Archive of Our Own ^beta

The temperatures had begun to fall slightly and even if the difference didn’t feel that huge, summer slowly subsided, marking a new time passage. It was September and it would take only a few weeks before the season would officially shift into autumn.

As always, the month also signified the start of a new school year- to the joy of some who were actually interested in learning more or less helpless formulas and knowledge deemed useful and to the horror of others who preferred spending their time outside of school procrastinating and distracting themselves from all the homework waiting on their desk at home. Gunwook was a mixture of both. While he enjoyed meeting up with friends or work out in his free time, he never skipped on finishing his homework. Not because he liked working for school but rather because he wanted to achieve good grades- he knew his parents cared about that too. Anyways, with the arrival of the first school day, he was definitely not the most enthusiastic, but didn’t complain either. At least he would see his friends again.

He had seen most of them during the holidays, with the exception of one- Ricky, his best friend who had directly departed to spend his summer vacation in China to visit relatives. Although the two had texted every now and then, Gunwook was very excited to finally see the other in person, as Ricky neither had barely updated his social media, nor sent him many photos of his stay. Gunwook was highly anticipating their reunion as he was curious if Ricky had somehow changed during all those weeks.

The first friend he encountered that day was Guyvin though, who in a typical manner startled Gunwook from behind as a greeting, flashing his hyper smile. Gyuvin was a very bubbly, strange and adorable guy who never shied away from showing his flaws and his weirdness. Although he might seem as someone who was hard to get used too, Gunwook absolutely adored him and his outgoing personality. Being with Gyuvin guaranteed a light, relaxed atmosphere which made Gunwook feel at ease every time. Besides that, Gyuvin was a very supportive and understanding friend, who he really appreciated. After Ricky, he was his closest friend, the three of them kind of forming a clique, though they were also friends with other people from their year.

For example Junhyeon, a chaotic and hilarious guy Gunwook shared his Math classes with. Said guy passed by them waving excitedly as he approached his best friend Minseoung with a big grin who was waiting for him at the entrance. Gunwook unconsciously observed the two interacting from where him and Gyuvin were standing under a tree on the school yard, the way they shared a hug that lasted kind of long. Not that it was weird in general but he had never seen Minseoung being the affectionate type of guy, so it definitely peaked his interest. One could also not overlook their beaming faces as the two entered the school walking closely to one another. Their shoulders were touching and their hands faintly brushing against each other as they chatted vividly.

"They’re so cute," Gyuvin, who had also watched the two having had noticed Gunwook’s attention on them, commented softly.

"Huh?," Gunwook let out confusedly.

"Cute in what way…?," he asked in an investigative tone, suspicious.

"Eh? Didn’t I tell you? They got together during summer break!," Gyuvin explained.

"What?! No, you didn’t," Gunwook retorted, very surprised.

"You always forget to update me on the important things!," he then complained.

"You remembered to send me daily pics of Eumppappa, but didn’t bother to tell me about this," he added dramatically, earning protests from Gyuvin as a reaction who argued that Eumppappa was the most important, which Gunwook kind of ignored.

Gyuvin in the meantime also gave Gunwook a not very detailed description of how Junhyeon and Minseoung became a couple. How Gunwook had understood it, the two just basically spent a lot of time together during break and somehow their relationship just developed into something romantic. To Gunwook it was hard to comprehend how someone could fall in love with someone they had been friends with all of a sudden.

"I guess they just started to feel different about one another. There doesn’t really have to be a specific trigger. Sometimes something trivial can change the way you see somebody," Gyuvin meant as Gunwook voiced his opinion.

"Also, I think it’s not that odd to fall in love with your friend. Because even if only platonically, you are already emotionally attracted to each other’s personalities, you’re attached to one another. And it’s not like you can’t find your friend attractive either. Like that, friendship can quickly transition into romantic feelings," he also stated, Gunwook nodding as he thought about what Gyuvin said.

Maybe he was partly true. So far, Gunwook has never liked one of his friends romantically though.

His train of thoughts was interrupted when a tall figure halted in front of the two guys.

"Ricky!," Gyuvin exclaimed while he hugged the older guy who pushed him away with a half-annoyed half-playful expression.

