121103 CHAPTERED FIC: COLLIDE: TEN
Collide
Ten | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
The day after Woohyun experienced how Sunggyu’s fists felt while flying towards him at a thousand miles per hour for the second time, Woohyun saw Myungsoo at the school gate, chatting up some junior. Sunggyu wasn’t with him (or there to stop him, for that matter) and Woohyun guessed he was doing some exclusive leadership business like always. Woohyun didn’t even bother to wait for Myungsoo to finish working his playboy magic - the older of the two just patted Myungsoo on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, ‘Are you pissed at me?’
Myungsoo inevitably turned his attention towards the older student and abruptly stopped his flirting. After giving the junior a warm smile and walking off, with Woohyun following closely behind him, Myungsoo looked at the other with a stern look on his face. His expression was cold and piercing.
Then he let out a cracked sigh and wrapped an arm around Woohyun’s neck, pulling him into a playful headlock. ‘I could never be angry at you,’ Myungsoo chortled, letting the other go.
Woohyun laughed and punched his shoulder.
‘But seriously, if there’s ever a scratch on Sunggyu,’ Myungsoo suddenly turned serious, ‘consider yourself death.’
Yep, Myungsoo was forever bipolar.
‘I know, I know,’ Woohyun brushed off, walking towards the school building, ‘And to think I thought you weren’t the over-protective type.’
Myungsoo glowered, puckering his lips, and uttered quixotically, ‘I’m usually not, but you… There’s something about you that irritates my brother to no end.’
Woohyun grinned. ‘Irritates? Like sexual frustration.’
Before Myungsoo could say Sounds like you want my brother to be sexually frustration over your overly confident dick, Sungjong oh-so-rudely appeared and interrupted his train of thought.
‘What do you want, pipsqueak?’ Myungsoo snapped, attempting to squish the youngest’ face in his hands but being slapped away last moment.
Sungjong then gave Woohyun’s back a big whack, making the older yelp, ‘Ow! What the fuck?’
‘That’s for being a mean to Sunggyu-hyung,’ Sungjong said matter-of-factly, turning his nose up at him.
Woohyun argued, ‘Your Sunggyu-hyung beat the tar out of me.’
‘There must’ve been a reason,’ Sungjong snorted, not at all falling for Woohyun’s obviously fake innocent act. He also knew Sunggyu wouldn’t beat the crap out of someone on the spot for just any old school-rule-breaking reason - No, his hyung had a lot more class than that.
They pushed passed the glass double doors and stepped into the hallway. As soon as they entered, everyone stared at Woohyun’s bruises and gasped.
‘Yep,’ Myungsoo exclaimed, clicking his tongue as he proceeded to his locker, ‘There was definitely a reason.’
-
The weekdays whizzed through faster than Dongwoo’s biological clock could comprehend. He found himself waking up at seven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, groaning in frustration because he was still sleepy but he couldn’t get back to sleep. After an hour of trying, he finally gave up and rolled out of bed. He figured that if he got up early, he’d have more hours in the day to do something fun and maybe something productive.
‘Actually… Screw productive! Fun all the way.’
He remembered Sunggyu saying that Howon woke up at six o’clock every morning, regardless of whether it was a school day or not. Apparently, he had a routine and he stuck to it like Velcro. Dongwoo later found that he had made a new rival - Howon’s routine - when Dongwoo tried to text Howon at two in the morning that day, because he couldn’t sleep, and all he got was I’m sleeping. I’ll text you later.
Dongwoo hopped along to the bathroom and began brushing his teeth. Since his parents were still sleeping, he tried being extra quiet to not wake them - His mother was especially grouchy when she’d just woken up. As he was brushing his top teeth, he remembered Howon saying he’ll text later. He always turned his phone on silent and off vibrate when he slept, so he ran to his bedroom to check if there were any messages.
Unfortunately not.
Well, not to worry. Dongwoo took the initiative and texted Howon instead, turning his phone off silent right after.
To: HOWONIE
Hi! :D
He brought his phone with him into the bathroom and spat out the white foam. As he gurgled the blue mouth wash, his phone burped. (Woohyun always told him off for the notification sound and how embarrassing it was to be with him in public. But hey, that wasn’t exactly fair because Sungyeol’s ringtone was a symphony of farts.)
From: HOWONIE
Hello
Surely enough, Howon was awake. Dongwoo bit his lip, hiding half his smile.
To: HOWONIE
D: How come I don’t get a smiley face?
He knew it was childish - such a Sungyeol-like thing to say - but a simple hello would just not do. Of course Howon probably wouldn’t text a hello to just anybody (Well, he wouldn’t just give his phone number to just anybody. Dongwoo gave himself a pat on the back for being the exception.), but Dongwoo still thought he could do better than that. Like, come on, just a simple hello?!
From: HOWONIE
Why do you want one?
Dongwoo splashed some cold water on his face and patted the face towel all the way down to his neck, staring at the mirror. He scrunched his face at his own reflection when he reread the text.
To: HOWONIE
I shall now give you the emoticon of doom D:<
He slipped his shirt over his head and let his pants bunch at his ankles, hopping into the shower straight after. Life was too short to wear underwear to sleep, Dongwoo thought. He vowed to go to bed commando forever. Before he could turn on the water, the phone burped again.
From: HOWONIE
Where is it?
Dongwoo pouted and replied.
To: HOWONIE
D:< it’s that! I just gave it to you again
While in the shower, Dongwoo heard the phone go off again. He did the sensible thing and finished showering before getting out and reading it; although he rushed his scrubbing and probably missed a few dozen spots. But it’s all good, it was the weekend after all.
From: HOWONIE
It’s a capital D, a colon and a less than symbol
Dongwoo scowled at the phone and, after replying, let it lay on the edge of the sink as he dried off and got dressed.
To: HOWONIE
You’re no fun )’:
While fluffing his hair with the towel to dry it, Dongwoo heard the forever amusing burp again.
