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Seonghwa was freaking out. He had been freaking out the entire morning, the moment he was freed from an exhausting day of school. His turtle, Bokbokie, had never caused him problems before but somehow today Bokbokie decided to run somewhere without Seonghwa knowing.
"Oh- Sorry!" Seonghwa said, on the verge of crying when he bumped into yet another student.
The student shook her head, her eyes quite big while she stared at Seonghwa's current state. Seonghwa knew he looked horrible and not like his usual self at all but he really couldn't care when his baby was somewhere in the school building, probably so hungry.
At the thought of that Seonghwa pulled his hair quite harshly with his hand that was tangled into his freshly-dyed ash grey hair. Seonghwa tried to calm down, he tried to tell himself that there was no way Bokbokie had gone that far yet. Bokbokie had to be somewhere nearby - Seonghwa had just been too stressed out to look properly.
There were still a few classrooms he hadn't looked through yet. And the dormitory. And the dormitory, Seonghwa cried to himself. He sighed, stomping towards the music classroom, already sure that Bokbokie wouldn't be there.
And Seonghwa was right. The small turtle wasn't anywhere in the current classroom. He had looked from every corner, behind every curtain. Why had the turtle disappeared in the first place? Usually Bokbokie stuck to Seonghwa like glue and he really liked Seonghwa's presence too. What had gotten into him?
Hongjoong had offered to help Seonghwa but the older one had declined the offer. He knew that Hongjoong was stressed enough with the upcoming exams and would gladly spend his free time studying rather than looking for a turtle.
San, one of his roommates, had asked to help too. Again, Seonghwa had said no. If San left without his snake draped around him, the snake would slither away and disappear too - like she often did. But finding her was always horrible! Seonghwa would have never guessed that one day he would have to search for his own turtle.
Seonghwa wasn't that advanced to use his magic to look for Bokbokie. If he knew how to, he would have done it a long time ago. It had been a few hours since school had ended and all the students left in the building were the ones who still had club activities. Seonghwa felt, understandably, really out of place. It wasn't every day that a student was looking for their pet after school hours.
But then again, not many students even had pets with them. It was quite difficult trying to balance studies and taking care of a pet, but Seonghwa had had his turtle for a long time, so he couldn't really leave Bokbokie either when he started his studies in the magic-oriented school. And Seonghwa had grown attached to the cute turtle too.
Seonghwa had often wondered whether his other roommate, Mingi, liked that he had to live with two other boys and two animals. A turtle and a snake to be specific. Mingi was scared of snakes too. Somehow, after years, the youngest of them had grown used to the feeling of San's snake slithering along his arm. Seonghwa still shivered sometimes when that happened, but he would never admit to it, of course - at least not when Mingi was around.
Seonghwa was growing desperate. There were only a few places he hadn't scanned yet but there were still no signs of Bokbokie. He sat down onto the bench nearby and buried his face into his hands. Why? Why did this happen to him? He thought that he took really good care of Bokbokie, so why would the turtle disappear now?
Seonghwa always bought the most high quality greens, fresh berries and apples straight from the local farm. He even treated Bokbokie with a small fish every now and then. He played with the turtle whenever Bokbokie wanted, he had even made a small bed for the turtle to sleep in.
Bokbokie seemed very satisfied. Yesterday, he lay on top of Seonghwa's chest, basking in the afternoon sun that seeped in through the window next to Seonghwa's bed. He hadn't complained, he had only lain quietly, falling asleep on top of Seonghwa's chest.
So why? What had Seonghwa done wrong during last night and this morning? Of course, Bokbokie had sometimes run away out of curiosity, but Seonghwa had shown the turtle around the whole school, even the dormitory, when he had first arrived at the school, so Bokbokie shouldn't disappear for so long.
Seonghwa flinched when an arm slung around his shoulders and he turned his head to his side. Seonghwa held in the urge to sigh when he saw the bright grin he so much disliked. He shifted his gaze up, meeting the other one's excited eyes.
"What's gotten you like this?" the other one asked, lips in a pout.
"Wooyoung, shut up," Seonghwa muttered, removing Wooyoung's hand from around his shoulders.
"Oh, come on hyung!" Wooyoung whined. "Tell me."
Seonghwa sent a disgusted look at Wooyoung before he stood up. He really couldn't stand Wooyoung and his strange obsession with trying to talk with Seonghwa. Maybe if Wooyoung took his hands off Yeosang first, Seonghwa could consider.
Wooyoung followed him - of course he did - and even grabbed Seonghwa's hand. Seonghwa yanked his hand free from Wooyoung's hold, stomping away towards a classroom he still hadn't searched from.
