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The subtle differences embrace Jeon Wonwoo as he turns his back from the camera—although, he hadn't been doing a very good job hiding his yawn. He already accepts the scolding. They've been particularly prickly with the way the thirteen of them have been acting. But he shrugs it off, instead looking straight at the reason he was up in the first place.
"Ah, hyung," Mingyu's entire face lights up, "good job today."
Kim Mingyu's happiness isn't baseless, if Wonwoo's to be honest. Everything they've achieved thus far—the distance and differences from where they began—is enough to pull up a few muscles against gravity. But it's really just that Wonwoo simply adores Kim Mingyu. There's no other way around it.
"You did well too." Wonwoo slouches onto the couch. He admires the hospitality. Looking back at how things used to be, he couldn't help but hide his blurring eyes with a yawn.
"What time did you sleep?" Mingyu eases up beside him, crossing his legs. Comfortable.
"Around two or three." Wonwoo shrugs.
"Heh, we both know you're bluffing, but maybe I'll let it slide. You should take care of yourself." Mingyu pats the napkin onto his forehead, allowing it to absorb the products of their hard work. "I'm sorry we had to clean so late."
Wonwoo lets his head drop, finding the warmth. "It's alright." He rubs his arms with the heat of his palms—maybe going sleeveless was over the top after all.
"Let me make up to you!" Mingyu practically vibrates. Yet he stays still, careful not to disturb Wonwoo's position.
"It's alright, really." Wonwoo closes his eyes. "It's our room anyway."
"Still."
Perhaps it's the close proximity, but Wonwoo swears he's able to distinguish the purposes of every single word Mingyu speaks. Mingyu's always been that emotional anyway.
"Wake me up when we have to leave." Wonwoo sighs softly.
"We'll have to leave soon, you know?" Mingyu doesn't get a response. Unless you count calm exhales through the mouth. But otherwise nothing.
It's been a while.
But Wonwoo doesn't answer.
The way Kwon Soonyoung greets him is enough to send shivers down Wonwoo's spine. No one in their right mind would greet their friend with a "hey I see you and Mingyu are getting along again," with a smile that could alarm even Hong Jisoo (saying it could alarm Yoon Jeonghan is also a close candidate, but it's less probable).
"We've always gotten along." Wonwoo forces his mouth close, rejecting the forces of gravity his nose seems to be activating.
"That's not how you were, like, a few months ago." Soonyoung pouts, almost singing the lines.
Wonwoo continues his trudging to the fridge. He came here for water, he's going to get water. "You're imagining things." He remarks.
When he feels his friend's head on his shoulder, he doesn't move.
"When was the last time you were genuinely affectionate towards Mingyu behind the cameras?" Soonyoung asks, chest vibrating against Wonwoo's arm.
"I told you, we never stopped talking."
"I wasn't talking about whether you stopped speaking or not." Soonyoung is never wrong about these matters. "When was the last time you held his hand?"
Right.
Kwon Soonyoung scares him.
Wonwoo sighs, defeated. "So maybe I have been getting closer to Mingyu lately."
Again.
Soonyoung flashes him a grin, a grin that could rival Hoshi's stage smile. "So you finally admit it."
Wonwoo doesn't answer.
Mornings have begun feeling more hectic since their latest schedule that Wonwoo takes it upon himself to find little moments of tranquility between breaths and bites. He's the first one up, the only person who gets to bask in the morning warmth of the living room before anyone switches on the airconditioning.
"You're up early." Junhui scratches his eyes, greeting Wonwoo with hair standing up all over. "I thought you were tired."
Wonwoo shakes his head, misting his glasses as he blows onto the cup of coffee. "I'm surprised too." He finds himself admitting. "Mingyu's still asleep though."
"Minghao worries." Junhui pours his own cup from the coffee maker. "Though," he thinks twice, "he worries about all of us."
"Especially Mingyu?"
