#side ship minsung

[kangaroosmile]

Feel the Beat - Changjin

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description: "So will you do it?" His head snapped towards Hyunjin who was looking at him with a little smirk. He looked so confident about winning that Changbins mouth betrayed him. "Yes I will", he stated.

Or when two rival dance crews have to decide which one will perform in a TV show, they make a bet. A bet that involves making the other participant fall in love. But what consequences will it have for Hyunjin and Changbin.

pairing: Changbin x Hyunjin

genre: dancing, bet, rivals to lovers, a little bit of angst, happy ending

word count: ~ 25k

You can find more of my stories under Stray Kids Masterlist

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I

Changbin was late for practice and he knew Minho Hyung would kill him. It wasn't like he came too late to their practice often but Minho Hyung texted them earlier that today was a special day. Changbin cursed under his breath and opened the door to the dance studio. He greeted the young woman at the reception and ran up the stairs. Carefully but still with strength he knocked on the door to their regular practice room then he let himself in. The first one he saw was Minho-Hyung who looked at him with a glance he couldn't quite identify but he was still kinda terrified.

“I'm sorry for being late, Hyung”, he muttered, bowing lightly. Eventhough Changbin and Minho were best friends for several years now, he was still the leader of their little dance group.

“You are always on time, why do you have to be late today out of all the day?”, he hissed angrily. Changbin swallowed hard as he heard Minhos voice. He decided to say no more and just let himself fall down next to Jeongin and Seungmin.

“It's not your fault. Hyung was already stressed when I came here and I was about 20 minutes too early”, Seungmin whispered into Changbins ear. It made him feel better. Just a tiny bit but it made him feel not as guilty. Still he wondered why Minho was in such a bad mood.

“Alright, I think now everyone is present, right?” Changbins head snapped around towards the man that was standing near the sound system. It was the owner of the dance studio, Mr. Choi, and also their old dance teacher but now that they were all grown ups they didn't have dance lessons with him anymore.

“That is right.” For a second Changbins eyes got wide the moment he recognised the voice. His eyes drifted towards the other side of the room. A bit away from the practice room door sat another group of four men. He was so focused on not getting a kick in the ass from Minho that he didn't notice them at all. For a moment he stared at them. He couldn't help but wonder why they were here. Not just the others but all of them. Mr. Choi knew that both dance groups couldnt be in the same room peacefully. Changbin held back a sigh and looked again toward the middle aged man. He was more than curious to learn why they were here.

“Thank you, Hyunjin”, he said and gave him a smile. “I already talked with Hyunjin and Minho a bit about what I will tell you now.” Changbin was starting to feel nervous. What was this all about? His glance travelled towards the other side of the studio. For a moment he met eyes with Hyunjin and he nearly rolled his eyes. It was not like he hated Hyunjin. Changbin just found him annoying sometimes. He couldn't help it. Maybe it was all because of the revality between the two dance groups but he couldn't tell. Changbin didn't even notice that he was still staring at Hyunjin but Hyunjin did.

“What the hell is he doing?”, Hyunjin muttered, which attracted Jisungs attention. The younger one looked at his Hyung.

“Just ignore him. His brain is probably all empty.” On Hyunjins lips a smirk grew as he thought about it.

“Probably “, he replied, which made Jisung laugh a little.

“Like I said, I told Hyunjin and Minho already that my studio got the chance to send one dance group to a TV show”, Mr. Choi said with a wide smile. Meanwhile Changbins mouth fell open. That was a really big chance for them.

“That sounds amazing”, he whispered, Seungmin and Jeongin agreeing with light nods. They were also very surprised. But the next words spoken by Mr. Choi cushioned their excitement.

“Both of your dance groups are really good and I'm sure you could win the show but I won't decide which one of you will go. You are all grown up so I want you to discuss which group will go. I'm also open to new constellations.” Changbin was too shocked to even say anything. His glance kept wandering between Mr. Choi and the dance group of Hyunjin. He knew they would never back away. This opportunity was just too good.

“You will have time to find a conclusion till the end of the month." Both Hyunjin and Minho stood up and bowed to him. Still in shock, Changbin watched how Mr. Choi leaves the eight young men alone in the studio. For a moment the studio was quiet.

Hyunjin looked at Minho.

"I think we can agree that my team will go to the tv show. We are better than you", he said with his chin up high and a confident smile but all Minho could do was laugh.

"I didn't know you were good at making jokes", Minho fired back, crossing his arms while he looked like he was about to fry Hyunjin alive.

"I'm not joking! We are better than you."

"I guess you need to clean your ears again because Mr. Choi said both groups are equally good“, Seungmin hissed, getting up and standing next to Minho.

“Don’t speak so disrespectfully with someone that’s older than you”, Hyunjin said with anger in his eyes.

“Then imagine I said it instead”, Changbin replied while he stared with half closed eyes at Hyunjin. For some people he might have looked intimidating but not for Hyunjin. Alright maybe a little but he couldn't show that Changbin.

“Hyung please do something”, Felix whispered near Chan's ear, while he looked back and forth between Hyunjin and Minho, Changbin and Seungmin. Felix never really understood the revality between their two dance groups. Chan let out a sigh, looked at the younger one and patted Felix's thigh lightly. He stood up, walked towards Hyunjin and softly put a hand on the younger one's shoulder.

“What do you want, Hyung?”, Hyunjin asked, still deep into the confrontation with the other men.

“Fighting gets us nowhere”, Chan muttered and then also looked at Minho with serious eyes.

“You are right Hyung”, Minho said. Even though Chan and Minho were in different dance groups they were quite close. Hyunjin was still staring at his Hyung, not believing what he just did. He let out a little “tsk” but kept quiet.

“We need to find another way.”

“I know something!”, Jisung nearly screamed, while he jumped up and down in excitement. Changbin barely held back his smile.

“And that would be?”, Minho asked, eying the younger one suspiciously. Jisung on the other side smiled even wider.

"Okay, okay listen to me. Two out of the groups are gonna try to make the other one fall in love. Whoever makes the other one fall for them wins and that team will go to the tv show." Jisung looked very proud of his idea, Jeongin on the other side just started to giggle while Minho was shaking his head slightly.

"Sounds good."

"Sounds good? Hyunjin, it sounds good? Are you nuts?", Chan hissed, grabbing the shoulder of the younger one harder.

"What? I'm gonna win anyways", Hyunjins said confidently. Changbin was surprised by Hyunjins action. How could he be so confident? "Which of you will try against me?"

"Hyunjin this isn't a game", Chan muttered but was ignored. Hyunjin just looked at Minho, still waiting whether the older one would agree with such an idea.

Minho himself glanced towards Changbin, who didn't notice the glance at first but then shook his head intensely.

"Why me?"

"Because Jeongin is too young for this and Seungmin is Seungmin, he would never get someone to fall in love so quickly. He is more like the one you fall in love with over the years but then it would be forever."

"I'm 21, Hyung. I'm not a baby anymore", Jeongin pouted.

"And what about you, Hyung?" Changbin didn't want to do that.

"I would do it but", Minho stopped for a second and bit his lower lip. "But I already like someone." Changbin stared back at Minho and was just speechless. Why has he never told Changbin?

"So will you do it?" His head snapped towards Hyunjin who was looking at him with a little smirk. He looked so confident about winning that Changbins mouth betrayed him.

"Yes I will", he stated.

"Please overthink this one more time", Chan tried to change their minds one last time but it was hopeless. He let out a frustrated hum and then walked back to Felix who was still sitting against the wall observing everything.

"This will clearly backfire", he muttered and fell down next to Felix who immediately side hugged him.

"It probably will. We just don't know for which side", Felix muttered.

"Alright then everything is clear. We will start tomorrow", Hyunjin decided. Hesitantly Changbin nodded. He had this strange feeling in his stomach that everything would end up in a mess but he also wouldn't let Hyunjin win this easily. Performing in the tv show could mean the beginning of something big and he knew how hard Minho worked the past few years for such an opportunity.

Hyunjin backed away and went, followed by Jisung, to Felix and Chan.

"Let's go and start practising. I hope the studio I booked is still free. We are 15 minutes late." Not even a minute later they left the studio.

For a moment Minho closed his eyes, rubbed over them and let out a little sigh.

"Don't get nervous, Hyung. Changbin Hyung will make him fall easily", Jeongin tried to comfort the older one.

"Who wouldn't fall in love with Changbin Hyung? I mean at least when they don't like someone else already." Minho gave them all a light smile.

"Thanks for doing it", he said and patted Changbins shoulder.

"I hope I will not regret it", Changbin laughed nervously and looked down towards his shoes. But then his eyes fell on the older one.

"But when did you plan to tell me that you like someone?" Changbin said, with a smirk he couldn't hold back, how Minho's ears started to redden up.

"Let's start practice. We already lost nearly 20 minutes because of this." Changbin held back a sigh and nodded.

"Tell me when you are ready, Hyung", he said, softly smiling at Minho. He knew Minho would tell him someday and he would wait patiently.

"Alright let's go."

II

The next day came faster than Changbin liked him to and the problem was, he didn't really sleep well. His mind was full of thoughts and he damned this whole situation and his mindless words. He has never been in a relationship nor did he make people fall in love with him. He would definitely fail this but he would make sure he would not fall for Hyunjin. With a heavy sigh Changbin got up from his bed and walked out of his small bedroom. He nearly fell over some bags he forgot to pack away yesterday. He held back some swear words as he entered the bathroom. There he washed his face and brushed his teeths. For a moment he stared into the mirror, making strange faces to cheer himself up. With a little smile he left the bathroom and went into his kitchen. He made himself something to drink and something to eat and sat down.

Changbin sat in his kitchen even after he had finished eating, staring out of the window, when his phone suddenly made a loud sound. He flinched but grabbed his phone immediately.

Unknown number

Hey, this is Hyunjin.

Changbin

Where the heck did you get my number from?

Hyunjin

Oh what a nice first text from Mr. Changbin.

I got your number from Channie-Hyung and he got it from Minho.

Changbin

Well good to know that Minho-Hyung gives away my number without my permission.

Hyunjin

Well we somehow need to get in touch, don't we?

When do we want to meet?

Changbin went out of his kitchen into his living room and sat down on his sofa. He was still a bit mad that Minho gave his number away without even asking whether it would be alright or not. For a moment he looked out of the window but then his eyes wandered back towards his phone screen.

Changbin

Meet?

Why meet?

Hyunjin

I swear, I didn`t know you were that dumb.

We need to meet up so you can fall in love with me.

Changbin

Don`t call me dumb again!

And stop being so confident.

I will never fall for you!

Hyunjin

We will see, Honey.

Again, when do you want to meet?

Changbin

I have uni in half an hour but we could meet after my practice

Hyunjin

Sounds good to me.

I will be there to get you.

Changbin looked at Hyunjins last text and wondered how he would know when he had practice. What would they do? Had Hyunjin already had an idea? Changbin rolled his eyes and closed their chat. He was thinking too much again. At the moment he couldn't do anything. He would have to wait. His lips escaped a little sigh and he stood up. He was still tired but also very curious of what was to come. He got up and was getting ready for his lessons. He liked his degree but it was also exhausting sometimes. Changbin closed his door behind him and got on his motorbike outside the house.

It was his luck that he decided, out of all days, that he would sit further in the back because his body decided during the lesson that sleep would be quite good. He woke up again when the students around him packed away their things and went out. Tried he went over his face and slowly started to pack away his things. He stopped his recording and then walked as one of the last ones out.

The hallway is full of other students. Some of them were talking to each other. Sometimes Changbin wished he had friends that also took his degree but sadly nobody did.

"Changbin-ssi!" He heard someone calling him. Surprised, Changbin turned around to see Chan running towards him. With big eyes he watched how the older one stopped in front of him.

"Chan-ssi."

"Hello Changbin. Where are you heading?" Changbin was quite confused. He knew from Minho that Chan also studied but he never saw him. Or at least never noticed him till now.

"Practice, I will stop at a boba shop, though. And you?"

"I'm on my way to the studio too. Forgot my headphones." Slowly Changbin nodded. They started walking again.

"How is it even possible to forget headphones?" This question made Chan laugh out loud which made Changbin smile too. He liked making people laugh.

"Believe me. I don't know how I managed to do that. Normally my headphones are the first thing I check when I leave but I guess I forgot it yesterday." With a smile Changbin nodded again.

"Would you like to come with me? To the boba shop I mean.”

“The one that is next to the studio or the one with a wall of grass?” Confused, Changbin looked at the older one.

“Grass wall?”

“I guess you mean the one next to the studio then. The other one just opened up I think. Felix dragged me with him last week to check the tea out.” They walk across a street, the shop now in visibility.

“You need to tell me the address. Maybe I can take Hyunjin there.” Immediately Chan's mood changed and he just stared at Changbin while the latter ordered their teas.

“So you also really want to do it? I thought maybe you would be the more grounded one.” Changbin let out a sigh and watched how their teas were made.

“Honestly I don't want to do it… I do it for Minho-Hyung because he works so fucking hard and would deserve this chance”, Changbin explained. “And also because Hyunjin seems so full of himself that I just agreed to this.”

“Someday it will make him fall down on his knees”, Chan muttered and then helped with their drinks. “But he also has a kind heart. Please don't hurt him.” Changbin let out a loud laugh.

“Well according to Hyunjin, I will be the one that will fall in love and not him.” Chan just answered with a little hum.

“Thanks for helping me with the drinks. We will probably see eachother soon again”, Changbin muttered, while Chan started smiling and nodded lightly.

“Sure and also thanks for the tea.” Changbin returned the smile and then walked towards the dance studio that Minho booked.

When he opened the door, he saw that Minho was already there, standing at the stereo.

“Hello Hyung”, he greeted Minho softly, when he stopped next to him. The older one looked away from the laptop.

“Changbin, you are early today”, he mumbled, still catched in his own thoughts.

“I had to make up for yesterday hyung. I also bought boba tea.” Finally Changbin got Minho out of his kinda trance. Minho's face lit up and he grabbed his tea with both hands.

“Thanks Binnie.” He took a big sip and then let out a little sigh. “That's exactly what I needed right now.”

“You are welcome. When did you arrive?”

“About two hours ago, I think. I came up with the beginning of a new choreo. Maybe even for the show, we will see.”

“Uh I'm excited to see what you made up in your clever head.”

They were interrupted when Seungmin opened the door, followed by Jeongin.

“Hello Hyungs”, the latter shouted and ran towards them, while Seungmin put down his backpack first and then walked over to them.

“Hello Minho-Hyung, Changbin-Hyung”, Seungmin greeted them too and gave them a big smile. With a wide smile Changbin gave the two younger men their bobas. For a few minutes the four men drank a bit of their boba in silence, then Minho jolted them all up and they started to warm up. Soon Changbin felt his body and mind relax. He started to feel present in the moment. It was always like that. Sooner or later when they started practising he would start to feel grounded and present in the moment.

All four young men were so focused on their new choreo that none of them, not even Minho that normally notices everything during practice, noticed how the door got open and closed after about one and a half hour of practice.

"I swear I will go crazy should you do that move wrong one more time, Changbin-ssi", a voice behind them grumbled. Changbins lifted up his head fastly just to see Hyunjin sitting against the opposite wall casually.

"Yah! What are you doing here?", Minho asked, getting out of his pose, turning around. Even though Seungmin knew Minho for years now, he sometimes got still surprised by Minho's sudden outbursts.

"I'm waiting for Changbin."

"Yeah we will go eat after practice, Hyung", Changbin confirmed with a low sigh.

"Alright but does he have to be here?"

"Oh come on I will not steal your choreo. I'm not that cheap", Hyunjin replied, rolling his eyes. For a long moment Minho stared at Hyunjin, probably choosing whether to trust the younger one or not.

"Alright you can stay", Minho then said towards Hyunjin and turned around again.

"And Binnie, he is right. You did the last move wrong before he interrupted. Do you want me to show it to you one more time?" For a second Changbin stared at Hyunjin through the mirror only getting a wide smirk as an answer. He closed his eyes and then nodded.

"I would appreciate that Hyung." Once more Changbin glance fell on Hyunjin who was still staring at him but then he focused on his Hyung. He could still feel Hyunjins eyes on him which made it way more difficult to concentrate on the choreo but he still tried his best.

They trained for about half an hour until another group came in to practice.

III

The five young men stood outside the dance studio for a while. Changbin felt his heart beating hard against his chest. He didn’t even understand why he was so nervous to begin with. It was just Hyunjin.

„Are we meeting on the weekend?“, Seungmin asked the others. „You meet on the weekends? For dance practice?“, Hyunjin muttered, looking down at Changbin.

„Not only for dance practice. Sometimes we do dance a bit but most of the time we just hang out, game a bit and eat something together.“

„And sometimes we drink a bit“, Seungmin whispered with a grin on his lips.

„Sounds fun“, Hyunjin muttered, sounding more than uninterested.

„Well at least we can bond because of that better than you", Minho hissed feeling kinda attacked but the younger one just rolled his eyes. Changbin felt a strange tension building up so the only logical thing he could think of was getting Hyunjin away from his friends.

"We should go now. I'm really hungry", he told Hyunjin. He gave Seungmin and Jeongin a hug and patted Minho on the shoulder.

"Rest a bit, Hyung. You worked a lot today. Also don't forget to eat well." Minho started to smile lightly and nodded.

"Don't let yourself get killed", he joked, side-eyeing Hyunjin which got both Seungmin and jeongin laughing.

"Can we go now?", Hyunjin asked annoyed, rolling his eyes. Changbin held back a laugh but gave the younger one a thumbs up. He waved to his friends once more and then started walking, followed by Hyunjin.

"Where do you want to go?", Changbin asked, rubbing his tummy unintentionally. He was really hungry now. After Hyunjin catched up with Changbin he looked down at him.

"I know a place", he muttered, taking the lead. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Changbin following Hyunjin like a lost puppy. The taller one stopped in front of a small side street.

„Do you want to kill me? Will that be my end?”, Changbin joked, staring into the street, which made Hyunjin giggle for the first time, even though he didn’t want to giggle.

“Maybe, maybe”, he whispered with a wide smile. “No, I found a little restaurant a few weeks ago and it is so comfortable.” Hyunjin walked first into the street followed by the other one.

Changbin expected not much but when they entered the little restaurant he was surprised. A lot of plants were placed everywhere and curtains in soft caramel separated the different tables. In addition, an amazing smell lingered around and had Changbins stomach growling loudly.

“How on earth did you find such a place? It looks like a setting in a drama”, Changbin joked, walking further into the restaurant. Hyunjin had no chance to answer because a waitress appeared next to them with a welcoming smile and walked them towards a free table.

From their table they could look out of a window into a little backyard. While Changbin is still too focused on the environment, Hyunjin is already reading the menu. Secretly he already knew what he would order, then he looked up the menu beforehand. After Changbin looked around enough, he read the menu and then they ordered.

They fell into silence and the older one couldn't point out whether it was a comfortable silence or not. He saw how Hyunjin started playing with his fingers. Was he nervous? Probably not. Why would Hyunjin be nervous?

Hyunjin on the other hand didn't know why he felt kind of nervous. Maybe it was because he never really went on a date even though he was 23 now. He just never had the time to do so.

“So… what now?”, Changbin asked, rubbing his hand together and looking at the younger one. The other one chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you do besides dancing?”

“Really?”, Hyunjin muttered.

“What? Do you want us to just sit there in silence till we walk out of this restaurant again?” Changbin hissed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He was trying to get familiar with Hyunjin but how could he do that when the latter blocked his attempts. For a moment the young man in front of him sighed but then he nodded.

“I like to draw“, he started. „I can show you a few things if you want to.” Hyunjin already started to get his phone out of his pocket. “Look.” Slowly he went through his different pictures.

“Wow you are talented. It all looks really nice.”

“You sound so surprised”, Hyunjin teased and for a second Changbin was taking apart because it was a playful teasing and not in a mean kind of way. The older one rolled his eyes.

“Of course I'm surprised. I mean how should I have even known that? Since when do you draw?”

“To be honest I always liked it but I just started two year ago to really concentrate on it and take online classes to improve. I can forget everything when I'm drawing.” Changbin nodded slowly, still too surprised to say anything that would make sense. Right when he wanted to say something their dinner came.

"It smells so nice", Changbin muttered, already grabbing his chopsticks.

“It will taste great too.” For a second he looked at Hyunjin who was staring at him.

“You eat first”, Changbin said, which took the younger one by surprise.

“But you are the older one. You should eat first!”, he tried to protest but when he saw Changbins stubborn glance. Slowly he took some of the food that was standing in the middle of the table and started to eat. Immediately his eyes lit up and a little smile appeared on his face. When Hyunjin took some of the food again, Changbin started to eat too.

“It really tastes good.” The two ate in silence but much to Changbins surprise it wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be. It was not as comfortable as with Minho-Hyung, Seungmin or Jeongin but it was not as bad as he considered.

They ate slowly but soon enough every dish was empty. With a huff Hyunjin laid back.

“That was really good”, he muttered. Changbin just nodded, finished his lemonade.

“That's true. I will definitely eat here again.” This made Hyunjin smile a little. He felt proud that Changbin liked the restaurant so much that he wanted to come back some time later.

“I want to pay”, Hyunjin announced loudly when the waitress passed them.

“What? Why are you paying?”

“Because I asked you to meet today.” With this answer Changbin was satisfied and let the younger pay for their dinner.

When they stepped out of the restaurant Changbin turned towards the other one.

“Do you want to come too? I mean this weekend, when I meet up with the boys.”

“And you want me to come?” Hyunjin asked, confused.

“Obviously, I wouldn't have asked otherwise. I want to show you that our meetings can indeed be fun.” For a moment the Hyunjin was just staring at him, debating whether he should go or not.

“Alright but my crew will come along. You will write me when and where we're gonna meet?” At first Changbin wanted to deny it but then he thought, Minho and Chan were already friends so that would not be a problem. Felix and Jisung… he would have to see how that would go. So he nodded lightly. Softly he patted Hyunjins shoulder and then turned around.

“See you Hyunjin.” Hyunjin on the other side watched him walk away. He was confused because he didn't expect Changbin to be so nice and comfortable to be around. He didn't even want to think of the moment when Changbin layed down some of the fish on his bowl when he noticed Hyunjin liked it quite a lot. It had taken him by surprise. Of course he had rolled his eyes but when he ate the piece of fish it tasted much better than the pieces he had eaten previously. With a shook of his head, to let go of his thoughts, Hyunjin walked home.

IV

“Why didn't you tell us all of them would come?”, Minho hissed into Changbins ear. The two stood next to the kitchen in Minho's apartment, looking at the four men that had just arrived.

“I'm sorry Hyung. I thought you would say no. But I'm surprised Chan didn't say anything."

"I swear I will air fry you", Minho muttered. For a second Changbin stared at his Hyung but then a small smile appeared on his face.

“You wouldn't do that. Who would make sure we got to the Tv show then?” Minho let out a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes.

“Lucky you. I swear I will fry you when all of this has ended.” But in the next second his face lit up a bit when Chan was walking towards the both of them. The older one hugged him.

“Hyung”, Minho let out a whine and tried to break away from Chan but he didn't let him. With big eyes Changbin watched the two men. He was fascinated by the way his Hyung interacted with the older young man. In their friend group Minho was the oldest so it was something new to see him not be the oldest.

“I'm also happy to see you, Minho”, Chan answered in a higher voice, hugging him a bit tighter before he let him be. When he saw Minho's face he couldn't hold back and started to laugh. Changbin also started to grin. He could get used to the way Minho acted around Chan.

“What are you guys laughing about?” Jisungs voice filled the air and the next second he wrapped his arm around Chan, checking out Changbin and then Minho. For a moment Jisungs eyes stayed on Minho. It was just a second but it was enough for Minho to get nervous. Changbin raised one eyebrow and gave Minho a look but he was ignored by his Hyung.

“Hey Changbin.” Changbin looked towards Hyunjin. The first thing he noticed was Hyunjins blond hair.

“You bleached your hair. It looks good on you”, he muttered, stroking through Hyunjins hair. Hyunjin felt his cheeks warm up against his will. Hyunjin looked away and greeted Minho with a nod.

“Alright let's go into the living room. Minnie and Innie are waiting there for us.”

Changbin was the first that went into the living room. He saw Seungmin and Jeongin sitting on the sofa and nearly jumped on both of them.

“What's up?”, he laughed and greeted both of them, Changbin had arrived just a few minutes before the four other men.

“Hyung stop”, Jeongin whined. “You are embarrassing.” With a little giggle Changbin got up from both of them and winked at Jeongin. Seungmin smirked and poked the younger one into the side.

Behind Changbin the other walked into the room.

“Nice room, Minho-ssi. I love that you have so many plants.”

“Thanks.” All three, Seungmin, Jeongin and Changbin looked at each other and then at their Hyung. It was rare for Minho to thank them, he would show it in another way but to hear Minho thank Jisung was really rare.

“He is up to something”, Seungmin mumbled, receiving a nod from both Jeongin and Changbin.

“What have you planned? Hyunjin didn't want to tell us anything”, Felix asked, as he fell down on the pillows that were laid down on the floor. He smiled up at the others.

“Nothing much. We want to order pizza, we didn't do that in ages and boba later. Maybe play some mario kart.” Changbin could see how Felix's eyes lit up.

“Finally someone that also likes to play mario kart.”

“He acts like we never play any games with him”, Chan grumbled and rolled his eyes, still he could hold back a little smile.

“But I always have to beg you.” A sad pout formed on Felix's lips.

“Is he always this cute?”, Changbin asked, not letting his eyes on the younger one. He didn't know Felix from their dance lessons back when they were children because Felix moved from Australia to Korea only a few years ago.

“It's his natural element”, Hyunjins answered, looking back and forth between Changbin and Felix. If he didnt know it any better he would think Hyunjin was jealous that he called the australian boy cute.

Hyunjin and Jisung were still standing.

“Will you be standing there the entire time or will you sit down with us? Because if you two keep standing, please find another place that is not right in front of the television”, Minho scold the two younger men. With wide eyes Jisung stared at him but didn't move, while Hyunjin went up to Changbin and sat next to him on the side rest of Minho's sofa. Hyunjin, who was taller than Changbin anyways, looked even taller as he looked down at him.

“Minho nearly wanted to kill me when he saw that not just you but all of your crew entered his apartment.” Hyunjin started to giggle and then looked at Changbin with a stupid grin.

“I would like to see that.” The older one let out an offended sound and pushed Hyunjin a little, who lost balance and nearly fell off the sofa. Not just Changbin but also Seungmin and Jeongin started to laugh. With red cheeks Hyunjin tried to stare Changbin down but he was too embarrassed to make it work.

“Never do that again”, he whispered and slapped the other one lightly against his shoulder. They looked at each other for another minute before Changbin looked away and noticed that Jisung now sat in front of Minho on the floor, having his back against the armchair.

Changbin was not fully there the first half hour of their meeting. He was staring at his hands or the tv without really reacting to anything.

“What's with you?”, he heard Hyunjin whisper against his ear. Now he could also feel the weight of the other on his side. Slowly he looked at him.

“Why do you care?” His mouth was faster than his brain. He saw how Hyunjin pressed his lips together and stared at him for a second before he shook his head. He sat up again, crossed his arms before his chest and didn't give him any attention. The older one felt bad for his words. Hyunjin noticed that he was spacing out and instead of being kind he was such a coward. Changbin noticed how his thoughts were getting more and more bustling when a controller was placed in his hand.

“It's your turn Hyung to play against Minho-Hyung, Chan-Hyung and Innie”, Seungmin explained. Changbin could see Chan's eyes grow big and his ears got all red. Of course Seungmin noticed Chan's red ears but he didn't say anything. Changbin smiled a little. But then the round started and all he could focus on was not to mess up completely in front of Hyunjin. He would also get teased into the unknown from Minho for forever.

He was miserable and so he got on the seventh place while Jeongin got on the first place, Chan on the second and Minho, even though he never really played, got on the fourth place.

“You suck at this”, Hyunjin whispered next to him with an arrogant smirk on his lips.

“Well then do it better than me”, Changbin challenged the younger one and looked up to him. Still with a lot of confidence Hyunjin grabbed the controller, all his focus was now on the tv. He played well. Way better than Changbin. He would definitely win. For a second Changbin hesitated but then he pulled the other man towards him. Hyunjin let out a surprised little scream. He was now half on top of the other. Changbin had one of his arms wrapped around Hyunjins small waist.

“You nearly fell off the sofa”, said Changbin to cover his action while Hyunjin just stared at him.

“Jinnie you lost”, Jisung laughed and grinned at him stupidly when the round ended.

“That's all your fault”, Hyunjins hissed, hitting Changbins chest but it was softer. The older one couldn't hide his smile. “I wish I could erase that smile from your face right now.” The smile on his face grew even bigger but he turned his head so Hyunjin couldn't see that.

Changbin nearly expected Hyunjin to back away again but to his surprise the younger didn't. While he played another round he leaned more against Changbins chest. He was probably doing it on purpose, Changbin thought. As a payback for the ruined round. Hyunjin was quite warm and Changbin felt jittery all of the sudden. He damned his heart that was probably taking him away. So he tried to distract himself, scrolling through instagram. He felt Jeongins glance on him and when he looked up, seeing his youngest friend to have a wide smirk on his lips, he couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that”, he hissed, getting Hyunjins attention. He turned his head as much as he could.

“Who should stop looking at you?” Changbins eyes grew big as he stared at the other one.

“Jeongin made a funny face. That's all”, Changbin said, nearly stuttering but he managed to get through it okay. Because he couldn't hold Hyunjins intensive glance he let his eyes travel around the room and they stayed on the clock.

“We should probably order soon. It's already past neun p.m.”

