Work Text:
Scene #1 : even a fool knows
the evening air felt cool, whistling softly as it brushed past his hair. he had a pair of earphones on, his hands buried into the pockets of the grey school blazer, and his feet were kicking aimlessly at the pebbles scattered on the pavement. his brain was recalling the events of the day, which went as any other - morning school assembly, classes sitting next to his... best friend, and now the lone walk home because the friend had student body things to do.
the schedule was usual, and what was also usual was his best friend, the subject of his crush of three years, bouncing up to him with a stupid grin on his face, telling him about how his crush actually had a conversation about his day with him, which made his heart crack a little. only a little, though. he was used to the heartbreak because mister student body president was also mister popular, and everybody loved him.
lost in thoughts, he didn’t feel someone coming up behind him, and didn’t even notice that he had company till a hand slapped down on his shoulder. he turned to find his best friend flashing him a blinding smile, the same smile that got his knees weak every single time.
“jeongin-ah!” exclaimed hyunjin with the hyperactivity of a five year old on too much chocolate, wrapping an arm around his best friend’s shoulder. “my best friend senses told me you were lonely, so i came to rescue you from the confines of your anti-socialness.”
“please,” replied jeongin, pulling out his earbuds and rolling his eyes with a small smile. “your class presidents’ meeting got over soon, so you’re here to rescue yourself from the loneliness.”
“ouch, i’m hurt,” said hyunjin in mock sadness, placing a hand on his heart. the duo reached the bus stand where they had to wait for their usual bus to take them home. “i do so much for you and this is how you repay me.”
“don’t act as if you’re doing me a favor by being my friend,” said jeongin, slapping hyunjin’s arm lightly. “being my friend is a privilege.”
“yeah, yeah, whatev-” hyunjin stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening as another person joined them at the stop. the intruder to their conversation was the new transfer girl at their school. stunningly pretty, she had transferred around a month back, but because she was quiet, she went unnoticed by most of the crowd. unfortunately for jeongin, his best friend was not a part of that crowd - he had bumped into her on her first day here, and never stopped talking to her (and about her) ever since.
the girl’s eyes widened too, and she gave them a small smile.
“hello,” she said, waving at them.
“lee jiwoo! do you take this bus home?” asked hyunjin, immediately leaving jeongin’s side and rushing to hers.
“yeah, i do! usually school ends at 3pm, but today the economics teacher told me to stay back and complete a task.”
“no wonder i never see you,” replied the taller boy, looking at her with adoration-filled eyes that honestly made jeongin want to dig a hole and bury himself in it. “i have student body meetings every day, they usually last until 6. today, it got over quickly for once, so we’re here at 4pm.”
“what about jeongin?” asked jiwoo, looking at the younger boy and smiling at him. “you’re not in the student body, right? so why are you here?”
“i study at the library,” he replied, not wanting to end his sentence so abruptly, but he was upset and couldn’t help it. hyunjin and jiwoo gave him identical frowns, but then smiled at each other as they started up a new topic of conversation.
the bus arrived and jeongin hurried to enter take the last seat away from the lovebirds. they made their way to the bus, hyunjin and jiwoo continuing their conversation about their favorite musicians or something, and jeongin just quietly walked beside them.
they entered the bus and sat down, jeongin sitting behind the two of them. jiwoo, bless her heart, was trying to talk to jeongin too, but hyunjin kept talking and looking at her with such affection that it was almost impossible for it to be a three-way conversation, and jeongin was too upset to even notice the girl’s efforts.
not wanting to witness this one-sided puppy love hyunjin was going through, he heaved a sigh and shuffled his playlist, leaning against the window and blankly staring at the passing trees and buildings.
and if jeongin went home and cried into his blanket for three hours, no one had to know.
—
Scene #2 : that what you said was meant for me
one month ago
minho blew out a puff of smoke as he leaned against the school building, one hand holding his phone as he scrolled through his instagram feed. he scoffed as he looked through the pretentious people in their pretentious posts, immediately switching to twitter where people were at least somewhat honest with what they had to say.
once he was done with the cigarette, he started to walk towards the buildings, before he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. he scowled and turned behind, but his expression seemed to soften on its own as he met eyes with a girl shorter than him, with the most beautiful face he had ever seen (with the exception of his best friend chan, who was so good looking that the whole school was head-over-heels for him).
“hey, um,” she started, looking somewhat scared of the frown that seemed to be permanently etched on minho’s face. “do you know where’s the chemistry building? i’m new here, so i’m kinda lost-”
“follow me,” replied the boy shortly, walking to where the building was.
on the way there he met chan accompanied by felix, who were having an animated conversation (probably about their childhoods in australia). they stopped on seeing minho, and chan immediately sniffed his leather jacket before pursing his lips in disappointment.
