#You make straykids stay!

[lieblingspulli]

The Embrace : SKZ

W.C: 3.1k

Leeknow x Reader

Summary: Very soft Leeknow hours. Minho is a committed boyfriend, he’ll study what you study! 

A.N: I know it’s unrelated to SKZ but Jimin’s Face album came out and it's honestly sooooo good. Y’all should listen to it 🫣ANYWAYS back to our regularly scheduled program.  Hahaha, I listened to It's Not That Serious by ASTN, You by Vietra and other songs similar to these. It’s not related but the vibe is there. Also got inspired by lots of Renoir paintings and a particular Egon Schiele titled, The Embrace (1917). Enjoy!

Masterlist!

SKZ Masterlist

Minho felt strangely at ease. Here he was, reading, out of all people. Truth be told, Minho was never one to read. He always had something better to do, like practice his dance techniques or go out to eat with his friends. In fact, Minho would probably rather do anything else than read. He just wasn’t a reader. And that’s O.K. That’s what you always told him at least. Minho was never one to read, but for you, he’d do anything. 

You owned hundreds of books. You loved to paint and you loved to talk about being creative. Minho thinks that most of your creativity comes from the books you read. Just thinking about you having fun made Minho relax. Whenever you painted, you loved to have him in your company. You would teasingly beg for him to be your muse, but he settled to be an observationist instead. He loved to just watch you paint, coming up with color combinations he could never have thought of himself. He loved when you got hit with inspiration and ran to your makeshift painting studio (really just the extra bedroom) in order to capture it. 

These days, you were going to school for fine art and you were never really struck with spontaneous ideas. Minho could see this really bummed you out. The studio was always a mess, you never had enough time between assignments and class to clean everything up. Minho would have cleaned it for you, but he was afraid he’d disturb your method of madness. He knew what it was like to have a particular system to feed into your creativity. Every artist liked things a certain way. He thought of all the times he practiced by himself, having a carefully curated schedule of practice to keep his brain alert and ready to dance. To sing. To write. He knew that, out of all people, you’d be the most understanding of this and vice versa. 

These past few weeks had been grueling and seriously draining for you. With critiques coming up, you were always frantically painting. The colors you chose seemed less vibrant to Minho. There was less spark to it. Less love in it. All he wanted to do was wrap you up in support and try anything to make you relaxed again. 

He even forced you to go to the art museum with him to study other paintings, citing it was strictly for school purposes and not actually just to force you out of the studio. He had pushed you along the exhibits, pointing out the few paintings he did recognize. But he felt it wasn’t enough. His lack of knowledge didn’t bridge the gap between the two of you and Minho felt too far away from you to provide you the support you needed. The museum date was still fun, but it didn’t fulfill the goal for either of you two. 

As soon as Minho opened the door after coming back from the museum, you hurried to the studio to survey your latest batch of portraits. Minho huffed in annoyance and got straight to work. Even though he couldn’t paint, at least he could still make the effort to know what went on in that brain of yours.

Without making a huge racket, Minho chose every book you had on art, art history, and art technique. Eyeing the pile, Minho decided it wasn’t enough. He set them aside in a hidden spot and ran to grab his keys and jacket. 

With a quick kiss and goodbye, Minho feigned that he had to run to the store really quickly. You absentmindedly agreed and continued stressing over the lighting perspective in your portrait. He felt bad leaving you in such a dark place by yourself but he had to do it. 

“Bye honey!” Minho yelled as he ran out the door. 

For the next hour, Minho scoured the local library for books he could possibly gather intelligence from and he even bought some reading supplies, like a stupid cat bookmark with googly eyes and reading tabs that had llamas on them. Minho’s confidence was high as he carried his books in the tote bag that the local library gave him in through the front door. As expected, you were still in the studio, this time with a coffee. He peeked into the studio through the doorway and observed you for a second. 

“Babe?” He called. 

“Hm?” He heard you say, but you didn’t turn around. 

