attraction | meanie

ix. terrible incident

wonwoo can't get his mind off of mingyu.

and that's a bad thing.

if he admits that to anyone, he's going to be taken the wrong way. no, he doesn't have a crush on mingyu. he just can't stop thinking about how disgusting the possibility of THE kim mingyu liking him is. things get worse when he walks in to the cafeteria at lunch, spotting the regular table he sits at being occupied by lee jihoon, wen junhui, and...kim mingyu.

wonwoo grimaces as he slowly makes his way to the table, wondering if this is a good idea or if he should turn around and sprint. he's considering the second option until junhui spots him, shooting up from his seat to run to and engulf wonwoo in a hug. "wonwoo!" junhui beams, breaking apart to look wonwoo in the eye. junhui takes a moment to observe wonwoo's facial features. "you're looking exceptional as always, love. come, i brought you a meal."

how did junhui know wonwoo forgot his lunch at home today? with junhui's arm wrapped around his waist, he walks to the table with the older. he suddenly feels a bit better, just a bit though. wonwoo sits opposite of mingyu, junhui sitting next to him before reaching into his backpack to pull out a neat lunch box. "here you go, baby." junhui smiles, pushing the lunch box towards wonwoo. wonwoo, with no response but only flushed cheeks, opens it up to a full 5-course meal. not really, but close to it. grilled beef, rice sticks with homemade sweet and spicy sauce, sweet korean pancakes, a couple pieces of honeydew...why did junhui do all this for him?

"did it all myself, with a little help from my mother. i added some honeydew in there because you're as sweet as it." wonwoo smiles gratefully, taking another look at the meal. "thank you, junhui. but...are you sure i can take all this?"

"of course, bubbs! eat up." so wonwoo starts to eat at this reassurance, stuffing his mouth full. it isn't until he's finished the grilled beef that jihoon leans across the table and whispers to him, "your gay is showing. you aren't turning down junhui's pet names." wonwoo shoves jihoon out of his face with his hand, taking a rice stick to eat. "i'm not gay." supposedly he said that loud enough for junhui to hear, and probably mingyu too.

"what a shame." junhui sighs, eating a bread roll he packed for himself. "you're cute af." wonwoo pushes a leaning junhui with a finger against his forehead, making him squint and move away from ruler wonwoo. however, wonwoo didn't take junhui in disgust. he took him in annoyance. one that made wonwoo roll his eyes and allow the corners of his lips to smile partially. "no, you're totally gay. junhui, feel free to fuck him or whatever. he's just in denial and needs a little push."

junhui gives a thumbs up to jihoon. wonwoo's about to roll his eyes again until he spots mingyu, sitting with his gaze fixated on the table and playing with his fingers with a frown. he hasn't talked at all since wonwoo arrived; wonwoo wonders why. he still hates mingyu, but he's never seen mingyu to be this quiet. jihoon gets the catch when he spots wonwoo looking at mingyu, and pats the younger's shoulder lightly. "mingyu-ya, you haven't been talking much. what's up?"

"oh, yeah...sorry. just don't feel like talking much today." mingyu responds, smiling at jihoon before turning his gaze back in front of him. wonwoo, still looking at mingyu with furrowed eyebrows, accidentally gets caught when mingyu looks up and gives him an intimidating glare. wonwoo stares back, eyebrows raising in shock as he watches mingyu poke the inside of his cheek with his tongue. he looks annoyed; nothing like how he had just looked responding to jihoon.

oh my god.

oh my god, does mingyu fancy jihoon? well shit, things just got interesting. but wonwoo reminds himself he can't jump to conclusions as quickly as he does. wonwoo breaks the gaze, afraid of his eyes being burnt off by the amount of intimidating tension mingyu was giving him. "baobei, you okay? are you not hungry? i can save the rest of your meal for later." wonwoo jerks his head in junhui's direction, mind being pulled off of mingyu and back to the meal the older made for him. "oh, no, i'll eat a bit more! i'll tell you if i'm getting full. it's very tasty, thank you, hyung."

