Work Text:
The first time Changmin falls in love with Yunho, he’s a wide-eyed new trainee.
“This is Shim Changmin, be nice,” the unknown man dressed in a suit waves a hand at the awkward and gangly looking boy before escaping through the door.
When he glances up from his primly tied shoes, he finds himself at the receiving end of numerous glares, some curious and others downright aggressive.
There’s a particular face that stands out amongst the crowd, a feline face filled with baby fat and wonky teeth, and an adorable birthmark above a pair of pink lips.
The other boy’s eyes glance over him through a narrowed gaze, as if wondering whether or not he was worth the time.
He assumes he wasn’t worthy enough when the boy turns his eyes away, facing a feminine looking male and muttering something before leaving through the door.
Silence rang after his departure before the others began to continue what they were doing when he first entered the room, dancing or sitting around as an audience.
No one talks to him, and he ignores the prick of hurt tingling in his chest, where he’s sure his heart must be even though his sisters like to tell him he has none.
He had never been one to display his emotions anyway.
It’s on his second week of being a trainee that he learns the boy with the cute smile (which is always aimed at someone else because he is ignored) is named Jung Yunho, a dancing god.
At least that’s what Kyuhyun whispers to him while hiding his mouth behind the small carton of strawberry milk incase the boy in question somehow manage to read his lips from across the room.
A few more days in the new life, and he gets the attention he hadn’t realized he was silently craving for.
Yunho’s angry at one thing or another and the one taking the brunt is him, copying the way a dance is being done by the other trainees as they practice.
The older male grabs a hold of his shoulder, spinning him around to glare down at him, eyes wild with anger and a hint of something else.
“If you’re only here to play around, then get the hell out. Quit right now,” Yunho snarls, lips curling in distaste before he shoves Changmin and storms out of the room just as quickly as he had entered.
Once again, silence rings in the room and no one tries to comfort him, and he pretends like his body isn’t shaking from fear, and adrenaline.
But anger reigns in the back of his mind and he storms out, kicking a bottle of water laying innocent on the floor in his haste.
No one chases after him, half of him is thankful and the other, resentful.
--
The next day finds him practicing in the rehearsal room long before the other trainees will arrive, sweat dripping down his face in rivets, and pants escaping his body in heaves.
The door opens slowly to reveal Yunho, a guilty expression on his face which he chooses to ignore and continues to dance, trying to get the spin right.
But his dancing is weak, and he can feel the frustration increasing with every failed attempt.
“Try putting more weight on the heel of your right foot,” Yunho suggests quietly, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Changmin stares at the reflection of the older male for a few moments before sighing softly, doing as is suggested and finding that it’s easier to spin if he follows the instructions.
A small smile escapes him when he succeeds, drawing a similar response from the elder.
The moment becomes awkward quickly, and Yunho glances away, clearing his throat in his clenched fist.
“Uh, listen,” he begins with a small frown, “about yesterday, I--” he gets interrupted.
“That wasn’t nice of you,” Changmin quips, grabbing a towel and resting it around his shoulders now that he’s facing Yunho clearly, “I didn’t do anything wrong to deserve being treated in such a manner by you. You were angry at something and chose to berate me because as the younger one, I must take it. But it still wasn’t rightful of you. As a hyung, and as a sunbae.”
It’s the most he’s spoken in the entire time of his training career, but he doesn’t care. The anger, and the hurt at being wrongfully targeted is still burning within him.
Yunho flushes, a pink trailing over the bridge of his nose into his cheeks and Changmin can’t help but stare, thinking a man couldn’t possibly look so beautiful.
“I apologize,” Yunho grins suddenly, eyes glittering like stars in the darkened sky, “but at least I know one thing through this,” his smile turns teasing, almost playful, “you can talk.”
Changmin raises his eyebrows, “Did you think they were going to debut a mute singer?”
Yunho laughs, loud and boisterous.
It echoes through the room, resting snugly against Changmin’s chest, helping his heart flutter like it’s barely learned how to beat.
He thinks he’s rather silly, and that’s how he falls in love with Yunho for the first time.