attention | gyuricky

seven.

I'll get him coffee today, then, he thinks. Nothing more owed.

He takes out his phone and taps in Junhyeon's contact, some ridiculous nickname he'd stolen Gyuvin's phone and put in himself, and waits for him to answer. Junhyeon, thankfully, seems to be awake earlier than usual today, and picks up after a couple of rings.

"What's wrong with you? Calling in the middle of the night."

"It's ten thirty in the morning. Good morning. Can you pass the phone to Zhanghao? That's your roommate's name, by the way, in case you've forgotten again."

"Of course I haven't! Gosh, you're unbearable. Hao, Gyuvin wants to talk to you."

There's some muffled noise as the phone is passed to Zhanghao, and a different voice speaks.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Sorry to bother you so early. What's Ricky's coffee order?"

"Ricky? Um, he likes cold brew. No milk."

"Got it." Cold brew, huh. Somehow, unsurprising. "Can I get a vanilla soy latte and a cold brew to go?"

Gyuvin and Yunseo find themselves a seat by the window, and they dig into their food. There's something about the smell of freshly-roasted coffee beans and buttery pastries that makes even Gyuvin, a regular breakfast-skipper, regain his appetite just for today.

"So, you know anyone else here?" Gyuvin asks, taking a bite of his raspberry danish.

"Yeah, a bunch actually," Yunseo answers. "There's this guy majoring in music called Zhanghao I was friends with in high school. He's crazy good at violin, so I'm not surprised he passed the entrance test."

"Oh, you're friends with Zhanghao? It really is a small world. He's roommates with one of my friends. I had dinner with him yesterday."

Gyuvin wonders if it's a stretch to assume if Yunseo knows Zhanghao he probably knows Ricky too. He decides, a second later, he'll never know unless he asks, and he's close enough to Yunseo he doesn't care about judgement.

"Do you know this guy called Ricky? He's friends with Zhanghao too, right?"

"Yeah, I know him. He and Zhanghao were both in a band together in high school, and they had me sub in as a vocalist sometimes when one of their members wasn't around."

"What was he like?"

Yunseo takes a second to think. "I didn't see him much, actually, because he was usually the member I was subbing in for, since he was in the basketball team so he had to miss band practices often. Ricky's kinda quiet, but he's pretty nice. Most people I know like him."

"He's nice, huh..." Gyuvin trails off, compartmentalizing this piece of information away for later use.

"Why? Do you know him?"

"Not really," Gyuvin answers truthfully. "I heard he was coming here, that's all. You might run into him since he's majoring in painting too."

"Oh, that'll be nice. I'll keep a lookout, thanks for telling me."

They chat about a bunch of other things, catching up on everything they've missed while they were apart in high school mostly, and Gyuvin's rejuvenated by the refreshing feeling of familiar, good company. Yunseo tells him he's supposed to meet someone at around half-past eleven, and they part ways as they leave the cafe, Yunseo headed for the studios and Gyuvin back to the dorm.

He can hear movement somewhere in the bathroom when he enters and slips off his shoes, meaning Ricky's awake. Gyuvin sets the iced coffee down on the countertop and shrugs off his jacket to hang on the rack near the door. Ricky emerges from the bathroom just then, blonde hair dripping wet from a shower.

"I got you coffee," Gyuvin says, gesturing to the plastic cup on the counter.

Ricky walks over and sticks the straw into the cup, taking a sip. "How'd you know my coffee order?"

Gyuvin feigns nonchalance. "Just a shot in the dark. Did I get it right?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Ricky doesn't say anything more, only disappearing back into the bedroom and reappearing minutes later dressed in a pressed black shirt and slacks, sipping at his cold brew. Gyuvin occupies himself playing with a little origami frog he's made out of a piece of used paper lying around, but his curiosity gets to him at some point.

"I never knew you were in a band," he says, looking up at the other boy.

Ricky seems to freeze in his tracks, and his knuckles whiten just imperceptibly where he's reaching for his jacket. He recovers after a long moment, shoulders loosening as he takes his jacket off the rack. "Do you need to know everything about me?" 

"I guess not," Gyuvin answers, looking away. "Anyway, have a good day."

Ricky turns back to look at him, but his gaze flits away before Gyuvin can make eye contact. The door closes, the apartment is silent, and he's alone again.