“Are you okay?” Minho entered the room and padded over to you before eventually reaching for your shoulders and giving you a small massage. He kissed your shoulder and he felt you loosen up, relieving all the tension in your neck and shoulders. He heard you sigh in defeat. 

“What’s wrong baby?” He whispered and kissed behind your ear. You closed your eyes. 

“I can’t get this stupid painting right Minho. It’s driving me crazy. Batshit crazy!” You raised your voice a little and strained through your frustration. He massaged your shoulders deeply, thinking about how little help he provided. 

“How about I make you dinner then? Let’s take a break.” He tried enticing you out of your chair and gently pushed you to lean back against him. “Sound good?” He kissed the top of your head. You looked up and he saw your glossy eyes, full of frustration, exhaustion, and anxiety. He gently smiled at you. 

“Yea, let’s go.” You whispered as he petted your hair back. 

A couple hours later, you were taking a hot shower and Minho was in bed, beginning to read from his pile of books. He had post-its and a pencil in hand as he flipped through the pages. He was currently studying the history of oil painting. Your favorite medium was oil, so he began with that. 

While you showered, he read. While you painted, he read. While you took naps, he read. Whenever he wasn’t dancing and on tight schedules, with you or comforting you, and cooking, he was reading. Of course, you were so preoccupied with your deadlines, you thought he had just taken up reading as a hobby to wait out your lack of attention towards him. Minho was a sneaky one. 

Luckily, Minho had a great attention span when applied. He could rotate through 3 books at the same time, which improved his reading efficiency. Minho felt like an old man, truth be told. Even the members noticed. He usually brought the smallest book in the pile with him to work and read while he was on breaks. Jisung and Changbin incessantly teased him, but he also had a lot of support from people like Hyunjin who often gave him tips from his own experience. Through this process, Minho rapidly expanded his knowledge of the world of art and its creative processes. 

Although he primarily did this for you, he also gained inspiration for his own creative processes too, using the vivid imagery to evoke certain emotions in his dance and song repertoire. There was a noticeable difference in his demeanor now that he was so focused on his books. Everyone in the group was quite confused at first, but when he explained it to them, they were all gungho on the plan. 

You finally began to become suspicious of Minho’s behavior after you got home one day and really looked at the books on his bedside table for once. You had just changed out of your class painting overalls when you happened to stroll by the bed and drop your hair clip. After picking it up, you made eye contact with his nightly stack of books that he usually read in bed as you got ready for bed. At first glance, the books seemed normal, but then you read the titles out loud. 

Color and light techniques in Oil. Mary Cassatt in Practice. Renoir and Other Masters. Pencil, Pastel and Everything In Between? What?

You flipped through the pages, finding tabs on particular pages, marked with small post-its and even multiple bookmarks, all stupid looking animal bookmarks. You laughed out loud at first. You didn’t know Minho liked art. Usually he was so clueless about it that when you went to museums with him, you often had to explain to him the significance of basic paintings like Monets or Renoirs. What was he doing with advanced painting technique books? 

Unfortunately, Minho was gone for the day, busy with press and recording sessions for his group’s upcoming comeback. You wouldn’t see him until at least 11 p.m. You put the last book down where you found it and began searching the apartment, convinced there was more. As you made your way through the living room, you found two large piles with museum catalogs, art magazines, books and more. You were astonished with the obviously large pile in front of you. Some had post-its on the front cover, marking them finished or for return. You were left with just as much confusion as when you began to look through the books. Was Minho learning this… for you? 

You picked up a particularly interesting looking one called, “Toulouse-Lautrec in Color Study.” It had several chapters on the usage of color and lighting within his paintings. This book seemed to be bought, not borrowed, telling from the way Minho’s writing was scribbled all over the pages. Some were stupid comments, like her face looks gross and others were genuine observations such as the orange of the paper gives his skin a tone without using any extra color, suggest to Y/n? You continued reading through the comments, realizing he was marking these up for you. Almost all the comments were suggestions and notes to convey to you. You started to tear up, knowing that someone who hated to read and hated to study had willingly studied for weeks, gathering knowledge just to understand and help their partner. You gently placed the book back on its pile. 