“Woah how time flies”, muttered Felix.

“Who will buy the pizza?”, Jeongin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Rock, Scissor, Paper?”, Jisung asked, already getting up, looking happy for the challenge. Changbin rumbled but put his phone away.

“What?”, Hyunjin asked, his eyes on the older one, which made Changbin sigh.

“It's just that I always have bad luck with rock, scissor, paper. When it's just the four of us it's often me who has to pay.”

“Poor Binnie”, Hyunjin teased him with a wide smirk and a shimmer in his eyes that Changbin found really fascinating.

They started playing and as if Changbin predicted he lost and had to pay for all their pizza. Hyunjin was laughing lightly while the older one stared at him with half closed eyes.

“Stop, Hyunjinnie”, whined Changbin then with a big pout on his face but it made Hyunjin just laugh more. Softly he slapped the pout away from Changbins lips. It took him by surprise and he started laughing too.

“And who will buy boba?”, Felix asked and looked around.

“Well certainly not me. I'm already paying for your pizzas”, Changbin stated and luckily all agreed. He watched the other seven men play rock, scissor, paper.

“Your bad luck at the game ran off on me”, Hyunjin mumbled frustrated but took out his phone.

“Well I like that. It's because you laughed.” The blond man hummed.

The next few minutes eight men talked in a complete muddle. Both Changbin and Hyunjin went nearly crazy but after fifteen minutes everyone had said what they wanted and the both men ordered.

“I should have never asked whether my boys can come too. Now I have to pay for eight people and not just five.”

“Well I think it's not that bad. They get surprisingly well together”, Changbin muttered, looking at the others. “Especially Minho Hyung and Jisung.”

“I don't like him.”

“Well I guess that's a you problem. You just don't know him.”

“Yeah whatever.” For a moment the older one stared up to Hyunjin.

Later that night, when everyone started to leave, Changbin stared at Hyunjin who was now sitting next to Felix and Chan.

“I think I will go now too. It's pretty late already”, Changbin muttered and stood up. Slowly Hyunjin looked up to the older.

"Already? Do you need your grandpa sleep?", Hyunjin teased. For a moment Changbin was speechless and also couldn't think of a good comeback. He just snorted and shook his head.

"I will head home and have my grandpa sleep. Goodbye Felix, goodbye Chan-Hyung.", he waved them goodbye. "Hyunjin", he nodded with a light smile, then he went out and stopped at the kitchen, where Minho made some tea for all of them.

"Hyung, I'm heading home. I'm tired and just want to sleep. Will we see each other next week?" After a moment Minho looked at him and nodded.

"Sure. Oh and it was actually not that bad that the four of them came."

"Oh yeah I figured, Hyung", Changbin laughed and got out of the way when a sponge flew his way. "Love you too."

"Oh get lost!", Minho muttered but Changbin could see his red ears.

"Alright Hyung. See you", Changbin said, waving him goodbye and then started to get dressed. When he put on his jacket somebody stopped behind him.

"I'm coming with you", Hyunjin whispered after a second and started to get into his shoes and his jacket.

"Oh so you need some grandpa sleep too?", Changbin joked, but waited for the younger.

Eventhough it was spring, it was still quite cold outside when the both young men stepped out. They went side by side through the night.

V

A couple of days passed since they all met and after Changbin walked the younger one home, he didn't see Hyunjin in person again. But they texted throughout the days. Changbin found it strange but he was actually starting to enjoy their conversations. But sometimes he wondered whether Hyunjin also enjoyed their conversations as much as he did.

He just finished his lecture when his phone started vibrating. He was this close to just ignore it but then he let out a little sigh and fished his phone out of his back pocket.

Hyunjin

Hey

Hyunjin

Are you there?

Hyunjin

Changbin? Hello?

Changbin

Why would you spam like this?

Give me some time to respond!

Hyunjin

Oh right.

I forgot that you are old

Changbin

Excuse me?

I'm not even a year older than you!

Hyunjin

Still old, Honey!

With disbelief Changbin stared at the chat between Hyunjin and him. This man was something, he thought, shaking his head.

Changbin

What did you want by the way?

You probably didn't text me just to tell me that I'm old, right?

Hyunjin

Oh right, nearly forgot that haha

Hyunjin

Are you free today?

Changbin stopped walking, just staring at the text he just recieved. He knew that they had to meet again, otherwise he couldn't make Hyunjin fall for him but he also didn't think the younger one would ask him whether he is free. Lightly he placed one hand on his tummy, rubbing it slightly. Why was he getting nervous? He shook his head and started typing again.

Changbin

Depends

Why?

Hyunjin

Well I thought we could do something?

Changbin

Don't you have practice?

Hyunjin

Why do you know that?

Hyunjin

Nvm. The boys will understand why practice will be shorter today.

Changbin

Just because I'm not the leader of our dance group doesn't mean I don't know about the studio plan.

After that Hyunjin decided to not text him back and it was getting on him a bit. He was even unread. Maybe they started practising already, Changbin thought. Should he? With a little sigh, he changed his direction and started walking towards the dance studio instead of his home. He stopped at the boba shop and ordered tea. Luckily he remembered what they all liked, because due to the boba shop being close to the dance studio, it had happened that both dance crews went to order boba at the same time.

A bit later, he walked with a bag full of tea towards the studio. He greeted the man standing behind the reception and took the stairs, after he looked up which studio Hyunjin had booked.

He heard the music even outside the studio so he didn't even bother to knock because they would not hear him. Carefully he opened the door and slid in the studio. Within seconds the music was stopped and he had the attention of all four men.

“What are you doing here?” He heard Hyunjin.

“Weren't you the one that asked me whether I'm free? I thought, why not wait for you to finish here?,” Changbin explained and then held up the back full of tea. “I also bought tea for everyone.” Felix was the first one that stopped in front of him.

With big eyes he watched how Changbin placed the cups in front of him.

“Thank you, Hyung”, Felix said with a big smile on his face and grabbed one of the cups. Changbin returned his smile and felt quite happy when Felix called him Hyung. Jisung and Chan both grabbed their teas. Changbin looked up, seeing Hyunjin standing next to the sound system, writing something down in a notebook. Slowly he walked up to the younger one, putting his tea in front of him.

“This one is for you”, he nearly whispered into Hyunjins ear, liking the effect he had on the other one. Hyunjin tried to play it off but he couldn't hide his ears that slightly turned red.

“Thank you”, Hyunjin muttered, showing him a little smile. Changbin just nodded and then decided to sit down against the wall on the opposite side of the mirror.

“What are you doing?” Changbin watched Hyunjin with confused eyes.

“Do you want me to wait outside until you are finished?”, he asked with sarcasm in his voice. For a second Hyunjin stared at him, not knowing what to do but then he nodded.

“Right, right.” After that Hyunjin started the music again and ran in front of the others.

“Five, six, seven, eight”, he counted and they started to dance. Changbin watched silently and to be fair he understood why their old dance teacher also gave them the chance to go to the tv show. They were good. All of them. He thought maybe he would be bored, but he wasn't. He couldn't get his eyes off of Hyunjin. The way the blond one moved his body to the music was just hypnotising. He didn't even notice how the time flew till the music stopped and Chan, Felix and Jisung started packing their things up. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards Hyunjin who was also packing up his things. Slowly he stood up and walked towards the other one.

“So”, he started leaning against the wall next to Hyunjin with his arms crossed. “What do you want to do now?” After a moment Hyunjin looked up after changing his shoes and looked at him.

“Well to be honest I don't really know.” A bit shocked, Changbin stared at him.

“You don't know? I just wasted nearly two hours waiting for you because you don't know what we will do now?” Maybe he was a bit angry. But just a little bit. A tiny bit but he decided Hyunjin didn't need to know that. He saw the slight panic in Hyunjins and really tried his best not to laugh. “What do you think about the amusement park?,” Changbin asked after another moment and watched Hyunjins eyes grow big.

“That's an amazing idea, I haven't been at an amusement park in ages”, he said, jumping up and down in tiny. Seeing Hyunjin like that made Changbin feel all warm and happy. With a small smile he watched the younger man. “Okay let's go!” Hyunjin grabbed the older one hand and together they exited the studio.

When they arrived at the amusement park it was quite full but Changbin did not expect anything different.

“What do you want to do first?”, Changbin asked, looking towards the blond haired one. But Hyunjin was not even really there. He was staring at everything with big, shiny eyes. To be honest Changbin had never seen him like this. Hyunjin seemed so happy right now. Softly he grabbed Hyunjins hand and pulled him towards the big wheel. “You don't have a fear of heights, do you?”

“No I don't”, he mumbled softly. They had to wait a bit till they were at the beginning of the waiting line but it didn't bother Changbin as much as he thought. Of course with Minho, Seungmin or Jeongin he would have talked a lot more but he didn't feel uncomfortable standing next to Hyunjin. When they finally could go on the big wheel they were lucky enough to get one just for themselves. Hyunjin was sitting on the opposite side of him. It was already getting dark and the small colourful lights danced over Hyunjins face.

“You are staring?”, Hyunjin laughed with a smirk on his lips.

“You have something on your nose”, Changbin lied, avoiding meeting the younger one's eyes.

“If you say so”, Hyunjin giggled. He knew Changbin didn't tell the truth.

“Can you, can you maybe take a picture of me?”, Hyunjin asked after a moment. Now Changbin met his eyes again and started to smile softly. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started taking pictures.

“I really hope that there will be some nice pictures, Binnie. It would be a shame if none of these pictures would come out good”, whined Hyunjin pouting for a second. For a second Changbin stopped with what he was doing and just admired the other one pouting.

“Have a little faith in me”, he then muttered, rolling his eyes and started to grin. He took three more pictures of Changbin. “Finished.”

“Thanks… Do you also want me to take some of you too?”, Hyunjin asked, taking the older one by surprise.

“I'm not that photogenic”, he muttered while he shook his head. Hyunjin gave him an offended look.

“You are joking, right?” Not waiting for an answer, he took Changbins phone and then looked at him. For a moment Changbin just stared back at the younger man but then with some hesitation he started posing. “And you said, you are not photogenic”, Hyunjin laughed, shaking his head. To Changbins surprise Hyunjin suddenly stood up and then sat down next to him. The whole gondle started shaking.

“Are you going crazy?”, Changbin muttered with big eyes. Laughing, Hyunjin held the phone up again.

“Let's take some selfies together.” While Changbin still needed to process what was happening, Hyunjin started to take pictures of him. After a moment Changbin also started to pose. Carefully he placed an arm around Hyunjins shoulder and pulled him closer. Hyunjin let out a surprised noise and his eyes grew big. Suddenly Changbin felt all warm from the inside and he couldn't hold back a smile. Hyunjin took a few more pitcure before they were down again and had to leave the big wheel. “Will you send me the photos later on?”, Hyunjin asked as soon as they stood on the street again. Changbin just nodded, looking around to find something they could do next. “I know what we could do next”, Hyunjin muttered while he started to walk.

About an hour later, the two just came out of a rollercoaster, Changbins stomach started to rumble. With a smile, which looked very teasing to Changbin, Hyunjin stopped in his tracks and gave him a look.

“There might be somebody that's hungry”, he joked with a big smile on his lips.

“Oh fuck off”, Changbin whined and tied to push Hyunjin a bit but the other one was fast enough to step out of the way.

“Come let's get something to eat”, Hyunjin suggested. Changbin let out a small sigh but then nodded with his hand on his stomach. He really was starting to get hungry.

“But let me buy the food this time, okay?”

“Sure, but I will decide where we eat”, Hyunjin giggled and started to walk. Changbin catched up with the younger one. The two walked side by side as Hyunjin looked for an interesting restaurant. “What about hot dogs?” Changbin nodded slightly and walked towards the food truck. His stomach started to rumble even more when he saw the food, which looked so good. Sadly they had to wait a while till they could order. When they finally had their hot dogs they looked for a more calmed down place to sit down and eat.

As they sat down Changbin moved closer to Hyunjin.

“I forgot my jacket. I didn't think it would get that cool”, he whispered as he was pressed against Hyunjins side. For a second the other one watched him with suspicious eyes.

"Yeah sure", Hyunjin then huffed which made Changbin just roll his eyes. In silence they ate their hot dogs, while Changbin was still pressed against the younger one. When Hyunjin had finished his hot dog he looked towards Changbin, who couldn't hold back a laugh when he saw that the blond man had some sauce on his bottom lip.

"Why are you laughing?", Hyunjin whined, bumping lightly into the other one. Instead of answering Hyunjin, Changbin grabbed a tissue and wiped the sauce away. With big eyes and red cheeks Hyunjin looked at him.

"Are you a baby that can't eat properly?", Changbin teased.

"Oh stop it Binnie!", he huffed. He tried to look angry but failed due to his flustered state. Of course Changbin did not miss the nickname but he kept quiet. In silence Changbin finished his hot dog.

"Do you want to go home? It's pretty late", Hyunjin whispered, stood up and held his hand out to Changbin who took it. Casually he rubbed his arm around Hyunjins fine shoulders and together they started walking towards the exit. The park was nearly empty, just a few couples were walking along with them or in other directions.

"Thank you for taking me here, Oppa. These little pictures are so cute", Changbin and Hyunjin heard a young woman say to a young looking man.

"Oh there must be a photo booth. Can we take some photos before we go?", the blond hair man asked, all excited, jumping up and down a little. Changbin felt all warm seeing the younger one like this. Again and again Hyunjin took him by surprise. He was so different from what Chanbin knew.

"If you want that", he muttered after a moment, feeling how a smile formed on his lips.

Enthusiastically Hyunjin pulled him towards the photo booth. It was a tiny booth and they nearly had no space.

"Hyung, you are too big. I have no space", Hyunjin whined while he slapped the other once packed biceps and shoulders. With a loud laugh Changbin flexed his arms and wiggled with his eyebrows.

"Oh come on, you like that." Hyunjin let out a huff and rolled his eyes.

"In your dreams", he muttered, still trying to make some space for himself.

"Come here", Changbin said without thinking and patted his thigh. For a moment Hyunjin stared down at him but then sat on his thigh. To make sure he was more stable, Changbin placed his hand on Hyunjins hip. He could feel the other one's eyes on him and could feel his ears getting warm but he tried brushing it off while activating the photo booth. They took many photos and in the end it was quite difficult to house only four of them. When they finally had decided which one they wanted, Hyunjin stood up and escaped the booth to look at the finished photos. Changbin on the other hand still sat in the booth staring into nothing. He felt strange. But he couldn't identify what that feeling was. He let out a little sigh, stood up too and left the photo booth. Hyunjinwas looking at the pictures and ripped them into two identical stripes. He was holding one of them out.

"Thanks", Changbin muttered, before he looked at them for a second and then placed them into his pocket. "Let's go now." With that they went towards the next train station, Changbin had a big chaos in his mind. He was kinda overwhelmed by what happened today. He did not expect to actually have fun going out with Hyunjin. But in the end it was all because of the tv show. If he was honest with himself it would be an absolute waste to just think they could become friends.

"I need to take another line", Hyunjin gets him out of his mind. "We will text, right?" Slowly Changbin nodded and waved the younger one goodbye as he stepped away.

VI

"But we had planned it for so long, Hyung", Changbin whined and started to pout. Minho tried to avoid his eyes and looked out of the window instead.

"I'm meeting someone", he muttered.

"And that can't wait until after this weekend? Please Hyung."

"Chanbin I know we planned it and you were excited", Minho said with a soft tone that Changbin didn't hear that often from him.

"Then why is this meeting so important that you cancel your short trip?"

"Because it's a date." Changbins eyes turned big.

"A date? Hyung!" Changbin was now all excited and got closer to the older man. He poked Minho in the side and smirked.

"I shouldn't have told you", Minho hissed but his ears were still red.

"Who is it?", Chanbin asked curiously.

"I'm not telling you." Minho crossed his arms in front of his chest. Chanbins smirk got only wider.

"Do I know them? Is it the person you talked about when we made the bet?"

"Oh shut up before I make you!" Changbin started to laugh at Minhos respond.

"So it is one or the other. Maybe even both. Very interesting." Minho let out a little sigh and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Think what you wanna think, Changbin."

"I will… and Hyung." Minho just hummed and finally looked back at him. "I'm happy for you and I hope you date will work out." A small smile appeared on Minhos lips and a shy laugh escaped his mouth.

"Thanks." They ate in silence till Minho stopped and looked at the younger man again.

"Why don't you take Hyunjin with you?" That took Changbin by surprise and he started coughing.

"Are you crazy? Why would I do that?"

"Because there is only one big bed and it could be an amazing chance to make him fall for you."

"Hyung do you really think I could do that? Make him fall for me?" For a long moment Minho just looked at him.

"You have a very special charm, you are handsome and you are one of the kindest human beings I know." Changbin started to laugh and escaped Minhos glance and hid his face behind his hands.

"Wait, what do you mean with special charm?" Now Minho laughed loudly and tried to defend himself when Changbin attacked him.

"I will write him", Changbin announced after they sat down again. With a stunned look Minho stared at him, still breathing heavily after getting attacked by the younger one.

"Are you serious?" Unsure about it, Changbin nodded.

"It's actually a good idea, I think?"

"Then do it." With shaking hands Changbin grabbed hus phone and opened his chat with Hyunjin.

Changbin

Hey

Hyunjin

Oh the old man is writing me first this time

Changbin

Don't let me regret this

Hyunjin

Sorry ;)

Changbin

Do you want to go on a trip?

Hyunjin

What?

"Maybe that was not a good idea", Changbin whined, already getting anxious. Minho nearly rolled his eyes.

"It sounds like you care, Changbin", he muttered with a strange look on his face. As if he knew something more than Changbin himself did.

Changbin

Do you want to go on a trip?

Changbin

Minho and I planned a trip to the ocean but he can't go

Hyunjin

So I'm your second choice?

Hyunjin

I'm disappointed

Changbin went through his hair.

"I think I fucked it up", he laughed nervously.

Hyunjin

When and where?

Changbin

This weekend…

Changbin

Well tomorrow and I will drive us

Hyunjin

You can drive? Nice

Hyunjin

Alright. I guess we will start early in the morning?

"Hyung, I think I didn't fuck it up!", Changbin muttered. Then a big smile grew on his lips and his heart started to beat faster. His tummy felt all warm now. "He just agreed to it." He could hear a little laugh from Minho.

"You are so whipped." If stares could kill, Minho would be dead now.

Changbin

Yes I will be in front of your apartment at 7 a.m.

Changbin

You just need to send me your address

Hyunjin

I swear you just wanted my address.

Hyunjin

Sneaky you

Hyunjin

I will send you the address later on

With a happy smile Changbin turned off his phone and laid it on the table.

"He will send me the address later." Minho nodded lightly and with a soft smile on his face. Again Changbin felt like Minho knew more than even he did.

"Do you already know what you will do with your date?"

"It's a secret."

"Oh come on Hyung. Please tell me. I will find out sooner or later anyways." Minho nearly rolled his eyes but just let out a small huff.

"You are so annoying sometimes. You know that?" With a big pout Changbin was staring at the other man. A sigh escaped Minho's lips. "Maybe we will go to the amusement park or go eat something at the river. Maybe also karaoke? I don't know yet."

"Oh, those are some good ideas. If you still need a restaurant, Hyunjin and I once went to a cute little restaurant with amazing food." Minho's eyes lit up a little bit.

"You have to tell me where it is. Maybe we can go there." With a wide smile Changbin nodded.

"Sure."

VII

It was 10 past 7 in the morning and Changbin was standing with his car in front of the apartment complex where Hyunjin lived. Inpatient his fingers drummed against the steering-wheel. He already texted Hyunjin. Hyunjin tho let the older man wait. He grabbed his phone again and was ready to call Hyunjin, when the door to his passenger seat was opened.

"I'm sorry for being late. I overslept", Hyunjin apologised and closed the door behind him again. Changbin noticed that Hyunjins eyes were still small and it looked like he would fall asleep right away again. "But I got us a few snacks for the drive and also two cups of americano. I hope you like these." He placed his bag between his legs and handed Changbin one of the cups. Changbin was speechless but took the cup from the blond haired man.

"Thank you" He took a big sip and let out a small sigh of satisfaction.

"Alright let's go." Changbin started the car and got out of the parking space. Because it was still quite early there were not many people on the streets and they were soon on the highway. Hyunjin had made himself comfortable in the seat. He was looking outside the window.

"If you want, you could play some music", Changbin muttered and even though he said it very quietly, it sounded loud in the car. Slowly Hyunjin turned his head towards the older man.

"I can do that", he mumbled and connected his phone to the car. Precautionary, Changbin turned down the volume a bit. The next moment a song Changbin didn't know started to play. He lit the beat and started to drum against the wheel again.

"Wait, is this Chan Hyung?", he asked, surprised and a bit unsure whether his ears betrayed him.

"Yes, Hyung and Jisung actually. They make music together."

"They do? Wow, that's amazing. I wish I could do such a thing, too."

"If you want, I could ask whether you can come too the next time they meet to maybe sit by the side and listen to what they do?" For a moment Changbins stared at him before looking at the street again.

"You would do that?" Only out of the corner of his eyes could he see how Hyunjins started to smile.

"Of course. If it makes you happy, why not?"

"Thank you", was all Changbin could get over his lips. To say he was happy was an understatement.

During their ride they sing loudly to songs made by Day6 and Taylor Swift. Hyunjin sang along with Taehyungs “Sweet Night´s” and Changbin rapped along with some fast paced rap-song. He was really getting into it and Hyunjin hyping him up, made him just more competitive.

“Wow you are actually really good at it”, Hyunjins mumbled, hitting Changbins shoulder lightly.

“You sound so surprised”, the older man laughed.

“Sorry, Hyung.” Hyunjin started to giggle lightly. His face softened. "No really. You are good at it." They sang song after song, till Changbin stopped in front of a small house.

"You booked the whole house for the weekend?", Hyunjins asked surprised.

"My sister's best friends parents are the owners of this holiday house and we can sometimes book it for a small price", Changbin explained laughing. "Otherwise I couldn't afford that." When he looked at the blond man, he saw a little smile on Hyunjins lips. "Let's go inside." Hyunjin nodded slightly and followed the shorter one into the holiday house. They got out of their shoes and Changbin started to show everything to Hyunjin.

“It just has one bed but that's no problem to you, right?” Changbin tried to be as casual as possible but if he was honest, he was quite nervous. For a moment Hyunjin was staring at him with wide eyes.

“You want us to sleep in the same bed?” A small smirk appeared on Changbins lips.

“What? Is Hwang Hyunjin afraid he might fall for me when he sleeps in the same bed as me?”, Changbin teased the younger man and wiggled his eyebrows. Hyunjin on the other hand grimaced and looked at him with disbelief.

“I think you should be more concerned about that”, he nearly hissed, before he let his big bag fall down next to the bedside that was near the window. “And you wanted to sleep with Minho-ssi here? In one bed?” Was Hyunjin looking with suspicion in his eyes at him.

“We have been best friends since primary school when I was a new kid. We know each other's ugliest moments. Believe me there could never be something more than friendship”, Changbin explained, while he got out of his jacket. “And he has a date tomorrow.”

“Is that why he didn't come with you?” With a thin smile Changbin nodded and shook his shoulders. “Wait tomorrow? With whom?”

“He didn't want to tell but I know that he has a crush on this person for some time now and that I know them, why?” Fastly Hyunjin closed the distance between the two of them, and grabbed his arm.

“Because Jisung has a date tomorrow and didn't want to tell us who it is. Normally we are the first ones to know but he got all shy and didn't want to tell us anything.” It kinda made sense. Changbin still remembered the atmosphere when the eight of them met up.

“I'm honest with you. I also thought that maybe his date is Jisung. They would look cute together.” Now Hyunjin stared at him with a disgusted look. “Stop looking like that! Just because nobody likes you, doesn't mean other people can't go on dates and fall in love.” As soon as the words left his mouth he knew he made a mistake. Hyunjins eyes stopped sparkling for a second and his expression fell.

“I think I forgot something in the car. Can I get the key?” Without another word, Changbin gave him the key and watched him walk out.

“You are so stupid!”, Changbin hissed, hitting his own head and then bit his lip. He didn't even want to say such a thing. With a low sigh, he walked out of the bedroom and grabbed some soda that was in the fridge. When Hyunjin returned, he looked a bit more like before but Changbin could still sense Hyunjins hurt and he felt so dumb.

"Do you want a soda too?" He already opened the fridge and then held the soda towards Hyunjin. Carefully Hyunjin grabbed the soda and opened it.

"Thank you", he muttered with a tiny smile. "Did you plan anything?" Changbin let himself down on the sofa and then looked up to the younger man, who sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"I just wanted to relax a bit but you sound like you have something in mind, or am I wrong?", Changbin chuckled and took another sip. He saw how Hyunjins cheeks started to look like someone painted them pink.

"Well after you ask me to come along, I looked up what kind of things you can do here", Hyunjin muttered, playing with his soda and avoiding Changbins glance.

"Alright, then let's do whatever you want. Oh, we also need to visit the beach, but we need to do that in the evening. It's nicer then." Hyunjins eyes were big again and he looked all excited.

"We absolutely need to go there, too. But what do you think about breakfast first?" Right after Hyunjin finished his question, Changbins stomach started growling. For a second they stared at each other with big eyes before they burst into laughter. Hyunjin nearly fell off his chair but catched himself at the last second.

“Breakfast sounds good to me. I know a nice café, we could go to”, Changbin said, still a bit out of breath. When he looked at the other, he saw Hyunjin smiling again and it made him more happy than he would admit.

After they both finished their sodas they started to get ready, left the house and Changbin led them to a small café close to the ocean but a bit more up. It was quite full already.

“Maybe you should find us a nice table.”

“Is outside also alright?”, Hyunjin asked, gesturing towards the terrace. Changbin started nodding.

“Sure. What do you want?” Hyunjin was already walking away but turned around again.

“Iced americano with caramel syrup and something sweet or so.” Changbin was watching Hyunjin walk away before he turned around and walked towards the bar. Now he regretted telling Hyunjin to find them a table. There was so much delicious looking food, he did not know what to buy. Luckily he had some time to think about it. In the end he bought something sweet for both of them and coffee and started to search for Hyunjin. The younger man had chosen a table on the terrace.

When he walked closer, he saw that someone was talking to Hyunjin. Maybe he just imagined it but Hyunjin looked more than uncomfortable.

“Next time you are going to order. If we keep up like this I'm gonna be poor in no time”, he started to rumble out loud and placed the tray down. Only now he looked up again and stared at the woman who had been talking to Hyunjin. She was probably two or three years younger than himself.

“Next time I will pay, Binnie. But thanks”, Hyunjin said with a smile and placed his hand on Changbin. Changbin felt his cheeks getting hot by such a simple action. He probably had a stupid wide smile painted on his lips but he couldnt change that. Slowly he looked towards the woman again.

“And you are?” he asked sharply, his smile had disappeared. With big eyes she looked at him before she bowed at them and stumbled backwards.

“I'm sorry, I had mistaken you for someone else I know”, she stuttered, before she disappeared into the café. For a moment, both of them didn't say a thing, then Hyunjin let out a quivering sigh and squeezed Changbins hand.

“Thank god you arrived at the right moment. She asked whether I was alone or not and wanted my phone number”, Hyunjin explained, while he grabbed the americano and took a big sip.

“Sounds like I just came in time”, Changbin muttered, finally relaxing again.

“You know, you were quite scary, all serious and not smiling.” Changbin looked up from his drink and stared at Hyunjin.

“Well I'm not often like that.” Suddenly the younger man started to giggle, which took Changbin by surprise.

“You know, you are a bit like a chihuahua.” Changbin let out an offended noise.

“Excuse you?”

“Well it's true, isn't it? You are short and look cute but if you want, you could bite someone's finger off.”

“You think I'm cute?” At that Hyunjin rolled his eyes and looked at him in annoyance.

“Seriously that's all you hear?”

“I also heard the rest. I just decided to ignore that because I didn't want to give you the satisfaction”, Changbin muttered and then stuck out his tongue to Hyunjin. “And now let's eat. I'm hungry.” Hyunjins lips were curled up into a smile.

“Alright, Sir!”

VIII

They had walked around the whole day. Hyunjin wanted to visit a butterfly house which was next to a semi big botanical garden. They spent nearly the whole day in it but Changbin wasn't sad about it. He enjoyed how much fun Hyunjin had, how often he had a big ass smile on his lips and that sparkle in his eyes.

Finally Hyunjin had enough. Changbin let out a soft sigh. Even though he enjoyed their day, the walking had tired him out.

Suddenly Hyunjin stood in front of the shorter man.

“What will we do now?”, he asked with tired but happy looking eyes.

“Do you still want to watch the sunset? We could grab something to eat and then find a nice place to eat. What do you think?”

“Can we have Tteokbokki and Gimbap?” Changbin found it adorable how Hyunjin had asked him in a higher pitched voice. He couldn’t hold back his laugh. “Hey! Don’t laugh!”, the younger man pouted, shoving Changbin backwards but Changbin couldn’t stop laughing.

“Alright, alright! Sounds like a good idea”, he explained out of break, one hand in his hips.

Quite fastly they found a food truck that smelled Tteokbokki, Gimbap and a lot more amazing smelling food. For a second, just for a second both Hyunjin and Changbin thought about ordering something else but then they stood by their first idea and ordered the food alongside some beer. While they waited till the old lady cooked their food, Hyunjin, absolutely tired, started to lean against the older one. Well lean was an understatement. He was nearly laying completely on him. Hyunjin held his phone in a way Changbin could watch as well. The older one was softly patting Hyunjins back. Both of them didn’t even notice what they were doing until the old lady called them as she had finished their order. For a moment they frozed in their actions but then stepped back. With red cheeks and burning ears he grabbed the bag, bowed to the old lady and walked away. Hyunjin ran after him. They walked in silence for a while.