From: HOWONIE
:D
Dongwoo got embarrassed by how widely he smiled. Howon was just too cute.
‘Dongwoo, are you done in there?!’ he heard his mother yell.
‘Yeah, I’m coming out now!’
Dongwoo heard his dad’s voice reply instead, ‘You came out two years ago, after you told us you had some news and made us sit down!’
‘That joke isn’t funny anymore, dad!’
-
Monday rolled around and first period ended. Woohyun was a little excited to know he had biology because or not because of Sunggyu. It was needless to say that if Woohyun thought it was the latter, it would be complete bullshit. Sunggyu didn’t seem mad at him anymore because every time they walked past each other, Sunggyu no longer looked like he was going to eat him alive with a knife and fork. Sure, it took a few awkward apologies and some sweet talk during last week’s biology classes to get him around, but it was worth it to be allowed to sit next to Sunggyu again. (Although he still seemed a little bitchy.)
What Woohyun didn’t know was: Sunggyu now knew exactly what he was after - attention. Right after the incident, Sunggyu had consulted Howon. The latter had told him exactly what Woohyun’s twisted mind wanted and Sunggyu decided it was stupid and to just drop it. The jerk was just a desperate lowlife.
Woohyun sat in his usual seat next to Sunggyu, who was on his phone again, and cleared his throat. ‘So?’
Sunggyu didn’t reply and continued typing with his eyebrows furrowed.
‘Who are you texting?’ Woohyun asked curiously, trying to secretly peek at the screen.
Sunggyu snapped bluntly, ‘None of your business.’
‘If I’m interested, then it’s my business,’ Woohyun retorted, trying to stir up some conversation.
But it was hard to argue against the SBP, especially when he was in one of his moods. ‘Your business must involve a major portion of the school population’s pants, if that’s the case.’
A few kids in the back row laughed.
‘Your brother and I are co-workers,’ Woohyun chuckled. Sunggyu never failed to amaze him.
Sunggyu held out his phone so the younger could look at the screen, Woohyun assumed.
‘Or so I’ve been informed,’ Sunggyu sighed, eyebrows risen.
From: Lee Sungyeol
YOUR BROTHER KEEPS TOUCHING ME!! I TELL HIM TO STOP BUT HE KEEPS TELLING ME WOOHYUN GAVE HIM PERMISSION TO GROPE ME HOWEVER HE WANTS! (=>A<=) KILL WOOHYUN FOR ME!!!
Well, life was fun while it lasted.
‘So you’re going to kill me now?’ Woohyun deadpanned.
Sunggyu shook his head and began texting a reply. ‘No, I don’t trust Myungsoo,’ he mumbled, pouting unconsciously. Woohyun wanted to punch himself for wanting to run a finger along those rosy lips.
To: Lee Sungyeol
Tell Myungsoo if he doesn’t stop, I’ll make it one hundred per cent certain he will never be able to get any girl pregnant when we get home
About thirty seconds later, there was a reply. Woohyun leaned over so he can read the message too.
From: Kim Myungsoo
He glued himself to the other end of the table \(^w^)/
They both laughed. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were a handful.
-
After school Woohyun captured Myungsoo by jumping onto him from behind and squeezing him around the neck. The younger almost fell backwards if it wasn’t for Woohyun’s feet securing them both on the ground.
‘Want to come over now?’ Myungsoo asked after he let go and he finally retrieved his breath.
‘Sure,’ Woohyun agreed. Then his eyes narrowed. ‘Unless you pull that stupid prank again.’
Myungsoo giddily raised his shoulders up and down and attempted to pull Woohyun’s pants down as revenge. Woohyun was strong enough to keep his pants at least half-way up his ass.
‘What happened in the room when we were gone, anyway? My brother doesn’t exactly lash out at everyone,’ Myungsoo muttered, more to himself than to Woohyun.
Woohyun rolled his eyes and deadpanned dryly, ‘A really long, dumb story I’d rather not talk about.’
Speaking of dumb, that’s exactly how Woohyun felt when he saw Sunggyu waiting for Myungsoo at the school gates, leaning against the red bricks with one foot propped up.
‘Hey Gyu,’ Myungsoo chirped, aiming to hug his brother. In distaste, Sunggyu forcefully pushed him away and into Woohyun.
After shoving Myungsoo away, Woohyun grinned and said, ‘Hi cutie.’
Sunggyu ignored the cheesy expression without a bat of an eyelid (Woohyun frowned a little when his greeting was disregarded.) and turned his attention to his brother. ‘Myungsoo, I won’t be home for a few hours and my battery died so don’t bother calling me,’ Sunggyu explained, walking in the opposite direction to where they usually walked home.
‘Why? Where are you going?’ Myungsoo called after him.
When Sunggyu turned around, there was this look of torment and utter mischievousness on his face, lopsided smirk gracing his lips. Woohyun’s breath caught in his throat and he started coughing for real.
‘Sungyeol invited me for a coffee,’ Sunggyu replied rather playfully and Woohyun learnt that Sunggyu knew about the whole Myungsoo-Sungyeol situation. Interesting.
Before Sunggyu could turn around and walk away, Woohyun exclaimed, ‘Word of advice, don’t let Sungyeol have anything too strong or too much caffeine.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Sunggyu chuckled, sensing that he had to be extra careful - Sungyeol already had the energy of all the anime company buildings combined. Sungyeol on caffeine was going to be quite a show.
Myungsoo and Woohyun started walking down the footpath to the Kims’ house, side-by-side. ‘So,’ Myungsoo dragged out the syllable for a while. ‘Not fighting anymore, huh?’
‘Nope.’
Myungsoo said matter-of-factly, ‘Knew it. The spotlight on you has pretty much dimmed.’
Woohyun’s pace slowed down and his head twitched a little. ‘The spotlight has dimmed?’
