⛓️

Mingi didn't come to school on Monday. To be honest, Seonghwa should've expected it as he hadn't seen the taller in the bus on his way to school, but a huge part of him had still hoped that things would return to normal.

But there was no way it could if Seonghwa didn't try to fix things between them, and that was what he was planning to do. He knew he wasn't the best at showy gifts and grandiose displays of affection, but he was going to try his best to make things right between him and Mingi.

Okay...going out to eat is out of the equation since San disapproved of it, Seonghwa thought in front of his locker that morning. His eyebrows were narrowed as he scribbled and crossed out any options that came to his head on the little notepad he had in hand; that literally went to show just how bad he was at this.

But we will eat...Mingi likes eating, he continued to think, jotting down more illegible sentences while simultaneously trying not to let the frustration he felt swallow him whole.

With a huff, he crossed out the last suggestion with so much force the pen snapped in half, which only made Seonghwa a lot more frustrated.

A pair of black rhinestone boots stepped before the fallen pen just as Seonghwa had bent down to take it, and as soon as he looked up, his heart did a thing.

Hongjoong gave him a playful sort of smile, before crouching down as well so they could face each other.

"Poor pen..." Hongjoong said as he picked said pen up, his and Seonghwa's knuckles brushing. "Did Seonggie do this to you? I know, he's been so aggressive today."

Seonghwa glared daggers at Hongjoong, before rising to his feet. His knuckles still simmered hotly from the brief contact they'd had with the shorter's fingers, and he didn't like it. "Go away."

Hongjoong leant sideways against a nearby locker, his white beanie reminding Seonghwa of what he'd worn yesterday morning, and as a result the taller boy made a point not to watch him.

"This is ironic," Hongjoong started, "since I specifically remember you telling me to stay with you on Saturday night."

Seonghwa's face burned. He'd spent all night yesterday berating himself for those words he'd uttered once he'd remembered everything clearly. "Shut up."

Hongjoong slid into his personal space without warning, taking Seonghwa's notepad while the taller's heartbeat began massively accelerating.

"Hongjoong -- " Seonghwa reached out to take back his notepad, but the shorter was fast and infuriatingly light on his feet. "Give it back."

Hongjoong dodged all his attempts, their little 'fight' gaining the attention of some of the other students by their own lockers. Most of them looked curious, while a few of them were openly gaping since they never knew Park Seonghwa could 'play around' this way around someone other than Mingi -- and with Hongjoong of all people.

"Hongjoong," Seonghwa gritted while the shorter continued reading through the options he'd written down. God, this was so embarrassing.

"You overthink too much," Hongjoong finalized. "Seriously, I've seen you two spend a fuck-ton of time together. Your friendship isn't gonna die 'cause of this."

Seonghwa hated to admit it, but Hongjoong was right. He thought too much. From his words to his actions, even down to how he dressed and what he ate. It was only recently he'd had a taste of how it'd felt to do things without mulling consistently over them beforehand, and that always happened whenever Hongjoong was around.

Hongjoong didn't make him think as much; he never had to overwhelm himself with thoughts anytime he was with the younger boy.

Seonghwa went to grab the notepad again, only for Hongjoong to push it into his back pocket. "Hongjoong."

"No planning today," the shorter announced.

"Give me back my notepad."

"If you want it so much you'd have to touch my ass to get it," Hongjoong replied, causing Seonghwa's eyes to widen as he choked on literal air.

Seonghwa shut his locker, fingers trembling and disgustingly clammy. "You're gross."

"No," Hongjoong swung his arm over Seonghwa's shoulder, not seeming to give a crap about all the stares they were receiving. "I'm Kim Hongjoong, center of the world."

Seonghwa ignored his wordplay and frowned, pretending he was all bothered by Hongjoong touching him. In all honestly, he wasn't really anymore. Usually, physical affection made him anxious, but whenever Hongjoong initiated it now, it felt...nice.

"Listen, just hang out with him and do whatever the hell you guys do with each other," Hongjoong was saying, fingers rubbing over Seonghwa's shoulder. "That should do it."