“I know that there is a lighthouse a bit further away from the main beach. It’s also beautiful and hopefully not as crowded”, Changbin started to explain and pointed at the lighthouse that was visible at the end of the town.

“What do you think? We could eat there.” Hyunjin didn’t need to think about it much. He just nodded and watched a happy smile appear on Changbins lips.

Within a few minutes they stood in front of the lighthouse and Changbin was right. They still had an amazing few and there were no other people with them. Hyunjin found them the, like he called it, perfect place. Changbin sat down next to him and handed Hyunjin the bag. While the younger one placed the food between them, Changbin opened a can of beer for each of them.

“You know I’m happy you asked me to come with you. It’s been so long since I went to the ocean”, mumbled Hyunjin between two bits. “I think the last time was when I was still in primary school and my parents surprised me with a trip to Busan for my birthday.”

“Jeongin is from Busan, did you know? His family moved when he was five.”

“Oh lucky him. Being born in such a beautiful city. Even though I was young, I still fell in love with the city”, Hyunjin told him with a soft smile. Suddenly Changbin felt all warm, watching Hyunjins smile.

"You definitely need to show me the city."

"Does that mean the next time I'm your first choice for going on a trip?"

"If you want to go of course", Changbin muttered with a shy smile on his lips. With a wide smile, Hyunjin took a sip of his beer.

"I will hunt you, should we not go there together." Changbin snorted with laughter and shook his head.

"Oh yeah? And how will you do that?"

"Don't underestimate me, Hyung. I will get you when you don't think about it", Hyunjin smiled a sly smile.

"Yeah of course Hyunjinnie."

After that they ate in silence and drank their beer. With a fascinated smile the younger one of the two watched the sunset. He took plenty of pictures and maybe, just maybe he also took a few of Changbin who was laying on one hand behind him.

When the sun was down it got surprisingly colder and the two young men decided to walk home.

"I should have taken my jacket with me. I didn't expect it to get this cold", Hyunjin whined, rubbing his arms with his hands. Without saying anything, Changbin got closer and pulled Hyunjin to him. For a moment Hyunjin freezed but then he slowly placed his one arm over Changbins shoulders.

"You are too tall", the shorter man grumbled, showing Hyunjin his pout.

"I'm not too tall, you are just too short", Hyunjin replied laughing.

"You take that back!"

"I will absolutely not do that, shorty."

"You should run", Changbin muttered then and a sly smile appeared on his mouth. And Hyunjin started running.

"You are crazy, Hyung", he screamed but couldn't hold back his laugh as he ran in the direction of their holiday house.

"You should run faster. I'm right behind you", Changbin shouts. That was a lie but Hyunjin didn't need to know that.

"Got you", Changbin exhaled against Hyunjins neck, hugging the younger man from behind.

"Only because you have the key to the house and I couldn't enter", Hyunjin hissed back, but without any bite. Changbin behind him was warm and made Hyunjin feel strangely lightheaded.

"You can tell yourself that Jinnie." Hyunjin snorted and rolled his eyes, escaping Changbins hug.

"Can you open the door? It's cold, Hyung."

"Of course." Changbin fished the key out of his pocket and opened the door.

In silence they started to work on their bedtime routine. While Hyunjin cleaned his face, Changbin brushed his teeths and watched the younger one through the mirror in front of them.

“Can you give me the small towel?”, Hyunjin asked with his eyes closed and one extended hand.

“The red one?”

“Yes, the red one.”

“There you go”, Changbin muttered and handed the towel out. Hyunjin mumbled something against the towel, which Changbin could’t understand, but assumed was a thank you. For a second he debated whether he should wait for Hyunjin to finish his routine or already go to their bedroom. He didn't want to be rude but saying even though he finished his routine would also be awkward.

“You can already go. You don't have to wait for me”, Hyunjin whispered as if he read the other one's mind and knew what he was thinking about. At that Changbin just nodded and walked towards their shared bedroom. He got under the blanket and let out a small sigh. Finally feeling the soft bed under him after such a long day felt amazing. He texted Minho a bit while waiting for Hyunjin to come out of the bathroom.

His eyes felt heavy when Hyunjin finally appeared and let himself fall next to Changbin onto the bed.

“I thought you would already be asleep”, he whispered, getting under the covers.

“Nah, I texted with Minho-Hyung. He still is very closed up about his date.”

“Do you still think Jisung is his date?”

“I think so. It would make sense to me”, Changbin explained while turning his head so he could face Hyunjin. Slowly Hyunjin nodded.

“Jisung is very dear to me. We didn't get along at first and fought quite a lot but he is one of my best friends now. Maybe it doesn't seem this way but he went through some shit in his life. I just don't want him to get hurt, you know.”

“Should they really be each other's dates, I can assure you that Minho has no bad intentions. He may seem cold at first but he is one of the most caring human beings I have met so far. I would give that man the shirt off my back.” Again, Hyunjin nodded and a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

“I'm sorry for saying such hurtful things to you earlier. It was not fair of me to say nobody would date you. That's not true.”

“Oh and you know this from where?”, the younger one teased. Changbin could feel his cheeks getting warm and he was happy that it was already too dark in the room to see anything.

“I think I'll take it back.”

“No! I'm sorry, Hyung.” A hand was placed softly on Changbins arm. “And thank you for apologising. I'm also sorry for judging even though I don't know Minho-ssi well enough.”

"You are lucky he didn't hear it. He would have fed you tissues." At that, Hyunjin started to laugh.

“Okay but why could I see him doing that?” With an amused smile Changbin stared back at the other man. He didn't know where it came from but he felt this strange warmth within his body.

“Because he would. As a joke of course. He wouldn't apologise but he would treat you with dinner.”

“To be honest that's kinda cute.”

“It is, but don't tell him that.”

“I would never”, Hyunjin laughed and shook his head lightly.

Changbin returned his smile.

A loud yawn escaped Hyunjin's lips and he closed his eyes for a moment.

“Tired? Then let's sleep”, Changbin whispered.

“Good night.”

“You too.”

Hyunjin let his hand fall from Changbins arm and snuggled further under his blanket. The older one let out a slight sigh, placed his phone down on the nightstand and closed his eyes too.

Changbin had nearly fallen asleep when he suddenly felt Hyunjins warm body against his side.

“Hyunjin?”, he muttered quietly but got now answer. All he got was a constant breath against neck. For a second Changbin closed his eyes and debated what he should do. Hyunjin felt warm at his side and when he wrapped an arm around Changbins middle Changbin decided to ignore all his concerns. Slowly he pulled Hyunjin closer and wrapped him into his arms.

Hyunjin was right, Changbin himself should have been more concerned to share a bed with the other man. It was definitely not good for his heart. He was screwed.

IX

Hyunjin was still in the bedroom, while Changbin was preparing some food he bought earlier today when Hyunjin was still having his beautysleep. With his hands full, he walked out into the garden behind the little house. A few hours ago he opened the hot tub and started it.

He placed the plate on the small table next to the hot tub. In a bucket full of ice water were some soju Hyunjin had found in the basement and soda.

Hyunjin stepped out of the back door, a soft looking bathrobe was wrapped around his body and he had tied his hair back loosely. Changbin couldn't deny that the other man looked absolutely gorgeous and he also couldn't stop staring at him.

"You can already get into the tub, if you want. I will just change into my swimming trunks", Changbin muttered when Hyunjin finally stopped in front of him.

"Is everything outside already?", Hyunjin asked, looking around.

"Yes you can get into the hot water."

"You are too good for me, Hyung", Hyunjin whispered with a soft smile and opened his bathrobe slowly. Before Changbin could see much more, he escaped and walked with fast steps towards the holiday house. When he closed the bedroom door behind himself he let out a deep breath. He felt all warm suddenly. He stood there for a moment just staring against the wall but he had to change into his shorts. For a while he looked at himself in the mirror. Usually he would call himself quite confident. He liked his body but suddenly something felt off when he looked into the mirror. Some stupid part of his brain wanted to look good for Hyunjin but told him he wasn´t enough. Slowly he pulled his Shirt over his head again and then walked out into the garden.

He found Hyunjin already sitting in the water.

"What took you so long?", he asked when he saw Changbin approaching. But all Changbin could do was to shrug his shoulders. Silently he entered the tub and couldn't hold back the satisfied sigh that left his mouth. For a moment he closed his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Changbin opened his eyes again and looked at the younger man.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" Maybe he did lie a bit but Hyunjin didn't need to know that. For a second Hyunjin looked at him, one eyebrow raised but then he nodded slowly and looked at the trees instead. Changbin was happy, Hyunjin didn't ask any further questions. He wasn't sure whether he could have continued with his lie.

"You said you bought some fruits?", remembered the younger man after a while. Softly Changbin nodded and grabbed the strawberries he had bought. He hold the small bowl towards Hyunjin so that he could choose which one he wanted. After eating the first one Hyunjin started to smile softly. It was a smile that made Changbin feel warm from the inside.

"Are they good?" When the younger man nodded enthusiastically Changbin started to laugh and nearly cooed. Hyunjin just looked adorable.

When Hyunjin grabbed one more strawberry, a smirk appeared on Changbins lips. He took hold of Hyunjins wrist and stole the strawberry.

"Hyung!", whined Hyunjin and got closer to get one more strawberry but Changbin held them out of Hyunjin's reach.

"You are right. They are really good", he muttered. When Hyunjin looked at him with a pout, a soft laugh escaped his lips and he held a strawberry in front of the younger man. For a moment Hyunjin waited as if to check whether Changbin would pull the strawberry away. When he did not, Hyunjin carefully ate it out of Changbin's hand.

They were so close now and Changbin wondered when that happened. Hyunjin was looking at him with big eyes and a soft smile. After a moment he felt Hyunjins slim fingers on his thigh. His thumb rubbed softly up and down Changbin's skin. Changbin let out a shaky breath and locked eyes with the younger man.

"Hyunjin", Changbin whispered, pulled him slowly closer and wrapped an arm around his body. For a second his eyes wandered lower. "Can I kiss you?" Hyunjin stared back at him and got even closer.

“Please”, whispered the younger man. Changbin couldn't say who made the final move but he didn't really care either. Hyunjins lips were as full as he had imagined them but they felt softer than he would have guessed. Slowly he placed one hand lightly on Hyunjins bag and started to carry his skin while he felt how the younger man played with his longer strands in the back of his neck that had already gotten wet. For a moment they separate but just to take a breath. Changbin let out a little huff when their lips met again and if possible he pulled Hyunjin even closer. He couldn't really describe the feelings he felt right now but he kinda liked them. They made him feel strangely comfortable.

Suddenly a loud sound interrupts them. It took a moment, but then Hyunjin pulled away, chest raising and lowering fastly. For a moment they met eyes and Changbin would lie if he said Hyunjin wasn't a second away from kissing him again but then he pulled away even further, drying off his hands to grab his phone.

“I'm sorry”, he muttered, stopping the alarm. “I made an alarm so we could call Jisung and see whether Minho is his date.” Changbin stared at him, not really understanding what the younger man had told him. He was still feeling Hyunjins lips on his. “I will call Jisung now, alright Hyung?” Changbin felt Hyunjins hand on his shoulder and finally he seemed to come back to the present. He nodded softly, looking up to the younger who looked down at his phone. A moment later, Changbin could hear Jisungs voice through the phone.

“Hyunjin?”

“Good to hear you. I just wanted to know how your date is going?” Changbin heard Jisung laughing.

“That is why you are calling? Are you bored on your short trip?” Nearly Changbin couldn't hold back his laugh.

“It's quite good actually”, defended Hyunjin and started to pout. “Will your date say hello too?”

“He will absolutely not do that.” Slowly Changbin grabbed his phone and started to search for Minho's number. “So that's why you called.” A ringtone went off. For a second Hyunjin looked confused at his phone but when he met Changbins glance he understood.

“Who is that?”, Jisung asked, clearly towards the unknown date that was with him.

“I'm gonna kill you the next time we meet, Changbin.” Now Changbin couldn't hold back his laugh anymore.

“I'm sorry, Hyung”, he said, still laughing.

“Yeah sure.” There was a short silence. “Just so you know, Jisung stopped working. I will take care of him.” And with that the phone call ended. Surprised, both men looked at each other before starting to laugh again.

“I will need to write Jisung later on so that everything is okay.”

“Minho will take care of him”, muttered Changbin with a warm smile. Slowly Hyunjin nodded and let out a soft sigh.

“I hope so.”

Suddenly there was a strange silence. Changbin met eyes with the younger man and didn't know what to say. Hyunjin was still so close, still on his lap, his legs next to his own. It seemed like Hyunjin didn't even notice he was still playing with Changbins hair.

“Do you still want a strawberry?”, Changbin muttered, holding up a strawberry to cut through the strange silence. Hyunjin took the strawberry from Changbin’s hand and slid down from the older man's lap. But he was still very close to Changbin.

“Thank you”, he whispered with a soft smile on his lips. All Changbin could do was to nod softly.

X

The next time Changbin met Minho was for their dance practice. When he walked into their practice room he saw the older man already warming up. Minho met his gaze through the mirror but looked away right after and somehow Changbin knew the older man was still mad at him. Slowly Changbin walked further in and started to warm up as well. They hadn't talked once and Changbin started to feel worse with every second.

Soon after Seungmins and Jeongins arrival they started to practise. He felt the glances of the two youngerest from time to time on his back when Minho scrolled him for something or made them redo a part of the choreo they had already mastered.

“If you dont to it right the next time, Changbin, I will kick you out I swear”, Minho hissed, staring at the younger man through half closed eyes. Out of breath Changbin stood up and met Minho´s glance.

“Hyung, please forgive me”, he muttered. “It was Hyunjins idea to call and not mine. Please don't be mad at me.” He bowed deep and then looked with pout on his face at Minho. The older man looked at him for a moment and then let out a sigh.

“You should apologise to Jisung and not me”, he muttered.

“Jisung? He was your date, Hyung?”, asked Jeongin, surprised and with big, wide eyes.

“I knew it”, laughed Seungmin at the same time.

“Look what you did!”, Minho hissed with red cheeks and even redder ears. “They will never let it go.” Changbin walked closer to his Hyung.

“They would have got the info sooner or later, Hyung.” Again Minho let out a deep breath but he knew Changbin was right and so he nodded softly. “How did it go?” If Changbin thought Minho was already red, he got even redder now.

“It was good.”

“Just good? Hyung we need more details”, Jeongin whined.

“What did you do? Where did you go?”

“I picked up Jisung and together we walked to the restaurant Changbin recommended”, explained Minho and a soft smile appeared on his lips. “Then we started to walk around. Talking about so much and it was comfortable. We stopped at a convenience store and ate ice cream.” Changbin started to smile. It sounded like Minho's date went well, when it lasted so long. “Then you and Hyunjin called and Jisung started to panic.”

“I felt bad for him. We didn't want to make Jisung feel bad.”

“You were just so nosy”, huffed the older man and rolled his eyes. “But lucky you I could calm Jisung.” Minho went through his hair. “We went home and had hot chocolate.”

“And?”, Jeongin asked.

“Maybe we held hands on the way to my flat.”

“And?”, questioned Seungmin.

“We cuddled on my sofa after drinking the hot chocolate.”

“And?”, digged Changbin deeper, receiving a bugged glance from Minho.

“Maybe we cuddled for hours and fell asleep.” His ears were all red again.

“Sounds like you had a great date, Hyung”, giggled Changbin with a wide smile.

“Oh shut it, Changbin!” But Changbin couldn't hold back his laugh.

“Let's get back to work”, exclaimed Minho and turned towards the stereo.

“I'm happy your date went well, Hyung”, said Changbin and he really meant it. For a moment he thought MInho would ignore him but when he started the music and walked up to them he muttered a soft thank you.

Later, when their practice was nearly over the studio door suddenly opened. Changbin stopped in his motion when he saw who had just slipped through the door. Jisung had a big smile on his face as he waved Minho, who had stopped in his motion and started to smile lightly.

“I guess practice is over”, Jeongin laughed and started to hide behind Seungmin as Minho attacked him but soon Minho let go of Jeongin. Instead he walked over to Jisung and greeted him. He looked at the two lovebirds and started to smile.

“Minho-ssi took good care of Seungie”, whispered Hyunjin right next to Changbin who hadn't even noticed the younger man getting closer. Slowly he looked at the other man.

“Yeah he did”, he replied and then shoved his hands into his pockets. “What are you doing here?” For a second it seemed to Changbin as if Hyunjin was sad but then an amused smile appeared on his lip.

“Jisung wanted to walk home with Minho-ssi but was too shy to come here all alone.” Changbin started to pout and looked up to Hyunjin.

“What? Does that mean you are not here because of me?”, he said with a huff and crossed his arms before his chest. A loud laugh escaped Hyunjins mouth and he leaned a bit forward so Changbin held him out of fear he would fall.

“Sucks being the second choice, doesn't it?” Changbin didn't know what to reply, so he kept silent. Instead he watched how Minho packed his bag and then waved at everyone before leaving together with Jisung.

“They are disgustingly cute, aren't they?”, Jeongin muttered as he shook his head. With a soft laugh Changbin nodded and then walked towards his bag. Only when he turned around he noticed that Hyunjin had followed him. For a moment the younger man kept silent, playing with his rings on his fingers.

“Are you free now?” A wide smile appeared on Changbins lips as he raised one eyebrow.

“Why? Does Hyunjinnie want to go on a date?” Immediately Hyunjins cheeks got redder and CHangbin liked how the younger one looked. Softly he rubbed one of Hyunjins cheeks and started to laugh when the other tried to slap his hand. “Did you have an idea where we could go?” Hyunjin looked dumbfounded and then shook his head. Changbin nearly wanted to teased him for this too but then held back because he didn't want Hyunjin to feel bad. Changbin shouldered his bag and started to walk, pulling Hyunjin with him. He waved Seungmin and Jeongin and opened the door for Hyunjin and himself.

“I know a place we could go to”, he informed the other one when they exited the studio complex.

Soon they stopped in front of the bubble tea shop with the gras wall.

“It looks so cute. It would be amazing to take pictures in front of the wall”, muttered Hyunjin next to Changbin, as they walked in. Changbin already knew what he would get but it seemed that Hyunjin was looking at the menu and didn't know what to get.

“You can order already”, Hyunjin muttered, his eyes still on the menu. As Changbin walked up to the counter, a young woman around their age greeted him with a soft smile. Fastly he ordered and stepped aside so Hyunjin could order as well. While their orders were made, they talked about their day. Mostly Hyunjin while Changbin just listened to him and sometimes nodded to show the younger man he was still listening.

When their orders were ready, Hyunjin walked up to the counter and took the tea. When he stopped in front of Changbin he looked somehow changed and held the tea out to him.

“Let's go”, he muttered, grabbed Changbins hand and pulled him out. For a moment, Changbin stared confused at the taller man.

“I guess you charmed that girl just by your looks”, muttered Hyunjin after a moment which made Changbin look surprised at him.

“What?”

“She wrote down her number on your cup.” And it was true. When Changbin checked his cup a number was written on it.

“Well I will definitely not text her. I don't even know her”, Changbin explained immediately. He was not sure whether he had just imagined it but it seemed that Hyunjin let out a deep breath and relaxed a bit. “But also is it so impossible that someone would like me just by my looks?”, asked Changbin, thinking about the comment Hyunjin made a little earlier.

“Of course not. You are good looking but just because someone is good looking doesn't mean they can't be an absolute asshole.” Changbin smiled softly at the compliment Hyunjin just made and didn't even realise it.

“You are right.” He took the last sip out of his cup and threw it away immediately. He met Hyunjins eyes with a smile and squeezed his hand softly.

XI

The next day Changbin was sitting together with Minho, Seungmin and Jeongin in the university refectory talking about an assignment when Seungmins phone made a sound. The younger man checked it and started to smile. Changbin raised one eyebrow, staring at Seungmin who absolutely ignored it.

“Before I forget”, muttered Seungmin instead, looking between the three men. “Chan-Hyung and Jisung-Hyung are going to perform in a pub on friday and Chan-Hyung asked me whether I would want to watch. Do you want to come too?” He was talking more to Changbin and Jeongin than to Minho and Changbin assumed that the older man already knew about this through Jisung.

“I'm already going. Jisung invited me”, Minho explained with cheeks that were slowly getting redder and redder.

“Nawww his Jisungie had invited him”, laughed Jeongin. Minho pointed at the youngest of the four.

“Be careful in your sleep.”

“I'm sorry hyung”, begged Jeongin with a big pout and even bigger eyes. For a moment Minho stared at him seriously but then a light smile appeared on his lips.

“Wait until you like someone. You will get everything back, Innie.” Jeongin was still smiling but it had faded a bit. He knew Minho wasn't joking.

“Let's hope that will happen very soon. I want to see it too”, laughed Seungmin, receiving a powerful thwack and a scandalised sound from Jeongin. Changbin started to laugh over their bickering.

“Sometimes they act like an old couple”, he muttered towards Minho who had a smirk on his face and nodded when he heard Changbins words.

“I will write Chan-Hyung and tell him you will come along”, explained Seungmin, already texting the older man. Not much later they all separated.

On his way to his next lecture he texted Hyunjin, asking whether the younger man would be there as well on friday. Surprisingly fast Hyunjin answers him with a yes. For a while Changbin and Hyunjin text and for the first time since he started studying he is sad when his professor walks in. He texted Hyunjin once more before placing his phone into his pocket. He tried his best but in the end he couldn't really follow whatever his professor was talking about. His mind was still full of Hyunjin.

XII

Changbin was checking himself in the mirror one last time. His legs were wrapped into slim fitting leather pants and he was wearing a black shirt tucked into his pants. He had borrowed some jewellery from Minho which made his outfit perfect. At least for him. He felt confident in it and didn't even let his mind wander back to remember who he felt when he was standing in front of the mirror last weekend.

He took a deep breath, grabbed his phone, keys and wallet and left his flat. Jeongin was waiting for him outside his flat and together they walked to the pub Chan and Jisung would perform. Earlier that day Minho and Seungmin had texted them separately that they would already be in the pub and would meet them there. After Seungmins text, Changbin was pretty sure Seungmin and Chan were a thing or at least were on their way to it. He had that feeling since they all met at Minho. He would need to watch the two more closely this evening.

Soon they were standing in front of the pub and luckily it was not as crowded yet so they were in rather quickly.

"I will text Seungmin-Hyung", said Jeongin over the loud music and pulled out his phone. Changbin kept looking around in the pub. Chan and Jisung had still half an hour till their performance and it was surprisingly empty. Changbin hoped that a lot more people would come to see the two men perform. When he felt Jeongins hand on his shoulder he turned his head back to the younger man and raised one eyebrow. But Jeongin just pointed towards the other end of the room where, next to the bar, was standing Seungmin in the door towards the private area obviously searching for them. Now that Jeongin had Changbin`s attention he started to walk towards Seungmin. Changbin followed with a little bit of delay.

When Seungmin finally spotted them, the smile on his lips grew into a bigger smile.

“Come in”, Seungmin said over the loud music. “You are the last one to arrive. The others have already arrived.” Behind himself Changbin closed the door and immediately it was quieter. Changbin let out a little sigh.

“In the beginning, the owner didn't want anyone other than Chan-Hyung and Jisung-Hyung in the private area but somehow Chan-Hyung changed the owners mind”, Seungmin explained as they walked up some stairs. He opened a door to their right and Changbin could hear them before he saw them. A big smile appeared on his lips when he heard Minho shout something.

“Seems like we are completed”, said Chan out loud when he saw Changbin and Jeongin appeared behind Seungmin. As Changbin closed the door behind him Seungmin let himself fall onto the sofa right next to Chan, who was wrapping an arm around the younger man's shoulder. Changbin waved at all of them. When his eyes landed on Hyunjin he stopped for a moment. Just a small little moment so he could take everything in as fast as he could. Then he met eyes with Hyunjin and it felt like his heart skipped a beat. He would have laughed but everyone would have thought he had lost it so he forced that nervous laugh down. When he sat down next to Hyunjin he could still feel Hyunjins glance on him.

“You look really handsome”, whispered Hyunjin after a moment of silence between them. While the others didn't seem to hear what Hyunjin had said, Changbin had heard him loud and clear and he was feeling his cheeks getting warmer with every second. He leaned a little bit closer and met Hyunjins eyes again.

“Says the one that looks absolutely stunning.” A clear laugh escaped Hyunjins lips as he pressed his eyes together and shook his head. A moment later the younger softly hid Changbin against his shoulder.

“You idiot”, Hyunjin muttered but still a smile was on his face now and Changbin chuckled at the sight of Hyunjin.

Changbin turned his attention towards his friends, watching them talk and joke around. He let out a low sigh and sank into the sofa even deeper. He felt strangely calm and safe surrounded by all of his close friends and the people who could soon become his close friends too.

When the pub owner came in half an hour later to tell Chan and Jisung they should get ready, Changbin didn't even want to stand up. He wanted to stay right there next to Hyunjin on that dark brown comfortable sofa. But when the other stood up he did the same, walking right behind Hyunjin. When they entered the open pub area Changbin noticed that it had gotten way more crowded. They wished Chan and Jisung good luck and they tried to find a good spot. He could feel Jeongins hand on his shoulder the moment he took hold of Hyunjins upper arm to not lose him and the others. They walked through the crowd till they found a place where they could see rather good.

When Chan and Jisung entered the stage, Changbin was surprised how different they seemed.

“Hey everyone!”, shouted Chan into his mic with a wide smile and the crowd started to cheer.

“I am J.One”, said Jisung.

“I am CB97 and we are 2racha. Let's have some fun!” Once again the crowd started to cheer and clap for the two young men. Changbin was getting excited. He wanted to know more of the songs the two created. And they didn't disappoint. Their voices were so unique and still fitted together.

“Damn they are so good. They are even better live”, muttered Changbin, surprised when Hyunjin next to him leaned in and nodded.

“They are”, he said. Hyunjin kept close and soon Changbin noticed how two arms wrapped around his bicep. With his free hand, met Hyunjins that held him. A wide smile appeared on his lips as he continued watching.

When Chan and Jisung left the stage after over half an hour, Changbin and the other five men slowly walked over towards the bar where the two performers stood. They had gotten some drinks from the pub owner and were talking to him. Seungmin was the first to reach the two and with a big smile he started to hug Chan.

“You were so good”, stated Jeongin.

“Thanks”, said Jisung, his eyes wandering towards Minho, who was right behind Changbin. From the corner of his eye he noticed as Minho softly smiled at Jisung and gave him a nod. And it seemed that when Changbin thought it couldn't get any bigger, Jisungs smile grew even more.

“You were amazing! I'm kinda jealous”, Changbin joked, leaning against the bar. Suddenly he felt Jisungs hands on his shoulders.

“You could do it too.”

“What?”

“Oh right! I nearly forgot to ask you”, laughed Chan. Changbin didn't understand anything. “Do you want to tag along the next time we meet to produce?”

“You would let me?” To say Changbin was surprised was an understatement.

“Of course. Hyunjin showed us some of the music you made and we think it's good.”

“Really good!”, Jisung commented with an enthusiastic nod that made everyone laugh. For a moment he met eyes with Hyunjin. He tried to say thank you without words but he wasn't sure whether Hyunjin had understood that.

“Thanks. And of course I will tag along.”

“Good, good”, sighed Chan and nodded multiple times. “We should celebrate this. First round on me.”

Some time later, Changbin had lost track of time, he found himself dancing on the rather small dancefloor. Some slower song was playing and Hyunjin was leaning against him, his arms wrapped around Changbins neck.

“Thanks for playing some of the tracks I had sent you to Chan-Hyung and Jisung”, he whispered softly.

“No problem”, mumbled Hyunjin against his shoulder.

“Are you tired?”

“A bit.”

“Let's get you home.”

“Nooooooo”, the younger man whined, clinging on Changbin. “Don't want to go. Want another drink.”

“I think you had enough, Jinnie.” It seemed as if Hyunjin wanted to protest against it but then he let out a deep sigh and nodded against Changbins shoulder. Changbin pushed Hyunjin away softly but kept holding off his hands. On his way out he said goodbye to Jeongin, Felix. Minho and Jisung had already left, saying they wanted to take a walk and Seungmin and Chan were busy sharing soft kisses.

"Piggyback?", asked Hyunjin as soon as they were outside. He looked at Changbin with a big pout on his lips and wide eyes. Changbins lips escaped a small laugh as he nodded.

"Come here, Jinnie", he muttered, turning his back to Hyunjin.

"Hyung is the best." With Hyunjin on his back he started to walk. Only a few minutes later he remembered that he didn't know where Hyunjin lived.

“Where do you live?”, he asked as he stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly towards the younger man but he was met with silence. Changbin let out a small sigh and started to walk towards his own home. It was a struggle to open his door without letting Hyunjin fall off his back but somehow he got in. Softly, he placed Hyunjin on his sofa.

“Hyunjin please wake up?” Slowly, Hyunjin opened his eyes and looked at him.

“Want sleep”, the younger man muttered, leaning fully against Changbin, who was surprised by the sudden weight and nearly lost his balance. He brushed through Hyunjins hair and hummed.

“Of course, but let's get you out of your outdoor clothes first and get you something to drink.” With some delay Hyunjin nodded as an answer and started to get out of his shoes. In the meantime Changbin grabbed a glass of water and grabbed some more comfortable clothes for Hyunjin. When he returned, Hyunjin was out of his shoes and socks. “You can change into these and drink some of the water. I will get the bed ready for you and also change.” He placed the glass and the clothes on the side table and walked into his bedroom. There he changed into his sleeping clothes and took his jewellery off. In his bathroom he grabbed some makeup remover and walked back into his living area. In the meantime Hyunjin had changed into Changbins clothes and emptied the glass of water. When he stood up, slightly swaying, Changbin noticed that the pants were a bit too short but the hoodie was a little too big even though Hyunjin was a lot taller than him.