"Especially Mingyu." Junhui chuckles, leaning against the counter, standing close to Wonwoo. "You're doing better with him."
Wonwoo nods. "It's noticeable huh?" He never intended for it to be that obvious, but he's beginning to think that his friends look at him with biased lenses.
"It's Mingyu we're talking about here." Junhui chuckles. "I swear, a little more push, you'd be closer to Minghao too."
Wonwoo smirks, accepting the teasing. "Maybe next month, I'd be best buddies with Dokyeom as well."
"You say that like they're a combo meal." Junhui laughs, making squares with his fingers. "Frequently bought together—do not separate."
"That's true though."
"That's how you and Mingyu used to be too."
Thoughts drown his head, thinking of different responses and the consequences to each one; however, Wonwoo doesn't answer.
Jeon Wonwoo has always been aware that Kim Mingyu's attachment goes further than the physical person and stems out to items special to both parties. However, there are numerous times in which Mingyu still surprises him.
"Poor phone case." Wonwoo teases, taking a sip of the iced americano. "Clumsy, clumsy Mingyu."
Mingyu side-eyes him, probably out of disbelief. "It's a useful case." He pouts.
Wonwoo twirls his own phone in his hand, setting aside the plastic cup. "See," he almost sings, "this is how it should look like when you're careful."
Mingyu smiles. "Now that's just mean, hyung."
Perhaps it's the unintended coming up at him, but much to his own surprise, Wonwoo smiles back. He shows Mingyu the smile beyond the infamous cat smile. "When have I ever been mean to you?"
With the way Mingyu pouts, Wonwoo's convinced he's won the little game (not that they were playing in the first place). Mingyu doesn't answer for a while
Rather, Mingyu begins picking at his phone case's cracks. "It's because we have matching cases." He admits.
And damn.
Damn.
Wonwoo feels the walls from Mingyu's heart falling down once more, melting away the trouble both of them have caused for each other like the ice in Wonwoo's iced coffee.
"Maybe you shouldn't save it for later." Mingyu mutters.
"What?"
"Your coffee." Mingyu clarifies. "Its ice is going to melt."
"What's so wrong with ice melting?" Wonwoo frowns. "Anyway, I'll buy you a new case so you'd stop using that broken one. Maybe get some Vietnamese coffee too—the kind where you're really supposed to make the ice melt."
Shock is present from every inch of Mingyu's face. Though, who could blame him? "Why?"
Wonwoo doesn't answer.
There are times when Wonwoo questions whether or not to accept offers from his friends—it's not that he isn't close to them, but the mere possibility of the thinning of their threads of friendship raises several alarm bells in his head. Wonwoo doesn't always question it, but these are the times he somehow ends up playing Temple Rush, his feet up, and the neon blue light enveloping his limbs.
Soonyoung sits next to him, watching him break records as he runs through the twists and turns of the game. "You're good at this game." Soonyoung wows.
"You're just bad at it." Wonwoo keeps both hands onto the phone.
Vernon laughs, watching from Wonwoo's other side. "No really, hyung , I can tell you've run away from so much more." Wonwoo reassures himself that Vernon means well.
"Does anyone want soda?" Jihoon rolls away from the screens.
"Oh the tracks are done?" Amazement oozes from Vernon's every word. "I want to hear!"
"Yeah, I'm bribing you all with Coca-cola." Jihoon responds.
Perhaps Jihoon has forgotten that their members don't need to be bribed with anything in the first place.
Soonyoung catches two bottles as Jihoon throws them bottles from the mini-fridge. "Wonwoo isn't done running away yet." He laughs.
"And I thought he was doing so well." Jihoon teases.
Right then, Wonwoo crashes onto the wall. He hands Soonyoung back the phone in exchange for the cold soda. "The point of the game isn't to stop running." He points out.
"I wasn't talking about the game." Although, Jihoon wonders if it should have been obvious. "It's Mingyu."