The sun began to set and you sat on the couch, feeling a headache come on. Not quite sure what to do with this newly acquired information, you ate a bagel and proceeded to take a nap. Your studio sessions at school had worn you out to the bone. Earlier today, your professor recommended a complete overhaul of your portfolio, citing it just lacked that special tonality of color and depth. It frustrated the hell out of you. You groaned and smashed your face into the pillow before slowly succumbing to the sleep you so well deserved. 

-

Minho came home to a dark apartment. Usually it wasn’t loud, but it also wasn’t dark either. He set his stuff down at the doorway and carefully removed his shoes, trying to be quiet. Either you were gone, or asleep, he assumed. Minho walked through the apartment, scanning for any sign of life. When he finally got to the bedroom and peeked in, he found you face down on the bed, not even covered in a blanket. He laughed and carefully climbed into the bed, careful not to jostle you around. As you softly breathed, clearly in dreamland, he observed your fluttering eyelashes and your slightly parted lips. Your skin glowed in the soft lamp light. Your hair softly was pushed behind your ear. He adored when you looked relaxed, it made you look like an angel. 

Recalling that you had class today, he carefully got off the bed and headed over to the kitchen to prepare a light dinner. As he fished the ingredients out of the fridge, Minho hummed a soft tune. He thought about how much he admired your tenacity to continue your art as he cut his veggies. Minho dreamily thought of you and him in the future, in a house, with cats and maybe a kid. He sighed, hoping he could relieve your stress. 

When you opened your eyes, you blearily made eye contact with the stack of books on Minho’s side. As you blinked, you remembered your findings. The tears welled up in your eyes. You wiped them and sluggishly propped yourself up, still tired from the day’s work. Although most of the time, this was simply exhaustion from all the work you’ve been putting into your art. You heard some clinking from the kitchen and recognized Minho’s humming through the silence of the bedroom. 

The apartment was warm as you trudged through the kitchen doorway. Minho immediately looked up at you and smiled. You gazed lovingly at him, in his kiss the cook apron and his teddy bear kitchen towel thrown over his shoulder. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty.” Minho snickered. 

“Oh stop it.” You felt the words coming thick out your throat, still not used to talking quite yet. “How was work?” You asked before sitting at the island. Minho grunted in response. You took that as not good. 

“Choreo got changed for some performances and it didn’t go well. It was the first day of rehearsing these changes. Felix kicked my shin. Jisung bumped into Chan. Changbin is Changbin.” He scoffed. You giggled at the thought of Jisung running into Chan. 

“What did Changbin do to you?” You laughed. Minho glared at you. You put your hands up in innocence. “I take it back.” Minho chuckled and turned back to his sizzling pan. 

“How was your meeting today in the studio?” He asked behind his back. Now it was your turn to grunt. Minho raised his eyebrow even though you couldn’t see his face. 

“Oh?”  

“Yea, my portfolio basically got dumped in the trash.” 

“Oh no, did Mr. Fuckface say that?” 

“Yea, he said it didn’t have that ‘spark’ or ‘depth.’ ” You airquoted and chuckled bitterly. “I think it’s the colors. I just can’t get them right. The tones aren’t matching up or creating the depth of shadows I usually can do.” You sighed and leaned forward to rest your head on your hand. Minho poured the pan’s contents into a bowl and placed the pan down before turning around to look at you. He studied your posture and face. 

“Maybe it’s the stress.” He suggested lightly. You looked up at him and gave him a face. He shrugged and wiped his hands on the towel. “Baby, you spend all day cooped up in that bedroom, trying to will out a painting that’s not there. I can see and feel the stress radiating off of you.” 