Changbin closed the distance between them and took hold of Hyunijins hands. Then he carefully whipped off the make up from the younger one's eyes.

“Thank you”, he heard him mutter under his breath.

“Let's get you to bed.” When Hyunjin didn't answer, Changbin pulled him towards his bedroom and pointed towards his bed. “You can sleep here. I will take the sofa.” He was already on his way to walk out again when he suddenly felt Hyunjins arms wrap around his torso.

“Don't go, Hyung”, Hyunjin whispered. “Want you close. Want to cuddle with you. Want your warmth.” Changbin held his breath for a second. His heart was beating fast against chest and he could feel the jittery in his fingertips. He was not made to survive such words.

He turned around slowly, carried Hyunjins cheek for a moment and then nodded, because how could he deny such a request.

“Let's go to bed”, he mumbled once more, pushing Hyunjin carefully towards his bed till he fell on it. Changbin helped the younger man to get comfortable before he himself got under the blanket. And when he turned his head towards Hyunjin he was met with his lips. It came so suddenly, so fast and felt like a feather on his lips that he nearly missed the feeling of Hyunjins lips. When Hyunjin broke off their kiss he didn't pull away but stayed close, hugging Changbin tightly around his waist. “Good night”, whispered Changbin after a few moments of silence and pulled Hyunjin closer.

XIII

When Changbin woke up Hyunjin was still pressed into him and his arms were wrapped around his body. He looked so soft. With a wide smile Changbin placed a soft kiss on the younger man's hair without thinking. Slowly Changbin untangled them and got out of his bed. He didn't want to wake Hyunjin when he was sleeping so peacefully. He closed the door softly behind himself and walked into the kitchen. There he was greeted with the sun shining through the window. Still a bit sleepy, he started to make breakfast. He prepared rice and banchan as well as fried eggs. He made some tea and just in time, when he had placed everything on his small table, he heard his bedroom door open and close again. A moment later he saw Hyunjin in the hallway. Just when he wanted to greet him, he noticed the way the younger man was looking. It seemed to Changbin as if Hyunjin was all stiff, his eyes moved fastly from one side to another but he didn't meet Changbins eyes once. 

“Hyunjin?”, Changbin asked carefully, almost afraid the other one would flee like a scared deer. He made one step forward but stopped when Hyunjin jerked back. Immediately Changbin felt a strong pull in his chest. 

“I need to go”, muttered Hyunjin and within a few seconds he was out of the door. 

“But I made breakfast” sighed Changbin now to the emptiness of his home. He didn't understand what had just happened. He didn't get why Hyunjin acted in this way so suddenly. Slowly he placed down the smalle bowl he had still had in his hands when Hyunjin appeared and sat down on one of the chairs. The sun was still shining through his kitchen window but now it seemed mocking. Like she was making fun of him. Shining so bright and happy while he felt like it started raining just over him and only over him. Why did he feel like that? Why was he so upset about Hyunjin just leaving? It wasn't just because he made breakfast for them both. It was more behind it. It was… Changbin let out a deep sigh, stood up and placed everything he had prepared away and into the fridge again. He wasn't hungry anymore. 

When he walked back into his bedroom he noticed Hyunjins clothes from last night. He had left them on the chair and Hyunjin probably didn't notice them when he stormed out of Changbins apartment. Yesterday everything seemed to go just fine. In a long time Changbin hadn't felt so good. Maybe when he went on the short trip with Hyunjin but he even felt better yesterday. The way he had been surrounded with his friends and the new opportunity to work with Chan and Jisung and then Hyunjin. How they danced together and how the younger man had held onto him. He… He had the feeling of being loved. And he loved. Damn he loved… he loved Hyunjin. Love was a big word. Maybe it wasn't love. Not completely but he was on the way to it. He liked Hyunjin. He really did. His body had told him so multiple times and he couldn't deny it anymore. Couldn't deny how he felt so comfortable, so warm and safe whenever Hyunjin was around. He couldn't deny how his heart was beating strongly against his chest when Hyunjin was getting closer to him. For god's sake they kissed. Multiple times and he enjoyed it. Wanted more, even. He had lost the bet. But who was he going to fool? Deep down he had known from the beginning that he would lose this bet but he couldn't do that to Minho. Minho had worked so hard to get so far and Changbin wouldn't be the person to destroy that. But maybe he wouldn't need to. Hyunjin had kissed him multiple times as well. Had seeked him out. Had slept next to him, had hugged like none of Changbins friends had ever done. Maybe he felt the same. The chance was very small but it was still there. Maybe they had a chance. They… was there even a they to begin with? They started off as a bet. Maybe it was all Hyunjin saw in them. Suddenly Changbins chest felt tighter than before and with a frustrated exhale he threw Hyunjins clothes on the ground. He needed to think of something different. Maybe he needed a shower. It would calm him down a bit. Hopefully at least. But before he did that he texted Hyunjin asking him to at least tell him when he got home safe. But even two hours later he had still gotten know text back from Hyunjin and it made him nervous. Not because he thought something might have happened to Hyunjin but because he just ignored him. He had seen that Hyunjin had been online several times through these two hours but he still got no answer. Honestly, he didn't understand anything anymore. Maybe he would need to talk to him after the weekend. Instead of thinking too much about it now, he started to do some work he still had for one of his courses. He didn't like it much but at least it got his head off of Hyunjin.

XIV

The next time he had the opportunity to talk to Hyunjin was on wednesday. He didn't feel well on money when they met up for training so he stayed home but today he felt better and ready to face Hyunjin. Somehow… He needed to anyway because today was the last day of their bet as well. Hyunjin hadnt reached out to him since he left Changbins place. He also did not answer any of his texts or calls. Around Monday evening Changbin stopped trying. Maybe Hyunjin just needed time to sort things out. Yes, that was what he was telling himself. 

When he walked into the studio Minho had booked for them, he already felt the tension. Minho, Seungmin and Jeongin were already sitting in a small circle on the ground. 

“What's up with that atmosphere here?” Slowly he placed down his bag and sat in between Minho and Jeongin. 

“Today is the last day to tell him which group will attempt the show”, muttered Seungmin. Changbin let out a light whine. 

“I know that.” 

“And?” Now he looked towards Minho. 

“Hyung”, he whispered. He couldn't do that to Minho. “I will tell him that I didn't fall for him.” He was sure this would be the right way to go. The only way even if it would hurt his heart. 

“But you would be lying”, said Minho under his breath. Changbin couldn't hold Minhos' gaze anymore.

“That doesn't matter when it means we could go to the show, Hyung. That's what you worked for so hard. What we all worked for.”

“Changbin”, Minho muttered, placing one hand on his knee. “I saw how you looked at him. How could I ignore that just for a chance to get to the show?” Slowly Changbin looked up again. “This will not be the last chance for us to get known more. But it might be the only chance to get with Hyunjin.” 

“I cant…” Changbin didn't know what to do. He looked towards Seungmin and Jeongin. Searching for disagreement in their faces. For a sign that he should lie to Hyunjin. 

“We talked about it, Hyung and we all agreed that your happiness is more important than some chance that isn't even a chance because who says we wouldn't be out in the first round?”

“The whole bet was a stupid idea to begin with”, stated Seungmin with a light shake of his head.

“I agree but also otherwise Minho-Hyung and Jisung-Hyung wouldn't be together. So there was one good thing at least”, said Seungmin with a wide smile and didn't even try to get away from Minho when the oldest of them tried to hide him. Playfully of course. 

“And you and Chan-Hyung”, muttered Changbin with a smile that started to grow when he saw how the younger man started to get red on his ears and tried to hide his smile. 

“We are not together yet.” 

“But you are on the best way to it.” To that Seungmin just shrugged his shoulders but fell back over a second later and hid his face behind his hands. Now Changbin started to laugh and not a second later, Minho and Jeongin followed him.

“Our Seungminnie is all grown up now”, cooed Minho which made Changbin smile fondly as he watched how Minho pinched Seungmins cheeks carefully. 

“Stop it”, whined Seungmin, which was a surprise to Changbin but he still found it adorable. After a few moments it got more quiet again and Seungmin sat up. 

“Let's get started. Just because we will not go to the show doesn't mean I will go easy on you”, said Minho and got up. Changbin let out a little sigh and stood up as well. 

“And Changbin?” Changbin nodded lightly. “You can do it. Get your man.” This made Changbin laugh but he nodded once again. When he got into position he felt like a lot of weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he was happy to have such friends as these three. 

Two hours later, Changbin was more than exhausted. Minho hadn't broken his promise. He had pushed them further than they had ever been but if he was honest with himself their dance had never looked so good as today. Behind the others he walked out of the studio. 

“We will collect the others and then go to the coffee shop around the corner”, explained Minho as they walked towards the studio the others had booked. Changbin was feeling like he would die any second. His hands were cold and hot at the same time and his heart beated faster than when he had drunk too much coffee at once. He took a deep breath just in the moment when the door got opened by Felix who was followed by Chan and Jisung. While the others started to talk to the three newcomers Changbin slowly entered the studio and closed the door behind himself. Hyunjin was sitting on one of the sofas scrolling through his phone. 

“Hyunjin?”, asked Changbin as he placed his bag down and started to walk further towards the younger man. Slowly Hyunjin lowered his phone and looked up. 

“What do you want?” Changbin was surprised how callous Hyunjin sounded. He didn't like this side of Hyunjin. He felt so unfamiliar to him this way.

“Why didn't you react to any of my texts or my calls?” Originally he didn't want to start off like this, but Hyunjin needed to know. 

“Maybe I didn't want to? Have you considered this?” 

“You could have at least told me this and I would have stopped”, mumbled Changbin. To him, it felt like he was losing his grip on Hyunjin. When the other man didn't answer, Changbin took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “I wanted to talk to you about something different.” 

“Then talk”, said Hyunjin with a roll of his eyes as he started to pack everything up. Once again Changbin took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself a bit which was not really working. Maybe he was making it even worse. He had no clue.

“Today is the last day of the bet”, explained Changbin as he made a step forward to Hyunjin.

“I know”, Hyunjin muttered. “Finally it's over.” 

“Finally? Why?” 

“Because I couldn't have done that shit any longer. I'm so happy it's over and I can finally go back to before the bet.” 

“You really want to go back to before the bet? Pretend like nothing happened between us?” Changbin didn't want to but he sounded hurt. 

“Of course. No more faking that I like you. That I'm interested in you. I was so done with it.” Hyunjin didn't look at him as he said that. He was still packing his bag. His hair fell into his face and Changbin nearly closed the distance between them and stroked a few strands away. He wanted to see his face. Hyunjins words slowly sank in and Changbin started to feel betrayed. His heart was heavy in his chest. 

“But I thought…”

“Thought what? That I would like you? That I would fall for you? That I would lose the bet. The chance to finally be seen, for someone like you?” Hyunjins words were like arrows that directly went through his chest and wounded him. Changbin stayed silent. He didn't know what to say and he was sure even if he had known what to say it would not have come over his lips. Finally Hyunjin looked up from his bag but Changbin couldn't see any emotion. Hyunjin looked so cold. So closed up. The elder didn't recognise the other man. 

“Oh of course you would. Of course you would think that. Haven't I played my role well?” Changbin couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. There was no way Hyunjin had faked it all.  

“You didn't! Hyunjin please tell me you didn't”, Changbin didn't care that he started to beg the younger man or that he was dangerously close to crying. He needed to know. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't.” 

“I did, Changbin-ssi.” For a long moment Changbin just stared at the younger man. He couldn't believe it. How could he have been so dumb.

“You were good”, Changbins voice was nothing more than a whisper, a few small tears slowly making their way down his cheeks. He didn't know what he felt anymore. “You fooled me and I was an idiot to think you really liked me. I was a fool to open up and fall for you.” He grabbed his bag from the floor and turned around. “Go to Mr. Choi and tell him your team will go.” Hyunjin stayed silent and when Changbin turned around once more at the door he saw him look down. Changbin wasn't sure but to him it seemed as if Hyunjin had sinked in a bit. He looked much smaller than just a second ago. But who was he to care? Who was he to think he knew Hyunjin´s body language? Hyunjin had lied to him for so long. Changbin didn't know what was real anymore. Didn't know Hyunjin anymore. Has he ever known the real Hyunjin? “Congrats, Hyunjin-ssi. You successfully won the bet. I hope you will be happy now.” And with these last words, Changbin walked out of the studio. For a second he stopped in his tracks, wiped away the tears that were still all over his cheeks and took a deep breath. He had been stupid to think Hyunjin could feel the same. He had been an idiot from the very beginning.

XV

When Changbin left the dance studio he didn't want to see anyone. Didn't want to see his friends and tell them that he was the only one who had catched feelings during the bet. And especially not in front of Hyunjins teammates and friends. He was sure they wouldn't laugh about him but he still didn't want to see their faces. Because in the end him catching feelings meant, they could go to the show and he didn't want to see the joy in their eyes while he felt so bad inside. 

He also didn't want to walk home. Home would mean silence and even more room for his thoughts to play with him. 

He sended Minho a short text, telling him that Hyunjin had chosen the show and faked everything before he started to walk. There had been a light wind since the morning and now Changbin enjoyed the wind on his warm skin. He turned right  and left whenever he felt like it. He had no real designation. He just didn't want to stop. Because stopping would mean that his thoughts would start to walk around in his mind. So he walked and walked till the sun started to set. Just then he really looked around and noticed where he was. He had stopped in front of Minho's apartment complex. A small smile appeared on his lips as he noticed it. His body had taken him to the person he needed the most right now. His best friend. With a long breath out, he got in and took the elevator to Minho's apartment. Just now he noticed how tired and heavy his whole body felt. Finally in front of Minho's apartment, Changbin rang the bell and waited but instead of Minho, Jisung opened the door. For a moment both looked surprised. 

“I didn't know you would be here. Am I interrupting anything?”, asked Changbin and started to play with the handle of his bag. “I will go. I'm sorry. Tell that hyung.” But just when he wanted to take a step backwards he was pulled into a tight hug. 

“I'm so sorry, Hyung”, whispered Jisung against his shoulder. 

“Dont”, Changbin whispered back. “It's not your fault.” He was close to tears again. 

“It is! If I hadn't had this stupid idea everything would be fine. You wouldn't be hurt.” 

“It is not your fault, Jisung”, Changbin repeated himself and he meant it. It hadn't been Jisungs fault. It had just been an idea but Changbin was the one who said yes to it. If he had been more mature, he wouldn't have let Hyunjin provoke him. So in the end it was his fault. They stood for a while, arm in arm, till Changbin heard Minhos voice behind Jisung. 

“Let's get him inside, Jisungie.” Slowly, Jisung backed away and pulled Changbin inside. Just now he noticed that Jisung was wearing one of Minho's favourite hoodies. While Changbin took his shoes off and placed his bag in one corner of the hallway, Jisung had walked back into Minho's living room. Minho on the other hand had waited for him and when Changbin finally stood straight again he opened his arms without another word. And Changbin understood what the older one was offering. He closed the distance between them and let himself nearly fall into Minho's hug. He felt tears building up in his eyes again. 

“I was so stupid, Hyung”, cried Changbin out, shaking his head. He felt Minho carrying his back softly rocking them from side to side. “And I thought he may also have started to like me.” 

“You are not stupid, and you know that Binnie”, muttered Minho next to his ear. Changbin could hear how Minho forced himself to sound calm and he wondered what Minho was really feeling. Was he angry? “Let's get you onto the sofa, yeah? You must be tired.” Still with tears in his eyes he followed his Hyung into the living room where Jisung had prepared the sofa with a few cushions and a blanket. 

“Thank you, Jisung”, he whispered when he let himself fall onto the sofa and the younger man had placed the blanket over him. 

“Sure Hyung.” He sat down on the armchair and made space so Minho could sit there as well, after he had placed a glass of water next to Changbin on the table. 

“Congrats for getting in the show i guess”, mumbled Changbin after a moment of silence. He saw how Jisung glanced at Minho and then at him. But just for a second before his glace went down to his hands.

“First of all, I could not be happy when you are so hurt. How could I, Hyung?”, he explained with a strange sounding voice. He cleared his throat, playing with the rings on his finger. Softly Minho placed his hand over Jisungs. “And second, we didn't get in.”

“What?” 

“We didn't get in the show.” Changbin sat up, staring at Jisung. 

“Don't look at me like I'm an alien.” 

“I don't understand.” 

“When Hyunjin tol old Mr. Choi our group would go, he told him the type of show was changed and that instead of a boys group he needed a girls group.” 

“You are joking.” 

“Sadly I'm not.” Changbin didn't know how to feel. He felt so much but also nothing at the same time. He couldn't believe it. Was the universe really that cruel? 

“Funny”, he whispered and without really meaning to he started to laugh. Not the happy laugh more like… yeah like what? It felt like he was going crazy. He could feel the tears falling down his cheeks but he couldn't stop laughing. It wasn't even funny. It was just sad. Suddenly he felt Minho's arms around him again. Minho was talking to him in a soft voice but he couldn't understand anything. It felt like his voice couldnt reach Changbin. Like he was far away. Out of sight. He started to feel even more tired than before. And sooner than later he drifted to sleep.

XVI

On the next day he woke up much later than he wanted to. Later than he needed to because he had some lectures. Minho's small apartment was silent and Changbin assumed both Jisung and Minho had already left the apartment. With a low sigh he sat up a small smile appearing when he saw the glass of water and medicine against a headache he could have gotten from crying yesterday. And Changbin was sure there would be breakfast in the fridge for him. He emptied the glass of water and stood up slowly. When he walked into the bathroom he found some clothes. He felt like crying again but this time because Minho and probably Jisung too had prepared everything for him before they went out. 

Changbin washed himself and changed into Minhos clothes. He took his time because it would be way too late to go to his lecture anyways. When he walked into Minho's small kitchen he noticed that one of the other two men had put his phone on the charger so he grabbed it and checked whether anyone had texted him. He had several texts. Some from Minho explaining that they let him sleep because he looked so tired and that he could stay as long as he wanted. Others were from Jeongin and Seungmin asking him how he was and asking whether they should kick Hyunjins ass which made him nearly laugh. But again just nearly. He also found a long text from Chan asking how he was as well, telling him what Jisung had already told him and that he was sorry for Hyunjins behaviour. What made Changbin smile was that Chan also stated the younger one could always talk to him and that he was still invited to join them when they next meet up to produce a bit. With a smile he answered Chan and the others. Right before he closed the app he saw Hyunjins contact but like he accepted there was no text from him. Still it kinda hurt to know even after Hyunjins group failed to get into the tv show as well Hyunjin wasn't reaching out to him. He should try to forget about everything that was surrounding Hyunjin. Which was harder done than said. Minho had prepared him kimchi fried rice which he ate in silence till his thoughts got too much and he played loud music instead. His thoughts weren't taking up so much space when Changbin was nodding to the music.

When he had finished his breakfast it was already past 1 p.m. so he washed up quickly and got ready to leave. When he left Minho's apartment he didn't feel like going home. Hyunjins clothes, neatly folded on his chair, would just remind him of the younger man even more so he decided to head to the dance studio. They would meet up around 2:30 p.m. for a dance practice anyways. 

As he arrived in the studio he started to look through the small windows in each studio door to check whether it was empty or not. He had already turned away from the third studio door when he stopped and looked again, not sure whether his eyes played evil tricks on him. But no. In the middle of the studio was Hyunjin dancing to music that was still noticeable outside the studio. Something in Changbin stirred. He wanted to see Hyunjin. Wanted to know how he looked. Did he look like shit? Did he look bad because he lost the opportunity to go to the tv show? Or did he look the same? Had it not affected him. Would he just continue his life as if the last few weeks never happened? 

And he felt the desire to rub Hyunjins lost opportunity to be seen all over his face. He wanted him to feel bad at least for one second. He needed it.

So he opened the door in auto mode and slipped through. Hyunjin didnt even notice him. The music was way too loud. The first thing he noticed when he looked at the younger man was the hoodie he was wearing because it was the one Changbin had given Hyunjin when he had slept in his apartment. Changbin felt something bubble up inside him but he forced it down and walked to the stereo box instead to turn the music off. Immediately Hyunjin spun around, looking at him with wide eyes. For a second Changbins throat betrays him and he can't manage to get anything out. He cleared his throat forcefully. 

“Funny isn't it? In the end we both lost the chance to go to the show”, he said and even in his ears it sounded more spiteful than he attended. He started to lean against the wall, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Hyunjin kept silent but was still staring at him. Changbin couldn't hold back an angry huff. How could Hyunjin just stand there and stare at him? Had he nothing to say? “Are you happy now?” He wanted to know even though he wasn't sure what he would do with this information and deep down he was aware that it would not change anything for him. He would still feel hurt. Hyunjin on the other hand broke their eye contact and looked down. Then he turned around and nearly ran towards his bag. “Don't you dare to run away!”, Changbin hissed, following the younger man but as soon as he said these words Hyunjin stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around. He wasn't doing anything. Slowly Changbin walked up to him but when he saw who Hyunjin flinched with every step he took, he stopped a few steps before him. He didn't know what to do now. He had acted impulsive without a real plan. He had been stupid. 

“I'm sorry.” If the studio had not been completely quiet, Changbin would have missed Hyunjins words because he had said them with such little voice. Changbin stayed silent, staring holes into Hyunjins back. He felt like his insides paused for a moment. After another moment of silence passed, Hyunjin slowly turned around and now that they were facing each other Changbin was able to see the tears that started to roll over Hyunjins cheeks. For a second he felt the need to close the distance and just hug Hyunjin but then he remembered that Hyunjin had told he had acted the whole time they were together. How could he be sure that the younger man wasn't acting now? 

“Stop acting! It isn't getting you anywhere”, Changbin hissed, looking away from Hyunjin for a second. He needed to stay put. 

Meanwhile Hyunjin wrapped his arms around his upper body and looked for a moment at the ceiling. When Changbin looked at him again he wasn't even more unsure of what to think. 

“I'm sorry”, uttered Hyunjin once more. A loud sob escaped Hyunjin’s lips and his whole body seemed to shake. “Please believe me when I say I'm sorry, Hyung.” Everything in him screamed to wrap Hyunjin into his arms but he couldn't. Instead he crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“How can I trust you, when all I got to see the last few weeks was acting? How am I supposed to know whether you are still acting?” Changbin tried to sound calm but even in his own ears he still sensed the angriness in his words. 

“I lied.” 

“Yeah I know. It's not like I was too stupid to understand it the first time you told me yesterday”, said Changbin with a laugh that nearly got stuck in his throat. Intensely Hyunjin shook his head, making a few steps forward. 

“No, you don't understand”, he whispered, tears were still falling down his cheeks. “I lied yesterday.” Changbin didn't know what to say. What was Hyunjin implying? What had he lied about? “I was lying when I said I was acting. I was never acting when we were together.” 

“Why? 

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you say it then? Was the opportunity to be seen really so much more worth than…”, Changbin cutted himself off, let out a low sigh and shook his head. 

“It was all a bet”, Hyunjin muttered as he rubbed away his tears. “How would I have been able to know what was the bet and what was real?” “We kissed, multiple times! We slept next to each other and I took care of you when you were drunk. You think I did that just because of this stupid bet?”

“I dont know!”, said Hyunjin with a much louder voice than before. “How would I have known that?” He pulled his hair softly as he shook his head. 

“Then why did you turn away from me? Why didn't you talk to me? Do you even know how much your actions and words hurted?” For a moment Hyunjin kept quiet and when he started to speak again he had his head lowered. 

“Don't you understand?”, he whispered. “I was afraid… I was afraid that I had been the only one that started to catch feelings. I was afraid that I would be standing alone after the bet and you wouldn't even care.” 

“And that's why you decided it would be fine to hurt me instead?” Hyunjin flinched slightly at those words. 

“I was stupid. I let my fears choose my actions and when I understood what I had done. When I understood you had also started to like me it was too late. The damage was done and I didnt know what to do to take it back.” Hyunjin bowed lightly. “I'm sorry for not being as brave and honest as you were.” Changbin looked at him and when they met eyes he had the feeling that Hyunjin was telling him the truth. 

“It's never too late to be honest, Hyunjin.” Slowly Hyunjin closed the distance between them till he was an arm's length away.

“In the beginning, all I was thinking about was to win the bet but soon I started to get excited whenever we would meet and I felt quite safe around you. I was able to let go which was kinda scary”, explained Hyunjin with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “When I woke up after the night in the pub I was so happy because you took me home with you and took care of me but then”, he let out a shaky breath. “Then I remembered that everything still happened because of the bet and my mind went overload telling me that I had been so stupid and so full of myself that I couldn't think straight anymore. So I left.” Hyunjin took a deep breath and looked away as he started to play with the strings of his hoodie. “I was too confused on my way back home. I just… I just didnt understand why I was so upset by the idea that everything might have been because of the bet and then…”, he stopped again and this time Changbin softly took Hyunjins hands and held them in between them. “I realised that I started to like you. I really like you and it scared me even more. That's why I didn't react to your texts or calls. I was so stupid. I'm sorry.” For a moment Changbin had no words to reply but then he nodded. 

“Thanks for telling me, Hyunjin.” 

“What will happen now?”, whispered Hyunjin after some silence between them as he kept looking at their hands. Changbin tilted his head lightly and raised one eyebrow. Had he imagined it or had Hyunjin sounded hopeful? 

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin hesitated for a second. 

“What will happen with us? Is there an us?” Oh.

“Hyunjin I…” 

“Would you still have me even after what I have done?” Hyunjins hands in Changbins were ice cold and shaking slightly. When Changbin met Hyunjins eyes, they were moving, searching for an answer. Changbin felt like he had been ripped into two parts. One part screamed at him to hug the younger man. To kiss him and tell him that he would of course have him. And the other half reminded him how much he was still hurt by Hyunjins actions. How hollow he had felt just a day ago. He could not ignore this part and he would not. 

“I will be honest with you”, muttered the older man. “You really hurt me with the words you said and it's way too fresh to just ignore everything.” Changbin could see the little light that had started to glow in Hyunjins eyes disappear. He forced a smile and nodded. 

“I understand that, Hyung. Thank you for being honest.” He started to pull away but Changbin kept his grip tied. 

“Because you were honest with me, I understand now that you were scared. Knowing this the pain doesn't get any less but I think I can understand why you acted the way you did.” Softly Changbin rubbed over Hyunjins upperpalm. “I think it will take some time till it doesn't hurt anymore but I would like to try once again. This time knowing that every action is because you like me and not because of this stupid bet.” 

“Can I hug you?”, Hyunjin asked out of the blue and Changbin couldn't hold back a laugh escaping him. Softly he pulled the younger man in and wrapped his arms around him. 

“I will make sure to show you that I really like you.” 

“And please remember that you can always talk to me. Don't bottle everything up.” Hyunjins hug got even tighter as he nodded. 

“I will try my best, Hyung. And you can always talk to me as well.” 

For a few moments they stayed in this position till Hyunjins stomach made a sudden loud sound. As Changbin bursted into laughter, Hyunjin drew back and looked at everything with red tinted cheeks except at Changbin. 

“Have you eaten anything today?” All Hyunjin did was to shake his head which made Changbin sigh. “Then let's get you something to eat.” Both men grabbed their bags and walked out of the dance studio. 

Changbin knew it wouldn't be fine from one second to another but he felt that they would be good sometime in the future. They would work on it. Would build a healthy base for whatever was to come. He knew that when his hands brushed softly against the taller once. Slowly he intertwined their fingers. They will be fine, Changbin was sure about it.

[diddybok]

May I request a poly skz + reader, or just Minsung or Chanlix/Hyunlix if you want, totally up to you. Reader relatively new to the relationship and is trying their best to be the best partner to all parties, but doesn’t feel like it’s being returned. They feel like skz (or whichever ship you choose) is too into each other and not them, like the shiny new toy isn’t exciting anymore. One night, after everyone goes to sleep, reader gets their things and leaves without saying anything. You can change the plot a bit if you’d like. If you’re not comfortable with writing it, that’s ok!🩵

all characters depicted in my writing are from my own imagination and do NOT in any way represent nor reflect the people in real life :)

➩pairing: minsung x gn!reader

➩genre(s): angst, poly!skz

➩warnings: none

➩wc: 0.6k (655)

➩author’s note: sorry this took so long, i hope it was even a fraction of what you wanted!

➩part(s): next

You are exhausted. To put it plainly. You just don’t know how much more you can take. Of course you love the boys, you really do. However something has shifted, and not for the better.

First you started noticing small changes. When Jisung and Minho would come back late from practice, they would usually bring you a sweet treat followed by kisses and cuddles to make up for the lost time. Now it’s barely even a ‘Sorry we’re home late.”

You aren’t used to this, used to feeling like an afterthought in your own relationship. Then again, you weren’t quite sure how well it was going to go between the three of you. They were already so in tune with each other and then you came along.

They made you feel like the missing piece. The rarest jewel to add to their shiny golden crown. You didn’t think it was possible to be truly loved by two people, nor did you think you could love two people as much as you do them.

The tender care and appreciation that came from the both of them was nothing short of remarkable. The intimacy that was shared between the three of you was never overwhelming.

You love Minho. You love Jisung. They love you.

At least, they loved you.

When it was once you in the middle, being doted on each side by the boys you adored. You now reside on the outside as they cuddle each other, a pity hand resting upon your thigh.

