Yeri was starting to feel bad about this.
It's not like she knew that Hyuk was going to suddenly appear out of nowhere, but still. Just by looking at Wonwoo's face as the two talked was making her grimace with guilt.
Hyuk had pretty much come running once he saw (Y/N). He said 'hi' to Wonwoo, since they apparently knew each other, and quickly introduced himself to her before turning to (Y/N) again. The two had been talking excitedly about something that Yeri couldn't even begin to understand, but even so, her attention was all on Wonwoo's not so happy face.
Yeri never really had any sort of conversation with Wonwoo. Out of all of (Y/N)'s, he was the one who confused her the most. For Yeri, he was a mix of stoicism and puppy like confusion, something she never thought possible in a person.
But there he stood looking serious and yet sad as he watched (Y/N) and Hyuk chatting.
Meanwhile, Wonwoo was just focused on finding any sign that proved his theory. Reckon his only knowledge about love and dating came from k-dramas that he watches with Mingyu and the stories he writes. But still, it should be better than nothing.
Yet, apart from the fact that (Y/N) looked very happy while talking to Hyuk, nothing really stood out.
Mingyu had said that everybody knew who (Y/N) was in love with. That it was so obvious that even his own editors and people who had met (Y/N) only once knew.
So why the heck Wonwoo couldn't find out?
They were friends. At least he thought they were.
She trusted him, right? He never really gave her a reason not.
So why was he the only one in the dark about this?
As these thoughts kept floating around his head, Wonwoo failed to notice that (Y/N) and Hyuk had stopped talking and that the girl who was confusing the hell out of him was now calling him. It wasn't until Hyuk started snapping his fingers in front of Wonwoo that he finally took notice of them.
"You're okay there, Wonwoo? You looked pretty out of it?" (Y/N) asked, looking weirdly at him. Wonwoo tended to space out from time to time, but not like this.
"I'm fine...just thinking about... you know...Mingyu?"
"Not going to comment, but we're glad you're back with us." Hyuk chuckled before proceeding, " Did you hear what I asked you?"
"No? What is it?"
"Well, a couple of us were organizing a sort of 'Overwatch tournament' thingy. It kind of escalated from just a small group to almost everyone on this trip, and I was wondering if you wanted to join? (Y/N) doesn't want to, 'cause she's too scared to lose against m-"
"I would destroy you in front of all your friends. It would such a blow on your dignity that your grandkids' grandkids would still feel it." (Y/N) interrupted Hyuk, looking at him playfully, " I just don't want to play in front of so many people..."
"And I don't judge you for that. But you still have to go there, at least to support me! Anyway, Wonwoo, do you want to play? It will be in duos, so you can pick whoever you want to team up with."
Wonwoo thought about this.
Usually, he would be all up for it, as he was way too competitive for his own good. He had played with some people from school, so he was pretty confident that he could defeat most of them. Especially if he played with either (Y/N), Jihoon or Seungcheol, as they were all as competitive as him. But since she didn't want to play, that only left the other two. They were still really good players to have on his side.
But wouldn't this tournament distract him from his mission to find out who (Y/N) is in love with?
On the other hand, he could see how she behaves next to Hyuk in a different setting.
And if Hyuk wasn't the one that she was in love with, then there were a whole lot of other options to pick from and observe.
He could defeat multiple people at Overwatch and find out (Y/N)'s secret at the same time.
"Is he even alive?" Hyuk whispered at (Y/N) as the both of them plus Yeri watch Wonwoo silently ponder his decision. It had been about five minutes since Hyuk had asked him if he wanted to participate, and since then Wonwoo had kept silent.
"Sometimes he does this. He just really likes to think about his decisions."
"It's like somebody plugged him out or something," Yeri commented quietly.
"This is nothing. You should have seen him last time I asked him which Harry Potter movie he wanted to watch. I was pretty sure that I had broken hi-"
"I'll do it!" Wonwoo finally declared.
"Great! Just make sure you get a partner to play with and then meet us at the Internet Café next to the canteen in two hours." Hyuk exclaimed.
"Wait, there's an Internet Café here?" Yeri puzzled.
"Of course. Not everyone came for the skiing and the wonders of nature, you know?" Hyuk replied, "But great, Wonwoo is in! You're coming too then, (Y/N)? To support your very talented friend standing next to you?"