"Oh ."
"Oh, my ass." Soonyoung laughs. "I thought it was obvious enough"
Wonwoo shrugs."It depends on perception."
"I think it was enough for you to perceive the issue months ago." Jihoon thinks. "Or was it not perceivable enough?"
Vernon frowns."No, I think the fans were able to see it." He caps the Coke. "It's like the permanent possibility of sensation in which they were so used to seeing Mingyu and Wonwoo-hyung as an inseparable pair."
"Then it's their problem for assuming premises to be true without enough evidence." Wonwoo shrugs. "Jihoon, let's hear the song."
Jihoon knows there's no going around Wonwoo any more. He just hopes that Wonwoo is truly making progress with his reconciliation with Kim Mingyu. "You know," Jihoon scrolls through drafts, "if you created a song about you and Mingyu's situation, you'd top the charts in an instant."
Soonyoung whines. "You know they'd overpower the rest of the group in an instant."
"Oh for real!" Vernon laughs. "I heard their selfies got more online interactions than our comeback video."
Jihoon plays the track. "See, the whole world is rooting for you."
Wonwoo would have indulged their teasing a bit longer, but the only response that comes up in his mind is, But they'll stop rooting for you. He doesn't know to what extent of truth it would be, but for his own sanity, Wonwoo doesn't answer.
"You should fix your posture." Mingyu doesn't look up from his phone.
"You're one to talk." Wonwoo doesn't move either. His eyes stay glued onto the brightness, fingerpads illuminated with rainbows.
"I'm just saying." Mingyu still does not look up. "I'm not lying on Seungcheol-hyung's bed for nothing." He nags.
Wonwoo continues playing, trying to let Mingyu's impatience get the best of him. He knows this dance—he's danced along this character's celebration multiple times before. "Feed me then." He challenges.
"I don't want to."
"Okay." Wonwoo resumes playing.
He doesn't hear their eldest member come in, but Mingyu does. Wonwoo faintly hears the small conversation on Seungcheol's bed, but decides to leave it alone. Rather, he forces himself to swallow down the care he was supposed to give.
A game won later, Wonwoo finally stretches out. Mingyu, however, has come back to the position Wonwoo assumed he was in before Choi Seungcheol entered.
"Do you want to get coffee?" Mingyu scrolls down on his phone.
"Where did Coups go?"
"Getting coffee too, I guess." Mingyu pouts.
"Okay." Wonwoo finally agrees, earning him a smile from Kim Mingyu. Not that he could ever decline. Not Kim Mingyu.
He finally looks up from his phone. "For real?" Their cases no longer matched. Mingyu blinks once, checking whether or not this is his reality, twice , taking in—comprehending the very person a mere meter away from him. He doesn't blink again, yet he still isn't certain whether the event is the truth or another one of his random speculations.
Wonwoo's almost insulted by the bewilderment. "Don't say that like that." He scolds lightly.
"Like what?"
"Like… that, Mingyu."
"Hyung, I really don't understand." Mingyu doesn't look away, not even when he pulls on a thick jacket for the night.
Neither does Wonwoo. But he speaks softer, less like the Jeon Wonwoo for the cameras. "You say it like we weren't close enough for you to call me just Wonwoo."
"But Wonwoo-hyung , you're really older." Mingyu's lips are pushed out. Even more so than before. "It's respect right?"
The truth comes in different shapes and forms, and the longer Wonwoo stares at it, the less believable it becomes. He stares into Mingyu's eyes, acknowledging that it was the younger's way of showing respect. What he doesn't acknowledge is how Mingyu allows Boo Seungkwan to drop the honorifics, yet brings it back for Wonwoo.
Wonwoo doesn't answer.
For people like them, routines are essential. Kim Mingyu and Jeon Wonwoo are idols , of course. It wasn't an easy feat getting through the first few days of falling out of what they're used to—it took them months and months to get over the awkward silences, second glances, and unsaid proposals. And yet here they are, barely a foot apart at the elevator. Wonwoo pulls his face mask higher, avoiding the new car scent from Mingyu's… entire person.