When it was once you who ran you fingers through both of their hair as they melted into your touch. You now get told “You don’t have to do that tonight.” “You seem tired you should get some rest.” “It’s alright, I’ll do it for him.”

When it was once a trio. It now falls back into the familiar routine of when you weren’t even a blimp in their lives. Minho and Jisung against the world, oh and Y/n.

“Do you guys still love me?” You would ask timidly.

“Of course we do Y/n! Why would you think such a thing?”

You thought you had done something wrong. Why were they pushing you away? Even when you increased the amount of love you were giving them, you didn’t get anything back.

You were always at the tail end of the relationship. It only became clear to you now.

You still love them. Of course you do. How could you not?

But you are no fool. You are not one to be strung along like a little pet on a leash. You know when you aren’t wanted. When you, the jewel, were not quite glued in securely and fell out of the crown.

Perhaps it always looked better with only the two jewels. Perhaps you were there as a tester, to see what it would look like.

New and exciting, glamorous and beautiful. It was what they needed…until they didn’t.

As you lay at the edge of the bed, the two of them cuddling beside you, you quietly unwrap yourself from the sheets. You grab your already packed bag that was in the wardrobe.

They didn’t even notice your toothbrush was gone when they came home late and did their nightly routine.

Yes but they didn’t even give you a kiss goodnight.

You shouldn’t cry, but you can’t help the tears that cascade down your cheeks.

You know it is for the best. You need to put yourself first, your feelings first.

Which is why you place the key you had to the house on the kitchen island. You don’t look back as you walk out the door. Walk out of their lives.

Maybe that was what they wanted from you all along?

Maybe you just weren’t ready for something like this?

Or maybe you know your worth. You know you’re worth enough to be loved as much as you love.

ʚ hope you enjoyed ^.^ you can support me by liking, commenting and reblogging! it is heavily appreciated ᵕ̈ ɞ

i do not permit my work to be translated or reposted in any way, thank you.

© 2023 diddybok

taglist: @lyramundana

[maknaeswrld]

a life remembered | l.mh, h.js

wc: 4.6k

genre: soulmate au; reincarnation au; fluff; angst; poly!minsung x reader

cw: primarily Han pov; illusions to suggestive conversation; concert highs; anxiety/panic attack mentions; food/eating mentions; Bee (I feel like they need a warning lol, love them the most); arguing but bc they care (not between the soulmates); please let me know if I missed anything

part one: a life forgotten

Soulmates are a curious thing. Everyone has them, and someway, somehow, they always find each other.

When Lee Minho walked into JYP Entertainment for the first time, Jisung didn’t know what to do or how to react, and looking back on it now, it was comical. Minho was, in Jisungs opinion, one of, if not the most, handsome man he’d ever seen. It had struck a chord in him he’d chosen to interpret as jealousy.

When Chan told him he wanted to include Minho in the group he was creating, Jisung couldn’t decide if he was giddy or nervous. He’d met the other boy twice and couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling that they knew each other. It wasn’t until their third meeting, the first one in an official capacity, to learn the song Chan wanted to showcase, that Jisung realized why.

The small space of the practice room they were designated to made the group circle a tight one, Minho rushing in and dropping to the floor in the open spot between Jisung and Felix, accidentally brushing against Jisung in the process and shooting them both headfirst into a memory both could swear wasn’t theirs.

Water surrounded them in every direction, the sounds of laughter filling the air. The ship rocked gently as the waves pushed it along steadily.

Minho took Jisungs hand, leading him to the edge of the ship. 

“Where is your beautiful mind right now, my love?” 

And although it didn’t feel like he was talking to Minho, and there was no response, Jisung’s smile lit up his entire face, his eyes twinkling in pure content.

“Come back to the group, love. The boys are going to start their whining if you ignore them for too long.” Minho groaned.

Again there was no response, as if a chunk of their memory for this specific moment was still missing.

“You know how your boys can get.” Jisung waved nonchalantly, hand grasping at thin air before the two turned back to join the rest of the crew.

Practice was immediately derailed as they were brought back to the present, everyone looking worried as they surrounded the pair.

“What just happened?” Changbin asked, holding Jisungs shoulder to keep him steady.

“I’m not entirely sure.” Jisung couldn’t stop himself from seeking out Minho’s eyes, which were already on him, holding the softest expression Jisung has ever seen in his life.

“Please tell me you saw the ship too.” Minho whispered, voice unsure, hand grasping Jisungs for dear life and all he could do was nod. Minho started nodding along with him, the two slowly morphing from shock to joy as smiles spread across their faces.

Tears pricked at Jisungs eyes the more the realization hit him.

