To Live, To Love [oneshot]
Title: To Live, To Love
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Myungsoo
Rating: PG - 13
Word count: ~10k
Summary: Reality is real, and romance is nothing but a fantasy. Reality is real, and romance is nothing but a fantasy. Reality is real, and romance- oh, forget it.
Notes: Written for quarticpolynomi for infinite secret santa.
Shoujo manga - noun
The term shōjo, shojo, or shoujo manga refers to manga marketed
to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18
- Wikipedia
But what does Wikipedia know?
--
Myungsoo hadn’t believed in love since he was five, and the cute girl he had his eye on promptly said ‘no’ when he asked her to marry him one breezy recess. Was he being a bit unreasonable? Of course he was. He knew that his aversion to the ‘L’ word was unreasonable, given the reason behind it, but he couldn’t help it. The little girl scarred him with her scrunched-up face and screeching ‘no’ as she stomped away from him.
“Myungsoo?” And given that he couldn’t stand anything lovely and romantic, he had no idea what he was doing at the weekly Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club meeting in the library. Or why he’d been coming for the past few weeks.
“Myungsoo,” the voice called with a little more force, pulling Myungsoo from his thoughts. Myungsoo’s eyes focused on the speaker, and he gave him a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, Howon. Lost in my thoughts for a bit.” The other boys in the club sighed before Howon sat back in his seat with a grin, showing off a prominent canine.
“No worries. Happens to the best of us. Tell me you were daydreaming about the manga we’re discussing this week, at least.” Howon held up the latest volume of the series they were following, and Myungsoo nodded.
The cover was a mix of light blue and green, surrounding the two main characters of the series embracing each other. The title was lost in the art design. It was like playing hide-and-seek, only the title hid in plain sight, and Myungsoo was too slow to see it.
“You guys, this was my favorite volume to date, and not even because of the sex.” Woohyun, sitting to the left of Myungsoo, launched into a long explanation that Myungsoo listened to politely. Woohyun was a walking Casanova, proof that girls loved the romantic stuff he saw in these mangas. Strangely, even though Woohyun won girls left and right, he seemed interested in only one person, and that person remained oblivious. It had the makings of a live shoujo series.
“You say that about every new volume we read,” Dongwoo said with a laugh. Dongwoo was eternal smiles and happiness. If only he could notice the goofy grin on Woohyun’s face whenever he said something to him.
“So, who are we missing today?” Howon’s eyes swept around the small circle of chairs in the back of the library and opened up the notebook in his lap. “Sungjong said he couldn’t make it today. His little brother is sick so he had to hurry home.” He wrote down Sungjong’s name with a note underneath the date.
“Sungyeol has detention again because he wouldn’t take out his conch piercing. And I’m glad, because I paid for that,” Myungsoo said lightly, brushing a piece of dust from his uniform.
“When is he not in detention for something?” Woohyun laughed and shook his head. Sungyeol would probably end up on the floor of Myungsoo’s bedroom, reading through the latest volume for discussion because he was too cheap to buy his own. The only reason Myungsoo paid for his conch piercing was because he didn’t believe Sungyeol could beat him fifty times in a row in rock, paper, scissors.
“Myungsoo, you should be setting a better example for him,” Howon said, giving him a mock stern look. Myungsoo blinked a few times before scowling slightly.
“Excuse me? He’s older than me. If anything, he should be setting the example. What does that say about the rest of you? I’m the youngest one here without Sungjong.” He pointed an accusatory finger around the circle.
Woohyun shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t need two of me. There’s enough heartbreak going around with just me alone. These are gold mines when it comes to insight on the female psyche. I’m not even joking. There’s always someone that tries to be different, but it always ends up like this somehow.” Woohyun waved his volume around for a moment before sighing and staring at the cover.
“That’s love for you. Nothing but heartbreak,” Myungsoo said, staring off into the distance.
“Myungsoo, we know you’re not really that deep and mysterious.” A pencil came flying at him from Dongwoo’s direction, and he automatically brought his hands up to shield his face.
--
After a few moments of quiet discussion, Howon adjourned the meeting, telling each of the members to bring in their favorite volume from their favorite series for discussion next week.
“Hey, Myungsoo. Can I talk to you for a little bit?” Dongwoo caught up with Myungsoo just as he was walking through the library doors. They always met in the back of the library, and Myungsoo never stayed behind to help put the chairs back.
“Sure. It’s a bit of a walk to the bus stop,” Myungsoo said, throwing his book bag over his shoulder. The two of them walked in awkward silence for a moment until Dongwoo spoke, his voice cracking slightly.
“You don’t- oh wow, haven’t had my voice crack like that in a while.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “You don’t really seem interested in the meetings.”
“Really?” They turned the corner, and Dongwoo cleared his throat again.
“Yeah. You’re always spaced out and everything, and you don’t say much. Is it because you’re shy? I mean, none of us are judging you or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. And you shouldn’t worry about other people either.” Myungsoo stopped at the front gate of the school and squinted his eyes, tilting his head to the side to give Dongwoo a curious look.
“Not to be rude or anything, but why does this matter to you?”
Dongwoo stiffened a little bit before offering Myungsoo one of his too-bright smiles. “Well, I just thought that if you weren’t going for the discussion or love of manga, then maybe you were going for another reason. I thought maybe you liked someone.”
Myungsoo missed the light blush that tinged Dongwoo’s cheeks as he snorted and shook his head. “It’s not that. I’m not really interested in relationships or anything right now. I just... I don’t really know how to explain my reason for going. So, I guess I’ll just say that Sungyeol drags me along.”
Sooner rather than later, the two of them ended up in front of the bus stop, and the air became awkward. “Well. I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday? Have a good weekend. And tell Sungyeol if he gets in trouble again that he’s losing his touch.” Dongwoo’s eyes twinkled as he grinned at Myungsoo, but Myungsoo just nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground.
“I’ll see you later.”
--
“That’s a weird thing for him to ask you. Your reputation around school is that you’re an ice prince. Like that one manga we read, except you don’t have a ton of friends and dashing good looks.” Sungyeol groaned as Myungsoo delivered a swift kick to his ribs. He rolled over on the floor and curled up into a ball, pulling the volume he was supposed to read last week closer to his face.
“I’m just glad the girls stopped confessing to me,” Myungsoo said, flopping onto his bed. Sungyeol sat up and pursed his lips, giving Myungsoo a thoughtful look.
“Yeah. Someone let slip that you might have weird habits, and then everyone started gossiping about what it might be, and it turned into rumors, and girls got scared. It’s better you don’t know what was said,” Sungyeol said with a solemn look on his face.
Myungsoo sighed. It was better this way. Rejecting girls never got any less awkward as time passed. He was ill-equipped to deal with the tears, anger, and desperation that came with his rejections. Often times standing there dumbly just made it worse. Sometimes he would try to pat them on the shoulder, but it felt too awkward, much too awkward.
“The only thing that might even be weird about me is that I have sweaty hands.”
“And the inability to stay upright when walking or doing simple tasks- Don’t hurt me.” Sungyeol curled up again and rolled across his floor, bending some of the pages of Myungsoo’s newly bought volume.
“Be careful! Don’t bend the pages!”
“Sorry, sorry.” Sungyeol smoothed them out and cast a wary glance back at Myungsoo. “Anyway, back on the subject of Dongwoo. I wonder why he asked you that. You don’t think he likes you, do you?”
“I dunno, is he into boys?” Myungsoo rolled over on his bed and grabbed his only stuffed animal, a toy hamster he got for his birthday years ago and couldn’t part with.
“I dunno either. I know Woohyun is though,” Sungyeol said in a sing-song voice. The look of surprise on Myungsoo’s face sent Sungyeol into a fit of laughter.
“Woohyun? Of all people, Woohyun? How do you know?”
“He told us. It was during the first meeting of the club, where we were supposed to introduce ourselves tell an unknown fact about us. After he said it, he got really shy about it, so we promised not to tell. You won’t tell, right?”
“Yeah, I won’t tell. I’m not exactly the type to blab around.”
Sungyeol thought it was a pity that Myungsoo was blessed with good looks. Being the straight male that he was, he still had to admit that Myungsoo was very handsome and had a sort of charm that made him seem mysterious. Despite all that, Myungsoo was actually very awkward, almost unable to deal with most social situations. It wasn’t for lack of trying though, Sungyeol had to give him that. The boy was just awkward.
“Maybe people are expecting too much from him,” Sungyeol unconsciously said out loud.
“Expecting too much from who?”
“The main guy.” Sungyeol held up the manga and held his breath. And when Myungsoo didn’t say anything else, he knew he dodged a bullet. Myungsoo was a little bit touchy when people spoke ill of him. He didn’t get angry, he just tended to brood too much.
Sungyeol decided that Myungsoo needed to get into a relationship with someone a little more socially able. Maybe it would help him become a productive member of society instead of the awkward mess he was now. Staring back down at the manga, an idea came to him.
Maybe Myungsoo wasn’t the one that was supposed to do the romancing. Maybe he was supposed to be romanced.
Sungyeol grinned an evil grin before turning his eyes towards Myungsoo settling down in his bed. “Turn off the light when you’re done,” he said, yawning slightly.
“Yeah, I will. I only have a couple more pages. Hey, you wanna hang out downtown tomorrow? I needed to get a few things.”
“Sure,” Myungsoo said, his voice fading out. And after that, Sungyeol knew he wasn’t going to hear anything else from Myungsoo besides the occasional snore.
Sungyeol snickered quietly as he turned down the lights and started to plan.
--
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Does he even like guys?” Sungyeol sighed at the question and held up his hand to stop further ones.
“It wouldn’t do us any good to set him up with a girl. He’s traumatized by them. Has been since he first started school,” Sungyeol said, peeking around the corner for any sign of Myungsoo. He texted the club a majority of the night with his plan to help Myungsoo come out of his shell.
“Why? What happened?” Howon asked. He, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Sungjong, and Woohyun peeked around the corner of the building at the same time and pulled back quickly when they thought Myungsoo looked in their direction, bumping into each other and complaining.
“He asked a girl to marry him, and she said no.” After a moment of silence, everyone started snorting in attempts to hide their laughter, and even Sungyeol couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. “It’s not funny. It hit him hard, being rejected at the age of five. Since then, he’s avoided girls like they were the plague. Unconsciously or consciously, I don’t know.”
“So, you’re going to try to set him up with a guy?” Sungjong asked, incredulous look on his face. “That’s a stupid idea!”
Dongwoo frowned. “I don’t really like this idea either. What happens if he ends up liking him? Or the guy turns out to be an asshole or something?”
“Then I will take full responsibility. For now, I am going to take advantage of his weaknesses, for the greater good,” Sungyeol said with a mock, choked-back sob. “He should be calling me to ask where I am in a few seconds.”
Sungyeol went home in the morning, telling Myungsoo he had to get a change of clothes and beg for some spending money from his parents. He did have to change clothes, and for the hell of it, he asked his parents for some spending money and actually got some. It was a sign, he decided.
Sure enough, after a few moments, Myungsoo reached into his pocket and scrolled down to Sungyeol’s name in his phone, pressing the phone to his ear. All of the boys watched and waited for Sungyeol’s phone to ring.
“Hello?” Sungyeol asked, answering his phone and telling the others to keep quiet.
“Where are you? I’m already here.” Dongwoo peeked out over the corner and saw irritation on Myungsoo’s face.
“Sorry. I’m running a little bit late. Are you hungry? You can meet me by the cafe. I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“You couldn’t have called to tell me you were going to be late?”
“It just happened. Don’t be such a grouch. I have money to spend for once. And you know which cafe I’m talking about, right?”
“The one with the outdoor seating and the bakery across from it.”
“Right. I’ll see you in a few.” Sungyeol hung up and stuffed his phone into his pocket. Myungsoo scowled at his phone and shoved his phone into his back pocket. He looked around for a few moments before turning and walking towards the cafe.
“How are we supposed to follow him without him noticing? He’s not that dumb.”
“Well, he spaces out when he walks, so if we’re in smaller groups, he won’t notice us,” Sungyeol said.
“So, me and Sungjong will go in one group, and Dongwoo and Woohyun in another. Sound good?” Howon said, looking around. Woohyun looked ecstatic. It was no secret that Woohyun had a crush on Dongwoo. Dongwoo was just too oblivious to see it, and regarding the question he asked Myungsoo, Sungyeol had an idea why.
“You two hide at the bakery. In the corner, order some pie or cake or something. Myungsoo eats like a pig, so it won’t be long before we head over there for some dessert. The guy selling the baked goods at the bakery, that’s who we’re going to set him up with.”
Sungjong blinked a few times before wrinkling his nose. “He goes to our school, too, doesn’t he? He’s in his final year. Sung-something.”
“Sunggyu. He’s perfect for the job of passing social skills to Myungsoo. He’s nice, he’s polite, and he sings, too. Myungsoo’s an okay singer, and he plays guitar. They’re a match made in heaven.”