"Someone told me you lost your Bokbokie," Wooyoung pursed his lips.
Seonghwa rolled his eyes. San. "I did."
"So, don't you want help? You know, I've helped San to find his little snake so many times."
"I've already looked almost through the entire building," Seonghwa replied.
"Ah, what about the dormitory?"
Seonghwa stopped. "I have to look through this building first!" he snapped.
Wooyoung grinned. "Alright, alright," he mumbled. "Will you stop being grumpy if I tell you where your Bokbokie is?"
"I doubt you know it," Seonghwa sighed.
"Oh, if only you knew," Wooyoung smirked. "Follow me."
"Hey!" Seonghwa yelled when Wooyoung grabbed his hand and started to drag him away from the classroom he was going towards. "Let me go!"
"Hyung, don't worry. I swear I know where your turtle is," Wooyoung reassured, sending a quick smile at Seonghwa.
"You better," Seonghwa groaned, giving in.
The worry about his turtle's well-being was more important than trying his best to make it clear to Wooyoung that he did not like him.
Wooyoung smirked while patting Seonghwa's shoulder.
Before long, Seonghwa was in front of the door leading into Wooyoung and his roommates' room (please, do not ask how Seonghwa knew that). Seonghwa narrowed his eyes at the shorter one, a few guesses on what could have happened already forming in his mind.
Had Wooyoung stolen Bokbokie? That sounded possible, as that could be a way to make Seonghwa talk to Wooyoung. Seonghwa rolled his eyes.
"Did you-" before Seonghwa could ask his question, Wooyoung yanked the door open.
"Wooyoung?" came Yeosang's voice immediately.
"And Seonghwa hyung," Wooyoung replied.
Wooyoung pushed Seonghwa further into the messy room. Seonghwa gasped when he saw Bokbokie on one of the beds, tugging at the sleeve of Yeosang's shirt.
"Oh my God," Seonghwa cried. "I'm sorry," he said to Yeosang, rushing forward to grab Bokbokie from bothering Yeosang. "I'm sorry," he bowed, not meeting the other one's eyes.
Seonghwa was so embarrassed. Not only had he lost his turtle, he had also just found out that the turtle had somehow gotten into his crush's room. Seriously? What was wrong with the turtle?
"What are you doing?" Seonghwa mumbled to Bokbokie, very softly tapping the turtle's head. "You worried me," he continued, hugging the turtle closer.
"U-um," Yeosang started. "It's okay," he shrugged.
"No, it's not! I hope Bokbokie didn't bother you too much," Seonghwa looked down, bowing again. "He's not like this usually," he continued without thinking.
"N-no, it's okay, really. He was hungry."
"He was hungry?!" Seonghwa yelled, apologizing when he saw that Yeosang flinched.
"Y-yeah, he kept tugging me. So I gave him some blueberries," Yeosang mumbled. "I hope it's okay."
"It's more than okay, oh my God," Seonghwa sighed. "Thank you. I-" he paused to look at Bokbokie with an unimpressed look. "Really, thank you and sorry."
Yeosang shook his head. "I-I said it's okay."
Seonghwa nodded, standing awkwardly there. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to leave now or not - he didn't want to - but he immediately tensed up when Wooyoung inched closer to Yeosang and threw his arm around his shoulders.
"You're not giving us anything back for helping your turtle? Those were my blueberries," Wooyoung muttered, whispering something to Yeosang.
Seonghwa glared at the youngest, before he asked, "What do you want?"
"You found your turtle, why are you still so grumpy?" Seonghwa squinted his eyes, warning Wooyoung to stop messing around. Wooyoung sighed. "Okay, whatever. Maybe you should ask Yeosang. He was the one who took care of the turtle, after all."
"M-me?" Yeosang stuttered, looking at Wooyoung. "I- I don't-" he paused when Wooyoung whispered something to him again. Seonghwa really wanted to rip Wooyoung off from Yeosang. Especially when the something Wooyoung told Yeosang made Yeosang blush furiously. "Um-"
"Come on," Wooyoung poked at Yeosang's side, which made Yeosang giggle a little. Oh, wow.
"U-um…" Yeosang glanced at Wooyoung who was only grinning at him. Seonghwa gritted his teeth together. "I- If you want to t-thank me-" Yeosang groaned. "I can't do this," he said to Wooyoung.
"Just say it," Wooyoung rolled his eyes.
Yeosang frowned at his friend before he turned to look at Seonghwa again. He looked really cute, Seonghwa thought - with his oversized hoodie and messy hair and all. But what was Yeosang requesting if he couldn't even bring himself to say it?