“We’re soulmates.”

````

Five years. 

In five years, so much had changed for Han Jisung. In just five years he’d met not only the love of his life, but also his soul brothers, a realization they came to some time after the soulmate realization, as Minho and Jisung saw the rest of the members in almost all of their past lives. 

In five years Stray Kids had also risen to a level of fame not one of them had predicted. They were living a life their younger selves could have only hoped to dream of, and they were so beyond grateful and happy to be able to keep doing music together.

But also within those five years, Minho and Jisung had come to the conclusion that something was missing. They were absolutely positive that they were soulmates, of that there was not even a shadow of a doubt, but there were too many holes in their shared memories, conversations that felt one sided, moments in bed with a gap between them that shouldn't be there if they were at peace with one another. But the confirmation that they were missing a piece came in a memory that surfaced much later than the rest, one with Jisung storming up to Minho’s door, fist banging in anger, wedding band adorning his finger but not Minho’s. 

That memory was one of Jisung being angry with Minho and not even knowing who he was, with Minho knowing of Jisung but not knowing him personally, of them both being in love with a person that wasn’t the other. Minho is positive he’d despise cheaters in every life, yet was accused of sleeping with a married person. Neither Jisung, nor Minho could remember Jisungs spouse's name, what they looked like, what gender they were, all they knew was that both of them loved them, and they both loved them as desperately as they love one another, and that was enough to convince them that the piece missing was a third soulmate.

They didn’t know how to go about it, they couldn’t even be allowed to share the truth of their relationship and thousands of Stays were claiming to be each members soulmates daily just for a chance of meeting them. The chances of finding their third and final piece was slim at absolute best. 

People always say trust the soulmate connection and that time would bring them together, but that was hard knowing you couldn’t remember someone you love. 

Han Jisung spent far too many concerts and fan meets searching the crowd in hopes that you’d be there, that he’d finally find you and the trio would finally be complete. Likewise, he’d spent just as many nights disappointed that you were nowhere to be found. With their fame came the higher likelihood of you being able to find them, but that also meant it’d be harder for them to find you. However, Chan and his soulmate, Riley, gave Jisung hope that he would find you.

Lee Minho wanted to find you just as badly, though he looked for you in the mundane. Whilst his partner expected you to reach out via their fame, Minho hoped more for bumping into you on the sidewalk or in a coffee shop, it made him feel more attainable. Minho knew that whilst Riley and Chan made it work, and even Bee and Changbin, there were just as many people that would be scared off by celebrity soulmates as there are seeking them. 

Another concert, another night of Jisung daydreaming about finding you in the crowd and whisking you away after to finally meet you and remember you. Riley gave Chan a knowing glare, the parental figures of the group concerned about their younger friend. Ever since the two soulmates came to the conclusion they have a third one, which isn’t unheard of but is fairly rare, their friends have been doubtful to say the least. 

No one likes seeing the kicked puppy look on Jisungs face whenever someone mentions that maybe there isn’t anyone else out there, or the way Minho gets defensive when they try to talk to him about the possibility of their memories just not having fully solidified yet. Both in the firm belief that five years connected at the hip was enough time to remember everything. But that didn’t stop the worried glances and strained smiles when they’d start talking about their ‘other soulmate’.

“They’re gonna be here tonight.” Jisung stated as if it were an absolute fact.

“You said that last night, Sungie.” Hyunjin muttered.

“Yeah, but I can feel it this time. They’re in the crowd right now, I’m positive of it.”

“Ji, you have an incredible soulmate already, why are you so eager to find another one?” Bee asked from their almost permanent place snuggled into Changbin. “I’m just saying, I can’t imagine dealing with more than one Binnie.”

“They’re not another Minho, they’re mine and Min’s missing piece.” Jisung argued. It was a conversation that felt all too familiar, and every time one of his soul brothers or other lifetime friends make comments, he feels himself getting just a little more hostile but also a little more defeated.

Maybe they were wrong, maybe there wasn’t a missing piece and they truly just haven’t had the best relationship in every lifetime. But Jisung couldn’t bring himself to believe that. Seeing how whole Bee and Bin, and Riley and Chan, were, how they didn’t have memory gaps or questionable moments and conversations, made him feel like there was no other explanation aside from another person to fill the void. It wasn’t like Jisung thought Minho wasn’t enough for him, he wasn’t seeking more from outside their relationship, he loved Minho with every fiber of his being, but he knew Minho wasn’t the only one he’d hold these feelings towards. And Minho knew it too, it was a long conversation to have, one that ended in tears but mutual understanding that they would always have each other and weren’t seeking out this third person for any reason other than them wholeheartedly believing they are also their soulmate.

As the time to go on stage got closer and closer, Jisung felt more antsy. He wasn’t sure why tonight felt different, but he couldn’t stop fidgeting. Minho tried to calm him down, but was just as on edge. 

The concert went smoothly, they always did, but Minho and Jisung both spent far more time engaging towards one specific area than they ever had before. It’s like they couldn’t abandon the section for longer than a few minutes and they always ended up right back there the second they could. Jisung felt better than he had in a long time, adrenaline pumping through his veins and a smile plastered on his face. He felt good, he felt whole for the first time in a long time. Jisung couldn’t explain it, but that stage was the most at home he’d felt since he first found Minho.

As they said their goodbyes to Stay and made their way backstage, the overwhelming peace Jisung had felt slowly faded. He couldn’t think of any reason why, but as he watched Riley smother his leader with kisses and Bee put his best friend into a headlock, he felt himself growing more numb. 

Minho wrapped his arms around him, nuzzling into his shoulder, relieving the aching feeling sinking in so fast it would have given Jisung whiplash if he weren’t already used to the other boys' affect on him, body and mind. Jisung could feel giggles bubbling up in him with each soft kiss placed on the base of his neck.

“You were radiant out there tonight, my love.”

“And you were very sexy.” Jisung giggled.

“Hey now! There are children present!” Riley scolded, breaking away from Chan to cover Jeongin’s ears. “Go foreplay somewhere else.”

“Yeah!” Bee shouted from Changbin’s back. “There’s dressing rooms for a reason!”

The look of absolute dismay Riley shot Bee was priceless, “That’s not what the dressing rooms are for.” 

“It’s not? Did you know that bro?”

Changbins ears were red. “Please don’t call me bro while talking about this.”

“How about we just all get showered and changed and go grab something to eat?” Chan suggested in a tone that left no room for argument, clapping his hands together and pulling Riley back towards his body. “And stop babying Innie, he’s worse than Bee these days.”

“I will never stop babying my baby, but I am hungry.” Riley muttered in agreement. “If y’all take too long in the shower, we’re leaving without you.” Riley pointed at Bee and Changbin, who’s ears somehow got even more red. Bee just winked at their best friend, shiteating grin plastered on their face.

Twenty minutes later, Jisung piled into the van with his bandmates and additional soulmates, Seungmin and Hyunjin discussing what they wanted to eat whilst Felix snuggled into Bee’s side, the two looking at memes while Changbin pouted.

Jisung felt more drained than he had in a long time, his social battery past empty and moved on to completely fried. Minho pulling him into his side eased some of the anxiousness starting to well up.

“No panic attacks after amazing shows.” Minho whispered.

Jisung buried his head further into the other mans neck. “I’m trying.”

“I know.” He kissed the crown of his head gently, smiling softly while tightening his hold. “I’m seriously so proud of you.”

The ride was uneventful out to the opposite side of the city, in hopes less people would recognize them so they could have their meal in peace. Minho and Jisung were the last of the group to venture out of the vehicle and towards the restaurant. They didn’t get too far before a voice rapping along to Han’s part to All In stopped them dead in their tracks.

“Y/n, please, you’re in public.” 

“You’re wasting your breath, you know how they are about their spotlight songs.”

Han’s eyes landed on the person rapping his line with such ease it was as if they’d written it themself. He felt excitement flood through him instantaneously, rushing over and joining them, singing along to the song playing quietly in the outdoor speakers overhead.

He watched your eyes light up as the two of you sang along together, ignoring your friends and focusing on one another. Not a thing in the world was registering to either of you as you both turned to Minho, watching as he rolled his eyes, smile already playing at his lips, joining in for the last parts of the song.

Your laughter filled the air as the song came to an end, and Jisung could swear it was already becoming one of his favorite sounds. 

“Took you long enough.”

Your voice was laced with amusement.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“You know I don’t like singing by myself.” You nudged his shoulder lightly, causing him to wrap his arm around your shoulders and squeeze tight.

“But your voice is so nice!”

A blush lit up your cheeks in an instant, mouth opening to respond when someone clearing their throat behind you drew the groups attention.

“Y/n, um, what?”

“Min! Sungie! Hurry your asses up or we’re gonna eat without you.” Bee shouted from down the way, drawing Jisungs attention just long enough for you to slip out of his hold.

By the time he or Minho could focus back on you, you were gone. No trace of a person having been standing with them, as if you’d been a figment of their imagination.

“Sungie…”

“I know.”

“That was…”

“Yeah.”

Minho was staring off into the direction you had to have gone in, itching to run after you. Jisung stared at his hands, in disbelief that just moments prior he was holding the final piece of his puzzle in those same hands.

You, the random stranger unabashedly performing one of their songs in the middle of the street, were the one person Jisung and Minho had been looking for incessantly. The person they knew they couldn’t remember. 

“Do you ever wonder what we’d be like if we didn’t find each other? What’d it’d be like if we don’t keep finding each other?”

Jisung was used to thinking these types of questions, but hearing you ask them out loud hurt more than him thinking them ever did.

“I’d rather imagine we’ll always find each other.” Jisung grumbled, tightening his hold on both of the bodies on either side of his.

“Okay but what if-”

“There are no what if’s, my love. We’ll always find one another, in every lifetime, even if some take a little longer than others. I don’t see a reason to dwell on the impossibility of not ending up right back here every single time.”

You snuggled deeper into Jisungs chest, hand squeezing Minho’s.

“I suppose you’re right.” You mumbled. Minho squeezed your hand comfortingly in response. 

Jisungs arms shifted entirely around you, squeezing as he rolled over to toss you in the middle, both of your soulmates wanting to hold you close. You sighed in content, snuggling into your boys happily.

“I am so dead serious right now, you two. We will absolutely eat without you if you don’t- why do your faces look like that?”

“We found them.”

“Found who? Why are you being cryptic.”

“We found our other soulmate.” Jisung said.

Bee’s mouth dropped open and within moments all of their brothers and Riley were there, bombarding them with questions.

“Okay, so is no one surprised that they actually have another soulmate? Is that just me?” Hyunjin said, a smack from Seungmin following shortly after. 

“Which direction did they go? We need to find them!” Jeongin said, already shifting from one foot to the other as if he were ready to sprint in any direction in a moments notice. 

“We didn’t actually see what direction they went in because somebody distracted us.” Jisung glared at Bee.

“Oh, I’m sorry I’m hungry and didn’t know.” They huffed.

“We were facing that way so they definitely couldn’t have gone in that direction.” Minho cut in, knowing a grumpy Jisung and a hangry Bee is never a good combination. They loved each other like siblings but damn could they argue until they both turned blue.

“Alright, everyone pick a direction and let's find our boys’ soulmate.” Chan said, “Go in pairs and meet here in one hour, no exceptions. Even if everyone comes back empty handed, we have to at least try.” Turning to his first and last children, his eyes and tone softened. “Is there anything we can use to recognise them?”

Jisung immediately jumped into a full description, followed by Minho simply saying, “Ask if they know ‘All In’. They were singing it with us just now.”

Nods all around as people started pairing up.

“Okay, I’m going with Ji.” Riley stated, looping their arm through Jisungs. “Channie, you take Min. Bin and Bee, separate. I am not dealing with soulmates getting distracted and off mission right now.”

Before Jisung could even think about protesting, he was being swept away by Riley in the first direction he would have guessed you ran in. Jisung struggled to keep up with the pace set by Riley as they ducked into shops and restaurants, checking bathrooms and fitting rooms as they went. Riley wanted to cover as much ground as possible in the one hour timeframe given, which Jisung was appreciative of. However, Jisung hoped Minho and Chan were having better luck, or anyone else for that matter.

He wanted to find you more than anything. Knowing he had you in his arms was enough for him to get addicted to you, and if he stopped for a moment and focused on his memories, he was sure you were already fitting yourself into almost every single one..

Every one sided conversation suddenly being completed, all those nights spent with an unnecessary space between himself and Minho being filled by you. Your presence for those four minutes he got with you had already led to a downward spiral of need to be close to you, to hold you in his arms once more.

In combination with the presence of you in old memories, as if you’d always been there, there was also a small onslaught of new memories, ones without Minho but including you. Ones that further solidified your rightful place within his life.

As another memory flashed behind his eyes, he took a seat on a bench outside of a small corner store.

“Are you okay?” Riley asked, always a mother hen.

“I’m fine, just, check this one without me, I need a moment.”

Riley seemed to understand and didn’t ask questions as they pat him on the back and wandered into the store.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” A voice whispered in your ear as hands made their way around your waist. “Because I feel like we’ve met before and I’d like to get to know you again.”

You could smell the stench of alcohol emanating off the stranger feeling you up in the middle of the dance floor. Rolling your eyes, you ripped his hands off you, turning around and shoving him back for safe measure. 

“I do believe in soulmates, and you sure as hell ain’t mine. But the guy who is doesn’t really take kindly to strangers touching what's his.” 

Before the idiot could open his mouth again, Jisungs arm slid into place across your shoulders, pulling you in for a downright make out session right in the middle of the bars dance floor.

When he finally pulled away, the dude was nowhere to be seen.

“Took you long enough.” You said teasingly.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He smiled gently, and then led you to the booth he’d been watching you from.

You shook your head as you splashed water on your face in the bathroom, your best friend, Lia, pacing behind you.

“I thought you wanted to avoid them?”

Lia was the only person you’d confided in after coming to terms with the fact that your soulmates were not one, but two international superstars.

“I did, but, I don’t know. It was like being like that with them was so natural I didn’t even register that we don’t know each other. It felt right.”

“Do you think they know?”

Sighing, you lightly tapped your head against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. “I don’t know. If they don’t yet, we’ve met now, it’s only a matter of time before I start filtering into their memories.”

“Do you want to keep hiding from them? Y/n/n, they know now, there’s no avoiding them not remembering you anymore. Don’t you think avoiding them now will just cause unnecessary pain?”

“I know that! I do. But, I’m not sure I could handle being in their world, and what if they end up resenting me for ruining the good thing they already had? They’ve been together for so long, and then I just blindside them with my existence? What if they didn’t even know they had a third soulmate?”

“Then they do now and they’re probably looking everywhere for them. Those two don’t seem like the type to resent you for coming into their lives, but they might if you enter it just to disappear forever. I get the feeling now that they know, they’ll never stop looking for you. Do you understand that?”

You opened your mouth to answer when the door to the bathroom swung open.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just looking for someone.” The stranger looked flushed, as if they’d been running, but even so you could tell they were stunning. “Um, neither of you happen to know the song All In, do you?”

You and Lia shot each other confused but nervous looks, which seemed to be enough for this stranger who finally let the bathroom door shut behind them, leaning against it and eyeing you both.

“So which one of you is the runner?”

“What do you mean?”

“One of you just met your two soulmates and then booked it while they had their backs turned, which was it?”

Lia threw her hands up in defense, pointing at you in the process and backing up.

“Traitor.” You mumbled, causing her to stifle a laugh.

The stranger blocking the exit landed their gaze on you, “I ran too.”

Of all the things you were expecting them to say, that was definitely not on the list of possibilities.

“It’s scary,” They continued, pushing off the door and walking towards you. “But the separation is worse. I promise you, it’s better than you can possibly imagine. The company takes good care of us, and while we aren’t allowed to be public, we go pretty much everywhere with the boys if we want to. They don’t do anything to risk our relationships.”

“I’m sorry but, who are you and what do you mean by our?”

“Oh! I’m Riley, I’m Chan’s soulmate. And Changbin found his as well, their name is Bee. I went through the running and being scared of falling for someone in the industry but Bee was already in the industry themself when they found Bin, so it was slightly easier for them. Sorry, I’m rambling, but my point is we’re both here for you and we both understand how you’re feeling. And that those men you just left in the dust are two of the best I’ve ever met, and they’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

That comment shocked you to your core. 

They’ve been looking for you.

“How could they be looking for me, they couldn’t have even known about me.”

Riley seemed to hesitate. “To be honest, none of us believed them. For a while we really just assumed that they found each other at such a young age they’ve never experienced anything but one another, so the whole third soulmate thing was just sort of a way to come to terms with the fact that they wanted a change of pace or something. But, here you are, and we stand corrected. 

“They may not have known you, or known how to find you, but they’ve been searching for their ‘missing piece’ about as long as I’ve known them.” Then Riley quirked their head in a very parental like motion. “You already knew, didn’t you.”

It was phrased as a question, but was completely an irrefutable statement.

“How long have you known?” Where you were expecting harshness or judgment, you received only the sound of sheer curiosity.

“Almost a year now.” You mumbled, arms wrapping around yourself for a sense of security. 

Riley blanched. “A YEAR?!”

You just nodded. 

“Damn hun, I would’ve lost my mind if I’d known who Chris was for a whole year. How the hell did you manage that?!”

“By convincing themself that Minho and Han were already happy and better off without them, that they’d just throw a hitch in their lives that they didn’t need.” Lia stated, you could practically hear her rolling her eyes at you. Riley’s eyes softened at her words.

Grabbing your hands in one hand, Riley brushed a stray piece of hair out of your face, gently cupping your cheek. “I know exactly how you feel. When I found Chris, I ran too. I didn’t think I could survive his work schedule, the expectations placed on him, all the fans claiming him, but he is so worth every single difficulty and so much more. I know you’re scared right now, and it’s probably worse for you because it’s just Chris and me, but Min and Ji already adore you, they could never be happier without you than they will be with you, I can promise you that much.

“I understand if you’re not ready yet. I wasn’t ready for a long time myself, so if it’s okay with you, I want to give you mine and Bee’s numbers, you can reach out to us with any and all questions, concerns, whatever. Heck, if you just want to use them to get to know us, that’s fine too. I didn’t have anyone to help me, but you have us, we’ll help you all the way. Think about it, okay? All three of you will be so much happier together. You aren’t meant to be apart.”

You felt tears stinging your eyes again. You knew Riley was right, you’d always known you’d be happier with them, but you also knew there was no way for you to get their attention, no way for them to actually find you, now that you had, now that they knew you, you were truly out of logical reasons to avoid taking your place by their sides.

Because soulmates are a curious thing. Everyone has them, and someway, somehow, they always find each other.

next part: a life eluded

a/n: ahhhhhh part two, I feel like it’s been done for a while but I’ve been like nervous about it idk, anyways I hope you enjoyed!! I know it’ll run for at least two more parts with potential for spin off(s) on the others finding their soulmates or even ‘prequels’ of Riley and Chan as well as Bee and Changbin🫣🤭 please feel free and encouraged to leave your thoughts and opinions and also lemme know if you’d be interested in being tagged in upcoming parts? ciao!! 🫶

[j-onedrabbles]

Just a heads up this is kinda sad (unfortunately a friend of mine was in a similar situation). It's alright if you don't wanna write it, I just thought l'd ask be of how talented you are🤭🩵. Poly skz + reader, or just Minsung or Hyunlix if you want, totally up to you. Reader relatively new to the relationship and is trying their best to be the best partner to all parties, but doesn't feel like it's being returned. They feel like skz (or whichever ship you choose is) too into each other and not them, like the shiny new toy isn't exciting anymore. One night, after everyone goes to sleep, reader gets their things and leaves without saying anything. If you're not comfortable with writing it, that's ok!🩵

✧   PAIRING: HYUNJIN X GN!READER X FELIX ✧   CW: ANGST, FLUFF IF YOU SQUINT, FEELINGS OF NOT BEING LOVED, THIRD WHEEL MENTIONS, SHORT BLURB, OPEN ENDING ✧   WC: 0.5K ✧   NOTE: you think im talented 🥹🩵🩵 and im so sorry your friend went through that. i had an old cosplay friend who was in a situation like that as well so i’d hear about it a bit

     Y/n tried. They tried as hard as they could in the relationship. But entering an already established relationship was hard. Starting to date two people who already had a history together felt, weird? Almost like, sometimes you were intruding on the other two in the relaetionship.

     The start of it was great. Y/n had met Hyunjin first and the two hit it off and he had mentioned them to Felix. Meeting Felix was a nice warm fuzzy feeling the moment he smiled at them. After a few months, the two boys asked Y/n out. Promising equal love. But three-way love was difficult.

     Because of work, Hyunjin and Felix both spent a lot more time together than Y/n with just one of them. It was a little unfair, maybe a lot.They still showed Y/n the same amount of love they gave each other, good morning kisses, cuddling all the time, sleeping together, etc. But that didn’t stop those thoughts from coming in.

      Maybe it was just all just one-sided to begin with. The two men were happy well before Y/n entered the picture; even though they both tried their hardest to wash the worries they had away. But all they did was give them words. Words that started to barely mean anything. Yeah, they were busy, but it just felt like Y/n was left out. Kisses, hugs, and cuddles weren’t enough anymore.

     The two didn’t really need them, right? Would they even notice if Y/n left? Would they even care?

     The thoughts swirled in their head for a week. It was when the two came home from a rough day at the company and just said good night Y/n figured it was time to go. They didn’t say anything, just texted a friend asking to stay with them for a few days. Once they agreed, she quietly grabbed as much as she could fit in a small bag while the two were passed out in each others arms.

     It hurt to look at the couple laying in the threes shared bed all by themselves, but when you don’t feel the same love you put out, you get out before you hurt yourself more. Y/n wiped a stray tear from under their eye and tip-toed out of the room. They closed the door and headed out of the home. Y/n took one look around the living area, not praying that one of them wakes up and walks out of the room asking where they were going, but making sure they had everything.

     Y/n sighed and closed the door, locking it and heading down to their car. The realization came once they got to their friends place. Crying on their coach till almost two or three in the morning. There weren’t enough words to describe that pain of being promised shared love and only receiving it when it was new and fun— if there was even words to describe that pain.

M. LIST ✧ TIP JAR

T A G S ✧ @junebug032 @the-sweetest-rose @hanjingin @hyunjinshairband01 @miintmochii @ohish @changbinisabigboy @dreamingaboutjisung @tattywood @stepout-09-15 @cello--190 @just-randomm-stuff @greysweaters @hazyspirts @mhasimp666 @slay-and-gay @smally97 @bloom4yu @itstorimf @linoyouknow @fjseung @jungsodesjoyyy @jjwhorehouse @carinathefairy @litepowee @babyphotos @inniecore @jeonginssa @dolceem @stvrfir3 @tasteskz-sworld @ultimatestayandminoronce @seungincore @TinyElfPerson @greyyeti @Dimpledsatan @camixiez @chansbabygirlsstuff @thatlonelyalto @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad @donut-crazs @meloryme

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© 2023 jonedrabbles. Please do not copy, translate, or republish my works anywhere.

[styrvexxual]

Han Jisung's Guide to The College Experience (CH. 1)

My child, my first ever fic, right here on Tumblr

minsung-centric (ft. a few side ships ;) )

7.3k words

Nothing 18+ here -> not sure what's happening later

college au, not quite enemies to lovers but like kinda, me projecting my hatred for college on skz

also posted on ao3 here :) https://archiveofourown.org/works/61759963/chapters/157886353

An empty stage, save for a single microphone conveniently placed center stage. Enter stage left, one Han Jisung. “College fucking sucks,” he says into the mic.

The result is a resounding agreement, applause echoing through the room. People have even started throwing flowers towards the stage (and various other items that shall remain unnamed). The aforementioned Han Jisung has never felt more seen and accomplished, this shall go down as the greatest moment in his otherwise bland, unimportant life. That is until he hears a faint booing from somewhere in the third row.

Kim Motherfucking Seungmin

Or at least, this is how it would’ve played out in said Han Jisung’s head if this situation happened. In hindsight, he realizes that might be the wrong person to play the role of his daydream arch nemesis given that Kim Seungmin usually cannot be bothered to give two shits about most things, and definitely wouldn’t attend a speech given by Jisung even if just to be a general disturbance. Changbin on the other hand, the man who lives to give Jisung the younger brother treatment and constant humiliation? Now that might be just a slight bit more realistic.

Take right now for example. Fall registration, the worst part of the year for any underclassman who wants a sliver of a chance at classes that will prove themselves useful for their degree. Chan and Changbin, two upperclassmen who have taken it upon themselves to ‘adopt’ Jisung in a sense after he was able to squeeze himself into an actually useful lower-division music production class the other two had also enrolled in last semester, filled their schedules hours ago and were able to find classes that might one day provide them with their degrees. The rest of the day proceeds as follows:

The three rented a studio space for the day to begin recording for their last final project of the year knowing that they would each have to halt the process for their brief window of an enrollment period. Going into their senior and junior year respectively, in addition to their overachiever tendencies providing them extra course credits, Chan and Changbin had prime enrollment times earlier in the morning while Jisung had to wait until the late afternoon before he could even think of opening his laptop and checking his schedule.

After hours of anxious leg shaking and tense recording sessions, Jisung found himself in front of his laptop, refreshing the page as soon as it loaded until the buttons lit up that let him enroll in his courses. As soon as his enrollment window opened, a scream that could be heard across campus regardless of the soundproof recording booth was let out.

“Waitlist? Fucking bullshit is what it is.” Jisung muttered as he found himself able to enroll in only one of the five classes he had planned on for the next semester. Tens of thousands in yearly tuition payments and he can’t even get a fucking degree? Absurd.

Luckily his friends had taught him how to make backup schedules because surely there’s no way everything he wanted to take was full, it’s not like there are that many people on this campus. Right?

Wrong. After a grand total of six separate schedules and 16 courses Jisung was even considering taking (including those horrific STEM classes the school wanted him to take to graduate thank you very much) only two other classes had spots, neither of which fell under his major. At this rate, he wasn’t even going to be allowed to come back to campus with how barren his schedule looked.

“Chat, I fear we might be cooked here,” Jisung said to no one in particular. Well, actually that’s a lie, as there are two other people in the room with Jisung, and he would very much so like them to bestow upon him their worldly advice.

“Jisung, as funny as I might find this, which mind you is incredibly hilarious, you do need to find another class to fill your schedule,” Changbin responded. As objectively right as he is, Jisung hopes all of his classes get canceled so he can feel a fraction of the stress he’s currently under.

“Have you considered sorting by classes with available spots? You might as well just take what you can get before you’re stuck with waitlists longer than the class size.” Chan adds. He’s never wronged Jisung before and he’s already under enough stress, so he can have a slightly better fate. Maybe only a class or two was canceled, or a waitlist he’ll never get off of.

In all honesty, Jisung wouldn't wish his fate upon anyone, not even Kim Seungmin. Now that he’s been brought up within the confines of Jisung’s mind palace, he wonders how enrollment went for his roommate. Probably significantly better considering he took six classes a semester his first year and the classes for his major have 200 spots compared to Jisung’s 25 spot music classes. Jisung briefly considers swapping his major to computer science, as studying classics like Seungmin is quite frankly too pretentious for him, but quickly remembers how poorly that would go for him as he had to drop his course on the subject last fall before he failed it. Surely he should’ve gotten some good karma from the computer science major he got off the comically large waitlist. Wait, that's not the point here, enrollment closes in five minutes and Jisung still doesn’t have a fourth class.

“That’s it, I’m sorting by classes with available spots and just clicking on one. As long as it doesn’t stop me to tell me my schedule conflicts it literally cannot be worse.” Jisung announces to the room. It’s not like a university campus has classes so useless this backfires on him.

“You sure about that one? I mean you could at least try to find something that fulfills a graduation requirement. I'm sure something still has space.” Jisung hears Chan ask in the background. He pays no mind to this warning and instead clicks on a random class that pops up with available spots.

“There’s no way you seriously just signed yourself up for a two-hour 8 am every Monday and Wednesday. I don’t even care what that class is, you’ve just screwed yourself beyond belief here kid.” Changbin says, cut off only by his laughter. Jisung doesn’t really find this situation humorous, but to each their own he supposes.

With that, the enrollment window closes and all Jisung is left with is 4 class codes and the worst schedule of his college years. How can someone end up with an 8 am every day of the week but also an 8 pm? Jisung closes the tab his schedule is on, refusing to believe this is something that actually happened to him. Before doing so, he noticed a class code under one of his 8 am classes that wasn’t on his schedule before, CDM101, clearly the class he signed up for randomly. Surely it can’t be that hard, it’s an introductory course, and the only classes he can think of that start with C are communications and chemistry, and anything under the latter is definitely full already.

The topic of registration is nothing but a stray thought in the back of Jisung’s mind, batted away like a cat toy. He’s enrolled in four classes, he won’t be kicked out of school, and at least something there will be going towards his degree. As the three begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel on their final project, they quickly wrap up their recording and agree to finish editing on their own and grab dinner instead as they have very little left. Three burnt-out college students versus a single final project for their music production class, who will win? Let the records state that although it was a concerningly close fight, the students did in fact win, and they all walked away with an A on their transcript.

As the three boys leave the restaurant, significantly more optimistic than they were walking into the studio (save for one Han Jisung), a lull in the conversation occurs and Chan just can’t seem to help himself because he immediately turns to Jisung and asks, “Are you sure you’ll be okay in your classes? You can always just talk to an advisor, that’s literally what they’re paid to do. We both know you don’t do well with mornings and I don’t want to see your grades slip just because you didn’t want to get up to go to class.”

Chan truly is nothing if not a worrying mother at heart. Jisung would find it endearing if it wasn’t contributing to his already soured mood over his classes. Yes his schedule sucks, and yes he will be immediately calling his parents once he gets back to his dorm to cry about it, but nobody needs to know that, especially his friends.

“While I appreciate the concern, it was truly never that deep, I’ll be fine,” Jisung responds, before fully turning to Chan to add on, “and everyone knows advisors are actually paid to be a pain in your ass and make sure you enroll in even less than if you just did it yourself.”

Yes, Jisung might be a little frustrated with his schedule, but he’s dealt with worse classes. Like that computer science class, but at least he could drop that one. So he signed up for a communications class, big fucking deal. He’ll just show up to the first lecture, find out if attendance is mandatory, and never show up again if it’s not. Communications classes are easy, he knows how to talk to people, and surely that’s what he signed up for, right?

Right?

——————------------------------

Wrong.

Again, seriously? Jisung wonders how many times he’ll be wrong before he gets something right because it’s apparently more than two. Well, it’s a lot more than two given his track record but that’s not important right now. What’s important is that Jisung needs to find his classes, starting with his Monday 8 am communications class. He left his dorm around 7:30 this morning, as he was positive this was all the time he needed to reach the mystery class, and right he was. Gold star for Jisung everybody! He should throw a party, maybe even invite his new communications professor.

Now Jisung knows some friends of friends who have taken a communications class or two for an easy A, so he knows the building this class is in is definitely not the communications building. He’s almost positive that the building in question is on the other side of campus, not two buildings away from the music building over by where the art classes are held. He also knows that classes tend to stick within the building of their department as to avoid confusion. So the question remains: What the fuck did Jisung sign up for last spring?

A dance class. A fucking contemporary dance class. It couldn’t have just been a communications class, a history of dance class, or even any other style of dance. It just had to be something that requires a genuine understanding of movement and a body with the capacity to do things no human should be able to do. It should be, in theory, or at least according to the syllabus and Han Jisung’s limited knowledge of the dance department, an easy A just like it would’ve been if he actually signed up for a communications class. However, there’s one bright, shining error in his brilliant plan to get an A.

Mandatory Attendance.

“Showing up is half the battle my ass,” Jisung mutters as he reviews the syllabus the professor had been handing out at the door. He hopes she didn’t hear him as that could possibly win for the worst first impression of Jisung’s college career.

Yes the final for this class is a paper, and yes he has maybe three homework assignments the entire quarter; but seriously, how hard is it to make a syllabus where attendance isn’t 50% of your final grade? At least in other mandatory attendance classes, the portion of your grade that attendance counts for tends to be insignificant enough that you could still get an A while missing a good portion of lectures so long as you did well on the exams. Jisung begins weighing the possibility of dropping out of college entirely and living off of Changbin’s trust fund when the door closes, signifying what is usually the beginning of class, but who fucking knows at this point, this is uncharted territory here.

“Welcome to beginning contemporary dance, I’ll be your professor for this semester.” A voice cuts through Jisung’s pessimistic stream of consciousness, “As stated in the syllabus, you will have a teaching assistant who will be attending class alongside you. Unfortunately, he couldn’t attend class today due to a conflict in scheduling within the department, but know that you have much to learn from him”

The professor continues to drone on about how despite the class being made for beginners, she expects effort and attention from all students regardless of their dance background, or lack thereof (definitely a pointed comment thank you very much); and then a few other things regarding the attendance policies and grading structure. Jisung, however, is paying shit attention to this little speech and hasn’t been since the professor mentioned a teaching assistant. He? Now don’t get it twisted, Jisung is in no position to be prejudiced. In fact, it’ll be great to have some boy doing spins around him for two hours at a time. Jisung’s never been able to focus too well in class without something to look at, so surely this will motivate him to show up at 8 am twice a week for the next 18 weeks. On second thought, it probably won’t, but it doesn’t hurt to hope.

Jisung’s thoughts are once again interrupted by the professor, this time addressing him directly. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” He asks, trying (and failing) to make himself not look like the biggest idiot on the planet.

“We’re doing introductions. Just tell the class your name, year, major, and a fun fact. Nothing too difficult, that comes later of course.” the professor tells him, adding a seemingly ominous wink to the end of her sentence.

Well, that’s easy, the same shit you do in every class, surely this sentiment will remain similar for the remainder of the semester. Jisung thinks for a second before responding with, “Hi everyone, I’m Jisung, I’m a second-year music major, and I’ve never danced before nor wanted to in my entire life.”

“Thank you for participating Jisung, and I sincerely hope this class can change your views on dance.” With the passive-aggressive comment from his professor out of the way, Jisung resumes his stream of consciousness. Today’s class seems to be largely focused on getting to know each other, which he does so on autopilot, listening but never taking in the words of his peers.

For once, the universe decided to work in Jisung’s favor, and class got out early, meaning he had an extra hour to spend before his 8 pm lecture that night that he didn’t really need but still liked having regardless. He found himself at the campus coffee shop he frequented his freshman year in the hopes of finishing those pesky homework assignments he was supposed to do before classes started. Say what you want, but summer homework is egregious and should be banned regardless of the subject. At long last, it was 8 pm, and time for a class that Jisung actually gave a fuck about, his sole music-related class; which turned out to be a history class? Look, registration was rough, and if he needs it to graduate, then by god Jisung is going to get that snoozefest done.

Luckily the class is one he shares with his friends, so really it could have been worse. You know, like the rest of his schedule. Once he reached the classroom, he noticed Chan and Changbin waving him over, having saved him a seat. Jisung knew what they wanted to hear, and briefly yet seriously contemplated running the other direction and taking the inevitable hit to his grade that ditching class would leave him with. Despite all this, he moves to sit between his friends, anticipating the immediate badgering and questioning, but not quite moving to deflect. Look, he just needs to complain, like seriously who makes an 8 am mandatory — attendance being half your grade at that? He pauses for a second and proceeds to voice this thought to his peers.

“You mean to tell me you’ve somehow found an introductory communications class at 8 am that lasts two hours, mind you, that’s completely mandatory and worth half your grade just to show up?” Changbin explains, looking a little too enthused by Jisung’s suffering.

“Nah dude, that’s the worst part, it’s not even a communications class,” Jisung responds. “It’s a fucking dance class. I have to participate and shit, can’t even slack off in the corner of a lecture hall.”

“You know, most people go to class to learn,” Chan adds. “It only makes sense that would be applied to more practical classes.” Curse him and his realistic worldview, and sue Jisung for using lectures to online shop and play 2048, it’s not like they aren’t recorded and uploaded anyway.

Upon giving his two cents, which are somehow worth more than most people’s despite still being two cents, Chan looks away to pay attention to the lecture. Jisung can’t help but thank him in his head. Not because he’s no longer grilling him, but because he knows Changbin won’t let up and neither of them will take a single note tonight.

“So what do you even do in that class? With your two left feet, I can’t foresee anything about this going well.” Changbin leans over to whisper.

“Bro, why are you acting like I know? All I remember from whatever that class was is that some dude is gonna come in and TA for us.” Jisung thinks for a second and adds, “I’ll probably just make friends with him and hope he can save my grade.”

“Your TAs a guy?”

“Yeah dude, didn’t realize you of all people would take offense to that. Isn’t your boyfriend literally a dance major?”

“Not where I was going with that dumbass. Was just gonna say I know a guy who’s TAing a dance class this semester.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“Says the one who didn’t even know he was in a dance class until this morning.”

“Whatever dude, so what should I know about this mysterious TA guy? The prof kept hyping him up and shit, no way he’s that good?”

“I'm not telling you shit with that attitude,” Changbin says, finishing their gossip session before it could start. “Pay attention, according to what I just heard you need to if you want to pass any of your classes this semester.”

With that, Jisung turned back to the professor at the front of the room. Paying attention in a class where all of the lecture videos get sent to him is pointless, Jisung thinks as he opens 2048 on his computer, a game already in progress.

