Breathing in the air of South Korea was much more troubling than Mingyu had expected. Especially after the year long break at Pledis, China had been enjoyable, and being reunited with Minghao. With no Minkyoung to haunt his ass, and no clingy workers, attending Pledis in China had been easy. Not many people knew him as Kim Mingyu, and he'd loved the quiet life.
Although he missed Wonwoo to a point he wouldn't admit it, even to himself.
One of his mother's unmistakeable cars stood outside waiting for him, the black tinted windows reminding him of the silent life he was about to return to. Or he already had, as he recalled wearing a bucket hat and covering his face with a mask and shades. While it was intended to cover his identity up, it made him stand out like a sore thumb. Only celebrities pulled stunts like this at the airport.
Mingyu got ushered into the car just then, preventing him from thinking about the dreary situation further. His mother, unfortunately, sat with her usual condescending air in the seat right behind the driver's, waiting for Mingyu to settle himself inside.
He stared at her dead in the eye for a split second, before buckling the seatbelt across him as a subtle way to convey his displeasure from whatever the woman had put him through for a whole year. It hadn't been as bad, but Minkyoung didn't have to know that.
Minkyoung maintained the silence throughout the ride to the mansion. Mingyu decided to spend those thirty minutes going through his phone, pretending as if he were the only one present in the car, besides the chauffeur.
--
Mingyu, much like he'd seen coming, got greeted with stares and murmurs on the first day of the new term. Somewhere to his right, someone mocked him for going abroad randomly in the middle of a term, and on his left, the click of another person's shoes approached him. It didn't take Mingyu long to realise it was Chaeyeon walking towards him.
Without turning, Mingyu broke the silence which he knew she died to disturb. "What do you want, Chaeyeon?"
She audibly gasped, although a pause told Mingyu she didn't intend to. She ran up to his side, making sure Mingyu's eyes were on her. "That's a nice way to greet your friend after nearly a year, Mingyu,"
"Last time I checked, friends aren't supposed to ghost each other. Get lost, Chaeyeon,"
That got the reaction Mingyu wanted to elicit from her – an offended scoff. He recently realised he got a strange kind of satisfaction when people like her lost their cool. "Suit yourself, Mingyu. You've changed a lot. Did that loser friend of yours cause this sudden twist in attitude? Xu Minghao, was it?"
Mingyu was stunned at Minghao being mentioned. Yet, determined to not show his surprise outwardly, he continued making his way to his classroom, increasing his pace just a bit so Chaeyeon would get the hint, and leave him alone like he'd asked her to. Instead, Chaeyeon sniggered manically, mumbling 'Your silence says it all, Mingyu' before she disappeared amongst the gradual crowd forming in the hallway, as class timing got nearer.
Greeting his professor from the door, Mingyu walked up to his usual seat at the very back of the classroom, where, to his delight, sat a bored-looking Wonwoo. "I know Calculus might be shit for you, but at least we study together for it," Mingyu said, snapping the boy out of his monotonous trance.
Wonwoo looked like he'd seen a ghost, as his eyes landed on Mingyu smiling slightly at him. "Fucking hell, where'd you come from?"
"China, I thought I told you,"
Wonwoo groaned annoyedly, rolling his eyes at Mingyu staring at him from the side. "It was honestly so much better without you,"
"That doesn't explain the text you sent hmm," Mingyu, after pulling his phone from a blazer pocket, made a show of scrolling through his messages with Wonwoo. "Last week? That too in the middle of the term break,"
"I had nothing to do, I have no friends. I was probably bored or something," Wonwoo refused to make any eye contact with a smug Mingyu, airily flipping through a few loose sheets sprawled on his desk.
Mingyu didn't say anything after that, settling for staring at Wonwoo doing nothing, with a tiny grin on his face. It was clear his sudden appearance after a whole year had gotten Wonwoo flustered.
"I've missed you too, Wonwoo,"
Mingyu found it easier to admit it face-front to Wonwoo, instead of repeating it to himself in the mirror. Wonwoo still hadn't spoken anything, leading Mingyu to think he really might not think of it much.
That was, only until Wonwoo suddenly looked up from his desk, eyes narrowed, and face set in a frown as he mentioned something which immediately got the gears turning in Mingyu's brain. "How did Chaeyeon even know about our tutoring thingies? Wasn't that why all of this drama came up?" he asked, presumably referring to Mingyu being sent away abruptly last year.
Mingyu's eyes widened. "I- Hold on..."
"Yeah, exactly," Wonwoo slowly nodded his head – looking like he'd gotten a ton of clues to why his life was being played with – as he tapped his restless fingers on the desktop.
"Great way to distract me from the beginning of the day, Jeon, but you do have a fucking point,"
"Right?"
Something went off in Mingyu's brain. A rooting suspicion, to be precise. It made him want to desperately confirm something with Wonwoo.
"It's getting creepier and creepier, Wonwoo," he whispered, "tell me, before I went away, did anyone mention anything about you being associated with me?"
Wonwoo thought about it hard. He looked like he was about to deny it, but perked up when he finally remembered something.
"Yeah, Mum and Dad,"
"Mum and Dad what?"
"I left the house..." Wonwoo rambled to himself, more than he meant to answer Mingyu's question.
"Wonwoo?"
"Few days before you came to my dorm, Mum mentioned me having friends and all. She was talking about you,"
"Me?"
"Yeah,"
"Okay, that's all I need. For now. I don't like where this might land me,"
"Mr. Kim and Mr. Jeon, you may leave the class for the other students' sake!"
And the said duo got kicked out of the class, giving them the much needed time to sort out their brains working overtime.
