Chapter Text
It was that bad. Maybe not as overwhelming as Jihoon had thought, but certainly more than Jisoo had wanted, leaving the elder with a tired, affectionate smile on his lips as Jeonghan went on.
“I mean, I’m good-looking!” The words weren’t said with much bite, but there was definitive frustration mapped out on his face. “I’m a good singer, and I’m obviously a good actor if he put me in a scene where all I do is talk. I work hard… most of the time-”
“You know, we worked pretty damn hard, too.” Jihoon had his eyebrows raised, silently inviting the elder to dispute the fact, but again, it wasn’t said with much bite.
“And you get lines!” Seokmin pointed out, though there was nothing but a pleasant smile on his face. “Lighten up, Jeonghannie!”
Jeonghan’s face screwed up, but only for a moment before he let out a sigh. “I’m happy for you guys. I swear I am. And yeah, Seokmin, I’m glad I can at least talk. But I wanna sing. I want people to notice me, you know?”
“Jeonghan.” Jisoo’s voice was as soft as ever, the laugh on the name even more so as that frustrated look turned up to him. The words sounded narcissistic – okay, were narcissistic – but Jisoo understood where they came from more than he cared to admit. “The second that your scene is over, everyone’s going to be looking in their playbills to figure out just who that gorgeous Cheryl Ann was.”
There seemed to be a tiny hint of a flush coming to the elder’s cheeks, but it flashed away with a tiny shake of his head, replaced by the beginnings of a smile. “I guess you’re right, huh?”
Jihoon rolled his eyes, but there was a faint, amused smile on his lips. “Always so humble…”
Jeonghan smacked his arm, but it was weak, that faint smile growing. “Oh, shut up.” A half second pause, glancing around their little square. “Is Seungkwan hanging out with Vernon again?”
“Probably.” Jihoon just shrugged. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. “He’s probably just as annoyed as you are, you know.”
It was clear from the look on Jeonghan’s face that he didn’t know why he would be – therefore, that he hadn’t actually stayed at the board to read beyond his own name. “He got Carol,” the smaller explained, an eyebrow quirked up. “What, did you just run off to complain to Seokmin without reading anyone else’s?”
“I did not complain-”
Seokmin’s raised eyebrows and half-hearted attempt at hiding his smile said otherwise, silently daring him to continue.
Jeonghan’s nose wrinkled. “Alright, yes. I just saw mine. And you guys’, but that’s ‘cause Josh was right at the top and I had to look at Brenda.”
Jihoon rolled his eyes, but an almost-affectionate smirk was playing on his lips. “Why did we expect anything else? I mean, honestly, I just kind of skimmed it, myself. I recognize most of the names, but I don’t actually know many of them. Seungcheol’s playing Frank’s dad, though, so that’s pretty cool.” His attention turned to the boy standing beside him, still just quietly watching the conversation with an amused smile. “I still haven’t introduced you to him, have I?”
“No, you haven’t!” Jisoo poked the younger’s arm slightly. “You keep saying you’re going to.”
Jihoon was clearly contemplating something for a moment, before he nodded to himself. “I know where he hangs out before class.” He nodded his head to the side, a question.
Jisoo picked up the hint immediately, not hesitating for a second before nodding. “Sure! Lead the way, Jihoonie.”
The one time that Jeonghan had tried to call him the same, Jihoon had nearly bitten his hand off. But with Jisoo he just scoffed softly and rolled his eyes, taking his wrist – too tight – and leading the way.
He even ignored Seokmin’s mock-offended, laugh-filled, “Bye!”, as they left the other pair abandoned in the midst of the hall.
- - -
Seungkwan leaned his chin against his hand, gazing at the basketball court from the picnic table beside. Mingyu was playing – losing terribly, but still playing – one on one against another of their friends, the older one who always looked a little exhausted and whose name Seungkwan still didn’t know. He didn’t know the name of the one sitting across from them either, the pale one with the round glasses and his nose buried in a book.
Honestly, he was starting to feel bad about it, but then he had never bothered with Mingyu’s name until that day, either. Hansol may have been his best friend, but he rarely spent time with the rest of the younger boy’s. Even when he did, the other three were normally off in their own little corner, discussing classes or girls (they liked girls right? maybe? wow, he really never paid attention, did he) or arguing about something or other. That was the only way to explain how he had never before noticed just how… pretty Mingyu was. Tall and tan and all goofy smiles and dorky laughs. He’d heard their names in passing, sure, but most days he was too focused on what Hansol was saying to pay them too much mind.
