it was just early in the morning when everyone in junior year was gathering around the school busses, names being checked multiple times to make sure everyone was present. it was that morning the thirteen boys finally had something in common.
dark eye bags and a lack of sleep.
none of them had been able to fall asleep with ease that night, their thoughts constantly occupied with the ones they were paired up with, the bunch of unfamiliar teens and even the location that mortified a lot of students after hearing about the lack of internet connection.
now, everyone was just strolling through the mess of bodies. pushing a way through the students that fought over the best place in the bus to find familiar faces.
however, wonwoo was the only one who stood a few steps away from the sea of students, unbothered to let himself get swallowed by the crowd as well. normally, he loved to hide himself in crowds, in the bustling city for example. however, he rather avoided the type of crowds where recklessly chaotic teens pushed each other back and forth for no specific reason.
wonwoo was just about to reach for his earphones so he could shut the chattering off when a familiar voice caught his attention. oh shit. wonwoo found himself slightly panicking when mingyu's face appeared in the crowd.
he looked like he had just gotten up from bed, his hair still pointing up a little, dark bags underneath his eyes. even his shirt hung loosely around his shoulders, exposing his well defined collarbones. wonwoo tried not to let his eyes linger on them for too long, scared Mingyu might follow his gaze and find out what caught his attention.
"wonwoo! hey! are you excited for today?!" even when he looked like he hadn't slept in days, nothing was able to break mingyu loose from his optimistic attitude towards wonwoo, which was still a mystery to both boys.
"uh. i don't know." wonwoo answered, nonchalantly shrugging as he ruffled his hand through his black curly hair on an attempt to flatten it a little. which, of course, failed miserably and made it an even bigger mess than it already was.
"anyways, i went to the store last night.." mingyu went on, getting strangely excited when wonwoo's monotone voice talked back to him without any form of offensive words, "..and i bought us some snacks! the better ones are in my other bag in the luggage cabine, but behold... sweet potato snacks! please tell me you're not allergic to them or anything."
wonwoo took a moment to take in everything mingyu just said to him, not being used to the loads of attention the puppy-like male gave him. his gaze instantly focussed on the bright pink bag of sweet potato crips mingyu held up from his backpack.
"why did you do that?" wonwoo felt the need to drop his cold attitude for once and stop shutting mingyu off after that gesture. no one had ever even taken the effort to approach him or start a simple conversation, which he had gotten used to over time. and here he was, kim mingyu, among the most popular boys in school, being all nice and buying him snacks.
"because i'm excited and i felt the need to buy us snacks!" mingyu's smile widened even more when he saw the boy's expression soften. mission succeed!
"oh no. you shouldn't be spending your money on me. wait how much did it cost? should we split it? or do you want me to pay you back?" wonwoo hurriedly reached for his backpack, attempting to zip it open when mingyu cut him off. he felt slender fingers grabbing hold of his upper arm, gently pulling it away from his bag, which unconsciously sped up the heartbeat of both boys.
mingyu cleared his throat when he noticed he might've ruined his moment with wonwoo already, scared he might be uncomfortable with skin ship. instantly he pulled back his hand, giving an apologetic smile.
"why would i voluntarily buy us snacks and ask you, who didn't even know about it in the first place, to pay me back. think of it as a nice gesture of me." mingyu silently added something underneath his breath, hoping for wonwoo to not catch it, "i wouldn't to this for anyone else.."
wonwoo heart started beating rapidly, questioning himself if mingyu actually spoke those words or if his brain came up with it. however, once he heard the familiar voice of mister lee calling out their names, he turned to the school bus, eyeing the visibly smaller crowd.
they were only the third group, so the best seats would have been taken by now, which was perfectly fine by wonwoo. since the biggest amount of best seats were taken, wonwoo could safely sit halfway the front, unnoticed by anyone around him so he could mind his own business without being interrupted.
but his little bubble of happiness snapped at the thought of mingyu being pressed up against him in the little space the bus chairs had to offer. he knew that even when he would plug in his earphones, mingyu would do anything to get his attention.
but when he shifted his gaze and carefully watched at mingyu's side profile, the whole thought of being shoulder to shoulder with him for the upcoming two and a half hour didn't seem like such torture to him anymore. after all, the boy bought snacks for them to share and acted completely different than when he was with any of his friends.
it seemed like wonwoo had brought up a wholly new persona in him.
and while wonwoo stood there, questioning about the way he felt about mingyu, seokmin stepped on the bus with jisoo closely shadowing him.
"shall we sit here?" seokmin pointed out one of the first pair of seats he saw when they got on the bus, confusing jisoo as he said so.
"don't you want to sit closer to your friends? you really don't have to worry about me, seokmin. i'll do fine wherever we sit." jisoo gave him a friendly smile, gesturing for him to make a decision he might've liked more. but seokmin furiously shook his head.
"i insist on taking these seats! now hurry up, take the seat at the window before i get there first."
"only if you insist." jisoo playfully rolled his eyes and claimed his seat right next to the window, gesturing for seokmin to sit down next to him so he wouldn't block the alley for other students any longer.
"as if you mind sitting by the window." seokmin remarked, shuffling in his position to get a little more comfortable in the small space he had to share with jisoo. he felt how his cheeks started burning when jisoo moved in a little closer, while the boy had room enough to sit further away from him.
"and even if i sat next to the aisle i would have been able to look at the sun, aren't you well known as a stray of sunshine?"
"i'm the sun itself. apparently it has something to do with the way i smile, but i don't know it's just some nickname half of the school uses." seokmin said, shrugging as if it was nothing.
"well they're right. your smile manages to brighten up many's day." jisoo smiled at him, making sure seokmin was eyeing him as well, "it surely brightens up mine."
it was then when seokmin realized, he was going to do anything he could for him and jisoo to get closer during camp.
