"Hold on- Mingyu!"
Wonwoo yelled, sounding urgent, when Mingyu was readying himself to go take a quick shower. "What?!" he shouted back, too tired to put a shirt back on and walk to the kitchen again. Wonwoo's footsteps approached instead, and that made Mingyu panic. Fuck, it was too late to wear a top, now that Wonwoo was already standing in front of him.
"Uhm- Hi," Mingyu waved a very lame hand, making sure the towel on his shoulder is prominent enough to give Wonwoo the hint.
Wonwoo, looking like a deer caught in headlights, stared wildly at Mingyu's visible cringing. "So you've gone hungry for the whole day?" he asked, followed by an awkward clearing of his throat.
"...Yeah,"
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, as Mingyu's attention got diverted to his reddening ears and neck. He nearly snorted out loud, then reminded himself to stay in check. "I'll just go then. See you in ten," And he slammed the bathroom door in Wonwoo's face.
Gods, it had made Mingyu feel things when he caught Wonwoo blushing just seconds ago. He held a hand to his chest, in hopes to calm his pounding heart, and go ahead with his shower.
When he returned, clad in sweats, he found Wonwoo in the kitchen cooking up something. The smell wafting in the air was quite unlike any kind of food Mingyu's ever had.
Wonwoo turned around, eyeing Mingyu with an unreadable expression plastered on his face. "Glad we know how to put clothes on," he deadpanned, and went back to the contents simmering in a saucepan in front of him.
Mingyu, meanwhile, pulled a chair for himself to settle on. "You were literally shirtless the first time I came by,"
"I wasn't expecting anyone at that time,"
"Neither was I earlier,"
"Shut up"
"Okay,"
Mingyu let his head fall on the island till Wonwoo was done. His day had been tiring, and it only reminded him of the way he knew how he'd have to spend his weeks from now on. Four days a week, working an evening shift in a nearby café. That meant heading out directly after his classes, and returning by ten at night. It should be manageable, Mingyu wondered, but refrained from having an unhealthy amount of positive thoughts.
A plate got slid in front of him. The contents were something Mingyu hadn't ever seen before, and it smelt heavenly. "What is this?" he asked, picking up the pair of chopsticks Wonwoo held out.
The boy shot him an incredulous look. "You've never had Tteokbokki before?"
"No,"
"You've been missing out,"
"Apparently," Mingyu rolled his eyes, digging in right after. A sound of approval left his lips as soon as he took his first bite. "How are you so good at this?!" he asked Wonwoo – who was intently staring at him.
"At what?"
"Food stuff,"
Wonwoo shrugged. "Eh, I learnt how to because it's a necessity,"
"And yet you don't eat,"
"Jeez, okay," Wonwoo shuffled around to get a dish for himself, and sat next to Mingyu after serving himself. Mingyu wore a grin at the seemingly annoyed façade, but he knew well enough Wonwoo was trying hard to suppress a smile.
"What days do you work?" Wonwoo asked, a few minutes into the meal.
Feeling the urgency to reply, Mingyu didn't bother swallowing before speaking. "Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays,"
And everything went silent once again.
"What about Calculus then?"
Mingyu chuckled into his plate. "It's been over a year already! Plus we literally live together!"
"Right. Great way to remind me,"
"You say it as if it's a bad thing!" Mingyu laughed, not able to hold his laughter back anymore. Wonwoo being forcibly sulky was an extremely cute sight to witness.
"You're noisy,"
"And you have your own pair of noise-cancelling headphones,"
"They're not used to your level of noisiness,"
"You're just spitting bullshit now, Wonwoo,"
And that's when Mingyu finally got to see the smile Wonwoo had been hiding for so long. It was one of its kind, as his eyes disappeared into his face, and his cheeks rose delightfully, a blush gathering at the top. A nose scrunch didn't miss Mingyu either.
He got shoved at the hip, when Wonwoo attempted to 'punch' him in the gut. "Shut up," Wonwoo mumbled.
"So you do know how to smile,"
"I guess,"
--
As more days passed, Mingyu found himself settling in properly. Their schedules were quite similar, except for the four days Mingyu had to clock in part-time at the café.
Mornings were the most chaotic, when Mingyu woke up next to Wonwoo, quite against his wish, which was followed by both of them hogging the bathroom to get ready – yet none of them wish to be the bigger person and rise a tad bit earlier so the other could get their peaceful morning.
It had even gone to a point at times, when Wonwoo – half-asleep and annoyed – forcibly threw himself over Mingyu, knowing well enough the boy needed barely anything to drown himself in slumber. Wonwoo liked to annoy him by becoming a weighted blanket and lull him to sleep, just so he could wash up before him.
Mingyu had caught onto that soon enough, as he had mock-wrestled Wonwoo back to his side of the bed, ruffled his head since he knew Wonwoo was weak for it, and had been ready at the kitchen island, downing a mug of coffee before Wonwoo could even brush his teeth.
Although he wouldn't ever leave the house without Wonwoo, Mingyu loved seeing him sulking right before they headed out.
Some nights had been stressful too. Those when Wonwoo had nightmares of things he wasn't ready to talk about, and Mingyu had no clue of what he should be doing. He would have normally hugged the boy until he calmed down, but he wasn't sure whether an unstable Wonwoo would appreciate it much.
The mornings after such nights were troubling. Wonwoo got annoyed at the littlest things, from the lack of sleep, Mingyu assumed, and didn't talk for the whole day. The most he did was let Mingyu address his nightmare briefly.
Mingyu eventually sat Wonwoo down one evening, and talked him into opening up. Like he'd expected, it was usually Somi whom Wonwoo dreamt about, but the boy claimed her behaviour was what made the scenes a nightmare. He said something about her acting exactly like his parents, something she would have never done willingly. It was just Wonwoo's twisted mind that made him see these things during a peaceful night, he claimed.
Wonwoo had been near to tearing up that evening. It took everything in Mingyu to not hug the hell out of him to make his sobs die down. He only held back until Wonwoo let him do so, and when he needily asked for any gesture of comfort, Mingyu held him so tight, he thought he could actually squeeze all the air out of the boy.
Much unlike Mingyu assumed, Wonwoo didn't let go of him for a long time. He cried on Mingyu's shoulder until his throat was parched. Hearing his hoarse cries was what made Mingyu reluctantly pull away to go and get him a glass of water. It was after that evening, Wonwoo allowed Mingyu to do anything in his power to stop his nightmares.
Truth be told, although Mingyu found it ridiculous and sick of himself, he liked knowing Wonwoo cried. Instead of bottling it all up – something Mingyu was guilty of doing himself.
No matter how hard he tried to relieve it, he couldn't ever manage talking about himself, when Wonwoo was clearly struggling more than him.