-
Sungyeol was stuffing his face with cupcakes and pudding while Sunggyu was sitting there, sipping on his iced coffee. When Sungyeol was about to order a third cup for himself, Sunggyu gave him the glare. Sungyeol, in turn, gave Sunggyu the puppy-dog eyes and the two ended up staring at each other for an exceptionally long time. Finally Sungyeol relented and he settled for desserts. He could get coffee-flavoured cupcakes anyway.
‘Sungyeol,’ Sunggyu muttered after a long period of silence, ‘I don’t usually eat alone with anyone who isn’t family.’
Sungyeol’s eyes widened and he looked up from his plate, crumbs and icing sugar dropping from his lips. He shook his head vigorously and yelled, mouth still full, ‘Hyung, I’m not interested in you!’
Sunggyu raised an eyebrow and waved his hands in strong denial, responding, ‘What? I know, I’m -‘
‘You’re too old!’
‘Sungyeol -‘
‘And you’re too squishy.’
‘But -‘
‘And Woohyun has the hots for you but he’s keeping it a secret so he can mentally prepare himself to be in a relationship with a gangster who lives a double-life. I told him to date someone from the mafia for practice, but he taped duct tape over my mouth,’ Sungyeol quickly interjected, blowing out a huge breath right after.
Sunggyu froze, jaw dropped. For once he was speechless and it was all thanks to Sungyeol’s crazy accusations and absurdity. Sungyeol bet Woohyun in a game he didn’t even know he was playing.
Sungyeol added, ‘Woohyun tops, by the way, so I hope you don’t mind.’ The younger then went back to eating.
After that, Sunggyu had no freaking idea why Myungsoo was so interested in Sungyeol. The kid was a walking mindfuck disguised in a super tall, adorable bundle of sparkly eyes and puffed cheeks. Sunggyu shook his head to compose himself. ‘On a different matter,’ he sighed. ‘I actually agreed to come here with you because I need to talk to you about something.’
Sungyeol didn’t bother to look up from his chocolate pudding as he mumbled, ‘What is it?’
‘Be careful of my brother,’ Sunggyu stated. The other dropped his fork.
‘W - What?’
Sunggyu stretched his arms and leaned back in his chair, sheepish smile on his face as he explained leisurely, ‘I don’t usually interfere in my brother’s relationships in any way… However, I actually like you, so I’m giving you a much-needed warning.’
Sungyeol made a face, as if telling the older student to go on.
‘He’s good,’ Sunggyu chuckled, ‘He’s impossibly good.’
Blinking confusedly, Sungyeol muttered, ‘Good at what?’
Sunggyu lolled his head forward, laughing quietly at how naïve Sungyeol was. He then enlightened, almost sounding heartless, ‘At making you feel like the world is amazing and happiness is embracing you, and hiding the fact that the world is actually hideous and the happiness you’re feeling is just a sick delusion he created to get you in bed.’
Sungyeol’s fingers twitched at his words.
‘Like I said, I usually don’t give a fuck about whose heart he breaks, but I like you and don’t want to see you become one of my brother’s many victims.’ He seemed a little sadistic and playful, but how he said it made Sungyeol believe it was real. And like Sunggyu said, Sunggyu wouldn’t interfere in Myungsoo’s personal relations, so it must’ve been true.
‘I’ll pay,’ Sunggyu insisted, standing up, ‘It’s the least I can do for scaring you.’
Sungyeol started hiccupping.
-
‘Have any hot friends that are willing for a good time?’ Myungsoo grunted, getting to a comfortable position on the couch. Woohyun was sitting on the rug, eating chips.
Woohyun rolled his eyes at the younger and reminded, ‘Dude, you know your brother can come home any moment.’
‘Oh you’d like for him to come home, wouldn’t you?’ Myungsoo taunted, enjoying every moment of the implied WooGyu, ‘So you could have eye sex, shove me out of the house, and then have actually sex on the rug until your heart’s content.’
Woohyun yawned, ‘Does everything in your life revolve around sleep and sex?’
‘I live for the moment,’ Myungsoo saluted.
‘So what are we going to do?’ the older of the two muttered, rubbing his eyes.
Myungsoo grinned. ‘Wanna fuck?’
‘You’re shitting me, aren’t you,’ Woohyun barked, smacking the other across the stomach.
Myungsoo grumbled, sitting up, ‘You were the one that indicated all I have on my mind is sex and sleep.’
After a few moments of doing absolutely nothing and being bored out of their minds, Myungsoo suggested, ‘Let’s watch some porn.’
Woohyun threw a pillow at him. ‘Go to hell, you horny dickhead.’
Seeing as Woohyun wasn’t cooperating and was getting into one of those moods he wouldn’t easily knock out of, Myungsoo decided to change the subject. ‘I saw the way you’ve been sucking up to my brother since last week,’ Myungsoo teased, eyebrows wriggling suggestively.
‘What?’ Woohyun scoffed.
‘You even wore complete school uniform on Friday,’ Myungsoo mentioned. ‘I’m afraid, my friend, that you have fallen and you’ve fallen deep.’
Pursing his lips, Woohyun rejected, ‘I’m sure you’ve been too sleep and sex deprived to know anything.’
Myungsoo snorted, ‘As if.’ He had plenty of sleep and sex.
Myungsoo turned on the television and then they were thoughtlessly glaring at the protagonist being spun around by the really mean guy that obviously loves her. He’s really rich but he’s cold and she’s poor with a good heart. You guys know how it goes, right? This is basic the storyline to every fucking Korean drama.
The drama was so boring and so typical that Woohyun’s mind began wandering off. His eyes averted to the frames on the television cabinet and especially the photo that the silver one held - Sunggyu at his sixteenth birthday party. Woohyun smiled to himself - Sunggyu looked all the same, except for his haircut. (Woohyun noted that Sunggyu looked pretty good in black hair.) He’d also never seen Sunggyu smile that happily before and when he realised so he frowned. He thought Sunggyu’s smile looked nice in the photo, so he wondered what it would look like in real life.