In the meanwhile, Gunwook was standing next to them, speechlessly taking in the appearance of his best friend. Because he had changed. A LOT. His hair that he used to dye blond in the past was now black. It had also grown longer, gracefully framing the handsome guy’s face. Also, he seemed to have applied a different lipstick than usual as the color of his lips had a darker, more claret and purplish tone than in the past. Gunwook himself was perplexed that he even knew this much about the color of Ricky’s lips.

Either way, even though those were the only actual visual changes- he couldn’t tell if he had also got a new style as they were wearing their uniforms for school- Ricky’s whole aura felt transformed. While he still radiated a classy and elegant demeanor, somehow he seemed to have become more relaxed and less reserved than in the past, visible in the way he was openly displaying his amusement about Gyuvin’s high-spirited rambling about how amazing the Chinese looked. For some reason, Gunwook felt flustered when Ricky finally turned to look at Gunwook with his hands stuck in his pockets, mustering the Korean with glistening eyes.

"Hey," Ricky said with a small smile.

"You’re finally back," Gunwook retorted and slung an arm around Ricky’s shoulder as they started stepping towards the entrance.

The younger couldn’t bear looking at Ricky too long, somehow feeling out of place since the other had appeared. Maybe seeing Ricky after a pretty long period of time, especially now that his appeal and vibe had changed, made him feel a bit messy.

Ricky was feeling disappointed as he sat in the first class of his day- English- which he didn’t share with the other two. It upset him that Gunwook hadn’t commented on his new hair color or anything. Not that it had been Ricky’s intention to impress him with altering his outer look but he would lie if he didn’t admit that he had thought about the way the other would react.

Rather than receiving a positive reaction from Gunwook who always tended to make a lot of compliments towards others, though being bad at accepting them himself, the other had been reserved that morning, only throwing in sentences from where he was walking next to Ricky, their arms brushing against each other. The thing is, Ricky had noticed the other glancing at him from the side more than once but he never spoke up!

Ricky felt stupid for the disappointment that built up inside him. He had told himself to not expect what he thought was his glow up to bring about anything. Still, it was probably only natural for him to feel that way. To want to get attention from his crush.

Yes, Gunwook. Ricky had managed to fall for his best friend, even though he had tried so hard not to. But surprisingly, Ricky was pretty chill given that circumstance. First, how could you not fall for Gunwook’s bubbly, caring and cute personality? He also knew that it was not an ideal situation and tried to ignore his feelings whenever he interacted with Gunwook, though he admittedly sometimes as a joke acted slightly flirty to see if he would get any reaction from the other. Not because he thought that it would have any grand impact, just because it was kinda relieving to let his true feelings shine through rarely.

Honestly, it was always so subtle that Gunwook probably hadn’t even noticed his flirting but he enjoyed doing it every time. Ricky would lie if he said he didn’t wish for a romantic shift in their relationship. At the same time, he wasn’t so desperate for it and chose to feel happy by being close to Gunwook. Sometimes though Ricky couldn’t suppress tiny emotional outbursts like the disappointment that overcame him right now. It was only natural, if you thought about it. Ricky had matured enough to accept his feelings and handle them.

"Let’s see how the next days will be," he told himself reassuringly.

Gunwook stared. Stared for a bit too long. Because Ricky turned his head to the side, raising his eyebrows with a slight smirk decorating his face, disrupting Gunwook from his daze as the two were standing in the line for the food at the cafeteria during lunch break. Gyuvin was already seated with his plate, his teacher having had ended class earlier than theirs.

"You finished admiring my face?," Ricky asked teasingly, looking at Gunwook who felt exposed.

"You wish," he answered shortly, adverting his eyes while trying to clear his mind.

What was wrong with him? Was Ricky’s dark hair color really that distracting? The younger had caught himself looking at Ricky every now and then since the first school day yesterday. And he was unsure of why. Ricky’s vibe was different, he had noticed that. But what was it that made Gunwook not be able to take his eyes off him? Was it because he had yet to comprehend the new version of Ricky? It was not as if Ricky had transformed into a completely new person.

Everyone was constantly changing, all the time. But as it was a process, and didn’t happen all of a sudden, the people around one just accepted all those unnoticeable changes that added up every day, that’s why most of the time it seemed like everything was still the same. It wasn’t like that though if you saw someone again after a long while. You were confronted with those meaningless changing aspects of a person all at once, therefore the person appeared as if they had changed much more.

