apartment block 17

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part eight: all wrapped up

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apartment #417
jeon wonwoo, kim mingyu

jeon wonwoo loved kim mingyu. that was a fact. it had been that way since the moment wonwoo saw mingyu's face on seokmin's phone screen, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

wonwoo didn't know why he was still so confused. while mingyu had reached the great realisation that he loved jeon wonwoo, the man in question was still three laps behind.

if two people have mutual feelings for each other, they date. then they marry and grow old together. that's what all the romance novels and dramas said. that's how wonwoo's parents got together. that's how all the couples wonwoo knew got together.

so he didn't know why it was so difficult when it came to kim mingyu. wonwoo's inner conscience kept insisting that mingyu was pulling a prank on him. any excuse to not accept mingyu's feelings.

wonwoo knew deep down that he was scared. he'd never been in a committed relationship before, and he still felt insecure about 'publicising' his sexuality. the group of boys who constantly harassed him at the university had gotten worse recently and wonwoo didn't want to get mingyu involved.

it was so much easier when mingyu only saw wonwoo as a close friend and roommate.

wonwoo cursed himself for giving mingyu such a lame answer that night. what kind of person says 'okay' when someone confesses to them? he wished he could've just given a straight 'i love you too'. but the commitment that came with that answer scared wonwoo a little bit too much.

the truth was, wonwoo loved listening to mingyu's morning voice every time they ate breakfast together. he wanted to be the only person to see mingyu's smile as he said 'goodnight'. he wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could with mingyu.

but he didn't feel worthy enough to have the title of 'kim mingyu's boyfriend'. he didn't want to drag mingyu down when he deserved so much better. he didn't believe that someone as perfect as kim mingyu could love someone like him.

despite his mess of feelings, things around their apartment quickly returned to normal the day after mingyu confessed to wonwoo. wonwoo was thankful that the awkward tension between them was gone for the moment.

they made it back to their apartment after jisoo's party. mingyu immediately ran to his room as soon as they closed the door.

"wait, i'll get your present!" mingyu had shouted before running off. wonwoo waited around in the living room.

mingyu returned as minute later, holding an a4 package wrapped in hideously colourful wrapping paper.

"merry christmas, wonwoo!" mingyu said with a toothy smile. wonwoo's heart skipped a beat as he took the package. he carefully undid the tape holding the paper together. mingyu looked rather impatient for him to open up the gift.

it was a portrait. a monochrome painting created with watercolours and what looked like charcoal. it resembled wonwoo, but it was far too beautiful to actually be wonwoo.

the wonwoo in the painting was smiling. wonwoo was pretty sure his smile wasn't as beautiful as that.

"so, uh—" mingyu began in embarrassment, "i took a picture of you the other day so i could paint a portrait."

"you did the laundry for a week just so you could make me a christmas present?" was all wonwoo could say.

"well, i love you after all," mingyu grinned. wonwoo couldn't help but think that he was saying it way too easily.