“… Boo. Kwannie. Seungkwan.”
Today was definitely not one of those days.
He snapped out of it after a moment, his attention turning to the very amused younger boy. “Please tell me you don’t have a crush already.”
Seungkwan’s nose wrinkled. “I find him cute. Doesn’t mean I have a crush.” Yet, he didn’t say, because he knew that it would just serve to make Hansol roll his eyes.
But honestly, was just now noticing that the younger boy had had an arm draped over his shoulders for the entire conversation. And that he was sitting less than two inches away from him, their knees brushing in a way that would normally have his cheeks beginning to turn red. He probably needed to stop- He really needed to stop this before it got out of hand.
“What, I’m not cute enough for you?” Hansol laughed, giving the elder’s cheek a little poke.
Yes, you are, Seungkwan also didn’t say, because that would lead to things much worse than a roll of his eyes. Instead his nose just wrinkled further. “Clearly not. And what happened to you only being gay for Drake?”
The younger actually fell quiet for a moment, his face becoming almost serious as he seemed to contemplate the question. “That aside-”
“Hansol-”
“Hey, Seungcheol!”
Seungkwan was cut off before he could say anything more, his attention pulled over to the pair coming across the court. Right, that was his name. He would recognize the pair of brunets anywhere, but especially with the shorter gently dragging the taller across the grounds.
“Come meet your son!” the smaller continued, the outburst resulting in distracting the elder enough for Mingyu’s fumbled throw to hit him in the face.
Seungkwan could see Hansol’s brows knit in confusion out of his periphery. “Is that Josh and-”
“Yes.” It came out more as a question than Seungkwan meant for it to, trying hard to force his smile away – Seungcheol was rubbing his cheek and clearly in pain, as Mingyu and Jisoo both tried to stifle their own laughter and ask if he was okay; he should not be so amused – even as Jihoon shamelessly burst out laughing. He had no idea what they were doing there, but there was no way this was going to end well.
The boy in front of them – Wonwoo, Seungkwan remembered belatedly, repeating the name in his head in an attempt to finally commit it to memory – was making a half-assed attempt to stifle his own chuckling, twisted around in his seat. “Okay, who’s the short one? I like him already.”
- - -
Minghao was entirely sure that Junhui was trying to kill him.
They were supposed to be studying, huddled together behind the theater after school, but Soonyoung and Chan had – unsurprisingly – gone spiraling off topic. The fact that Junhui was the only one left actually attempting to read the book would usually be a nice surprise, except that borrowing Soonyoung’s meant that he was leaning exaggeratedly over to the side, the arm wrapped around Minghao pulling him along with him. It would only be a bit annoying, if it weren’t for the fact that at some point his arm had slipped from around his shoulders up to around his neck, muscles pressing uncomfortably into his throat and making him squirm in a futile attempt to escape the elder’s clutches.
Eventually, poking at his side hard and frequently enough made him loosen his grip so Minghao could slip out and immediately scoot away, almost directly into Chan. He narrowed his eyes at Junhui’s pout, rolling them as he watched it slowly turn into laughter. “Jerk,” he mumbled under his breath as his own pout formed, not bothering with the English.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Junhui didn’t bother with it either, poking his foot with his own from across the now-lopsided square, grinning in a way that had Minghao split between strangling him and curling up in his arms.
“I’m sorry, which one of you is Minghao?”
He didn’t get to do either, his attention pulled up to a pair of boys hovering just outside their little cluster. Actually, all four pairs of eyes turned upward at the same moment, conversation cut short in the midst of a word, leaving the boy with the big eyes and soft face and even softer-looking hair looking noticeably meeker than before. But Minghao just raised his hand, tentative, confused, but enough to be seen.