“I don’t know about this,” Dongwoo said, frowning slightly. “If it’s just that, wouldn’t it be better if it was one of us? He spends the most time with us at the club.”
Through Sungyeol’s insistence, Myungsoo started attending the Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club as an attempt to help him be less socially awkward. So far, it was the only thing Myungsoo stuck with, and he seemed to be a little bit more open with the members than regular people.
“I don’t want to make it awkward in the club if something goes wrong. We’re a small enough club as it is,” Sungyeol said, pulling out his phone to check the time. “Alright. Operation GyuSoo is a go!”
--
Myungsoo was already eating by the time Sungyeol appeared, pulling a chair out and sitting down. “You didn’t even bother to wait for me? I said I wasn’t going to take forever.”
“I already ordered for you,” Myungsoo said in between shoveling food into his mouth and chewed. And true to his word, a waiter came by and set down the meal Sungyeol usually ordered.
“Huh. If that’s the case, then I should be late more often.”
“Means you’re paying.”
“Fair enough,” Sungyeol said, pretending to pop his back using the chair. He spotted Howon and Sungjong outside of the bakery, enjoying whatever pastries they ordered. Woohyun and Dongwoo had to be inside, making sure Sunggyu was going to be at the register when he and Myungsoo stopped by.
“Are you okay? You look weird.”
Sungyeol turned back to Myungsoo and scowled at him. “I’m fine. If anything, you look weirder than I do.”
--
“Here they come,” Howon said, sitting up straighter so Sungjong could duck down a little bit and hide his face.
“... bottomless pit. I don’t want to waste all of this newfound money on food, you know,” Sungyeol said as the two of them passed by into the bakery. The goods smelled too good to pass up, and Sungjong and Howon found themselves sampling a little bit of everything and enjoying the good weather outside.
“Do you think this is a good idea, Sungjong? Is this going to blow up in our faces? You know him pretty well, don’t you?”
Sungjong took a bite out of some fudge and sighed. “Well, Sungyeol knows him the best. All of us are good friends, but I don’t know about this one. He’s never really been interested in relationships. I don’t think he’d appreciate the meddling.”
He and Howon were outside to make sure everything went smoothly. Actually, they didn’t really need to be there, but when something as interesting as this was taking place, they didn’t have any other place to be.
“Dongwoo and Woohyun were talking for a while. I wonder what they’re talking about,” Sungjong said, sighing quietly.
Howon took a bite of the fudge and tried to turn Sungjong’s attention back to him. “So, how’s your brother?”
--
“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this,” Dongwoo muttered to himself, over and over again. Woohyun sighed and stuffed a piece of cake into Dongwoo’s mouth to get him to stop talking. Dongwoo wasn’t good at these kinds of things, and watching Myungsoo look through the pastries through the glass was making him even more nervous.
“Calm down, Dongwoo. All you have to do is get up and accidentally bump into him and ruin the cake. That’s all,” Woohyun said quietly, peeking over his shoulder.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
Woohyun rolled his eyes, ducking as Myungsoo walked by to pay for his purchases. Sunggyu wrapped up the cake into a box, smiling at him as he handed over the package.
“I can’t do this.”
“If you’re not going to do this, then I will!” Woohyun got up and started to walk. Then everything after that happened in slow motion.
At least, according to Dongwoo it did.
--
Myungsoo was looking at cakes while Sungyeol made an excuse to escape next door to the bookstore. He claimed he was looking for his favorite volume to buy to bring next week to the meeting, but Myungsoo had a copy for him to borrow if he wanted. Sungyeol politely declined and ran out of the shop like it was on fire.
Myungsoo stared after Sungyeol until the door to the bakery closed again. Shaking his head, he went through the task of picking himself something to buy and eat. He always had problems choosing because his eyes were bigger than his stomach.
“Can I help you pick something?” Myungsoo looked up to see a boy smiling at him, eyes completely gone. Sungyeol made fun of him all the time for having small eyes, but this guy took the cake. Pun intended.
“I’d like this chocolate cake, please.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll even wrap it for you, free of charge.” Myungsoo found himself smiling at him and followed him towards the cash register. Before he knew it, the boy was handing him his cake as he struggled with his wallet.
“Thanks. Come back again soon!” Myungsoo nodded and took his purchase, holding it in front of him by the strings tied around the box as he tried to stuff his wallet back into his pocket.
The next thing he knew, he crashed into something, and there was the telltale sound of something crumpling, squishing, and falling to the floor with a plop. “Hey! Watch where you’re- Myungsoo?”
Myungsoo blinked a few times in shock before looking at the owner of the voice. “Woohyun.”
“Oh god! Myungsoo! I’m sorry! Is your...” He looked down at the cake box on the floor and picked it up gently. Myungsoo stared at the crushed box, and a blush rose to his face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Sunggyu called from behind the counter. He leaned slightly and saw the crushed box Woohyun was holding up and winced. Myungsoo’s face was pale, almost frightened. “You didn’t even get to leave the store. Don’t worry about it. I’ll wrap you another one, on the house.”
Myungsoo’s hand shot out and took the crushed box from Woohyun with a rapid shake of his head. “N-no. It’s fine. I’ll take this. It’s still in the box, so it’s still edible.”
“But-” Sunggyu didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Myungsoo bolted out of the bakery, turning abruptly down the street and out of sight. Woohyun bit his lip before turning towards Dongwoo, who had worried look on his face, Sungyeol’s words coming back to their minds.
There’s only three things Myungsoo can’t stand: girls, confessions, and being embarrassed.
“I hope Sungyeol knows what he’s doing,” Woohyun said quietly.
--
Myungsoo sat quietly in his room. The crushed cake box was open on the small table in the middle of his room. Most of the cardboard was picked clean, leaving only bits of frosting smeared on the surface.
The lights were dim, and Sungyeol tried to crash through his door to ask what happened but gave up ten minutes later, saying that he would see him on Monday.
Nobody could understand. He’d heard his mom telling the story of how he got rejected by a girl in his first year of school, and the laughter that followed- the laughter that followed was the reason he was terrified of girls or any social contact. The screeching laughter that turned people breathless whenever they heard his story was the reason he couldn’t bring himself to be social.
He didn’t want to be embarrassed. It was bad enough that the kids laughed at him until he ran away and hid underneath the playground until the teachers went to find him. Then the teachers laughed while his face was still tear streaked, his mother laughed, his father laughed, their friends laughed. Even Sungyeol laughed when he found out. Myungsoo couldn’t take it. He didn’t care if it was unreasonable. He didn’t want to be laughed at.
And unconsciously through the years, he distanced himself from everyone except the persistent. He had no choice but to put up with Sungyeol after he wormed his way into his life. Sungjong was very nice company with his no-nonsense. And Myungsoo was beginning to find himself relaxed in his weekly trips to the Shoujo Manga Apperciation Club
“Maybe there’s hope for me after all,” he said quietly to himself. Then the remains of the crushed cake brought him back to his reality.
--
Myungsoo dreaded Monday because his friends would be all over him as to why he bolted from the bakery so fast. His texts tot hem over the weekend didn’t seem to satisfy their curiosity. In fact, the only person that believed him was Dongwoo, and for that, he was grateful.
“Myungsoo!” Myungsoo swallowed and saw Woohyun running towards him, uniform looking even more rumpled than it usually did. “Hey! Wait up!”
He sighed and stopped, gripping the handle to his book bag harder. “Hey, Woohyun.”
“You didn’t let me apologize about what happened at the bakery on Saturday. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you, and I didn’t realize you were holding a cake until... well.” Woohyun rubbed the back of his head sheepishly sighing. “I’ll get you another cake to make up for the one I ruined-”
“No. It’s fine. It was still edible.” An awkward silence stretched between the two of them until Woohyun laughed sheepishly.
“Is it just me, or did it suddenly get awkward?”
“Uh, yeah, I- Sorry. I should get to class.” Myungsoo turned around to leave and heard Woohyun calling his name again.
“You’re not mad, are you? Because it was just an accident, and I-”
“I’m not mad!” Myungsoo yelled back, waving his hand. Woohyun watched Myungsoo’s retreating back and sighed.
--
Myungsoo was only halfway up to his class, completely lost in his thoughts when he bumped into a wall, only the wall was warm, smelled like cake, and had arms to steady him as he teetered dangerously on his feet.
“Are you okay?” Myungsoo froze. That voice. “Oh! You’re the guy from the bakery that got his cake crushed.” He swallowed and brought his eyes up. Sure enough, it was the cashier from the bakery, giving him that eye-disappearing smile.
Myungsoo backed out of his grasp and turned around, mumbling a few things about forgetting something before hurrying as fast as he could back in the direction he came from.
“Hey! Wait!” And Sunggyu chased after him.
--
Myungsoo took the long way around to his class, taking the stairs on the other side of the school. He couldn’t believe he ran into him again. Would his humiliation know no bounds?
He sat at his desk quietly until the students began to pile in, and their dull chatter chased away any thoughts Myungsoo had left in his mind.
--
“Hey, Myungsoo? Are you okay? Rumor has it that you look like you’re contemplating murder.” Lunch rolled around, and Sungyeol visited Myungsoo’s class, occupying the empty desk behind him. “And I’d have to say I agree. What’s wrong? I heard about what happened at the bakery from Woohyun. He’s afraid you’re mad at him.”
Myungsoo stiffened in his seat and blinked a few times. “I’m not mad at him. It was my fault for not watching where I was going. I should’ve put my wallet up, then started walking.”
“Okay,” Sungyeol said slowly, “then why the long face?”
“I’m not feeling well. That’s all.”
Sungyeol moved to the seat beside him and stared at him, taking in the pronounced dark circles and the thin line of his lips. “You’ve been brooding again, haven’t you?”
“No, I haven’t been brooding. It’s Monday, and I’m tired. Leave it alone.” Myungsoo sighed and put his head on his desk, closing his eyes. Now, Sungyeol knew for sure that Myungsoo was brooding. He never skipped lunch.
--
Myungsoo was waiting at the bus stop when someone sat down next to him. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize who it was until he spoke.
“Hi. I’m Sunggyu.”
There was silence again until Myungsoo cast a sidelong glance towards him and cleared his throat. “Myungsoo.”
“You know, bumping into people seems to be a dangerous habit of yours.” Myungsoo didn’t have anything to say. Sunggyu looked over at him with a smile and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not really sure why you keep running away from me, but I’m just going to assume it’s because you’re shy. Too shy to say anything back to me either.”
Myungsoo tried to say something about how he wasn’t shy, he just didn’t fare well in social situations, but his throat dried up before he could get the words out.
“Which is fine. I can do enough talking for the both of us. I like the sound of my own voice.” Then he laughed, and Myungsoo felt warmth flooding through his body. The sound of laughter usually drained all the blood from his face and made him sick to his stomach, but there was something to Sunggyu’s laughter that warmed Myungsoo, and it scared him.
“We’ll be friends, right? I’ll even bring you cake for lunch a few days if we have some we need to get rid of at the bakery. You like cake?” Myungsoo nodded dumbly, making Sunggyu smile again. “Okay, cake it is. This means you can’t be running away from me whenever you see me.”
“Okay,” Myungsoo said, seeing the bus pull up to the stop.
“Progress! You’ve said one word to me! I have a feeling I’ll be able to keep count.” Myungsoo snorted before getting up and gathering his things for the bus. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” Sunggyu waved to him as he got on the bus. The doors shut behind him, and he found a seat next to the window, spotting Sunggyu still waving at him.
--
“Hey, do you know a guy named Myungsoo?” Dongwoo stiffened slightly as Sunggyu swept by him. Dongwoo and Sunggyu were stuck with cleaning duty that day, and it’d been two days since Sunggyu proclaimed that he and Myungsoo would be friends. Why, he wasn’t sure. There was just something about him that made Sunggyu want to see him smile.
“What makes you think I know him?”
Sunggyu leaned onto his broom and cast a smile at Dongwoo. “You usually hang out with the underclassmen more than I do. And I’ve seen you talking to some of the ones he usually hangs out with, so I was wondering if you knew him.”
“Yeah, I know him. Why?” Dongwoo said lightly, starting to sweep his half of the room again.
“I’m trying to be friends with him, but he looks terrified to see me every time I approach him. I mean, it’s only been two days, but it’s disheartening to see someone look at me like I’m going to gnaw on his bones every time he sees me.” Sunggyu sighed and rubbed at his eyes, balancing his broom against one of the stacked desks.
“He’s a little awkward. It’s hard for him to open up to us, and there’s always a bunch of rumors flying around because he always rejects confessions and stuff.”
“Oh... So I guess... it wouldn’t do me any good just to try and confront him all the time?”
“He’d probably run scared from you forever.”
--
Sunggyu had a plan. He wasn’t sure if it was a good plan, but if it kept Myungsoo from running away from him, then it was the best plan he had for now.
Sunggyu managed to wheedle the location of Myungsoo’s classroom from Woohyun, after he spotted Myungsoo having a conversation with him and smiling. After Myungsoo left to go do whatever he was going to do, Sunggyu casually managed to corner Woohyun, and after a few praises and small talk, Woohyun sang like a canary.