That’s why even though Gunwook could recognize Ricky’s ancient traits, the new ones that the Chinese had adopted during the summer holidays somehow seemed much more present. Could it be…that he found Ricky attractive? In a more meaningful way?

"I shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet," Gunwook told himself.

It was ridiculous. How could he have developed an attraction towards Ricky all of a sudden? This wasn’t something that happened in the span of a few days, right? Because he had only seen Ricky in school for some days recently.

Standing rather at the front of the waiting line, Gunwook spotted Junhyeon, of course standing next to Minseoung and their other friends as the older out of the two (=Minseoung) was talking about something, Junhyeon watching him with fond eyes and attentively listening to his boyfriend talk, an affectionate expression on his face. Now that Gunwook knew about the couple, their relationship was unmistakable.

Thinking back, even though Gunwook had barely interacted with the two in combination, he did remember Minseoung coming to pick Junhyeon up after his Math course often. And how they were super caring in the way they handled each other, Junhyeon’s extroverted, sometimes annoying energy always slightly less present as if he had held himself together when near Minseoung.

Gunwook couldn’t break away from the fact that those two had also started as friends first. Which was stupid, because didn’t most couples starts as friends? He couldn’t understand why it was bothering him so much. Maybe because the way he had looked at Ricky might have resembled Junhyeon’s gaze on Minseoung a bit too much? And there he was, ending up with spiraling thoughts again.

On Friday, their grade had sports together. As it was the first sports lesson of the year, the teacher had given all students freedom to choose whatever sport they wanted to play this time and soon different groups started to form. Ricky had somehow convinced Gunwook to join him to play basketball, leaving Gyuvin who went for footsal alone in his group.

"Some will need to stay outside for a while as we are too many people to play at once," one girl declared after two teams were formed, Ricky using his influence as a skilled basketball player to get Gunwook into his group.

"I think Ricky should watch from the sidelines at first so we can replace him later on in case we are behind," Dohyun, a guy from their team, who was also in the basketball club with Ricky suggested, evoking approving nods from the rest.

"Okay then," Ricky meant as he and some other team members left, glancing at Gunwook who would be involved in the game from the beginning, and giving him an encouraging smile while he passed by him.

Soon, the game had turned into a high-spirited competition, nobody wanting to seem lazy during the 1st sport lesson in order to make a good impression on the teachers. Ricky observed Gunwook as he gave his best, even though his technique was lacking still trying to make himself available or to block attackers.

"It’s cute how much effort he’s putting into it," Ricky thought to himself with a low chuckle as he continued to watch with adoration how his friend slash crush played.

Of course he also inwardly gushed about Gunwook’s stunning visuals, the boy looking way too cool while doing sports. At some point, as most of the current players were getting tired, Dohyun who had overtaken the captain role of their team, the position he also possessed in the school’s basketball team, chose to exchange most of the players, which also included Gunwook.

Leaving the field, Gunwook went straight to Ricky that was currently stretching himself. When Gunwook approached, he focused his eyes onto him, amazed how good Gunwook looked even though he was sweating.

"Well done," the Chinese then said praisingly, giving the other a few pats onto his shoulder before he ran onto the field, leaving Gunwook no time to wish him good luck or anything.

The younger remained at the sideline, perplexed about the sweet act. His heart was beating fast and although the sport he had just practiced could be its trigger, Gunwook himself knew it wasn’t. There was no denying anymore, he really liked Ricky in a non-platonic way. Feeling his cheeks getting warm as he remembered Ricky’s cute pats, Gunwook’s gaze followed Ricky who was already well-integrated in the game, handling the ball with ease.

For a while, Gunwook couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ricky, with his criminally handsome, dark-haired appearance, and his amazing athletic execution. Adverting his eyes as he felt he had stared a bit too intensely, Gunwook caught Gyuvin’s figure from where the other was standing at the other side of the gymnasium, looking at Gunwook with a raised eyebrow and a slight grin.

Oh. Feeling exposed, Gunwook looked away. He didn’t think Gyuvin would have caught on so fast, why couldn’t his non-attentive persona stay oblivious!? And was he really that obvious?