“Minho, I have deadlines to meet.” You defended yourself. 

“Y/n, you’re burnt out.” He countered and served two portions of the food he made. You grumbled a thank you when he set the plate in front of you and sat across from you. Minho reached out for your hand and you obliged. His thumb rubbed circles into your palm and you stared at his hand. 

“I love you, you know that right?” Minho said. He continued to rub circles. Your mouth flattened  to form a line. 

“I love you too Minho.” You sighed and felt your throat close up with emotion. 

“Baby, I think you should rest for a while. You’re clearly burnt out. Let’s do something fun, go somewhere cool. I just want you to relax.” Minho’s voice tightened. If you began to cry, he would too. It was a domino effect. Minho continued. 

“You inspire me, you know. I love what you do. You work so hard, it makes me so proud to be called your boyfriend. It makes me want to create just like you do.” He lovingly gazed at you and you kept eye contact with him. 

“You’re the idol here though.” You strained to talk. You felt defeated, honestly. By the lack of confidence in your work and by the mush of ideas in your brain. Then you remembered the books. This cheered you up considerably. You continued to listen to Minho speak. 

“I know it’s hard right now, but I want to help you more. I want to pitch ideas to you and observe and help. I-” He hesitated with his words. “I just want to be there with you when you feel it’s too hard to keep going. I know I can do it.” His voice wavered. You wiped a tear from your eye. 

“Hey, let’s not cry.” He laughed. You laughed in response. 

“You’re actually the most angelic person ever Minho. You read all those books just to help me?” Minho’s eyes widened, caught in the spotlight. He blushed and his ears got red before he looked down at his plate. He shyly smiled at himself, nodding and looking up. “Yea, I just wanted to be able to help you more than I could have before. I felt limited. Dumb.” He rubbed his ears. Your eyes widened and you leaned forward to grab his other hand. 

“Hey, Minho. You are not dumb. You are intelligent and kind and terribly creative. It drives me crazy how smart you are. Don’t say that.” You held both his hands in yours. “Baby. Seriously, you inspire me so much.” Minho giggled shyly. The apartment was silent. 

“Did you seriously do all that for me?” You whispered, as if there were people around. He nodded. “Yeah.” 

Your jaw dropped and he smiled widely. 

“You’re crazy and I love you so much for it.” You kissed his knuckles. Minho’s neck got even more red than before. 

“Come here.” You got up and he followed in suit. You wrapped his firm arms around your shoulders and yours snaked around his waist. Minho allowed you to do whatever you wanted with him, he was all yours to keep. He listened to your soft breathing as he gazed into your eyes and lips. He melted right into your arms and held you tight. 

Not long after, he heard sniffles and felt your chest constrict sporadically. Minho gently rubbed your back and swayed, letting you cry your frustrations out. Little did he know, you weren’t just crying out of frustration, but out of so much love. You felt what it was to actually want to work harder, knowing that even though things were hard, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Minho kissed your head and you squeezed his shirt in your hands. His strong arms held you tight. 

Nothing could compare to the ethereal feeling Minho felt in his heart, being held like this and feeling the warmth of the apartment you two had made a home together. He absolutely adored everything about you. He wasn’t ready to let you go quite yet. 

“I love you Minho.” Your whispers were muffled by his chest. He sniffled. “I love you too Y/n. I always will.”

-

[straykidsgallery]

2024 STAYweek | SKZ in New York City 🐶

[callmehyungoppaokay]

Bangchan's mighty biceps- appreciation post

Those guns got that drip!

[4raykage]

some hyunlix art :)

[skzstayhere]

I AM PROUD

of Stays!

Thank you for having a conscientious moral compass.

I know it's hard to boycott the song because our boys are in it, but they're adults who should know better.

Taking stands is difficult, it's not supposed to be easy, otherwise everyone would've done it.

