Wonwoo had sat with the 'Mingyu squad' that lunch, though they had become less of 'Mingyu's squad' and more 'Wonwoo's squad' as well, which still confused the hell out of Wonwoo who was completely unused to people in general.
BooSeokSoon were in detention so couldn't be present that lunch and Minghao and Jun, or 'Junhao' as they had begun to be named, were on some mini date kind of thing at the other side of the cafeteria. Wonwoo had noticed that Minghao looked slightly sulky since Seungkwan had recently told him that Junhui had once been dating four girls at the same time, but as he watched Junhui pass Minghao a box of pepero at the bus stop they were all waiting at to go home, the Chinese boy's expression lit up, all traces of annoyance vanishing with a childish smile.
Mingyu had asked Wonwoo to meet him at the bus stop to come to his house and that was what Wonwoo was doing, leaning on the bus stop sign with Soonyoung's SHINee playlist blasting 'DXDXD' into his ears. A tap on his shoulder made him turn around.
"Hey, Wonwoo-yah," said Mingyu, who was standing behind Wonwoo and grinning. He leant forwards and pulled Wonwoo's headphones from his ears and they fell onto Wonwoo's oversized black hoodie.
"You can't speak informally to me," Wonwoo pointed out, "I'm your hyung, you disrespectful kid."
"I've legit never spoken formally to you and you only point it out now?" Mingyu asked, a smirk pulling up the corners of his lips and Wonwoo almost fell over at how attractive he looked in that moment.
"Did you just say 'legit'?" Wonwoo asked, rolling his eyes in mock irritation, his smile growing wider, "you're so lame."
"But you love me anyway," Mingyu pouted, zipping up his coat as a gust of wind blew his hair about his fucking perfect face.
"Sure," Wonwoo replied, wondering if Mingyu knew that he really did love him anyway, a lot more than Mingyu thought.
"Let's go," Mingyu said after about five seconds of awkward silence.
The two began to walk to Mingyu's house, and Wonwoo had never walked home before so he considered himself extremely lucky to walk home for the first time with Kim Mingyu accompanying him. It began to rain again and Mingyu cursed under his breath.
"For fuck's sake, not this again," Mingyu grumbled, wincing as a drop of rain his his eye.
"You have a hood," said Wonwoo, "use it."
"I also have an umbrella," Mingyu retorted, pulling one from his pocket, "I found this baby in my locker, thank Jesus I did."
"You mean Jisoos," Wonwoo corrected with a grin as Mingyu unfolded his baby blue umbrella.
"Nah, since he converted to Satanism on Saturday I admire his religiousness a lot less," Mingyu laughed, holding up the umbrella over his head.
Wonwoo shivered a little and put his hood up.
"You know," Mingyu said, "I put the umbrella up for you, too. I'm not that much of an asshole that I'd taunt you with an umbrella while you drown."
"I'm fine-"
"Nope," Mingyu interrupted, moving the umbrella along with himself closer to Wonwoo, "you're not catching pneumonia on my watch."
Mingyu's presence beside him made Wonwoo feel warm, and the water on his hair brought out the smell of his coconut shampoo which Wonwoo inhaled as the two walked next to each other, the puddles on the pavement making Wonwoo's converse feel damp. Wonwoo liked the closeness they had begun to have, and as Wonwoo grew more comfortable around Mingyu, he found himself smiling a shitload more, which made Mingyu smile even more and Wonwoo loved being the reason Mingyu smiled.
They stopped off at a convenience store on the way, and Wonwoo treated Mingyu to a Magnum ice cream despite the cold weather, Mingyu promising to pay him back and Wonwoo insisting that Mingyu was already paying him back with the luxury of his baby blue umbrella.
"We're here," Mingyu declared after about five minutes of walking down the road from the store, the rain drumming on the umbrella as an accompaniment to their steps.
There was a car parked in the driveway and Mingyu peered in the window of it. "I guess mum's home," he observed and Wonwoo suddenly felt insanely nervous at the thought of meeting Mingyu's parents but Mingyu's reassurance of, "she's probably at work, though," calmed his nerves.
Mingyu's cold fingers fumbled for his keys and unlocked the grey painted front door, opening it into a warm hallway lined with a soft cream carpet.
"Ladies first," Mingyu teased, holding the door open for Wonwoo, who told the younger how immature he was before laughing at the joke anyway.
Mingyu led Wonwoo up the stairs to his room after hanging up both of their coats, and Wonwoo tried not to trip over from keeping his eyes on the floor and not on Mingyu's ass. Mingyu opened the door to a room and the two boys stepped inside, closing the door after.
Mingyu sat down heavily on his bed with a sigh, smiling at Wonwoo. "Welcome," he announced, in a dramatic way that Seungkwan would have been proud of, "to my humble abode."
