Foreign Land /wooyu/

Foreign Land

Being a member of Pentagon had its unspoken rules, like 'you must tease hyunggu about being sensitive every chance you get!' or 'if we play maffia and you're the maffia, you have to kill Hwitaek first, no matter what!' and even 'if you want snacks, Hongseok is the first person to turn to!'.
Yuto found those simple, unwritten silly little things great, loving the feeling of being a part of a community, having so many inside jokes and knowing each other so well. But then there were other ones, like 'if you're a member of pentagon, you must never shy away from skinship!' and 'praising (and teasing!) your members every time you do an interview isn't an option, it's something you must do!'.
The thing is, before going to Korea, Yuto wasn't really keen on skinship - or rather than not being keen on it, he didn't really understand the concept of being so touchy, so physically close, so openly affectionate with others. But he got used to it. After many years, he decided he could live with it and had no problem initiating it anymore, hitting his members while laughing, hugging them, holding hands with them at fan events. It was... fine. Even pleasant, sometimes. And there was nothing weird about being like this with your friends.

It was a Saturday night. He was doing a vlive, just an hour of listening to music, chatting with fans and playing his guitar, dressed in all black in the studio room. Nothing unusual.
"Have you eaten?" he read a comment. "Yes, thank you" he nodded."I went to eat out with wooseok. we ate... there is a fast food place nearby, so we just ate there. we wanted to have something more filling but it was near. I can't eat spicy food but I really want to tolerate it more, so I tried some of Wooseok's. He really likes spicy food, but... ahh. I got distracted, I am sorry universe." He chuckled, shaking his head, then reading some of the new comments that the fans sent while he was speaking.
'i cant eat spicy food either'
'i love you'
'hope you had a great meal'
'wooyu'
'you look pretty today'
'always speaking about wooseok, don't you?'
'hahaha'

'always speaking about wooseok, don't you?'
Of course he did not read it out loud, but that one sentence really stuck in his mind, because really, was he? Of course he knew about how fans liked shipping them, and it could've easily been an exaggeration, the 'always' part. they were best friends - best friends talk about each other!
There were so many shippers. He didn't mind it, really, it was just harmless fun for the fans. but why were they shipping them? Somehow, tired on that Saturday night, was the first time he really thought about it.
There was nothing weird about this situation, but when yuto realised how much he was thinking about it, how much this one statement took over his thoughts for the past few minutes, he made a new unspoken rule, just for himself: no talking about wooseok too much.

Yuto made a horribly huge mistake that night... he googled himself. Well, the problem is, not just himself. To be specific, he googled 'wooyu'.
So there he was, lying on his bed with his phone, his blanket covering almost his whole body with face to the wall, as if he was looking at the most top-secret things ever as he dove deeper and deeper into the different twitter threads, pinterest images, instagram accounts, youtube videos and ohgod, even fanfictions.
Some of them were quite cute and entertaining, he had to give them that... but then there were those... other ones. Oh, those other ones.
He gulped, face flushing a deep shape of red as he read more and more of those imaginary scenarios the fans created with their names, but as embarrassed as he was, he just couldn't stop, his curiosity still winning at the end. There were a lot, more than he imagined there would be, with so many different settings and characters (usually other members or even idols from different groups) and plots. He found one where they were college students. And then a coffee shop one. And then he found a criminal one. And even some things he did not really understand. What the heck is a 'beta' and an 'alpha'?
"Yuto! Are you asleep?" Yuto almost got a heart attack as he felt a pressure of a hand on his blanketed back, sitting up so suddenly that his phone fell on the ground and he found himself face to face with Wooseok, staring at him with those big doe eyes, startled at his roommate's reaction.
"Woah, sorry, did I scare you?" He asked, reaching for the phone still lying on the ground, and Yuto never moved so fast in his entire life as he picked up the object and locked the screen... earning another questioning look from the younger.
"Really, what are you so startled for? What were you looking at?" He asked, and Yuto just shook his head, hoping that his face wasn't as red as he thought it might be... it was, confirmed by the grin that appeared on Wooseok's face.
"So... do you want something?" Yuto asked after a few awkward seconds of just looking at each other.
"Oh!" he started, reminding himself of the reason he was looking for his roommate. "Have you showered yet?" he asked, and yuto almost forgot how to breathe for a second.
There was nothing weird about this question. Shouldn't have been, anyway.
They often showered together, other members did it too sometimes - not as often as them but still -, claiming that it saves water and they don't have to wait a long time for the other to finish. but now for the first time, yuto hesitated to answer. Why did he make it so awkward for himself? It was stupid! It was just stupid!
"Yuto?" He asked again, a bit unsure this time, not expecting the silence that came after his question. "Are you feeling alright? You're acting a little out of place."
Yuto almost felt guilty seeing his worried expression so he waved his hands and shrugged.
"It's nothing, I am just a bit tired. we can go shower if you want." he answered with a reassuring smile, and although still a bit skeptical, Wooseok reciprocated it.