ONESHOTS || MEANIE ● WONMIN

|beliefs|

Wonwoo felt like he had landed in the middle of a survival show. His eyes darted everywhere as he did his best to avoid that certain plant—the one that always gets hung up almost everywhere whenever this season rolls around.

He could always ignore it, sure.
But his suspicious side wouldn't just let him.
He thought that if he didn't follow the tradition, bad things might happen.

So, Wonwoo always made sure to knock on wood,
avoid black cats,
never open an umbrella indoors,
pick up pennies,
and all that.

The man even went as far as kissing some random stranger the moment the clock struck midnight at a New Year's Eve party.

He couldn't care less who it was, as long as he followed the tradition and got it over with.

Today was like any other. Though Wonwoo had convinced himself that he didn't mind kissing strangers, he actually would rather not do it. Not only was it awkward afterward, but it was also quite unhygienic now that he thought about it. Who knew where those lips had been before he kissed them?

Wonwoo stopped dead in his tracks the moment he spotted the first one on campus. He gulped thickly as the two people standing under it were surrounded by a group of cheerful students urging them to kiss.

A mistletoe.

Wonwoo stepped back, recalibrating his route to avoid it, deciding to take the long way around and pass through the cafeteria. The area was still relatively quiet, as it wasn't quite time for lunch yet, and the students there weren't particularly interested in the food.

A second one.

Hung right by the third door of the cafeteria. Wonwoo clenched his jaw as he did his best to avoid the damn plant and zoomed past the other group pushing their friends under it.

He clutched his hand over his chest and sighed in relief after the quick escape, finally making his way toward his only class for the day.

---------------------

"Yo, Wonwoo! What took you so long?" Hoshi waved him over, grinning as he watched his friend trudge through the double doors of the lecture hall. Wonwoo's bag was lazily slung over one shoulder, and he was catching his breath, clearly winded from the rushed trek to class.

"Just had to take a detour." Wonwoo said, flopping into the seat next to him. He stretched his head back, letting out a long, deep breath before finally turning to face his friend.

"Lol, have you seen all the students making out around campus? This college really knows how to celebrate Christmas." Hoshi said with a chuckle, peeking out the window they were sitting next to, his eyes following the scene outside.

"Yeah, I did. That's the reason I'm almost late." Wonwoo muttered, glaring down at the new couple being forced to kiss right under that dreaded plant. The two were clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. Wonwoo felt a wave of empathy for them and closed his eyes, shifting his attention to the whiteboard up front.

"I forgot you have that thing about superstitions." Hoshi nudged Wonwoo's elbow, earning a tired glare from him. "Are you sure Wonwoo, you're not OCD?"

"Nah, I wouldn't diagnose myself like that. People with OCD suffer way more than I do."

Hoshi shrugged. "I mean, with how strictly you follow these superstitions, I just can't help but believe you're at least somewhere on the spectrum, you know?"

Wonwoo waved his hand dismissively, trying to change the subject. "Whatever, I'm just doing my best not to get unlucky."

"Dude, what's got you so paranoid? I mean, I was really shocked when you kissed that random guy last January at that New Year's party." Hoshi said, clasping his hands together as he looked up, seemingly lost in an imaginary flashback. His eyes sparkled as he vividly recalled the moment. "You were so manly when you grabbed that guy by the back of his neck and kissed him right then and there."