Mingyu hated to admit it, but Theatre was always way more fun than he expected it to be. Even if he'd been paired with Wonwoo since the last term.
Wonwoo's behaviour was quite more closed-off than what it had been earlier. He barely looked at Mingyu, let alone throw taunts in his way. "It's because he thinks I read through his diary," Mingyu concluded.
Although he felt much lighter than before, Mingyu couldn't help but think there was something amiss due to the absence of Wonwoo's mocks; without Wonwoo ready to throw hands at every opportunity, Mingyu felt he wasn't getting the 'Pledis' experience as good.
All he got from Wonwoo these days were the occasional looks of either boiling hatred, or deep sorrow – as though the Grim Reaper were following Mingyu around. Mingyu failed to understand what Wonwoo meant through all the looks he sent, but he figured not dwelling on them much wouldn't make a difference.
Instead, he looked forward to talking to Chaeyeon and rightfully complain about both their parents. Mingyu was a tad bit jealous that Chaeyeon's parents seemed much less resistive than his mother. Chaeyeon begged to differ, and Mingyu had to remind her of the extremely tense and frustrating episodes he had been in with his mother.
--
Professor Lee had been onto something these past days, as Mingyu observed him getting overly creative with the teamwork skill drills he'd been making everyone carry out. It was hell for Mingyu, when the Professor introduced new drills, specifically for duos. He'd changed the groupings right after the new term began, but Mingyu was still, unfortunately, stuck with Wonwoo, since Professor had realised they were already a pair. "Both of you will do great, I'm sure." Mingyu remembered what he'd said last week.
Truth be told, Mingyu and Wonwoo did everything but great. The atmosphere between them had been way too awkward since the new term, with Wonwoo, surprisingly, avoiding Mingyu like the plague. He refused to even look at him, but they somehow made it work in front of Professor, who showered them with compliments after each drill. Each time that happened, Mingyu had the urge to drill a hole into Chaeyeon's thick skull, as he often caught her snickering and stifling her laughs from across the room.
Mingyu sprinted in a hurry towards Theatre. He slowed down to a jog once he was a few feet away from the designated room, panting softly by the time he reached.
There was a group of few students right behind the door – the boisterous, 'my parents could buy your family' kind. Mingyu resisted the urge to burst out laughing every time he saw them around. It was as though they forgot about Mingyu's existence whenever they picked on someone 'just for fun'. He was Kim Minkyoung's son after all, and no one had deeper pockets than him. Not that Mingyu would go around projecting the fact, but he did fancy showing such people their places.
Nonetheless, Mingyu remained silent, and entered the room, craning his neck slightly to look over the group and their target. To his absolute shock, it was Wonwoo being surrounded by the bunch. Mingyu couldn't believe what he saw. Jeon Wonwoo? Getting targeted? That had to be an alternate universe; it looked alien to witness. Everyone's all time favourite Jeon Wonwoo, being cornered, presumably, by the people everyone claimed he had ties with.
From the corner of his eye, Mingyu caught the silhouette of Professor Lee readying himself to exit the comparatively smaller extension to the main Theatre room – the staff's corner. He didn't understand what got into him to try and help Wonwoo out of the mess. Without thinking much, Mingyu stepped into the gathering of people. clearing his throat as he did so. "What's going on?" he questioned.
"Oh look, it's Kim!" one of the guys jeered. Mingyu haughtily acknowledged the title, beaming in the boy's way.
"You wouldn't want Professor Lee to witness your little targeting ritual now, would you? Especially when it's a harmless student like him?"
"That's rich coming from you, Kim."
"Indeed it's rich, I'm Kim Minkyoung's son. Did you forget?"
Gods, Mingyu felt like such a brat saying that, and it hadn't even made any sense.
The little huddle of students shuffled off soon enough, faces morphing into harmless scowls and weak jabs thrown his way.
"No one asked you to be a goody-two-shoes, and haul my ass out of it."
Wonwoo's sour voice welcomed Mingyu. Face contorted in a smirk, Mingyu tried not to snicker. "Your welcome, Jeon. Don't think of it much. It'd save you a lot of brain power, trust me. I speak from experience."
Good heavens, Mingyu felt so good saying that to Wonwoo's face; it didn't matter whether or not he caught it. He coolly walked away, turning to find Wonwoo rushing out of the room. He couldn't care less. Why had he even done it, when he'd known well enough he would get such a response?
Wonwoo didn't return for the rest of the class. Mingyu couldn't not notice, since he had to work with someone else for the rest of the time, and totally not because Wonwoo's absence next to him pinched him somewhere, for the entirety of the hour and a half.
