Chapter Text
Papers, pens and a pair of glasses lay on the table. There is a sense of creativity and genius madness in the room.
On the couch sleeps the one responsible of the described mess, too exhausted to reach his bed.
The alarm goes off, leaving Yunho with no other choice than to release the brief dream he was having about new inventions and winning a Nobel prize.
He had being working nonstop on a few projects in the past few weeks, from a wristband that makes a noise when it catches the users doing a bad habit they're trying to overcome, to a solar charged jacket because Yunho is a responsible runner with himself and with the environment.
His schedule is tight, as always, having meetings with the investors of his projects and a very important sciences conference in a few days.
There are many ideas and so little time.
'Don’t forget about the loneliness at night' says a little intrusive voice on his head.
Yunho decides to get a cup of coffee and forget about his emotional needs for now.
***
"Yundol, just try to eat a little bit more than precooked food, okay? And don't forget to take out the trash sometimes. Add a cleaning robot to your invention list, maybe?"
BoA has always been like a big sister to Yunho, though she is a few months younger. He's grateful she took time out of her day just to make sure Yunho was still alive and not drowned in blue prints and scale models.
"I'll really add that to my list, Sempai". BoA looks at him with mild amusement and annoyance. "I know you call me Sempai when you don't want to listen to my nagging anymore, so I will stop for now. Just take care, okay?"
Yunho smiles sincerely to his friend. He knows how busy she is with her own business and family. "Thank you always, BoA. I'll make sure to call you once I arrive to the conference."
"You will do great, Yun. That head of yours is a mystery sometimes, but your ideas are as amazing as your clumsiness"
Yunho just laughs and accepts the half compliment.
***
The conference building and surrounding areas are starting to look quite packed now that most of the attendants arrived.
Changmin has never been a fan of crowds and such, he prefers the peace of his house and the quietness of his studio.
He can't do anything about this, though, once he gets in the podium to talk about his recent studies on the environment and industrial development, he forgets about the faceless crowd and becomes conscious on how important this is for the advancements of science in an actual human responsible way.
"Professor Shim!" Changmin snaps out of his thoughts to see one of his students, Sehun, approach towards him.
"Sehun, I'm glad to see you attending the conference."
"Thank you, Professor. I'm here with Chanyeol too. We're both excited to hear your talk this year."
Changmin smiles softly at this. Besides the importance of his studies for the environment, he thinks about how grateful he is for having the opportunity to teach and make a positive impact on young minds.
But as satisfying as his career has been, he still gets an empty feeling an uneasiness when thinking about the future.
***
Yunho's flight experienced some turbulence and no matter how many times he travels on a plane, nothing can compare to walking or riding his scooter.
As inventor Jung, he loves planes for what they mean to engineering, as human Yun that dislikes heights, not so much.
Now he's busy searching for his hotel registration so he can rest and get ready for the start of conferences the next day. He's excited, but genuinely tired.
"Excuse me. I believe the key for your room should be on the left, since you are a conferencist, right?" - A soft voice says. Yunho must have spaced out in front of the registration table. He turns around to thank the stranger, a tall quite handsome man that is looking at him with curious eyes.
Yunho can see how the ears of the other man are getting redder, probably because he's still waiting for him to answer or at least to take his keys.
'Quick, Yunho. Answer!' his brain is screaming for a reaction. BoA was right, sometimes his mind is too complex, even for himself.
"Sorry! Thank you for helping me. It's my first time coming to this conference and my flight was a bit rough so I'm spacing out too." Yunho smiles hoping to show his brain is actually very capable and that's why he's here.
"I understand." The stranger nods. Yunho is about to ask for his name before another man joins them at the registration table.
"Yundol! You're here already!"
Of course, Yunho would recognize the voice of Heechul from miles away.
"You should have called me as soon as you arrived. Did you let BoA know that you survived another flight?"
Heechul is already hugging him and dragging him around, he barely has the time to turn to thank the stranger once more, but he's already walking on the other direction towards the hotel rooms.
***
As soon as Changmin is getting comfortable inside his room, his phone makes a beep. It doesn't surprise him Kyuhyun is the one messaging him.
From Kyu.
"chwang, what's up? Miss u already man, drinks are never the same when u are not here for trying to save the world one speech at a time"
"did u meet the dude already? 👀"
To Kyu.
"Everything's fine, Kyu. I would love to say I miss you too, but it depends on where this conversation is going."
"I did."
From Kyu.
"I am offended. U know I mean no harm. 🥺
It's just a special ocassion little chwang has a crush with someone. And u meet him! Congrats! 🎉"
To Kyu.
"I don't have a crush. I just admire his work, that's all. No need to congratulate me, we just crossed paths at the reception."
From Kyu.
"boomer."
"keep me updated about ur crush will u? I just wish for your happiness, my man. Love u ❤️"
To Kyu.
"He's not my crush."
From Kyu.
"OK! At least tell me you love me too. 🤨"
To Kyu.
"Good night, Kyuhyun."
"...Love you."
From Kyu.
"ur ears are red don't they? I love when they do that 😆"
"ok, ok. Night~"
Changmin shuts his phone off and tries to ignore the heat from his ears. Stupid Kyu knows him well. Too well for his own good.
"He's not my crush". But he doesn't understand why he needs to reassure this out loud.