Work Text:
Mingyu arrived at the party late. He just finished writing his school paper when his roommate Minghao called him for a surprised Chinese New Year’s celebration. Nothing big for someone else, but Mingyu knew that Jun and Minghao missed the Chinese festivities, so he promised to go once he’s done with his homework.
He came late so the people at the party are currently on their highest energy. The dance floor is crowded, people are talking to each other, and there are already several empty cans on the floor. How did Jun and Minghao’s small group of friends managed to do this, he’ll never know. He spotted the couple and went to greet them.
The couple gave him a warm welcome. They immediately thrust a full glass of beer in his hand and asked how’s his paper doing. They chitchat for a while until Soonyoung and Chan whisked the couple away for a dance battle. Mingyu watched from the sideline.
Since he can’t drink a lot because of tomorrow’s schedule, he opted to stay away from his other friends. However, Seokmin spotted him and bounded over to him. Seokmin is normally a noisy guy, but when he’s drunk, he’s ten times louder and more energetic. Mingyu winced as the guy called him.
“MINGYU! MY FRIEND! YOU SHOULD DRINK MORE! ENJOY THE NIGHT!” he said as he dragged Mingyu to where Jeonghan and Joshua were. The two looked obviously drunk, but they could still managed to laugh at Mingyu’s misfortune. Their chests glowed as they hold hands. Mingyu smiled as he looked at the purple and pink light they’re emitting.
“You should agree with Seokmin, Mingyu-ah. He will lock you up in the closet if you don’t. Someone is already in there.” Jeonghan snickered as he pointed at a big cardboard closet near them. Mingyu looked at it and waited for some movement. There’s none, so Jeonghan must've been joking.
“I can’t. I have a morning class.” Mingyu said. The three immediately shook their heads, synchronized. It’s a bit weird to Mingyu.
”Mingyu, Mingyu, Mingyu. You should have listened to Jeonghan-hyung.” Joshua said as Seokmin forcefully dragged Mingyu to the closet.
“But I just got here?” Mingyu tried to reasoned, but his voice fell on deaf ears. Seokmin opened the closet door and shut it closed after he threw Mingyu inside of it. The door was locked.
“I’ll open this later when you finally want to go and party.” Seokmin said outside the closet and walked away.
Well, at least he won’t be forced to drink something. His Math class every Saturday morning already gave him headaches, he doesn’t need a hangover over it. Mingyu awkwardly shuffled on the small space of the closet and opened his flashlight to lightened it up.
“Can you please move a little? You’re almost stepping on me,” a voice startled Mingyu so hard that he dropped his phone. A hand picked it up. Mingyu cautiously received it.
He shone the light over the two of them to looked at the other person, the weak light from his dying phone doesn’t really helped to clearly see the face of his companion. The person is sitting on the floor with his knees up and arms around them to take up as much little space as he can. He looked unfamiliar. Mingyu sat down and copied his pose. Thank god, the closet is big enough so their shoulders didn’t touch.
“Sorry about that. I thought Jeonghan-hyung was kidding when he said Seokmin threw someone in here already.” Mingyu said. “What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” Mingyu asked. He knew all of the person in the party except for this one.
“Jihoon, I’m Seokmin’s cousin. He dragged me to this party and threw me here when I refused to drink like a sensible adult.” He introduced himself. Mingyu laughed. The name rung a bell on his head.
“Oooh. Seokmin’s cousin who is a producer and probably a vampire? tThe guy who sleeps 2 hours a day?” Mingyu asked. Jihoon laughed at his remarks.
“Is that how Seokmin talked about me? I must have a bad image then.” he answered.
“Nah, you should have listen to his stories about Seungcheol-hyung. I thought he’s a gangster at first.” Mingyu joked. Seokmin is really bad at explaining things and telling stories.
“That he is.” Jihoon agreed.
They talked for the majority of the night; about how Jihoon had also heard about Mingyu from his cousin and how he also know the other guests in the party. He also talked about his job and Mingyu about his major. During the short time they are talking, they grew comfortable enough to let their clothed shoulders touch. The small closet doesn’t really gave them a lot of space to move to.
Their conversation was halted when someone outside the closet shouted that they should start counting down.
“Well, I guess we’ll be celebrating the New Year in here.” Jihoon said. Mingyu laughed at his faked concerned tone. “I guess I’ll be coped up in my room for the whole year again.” He sighed.
Thirty, twenty nine.
“Will it even matter since we’re Koreans?” Mingyu asked. Jihoon laughed loudly.
“I guess not.” He said.
Twenty five. Twenty four.
“Hey, its nice to finally meet you. Seokmin always talked about how cool you are, so I’m quiet curious. You’re really a lot more interesting in person.” Mingyu said. Jihoon laughed softly and retuned his sentiments.
“I guess meeting more people is good too. Being a producer is quiet lonely,” Jihoon confessed.
Seventeen. Sixteen.
“Huh, does this mean I had to make another set of New Year’s resolution?” Mingyu jokingly asked.
“Like you’ve said. Does it matter if we’re Koreans?” Jihoon answered.
Five. Four.
“I’m glad to met you, Jihoon-hyung.” Mingyu said as he faced Jihoon and offered his hand for a handshake. Jihoon stared at his hand.
Three. Two.
“Me too,” Jihoon said as he reached out and clasped Mingyu’s hand.
One.
Light illuminated the small closet, and the two stared in shock as they finally saw their soulmate’s face clearly for the first time in blue and yellow lightning. The wild cheers outside the closet are drowned by the beating of their hearts.