
Hearing Woohyun’s voice, they let Sunggyu breathe and paced through the house, into the living room, inspecting everything. Woohyun and Sunggyu followed along. ‘Well, we haven’t been here in a while and we figured you’d trash the place by now,’ the oldest maid deadpanned dryly. She then shot Woohyun a lopsided smile, scoffing, ‘Guess not. No party, huh?’
Woohyun showed a genuine smile, shaking his head. ‘Nope.’
‘I’m proud, but there is no work for us to do!’ she squealed, pinching Woohyun’s cheeks - not that there was much to pinch. Sunggyu took note to watch out.
Woohyun snorted, shrugging the offending fingers off, ‘Get out then.’
They then trotted back to the kitchen, muttering, ‘But you have a guest! I’m sure we can cook up something.’
‘No, it’s fine. You don’t have to,’ Sunggyu insisted.
‘It’s not a problem, sweetie.’
Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line. He then lied, ‘Actually, we were just leaving.’
Sunggyu felt someone nudge him and glared at Woohyun’s elbow as it pressed into his arm. ‘Yeah, we were going to… my house?’ Sunggyu spat out, a quizzical expression on his face.
The maids sighed and then trudged over to the door. ‘Oh well, we better be on our way then.’
‘Have fun, you two!’ she called, waving as they stepped out of the house, closing the door behind them.
As soon as the door clicked, Woohyun turned to Sunggyu with a raised eyebrow. ‘Why your house?’ he quipped.
‘I couldn’t think of anything else, I apologise,’ Sunggyu said dryly, making his way back to Woohyun’s comfy couch. Before he could, Woohyun caught his arm and Sunggyu almost through it right back at him. He was unwantedly touched more than enough that day.
‘Let’s go then,’ Woohyun laughed.
‘Sorry?’ Sunggyu mumbled, not knowing what the other was implying.
‘Let’s go to your house then. I haven’t been there in a while.’
-
Myungsoo lost count of how many times he tried to call Sungyeol since the incident. He hadn’t picked up the phone or replied to his text once. At school on Friday, Sungyeol avoided Myungsoo like he was a zombie. He even jumped into a recycling bin to avoid the younger student. Myungsoo was gutted, really. He didn’t know what to do.
Even though he tried a billion times, Myungsoo got nothing in return when he called. That Saturday, he was lying on his bed, being miserable. He picked up his mobile again and clicked on Sungyeol’s number, which was now number one of speed dial.
Surprisingly, the ringing stopped and he heard a faint, ‘Hello?’
Myungsoo immediately shot up from his bed and pressed the phone against his ear, exclaiming, ‘Sungyeol?!’
‘No, this is his father…’ he heard, ‘Who is this?’
His father?
Myungsoo didn’t dare to say I had sex with your son and now I realise I’m in love with him, but he’s avoiding me. Could you kindly get him to talk to me? Yeah, thanks. Instead, he hung up the phone without a word and groaned into his pillow.
‘Fucking kill me,’ he mumbled to himself, hoping someone would come flying through his bedroom window and put him out of his misery - something quick and painless though, none of that skinned-and-bled-to-death crap.
-
When they pulled up at Sunggyu’s house, Sunggyu spotted the familiar red car in their driveway. He looked at the time and wondered why his mother was home so early. Nonetheless, they got out of the car and into the house. When they walked in, Sunggyu saw his mother in the kitchen, cooking up lunch - which was also going to be Myungsoo’s breakfast because that lazy asshole could sleep like he was in a coma, especially when he was heartbroken, Sunggyu noticed.
Sunggyu went to greet his mum first, Woohyun trailing behind because he didn’t think he’d been to the house enough to allow himself to go wherever he pleased without permission.
Sunggyu exclaimed, ‘Mum? Why are you here?’
‘I got let off early because I slipped and sprained an ankle,’ his mother replied simply.
Sunggyu’s face immediately fell with concern. He squatted down, inspecting her bandaged foot. ‘Let me see,’ he pestered, earning a kick with said sprained ankle for being a worrywart.
‘It’s fine,’ she insisted, kicking him until he fell on his butt in emphasis that she was okay. Sunggyu shot her a glare, his mother shooting it back right at his face, and stood up from the kitchen tiles.
‘It’s rather fortunate you work at the hospital,’ he scoffed, cringing at the mess she made. Sunggyu never understood how a nurse could work in such a messy environment. He theorised the hospital was such a sterile place that she had to be messy at home just to balance herself out. OCD isn’t pleasant, you know.
