Work Text:
I said no more teachers and no more books
I got a kiss under the bleachers hopin' that nobody looked
My first kiss- 3OH!3
It’s been a year, maybe a bit more, but Minhyuk’s eyes won’t deceive him. From his table he stares at the man sitting on a stool, hands on the bar, drinking and talking to someone. The man is familiar, yet so different, no longer a boy. He is wearing a white button up with black slacks and gray suspenders, full cheeks and feline eyes completing the image.
Minhyuk leans back on his couch’s cushions, sipping his drink. It’s a fancy place, for people who pretend to be fancy and have money as well. A strange place to meet after such a long time, even if it was by pure luck. Seoul has hundreds, maybe thousands places like this and yet, fate seems to still be working to their favor. Minhyuk smiles to himself and fixes his collar, loosens his pink tie a bit.
He calls a waiter and pays for a whiskey, with instructions to be delivered. When it arrives in front of its destination, the waiter points back at Minhyuk and the man turns around from the bar to look at him. Minhyuk smirks and Jooheon grins back at him.
In fact, it was all Hoseok’s idea, on a fine spring evening, towards the end of the school year, Hoseok, Minhyuk and Kihyun sitting at the cafeteria, pretending to finish their homework. Hoseok dropped his head on the table letting a whiny noise. Minutes before being scolded from Kihyun for slacking off, he straightened himself again and lifted a finger to get the other two’s attention.
“So” he started “my dad never really uses our garage” Minhyuk remembered how Mr.Shin’s car was always parked outside the house, “Kihyun plays the keyboard and you can play the guitar like me.”
Kihyun lifted an eyebrow and Minhyuk already had a good idea as to where this was going.
“We are forming a band, just like in the movies.” Hoseok stated, like it was the obvious thing to do over the summer and the other two had no real option than to agree.
It was a lot of work at first, for only three people, cleaning the garage from all the stuff the Shins have discarded there over the years and it took hours of sweating and a couple liters of Mrs.Shin’s infamous lemonade to finish. The next day, a Sunday, they spent the afternoon moving pieces of furniture they wanted, an old worn out couch, Kihyun’s old fridge from his house, Minhyuk’s favorite disco ball and some lamps. Nothing fitted or blended with the dark gray walls and it was just perfect this way.
The whole week, drowning in schoolwork they had time only to make plans for the music they wanted to start working on. Hoseok brought some music sheets and they decided all together on a dozen tracks they wanted to work on and experiment with their dynamics.
The first couple tries were a huge mess. They were good enough individually, but synchronizing and playing together was completely different. It took a lot of shouting and second counting and exasperated exhales –from Kihyun- to at last start getting it right. They celebrated with orange juice and cola, because nobody had fake IDs yet. They planned on getting some.
They spend most of their weekends in their little heaven, the garage, trying out their instruments and a song Hoseok wrote and Minhyuk messes with the keyboard’s settings when he is feeling particularly like being shouted at.
Hyunwoo comes to their group a bit unexpectedly. He is a year older and as Minhyuk recalls a member of the school’s swimming team. Not much talkative, good-natured and friendly when approached. Yes, Minhyuk has a profile for almost everyone in their school.
The issue is, that the Sons’ house is just across the street from the Shins’. And Mr.Son can’t take so much noise when trying to drink his afternoon coffee with his wife in their garden. His solution was to send his son to ask them to (kindly) shut the fuck up.
Hyunwoo knocks the garage door and Hoseok opens up from the inside, smiling. They’ve known each other for a long time, naturally. Hyunwoo looks inside, Kihyun with his fingers still on the keys and Minhyuk on the couch with his electric guitar.
“Hey Hoseok” he greets politely and Hoseok pats his back.
“Evening”
And then, Hyunwoo shuts the door behind him and starts speaking in such a low volume that Minhyuk can hardly hear him from barely three meters away.
“Dad sent me to tell you to be quiet but can I stay here for a while? I won’t bother.”
Turns out Hyunwoo has a perfect singing voice and was just looking for the opportunity to start his little, subtle revolution against his parents. He spends the afternoon trying the microphone nobody else really uses a lot and fits perfectly with the other three, so they decide to keep him. He gets scolded when he returns to his house and Minhyuk can clearly hear it, but he is back when he hears the first guitar sounds the next weekend.