Eventually Woohyun’s conscious reminded him about something: ‘The spotlight on you has pretty much dimmed.’
‘Need the bathroom,’ Woohyun said, standing up.
‘Go ahead, I’m going to get some food,’ Myungsoo replied, walking to the kitchen. He then turned around and looked at the older boy oddly. ‘Why are you taking your bag?’
Woohyun flinched and almost dropped his navy backpack. ‘M - Medicine,’ he lied horribly.
‘Viagra?’ Myungsoo joked, opening the pantry.
‘Go to hell, you dipshit!’ Woohyun grunted as he ran up the stairs.
In all honesty, Woohyun’s bladder was empty and so were his bowels. He was in fact bullshitting because he needed to get something. He needed to regain his spotlight, his title. He needed Sunggyu’s kryptonite and he had a gut instinct he knew exactly what that was.
Woohyun could hear Myungsoo trying to flick the stove on and cursing out loud when the flame disappeared, so he knew Myungsoo was busy. Instead of heading to the bathroom, Woohyun detoured to Sunggyu’s room and searched. He then found it - the stethoscope. Stealthily, he slipped the stethoscope into his backpack and zipped it up. He then walked out, shutting the door gently behind him.
Clearing his throat, he walked down the stairs and said nonchalantly, ‘Hey sorry, something’s just come up and I need to go.’
Myungsoo had a spatula in his hand and Woohyun was really tempted to push him out of the kitchen. He was a dumbass when it came to math, but Myungsoo was a klutz and kitchen appliances were dangerous. Doesn’t that equal explosion?
‘Really? Like an emergency?’ Myungsoo mumbled.
‘Y - Yeah,’ Woohyun stammered, quickly pacing to the door.
‘What happened?’
‘I’ll tell you if it’s bad,’ Woohyun brushed off, ‘I just need to go.’
The front door shut and Myungsoo was utterly puzzled at Woohyun’s suspicious actions.
-
Soon after Woohyun’s disappearance, Sunggyu arrived home. He didn’t bother with greeting his younger brother because the brat was just about to leave and go clubbing anyway. He headed straight to his room and headed for his desk, wanting to finish off his physics homework. It didn’t even take him a second to notice something was missing.
‘Where is it?’ Sunggyu patted down the sheets of paper, searching everywhere. He proceeded to inspect every little airspace in his room for the treasured stethoscope, finding nothing. Huffing the hair out of his face, he looked at the calendar and realised something.
‘Mum probably has it…’ Sunggyu guessed, deciding to carry on with homework.
Tomorrow was the day after all. The stethoscope meant a lot to all of them, not just Sunggyu.
-
Sunggyu woke up later than usually Tuesday morning. He had only ten minutes to get ready before he and Myungsoo had to leave for school. Inevitably, Myungsoo was hassling him, calling him a hypocrite and whatnot, just being a pain in the ass really. It definitely wasn’t the first time Sunggyu slept through his alarm clock, and so he calmly got changed and brushed his teeth, ignoring Myungsoo’s idiotic antics. It took him five minutes flat. (Sunggyu worked best under pressure. That’s why he always did assignments the night before they were due.) He had five minutes to choke down a couple of pieces of toast (Thank you Howon, for being prepared.) and open up the fridge to fetch some orange juice.
After closing the fridge door, Sunggyu saw the calendar that was stuck onto the fridge with alphabet magnets. 18th of September. His grip loosened a little and he just stared tiredly at the numbers until Myungsoo called him, ‘Hyung.’
Sunggyu was knocked out of his daze and he turned around. His brother grinned at him, swinging on his bag as he teased, ‘Let’s go. The student body president can’t be late.’ In turn, Sunggyu laughed and methodically followed his younger brother and Howon out the door.
As they walked along the footpath, the numbers re-emerged in his thoughts and Sunggyu’s mood immediately dropped. He looked over to his brother, who was phasing out of spouts of sleepiness and bursts of unexplainable energy, looking happy as usually.
Sunggyu bit his lip.
‘You’ve probably forgotten again.’
Howon was walking along the other side of him and was giving him that knowing look. Sunggyu raised the corner of his lip bitterly and felt Howon’s hand pat his shoulder.
If Myungsoo had glanced right at that moment, he would’ve had a heart attack - One, Howon was initiating affection. Two, he was initiating it on Sunggyu. Three, Sunggyu was accepting it.
This day was definitely not any normal day - Well, not for Sunggyu. And it shouldn’t have been for Myungsoo either.
-
‘Hey butthead,’ Sungyeol called after first period had ended. He squeezed through the crowd to whisper to Myungsoo, ‘Is there something wrong with Sunggyu-hyung today?’
Myungsoo pursed his lips. ‘What do you mean?’
Sungyeol explained, digressing, ‘During math this morning, he wasn’t on his phone but he wasn’t doing his work either. The teacher asked him a question and he just said he was sorry for not paying attention.’
Myungsoo held the older boy’s shoulders and looked up at him with widened eyes, astonished. ‘Sunggyu got a math question wrong?!’ he yelped. The end of the world was near!
‘No he got it right in one shot,’ Sungyeol deadpanned, ‘But still. He seems weird.’
‘Well, he’s my brother and I don’t find anything weird at all,’ Myungsoo stated, ‘You’re probably just imagining things.’
Sungyeol sneered and stomped away from him after spitting, ‘You’re a horrible brother. No wonder why Sunggyu hates you.’
-
AN\ Boring chapter, yes I know and I’m sorry. *bows deeply* The chapter was originally going to be twice as long, but I split it into two. >< Sorry~
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Eleven
Ten | Woohyun/Sunggyu, Hoya(Howon)/Dongwoo, L(Myungsoo)/Sungyeol | Fluff > Crack | PG13 (for cussing and sexual references)
Summary: Typical high school fic in which Woohyun is no longer top dog, Myungsoo’s life becomes interesting, Howon finally feels something and Sungjong discovers his future.
