Tastebuds (Specifically Yours)

- four

"You're not proposing, Mingyu. You're asking if he wants some pizza." Mingyu mumbled to himself as he went over to where Wonwoo was seated. He tapped the boy lightly on the shoulder, trying hard not to scare him since he had headphones on. Wonwoo turned slowly, removing both earbuds, and smiling when he saw Mingyu. "Hi, Mingyu," he said, smile still present, and holy shit, it was so bright. His teeth reminded Mingyu of a brand new white crayon: perfect, untouched, but still so natural, and he momentarily reprimanded himself for having such a weird thought. His voice, oh god, his voice, and the way he said Mingyu's name made him never want to hear it from anyone else ever again. Dear god, Mingyu had forgotten how infatuated he was with this boy. "Did you need something?" Wonwoo inquired, bringing Mingyu back to earth, and to the realization of, oh my god he knows my name. "Oh, yeah! Um, hi, I'm Mingyu. I'm in your ceramics class!" Wonwoo snapped his fingers and pointed to Mingyu as if he had just realized how he knew Mingyu. "So, you must be the Kim Mingyu who's apparently good at everything except ceramics, and eats lollipops like they're going out of style," Wonwoo's smile widened and Mingyu wanted to scream. "That would be me! Though I'm not so sure about the being 'good at everything' part," Mingyu laughed, thinking of all the things he wasn't good at: pie-eating contests, seeing without his contacts, writing with his right hand. "And you must be the Jeon Wonwoo who is pretty much a pottery prodigy, and eats beef sticks like you're afraid someone will take them from you." Wonwoo laughed at that, and Mingyu knew that flowers were blooming somewhere because of it.

"Anywho, my friend Seokmin and I ordered some food since we're gonna be here for awhile. Would you like to join us?" Mingyu finishes, motioning towards Seokmin and the pizza. Wonwoo smiles, and Mingyu's heart attempts to launch it's self out of his chest. "I'd love to." That went much better than Mingyu planned.

~

By 9:00pm, Mingyu was convinced that Wonwoo was the brightest person he'd ever met. Not only physically, (god, his smile; his eyes) but Wonwoo was also very smart. In the few hours they'd been studying together, Mingyu had learned that Wonwoo could fly through Calculus faster than Seokmin,- and possibly faster than their professor- he was a poetic genius, and was planning to study creative writing in college, and he aso enjoyed singing in his free time. Basically, Wonwoo was what Mingyu's dreams are made of. Their conversation was flowing smoothly until Seokmin suddenly ran towards the nearest bathroom. Mingyu didn't question it, knowing exactly what was wrong. "Is he okay? Should we call an ambulance?" Wonwoo asked, clearly very worried about Seokmin's well-being. Mingyu chuckled lightly at his concerned expression and shook his head. "He'll be okay. His soulmate's family eats exotic foods every Wednesday, and Seokmin usually always hates it, but his soulmate still makes him try it. He must've lost track of time, or he would've been in the bathroom before it hit him." Wonwoo's lips formed a silent 'O' before he spoke. "I understand that. My soulmate and I have a similar problem, but we've developed a communication system for when one of us doesn't like something." Mingyu choked on his apple juice. While he coughed, and tried his hardest not to die when he felt Wonwoo rubbing small circles on his back, he found that he had given himself the perfect opportunity to figure out how to word his next question without sounding massively creepy. "Plenty of people create communication systems with their soulmates. It's probably just a coincidence." Mingyu told himself as his coughing came to an end. He almost wanted to keep coughing so Wonwoo would keep rubbing his back. "You okay?" Wonwoo asked. Mingyu wanted so badly to replace his concerned expression with a happy one, that he couldn't bring himself to say "No" in this situation. Not that he would, anyway. He nodded quickly, muttering a "Thank you" to Wonwoo before asking, "What kind of communication system do you and your soulmate have?" Mingyu could see Wonwoo's shoulders visibly relax at the thought of his soulmate, and Mingyu was suddenly very aware of the peppers on the pizza they had eaten. Wonwoo's shoulders loosened, and his lips lifted into a grin. "It's actually kind of funny," Wonwoo giggled.

Fucking giggled.

Mingyu is now, what Seokmin would call, a "goner". "We have very different tastes, so whenever I make them try something they don't like, they drink milk to tell me they don't like it. It's the same way with things they do like, only they drink apple juice instead. Why do you ask?" If Seokmin didn't reenter at that very moment, looking very pale and pissed off, Mingyu would've burst into tears. "Sorry about that. My soulmate's eating squid of some kind, and it was disgusting." Seokmin trembled at the memory. Wonwoo chuckled and patted Seokmin's shoulder. "The same thing happened to me the other day! I just got back from a vacation, but while I was there, I ate squid and didn't realize it was early morning here. My soulmate was not happy." Wonwoo continued to laugh, but Seokmin saw Mingyu's face turn pale, remembering the incident of Mingyu waking up to the taste of something similar to dishwater. Squid would definitely match that description, and Mingyu was terrified by that thought. Happy, but terrified. He cleared his throat as he looked at the time on his phone: 9:37pm. He needed to get home anyway.

"I'm gonna head home. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Mingyu stated blankly, gathering his things. "Hey, Mingyu?" Wonwoo grasped Mingyu's hand in his own as Mingyu turned to leave. "Could I possibly have your number?" Mingyu blinked a few times, attempting to comprehend the question. Jeon Wonwoo just asked him, Kim Mingyu, for his number. Oh, hell. Mingyu quietly took his phone from his pocket and went to his contacts before handing it to the other boy. Wonwoo smiled, (he literally radiated warmth. What the hell.) and entered his info into Mingyu's phone with a mumbled, "I'll text you." Mingyu smiled and felt his shoulders untense a bit. He sent a glare towards Seokmin that said, "Don't you dare say a word, or I'll fling your ass all the way to the Atlantic." Okay, maybe not that specific, but he got the jist. Mingyu left the library that night full of three things:

1. Fear

2. Hope

3. Pizza