"C-can you- Can you take me… on- on a date?" Yeosang stammered out, cheeks worryingly flushed. Yeosang hit his forehead onto Wooyoung's shoulder, whining a little.
Seonghwa stared at them with wide eyes. A date? He could definitely do that but… if Yeosang asked for something like that, it had to mean that Yeosang was also interested in him, right? Right?!
Seonghwa blinked slowly, trying to process everything. There was no way Yeosang would ask to be taken out on a date if he felt nothing towards him, right? Then what was Wooyoung so disgustingly clingy with Yeosang for?
Did Wooyoung want to mess with Seonghwa? Did Wooyoung force Yeosang to ask that because he knew that Seonghwa liked Yeosang? Did Wooyoung force Yeosang to ask that even though Yeosang didn't like Seonghwa?
One glance at the tight grip Wooyoung had on Yeosang was enough for Seonghwa to decide his answer. Even if Yeosang didn't like him, he would make him like him - as long as Yeosang didn't have anyone else in his mind.
"So?" Wooyoung raised his eyebrow.
"Let go of him," Seonghwa said. He turned to look at Yeosang whose face was still pressed against Wooyoung's shoulder. "I'll take you on a date," he answered. "Right now, if you want."
Wooyoung tightened his hold on Yeosang, grinning. "Great!"
"You're not Yeosang," Seonghwa narrowed his eyes. "And I said, let him go."
Wooyoung pouted but removed his hand from around Yeosang's shoulders anyway, patting Yeosang's back. "Come on, you're going on a date," Wooyoung mumbled to Yeosang.
Yeosang slowly lifted his head. "I can't-"
"You want to keep Seonghwa hyung waiting? He's been waiting long enough," Wooyoung said before he looked at Seonghwa. Seonghwa glared at him. Now he understood it all.
"I-" Yeosang started. He glanced at Seonghwa, blushing more, and at Bokbokie, his eyes widening. Seonghwa tapped Bokbokie's head again, telling him not to say anything stupid to Yeosang. Not that he probably hadn't already attempted to tell every embarrassing story about Seonghwa to Yeosang already. Seonghwa could only hope that Yeosang didn't understand Bokbokie. "O-okay."
"Great! Okay, Seonghwa hyung. Where are you taking Yeosang to?"
Great question… which you shouldn't be asking.
Bokbokie turned his head to look at Seonghwa, mumbling that a café would satisfy Yeosang's sweet tooth. Seonghwa hesitated, not quite trusting his turtle anymore. Where and how did he get that information anyway?
"Do you like sweet things?" Seonghwa asked to confirm Bokbokie's words. Yeosang nodded a little. "Then… Have you gone to that café near the, well, hm, near the swimming hall? The one that sells a lot of different sorts of desserts?"
Yeosang furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't t-think so?" He glanced at Wooyoung - as if Wooyoung would know.
"Okay. Then, is it okay if we go there?" Yeosang nodded again while Wooyoung grinned. "Wooyoung, don't even try to tag along," Seonghwa warned, pointing at the youngest one.
Wooyoung gasped. "How dare you even-"
"Is tonight okay? I know it's pretty late but the café is still open," Seonghwa asked Yeosang, ignoring Wooyoung, who was pouting with an excited glint in his eyes.
Yeosang nodded once again. "Y-yes."
"That's good," Seonghwa smiled. His hands were shaking a little. Luckily Bokbokie didn't complain. "So, I'll see you tonight? I'll come here. What time is okay for you?"
"U-um," Yeosang looked around, searching for the clock. "W-what about seven?"
"That's fine," Seonghwa replied. "I'll see you at seven, then," he said, waving.
"Y-yeah," Yeosang mumbled. "See you," he waved back at Seonghwa and Bokbokie.
It clearly seemed like Bokbokie had gotten along very well with Yeosang. Maybe a little too well. Seonghwa's heart dropped at all the possible things Bokbokie could have revealed to Yeosang.
"H-hey!" Wooyoung yelled right before Seonghwa slammed the door shut.
Seonghwa sighed, looking at Bokbokie. "What did you do?" he said quietly, petting the top of his head.
Seonghwa had to listen to Bokbokie tell him how ungrateful he was for him the entire walk back to his own room. But in all honesty Seonghwa was very thankful for his turtle. Even though he had managed to scare the shit out of Seonghwa, he had still somehow helped Seonghwa in terms of his helpless crush on Yeosang. So, as much as Seonghwa wanted to scold Bokbokie, he could only silently thank him for giving him such an opportunity.