‘I know right,’ she snorted like a freaking teenage girl. She acted like one on too many occasions, in Sunggyu’s opinion. She looked up from the chopping board and caught eye with Woohyun, who almost shat himself. Her eyes were sharp and her cat-style eyeliner didn’t help. She looked suspiciously at him before she murmured to Sunggyu, ‘Who’s this?’
‘This is Woohyun. He goes to Paran as well,’ Sunggyu said uncaringly, gladly taking the chicken salad sandwich his mother passed to him.
Woohyun bowed and politely-but-awkwardly said, ‘It’s nice to meet you.’
She then gave Woohyun the up-down. After grabbing Sunggyu around the shoulders, she whispered, although Woohyun could hear it perfectly fine, ‘Has Myungsoo influenced you?’
It took a few moments for the two boys to realise what she meant, especially Woohyun because he didn’t really know what their mother was like.
‘…What?’ Sunggyu sighed, his jaw dropping slightly at his mother’s assumption.
She then clutched Woohyun’s sleeve and turned him around, scanning over his back-view. ‘I have to admit, you’ve got good taste,’ she clucked in content.
Sunggyu groaned, ‘Mum, he’s not -‘
‘He was a hard can to pry open, huh?’ she whispered loudly to Woohyun.
And then Woohyun realised what she meant - Oh how Sunggyu’s mother wanted her son to get laid. ‘Very hard,’ Woohyun kidded, smirking at Sunggyu.
Sunggyu gritted his teeth. ‘Mum, he’s just a friend.’
‘A very good-looking friend,’ she added, patting Woohyun’s shoulder. What he didn’t know was she was checking his shoulder strength, meaning how rough he would be on her son.
‘Mum, honestly,’ Sunggyu huffed in exasperation.
She whined childishly, ‘You haven’t brought someone over since Howon! I already fawn over him, so why can’t I fawn over this one too?’
‘You can have him actually,’ Sunggyu said, pushing Woohyun to her, ‘Just take him.’
‘I’d rather you keep him.’
Woohyun mumbled, twitching his head, ‘Do I have a say in this?’
‘Of course you do! You want your owner to be Sunggyu, am I wrong?’ Sunggyu’s mother cooed. She then pushed the two boys towards the staircase and sang happily, ‘Now go upstairs and I’ll pretend I can’t hear you!’
As they began trudging up the stairs, Woohyun mentioned fondly, ‘I see where Myungsoo gets his personality from.’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t you feel sorry for me? I have to thrive with two Myungsoos.’
‘It must be fun though.’
There was a large family portrait on the wall, catching Woohyun’s attention. Sunggyu noticed and gazed at the photo with him, standing only one stair above him.
‘I feel like a parent to a thirty-nine year old,’ Sunggyu sighed, feeling rather sorry for himself.
‘Is that why your mum looks so young?’
‘Her and dad got married early,’ Sunggyu explained, looking at his father’s smiling face in the photo.
Woohyun asked as he too looked at Sunggyu’s father, ‘Have I ever told you that you and your brother look nothing like each other, or your parents?’
‘We get that a lot actually,’ Sunggyu chuckled. His smile then fell as his hand met his father’s hand in the photo. Woohyun watched his crestfallen expression silently, noticing how Sunggyu’s fingertips were trembling as they met the cold glass of the photo frame. Sunggyu continued, his voice barely heard, ‘But I was always told that I acted like him because we were so close.’
Woohyun sucked in a sharp breath. He looked down, glancing at Sunggyu’s other hand hanging limply from his wrist. Woohyun slowly intertwined their fingers, Sunggyu showing no reaction in return. When Woohyun’s fingers were fully threaded with Sunggyu’s, he squeezed the cold palm a little.
Before either of them said anything to do with the action, Sunggyu shook him off, muttering, ‘Let’s go to my room.’
-
After entering Sunggyu’s room, the two boys inevitably began arguing about the strangest of things. Woohyun made another strange dick joke, making Sunggyu snap as he hit Woohyun’s head, ‘Idiot!’
‘I’m smarter than you think,’ Woohyun retorted, sitting down on the floor.
Sunggyu scorned, ‘Oh really? Which subjects are you passing again?’
‘But have you ever seen me actually try in class?’
Has he? ‘True. I haven’t,’ Sunggyu admitted attentively. ‘Well, why don’t you?’