"so you guys aren't dating? there's like, mixed signs here." mingyu suddenly speaks, looking at wonwoo and junhui. "not yet. hopefully soon, though. wonwoo's the loml." jihoon, mingyu, and wonwoo all burst out laughing at the way junhui decided to word that. "d-did you just use a text acronym in a face-to-face conversation? loml?!?" jihoon gasps, out of breath. it honestly shouldn't be as funny as it is but hey, teenagers laugh at anything nowadays.

"everyone uses 'lol' instead of 'laugh out loud' while speaking, so i don't see the problem?" jun laughs, leaning forward with his breaths. "oh lordy." jihoon sighs, wiping his eyes. "hey, we better hurry up and eat. the bell's gonna ring soon." at this, junhui dramatically salutes at jihoon, taking a furiously intense bite of chicken. a couple minutes later, just as wonwoo's finishing off his honeydew, the bell rings signaling sixth period.

"baobei! you have sixth period with me!" junhui squeals, pulling wonwoo into a side hug. "what do you guys have?" jihoon looks up at the ceiling in a thoughtful manner, reciting his schedule. "choir. mingyu?"

"math, 502." the younger says, swinging his backpack on and standing up, the others quickly following suit. junhui gasps; "you have sixth with wonwoo and i, then! i mean, i wouldn't have known that if you didn't tell us. you never show up to school." wonwoo mentally curses mingyu for showing up today, knowing english is going to give him a harder time that is has to with him and junhui there. mingyu flushes out of embarrassment. "i'm trying to get back on track."

"mhm, hopefully you do. see ya." jihoon waves before walking the opposite direction of the three; to choir. soon after jihoon leaves, the three others do too. since heading in the same direction, mingyu, wonwoo, and junhui walk together; junhui holding onto wonwoo by the waist, mingyu walking a bit at a distance from the two. "okay get off me now." wonwoo slaps junhui's hand, signaling for the time they have to stop this public display of affection. before they enter the classroom.

junhui and wonwoo sit across the room from each other, unfortunately, but mingyu sits only a seat away from wonwoo. before the start bell rings, mingyu leans over to wonwoo to whisper something to him. "you and junhui should really hook up. it's annoying that you're being so straight." wonwoo pushes mingyu away from him with his pointer finger on his forehead, frowning at the boy he hates. "why do you care if i'm straight?"

mingyu mutters something under his breath that goes unheard by wonwoo, so wonwoo leans in to ask the younger to repeat what he said. "why do you care about what i said?" mingyu hisses, sticking his tongue out at the older. wonwoo almost laughs at the way mingyu poked out his tongue but stops himself from doing so, reminding himself that he hates mingyu. "so stubborn." wonwoo decides to grumble after reorganizing his mind and actions.

"speak for yourself." mingyu grumbles back, wonwoo catching a hint of a smile on his face.

wonwoo and mingyu don't talk to each other again until around the middle of class, when their math teacher decides to have students work in groups to talk over and help each other with a worksheet. it's fortunate that they get to pick their own partners, but a huge burden to wonwoo when he's approached by both mingyu and junhui. all three exchange awkward glances before mingyu and junhui lock eyes, thinking the same thing.

"all three?" mingyu and junhui say at the same time. they then both look at wonwoo for agreement, in which he responds with a shrug and a "go crazy". to be honest, wonwoo didn't want them to go crazy. but it's too late to say anything now, because mingyu sits to his left and junhui sits to his right, sandwiching him in uncomfortably.

"fuck, i hate math." mingyu mutters, looking down at his worksheet. that is the only thing he'll ever say that's relatable, wonwoo thinks to himself. "get over it. be grateful seokmin is at least a bit better than us." mingyu glares at junhui. "you really think that makes me feel better? i get that you were trying to imply that we're lucky to have someone that can help, but it sounded like you're shaming us."

