Work Text:
And this is how it starts...
The music played loudly from the portable speaker precariously hanging on the edge of the bathroom sink.
You take your shoes off in the back of my van....
The whole bathroom was filled with fog and Minho could see how there was a spider struggling to keep itself stuck to the ceiling – one more reason for him to finish showering as fast as possible, as he would like to avoid letting the spider fall onto his clothes.
Yeah my shirt looks so good...
He knew he had close to twenty minutes before he had to leave for the concert, the venue was quite literally on the other side of the city and Minho was already suffering from the 50min bus drive he would have to face.
When it’s just hanging off your back...
As a way to get his excitement going, he had been listening to The 1975 all day long. They are one of his favorite bands ever, their songs meaning so much to him ever since he first heard Chocolate on the radio.
And she said use your hands and my spare time...
And yes perhaps it’s highly ironic how he had been blasting their song Sex for the past hour considering how asexual he truly is, but hey life is full of ironies and in the end Minho is quite fond of most of them.
We got one thing in common, it’s this tongue of mine she said oh....
“She’s got a boyfriend anyway...” He sang with all his will as he turned the shower off and rushed to dry himself. “It’s only minutes before I drop you off, all we seem to do is talk about sex...”
He was quick to dress himself and brush his wet hair, cheerfully dancing while doing so.
With the towel around his neck, he grabbed the comb in one hand, the speaker in the other and jumped out of the bathroom. The spider now hanging dangerously low from the ceiling, too close to where his head has been two seconds before.
Closing the door behind him, his only wish was that the spider would magically disappear when he got back home later at night.
With the song still on repeat – he almost felt bad for his neighbors at this point – Minho was quick to dry his hair and finish getting ready to leave, checking if he had everything he needed with him at least fifteen times.
He walked fast towards the subway station and was lucky to get inside the train as soon as he got there.
Four stops later he jumped off and went to a coffee shop near the bus stop, buying himself a simple grilled cheese just to avoid fainting in the middle of the concert.
It was just five in the afternoon, too early to have dinner, but he knew he would get home pretty late so he just needed to fill his stomach with something.
He checked the map on his phone again, double checking the bus he had to catch and how many stops it would take for him to arrive at the venue. As he hadn’t been there before he was pretty anxious about missing his stop and arriving late at the concert.
Which shouldn’t be a problem as he knew it was still only five o’clock and the band would only get on stage at nine. Still, opening acts are a thing and even when Minho doesn’t know the bands, he loves being there to watch them.
According to what he had planed for weeks now, he left the coffee shop to stay in line for the bus close to six, as he wanted to get to the venue after the doors were opened to avoid standing in line and just before the first opening act.
He walked to the bus stop, ending up standing right behind a guy with blue hair, wearing all black.
Maybe he is going to the concert too, Minho thought, thinking about his own all black clothes and recently gray dyed hair.
The boy was checking the map on his phone and seemed to be counting the stops just like Minho had just done.
It wasn’t his initial intention, but Minho found himself shyly staring at the boy in front of him.
He was just a bit shorter than Minho, had cute chubby cheeks, piercings on both his ears and tons of rings on both hands.
Another thing Minho noticed about him was that he was undeniably adorable, he had this aura around him that just made Minho fond of him instantly.
Rapidly blinking his thoughts away and slightly shaking his head, Minho looked to the side, telling himself to cut the creepy staring off and focus on waiting for the bus.
It took another ten minutes for the bus to finally arrive. Minho noticed how blue haired guy sat at the front of the bus and in his will to not allow himself to stare at him any longer, Minho went all the way to the back.
But 50 minutes is a long time and even though a lot of people came in and went out, none of them caught Minho’s attention as the boy he still could see from where he was sitting.
When he says he tried his best to not stare he really does mean it, he spent at least half the time just checking his phone to count how many stops he had left, but the rest of his time his eyes just automatically diverted to the boy, even if all he could see was the back of his head.
