❝𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 ━━ 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗪𝗢𝗢

step #1

:: Get mad at people who ask you about your friend (read as crush)

You thought the reunion with your middle school friend would be better.

Having someone around you who you could just spend time with, away from the usual university hassle and someone (unlike the other 'friends' you have in the class) who wouldn't bother dragging you to different 'things' —that freshmen think are supposed to make you an adult— it will all be peaceful, quiet...exactly how you like it.

But oh, were you so wrong about that.

Was it the sixth time? Maybe, eighth. You had been counting.

Counting how many people came to ask you about that tall guy with glasses.

Jeon Wonwoo.

"Oh, I heard he is your friend, were you in the same class as him?"— Now these types of questions wouldn't have bothered you. You would have told them yes, that you had been neighbours for three years too before Wonwoo's dad had transferred to the city. You would have told them a few things that haven't changed in him ever since but no, how could you?

When all you get asked is, "Is Wonwoo single?"

It's not only the girls, but it's also the boys— who have been bribed by their girl best friends to ask that to you or find Wonwoo a potential threat to their relationships or are just taking an interest in the handsome boy.

And you get why, Wonwoo seems like he's walked right out of the teen romance books you used to read. You think people go for Wonwoo's looks, the athletic physique and the mysterious vibe he carries around himself. You're sure it's all their curiosity underlined with horniness that the sharp monolid eyes provoke, giving their hearts a flutter.

It's unfair to him, knowing the guy is more than what he appears.

The aforementioned question was first asked by your own seatmate, Aria, who you had to coax into sitting on a bench behind so that Wonwoo could sit beside you. You thought it would be a good thing for him since he doesn't easily warm up to people and might feel a little out of place.

You wanted him to be comfortable, that's all.

He was like that back then too, his mother used to ask him to sit beside you often— especially on days where your mother was too much in a hurry to pack you a proper lunch, knowing he wouldn't share the tiffin to anyone but you.

You were familiar, enough, for sharing food with.

Coming back to Aria, she had randomly popped her head on your shoulder at the lunch break, voice too sweet and knowingly coaxing. "Is he single?" she had asked you, "He doesn't look like the boyfriend type but doesn't look like he won't have a lover either."

You had sighed out, "No, how could I no when I met him for the first time in five years a day back?"

And indeed how could you know?

Wonwoo moved out to a solo apartment to have his own space during the university years and your mother had sweetly called you one morning, reminding you of your cringe middle school years and this friend, Wonwoo (with every muscle bulging out of his clothes) who might need help in 'moving' and 'settling' into his apartment. His parents had gone back to the hometown, you were told.

So you had gone to help him. Greetings were exchanged, awkward coughs too and maybe extra sips of water until you were comfortable enough to make a surface conversation. You knew that Wonwoo hardly talked about himself, indulging in lame humour and wordplays to mask any details he accidentally might give out while talking.

But Aria was having none of it.

"He talked to you throughout that whole hour, you said you even helped him move in," she had pinched you on the shoulder to remind you, "Didn't he mention something about the lover of his dreams?"

You swear you had seen people's ears stand at that.

Maybe that's where it all started you think.

The news of the 'informant found walking astray in the cafeteria' spread and somehow made people think it would be a good idea to ask you about Wonwoo's relationship status, probably in hopes of changing it.

If he's single, then change it to taken.

If he's taken, then make him someone's ex.

And you found yourself getting annoyed by it.

Now, Aria is friendly, the first friend you had made as soon as you had stepped into Seoul and you had absolutely no reason to get mad at her when she had asked you and even further, the others were perfectly nice so you couldn't fault them in any way but every time one of them asked you about Wonwoo, you couldn't look at them in the same way.

It was just that Wonwoo wasn't even interested, then you wonder if he ever is...in something else than the piles of books in the library and maybe basketball?

But when it happens this time, eighth if you include the twins from the other class— it's early in the morning when you're making your way to the class and a girl comes to you wondering if she can ask you something. Your radar detects it to be another question about Wonwoo because of the hesitance in her voice and the constant licking of her lips that make them seem drier.

"Hoshi told me that you're friends with Wonu and I've seen you both take the subway together....I am wondering if you know if he's seeing someone?"

You raise your eyebrows.

"You know...if Wonu's single?" she looks at you in such anticipation but you only see red.