"I don"t understand, jeongyeon said he headed back here after their photography class. I don't see him anywhere." mingyu spoke in an agitated tone as he frantically looked around, scanning the school's courtyard for the silhouette of the ravenette he had fallen for. he jerked his head when chan pulled up alongside him after checking the area behind them. unlike mingyu who was very jumpy, chan remained calm. he was of course as worried as the taller student was, but he tried not to show it as much. because of how calm he remained, chan was able to observe their surroundings more and as a result he caught the sound of a small sniffling noise that mingyu had otherwise missed. "shut up mingyu."

"dude seriously? I'm not in the mood for jokes right now especially since jun fainted and apparently wonwoo went missing!" mingyu shouted at the fellow junior. their friend group was under a lot of stress following jun's medical emergency. mingyu and chan had both heard about it from students gossiping in the hallways about it. luckily seokmin had gotten to joshua who buried himself in the bookshelves of the library before the senior could go missing like wonwoo did after the ambulance took jun away to the hospital. the brunette reassured both mingyu and chan that he and joshua were okay, urging them to look for the last member of their friend group.

that's where the unlikely pair was now, out back in the school's courtyard searching for the ravenette based on the findings on one of his classmates. chan frowned at mingyu's outburst, very offended that the taller junior thought so little of him as to assume that he could be joking when wonwoo was missing. he cared about the senior just as much as mingyu did and the thought of him being gone or missing struck his heart with a great amount of fear and pain. he had only told mingyu to shut it for the sake of it being quiet enough so that he could hear the same sniffling sound that rang out from a nearby corner of the courtyard once again.

"no you idiot, don't you hear that?" chan whispered, gesturing in the direction the sounds were coming from. mingyu nodded slowly, dropping his attitude to track the sounds with chan. both juniors explored the courtyard, heading in the direction of the corner in which the sniffling was originating from. they stopped when the sniffling became louder and peered over the corner of a nearby brick wall to find the ravenette curled up, hugging his knees to his chest while burying his head in them.

"wonwoo-" mingyu started, crouching down to wonwoo's level. he felt startled by the sound of mingyu's voice being so close to him so suddenly. he hadn't expected for anyone to find him or even care about finding him. the senior did feel some relief that both chan and mingyu were there with him rather than him being alone, but it was overwhelmed by the embarrassment of them finding him in such a vulnerable position. maybe it was like what jun felt when he was trying to explain why he was doing what he was doing during their fight, vulnerability was indeed a strong state. "no you don't see me here."

"what are you doing back here?" the senior picked his head up from where it hid in his knees and looked to mingyu who asked the question. the junior was now seated on the ground, spreading his legs just enough so that they intertwined with wonwoo's legs as he uncurled himself. his face showed everything; his eyes were tinted pink and probably swelled from how he cried into his knees prior to the pair arriving. his expression was dazed, as if he were adjusting to the daylight now that he wasn't buried in his knees, while he wiped his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.

chan followed suit and sat to the senior's right, leaning his head on the older's shoulder. he felt saddened by the fact that wonwoo was suffering along in the dark corners of the school's courtyard instead of with them the whole time. the high school senior always was there to help him whether it be with homework or with emotional issues. once the junior had burst out in tears during on their their study sessions because of the stress that school placed on him and wonwoo had been there to lend a shoulder for him to lean on. chan had been with the senior during one of his worst days, he wanted to be there for one of the ravenette's worst days.

"it has something to do with jun right? joshua is with seokmin and he doesn't seem like himself and you're his best friend so you were probably hit hard by this." chan spoke in a calming tone. he was used to being comforted by joshua and seokmin when he was upset so he was knowledgeable in knowing what to do to provide support for someone going through a rough patch. 

"very observant, as usual chan." the ravenette smiled sadly at the junior. he patted chan's head softly to show his gratitude. he could tell though that the two juniors were waiting for his response, the emptiness that came with their prolonged silence proved it. wonwoo dropped his gloomy smile and leaned his chin onto his knees, not wanting to look either of the boys in the eyes when he admitted why he was crying while crouched on the ground of the courtyard. "he fainted in front of me and I did nothing. it's all my fault, if I were a good friend I would have stopped it from happening all together."

"this wasn't your fault wonwoo, you don't have to blame yourself for this. what happened to jun wasn't caused by you, I am completely sure of that." miingyu spoke up, offering his hand to console the older. he was hesitant to take it, but when he did he felt as if the gates to his heart and mind were opened up. mingyu's tight grip allowed for the ravenette to feel secure in that when he fell apart in front of the two he had somewhere to fall back on. that and chan providing physical comfort by basically cuddling up to his side made the senior feel much less alone.