Their little band is completed piece by piece. The next addition is Changkyun, Kihyun’s youngest cousin who can’t sing but raps and plays the acoustic guitar. A strange yet welcomed combination. His deep voice will make panties drop on the stage Hoseok states, about when they get famous and they all agree, because as unrealistic it is, they are young enough to dream of everything they want to do, in some years maybe, when they get out of that garage, maybe.
Changkyun one night, two months after first playing with them, sprawled on the couch on top of Hoseok and Hyunwoo, drinking the cheapest beer they could find asks if he can bring along a friend of his own, who also plays the guitar and there are already too many guitars but it’s all for the fun and why not and like this, the next weekend he comes with company.
A little before school starts, a tall lanky boy with awkwardly handsome features and stick-like limbs joins them with his electric guitar and plugs it next to Minhyuk’s the moment he steps in their sacred space. Chae Hyungwon is not a nice guy apparently, but they all love him in a way, mostly for providing witty comebacks against Kihyun. No person has accomplished that before. They work nicely as six and have little moving space between the instruments and furniture.
They spend the first heavy rainfall of the year inside the garage, cocooned in blankets and curled next to each other. Lightening illuminates the room occasionally from the tiny window on the wall and they get through the whole night telling scary stories and trying to contain Minhyuk’s screeching every time a thunder hits close to them. They don’t want someone to call the police or anything.
The next morning, trying to keep their eyes open and get as ready as they can get for school, with Kihyun inside the house helping Hoseok’s mum prepare breakfast, they witness a miracle. Chae Hyungwon, in all of his morning glory, including puffy face and messy hair waking up first and stepping on the only clear space, right from the couch.
“That’s kind of sad”” he says and they all conclude he is just sleep deprived as fuck.
“We need a drummer a-s-a-p” Hyungwon continues.
And oh well, he is right. Hoseok, their unofficial leader sets his short-term goal on finding them a drummer, up to their standards of course.
“Hi”
Minhyuk is sitting on a chair eating chips –away from his guitar- when he spots someone standing on the door, the source of the voice, the sun behind him making it difficult to actually see his face. Hoseok is next to him, gently urging the boy to move forward. Kihyun gets up from the couch and closer to inspect the newcomer and Minhyuk stands to close the garage door again.
“Hello” he greets, pushing Kihyun aside to get in front of the boy.
“I’m Jooheon, Lee. Your new drummer.”
“Minhyuk, also a Lee, your old guitarist.” Jooheon laughs and dimples appear on his cheeks, deeper than Minhyuk has ever seen on anyone else. He doesn’t put much thinking into it, hands Jooheon a beer and they all help to set up his drums. They don’t get any work done that night but they talk and play games and tell stories and dream big and it’s just perfect. Minhyuk soon starts picking out Jooheon’s laughter from everyone else’s.
Jooheon fits. In the band, but with Minhyuk too, in a way he cannot explain. Like they’ve been friends for years, even if they barely know each other for two months. When Jooheon plays the drums, it’s like the sweet, almost foolishly happy person disappears and someone else takes his place.
The Jooheon who plays the drums is, following Minhyuk’s train of thoughts…plainly hot. Concentrated, with his hair stuck on his forehead, his whole body moving, his foot tapping rhythmically. One time he dozes off watching Jooheon play and Hoseok has to shout to him until he starts fiddling with his guitar again. Jooheon is no fool, he notices Minhyuk’s eyes.
As much as Minhyuk doesn’t want to confess it to himself, he finds the thought endearing, the thought of liking Jooheon as something more than a friend. The chances that Jooheon shares these feelings are low, but still, there is this sparkle when their eyes meet that gives Minhyuk hope. He decides, that if it’s a stupid crush it will soon go away, if it’s something more, things will get their way sooner or later. So he waits.
One Friday night, Hoseok sends a message in the group chat for everyone to meet up in his garage, for an important announcement he disclaims and nothing more, so they are all there half an hour after the notification has popped on their screens.
