Chapter Text
It's freshman move-in day and Minhyuk is in his dorm with his parents, not doing much besides watching as his mother and father insist on unpacking for him. It hasn't really sunk in yet, that he's here – in college. He's happy, giddy, excited, and pretty scared. But he made it.
His parents unpack his stuff and put it away in no time, much neater and more organized than he would have. Then they sit there and talk about college and the meal plan and anything that comes to mind, his parents refusing to leave just yet, and he silently thanks them for it. His roommate still hasn't arrived, and he isn't excited to have to be left alone in a half empty dorm in a new school where he doesn't yet know anyone.
Not that he really knows his absent roommate, but they added each other on Facebook a few weeks before move-in and chatted a bit, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. He also seems gay (there were quite a few pics of him with another guy on his profile), which is a huge relief for Minhyuk, being gay himself. He wouldn't want to share a room with some soon-to-be frat bro who would make it awkward for the entire school year. As it is, half of the hall seems to be meat heads.
Move in ends strictly at 5 pm, so when he looks at his phone at 5:05 and his roomie still hasn’t showed, his parents console him, acting as though they’re ready to spend the night. Minhyuk is starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the whole situation when they hear the door unlocking, and there he is.
So he's the fashionably late kinda guy, okay, he can work with that. Minhyuk's parents greet him warmly and Minhyuk blushes, embarrassed but sadly aware of the fact that he probably won't be embarrassed by his parents again for a long time. It's bittersweet.
His new roommate, Hyungwon, greets them and flashes a dazzling smile, graciously accepting their offer to help bring his stuff in. He arrived alone, but Minhyuk generously guesses he has about 25 bags with him, matching luggage all of it. Geez, Minhyuk thinks, this guy could be a damn movie star. Or like, a model that became a movie star just for being attractive. Minhyuk forces a straight face as he tries not to laugh at his own thoughts.
After Minhyuk subtly tells his parents to stop fussing over his roommate, who Minhyuk himself barely knows, they kiss him goodbye, teary eyed, and are on their way back to Minhyuk's hometown, which is only a couple hour drive away. It's not too far, but it might as well be in another country because now Minhyuk has complete freedom for the first time in his life. He doesn't know what he should do first. Cry, probably. No, for now he's just an excited freshman.
Minhyuk is now left alone in the room with Hyungwon. Hyungwon busies himself unpacking, trying to fit a ridiculous amount of clothes into the tiny closet. Minhyuk is curious but he tries not to watch him, playing on his phone and listening to music instead. School doesn't start for 3 more days, his friends are either still in high school or at different colleges, and their group chat is dead. So he just screws around on his phone, trying to see what Hyungwon is doing while pretending not to.
Hyungwon finally gives up on unpacking, flops down on his messily made twin bed that's still piled with clothes, and sighs. Minhyuk looks up.
"So," Hyungwon starts, "college huh."
"Uh, yeah." Minhyuk answers, smiling politely.
Hyungwon sits up and looks at Minhyuk, a little uncomfortably, until Minhyuk opens his mouth to speak just to be cut off by Hyungwon.
"I have a boyfriend, you know." Hyungwon deadpans.
"O...Kay," Minhyuk replies, quirking his eyebrow but going back to looking at his phone. His suspicions about that guy with him in the Facebook pictures were right after all.
Hyungwon continues. "I have to say it, because you're either a homophobe or you're gay. Or neither, but that's unlikely. So, either way it could be an uncomfortable situation, even though I'm 99% sure you're gay. But still."
"That's quite a generalization.. and a bit of a personal thing to just, like... whatever. Yes I am. Don't worry though, I'm not trying to get with my roommate." Minhyuk retorts, only a little bit snarky.
"Good. Then I think we could be great friends" Hyungwon smiles a bit mischievously, then promptly goes back to cleaning up. Minhyuk feels like it would be a bit awkward to continue sitting there doing nothing while pretending not to after that confrontation so he leaves to go take a shower. The communal bathroom is not ideal, but it's not like he has to actually shower near anyone; it's a big floor and all 6 shower stalls are empty. He takes a nice hot shower and returns to his room, not even running into anyone. It's pretty quiet in the dorms so far. It'll probably be busier once classes actually start and everyone is forced to be a functioning member of society again.
When he gets back, Hyungwon is in his bed seemingly asleep, clothes and dorm-essentials shoved to the end, still not completely unpacked. Minhyuk quietly grabs his phone and gets into bed. I'm really in for something, Minhyuk thinks.