“Why does he even matter to you, anyway? You never took an interest in underclassmen before,” Dongwoo said as Sunggyu peered into Myungsoo’s empty classroom.
“I dunno, there’s just something about him that feels...” Sunggyu’s voice trailed off as he tried to think of the right word to describe his feelings. “I don’t know. He feels... helpless? Like I need to stand up and protect him?”
Dongwoo snorted. “Protect him from what? Is this that white knight complex you were telling me about?” Sunggyu, for the most part, strayed away from small children and animals, but when someone needed help, he was there with whatever sources were available to him. And even then, he was reluctant to help, so Dongwoo had no idea why he was so motivated to ‘help’ Myungsoo.
Sunggyu stepped into the classroom with a small bag in his hands and left it on Myungsoo’s desk. “White knight? What are you talking about? I don’t go around saving damsels in distress.”
“Then you think he’s cute?” Dongwoo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He’s pretty good looking.” Sunggyu shot Dongwoo a grin and sauntered out of the classroom, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Hey, come back here! I didn’t know you were into guys!”
“I didn’t know you liked guys either,” Sunggyu replied in a sing-song voice. Dongwoo stuttered for a moment, trying to find the words to deny the simple statement, but Sunggyu just put his finger to this lips and smiled.
--
Myungsoo stared at the foreign package on his desk. It was a small bag, and he could see several wooden sticks poking out from the top. The bag was a simple plaid design, and Myungsoo wondered if it was from one of his admirers.
Cautiously, he sat down as if the package was going to come alive and bite him. One of his classmates cast a glance over in his direction. “Who’s that from?”
“I... don’t know.” Myungsoo leaned forward and carefully peered into the bag. The smell of chocolate and cake hit him, and he realized there were cake balls attached to the other end of the sticks. He took a second to appreciate the smell before looking up and around his classroom for anyone watching him for a reaction.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He didn’t sense anyone watching him. When he realized everything was normal, Myungsoo looked for a name or a card on the bag but found nothing. It was just a gift. A small grin appeared on his face as he pulled one out and nibbled on it as the teacher walked in.
“A little bit early for cake, isn’t it, Myungsoo?”
Myungsoo turned a shade of red before replacing the cake into the bag and slipping it under his desk. The lesson began, but he could only think of cake.
--
Myungsoo didn’t want to share his cake balls during lunch, but somehow, Sungyeol managed to find his way into Myungsoo’s class and snatched one to eat while he protested.
“What? Where’d you get these? This is delicious.” Myungsoo watched in mild despair as Sungyeol finished off the treat in a few bites and tossed the empty stick back into the bag.
“They were on my desk when I got to class this morning. There wasn’t a note or anything so...” Myungsoo had a pretty good idea who they were from, but he put a thoughtful look on his face to spite Sungyeol. “I hope it wasn’t a girl I rejected trying to get revenge on me by giving me poisoned cake balls.” Myungsoo smiled with satisfaction as Sungyeol’s eyes went wide. He started coughing, and Myungsoo just sighed, patting him on the back.
“What are the chances of that happening?” Sungyeol squeaked out, massaging his throat.
“I dunno. Let me know if you start feeling weird.”
--
The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Sooner than later, Friday came around, and it was time for the weekly Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club to meet once again. Myungsoo’s thoughts were occupied by the boy with the small eyes that promised cake, and he delivered. Myungsoo tried to thank him various times of the week but couldn’t figure out (or get the nerve) to approach him.
“Looks like everyone is here this week,” Howon said, looking around the group at the back of the library. His eyes settled on Myungsoo’s far away expression, making him shake his head. “Or mostly here. Time to get this meeting started! Sungyeol, we’ll start with you and go clockwise.”
--
“Hey, Myungsoo. Did you ever figure out who gave you those cake balls?” Sungyeol asked, as they waited for the bus together. Myungsoo pursed his lips.
“Yeah, I have a pretty good idea who it was.”
“Oh. Who?”
Myungsoo smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I want to make sure it’s the right person before I go spouting nonsense.”
--
Myungsoo could see Sunggyu standing across the courtyard with his hands in his pockets, laughing with Dongwoo. Myungsoo was going to use the excuse of asking to borrow something from Dongwoo, and then thank Sunggyu for the cake balls.
His heart already beat nervously with the idea of confrontation, and his body was screaming at him to keep walking by them when he approached Dongwoo and Sunggyu. Just thank him and move on. He’s not going to bite your head off or laugh at you. Just thank him, and -
The front of Myungsoo’s shoe caught the ground as he walked, and he stumbled slightly, nearly tripping up the front steps of the school where Dongwoo and Sunggyu were standing. He felt a strong grip on his arm, keeping him from falling face forward into the concrete. “Are you okay?”
Myungsoo cleared his throat and straightened out his uniform, nodding rapidly. He looked up and saw Sunggyu smiling at him before he let go of his arm. “You should watch where you’re going Myungsoo. One of these days, you’re going to fall into a hole.” Myungsoo sighed as Dongwoo reached out to ruffle his hair.
“Did you like the cake balls I left for you last week? I made a few extra at the bakery and thought you might like them.”
“Yeah, I did-” Myungsoo’s voice cracked on the last word, and he fell silent for a moment as a blush rose to his face again. Sunggyu’s smile widened as he tilted his head to look at Myungsoo. “I- yeah. I did. They were really good. Thank you.” He bowed quickly and hurried past them into the school building.
“You know. His personality doesn’t really match his looks,” Sunggyu mused out loud, staring after Myungsoo. Dongwoo ignored the slight poke of jealousy and nodded.
--
Myungsoo stepped out of the bookstore with a full bag. He’d gotten an advance on his allowance, and he promptly spent on a new series he had his eye on for the past few weeks. His friends at the club would enjoy hearing about this series. He’d be the first one to read it, and tell the group his thoughts on it. Myungsoo was definitely going to be more useful this week.
On his way back to the bus station, Myungsoo passed by a clothing store, and a shirt caught his eye. Glancing at his watch, he decided he had a few minutes to spare and stepped into the clothing store.
Sunggyu didn’t pay much attention to the sound of the small bell tinkling over the door as he looked through a rack of sale clothes. He wanted to buy some new clothes for the summer coming up. For some strange reason, when the bell tinkled, he looked up and saw Myungsoo stepping inside and heading for the rack of new arrivals. Sunggyu’s face lit up, and he made his way over.
“Hey! Fancy running into you here.” Myungsoo jumped at the voice and glanced over his shoulder to see Sunggyu smile blinding him.
“Oh. Hi, Sunggyu. I saw this shirt in the window and...” Myungsoo held up the blue plaid shirt and grinned sheepishly at him before replacing it on the rack.
“It suits you. I’d look ridiculous in plaid.” For emphasis, Sunggyu picked a shirt out of the rack and held it up against his body, frowning into the body mirror on the pillar next to them. Myungsoo chuckled a little bit before his eyes wandered to the clock in the store.
“Oh! The bus is about to leave. I should get going. It was nice to see you,” Myungsoo said, bowing slightly before making his way towards the door.
“Wait! Aren’t you going to buy the shirt?” Sunggyu called after him.
“I ran out of money,” Myungsoo said with a shrug before disappearing out the door. Sunggyu blinked a few times before reaching for the shirt Myungsoo replaced.
--
Myungsoo was less than surprised to see a wrapped up package on his desk Monday morning. Sungyeol followed him to class and sat down, waiting for him to open it. “Someone must really like you,” he said, watching at Myungsoo gently opened the box. Inside was the shirt he looked at on the weekend.
“Oh, hey. I saw those the other day. Who bought this for you?”
Myungsoo stared blankly at the shirt before running a finger over the buttons. He was definitely going to thank him this week, and he wasn’t going to trip over himself to be able to do it.
“Myungsoo?”
“A friend. I went out and bought that new series everyone’s been talking about. Did you wanna come over and take a look today?” Sungyeol sighed. Myungsoo needed to learn how to change the subject better than that, but for now, he let it slide.
--
Sunggyu heard his name called by a familiar voice and smiled. He stopped and turned around to see Myungsoo running towards him, package tucked neatly underneath his arm. “Sunggyu, you didn’t have to get this for me,” Myungsoo said in between catching his breath.
“I wanted to. Like I said, it suits you. You like it, right?”
“I do. What are you trying to do here?”
Sunggyu blinked a few times. “What do you mean?”
“Do you want something from me?”
“I...” Did Sunggyu want something from him? Myungsoo’s face showed expectancy. He wanted an answer, Sunggyu realized. “A date,” he said finally. A look of confusion spread across Myungsoo’s face. “One date. A dinner and a movie. That’s all.”
“So, in exchange for cake balls and a shirt, you want a date?”
“Well, you can’t really give me the cake balls back if you refuse. So, you can’t refuse really. You’re stuck. Going on a date. With me.” Myungsoo blinked rapidly a few times as his nervousness flared up again. He’d never been on a date before, especially not with a guy. What was going to be expected of him? “If it makes you uncomfortable, we can just go for a walk in the park instead. I’ll make a picnic.”
The idea of being alone in a place where people could see them, enjoying a picnic together almost made Myungsoo pass out. He would have to come up with conversation and try not to eat too much out of nervousness. He’d probably have better luck with dinner and a movie. “Uh, no. Dinner and a movie sounds fine.” It took all of his control not to start stammering.
“Oh, okay. If you’re sure. How’s Friday sound?”
Myungsoo blinked a few times to figure out what was going on during his Fridays. “I... I have a club meeting on Friday that lasts a little late sometimes.”
“Oh, right. Dongwoo told me that. How about Saturday then? We can meet downtown, take a little walk before we eat, and head off to the movie. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds good.”
Sunggyu pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled something down before replacing the pen behind his ear. “Here’s my number in case something happens. Or if you want to talk or something.” Myungsoo took the piece of paper from him, trying to ignore his trembling fingers. He had a date.
--
Myungsoo could hardly stay concentrated on the work at hand during the week. A few times Sungyeol asked him to spill the beans, but Myungsoo didn’t say a word. Sungyeol had a problem with keeping his mouth shut, and Myungsoo would be damned before rumors of him going out on a date started spreading.
Dongwoo noticed the equally dreamy smile on Sunggyu’s face but couldn’t get a straight answer from the other boy.
During the meeting on Friday, Myungsoo seemed more excited to talk, passing around the series he bought the previous week. There were excited discussions, followed by a brief summary of what happened to far by Myungsoo. Howon swore that was the most he’d ever heard Myungsoo say in one sitting.
“See? The meetings are doing you some good. You’re smiling, and laughing, and sharing, and being a productive member of society. How does it feel?” Sungyeol asked, throwing his arm over Myungsoo’s shoulder.
“What are you talking about?” Myungsoo asked with a scowl. He shrugged Sungyeol’s arm off his shoulder and punched him.
“You were the center of attention at the meeting, Mr. Take Charge and Make Some Discussion. I haven’t seen you say so much all at once.”
“Oh, well- I guess I was just really into it this week.” Sungyeol watched the tips of Myungsoo’s ears turn red.
“That’s good. Are we hanging out this weekend?”
“I have plans on Saturday. Sunday’s fine though.”
“Sunday is copy your homework day.”
“You could try to do it on your own.”
“I could, but my effort would be wasted because they answer’s will be wrong.”
--
Sunggyu was staring at the clock. Time passed by at half the pace he was used to, and even the cakes seemed to bake slower than normal. Myungsoo texted him a few times, asking where they were going to meet and what movie he wanted to see. Truthfully, Sunggyu would be happy with any movie, as long as he got to see it with Myungsoo.
The clock chirped when the hour hand hit the twelve, and Sunggyu sighed in relief. He was supposed to meet Myungsoo at the cafe across the street as soon as he got off of work. Sunggyu pulled his apron off and said goodbye to his coworkers and his boss before hurrying out of the door and across the street.
Myungsoo was already waiting for him at a table outside, playing a game on his phone while he waited. “Hey, have you been waiting long?” Sunggyu asked as he sat down. Myungsoo looked up from his phone and stared at Sunggyu for a moment with a smile on his face. Sunggyu blinked a few times. “What?”
“You have flour on your face.”
--
They talked comfortably through dinner. Myungsoo did more eating than talking, but as long as he looked comfortable, Sunggyu didn’t mind. When Sunggyu brought up the subject of school, Myungsoo avoided it. When Sunggyu brought up the subject of love and dating, Myungsoo ignored him.
They talked about the weather, they talked about clothes, books, and whatever else Sunggyu could think of that didn’t bother Myungsoo.
Soon, they found themselves trying to pick a movie. Myungsoo didn’t want to see the romantic comedy that was showing (he secretly did), but Sunggyu said he already saw it and wanted to see the new horror movie that came out the previous weekend.
Myungsoo didn’t do too well with horror movies, but he decided it wouldn’t be so bad if he had someone to watch it with. In the darkness of the movie theatre, he ended up watching less than half the movie and spending the rest of the time digging his fingernails into Sunggyu’s arm.