SKZ have been a safe space for me for so long, and I've drifted away from their activities due to recent global events. I came back to see their Tommy Hilfiger-clad bodies drenched in Coca-cola at the Met Gala and collaborating with... you know who, while people are being mass murdered.

They didn't kill them, of course, but they didn't take a stand. Idols are not kids, they can leave and take a stand, say what truly matters when it really counts.

I feel my heart ripping as I write this, but they let me and us all down.

I am still a STAY, but it's the STAYS that made me stay this time.

I'm beyond proud to be part of this fandom.

P.s: _|_ to JYP

Imgsrc: K-selection

[invisiblequokka]

Jisung, singing Bite Me: Come over and bite me

Minho:

Minho: alright bet. *bites him*

Jisung: If a radioactive spider bit you, then you’d be spiderman Minho: yeah, so?

Jisung: Since you bit me that makes me your man

Minho: Here we go again. Jisung, screaming at the top of his lungs: I’LL BE YOUR MAN

[leo0703-blog]

This CHRISTOPHER was something else✨

[shadowquokka]

stop asking stays if we have crushes on skz. we’re in love with the manager

[caamskz]

the beauty of this man 🤍

[icanstayeah]

[straykidsgallery]

SKZ TALKER Ep. 66 - Bang Chan & Lee Know ❣︎

[bangchansgirlsblog]

PLEASE READ!

Hey everyone,

As most of you may already know, I’m currently working with 3-5 charities in Uganda. This year, we’ve successfully raised about 9,000,000 UGX (approximately $2,462.60 USD or 3,429,990.51 South Korean Won).

Now, I’m reaching out to ask for your help. We’ve officially launched a GoFundMe campaign to continue our work. You can check it out here: https://my.ufandao.com/my-dreams.

This time, we’re raising funds to provide over 500 kids with Christmas presents, and also ensure 400+ girls receive pads and essential hygiene products for the coming year.

As many of you know, charity work is very close to my heart, and I believe this is one of the best ways I can help make a difference. Please help spread the word, and together we can bring some happiness to children and girls in Uganda who are in need.

Most of you have seen the work I’ve done in the past, and I’m hoping you can support us again by sharing this campaign and contributing in any way you can. Let’s make a positive impact together.

Thank you for your kindness and support!

please repost :)

[hannie-l0ver-lila]

He so smol ㅠㅠ

[4raykage]

🐺 :)

[nekonishinoya]

Excuse me Bangchan 🤯🤯🤯❤️❤️

[lieblingspulli]

Starlight: SKZ

W.C: 2.6k

Hyunjin x Reader

Summary: You meet a rather eccentric group of guys at the movie theater while trying to find your seat!

A/n: This one is such a guilty pleasure of mine lol, I LOVE Howl's moving castle. I just was watching it one day and thought of Hyunjin (for obvious reasons). Enjoy!

Masterlist!

SKZ Masterlist

You stepped in through the movie theater doors and breathed in the fresh smell of buttery popcorn. You smelled the faint scent of bubblegum and pizza slices. By all means, the different smells should have come together to create an odd scent, but strangely, it was comforting. 

You had come with a high level of excitement, a feeling you hadn’t had since you were a kid. The studio ghibli fest was being held in theaters for today and tomorrow. When you heard, you jumped for your laptop, determined to get tickets to at least your favorite movie, Howl’s Moving Castle. Unfortunately, none of your friends could make it to both dates, so you opted for one singular ticket- which made the process of getting tickets much easier. 

Howl’s Moving Castle has always been your favorite movie, ever since you could remember. You recalled watching the dvd so much that it would skip scenes, you had at least 6 copies of the movie by the time you were fifteen. It was your comfort movie. You watched it whenever you got sad, whenever you were bored, or whenever you felt like having a relaxing night in. Even through college, you kept the movie close, watching it with your roommate. Mayazaki really outdid himself with this one. 