“minho...”
“save it, chan hyung,” replied minho, rolling his eyes. “another one of your lectures is not going to stop me.”
“but smoking isn’t good for you!” exclaimed the older boy. “you’ll get lung cancer.”
“yes, i am aware. i see it every time i buy a packet, in size 30 bold, along with a graphic photoshopped picture. i know i’ll get lung cancer or some tragic malady. isn’t that the point of me smoking anyways?”
“minho hyung, none of us want you to die,” interrupted felix, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. “we’re all just looking out for you.”
“i appreciate the sentiment. thanks, but no thanks. i’m fine as i am.”
“one day you’ll stop,” said chan, sighing. then he noticed the new girl.
“hello! are you new here?”
“yeah...” replied the girl, who minho still didn’t know the name of. chan smiled one of his million dollar smiles that got the whole school at his feet, dimples and all, and extended a hand towards her.
“i’m chris bang, but you can call me chan. i’m a senior! which year are you in?”
“i’m a sophomore. my name is lee jiwoo! i transferred here today.”
“pretty girl lost her way to chemistry class,” added minho, making chan and felix raise identical eyebrows and jiwoo blush a little.
“pretty girl, huh?” felix asked, smirking at him. then he extended his own sweater-paw clad hand to the girl. “i’m lee felix! i’m a sophomore too. maybe we’ll see each other in some class?”
“yeah, maybe!” she shook his hand with a smile.
“you should sit with us at lunch! hyunjin, jisung, seungmin and jeongin and sophomores too, so you can make more friends! and maybe convince lee ‘i’m too edgy for the cafeteria’ minho to sit with us too.”
“i’ll think about it,” replied jiwoo, who seemed to already like felix. right then, the bell for third period rang, so minho hurriedly turned around.
“come on, you’ll be late to chemistry. and then i need to get to history too.” he waved to chan and felix. “i’ll see you guys. tteokbokki place after school?”
“yeah!” replied felix, and the duo made their way to wherever they were headed.
as they walked, jiwoo mumbled a ‘handsome’ under her breath, which made minho raise his eyebrows.
“who? chan? don’t even try crushing on him, he has the whole school at his feet begging for his attention anyway.”
jiwoo turned a pretty shade of pink. “i- no- i wasn’t- he’s just-”
minho laughed out loud, a feat he hadn’t done for a week or so. “it’s understandable. i was a little whipped when i met him, too. everyone is. he’s just so good-looking, smart and charming that you can’t help but stop and stare. you should hear him laugh, you’ll immediately fall in love - the whole school has. i’m surprised the guy’s ego isn’t as inflated as a hot air balloon with the amount of admirers he has - he’s still somehow the most humble and kind guy i know.”
“oh...” jiwoo looked at the floor, her face still as red as a tomato.
“here’s your class!” he stopped in front of a brown door which had students entering in a huge crowd. everyone took a glance at minho and turned the other way, no one daring to look at him for more than three seconds. minho loved having that effect on people.
“thank you,” smiled jiwoo. “and, uh, just so you know... i like your laugh better than chan’s. you look like the type to not laugh a lot, so please do. you look cute when you smile.”
saying so, she walked into the class right as everything quietened down around minho. he stared after jiwoo, a small smile etched on his face as he bounced towards the history building, not complaining about class for once.
—
Scene #3 : again i go towards you
present day
jisung sighed as he played with the two magnets in his hand, the noise they created being the only entertainment he had. despite being the only introvert in the group, he was the loudest and most hyperactive, so all this sitting around never worked for him.
“what are we waiting for?!” he exclaimed, readjusting his feet on the bleachers in front of him. “we know nobody is going to come for tryouts. this club is certified shit in this school.”
“have some hope, jisungie,” said seungmin, pulling at a loose thread on his white sweater. “maybe somebody will come?”
“it’s useless, seungmin-ah,” replied changbin, who was twirling a basketball in his hand. typical changbin, the jock, who brought a basketball to the drama club tryouts, of all places. “our seniors made sure to make this club’s name dirt by just abandoning it. but didn’t we just join the club so we’d have a whole room to ourselves this year?”
“yeah, we did,” said chan, who was running his hand through felix’s hair, the latter’s head being on his lap. “but i thought... i’m a senior, so i wanted to leave a lasting impression on this school. so-”
“hyung, you’re the best student this school has ever seen. if you hadn’t rejected the place they offered to you in the student council, you would’ve been student body president instead of jeon jungkook. you’re also the school’s it-boy. i’m pretty sure you have a very lasting impression among both teachers and students.” seungmin said, taking changbin’s free hand and playing with his fingers.