--
“The movie wasn’t that bad, Myungsoo. My arm will never be the same, though.” Sunggyu glanced down at his arm and frowned at the small half-moon marks.
“I’m sorry. Horror movies aren’t really my thing. I didn’t think I dug in that hard.”
“I think this one is about to start bleeding.”
Myungsoo frowned. He could barely watch the movie and now, he probably made his date bleed. Sunggyu was probably thinking of ways to tell the story to maximize the laughter from his friends.
Sunggyu rubbed at his arm and laughed, leaning back into the bus seat and casually placing his arm over Myungsoo’s shoulders. They rode that way while Myungsoo thought of ways to fill the silence.
“Isn’t this your stop?”
Myungsoo snapped out of his daze and checked his surroundings. Recognizing his stop, he got up abruptly and headed for the door. “Thanks for taking me out. I had a lot of fun,” he said rapidly as he got off of the bus.
Sunggyu watched him walk past the bus stop and waved at him as the bus doors closed. The bus started to move as Myungsoo waved back. Then he stepped into something and fell face first on the concrete.
Sunggyu’s eyes widened in surprise, and when Myungsoo didn’t move, he got up and asked the driver to let him out. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” he apologized as the bus driver reluctantly slowed down and opened the doors. He ran down the sidewalk and knelt down next to Myungsoo, reaching out and shaking his shoulder. “Myungsoo? Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Myungsoo flinched and he yelled out, pushing away from Sunggyu like he was a ghost. “Whoa! Calm down. It’s just me. You took a pretty nasty fall.” Myungsoo’s cheek and forehead were full of scratches, and he was bleeding.
“I-I-”
“Take a few deep breaths. Why is there a hole in the sidewalk?”
“I-It’s always been there. I u-usually step over it, but I guess I forgot about it and-” Sunggyu reached out and gently poked at Myungsoo’s ankle, making him wince.
“Looks like you might’ve sprained your ankle. Well. I guess that means I’m carrying you home.”
Myungsoo started to panic. “But the bus! That was the last bus towards your house!”
“That’s fine. You’ll let me sleep over, right? I’ll just call my parents and let them know what happened. Come on.”
--
Myungsoo couldn’t possibly be more embarrassed. And he couldn’t even run away this time because his ankle was sprained. Sunggyu’s back was warm and his hair tickled Myungsoo’s face. The steady rocking of his steps was about to put Myungsoo to sleep.
“I’m sorry,” Myungsoo mumbled with a sigh.
Sunggyu glanced over his shoulder with a curious expression on his face. “Sorry for what?”
“I was a poor date, scratched up your arm, and made you miss your bus home. And now you’re carrying me home because I can’t stay on my feet.”
Sunggyu laughed a little bit, and Myungsoo flinched, making Sunggyu stop laughing. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because you’re so cute. I had a good time tonight. This is just a mild mishap, and an excuse for me to get closer to you.”
Myungsoo felt a blush rise to his face and was thankful Sunggyu couldn’t see. “... Thank you.”
--
Myungsoo’s mother was less than surprised to see her son carried by another guy to his room. Sungyeol had done it so many times as a child, she was used to finding out how Myungsoo sprained his ankle.
She insisted that Sunggyu spend the night and said she’d give him bus fare for the way home. Secretly, she was glad that Myungsoo had more friends than just Sungyeol and Sungjong.
“I have some bigger clothes in my closet that’ll fit you,” Myungsoo said from his bed, watching dejectedly as Sunggyu dug through his closet.
“Are you calling me fat?” Myungsoo’s expression sunk even more, making Sunggyu’s smile fade as he stood up and sat down on Myungsoo’s bed. “It was a joke. I know you’re not calling me fat. What’s wrong?”
Myungsoo was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “You... You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Tell anyone what? That I did unspeakable things to you all weekend?” A small squeak escaped from Myungsoo, making Sunggyu shake his head. “You mean about our date?” Myungsoo nodded.
“Why? We had a good time. It was fun.”
Myungsoo sighed and laid down on his bed, covering his face with his stuffed hamster. “It’s embarrassing what happened and...”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Sunggyu laid down next to Myungsoo and blew air at his face. Myungsoo frowned and turned away from him. “Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad. It was a nice first date, especially since I get to spend time in your bed.”
“Pervert,” Myungsoo mumbled. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face though, and Sunggyu knew he won this round.
“Hey, Myungsoo?” Myungsoo rolled over to face Sunggyu, expression serious.
“What?”
Then Sunggyu leaned in to kiss him softly.
--
Myungsoo laid awake in his bed. Sunggyu kissed him. He kissed him. Sunggyu was on the other side of Myungsoo’s bed, curled up against the wall with his back facing him. Myungsoo could see it in the darkness.
He kissed him. Biting his lip, Myungsoo let himself smile and wrapped himself up in the blankets. So this is what it’s like to be in a shoujo manga...
--
Over the next few weeks, Myungsoo and Sunggyu barely had any time to talk to each other at school. The seniors were preparing for college entrance exams, and Myungsoo had his hands full with midterms for his classes. They exchanged a few phone calls here and there, a few texts.
Myungsoo didn’t hear any rumors about him dating or kissing anyone. He even asked Sunggyu about it, and the only response he got was, ‘I don’t kiss and tell.’
--
It was now or never. Myungsoo forced himself up to Sunggyu and his friends with a polite bow to them.
“Oh, hey, Myungsoo. What’s up?” Sunggyu’s friends chose that time to say goodbye, and they left him standing there with Myungsoo, his hands jammed into his pockets.
“Uh, some of my friends and I are going out to a beach resort during the summer break to study and have fun, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along too?” Myungsoo’s voice was on the verge of stammering, but he kept it under control. He was just asking Sunggyu if he wanted to come too, that’s all. Sunggyu heard the hope spilling out in Myungsoo’s voice and knew there was no way he could say no.
“Oh, sure. Just let me know the dates so I can ask for vacation from work. Is this the one that Dongwoo was talking about?” He’d heard Dongwoo mention a retreat in the summer with one of his clubs.
“Yeah, he’ll be there, too. So you’ll go?” Sunggyu nodded, making Myungsoo smile back at him. “Okay, cool. I’ll find out the dates from Howon and let you know soon, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Myungsoo ducked his head in a quick bow before running off without another word. Sunggyu sighed and shook his head. Would it be too much for him to stay and have a conversation? It might be. He might explode, Sunggyu thought with a chuckle.
--
The beach resort was nice, and the window of their room faced the ocean. Myungsoo dropped his things and opened up the door, feeling the salty air settle on his skin as he leaned on the railing. Sunggyu poked his head through the doors and looked around before smiling.
“Hey. I won rock, paper, scissors, so I’m rooming with you. Howon and the youngest one are sharing a room with Sungyeol, and Dongwoo and Woohyun are sharing another room.”
“Oh, hey. That means I’ll actually get some studying done.”
--
Study sessions were quiet, punctuated with random bursts of nonsense from Sungyeol. Sunggyu couldn’t help but look up from his papers every now and then to watch Myungsoo’s face while he studied. He looked so serious all of the time, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Sunggyu knew that he was about as serious as a pink elephant in a tutu.
The image of said pink elephant in a tutu suddenly appeared in his mind, making him snort. The noise startled Myungsoo, making him look up with questioning eyes.
“Elephants. They’re funny.”
--
The afternoons spent in the sun were fun. Sungyeol coerced Myungsoo into participating in physical activity. He wanted to sit out so the teams were even, but he was placed on a team with Howon, and told that his lack of skill would balance out Howon’s athletic ability.
Volleyball was hard enough on solid ground, and it was ten times harder in the sand. Myungsoo was waiting for his foot to get caught in the sand and send him falling face first. At least the sand would be a little bit softer.
Sunggyu often tackled him into the sand or picked him up to throw him into the water when he least expected it, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the group.
--
“Hey, Myungsoo. Can I talk to you for a little bit?” Myungsoo looked up and saw Dongwoo standing close to him, hands in his pockets. He smiled and finished pulling his shoes on before patting the empty space on the deck next to him.
“Sure. Sit down. Let’s talk.” Dongwoo sat down next to the younger boy and sighed, wondering if this was the right thing to do. But he couldn’t help how he felt, and it was going to be either now or never.
“Myungsoo, is it true you’re dating Sunggyu?” Myungsoo’s eyes widened in surprise. He told Sungyeol about the date and made him promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Sunggyu said he wasn’t one to date and tell, so how was it that Dongwoo knew? “I noticed you and Sunggyu were pretty friendly with each other. He smiles at you a lot, and it’s a real smile, not that half smirk, grin he usually does.”
“Um...” The way Dongwoo was looking at Myungsoo made him a little bit nervous, and he could feel the tips of his ears going red. “It was just a date. One date. I don’t think that really counts as dating him now.” And in Myungsoo’s mind, it was true. They didn’t make plans for a second date, so he assumed it was just a one time thing. Not to mention the date was a bit of a disaster, minus the kiss at the end.
“Did you kiss him?” Dongwoo was leaning closer and closer to Myungsoo, making him strain in the other direction.
“Dongwoo, I don’t really know why we’re talking about this. It’s kind of personal, and I-”
“I like you.”
Myungsoo’s arm slipped out from underneath him in surprise. He fell onto his side and scrambled to get back up into a sitting position. “I’m sorry?”
“I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time now, but you seemed so shy, I didn’t want to scare you off or anything. And there were all those rumors about how you responded to confessions, and I didn’t...”
Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo like he grew another head. “I- Okay. Um. That’s really flattering Dongwoo, but I don’t really like you that way. I only see you as a friend.”
Dongwoo frowned slightly and scooted closer to Myungsoo, who scooted farther away. “Is it because of Sunggyu? If I confessed first, would I-”
“No.” Myungsoo said the word more forcefully than he meant to, and he knew it by the way Dongwoo flinched slightly. “Dongwoo, you’re a really good friend, but I think there’s someone else that deserves your love and affection. And you did confess first. Sunggyu hasn’t said anything like a confession yet.”
Dongwoo furrowed his eyebrows, and the both of them heard the back door slam, and saw Woohyun’s figure retreating into the house. “But I really like you and-”
“And Woohyun really likes you.” Myungsoo waited a few moments for his words to sink in.
“What? No he doesn’t.”
“You’ve been so busy looking at me, I don’t think you’ve noticed him.” Myungsoo watched the cogs in Dongwoo’s mind work. Dongwoo slowly turned his gaze back to the closed door and sighed.
“I guess you really like him, huh?”
Myungsoo stared down at his hands, unable to say anything. He was afraid of saying anything, lest reality catch up with him and make him feel his words. Dongwoo understood his silence and leaned over to press a kiss to Myungsoo’s cheek.
“We’ll still be friends, right?”
“Of course. You’ll have to do more than confess to scare me off. But please don’t try,” Myungsoo added on quickly as Dongwoo gave him a grin.
“Okay, okay. Let me go nurse my tender heart and figure out what to do with Woohyun.” Dongwoo pushed himself to his feet and dusted off the sand from his butt.
“You two should date,” Myungsoo said lightly.
“I don’t know. He seems to like his girls...”
“I think he only has eyes for you.”
Dongwoo snorted and shook his head. “Since when did you become so well versed in matters of the heart?”
“Well. We are in a shoujo manga appreciation club. I thought I’d put my knowledge and observations to good use.”
--
Myungsoo was sitting on the beach, watching the waves when he heard footsteps behind him. Sunggyu fell onto the sand unceremoniously beside Myungsoo and leaned back on his arms. “Something funny is going on in Dongwoo and Woohyun’s room. Everyone left to give them some privacy.” Myungsoo nodded. The waves were getting closer to his toes, and if he stretched, he could dip them into the water. “Thanks for inviting me out on this study retreat. I needed it.”
“Dongwoo confessed to me,” Myungsoo said, squinting his eyes. Sunggyu stiffened beside him.
“Oh. He did? What’d you say?”
“I think let him down a little bit too rough. I don’t really know how to deal with stuff like that, and on top of that, he’s a good friend, too.” Myungsoo frowned and sighed heavily. Sunggyu sat up beside him and turned to look at him with a smile.
“You look like you could use a smile.”
“I could.” Myungsoo smiled.
“I could give you one.” Sunggyu smiled wider.
“You could.”
“I’d rather give you a kiss.” Myungsoo flinched a little bit before blinking. Sunggyu figured out long ago when Myungsoo blinked too much, he was uncomfortable. “Yeah, you’re right. Better wait for a second date to kiss you.” Sunggyu watched as Myungsoo’s eyes widened.
“A second date?”
“Yeah. I’ve been meaning to ask you, but with the examinations and stuff, I didn’t have the time. I guess you’re the type where I have to earn my affection.” Myungsoo smiled at him, and no more words were exchanged. He leaned over and let his head rest on Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Try not to fall into any holes on our second date.”