“Hi!” The other boy was still smiling, a little brighter now that he knew whom he was talking to. It even looked awkward, extending his hand across the circle from behind Soonyoung, but Minghao set out his still-raised one to shake. “I’m Joshua- or Jisoo, you can call me whichever! I’m playing Frank, so I thought that it’d be a good idea to meet my parents.” A soft laugh, one that made his pretty eyes crinkle in a way that made them even cuter. “I talked to Seungcheol earlier, and Mr. Lee said that you guys like to hang out here after school, so…”
“I, um…” Shit, why was English always even harder in front of strangers? “I haven’t met Seungcheol yet.” He saw Jisoo’s eyes light up, but tentatively cut him off before he could explain. He liked “Jisoo” more. It felt a little less… foreign. “Do you… want to sit with us?”
When the other boy nodded, Minghao found himself scooting back toward Junhui, though he was pretty sure that it was a bad decision the moment that the elder broke out in that grin again.
“But Minghao…” Chan’s joking whine and grabby hands made him regret it a little bit more.
The pair sat down between him and the youngest though, the quieter, smaller one almost on top of Chan until the dancer scooted closer to Soonyoung.
“And you are…?” Junhui’s voice was kind, as he slung his arm back around Minghao’s shoulders, and he kind of hated that the elder’s accent sounded so much lighter than his own.
“Jihoon.” His smile was a touch too awkward, as he raised his hand in a wave. “I’m playing Brenda, so… You guys are all in the show, right?”
“You’re Chinese, right?”
Minghao’s attention was pulled back to Jisoo, and he felt very, very aware of how his English was faltering even worse with the other conversation taking up some of his focus. “Um, yes… Why?”
“Yeah, Chan and I are playing a couple of the agents!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chan grin and wave at the mention of his name, calling attention to himself and god damn it, he had been in the states for two years already. He could do this.
“Well, Paula’s supposed to be French, right?” Jisoo managed to hold his entire attention for a few seconds, before it was being pulled away again.
“I’m just in the ensemble, but I know it’s still gonna be a lot of fun! I’m Soonyoung, by the way!”
“Well, um, yes…” Minghao forced himself to tune them out, but they were naturally so loud. “But Mr. Lee said… he doesn’t think that anyone, um… anyone that’s in the cast speaks French, so…” Two years, he reminded himself forcefully, trying to at least appear more confident than he was. “And he said that he likes my accent. And I have nice voice. And I’m a good actor. And China was important in the war, too, so… it make sense for his dad to have been…” Shit, what was the word? “stationed there.”
“But he got permission to change lines and everything just for you?” Jisoo was very clearly excited by the prospect and didn’t seem at all bothered by the shakiness of Minghao’s speech, something that he was probably much too grateful for.
“Yeah…” His laugh was still nervous, but his shoulders were slowly unwinding – the subtle way that Junhui’s hand had slipped back slightly, allowing his thumb to dig into the too-tense muscles as he nonchalantly continued his own conversation helped, also probably too much. “I’m surprised, but… really, really happy.”
“It’s really cool!” Jisoo agreed eagerly, before turning and poking Jihoon in the arm, pulling his attention from Soonyoung’s excited rambling. “I thought you knew a little French, though.”
The smaller’s face screwed up. “No? I mean, my sister studied in Paris for a while, so she knows it pretty well, but it’s not like she speaks it around the house much.”
“Chaelin studied in Paris?” Jisoo didn’t look surprised so much as like he was trying to remember something.
Jihoon just gave him a dead stare. “No, Jisoo, my other sister.”
The elder (elder? he looked older) rolled his eyes, but there was a definitively affectionate smile on his lips, nonetheless. “Let me guess, Yoongi knows even less than you.”
Jihoon’s face just screwed up again. “Yoongi and languages, Jisoo.”
That one had the elder trying futilely to hide a laugh, a soft, awkward but warm sound that had Minghao slowly relaxing a little bit more. “Okay, fair enough. Him in Spanish last year, oh my God…”
The conversation very quickly derailed again, and Minghao found himself half-listening as he tentatively scooted a little closer to Junhui, his hand dropping so his arm was more casually around his shoulders again. “Better?” the elder murmured, speaking softly and in Chinese so completely avoid detection.
“Yeah.” Minghao smiled at him, just a bit, more in his eyes than his lips. “Thank you.”
“Any time, baby~” That grin was back, even worse than before, and Minghao just rolled his eyes and elbowed him in the stomach, harder than necessary.
This was almost assuredly going to be a mess, but at least it looked like it would be a fun one.