attraction | meanie

viii. confusion

"i need to talk to you about something." jeonghan says, walking closer to wonwoo.

"...sure?"

"do you mind if i rant to you?"

"uh...no. go ahead i guess. i have time, since i need to walk home."

jeonghan grins at this, sadness fading from his face but slowly coming back as he starts his rant. "you know that transfer student? joshua hong?" he sighs, looking at the ground as they start to walk. wonwoo nods; "yeah."

"yeah, well...i have a crush on him."

"yoon jeonghan!" wonwoo gasps, not believing the older. "he literally transferred today!" jeonghan pouts harder, smacking wonwoo's cheek lightly. "i know...! he's just really attractive. ugh, and the way he has that gentleman attitude- he's everything i could dream of!"

"okay but...what about mr. choi? didn't you say the same thing about him a week ago-" jeonghan is quick to shut wonwoo up. "shush. mr. choi is behind me now."

"never thought i'd hear that coming out of your mouth, but okay." after wonwoo speaks, they fall into silence as they walk to wonwoo's house, side by side. wonwoo then hears jeonghan inhale and knows that he's going to say something.

"...i want you to help me." wonwoo's eyebrows immediately furrow themselves, giving jeonghan some type of disgusted look. "with what?" jeonghan purses his lips. "i want you to help me get closer to joshua. you're already pretty close with him, aren't you?"

"well, kind of. but you want me to help you get joshua?" wonwoo scoffs. "why ask me? go ask jihoon. he's the love expert." the older perks up at this. "how so? has he helped you get closer to someone you like too?"

it's wonwoo's turn to purse his lips. "you know what, i lied."

"okay, then help me."

"what's your exact plan to getting joshua hong, jeonghan?" the younger questions, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket. it's a bit suspicious that jeonghan wants help from wonwoo. wonwoo will do anything he can do to keep joshua from getting harmed. we all know how jeonghan is; he falls in and out of love way too quickly. "if you agree to help me by becoming my friend, we'll start hanging out like friends do. that way, when your little crew meets up, i'll be able to be a part of that and hopefully get close to joshua. deal?" no, wonwoo isn't going to accept that deal so quickly. not when he's not completely sure he'll be able to save joshua from any heartbreak or hurt.

"how do i know you won't just fall out of love with him once he's yours, like you usually do? how do i know you won't hurt him?" jeonghan is silent as he thinks this over in his head, eyebrows furrowed in sadness and sincerity. "i promise i won't. joshua hong is someone who's loyal, and kind, and responsible. i think he could change me for the better."

"then how about me?" wonwoo blurts, "how do i know you aren't just using me for joshua? how do i know that you'll just ignore me once you've got what you were shooting for?" more silence as jeonghan thinks this over.

suddenly, jeonghan sticks out his pinky, making wonwoo stop in his tracks. "i pinky promise to you, jeon wonwoo, that i will be a true friend from now on. thank you for your help and concern. you're a great person, even if you don't exactly look...approachable..." jeonghan nods down at wonwoo's outfit, which is the norm; a black hoodie and black jeans. wonwoo rolls his eyes before locking pinkies with the older.

"you better stick to your word, yoon jeonghan." wonwoo mumbles, carefully untwining his pinky from jeonghan's and pulling the older to walk again. when they finally arrive at wonwoo's house, jeonghan gives him a shoulder pat. "thank you again. see ya tomorrow?"

"see ya tomorrow." wonwoo repeats, afterwards walking up and into his house.


•••


"it really was a surprise when you walked into school with yoon jeonghan!" jihoon laughs, taking a hearty bite of a croissant. "honestly, it was a surprise when jeonghan and i even got along. i would've never thought."

"that's what's surprising." jihoon takes another bite. jeonghan's phone buzzes on the table, averting all three of their gazes to said device. the older picks it up, taking a moment to look at the notification he received. "oh, i have to slide by somewhere real quick. i'll be back in a couple! bye, wonwoo, jihoon!"

"bye!" jihoon says with stuffed cheeks, wonwoo repeating his words a moment later and waving as they watch jeonghan walk away. when wonwoo turns around to face jihoon again, he's met with the younger leaning so far against the table he's almost an inch away from wonwoo's face. "so. tell me what's really up."

wonwoo sighs; of course. "jeonghan likes joshua." wonwoo pauses, but then realizes that's a big mistake so quickly starts talking again. he interrupts jihoon before he can speak. "-and don't even talk, i know what you're thinking. you're not helping jeonghan get shua. jeonghan personally asked me, so leave it up to me." jihoon's lips curl down in a sad frown. "look, there's many more people at our school that could use some love navigation. find one, it just can't be joshua hyung and jeonghan hyung."

this puts a smile back onto jihoon's face. and a really suspicious one, too. "okay- i don't know what you're thinking right now, but it's kinda sus." jihoon shakes it off with a wave of the hand. "oh, wonwoo dearest. don't worry about it! i just know exactly who i'll be navigating next. my ship will definitely sail." wonwoo raises his eyebrows, still completely suspicious.