Hoseok looks excited, but he always does, so it’s not much of surprise. What is through, is the great news. Hoseok talked with the school’s music teacher and the headmaster and they agreed to give them some time to perform at the school festival, just before Christmas. It’s already late October and they are nowhere near perfect. They spend the next fifty hours practicing with Chinese take out and energy drinks.
When they are not practicing, they are helping each other study, as they promised to Mr.Son in exchange for his son. Minhyuk always needed help at English and Changkyun happens to have lived abroad for a while and can help. Then Hoseok offers aid with everyone’s chemistry worksheets and Jooheon is surprisingly good at math. Hyunwoo is quietly overseeing the whole procedure, advising as an upperclassmen when needed.
With holidays approaching and the festival just around the corner their studying sessions become sneaking out of the school and to the garage ones and they are mostly pleased with the results, recording themselves play at the end of every day and making a list on the things they want to work on the next one. Kihyun is overstressing and Hyungwon actually throws a KitKat at him once. They don’t talk again until the school festival.
Minhyuk apparently has stage fright. They have like ten minutes before going up and out, in front of two or three hundred people and they practiced so much and fixed every small detail but his anxiety is slowly shutting down all the functioning and rational parts of his brain. Jooheon is near, drinking his second bottle of water when he notices that Minhyuk is in fact, trembling.
“Hey man” he stops beside him and Minhyuk forces himself to tear his gaze from Jooheon’s old sneakers and look up. Jooheon is offering the remaining of his water but Minhyuk’s stomach won’t even have this. Jooheon’s eyes are sympathetic and a palm appears in Minhyuk’s field of vision.
“Hold my hand now and think of the feeling when we are on the stage, we are together in this.”
It’s sappy and awkward when Minhyuk places his hand on Jooheon’s and they receive some weird looks from their teammates but when they are called and he takes his hands back to secure his guitar around his shoulder he leans into Jooheon’s ear muttering a “thank you”.
Minhyuk doesn’t remember much from the performance. His hands moved by themselves and when the bright lights blinded him, he kept his gaze on Hoseok’s back just in front of him and his ears trained only on his guitar and the instruments around him. He lets himself hear the cheers only when two bodies crash on him, Jooheon and Changkyun and everyone else after them, forming a tight circle with Hoseok shouting something, encouraging and celebrative.
They walk back to the garage, hopping on the way back, still high on adrenaline. Kihyun is punching Hyungwon’s arm playfully, an apology and a confirmation of his good work. Hoseok is holding a bag full of alcoholic beverages they plan on abusing. Jooheon is walking behind them, talking with his parents on the phone and confirming that he won’t be back anytime soon.
They start drinking games and end up in a weird truth or dare, with Hyungwon passed out on the floor and Kihyun with only his boxers on. Hoseok is laughing trying to play the keyboard with his nipples and Changkyun is hiding behind the couch to get out of the mess.
Skipping to an hour later, everyone, including Minhyuk, is almost passed out in various positions and places and he is ready to fall asleep when he hears movement and catches a figure walking out, crawling under the garage door. He decides to follow, a miracle he doesn’t fall anywhere considering his situation.
Jooheon is sitting on the grass, the remaining of a whiskey bottle in his hand. He looks so beautiful, in a simple t-shirt and shorts and Minhyuk is convinced at the moment that this is not a stupid crush and he might as well not be straight and he is drunk enough to talk about it.
He is not very delicate about it, plopping next to Jooheon with a loud sound. They share the rest of the whiskey taking turns until only a little is left. Minhyuk keeps the bottle close to his chest and he must be funny because Jooheon laughs and it’s the most beautiful sound he has heard his whole life.
He gets an idea, one the sober him would never approve of.
“You know how the song goes?” He swings a bit towards Jooheon.
“I know so many songs Minhyuk.” Jooheon deadpans, letting out adorable giggles.
“Kisses like whiskey, it gets me drunk” Minhyuk tries to sing, probably failing.
“And I wake up in the morning with the taste of your tongue?” Jooheon continues, looking serious.
And Minhyuk does the only sane thing he could think of, aka drinks the last of whiskey and kisses Jooheon on the lips and Jooheon’s tongue is licking the alcohol off his own mouth and everything is just Jooheon and Minhyuk can feel arms on his back and couldn’t be happier that Jooheon wants this as much as he does. Until he blacks out.