Pairing/Focus: Sunggyu/Myungsoo
Rating: PG - 13
Word count: ~10k
Summary: Reality is real, and romance is nothing but a fantasy. Reality is real, and romance is nothing but a fantasy. Reality is real, and romance- oh, forget it.
Notes: Written for quarticpolynomi for infinite secret santa.
Shoujo manga - noun
The term shōjo, shojo, or shoujo manga refers to manga marketed
to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18
- Wikipedia
But what does Wikipedia know?
--
Myungsoo hadn’t believed in love since he was five, and the cute girl he had his eye on promptly said ‘no’ when he asked her to marry him one breezy recess. Was he being a bit unreasonable? Of course he was. He knew that his aversion to the ‘L’ word was unreasonable, given the reason behind it, but he couldn’t help it. The little girl scarred him with her scrunched-up face and screeching ‘no’ as she stomped away from him.
“Myungsoo?” And given that he couldn’t stand anything lovely and romantic, he had no idea what he was doing at the weekly Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club meeting in the library. Or why he’d been coming for the past few weeks.
“Myungsoo,” the voice called with a little more force, pulling Myungsoo from his thoughts. Myungsoo’s eyes focused on the speaker, and he gave him a sheepish grin.
“Sorry, Howon. Lost in my thoughts for a bit.” The other boys in the club sighed before Howon sat back in his seat with a grin, showing off a prominent canine.
“No worries. Happens to the best of us. Tell me you were daydreaming about the manga we’re discussing this week, at least.” Howon held up the latest volume of the series they were following, and Myungsoo nodded.
The cover was a mix of light blue and green, surrounding the two main characters of the series embracing each other. The title was lost in the art design. It was like playing hide-and-seek, only the title hid in plain sight, and Myungsoo was too slow to see it.
“You guys, this was my favorite volume to date, and not even because of the sex.” Woohyun, sitting to the left of Myungsoo, launched into a long explanation that Myungsoo listened to politely. Woohyun was a walking Casanova, proof that girls loved the romantic stuff he saw in these mangas. Strangely, even though Woohyun won girls left and right, he seemed interested in only one person, and that person remained oblivious. It had the makings of a live shoujo series.
“You say that about every new volume we read,” Dongwoo said with a laugh. Dongwoo was eternal smiles and happiness. If only he could notice the goofy grin on Woohyun’s face whenever he said something to him.
“So, who are we missing today?” Howon’s eyes swept around the small circle of chairs in the back of the library and opened up the notebook in his lap. “Sungjong said he couldn’t make it today. His little brother is sick so he had to hurry home.” He wrote down Sungjong’s name with a note underneath the date.
“Sungyeol has detention again because he wouldn’t take out his conch piercing. And I’m glad, because I paid for that,” Myungsoo said lightly, brushing a piece of dust from his uniform.
“When is he not in detention for something?” Woohyun laughed and shook his head. Sungyeol would probably end up on the floor of Myungsoo’s bedroom, reading through the latest volume for discussion because he was too cheap to buy his own. The only reason Myungsoo paid for his conch piercing was because he didn’t believe Sungyeol could beat him fifty times in a row in rock, paper, scissors.
“Myungsoo, you should be setting a better example for him,” Howon said, giving him a mock stern look. Myungsoo blinked a few times before scowling slightly.
“Excuse me? He’s older than me. If anything, he should be setting the example. What does that say about the rest of you? I’m the youngest one here without Sungjong.” He pointed an accusatory finger around the circle.
Woohyun shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t need two of me. There’s enough heartbreak going around with just me alone. These are gold mines when it comes to insight on the female psyche. I’m not even joking. There’s always someone that tries to be different, but it always ends up like this somehow.” Woohyun waved his volume around for a moment before sighing and staring at the cover.
“That’s love for you. Nothing but heartbreak,” Myungsoo said, staring off into the distance.
“Myungsoo, we know you’re not really that deep and mysterious.” A pencil came flying at him from Dongwoo’s direction, and he automatically brought his hands up to shield his face.
--
After a few moments of quiet discussion, Howon adjourned the meeting, telling each of the members to bring in their favorite volume from their favorite series for discussion next week.
“Hey, Myungsoo. Can I talk to you for a little bit?” Dongwoo caught up with Myungsoo just as he was walking through the library doors. They always met in the back of the library, and Myungsoo never stayed behind to help put the chairs back.
“Sure. It’s a bit of a walk to the bus stop,” Myungsoo said, throwing his book bag over his shoulder. The two of them walked in awkward silence for a moment until Dongwoo spoke, his voice cracking slightly.
“You don’t- oh wow, haven’t had my voice crack like that in a while.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “You don’t really seem interested in the meetings.”
“Really?” They turned the corner, and Dongwoo cleared his throat again.
“Yeah. You’re always spaced out and everything, and you don’t say much. Is it because you’re shy? I mean, none of us are judging you or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. And you shouldn’t worry about other people either.” Myungsoo stopped at the front gate of the school and squinted his eyes, tilting his head to the side to give Dongwoo a curious look.
“Not to be rude or anything, but why does this matter to you?”
Dongwoo stiffened a little bit before offering Myungsoo one of his too-bright smiles. “Well, I just thought that if you weren’t going for the discussion or love of manga, then maybe you were going for another reason. I thought maybe you liked someone.”
Myungsoo missed the light blush that tinged Dongwoo’s cheeks as he snorted and shook his head. “It’s not that. I’m not really interested in relationships or anything right now. I just... I don’t really know how to explain my reason for going. So, I guess I’ll just say that Sungyeol drags me along.”
Sooner rather than later, the two of them ended up in front of the bus stop, and the air became awkward. “Well. I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday? Have a good weekend. And tell Sungyeol if he gets in trouble again that he’s losing his touch.” Dongwoo’s eyes twinkled as he grinned at Myungsoo, but Myungsoo just nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground.
“I’ll see you later.”
--
“That’s a weird thing for him to ask you. Your reputation around school is that you’re an ice prince. Like that one manga we read, except you don’t have a ton of friends and dashing good looks.” Sungyeol groaned as Myungsoo delivered a swift kick to his ribs. He rolled over on the floor and curled up into a ball, pulling the volume he was supposed to read last week closer to his face.
“I’m just glad the girls stopped confessing to me,” Myungsoo said, flopping onto his bed. Sungyeol sat up and pursed his lips, giving Myungsoo a thoughtful look.
“Yeah. Someone let slip that you might have weird habits, and then everyone started gossiping about what it might be, and it turned into rumors, and girls got scared. It’s better you don’t know what was said,” Sungyeol said with a solemn look on his face.
Myungsoo sighed. It was better this way. Rejecting girls never got any less awkward as time passed. He was ill-equipped to deal with the tears, anger, and desperation that came with his rejections. Often times standing there dumbly just made it worse. Sometimes he would try to pat them on the shoulder, but it felt too awkward, much too awkward.
“The only thing that might even be weird about me is that I have sweaty hands.”
“And the inability to stay upright when walking or doing simple tasks- Don’t hurt me.” Sungyeol curled up again and rolled across his floor, bending some of the pages of Myungsoo’s newly bought volume.
“Be careful! Don’t bend the pages!”
“Sorry, sorry.” Sungyeol smoothed them out and cast a wary glance back at Myungsoo. “Anyway, back on the subject of Dongwoo. I wonder why he asked you that. You don’t think he likes you, do you?”
“I dunno, is he into boys?” Myungsoo rolled over on his bed and grabbed his only stuffed animal, a toy hamster he got for his birthday years ago and couldn’t part with.
“I dunno either. I know Woohyun is though,” Sungyeol said in a sing-song voice. The look of surprise on Myungsoo’s face sent Sungyeol into a fit of laughter.
“Woohyun? Of all people, Woohyun? How do you know?”
“He told us. It was during the first meeting of the club, where we were supposed to introduce ourselves tell an unknown fact about us. After he said it, he got really shy about it, so we promised not to tell. You won’t tell, right?”
“Yeah, I won’t tell. I’m not exactly the type to blab around.”
Sungyeol thought it was a pity that Myungsoo was blessed with good looks. Being the straight male that he was, he still had to admit that Myungsoo was very handsome and had a sort of charm that made him seem mysterious. Despite all that, Myungsoo was actually very awkward, almost unable to deal with most social situations. It wasn’t for lack of trying though, Sungyeol had to give him that. The boy was just awkward.
“Maybe people are expecting too much from him,” Sungyeol unconsciously said out loud.
“Expecting too much from who?”
“The main guy.” Sungyeol held up the manga and held his breath. And when Myungsoo didn’t say anything else, he knew he dodged a bullet. Myungsoo was a little bit touchy when people spoke ill of him. He didn’t get angry, he just tended to brood too much.
Sungyeol decided that Myungsoo needed to get into a relationship with someone a little more socially able. Maybe it would help him become a productive member of society instead of the awkward mess he was now. Staring back down at the manga, an idea came to him.
Maybe Myungsoo wasn’t the one that was supposed to do the romancing. Maybe he was supposed to be romanced.
Sungyeol grinned an evil grin before turning his eyes towards Myungsoo settling down in his bed. “Turn off the light when you’re done,” he said, yawning slightly.
“Yeah, I will. I only have a couple more pages. Hey, you wanna hang out downtown tomorrow? I needed to get a few things.”
“Sure,” Myungsoo said, his voice fading out. And after that, Sungyeol knew he wasn’t going to hear anything else from Myungsoo besides the occasional snore.
Sungyeol snickered quietly as he turned down the lights and started to plan.
--
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Does he even like guys?” Sungyeol sighed at the question and held up his hand to stop further ones.
“It wouldn’t do us any good to set him up with a girl. He’s traumatized by them. Has been since he first started school,” Sungyeol said, peeking around the corner for any sign of Myungsoo. He texted the club a majority of the night with his plan to help Myungsoo come out of his shell.
“Why? What happened?” Howon asked. He, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Sungjong, and Woohyun peeked around the corner of the building at the same time and pulled back quickly when they thought Myungsoo looked in their direction, bumping into each other and complaining.
“He asked a girl to marry him, and she said no.” After a moment of silence, everyone started snorting in attempts to hide their laughter, and even Sungyeol couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. “It’s not funny. It hit him hard, being rejected at the age of five. Since then, he’s avoided girls like they were the plague. Unconsciously or consciously, I don’t know.”
“So, you’re going to try to set him up with a guy?” Sungjong asked, incredulous look on his face. “That’s a stupid idea!”
Dongwoo frowned. “I don’t really like this idea either. What happens if he ends up liking him? Or the guy turns out to be an asshole or something?”
“Then I will take full responsibility. For now, I am going to take advantage of his weaknesses, for the greater good,” Sungyeol said with a mock, choked-back sob. “He should be calling me to ask where I am in a few seconds.”
Sungyeol went home in the morning, telling Myungsoo he had to get a change of clothes and beg for some spending money from his parents. He did have to change clothes, and for the hell of it, he asked his parents for some spending money and actually got some. It was a sign, he decided.
Sure enough, after a few moments, Myungsoo reached into his pocket and scrolled down to Sungyeol’s name in his phone, pressing the phone to his ear. All of the boys watched and waited for Sungyeol’s phone to ring.
“Hello?” Sungyeol asked, answering his phone and telling the others to keep quiet.
“Where are you? I’m already here.” Dongwoo peeked out over the corner and saw irritation on Myungsoo’s face.
“Sorry. I’m running a little bit late. Are you hungry? You can meet me by the cafe. I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“You couldn’t have called to tell me you were going to be late?”
“It just happened. Don’t be such a grouch. I have money to spend for once. And you know which cafe I’m talking about, right?”
“The one with the outdoor seating and the bakery across from it.”
“Right. I’ll see you in a few.” Sungyeol hung up and stuffed his phone into his pocket. Myungsoo scowled at his phone and shoved his phone into his back pocket. He looked around for a few moments before turning and walking towards the cafe.
“How are we supposed to follow him without him noticing? He’s not that dumb.”
“Well, he spaces out when he walks, so if we’re in smaller groups, he won’t notice us,” Sungyeol said.
“So, me and Sungjong will go in one group, and Dongwoo and Woohyun in another. Sound good?” Howon said, looking around. Woohyun looked ecstatic. It was no secret that Woohyun had a crush on Dongwoo. Dongwoo was just too oblivious to see it, and regarding the question he asked Myungsoo, Sungyeol had an idea why.
“You two hide at the bakery. In the corner, order some pie or cake or something. Myungsoo eats like a pig, so it won’t be long before we head over there for some dessert. The guy selling the baked goods at the bakery, that’s who we’re going to set him up with.”
Sungjong blinked a few times before wrinkling his nose. “He goes to our school, too, doesn’t he? He’s in his final year. Sung-something.”
“Sunggyu. He’s perfect for the job of passing social skills to Myungsoo. He’s nice, he’s polite, and he sings, too. Myungsoo’s an okay singer, and he plays guitar. They’re a match made in heaven.”