Woohyun instantly scoffed at that, ‘What’s the point?’
With his nose scrunched, Sunggyu somewhat glared at the other. ‘Getting a job, earning money, having a future,’ he spat matter-of-factly. The younger boy was beginning to get on his nerves. In Sunggyu’s opinion, education was a priority above all else. He was taught that learning things and knowledge got you places.
‘Getting a job to earn money to have a future. That’s how it works, right?’ Woohyun mused, lopsided smile gracing his lips.
‘Yes,’ Sunggyu answered sternly, sitting on the edge of his bed.
‘Well, if my parents are just going to keep shoving money in my face, why get a job?’ Woohyun questioned, ‘You see my point?’
Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at Woohyun, who was still sitting on the floor in front of him. He snapped, ‘How you think is absolutely absurd. Do you really want to have to depend on your parents for the rest of your life?’
‘Sunggyu,’ Woohyun sighed, ‘You don’t get it. It’s not that I want to, but in a way I will always belong to them, so they get a say in everything they can stick their noses into.’
Sunggyu nodded a little, finally beginning to understand. Woohyun’s parents weren’t like his and they didn’t care. He couldn’t really argue against something he didn’t understand.
‘Why do you think I rebel?’ Woohyun chuckled.
With a pout, Sunggyu kicked his side. ‘Because you’re a dumbass,’ he mumbled.
‘Let’s improve my grades then,’ Woohyun said all of a sudden.
Sunggyu rose an eyebrow. ‘What?’
‘Let’s do it. The tutoring thing,’ he explained, standing up while tugging the waist band of his jeans higher. It wasn’t like Sunggyu was a perv or anything… not that he’d mind the attention if he was.
‘You just want to have sex with me,’ Sunggyu scoffed amusedly, recalling how Woohyun described private tutors weeks ago.
There was a sinful smirk, hands being placed on the edge of the bed, on either side of Sunggyu, and hot breath hitting Sunggyu’s neck. ‘That’s not what I’m aiming for, but if it’s included in the package, who am I to complain?’ Woohyun said lowly, meeting Sunggyu’s eyes from their close distance. Sunggyu’s expression didn’t falter, not until Woohyun’s hands closed in and swiped against the material of his sweat pants.
He swiftly shoved the younger boy back and spat in disbelief, ‘You really want me to teach you something?’
‘Sure, why not?’ Woohyun shrugged uncaringly.
Sunggyu grinned a little challengingly at the question and Woohyun’s heart skipped a beat. The older boy then stood up, narrowing the distance between them until there were only mere centimetres of air amid their faces. ‘Because I am not able to go easy on you,’ Sunggyu exhaled, tilting his head a little.
‘Don’t worry. I like it rough,’ Woohyun commented, laughing at how Sunggyu pushed away his face at his suggestive words.
-
Dongwoo and Howon finally had their first proper date. They decided on something simple - movie marathon at Dongwoo’s house. They stopped by Howon’s house to grab some clean blankets, since it was washing day at the Jang residence. After arriving by Howon’s car, the two entered the house. Howon said he’d go upstairs to collect the blankets, so Dongwoo naturally stayed at the bottom of the staircase and waited. Howon’s house was pretty fancy, in Dongwoo’s opinion. It was modern, but still had an old fireplace that was in use. In front of the fireplace was a grey couch and sitting on the grey couch… was a crying woman.
Dongwoo’s instincts awakened so he approached her slowly, smelling the thick stench of red wine. On the side table next to the couch, there was an empty bottle of wine and an empty glass. Dongwoo’s brow furrowed as he met eyes with her, her eyes blood shot and swelling with tears. His heart pretty much broke at the sight of her, so he sat down next to her and draped an arm over her shoulders. She cried harder.
After a moment or two, Howon came downstairs and looked for the older boy. ‘Dongwoo?’ he called, strolling towards the living area. He caught sight of Dongwoo’s coloured hair and his mother’s head resting on his shoulder.
Howon didn’t care. He said, gaining Dongwoo’s attention, ‘Let’s go.’
‘Howon, we can’t leave when your mother is crying like this,’ Dongwoo complained, hugging Miss Lee tighter.
‘I just… wanted to be a mother - I wanted to have children… I - had three,’ she sobbed into his shoulder, drenching his black coat with her tears. She choked, her voice growing louder, ‘Now I have… one - I only wanted to r - raise my child… I only wanted…’
Due her crying, she shouldn’t continue her sentence, so Dongwoo hushed her, rubbing her back soothingly. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispered.