"Sure, I'll always be there to support Wonwoo."
(Y/N)'s comment made Hyuk pinch the girl's side as the two started to tease each other even more.
Meanwhile, Wonwoo was trying to ignore how nervous (Y/N)'s comment had made him feel. He started to wonder if teasing was also a sign of being in love with someone. Or if it was just a friends' thing.
His friends often teased him too, but their comments kind of went over his head from time to time.
(Y/N) was also teased by their friends a lot, and she would do the same to them depending on how close they were to her.
Wonwoo can't remember last that (Y/N) teased him like that. Did she ever?
Did that mean that they weren't close? He always thought that they were...
But she and Hyuk teased each other a lot, were they that close?
Was she in love with him then? And also, did she not like Wonwoo?
Before he could get any further on this train of thought, he felt something hit on his side. When he looked to the source, it turned out to be Yeri, who had elbowed him harshly once she sensed that he was starting to overthink again.
After the grand total of forty-five minutes spent with this guy, Yeri felt like she could, at the very least, sense whenever he was mentally torturing himself.
"Hey, Wonwoo should go and get a partner now. Don't forget to meet us all in two hours. Yeri, you're coming too, right? It's going to be fun!" Hyuk encouraged.
"I guess I could go-"
"Great, we'll see you all there. (Y/N), you're coming with me! You should say 'hi' to Hongbin!"
"Sure. Bye, you two" (Y/N) waved at her two friends, as she let Hyuk take her hand and lead her to the canteen.
Yeri quickly turned to look at Wonwoo, whose eyes were firmly set on the pair that was walking away from them. More precisely, he was focusing on their linked hands.
"Hey, Wonwoo?" Yeri nudged the tall boy.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Wonwoo puzzled, looking down at Yeri.
"Just...for everything...you know?"
No, Wonwoo did not know or could even begin to get what she was talking about. But Yeri's sake, he nodded and pretended to understand what she meant.
***
Mingyu regretted saying 'yes' to this whole tournament thing. Much like everyone there, he liked to Overwatch and he thought he was a decent player.
He just wasn't expecting for everyone there to be so ruthless at this game.
From what (Y/N) had told him, one of the teachers had offered to get a gift card from one of the cafés next to the school, awarding the winner with free baked goods for a week.
Now, this might not seem at all impressive for most people, but for the students of their school, it was almost like winning the lottery.
The thought of getting free food from one of the cafés that pretty much everyone from their school went, was what most people could only daydream during class when their wallets are empty.
Mingyu was also a big fan of food so he was hoping to get the card too. He just wasn't expecting to see his classmates get so worked up over it.
Seungkwan and Mingyu were obliterated almost immediately by Lee Yoobin and Kim Yoohyeon. Neither of them knew the two girls personally but they were not expecting them to be as savage as they were while playing.
Either way, Mingyu and Seungkwan were one of the first duos to be eliminated from the competition.
Which is why Mingyu is now sitting next to Vernon, Seokmin, Wonwoo and Seungcheol as they watched Jihoon and Soonyoung trying to win against some kids whose names Mingyu did not know. They seem to be doing a pretty good job, at least better than him and Seungkwan had done. If he could not get the food card, at least he hoped that one of his friends would, so that he could get some free food occasionally.
Yugyeom and Bambam were out, so Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Jihoon, Soonyoung and Jungkook were his best options.
Although his main thought was how could he have access to free food after his elimination, Mingyu couldn't help but get sidetracked from time to time by Wonwoo.
He knew that Wonwoo was not only thinking about winning. Sure that was what occupied at least half of his brain, 'cause Wonwoo refused to lose against anyone on one of his favourite games, but still.
Mingyu could see that he was still not over the conversation that they had that morning since his friend kept glancing at none other than (Y/N), who was watching her friends playing from the other side of the huge café, next to Hyuk and a bunch of other people that he did not know.
Knowing (Y/N), she was probably feeling a bit uncomfortable next to a bunch of people that she didn't know that well, so she was standing pretty close to Hyuk, while she tried to cheer on Jihoon and Soonyoung.
This seemed to make Wonwoo look even more intensely at the two as if he was trying to decipher why the heck would two people, especially (Y/N) and Hyuk, would stand that close to each other.
Mingyu couldn't fully understand why Wonwoo was so obsessed with finding out who (Y/N) was in love with.
