That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Chapter 35: Yalange

Wonwoo was puzzled after he got off the phone with Jin. What could have possibly come up now, right before they were supposed to meet, that's so important that she had to ditch him for it?

Did she do it on purpose to give him and Mingyu alone time or something? That didn't sound like something Jin would do though. Maybe Sena, but not Jin. Mingyu was convinced that this wasn't the case.

It must have been an emergency then, Wonwoo thought. He hoped she was okay.

He wondered if Jin had told Mingyu that she would not make it or not. Perhaps she expected Wonwoo to tell Mingyu. He wasn't sure. He texted her to ask, but she didn't reply. She must have been busy.

He realized that he needed to tell Mingyu that the plans were canceled just in case. But he did not have Mingyu's number yet. There was no way he could contact him.

Wonwoo made his way over to the bus stop where they had agreed to meet to inform him of what had happened, in case Mingyu did not know. He was nervous about encountering him again, as all people are with their crushes, but he tried not think about his rapidly beating heart.

He found Mingyu waiting at the bus stop, which told Wonwoo that Jin had indeed not told him.

"Bad news," Wonwoo said as soon as they made eye contact.

Mingyu raised his head in response, curiosity etched across his face as he waited for Wonwoo to disclose this "bad news."

"Something came up. Jin can't make it."

"Oh," Mingyu's face fell, "what happened?"

"I'm not sure; she wouldn't tell," Wonwoo shrugged, "but she would not have missed this if it was not important. I'm sorry." Wonwoo bowed to him.

"Oh well," Mingyu shrugged, but Wonwoo could tell that Mingyu was kind of hurt by it.

Wow. He really likes her, doesn't he? Wonwoo thought. It was not only the way that Mingyu reacted to fact she was not coming that told Wonwoo that, but also the way he dressed. He was a lot more... handsome, than usual? He was wearing this white shirt with this blazer, and he looked very, very attractive all in all. He was probably dressing up for her, Wonwoo thought.

Wonwoo felt self-conscious of his own appearance. He didn't really put much thought into what he was wearing, and to see Mingyu all dressed up for the occasion made him feel quite unsophisticated.

The bus that would take them to Itaewon came, and Mingyu stood in the crowd of passengers waiting to go in.

"Are you still going?" Wonwoo asked.

"Aren't you?" Mingyu replied. "I already made the reservations, and I really want to try it. Come with me."

Wonwoo hesitated. It felt weird to go without Jin, with only Mingyu. It was weird and not right and just... not how it was supposed to be. And he didn't mentally prepare himself for it.

"Please," Mingyu pled, "I don't want to go there alone."

Wonwoo felt a flutter in his stomach to know that Mingyu liked him enough to plead that he went with him. He couldn't say no, and so joined Mingyu with the crowd.

The bus was packed. There was very little place to stand, let alone sit. As Mingyu and Wonwoo pushed through the crowd into the bus, Mingyu was able to use his tallness to reach out and grab one the handles above him. Wonwoo, however, found that there was no pole or handle within his reach.

The bus started to move and Wonwoo clumsily tripped and almost fell. Mingyu reached out and grabbed Wonwoo's arm before he could.

"Thanks," Wonwoo said, trying to avoid eye contact to hide his blushing face.