Everytime you would see Howl on the screen for the first time, you would internally squeal, his voice warming up your soul. The romantic gestures and whimsical spells only made you yearn for more than what real life could offer. Whenever you watched it, you wished you had a handsome wizard to conjure up a flower field for you. Sophie’s determination made you giggle, and you would imagine you were her whenever your mom told you to clean your room. 

As you stood in line for a bucket of popcorn, you got giddy. You always did, no matter how many times you watched this movie. The theater was packed with people your age, probably feeling the same feelings you were. These feelings were amplified by the cool decorations the staff had put up. There were cardboard cutouts of the movie characters, even a full scale Turnip Head. There were some backdrops from the movie, cool shiny streamers, and special edition popcorn buckets in the shape of the moving castle. 

Suddenly being there alone was starting to be to your benefit: you could act as excited as you wanted without judgment. As you paid for a popcorn bucket and cherry icee, you watched as several other couples and people with children were smiling and having fun looking at the decorations. Several couples were taking photos with the backdrops. You even saw a child dressed up as Markl. You sighed in happiness before the cashier handed you your bucket, snapping you out of your observations. 

After getting your snacks, you had a bit of time to kill. You could have opted to stay in the lobby, but the open theater doors were just begging you to step inside. So you did. 

The theater was brimming with people. You had to stop and assess the situation. Most of the theater was taken, but luckily you had pre-selected your seat. Unfortunately, it was quite close to the screen. You hoped you wouldn’t be seated next to rude strangers. Your seat was the last single seat you could find. You listened to people chatting and whispering as you walked down the aisle to find your spot. 

14c. That was your seat. But 14c was preoccupied. Not your seat anymore. 

You saw that a long line of guys were sitting in the row you had chosen your seat in. There were 6 of them. All of them were sitting smack dab in the middle of the aisle, completely encasing your (now taken) seat. You made a face to yourself, sighed in defeat and contemplated the situation. There were people behind you, walking in your direction, so you could either politely ask them to move or try finding a spot, risking the same situation these boys had put you in. 

Thinking of the seating chart and how full it was when you saw it online, you opted for the former. 

You got real close to the nearest guy you could see, and attempted to get his attention. He had really wide eyes and was talking to his buddy next to him really enthusiastically about the movie. 

“Dude, I’m so excited to see this. It’s my first time going to a Ghibli Fest!” He whisper-screamed. 

“Yah, but did you have to drag all of us out here for a cartoon?” The second guy complained. “I could be like at the gym or something. I don’t know, anything else. Also, why didn’t Chan and Jeongin come? Why am I here?” He pouted. The first guy smirked. 

“Consider it bonding time. Team activities you know-” The first guy began saying, but was interrupted as his buddy nudged him and nodded his head in your direction. He flipped his body around to face you. 

“Hey, excuse me, sorry if I interrupted.” You stammered. He smiled and shook his head. 

“No worries. Just trying to get my friend to shut up here.” He laughed. The second guy looked offended and mumbled, “You can’t even shut up yourself,” under his breath. The first guy smiled widely and waved his hand behind him. 

“Don’t mind him, he’s always grumpy.” You smiled and shyly pushed your hair behind your ear. 

“I’m really sorry, but I think my seat is right in the middle of your group. I can move if you want, I just don’t want to cause other people to lose theirs too.” You tried to lean over to speak over the loudness of his friends talking. He nodded as you spoke and then his eyes widened even more as you mentioned your seat. His mouth made an O. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, let me move for you!” He scrambled to get his things up. You frantically waved your hands and tried to stop him. 

“Oh no it’s okay! If you guys can just move one down, that’s fine with me!” You observed him dropping his candy bag. The guy next to him noticed the commotion. 

“Yah, Han Jisung. Those are my sour patch kids! What-” The guy started to protest. 

The guy next to him looked over. 

“Bro, why did you drop Changbin’s candy? I was gonna steal from those!” ‘Changbin’ ( you assumed his name was) frowned and yelled, “hey!” ‘Jisung’ looked up at you before looking at his friends. You could visibly see the wheels in his head turn. 