"...I'm nervous, though," Seonghwa mumbled, which Hongjoong caught.

The shorter's smile faded, and Seonghwa hated the way he watched him.

"Don't look at me like that."

Hongjoong bit his lip. "Like what?"

Like I'm weak. Like you can see just how sad I am. Seonghwa cleared his throat and looked away. "Nothing."

By that time Hongjoong's smile was totally gone, now replaced with uncharacteristic worry. It softened the edges of his face and made him look younger. Childlike, almost. "Hey, stop worrying. In fact, I'll help you with it if you'd like."

Seonghwa raked his hands through his hair only for some strands to fall over his eyes again. He was about to fix them again when Hongjoong casually began tucking some behind his ear, stilling Seonghwa's heart.

What are you doing? Seonghwa wanted to ask, but before he could say anything, something else caught Hongjoong's attention.

They were two girls walking down side by side, one of which Seonghwa (unenthusiastically) recognized.

"Hey, Hongjoong!" Dasom greeted with a wave that Hongjoong happily returned. She was just so... cheery and pretty at the same time that it kind of (really) irked Seonghwa. "And good morning to you too, Seonghwa."

Of course, Seonghwa had no idea how she knew his name when he'd never even talked to her before, but he politely greeted her back as well even if he wasn't particularly fond of her. He watched her leave with the other girl, a frown on his face.

"How does she know me?" He found himself asking.

"Still jealous?" Hongjoong snickered.

"I'm not jealous," Seonghwa answered.

"Come on. It's so clear you have some sort of dislike for her, and I'm pretty sure it's just because we talked."

Seonghwa started walking away, not at all surprised when Hongjoong just rushed after him. Seriously, where was San when he needed him?

"If you're that curious," Hongjoong hopped in front of him, almost making them collide, "she asked me for fashion tips to woo her crush, who just so happens to be the girl she'd been walking with."

"I wasn't curious," Seonghwa replied, but a strange sort of relief washed over him then, almost like he was glad that was all Dasom had asked of Hongjoong.

"We should go out sometime after school. At least, when I don't have any missions to do," Hongjoong suggested, before gasping out loud. "Like today."

Seonghwa's heart squeezed. "I'm not going on a date with you."

"I never said it was a date." Hongjoong watched him, this knowing gleam in his yellowish eyes. "Which meant you were thinking about it."

Seonghwa pretended he couldn't hear him. "I have a class to go to."

Hongjoong still skipped after him, hands clenched around his bag's straps and a satisfied smile on his face. Seonghwa didn't know what it was, but ever since Saturday night, the shorter became...more joyful, it seemed. He smiled more around Seonghwa, teased him more, and just seemed to be in an overall good mood.

Not that he wasn't like that before. But now he got a lot more daring.

"Are you okay?" Seonghwa couldn't help but ask at one point.

Hongjoong looked at him and raised a brow. "What kind of question is that?"

Seonghwa cleared his throat. "I mean -- you just...appear more excited than usual."

"Oh." Hongjoong shrugged, ruffling his hair. He then giggled. "I guess I do feel really good right now."

Seonghwa made his way up the stairway, Hongjoong not too far behind. "You should go back to how you were before. I don't like it."

Seonghwa was kidding. He rarely joked around with anyone but somehow felt like poking a bit of fun at Hongjoong this morning. And he was this close to laughing too, waiting for the shorter to act all offended and retort with some jab that would make the whole situation funnier.

Only...he didn't.

Instead, Seonghwa suddenly got shoved right into the corner of the stairs, Hongjoong mere centimeters from him in a matter of seconds. Seonghwa's entire face was alarmed, heart crazily thumping inside his chest while the shorter boy trapped him with his body, both arms slammed on the walls behind him.

Hongjoong's gaze was glowering; dangerous. He looked like a top predator ready to devour its prey. "So...you prefer when Joong was a little rough, right?"

Seonghwa didn't fucking know what was going on, but he couldn't even say anything. Instead, his eyes decided to act on their own accord and fall on Hongjoong's lips of all places, his ears blooming a deep shade of pink.