"okay...?" wonwoo's words are cut off when he hears a surprised little "ah!" coming from behind him, turning around to spot jeonghan. "i thought you guys would've left by now!"

"nah, this table is swag." jihoon says, wonwoo patting the seat next to him to gesture for jeonghan to sit down. "what're you guys talking about?" jihoon smiles, about to tell jeonghan the whole thing, but wonwoo is quick to interrupt. "we uh...just about homework." jeonghan nods. "oh! that reminds me!" jihoon pops out of his seat, grabbing his backpack and swinging it onto his shoulders. "come, i'll need the help."

"wh-"

"just come, i have no time to talk right now." so jeonghan and wonwoo follow the younger, who speedwalks at a furious speed to what they soon found out to be the library. "good...morning...mr. choi...!" jihoon pants, his backpack straps falling off his shoulders lazily. "i'm so sorry...i forgot...that i had to help this morning."

"oh, it's no biggy, mr. lee." mr. choi smiles softly. "i knew you'd come eventually. the books are on that far table to the left. oh; good morning, mr. jeon, mr. yoon!" wonwoo bows his head slightly, acknowledging the greeting. he sees jeonghan do the same in his peripheral vision, and then remembers; yoon jeonghan "used" to have a crush on choi seungcheol. he gives the boy next to him a glance, and as expected, he's red as a tomato. is this really a good idea? wonwoo rolls his eyes.

the trio walks over to their destination, splitting up the books so each carries five. "thanks, boys." mr. choi says as they walk out the door with the books, all mumbling a small "you're welcome". wonwoo allows jihoon to walk in front of them before leaning in to jeonghan. "are you sure this is a good idea? mr. choi seems a bit distracting." jeonghan can't respond, however, because jihoon had stopped to wait for them and then stood in between them. "so, jeonghan hyung!" jihoon sighs. "you want some extra help getting joshua hyung-"

"i think we'll be fine, jihoon-ah." wonwoo clenches his teeth at the word "fine", emphasizing it clearly. the three don't say another word.

after dropping off the books, jihoon decides to speak again. "anyway...i was hoping you two could join us—joshua, soonyoung, seokmin, and i—after school? we're going to the park to chillax." jeonghan and wonwoo exchange a glance, eyebrows raising. "sure!" jeonghan exclaims.


•••


after school, the said boys met up at said place. joshua had been kind enough to grab a container of chocolate-chip cookies for them to share. everything seemed normal to wonwoo, but he being super oblivious, didn't figure out it wasn't until he was walking home with jihoon and jeonghan.

jihoon continued to ramble on about how wonwoo's been a lamp that attracts moths(the moths being all of the boys he's hanged out with; jeonghan, junhui, joshua, vernon, seokmin, jihoon, minghao, and even mingyu); the majority of the boys wanting to be on wonwoo's team as they played games, joshua checking up regularly on wonwoo after he fell and injured his leg, seokmin poking wonwoo's cheeks and calling him cute when he embarrassed himself...the list could go on and on, not limiting to only today's events.

"even i use you as a cuddle buddy!" jihoon laughs in disbelief at his own actions. "and let's not forget about jeonghan asking you out of all people to help him get shua." jeonghan pouts at the mention of joshua, a bit moody about joshua paying more attention to wonwoo than him during their hangout. "hell, even mingyu's been all about you!"

wonwoo stares at jihoon, not really believing him at these words. "he's asked me more than a couple times where you are in the past two weeks. plus, he comes to school more often now. i think that's the doing of you, jeon wonwoo."

wonwoo scoffs; "no. i hate mingyu. that can't be."

"but it can," jeonghan points out, "you hate mingyu. but no one says he hates you."

"fuck." wonwoo grumbles. he can't have mingyu liking him. for two main reasons; he's not gay, and he hates mingyu with all his heart. that would just be a disaster. "i think you should talk to him. maybe see what he's like, you know? i've talked to him before. he's really cool." jeonghan adds. "maybe then you can change your feelings about him."

"you're wording that like i'm gay."

"wait, you're aren't gay?" jeonghan clears his throat awkwardly when he doesn't get a response. "i mean, yeah, i knew that. i'm meaning to say maybe you and mingyu could become friends."

"never in my right mind would i have the thought to do that. i hate hate him." wonwoo replies. 

jihoon snickers, "then use your left mind." 

attacca. man i almost cried. 

its SUCH A WORK OF ART and plus i'm overexcited because i preordered the album so it should be coming in the next week or two- can't wait to get my hands on the music! anyway so how are you guys, i've been gone for a long time again 

mostly because i'm procrastinating on writing more chapters for this book and i think it's progressing extremely slow but you know