Truth be told Minho was never one to develop crushes on random people, he always thought it was odd that some people seemed to actually do that, but he would also be lying if he said he wasn’t one to appreciate beautiful people he sees in the street.
Yes he is very much asexual and he does feel that his sexuality plays a huge part on his almost inability to have crushes on people, as he can count in one hand how many crushes he had in his whole life.
But he is also very much romantically attracted to anyone regardless of their gender so of course he catches himself staring at people he thinks are pretty more often than not.
Yet it’s been a while since someone caught his attention this much. Last one being this girl from college who unfortunately dropped the curse just a few months after classes started.
Minho admittedly had a crush on her, but he saw her several times before feeling that way and even talked to her and had lunch with her occasionally.
This boy, on another hand, Minho knew nothing about. Had never seen or talked to him before and yet he seemed to have burned himself inside Minho’s mind already, as if he belonged there all along.
It was stupid and maybe this was just Minho overreacting. He knew deep, very deep, down he wanted a relationship – as much as he would deny that fact even for himself, it was just the truth – but developing a crush on some random dude wasn’t the way to go and he wanted nothing to do with anything like this.
His life isn’t some cliche love story after all, even if he wanted to end up falling for someone out of nowhere, by now he had come to terms that if he really wanted to date, sooner or later, he would be forced to join a dating app because he saw no other alternative for him.
After all even if he can fall for anyone, he had this tiny preference in his heart for people of the same gender as his. Something about it just seemed more comforting to him and he knew that it would be rather difficult to just randomly fall in love with another guy who would be willing to date an asexual who doesn’t want to have sex... ever.
He sighed, taking his eyes away from the back of the boy’s head and staring outside instead, watching the sky get darker and darker as time passed.
Turning the volume of his earphones up a bit, Minho forced himself to snap out of everything he was thinking before and focus only on having fun at the concert.
After a few minutes more he finally got to his stop, forcing himself to not see if blue haired guy was indeed going to the concert as well, Minho simply jumped off the bus, and walked along the crowd to the venue he had spotted from inside the bus.
But as if life was having fun messing with his head, as soon as he got in line for the entrance, he spotted the boy.
Minho was in line for the floor and blue haired guy was in line for the balcony, at least they wouldn’t be at the same section during the concert and maybe that would clear Minho’s head.
Just before it was his turn to go through security check and show his tickets, the guy looked in Minho’s direction and they locked eyes.
He really wished he wasn’t about to describe that interaction as such, but it was like something clicked. The best way to describe what he felt was that somehow his mind seemed to be screaming at him to find a way to talk to that boy.
For a few seconds the both of them just stood there, facing each other, like nothing else was happening around them.
The only thing that made Minho snap out of it was the security guard calling for him. “Hey, kid! It’s your turn now.”
He immediately looked away from the boy, feeling his heart beating faster and his mind dazed. “Oh right, sorry.”
After going through security check, showing his ticket and getting the plastic bracelet to allow him to get inside the floor section, Minho stepped inside the venue.
Almost as if his body had taken control of him, he looked towards the other line to search for the boy, but he wasn’t there anymore.
With his head still feeling out of it and his heart going too fast inside his chest, he took a deep breath and walked further into the venue. This was too weird and he didn’t like it one bit.
Choosing to ignore everything else, Minho got inside his section and positioned himself as close to the stage as he could now.
He got a great spot, a bit to the right and not that close, but he would see everything perfectly. And in the end he was truly there only to enjoy the music and feel free and at ease.
That’s why he loves concerts so much, it makes him feel like nothing else matters, gives him peace and it’s the best type of stress relief he ever came across.
He could really use some of that after the month he had in college.
Minho didn’t know both opening acts, only ever hearing about No Rome because of the collaboration with The 1975, but they were both great and managed to put him right in the mood for the concert.
The break between the second act and the actual concert was slightly too long for Minho’s liking and he was close to looking at the bleachers to see if he would spot a certain blue haired guy somewhere, but thankfully just as his body was about to betray him again, the light went off and everyone screamed.
