seungkwan would like to think that he was a mature person. but he wasn't sure how much more he could take. it's one thing for seungkwan to be thinking about wonwoo and mingyu all of the time. it's another thing for his friends to be talking about them all the damn time.
in an effort to avoid hanging out with the couple, seungkwan has been hanging out with his other friends. problem was, his other friends were obsessed with the new couple. seungkwan should've seen this coming, but it seems that his perception has been off balance lately.
any time he hung out with his other friends, it was always wonwoo and mingyu this and wonwoo and mingyu that. seungkwan thought the problem was that he was hanging out his louder friends and gossip-y friends. so he thought he could get away from jeonghan and joshua and decide to hang out with seokmin and seungcheol instead. not much luck. even his quieter friends couldn't help but bring up the couple.
"yeah, this movie is super cute. speaking of super cute, did you hear about what wonwoo and mingyu did for their date the other night?"
"mingyu is so sweet to wonwoo. he bought him flowers the other day, and wonwoo was blushing sooo hard."
"oh, me? no, i haven't hung out with mingyu or wonwoo in a bit. but, did you hear about the date mingyu is taking wonwoo on tonight?"
needless to say, seungkwan decided it was best to be by himself for now.
so when seungkwan's boss asked him if he could pick up more shifts that week, seungkwan leaped at the chance to work. whenever seungkwan was worried about something, he always busied himself with house chores or running errands. or, better yet, working a lot. and seungkwan's apartment was spotless, so throw himself into work it is.
seungkwan's job was easy for the most part. he fed and groomed the animals in their care, and also made sure that the place was clean for visitors and potential adopters. but whenever seungkwan finished his tasks, which he usually did pretty quickly, he either spent his time on his phone or taking the dogs out into the back lot and running around. and today he was running around with some of the dogs.
usually whenever seungkwan was in the back, he could hear the bells attached to the front door ringing to signal someone came in. but seungkwan was under a pile of dogs the same moment someone entered the pet shelter, so he wasn't able to hear bells chiming. seungkwan laughed loudly as several of the dogs licked his face, trying his hardest to shield to his face but failing miserably. not that he really cared, he knew it was a sign of affection from the dogs.
a loud cough coming from the back door caused seungkwan and the dogs to freeze in their spots. seungkwan lifted one of the smaller dogs from his face and looked in the general direction of the doorway. the young boy's face dropped as he saw mingyu standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets as he looked down awkwardly at the sight before him.
seungkwan didn't even think about the idea of his friends, the ones he was trying to avoid specifically, visiting him at work.
the boy gently nudged the dogs away as he stood up and stared back at mingyu. his face scrunched up in annoyance at the boy's presence, more annoyed at himself for not closing the back door like he always did. seungkwan leaned over and grabbed one of the toys next to him and tossed it to the other side of the yard. the boys watched with smiles as the group of dogs ran after the toy and began to fight over it.
seungkwan and mingyu looked at each other at the same time, their smiles falling almost instantaneously. seungkwan cleared his throat as he gestured for mingyu to go back inside. "this area is for employees only." seungkwan said quietly as he took a few steps forward, nudging the boy in the direction of the lobby.
mingyu crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at seungkwan, unwavering as he said, "you didn't mind me being back here before."
seungkwan looked down and shook his head as he continued to shove mingyu inside. "yeah, well that was before–"
"before what?" mingyu asked, leaning over to be eye-level with seungkwan. his face was blank as he said, "before you started ignoring wonwoo and i?"
seungkwan stood back as he looked away and mumbled, "i don't know what you're talking abou–"
mingyu scoffed quietly as he took a step forward. "seungkwan, please. how stupid do you think i am?" he asked as he grabbed seungkwan by the arm and pulled the younger boy inside.
seungkwan looked up at mingyu with a frown. "i don't think you're stupid." he mumbled, giving the boy an awkward pat on the shoulder.
mingyu ignored the pat as he said, "okay, then don't treat me like i am."
seungkwan looked away with a sigh. he didn't want to tell mingyu why he was ignoring them, but he knew one of them would approach him eventually. not wonwoo, he wasn't good with confrontation. of course, wonwoo's boyfriend was. and seungkwan loved to argue, but he hated being blind-sided like this.
"seungkwan, i've known you for so long. i know what you do when you're ignoring someone. you ignore their calls, you make yourself unavailable, you throw yourself into work," mingyu said as he gestured to the dogs behind them that were still fighting over the toy.
seungkwan turned around to face the dogs, walking back out into the yard to gather the dogs. he reached down and put a small dog in both of his arms, whistling loudly to attract the dog's attention and to signal that playtime was over. the dogs let out a round of loud whimpers but reluctantly gathered around the boy.
mingyu followed after the young boy as he continued. "and i know you're upset–"
seungkwan turned around abruptly, a soft glare on his face as he said, "hyung, you don't know me as well as you think."
mingyu raised an eyebrow as he took a few steps forward. it was hard for mingyu to take the boy seriously with the small dogs in his arms. one of them was licking seungkwan's arm, and yet the young boy still kept his glare set on mingyu. the older sighed loudly to himself. "really?" he asked, frowning as seungkwan kept taking steps backward.