(poster by chocolate_ai)
-
The day after Woohyun experienced how Sunggyu’s fists felt while flying towards him at a thousand miles per hour for the second time, Woohyun saw Myungsoo at the school gate, chatting up some junior. Sunggyu wasn’t with him (or there to stop him, for that matter) and Woohyun guessed he was doing some exclusive leadership business like always. Woohyun didn’t even bother to wait for Myungsoo to finish working his playboy magic - the older of the two just patted Myungsoo on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, ‘Are you pissed at me?’
Myungsoo inevitably turned his attention towards the older student and abruptly stopped his flirting. After giving the junior a warm smile and walking off, with Woohyun following closely behind him, Myungsoo looked at the other with a stern look on his face. His expression was cold and piercing.
Then he let out a cracked sigh and wrapped an arm around Woohyun’s neck, pulling him into a playful headlock. ‘I could never be angry at you,’ Myungsoo chortled, letting the other go.
Woohyun laughed and punched his shoulder.
‘But seriously, if there’s ever a scratch on Sunggyu,’ Myungsoo suddenly turned serious, ‘consider yourself death.’
Yep, Myungsoo was forever bipolar.
‘I know, I know,’ Woohyun brushed off, walking towards the school building, ‘And to think I thought you weren’t the over-protective type.’
Myungsoo glowered, puckering his lips, and uttered quixotically, ‘I’m usually not, but you… There’s something about you that irritates my brother to no end.’
Woohyun grinned. ‘Irritates? Like sexual frustration.’
Before Myungsoo could say Sounds like you want my brother to be sexually frustration over your overly confident dick, Sungjong oh-so-rudely appeared and interrupted his train of thought.
‘What do you want, pipsqueak?’ Myungsoo snapped, attempting to squish the youngest’ face in his hands but being slapped away last moment.
Sungjong then gave Woohyun’s back a big whack, making the older yelp, ‘Ow! What the fuck?’
‘That’s for being a mean to Sunggyu-hyung,’ Sungjong said matter-of-factly, turning his nose up at him.
Woohyun argued, ‘Your Sunggyu-hyung beat the tar out of me.’
‘There must’ve been a reason,’ Sungjong snorted, not at all falling for Woohyun’s obviously fake innocent act. He also knew Sunggyu wouldn’t beat the crap out of someone on the spot for just any old school-rule-breaking reason - No, his hyung had a lot more class than that.
They pushed passed the glass double doors and stepped into the hallway. As soon as they entered, everyone stared at Woohyun’s bruises and gasped.
‘Yep,’ Myungsoo exclaimed, clicking his tongue as he proceeded to his locker, ‘There was definitely a reason.’
-
The weekdays whizzed through faster than Dongwoo’s biological clock could comprehend. He found himself waking up at seven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, groaning in frustration because he was still sleepy but he couldn’t get back to sleep. After an hour of trying, he finally gave up and rolled out of bed. He figured that if he got up early, he’d have more hours in the day to do something fun and maybe something productive.
‘Actually… Screw productive! Fun all the way.’
He remembered Sunggyu saying that Howon woke up at six o’clock every morning, regardless of whether it was a school day or not. Apparently, he had a routine and he stuck to it like Velcro. Dongwoo later found that he had made a new rival - Howon’s routine - when Dongwoo tried to text Howon at two in the morning that day, because he couldn’t sleep, and all he got was I’m sleeping. I’ll text you later.
Dongwoo hopped along to the bathroom and began brushing his teeth. Since his parents were still sleeping, he tried being extra quiet to not wake them - His mother was especially grouchy when she’d just woken up. As he was brushing his top teeth, he remembered Howon saying he’ll text later. He always turned his phone on silent and off vibrate when he slept, so he ran to his bedroom to check if there were any messages.
Unfortunately not.
Well, not to worry. Dongwoo took the initiative and texted Howon instead, turning his phone off silent right after.
To: HOWONIE
Hi! :D
He brought his phone with him into the bathroom and spat out the white foam. As he gurgled the blue mouth wash, his phone burped. (Woohyun always told him off for the notification sound and how embarrassing it was to be with him in public. But hey, that wasn’t exactly fair because Sungyeol’s ringtone was a symphony of farts.)
From: HOWONIE
Hello
Surely enough, Howon was awake. Dongwoo bit his lip, hiding half his smile.
To: HOWONIE
D: How come I don’t get a smiley face?
He knew it was childish - such a Sungyeol-like thing to say - but a simple hello would just not do. Of course Howon probably wouldn’t text a hello to just anybody (Well, he wouldn’t just give his phone number to just anybody. Dongwoo gave himself a pat on the back for being the exception.), but Dongwoo still thought he could do better than that. Like, come on, just a simple hello?!
From: HOWONIE
Why do you want one?
Dongwoo splashed some cold water on his face and patted the face towel all the way down to his neck, staring at the mirror. He scrunched his face at his own reflection when he reread the text.
To: HOWONIE
I shall now give you the emoticon of doom D:<
He slipped his shirt over his head and let his pants bunch at his ankles, hopping into the shower straight after. Life was too short to wear underwear to sleep, Dongwoo thought. He vowed to go to bed commando forever. Before he could turn on the water, the phone burped again.
From: HOWONIE
Where is it?
Dongwoo pouted and replied.
To: HOWONIE
D:< it’s that! I just gave it to you again
While in the shower, Dongwoo heard the phone go off again. He did the sensible thing and finished showering before getting out and reading it; although he rushed his scrubbing and probably missed a few dozen spots. But it’s all good, it was the weekend after all.
From: HOWONIE
It’s a capital D, a colon and a less than symbol
Dongwoo scowled at the phone and, after replying, let it lay on the edge of the sink as he dried off and got dressed.