"except it is my fault. I knew he was off his pills and I should have told someone about it and now he's in the hospital and it's my fault." the ravenette mumbled, looking down in a self-depreciating manner. both of his counterparts remained silent, giving wonwoo the floor to say what was on his mind. it wasn't so often that they got the opportunity to have the senior open up to them. chan had always been at the recieving end of the affection and comfort in their relationship and mingyu was usually just shut out whenever he tried to get close. "if I had just gotten over my big ego and took a second look at him I would have known how to help him, but I didn't and that's on me."

"we all noticed something was up with him. if you're going to play the blaming game here, all of us are to blame for not being there for him sooner." mingyu used his thumb to softly stroke wonwoo's pale hand. in response, the older student tensed up before relaxing his grip and allowing the junior in for once. the brunette gave a quick glance to chan, it was like a nod that signaled for him to speak as well. "I don't really pay attention to him because I'd always assume you or joshua would, so I guess I've neglected junnie in my own way."

"jun is always there to help me and he always makes things way more enjoyable than they should be." wonwoo turned his head to his right to look at the younger as he spoke. it was strangely reassuring to have chan speak in such a serious and comforting way towards him. in his mind, the ravenette briefly wondered if it was because he'd helped chan in the same way before. regardless of why chan was doing it, wonwoo paid attention to every word both him and mingyu spoke and found the pressure in his head start to lighten up. "I should have done something to make him feel the same consolation he usually provides for us, but I didn't want to be too nosy or annoying."

neither of the two juniors uttered a single word when a wave of silence pushed its way among the three students. the stern expression on the senior's face was a familiar one, one that appeared when wonwoo was deep in thought. they had seen it before when the ravenette was either studying hard or buried in a novel he was reading. this time it was obvious as to why he looked so serious, he was thinking about what the two had said and the point that they were trying to make.

"you guys are only saying this stuff to make me feel better." wonwoo concluded after his pause of silence, looking up to meet the two. he was well aware that what he had come up with was the obvious, the pair of juniors wouldn't have been sitting on the dirty ground with him if they weren't there to make him feel better. he did feel oddly weak for having to succumb to those younger than him for guidance and comfort, but a part of him also needed to hear from them that they were there for him to help him and he needed to know why as well.

"or we're saying this because we both care about you a lot and don't want to see you mentally punishing yourself for something that you're not to blame for." mingyu spoke quickly before wonwoo could say anything else. people didn't really like how talkative the junior was because of how he tended to cut into conversations and ramble on in an incredible speed which contrasted his visuals, but this time mingyu could tell that his input was needed this time by how wonwoo relaxed his facial expressions. that was until he tensed up again, pulling his hand from mingyu to cross his arms and glare at the pair.

"I hate it when you guys are right. it inflates those massive egos of yours to the point where it's absolutely unbearable to be around you." wonwoo grumbled, confusing the two juniors. they watched and then let out exhales of relief when they realized it was the ravenette trying to transition back to a state of normalcy with them. he wanted to revert back to his playful teasing ways now that he felt much better. they observed as he stood up, chan's head slid off of his shoulder in the process, and then stopped in his tracks on his way back into the school. he turned around and there laid the smallest smile. "you guys are really annoying, but thanks anyways. I do feel much better now."

"hey I'm confused, were we complimented or insulted?" chan asked as he took mingyu's hand in his own. the taller junior used his strength to lift chan onto his feet and even helped with brushing off the dirt on his clothes. for two people who were seemingly at odds because of their shared interests in a friend, they were getting along awfully well. the shorter brunette nodded his head and thanked mingyu for helping him up, even if he could have done so himself. "eh with wonwoo you never really know. I'm just glad I got to hold his hand, boy am I never washing it."

mingyu smiled and held up his hand teasingly to show off to chan. the younger junior frowned at the sight of the taller student looking so confident and bashful, he was jealous of course and had wanted to be the one who comforted wonwoo in such a way even though he already knew that it was their combined efforts that helped raise the senior out of the pit he was in. mingyu gave one last annoying grin towards chan before he went off in the direction that their love interest had headed. chan whined, being right on the taller junior's tail as he began to shout. "not fair, I want to hold his hand too!"

= = =
wow I'm on a roll and wow this chapter was way longer than I expected it to be ;-;

also fun fact: I was only planning on having chan + wonwoo as a couple here but then I realized wow we never really get to see minchanwoo in ffs so why not write about the three instead? it was like the best idea I've ever had in a long time, totally worth it and you'll see why in the fluffy chapters coming up!