Tuesday went by in a blur, two general education classes Jisung will be doing the bare minimum for because no hiring manager in the history of ever is going to give a single shit that someone working in music production got a C- in their genetics class they were forced to take sophomore year. It was once Wednesday hit the semester began to immediately worsen, which Jisung didn’t even think was possible. Look, the 8 am classes every day are really starting to get to him, especially when paired with a class twelve hours later.

So he overslept and missed his dance class, no biggie, surely there’s a policy that says he can miss a few classes right? Every class has those, it’s like a fail-safe for when overworked college students inevitably find themselves too sick (or lazy, as seen here) so Jisung will be fine.

Or not. Seriously, one excused absence for an entire semester? That’s a little absurd, even for a dance class. Oh well, he’ll just have to go to all of the classes in the future if he wants a good grade. Better hope he doesn’t find himself catching every disease ever like all college kids do in the fall.

Thursday followed as per the Tuesday schedule, and Friday was empty save for a morning discussion class Jisung would rather dunk his socks in cereal and suck the milk out of than attend despite participation being a significant enough portion of his grade. Aside from the utter failure that has been trying to attend his dance class, Jisung was sure he could turn the semester around and make it into something bearable. Make lemons out of lemonade or whatever old people say when they don’t want you to believe it’s okay to be frustrated.

——————------------------------

Surely after the disaster that was trying to get to all of his classes last week, Jisung could bring himself to attend his 8ams, and attend his 8ams he did. Walking into the dance building at 7:55 am (see Changbin, not that hard) Jisung noticed a boy about his age approaching him. He takes a moment to think back to last week, trying to recall a face, name, or anything to help him remember this boy who clearly knows him. His strikingly blonde hair and round features allowed him to stand out amongst the crowd, and surely Jisung would remember meeting someone as unique as him. He comes up with nothing, and takes the last few seconds to pray that they don’t actually know each other and he isn’t about to severely offend someone.

“Where were you on Wednesday?” the boy asks, “It kinda sucks being the only guy in this class, well except for the TA I guess.”

“I’m really sorry but, do we know each other?” Jisung responds with the only thing he’s thinking at this moment. “I don’t mean to offend you, I just do not remember a thing from the first class and I feel like I’d remember meeting you.”

“Well not yet I suppose, but that’s what this is for. Lee Felix, a second-year dance major.” The boy, Felix as he now knows, reaches his hand out, presumably for a handshake.

“Han Jisung, second-year music major. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you in a class for beginners if this is what your degree is in?” Jisung worries he’s pried a bit too much for a first-time conversation, but he really doesn’t understand why someone who loves dance enough to major in it is in a class with the likes of him.

“Don’t worry, people already questioned me about it last week, I’ll give you the run down since you weren’t there. I’m auditing the class, which means I kinda just show up when I feel like it and don’t worry about a grade.”

“Dude I wish that was me. I signed up for this class by chance after I was under the credit limit.”

“Seriously? I hate to break it to you, but you’re really in for something different if you signed up by accident. I mean, just wait until you meet the TA, he’s really gonna have it out for you if he ever hears that.”

“The TA? Don’t worry man I have that covered. All I gotta do is play nice and make friends, and he’ll help me get an A, right?”

“Wrong.” The second Jisung hears this from Felix, all he can do is put a little tally next to the chart on his brain whiteboard next to ‘wrongs’. The ‘rights’ side is regrettably empty save for when he made it to class on time (does that count?). “Don’t think I’m trying to scare you or anything, he’s not a bad guy, it’s just… he can be a little more on the serious side when it comes to dance. I mean I’m sure you get it, being in the arts and all that.”

“Whatever man, just wait. I’ve got this in the bag already.” Jisung says as they enter the studio together. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something, or someone that is, that definitely wasn’t there last week. He likes to think he’d remember seeing someone like him. He also believes he’d remember every single girl in that class (which mind you, is everyone with the exception of Jisung and Felix) shamelessly staring the same guy down as if he was the last croissant at that trendy bakery down the street from Chan’s apartment. It makes something akin to jealousy shoot down Jisung’s spine and into his fingertips. Look, it’s not what you think it is, he doesn’t even like girls like that, but he sincerely doubts Mr. Twinkle Toes over there does either, he’s in a dance class for fucks sake. It’s just the whole attention thing; Jisung loves being the person in the room that people feel compelled to approach (except for when he really doesn’t), and this guy is hogging his spotlight. Jisung does the only thing he thinks can help him in this situation, and turns to Felix to ask, “Who in the everloving fuck is that?”

“Who?” He distantly hears Felix’s response over the sound of blood in his ears as he makes eye contact with the mystery man. Jisung really just thinks it’s unfair, how can someone have such an objectively perfect face, and maybe now he understands why all 20-something girls just can’t seem to look away from their classmate. His stare is piercing, almost as if he’s one of those mind readers Jisung worries about when his thoughts get a little inappropriate for the situation, and now all he can think about is if that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

Regrettably, before he can really unpack what any of that is supposed to mean, the professor walks in, and any fraction of the boy’s attention that Jisung held is immediately lost to what he thinks is a motivational speech to open the class.

“Alright everybody, today’s class will be focused on Horton Technique” the professor starts, “As a lot of you are not dancers, we will begin the class with a bit of a lecture on the history of the form. Contemporary dance is deeply rooted in the evolution of modern dance forms, so it is important we begin with these foundational techniques”

As the professor drones on about the history of modern dance, a voice in the back of Jisung’s mind reminds him that although there are no exams, the homework assignments are probably based on what she’s saying right now. He proceeds to throw that out the window and instead stares at Mr. Twinkle Toes from his place across the room. Look don’t judge the nickname, it's not like Jisung knows his real name and honestly, the nickname is kinda funny and definitely going to stick around for way too long whether or not they ever even exchange greetings.

What he finds, however, is not a sight he had been expecting. TT, as Jisung will now be taking to calling the boy in his head since Mr. Twinkle Toes is long and pretentious and must be saved exclusively for peak comedic timing, is already looking right back at him. Seriously, what is this dude's deal with Jisung? All he wanted when he signed up for a random class was some inner peace and an easy A, and now he’s not sure he’s got either of those. Unfortunately, just like every other time, Jisung has attempted to get any form of information on his mystery man, his professor has decided to stop lecturing and move on to actual dancing, causing both of their gazes to break.

This professor is really starting to get on Jisung’s nerves, can’t she see he’s on a mission here? Clearly more important than whatever the fuck Horton Technique is.

“To begin our warmup series, we will be learning a flat-back combination. This exercise engages your muscles and prepares the body for more rigorous movement” Jisung is vaguely aware of the teacher as she guides the class through the combination, focusing on keeping his head down and refusing to attract negative attention.

The teacher repeats the combination twice through movement, once verbally, and declares this enough before moving to turn on the music. Jisung can’t help but notice that Mr, Twinkle Toes seems to have taken to standing front and center of the studio. Teacher’s pet much? It’s not like he could possibly be good enough to warrant standing there in the first place. Jisung may not be a dancer, but he and Seungmin did drunkenly watch reruns of Dance Moms one night after finals, so he knows that front and center is reserved for special people who can actually dance.

Mystery Boy, as it turns out, is in fact one of those special people who can actually dance, and Jisung finds himself entranced by the way he effortlessly completes the exercise Jisung couldn’t even remember with the repetition and explanations. He suddenly finds himself grateful he’s placed himself directly behind Mystery Boy, and no it’s not because he has a good view of his ass you pervert, he’s wearing sweats anyways. Jisung learns that standing behind him does actually provide him with some knowledge as he simply repeats the movements he sees in front of him, albeit a little sloppier.

As the exercise draws to a close, and the professor moves to command the attention of the class, Jisung realizes something he had been previously ignorant of.

The music

Well, if you can even call it that. Jisung doesn’t understand how Mr. Twinkle Toes up in the front can do the exercises so flawlessly when the sound of nails on a chalkboard would be more audibly appealing than this monstrosity contained in his professor’s iPad. To each their own, he supposes, as he proceeds to figure out how to get his brain to tune out the music for the remainder of the class.

The professor leads them through a few more simple warm-up exercises in the center before announcing that they’ll be moving to the corner to try a few exercises across the floor. Jisung finds himself grateful for this, as if he ever has to do a Lateral T exercise again he might just do something drastic enough to change the trajectory of his professor’s life. He finds himself towards the end of the line the class has formed, alongside Felix, and notices that Mystery Boy has taken up a position at the end of the line. Given his assertiveness at the front of the room, and unfortunately, his ability to dance better than Jisung previously assumed, it seemed like he would be the kind of person to rush to be first in line.

Not that Jisung is complaining, this just means that he doesn’t have to embarrass himself by going after someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

The teacher then leads them through Jisung’s new least favorite exercise. The worst part? It’s not even supposed to be that hard. It’s basically a glorified walking pattern across the length of the studio, something about familiarizing yourself with the ground or whatever, and Jisung just doesn’t get it. He proceeds to share this with Felix, who goes over it with him while they wait in line, and he could kiss Felix for how he saved him from being a walking (literally) embarrassment.

Unfortunately for him, his Mystery Boy is soon after him, and he’s forced to watch the most graceful walking of his entire life. He didn’t even know walking could be so graceful before taking this class. You learn something new every day it seems. Jisung is infuriated by the boy and his strange affinity for walking, and he decides that Felix needs to hear this.

“Who the fuck does he think he is? It's enough to be that obnoxiously talented and objectively attractive, but to know it like he does too?“ Jisung whispers to Felix a little louder than expected. Before he can check if anyone heard him, he feels someone’s breath on the back of his neck, far too close for comfort.

“It’s rude to talk about people behind their backs. I guess I was wrong to assume your parents would have raised you better than that?” He hears from behind him, whispered directly in his ear.

Jisung finds himself unable to move, or speak for that matter. In a true life or death scenario (not that this isn’t), his instincts would immediately choose freeze over the much more useful fight or flight, which should worry Jisung, but he’s a little preoccupied. He says what is apparently the only thing he can think of when faced with strangers recently, which ends up being an incredibly eloquent, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Lee Minho, it’d do you well to remember that. Your TA as well, although in hindsight that part might be a bit more important” he gets in response.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I swear whatever you heard, I really didn’t mean it to be rude. I’m just struggling with the class and dealing with it in an even worse manner. But since you’re my TA, you can help me, right?” Jisung adds that last part alongside some serious puppy-dog eyes as a last-ditch attempt to make Minho believe that Jisung really is just in awe of him and not a jerk.

“Yeah, fat chance after that display. You have a far better chance of getting help from Lixie over here, it’s not like he doesn’t know the same things I do.” So that didn’t work.

“There’s really no need to get snappy Minho, I swear he didn’t mean it like that.” Felix decides to add in at that moment, and thank god Jisung has someone to come to his aid like this,” He really is just curious, he missed class last Wednesday anyways.”

“Yeah, whatever, just don’t let me catch you talking like that again. I’m not a bitch but I will take it up with the professor if you want to choose to act like a child in a college course.” Minho finishes with that, brushing past Jisung before he can even utter another apology.

The rest of class continues somewhat normally, Jisung keeps his head down and mouth shut to avoid inadvertently offending another classmate or worse, his professor. Minho seems to preen even more given that the professor is making it more and more aware that he is the TA, and incredibly talented at that. She couldn’t have done that an hour ago before Jisung was given the perfect opportunity to humiliate himself? This class keeps getting worse.

At long last, class is released, and Jisung is free to hide in his dorm for the rest of eternity out of shame. He almost makes it out of the dance building unscathed, but not before he runs into Felix waiting for a more advanced dance class after the one he shares with Jisung, who offers apologies on behalf of Minho as well as a chance for him to help Jisung better understand the class and his phone number.

Jisung really doesn’t have it in his heart to tell Felix he’s seriously considering dropping this class over how horrifically he’s embarrassed himself. He also doesn’t have it in himself to drop the class when he checks the app on his phone as he begins his walk, so he might as well accept the help where he can. He texts Felix, asking if they can meet outside of class, and heads off towards his dorm.

——————------------------------

Jisung left class that morning more confused than he’d ever been in his entire life. He likes to think of himself as a people person, even though he is one of those people who spends his solo walks and that awkward period of laying down before you fall asleep thinking of every conversation that’s ever gone wrong in his entire life. Honestly, this truly is one for the books, how was he supposed to know Mr. Twinkle Toes was his TA, and how the fuck was he supposed to know that Felix wasn’t playing about him actually giving a fuck about dance. Now Jisung gets it, he’s an artist too, it sucks to have your work devalued or seen as lesser, especially as a student. But it’s not like he even said anything rude to Minho, in fact, he was incredibly complimentary of him, so he really doesn’t understand what upset the other boy so much.

Jisung’s self-deprecating depression spiral over his stupid dance TA, who doesn’t even matter anyway like who even cares, comes to an end when he reaches his dorm and slams the front door a little harder than normal, startling his roommate. Kim Seungmin may be a little shit who makes (lovingly) snide comments towards Jisung whenever he finds the opportunity to do so, but there’s a reason Jisung chose to room with him again despite totally having a way out of doing so. Okay so he didn’t, but that doesn’t change the fact that he really does love Seungmin and appreciates his ability to stay put together when Jisung absolutely cannot.

“The fuck happened to you? I haven’t seen you this upset since spring registration.” Jisung hears Seungmin ask. Although he really isn’t in the mood to ‘talk this out’, he has to admit that Seungmin might have something interesting to provide.

“It’s just my TA for that stupid dance class, not like it’s important or anything.” Jisung responds, “He’s just so… infuriating.”

“Oh? How so?”

“We were going through class like what I assume is normal, and I went to say something about him to my friend in the class and I guess he overheard and flipped the fuck out over it.”

“Well, what did you say? If you’re talking shit about someone and they hear it’s not like they’re going to be particularly excited about that, you idiot.”

“No, I swear nothing like that! I was just upset that he was so talented and objectively attractive AND confident on top of all of that. I didn’t even know he was my TA for fucks sake” Jisung proceeds to flop across their shared couch for dramatic effect, surely Seungmin will take pity on him.

“Wait, what’s his name? I know a few dancers myself you know.” He did not, oh well. Curse Seungmin and his ability to be impartial about situations.

“I think he said it was like Lee Minho? Something like that, not much to go off, unfortunately.”

“Do you have a picture of him?”

“No what the fuck why do you need one?” Jisung feels weirdly called out by this as he does, in fact, have a photo of him. Sue him for being able to find the socials of the boy in question, not like it was that hard.

“I’ll tell you if you show me a picture of him”

“Fine.” Jisung relents, handing over his phone, opened to Minho’s Instagram account.

“Oh! I do know him, didn’t think this is who you’d be talking about though. You sure this is the right guy?”

“Absolutely. How the fuck do you know him, you literally study old books for fun and he’s a dancer”

“We grew up together dipshit, and don’t shit talk about my major. It's not like yours is anything useful either.”

He really got Jisung there. On the Minho thing, a music degree is perfectly useful, thank you very much. Unless he ever decides he wants to do something that isn’t specifically music production, but that’s a thought for another time. Back to the whole Minho Problem. That’s right, it’s become a Problem, with capitals and everything. Could Jisung tell you why he cares so much? Not at all, but that’s why he needs to get to the bottom of this.

“You know, I really didn’t expect that to be who you were talking about. As much as he was a pain in my ass growing up, being older and all that, he wasn’t outright rude” Seungmin adds, “I mean he’s kinda got the closest thing you can have to a reputation on a college campus, dude gets along with everyone.”

“You’re joking. Well clearly nobody’s taken a dance class with him before. Or even heard that he dances.”

“You do realize most of those people in your class are there for the sole purpose of taking class with him, right? The dance department shows are only as popular as they are because of him. I heard they even got more people auditioning this past week because he’s in the shows.”

Now that he mentions it, that does make a lot of sense. Jisung was wondering how it was possible for one person to attract that much attention, but if they already knew who Minho was, of course, they would be looking for him. It also makes sense as to why he might not remember Felix from the first day of classes as it sounds like auditions for the dance department’s production were why Minho couldn’t make class. Seungmin’s next statement snaps him out of his train of thought.

“You know I feel like I should be a bit more hung up on the fact that you’ve been calling my childhood friend ‘objectively attractive’ whatever the fuck that means, but I really can’t bring myself to sit with that right now.” Leave it to Seungmin to find something even less helpful to interject with.

Jisung really needs to reconsider who he seeks advice from, maybe he should talk to Felix more. He really should’ve lied about what he said about Minho, but seriously how was he supposed to know Seungmin was all buddy-buddy with him?

“Whatever man, I’m going to bed. I’ll just like avoid him for the rest of the semester or something, doesn’t affect me.” Jisung says to Seungmin, hoping it’s enough to keep his roommate from prying. “Alright? I assumed you caring enough to rant to me about it meant you’d do something about it, but that’s not on me to inspire that in you.” he hears Seungmin snark in response. So what he knew Minho or something, people change from when they’re kids.

Despite going into that conversation seeking the truth, or at least validation that Minho is totally, ultimately in the wrong here, Jisung can’t feel anything but regret for how their conversation went down this morning. Now it’s not like all of a sudden Jisung thinks what he said was wrong, he just wishes he might’ve said something different so that he wasn’t the most hated classmate of his TA. He just wants a good grade in his dance class, that’s all.

As he tosses and turns in an attempt to get some sleep before his 8 am that night, he can’t help but wonder why he cares so much about what Minho thinks of him.

Just a bit later, while far along the way to the land of dreams, Jisung blinks awake with a genius idea. You see, late at night, right when you’re about to fall asleep is the greatest time to come up with a plan. Well, not quite a plan, just a name:

Seo Changbin.

[minsungchronology]

My Personal Opinions on Minsung's Dynamic (2024)

Disclaimer: I am not trying to pass off my opinions as facts. This is my personal interpretation of what is laid out right in front of us. I could be completely off base because I don’t know these guys personally, so take this with a grain of salt and feel free to disagree!

THE YEARS KEEP GETTING LONGER 🫠

I honestly thought this year would be shorter than last year because of the long break Skz had during the first couple of months, but luckily Minsung have been Minsunging enough to make my video the length that it is.

But as far as Lee Know and Han's interactions go, I feel like they - Han in particular, especially - look at some of the songs he’s released this year - found their footing/identity, at least compared to prior years. Lee Know is noticeably more playful with Han (on camera, at least). They seem a lot more comfortable to show that side of themselves.

Except for a few mentions here and there, they remain quite private and guarded about their hangouts. 80% of the time; it’s ALWAYS fans asking them about their hangouts or sightings. They hardly ever bring it up themselves. What came as a surprise and caught me off guard (not really surprising when you think about it) is them MOVING IN TOGETHER. It came out of left field, but it’s very much them.

We also kicked off this year with the Two Kids Show episode and since then (if my and some other peoples’ thoughts about them are correct) they haven't been shy about showing/telling how much they mean to each other and how special their bond is.

I was one of the people who were skeptical about Hold My Hand having anything to do with Lee Know until I saw the repetitive stages (the transition of LK and Han shaking/holding each others hands, Han literally saying “Minho Hyung, hold my hand” while catching LK off guard the first time he did it, and THEN Han saying that the fans understood what he was trying to convey with the song - outside of the more obvious overall meaning of it being an ode from his current self to his past self.

I’m certain some of the members and others have seen the many international fan theories about Han’s song. (At the very least Chan would have, and he would have relayed it to Han, but I think Han would likely try to look at the many different theories across social media on his own for a song he wrote himself.) I also wonder if Korean fans were theorizing as hard as international fans were and what they came up with if they did.

When putting all of that together, it comes across a certain way and Han himself knows that. (If they are purely platonic, it would mean they don't mind that some fans perceive them that way. In that case, more power to them and the fans that ship them.)

People can write this behavior alone off as FS (which I think they’re taking advantage of if you see my 2023 opinions and what I'm about to say later on in this essay). But, to me, it doesn’t explain away the many other things we’ve witnessed them do.

One moment I thought was interesting in the body-language-never-lies department (during the Bocau concert) was when Lee Know was waving his mic toward the audience when the members were taking turns singing their part of the song. As SOON AS HAN APPEARS ON THE SCREEN, he STOPS and his full attention is now on him, completely away from the fans. Then, he returns his attention to the fans when the screen switches to another member lmfao. Like, these two legitimately care about each other so much.

Then, there’s the “STAY Let’s be together for 100,000 years” Big Baby/Little Baby YT Live where the two were all huddled up and close. Han saying “We live together!” and seeming gleeful about that fact in a concert (where he answers the fan’s sign) is so sweet.

Some moments I found really funny:

-The happenings (if ykyk) at the SBS Gayo Daejeon Summer concert. What were they thinking- like, girl, what the fuck-

-Han checks LK out and goes "Oh!" when he crouches down during Day 3 of the Seoul concerts and does a full circle around to appreciate the view. 😃🔫

-And, whatever this was:

From all of the concert & fan meet footage we’ve got this year alone (and holy shit, there’s a lot). There’s literally no reason to think that they secretly dislike each other (you'll have people trying to insinuate that as pushback against the more passionate shippers). At the very least, they have a special bond/friendship. You can fake getting along with someone on a basic level on camera, but to have this much chemistry and gravitation towards each other - a lot of it is really subconscious, too - (i.e. They’re always looking at each other when something funny happens/when one gets embarrassed, they always talk to each other during the ‘ments, LK always uses Han as a fidget toy, etc.) can’t be faked and not with the amount of footage we’ve seen of them for nearly a decade.

I also wanted to make an interesting parallel:

Plenty of people (at least the ones curious about inter-group dating) know about Seungho and B.nish of D.I.P. They came out as an actual couple on Instagram Live a few years back, and they've been dating each other since they were trainees, as of that Live.

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about those two when working on the video, and the age-old question, "If two bandmates were “secretly" dating within a group, would they try to interact as little as possible or hide in plain sight?" came up. My opinion has always been that it depends on the individuals involved in the relationship and the types of people around them (different people with different personalities and lived experiences won't always approach something like this in the same way).

Sooooo I did a little bit of digging to see how those two interacted on camera and came across this video:

Look at 4:54, 6:05, and 6:52 (B.nish is the cute guy with the black shirt/orange patterns and Seungho is the guy with the blonde hair with shaved sides and leopard outfit). Or just watch the whole thing cause there are many little moments throughout the video.

The part where they link arms at 6:05 with one another reminds me of LK and Han linking arms in SKZ Code EP59 (around 1:11:35 in the chronology video where they played sports). 😭

Then, I went on Vlivearchives to check out their page to see how they would interact in unedited content that spans for a long time ~ which we’ve also seen Minsung interact in: the concerts and live streams, for example.

Link (B.nish is green shirt dude and Seungho is black hat dude) - Skip to 27:49-28:00, 34:58-35:09, 36:30, 40:15-41:03 and look at their body language compared to the other members (or look at 27:49 to the end if you have time).

and Link (B.nish is guy in blue cardigan, Seungho is guy in black t-shirt/black hat) - Skip to 47:00-48:00, 51:48-52:00, 1:17:22-1:18:03

AND OH MY GOD LOOK AT THEM!!! The vlives remind me of how Han/LK behaved in the YT live where they came up with the big baby/little baby nickname!!! BN/SH behavior also really mirrors how LK/Han are during concerts and how their body language - even when they're not speaking - says a lot.

So,,, the point is that I'm still on the side that thinks idols can absolutely take advantage of skinship (something not unusual between male friends in Korea, and especially in the environment where idols are in) and/or shipping culture to hide in plain sight. On the other hand, I think some people would try to hide away from the camera as much as possible. It really depends on the person at the end of the day! If there were more confirmed instances where two members in a K-pop group date each other, we could get a better overall representation of how they would handle this and how it would look on camera.

In addition: SNH 48, a C-pop girl group, I can name TWO instances where intergroup dating has occurred:

The member who cheated on a member with ANOTHER member (some of us might know about this haha) - the two members in the original relationship had a VERY fanservice-y stage (Link).

FengXiaoFei&WangJiaLing (the link is a compilation of some of their interactions. They came out as a couple after graduating from/leaving the group. Fans have speculated about them long before they came out cause they weren't hiding it. 🤯)

[hannamoon143]

Whatever you want

Req by @intrikatie

Pairings: Minsung (It is not mentioned as a ship,you can put it as whatever you want, best friends,relationship,everything fits lol)

Genre: Fluff,comfort,a tiny bit angst if you squint

Summary: finally a day off at the beach. Minho and jisung are looking forward to some peace and fun. just lots of silly little cutie fluff

a/n:a little minsung drabble ( i wanted to post it at stay birthday,but i weren't feeling well so i post it today,one day later <3) requested by @intrikatie. Hope you like it! As always take care of yourself,go drink some water and have a great day.💖

"Give me ten more minutes"Minho whines. "No min,you already had twenty minutes to say bye to soonie,doongie and dori.its only a day" Jisung said,rolling his eyes.He had a annoyed undertone in his voice,also if he couldn't entirely hide that he found it cute when minho got all clingy and whiny about his cats.Especially since he usually wasn't very affectionate. Jisung pulled minho to his feet and dragged him to the car.Minho tried to free himself from jisungs grip,wanting to kiss his cats one last time.

"Nooo,my babies will miss me! I love you soonie doongie and dori!" He screams through the last open door slot.Jisung giggles and opens the car door.He sits down in the driversseat with a amused smile.With a pout minho sits down besides him,crossing his arms.Jisung only gigles at that.

"They will miss their dad"

"They will survive"

"I wanna drive"

"We talked about that"

"I hate you.and the babies hate you too." minho says stubbornly,looking through the window.

"I know you don't" Han giggles,squishing minhos cheeks.

"Yah!Look at the street!"

Jisung only continues giggling at minhos pouty attitude.He knows that he is looking forward to a day at the beach just as much as himself.They could relax,have fun and enjoy the warm,sunny weather,wich was a welcome change to all the stress

When they were at the beach jisung parked.Minho jumped out of the car,pulling the bags they brought out. Jisung also got out.he inhaled deeply.the fresh ocean breeze was relaxing and felt good in his usually always stressed mind. Minho pinched his side. "Ready to go down to the beach,or do you need time to process the air cause you don't know how it is outside the studio?"Minho smirks and runs down on the sandy beach.Jisung yells after him,following him with tiny runs. He acts annoyed as always but he enjoys finally seeing minho relax too.The comeback was exhausting for them all,and they all spent a lot of work and effort into it.It was a big relief that they had done it now,and that stays liked it so much. The others stayed at the dorms,wanting to do a live later.

When jisung approached minho he was laying the picnic blanket they brought,down on the warm sand. Jisung started packing out the food (Minho insisted on cooking himself besides bringing little snacks) and his little digitalcamera. "You still have this little thing?Isn't the quality extremly low?" Minho asks,taking out the ramen he had made earlier.

"Yeah but low quality is the best quality.It gives the pictures a little vintage touch."Jisung prudly says,standing up to take a picture of the ocean with his camera.Minho pats at the place he sat before and says: "Sit down sungie,i wanna eat and if you dont take your ramen i will eat them myslef." Jisung quickly sits down and takes the little box of noodles minho gives him.

They both quietly eat,looking at the soothing waves.

After a while minho speaks up: " Also if my babies will miss me the day long,this is really nice. Relaxing now that the comeback is finished. To just sit here and not having to do something for the camera" Jisung finishes his ramen and smiles at him. "You are right min.but you now when you won't be so relaxed anymore?" Minho looks confused now,but before he can answer something jisung jumps up,takes his shirt off and runs towards the water. "When i win the race who is first at the water."he yells,laughing. Minho doesn't hesitate to also take his shirt off and chase after jisung. They both land in the cool waves,laughing and almost choking at the water.

They splashed water at each other,not noticing that they went further and further into the deep water.Suddenly a big wave came.It was quick there and minho and jisung got pressed underwater.Minho immediately came back to the surface of the water.He coughed a bit and almost started laughing again but then he noticed that jisung was nowhere in sight.He looked around,but when jisung wasn't anywhere near to find minho got a bad feeling.

"Sungie? Han?" anxiety immediately filled his body.that couldn't happen...

He didn't hesitate when he dived into the water. He opened his eyes and after a few seconds he saw jisung.His foot was stuck betweent two rocks and he was anxiously trying to free himself.Minho dived down.His own air was getting less to but somehow he managed to pull the rock away,and jisung back to the surface.They dragged themself back to the warm sand.

Jisung coughed a little bit water out,that he swallowed when he panicked.

"Are you okay hannie? Oh god i was so scared.W-when the wave came and pulled us u-underwater and i immediately was at the surface again,but you w-weren't near and i...i thought you drowned or w-worse and-"

Jisung stopped the anxious rambling from minho, by putting his hand over minhos mouth.

"Min it's okay,i'm fine alright?" Jisung said with his voice a bit hoarse from the salt water but a smile in it.

Minho let out a shaky exhale,noticing he hadn't breathed. He leaned nearer to jisung,who wrapped his arms around him.

"Why are you comforting me now?"Minho asks skeptically,but laying down his head on jisungs shoulder.He was glad nothing happened to jisung.

Jisung chuckled. "You are like a little cat,you always need comfort and someone who tells you that things are alright"

Minho snorted. A little cat? Jisung had a courage to say that.He was the one always acting like a baby.Altough minho liked being a bit babied and cared for secretly.

They both went back to their things.trying to dry their clothes.After a good sun bath,one more snack time and a bunch of jokes it's time to go home.

"It's getting dark we should drive back to the dorms"Minho says,starting to pack up the things. Han nods and also starts packing things.But then he remembers something. "Min!Will you make a pic with me with the digitalcamera? I make pictures with is since our debut so i can remember every good moment we all have." Minhos gaze softens when he sees the excitement so bright in jisungs eyes. He sits down besides jisung,and together they make a few pictures,of them with the ocean on it. Jisung kindly smiles when he looks through the photos. He loved collecting memories. At the sight of him smiling at simple photos made minhos heart melt.Jisung was a pure guy.

but suddenly minho gets distracted.Jisung almost had a heart attack when suddenly minho jumped up and ran a few steps and then crouched down in the sand.

Oh no.Jisung knew that pose.It was his look-what-a-cute-cat-i-found pose.That meant they wouldn't be able to drive home for the next thirty minutes.

"Give me the cat food from my jacket"Minho demands and jisung sighs and walks over to him and the cat, with the food.

Minhos eyes sparkle.It looks like suddenly the cat put a thousands stars in them.Exactly like when jisung looks at his pictures. Jisung had to hold back his laughter,minhos felt the same with cats that he felt when he looked at memories.he really could be a weird but a really kind guy. But also,Jisung liked when his eyes were like this.They looked deeper than the deepest spot in the ocean,prettier than all the stars on the sky.Jisung would give the world just so that spark never gets lost.Jisung smiled and looked at the cat.

"It's really cute"

"Yeah right?! I wanna take it home but soonie doongie and dori don't want another brother." Minho says with excitement but thena little pout steals its way on his face. Jisung only laughs at it. "Come on min,you fed the cat well,it will survive but your real babies miss you.or did you forget them already?" Jisung faked a dramatic gasp. " I will drive home alone then and give them to felix." He said,sounding sad and dramatic. He walked to the car but minho ran after him,getting in first.

"Noone trades my cats."

Jisung laughs at the pouting boy.

"Whatever you want min."

[want-so-minsung]

Hello! 💚🩷

My name is Raven, and welcome to want-so-minsung 🐰🐿️ This is a side blog dedicated to Minsung! I don’t necessarily ship them platonically or romantically, I just think their whatevership is beautiful, and I adore and support them no matter what :)

Main blog is @lattes-and-kpop ,so I will follow and like from there :)

[chevelleneech]

Shipping is fun when it’s done right, and I genuinely enjoy talking about my thoughts and theories on people, but dear lord is Minsung the realest “ship” I think I’ve ever encountered, but can’t talk about for real. And not for any reason other than… they just are together.

There’s no trail of potential clues, no alleged sightings with photos that pop up months later, and not too much fandom division (at least not from what I’ve seen) that has people harassing others about how Minho or Jisung are actually with a different member.

As well, Minho and Jisung ship themselves. The other members ship them, and their editing team adds fuel to the fire with the captions and stuff. Which, I guess people could say means they aren’t together because then the company would try to hide it, but idk. I’m not saying JYPE is accepting and wants them to be out, but I do think it’s likely they just make sure nothing damning is revealed, because in the absence of damning, they know kpop fans never truly believe idols can be queer.

Obviously that doesn’t apply to all fans of the genre, but the vast majority of them do believe that skinship and shipping and queer antics from idols is 100% fake. They think idols exist outside of the real world and don’t know what goes on on social media, aren’t aware of anything educationally common in the west, and because queer phobia is more “accepted” in Korea, they believe no idol could or would ever be queer. Despite the fact that queer people obviously exist in Korea.

I don’t know. I honestly believe Minho and Jisung are a couple, but whether or not they’ve disclosed to JYPE is up for debate. If they did, again, I think the company just makes sure they don’t do anything reckless that could out them undeniably. If they didn’t, then I’m sure the company is aware even still, but that lack of knowledge helps both sides. Minsung don’t have to explain why they want this or that, and the company don’t have to ensure any contracts that may include knowledge of their relationship doesn’t get leaked. It’s a win-win of sorts.

[seung-mongmong]

Rogue waves (a Minsung pirate fic) Chapter Two

Masterlist

Warnings: pirate antics, Han is annoying, Felix cameo, alcohol mention

How frustrating.

Being dragged away from his desk while he was busy at work (drinking). Minho had ditched the captain coat and hat a while ago now, assuming he’d get a moment of peace

How wrong he was. Changbin barged into the Captains quarters without even knocking, blabbering on about the Crown Prince Han and his pleas to not be sent home. What a strange request from someone being held prisoner.

“If I go talk to him will I be left alone for the rest of the night?” Minho asked

”Maybe, depends on-“ Changbin began, before the captain raised a hand to silence him

”you all let me have a minute to myself and I’ll deal with the prince, okay?”

Changbin nodded, a grin cracking across his face. “I’m serious Changbin, not a single person should even look at my door, got it?” Minho warned.

”Whatever you say, Captain” Changbin knew the captain had no heart to actually lock any of them out, as tough as he acted.

Minho hurried off to the brig, eye twitching in annoyance. Who was Han to be requesting his presence? Trying to speak directly to the man holding him captive? Minho had to admit, he was ballsy at least, and he could admire that trait. He just wished he chose a time when Minho was less worn out from the day's work. It made the walk to the cell feel twice as long. When he finally came face to face with the prince, he couldn’t help but pause. He didn’t look nearly as terrified as anyone else would, in his situation. He took a breath.

“Well? What is it you want to bother me about when i’m trying to work” Minho asked, crossing his arms. He could see Han shuffle on his feet nervously, mouth opening and closing as he searched his thoughts for something to say.

“…I want to negotiate with you about not sending me back home?” Han said, unsure.

Minho laughed, tipping his head back.

“Who knew royals were crazy! You’d rather be at my mercy than go back to your safe kingdom?” The captain asked.

”well yes- it's complicated! You have no idea how stuffy it is in that place, and never get to do anything interesting! Plus, my parents want me to get married off because i'm ‘too old to still be here’. You’ve got to at least drop me off wherever you stop next!” Han begged.

”You’re also crazy for making demands of a pirate.” The captain mumbled, amused. “…What would even be in it for me and my crew? You don’t seem like a hard labor type”

Han puffed his cheeks out in a sort of pout “I could do it, I’d just need to be told what tasks to do!”

Minho paused, thinking.

“I guess we could find use for you.” He said, earning an excited squeal from Han. “If,” Minho interrupted, “You give us insider information. Ways to beat that damn Navy your family has, and where they keep valuables, Then I’ll let you stay”

He could see the hesitance on Hans face a mile away, is eyes flickering back and forth between his own and the floor.

“That’s the only way you’ll help me out?” Han asked gently. Minho nodded.

“…I guess we can discuss it then.”

Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Minho was slumped back in his chair, contemplating why he agreed to this. He saw Han, yapping on and on about everything Minho didn’t need to know. When did he even ask about the horses' names? Why did it matter? Was it too late to lock Han back in that cell?

He was really in for a long time when Felix joined the conversation. An endless back and forth of pointless chatter. Maybe he could toss Felix in the cell too. God help whoever had to assign Han tasks on the ship, Minho could already see him running someone over the side of the ship due to his talking.

“I’m sure this is all so important to know, but if i sit here for one more second i might collapse.” Minho finally interjected, his chair rolling back as he stood up. “Maybe you and Felix can go take care of things in the kitchen, and get acquainted” he added

Han blinked, rising to his feet. “Didn’t you want to know-“ Minho held a hand up

“We can finish this conversation another day. You might as well learn some useful skills as soon as possible.” He gave a small smile “Felix will give you something to do.” and they were waved off.

Minho could only hope those two would stay focused enough to handle food preparation. It would be a shame to skip breakfast if things went wrong. The image of a messy kitchen sent a shudder down his spine.. He’d have to see, he supposed.

In the meantime, he would have to lay out tasks for Han to learn in the next few days, and sucker someone into showing him the ropes. He already felt sorry for whoever would be teaching a prince how to clean, let alone any ship related task. Not to mention the chore of getting information from Han without him getting side tracked. He was beginning to deeply reconsider his moment of kindness.

It was going to be a long night.

[hyunjins-orange-slice-too]

Regally Smitten

chapter 1: the meeting

chapter word count: ~4.5k

synopsis: A future king and his servant are bound by their forbidden love. With the odds stacked against them, and a jealous brother out for blood, will their love prevail? Or will history repeat itself?

warnings: homophobia (specifically religious homophobia, this is a period piece so these beliefs are a reflection of the time period being portrayed, and the characters themselves, and do not reflect my personal beliefs. please read with caution and remember to take care of yourself. ily.) descriptions of violence, main character injury (no main character death), foul language, suggestive themes, brief mentions of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. one mention of suicidal thoughts (but no action)

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction and in no way represents any member of stray kids in reality. this is a fanfiction and should be treated as such. this is not me “shipping” them, these are simply characters based on real life people. i don’t need the minsung antis coming for me.