"yes." seungkwan mumbled as he looked away, walking past mingyu to the inside of the building. seungkwan made quick work in putting the dogs back in their pens, ruffling their ears as he leaned down to give each of them a kiss.
mingyu watched this with a sad furrow of his eyebrows. he cleared his throat loudly, to clear his airway and to get seungkwan's attention. mingyu nodded his head as he said, "okay. fine. let's say i don't know you that well. let's say i was wrong. wonwoo and i are hanging out tonight, do you want to join us?"
seungkwan froze in his spot. he stood up and smiled awkwardly as he turned around to face the older boy. seungkwan let out a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. he gestured around at the (empty) shelter as he said, "ah... i'm not sure. i'm, um, kinda bu–"
"come on!" mingyu shouted in annoyance, a hint of a smile on his face as he lightly shoved the younger boy in the shoulder.
seungkwan's face fell as he looked down. he missed hanging out with mingyu and wonwoo, he really did, but he couldn't just be with them and pretend everything was normal. even if it was just him that felt weird around the two of them, he needed to protect his peace.
seungkwan looked up with a sad frown as he mumbled, "hyung! you don't– i can't–"
mingyu's facial expression softened as he reached out a hand to rest on seungkwan's shoulder. "kwannie, i know. and i'm sorry, but wonwoo keeps asking about you and you and i both know he won't outwardly ask you if you're ignoring him, but he knows you are."
seungkwan shrugged the boy off as he walked away. "i'm sorry, hyung." he murmured as he led the two of them to the front of the shelter.
mingyu grabbed seungkwan's shoulders and spun the boy around, ignoring the look of surprise on seungkwan's face as he said, "don't apologize to me. apologize to wonwoo."
seungkwan looked up at mingyu as he said, "i will." he let out a quiet cough as he looked down and mumbled, "just... not right now."
mingyu dropped his hands from seungkwan's shoulder, his face falling as he looked down at the young boy. "kwan–"
"no, hyung." seungkwan said as he looked up. he waved his hands around as he continued, "listen, i respect that you and hyung are dating now. i want nothing more than for wonwoo to be happy, and he's happy with you, and i..." seungkwan took a step forward and rubbed mingyu's arm as he concluded, "i want you to be happy, too."
mingyu looked away momentarily, focusing on seungkwan's hand on his shoulder. "i know, kwannie." the tall boy mumbled, looking at the boy with a sad smile.
seungkwan pulled away and took a few steps back as he said, "okay, then you have to understand why i need to have some time away from the both of you."
mingyu shook his head fervently, his eyes widening as he took a few steps forward. "kwan–" he started, halting when seungkwan held his hand up.
"hyung, this is just what i need to do for myself. please, please understand me." seungkwan pleaded as he looked up at mingyu, taking a few steps back until there was a good distance between the two.
"kwannie..."
"hyung..." seungkwan's face scrunched as he looked down.
seungkwan didn't want to do this, but he knew he couldn't withstand seeing the couple together, or even hear about what they were doing. he was doing this mostly for himself, and also for the sake of being a good friend to wonwoo and mingyu. seungkwan couldn't be friends with them while these conflicting feelings of heartbreak and annoyance and envy were still swimming around in his head. he knew they deserved better than that.
"i do understand, but wonwoo..."
seungkwan gulped silently, refusing to look mingyu in the eye as he mumbled, "i know."
"seungkwan, no." mingyu firmly shook his head, walking forward and grabbing seungkwan's shoulders again. he softly shook the young boy as he said, "you can't do this to wonwoo. you can't do this to yourself."
seungkwan looked around mingyu and weakly lifted a finger to point at the door. "hyung, i think you should lea–"
mingyu looked disgruntled as he let go of the boy. he crossed his arms as he said, "tell me to leave, fine. but you're going to regret doing this. i know you will. you always isolate yourself when your problems become too large, too much to bear. but you don't need to go through this alone." he leaned down to try to catch seungkwan's gaze, frowning as seungkwan kept looking away.
"hyung–"
mingyu sighed quietly. "just– promise you'll talk to someone. please." mingyu whispered, reaching over to cup the boy's cheek.
seungkwan looked conflicted as he softly nudged the taller boy's hand away. "hyung, i think you should leave." he mumbled, gesturing to the door behind him.
mingyu's face fell, trying to search the younger boy's face for any sign that he secretly wanted mingyu to stay. finding no such sign, the boy sighed as he looked away. "fine. please think about what i said." he said as he slowly left the shelter, shaking his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the street.
seungkwan watched the boy leave with a frown. as if startled by mingyu's exit, one of the dogs began to bark loudly. and when one dog barked, they all started barking. so seungkwan sat back in his stool, deep in his thoughts with the barks and meows of the animals in the back accompanying his troublesome pondering.
seungkwan was beginning to wonder if isolating was the right choice this time around.