Chapter Text
Mingyu has never been too good at relaxing. He likes working. Some would say he works a little too much. Sometimes, he even agrees with those people, but it’s not like he can stop. Not now, when it’s not just him that would be affected by it.
He’s not alone anymore. He has Forestella to worry about. What kind of a leader would he be if he gave up and laid down now? Especially when the other members work even harder than he does. Poor Hyungho has been close to passing out on stage for years now. If he can do that, Mingyu can at least do his best to keep up.
So he groans and gets up from his comfortable bed. Having no time to even think about making the sheets, he gets dressed quickly and leaves. With every step he takes, sluggishness weighs down his limbs. No matter how hard he tries to ignore it, exhaustion is starting to knock on his door.
Still, that doesn’t mean he has to answer. He can just push it away. If the rest of the members can keep working with the power of their wills and copious amounts of caffeine, then so can he.
45 minutes later and an iced americano in hand, he walks into a practice room where two of the other members of Forestella are already inspecting their sheet music for the day.
Doohoon nods at him while Hyungho gives him a frown. “You look like shit,” he says.
Mingyu sighs dramatically. “I love you too.”
“I don’t swing that way.” Hyunho says with a little chuckle.
“Well, I do,” Mingyu says with his own laugh and reaches for his phone before he realises how still Hyungho suddenly has become. Looking towards Doohoon, even he has paused what he was doing and is now just looking at Mingyu with a look he can’t quite parse.
“What?” Mingyu asks, confused for a few precious moments before he realises.
He’s just unintentionally come out to two people who rank very highly on the list of the most important people in his life. He feels his eyes widen as it all sets in. He’s just blurted out his biggest secret like it was nothing. Like it’s a laughing matter. Like it doesn’t even matter.
Suddenly he can’t handle the others’ eyes on him anymore. He does the only thing he can think of.
He runs away.
The bathroom lights are fluorescent and somehow brighter than usual as he catches sight of his own reflection in the mirror while frantically locking the door behind him. He looks frazzled and red.
Mingyu can’t believe he would let something like the truth of his sexuality slip out like that. There’s a damn reason why it’s been a secret for as long as Mingyu has known it. If the wrong person were to find out, Mingyu’s whole career would be over. His life would be ruined. Not to even mention the damage the truth could do to everyone around him. To Forestella.
The other members might survive the scandal if they dropped Mingyu, but he doesn’t know if they would have it in their hearts to do so, even if the worst were to happen. No. There’s a reason no one can know.
His spiralling gets interrupted by a soft knock on the door.
Mingyu doesn’t want to answer, but he thinks it would probably be rude to ignore it. “Who is it?” he hears his own voice come out a little more frantic than he had meant for it to.
“It’s Doohoon,” the man on the other side of the door says kindly. “You can come out, Mingyu.”
“No.” Mingyu closes the lid of the toilet seat and sits down on top of it. “I’m staying here forever!”
Even through the door, Mingyu can hear Doohoon fail at suppressing a laugh. “No one is mad at you, Mingyu. Just come out.”
“I already did!” Mingyu laments. “What more do you want from me?”
“Come out of the bathroom, Mingyu,” Doohoon clarifies like Mingyu is five years old. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“...promise?”
“I promise,” Doohoon says. “Come on. There’s work to do.”
Mingyu sighs and stands up. Doohoon is right. They can’t afford to fall behind. Sheepishly, Mingyu opens the door and finds Doohoon standing on the other side, looking very much like he’d like to talk about it.
Still, he keeps his word and only nods at Mingyu before starting to lead him back into the practice room. Mingyu, feeling a little like a chastised child, follows him. As they walk back into the room, Hyungho stands up and looks like he’s going to say something, but stays silent as Doohoon shakes his head at him.
The atmosphere is almost unbearably awkward. Mingyu clears his throat. “So, what about verse two?” he asks.
Just like that, they’re back on track again. No one mentions what just happened, and they work and wait for Woorim to come in from his doctor’s appointment.
The longer they work, the more Mingyu’s accidental confession keeps gnawing at him. Surely the others have questions. It’s unfair towards them for him to act like nothing ever happened. He owes the other two an explanation.
“I’m gay,” he says in between them running the harmonies for the second verse.
Both Doohoon and Hyungho turn to look at him, but neither says anything, waiting for him to continue speaking.
“Please say something,” Mingyu says.
“Okay,” Doohoon says. “What do you want to hear?”
Mingyu looks at him in confusion. “You’ve got to have questions.”
Doohoon shrugs. “Not really.”
“You… don’t?” Mingyu asks.
“Mingyu,” Doohoon says kindly. “Of course you’re gay. The only question I had was if you knew it or not.”
Mingyu’s mouth falls open in shock. “You knew?! Both of you?” He aims the last bit at Hyungho, who now looks equally caught off guard.
Huyngho raises his hands. “Hey, I didn’t!” He winces under the weight of the stares he’s getting. “Okay, fine. The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Does everybody in this damn building know?” Mingyu asks incredulously, hearing the volume of his voice get a little louder. He gasps. “Does Woorim?”
“Do I what?” a deep voice says from behind Mingyu.
Minyu’s heart stops in his chest as he spins around to find Woorim looking at him with interest. He almost loses his balance from how quickly he turned, but manages to just about keep himself upright.
He doesn’t know what to say to that. Or rather, he does, but he doesn’t know how. It had taken a lot out of him to say it once. Twice seems like too much for one day. He just can’t get the words out of his mouth no matter how hard he tries.
“Do you know what to do about the second verse?” Doohoon’s voice comes from behind Mingyu, saving him. “Minygu thinks there is something missing.”
Mingyu could kiss Doohoon, and not just because the man is unbearably attractive. He makes a mental note to buy him a coffee.
If Woorim isn’t fooled by Doohoon’s save, he doesn’t let on. Instead, like the professional he is, he walks over to where Doohoon is pointing at the music in front of.
Mingyu breathes out a sigh of relief, but catches Hyungho’s eye. There’s something in his expression that makes it clear he isn’t going to let Mingyu keep up the charade indefinitely. Eventually, he will have to talk.