When Wooyoung opened his eyes all the air in his lungs immediately left his body.
The prior night, after he had talked with Seonghwa, he had immediately called San to tell him how it went. However in the middle of his explanation he had started crying once more. He didn't know why, probably because of the feeling of freedom the derived from it all, or maybe because almost all the stress had left him at once, but next thing he remembered San had asked him if he wanted to go and watch a film with him, and he had gone to his house.
They had watched the film, yes. And then they had watched another one. And another one...
And they had apparently fallen asleep on their third movie, still on the couch, because after that there was just nothing.
And now Wooyoung had woken up, head pressed against San's chest, just a few centimeters from the older's face. One of San's arms was wrapped lightly around him, and oh god, they were close.
Wooyoung had probably cuddled closer in his sleep too, for one of his legs was thrown carelessy on San's lap while the other was numb and crushed under his body weight.
He stayed still, eyes wide and mouth shut tightly, too afraid to wake the other up. What would San say if he woke up to Wooyoung snuggled up close against him? He would be mad wouldn't he? He didn't really seem like the person to get mad for something like this but everyone would if they woke up with someone pressed against them.
Woyoung couldn't even focus on how unconfortable to sleep on the couch was, or how his back slightly ached because of his sleeping position. His brain was completely empty of any thoughts right now.
He gingerly tried to get some distance between them, just to freeze once again when he heard a sound coming from upstairs, followed by a man walking down the stairs.
That must have been Jongho. San had told Wooyoung about him. He had told him he had a younger brother, whom he currently ived with, so that was the only plausible explanation in his mind.
But again, what would San's brother think if he found Wooyoung snuggled up against his brother?
The man seemed not to have noticed him yet. He had slightly blond hair and a face that could have popped right out of a modeling magazine.
However for the man to actually notice Wooyoung presence al it took was a few seconds. Their eyes met, and the man's face immediately flushed red. Why? Wooyoung didn't know, but at least he wasn't being yelled at.
"Is he sleeping?" The man whispered pointing to San.
Wooyoung nodded.
And San stirred.
" 'm not" He mumbled, voice groggy from the sleep.
Wooyoung stayed frozen -right after letting San stand up from the couch. For how long had San been awake? Well, he wasn't mad, Wooyoung was grateful for that, but what the hell?? He watched as San stretched and turned to the other man, who was now looking everywhere except San.
"Yeosang?"
Wooyoung furrowed his eyebrows. Ok, so that wasn't Jongho. Who's Yeosang?
"Yeo?" A voice yelled from upstairs.
San raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Ok, so, Wooyoung came to the conclusion that the person upstairs was probably San's brother, while the other guy, Yeosang, was probably... Jongho's boyfriend? He couldn't be sure but recalling the way the man's face had became red when he was going downstairs earlier and the way he avoided looking directly at San's face Wooyoung was almost completely sure.
He found himself zoning out as San and Yeosang conversed about something that probably didn't concern him, until a voice brought him back to reality.
"...Wooyoung? Are you ok?"
He stared a few seconds at San's face without saying anything. He noticed Yeosang had disappeared, maybe he had just gone back upstairs.
"...Yeah, I'm okay."
San smiled at him. "Nice! What do you want for breakfast?"
...Had San's smile always been this beautiful? Wooyoung had never noticed. Now that he was though, he could see the diples at the corners of his lips, or the way his eyes closed almost completely. He realized for the first time how cute San actually was.
And the thought had him blushing hard.
"Wooyoung?"
He cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure -even if it did not really help.
"Everything is fine."
His cheeks were still burning red both when San nodded at him and when he turned to disappear into the kitchen.
And Wooyoung started questioning himself. He had liked Seonghwa for years, the feelings he felt for the older were finally starting to fade away, and now his heart had started to beat faster again.
He remembered exactly that feeling. And he had felt exactly the same thing four years ago, when his crush on Seonghwa had appeared. But now it wasn't for Seonghwa no more.
And he was scared. Wooyoung was scared to feel the same once again.
The first time it didn't go well, who says that it would this time around?
He looked around in the empty room, spotting the entrance door right beside the kitchen's door.
He checked his pockets. His phone wasn't there. He found it just on the coffee table in front of the couch.
He silently took it, careful as to not make any sound.
He stood up.
He walked to the door.
And with one last glance at San's back through the kitchen's open door, he left the house.
He couldn't go through that once again.
It would hurt too much.
***
Mingi had asked Seonghwa to hang out.
It was the only way for him to actually spend time outside of his house and enjoy. He couldn't ask his bandmates, they would remind him too much of Yunho, and even if Yunho was all he ever wished for, he couldn't rbing himself to think about him.