---
Hyungwon ends up being the perfect roommate. He never eats in the room so he never leaves a mess, he's super quiet, and all his clothes that he throws all over the place when he gets ready in the morning always end up neatly underneath his bed where Minhyuk can't see them. He loves it. He isn't a clean freak himself, not even close, but he likes that Hyungwon is considerate. He could probably have an orgy in there and Hyungwon wouldn't care, as long as no one touched his closet. Hyungwon isn't even that touchy about his closet, Minhyuk just likes to think that because of all the expensive clothes in there.
Not that Minhyuk would ever hold an orgy either… He’s the all bark no bite kind of guy, especially when it comes to relationships. He’s never actually ever gotten past the flirting stage. And that was fine by him back in high school, and before he knew he liked boys and NOT girls. But now he does know, he’s in college, and he’s ready to finally break out.
Hyungwon and Minhyuk end up grabbing lunch together the first day of classes, and it's really nice. It turns into a habit and they get along great.
Minhyuk isn't used to having a gay guy friend, so getting to be as gay as he wants without holding back for fear of making the other uncomfortable is so nice. If anything, Hyungwon makes him uncomfortable with how graphically he talks. Like about how much he misses his boyfriend’s nipple piercings, among other things. But it's always a good time with Hyungwon.
So after a couple weeks into the semester, Minhyuk can pretty much say he's friends with Hyungwon. And he does, just about all the time, to anyone that will listen. He can’t help it. He loves bragging about his model-esque roomie. Hyungwon truly is a seasoned gay, and Minhyuk is learning a LOT.
Its about a month into class when Minhyuk starts to make some other friends. He's a really social person, so it's not long before he has a nice group to hang out with, all from his freshman psychology class. He hangs out with Changkyun the most, and even though they’re both freshman, Changkyun is a year younger than him. Skipped a grade back in elementary school or something. Minhyuk likes to tease him about it.
Minhyuk thanks god that he made friends other than Hyungwon, because Hyungwon starts to bring his boyfriend over, like, a lot. They don't usually stay in the room for long, cuz like, what is there to do in a cramped dorm room anyways, but sometimes Hyungwon texts him shit like "don't come back to the room for at least an hour" and Minhyuk knows what that means!!! It's nasty but he can't be mad cuz he wishes he was getting some as well. Ugh. So he just hangs out with Changkyun instead.
The play video games. It’s fun, and it reminds him of being home. He only gets sad sometimes.
---
For some reason, the bathroom is always empty when Minhyuk showers. Maybe it's because he showers at 5pm, not prime time 12 am, or maybe it's because half the guys on the floor shower at the gym or just skip showering altogether. Minhyuk doesn't care, he just likes the chance to play his own music out loud and have the whole dorm bathroom to himself.
Until one day when someone comes in while he's showering. Minhyuk isn't surprised because someone came in; it is a communal bathroom after all, and the urinals are often frequented. However, this time someone comes in and starts showering next to him, and after a couple minutes, starts singing along to the music he’s playing “What the hell,” Minhyuk thinks, unable to understand how his perfect shower time became interrupted so heartlessly. He tries to be mad, until he realizes that this guy has a really nice voice.
Damn, I wonder who it is Minhyuk thinks, conscious of the fact that there's only a single piece of hard plastic separating them. Shit.
I gotta get out of here, my stupid brain made this weird. He gets out, towels off, turns off his music and leaves hastily, shower sandals squeaking on his way out. He thinks he hears a sigh when the music stops, but he's probably just fantasizing.
Back in his room, he gets dressed and flops on his bed, thinking. Why'd that guy have to do that and play with Minhyuk's big, gay, over-imaginative heart? He sighs.
He makes an attempt at finishing some homework in order to keep his mind off of the crush that's developing for this nameless, faceless shower buddy. He's deep into some research when Hyungwon returns from his night class, throws his book bag on the ground and flops onto Minhyuk's bed. His bed is literally Right There, but it's a mess and he also likes to bother Minhyuk. He sighs loudly, waiting for Minhyuk to turn his attention towards him.
"What" Minhyuk states, eyes glued to his computer screen.
"Oh nothing. I just come home after a long day slaving away at the library and you don't even say hello." Hyungwon half jokes, half whines.
"Hello, I'm just working on something. Why don't you go be a drama queen in the lounge?" Minhyuk retorts, not in the mood. It's definitely his shitty assignment. Not the fact that Minhyuk lowkey has a crush on someone who may or may not even exist.
"Ugh" Hyungwon groans and gets up, grabbing his laptop. He returns to Minhyuk's bed and acts busy for about 5 minutes. Then Minhyuk gets a notification on his computer.