"maybe i am." junhui huffs. he throws his arm around wonwoo's shoulder before focusing on his worksheet. "anyway. where to start..." wonwoo hums and looks up at the ceiling, pretending like he's thinking really hard. "i don't know, junhui. maybe problem number one?" he answers sarcastically, smiling cheekily at the older. "okay, wonwoo, if you think you can act so sassily towards me, why don't you start us off?"

wonwoo sighs before picking up his pencil, examining the first math problem on the sheet. "1 and 1/4ths. this is fourth grade shit." mingyu shakes his head profusely, not believing wonwoo getting the answer so quickly. "show your work, so-called math whiz. i ain't taking a simple top-of-the-brain answer without any effort shown." junhui nods in agreement. so wonwoo scribbles down the process to his answer, finishing in less than a minute and throwing his pencil against his desk after finishing.

"there," wonwoo groans, "is that good enough for you? i may be quick, but i hate math. just because i'm good doesn't mean i should spend more time doing problems than you guys should." the two at his sides jot down the answer and shown work from wonwoo's paper, ignoring him. "well, only fifteen minutes til the bell baby." junhui shrugs. "i'll try and figure out the next problem for my poor boy."

"and i'll try problem three." mingyu says, sticking his tongue out at wonwoo when he turns his head to look at him. "what is up with you and sticking out your tongue?" wonwoo questions, looking at mingyu with furrowed eyebrows. mingyu tilts his head to the side, giving the older a blank look. "maybe it's because it wants to be in something other than my mouth."

"kim mingyu!" wonwoo and junhui both say at the same time, junhui protectively wrapping his arm around the younger's waist. wonwoo slaps the back of mingyu's head, scowling at him. "do your fucking math."

"sir." mingyu mumbles, a smirk creeping onto his face.

and wonwoo thought mingyu wasn't too bad. not as cocky as he thought he was, but still a stubborn brat. he proved himself to be worse.

around five minutes later, the bell rings and everyone rushes back to their backpacks to pack up and head to their next class. to the last period of the day...thank goodness. the last class he has is with minghao, who passes him a note that asks if he wants to go rollerskating after school. wonwoo turns to look at minghao, giving him a nod of the head when they meet eyes.

after seventh period minghao and wonwoo walk straight out of the school, but don't make it off the premises before junhui can catch them. "hey baobei!" junhui sighs casually, smiling as he wraps an arm around wonwoo's shoulders. he notices minghao a couple seconds later standing by awkwardly. "oh, is this your friend?"

"yeah, this is xu minghao. haohao, this is...junhui. the guy who was being chased down by a group of friends. we uh...we're friends." wonwoo isn't too sure if it's a good thing to have been keeping his and junhui's friendship away from minghao, but hey, no harm done.

"baobei doesn't mean friend, wonwoo." minghao chuckles in almost disbelief, glancing back and forth at the two boys. "i should know that."

"you're from china too, huh?" junhui observes. "you look like you are."

"i am. i come from haichen, liaoning." minghao throws his chin up, attempting a dominant look. junhui only stares back at minghao with a smile. "cool! i'm from shenzhen, guangdong." wonwoo's about to step into the conversation until minghao continues talking. "so why are you calling wonwoo baobei?"

"one sided love..." junhui chuckles. "...i'm trying to get him to fall in love with me."

minghao restrains himself from laughing, closing his eyes and pursing his lips as best as he can. "no chance, junhui. wonwoo's as straight as a wooden ruler. you wouldn't want to snap him in half, since that would break him. so don't try bending him." junhui lets out a sheer whistle.

"damn, you have a way with words!" he laughs. "well?" minghao scoffs, "what else do you expect from me? we'll get going now. see you." wonwoo's yanked in the other direction, minghao's grip on his wrist spinning him around and almost making him trip on himself. "minghao-"

"i'm gonna miss my little straight baby wonwoo if you grow up into a gay." minghao mumbles, a small stupid smile making its way onto his face. wonwoo rolls his eyes, smiling too. "don't worry. i have no feelings for junhui."

