@sl4ghtrs : five times smiled: ( five times the sender made the receiver smile ) / from woohyuk 😌
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐎 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐌—to all of them. Just six months ago Taejoon and Hyunwoo attempted to audition as a duo—only to succeed but on a singular condition: to pair up with another duo and form a four man group. At first, the youngest was hesitant—walls so high that barely Hyunwoo could get through them. But he was willing to try if it meant that they would finally get to where they wanted to be. What he didn’t expect was how close they all seemed to get in such a small amount of time—Jinhwa had been someone that Taejoon had realized he could confide in when it came to personal or heavy topics; and Woohyuk…well, he wouldn’t admit what he felt about him, even to himself. Instead, he just started gravitating towards him more—and Woohyuk didn’t seem to mind. They grew closer as time passed.
𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐃 around the notebooks in his hands as he approached the older, dark eyes looking up at him, black bangs shifting slightly as a deep exhale leaves him. “Hey, Woohyuk—can you help me out with something?” The taller looked down at him, head tilted slightly; a smile flashed towards the younger which caused Taejoon’s fingers to grip tighter onto the books.
𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐃 with words; instead he gestures with his head for their leader to follow him instead, books unceremoniously dropped onto the table, the young rapper grabbing one and sliding it in front of the both of them and flipping pages and pages of lyrics that were scribbled inside before he stopped on a specific page. “I was working on my part of the song for our debut. I know we’re still in training and not debuting for another six months, but I thought you could, uh..go over it for me.” Because who else would he go to other than the only other rapper in their group? Taejoon looks at him, watches Woohyuk as he reads the page before he points to a line. “It’s good, but maybe switch up this line here,” Woohyuk’s finger moves to another line further down. “With this one. I think it’ll flow better. But you’re doing great—I’m impressed.”
𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍’𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 to speak before he feels a strong hand ontop of his head, playfully ruffling dark locks of hair—and in that moment, Taejoon couldn’t stop the small smile that stretched upon his lips.
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍 for Taejoon to have his moments of doubt of their entire situation. Often he wondered if this was a good idea—if their deal was worth it, and if they really would be free once they gave Gwi-ma the souls he oh so desired. Sometimes he would be so lost in his thoughts that he wouldn’t pay much attention to his surroundings—brows furrow together in thought as painted nails idly tapped at the cafe table he sat at. Was there any other way to get them out of this, and still fulfill their collective dream? If there was an alternative, he couldn’t figure it out. Fingers tousled mint locks and that was what had snapped him out of his thoughts, blinking as the melon boba tea was placed in front of him and blue gaze tilted upwards to look up at brown.
“Daydreaming again?” Woohyuk teased.
“I’m not daydreaming. Stop saying that.”
𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐔𝐗 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄, watching as Woohyuk sits across from him, and maybe Taejoon stares for far too long before he finally rips his gaze from him, bringing his drink to his lips and biting down on the lychee jelly that fills his mouth before swallowing. “You were taking too long, what else was I supposed to do other than think, huh?” “You could have waited with me.” “Nah. Then we wouldn't have a seat. This place is busy.” Woohyuk’s laughter was unfortunately infectious; and it nearly forced a slight smile that stretched upon Taejoon’s lips before he shook his head, leaning back in his seat and idly playing with his straw, gaze locked onto it before glancing back to the other, listening to him talk—the new smile that twitched at the corner of Taejoon’s lips was much softer then the one prior.
Maybe he’ll tell him how he felt after all…eventually.
𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 weren’t his thing—it wasn’t something he was ever keen on. It didn’t have to really do with the fact that they were idols and that they shouldn’t be that way in public—no, Taejoon just wasn’t for it, except for the occasional hook of pinkies, the occasional grab of the arm or the occasional kiss when no one was looking at them. If anything, he would rather keep the affection to themselves at the penthouse—though he was getting more used to the rest of their group seeing them being affectionate with each other. “We’re almost there.” Taejoon murmurs as he walks alongside Woohyuk—maybe a little too close, but it was a subtle enough gesture of wanting to be close to him, even if it was in public. Gaze rises from the map on his phone, stopping in front of the small collectibles store that he dragged Woohyuk to. Another secret of Taejoon’s was his true affinity for cute things; not something he really ever admitted until he had to put on the whole Baby Saja persona—but he did always enjoy the odd cute thing here or there. His room was a good example of that; Sanrio characters on shelves amongst other cute things he’s gotten or received. Without thinking, fingers wrap themselves around Woohyuk’s hand as he drags him through the door.
“Y’know, I’m not surprised.”
𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃; blue gaze rolling as he lets go of his boyfriend’s hand, already making a beeline for one of the shelves, gaze scanning each one carefully for something extremely rare and specific. “It’s said they had it here online…” lips purse slightly, hands carefully moving merchandise out of the way to try and find what he was looking for, pausing as a sudden shadow casted over him; cheeks tinting pink at Woohyuk’s close proximity. “What are you—“
“This what you’re lookin’ for?” He remembered the affinity the smaller had for this weird little creature.
𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 𝐔𝐏; the small plush keychain of the familiar little alligator . Big Challenges didn’t typically have official merchandise, so for this to exist was insane, and the smaller had to have it. His gaze flickers from the charm to Woohyuk and he goes to reach for it only for the taller to raise it higher and out of reach. Woohyuk’s gaze was met with a raised brow; Taejoon watching as a smirk twitched at the corner of his boyfriend’s lips. Woohyuk steps back with the charm dangling off his finger, turning on his heel, looking over his shoulder at the smaller. “I got it.”
𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 as he watches him go towards the counter, processing what happened before he follows after him. “Woohyuk, wait—“ Before he could even finish what he was going to say, the plush keychain of the alligator was gently shoved into Taejoon’s hands; blue gaze staring at it before his lips pull into a small smile, a soft sigh of contentment leaving his nose. His hand grabs the others wrist and he tugs Woohyuk down more to his level, lips pressing lightly against his cheekbone. “…Thanks.”
𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐔𝐏 and he was nestled in his bed, for once not feeling the dread that continued to plague him the more days had gone by. The first time his heart didn't feel so heavy in his chest or his lungs felt like they were struggling to breathe. It was a strange feeling; he didn't know why he wasn't feeling those things in this moment, but there was something that felt off about about this. Almost like the edges of everything were slightly blurred. Maybe he was just tired, though…The feeling of an arm around him made his eyes widen—It made him jolt, head whipping to see familiar brown gaze looking at him.
“…How?” Was the only thing that could come out of his mouth, but again, this whole situation was off. There were no words that came from Woohyuk; there wasn't enough time. Instead, there was the familiar feeling of fingers carding through Taejoon's mint locks, the familiar feeling of rough palm against his cheeks. And now—Now, at the worst possible time, he could feel chest tighten and his heart sank into his stomach. Hand moved to rest on top of the one that was on his cheek, eyes clenching tight as tears fell from the corners of them as the reality had hit him.
“I miss you.” Taejoon murmurs. “Do you know that?” Did he? Could he know that? Taejoon could feel thumb against his cheek bone; lips against his forehead—and even though he believed it not to be real, still, he smiled from the gesture—the familiar feeling. The fact that he was at least seeing Woohyuk again, real or not.
At least, maybe, he could be happy in a dream.
𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌—one he had countless times when he yearned for the other man to be beside him on his loneliest of nights. When his heart ached and yearned for the familiarity of Woohyuk’s voice or his touch. It felt like he would never see him again—he believed it; for when could a demon come back from the dead after being killed by a hunter? He was glad to have been proven wrong—god, was he happy to have him back—but there was always the lingering surreal feeling when he saw him—as if Taejoon would eventually wake up and be alone in his bed once again. And as much as he was trying to make things flow as if Woohyuk was never gone—attachment was proving to be more difficult than he wanted to be, because what if he lost him again? He couldn’t go through that pain a second time.
𝐓𝐀𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍; bathroom door shut, hair wet and now dyed back to its natural black. It felt like it had been a long time since he looked like this; hair dark and slightly longer. The only difference was that there were blue eyes staring back at him, rather than brown; a reminder that even though he looks similar—he still wasn’t human. Not like Woohyuk was now.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐃𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐑 was muffled by the closed door. The whirring had finally stopped as he set it down, running fingers through his hair. This, too, felt surreal. He perked as he heard the main door open, and Taejoon opened the bathroom door and left to meet Woohyuk in the main room.
𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒 for the other to turn around; and it’s the expression on Woohyuk’s face that causes the smile to creep upon the younger’s features. It’s the way Woohyuk’s eyes widen so slightly before softening as if he were feeling nostalgic—Which was what Taejoon was hoping for. His smile widens a little—probably the widest it’s ever been, hand moving to scratch the back of his own head and tousling newly blackened hair. Lips part to speak before he feels hands cup his face, pulling him closer, and Taejoon can’t stop himself from giving an amused huff, his face leaning into the touch. “So…you like it?” He’s met with a smile of Woohyuk’s own.