Not when all the thoughts brought was pain.
They were currently walking on a sidewalk on the way to someplace, where? They didn't know, but their small talks actually kept them entertained enough for them not to question it.
And it was actually working.
Mingi wasn't thinking about Yunho, well, not too much at least.
Until his phone suddenly rang.
At first he wanted to ignore the call and turn it down, but when he took his phone out from his pocket his eyes widened and he didn't know what to do anymore.
"You alright?"
He turned to Seonghwa, who was watching him slightly concerned.
He considered lying. Lie and say everything was good, and that he didn't have to worry, but why would he do that when all Seonghwa ever did was being kind to him?
"...It's him..."
Seonghwa furrowed his eyebrows "Him?" And then suddenly, he widened his eyes. "Do you mean the guy you confessed to???"
Mingi hesitantly nodded his head.
"What are you doind then?? Answer!" And Seonghwa's wide smile was enough to convince Mingi that maybe answering was the right thing.
He picked up the call.
"Hey Yuyu."
He saw Seonghwa furrowing his eyebrows in confusion from the corner of his eyes, but his focus was elsewhere. More precisely, on the person on the other line of the phone.
"Hey Min. I... Oh god, I don't know how to say this without sounding weird. Do you want to, maybe, hang out? Like, by any chance, are you free right now?"
He looked at Seonghwa. Apparently he was able to hear Yunho's voice too for, as soon as his eyes met Mingi's, he nodded his head repeatedly.
And maybe Mingi wanted to hang out with Yunho too.
So he nodded his head at Seonghwa and proceeded to say on the phone, "Yeah, I am. What did you have in mind?"
And he would be lying if he said his heart didn't start beating faster at Yunho's suggestion.
Because even if Yunho couldn't return his feelings, at least he still had their friendship.
***
"...Hey."
"...Hey Min."
Ok. When Yunho had asked Mingi if he wanted to hang out he didn't expect it to be this awkward. Yeah, he had figured that it would be, at least a little bit, but he didn't realize it would be this much.
They were now standing in front of the mall. Yunho had asked Mingi if he wanted to go shopping, maybe grab lunch, just so they could spend some time together, and maybe he hoped he would figure out his feelings.
He knew it wouldn't be that easy, but he sure hoped so.
"...Should we head inside?" Mingi spoke scratching his neck.
Yunho actually tried to give him his best smile, nodding. "Sure."
They headed inside, walking side by side. Yunho found himself glancing to the other every now and then. To check if Mingi seemed okay, or to just take in the other appearance, that he didn't know.
"So... Where are we going?" Mingi asked. Yunho turned to him.
Up until now they were just walking, gazing at the shop windows without actually going inside any store.
"Oh, I actually need to look for an outfit for our next performance."
Now, that wasn't really the whole truth. Yunho actually had a few outfits he could wear for their next performance -which was just that Saturday, two days from then- but he did want to look for something else. He just didn't plan to look for it this soon.
"Ohh, okay then, which stores do you want to check?"
Yunho didn't reply.
He was just too busy admiring the smile on the other's face. It was the forst time he had seen Mingi smile since that day at the playground and how come his heart was beating faster now?
He then proceeded to drag Mingi inside a store, and if someone happened to ask him if he did so to hide his slight embarassment, he would answer that no, he was not. But he most definitely was.
Store after store, Mingi had kept him company, giving opinions and suggestions on the pieces of clothing Yunho chose, and absolutely successing on making him flustered more than once.
Of course Yunho had done absolutely his best not to let Mingi notice that.
After their little shopping spree, they were now standing in front of the mall once again. They decided not to have lunch there. Yunho was kind of exausted and, from what he could see, Mingi seemed to be too.
But just as he was turning around to get to his car, he catched something. He did not expect that in the slightest, seeing how things had changed so suddenly, but he was almost sure Mingi had slightly raised his arms as he always did before a hug, just to immediately bring them back down at his sides from what Yunho could guess being hesitation.
And really, he understood.
If he confessed to someone and that someone rejected him, he too would be hesitant to offer a hug to that person.
But he did want the hug.
So he turned back to the other male, smiled at him, and then angulfed him in a hug. One of those hugs. Those which only he and Mingi ever shared. And it made more sense now, why he had always felt so safe in his arms.
Not to mention his heart.
His heart...
The heart that right now was beating so hard Yunho was sure even from inside the mall they could hear it.
When they parted, he missed that warmth, however, he could still feel the lingering feeling of the hug.
And as he was driving back home he was almost sure he had actually found out where his feelings stood.
Now I have to check with Seonghwa.