This was it. The best feeling ever.
When all the lights are out, a few start to flick all over the place and you hear the faint sound of a song beginning. The stage is still not completely lit but you can see the silhouettes walking on it, getting in position.
You screams your lungs out just for the hell of it and everything feels great.
Minho had already been to their concert once, on their previous tour, so he knew how good this one was going to be as well, but once the venue was finally filled with the song...
Go down. Soft sound.
...while the screen on stage lit up with the words in all caps...
Midnight. Car lights.
... it was like he was the only one in there and the music was filling up all the empty space around him...
Playing with the air. Breathing in your hair.
...enveloping him and lifting him up...
Go down, go down. Soft sound.
...this version of the track hit him even harder than the previous version on the tour he had been before....
Step into your skin, I'd rather jump in your bones.
....and he felt like every beat of the song took over his entire being...
Taking up your mouth so you'll breathe through your nose.
...in that moment, nothing else mattered.
He screamed. Recorded a bit of every song, and almost the entirety of Somebody else – he needed to okay that song is just too good – and danced like he had no cares in the world.
He sang the lyrics to every song like his life depended on it and jumped so much during The Sound that he almost lost the coat he had wrapped around his wait.
It was great.
In classic Matty Healy style, the singer finished off the last song, screamed on his mic and left the stage without a goodbye.
Once all the lights were on again Minho felt like he had just been to heaven and came back.
That’s what concerts do to him. It matters so much more to him than most people give credit for and makes every cent he spends on it worth it.
His only will in life is to work to have enough money to survive and attend concerts. That’s all he ever needs.
In classic Lee Minho style, he stood there in the middle of everyone who was rushing out, just taking a moment to breath.
He would always be there for a while, kind off like giving his mind a bit to process everything that just happened.
Laughing to himself he reminded how there was a treadmill as part of the stage and how funny and interesting it would be to see how Matty used it during the songs, that only being topped with the moment the singer appeared with a glass of wine on stage claiming he would sing the next song just after he had a drink.
The screen design for the stage was absolutely gorgeous as well and Minho’s favorite one was possibly the one during Medicine.
Once people were disappearing around him, he finally decided to leave. Feeling his legs hurting like a bitch but paying no mind to it.
He got on line for mech and bought himself a shirt, as he usually does, and left only wishing he could drink two liters of water at the moment.
After all of that he wish he could say his mind was free of thoughts about a random guy he never actually met, but unfortunately he was still stuck there, like he simply refused to leave.
It would be annoying if it didn’t make Minho rather unsettled. He couldn’t understand why he felt that way over a random person. He was very cute, yes, but that didn’t mean anything. It shouldn’t mean anything at least.
Minho is not a hopeless romantic, he doesn’t believe in love at first sight and if he is to be completely honest he frequently doubts love even truly exists sometimes, so why was his mind stuck on the boy’s face, even after he just experienced one of the best concerts he ever attended.
The fact he says that about all concerts he has been to doesn’t lessen the fact he means it every time. So truly, why was that guy still on his mind like this?
He left the venue with a frown on his face that turned into an annoyed pout when he saw how long the line for the bus was.
Sighing in defeat, Minho walked towards the end of the line, putting one earphone in and pressing play on his The 1975 playlist he based off the setlist for the concert.
He now realize a few songs were misplaced there and others were missing, but he knew he couldn’t trust the internet to get the setlist right, specially if it seems the band changes it up when they feel like it.
The whole while he was waiting for the bus he had this feeling in his gut telling him he should look around and he was doing his best to ignore it, but then he heard the bus approaching and with pain in his heart he saw how it simply drove past the stop, the sign at front claiming it was full.
It was fine, according to the map app there were tons of buses that would pass there, he could wait for the next.
But then the next came and the same thing happened, only this time once Minho looked back to check the sign on the bus, he caught sight of the blue haired guy standing in line right behind this group of people behind Minho.
The boy made eye contact again, causing Minho’s heartbeat to increase once more and his palms sweat slightly.