To: HOWONIE
You’re no fun )’:
While fluffing his hair with the towel to dry it, Dongwoo heard the forever amusing burp again.
From: HOWONIE
:D
Dongwoo got embarrassed by how widely he smiled. Howon was just too cute.
‘Dongwoo, are you done in there?!’ he heard his mother yell.
‘Yeah, I’m coming out now!’
Dongwoo heard his dad’s voice reply instead, ‘You came out two years ago, after you told us you had some news and made us sit down!’
‘That joke isn’t funny anymore, dad!’
-
Monday rolled around and first period ended. Woohyun was a little excited to know he had biology because or not because of Sunggyu. It was needless to say that if Woohyun thought it was the latter, it would be complete bullshit. Sunggyu didn’t seem mad at him anymore because every time they walked past each other, Sunggyu no longer looked like he was going to eat him alive with a knife and fork. Sure, it took a few awkward apologies and some sweet talk during last week’s biology classes to get him around, but it was worth it to be allowed to sit next to Sunggyu again. (Although he still seemed a little bitchy.)
What Woohyun didn’t know was: Sunggyu now knew exactly what he was after - attention. Right after the incident, Sunggyu had consulted Howon. The latter had told him exactly what Woohyun’s twisted mind wanted and Sunggyu decided it was stupid and to just drop it. The jerk was just a desperate lowlife.
Woohyun sat in his usual seat next to Sunggyu, who was on his phone again, and cleared his throat. ‘So?’
Sunggyu didn’t reply and continued typing with his eyebrows furrowed.
‘Who are you texting?’ Woohyun asked curiously, trying to secretly peek at the screen.
Sunggyu snapped bluntly, ‘None of your business.’
‘If I’m interested, then it’s my business,’ Woohyun retorted, trying to stir up some conversation.
But it was hard to argue against the SBP, especially when he was in one of his moods. ‘Your business must involve a major portion of the school population’s pants, if that’s the case.’
A few kids in the back row laughed.
‘Your brother and I are co-workers,’ Woohyun chuckled. Sunggyu never failed to amaze him.
Sunggyu held out his phone so the younger could look at the screen, Woohyun assumed.
‘Or so I’ve been informed,’ Sunggyu sighed, eyebrows risen.
From: Lee Sungyeol
YOUR BROTHER KEEPS TOUCHING ME!! I TELL HIM TO STOP BUT HE KEEPS TELLING ME WOOHYUN GAVE HIM PERMISSION TO GROPE ME HOWEVER HE WANTS! (=>A<=) KILL WOOHYUN FOR ME!!!
Well, life was fun while it lasted.
‘So you’re going to kill me now?’ Woohyun deadpanned.
Sunggyu shook his head and began texting a reply. ‘No, I don’t trust Myungsoo,’ he mumbled, pouting unconsciously. Woohyun wanted to punch himself for wanting to run a finger along those rosy lips.
To: Lee Sungyeol
Tell Myungsoo if he doesn’t stop, I’ll make it one hundred per cent certain he will never be able to get any girl pregnant when we get home
About thirty seconds later, there was a reply. Woohyun leaned over so he can read the message too.
From: Kim Myungsoo
He glued himself to the other end of the table \(^w^)/
They both laughed. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were a handful.
-
After school Woohyun captured Myungsoo by jumping onto him from behind and squeezing him around the neck. The younger almost fell backwards if it wasn’t for Woohyun’s feet securing them both on the ground.
‘Want to come over now?’ Myungsoo asked after he let go and he finally retrieved his breath.
‘Sure,’ Woohyun agreed. Then his eyes narrowed. ‘Unless you pull that stupid prank again.’
Myungsoo giddily raised his shoulders up and down and attempted to pull Woohyun’s pants down as revenge. Woohyun was strong enough to keep his pants at least half-way up his ass.
‘What happened in the room when we were gone, anyway? My brother doesn’t exactly lash out at everyone,’ Myungsoo muttered, more to himself than to Woohyun.
Woohyun rolled his eyes and deadpanned dryly, ‘A really long, dumb story I’d rather not talk about.’
Speaking of dumb, that’s exactly how Woohyun felt when he saw Sunggyu waiting for Myungsoo at the school gates, leaning against the red bricks with one foot propped up.
‘Hey Gyu,’ Myungsoo chirped, aiming to hug his brother. In distaste, Sunggyu forcefully pushed him away and into Woohyun.
After shoving Myungsoo away, Woohyun grinned and said, ‘Hi cutie.’
Sunggyu ignored the cheesy expression without a bat of an eyelid (Woohyun frowned a little when his greeting was disregarded.) and turned his attention to his brother. ‘Myungsoo, I won’t be home for a few hours and my battery died so don’t bother calling me,’ Sunggyu explained, walking in the opposite direction to where they usually walked home.
‘Why? Where are you going?’ Myungsoo called after him.
When Sunggyu turned around, there was this look of torment and utter mischievousness on his face, lopsided smirk gracing his lips. Woohyun’s breath caught in his throat and he started coughing for real.
‘Sungyeol invited me for a coffee,’ Sunggyu replied rather playfully and Woohyun learnt that Sunggyu knew about the whole Myungsoo-Sungyeol situation. Interesting.
Before Sunggyu could turn around and walk away, Woohyun exclaimed, ‘Word of advice, don’t let Sungyeol have anything too strong or too much caffeine.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Sunggyu chuckled, sensing that he had to be extra careful - Sungyeol already had the energy of all the anime company buildings combined. Sungyeol on caffeine was going to be quite a show.
Myungsoo and Woohyun started walking down the footpath to the Kims’ house, side-by-side. ‘So,’ Myungsoo dragged out the syllable for a while. ‘Not fighting anymore, huh?’
‘Nope.’
Myungsoo said matter-of-factly, ‘Knew it. The spotlight on you has pretty much dimmed.’