Hyung1:
I don't wanna do homework :-(
Minhyuk looks over at Hyungwon, expression unreadable. Hyungwon is scared for a moment that for the first time he went too far in bothering Minhyuk, until Minhyuk sighs.
"Me neither." He answers out loud.
Hyungwon smiles, "Great! So what's up with you?"
Either Minhyuk is projecting or Hyungwon knows he has something he doesn't want to talk about. Or that he does want to talk about. There's just something about Hyungwon that makes you want to spill all your secrets to him. It's probably because he's so pretty and acts so attentive.
"There's some pretty hot guys on our floor right?" Minhyuk asks nonchalantly, bringing up a topic they've definitely discussed before.
"Duh. That one hot football player? Wow. If I wasn't tied down..." Hyungwon trails off, probably imagining the times he's seen the other boy’s biceps on days he wore a sleeveless shirt.
"But do you think anyone is like, into guys?" Minhyuk questions, knowing it's statistically probable, but doubting it all the same. For some reason, his gaydar is shit.
"You mean on our floor? There's gotta be some. I personally suspect the other Minhyuk, you know him?" Hyungwon asks. Minhyuk raises an eyebrow.
"You've gotta know him," Hyungwon continues. "you have the same name. Hm... maybe it's just a gay name." Minhyuk scoffs, but Hyungwon continues. "Are you asking because you've got your eye on someone?" Hyungwon prods, attempting to conceal his teasing smile.
Minhyuk sighs, deciding not to be embarrassed by the question. "No. I'm just... confused."
Hyungwon gazes at him almost knowingly. "Why? Don't tell me you’re into a girl now or something."
"No no no," Minhyuk rushes out, a little embarrassed now. "What the fuck... no. That’s what high school was for. Fine, I'll just tell you my life story, if you're gonna jump to conclusions like that. I was showering listening to music, ya know? And this guy was showering next to me and singing along, and he has this really, I mean really beautiful voice. I was like SHUT UP but not really because I was so into it. So I left real quick and now I have no idea who it was but whoever he is..."
By the time Minhyuk trails off, Hyungwon bursts into giddy guffaws, making the dumbest faces Minhyuk has ever seen from him. Minhyuk frowns and pushes him over, causing Hyungwon to fall back on the bed as he wipes a fake tear from his eye.
"Ya! Why is that so funny?" Minhyuk yells, annoyed.
"It looks like we've got ourselves a mystery on our hands." Hyungwon replies, sobering up and sitting up straight, talking fast, feigning seriousness. "Okay, we have to make a game plan. At exactly what time did you shower?"
Minhyuk is still frowning, but he plays along, mumbling "Like five.."
Hyungwon looks determined "Okay, today is Tuesday, so 5 pm on Tuesday. Interesting. You should shower at that time again tomorrow, but don't be put off if he doesn't show. He might have a different schedule on Wednesdays, so you'll have to try again at 5 on Thursday too. But if he liked your music enough to sing out loud like a douche, then he'll probably try to shower when he hears your music."
Minhyuk listens credulously, but intently. "Good thing I shower every day anyways, like a normal person" Minhyuk rolls his eyes, although he's already set on the plan.
"Yep." Hyungwon smiles. "You just have to like, get a glimpse of him on your way out. Or better yet, see which room he goes into after he leaves. Then we can find out his name. All I need is a name."
"Geez" Minhyuk returns "what are you trying to do, take this guy out?"
"That's what you're trying to do, dumbass. On a date. I'm just trying to facilitate." Hyungwon returns.
"Ugh. Don't get my hopes up. What if he's straight?"
"The better question is, what if he's ugly? Like really fucked up."
Minhyuk gives him a look. "No one on our floor seems 'really fucked up' but I guess my standards are a little lower than yours. Not everyone can date a literal model. Or be one, for that matter." Minhyuk quips.
"Hey, my modeling days ended when I was like, 7. And sorry that Wonho just happens to be the hottest piece of ass you've ever seen. Maybe we should just forget about mystery shower guy and I'll introduce you to some of Wonho's friends. They're pretty hot."
"Why are you just now offering this? I'm too invested in shower guy!" Minhyuk whines, hoping he won't regret turning down the offer.
Hyungwon shrugs, then yawns.
"Let me know how it goes." He says, climbing out of Minhyuk's bed and getting ready to get into his own.
Minhyuk sighs a small sigh, turning back to his assignment that he knows he won't be able to focus on.
Hyungwon crawls into his own bed and completely disappears under the duvet. Minhyuk gives in and turns the light off, going to bed as well.