if only you knew

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 8

seungkwan wasn't entirely sure when it happened. maybe when he was making tanghulu for one person, maybe that's when he realized he missed wonwoo and mingyu. that didn't sound that poetic, so let's go with 'he missed the warmth their presence brought to his otherwise chilly life' yeah. that sounded better to seungkwan.

seungkwan knew it would have been best for the three of them to spend some time apart. even if he was walking around town, he almost always spotted them together. he couldn't stand the sight of wonwoo cuddling up to mingyu, or mingyu kissing wonwoo's temple, or wonwoo holding mingyu, or– to keep it simple, seungkwan couldn't stand the sight of them together.

though seungkwan knew this, a part of him, a selfish part of him, longed to hang out with them again. maybe he could just ignore everything that had changed between the three of them and act like everything is normal. he knew he had to make the first step to work towards that.

so when seungkwan found himself inside of the tiny, cramped bookstore that wonwoo worked at, he found himself frozen in the doorway of the establishment. the young boy hadn't given this idea, what to actually say when he approached either of his best friends, much thought.

and as seungkwan saw wonwoo peek a head out to greet the customer (seungkwan), the young boy ducked in between the shelves of the nonfiction section. yes, this was seungkwan's plan: stare at wonwoo from afar and hide when he clearly spots him. foolproof.

"kwan-ah?"

seungkwan cursed silently as he slowly stepped out of the aisle, waving cautiously at wonwoo who was walking up to him with an elated grin on his face. seungkwan felt himself take a few steps back the closer wonwoo got to him. the older boy ignored this as he picked seungkwan up and bounced him in his arms, giggling loudly as he looked up at the confused look on his young friend's face.

"god, i haven't seen you in forever!" wonwoo nearly shouted, wrapping a hand around seungkwan's neck as he pulled the boy down and pressed multiple kisses to his cheek.

seungkwan felt his face scrunch up in amusement, a sad smile on his face as he pushed the boy away and groaned loudly. "hyung..." he whined as he pushed wonwoo's face away, the older boy laughing as he put seungkwan down.

"so," wonwoo breathed, embarrassed as he felt himself blush at how he acted a second ago, "how have you been?" he asked as he reached a hand out to ruffle the boy's hair.

seungkwan smiled warmly at the taller boy, even as wonwoo kept his hand tangled in his hair, scratching softly at his scalp. he didn't want to admit it, of course he didn't, but he really missed wonwoo. while it was easy to self isolate, it was even easier just being with his friends. everything always came so easy with the three of them. it's like they were meant to be friends. just friends.

seungkwan snapped out of his thoughts, not wanting to get upset in front of wonwoo. he just looked at wonwoo and shrugged. "fine, i guess. pretty busy with work, though." he laughed softly, his smile morphing into a grimace in the span of two seconds.

wonwoo raised an eyebrow at the boy. "work, huh?" he said, nodding his head softly as he stuck his tongue in the inside of his cheek.

seungkwan knew what wonwoo was implying. mingyu mentioned it before. his best friends knew seungkwan was almost never 'busy' with work. the only time he was ever 'busy with work' was when he was trying to avoid his problems. seungkwan cursed himself for making his tactics to transparent.

seungkwan sighed softly as he pulled wonwoo into a hug. he knew he couldn't look the older boy in the eye when he said what he needed to say. something about wonwoo always compelled the young boy to just spill his guts, and something told seungkwan that gut spillage was not the best idea right now.