Hongjoong's hand reached out, slowly nearing Seonghwa's face. It was only a miracle no one else was around yet, which saved Seonghwa a whole lot of embarrassment in the end.

Seonghwa had no idea what he'd been expecting Hongjoong to do to him, but surely he hadn't anticipated the other to just boop his nose. At all.

But that was exactly what Hongjoong did.

Seonghwa blinked, confusion swirling in his chest as Hongjoong stepped away to clap his hands and double over with laughter.

"Did you see your face?" Hongjoong wheezed, golden eyes forming happy little crescents. "You looked so fucking red."

Seonghwa's confusion exploded into anger, one that locked his jaw and made his fists painfully clench. "Just fuck off."

He roughly pushed past the shorter and continued heading up, his overwhelming emotions seething inside him.

Hongjoong definitely picked up on how pissed off Seonghwa was, because he'd quickly rushed to the taller's side and held his arm to stop him. "Seonghwa."

Seonghwa pulled his arm off, his teeth gritted. "Get the fuck away from me."

All traces of humour had been wiped off from Hongjoong's face. He looked serious now. Guilty. "It was a joke. I'm sorry."

In all honesty, Seonghwa didn't know the actual reason why he got so mad at Hongjoong -- he just was. However, the more he stared into the shorter's sincere eyes, the more some of that anger began to fade away.

"...Why'd you do it?" Seonghwa asked, his voice coming out all soft.

Hongjoong looked away. "Because..."

"Because what?"

The bell rang, bringing about a hoard of approaching footsteps and loud chatter.

Hongjoong adjusted his beanie, not looking Seonghwa directly in the eye. "I won't do it again, alright? I should've respected your boundaries, and I'm sorry."

Seonghwa should have been relieved Hongjoong had apologized, but he wasn't. "That... that isn't what I'm mad about."

Hongjoong looked taken aback. "What -- "

Seonghwa stepped away, joining the rest of the students. "I gotta go to class."

Only when he entered his first class was he finally able to breathe.

⛓️

- dad
hey son!
i know i dont usually text you but i dont want your phone getting accidentally confiscated because of me haha

- dad
i was wondering if after work you would like to have dinner with me outside the house.
you know, like we'd used to do every once in a while with mom

- seonghwa
i'm staying over at mingi's today
sorry

- dad
oh, okay
have fun! :)

⛓️

Things didn't stay as awkward between Hongjoong and Seonghwa after all their classes were over. They'd both entered one of those big supermarkets that attracted loads of students due to how close it was to their school, set on getting as many snacks as they could for later.

Well, Seonghwa was. Hongjoong just had his eyes on whatever caught them the quickest.

"Hongjoong," he grumbled, grabbing a box of cereal from the shorter's hands. "We're buying snacks Mingi likes. Not what you like."

"Excuse you? I'm the one paying, so I get to buy what I want as well," Hongjoong replied, before taking said cereal and dropping it into his shopping cart.

"I'm paying," Seonghwa pressed, reaching for the cereal box.

Hongjoong quickly wheeled the cart away. "No. I'm paying for everything."

Seonghwa loudly exhaled as he massaged his forehead. The shorter was driving him insane. "Fine. Whatever. I don't give a shit."

"Yay!" Hongjoong cheered and slid the shopping cart down the aisle like he an ecstatic five-year-old.

"Get those gummy bears over there," Seonghwa ordered Hongjoong after a couple minutes of cruising through the supermarket, fiddling with his phone in the process. "No -- actually, get two. Mingi likes them."

"What about what you like? You're important too."

"This isn't about me."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and pouted like a baby. "Fine. I'll go get Mingi his oh so precious gummy bears."

Seonghwa ignored him and dialled Mingi's number, seriously hoping his friend would pick up.

His pulse raced when the call went through.

"Mingi?" Seonghwa spoke, chewing hard on his lip.

"Seonghwa, hi." Mingi's voice sounded a bit muffled, maybe like he'd just woken up.

"I noticed you didn't come to school today, so I wanted to come over and spend the night at your place," Seonghwa continued. "I'm hoping you'll say yes?"

He heard some shuffling on the other hand, and then Mingi was clearing his throat.

