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Jaesun was gay. Jaesun was really, really gay. Jaesun was especially gay for the guy who entered the lecture hall right now, all soft and sweet and sunshiney and fuck, it must be criminal to be that cute. He could see the same sentiments being echoed across the faces of half of the people currently seated in the hall, marking them as true intellectuals.
He's so glad he came to Korea National uni instead of going with Seoul Institute. Bless his aunt for suggesting the college. Bless past Jaesun for listening to her.
Unfortunately, cute pink haired dude didn't sit anywhere close to him, but that was alright. It was the first day after all, he had plenty of time to befriend the other. And find out if his personality was as sweet as his face, because Choi Jaesun did not hang out with assholes, thank you very much.
Except the one particular asshole that was his best friend, who had just plopped into the seat next to him in all her sweats wearing, bird nest hair glory.
''Your hair is giving me an aneurysm,'' he said as a way of greeting.
''I'm surprised you could tear your gaze away from that guy you were eyeing to notice that,'' Misun replied and wow. He did not need to be called out like that.
''Can you blame me? That face looks like it was sculpted by god himself.''
She makes a non committing sound, and they switch to other things. Jaesun spent the rest of the class trying to listen to everyone's self introduction, learning vital pieces of information like a. cute guy had an angelic voice, b. cute guy liked contemporary best, and c. cute guy liked dogs.
That's like, the perfect man to exist.
Apparently, the face was not the only thing sculpted by god. They were at the dance studio for their very first choreography class, and Professor Jung had asked everyone to show a freestyle demonstration. All his classmates were good, some were exceptionally good, but pink haired cutie - Jimin, he had learned from the self introduction, was the one who made the biggest impression in his opinion.
He was great at what he did ( when he said in his introduction he liked contemporary, he meant he liked contemporary ), but Jaesun could tell from the thirsty gazes that what the others were focusing on were the split second flash of abs when his shirt lifted off, and the angelic smile of satisfaction at a job well done.
( It was not like they all didn't have muscles, because their major was pretty much a sport, but the sight of it on Jimin didn't hurt. )
And then the professor clapped after it was done– Jimin was the third last to go–, smiled a pretty heart shaped smile and complimented them on their freestyles. Someone shouted for him to show the class a demonstration of his own, and he agreed with a good humored smile. The class could tell this was one instructor they were going to enjoy learning under.
And suddenly all thoughts of the cutie were out of his mind because good lord, if some classmates were wonderful, then professor Jung Hoseok was goddamn extraordinary.
Jaesun couldn't wait to reach that level.
He finally talked to Jimin on his fourth day of class. Which was a mistake if he ever say one, because if only he didn't discover the other was really fun and sweet, he would have had a easier time dealing with his crush.
''Ah Jimin, you free this evening?'' Jiyoo asked, flashing a beatific smile. ''I was wondering if we could look over our assigned part of the project together.''
Before the boy could reply, the fifth member of their project group- a tall guy named Woojin- piped up, ''I'm free too! How about we all meet and work on the project together?''
Jimin laughed and clapped his hands. ''That's a great idea, is seven to nine alright? Sorry I can't stay long.''
They all agreed, even Misun giving her consent and signing herself up for what they all knew was going to be a session of more 'get into my hot classmate's good graces' rather than any work that they were supposed to be doing.
( That did not stop her from shooting her trademark what-the-actual-everloving-fuck face at Woojin's ridiculously smug look and the lethal glare Jiyoo was shooting him from behind Jimin's back. )
Predictably, it was mostly getting to know each other, but no one minded. Except Jiyoo, which was ironic considering the blonde was the one who suggested it in the first place. The girl sure was dedicated when she got into the mindset of studying, something Jaesun could appreciate. The medicine student in her really shined through.
''Ah, my second major is journalism,'' Jimin was saying in his melodious voice, and Jaesun refocused his attention. ''I was good at literature in high school, so I decided to keep something related to that.'' He ended the sentence with a smile, and Jaesun's heart positively melted. A glance at Woojin and Jiyoo told that they weren't faring much better either.