authors note: here it is! i’m like sick to my stomach with worry about posting this. i’ve seriously been working on it for so long i can’t believe it’s finally time to post the first chapter. <3 i really hope everyone likes it. also, happy hannie day! <33

series masterlist • main masterlist

With his superior by his side, Han knocked gently on the wooden door.

"Come in!" a voice shouted from inside. Han's superior swung the door open carefully and they both stepped inside. The room was extravagant, just as Han had expected it would be. It was one of the largest rooms in the castle that he had ever been in, only behind the great hall and the throne room. The room was grey stone, much like the rest of the castle. There was a large desk to one side, piled with tomes and scrolls of parchment tied with crimson ribbons. Behind the desk was a large open air doorway that led onto a balcony overlooking the kingdom. From this tower, Han thought you could probably see all the way to the green rock isles.

A small breeze blew in from that balcony, rustling the sheer curtains in the wind. The same silky curtains draped around a massive four post bed in the center of the room. And that is where Han saw him for the first time. Well, not the first time really. This was the prince after all, and Han was a servant in his castle. Of course Han had seen the prince before, but never this close. Having been stationed in the kitchens before, Han had never been this close to the royal. Not ever close enough to notice how soft his hair looked, his chiseled nose and jaw, the way his arms and chest filled his shirt so nicely. Never been close enough to see the muscles flex under the expensive fabric as the prince bent over to pull on his boots.

"Your Grace." Han's superior said with a small bow. Han also nervously bowed. "Your Grace.." he squeaked.

The prince stood, fastening his sword at his side as he approached. He was even more handsome the closer that he got. From this closer distance, Han could see the chocolatey brown color of his eyes, the small freckle on the side of his nose, the down turned pout of his full lips.

"Your Grace, this is you new squire." Han's superior said. He nudged Han on the shoulder, pulling him out of his study of the princely face. "Introduce yourself, boy."

Han bowed again. "I am Han, if it pleases you, Your Grace."

The prince studied his new squire. And his first thought was that he was rather.. cute. The prince was used to people being flustered in front of him, but somehow when Han did it, it was less annoying and more.. charming. Prince Minho cleared his throat. "Right. Thank you ser, you may go now." Han's superior bowed again before turning on his heel and exiting the room. Suddenly, being alone with the prince, the room no longer felt like one of the biggest rooms in the castle. The room felt like it was closing in around him now, like it was slowly suffocating him. Or maybe, Han thought, it was just that the prince took his breath away. But he must not let himself think these thoughts. He must focus on his job and nothing more. That's what he told himself but it was easier said than done. Rather, it was easier thought than done.

The prince took a step closer. He placed his fingers under Han's chin and angled it up to look at him.

"Han, you said?" he asked, turning Han's face to the left and then to the right, examining. His voice was assertive, very princely in its own way. But Han didn't feel intimidated, not even in the slightest. In fact, he was feeling flustered. Like giant dragons were flying in his belly and shooting their fire up his throat.

"Ye-yes, Your Grace." he muttered out, stumbling over his words.

The prince released his grip on Han's face. "Tell me.. are you nervous, Han?" he asked, his lips turning up on one side, teasing.

"A little bit, Your Grace." Han laughed nervously as he struggled to look at the prince, deciding instead to look at his boots. "I just want to do my best as your squire."

The prince chuckled. "Look at me, Han."

Han forced his eyes up to meet the prince's. And for a moment, it was like everything stood still. The birds outside no longer chirped, the rise and fall of their breath no longer came and both the men's hearts, skipped a beat for just a brief moment. And the moment, however brief it may be in reality, felt like an entire summer to Han and Minho. An entire sweltering hot summer where they both thought their bodies may burn up entirely.

"I think you will make a fine squire." The prince said with a smile. This made Han's cheeks go pink and prince Minho had the thought that he rather liked that and would like to spend the rest of his life making those cheeks blush. Would do anything to make Han feel bashful just so he could see his adorable face fill with color. But then the prince caught himself in those thoughts and quickly brushed them off. This was their first time meeting, and even if it wasn't, it would never work. He knew that. He knew what happened last time and chided himself for the thoughts he had about his new squire.

"Come along, father waits." Minho ordered, curtly. And Han followed his prince down the long cold hallway to the throne room, trying his very hardest to not stare at the princely rear.

----

The throne room really was the largest room in the castle. This is where all of the banquets, and balls, and weddings happened. The room was absolutely massive. Large marble pillars lined the room, carvings of the gods adorned the pillars, and the ceiling was painted like the night sky, constellations outlined in gold foil. On the farthest end of the room was the dais, and atop that was the throne. The throne was golden and beautiful and intricately carved with more likeness of the gods and foliage. It was of considerable size, fit only for a king. Behind the throne were floor to ceiling stained glass windows that depicted the story of the Lee Dynasty. The sunlight shined through them now, casting beautiful pink and yellow and green light onto the floor. Han's eyes fell to the colors decorating the stones, moving the toe of his slipper in and out of the colored light.

The prince's boots confidently tapped on the floor as he walked with purpose across the cavernous room. Han shuffled a step behind him, honestly struggling to keep up. The other servants in the room would stop their task and bow as they passed. Mumbling here and there a 'your grace', 'my prince', and other phrases of the like.

"Finally! There's my boy!" a deep voice bellowed from the dais. Sitting on the throne was King Heinrich. And next to him on a smaller, but still intricate chair, was Queen Charlotte, and to her right was prince Rian, Minho's younger bother. Heinrich was a large, fat man, who looked as if he had never struggled for anything in his life. And han knew that to be the case, as he was born into royalty. His father was king and his father before that and so on. His face, though old, had few wrinkles, having access to the best products in the entire kingdom and without worry to mar his face with lines. Han thought that the king would show more signs of age, having to hold the entire kingdom on his back, but Han soon learned that the king did little when it came to decision making for the realm. The council made most of the decisions, though Han guessed the king got the final say. He was just a 'glorified old fart'. At least that's what Han's best friend, Hyunjin, had said. Though Han would never dare repeat those words out loud. The king was known to be a very stern man. Almost bratty and spoiled in the way that if things do not go the way he has planned, or if something upsets him greatly, blood will most likely be shed. So Han had done his best to steer clear of the king as often as he could. And that's exactly what he did in this moment. He stayed put as Minho climbed the steps of the dais, offering the customary bow to both the king and queen.

"Hello father." Minho said. "Mother." He placed a kiss on the queens cheek. Queen Charlotte, in stark contrast to her husband, was a beautiful and kind woman. She did her best to keep Heinrich from causing too much trouble, though she knew her place. She was smart, and knew when to keep quiet and let things happen, no matter how awful those things might be.

"Sit boy, sit." Heinrich ordered. Minho took his place in an empty chair next to his mothers.

"What is it father?" Minho asked. "You wanted to see me?"

"Just to inform you that tomorrow we leave for Westwood. We go to visit Lord Alexander and Lady Ere. We leave at first light."

"As you wish, father. I will cancel my plans to join the hunting party then?"

"Yes." the king grumbled. "This is much more important. We go for political reasons."

"Of course father."

"Have you been assigned a new squire?" Rian asks. "I was glad to see that other one go. You were much to close to him, Minho." Rian had a lilt to his voice that suggested this was a jab at his brother, like there existed some underlying context that Han was unaware of.

Rian was taller than Minho, but not nearly as built. Han was sure that Minho could easily overpower his brother should he need to. But that didn’t deter Rian from speaking his mind and stirring up all kinds of trouble for his brother. Rian was always jealous that he wasn’t the first born, and therefore was not the direct heir to the throne. Minho always had the thought in the back of his mind to make sure to keep an eye on his brother. He did not put it past him to do something heinous for his shot at being king.

The current king agreed. "A squire is not your friend, he is your servant. Understood, boy?"

Rian chuckled behind Minho.

"Yes father, I know. I will not make the same mistake again." Minho's voice sounded small and pained, like this conversation brought up a terrible traumatic memory. It sounded completely different from the confident, teasing voice Han heard just moments ago in the prince's chamber.

"That will be all then." The king dismisses. "We will see you at first light."

Minho stood and exited the throne room. Han gave a quick bow to the king and queen and scurried after his prince.

The prince's mood had noticeably shifted. Gone was the smiling, almost playful boy from before. The negative feelings radiated off of him in waves.

"Your Grace," Han started. Minho grunted in response, a signal to continue. "If i may ask, what happened to your previous squire?"

They had found their way back to the prince's chambers, the door swinging shut behind Han with a bang, causing the boy to jump with fright.

Minho headed for his changing room, unbuckling his sword sheathe along the way, letting it clatter to the floor.

Noticing the rather long response time, Han tried to backpedal. "Forgive me, I should not question you." Han said meekly, scrambling to pick up the weapon, brushing off any dirt before gently placing it on the desk.

"He was beheaded, if you must know." Minho said, shortly, anger lacing his tone.

Han was shocked. He hadn't known that the former squire had been executed. Han wondered what he could have done to deserve such a punishment. Maybe he accidentally stepped on the kings new cloak. But Han could tell this was a touchy subject that the prince probably didn't want to talk about, so he dropped it.

"I wish to sleep." the prince said, exiting his changing room. His overshirt had been shed, leaving him in his flowy white undershirt, his pectorals peeking out from the top. His trousers had been unfastened and hung loosely on his hips. Han's mouth went dry, his eyes wide.

"Squire, are you deaf?" Minho snapped. "I said, I wish to sleep. Get out." He ordered.

"Yes, Your Grace." Han quickly said. He bowed and exited the room, closing the door gently behind him. Han pondered about the prince's mood change as he headed back to his quarters to get some sleep of his own. And to ask Hyunjin about this beheading.

And prince Mihno thought about how guilty he felt for the way he just treated his new squire, but it was nothing compared to the guilt he feels from the former. What happened with him must not happen with Han. It can't. It won't. Minho wont let it.

The prince crawled in between the sheets, hugging his pillow tight as he remembers the way that the old squire's lips felt against his own and then remembering the thump the squire's head had made as it hit the cobblestones.

----

Returning to his quarters in the basement, Han opened the door and carefully toed off his slippers. His roommate, and best friend, Hyunjin was sat on his cot, doodling on a spare piece of parchment. Probably another portrait of Lady Eliza. Hyunjin was infatuated with her, and had drawn her likeness on every spare piece of paper he could find, and in every style he could think of. This one was Lady Eliza as a... cactus?

"How goes it?" Hyunjin asked. "How was your first day as squire? Do you hate him yet?"

Han paused. No, he did not hate the prince. Didn't think he ever could. How could you ever hate someone so handsome? Someone who showed such playfulness and kindness? Though he did get a little snippy at the end. But he's a prince. He's allowed to be snippy.

"Hello?" Hyunjin prodded. "Don't ignore me, you know it makes me spiral into thinking that you hate my company."

Han rolled his eyes. "Don't be dramatic."

"That's like telling a cat not to lick its ass." Hyunjin said. "You know how I am."

Indeed, Han did know how he was. Hyunjin definitely had a flare for the dramatics. One time, Lady Eliza sneezed in his direction and by the time dinner was over, he had convinced himself that she had done it on purpose to show him how much she secretly loved him. He tried to go to her chambers that night, to tell her that he had picked up on her message. But luckily Han was able to talk him out of it.

"So, answer my question. How were the princely duties?" Hyunjin was now scribbling some hair on cactus Eliza.

"It was.. fine." Han pulled his smock over his head and folded it neatly on his bedside table.

"Just fine?" Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. "What're you hiding?"

Han reclined on his own cot, the feeling of relief flooding through him, finally being off his feet. "I'm not hiding anything."

"Bullshit." Hyunjin put down Eliza's portrait and pointed at Han. "No secrets. Isn't that the oath we took when we decided we were brothers?"

"Oh come on." Han argued. "I think this hardly counts as a time for the oath."

"Because you're definitely hiding something!" Hyunjin flailed his arms around as he spoke. "I can't believe this is the way you've decided to ruin our friendship. Our brotherhood." He dramatically threw himself back down on his cot.

"Fine! Fine." Han gave in. Hyunjin sat up straight, leaning in, not wanting to miss a thing. "I just happen to think the prince is kind of.. cute."

Hyunjin was silent, his face blank. Han couldn't remember a time when Hyunjin was this silent.

"Well? Say something." Han said.

"You have a crush on Prince Minho?" Hyunjin asked, flatly.

Han shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"This is not good." Hyunjin ran his fingers through his hair. "You cant have a crush on Minho. Hes' a prince." Hyunjin pointed out.

"Yeah and it's soo different from you having a crush on Lady Eliza? Her family owns the entirety of the wheat fields. She's way above your class."

Hyunjin looked taken aback. He brought his hand to his heart. Clutched his imaginary pearls. "Eliza and I are in love. And you know that." He glared at Han for even daring to bring his beloved into this. "Don't you think its dangerous to develop feelings for someone as high up as the prince?"

"Yeah, maybe." Han agreed. "It's nothing serious though. Today was the first time I've ever even spoken to him. I'm just being delusional."

"Let's just make sure it doesn't get too out of hand. Okay?" Hyunjin looked at Han, almost with a sad expression. As if Hyunjin knew the hurt that Han felt from being alone. But they were both alone. And Han found comfort in that. They were alone together.

"The prince did mention something that I wanted to ask you about."

Hyunjin looked intrigued again. Always eager for the latest bit of gossip. "Relax." Han held his hand out toward Hyunjin. "It's nothing like that. No royal secrets." Hyunjin pouted. "He mentioned something about his old squire. And when i asked what happened to him, Minho told me he was beheaded. He seemed really touchy about the subject. Basically kicked me out of his chambers after that."

"Really?" Hyunjin looked puzzled. "We never get to know anything down here in the fuckin depths of the castle. We need to learn to speak rat. I bet they have all the tea."

Han let out a hmm. "So you don't know anything about it? I figured if anyone would know it would be you."

"No I have no idea. How can someone have their head literally chopped off and no one knows about it?"

"That's the power of the crown, I guess." Han said, lost in thought about the former squire.

"What do you suppose they did with the head afterwards?" Hyunjin asked.

Han laughed and made an exaggerated fake gag before telling Hyunjin to go to sleep. Han rolled over and faced the wall, closing his eyes and drifting off to the memory of a single freckle, and chocolate.

----

In the morning, Han reported to Minho's quarters about an hour before the sun came up. He knocked gently on the thick wooden door. "Your Grace?"

"You may enter, Han." He heard Minho's voice from the other side, thick with sleep.

Han pushed open the door to find Minho still in bed. The cover tossed off of him in the night, his bare chest with a sheen of sweat from the humid summer night air, his hair a matted mess on his head.

"Good morning, Your Grace." Han bowed, doing his best to hide the affection he felt for the man in front of him. Seeing him like this definitely didn't help with the crush that Han was supposed to be ignoring. "You should probably bathe, Your Grace. We leave for Westwood soon."

"Are you saying I smell, squire?" Minho grumbled, pulling himself up and throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

Han's stomach dropped into his pants. "No! Not at all Your Grace. I just thought you might feel refreshed if you had a quick bath. Allow me to fill the tub for you." Han rushed across the room to the door of the changing room, tripping over his feet along the way but catching himself without falling.

Minho laughed. "Relax. I was only joking."

Han looked at the prince. He had that crooked smile on his face, his cheeks flushed with sleep, his messy hair falling into his eyes. He reached up with a chiseled arm to push it out of the way. The muscles in his chest flexing with the motion. The prince noticed Han's gaze on his chest and it filled him with a sense of pride. He liked it when Han looked at him a little too long. It pleased him to know that Han found him attractive. At least, he thought he did. The way his eyes linger, and his breath catches. Minho knows that feeling all too well. He had the same feeling watching Han walk through the door just a few moments ago.

Minho cleared his throat, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts of what Han's bare chest may look like. "A bath sounds nice, Han. If you don't mind."

"Of course, Your Grace." And with that, Han shuffled into the changing room to begin filling the tub. Minho knew there wasn't time to heat the water. There was no time to build a fire and wait for the water to warm. He could only hope the summer heat had warmed the water as much as it had warmed his skin in the night. Bucket by bucket, Han went back and forth from the barrel in the corner, to the large metal tub in the center of the room. Luckily the maids had filled the barrel only the day prior, so it was full of water. As the tub neared half way, Minho began to remove his trousers. The prince had his back to Han, so as the squire walked from barrel to tub, he had the opportunity to stare. To downright gawk at the male specimen in front of him. Prince Minho stood there, nude, kicking his trousers to the side. Han took special notice of his round, perfect butt. A prince's butt, Han thought. And what a glorious butt it was. The prince also had very muscular thighs. Han wondered what it would feel like to sit on those thighs, to straddle those thighs. He quickly returned to the barrel for more water, desperately trying to get rid of the growing problem in his pants.

Han returned to the tub once more only to see Minho lift his leg to step into the basin, and Han caught a glimpse of what lie in between those beautiful thighs.

Suddenly the floor was covered in water, the wooden bucket clattered to the floor, rolling its way across the stones and banging against the chamber pot. Han scrambled for the bucket as Minho made himself comfortable in the room temperature water. "Are you alright, Han?" Minho asked. The prince knew exactly what had happened, and it pleased him greatly.

Han cleared his throat, unsure of his ability to speak. Unable to get the image of Minho's princely package out of his brain. "Uh- ye-yes, Your Grace. I just- uh- tripped."

"Well do be more careful. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Of course, Your Grace. I apologize." Han returned to the barrel for more water. He approached the tub, as Minho splashed the water along his body, wetting his tangled hair.

"That's enough water, Han. Thank You. Would you mind brushing through my hair? The brush is on the table just there." The prince pointed to a narrow wooden table along the wall.

Han traded the bucket for the brush and cautiously walked back to the tub. He took his place behind Minho, who had his head hanging over the side, his neck resting on the rim. Han nervously fidgeted with the bristles of the brush, unsure of how to proceed. He had never brushed a prince's hair before. But he assumed it was the same way as he brushed his own.

Han carefully ran the brush through the long brown locks of hair, slowly de-tangling as he went. The prince closed his eyes, a satisfied sigh leaving his lips. Han noticed that sigh. Wondered what it would take to get the prince to make that noise again. Han would do anything to hear that noise again.

"Han, I wanted to apologize to you." Minho said, suddenly.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Your Grace." Han pulled the brush through the hair, most of the tangles gone now.

"Oh but there is." Minho said. "I treated you poorly yesterday evening and I regret it. I should not speak to you in such a way. You may be my squire but you are still a person." Minho sat up now and opened his eyes. He turned to face Han, who was startled and still holding the brush in the air. "Please accept my apology. It will not happen again."

"Uh- of course, Your Grace. I was not offended. Apology accepted. You are very kind." Han bowed slightly.

Minho smiled. "You can cut it out with the your grace stuff. Unless we are in front of others of course, especially my father. But when it's just you and I, you may call me Minho."

Han was extra stunned. First an apology and now he's being asked to drop the titles? Was this a test?

"I appreciate that, Your Grace. But I could not. It is much too informal." Han felt that was a safe answer. He should continue to use the official titles. He was just a lowly servant talking to a prince.

"I insist, Han. Please. Call me Minho. 'Your grace' makes me feel old and like I have a lot of responsibilities." Minho rubbed the soap up and down his arms, circling his chest, the bubbles sliding down his toned abdomen until they hit the water, forming a barrier on the surface, blocking the view of what Han wanted to see most.

"But don't you indeed have a lot of responsibilities?" Han asked, tearing his eyes away from the bubbly surface.

Minho smirked. "I suppose I do."

"We should probably get going, Your Grace. The sun will be up soon and your father will be waiting." Han bowed and left the room to fetch the prince some fresh clothes. Once out of the line of princely sight, he let out a deep sigh. How was he going to do this? Han didn't think he was strong enough for the task of being squire to such a man.

Once alone in the changing room, Minho let out a similar sigh. His stomach was in knots at what his heart was screaming at him. He knew he was playing with fire. He knew he should stop. Han should call him by his official title. Han should not be so close as to brush his hair, he should not purposefully show Han his cock. But he couldn't help it. Han was just so cute.

♡ pls reblog if you liked it! it truly helps a lot and makes me smile :) ♡

©hyunjins-orange-slice-too i do not give permission for this work or any of my work to be translated, copied, or reposted.

[hanofchain]

hanofchain

mo, momo, mona @deathspite @heylino

1999 ✧ they/them ✧ skz minsung writer

latest work: tba

about the author

tag index ✧ mobile, desktop

masterlist ✧ mobile, desktop

✧ i primarily write about stray kids, but i will occasionally write about enhypen (jakehoon focused). the majority of my works feature minsung, but other ships such as hyunin, seunglix and binchan may make appearances at times.

✧ i only write mxm fiction featuring existing ships, as this is what i am most comfortable with. i do not write heterosexual romance or any type of reader-inserts.

✧ the majority of my works are sfw, but i do occasionally write nsfw content. anything that is deemed nsfw will be explicitly marked as such, and as the reader, you are ultimately responsible for your own content consumption. however, if you are under 18 years old, please do not read or interact with any nsfw content.

✧ my works are not currently beta read. everything i write is proofread and edited by me, and as a result, some mistakes may still be missed. don’t be afraid to point them out to me, as i want anything i release to be in its best shape! if you’re interested in being my beta reader, let me know.

✧ hanofchain is a side blog, and due to this, i am unable to follow anyone back from here. if i do happen to follow you back, it will come from my main blog: @deathspite — you don’t need to follow me there if you already do here!

✧ the majority of the graphics you see on this blog, particularly dividers, will be from users anitalenia and cafekitsune. i highly recommend you check them out!

[changbinsboobs]

https://www.tumblr.com/changbinsboobs/759635552264978432/is-minsung-a-thing?source=share

since u acc this type of reading how about felix and changbin too?👀

I don't think i even need to do a reading on that honestly i really don't think theres any compatiability there whatsoever. My take on the ship is that predebut and during the first years felix had a massive crush on changbin and expressed that very freely and might've been pretty overbearing and even annoying for changbin at some points since felixs might've overwent some boundaries as i think he's someone that lacks common sense like that sometimes. Needless to say Changbin didn't return his affections. What we see from changbins side isn't romantic or whatever kind if attraction - it protecter energy. He's a protecter and provider and he loves hiving to the weak, to make himself feel strong. He can't stand it when others are hurt, especially because of him, so naturally he handled the situation with felix very gently and didn't straight up reject him but tried to still show him some affection, even only platonic, hoping felix doesn't feel too rejected or hurt. But felix, being much younger and naive and immature i believe mistook changbins kindness for interest and kept on pushing. I think one day changbin had enough, especially as he's gotten older u believe he started to learn to be more harsh and not let people walk all over his head. So changbin sat him down and put clear boundaries and let him know simple and clear that he rejects his affections and wants a stop to it.

I've been continuously getting such energy from them for years, ever since i started stanning them. And its so strong that its just inevitable not to pick up on...so yeah i didn't do a reading on all that, its just my personal opinion and feeling in the matter with that ship.

[mayamoreen]

Hello my fellow kpop stans...MOST POPULAR SHIP...will be starring...from BTS VKOOK and SOPE, from ATEEZ WOOSAN and MATZ and from STRAYKIDS MINSUNG and CHANLIX...there will be other side couples but the six will be the main focus having their own story...Hope you look out for it...

[lovebombin]

 🎀 angi ♡ they/she ★ 28 !! 🧸💤

✦ txt, skz atz and exo my beloveds <3!! ✦‎ kpop lover since 2023! i enjoy gif making :3 ✦‎ this is a side blog, i follow with alwaysinorbit !! ^_^ ✦ oh and this is my last.fm if you even care !!! ✦ witness me being mentally ill right here (twitter)

i love all the members but these are my meow meows

✦ kai, beomgyu, yeonjun ✦ changbin, minho, jisung ✦ yunho, hongjoong, mingi, san ✦ sehun, chanyeol, xiumin, suho

my other meow meows

haechan, renjun, jeno, jiwoong, hanbin

ps: i love any hyuka ships, minsung, changlix, yungi, woosan & sechan!!

pps: this will prob be a kpop blog but i need you to know that i love post malone and twenty one pilots w/ all my heart. i do not play about those white men.

[dracyoola]

Bizari

This is a fanfic that I wrote one chapter for. I wanted to do an 'alien comes to earth, meets and falls in love with a human' fic but I instead ended up writing my Extraterrestrial series, which is currently 3 stories long and posted to AO3 here.

I do like the concept of this one and I may come back to it someday. It was planned to be a MinSung + ChanLix fic, with JiLix being from the same planet, Bizari.

The first (and currently only) chapter of this fic can be found under the cut. :)

Chapter One - Crash Landing

He never thought his life would play out the way it has so far. What was supposed to be a fun trip to planet Zichi with his friends, turned into a life changing event. He was flying along in his small, one person ship, heading from his home on planet Bizari, to the nearby planet of Zichi. It should've only taken an hour in Earth's time to arrive, but he hadn't anticipated his small ship colliding with a rogue asteroid and being sent plummeting down to Earth, of all places.

He'd crashed into a field, which was thankfully empty, though his ship was destroyed with no hope of salvaging it. Luckily, he escaped the crash unscathed. He used his Wrist Personal Computer or WPC for short, to figure out where he'd landed. He'd need that information, so he'd know how to make his human cloak look, what language to speak, and what name to give himself, so he could fit in with the people in whatever country he'd ended up stranded in.

"South Korea. National language spoken is Korean. Written language is Hangul," the computerized voice informed him, speaking in his native language of Bizarian.

"Right," he muttered. "Okay. Got it. I can speak Korean. Just need a look and a name."

He took a deep breath, thinking for a moment, before applying his cloak. It took a decent amount of energy to keep his cloak on, but he'd be okay for now. He could recharge his energy when he found a place to rest. Looking in the reflective side of what was left of his ship, he smiled a little at what he saw.

He thought he looked attractive, kind of cute even. Short black hair, big round, expressive brown eyes, cute lips and a cute human nose. His cheeks were a little bigger than he'd like, but he didn't have the energy to try and reshape them, so he was fine with them.

He turned back to his WPC, tapping a couple things on the screen. He'd need a surname and a first name. Looking through a list of Korean last names, he settled on one that stood out the most to him.

Han.

Now he needed a first name.

Jisung.

Han Jisung.

It had a nice ring to it.

It was getting late, getting dark out, and Jisung finally made it into a city. A super busy city, at that. There were humans all around, walking, talking, laughing. It was a bit overwhelming for Jisung at first, so he kept his head down, walking along the sidewalk, trying to make himself appear as small as possible. Of course, since he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, he bumped into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!"

Jisung's head snapped up at the familiar deep voice. Sure, he was speaking Korean, not Bizarian, but Jisung would recognize that voice anywhere. Of course, Jisung didn't recognize the face at first. It looked familiar but more… human. Though it was a very adorable face, with a cute nose, wide smile, big brown eyes and freckles dusted across his nose and cheeks, reminding Jisung of the galaxies he was familiar with. His hair was short and a really light blonde color.

"Are you okay?" he boy before him asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"Naux?" Jisung asked, stating his best friend's name. His Bizarian name. If this was really who he thought it was, the boy before him would have a surprised reaction, for sure.

Just as he suspected, the boys eyes widened, mouth dropping open in surprise. The boy looked around, before grabbing Jisung's arm and dragging him to a more secluded area of the street.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, now speaking their native tongue.

"Naux. It's me! Deikos!" Jisung replied, smiling widely now. What were the actual chances that he'd crash land on a foreign planet and still run into his best friend? Who went missing two years ago.

The boys eyes widened again, before he was smiling widely, throwing his arms around Jisung in a hug.

"Oh my god! I thought I'd never see you again," his best friend cried, tears in his eyes as he clutched Jisung close. "What are you even doing here?"

"I crash landed a few hours ago," Jisung replied, sheepishly. "An asteroid came out of nowhere and hit my ship and knocked me clear out of the galaxy. I'm okay, though. What are you doing here? Have you been here all along?"

His friend nodded. "For the past two years, actually. I um… I left. To get away from my parents. I'm so sorry I left you. I had no choice. You know how… cruel they were."

Jisung nodded, frowning. "I understand. I'm glad you got away and that you're okay. What are the odds of meeting like this?"

"It's crazy, right?" his friend laughed, before switching back to speaking Korean. "What name have you chosen for yourself?"

"Han Jisung," Jisung smiled. "What should I call you, instead of Naux?"

"Lee Felix," his friend, Felix, smiled at him. "Come with me. You obviously need a place to stay and we have room. I have a three bedroom apartment with my mate and his best friend. You can stay with us and take the extra bedroom."

Jisung stared at Felix. "Your mate? When did you have time to find a mate? Is it a human mate?"

"He is a human, yes, so is his best friend," Felix smiled, taking Jisung's hand in his and walking along with him down the sidewalk. "Your cloak is really adorable. It suits you. It looks just like you, only more… human."

Jisung blushed a little. "Thanks. Yours does too. Does your mate and his best friend know about you?"

Felix hummed. "My mate does. We haven't told his best friend, though. Most humans are… not ready to hear that people like us exist. People from other planets."

Jisung nodded. Don't tell Felix's mate's best friend about them. Noted.

"But your mate was okay with it?"

Felix smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He's the sweetest. He was totally okay with it. Didn't freak out at all when I took my cloak off in front of him for the first time. I was surprised, honestly."

"I'm happy for you," Jisung smiled at his best friend. "And grateful. I didn't know what I was going to do. Maybe just wander around, take on the cloak of a human pet or something and hope someone would take pity on me."

"That's not a bad idea," Felix laughed, leading Jisung into a big apartment building, before heading over to the elevator and hitting the button. "But I'm glad I found you, too. I think you'll like it here."

When they got into the apartment, Jisung took a moment to look around. Sure, the technology was nowhere near as advanced as he was used to, but he knew he could adjust.

"Shoes off at the door, it's part of the Korean culture," Felix informed him, smiling and toeing his own shoes off.

Jisung nodded, kneeling down to untie his sneakers and slip them off his feet, before standing and stepping into the apartment with Felix.

"You did a good job picking human clothes," Felix smiled at him, taking in Jisung's jeans and hoodie. "You fit right in."

Jisung blushed a little. He was always pretty bad at taking compliments. "Is your mate or his best friend home?"

"No. Minho, that's his best friend, is at work. Chan, my mate, is at the store. He should be home soon," Felix explained with a smile. "Make sure to call Chan my 'boyfriend' when Minho is around. Humans don't call each other 'mates' like we do."

Jisung nodded, storing that information away. He'd make sure to remember that.

"Come on, I'll show you to your new room," Felix said, leading Jisung down a hallway, before stopping outside a room. He motioned for Jisung to go inside.

The room looked similar to ones back on Bizari. It was fascinating to Jisung just how similar Earth was turning out to be in comparison to their home planet. As if reading his thoughts, Felix spoke up.

"Earth is a lot like Bizari, isn't it?" he smiled. "You can make yourself comfy. I'm going to grab some clothes for you. We'll take you shopping later for some of your own."

Jisung looked around the room as Felix left, taking everything in. There was a twin sized bed with a small table beside it and a lamp on the table. Across the room was a desk with a chair and a computer set up. There was also a horizontal bookcase with a television on top. It was cozy and Jisung found himself liking it. He sat on the bed, laying back and letting out a breath.

While he was sure he wasn't going to be able to return to Bizari anytime soon, if at all, he was content for the moment. At least he'd miraculously bumped into his best friend, so he had a place to stay and someone who understood what he was going through. It felt good to not have to do this all alone. Felix returned with a stack of clothes, setting them down on the desk for Jisung.

"I can show you around the apartment, if you want," Felix smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Show you how to work the various things like the shower and all that. It's all pretty similar to home, so I'm sure you'll catch on quick."

Jisung sat up, sitting beside Felix and pulling him into a hug, which was eagerly returned. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't bump into you," Jisung sighed, leaning his head on Felix's shoulder.

Felix smiled and rubbed his back gently. "I'm here for you, Dei. Always."

Felix's mate, no… boyfriend, Jisung had to remind himself, arrived home not long after Felix finished showing him how to work all the gadgets and stuff in the apartment. It was all too simple for someone like Jisung, who was used to way more advanced technology. But it made him feel better, knowing how to work everything. At least it would make it easier for him to blend in, especially if they didn't want to let Chan's best friend, and Jisung's new roommate, he supposed, in on their secret.

"Channie!" Felix smiled, throwing his arms around the man's neck as he came into the kitchen, hugging him and kissing him. "I missed you."

Jisung couldn't help but smile. He never remembered seeing his best friend look so happy before. His home life back on Bizari wasn't the best. While Jisung had missed him, he was glad Felix was able to get away and start a new life here on Earth. Who knows, maybe Jisung could do the same.

"I missed you too, baby," Chan smiled, his eyes sparkling with adoration and love for Felix.

Chan was roughly Felix's height, with adorable dark brown curls and a friendly smile. He noticed Jisung, smiling and bowing to him. "You must be Jisung! I'm Chan, it's nice to meet you."

Jisung returned the gesture, smiling back. "You too," he replied, instantly liking Chan. It was hard to not like someone who made Felix happier than he's ever been before.

"Jisungie is going to stay with us for a bit, if that's okay?" Felix asked, looking to Chan. "He crash landed earlier this evening and doesn't have a way to get back home."

Chan nodded in understanding. Felix had texted him and explained the situation in vague detail, not wanting to leave too much information on their phones. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want to," Chan smiled at Jisung. "Just… don't tell Minho about you or Felix, yeah? I trust him with my life but… the less people who know the truth about you guys, the better. And I've no idea how Minho will react to it. So it's better if we don't say anything."

Jisung nodded. "Right. I understand."

Felix smiled. "We'll take you out shopping tomorrow, so you can get some clothes. And we'll get you a phone, so you can keep in touch with us."

Jisung nodded, blushing as his stomach grumbled. Felix's eyes widened.

"Oh my god. You must be starving! How did I not think of getting dinner first?" Felix groaned, covering his own forehead with his hand. "Aish…"

Chan laughed at his boyfriend's antics. "Let's just order something? Minho's not going to get home until late, so he's definitely not going to want to cook."

"Yeah, okay, that's a good idea," Felix agreed, smiling. "Get pizza. Pizza should be the first food from Earth that Jisungie tries. It's amazing."

"Pizza?" Jisung asked, tilting his head to the side cutely.

Felix smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It's amazing. I promise you'll love it. I've never met anyone on this planet who didn't love it."

Jisung smiled, taking a seat at the kitchen island. "I'll take your word for it."

It was later that night when Jisung found himself unable to sleep. Of course he wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily, not when it was his first night on a whole new planet. He got up from the bed, looking around the room, before heading to the doorway. He paused as he reached for the doorknob, taking in the sight of his light green skin.

He cursed softly, before putting his cloak back on, effectively hiding his true form again. He was going to have to remember to put it on when he left his bedroom for anything. At least he remembered to keep his door locked. That was the only thing Felix had asked of him.

Keep your bedroom door locked when you take your cloak off and make sure to put it back on before leaving your bedroom.

It was tiring to keep it on all the time, as it slowly drained his energy to do so. Felix had told him that he would sleep with his cloak off, since Chan already knew about him. Jisung understood their reasoning as to why they wanted to keep it a secret from Minho but at the same time he also wondered how Minho would react. It would surely be much easier to just tell him, so they wouldn't have to hide outside of their bedrooms. But either way, Jisung respected Felix's request. It was a small price to pay for his best friend's hospitality and willingness to take him in and help him.

Jisung left his bedroom, pausing as he smelled something delicious cooking. Looking down the hallway, he noticed that the kitchen light was on. He walked down, peering around the corner, his breath catching in his throat.

He assumed that the man in the kitchen was the elusive Minho that he'd heard so much about from Felix and Chan. He was definitely the most gorgeous human that Jisung had ever laid eyes on. From his warm brown eyes and his sharp nose, to his soft, dark brown hair that Jisung found himself wanting to run his fingers through… the man was beautiful.

Jisung stepped into the kitchen, taking a tentative step. Minho looked up, locking eyes with Jisung, before a soft smile spread over his lips. Jisung was sure he felt his insides melt.

"You must be Jisung."

Oh, his voice was heavenly. Jisung could listen to him talk all day about everything and nothing at all. Finding his own voice, Jisung smiled and nodded, bowing politely.

"I am. You must be Minho."

Minho returned the greeting, still smiling at him. "I am. It's nice to meet you. Felix told me a little about you."

"Oh? He did?" Jisung asked, interested.

Minho chuckled, turning is attention back to the food he was cooking on the stove top. "Yeah. He told me you're his best friend. That you're from out of town and needed a place to stay, so him and Channie invited you to have the spare bedroom. I gotta admit, it's kind of nice to have someone new around to talk to. You can only take so much of them being lovey dovey towards each other."

Jisung found himself blushing. He stepped closer to Minho, peering down into the pot on the stove, looking at the bright red sauce and the white, cylindrical shapes floating inside it.

"What are you making? It smells good," Jisung asked, watching as Minho stirred the contents of the pot.

Minho raised an eyebrow, before smiling. "Tteokbokki. Have you never had it before?"

Jisung shook his head no, before pausing. He was supposed to be Korean, right? It would seem kind of weird if he kept saying he's never eaten any Korean dishes.

"Mmm… it's good," Minho smiled. "You might like it. It's not spicy. It's kind of sweet. Felix did mention you were from out of town. Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jisung paused, before trying to remember what Felix had told him was his cover. He'd made up a backstory to tell Minho, to keep their true origins hidden. "Australia. I um. Lived there pretty much my whole life. Before coming here."

"Wow, really? That actually makes sense," Minho laughed a little, before turning the stove off. "You and Felix have been friends since you were kids, right? Then it would make sense you'd be from the same place as him."

Jisung internally patted himself on the back for not messing up. The last thing he wanted was to cause any problems. He watched as Minho dished the tteokbokki into two bowls, handing one to Jisung with a pair of chopsticks, before they sat at the table. Jisung stared at the chopsticks, watching how Minho was holding them, before trying to do the same. He ended up dropping them onto the table.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Minho apologized. "I keep forgetting that Australia does things differently than we do here. Here, I can get you a fork."

"Um, can you show me how to use these?" Jisung asked, before Minho could get up from the table. "I want to learn."

Minho smiled and nodded, before moving around the table to sit beside Jisung. He handed the chopsticks to Jisung, before positioning them in his hand for him and explaining how to use them. After a couple failed attempts, Jisung started getting the hang of it. Minho smiled at him.

"See, you're a fast learner," Minho told him, smiling warmly at him.

Oh, Jisung loved that smile. It looked so good on him. He definitely thought he was going to like living on Earth, especially if he had someone like Minho around.