the ending begins • verkwan

• when they were young and tears didn't cry •

He scrolled through all his playlists, and clicked open the one titled 'midnight'. After randomly clicking on a song, the music washed him over, and like every night, it smoothed him. It calmed him. It called for him. The vague sound of piano are like the stars in the night sky, only, they were not bright. Before the feeling of emptiness can shower him, he placed his phone back on the night stand, and then he tucked himself into bed, hugging the nothingness. So tightly, like how the emptiness clutched onto him.

incomplete breaths, closed eyes, hollow sounds.

It didn't really get to him, at all. Sometimes, when everything becomes impossible to deal with, he would just carefully unlock his memories, stare at it for seconds, before he forces himself back to reality. Everything was so bright to him in his memories. The innumerable daisies near the wooden cabin, the crowded steakhouse with waiters with wine-colored hair, and the sun-spilled music room filled with milky sounds of the cello. Wonwoo sometimes finds himself smiling, even grinning, at those small and broken pieces of memories.

It's allowed, right? To cry over something that used to be the only thing that makes you happy.

the thing is... mingyu liked daisies, crowded steakhouses, and the sonorous sounds of the cello. mingyu liked a lot of things. small things, little thing, the things that wonwoo soon finds himself liking.

they like everything together. from daisies to music notes.

but... wonwoo liked mingyu. but mingyu didn't like wonwoo.

* * *

【6 years ago】when they were young, and tears didn't cry

"Wonwoo, he's staying here only because he likes someone. He wouldn't just randomly come to discuss with the teacher about why cows like the number four," Seungcheol leans back on his chair and winks at wonwoo.

"Maybe he's just into that kind of deep philosophical question," wonwoo shakes his head at Seungcheol and looks back down to his calculus worksheets.

"No, Wonu. Wrong point. I'm talking about why he stayed here for like 35 minutes and stared at our table the whole time," Seungcheol slides wonwoo's worksheets away from him and points to the tall guy he's been ranting about for the last ten minutes.

"I'm finally trying to learn, so give me back my worksheets," Wonwoo straightens his body and shifts to a better position in his chair while groaning at Seungcheol.

"I love how you think copying my science homework on your calculus worksheet counts as learning," Jeonghan smiles from behind and chuckles with Seungcheol.

"Jeonghan! I asked for your calculus worksheets! not science!" wonwoo tilts his head backwards, closing his eyes, a smirk sneaked up to his lips, "so jeonghan, did seungcheol do that with you yet?"

wonwoo chuckles at his question that made the 2 high schooler boys blush, turning away from each other frantically. wonwoo taps seungcheol on the shoulders and starts mumbling words to him, "you know, you should be the top-"

"hey." a voice came from above, wonwoo looks up and find his eyes meeting with another pair of eyes. mingyu, he thought, it's mingyu. the name that seungcheol kept on mentioning to him for the past 35 minutes.

"me?" wonwoo points to himself, confused.

"yes, you." the boy, mingyu, smiles brightly at wonwoo. the smile is so bright, it's filled with suns.

mingyu then kneels down, next to wonwoo, and smiles again. leaning closer, mingyu whipsered into wonwoo's right ear, "can i talk to you, outside?"

wonwoo feels weird. his stomach tickled with butterflies. his right ear feels like it's burning. his face feels red. and his eyes keeps on wandering back to the boy, who is still smiling brightly at him. mingyu's voice made him warm, and he liked it. Like how the ocean liked waves and the moon liked stars.

"yeah," wonwoo squeezed out the word. he used the time when mingyu turned around to put his hands up his face, checking if he's blushing. it turns out, he is.

he followed mingyu, who is taller than him by a few inches. mingyu stopped once they've walked out of the classroom, closing the door behind them.

"so, hi, um, i'm mingyu," he smiled. wonwoo just stood there, amazed, and waited for flowers to spurt out of mingyu's smile, "and, you must be wonwoo, right?"

"yeah, i must. ha, i mean, i am." wonwoo chuckled at himself, unknowing why his words feel shy in front of mingyu.

mingyu chuckled and let the air in wonwoo's lungs stop circulating for 2 seconds. mingyu took a deep breath and leaned closer to wonwoo, again, "i... i like... jeonghan."

mingyu smiled, again. this time, bright pink rose bushes blossomed on his cheecks. he chewed his lower lip, making wonwoo wonder how soft they are... and do they taste like sweets.

"oh." wonwoo said. in fact, he wasn't sure what he's feeling right now. so instead of finding a better response, a single word, is all he could manage to say.

"and so, yeah, i mean, don't tell him. please," mingyu looked away, but quickly added "and seungcheol! don't tell him, wonwoo... i heard-"

wonwoo nodded. waiting for the silence to fill up the entire empty hallway.

"i heard seungcheol and jeonghan... i mean, are they, you know, in a realtionship?" mingyu looked him straight in the eyes. wonwoo did too. he found both worry and anticipation in the boy's eyes.

"oh, well, not yet," wonwoo answered, "but they are crazily in love with each other so i don't see why not."

mingyu laughed, drily and awkwardly. mingyu then nodded, "thanks, wonwoo." he turned around with a troubled look on his face.

wonwoo stared. he stared at the empty hallway with dim lights. he stared at the 36 lockers he counted when he was bored. he stared at the posters and flyers students sticked on the wall. he stared, at mingyu.

something fluttered in wonwoo's heart, telling him that he'd just fell in love. wonwoo blushed at his thought, and told his heart to shut up. but he couldn't. he couldn't help but stare at the boy who walked down the hallway. he couldn't help but miss his shining eyes under the dim lights. he couldn't help but accept the fact that he'd just fell in love.

"but... you could come and sit with us during lunch tomorrow! seungcheol won't be there tomorrow, it's just me and jeonghan... and you, if you want!" wonwoo shouted, towards mingyu, who is walking away with his head down.

mingyu turned around, and wonwoo swear, he witnessed the most beautiful moment in his entire life- mingyu's worrying look fading away, supplanted by a wide smile that's so bright that wonwoo had to look away, but yet he couldn't.

that bright smile lit up wonwoo's heart with a tiny tap. wonwoo had never felt this way before. it feels magical. almost too magical to be real.

mingyu ran up to wonwoo, and surprisingly, pulled wonwoo into a tight hug.

"thank you!!" mingyu hugged wonwoo even tighter, "of coures i'll love to, wonwoo!!"

mingyu smiled.

wonwoo blushed.

* * *

on that day, when they were young and tears didn't cry, there was 2 boys hugging each other in an empty hallway. one boy was smiling, and one boy was blushing.

what they didn't know... it's that-

days and days and days later, when they were still young, but tears did cry, there was 2 boys hugging each other in an empty hallway. one boy was crying, and one boy was finally realizing.

【tbc...】

omG ThanK yoU alL sOOooOooOo muCh fOr 3K reAdS!!

i was gonna write about hansoloXseungkwanXminghaoXjun for this chap but bruhhh i just had to write a meanie chap