#howon!

( / howon looks down at the box of chocolate in his hands.back up at jieun.back down at the box.back up at jieun. )

um. ( / he begins dumbly, brain working furiously to process this new piece of information. ) ummmmm..

( / a small pause, then ) how about cake! ( / he perks up. ) if i got you all the cake in the world, would you go out with me?!

( / another pause. ) if you don’t, i guess i’ll just go to my room and stuff my face with these and cry a little bit.

.. it’s no big deal.

( / it’s an offhand comment, and it’s probably spoken more to himself than it is to howon, but howon stills and stares, watches as baekyhun turns the valentine’s card over in his hands— is that curiosity, maybe?it shoots howon right through the heart, and - ugh, cupid - he knows the tips of his ears are reddening at the sight. he’s got a whole bag of other valentines he needs to deliver, but here he is, staring at baekhyun, gaping at him like a fish. )

.. never?

( / and it’s a spontaneous decision, but suddenly, howon shoves the entire bag of valentines into baekhyun’s arms, and he knows his whole face is probably glowing pink, but still, he says, ) the— the people who’ve never asked you are— .. they— they were probably just too shy to. that’s all.. i’m— sure— um, i’m sure everyone wants— you— to be their valentine.

.

( / pause. )

.

( / .. cue silent screaming. )

.

( / .. cue actual screaming, )

.

bUT YOU CAN’T EAT THOSE CHOCOLATES RIGHT NOW, BYUN BAEKHYUN. YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO. YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT IN THIS LIBRARY. RULES ARE RULES, YOU KNOW, I READ THEM—

( / and howon suddenly stops at the sight of a shadow of a smile - barely there, just a trace, the tiniest upward quirk of the lips. )”i don’t think.. you’re allowed to yell in this library either.." 

au in which howon has a fat crush on sungjong uvu

( / originally, howon had a plan. originally, he had a plan, but now he’s confused himself by telling so many white lies that he doesn’t remember what lies exactly he’s said; honestly, he’s terrible at this, and it’s amazing he’s come this far without sungjong calling him out on any ridiculous made-up facts. )

uhhhhh.. ( did i say that? ) .. yeahhhhhh.

( / the truth is, sungjong is the person howon likes, but somehow now sungjong is supposed to make himself jealous, which makes no sense, and— how did it come to this again? howon is just so lost now. he stares at sungjong as if the other male’s face has all the answers.sungjong takes his hand [is that an eyeroll?], and howon’s face flushes pink. he gives sungjong’s hand a squeeze. )

Howon’s hands still as the words leave Ren’s mouth, eyes flicking upwards to regard the blonde, voice suddenly dying in his throat. He stares at his neighbor, the muffin angel, quietly, calmly, letting the words sink into skin. Processing.. Processing..

ad mi ring you not so se cret ly.

Processing.. He leans closer to Ren until his nose is just inches away from Ren’s own, gaze unnervingly intense. Six seconds of silence. Six seconds of trying to form a proper response.

It’s an impressive amount of effort, for sure.

Howon watches as Junhee dumps the last of her gifts onto his bedroom floor, seven baskets and three boxes in total, all filled to the brim with pink and red and white, lovey-dovey mushy-gushiness. "Wooooow.." He stares wide-eyed at it all, leaning forward to poke and prod until Junhee slaps his hands away because they’re her gifts, Howon, and he grins cheekily back at her because sometimes he can’t help himself, Junhee.

She digs through the first box and finds it filled with flower petals and paper cutout hearts, each with a handwritten message neatly in its center.Kind of sweet, but more kind of creepy.Junhee and Howon exchange looks.

The next two boxes are more of the same: tacky jewelry and dying flowers, and Junhee is about to give up on everything and just burn it all, but Howon pushes a basket towards her.

It’s the baskets that cause them both to perk up— chocolate and sweets and treats. Howon watches as Junhee’s face glows, lips pulled into a bright smile, and suddenly he’s not sure whether or not he should be jealous of Junhee (for the mouth-watering chocolate) or the secret admirer / stalker (for eliciting the smile).He blinks at the realization and Junhee notices his sudden quiet, asks him what’s wrong with him all of a sudden, and he stares at her, cheeks pink, and says, “If— you eat all of that chocolate by yourself, .. you’re going to get fat, so— you— better share with me.”

Howon wasn't sure how exactly he got himself into this situation.

He wasn't sure how exactly, but here he was, peering out the window of a taxi cab, searching for the face of a woman he frankly knew nothing about. He supposed he should blame the entire ordeal on himself, for agreeing to do things he never wanted to, for being a major pushover. ... He kind of deserved this. Kind of.

He caught sight of the young woman standing by herself on the curbside, and somehow, he could tell she was different. She held herself a certain way, with a brand of confidence that he didn't see often. Still, he flicked his eyes downward to the picture in his hands, looked back up at her and confirmed that she was the one, the one who was supposed to be the answer to all his friends' prayers (and he wondered, vaguely, who was she, their therapist?).

It was four o' clock when Howon finally made it home, stumbled into his apartment and was greeted by Yoonjae's excited barking, the sound of tiny paws against the hardwood floor. He was tired but not sleepy - his movements sluggish when he stooped down to scratch his comrade behind the ears, kicked off his shoes, flopped unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Yoonjae," he began, as Yoonjae padded over to lick his face. "I. am pooped."

The next day, Howon had the day off at Lin's, and he didn't have anything planned other than to just sleep until he was due at Scorpio's. It was a good plan - a smart plan - and he knew he should follow it, but he really didn't feel like sleeping. Besides, his bed wasn't exactly inviting, and it was much less comfortable than a proper bed should be.

"Yoonjae," he whined. He stayed on the floor.

It didn't occur to him much later - twenty minutes later - that he had a friend in the city who probably wasn't sleeping either, a friend with a much more comfortable bed, an even more comfortable shoulder to sleep on.

"Yoonjaaae." Howon rolled over pathetically. "Can you get me my phone?" The dog looked at his owner with pity.

[text ➙ yongguk (4:24am)]  BANG YONGGUK 

[text ➙ yongguk (4:24am)]  BANG YONGGUK!

[text ➙ yongguk (4:24am)]  BANG YONGGUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I’d never embarrass you!" Howon shoots back defensively. He flops down onto Jiho’s bed and stays silent for a moment, then adds, quietly, "In public." Pause. "On purpose."