In panic Minho was quick to look to the front again, the little smile the boy gave him now tattooed inside his brain.
Fuck does he have to be this cute?! Minho thought to himself.
He wouldn’t allow himself to develop a crush on this random guy. He just wouldn’t. He simply couldn’t.
Still after the third bus passed them, all that was inside Minho’s was that stupid adorable smile.
Not how annoyed he should be at how all the buses were full, not how he probably should be thinking about another way to come back home.
No, all that was going inside his head was that stupid pretty boy and his stupid little smile.
He even missed how he kept walking bit by bit closer to the bus stop sign, completely unaware that such a thing shouldn’t be happening as none of the buses had stopped there yet.
His mind wasn’t even creating possibilities to deal with his stupid problem of the buses not stopping. A problem he knew how to solve considering this always happened when he left his night classes.
None of that mattered to his mind apparently, as it was too busy having a crisis inside his head over how he couldn’t possibly have developed a crush on a random ass guy he never talked to and knew nothing about.
He almost missed how the fourth bus passed them and was completely unaware that a lot of people had left the line by now.
It’s very likely that he wouldn’t ever noticed there was less people around if it wasn’t for the sound of someone loudly scratching their throat behind him and the light, almost not even there, tap he felt on his shoulder.
His first reaction was to get annoyed at people trying to talk to him and he was ready to shoot that group of teenagers behind him an angry look, but it all vanished once he turned around and ended up facing blue haired guy.
“Hey...” The guy said, that smile that had been playing inside Minho’s mind for the past few minutes gracing his face again. “I don’t wanna bother you but the buses are obviously not stopping and there’s only two left that goes to the subway station you’re going and I have a solution for both of us if you’re willing to listen.”
It was like his mind went full on 404 error not found at the moment.
Processing apparently only half of what the boy said Minho’s reply ended up being a: “How do you know what bus I’m taking?”
This was obviously something the boy was wishing Minho wouldn’t pick up on, given his nervous smile and the fact he broke eye contact and started to fiddle with his rings.
“I... I saw you got the same bus I did to get here earlier today.” He replied, looking anywhere but at Minho. “So I assumed you were taking the same one to get back to the station.”
“Oh.” Was all that left his mouth. It was funny to think the boy had noticed him since then too. He honestly thought he hadn’t.
“S-sorry if it sounds creepy... I just remember you were standing behind me at the line for it this afternoon.”
After it finally hit him how anxious he was making the boy with his inability to function and reply properly, Minho finally came to his senses.
“No worries, I remember you too.” Kinda hard to miss, he almost added.
“Oh. Great...” The guy said, smile coming back and shyly facing Minho again.
“So you said something about the buses?”
“Yes I did...” It took a few seconds but the guy seemed to remember what he was doing and why he was talking to Minho in the first place. “People have been leaving the line for a while as none stopped yet, so I checked the map and the bus stop before this is not far. I think we have better chances of getting inside the bus over there and I just wanted to let you know.”
He spat that so fast Minho needed a moment to think it all through, realizing how much of an idiot he was for not thinking about this, even if this is literally something he constantly does.
“That’s a great idea, we should go over there then.” He replied, not missing how his stomach filled with butterflies at the mere thought of accompanying the guy to the other bus stop.
“I can show you the way.” The guy replied happily, making Minho chuckle.
He wasn’t about to tell the guy it was quite obvious how to get there, didn’t want to ruin his happiness neither lose his company.
It was weird though, the whole thing with that guy. The way he instantly felt connected to him and was able to talk to him as if he knew him for ages.
Once he told him his name was Han Jisung something inside Minho snapped, as if it was saying ‘of course you are’ or ‘I know’ which made him want to flee from there.
Yet he couldn’t, it was like he felt his place was next to Jisung. Even if it freaked him out, he felt like he couldn’t stay away.
They shared simple facts about one another on their way to the bus stop. Han Jisung was younger than Minho, also lived there because of college and was studying in the same college as Minho of all places.
