【Ａｓｐｈｙｘｉａ】 seongjoong

Resolve

Wooyoung sighed from behind the counter as he stared at the new number in his phone. He still couldn't believe that he had run into Yeosang. The two hadn't seen each other since the last day of high school. They had been close friends. Well, as close as a Ghoul could get to a human without setting off alarms.

Yeosang had always been a bit of a loner. He was usually sullen in class and hardly spoke to anyone. That was fine for Wooyoung, who didn't want to get too close to anyone. In school, the blonde was sort of the person that everyone knew of and said "hi" to in the halls but never spent actual time with him. Popular, but still distant. He liked to think he was a professional acquaintance. So, it was quite the topic when he started spending more time with Yeosang.

At first, it was a tactic to keep others from trying to get too close to him. Hanging out with someone so cold was a nice way to keep people whispering from afar. Of course, many people tried to lure him away but he ignored their advances and continued to bother the other.

He could tell that it annoyed Yeosang in the beginning, always hanging around, but the blonde didn't stop until the other eventually broke down and accepted his new companion. They had formed a sort of alliance, then. Yeosang helped keep people from getting too close and Wooyoung helped keep others from talking about the boy behind his back. Not that Yeosang even really cared in the first place.

That was until he had met San. From there, the two drifted off until they no longer saw one another. Their mutual benefits broke as Wooyoung spent more and more time trying to win over the gang leader's favor. Yeosang didn't seem to do anything to fight this growing distance. It almost seemed like he had predicted it would happen. No harm, no fail. Eventually, the brunette had stopped coming to school all together. In hindsight, that may have been when he had joined the academy.

And now Yeosang was a CCG agent. Great.

Wooyoung sighed as he dropped his phone onto the counter with a 'thunk.' He rubbed heavily at his face. It wasn't like they had talked about their futures in school so it shouldn't be that big of a surprise but now he didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what had possessed him to ask for the other's number in the first place. To keep up appearances? It would be nice to talk to a face from the past but not when that person could potentially kill him. It was already risky enough associating with one agent, let alone two. But what if Yeosang expected a text?

The blonde was ready to tear at his hair when the bells above the door chimed and Mingi stumbled in looking tired. He meandered to one of the bar stools and threw his messenger bag onto the counter. The clasp popped open and some of his papers slid out. The taller didn't even seem to care as he groaned and dropped his head to the counter with a thud.

Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. "Uh, rough day buddy?"

Mingi didn't raise his head as he just whined. The blonde stared at him for a moment, but seeing as he wasn't moving decided to shrug and let it go. Maybe he just needed a minute to compose himself.

"Wooyoung!" The blonde was just starting to go back to work when Mingi's head popped back up abruptly, startling the other and making him nearly drop the mug he was holding. The brunette had a determined look on his face as he stared intently at the barista.

"Y-yeah?" Wooyoung said, clutching the nearly fallen mug close to his chest. He hadn't really had many interactions with Mingi besides working a shift together here and there but it had been too busy in the cafe to really have time to talk. The look he was sporting now was certainly different than he had seen before.

"Have you ever dated anyone?" Mingi had said passionately, nearly standing up and leaning far over the counter. Wooyoung leaned back to try and get a little farther from the brunette.