Chapter Text
Wooyoung isn’t a fanciful person; whimsy is all well and good, but he believes that things can be achieved better by your own merit than if you were to, say, wish on a shooting star.
Still, he’s certain he must be at least a little bit magic. He’s always had good intuition, after all.
His friends beg him to set them up, because somehow, with his wide pool of connections, he can find their semi-perfect match easily. Yeonjun is very happy with his boyfriend, Changbin and Felix have been together for 2 years now, and Gahyeon is thinking of moving in with her girlfriend. With a string of successes following his name, is it any surprise that he takes a lot of pride in his… Shall we say, ‘matchmaking’ services?
That’s why he’s most excited that he might have found the perfect someone for the love of his life, his best friend — nay, his soulmate, notoriously single Yeosang.
“Please, just one date,” Wooyoung tries. “San is amazing, I swear, you’ll love him.”
Wooyoung knows this, because he loves San. San is possibly his other half, his twin separated at birth. They met at the same zumba class, and they got along like a house on fire. Now they text nearly every day, and meet up twice a week just to hang out.
Lately, San has been bemoaning the lack of eligible bachelors in the city, much to the consternation of Wooyoung’s coworkers, because he comes in during working hours, claims a table, and doesn’t leave until closing time, or Wooyoung’s shift ends.
Wooyoung doesn’t know San’s type, but Yeosang is the kind of person you can’t help but love. And San is someone with a lot of love to give. They would go so well together, Wooyoung is certain of this fact. He just needs them to realise it. A little push never hurt anyone.
“I don’t know,” Yeosang says quietly, chewing on his lower lip as he fiddles with the dial on the radio. “I don’t think I’d feel comfortable going on a date straight away.”
Okay, that’s fair. Time to reframe. “It doesn’t have to be a date.” He suggests. “What if I told San it was just a friendly hang-out? Like, I want my two best friends to meet, so they can also get closer.”
“I… Sure,” Yeosang says, finally. “That doesn’t seem too bad.”
“Great!” Wooyoung grins. “I swear, Sang-ah, you won’t regret this.”
“I already am.” Yeosang mutters, shying away like a nervous horse in the face of Wooyoung’s enthusiasm, but there’s the barest hint of teeth peeking through the smile he hides behind his palms.
San comes over the next day while Wooyoung is working the counter, so he tells Hongjoong — his grumpy, tsundere coworker — that he’s taking his break now.
Hongjoong sighs. “Your friend here again? Fine, whatever. Shoo, I’ll take over the counter.”
Wooyoung grins, folds his apron away, and skips over to the corner table San has claimed for himself. He’s not alone today; there’s a tall, lanky man with shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes. “Hey, Sanie.”
“Wooyoung, hey,” San grins, showing his dimples. “Hope you don’t mind, I brought a friend. This is Yunho.”
“Hi,” Yunho says brightly. He holds out his hand to shake, which Wooyoung accepts with equal zeal. “I’ve heard a ton about you. Hope you don’t mind if I speak to you informally, I feel like I know you myself. San’s really glad to make a new friend — he’s kind of shy, right?”
San smacks him with a whine. “Yunho, shut up…”
Wooyoung laughs. “You guys are funny. It’s nice to meet you, Yunho.” Then he remembers. “Uh, actually, I had to talk to San about something.”
Yunho and San exchange a look. “Yeah, sure,” Yunho says easily. “I’ll get us something to eat. San, your usual?”
“Yep, thanks,” San nods. “I’ll pay you back!”
“No need,” Yunho waves him off. “My treat. Wooyoung, anything for you?”
“Nah, I ate already,” Wooyoung smiles. “But thanks for the offer.”
Yunho shrugs, a genial air to him, before he strides over to where Hongjoong is scribbling in his notebook, not paying any attention to his surroundings. Wooyoung turns back to San. “So… You know Yeosang?”
“I have heard of him,” San says, with a twinkle in his eye. “Your best friend, the love of your life, that Yeosang?”
“So, I was thinking —”
“Ooh, dangerous.”
“— Shut up!” Wooyoung swats at him. “I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if my two best friends could meet up? Just you two. Then once you guys get closer, we can do, like, group hangouts!”
San hesitates. “I don’t know, and… Didn’t you say that he’s kind of shy?”
“It’s just a friendly hangout,” Wooyoung promises, a tad eager. “Besides, Yeosangie is the sweetest ever. You’ll really like him, I’m sure.”
“I know I will,” San assures. “He seems really great. I just… Us two, alone? That sounds kind of awkward.”
Huh. Wooyoung didn’t think about that. It’s true, both San and Yeosang are introverts. That’s why their friendship works so well together: WooSan and WooSang are the I x E pairs. But I x I, when there isn’t a pre-established connection? He chances a glance at the clock — his break is almost up.
“Will you just think about it, at least?”