He had never been to a The 1975 concert before but loves concerts as much as Minho does. Never had a cat but would like one, has the most endearing laugh Minho ever heard and looks incredible under the street lights.
They ended up going one stop further after seeing how the previous one still had a pretty long line and they very much wanted a seat in the bus.
It took longer than they thought to get to that stop, considering it was a bit further away, but they didn’t care at all.
Both of them were too lost in one another, talking as if they had been friends for years to care about anything else.
They sat on the bench at the bus stop, Jisung checking the app on his phone and claiming the bus should be there soon enough, and continued to talk about nothing and everything at the same time.
“So what your favorite song of them?” Jisung asked.
“Now that’s mean to ask!” Minho complained.
The other gave him a puzzled look. “How is that a mean thing to ask hyung?”
“I have too many to choose just one, you can’t make me choose one!” He explained, as if it was common knowledge.
Jisung beamed ar him and that smile was still doing things to Minho’s heart. Things that it shouldn’t be doing.
“Fair enough, give me your top songs then, I won’t even put a limit of how much.”
“How thoughtful of you.” The older joked.
Jisung simply gave him a I am always thoughtful look that Minho was impressed he could read exactly what it meant so well.
“I have to say Somebody else because that song is literally everything,” Jisung nodded in agreement. “Menswear and I like it when you sleep, for you’re so beautiful yet so unaware of it because the instrumental of both is heavenly.”
“So true.” The other whispered, mentioning for Minho to continue.
“Hmm... You is a masterpiece...”
“I really am.” Jisung joked, earning a funny look from Minho that was a mix of you’re ridiculous with pure agreement the older wished the younger couldn’t read.
“If I believe you means a lot to me,” He continued and could tell Jisung also agreed with that. “And for the sake of not staying here all night just telling you their whole discography I’ll end with saying one of my favorite songs of them ever is Sex which is highly ironic considering I’m asexual.”
He felt so comfortable with Jisung he didn’t even registered the fact he just casually came out to him after just meeting him.
But something inside him was telling him this was okay, it didn’t matter, Jisung wouldn’t have a bad reaction. Minho had experienced some bad reactions to him coming out before, people can be really ignorant, but somehow he knew Han Jisung wouldn’t be.
And he was right because right after he finished his sentence Jisung smile took over his entire face as he exclaimed excitedly: “You’re asexual?! I’m demisexual... and that song is also one of my favorites ever!”
“You what now?!” Minho could scream if it wasn’t so late at night. He never met anyone in real life that even knew what asexuality meant, much less someone who was part of the spectrum.
“I’m demi! This is crazy hyung, I always have to explain myself when I come out and people rarely get it but your ace! You know... you get it... you... you understand me.”
And if before it felt like they were getting along with one another, now it truly felt they were connected in some way.
“I do. I reality do... and you understand me too.” Minho whispered, feeling out of it.
Jisung just nodded, the smile on his face never leaving.
They just sat there, smiling so hard their cheeks hurt. It’s hard to explain how such a thing actually made them both really happy.
It’s like finally finding someone who loved the same band as you do after so many people made fun of you for liking it or never even knew such band existed and after finding out, did not care at all that you liked them.
It’s like that, but in a bigger scale. For Minho and his dazed mind that was still fighting over not wanting to crush on Jisung, this was a big deal that meant that maybe crushing on a random person he just met wasn’t so crazy and far fetched after all.
Just as he was about to say anything else just for the sake of saying something, the bus approached them, thankfully pretty much completely empty this time around.
And just before Jisung got inside the bus, he looked behind to face Minho and told hint: “And if you’re wondering I’m biromantic.”
Minho watched the boy tap his card on the reader and walk towards the back of the bus in pure shock.
He jumped inside, tapped his card too and basically ran over to where the younger took a seat, forcing himself to not scream once he sat beside Jisung.
“Now you gotta be shitting me!”
Jisung looked confused again, which wasn’t fair for Minho because he looked too cute when he was confused. “I’m not!”
