pro homo #hyungwonho

#5

Later that day, Hyungwon went to hang out with Seokwoo and his friends. He had never been so nervous before. He had only met Seokwoo that one time and after that just spent a couple messages back and forth with him so it really felt like he was going to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers. He had shared his concerns with Hoseok whose 'don't do anything embarrassing' didn't help his situation at all. He gathered his courage to ring the doorbell and just a couple seconds later he heard steps and the door opened, revealing Seokwoo's smiling face.

"You made it!" Seokwoo said happily, as if he had ever doubted if Hyungwon would come. "Come in," he moved out of the way so Hyungwon could walk inside and closed the door behind him.

Hyungwon followed Seokwoo inside the apartment and cautiously looked around, unsure why he was so nervous to meet new people. Last time he had got to know someone new was in high school when he hit up the girl he had a crush on, Tia. It hadn't exactly ended well and after the amount of courage it had took him to approach Tia, the amount of drama and emotional manipulation he went through because of the girl has maybe left him a bit cautious.

"Guys, meet Hyungwon," Seokwoo stepped out of the way to introduce Hyungwon to the group of people who, without wasting any time, came to shake Hyungwon's hand and introduce themselves one-by-one. The situation felt strangely formal to Hyungwon, he wasn't sure if it was just him who felt uncomfortable.

"Taeyang, second year like Seokwoo. I remember seeing you at the orientation," the first guy said and unconsciously Hyungwon said his name as well.

"I'm Hwiyoung. Third year."

"Siyeong. Second year as well but I'm older than these guys," the girl said with a cheerful voice and looked at Hyungwon up and down as if she was trying to figure out what kinda guy he was.

"Speaking of ages. How old are you, Hyungwon?" Seokwoo then asked and Hyungwon followed him to sit next to the table like everyone else did.

"I'm twenty-one," Hyungwon replied and Seokwoo's closed hand flew up to cover his own mouth.

"Really? You're older than Taeyang and I," he said, a surprised look on his face. "Damn, I didn't want to be the youngest of this group again..."

"I got held back in high school so I'm a bit late into this university thing."

"Oh... Were you a rebel kid?" Siyeong asked with a teasing tone and Hwiyoung let out a laugh.

"A bit, yeah," Hyungwon laughed as well, feeling embarrassed to admit he really had been somewhat a troublemaker in his teenage years, skipping school quite a bit.

It didn't take a long time for Hyungwon to start feeling like a part of the group already and his anxiety was gone. He didn't even understand what he had been so worried for, all these guys and Siyeong were really nice and comfortable to be around.

"So, Hyungwon," Siyeong suddenly started, leaning her elbows on the table to get closer to Hyungwon who was sitting on the other side. "Do you have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, we don't judge."

"Why does that sound like you're hitting on him?" Taeyang asked and it made Siyeong pull back.

"I know Hyungwon is a cute freshman but your boyfriend is right here," Hwiyoung put his arm behind Siyeong's shoulders and pulled her to lay against him. She giggled as if she had just gotten caught doing something naughty by talking to Hyungwon.

"You guys are together?" Hyungwon questioned as if the answer wasn't clear enough yet. Hwiyoung and Siyeong both nodded and the girl turned her head up to look at her boyfriend.

"We thought Siyeong was gonna abandon us when she suddenly started dating Hwiyoung but then instead she made him part of the group," Taeyang said, eyeing the couple sitting next to him.

"Yeah and now I can't leave even if I wanted to," Hwiyoung rolled his eyes and took his arm from Siyeong's shoulders to reach for his drink. "And these two guys are always watching Siyeong's back, sometimes it gets a bit scary," he continued, talking straight to Hyungwon as if his words were supposed to be a direct warning for him.

"It's about time Seokwoo also brought someone to meet us," Taeyang then continued and Seokwoo let out a chuckle, looking away from Hyungwon like he was embarrassed.

"Oh, don't consider me a part of your group yet, this is only the second time I'm even meeting Seokwoo," Hyungwon quickly said, getting nervous thinking about how he had been accepted as a part of a friend group so quickly.

"You don't like us? Ouch," Taeyang laughed and twitched uncomfortably. It seemed like Seokwoo was kicking him under the table.

"It's not that, I'm just afraid you won't like me after a while. So don't make haste decisions, although I'm very honored Seokwoo invited me. Or even talked to me in the first place," Hyungwon turned his head to look at Seokwoo who, after their eyes met, quickly turned his eyes forward and focused on drinking instead.

"Ah, he's so cute," Taeyang let out and dramatically placed a hand over his chest. "You bet we will keep you forever. Seokwoo told us he met you by accidentally bumping into you, that's so cute I want to meet someone like that as well."

Siyeong and Hwiyoung glared at their friend, judging his sudden switch into a fanboy-mode. Seokwoo was a bit embarrassed to have his friends expose him like that – he really didn't intend on letting Hyungwon know he had shared all the details about everything to his friends already. Lucky for him, the subject changed to another one and they didn't bring it up anymore that night. Hyungwon was really having a good time but an hour later, his social meter was full and he was ready to go home. Hanging out with people he didn't know was quite exhausting, he felt like he had to continuously keep on the edge and watch everything he said and did.

"Go walk him outside," Siyeong, who had just happened to be standing behind Seokwoo as she was getting a new drink from the refrigerator when Hyungwon had announced it was time for him to leave, whispered in her friend's ear.

Hyungwon got up and walked towards the front door, earning multiple cheerful bye byes from everyone. Seokwoo followed him quietly and Hyungwon gave him a questioning look as he put on his shoes and Seokwoo did the same.

"Do you have a long way home?" he asked and Hyungwon stood up straight since he was finished tying his laces.

"Not really. A ten minute walk maybe. I live in the dorms on the other side of the campus," he replied. Seokwoo just slowly nodded and opened the door for Hyungwon who had already just assumed he was gonna leave as well by the way he had also put on his shoes.

"I'm really glad you came today," he said as they walked along the hallway towards the front door of the complex.

"Thanks for inviting me. I really had fun," Hyungwon smiled and once Seokwoo saw it, he smiled as well.

"Good. In that case I can probably invite you to hang out again?"

"Of course. I'm often a bit busy with studying but I'll try to make time for you."

"Oh... Haha," Seokwoo sounded flustered. "Well I'll see you. In Thursday's class if not before that. Make sure you sit next to me."

"Of course. See you," they had reached outside so it was time for Hyungwon to leave to his own direction. "Bye!" he still yelled out as he started walking away, leaving Seokwoo standing at the front door and slowly realizing that the guy hadn't come out to leave but just to walk with him. He found it strange and the realization made him roll his head in confusion.