"You act like it's not your perfume." Mingyu pouts, avoiding his eyes.
Not that Wonwoo ever looked at Mingyu.
"It's not." Wonwoo almost teases. "I gave it to you." Knowing full well that the team would be giving them all gifts anyway.
Mingyu's pout doesn't go away. "It had your face in the box."
Wonwoo chuckles, keeping a side-eye on his friend. "Until you threw it away."
"We were moving out!" Mingyu crosses his arms, still avoiding Wonwoo's face. "I had to throw away a lot of boxes."
Jeon Wonwoo doesn't normally admit that he knows a lot of things—his yearning for knowledge (almost) always works to his advantage when he acknowledges his pure lack of it. Certainty remains a small fraction in his thoughts; however, he's definitely certain he sees that the glass bottle of his perfume remains unboxed among Mingyu's vanity items.
He doesn't say anything. The elevator dings him out of his head of uncertainty. Due to technical circumstances, Wonwoo couldn't answer.
The beauty of life lies in the surprises and unexpected. Wonwoo really didn't expect the nearest Starbucks to be blessed by the presence of half their little group. It makes the blood run slower throughout his body, but Wonwoo's head builds up again.
Mingyu's distance from him isn't far. The taller man has always been kind enough to keep the constant distance between Wonwoo and himself.
"Cheol-hyung !" Mingyu waves.
"Oh?" Boo Seungkwan. "Wonwoo- hyung 's actually outside? Did Kim Mingyu threaten you?"
Wonwoo smiles, only his cheekbones exposed by the mask. "Something like that." The way he agrees is enough to make Mingyu's eyes cloud past Dino's silhouette staring at them from where Boo Seungkwan stood up from.
"You could have just said you didn't want to come."
"Stop grumbling," he grabs Mingyu by the arm, walking towards the counter, "you know I wanted to come too."
"Just…" Mingyu catches his breath.
Wonwoo pulls down his mask and smiles. "Breathe, Mingyu."
Wonwoo doesn't always smile like that—he doesn't always smile like the stars have opened up a pathway to the flowery road; he only does it for the person he adores the most. These feelings root from the acceptance and assistance, from the nights spent staring at the moon, talking about camera angles and video filters—the beating of his heart is reserved for Kim Mingyu.
"I miss you." Wonwoo purses his lips together, pulling Mingyu to the side of the line. "You didn't have to pull away from me like that."
"I didn't want to hurt you."
"I told you I'd try to understand, right?"
The moment Mingyu frowns away, Wonwoo immediately feels the weight of the world crashing onto his chest. "How was I supposed to move on from my best friend?" He grumbles, looking past Wonwoo's amused smile. "But anyway, who wouldn't have a crush on you?"
"Junhui?"
"I doubt it." Mingyu looks back at him. "You've got everyone wrapped around your finger."
Wonwoo laughs. His soft laughter echoes in Mingyu's ears, making their way into his heart. "Shut up." Wonwoo's eyes twinkle as he grabs Mingyu's hand, making their way back into line. "I'm glad I have you back."
Years and years of unresolved questions begin washing away from Kim Mingyu. The same amount of pain from the unrequited affection is reformed into a kind of love accepted in a form of the perfect rhythm for the beating of their hearts. There isn't much that change—not with Mingyu and Wonwoo. It's just that Mingyu's able to move on from Ed Sheeran's Happier (as Wonwoo practically begged him a few months back).
"Wonwoo-hyung ?"
Their coffee are light—perfect for 22:09. Not too late for the caffeine boost, and yet the twinkling stars are able to peek at them (if you squint hard enough).
"Hm?"
"I missed you."
This time, Wonwoo smiles.
Wonwoo doesn't need to answer.
fin.