gentle breeze - ateez seongjoong

♡ 08

♡ - short chapter

♡ - more yungi!!

"i like you too, you idiot!"

"w-what?" yunho softly stuttered as more tears flowed out of his eyes. he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. mingi... liked him too? but why? he was certain he had told him he’d never fall for a guy, much less his best friend whom he had known since elementary school. 

“i know this seems very unbelievable. but it’s true. i’ve liked you since last year,” mingi explained, as he approached the bunk bed. yunho was too shocked to move, and sat rooted to his bed. 

“m-mingi. i believe you. but i need some time to myself,” yunho said, which stopped mingi in his tracks. “a-ah? oh... alright. but promise me you won’t leave me or anything,” yunho nodded, and laid back down on his bed, wrapping himself up while mingi went to take another shower. 

--

“...mingi, are you dumb or dumb?,” hongjoong buried his head in his arms, sighing. “he’s ignoring you because he needs more time!”

“oh... but i thought he would still want to have meals with me...“

“mingi. it would be very awkward. maybe not for a dumbass like you, but just put yourself in his shoes,“ hongjoong explained, and patted mingi’s back. “wait for a few more days. he’ll look for you when he’s ready,“

the bell rang, and it was time for fourth period, math. hongjoong was excited to see seonghwa after a long time(only an hour had passed), and packed his things hastily. as he was about to leave, mingi stopped him, “promise me you’ll keep this a secret. please,” he softly said, and hongjoong patted his shoulder. “of course,”

--

seonghwa and hongjoong headed out for dinner in the evening, as usual. they bumped into yunho along the way, and mingi who was following a few steps behind.

"hey yunho!" hongjoong greeted, which startled yunho, causing him to fall a few steps back, colliding with the absent-minded mingi.

“a-ah, hey guys,” yunho awkwardly greeted, adjusting his balance. “i-i’ll go first if there isn’t anything else,” off he went, flustered. mingi, who was still in a daze, stood rooted to the ground until hongjoong waved his hand in front of his face. 

“hey mingi, you better get going! yunho already took off,” he teased, and dragged seonghwa away to find a seat before the cafeteria was full. yes, they ate dinner in the cafeteria. the park where they always went for lunch is always occupied when the sun goes down.

soon, a tray with two bowls of steaming noodles were set in front of them, and they started to munch on the soft, springy noodles.

again, seonghwa was observing hongjoong's reactions when he ate. he felt like he was already full just by watching him eat.

on another table not too far from theirs, another tray with two bowls of steaming hot noodles were set down, along with two cans of soda.

"y-yunho–"

"o-oh look! we forgot the chopsticks. i'll go get 'em,"

off yunho went, awkwardly walking away to get chopsticks from the store and awkwardly walking back, keeping his head low. mingi was probably staring at him, thinking he was the dumbest person ever.

"yunho–",

"wait, hol' up, i forgot to get spoons,"

off he went again. the store holder was giving him weird looks. mingi decided to wait til they were back at the dorm so he could finally let it all out.

the two ate in awkward silence. the atmosphere was so tense, mingi hated it. previous meals with yunho were always lively, it was all smiles laughs. there was never a time they stayed silent. well, this is the first. even passers-by could sense the awkward atmosphere that was surrounding them.

just by watching mingi eat, you would think that he had not eaten for days. he just wanted to get back to the dorm as soon as possible so he could finally, and hopefully get yunho back to normal. he even prepared a speech for this epic moment.

"yunho, i'm done," he announced, adding a tinge of cuteness in his voice. he had always been doing this with yunho without fail, and it just came out like that.

"oh. i still have half a bowl left," surprisingly, yunho casually replied without any awkwardness.

"ahh, hurry up, yunho! old man,"

"excuse you, you literally shoved the noodles down your throat, pig,"

"excuse you? that was normal speed! you're just slow,”

yunho glared at mingi while slurping on his noodles. “fine. you better wait for me,”

“of course,”

two tables away from them, sat two boys who were sighing at the scene. well, just one boy. “seonghwa, don’t you think yunho and mingi are a match made in heaven?”

“...i don’t know,“ seonghwa stopped slurping on his noodles, and looked up at hongjoong, who had propped his chin up, gazing at the yungi couple. his eyes were like those of a proud parent’s... and maybe a little... envious of them?

“i hope they get better soon,” hongjoong removed his hand from his chin and started on his noodles again. seonghwa nodded, and dug in too. somehow, he felt a little envious of yunho and mingi too.

--

small theatre:

mingi: what is there to be envious of??  (￢_￢;)

seonghwa: i want to confess to hongjoong too!!!!  (ノωヽ)

mingi: you want him to give you the cold shoulder?

seonghwa: ...