He suddenly looked back at you and asked, “Are you alone? What seat did you pick?”

You stammered with your words, startled by the totally normal question. There was just something about these guys that gave off chaotic vibes. You barely got to answering your seat number before the movie ads began to fade away and the usual rule ad came on. You visibly panicked and Jisung did too. 

“Oh shit-” 

“Um-” 

“Hey! Hyunjin! Scoot your ass over a chair!” Jisung reached over Changbin and whisper-yelled to some blonde dude. Changbin was less than satisfied at Jisung, being as he was currently squished below him. The blonde guy looked over with bewilderment and a skinnier guy next to him started to shoo him away, sensing Jisung’s urgency. 

“What- I just sat down-” Hyunjin complained, but he grumbled and moved over anyway. Jisung looked satisfied and motioned to your now empty spot. 

“Ta-Da! The movie looks like it’s gonna start so you might want to hurry.” He laughed. You just stood there, dismayed at the prospect of having to sit in between 3 dudes on either side of you. But the credits began to play and you had to hurry, as Jisung had said. You sighed and mustered up some courage as you squeezed past 3 random dude’s knees, each one of them were careful not to stab you with them. 

Just as you plopped down on your seat, the blonde dude: Hyunjin, started to whisper to his friend across from you on the other side. 

“Yah, Felix, pass the Dr. Pepper.” You looked at Felix, who was in the process of taking a bite of his pretzel. He wordlessly nodded, and handed the soda to Hyunjin, right in front of your face. 

You looked at both of them. Felix smiled at you and shrugged his shoulders in apology. Hyunjin happily took a sip of his soda and made eye contact with you, his eyes widening a bit in embarrassment. 

“Woah, I thought you were Leeknow for a sec.” He said nervously. You could hear the title song start to play. Man, you just wanted to enjoy your movie. 

“No, I’m Y/n.” You begrudgingly said. Felix loudly chewed on his pretzel. You could smell it. 

Hyunjin took another sip before placing his Dr.Pepper down. 

“I’m Hyunjin by the way. Sorry for taking your seat.”  He apologetically said and reached his hand out. You stared at it. The train sound of the movie filled your ears. You reached out and lightly shook his hand before observing what Hyunjin really looked like (or as best as you could in the dark). Hyunjin’s blonde hair stood out in the dark. Although you could barely see, you could still make out his features in the movie. His face was soft, and his features were delicate. The soft movie light made his skin glow. You found yourself snapping out of it, realizing you were still shaking his hand. You nervously chucked and mumbled a “nice to meet you” before quickly turning back to the screen. Hyunjin chuckled and looked back at the screen too. 

Before you knew it, you were engrossed in the movie. As always, Howl’s introduction in the beginning made you sigh and smile, his voice never failed to make you swoon. As you watched, you found yourself unconsciously thinking about the man next to you (not Felix). Howl’s blonde hair was vaguely the same as Hyunjin’s and that stuck with you. As the movie passed, Hyunjin and his friends mostly kept to themselves. Except when the movie began to ramp up. 

As Sophie began to change and discover Howl’s true nature, you could hear Jisung mutter things about how it was “so unfair for Sophie, she has to be a hag while Howl gets to be pretty,” or you would hear Hyunjin pout about how sad a life Sophie had. You laughed at the occasional commentary and surprisingly rude remarks Felix had stored up for the Witch of the Waste. 

When Howl sent Sophie to the Castle, Hyunjin and his other friends, Seungmin and Leeknow, were all on the edge of their seats. It was only after Sophie’s and Howl’s escape did they cheer and sit back. Felix cursed out the escape of the Witch of the Waste. You giggled. You felt the same about her too. 

You easily ate your popcorn and Icee as you watched Howl slowly fall in love with Sophie. Their love story never failed to truly entrance you, and the soundtrack didn’t help with that. As the flower garden scene showed, Hyunjin accidentally touched your hand with his as he reached for his soda, which was on the same side as your Icee was. 

