"wonwoo, i can't do it.." mingyu took an abrupt stop on the middle of the staircase, blocking the way for wonwoo who was right behind him. he didn't have enough courage to face the group in the living room after making up with wonwoo. "i swear, they're going to murder me with their bare hands."
"i won't let them. it's still my house after all, if i decide to be with you they have to accept that as my friends." wonwoo reached for mingyu's golden locks of hair and gently scratched his scalp, getting mingyu to look back up at him as he stood two steps higher.
mingyu took the opportunity to take a step back up, fully turning around now he was able to get at the exact same height as wonwoo. "but they would be right though.. the things i've done are reason enough to ban me out of their lives."
"the things you've done weren't directed to them, so they have no reason to be mad at you at all. they were between you and me and we've spoken about them didn't we?" wonwoo explained with a plain expression, avoiding mingyu's piercing gaze as he still found it hard to get over his stupid insecurities.
"but i've still ruined everything we build up, and you can't deny that. i know you're avoiding my eyes right now because you don't fully trust me anymore." wonwoo let out a sigh of defeat when mingyu caught onto his thoughts faster than he expected him to. yet nodded and gave in, still not looking him directly into his eyes.
"i'm just scared things will never be the same again.." wonwoo whispered, swallowing the rising lump in his throat. he didn't want to break down again, not now they were about to confess to their friends about everything that had happened in the past hour.
"it wouldn't." mingyu simply whispered, moving in a little closer to finally catch wonwoo's beautiful brown orbs. "wonwoo look, i know i fucked it up real big this time. and i would be lying to you if i said that things would return fully to how they once were. because that's simply impossible."
wonwoo's shoulder sunk in a little, yet how insecure he might feel he remained eye contact with the boy below him on the stairs. "and that's why we should start over again. a new begin, you know? we don't need what we once had, we could build something entirely new and be as happy as we used to be, right?" wonwoo couldn't suppress a small chuckle to leave his lips when he saw the small smile mingyu wore that made him resemble a puppy even more.
"you know what, let me reintroduce myself to you. hey, my name is kim mingyu." mingyu offered his hand, wearing the most genuine smile that momentarily made wonwoo's heart stop beating. he felt heat rushing to his cheeks when he gently took a hold of the large hand and shook it.
how childish it might seem, to them it was a beautiful symbol of a new start. an introduction on the middle of a dark staircase that led up to a new chance, which they weren't going to lose this time.
"hi mingyu, m-my name is jeon wonwoo." he spoke back, not wanting to let go of mingyu's hand already as they hadn't budged to move from their current position. "shall we get back downstairs and just bring the news already? i really want to get over with this."
mingyu nodded after a little moment of hesitation, intertwining his fingers with wonwoo's to assure themselves the safety they both needed. he would protect wonwoo from the most likely harming comments they were about to receive, and it went the other way around as wonwoo wanted to protect the tall boy from all the judgement he was about to get.
however, both felt their courage sink down to the ground the moment they stepped foot inside the living room where six heads looked up from where they were seated on the couch. it didn't even take less than a second before chaos burst out, jeonghan being the first one to speed up to the duo standing in the doorway.
"oh no, no, no, we're not doing this." he tried to grab their interlocked hands, which mingyu instinctively jerked back out of his reach.
"jeonghan, please listen to us before jumping into conclusion." wonwoo calmly replied, trying to hide the wavering in his voice.
"yeah exactly." both junhui and chan were quick to jump in-between them as they formed a protective wall to ward off jeonghan and all other negativity that circulated in wonwoo's living room. "let's just give them some space to explain. seeing the situation, wonwoo has probably regained his memories so let's try not to overwhelm him with this." the chinese male explained, which resulted in jeonghan making a step back.
the blonde haired male cocked his brow, defiantly crossing his arms. "so we're forming some sort of pact now, aren't we?"
"bullshit! this is all bullshit! so you're supporting him too? after what he has done?" hansol mixed in, leaving both soonyoung and seungcheol behind who wisely only observed the situation from a distance.
"mingyu has never done something wrong to us!" chan crossed his arms as well, protecting his friend who stood behind him.
"i agree with chan. if there's any reason why he has done that, he is probably about to explain us right now. the things that happened were between him and wonwoo is their business and it's not up to us to interfere." junhui spoke, having absolutely no clue of how thankful mingyu was looking at the back of his and chan's heads.
he had no idea that their friendship had been so valuable and genuine without his knowledge and he regretted not informing them about it earlier, so none of this wouldn't have happened at all.
"i still don't think it's reasonable to just allow mingyu back in? come on, you've seen yourself what it did to wonwoo. it just doesn't sit right with me!" jeonghan discussed as seungcheol appeared behind him, attempting to calm him down by placing his hands on his shoulders and gently massaging him.
"wasn't i the one who told you to go see seungcheol at the police station back then, when everyone else in the room was against it? huh?" wonwoo suddenly became the centre of attention after speaking up, which he (this time) didn't mind at all. "i've chosen your side and look where we are now? you're in a happy and healthy relationship. i could've stopped you back then as well."
his words seemed to bring some sense into jeonghan, who seemed defeated by both his words and the wonders seungcheol's fingers were working on his shoulder blade. "whatever. just sit down and explain. it better be good." the blonde haired boy grumbled before slumping back to the couch.
now the only obstacle they had to overcome was hansol, who still seemed entirely against this whole thing.
wonwoo gently squeezed mingyu's hand as if he was trying to say 'it will all be okay'. and so, they both walked to the couch and took a seat. mingyu cleared his throat before he finally confessed the truth that had been a burden to him for seven years, knowing all too well that it was his final chance of acceptance.
but most important, his final chance of receiving wonwoo's love.