Howon clenched a fist, looking elsewhere as he waited.
-
Woohyun wasn’t really surprised when Sunggyu wheeled in a whiteboard and pushed it up against the balcony doors. They rearranged the desk’s position until it was in front of the board and Sunggyu’s room kind of looked like a one-man classroom.
They started off with Sunggyu’s chemistry lecture and, out of habit, Woohyun started feeling drained. He hadn’t had a class yet that he was interested it, honestly. Once Sunggyu finished speaking, Sunggyu announced that he was going to test Woohyun on what he just spoke about and Woohyun was going to throw a fit.
‘You’re fucking killing me,’ Woohyun groaned, laying his head on the desk.
‘Language, Nam Woohyun,’ Sunggyu nagged, pointing the whiteboard marker at him threateningly.
Woohyun sat up and saluted playfully. ‘Sorry, teach,’ he sighed.
‘Pay attention,’ Sunggyu emphasised, biting back a smile. The situation amused him too much. He then cleaned the whiteboard with the duster and wrote something else for Woohyun to solve. He asked expectantly, ‘How do we balance this equation?’
‘How do we what the what?’ Woohyun chuckled, blinking to recompose himself. He was actually staring at Sunggyu’s ass again and wasn’t really paying attention to what he just said.
‘Balance the equation so the reactant side and the product side has an equal number of atoms,’ Sunggyu clarified. He then narrowed his eyes at Woohyun and hissed, ‘Do you need me to teach you something we are taught in freshman year?’
When Woohyun finally took a look at the board, he supplied a cheeky grin. Cellular respiration. ‘Multiply the oxygen on the reactant side, carbon dioxide on the product side and the water on the product side by six,’ he answered confidently, ‘Right?’
‘So you do know something,’ Sunggyu mused. He then picked up a different coloured marker and wrote up Woohyun’s answer. ‘Just for your information, playing dumb isn’t as cute as it used to be.’
‘Continue, Mr Kim,’ Woohyun exclaimed somewhat challengingly, ‘Teach me a lesson.’
-
Sungjong had absolutely no idea how he caught a stomach bug that morning, but he did. It was torture. He knew he was going to throw up the second he opened his eyes that morning. As he ran out of his room and downstairs, to the bathroom, he knocked over... pretty much everything. After breakfast - which was just plain porridge because his mother had a feeling the bug hadn’t gone away - Sungjong immediately felt sick and ran to the bathroom again. After throwing up, he felt a lot better.
While walking up the stairs to go back to his room and have a little nap, his father, who was sitting at the dining table whilst reading the newspaper, called his name. Sungjong looked down with a head-tilt.
‘You alright, son?’ his father asked rather awkwardly.
‘I’m fine,’ Sungjong assured.
‘You sure? Well… Study hard,’ his father muttered, turning his attention back to the paper in his hands.
Sungjong pouted and stomped up the stairs, thinking to himself, ‘If only I earned a dollar for every time I heard study hard or do your homework.’
-
Howon’s mother took longer than expected to calm down. When she did, she fell asleep with her head propped on Dongwoo’s shoulder. Howon stood in front of them and waited the whole time. Dongwoo eventually laid her onto the couch and draped a blanket over her. He then took the glass and placed it on the edge of the kitchen sink. Howon looked at him with a stern expression until Dongwoo gave him a quick hug and took his hand to pull him towards the front door.
As Howon was driving, Dongwoo asked in curiosity, ‘What did she mean?’
Howon crooked an eyebrow and gave him a quick glance.
‘She said she had three children,’ Dongwoo mentioned, ‘You’ve mentioned before that you had two siblings.’
Howon swallowed before answering rather unsteadily, ‘My older and younger brother… My father raised them.’
‘Then why aren’t you with your father?’
The car stopped a red light and Howon clenched the steering wheel a little harder than necessary. ‘She won,’ he mumbled so quietly Dongwoo barely caught what he said.
Dongwoo asked slowly, watching Howon’s changing expression, ‘What did she win?’
‘The custody battle.’
Dongwoo’s eyes immediately widened. He then realised he probably shouldn’t have asked so openly because it must’ve been hard on Howon to have to live with a someone he obviously didn’t like very much.
Howon added bitterly, ‘She’s an exceptional lawyer. She never loses.’
Dongwoo bit his lip.