Sure, Wonwoo had told him that it was because they were friends and that he thought that (Y/N) would trust him enough to tell him something as important as this, but Mingyu wasn't fully convinced.
The room kept getting louder and louder, as duos were eliminated and others advanced further on the competition. The games were also getting more and more heated, as at some point one of the kids there had almost broken one of the computers in half after losing against a guy Vernon recognised as Chan and his friend Woojin. Thankfully it did not escalate any more than that since almost everyone present there quickly intervened.
Eventually, only six duos remained.
Yeeun and Eunbin.
Jungkook and Taehyung.
Wonwoo and Seungcheol.
Mina and Dahyun.
Minhyuk and Changkyun.
And, of course, Hongbin and Hyuk.
The first match was between the last two duos, Minhyuk and Changkyun VS Hongbin and Hyuk.
(Y/N) didn't know the first two that well, but from what Wonwoo had told her before, both were pretty good players, although Minhyuk was still a bit better than his younger friend. Or at least, he was the one that spent more time playing.
But for (Y/N), the result was already decided. She knew that Hongbin and Hyuk were going to win. They were a weird duo for sure, but they were strangely effective. Not to mention a tiny bit intimidating.
Hyuk was like a murderous child. He laughed like crazy whenever he hurt or killed someone at the game, and that could either annoy the opposite team or just seriously creep them out.
As for Hongbin...let's just say, (Y/N) never wanted to play against him for a reason.
As nice as he was, whenever he played Overwatch it was like he turned into a completely different person, who would not rest until his enemies were completely and utterly destroyed. Hongbin was terrifying.
(Y/N) stood next to Wonwoo and Seungcheol as they witnessed the bloodbath that was this match. Although they were lasting more than she previously imagined, Minhyuk and Changkyun were still in a difficult spot, as they kept screaming at each other to try to find ways to either win the game or at least stay alive.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Hyuk was happily laughing at his enemies' misfortunate while Hongbin was smiling like an angel while repeatedly attacking Minhyuk's avatar.
"I really thought that you were exaggerating when you said that Hyuk's friend was beast at this game," Wonwoo commented to (Y/N).
Although part of his motivation to enter the tournament was to find out whether or not (Y/N) was in love with Hyuk, he kind of get sidetracked once the final started to approach. Besides, he had not reached a definite conclusion, mostly because Mingyu had talked his ear off about how ridiculous he was being about the whole thing.
Still, Wonwoo couldn't help but want to play against Hyuk and see on whose side (Y/N) would be.
But watching Hongbin play was starting to plant doubts on his mind about his plan.
"I once saw him kill both Jaehwan and his friends so fast and so many times that they were very close to tears. And he did all that with a smile in his face." (Y/N) shudders at the memory. It was the second time that she had met Hongbin, and it was probably the only time that she was actually scared of playing Overwatch.
"What are the chances that he starts losing his ability to play?" Seungcheol chimed in, never taking his eyes from the match.
"Non-existent."
"And Hyuk? Can we bribe him or something?"
"If it were any other day where Overwatch wasn't involved, then maybe yes."
"And about cheatin-"
"Seungcheol, don't you dare." (Y/N) warned.
"You've been spending too much time with Jeonghan, haven't you?" Wonwoo pointed out.
Yoon Jeonghan was known for many things. Thinking mischievously and cheating on games just that he could win no matter what, was one of them.
Seungcheol decided not to answer that and just innocently smile at his two friends, who were looking at him suspiciously.
Choi Seungcheol could be malicious on his own.
***
As expected, Hyuk and Hongbin had won.
Although Minhyuk was clearly frustrated, everyone congratulated him and Changkyun for lasting as long as they did.
Next was Wonwoo and Seungcheol VS Mina and Dahyun.
From the little that she knew about those two girls, Mina was surprisingly a hardcore gamer, while Dahyun was just decent. But still, the two managed to go far in the competition. Sadly they ended up going against Wonwoo and Seungcheol, two of the most competitive people to ever walk on earth.
(Y/N) almost felt sorry for them.
And as she suspected, she caught Seungcheol looking at Daehyun's screen multiple times so that he could find out where she was hiding.
Still, (Y/N) found herself glancing at Wonwoo multiple times as usual. And that alone made her think about the dreadful conversation that she would have to have with her best friend at some point about how she actually felt about the boy.