Woohyun’s pace slowed down and his head twitched a little. ‘The spotlight has dimmed?’
-
Sungyeol was stuffing his face with cupcakes and pudding while Sunggyu was sitting there, sipping on his iced coffee. When Sungyeol was about to order a third cup for himself, Sunggyu gave him the glare. Sungyeol, in turn, gave Sunggyu the puppy-dog eyes and the two ended up staring at each other for an exceptionally long time. Finally Sungyeol relented and he settled for desserts. He could get coffee-flavoured cupcakes anyway.
‘Sungyeol,’ Sunggyu muttered after a long period of silence, ‘I don’t usually eat alone with anyone who isn’t family.’
Sungyeol’s eyes widened and he looked up from his plate, crumbs and icing sugar dropping from his lips. He shook his head vigorously and yelled, mouth still full, ‘Hyung, I’m not interested in you!’
Sunggyu raised an eyebrow and waved his hands in strong denial, responding, ‘What? I know, I’m -‘
‘You’re too old!’
‘Sungyeol -‘
‘And you’re too squishy.’
‘But -‘
‘And Woohyun has the hots for you but he’s keeping it a secret so he can mentally prepare himself to be in a relationship with a gangster who lives a double-life. I told him to date someone from the mafia for practice, but he taped duct tape over my mouth,’ Sungyeol quickly interjected, blowing out a huge breath right after.
Sunggyu froze, jaw dropped. For once he was speechless and it was all thanks to Sungyeol’s crazy accusations and absurdity. Sungyeol bet Woohyun in a game he didn’t even know he was playing.
Sungyeol added, ‘Woohyun tops, by the way, so I hope you don’t mind.’ The younger then went back to eating.
After that, Sunggyu had no freaking idea why Myungsoo was so interested in Sungyeol. The kid was a walking mindfuck disguised in a super tall, adorable bundle of sparkly eyes and puffed cheeks. Sunggyu shook his head to compose himself. ‘On a different matter,’ he sighed. ‘I actually agreed to come here with you because I need to talk to you about something.’
Sungyeol didn’t bother to look up from his chocolate pudding as he mumbled, ‘What is it?’
‘Be careful of my brother,’ Sunggyu stated. The other dropped his fork.
‘W - What?’
Sunggyu stretched his arms and leaned back in his chair, sheepish smile on his face as he explained leisurely, ‘I don’t usually interfere in my brother’s relationships in any way… However, I actually like you, so I’m giving you a much-needed warning.’
Sungyeol made a face, as if telling the older student to go on.
‘He’s good,’ Sunggyu chuckled, ‘He’s impossibly good.’
Blinking confusedly, Sungyeol muttered, ‘Good at what?’
Sunggyu lolled his head forward, laughing quietly at how naïve Sungyeol was. He then enlightened, almost sounding heartless, ‘At making you feel like the world is amazing and happiness is embracing you, and hiding the fact that the world is actually hideous and the happiness you’re feeling is just a sick delusion he created to get you in bed.’
Sungyeol’s fingers twitched at his words.
‘Like I said, I usually don’t give a fuck about whose heart he breaks, but I like you and don’t want to see you become one of my brother’s many victims.’ He seemed a little sadistic and playful, but how he said it made Sungyeol believe it was real. And like Sunggyu said, Sunggyu wouldn’t interfere in Myungsoo’s personal relations, so it must’ve been true.
‘I’ll pay,’ Sunggyu insisted, standing up, ‘It’s the least I can do for scaring you.’
Sungyeol started hiccupping.
-
‘Have any hot friends that are willing for a good time?’ Myungsoo grunted, getting to a comfortable position on the couch. Woohyun was sitting on the rug, eating chips.
Woohyun rolled his eyes at the younger and reminded, ‘Dude, you know your brother can come home any moment.’
‘Oh you’d like for him to come home, wouldn’t you?’ Myungsoo taunted, enjoying every moment of the implied WooGyu, ‘So you could have eye sex, shove me out of the house, and then have actually sex on the rug until your heart’s content.’
Woohyun yawned, ‘Does everything in your life revolve around sleep and sex?’
‘I live for the moment,’ Myungsoo saluted.
‘So what are we going to do?’ the older of the two muttered, rubbing his eyes.
Myungsoo grinned. ‘Wanna fuck?’
‘You’re shitting me, aren’t you,’ Woohyun barked, smacking the other across the stomach.
Myungsoo grumbled, sitting up, ‘You were the one that indicated all I have on my mind is sex and sleep.’
After a few moments of doing absolutely nothing and being bored out of their minds, Myungsoo suggested, ‘Let’s watch some porn.’
Woohyun threw a pillow at him. ‘Go to hell, you horny dickhead.’
Seeing as Woohyun wasn’t cooperating and was getting into one of those moods he wouldn’t easily knock out of, Myungsoo decided to change the subject. ‘I saw the way you’ve been sucking up to my brother since last week,’ Myungsoo teased, eyebrows wriggling suggestively.
‘What?’ Woohyun scoffed.
‘You even wore complete school uniform on Friday,’ Myungsoo mentioned. ‘I’m afraid, my friend, that you have fallen and you’ve fallen deep.’
Pursing his lips, Woohyun rejected, ‘I’m sure you’ve been too sleep and sex deprived to know anything.’
Myungsoo snorted, ‘As if.’ He had plenty of sleep and sex.
Myungsoo turned on the television and then they were thoughtlessly glaring at the protagonist being spun around by the really mean guy that obviously loves her. He’s really rich but he’s cold and she’s poor with a good heart. You guys know how it goes, right? This is basic the storyline to every fucking Korean drama.