‘She was allowed to keep one child, even though she’s an alcoholic, works full time and is never home,’ Howon went on, ‘She chose me.’
That made Dongwoo’s chest hurt a little.
‘She won me.’
-
‘The exact value of sin60° is…?’
Woohyun did not understand why math was important or how it could be helpful, but he tried his best to absorb the gibberish Sunggyu was spewing at him. He squinted his eyes and propped his head in his hand as he tried to remember. ‘Square root of three over two?’ he said unsurely, earning a hit on the head with a ruler. ‘Ow!’
‘I told you just two seconds ago!’ Sunggyu scolded, stepping closer so he could hit Woohyun harder.
‘Why do you think I forget? You keep beating this shit out of my head,’ Woohyun argued back, trying to use his hands to protect himself.
Sunggyu’s death glare was switched on at Woohyun’s argument. ‘Shit?! Are you calling my lesson shit?’ he barked, raising the ruler up.
Woohyun squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, preparing for pain and suffering.
Just then, Myungsoo strolled in with a blank expression, muttering, ‘Hey, mum went to buy groceries…’ He then saw Woohyun and Sunggyu’s positions and furrowed his brow at them. He gave Woohyun a knowing look and Woohyun vigorously shook his head.
‘I swear this is not how it looks,’ Woohyun shouted.
Sunggyu rolled his eyes and put the ruler down, the sound of it hitting the floorboards making Myungsoo shiver. The ruler was the worst. He was the most experienced victim of that torture device.
‘What do you want?’ Sunggyu spat, placing his hands on his hips.
Myungsoo questioned, ‘If you’re done with your BDSM, can I borrow your masochist?’
‘Take him,’ Sunggyu scoffed. He waved Woohyun off, announcing, ‘Class dismissed.’
As Myungsoo and Woohyun walked out of the room, Myungsoo said in amusement, ‘You like that stuff, huh?’
‘Go back to hating yourself, dick,’ Woohyun scorned, putting Myungsoo into a headlock.
-
Myungsoo took Woohyun to the backyard so he could fix the back sliding door. It had been broken for a while, but Myungsoo never had time to fix it. It was kind of his responsibility because he was the one who broke it… Remind him to never try and break cinnamon bun packets with the sliding door again - the door broke and the cinnamon bun container still wasn’t opened. Myungsoo had only called Woohyun out to help him as he screwed the screen back in, but Woohyun somehow ended up fixing the door all by himself, not that Myungsoo minded.
As he sat on the outdoor chair swing, swaying his legs back and forth, Myungsoo commented, ‘You’re really good at that, you know.’
‘Hey, if you’ve held as many house parties as I have, you wouldn’t be surprised,’ Woohyun said.
Myungsoo frowned to himself - Sunggyu never let him hold a house party.
As Woohyun was fixing the frame, he asked, ‘How’s Sungyeol going? Have you talked to him since your failed attempt at a confession?’
‘I’ve called and texted him but he hasn’t replied,’ Myungsoo muttered, his mood instantly fallen.
‘Dude, you’re coming off desperate.’
‘Of course, I shouldn’t call or text him to see if he’s okay,’ the younger gasped sarcastically, ‘Of course, telling him that I loved him in front of the entire school was totally not desperate at all. You are right, Hyun. You are truly someone I admire.’
Woohyun pressed his lips into a thin line. ‘Are you done with your sarcasm?’
‘Yeah, talk,’ Myungsoo spat, crossing his arms around his chest. It was getting colder and colder these days.
‘I have no idea what you should do. What the fuck do you even do in your situation?’ Woohyun sighed.
Myungsoo chuckled, ‘Should I watch some dramas to see what they did?’
‘I don’t think you’ll find a female lead like Sungyeol though,’ Woohyun retorted playfully. ‘You’re on your own, Kimster.’
Before Myungsoo could say something, Woohyun slid the door closed and reopen like it was brand new. ‘Done,’ he declared proudly.
Myungsoo jumped up from the chair and inspected the repaired door, exclaiming in awe at Woohyun’s handy work, ‘That was quick.’
‘Experience.’ Woohyun shrugged. He then walked back into the house and towards the stairs.
‘Going back to your BDSM lesson so soon?’ Myungsoo sang jokingly, earning a cut-throat hand gesture from Woohyun.
‘Mr Kim,’ Woohyun called, opening Sunggyu’s bedroom door. However, when he looked around the room, there was no SBP in sight. ‘Where’d he go?’
