Try Not To Fall In Love | woohwa

05

"do we really have to do this?" seonghwa asks wooyoung when they get to the empty beach.

"only if you want to."

seonghwa sighs as he looks up at the sky and lays his head back on the sand. "but you promise you won't tell, right?"

"of course i won't tell. i'm not like that."

"fine." he sighs.

today's the second day of them 'dating', and on the schedule wooyoung made, it said that they had to go to the beach and tell each other a secret. it seemed stupid to seonghwa at first, but now he admits that it might not be such a bad idea.

there are some things he would like to talk to someone about, but isn't able to because he's embarrassed. he's not even able to tell his best friend yunho about how he feels sometimes. seonghwa's the type of person that doesn't like talking to others about his problems.

so maybe this isn't such a bad idea.

"you go first." he tells wooyoung.

"okay." wooyoung lays down next to him and looks up at the stars. "i guess this isn't something i should hide, but..." he starts. "i'm adopted." seonghwa turns to look at him as he talks, but wooyoung just continues looking up. "i hide it because it shouldn't matter, right? i mean... my parents are my parents. why should it matter if they gave birth to me or not? they treat me right and that's what should matter... right?"

"of course." seonghwa nods. "what matters is that they treat you well."

"do you see me differently now?" wooyoung frowns.

"differently? how?" seonghwa looks away. "how did i see you in the first place?"

"i'm just saying... now that you know this, would it give you another reason to not fall for me?"

"no... why should it? you being adopted shouldn't even have to be a secret in the first place." he tells him. "but i understand. some people can be cruel and make fun of you for it." he sighs.

"have people made fun of you before? for the secret you're going to tell me? it sounds like you're talking from experience."

"it seems like you know me more than my friends." a small smile forms on seonghwa's lips and he sits up on the sand. "by how fast you catch on to things."

"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to-"

"i'm not rich like all of you." seonghwa blurts out and feels a heavy weight get off his shoulders, but also feels afraid of how wooyoung will react. he's afraid that he'll end up getting disappointed like everyone else.

"huh?" wooyoung turns to him, a little surprised.

"the reason i got into this school was because of a scholarship, not because i could afford to go there." he looks down. "i'm not like the rest of you. i don't have money, i live in a small house, and i work part time after school, afraid that a classmate will see me and tell everyone else."

"no, but why would they-"

"it happened before." seonghwa feels his eyes get watery. "in my old school."

wooyoung just looks at him as he feels his heart break by the sight of seonghwa crying.

"someone found out i was poor and told everyone. everyone was so mean to me and made fun of me for it, which made me switch schools." he wipes his tears away. "my friends think i keep secrets from them since they've never been to my house. i just can't show them where i live. i don't know how they'd react."

"but they're your friends. do you think your friendship would really end over this?"

"i know they're good people, but i don't know... i'm just not sure how they'd react. i only ever go to their houses which are basically mansions, but they've never been to my house, so they know something is up. i always make something up and tell them there's something going on at home and they can't come over today. then the next day i end up saying the same thing."

"i'm sure they'll understand." wooyoung puts his hand on top of his. "but until you're ready to tell them, your secret's safe with me."

"thanks, woo." he gives him a small smile. wooyoung feels his heart flutter at the nickname. "now, what you asked me earlier is something i should be asking you... do you see me differently now that you know?"

"of course not." wooyoung smiles at him. "i like you because of who you are, not because of what you have."

"are you sure? but the car i have isn't even mine. i rent it sometimes and when i don't, i take the bus earlier than others usually take it... so they don't see me."

"so then... that time i saw you at the bus stop-"

"it wasn't my first time." seonghwa sighs. "i only acted clueless about not knowing anything so you two wouldn't suspect anything. i usually take the bus earlier than that time, but that day i woke up a little late, so you two ended up seeing me."

"is that all you had to say? or are there more things you wanted to tell someone?"

seonghwa looks at him for a few seconds, surprised by wooyoung's reaction. how is it that he seems so fine with what he's telling him?

"i-i didn't think you'd react like this." seonghwa tells him honestly.

"was there a way i had to react?" wooyoung asks him, confused. "you're still the same person i started liking. you're a nice person, seonghwa." he gives him a small smile. "and now i understand why you were so cold to me at first. i was getting too into your business while you were afraid of getting caught... am i right?" he asks and seonghwa nods. "now i know why you didn't like talking about your personal life. i know i seemed too much like a stalker and i'm sorry. i'll try to give you more space from now on."

"why would you have to do that now? you know everything i was trying to hide."

"huh?" wooyoung asks a little surprised. 'what does this mean?' he thinks to himself.