“I don’t know about this,” Dongwoo said, frowning slightly. “If it’s just that, wouldn’t it be better if it was one of us? He spends the most time with us at the club.”
Through Sungyeol’s insistence, Myungsoo started attending the Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club as an attempt to help him be less socially awkward. So far, it was the only thing Myungsoo stuck with, and he seemed to be a little bit more open with the members than regular people.
“I don’t want to make it awkward in the club if something goes wrong. We’re a small enough club as it is,” Sungyeol said, pulling out his phone to check the time. “Alright. Operation GyuSoo is a go!”
--
Myungsoo was already eating by the time Sungyeol appeared, pulling a chair out and sitting down. “You didn’t even bother to wait for me? I said I wasn’t going to take forever.”
“I already ordered for you,” Myungsoo said in between shoveling food into his mouth and chewed. And true to his word, a waiter came by and set down the meal Sungyeol usually ordered.
“Huh. If that’s the case, then I should be late more often.”
“Means you’re paying.”
“Fair enough,” Sungyeol said, pretending to pop his back using the chair. He spotted Howon and Sungjong outside of the bakery, enjoying whatever pastries they ordered. Woohyun and Dongwoo had to be inside, making sure Sunggyu was going to be at the register when he and Myungsoo stopped by.
“Are you okay? You look weird.”
Sungyeol turned back to Myungsoo and scowled at him. “I’m fine. If anything, you look weirder than I do.”
--
“Here they come,” Howon said, sitting up straighter so Sungjong could duck down a little bit and hide his face.
“... bottomless pit. I don’t want to waste all of this newfound money on food, you know,” Sungyeol said as the two of them passed by into the bakery. The goods smelled too good to pass up, and Sungjong and Howon found themselves sampling a little bit of everything and enjoying the good weather outside.
“Do you think this is a good idea, Sungjong? Is this going to blow up in our faces? You know him pretty well, don’t you?”
Sungjong took a bite out of some fudge and sighed. “Well, Sungyeol knows him the best. All of us are good friends, but I don’t know about this one. He’s never really been interested in relationships. I don’t think he’d appreciate the meddling.”
He and Howon were outside to make sure everything went smoothly. Actually, they didn’t really need to be there, but when something as interesting as this was taking place, they didn’t have any other place to be.
“Dongwoo and Woohyun were talking for a while. I wonder what they’re talking about,” Sungjong said, sighing quietly.
Howon took a bite of the fudge and tried to turn Sungjong’s attention back to him. “So, how’s your brother?”
--
“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this,” Dongwoo muttered to himself, over and over again. Woohyun sighed and stuffed a piece of cake into Dongwoo’s mouth to get him to stop talking. Dongwoo wasn’t good at these kinds of things, and watching Myungsoo look through the pastries through the glass was making him even more nervous.
“Calm down, Dongwoo. All you have to do is get up and accidentally bump into him and ruin the cake. That’s all,” Woohyun said quietly, peeking over his shoulder.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
Woohyun rolled his eyes, ducking as Myungsoo walked by to pay for his purchases. Sunggyu wrapped up the cake into a box, smiling at him as he handed over the package.
“I can’t do this.”
“If you’re not going to do this, then I will!” Woohyun got up and started to walk. Then everything after that happened in slow motion.
At least, according to Dongwoo it did.
--
Myungsoo was looking at cakes while Sungyeol made an excuse to escape next door to the bookstore. He claimed he was looking for his favorite volume to buy to bring next week to the meeting, but Myungsoo had a copy for him to borrow if he wanted. Sungyeol politely declined and ran out of the shop like it was on fire.
Myungsoo stared after Sungyeol until the door to the bakery closed again. Shaking his head, he went through the task of picking himself something to buy and eat. He always had problems choosing because his eyes were bigger than his stomach.
“Can I help you pick something?” Myungsoo looked up to see a boy smiling at him, eyes completely gone. Sungyeol made fun of him all the time for having small eyes, but this guy took the cake. Pun intended.
“I’d like this chocolate cake, please.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll even wrap it for you, free of charge.” Myungsoo found himself smiling at him and followed him towards the cash register. Before he knew it, the boy was handing him his cake as he struggled with his wallet.
“Thanks. Come back again soon!” Myungsoo nodded and took his purchase, holding it in front of him by the strings tied around the box as he tried to stuff his wallet back into his pocket.
The next thing he knew, he crashed into something, and there was the telltale sound of something crumpling, squishing, and falling to the floor with a plop. “Hey! Watch where you’re- Myungsoo?”
Myungsoo blinked a few times in shock before looking at the owner of the voice. “Woohyun.”
“Oh god! Myungsoo! I’m sorry! Is your...” He looked down at the cake box on the floor and picked it up gently. Myungsoo stared at the crushed box, and a blush rose to his face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Sunggyu called from behind the counter. He leaned slightly and saw the crushed box Woohyun was holding up and winced. Myungsoo’s face was pale, almost frightened. “You didn’t even get to leave the store. Don’t worry about it. I’ll wrap you another one, on the house.”
Myungsoo’s hand shot out and took the crushed box from Woohyun with a rapid shake of his head. “N-no. It’s fine. I’ll take this. It’s still in the box, so it’s still edible.”
“But-” Sunggyu didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Myungsoo bolted out of the bakery, turning abruptly down the street and out of sight. Woohyun bit his lip before turning towards Dongwoo, who had worried look on his face, Sungyeol’s words coming back to their minds.
There’s only three things Myungsoo can’t stand: girls, confessions, and being embarrassed.
“I hope Sungyeol knows what he’s doing,” Woohyun said quietly.
--
Myungsoo sat quietly in his room. The crushed cake box was open on the small table in the middle of his room. Most of the cardboard was picked clean, leaving only bits of frosting smeared on the surface.
The lights were dim, and Sungyeol tried to crash through his door to ask what happened but gave up ten minutes later, saying that he would see him on Monday.
Nobody could understand. He’d heard his mom telling the story of how he got rejected by a girl in his first year of school, and the laughter that followed- the laughter that followed was the reason he was terrified of girls or any social contact. The screeching laughter that turned people breathless whenever they heard his story was the reason he couldn’t bring himself to be social.
He didn’t want to be embarrassed. It was bad enough that the kids laughed at him until he ran away and hid underneath the playground until the teachers went to find him. Then the teachers laughed while his face was still tear streaked, his mother laughed, his father laughed, their friends laughed. Even Sungyeol laughed when he found out. Myungsoo couldn’t take it. He didn’t care if it was unreasonable. He didn’t want to be laughed at.
And unconsciously through the years, he distanced himself from everyone except the persistent. He had no choice but to put up with Sungyeol after he wormed his way into his life. Sungjong was very nice company with his no-nonsense. And Myungsoo was beginning to find himself relaxed in his weekly trips to the Shoujo Manga Apperciation Club
“Maybe there’s hope for me after all,” he said quietly to himself. Then the remains of the crushed cake brought him back to his reality.
--
Myungsoo dreaded Monday because his friends would be all over him as to why he bolted from the bakery so fast. His texts tot hem over the weekend didn’t seem to satisfy their curiosity. In fact, the only person that believed him was Dongwoo, and for that, he was grateful.
“Myungsoo!” Myungsoo swallowed and saw Woohyun running towards him, uniform looking even more rumpled than it usually did. “Hey! Wait up!”
He sighed and stopped, gripping the handle to his book bag harder. “Hey, Woohyun.”
“You didn’t let me apologize about what happened at the bakery on Saturday. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you, and I didn’t realize you were holding a cake until... well.” Woohyun rubbed the back of his head sheepishly sighing. “I’ll get you another cake to make up for the one I ruined-”
“No. It’s fine. It was still edible.” An awkward silence stretched between the two of them until Woohyun laughed sheepishly.
“Is it just me, or did it suddenly get awkward?”
“Uh, yeah, I- Sorry. I should get to class.” Myungsoo turned around to leave and heard Woohyun calling his name again.
“You’re not mad, are you? Because it was just an accident, and I-”
“I’m not mad!” Myungsoo yelled back, waving his hand. Woohyun watched Myungsoo’s retreating back and sighed.
--
Myungsoo was only halfway up to his class, completely lost in his thoughts when he bumped into a wall, only the wall was warm, smelled like cake, and had arms to steady him as he teetered dangerously on his feet.
“Are you okay?” Myungsoo froze. That voice. “Oh! You’re the guy from the bakery that got his cake crushed.” He swallowed and brought his eyes up. Sure enough, it was the cashier from the bakery, giving him that eye-disappearing smile.
Myungsoo backed out of his grasp and turned around, mumbling a few things about forgetting something before hurrying as fast as he could back in the direction he came from.
“Hey! Wait!” And Sunggyu chased after him.
--
Myungsoo took the long way around to his class, taking the stairs on the other side of the school. He couldn’t believe he ran into him again. Would his humiliation know no bounds?
He sat at his desk quietly until the students began to pile in, and their dull chatter chased away any thoughts Myungsoo had left in his mind.
--
“Hey, Myungsoo? Are you okay? Rumor has it that you look like you’re contemplating murder.” Lunch rolled around, and Sungyeol visited Myungsoo’s class, occupying the empty desk behind him. “And I’d have to say I agree. What’s wrong? I heard about what happened at the bakery from Woohyun. He’s afraid you’re mad at him.”
Myungsoo stiffened in his seat and blinked a few times. “I’m not mad at him. It was my fault for not watching where I was going. I should’ve put my wallet up, then started walking.”
“Okay,” Sungyeol said slowly, “then why the long face?”
“I’m not feeling well. That’s all.”
Sungyeol moved to the seat beside him and stared at him, taking in the pronounced dark circles and the thin line of his lips. “You’ve been brooding again, haven’t you?”
“No, I haven’t been brooding. It’s Monday, and I’m tired. Leave it alone.” Myungsoo sighed and put his head on his desk, closing his eyes. Now, Sungyeol knew for sure that Myungsoo was brooding. He never skipped lunch.
--
Myungsoo was waiting at the bus stop when someone sat down next to him. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize who it was until he spoke.
“Hi. I’m Sunggyu.”
There was silence again until Myungsoo cast a sidelong glance towards him and cleared his throat. “Myungsoo.”
“You know, bumping into people seems to be a dangerous habit of yours.” Myungsoo didn’t have anything to say. Sunggyu looked over at him with a smile and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not really sure why you keep running away from me, but I’m just going to assume it’s because you’re shy. Too shy to say anything back to me either.”
Myungsoo tried to say something about how he wasn’t shy, he just didn’t fare well in social situations, but his throat dried up before he could get the words out.
“Which is fine. I can do enough talking for the both of us. I like the sound of my own voice.” Then he laughed, and Myungsoo felt warmth flooding through his body. The sound of laughter usually drained all the blood from his face and made him sick to his stomach, but there was something to Sunggyu’s laughter that warmed Myungsoo, and it scared him.
“We’ll be friends, right? I’ll even bring you cake for lunch a few days if we have some we need to get rid of at the bakery. You like cake?” Myungsoo nodded dumbly, making Sunggyu smile again. “Okay, cake it is. This means you can’t be running away from me whenever you see me.”
“Okay,” Myungsoo said, seeing the bus pull up to the stop.
“Progress! You’ve said one word to me! I have a feeling I’ll be able to keep count.” Myungsoo snorted before getting up and gathering his things for the bus. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” Sunggyu waved to him as he got on the bus. The doors shut behind him, and he found a seat next to the window, spotting Sunggyu still waving at him.
--
“Hey, do you know a guy named Myungsoo?” Dongwoo stiffened slightly as Sunggyu swept by him. Dongwoo and Sunggyu were stuck with cleaning duty that day, and it’d been two days since Sunggyu proclaimed that he and Myungsoo would be friends. Why, he wasn’t sure. There was just something about him that made Sunggyu want to see him smile.
“What makes you think I know him?”
Sunggyu leaned onto his broom and cast a smile at Dongwoo. “You usually hang out with the underclassmen more than I do. And I’ve seen you talking to some of the ones he usually hangs out with, so I was wondering if you knew him.”
“Yeah, I know him. Why?” Dongwoo said lightly, starting to sweep his half of the room again.
“I’m trying to be friends with him, but he looks terrified to see me every time I approach him. I mean, it’s only been two days, but it’s disheartening to see someone look at me like I’m going to gnaw on his bones every time he sees me.” Sunggyu sighed and rubbed at his eyes, balancing his broom against one of the stacked desks.
“He’s a little awkward. It’s hard for him to open up to us, and there’s always a bunch of rumors flying around because he always rejects confessions and stuff.”
“Oh... So I guess... it wouldn’t do me any good just to try and confront him all the time?”
“He’d probably run scared from you forever.”
--
Sunggyu had a plan. He wasn’t sure if it was a good plan, but if it kept Myungsoo from running away from him, then it was the best plan he had for now.
Sunggyu managed to wheedle the location of Myungsoo’s classroom from Woohyun, after he spotted Myungsoo having a conversation with him and smiling. After Myungsoo left to go do whatever he was going to do, Sunggyu casually managed to corner Woohyun, and after a few praises and small talk, Woohyun sang like a canary.