“Yeah, of course,” San agrees. “I can do that. We still on for our Marvel marathon on Friday?”
“Duh, we gotta finish Age of Ultron.”
“So.” Wooyoung says.
“So?” Hongjoong echoes, looking suddenly paranoid. “What do you want now, brat?”
“Nothing!” Wooyoung raises his hands in surrender. “I just noticed you were really smiley today. Anything good happen? You finally get laid today?”
“You —!” Hongjoong growls. “No, I just had a nice conversation with that guy at the counter. Apparently he’s heard some of my music before.”
Guy at the counter… “Yunho?” Wooyoung says, surprised. But the gears in his head are spinning rapidly. He takes his chance: “He seems like a great guy, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Hongjoong says. He’s stopped paying attention to Wooyoung now, focused on something on his laptop screen. “He was pretty nice.”
“And kind, and handsome…” Wooyoung murmurs. Hongjoong hums noncommittally. Wooyoung has been privy to a lot of Hongjoong’s private life, and he knows, for a fact, that Hongjoong likes his men bigger and taller. Yunho is pretty lithe, but he makes up for it in height and enthusiasm. “Hey, hyung?”
“What?”
“Can you do me a favour”
WooNyang
hey would u feel more comfy if u cld invite yunho
when u meet up w yeosangie i mean
KittySan
uhh yeah
i mean sure but wouldn’t it be awkward for yeosang?
WooNyangKittySan
nonono he’ll bring a friend too!!
KittySan
oh then…
sure if he’s ok w it!!
it can be a chill hangout
WooNyang
great!! ill tell yeosangie
will u let yunho know? thnx <3
( 👍 )
Youngie
so san’s friend is coming too
and my coworker said he’ll go w u
bc i wanna set him up w yunho
Sangie
what?
which coworker?
Youngie
hong hyung
dwdw he said he’ll take care of u
so u n san dont hv to worry abt being awks
Sangie
ummm ok
if he’s fine with it
Youngie
yayyy im sure ur gonna love him!!
thank u for trying btw
i appreciate it a lot <3
Sangie
well
you ARE my best friend
i want to do things for you too
( ♥️ )
Youngie
AWWW
u LOVE me <3
( 🙄 )
Brat
hyung pls
ill owe u sm
plsplsplspls
HYUNGGGG
pls say yes i swear
PLS
IF U LOVE ME
PLSSSSSS
Brat Tamer Hyung
fucking FINE
u owe me big time
the things i do 4 u brats
( 😘 )
Brat
and jjongie and i LOVE u for it
<3 ur the best seriously <3
ur gonna thank me for this later!!!
Brat Tamer Hyung
yeah yeah 🙄
The day of the fabled meet-up, Wooyoung is Prepared™ with a capital P and a trademark symbol. He books a room for karaoke, because that’s always fun, and he plans everything down to the letter. His anxiety must be palpable because Seonghwa tuts when he sees how often Wooyoung checks his phone.
“Jagiya,” Seonghwa sing-songs. “Pay attention to me.”
He crawls into Wooyoung’s lap, cups his cheeks with his palms. Star Wars is playing in the background. Episode II, Attack of the Clones, if he remembers correctly. “Sorry, sorry,” Wooyoung grins sheepishly. “I got distracted.”
Seonghwa giggles. “Then… How about I distract you further?”
Needless to say, Wooyoung doesn’t touch his phone for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Wooyoung and Yeosang meet-up for their lunch break. Yeosang looks pleased, cheeks flushed with happiness. Wooyoung takes it that the night went well. “Had fun?”
“What? Oh, yes, actually!” Yeosang smiles. “Everyone was very nice. We stayed together for a few hours, before Yunho dropped me home.”
That’s good, Wooyoung thinks absently. He didn’t think San, Yunho, or Hongjoong would have been cruel, but it’s nice to know that his friends are good people. Though Yeosang may seem quiet, he’s the first one to let you know when there’s something he doesn’t like. The fact that he has no complaints speaks volumes about how good the experience was. Although…
Yeosang keeps checking his phone, tapping away, smiling to himself. He hides his giggles behind his palm.
“Are you texting someone new?” Wooyoung probes, sipping on his americano.
“Huh? Um… It’s Hongjoong-hyung,” Yeosang confesses in a stage whisper. “We got along really well, so he gave me his number and told me we should meet up sometime.”
“That’s nice,” Wooyoung says. Hongjoong may seem standoffish, but he’s a great friend. Then: “San is cute, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He has dimples. It’s very fetching.”
Fetching? Wooyoung stifles a laugh. Yeosang and his random vocabulary. At least he knows Yeosang thinks San is attractive. That helps. “Are you going to see him again?”
“Who, San?” Yeosang frowns. “Um… I don’t know. Maybe if we go out as a group?”
Hm. Well, it’s a start, but…
Looks like Wooyoung is going to have to work a bit harder for this.