attraction | meanie

x. date evening?

"i really can't do this, hao," wonwoo says, "i do not like mingyu. on top of that, dahyun scheduled another study session next tuesday! it'll be awkward if today goes bad."

"you'll be fine. take this as an opportunity to warm up to mingyu, he's a good guy." minghao sighs, "also, you could use him as a good excuse to see dahyun more often if you guys become 'bros'!"

"oh yeah, that's a good point..." wonwoo mumbles. "fine. only because you proclaimed the brighter side of this situation. i still don't like you for doing that though."

minghao smiles. "i know you don't. sometimes you just gotta live with it though."

wonwoo rolls his eyes, "apparently."


-


"you're WHAT?" jihoon exclaims, giving a confused look at wonwoo.

"i'm going to meet with mingyu. shoo, before he gets here. i don't want you making conversation with him while i'm here."

"alright, beanie. tell me about your little date tomorrow!" jihoon giggles before sprinting off, not giving wonwoo a chance to retort. wonwoo scoffs, "little date? seriously..."

wonwoo looks around after saying that, and as expected, mingyu comes skipping towards him. "wonwoo-yah! you actually waited for me?" the younger gasps in somewhat surprise.

"minghao's fault. anyway, you have a place in mind? you know, so i can pay you back for catching me or something."

"i do indeed," mingyu grins, "it's nothing too fancy. you just gotta pay. do you like movies?" he takes out his phone while he awaits an answer from the older.

"depends on the movie, but yeah."

"great!" mingyu grabs wonwoo's hand so he can put his phone in it. wonwoo takes a look at the screen, which is two movie tickets for new marvel movie 'Shang Chi'. he also takes a look at the price of both tickets, which is twenty dollars. that plus snacks—which mingyu will most likely ask for unless he's a complete weirdo—is going to be quite a lot.

"just pay for those and we'll be on our way. here, sit." mingyu gestures over to a bench outside the school, on which he sits. wonwoo quickly follows along. wonwoo grimaces, "you sure this is all you want from me? just a movie?"

"and movie snacks," mingyu adds, "but yes. let's be honest, it really wasn't a big deal i caught you. yeah, it was cool, but i only did it to take a break from seungkwan."

wonwoo lets air out of his nose in a small laugh. "okay, here." wonwoo places the phone on mingyu's thigh and the younger picks it up. "come on, let's get going."

after a walk to the mall center and to the movie theater, the two boys get situated in scanning their tickets, buying their treats, mind you wonwoo bought both tickets and treats, and sitting in their spots in theater 13.

"i've been wanting to watch this for a while now~" mingyu squeals quietly. wonwoo nods as he takes a handful of popcorn. "and the theater is nearly empty. there's only that group up in front of us." he adds.

"oh yeah, huh..." wonwoo notices, getting more anxious. he copes with it by stuffing his face with another handful of popcorn.

"yah, don't eat all the popcorn already wonwoo, the movie's just starting!" mingyu pouts. wonwoo just shrugs, which causes mingyu to look back at the screen and take a pouty sip of his slushy.

so around halfway through the movie, the two—mainly wonwoo—downed three quarters of the big popcorn bucket, and wonwoo had to accompany mingyu to the bathroom a little ways through like the younger was a little kid, merely because he drank a bit too much of his slushy.

"want a sip?" mingyu leans in and whispers to wonwoo, keeping his eyes fixated on the screen. "if i drink too much again i may need to pee again."

"why can't you go by yourself when that happens?"

"i have my incidents going alone to a public restroom." mingyu huffs.

"i- fine, give it here." wonwoo practically snatches the drink out of mingyu's hand, taking a big sip from the same straw mingyu drank out of. whatever, he thinks.

wonwoo feels a gaze fixed on him, and turns to mingyu. who is indeed looking at him. "what are you doing? watch the movie." his words are blurred by the straw he holds in between his teeth.

