Wonwoo didn't keep track of how his body went about. All he knew was that he was running, late at night, towards Pledis. Or a bus stop, if his luck happened to make him come across a late night bus somewhere on his route. Much to his, and his legs', dismay, Wonwoo found nothing of that sort, and he had to keep going on his feet.
He didn't care whether he was being loud or not when he entered the campus, after what seemed like an eternity. The dormitory, obviously, wouldn't allow him in at this time of the day, but it didn't hurt to try. Just like he'd done while sneaking Mingyu in some time ago, Wonwoo managed to shimmy inside without much hassle.
It was only when his feet pounded on the blue carpeted floor on the storey his room is located on, did Wonwoo notice something wet dripping down his cheeks. As he brought his hand up to knock on his room door, after having realised he'd lost his key sometime during his run towards Pledis, he realised he was crying and trembling.
Wonwoo desperately knocked on the door once again, needing something to collapse against; reason being his legs slowly getting numb by the second. Relief washed over him when the click of the door was heard, and Wonwoo, without another thought, fell forward.
Mingyu's chest prevented him from tumbling over, and his arms went under Wonwoo's in an instant. Wonwoo felt his heaves getting more and more violent as he struggled to catch his breath from the relentless, sudden physical activity.
He expected Mingyu to bombard him with questions, but he did the exact opposite, surprising Wonwoo yet again. The boy hadn't said a single word since Wonwoo came back, and he seemed to be taking Wonwoo back to his room. The consideration brought another wave of tears to Wonwoo's eyes, but he tried to hold it back from flooding all over. He'd cried enough for the day.
Or not. None of his plans went well, and nor did this one. Hot tears, yet again, spilled without his consent. Wonwoo was aware Mingyu's T-shirt was turning damper by the second because of his incessant sobs, but since he hadn't mentioned anything about it, Wonwoo decided he shouldn't either.
When Mingyu brought him to his room, words finally spilled from his mouth. "Where were you?" Mingyu's voice was barely a whisper, filled with a certain type of gentleness Wonwoo used to feel years ago.
Wonwoo sobbed harder, subconsciously hiding his face between Mingyu's shoulder and neck, unable to form an answer. He couldn't bring himself to even talk about the dreadful place his parents' house was.
Mingyu probably understood Wonwoo was in no place to formulate proper words, and decided to keep quiet until he calmed down. His voice filled Wonwoo's ears after a while, once again. "Wonwoo?"
Wonwoo gulped, mustering a lame excuse of acknowledging Mingyu calling for him.
"Are you okay?"
"What does it look like?" he snapped.
"You're not,"
Wonwoo found no energy in himself to keep the conversation alive. He was a tad bit annoyed at Mingyu at the moment, but couldn't bring himself to let go of him either. "Mum took me back to the house." Wonwoo whispered some time later.
"Oh. Why..?"
"I tried to jump from a bridge," Wonwoo didn't feel the need to lie. At least where Mingyu was concerned.
Mingyu, much unlike what Wonwoo had thought he would do, remained silent, only his arms around Wonwoo tightening. Of course, Mingyu wasn't new to him pulling such acts. A soft hand patted the back of his head, almost as if he were conditioning him to keep his thoughts at bay. "It scares me when you do things like these, Wonwoo," came his silent murmur.
"Well I can't exactly help the fact that my life fucking has something against me,"
"Maybe you could find someone who makes it better,"
How and why was Mingyu being so tolerant and patient with him?
"I don't want to. They leave just when it starts getting better,"
"Your sister had to deal with something too, Wonwoo. You know she would have stayed,"
"She didn't, though,"
"Where's this sudden hatred towards her coming from?"
It was a huge shock to Wonwoo when Mingyu read right through his words. Had Wonwoo's tone really sounded that sour?
He debated over whether reliving his nightmare by narrating it to Mingyu would be worth it. Although it killed him on the inside to endure it all alone, he was still sceptical of telling Mingyu. Yet he gave in, thinking the boy deserved to know that much, seeing him being considerate and wanting to listen.
"I had a nightmare a while ago,"
"Okay..."
"I don't know if I-" Wonwoo choked, "Somi was there, but she wasn't like herself at all. It was the first time I could see her resembling Mum and Dad."
Maybe that was all Wonwoo had to say. He knew so, when Mingyu didn't prod further.
"I lost the house keys," Wonwoo admitted.
"It's fine, we'll get a new set. What matters is that you're back where you want to be, I'm assuming,"
There was a playful tinge to Mingyu's voice. He could probably tell Wonwoo was much better than before, since he'd stopped shaking. "You can let go of me now, Mingyu,"
"I can, but I don't want to," was Mingyu's immediate reply.
For some reason, it made Wonwoo snort with laughter, and it led to Mingyu peeling his face away to look at. "Your sudden switches scare me,"
"A lot of what I do scares you,"
There was a seriousness to Mingyu's voice when he spoke again, carefully. "Why wouldn't it? I can't imagine losing a friend to suicide, Wonwoo,"
"No one cares if I die or not," And that was the truth, at least according to Wonwoo.
"I do. If you don't believe it, you will some time later,"