-
During the boring part of the movie, Dongwoo began, ‘I think…’
Howon looked at him with the go on look, even though they were practically melded against each other on the couch, Dongwoo’s head on Howon’s shoulder as they sat beneath the blankets they brought over.
‘You should be nicer to her,’ Dongwoo continued, smiling a little.
‘I try, but it’s hard,’ Howon said.
‘I understand why… You got separated from your brothers and your father, but…’ Dongwoo picked his words carefully, seeing as it was a sensitive topic. ‘She raised you.’
‘Since I’ve been cutting for months, I don’t think she did a good job,’ Howon retorted bluntly.
‘Cutting doesn’t define you, Howon,’ Dongwoo whined childishly, ‘I wouldn’t love you if you weren’t a good person.’
Howon smiled, receiving a small peck to the side of his cheek. ‘In a way, Sunggyu raised me,’ he mused, ‘We grew up together, but we taught each other every new thing we learnt.’
‘You make him sound like a father,’ Dongwoo laughed.
‘If you ever see him at home, you wouldn’t be laughing.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Sunggyu really is just like a father. And Myungsoo is really just like a child. Not only that, his mother his like a child too.’
Dongwoo nodded.
‘I just don’t understand why she keeps mentioning abandoning Myungsoo and adopting me instead.’
Dongwoo laughed.
-
‘Sunggyu, I told you already. I’m a grown woman! I can handle a shopping basket!’ Mrs Kim growled, tugging at the handle of her red shopping basket. Sunggyu’s hand was gripping the handle too, trying to take it from her.
‘Mum, seriously! Your ankle is sprained,’ Sunggyu nagged, not relenting even when his mother looked like she was going to bite his fingers off. ‘I am perfectly willing to do the shopping for you.’
She smacked his head and shouted loudly, making everyone around them at the supermarket look at the mother and son in confusion, ‘You are really something. Just like that stubborn father of yours!’
Sunggyu finally let go of the basket and grasped his hair with hands at his sudden misery. ‘Oh God, please don’t tell me I am fated to marry someone like you,’ he cried.
‘I beg your pardon, mister?!’
The two then began glaring at each other without fail, Sunggyu’s hand finding the handle of the shopping basket again.
His mother was the first to give up as she huffed, pointing to someone in the vegetable section, ‘Alright, enough of this. If you want to help, ask that grocer where the dried pasta is.’
Sunggyu finally agreed with her, so he walked over to the nearest grocer and said, ‘Excuse me.’
The grocer turned around and almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of Sunggyu. ‘Yes… Sunggyu!’ Doojoon exclaimed, fumbling with the apples in his hands.
Sunggyu smiled lopsidedly at his sudden clumsiness. ‘Oh hi. I didn’t know you worked here.’
Doojoon scratched the back of his head awkwardly as his other hand straightened out his green apron. ‘Yeah, um, I’m working to help my parents pay off the new mortgage,’ he replied.
‘Well, that’s very kind of you,’ Sunggyu commented. ‘May I ask where the dried pasta is?’
‘The third aisle.’
‘Thank you. See you at school,’ Sunggyu farewelled, before walking back to his mum.
She was inspecting Doojoon from the distance and when Sunggyu arrived to her side, she wrapped an arm around his, whispering, ‘You know him?’
‘Yes.’
She murmured, squinting her eyes so she could see Doojoon better, ‘Damn, you’ve got a whole collection of hot boys, now don’t you?’
‘Who on Earth allowed you to become a parent?’ Sunggyu huffed in bewilderment at his mother’s attitude.
‘Fertility, sweetie. Fertility believed in me,’ she muttered, her son dragging her towards the third aisle.
-
A goodbye kiss was inevitable when Howon announced he was leaving. Dongwoo made sure it was a very long and deep goodbye kiss, holding the younger tight and messing with his hair. By the time Dongwoo pulled away, Howon was breathless, panting.
Howon swallowed before he muttered, ‘Goodnight.’
‘Sleep well,’ Dongwoo giggled, watching as Howon took a few steps down the path. ‘And Howon.’
The said boy turned around after hearing his name.
‘Dream of me,’ Dongwoo sang before closing the door shut, making Howon utterly confused.
-
AN\ Really long chapter and it’s about only one day… :\
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen (NSFW) Twenty Twenty-one Twenty-two Twenty-three Twenty-four Twenty-Six