Few days into their reconciliation, Mingyu immediately saw differences in Wonwoo's behaviour. Although he wasn't as closed off as earlier, it was easy to tell that he wasn't himself either.
It took everything in his power to not bombard Wonwoo with questions, when he clearly saw him doing much better than earlier.
Nights were a whole different story. Wonwoo, like he used to, continued to go limp on Mingyu in the middle of the night, but in the past few days, it somehow seemed a bit too desperate.
It got to a point where Mingyu had woken on several mornings to find literal claw marks on the places he recalled Wonwoo to have grabbed him or fisted his top the night earlier. He decided it was best if he finally asked Wonwoo about the sudden changes in his behaviour.
"Hey Wonwoo," Mingyu called out on a Sunday morning, sprawled out on the couch next to him. "Can I ask you something?"
Wonwoo replied with a lazy hum.
"Are you doing... Alright these days?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"No, don't get me wrong, but I feel you've been too jittery. I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking-"
Wonwoo stopped him from rambling further by setting a hand over his knee. Mingyu expected to see a smile when he looked up at his face, but was met with a solemn expression instead.
"Wonwoo?"
Said boy leaned forward to rest his head against Mingyu's chest as a tired sigh left his lips. Not knowing how to proceed, Mingyu could only rub a hand on the back of Wonwoo's head, waiting for him to speak about whatever had been bothering him.
"I'm just shit scared," Wonwoo mumbled a while later.
Huh?
"Of what?"
"Whatever happened," his voice quivered through Mingyu's chest.
"Why do you say that?"
"I feel like," he sighed, sounding as if he was giving up on whatever he wanted to say.
Mingyu had known by now – honesty always worked best at clearing up any problems between them. He gently patted the boy's head, encouraging him to continue. "Go on,"
"What if my parents are still, you know, in touch with her, and they're just trying to-"
"You're trembling, Wonwoo," Mingyu said, arms going under his to prop him up, forcing him to make eye contact. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, Mingyu offered, "we'll go talk to Chaeyeon today, how about that? Will confirmation from her be enough to clear it all up?"
"Yes. Thank you,"
"You don't need to thank me, Wonwoo, your feelings are valid,"
He felt Wonwoo freeze on him as he sniffled, worrying Mingyu. Had he said something wrong?
"I- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I-"
Wonwoo scooted backwards. A single tear flowed down his cheek, which Mingyu prevented from tipping off his chin with the base of his palm.
"No, no, I've just never- Never heard that before,"
"Oh Wonwoo..."
Mingyu hugged him tight. He could only imagine the horrors the boy in his grip could have been through, and he was not going to ever bring them up.
"I'll go give her a call, okay?"
"Okay,"
Mingyu walked to his room to snag his phone, and searched up Chaeyeon's contact. He waited impatiently for the ringing to stop, and for her to pick up. Several rings went through, but he only heard the transferred voicemail in the end. He tried again, and again, until the screen showed him the eight calls that had gone unanswered. "What is she doing-"
That was when his phone vibrated and shrieked in his hand. Mingyu hastily swiped on the round, green icon, holding the device to his ear.
"What is it?" barked Chaeyeon.
"We need to talk. Or rather, Wonwoo does,"
"Why him?"
"He deserves an explanation, too. I've left him out on the details, he should hear those from you,"
"Can't you just tell him?"
"I'm not in the position to do that, You've messed with his life, so he needs to hear it from you,"
"Fine, okay, can you ask him to drop by 'Heaven's Cloud' tonight? After your shift, if you want to be there too,"
"Sure,"
--
"Wonwoo! I'm leaving!"
"Okay!"
"Don't forget to be there at night!"
"Telling me for the millionth time reminds me enough! Get your ass out, now!"
"Bye!"
Mingyu closed the door behind him. An unsettling feeling creeped upon him, telling him that the night wouldn't go as smooth as he imagined it would. Nonetheless, he shook it out of his head, knowing well enough that everything he'd thought would sail smoothly, had only ended in mild chaos, or a full-scale disaster.
He still couldn't help but hope it went neatly.
Mingyu was behind the bar, gathering the blenders for washing when he heard the door to the café jingle open. Chaeyeon, with shades placed on her nose, entered and slid onto a chair, capturing the whole table. She stared at Mingyu – he couldn't really tell because of the shades – and then waved a hand at him, gesturing to him to go and do his job.
Mingyu glanced at his watch; his shift ended in ten minutes.
Five minutes later, while Mingyu was behind the bar again, this time wiping the counter clean, the glass door opened again to let Wonwoo in.
All of Mingyu's attention shifted to Wonwoo, who stood there like a fish out of water. He didn't realise when Wonwoo looked at him, but a tiny smile sent his way made him return it without a second thought.
Wonwoo turned his back towards Mingyu, scanning the café for an empty table. His gaze landed on the one Chaeyeon was sat at, and Mingyu observed the way Wonwoo's eyebrows came together in a grimace, his lips curling in anger.
This was definitely not going to end well.