''I'm in journalism too!'' Woojin yelled excitedly, drawing looks from a few other customers in the cafe. ''Guess you'll be seeing a lot of me.''
Pink haired cutie laughed and agreed, and damn, Jaesun wished he shared some more classes with him too.
''What about you Mimi?'' Jiyoo nudged Misun, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised how quickly the girl had made friends with the anti social extraordinaire that was his best friend. ''Any double majors or only dance?''
"Dance," Misun muttered. Everyone gave appreciative yells at her confidence ( damn right, you go best friend ), Misun ducking her head in what Jaesun knew was a sure sign of her being embarrassed.
"This dumbass is dance only," she pointed a thumb at him, drawing away the attention from her.
"Don't look at me like that, guys," he laughed, "I'm taking over my aunt's dance studio, so my future is practically secure." He took a sip of his coffee, adding, "I do minor in business though."
"That's still amazing," Jimin smiled. "You too, Misun."
Mayhaps Jaesun just ascended to heaven at that smile.
The conversation proceeds in the same vein, until it was nearly nine and Jimin had to go.
"Sorry!" He apologized for the nth time. "I promised to meet someone after this."
"Someone from our university?" Woojin asked curiously.
Jimin shook his head, a face splitting smile on his face. "Taetae goes to Seoul university. He's doing medicine!"
"Aahh," Jiyoo nodded, a medicine student herself. She had chosen the combined course offered by the university, aiming to become a physiotherapist for dancers and athletes.
The boy looked so proud of his friend, even Jaesun felt a little proud of the dude when he didn't know a single thing about the mysterious 'Taetae'.
The all waved off his apologies, claiming it was no trouble and he shouldn't keep his friend waiting.
As soon as he left though, the atmosphere took a 180. Except Misun, because the apocalypse could be upon her and she still wouldn't care.
"Who this?" Jaesun asked. "Just a friend or? He looked pretty whipped."
"Probably friends." Jiyoo agreed.
Misun rested her head on the table, turning to look at her. "You just don't want to admit he might be dating someone."
"Damn well I don't," she huffed. "I need a bit more time to mentally prepare myself for that opportunities."
"I mean," Woojin interrupted, "we could just ask him subtly next time we meet. Better than stressing."
It takes them a grand total of five weeks to find out about Taehyung. At first they couldn't figure out how to be subtle about it, then assignments and classes kicked in with full force and they couldn't make time for all five of them to hang out together, and then there was the case of Woojin's new crush ( and now boyfriend ) in his journalism class.
They're in professor Jung's class ( widely agreed as the favorite of every student in the dance building ) when a classmate of theirs walks in, announcing that it was raining outside.
Jaesun's sure that Misun is carrying an umbrella. She always keeps one in her bag, something that he had thought was useful a lot of times but never really got around to keeping one with him himself. He catches her gaze from across the room and she nods. Yep, she's got it.
"Ah," Jimin says softly from beside him. "I hope the rain stops soon."
"Doesn't look like it," Jiyoo says, reclaiming her place behind them and crossing her legs, idly watching Minah and Soyeon work out the choreography with the professor for their upcoming showcase. "It's practically a storm out there." She makes a face before saying, "First time I'm glad that I have back to back classes on Friday. Hopefully it'll stop by my evening class."
They nod, lapsing into silence as they watched Minah perform a particularly impressive spin and flip combination. Jimin suddenly took out his phone, mouth curving into a sweet smile on seeing whatever message it got, and only Jaesun would know the supreme self control it took him to not peek at the phone screen.
"Taehyungie's coming to pick me up," Jimin answers without any prompting. He laughed, shaking his head. "I don't even know how he knew that I wouldn't have brought an umbrella with me."
"That's a nice…" Jiyoo trailed off. "Boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend," Jimin repeated in agreement, simultaneously breaking the hearts of every person eavesdropping on the conversation. And probably the hearts of half their year, when the news eventually spreads that Park Jimin, resident sweetheart and angel, is already taken.