"good!" minghao almost shouts in relief, but clears his throat to stop himself. "i mean, good."

wonwoo squints his eyes. "you're being a sussy baka hao."

"no i'm not."

"yes you are."

"oh whatever, lay it off. it's nothing. come on." minghao smiles, pulling wonwoo onwards. they walk to the roller skating rink, which is right inside a mall not too far from their school. once they arrive, they order pairs of skates and go out onto the rink as fast as they can manage.

"god, i haven't been roller skating in so long." minghao sighs, rolling a bit farther than wonwoo. "yah! hao! i can't do this by myself!" wonwoo yells at the younger, gripping onto the railings lined on the walls. minghao rolls himself to look at wonwoo and giggles. "sure you can. it just takes a little practice. here,"

wonwoo watches as minghao skates over to him, grabbing hold of his hands and taking them off the railing, "one foot in front of the other. like walking." he instructs, rolling backwards and watching as wonwoo tries to figure it out. "look! you're getting it."

wonwoo looks down at his roller skates as he starts gaining more speed, led my minghao. he grins as he gets faster. "ready to let go?" minghao smiles, not giving wonwoo a chance to answer when he loosens his grasp on the older's hands. "minghao-"

"don't overthink. you're doing great!" minghao yells at wonwoo before skating farther away. wonwoo mumbles profanities at minghao under his breath as he attempts to keep up the steady rhythm of left foot, right foot, left, right...

when wonwoo looks up after a while of success, he's caught off guard by who he sees. minghao's still skating a distance away from wonwoo, but that's not wonwoo's main concern right now. he spots mingyu and boo seungkwan making their way onto the rink, seungkwan openly cursing and screaming out as he steps onto the polished skating floor and almost falls multiple times.

"oh shit." wonwoo whispers urgently to himself, immediately losing his steady rhythm and feeling his legs get wobbly. minghao doesn't seem to have spotted mingyu and seungkwan yet—wonwoo not knowing how since the boo is yelling like crazy—which drives wonwoo farther from calm. minghao has to have spotted them by now.

as wonwoo begins to overthink, he also starts loosing balance. "holy-" he gasps, feeling his feet slip out from underneath him and he starts to fall backwards. "wonwoo? wonwoo!" he hears, that one and only voice belonging to minghao, who's skates sound louder as they start racing towards him.

wonwoo shuts his eyes closed as he braces himself for the impact of the fall, blindly sticking his arms out in false hopes he'll be able to catch himself.

he waits, and waits, and waits until he feels the blow, but it never comes. wincing, he slowly opens his eyes. the first thing he looks at are his arms, which have been held closer to his body by two other hands. he slowly glances up at who caught him, and is surprised to see kim mingyu. he honestly shouldn't be surprised though.

wonwoo gasps before struggling out of mingyu's grasp, settling himself on the railing. "wonwoo! jeez, you scared me!" minghao huffs, "mingyu, we owe you big time. i mean, wonwoo owes you big time. that was a good catch."

"well, i'm always free." mingyu smiles, looking at wonwoo. minghao also smiles—but maliciously—at wonwoo. "great! wonwoo's free next friday after school. just meet him at the front gates and he'll treat you."

"cool," mingyu says, "i'll leave you two alone now. i gotta take care of my own trouble, as we all know as boo seungkwan." mingyu points over at the struggling boy, who had just started to call out for him.

"what..." wonwoo starts when mingyu skates away, "the hell is wrong with you." minghao laughs; "just helping a friend out."

wonwoo doesn't know what minghao means by that, but he's pretty sure this friend wasn't directed to him. do kim mingyu and him have something going on that he doesn't know about?

"hao, let's go." he mumbles after a while, making his way towards the gate that lets him out of the skating rink.

"but-"

"come on!"