The tornado of quizzes had been over for a week, when Mingyu found himself doing nothing throughout the day. Absolutely nothing.
All he did was lay somewhere in the house – be it on the couch, a bed, or the floor – and simply stared up at the different sections of the ceiling without a single thought in his brain. He couldn't even toy around with the air-conditioner anymore, since it was peak winter and Wonwoo had instructed him to not even touch the controls to the machine.
Not that Mingyu would; he hated getting cold. Except the times he missed wearing shorts a bit too much – a hoodie as a top did a commendable job of keeping him warm, if he happened to be wearing shorts.
Mingyu sat in the doorway of his room, facing his much-cleaner room. He didn't use it much anyway, but it still got a bit problematic when he needed something from his stuff. The table fan whirred in one corner of the room, spitting air at Mingyu every few seconds as it rotated.
He held a staring contest with it, wondering how it worked on the inside. He'd done basic physics and all back in high school, but that was the last of the subject he'd seen. His mother had pulled him into business administration right after they had migrated from the States, back to Korea.
Mingyu wasn't even sure if he wanted to continue in Minkyoung's empire. Or if he fell short of time, he might end up doing it anyway. Hence his carefully picked courses at Pledis. Calculus was the only one irrelevant to his possible career, but Mingyu liked to have his way too.
It had been the key factor in getting him close to Wonwoo, too.
Speaking of Wonwoo, Mingyu wondered, a while later, what was taking him so long to come out of the shower. Just as he pushed the thought away, a loud grunt, and the sound of something falling echoed from the bathroom behind him. Concern taking over him, Mingyu untangled his limbs, stood up, and remained alert for any other signs of Wonwoo being in pain, or in a crisis.
Silence. Mingyu didn't hear anything else again. The bathroom door opened, and Wonwoo stood out amongst the wisps of billowing steam. A wince, followed by a groan, was what caught Mingyu's ear. Wonwoo looked like he had difficulty rubbing his back for some reason.
"Wonwoo?"
"Yeah?" the boy hissed.
"Are you okay, what happened?" Mingyu asked, walking towards Wonwoo to check on him.
He placed his hand on the spot Wonwoo had been palming at, eliciting another wince from him. Mingyu dragged him to his room, and made him sit on the bed. "Wonwoo, how'd you get hurt?"
He sighed and looked up at Mingyu. "I didn't- I just accidentally turned the shower knob all the way to the side, and um, boiling water just fell on my back and it- It landed on one of my scars..."
Mingyu immediately told him to turn around, and after Wonwoo complied, Mingyu asked him for permission to pull his shirt away.
"I need to see it, Wonwoo, you sounded pretty pained back in the bathroom,"
"No, it's- I'm fine now..."
"It's okay if you don't wanna take your shirt off. Just let me pull the collar down to see it? It might need some ointment or something, no?"
"I guess,"
So Mingyu did as he had requested, pulling the back of Wonwoo's collar away. He was met with a horrifying scar on his upper back, near his shoulder, and it was well... Huge. He wondered how he'd never seen it before. He softly rubbed a palm over it, careful not to hurt Wonwoo in any way.
"What-"
"Mum,"
Mingyu felt like crying at the sight of Wonwoo's plight-filled gash. He gently circled his arms around Wonwoo, hugging him, and pulled his back towards himself.
The day happened to be one of the rare days Wonwoo didn't wear full-sleeved shirts, leading Mingyu's eyes to dart towards his exposed arms painted with several more marks, but they didn't look as menacing as the one he'd seen earlier, as he spooned Wonwoo tightly around his stomach.
"You're a very strong person, Wonwoo," whispered Mingyu, daring to leave a soft, nearly unnoticeable, kiss on Wonwoo's scar. He felt Wonwoo turn around, and then bury his face in Mingyu's neck. "You need to see that for yourself."
--
Wonwoo had been asleep for quite a while after the unexpected nap at noon. Mingyu hadn't felt like disturbing him, knowing he'd been through way too many sleepless nights. As Mingyu rolled out of bed, he found a couple of tops of his creeping their way out of his supposed room. It was only then when he took a good look around, everywhere other than the ceiling. He frowned to himself when he saw for himself that the dorm was quite untidy. A quick peek near the couch explained why he hadn't been seeing any mugs on the drying rack in the kitchen.
A small pang of guilt slammed into him when he recalled Wonwoo liked his surroundings a bit cleaner, and Mingyu seemed to be the major factor of the unkemptness of the apartment. Ever since the swollen mark on his back had been mentioned, Wonwoo had looked pretty disturbed – Mingyu regretted ever bringing it up. He could have simply treated the slight burn and kept quiet about it.
He knew Wonwoo was quite sensitive, about everything. Mingyu wasn't ready to give up on the conversations he had with Wonwoo just because of his own mistake – first the mess, and then pointing his scar out.
Tidying up looked like the only solution – killing two birds with one stone, he hoped. As much as he disliked it, Mingyu swerved around the apartment, whisking away trash and binning it, and making sure to rinse and return the mugs where they were supposed to be.
Mingyu didn't keep track of how long he'd been going about clearing out the house, as he finally tramped into the kitchen for a drink of water. He went for a refill, when a soft, disgruntled whisper of 'ah fuck!' made him turn, and snap his head behind him. Wonwoo annoyedly rubbed his shoulder. He'd apparently slammed it into the doorframe, and Mingyu watched him cutely grumble at his shoulder, leaning with his back to the counter.
"Wow, look-" Wonwoo began, mouth snapping shut when he realised Mingyu had been watching him all this time.
"Good sleep?"
Wonwoo sighed delightedly, almost as if he wanted to relive his nap again. "Never slept this well. It's better when I know it isn't night when I'm sleeping,"
Mingyu grinned, pushing himself away from the counter and making his way towards Wonwoo. He purposely put himself as near to Wonwoo as he could, towering over him so that he was crowding him against the doorframe. "That's nice to hear," he said quietly.
Wonwoo looked to his side, and inside the kitchen, leaning in towards Mingyu so he could whisper in his ear hotly, "The house looks very clean. What is this sudden change of mind?" he simpered.
Mingyu pulled him closer with a gentle, yet demanding, grip on his throat. "I thought you liked your stuff tidied up," he murmured, lips ghosting over Wonwoo's.
"I do like it that way. I love an attentive man," Wonwoo smiled, sliding his hands up over Mingyu's sides.
Mingyu pressed his waiting lips to Wonwoo's. Wonwoo's palms gripped his hips, as the firm hand around his throat loosened, and another snaked up to cup his face. Mingyu brushed Wonwoo's untamed, blond curls back from his forehead.
Breaking the kiss, Mingyu asked, "Would you like to come with me to the café this evening?"
Wonwoo's smile hadn't left his lips. Mingyu thought he looked beautiful that way. "Sure," Wonwoo said, "but I do find it a bit disheartening to leave the very neat house, just after it has been cleaned,"
"Don't you just love to tease me?"
"I do,"
Mingyu was glad Wonwoo hadn't realised what he'd said, before he'd kissed him. Pride flushed through him, but Wonwoo didn't have to find out just yet.