Halfway through the second round, while Seungcheol's evil giggling filled the crowded room, Soonyoung suddenly appeared beside (Y/N).
"It's time. We need to have the talk."
"Now? But this is important!" (Y/N) protested. She was standing just a bit behind Wonwoo and Seungcheol, so it wasn't very hard for Wonwoo to hear the two.
"This is even more important!"
"But Soonyoun-"
"The faster we have this conversation, the quicker you can watch the final game. Plus, 'you-know-who is busy, so it's the perfect timing!"
The girl groaned but followed her childhood best friend out of the café, away from the crowd of students.
Their exchange, however, had distracted Wonwoo. 'you-know-who'? Could Soonyoung mean the person that he had been trying to figure out the identity the whole day? The person that his friend loved but did not tell him?
Wonwoo couldn't help but deviate his eyes from the screen and glance in Hyuk's direction. The boy was busy talking to his friends, still happy that he had won his last match. Was Soonyoung talking about Hyuk like he had suspected?
However, Wonwoo quickly focused his attention on the game at hand, once he heard Seungcheol scream at him that Mina was attacking them.
(Y/N)'s love life would have to wait a bit.
He still had a game to win.
***
Meanwhile, Soonyoung and (Y/N) ended up settling down outside, on one of the hidden corners of the café. People did not often go there anyway and since pretty much everyone was inside, busy with the Overwatch tournament, the two could talk privately without any worry.
Due to the cold, however, (Y/N) was hoping to cut the conversation short.
"So, have you thought about it?" Soonyoung started. He knew that she had probably been obsessing about this conversation since yesterday.
As much as he didn't like putting his best friend on the spot, he knew that sooner or later she would need to talk about her feelings. And what better time than when the person that might or might not love is busy playing games in an improvised school tournament?
"Soonyoung, why do we even need to talk about this? It's not helpful for anyone."
"It is for you! You can't keep pretending like you just have some silly little passing crush on Wonwoo. You love him. I know you do. And you shouldn't be ashamed of it."
"And how exactly do you know that?"
"(Y/N), everybody knows it. Or at least has some idea about it. I know that if you only had a crush on him you wouldn't do half of the stuff you do for him!"
"Soonyoung-"
"Seriously, you put with so many his ideas and plans and you never expect anything in return-"
"I do that with you too. And with all my friends-"
"Yes but it's different with him. Not to mention how you look at him-"
"I swear to God, if you say that 'I look at him like he's the sun', I'll-"
"No of course not. That's dumb! Do you think that little of me?" Soonyoung looked at his friend incredulously, "I was going to say that you don't look at him like he's your friend. Or treat him the same way you do with your friends. Or even behave the same way you do with me or Seungkwan or whoever it is. He's not just a crush either. And that's obviously not a bad thing. Much on the contrary."
"...But?"
"But, you need to admit that to yourself. It's not healthy to keep pretending like he's nothing more than a friend or an old crush of yours."
"Fine. You want to know the truth? I'll tell you. " (Y/N) sighed. Might as well just get over with it, "You're right. I love Wonwoo. I love how weird he is and how he's talented at almost everything without even trying. I love that he is really smart and also so dumb at the same time that it is confusing. The fact that he is funny but not in a usual way, that he can be quiet and sometimes so loud that it shocks everyone that knows him. I love his stupid face and his stupid personality. There, are you happy?"
"(Y/N)-" Soonyoung's voiced in panic as his eyes widened.
"The worst part is that I hate how much I love him. Because he's so goddamm blind. And no matter how many times I confess to him, he is never going to get it. Who knows, maybe next time, I'll get another autograph to add to my collection."
"(Y/N) seriou-"
"Why does it have to be like this Soonyoung? Is it my fault? Am I supposed to be that stupid lovesick girl from the cheesy he writes? I love Wonwoo, but I hate this. He's never going to get it. I could literally scream at his face 'Hey Wonwoo, I love you, can you please love me back' and he would still not hear it."
"(Y/N)...I don't know how to tell you this...But I think he heard."
Soonyoung pointed behind (Y/N) making her quickly turn her head.
Just a few feet away from them stood a wide-eyed Wonwoo, looking more shocked and confused than he thought it was possible.
'This is definitely not good' Soonyoung thought, feeling very guilty for the situation they were currently in. 'I doubt that he is going to give her an autograph this time at least'.