"sorry."

when another "oh shit" moment comes up in the movie, both mingyu and wonwoo catch it. "oh shit..." they both exclaim when Shang does, giggling afterwards. the group of people in front of them don't seem to have heard them, but wonwoo decides to quiet mingyu's giggling anyway.

and then the real battle starts, and wonwoo swear he's never felt a grip as strong as mingyu's. "fuck. oh fuck." mingyu mumbles as he anxiously watches the screen. "wonwoo, they're going to be released-"

that's when mingyu's hands find wonwoo's arm, wrapping around them in a scared way. mingyu's grip tightens when the next part comes on, which makes wonwoo flinch a bit. "mingyu- you're a bit too strong-"

"oh, i'm sorry." he says and then releases his grip a bit. "can i still hold on? i'm anxious."

"sure." wonwoo shrugs. mingyu wraps his hands farther around the older's arm and leans in to rest his head on wonwoo's shoulder, shrinking into the theater chair. wonwoo chuckles, "mingyu, it's not even that bad. big baby."

"shut up." mingyu whimpers. wonwoo rolls his eyes before looking down at his arm that is in a tight hold by mingyu and catching sight of mingyu's flexed biceps.

holy shit, he thinks as he looks at the younger's biceps for a bit longer, does he lift 100-pound weights every other day or what?

wonwoo quickly turns back to the movie, not wanting mingyu to catch him creepily staring at his muscles. yeah...that'd be super awkward. "mingyu, mingyu- you're holding too hard again."

"sorry."

-

after the movie, which blew mingyu away from reality afterwards, him and wonwoo head out into the broad daylight again. it took them two hours, so the sun will begin setting soon. wonwoo bets it's at least around 4:30.

"wonwoo-yah, do you want something to eat?" mingyu asks after they walk a bit around the mall center, casually roaming.

"hm? oh, i don't know. are...you hungry?"

mingyu smiles bashfully, "yea...you hogged all that popcorn throughout the movie. you looked too focused so i was shy about asking for some." wonwoo sighs in somewhat annoyance at the younger. "fine, let's go get you some food then. that i will most likely have to pay for."

"i mean, we can split the bill if you'd like. take this as a friend meal, not some stupid payback for a cool catch."

"if you insist." wonwoo shrugs.

so they take a short walk to a small japanese restaurant that is in the mall center. wonwoo had asked if mingyu didn't mind getting japanese food, and the younger had stated he's not picky. they ordered a couple rolls and a bento box to share, but wonwoo soon figured out that was the wrong idea.

"mingyu, save some meat for me too!" wonwoo frowns, trying to fit his chopsticks somewhere in the flash of mingyu's. the younger is completely demolishing the teriyaki steak they ordered for the bento box. he must be hungrier than i thought.

"eat some of the rolls," mingyu says with stuffed cheeks, "try out the rainbow roll for me, hm?" mingyu takes a quick bite of some salad before picking up a piece of the rainbow roll with his chopsticks and bringing it up to wonwoo's mouth.

wonwoo hesitates, unsure if he should eat off of the same chopsticks mingyu has. after thinking about the slushy and not caring too much, he bites the rainbow roll from the chopstick's hold and pushes the rest in with his hands. mingyu grins, "cute. is it good?"

wonwoo hums to say he needs to swallow first, and takes a while to do so. "it is good. maybe you should try it out and stop eating the meat!" he says after finishing.

mingyu rolls his eyes, "fine." and aggressively takes a piece of the shrimp crunch roll and shoves it into his mouth. wonwoo hastily shovels the now left alone teriyaki steak into his mouth while mingyu chews on the sushi piece, now satisfied.

they eat like this—arguing softly every second they can—until their plates are almost clean, pay for the food, and decide to go home for the evening.

it's wonwoo's favorite part of the day when they walk out of the restaurant. sunset hour, when the sky is a gradient of soft colors and the clouds look like cotton candy. he spends most of his attention watching the sky; mingyu thankfully notices wonwoo's attention is elsewhere, so decides not to bother him.

wonwoo drops mingyu off at his house before heading to his own. "i'm home, mom." he exclaims as he closes the door behind him. his mom speaks from the living room, "welcome home. minghao said you were with a friend, is that correct?"

"yep. sorry i didn't tell you beforehand." he says while heading up the stairs to his room.

wonwoo sits at his desk, tired and thinking over the events of this evening. huh, maybe he can deal with someone he hates better than he thought.