"You're...coming over?" He asked, his voice still strangely hoarse.

"Yeah," Seonghwa replied. "I know I acted weird last night, and I hurt your feelings as well. So... I wanna make it up to you. Is that okay?"

"I'm not mad at you," Mingi said. "And you can come over, by the way. What time?"

Seonghwa ran his hand through his hair, spotting Hongjoong in the distance comparing(?) the sizes of two nearly identical packs of honey butter chips. He would've smiled at the sight if not for the fact that he'd heard Mingi sniffling from the other line.

"Mingi, are you okay?" Seonghwa questioned.

Mingi chuckled, but it sounded afflicted. "What do you mean? Of course I'm okay, Hwa."

"Oh..." Seonghwa slowly nodded. He had no reason to worry since Mingi himself said he was fine. "I'm glad you're fine. Um, does around six sound good?"

"It's fine by me."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye Seonghwa." He then hung up.

"Shit," Hongjoong suddenly groaned, staring at the floor with wide eyes. "I just lost my ring."

Seonghwa switched off his phone, his chest feeling a lot lighter now. "Idiot."

Hongjoong knelt on the floor and searched around for his beloved ring. "Shut up and help me."

"Can't you use your powers to find it?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have lazers for eyes," Hongjoong snapped, small hands curled into tight fists.

Seonghwa chuckled, and then he covered his mouth as more giggles escaped.

Hongjoong stared at him like he was awestruck. "Stop laughing."

The taller boy only laughed more.

"Stop. Laughing." Hongjoong tried to sound furious, but his smile kept growing and growing.

"Fuck. Sorry," Seonghwa grinned as he looked around for the ring.

"You have a pretty smile."

Seonghwa blushed, but he chose not to acknowledge those words. Instead, he continued looking for the piece of jewelry.

⛓️

Mingi had opened the door for Seonghwa that evening dressed in his pyjamas and with a big smile on his face, eyes reflecting surprise once he spotted the two huge bags the shorter had.

"What's inside?" He asked, helping Seonghwa with them. He sounded better now, but his eyes were a little red.

"The first bag has extra clothing and my school stuff in it. The second has all your favourite snacks. We could play some video games or watch a movie since your parents aren't home."

Mingi chuckled. "You hate video games."

"I don't hate them," Seonghwa defended himself. "I just feel nothing for them. But I wanna do what you want tonight."

Mingi laughed, placing the bags on the sofa. "Thanks..."

"And I'm sorry, by the way. For last night."

"It's okay."

"It was just some dumb prank I tried to pull on you," Seonghwa explained, hoping his nervousness wasn't obvious.

"It's okay," Mingi repeated, resting his hands over the shorter's shoulders after hesitating a bit. "I'm just...happy you're here right now. Really."

Seonghwa smiled. "Thanks."

Mingi nodded. "You're welcome. We have school tomorrow so we can't stay up for long."

"Fuck that, I wanna stay up as long as we possibly can," Seonghwa joked, happy when the taller laughed at his words.

"Okay, whatever you want."

"Can I also take a shower before we start the intense gaming stuff?" Seonghwa asked.

"You're so cute." Mingi cooed. "So of course."

It wasn't Seonghwa's first time showering in Mingi's home, but during his time spent inside the bathroom, he couldn't shake shake how strange he was feeling.

Water sprinkled from the showerhead and down the drain, and while Seonghwa washed his hair, this sudden fear gripped him. The air grew a little too hot, and Seonghwa hissed and took a step back once scalding hot water hit his skin.

He grimaced and quickly turned off the faucet, his breath coming out in quick pants. What the fuck just happened?

"Nothing happened," he answered himself, but he wasn't keen on staying inside the shower any longer. He stepped out and grabbed a towel, his skin still lightly burning at the contact.

As he dried his hair and looked himself through the mirror, something appeared at the corner of his eye, watching him.

Seonghwa quickly turned his head, but was met with nothing.

Goosebumps spread over his arms. That fear was back again. He opted to ignore it though as he got himself dressed, heading out to meet Mingi a few minutes later.

⛓️

a/n: thoughts?