“well, being the student body president or, uh,” chan coughed, his face turning an impressive shade of pink, “the school’s ‘it-boy’, which i am not, by the way, is boring. i wanted to do something... nice. entertaining, maybe? so i convinced you guys to take up drama club with me. i thought we could make a short film.”
“what about funds? props?” asked jisung, his interest piqued by chan’s last statement.
“i had a talk with jungkook. he said he’ll try to help out as much as he can! and most of our play is going to be school based, anyway, so we’re good. there’s no need to look for costumes and all.”
“okay, but no one is coming. what now?” said changbin, still rotating the ball on his index finger.
“where’s minho hyung, hyunjin and jeongin?” questioned jisung, putting his feet down, standing up and stretching. then he started running up and down the bleachers, just because he could.
as if they were summoned, the doors opened to reveal hyunjin and jeongin strolling in, the class president holding a large stack of papers in his hands. jisung sighed in relief. he was tired of fifth-wheeling.
“my baby, jeongin-ah!” he exclaimed, jumping down to ruffle the younger boy’s hair, causing him to let out a string of complaints.
“hyung, my hair!”
“hyung’s love is more important than your hair, you brat,” he said, wrapping an arm around jeongin’s shoulder. then he noticed the stack of papers in hyunjin’s hand.
“what’s that, hyunjin-ah?”
“these?” asked the boy, loosening his tie and then rubbing his forehead in stress. “papers for all the other clubs, all their activities, members’ individual forms, and then there are the feedback forms on subject teachers of sophomore year and the minutes of meetings of like fifteen meetings, i think. i’m in charge of clubs along with all the activities of sophomore year, and vice president jeno is on leave because he’s on vacation. i'm tired!” he sat down with a groan, putting his head in his hands.
“hyung...” jeongin went to hyunjin with a pout, patting the older boy’s hand in sympathy. “i’ll sit with you and we can sort it out together. don’t stress, okay?”
yeah, never mind fifth wheeling. jisung was seventh wheeling now. perhaps he should have said yes when his classmate renjun had asked him out. being the only single person in this group of friends was not nice at all.
the doors to the gym opened again, and minho entered this time. but he wasn’t alone, because he was accompanied by one lee jiwoo.
oh, no. both hyunjin and minho liked her, everyone knew that except the three people in question. but what nobody knew except jisung (well, he didn’t know either, this was just a hunch) was that their adorable maknae jeongin was hopelessly in love with his best friend. this was going to be... interesting? yeah, that was the only word plausible.
“hey guys!” said minho, waving at them and smiling. “jiwoo said she’s joining drama club.”
chan hummed in reply. “jiwoo, have you done drama before?”
“yeah! i used to do drama in my old school. i took part in five plays.”
“okay, cool, no audition then,” said seungmin, jumping up. “can we decide who does what, now?”
“oh, i have that sorted out,” replied chan, taking out a register. “hm... let’s see...”
changbin finally placed the ball down, leaning into his boyfriend’s embrace. seungmin wrapped an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to his forehead, and yeah, jisung really should have said yes to that date.
“so... i’m going to be the director and the one in charge of sound equipment, and music arranging-”
“of course, mister music producer,” said jisung, playfully smirking at the older boy who just rolled his eyes.
“chan produces music?” questioned jiwoo, her eyes wide opened.
“yes, he does!” said hyunjin, jumping up and pulling out his phone. “he has a whole soundcloud channel and all. wait until you hear like triple x, cb is very hot-”
“no!” exclaimed chan. “we can listen to my soundcloud raps later, which are actually very good, for your information - i don’t have 300 thousand followers on there for nothing-”
“babe, we know,” said felix, giggling as he bear hugged chan. “we’re just joking. your songs are amazing.”
“thanks, baby, that’s appreciated,” replied the older, pressing a quick kiss to the younger’s forehead. “now moving on, minho and jeongin are the male leads, jiwoo obviously is the female lead, and it’s a love triangle. seungmin is in charge of screenplay and dialogues, changbin and lixie are in charge of props and costumes. jisung is handling lighting and editing, and hyunjin’s shooting. any questions?”
“yeah,” said changbin, raising a hand in the air. “what’s our plot?”
“that’s for seungmin to figure out, isn’t it?” replied chan, and jisung didn’t know if he was hallucinating, but he swore he saw a glint of knowledge in the older’s eyes.
—
Scene #4 : one more step
three weeks later
“jiwoo... i like you. i don’t know what it is about you - whether it’s your smile or the way you’re so caring, or how you’re so smart - but i really like you.”
minho looked at jiwoo’s eyes, holding her two hands between his own as he poured all his emotion into his confession.