"Nice," Wonwoo said, looking at the blue painted walls and trying to avoid stepping on the sheets of schoolwork strewn carelessly over the floor.
"Do you want a towel or something for your hair?" Mingyu asked, standing up again and running a hand through his wet hair.
"No, I'm okay, thanks," Wonwoo replied, but Mingyu sighed.
"Again, I won't be the one responsible for making you ill, so I'll get a towel," Mingyu argued, opening the door back up and stepping outside, "I'll be right back."
The door was shut behind Mingyu and Wonwoo was left alone in Mingyu's room, his sharp eyes looking around. It was mainly coloured blue and white, which matched Mingyu's bedsheets and furniture, and it would have looked pretty neat if Mingyu wasn't a teenage boy, because it was just as chaotic as Wonwoo's own room. Wonwoo figured that it didn't matter how angelic a person was, as long as they were a high schooler, their room was bound to look like the inside of a trash can. There was a bottle of blue hair dye on the bedside table and Wonwoo wondered if Mingyu was planning on dying his hair. The door opened slightly and Wonwoo called out, meaning to ask about the dye.
"Hey, Mingyu-"
The person opened the door to Mingyu's room, stepping inside and Wonwoo discovered that it wasn't Mingyu after all, but a tall woman with several items of clothing in her hands. She looked shocked at the sight of a strange emo boy in Mingyu's room, and Wonwoo couldn't really blame her.
"Oh," she said, looking a little awkward, "hello."
"Hello," Wonwoo replied, feeling quite uncomfortable at the sight of the woman he assumed was Mingyu's mother.
"Are you Mingyu's friend?" she asked, her hands fiddling with the fabric of the clothes.
"Yes," Wonwoo introduced, "I'm Wonwoo."
The woman raised her eyebrows. "Jeon Wonwoo?"
Wonwoo didn't know how to reply to that so he simply nodded, adjusting his legs on Mingyu's bed.
"Hey, sorry for ditching you, Wonwoo-"
Mingyu appeared in the doorway, a grin on his face and a white towel in his hands, the other draped around his neck. He stopped at the sight of the woman in his room.
"Hi, mum," he said, smiling awkwardly.
"You didn't tell me you had Wonwoo round," the woman, now clarified to be Mrs Kim, said.
"I thought you were working," Mingyu said, looking uncomfortable at his mother's prescence.
Wonwoo continued to sit in silence on the bed.
"Well," his mother continued, smiling at Wonwoo, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Wonwoo. I've heard so much about you-"
"Mum," Mingyu hissed, glaring at his mum, "don't you have work?"
"Don't be rude, Mingyu," his mother scolded before turning back towards Wonwoo, the smile widening on her face, "I'm just excited to finally meet my son's boyfriend, that's all."
Mingyu honestly looked like someone had stabbed him in the chest, eyes widening and mouth opening wide, his face now bright red. Wonwoo blinked, his eyes widening like Mingyu's.
Boyfriend?
Wait. Was Mingyu..
Gay?
No, he couldn't be. Wonwoo had just misheard, that was all. However the expression on Mingyu's face said otherwise.
Mingyu's mother seemed to finally realise the situation, looking distraught at her words and excusing herself in a hurry.
"Uh," Wonwoo managed to stutter out, standing up, his face now as red as Mingyu's.
Mingyu buried his face in the towel meant for Wonwoo, sinking down to squat on the floor, ending up looking like a soft ball of humiliation. Wonwoo wanted to hug him to comfort him, but he felt far too awkward to do so.
"Fuck," Mingyu murmured into the towel, "Wonwoo, I-"
"Mingyu?" Wonwoo asked, squatting down opposite Mingyu so the two were on the same level, "are you okay?"
"You can go if you want," Mingyu said, his voice a little muffled by the towel, but it was still evident that he sounded like he was about to cry.
"No," Wonwoo said, "why would I go?"
"I'm sorry," said Mingyu, "I'm sorry you found out like this."
Wonwoo was still completely confused by everything that was going on. "Found out what?"
Mingyu looked up from the towel, his eyes seeming to avoid Wonwoo in front of him.
"My mum, she just, uh," Mingyu stuttered, hiding his face in the towel again.
"What?" Wonwoo asked.
"She called you my boyfriend," Mingyu continued, "and I am so sorry..."
"Why are you apologising?" Wonwoo asked, smiling in reassurance at the younger boy, even though he couldn't even see him to be reassured, since his entire being was smothered in the towel.
"I guess I have to tell you now, then," Mingyu said, laughing dryly in an attempt to perhaps lighten the mood.
Wonwoo didn't ask what Mingyu had to tell him. He had a feeling he knew already what he would say.
"Okay," he said, looking at Mingyu, then down at the floor.
Mingyu looked up from the towel, his bottom lip quivering a little as his cheeks still flushed a dark pink hue.
"Wonwoo," said Mingyu, "I'm gay."