You blushed and muttered “sorry.” He didn’t say a word. The flower garden seemed so enchanting and the music just really set the scene for love. You smiled, happy at your decision to book this ticket. 

By the end of the movie, you lost count of how many times you heard one of the boys sniffle, laugh, cry, complain and curse out at characters of the movie. Felix even asked you if you were a Turnip Head stan after he tried to save them at the end. You nodded solemnly, jokingly wiping a tear and saying, “He’s their savior!” Felix just laughed. You smiled as the end neared, your favorite scene coming up. 

Just as Howl woke up and proclaimed, “Sophie! Your hair looks just like starlight!” You got a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Hyunjin nudged at your arm with his. You looked over, still smiling from the scene. 

“Your hair looks kinda like Sophie’s don’t you think?” He whispered at the quietest level. You blushed, and didn’t know what to say. The ending scene kept going as you quickly turned to avoid his gaze. This random stranger just compared your hair to Sophie’s. Was that a compliment? 

You looked back at Hyunjin, but he was already joking with Leeknow, who was arguing that Sophie was the true hero of this movie. Seugnmin was arguing for Hiel, the dog. Hyunjin was gushing over the love story. You started to think you were imagining what just happened. 

Sooner than you wanted it to, the lights to the theater slowly flickered on and people began chatting, creating a buzz of conversation. Some people exited the theater, others stayed to talk. You contemplated just leaving, but Felix began to talk to you about the Witch and what you thought of her. He seemed quite passionate about it, so you stayed. 

Just as Changbin suggested they leave for dinner and everyone began to collect their things, Hyunjin called to you. 

“Hey, Y/n?” He smiled and waited for you to finish putting your bag over your shoulder. 

“Yes Hyunjin?” You teased with his name. He blushed and Leeknow pushed past him, complaining about rude, tall, blonde men always being in the way. You laughed and gestured that you would follow him out. Hyunjin nodded and waited for you at the end of the aisle as you picked your way past empty popcorn buckets and trays. 

All the guys were chatting as they led the way out the door, but Hyunjin stayed behind. Right after you waved bye to Felix, you paid all your attention to the man in front of you. 

“Did you need something?” You politely asked, curious as to why he waited. 

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come out to dinner with us?” He blurted out. Now it was your turn to blush. The theater was now completely empty and the lights were on. The feeling of having watched a good movie was still flowing through your brain. 

“You don’t have to be with all the guys, if you feel uncomfortable we can just go together? Or maybe Felix can come too?” He stammered. You laughed. 

“Sure, why not. You guys seem cool anyway.” You barely got to finish your sentence as Jisung came running back in, yelling, “Hyunjinnie!” You giggled and Hyunjin seemed really embarrassed, his ears turning red. 

“I’ll be right there!” He yelled behind him. Jisung stopped dead in his tracks as he saw you standing in front of him. 

“Oop, sorry if I interrupted your moment-”

“Go away Jisung!” Hyunjin snapped and hid his face behind his hands. Jisung smiled and winked at you. He mouthed and motioned with his phone, “get his number!” You smiled and nodded. Jisung sprinted off and you could hear his voice as he got further. 

“Guys! I think Hyunjin has a girlfriend now!” 

You could hear laughs and protests, presumably by Leeknow or Changbin. You looked back at Hyunjin who was groaning into his hands. 

You pulled out your phone and peeled his hand from his face, placing your open phone on his palm. 

“I’ll only go if you kindly give me your number.” You stated. He glanced at the phone in surprise before looking back at you smugly. 

“I hope you’re hungry then.” He laughed and inputted his number and name. As he gave it back to you and you walked out of the theater with him to meet with the boys, you glanced at your new contact. 

It read: “Knock off Howl ❤️”

 You laughed and he continued talking about how wonderful it would be to be able to conjure your own moving house. 

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