“C’mon you gotta be!”
“I swear I’m not!”
“It’s just... there’s no way.” Minho exclaimed. “I mean, your demi and I’m ace then you’re bi and I’m pan–”
“You’re panromantic?” The other interrupted him, a mix of excitement and shock on his face.
“Yeah!”
Jisung looked at the front of the bus then at Minho again, his shock leaving his expression and only excitement showing now.
He then smirked at little at Minho. “That’s good news.”
“Stop.” Minho said, feeling his cheeks heating up.
Everything about this was indeed good news, almost too good to be true.
Minho’s head went into crisis mode again and he just stared at how the bus got filled with people once they arrived at the next stop.
“I just–“ He interrupted himself, looking at Jisung once again. “I know it’s not the same, obviously... but it’s like we’re in the same wavelength you know.”
“I feel you.” Jisung smiled at him. “It’s like we are in sync with each other on everything so far, it’s kinda scary but in the best way possible.”
“Exactly.” Minho said with a smile, allowing himself for the first time that day to let his feelings flow freely inside of him.
It could be silly, could overreacting, could even be the most stupid thing he ever thought in his entire life, but he decided then that he liked Jisung.
Wether it was to turn into something more or not was still too early to tell, too soon to think about, but he undeniably liked Jisung and wanted to be close to him, wanted to know him better.
It still causes him shock to know that Jisung felt the same and for some reason – perhaps by the way Jisung was obviously flirting with him every now and then – he felt that Jisung felt all that Minho was feeling, that weird connection between them and all, and was far more accepting of the way he felt than Minho could in that moment.
Because Minho’s heart was telling him to jump face first into all of this, and his mind was dangerously encouraging him to do so, but it was like a tiny part of him was just constantly screaming how crazy and impossible this all sounded.
How reckless would it be for him to allow this to happen, how stupid it would be for him to said a big fuck you to all his previous thoughts about love at first sight and the whole ordeal and how he should think first, act later.
Meanwhile Jisung seemed to go against that, seemed to have accepted it all and go full on act first think... maybe later, if at all.
Again, it was as if they were in sync with one another, but coming from completely different spots.
Like when the sea meets the river, two very different yet similar things that end up connected with one another and form a beautiful thing together.
It would all be too much for Minho’s head, if it wasn’t for Jisung smiling brightly at him and going back to talk about random things, making the older laugh along with him and feel like it would all end up being okay.
And later than night once Jisung asked for his phone number he didn’t think twice before exchanging it with the younger.
When Jisung jumped off the bus and ended up on the same subway as Minho, they simply sat side by side again and continued to laugh together.
And even if he didn’t want this to end, Minho was happy to see that Jisung stop was two before his, making his mind relax over how similar and akin they seemed to be.
He was close but not so close that would make Minho freak out over everything that happened between them in the span of one day.
When Jisung gave his arm a gentle squeeze before his stop, Minho simply told him: “Pull a Matty Healy on me and don’t say goodbye, just leave.”
And if it was too dramatic, Jisung didn’t mind because he giggled and said: “Don’t worry I’m already planning what I’ll text you the second I step out of this train.”
“Just please don’t scream when leaving, that would be embarrassing.”
The younger got up, holding onto the bar of the train and laughed. “I promise I won’t.”
And once the train stopped, he was off, making Minho turn his head to the window and see him standing there waving as the subway left the station.
The older waved back, feeling incredibly silly and giggly for his own good.
He turned around only once he couldn’t even see the station anymore and after jumping off on his own stop, he put his earphones on again and pressed play, the song he was mid-listening to before he paused to listen to Jisung, sounding loud in his ears as if the universe was mocking him once more.
But instead of selling sex... and I think I should be...
His phone vibrated on his hand, a new text from Jisung asking if he missed him already.
...loving someone
Maybe he should.
Oh, oh, loving someone.
Maybe he really should.
Yeah, you should be loving someone.
And maybe he knew who that someone should be.