The drama was so boring and so typical that Woohyun’s mind began wandering off. His eyes averted to the frames on the television cabinet and especially the photo that the silver one held - Sunggyu at his sixteenth birthday party. Woohyun smiled to himself - Sunggyu looked all the same, except for his haircut. (Woohyun noted that Sunggyu looked pretty good in black hair.) He’d also never seen Sunggyu smile that happily before and when he realised so he frowned. He thought Sunggyu’s smile looked nice in the photo, so he wondered what it would look like in real life.
Eventually Woohyun’s conscious reminded him about something: ‘The spotlight on you has pretty much dimmed.’
‘Need the bathroom,’ Woohyun said, standing up.
‘Go ahead, I’m going to get some food,’ Myungsoo replied, walking to the kitchen. He then turned around and looked at the older boy oddly. ‘Why are you taking your bag?’
Woohyun flinched and almost dropped his navy backpack. ‘M - Medicine,’ he lied horribly.
‘Viagra?’ Myungsoo joked, opening the pantry.
‘Go to hell, you dipshit!’ Woohyun grunted as he ran up the stairs.
In all honesty, Woohyun’s bladder was empty and so were his bowels. He was in fact bullshitting because he needed to get something. He needed to regain his spotlight, his title. He needed Sunggyu’s kryptonite and he had a gut instinct he knew exactly what that was.
Woohyun could hear Myungsoo trying to flick the stove on and cursing out loud when the flame disappeared, so he knew Myungsoo was busy. Instead of heading to the bathroom, Woohyun detoured to Sunggyu’s room and searched. He then found it - the stethoscope. Stealthily, he slipped the stethoscope into his backpack and zipped it up. He then walked out, shutting the door gently behind him.
Clearing his throat, he walked down the stairs and said nonchalantly, ‘Hey sorry, something’s just come up and I need to go.’
Myungsoo had a spatula in his hand and Woohyun was really tempted to push him out of the kitchen. He was a dumbass when it came to math, but Myungsoo was a klutz and kitchen appliances were dangerous. Doesn’t that equal explosion?
‘Really? Like an emergency?’ Myungsoo mumbled.
‘Y - Yeah,’ Woohyun stammered, quickly pacing to the door.
‘What happened?’
‘I’ll tell you if it’s bad,’ Woohyun brushed off, ‘I just need to go.’
The front door shut and Myungsoo was utterly puzzled at Woohyun’s suspicious actions.
-
Soon after Woohyun’s disappearance, Sunggyu arrived home. He didn’t bother with greeting his younger brother because the brat was just about to leave and go clubbing anyway. He headed straight to his room and headed for his desk, wanting to finish off his physics homework. It didn’t even take him a second to notice something was missing.
‘Where is it?’ Sunggyu patted down the sheets of paper, searching everywhere. He proceeded to inspect every little airspace in his room for the treasured stethoscope, finding nothing. Huffing the hair out of his face, he looked at the calendar and realised something.
‘Mum probably has it…’ Sunggyu guessed, deciding to carry on with homework.
Tomorrow was the day after all. The stethoscope meant a lot to all of them, not just Sunggyu.
-
Sunggyu woke up later than usually Tuesday morning. He had only ten minutes to get ready before he and Myungsoo had to leave for school. Inevitably, Myungsoo was hassling him, calling him a hypocrite and whatnot, just being a pain in the ass really. It definitely wasn’t the first time Sunggyu slept through his alarm clock, and so he calmly got changed and brushed his teeth, ignoring Myungsoo’s idiotic antics. It took him five minutes flat. (Sunggyu worked best under pressure. That’s why he always did assignments the night before they were due.) He had five minutes to choke down a couple of pieces of toast (Thank you Howon, for being prepared.) and open up the fridge to fetch some orange juice.
After closing the fridge door, Sunggyu saw the calendar that was stuck onto the fridge with alphabet magnets. 18th of September. His grip loosened a little and he just stared tiredly at the numbers until Myungsoo called him, ‘Hyung.’
Sunggyu was knocked out of his daze and he turned around. His brother grinned at him, swinging on his bag as he teased, ‘Let’s go. The student body president can’t be late.’ In turn, Sunggyu laughed and methodically followed his younger brother and Howon out the door.
As they walked along the footpath, the numbers re-emerged in his thoughts and Sunggyu’s mood immediately dropped. He looked over to his brother, who was phasing out of spouts of sleepiness and bursts of unexplainable energy, looking happy as usually.
Sunggyu bit his lip.
‘You’ve probably forgotten again.’
Howon was walking along the other side of him and was giving him that knowing look. Sunggyu raised the corner of his lip bitterly and felt Howon’s hand pat his shoulder.
If Myungsoo had glanced right at that moment, he would’ve had a heart attack - One, Howon was initiating affection. Two, he was initiating it on Sunggyu. Three, Sunggyu was accepting it.
This day was definitely not any normal day - Well, not for Sunggyu. And it shouldn’t have been for Myungsoo either.
-
‘Hey butthead,’ Sungyeol called after first period had ended. He squeezed through the crowd to whisper to Myungsoo, ‘Is there something wrong with Sunggyu-hyung today?’
Myungsoo pursed his lips. ‘What do you mean?’
Sungyeol explained, digressing, ‘During math this morning, he wasn’t on his phone but he wasn’t doing his work either. The teacher asked him a question and he just said he was sorry for not paying attention.’
Myungsoo held the older boy’s shoulders and looked up at him with widened eyes, astonished. ‘Sunggyu got a math question wrong?!’ he yelped. The end of the world was near!
‘No he got it right in one shot,’ Sungyeol deadpanned, ‘But still. He seems weird.’
‘Well, he’s my brother and I don’t find anything weird at all,’ Myungsoo stated, ‘You’re probably just imagining things.’
Sungyeol sneered and stomped away from him after spitting, ‘You’re a horrible brother. No wonder why Sunggyu hates you.’
-
AN\ Boring chapter, yes I know and I’m sorry. *bows deeply* The chapter was originally going to be twice as long, but I split it into two. >< Sorry~
Prologue One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Eleven