"Can we meet him?" Jaesun hastily asks, trying to divert Jimin's attention from Jiyoo's crestfallen face. He liked Jimin, but it was Jiyoo who had a more serious crush.
"Sure!" The pink haired boy nods, eyes morphing into crescents with his smile.
He walked beside Jimin on the stairs, Misun and Jiyoo trailing behind ( Misun, bless her awkward heart, was trying her best to comfort the girl ). He felt kind of bad for Woojin, back at the dorm due to a fever, missing the whole grand reveal. If anyone had a love for drama, it was definitely the tall journalism major.
Jaesun wondered what this mysterious Taehyung would be like. Tall, probably? Maybe cold and intimidating, it would suit Jimin's own bright and sunshine-y personality. A handsome guy with bad boy kind of vibes?
Jimin was talking away about the duet performance practice today, but he heard none of it until suddenly the boy cut off his own speech with an excited "Tae!"
All three of them focus their attention at that, zooming in on the man that Jimin was waving at.
And holy fucking sweet jesus, whatever Jaesun was expecting, it was not this. The person in front of him did not even look human, with a perfectly symmetrical face, beautiful hands, tall height, and god, was this dude even lacking anything?
Jimin ran and jumped on him, the guy– Taehyung– lightly stumbling back with a fumbling grip on the umbrella in his hand. "Jiminnie!" He yelled in a voice that was way deeper than what he was expecting.
"You didn't have to come to pick me up," Jimin smiled, disentangling himself from the hug but still standing close.
"Of course I did. What would you have done otherwise, walk back to in the rain?"
They smile at each other and Jaesun was debating whether or not to interrupt them when Jimin saved him the trouble, seemingly remembering that other people exist.
He tugged Taehyung by his sleeves, approaching them again. He could hear Jiyoo take in a sharp intake of breath from behind him, and he sincerely hoped the girl was calm enough to take politely enough and not have any awkward, stilted conversation.
( Misun, antisocial extraordinaire, was more than enough to cover that base. )
"Hi," Taehyung greets, a pretty ( boxy? ) smile on his face.
"Hello!"
"H-hi."
A nod from Misun.
"This is Taetae!" Jimin introduced, with full jazz hands for effect. Taehyung grinned at him, eyes crinkling. Honestly, Jaesun may have got his heart broken like an hour ago, but he was a sucker for cute things, and these two were fucking adorable.
"Taehyung," the guy clarifies. "I sometimes go by the name of asshole and dumbass, courtesy of this moron." He gently shoved Jimin, who just laughed and entwined his hand with Taehyung.
Jiyoo burst out laughing, the sound breaking the ice between the whole group. "Very romantic, ten by ten would recommend," she said amidst giggles.
Jaesun mused on the meeting as he walked back to the dorms with his best friend. Taehyung was a nice person, and even if he wanted to hate him, he didn't think he couldn't. He didn't think anyone could hate someone as gentle as him.
And gentle he was, the word fitting the man perfectly, from his gentle features of pretty eyes, a softly curved nose, shaped lips, to his deep voice, that just seemed to soft and flowed like honey, to just...the vibes he gave off. Taehyung was easily excited ( much like Woojin ) but it was like he had an aura of gentleness and warmth.
( It kind of reminded Jaesun of his grandma. )
"Taehyung's a good guy." Misun suddenly says.
"Mmh."
"You're a good guy too."
He smiled, hearing the unsaid words of comfort. "Thank you," and he knew she heard his words of gratitude too.
He was glad he came to this university, finding a group of friends that he loved. They were all good people, and he hoped that the minor ( or major ) case of crushes and such wouldn't get in between them. Jaesun maybe have lost a crush, but he still had annoying shits that he loved, so it didn't matter that much.
"Wanna go visit Woojin?"
Misun scoffed, lips curving up in a small smile. "And see him being absolutely spoiled to death by his boyfriend?"
"Yep."
"Sure."