“Why does he even matter to you, anyway? You never took an interest in underclassmen before,” Dongwoo said as Sunggyu peered into Myungsoo’s empty classroom.
“I dunno, there’s just something about him that feels...” Sunggyu’s voice trailed off as he tried to think of the right word to describe his feelings. “I don’t know. He feels... helpless? Like I need to stand up and protect him?”
Dongwoo snorted. “Protect him from what? Is this that white knight complex you were telling me about?” Sunggyu, for the most part, strayed away from small children and animals, but when someone needed help, he was there with whatever sources were available to him. And even then, he was reluctant to help, so Dongwoo had no idea why he was so motivated to ‘help’ Myungsoo.
Sunggyu stepped into the classroom with a small bag in his hands and left it on Myungsoo’s desk. “White knight? What are you talking about? I don’t go around saving damsels in distress.”
“Then you think he’s cute?” Dongwoo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He’s pretty good looking.” Sunggyu shot Dongwoo a grin and sauntered out of the classroom, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Hey, come back here! I didn’t know you were into guys!”
“I didn’t know you liked guys either,” Sunggyu replied in a sing-song voice. Dongwoo stuttered for a moment, trying to find the words to deny the simple statement, but Sunggyu just put his finger to this lips and smiled.
--
Myungsoo stared at the foreign package on his desk. It was a small bag, and he could see several wooden sticks poking out from the top. The bag was a simple plaid design, and Myungsoo wondered if it was from one of his admirers.
Cautiously, he sat down as if the package was going to come alive and bite him. One of his classmates cast a glance over in his direction. “Who’s that from?”
“I... don’t know.” Myungsoo leaned forward and carefully peered into the bag. The smell of chocolate and cake hit him, and he realized there were cake balls attached to the other end of the sticks. He took a second to appreciate the smell before looking up and around his classroom for anyone watching him for a reaction.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He didn’t sense anyone watching him. When he realized everything was normal, Myungsoo looked for a name or a card on the bag but found nothing. It was just a gift. A small grin appeared on his face as he pulled one out and nibbled on it as the teacher walked in.
“A little bit early for cake, isn’t it, Myungsoo?”
Myungsoo turned a shade of red before replacing the cake into the bag and slipping it under his desk. The lesson began, but he could only think of cake.
--
Myungsoo didn’t want to share his cake balls during lunch, but somehow, Sungyeol managed to find his way into Myungsoo’s class and snatched one to eat while he protested.
“What? Where’d you get these? This is delicious.” Myungsoo watched in mild despair as Sungyeol finished off the treat in a few bites and tossed the empty stick back into the bag.
“They were on my desk when I got to class this morning. There wasn’t a note or anything so...” Myungsoo had a pretty good idea who they were from, but he put a thoughtful look on his face to spite Sungyeol. “I hope it wasn’t a girl I rejected trying to get revenge on me by giving me poisoned cake balls.” Myungsoo smiled with satisfaction as Sungyeol’s eyes went wide. He started coughing, and Myungsoo just sighed, patting him on the back.
“What are the chances of that happening?” Sungyeol squeaked out, massaging his throat.
“I dunno. Let me know if you start feeling weird.”
--
The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Sooner than later, Friday came around, and it was time for the weekly Shoujo Manga Appreciation Club to meet once again. Myungsoo’s thoughts were occupied by the boy with the small eyes that promised cake, and he delivered. Myungsoo tried to thank him various times of the week but couldn’t figure out (or get the nerve) to approach him.
“Looks like everyone is here this week,” Howon said, looking around the group at the back of the library. His eyes settled on Myungsoo’s far away expression, making him shake his head. “Or mostly here. Time to get this meeting started! Sungyeol, we’ll start with you and go clockwise.”
--
“Hey, Myungsoo. Did you ever figure out who gave you those cake balls?” Sungyeol asked, as they waited for the bus together. Myungsoo pursed his lips.
“Yeah, I have a pretty good idea who it was.”
“Oh. Who?”
Myungsoo smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I want to make sure it’s the right person before I go spouting nonsense.”
--
Myungsoo could see Sunggyu standing across the courtyard with his hands in his pockets, laughing with Dongwoo. Myungsoo was going to use the excuse of asking to borrow something from Dongwoo, and then thank Sunggyu for the cake balls.
His heart already beat nervously with the idea of confrontation, and his body was screaming at him to keep walking by them when he approached Dongwoo and Sunggyu. Just thank him and move on. He’s not going to bite your head off or laugh at you. Just thank him, and -
The front of Myungsoo’s shoe caught the ground as he walked, and he stumbled slightly, nearly tripping up the front steps of the school where Dongwoo and Sunggyu were standing. He felt a strong grip on his arm, keeping him from falling face forward into the concrete. “Are you okay?”
Myungsoo cleared his throat and straightened out his uniform, nodding rapidly. He looked up and saw Sunggyu smiling at him before he let go of his arm. “You should watch where you’re going Myungsoo. One of these days, you’re going to fall into a hole.” Myungsoo sighed as Dongwoo reached out to ruffle his hair.
“Did you like the cake balls I left for you last week? I made a few extra at the bakery and thought you might like them.”
“Yeah, I did-” Myungsoo’s voice cracked on the last word, and he fell silent for a moment as a blush rose to his face again. Sunggyu’s smile widened as he tilted his head to look at Myungsoo. “I- yeah. I did. They were really good. Thank you.” He bowed quickly and hurried past them into the school building.
“You know. His personality doesn’t really match his looks,” Sunggyu mused out loud, staring after Myungsoo. Dongwoo ignored the slight poke of jealousy and nodded.
--
Myungsoo stepped out of the bookstore with a full bag. He’d gotten an advance on his allowance, and he promptly spent on a new series he had his eye on for the past few weeks. His friends at the club would enjoy hearing about this series. He’d be the first one to read it, and tell the group his thoughts on it. Myungsoo was definitely going to be more useful this week.
On his way back to the bus station, Myungsoo passed by a clothing store, and a shirt caught his eye. Glancing at his watch, he decided he had a few minutes to spare and stepped into the clothing store.
Sunggyu didn’t pay much attention to the sound of the small bell tinkling over the door as he looked through a rack of sale clothes. He wanted to buy some new clothes for the summer coming up. For some strange reason, when the bell tinkled, he looked up and saw Myungsoo stepping inside and heading for the rack of new arrivals. Sunggyu’s face lit up, and he made his way over.
“Hey! Fancy running into you here.” Myungsoo jumped at the voice and glanced over his shoulder to see Sunggyu smile blinding him.
“Oh. Hi, Sunggyu. I saw this shirt in the window and...” Myungsoo held up the blue plaid shirt and grinned sheepishly at him before replacing it on the rack.
“It suits you. I’d look ridiculous in plaid.” For emphasis, Sunggyu picked a shirt out of the rack and held it up against his body, frowning into the body mirror on the pillar next to them. Myungsoo chuckled a little bit before his eyes wandered to the clock in the store.
“Oh! The bus is about to leave. I should get going. It was nice to see you,” Myungsoo said, bowing slightly before making his way towards the door.
“Wait! Aren’t you going to buy the shirt?” Sunggyu called after him.
“I ran out of money,” Myungsoo said with a shrug before disappearing out the door. Sunggyu blinked a few times before reaching for the shirt Myungsoo replaced.
--
Myungsoo was less than surprised to see a wrapped up package on his desk Monday morning. Sungyeol followed him to class and sat down, waiting for him to open it. “Someone must really like you,” he said, watching at Myungsoo gently opened the box. Inside was the shirt he looked at on the weekend.
“Oh, hey. I saw those the other day. Who bought this for you?”
Myungsoo stared blankly at the shirt before running a finger over the buttons. He was definitely going to thank him this week, and he wasn’t going to trip over himself to be able to do it.
“Myungsoo?”
“A friend. I went out and bought that new series everyone’s been talking about. Did you wanna come over and take a look today?” Sungyeol sighed. Myungsoo needed to learn how to change the subject better than that, but for now, he let it slide.
--
Sunggyu heard his name called by a familiar voice and smiled. He stopped and turned around to see Myungsoo running towards him, package tucked neatly underneath his arm. “Sunggyu, you didn’t have to get this for me,” Myungsoo said in between catching his breath.
“I wanted to. Like I said, it suits you. You like it, right?”
“I do. What are you trying to do here?”
Sunggyu blinked a few times. “What do you mean?”
“Do you want something from me?”
“I...” Did Sunggyu want something from him? Myungsoo’s face showed expectancy. He wanted an answer, Sunggyu realized. “A date,” he said finally. A look of confusion spread across Myungsoo’s face. “One date. A dinner and a movie. That’s all.”
“So, in exchange for cake balls and a shirt, you want a date?”
“Well, you can’t really give me the cake balls back if you refuse. So, you can’t refuse really. You’re stuck. Going on a date. With me.” Myungsoo blinked rapidly a few times as his nervousness flared up again. He’d never been on a date before, especially not with a guy. What was going to be expected of him? “If it makes you uncomfortable, we can just go for a walk in the park instead. I’ll make a picnic.”
The idea of being alone in a place where people could see them, enjoying a picnic together almost made Myungsoo pass out. He would have to come up with conversation and try not to eat too much out of nervousness. He’d probably have better luck with dinner and a movie. “Uh, no. Dinner and a movie sounds fine.” It took all of his control not to start stammering.
“Oh, okay. If you’re sure. How’s Friday sound?”
Myungsoo blinked a few times to figure out what was going on during his Fridays. “I... I have a club meeting on Friday that lasts a little late sometimes.”
“Oh, right. Dongwoo told me that. How about Saturday then? We can meet downtown, take a little walk before we eat, and head off to the movie. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds good.”
Sunggyu pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled something down before replacing the pen behind his ear. “Here’s my number in case something happens. Or if you want to talk or something.” Myungsoo took the piece of paper from him, trying to ignore his trembling fingers. He had a date.
--
Myungsoo could hardly stay concentrated on the work at hand during the week. A few times Sungyeol asked him to spill the beans, but Myungsoo didn’t say a word. Sungyeol had a problem with keeping his mouth shut, and Myungsoo would be damned before rumors of him going out on a date started spreading.
Dongwoo noticed the equally dreamy smile on Sunggyu’s face but couldn’t get a straight answer from the other boy.
During the meeting on Friday, Myungsoo seemed more excited to talk, passing around the series he bought the previous week. There were excited discussions, followed by a brief summary of what happened to far by Myungsoo. Howon swore that was the most he’d ever heard Myungsoo say in one sitting.
“See? The meetings are doing you some good. You’re smiling, and laughing, and sharing, and being a productive member of society. How does it feel?” Sungyeol asked, throwing his arm over Myungsoo’s shoulder.
“What are you talking about?” Myungsoo asked with a scowl. He shrugged Sungyeol’s arm off his shoulder and punched him.
“You were the center of attention at the meeting, Mr. Take Charge and Make Some Discussion. I haven’t seen you say so much all at once.”
“Oh, well- I guess I was just really into it this week.” Sungyeol watched the tips of Myungsoo’s ears turn red.
“That’s good. Are we hanging out this weekend?”
“I have plans on Saturday. Sunday’s fine though.”
“Sunday is copy your homework day.”
“You could try to do it on your own.”
“I could, but my effort would be wasted because they answer’s will be wrong.”
--
Sunggyu was staring at the clock. Time passed by at half the pace he was used to, and even the cakes seemed to bake slower than normal. Myungsoo texted him a few times, asking where they were going to meet and what movie he wanted to see. Truthfully, Sunggyu would be happy with any movie, as long as he got to see it with Myungsoo.
The clock chirped when the hour hand hit the twelve, and Sunggyu sighed in relief. He was supposed to meet Myungsoo at the cafe across the street as soon as he got off of work. Sunggyu pulled his apron off and said goodbye to his coworkers and his boss before hurrying out of the door and across the street.
Myungsoo was already waiting for him at a table outside, playing a game on his phone while he waited. “Hey, have you been waiting long?” Sunggyu asked as he sat down. Myungsoo looked up from his phone and stared at Sunggyu for a moment with a smile on his face. Sunggyu blinked a few times. “What?”
“You have flour on your face.”
--
They talked comfortably through dinner. Myungsoo did more eating than talking, but as long as he looked comfortable, Sunggyu didn’t mind. When Sunggyu brought up the subject of school, Myungsoo avoided it. When Sunggyu brought up the subject of love and dating, Myungsoo ignored him.
They talked about the weather, they talked about clothes, books, and whatever else Sunggyu could think of that didn’t bother Myungsoo.
Soon, they found themselves trying to pick a movie. Myungsoo didn’t want to see the romantic comedy that was showing (he secretly did), but Sunggyu said he already saw it and wanted to see the new horror movie that came out the previous weekend.
Myungsoo didn’t do too well with horror movies, but he decided it wouldn’t be so bad if he had someone to watch it with. In the darkness of the movie theatre, he ended up watching less than half the movie and spending the rest of the time digging his fingernails into Sunggyu’s arm.
