Wonwoo had been preparing himself mentally since that Sunday. He found it scary how fast he'd gotten used to having Mingyu around him all the time. It was Tuesday, and Mingyu wouldn't be back until night.
Mindlessly stirring the contents in his mug, a lame excuse for coffee, to be precise, Wonwoo wondered what it would be like in the dorm this evening. When he brought the mug to his lips and sipped on the drink again, he suddenly had something else to think about. Fucking coffee, where in he couldn't even taste the actual thing – which had been doctored a bit too much with an unhealthy amount of milk and sugar.
Why? What made Jeon Wonwoo come out of his comfort zone and try something different, although it was a menial morning drink?
The reason was the boy sitting next to him, who gleefully gulped the liquid in his mug, and turned with an expectant grin plastered on his lips, to look at Wonwoo.
"It's disgusting, you can't even tell it's coffee," Wonwoo said before Mingyu could.
"I know you'd say this,"
"Then why did you make me drink it!?"
Mingyu shrugged, going silent afterwards. The sudden switch in his attitude made Wonwoo question whether he'd done something to upset him.
"Mingyu?" he asked, caution lacing his voice.
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry,"
Mingyu peered up, quite animatedly, Wonwoo noticed, tilting his head in confusion. "What for?"
"About the coffee,"
"I'm not mad about it," Mingyu chuckled, shaking his head.
"I thought you-"
"No, no, I just thought about something else,"
"Care to share?"
"It's better if I don't talk about it,"
Wonwoo worried about the change in Mingyu's behaviour. He wouldn't have minded it much if he'd been this way since he woke up. But he'd been all fine that morning, even giving Wonwoo the mandatory head scratch before he got off the bed. Had it been something Wonwoo did just now, that caused Mingyu to act this way?
"Hey," Wonwoo gently stopped Mingyu from leaving just yet. "I'm really sorry,"
"Oh my gods, it's really nothing you did. Don't blame yourself, alright?" Mingyu seemed to be struggling to hold up a smile.
"I hope that's the case,"
"It is, silly. Listen, I need to head out a bit earlier today, is that fine?"
Wonwoo couldn't help but notice the way Mingyu's voice and eyes trembled, almost as if he were boiling with an emotion Wonwoo couldn't identify as quick. Instead of pointing it out, he decided to be nonchalant with it. "Okay,"
"I'll get going, goodbye!"
Mingyu grabbed his bag from the couch, checked if he had the keys with him, and moved out after unlocking the door with unsure hands.
Wonwoo's concern grew by the minute, as he thought about his interaction with Mingyu just now. Something was definitely wrong, but Wonwoo wouldn't pry. At least, not until Mingyu wanted to talk about it himself.
It had always been the other way round: Mingyu checking up on Wonwoo every given second, while the latter refused to talk at first. Wonwoo could only hope it wasn't anything too serious.
--
Wonwoo grew more and more skittish as the day progressed. He hadn't come across Mingyu even once, and it got unbearable to a point where he had to ask Chaeyeon, in hopes she might know where Mingyu was.
Unfortunately for him, other than the fact that Chaeyeon didn't miss a chance to act insufferable, Wonwoo didn't get anything about Mingyu's whereabouts. The pounding in his heart made him feel it might pop out of his ribcage any second.
Wonwoo spent his day alone, the only contact with Mingyu being his second last class, even in which the boy had been too distracted to pay attention to anything going on around him. He eventually got kicked out of class for being 'mentally absent', making Wonwoo lose yet another chance of knowing anything about his situation.
After his classes, Wonwoo reluctantly, and dejectedly, walked back to the dorm, without Mingyu next to him. The house was dead silent, quite unlike what Wonwoo's ears had become used to in the past weeks. A few hours had passed, when Wonwoo grabbed his phone to check the time. It wasn't even seven yet, meaning Mingyu didn't return for another three hours.
Another chunk of time passed, and Wonwoo couldn't hold himself back from checking up on the boy. He tapped the contact in his phone, and impatiently waited for any indication Mingyu might be well and sound. Even after several consecutive rings – which prove to be pointless in the end – the call went straight to voicemail, as Wonwoo listened to the voice he hadn't heard all day.
Giving up on doing anything related to his studies, Wonwoo dove into the couch, and chose to distract himself with random nothings on his phone.
An article that he saw was what gave Wonwoo the answers he'd been looking for all day. It was about Mingyu, naturally, but Chaeyeon seemed to be its second protagonist as well. Dating rumours? Since when did editors allow such petty stuff?
There was a picture of Mingyu sitting across Chaeyeon attached – probably taken by the paparazzi, the background seemingly that of a café, hands interlocked on the table, and a little plaque Wonwoo observed on one corner of the image displaying the name of the café Mingyu had claimed he would work at. Had he been lying all this time?
The header was something Wonwoo didn't quite want to dwell upon, since it made his blood boil. Well, the entire article – image and all – did, but the header stood out painfully well.
That was when the door to the house swung open, and Mingyu stepped in, looking exhausted as ever. The audacity.
"Where were you?" Wonwoo blurted.
Seemed like Mingyu hadn't noticed the bite in Wonwoo's voice as he replied lazily, while slipping his shoes off. "I told you, I was at work,"
Wonwoo scoffed, "work, my ass,"
"What do you mean?"
"You were with Chaeyeon, Wonwoo meant it to sound accusatory, in the least, but what he got was a quivering voice, as his lip trembled along.
"No?"
"Stop lying, goddammit!"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Explain this, Mingyu,"
Wonwoo shoved the phone in Mingyu's hand, expecting a frantic reaction from him as he looked through the article open on the screen. Instead, he was faced with a defeated sigh, the kind you'd have when you know life's bullshit, yet you're too tired to do something about it – a feeling Wonwoo knew all too well.
"It's been out since morning," mumbled Mingyu. Like that would cover up anything Wonwoo had seen and read through.
"And?"
"It's fake, of course,"
"You don't sound so sure yourself, Mingyu,"
As Wonwoo said those words, he noticed Mingyu's eyes getting moist. He's tired, Wonwoo registered, but everything was too dishevelled for him to think properly. Mingyu furiously rubbed a hand across his face, erasing any traces of tears Wonwoo might have seen forming. A sniffle turned all of Wonwoo's attention to its source. "I'm just so scared, Wonwoo," he whispered.
"Okay,"
Wonwoo retreated back into his room at that, not sparing another glance at Mingyu. He left, feeling like the most twisted, fucked-up villain the world had ever seen.
