attention | gyuricky

twenty-six.

Gunwook is the one who initiates the next outing with the other three; with the workload picking up as they dip their toes into midterms season and everything else Gyuvin has been preoccupied with, he's a little rueful as he sends back an enthusiastic affirmative response in the groupchat. They've always been the type to make spontaneous last-minute plans; they're meeting at a cafe in, Gyuvin glances towards the time at the top of his phone screen, about half an hour, some place that just opened near the university and apparently makes really good waffles.

Gyuvin pulls one of his university hoodies over his shirt and heads out the door. He'd planned to leave early, considering he wasn't the best at navigation, let alone to a new place, but as he heads down the stairs he catches sight of Gunwook walking from his block and waves, waiting at the foot of his building for Gunwook to catch up.

"Hey, what's up? It's been a while since we hung out," he greets cheerily, offering him a quick hug.

"We would've hung out more if you weren't so busy with your boyfriend," Gunwook gripes, and Gyuvin nearly chokes on nothing.

"My what?"

"I'm just kidding," Gunwook smiles, something resembling mischief hidden somewhere beneath. "But if the shoe fits..."

"What shoe?" Gyuvin despairs.

Gunwook shrugs. "I don't know. Don't kill the messenger, but Junhyeon thinks you're kinda obsessed with Ricky."

"That bitch!"

"Are you, though?"

Gyuvin gives him a hard look in the eye. "You know we've hated each other since the start of the semester right?"

"Hated as in past tense," Gunwook points out. "I'm not trying to pry or anything. I'm just glad you guys are finally getting along. It must suck to hate your roommate."

"Right, you're best friends with yours," Gyuvin recalls, nodding. "Jiwoong, right? Yeah, he sounds like a nice guy. He helps you with your film stuff right?"

"I try not to leech off him too much," Gunwook says, a little sheepish. "I'm the one who needs to take the midterms anyway, so I've gotta put in the work."

Gyuvin laughs. "Of course you'd say that. You always had a better attitude towards studying than I did."

"You say you hate working hard, but you always do anyway," Gunwook retorts.

"Yeah, maybe because I don't want to be jobless in the future."

"Forget the future, you're jobless right now."

"The hell, as if you're not."

─

He loses track of time, as he always does when he's with those three. It's been that way ever since high school; they've just always had the talent of finding endless topics of conversation and miraculously never getting tired of each other. It's the reason they've stayed so close throughout the years, throughout everyone else coming and going. They hang around at the restaurant so late one of the staff comes over to apologetically tell them the restaurant's closing and they have to leave, and only then does Gyuvin realise it's almost eleven.

They stop by a convenience store and each pick out an ice cream from the freezer out front before heading back in the direction of the dorms together, a rare occasion where none of them are even the slightest bit drunk.

"You know, Gyuvin-ah," Junhyeon begins, kicking a stone out of his path on the way up the slope to the dorms. "I thought Ricky and Hao were dating, at the start."

"Why, because you never see Ricky with anyone else?" Gyuvin shoots back lightheartedly.

"Well yeah," Junhyeon admits. "I asked Hao, actually, back then. He laughed at me."

"What's he like?" Taerae asks. "I just...didn't expect you guys to get along after everything that happened. What changed?"

Gyuvin sighs, closing his eyes, breathing in the night air. "I don't really know either. But whatever it was, I'm happy things turned out this way."

The lights are on in the apartment when he enters, which he doesn't expect. Ricky's sitting at the dining table in his usual spot, a sketchbook and some loose-leaf paper spread out in front of him, and he looks up when he hears the door click open.

"Hey," Gyuvin greets, a little surprised, setting his keys down on the counter. "I brought you back some strawberry shortcake. Don't you have work today?"

"No, not for a while. The club's undergoing renovations for the next few weeks," Ricky answers.

"You ate alone?" Gyuvin asks. "I'm sorry. I would've eaten with you if I'd known."

Ricky gives him a mildly confused look. "Why are you sorry? I eat alone all the time. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Okay, well, if you don't want to eat with me then just say so," Gyuvin retorts, and the other boy laughs softly.

"I never said that," Ricky says, opening the brown takeout bag. "Thanks for the cake."

Gyuvin sets his bag down on the chair opposite and opens his laptop, sighing. The next hour passes quietly, as it usually does; they've fallen into the routine of studying together at the dining table since before they even really became friends, and the reason they only ever got along during those hours was because their studying habits just inexplicably seemed to match. It's the same reason Gyuvin never studies with people like Junhyeon; he's known since high school that boy gets knowledge into his head by reading it out loud until he remembers it, a habit that's driven the other three up the wall enough times he's learned his lesson never to arrange study dates with Junhyeon ever.

He and Ricky are alike in that sense. They both hyperfocus on whatever the task is at hand and thrive best in absolute silence, which means neither of them ever interrupt or are interrupted by the other, which Gyuvin is eternally grateful for. He pores over his essay assignment on the role of modern humanities in architectural design until it's past one in the morning, and only when he's read through it twice and is satisfied with his work does he let himself look away from his laptop screen and stretch his sore neck.

Ricky looks up from across the table, giving him a little smile. "You're done?"

"Yeah, thank god," Gyuvin says, standing up to head over to the kitchen and poke around in the drawers for a snack. "Are you?"

The other boy sighs, abandoning his pencil and running one hand through his hair. "Am I ever?"

Gyuvin opens a bag of pretzels and pops one into his mouth. "It's late. Sleep soon, finish it tomorrow."

"I don't know..." Ricky protests softly. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"I'm here, so that's not an excuse," Gyuvin interjects, rolling his eyes. "You shouldn't stay up late every day, anyway, it's not good for you."

"Okay, mom."

"Whatever. Go wash up before I throw your pillow out the window and give you a real reason to not sleep."

Gyuvin finishes brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas without much thought, and he's sprawled across his bed on his stomach like a starfish scrolling through social media when Ricky comes in, wearing glasses, having taken his contact lenses off for the night.

"I thought you were gonna sleep with me," Ricky says, and he looks so forlorn, like a wide-eyed kitten, that Gyuvin smiles.

"Okay, fine, since you asked so nicely."

He gets up and leaps from his bed over to Ricky's, and the other boy retaliates by throwing the comforter over Gyuvin's head. "Can't you walk over like a normal person?"

"Can I sleep in my own bed like a normal person?"

"Shut up and lie down."

Everything's different, Gyuvin thinks, when it's quiet. The lights are off and the night breeze rustling at the trees outside brings with it the promise of the coming autumn. He hears a slow, steady heartbeat in the darkness; in this moment he thinks he knows what love is, and he thinks, just maybe, this is it.