Sitting in the library, with Ricky besides him, Gunwook wasn’t able to concentrate. The two of them had met up to complete their homework after school, Gyuvin not "in the mood to study", how he excused himself.

A part of Gunwook was glad about that as Gyuvin hadn’t stopped to bother him about his recent crush on Ricky since he had sneakily found out about it. But the other part dreaded the other’s presence as without Gyuvin, he was always hyper-aware of Ricky’s presence, meaning he got stuck with his homework. Sighing frustratedly, the Korean dropped his hands onto the table and let his head rest onto them as he turned to inspect Ricky from below.

His heart almost dropped to the floor when he caught sight of the other already looking at him. Overwhelmed and flustered, Gunwook turned his head, but Ricky halted his movements by grabbing his shoulder.

"You have an eyelash on your right cheek," Ricky let out and to Gunwook’s surprise reached out to carefully remove it with the light touch of his fingers lingering.

Somehow, that was a breaking part for the younger. He couldn’t explain the braveness that rushed through him, maybe as a result of the adrenaline that had built up in him after that unexpected action. As Ricky wanted to retreat his hand, Gunwook held his wrist and sat up while doing so, now turning his whole body towards Ricky. A surprised expression overtook the other’s face, unsettling Gunwook for a mili second though he was quick to brush that feeling away as he directly gazed into Ricky’s eyes.

"I, I have to tell you something," he spoke, embarrassed about the way his voice broke for a moment, displaying his nervousness. Ricky just nodded at that, seeming too stunned to speak.

"Ricky," Gunwook started, a warm feeling spreading in the Chinese’s body as the other pronounced his name with care.

"Uhm, I think I like you," Gunwook suddenly stated, breathing out as to calm himself down. Ricky tried to remain rational.

"Like me?," he let out carefully.

"What do you mean?," he shakily dug deeper.

"I think I have a crush on you! I don’t know, since you came back from holidays I can’t stop but feel some way about you ," the other admitted rushed as if saying those words quicker would make them less meaningful.

He also looked away as if he was afraid of how Ricky would react. The silence from Ricky probably also didn’t help a lot.

"Sorry for this sudden outburst," Gunwook, mumbled shying away, understanding Ricky’s wordiness as a rejection- if he even had expected anything from his action.

Guessing from the way he was feeling right now- slightly troubled and upset- he had.

"No, no," Ricky intervened, having had taken a short while to let the information that Gunwook reciprocated his own romantic feelings sink in.

"Gunwook," he said, the joy in his voice making the other look up.

"I also like you. I’ve had a crush on you for a while now…," the older let the other know, a bright smile spreading across his face.

It felt so surreal but intoxicating. That Gunwook had a crush on him! He laughed recalling how startled his mom was when she had come pick him up from his stay in Shanghai at his grandma’s house, saying his demeanor had changed and he had become even more attractive. Oh, he had never imagined that he’d also have this effect on Gunwook, never. Easing Gunwook with his reaction, the younger also laughed, looking relived.

"Oh my god, I didn’t think it would turn out like this," the younger said happily, shaking his head in disbelief. Through all that, he was still unconsciously holding Ricky’s wrist.

"Where did that courage come from?," Ricky wondered with a chuckle.

"The courage you didn’t have?," Gunwook teased back with a grin, making both laugh though Ricky knew he’d get back at that later.

"I don’t know. It was impulsive,“ the younger then told.

"Hmm," Ricky meant in return, suddenly grabbing Gunwook’s chin delicately and moving their heads closer, Gunwook’s eyes growing wide.

"You’ve got anything to say about my courage now?," he asked with a small smirk as Gunwook didn’t move but soon dropped the act and laughed at the other’s reaction.

"You should have seen yourself," he grinned and detached Gunwook’s hand from his wrist, smoothly intertwining their fingers.

"Yah, don’t make too much fun of me,“ Gunwook complained though his wide grin mirrored Ricky’s as he squeezed their hands once. Their bliss was obvious.

"Alright," Ricky replied, pressing a short kiss onto the back of Gunwook’s hand.

"Let’s study for now, shall we?," he then proposed as if nothing happened, Gunwook nodding in a slight daze as he gazed at Ricky from the side.