--
“The movie wasn’t that bad, Myungsoo. My arm will never be the same, though.” Sunggyu glanced down at his arm and frowned at the small half-moon marks.
“I’m sorry. Horror movies aren’t really my thing. I didn’t think I dug in that hard.”
“I think this one is about to start bleeding.”
Myungsoo frowned. He could barely watch the movie and now, he probably made his date bleed. Sunggyu was probably thinking of ways to tell the story to maximize the laughter from his friends.
Sunggyu rubbed at his arm and laughed, leaning back into the bus seat and casually placing his arm over Myungsoo’s shoulders. They rode that way while Myungsoo thought of ways to fill the silence.
“Isn’t this your stop?”
Myungsoo snapped out of his daze and checked his surroundings. Recognizing his stop, he got up abruptly and headed for the door. “Thanks for taking me out. I had a lot of fun,” he said rapidly as he got off of the bus.
Sunggyu watched him walk past the bus stop and waved at him as the bus doors closed. The bus started to move as Myungsoo waved back. Then he stepped into something and fell face first on the concrete.
Sunggyu’s eyes widened in surprise, and when Myungsoo didn’t move, he got up and asked the driver to let him out. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” he apologized as the bus driver reluctantly slowed down and opened the doors. He ran down the sidewalk and knelt down next to Myungsoo, reaching out and shaking his shoulder. “Myungsoo? Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Myungsoo flinched and he yelled out, pushing away from Sunggyu like he was a ghost. “Whoa! Calm down. It’s just me. You took a pretty nasty fall.” Myungsoo’s cheek and forehead were full of scratches, and he was bleeding.
“I-I-”
“Take a few deep breaths. Why is there a hole in the sidewalk?”
“I-It’s always been there. I u-usually step over it, but I guess I forgot about it and-” Sunggyu reached out and gently poked at Myungsoo’s ankle, making him wince.
“Looks like you might’ve sprained your ankle. Well. I guess that means I’m carrying you home.”
Myungsoo started to panic. “But the bus! That was the last bus towards your house!”
“That’s fine. You’ll let me sleep over, right? I’ll just call my parents and let them know what happened. Come on.”
--
Myungsoo couldn’t possibly be more embarrassed. And he couldn’t even run away this time because his ankle was sprained. Sunggyu’s back was warm and his hair tickled Myungsoo’s face. The steady rocking of his steps was about to put Myungsoo to sleep.
“I’m sorry,” Myungsoo mumbled with a sigh.
Sunggyu glanced over his shoulder with a curious expression on his face. “Sorry for what?”
“I was a poor date, scratched up your arm, and made you miss your bus home. And now you’re carrying me home because I can’t stay on my feet.”
Sunggyu laughed a little bit, and Myungsoo flinched, making Sunggyu stop laughing. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because you’re so cute. I had a good time tonight. This is just a mild mishap, and an excuse for me to get closer to you.”
Myungsoo felt a blush rise to his face and was thankful Sunggyu couldn’t see. “... Thank you.”
--
Myungsoo’s mother was less than surprised to see her son carried by another guy to his room. Sungyeol had done it so many times as a child, she was used to finding out how Myungsoo sprained his ankle.
She insisted that Sunggyu spend the night and said she’d give him bus fare for the way home. Secretly, she was glad that Myungsoo had more friends than just Sungyeol and Sungjong.
“I have some bigger clothes in my closet that’ll fit you,” Myungsoo said from his bed, watching dejectedly as Sunggyu dug through his closet.
“Are you calling me fat?” Myungsoo’s expression sunk even more, making Sunggyu’s smile fade as he stood up and sat down on Myungsoo’s bed. “It was a joke. I know you’re not calling me fat. What’s wrong?”
Myungsoo was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “You... You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Tell anyone what? That I did unspeakable things to you all weekend?” A small squeak escaped from Myungsoo, making Sunggyu shake his head. “You mean about our date?” Myungsoo nodded.
“Why? We had a good time. It was fun.”
Myungsoo sighed and laid down on his bed, covering his face with his stuffed hamster. “It’s embarrassing what happened and...”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Sunggyu laid down next to Myungsoo and blew air at his face. Myungsoo frowned and turned away from him. “Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad. It was a nice first date, especially since I get to spend time in your bed.”
“Pervert,” Myungsoo mumbled. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face though, and Sunggyu knew he won this round.
“Hey, Myungsoo?” Myungsoo rolled over to face Sunggyu, expression serious.
“What?”
Then Sunggyu leaned in to kiss him softly.
--
Myungsoo laid awake in his bed. Sunggyu kissed him. He kissed him. Sunggyu was on the other side of Myungsoo’s bed, curled up against the wall with his back facing him. Myungsoo could see it in the darkness.
He kissed him. Biting his lip, Myungsoo let himself smile and wrapped himself up in the blankets. So this is what it’s like to be in a shoujo manga...
--
Over the next few weeks, Myungsoo and Sunggyu barely had any time to talk to each other at school. The seniors were preparing for college entrance exams, and Myungsoo had his hands full with midterms for his classes. They exchanged a few phone calls here and there, a few texts.
Myungsoo didn’t hear any rumors about him dating or kissing anyone. He even asked Sunggyu about it, and the only response he got was, ‘I don’t kiss and tell.’
--
It was now or never. Myungsoo forced himself up to Sunggyu and his friends with a polite bow to them.
“Oh, hey, Myungsoo. What’s up?” Sunggyu’s friends chose that time to say goodbye, and they left him standing there with Myungsoo, his hands jammed into his pockets.
“Uh, some of my friends and I are going out to a beach resort during the summer break to study and have fun, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along too?” Myungsoo’s voice was on the verge of stammering, but he kept it under control. He was just asking Sunggyu if he wanted to come too, that’s all. Sunggyu heard the hope spilling out in Myungsoo’s voice and knew there was no way he could say no.
“Oh, sure. Just let me know the dates so I can ask for vacation from work. Is this the one that Dongwoo was talking about?” He’d heard Dongwoo mention a retreat in the summer with one of his clubs.
“Yeah, he’ll be there, too. So you’ll go?” Sunggyu nodded, making Myungsoo smile back at him. “Okay, cool. I’ll find out the dates from Howon and let you know soon, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Myungsoo ducked his head in a quick bow before running off without another word. Sunggyu sighed and shook his head. Would it be too much for him to stay and have a conversation? It might be. He might explode, Sunggyu thought with a chuckle.
--
The beach resort was nice, and the window of their room faced the ocean. Myungsoo dropped his things and opened up the door, feeling the salty air settle on his skin as he leaned on the railing. Sunggyu poked his head through the doors and looked around before smiling.
“Hey. I won rock, paper, scissors, so I’m rooming with you. Howon and the youngest one are sharing a room with Sungyeol, and Dongwoo and Woohyun are sharing another room.”
“Oh, hey. That means I’ll actually get some studying done.”
--
Study sessions were quiet, punctuated with random bursts of nonsense from Sungyeol. Sunggyu couldn’t help but look up from his papers every now and then to watch Myungsoo’s face while he studied. He looked so serious all of the time, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Sunggyu knew that he was about as serious as a pink elephant in a tutu.
The image of said pink elephant in a tutu suddenly appeared in his mind, making him snort. The noise startled Myungsoo, making him look up with questioning eyes.
“Elephants. They’re funny.”
--
The afternoons spent in the sun were fun. Sungyeol coerced Myungsoo into participating in physical activity. He wanted to sit out so the teams were even, but he was placed on a team with Howon, and told that his lack of skill would balance out Howon’s athletic ability.
Volleyball was hard enough on solid ground, and it was ten times harder in the sand. Myungsoo was waiting for his foot to get caught in the sand and send him falling face first. At least the sand would be a little bit softer.
Sunggyu often tackled him into the sand or picked him up to throw him into the water when he least expected it, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the group.
--
“Hey, Myungsoo. Can I talk to you for a little bit?” Myungsoo looked up and saw Dongwoo standing close to him, hands in his pockets. He smiled and finished pulling his shoes on before patting the empty space on the deck next to him.
“Sure. Sit down. Let’s talk.” Dongwoo sat down next to the younger boy and sighed, wondering if this was the right thing to do. But he couldn’t help how he felt, and it was going to be either now or never.
“Myungsoo, is it true you’re dating Sunggyu?” Myungsoo’s eyes widened in surprise. He told Sungyeol about the date and made him promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Sunggyu said he wasn’t one to date and tell, so how was it that Dongwoo knew? “I noticed you and Sunggyu were pretty friendly with each other. He smiles at you a lot, and it’s a real smile, not that half smirk, grin he usually does.”
“Um...” The way Dongwoo was looking at Myungsoo made him a little bit nervous, and he could feel the tips of his ears going red. “It was just a date. One date. I don’t think that really counts as dating him now.” And in Myungsoo’s mind, it was true. They didn’t make plans for a second date, so he assumed it was just a one time thing. Not to mention the date was a bit of a disaster, minus the kiss at the end.
“Did you kiss him?” Dongwoo was leaning closer and closer to Myungsoo, making him strain in the other direction.
“Dongwoo, I don’t really know why we’re talking about this. It’s kind of personal, and I-”
“I like you.”
Myungsoo’s arm slipped out from underneath him in surprise. He fell onto his side and scrambled to get back up into a sitting position. “I’m sorry?”
“I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time now, but you seemed so shy, I didn’t want to scare you off or anything. And there were all those rumors about how you responded to confessions, and I didn’t...”
Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo like he grew another head. “I- Okay. Um. That’s really flattering Dongwoo, but I don’t really like you that way. I only see you as a friend.”
Dongwoo frowned slightly and scooted closer to Myungsoo, who scooted farther away. “Is it because of Sunggyu? If I confessed first, would I-”
“No.” Myungsoo said the word more forcefully than he meant to, and he knew it by the way Dongwoo flinched slightly. “Dongwoo, you’re a really good friend, but I think there’s someone else that deserves your love and affection. And you did confess first. Sunggyu hasn’t said anything like a confession yet.”
Dongwoo furrowed his eyebrows, and the both of them heard the back door slam, and saw Woohyun’s figure retreating into the house. “But I really like you and-”
“And Woohyun really likes you.” Myungsoo waited a few moments for his words to sink in.
“What? No he doesn’t.”
“You’ve been so busy looking at me, I don’t think you’ve noticed him.” Myungsoo watched the cogs in Dongwoo’s mind work. Dongwoo slowly turned his gaze back to the closed door and sighed.
“I guess you really like him, huh?”
Myungsoo stared down at his hands, unable to say anything. He was afraid of saying anything, lest reality catch up with him and make him feel his words. Dongwoo understood his silence and leaned over to press a kiss to Myungsoo’s cheek.
“We’ll still be friends, right?”
“Of course. You’ll have to do more than confess to scare me off. But please don’t try,” Myungsoo added on quickly as Dongwoo gave him a grin.
“Okay, okay. Let me go nurse my tender heart and figure out what to do with Woohyun.” Dongwoo pushed himself to his feet and dusted off the sand from his butt.
“You two should date,” Myungsoo said lightly.
“I don’t know. He seems to like his girls...”
“I think he only has eyes for you.”
Dongwoo snorted and shook his head. “Since when did you become so well versed in matters of the heart?”
“Well. We are in a shoujo manga appreciation club. I thought I’d put my knowledge and observations to good use.”
--
Myungsoo was sitting on the beach, watching the waves when he heard footsteps behind him. Sunggyu fell onto the sand unceremoniously beside Myungsoo and leaned back on his arms. “Something funny is going on in Dongwoo and Woohyun’s room. Everyone left to give them some privacy.” Myungsoo nodded. The waves were getting closer to his toes, and if he stretched, he could dip them into the water. “Thanks for inviting me out on this study retreat. I needed it.”
“Dongwoo confessed to me,” Myungsoo said, squinting his eyes. Sunggyu stiffened beside him.
“Oh. He did? What’d you say?”
“I think let him down a little bit too rough. I don’t really know how to deal with stuff like that, and on top of that, he’s a good friend, too.” Myungsoo frowned and sighed heavily. Sunggyu sat up beside him and turned to look at him with a smile.
“You look like you could use a smile.”
“I could.” Myungsoo smiled.
“I could give you one.” Sunggyu smiled wider.
“You could.”
“I’d rather give you a kiss.” Myungsoo flinched a little bit before blinking. Sunggyu figured out long ago when Myungsoo blinked too much, he was uncomfortable. “Yeah, you’re right. Better wait for a second date to kiss you.” Sunggyu watched as Myungsoo’s eyes widened.
“A second date?”
“Yeah. I’ve been meaning to ask you, but with the examinations and stuff, I didn’t have the time. I guess you’re the type where I have to earn my affection.” Myungsoo smiled at him, and no more words were exchanged. He leaned over and let his head rest on Sunggyu’s shoulder.
“Try not to fall into any holes on our second date.”