Minhyuk wakes up disoriented, in what feels like centuries later and realizes he’s in Hoseok’s room, just from the posters on the ceiling, heavy curtains drawn over the windows and blocking the light from outside. He hears soft chatter and turns his body around, to the center of the room. There, in front of a desk Hoseok and Jooheon are chatting over some papers, must be music sheets.
He tries getting up and Hoseok rushes just in time to catch him from falling. Jooheon follows suit, pointing at the pill and glass of water on the bedside table and Minhyuk feels the whiskey burning him from inside when swallowing. Then, they tell how he was the only one not waking up when the others started leaving and they decided to make him comfortable, since he was breathing normally and everything. Minhyuk feels extremely grateful for his friends when they eat breakfast on lunch time all together.
One could say that Jooheon enjoys playing around, but Minhyuk does too and they are trying to push each other over the edge and see who’ll break first. They flirt a lot and touch each other, even when they are around other people, even in the school corridors and that goes on for months, with Jooheon back hugging Minhyuk and making him forget his cords and then Minhyuk taking the drumsticks and running around the Shins’ garden until Jooheon catches up and they end laughing and ruining their clothes on the grass.
They don’t kiss again until months later, on Hyunwoo’s graduation. They all play together as a seven member band for one last time on the ceremony and at the end of the performance hug Hyunwoo until they see tears running down his face. Nobody comments on it, but they agree to watch the other performances before going to their garage, to give Hyunwoo time to talk with his other friends and professors.
They split and Minhyuk walks around the yard, spotting a couple classmates and chatting but nothing interesting enough to keep his attention for more than some minutes. He returns to the stage and finds Jooheon at the back sitting on a metal railing from where he can watch both the performance and the audience. He smiles at Minhyuk and they sit in silence for a long time, until the school’s orchestra finishes three songs and someone sings solo on the stage with a guitar.
Then, Jooheon places his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder and Minhyuk has to hold the railing extra hard to not fall. He knows he has already fallen once. Jooheon is looking at him with an unreadable expression but he knows for sure, there is adoration there, maybe even love. Jooheon kisses his neck and somehow finds his hand and intertwines their fingers. There is a love song in the background and it’s all so dreamlike that Minhyuk won’t let the opportunity slip away.
He stares at Jooheon’s eyes for a long time and Jooheon just keeps his gaze and he realizes that the song is ending and also Jooheon is closing his eyes so Minhyuk pecks his lips and then kisses him again and Jooheon kisses back. It’s so much better than the first time, for Minhyuk at least who can feel Jooheon shivering and hears a soft moan escaping his lips and when they hear the footsteps getting closer it’s too late.
Kihyun screeches and runs away and Jooheon falls back from a good meter and a half and has to wear a bandage around his head for a whole week, but it’s okay because Kihyun apologizes and Minhyuk kisses it better.
They never agree on a relationship after that, but they know the feelings are mutual and everything else is there. The only detail keeping Minhyuk from making it official is the future, because at some point, his university acceptance letter arrives and Seoul is too far away.
Jooheon is all of Minhyuk’s firsts. His first kiss, his first love, his first time sleeping on the same bed with someone, cuddling in the movies and holding hands walking on empty roads in the middle of the night. He is the first heartbreak as well, but in its own way, this too is sweet.
When he graduates, Hyunwoo comes and plays with them on the stage and they spend the night drinking, with actual legal IDs and he wakes up the next morning in Jooheon’s bed, finding him sleeping peacefully beside him. They spend every spare moment of the following weeks together and Jooheon promises, when they meet in front of the train station, two hours before the train arrives, to work hard and find Minhyuk at Seoul when the time comes. Then, he says, he will ask him to be his boyfriend.
Jooheon climbs down from his stool and sits on the couch opposite to Minhyuk, with his glass of whiskey on hand.
“Been here for long?” Minhyuk starts.
“A week. Music production, your university.”
“Great. Come home with me tonight?”
Jooheon’s dimpled smile appears muttering a “yeah” under his breath.