Mingyu wouldn't ever like to divulge, but the fact that Jeon Wonwoo was slowly beginning to grow on him, scared him, and it made him question himself. He found it difficult to believe, especially when he didn't even glance in the blond boy's way anymore, and he often caught himself thinking about Wonwoo these days. He wouldn't describe the fluttering feeling as pity, but Mingyu rather felt like he could relate to Wonwoo; in many more ways that he would admit to himself. It was something he could go without noticing, as the thought often left him disgruntled.
Mingyu was busying himself in working some things out for Theatre; a rough script, to be precise. He and a few other students had been selected to present a draft, that would later be developed into a better script by Professor Lee, and a bunch of students who had the potential of excelling at behind-the-scenes work instead of on-stage. It was nearing eleven in the P.M., when Mingyu was seated at his desk with his desktop glaring violently at him, a shared Google document opened, which was being edited back and forth by the group of people working on it.
It was frustrating, to say the least – working individually without talking ideas out beforehand. Mingyu grunted and huffed through the in-built chat, as he tried to get everyone to discuss things civilly before making impulsive changes.
'Can we fucking calm down for a minute, first?' typed Mingyu.
Chaos died down eventually, and several 'okay's and 'sure's flooded the chat.
'Thank you. We could now proceed to present ideas.'
And it transpired as hellfire once again. Mingyu attempted to keep up with the pace at which texts rained down in the little window, and he realised it was much easier to work with a number of brains that come up with exceptionally brilliant proposals.
'My personal favourites are Junghwan and Dohoon's, what about everyone else?' he commented.
A few of them begged to differ. Most of them wanted to stick to their own ideas, making Mingyu suggest a combination with bits and pieces of everyone's plans. He got a bunch of thumbs-ups, and a satisfied grin made its way to his face.
The work for the day eventually wrapped up at one A.M., and Mingyu wanted nothing but a comfortable sleep. Hopefully, with a nice dream that didn't leave him in a troubled state of mind the next day. The desktop screen went blank, and Mingyu tidied up his desk before falling onto his bed.
He just wished Professor Lee would like whatever the fuck they'd come up with in the past three and a half hours.
--
"There's no way Professor Lee would allow a queer play."
Chaeyeon looked dumbfounded, mouth hung open, as she returned Mingyu's phone back to him after scrolling through the document he'd been on last night.
"Why not?"
"Well, not everyone's that open to it, are they?"
"I don't know, he doesn't seem like the kind to disagree. I bet he only cares about a good play."
"There's that too, but..."
"It's fine, this was supposed to be a rough idea anyway."
Chaeyeon shrugged, going back to her energy bar set on the cafeteria table. "You don't seem well today?" Mingyu observed.
"Yeah, just a bad day, nothing else."
"Something happened with Hyewon?"
Chaeyeon simply nodded. She looked miserable, and Mingyu had been noticing her glancing at her phone every two minutes, presumably for any notification from her girlfriend. "Your mother?"
She nodded again, looking downcast. "Yeah,"
"Mine hasn't mentioned anything further, I'm glad."
"I wish my parents did that too."
"They'll eventually forget, I guess."
"Hm."
Chaeyeon suddenly lurched from her chair, eyes wide and fixated on her phone screen, startling Mingyu in the process. "Mingyu, I'll talk later? She's texted." Chaeyeon pointed at her phone.
Mingyu stood up as well, and lightly patted her back. "Go ahead. Don't fuck up."
Chaeyeon rolled her eyes, and left. Probably for the deck, Mingyu assumed.
Mingyu glanced at the shiny Rolex wrapped around his wrist; it was almost time for class. So he grabbed the few things he'd carried with him in the cafeteria, and walked outside to his classroom.
He would be getting the scores for another assessment today. Mingyu somehow didn't care anymore. It was just another assessment; professors gave those several times a year. As long as his mother didn't get sensitive about his grades, Mingyu couldn't care less.
As expected, Mingyu did end up topping the class once again, but the wave of triumph he was used to never arrived. Having gotten used to a rude barb or two being thrown his way, Mingyu waited for it to arrive again. Except it didn't, and Mingyu realised even Wonwoo probably wasn't bothered anymore. It washed over him as a huge relief, as he silently added the sheet to his folder.
Mingyu eagerly waited for Calculus next; he didn't have a special reason – he just liked the subject. Bidding the current professor a quick goodbye, Mingyu moved out of the classroom, making his way to the one for Calculus.
A sudden feeling of uneasiness flushed through him and he couldn't understand why. Seeing that the professor hadn't arrived yet, Mingyu dropped his bag off at his desk and rushed to the bathroom to wash his face, thinking it might help.
Another unwanted surprise waited for him in the bathroom – being met with the sight of a disoriented Wonwoo staring at himself in one of the mirrors above the sinks. If he wasn't mistaken, the boy was crying, judging by the barely-audible sniffles and wheezes.
His head snapped towards Mingyu the moment his footsteps stopped at the sink on the very end of the row. If Wonwoo looked desolate just seconds ago, he sure as hell didn't when he saw Mingyu. He seethed at Mingyu – who was only minding his own business – yet Mingyu didn't understand the boy's need to use his stupid mouth again.
"Why are you so intrusive?" Wonwoo accused, teeth grinding against each other.
"I was clearly minding my business. And I'll have you know I'm not intrusive. It's not nice to go around judging people for things they have no clue about." Mingyu answered, not bothering to spare a glance.
"You're one to talk about nice, Kim."
"I'm sorry? What have I ever done to you?"
"You've ruined my life ever since you joined Pledis, that's all."
"I would've asked you to elaborate on that, but," Mingyu checked the time. "We're getting late for Calculus, unless you don't care." He splashed his face with water, briskly exiting before Wonwoo could say anything else.
Gods, Mingyu could have slapped Wonwoo until he got some sense injected in his thick skull. Unfortunately, the action would do anything but that, and it would get Mingyu in trouble as well. All he could do was think about Wonwoo's words over and over again, until they drove him crazy.
What the fuck did Wonwoo go off about every single time?
