PROJECT: SEVENTEEN. seventeen au

COMING

the day has been a mess.

mingyu could say so for himself. at first it was just them arguing about whether or not they should make a plan. now they've ended up pissing their un-pissable agent (more like babysitter) off , tearing their group in half, and making four of their members run away frustrated. no, scratch that- they've ended up with everyone with their stress levels up high.

to be honest, it was kinda his fault for all of this as well- for he had snapped at jihoon, talked down on him and somehow added to their stress. gosh, the disrespect. mingyu felt embarrassment sweep through his bones. then again, it was clogged minds and frustrated vessels of creativity that truly set off the downpour of events, so maybe things weren't really his fault, after all.

but even if he had these stupid feelings and annoying thoughts to deal with, that didn't stop mingyu from doing the laundry.

yes, the laundry. he was in charge of it as he always was with everything else. mingyu sighed as he trudged down the staircase and past the empty living room with a hamper on his hip, sighing fondly upon seeing their cheap colored suits for washing. he smiled at it, remembering the way seungcheol would insist that they matched everyday and get mad when they'd let even a speck of dirt on it. then he rembered that his hyung was gone and probably off to run away and never come back, and so his feigned happiness flew away.

at last he arrived, in front of the small laundry room hidden in the back of who-knows-where. it was one of those hidden gems that kiro and jieun had introduced on the orientation day (which made him sad upon remembering the memory again, considering the fact that jieun probably hated them and kiro was a convicted criminal) and mingyu had found refuge in it ever since. the silent, repetitive hum of the washing machine brought odd comfort to the giant boy.

he turns the knob open with a struggling hand, and is surprised when a flicker of a lighter meets his eyes.

"wonwoo?" mingyu calls out, equally as surprised as the elder leaning against the dryer, wide-eyed. he looked emo-er (a word mingyu often used for him) than usual, pale cheeks and dark, hollow eyes a contrast to his almost bleeding, chapped lips. an unlit cigarette rests in his mouth as he fumbled to light it yet again. mingyu sets the hamper on the washing machine and frowns. "hyung, what are you doing here?"

the boy inhales and takes a long, puffy drag, burning stick now between his bony fingers. "ventilation's good. couldn't risk doing it outside, the others would see me."

raising an eyebrow, mingyu nods, not really savoring the smell of smoke in the air. his dad used to smoke a lot and he developed a strong hatred for it ever since. but he had no choice other than to load the clothes in the machine instead of ushering wonwoo out, for he'd seen what the boy can do. it made shivers run down the spine.

after mingyu had run through all his procedures, he and wonwoo stood there in silence. just the two of them, at least three strides apart. him on the washing machine, wonwoo on the dryer opposite him. it was an odd and unmistakably familiar silence. neither of them wanted to talk.

and only now did mingyu realise, as he stared at the way the moonlight through the small shaft in the wall hit wonwoo's wreck of a face, that they've never held a proper conversation before. nothing. just small hi's and hey there's, and pass me the salt and sorry i stepped on your foot. it made mingyu feel like he's known him for so long without actually reading his mind, or had talked to him for a long time without uttering a single word. so close, yet so far. like a priceless painting you could only ever stare at and never touch. mingyu doesn't know how or why, but only then did he realise he and wonwoo clicked...in a way.

and it also made him realise that the smoke was getting in the way. of his airways and his view. and that they needed to move out of here fast.

"want to go somewhere else?" mingyu offers. his hand is on the doorknob and he's halfway out.