“minho oppa, i also- oh damnit, i forgot,” said jiwoo, dropping her hands and going to the table where the script was kept. she scanned the scene once again, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“this whole script is great but the confession scene... is shit. when someone gets confessed to, isn’t it usually them being all dumbstruck and all?”
“yes, jiwoo-yah, but we need this short film to be short. no time for drama. so just accept the confessions from deep inside my heart-” minho dropped to his knees and spread his arms dramatically, pausing for more effect. jiwoo started giggling, which made him stare. that was the cutest giggle he had ever heard.
he suddenly became aware of how his face felt very hot and his heart started going at a million miles an hour.
what the fuck- oh no.
minho liked her. he liked jiwoo. and it was not just her giggling, it was how he always wanted to talk to her, how he reduced his cigarettes from six a day to two because she asked him to, how he missed her when she wasn’t with him, even if she promised to see him after class.
this wasn’t good at all. he needed a cigarette.
he stood up suddenly, making jiwoo stop laughing.
“what happ-”
“i’ll be back. i... yeah i’ll be back, i’m sorry. i need a moment-” saying so, he ran out of classroom, leaving jiwoo standing alone with the script, absolutely confused.
—
hyunjin was tired. did the student council really have to dump so much work on his head right when his vice president was on a month-long vacation with his family?
jeongin had also told him to come over and see the practice they were doing for the drama, so all in all, hyunjin was stressed. but he wouldn’t ever not be there for his jeongin, school work be damned.
he‘d just finished whatever he had for the day, and was now searching for the class where jeongin said he, minho and jiwoo be practicing in. all the classes were empty except the last class in the hall, where he saw a figure slumped over with her head faced away from the door.
“jiwoo...?” said hyunjin quietly, entering the class and noticing that yes, it was jiwoo, judging by the script book she had buried under her arm. the girl was fast asleep, her hair scattered everywhere, but to hyunjin, she looked the most beautiful.
he noticed how her hair was falling on her face and probably disturbing her, so he went to push it off her face, but before he could, the door opened once again and jeongin entered, panting.
“hyung, i’m sorry i’m late, i got-” he stopped mid-sentence to see hyunjin with his arm still hanging in the air. “uh... did i... disturb you?”
“no! no, i’m-” the door opened for the third time that day, and minho trudged in. hyunjin sniffed slightly at the air and then coughed at the overwhelming smell of cigarettes.
“minho hyung, i thought you stopped smoking?”
“just had a lot on my mind,” replied minho quietly. then he noticed jiwoo, oblivious to the commotion around her. his face immediately softened, and hyunjin raised an eyebrow. what?
“jiwoo-yah,” said minho, gently tapping her shoulder. “jiwoo, we have practice. wake up.”
the girl sat up and rubbed her eyes cutely, and hyunjin’s heart absolutely melted at the sight.
“oh, i’m sorry i fell asleep,” she said, picking up the script. “uh... where were we?”
—
Scene #5 : i will never stop
chan adjusted his olive-green headphones on his ears, the soundtrack for their short film playing through them. considering the fact that he usually dealt with rap songs, the ballad turned out pretty good.
humming slightly, he made his way to the school’s rooftop where they were going to film the final scene for their script. once he finished texting felix to meet him there, he opened the door and found the rest of the boys and jiwoo waiting for him.
once felix arrived, everyone got to their respective positions - minho and jiwoo together, jeongin at the side, re-reading the script while waiting for his entry into the scene, seungmin and changbin in the side, looking at the script, jisung next to the lighting, hyunjin with his camera, felix with his slate and chan with the huge microphone to record the dialogues.
seven takes later, which involved minho tripping over his feet and jiwoo accidentally sneezing amongst other things, felix yelled, “scene 8, take 8!”
chan shouted, “action!” as everyone took their place again. he sighed as his arms trembled while holding the microphone. he was muscular, yes, but he was also way too short for this microphone, which needed to be held well above the camera’s shooting frame. and doing that was a struggle. a huge one. but instead of creating an internal monologue of complaints, he focused on the scene in front of him.
minho took jiwoo’s hands in his own and acted nervous (was it really acting though?) and said, “jiwoo... i like you. i don’t know what it is about you - whether it’s your smile or the way you’re so caring, or how you’re so smart - but i really like you.”
chan raised an eyebrow when he saw hyunjin’s hands shake around his camera, before he put it down. he rolled his imaginary eyes as he yelled for the eighth time, “cut!”
everyone else groaned, except hyunjin, who was just looking at the ground, his hands still trembling. apparently chan wasn’t the only one who noticed the shaking hand, because jeongin immediately walked up to the other boy and held his hand gently, asking, “hyung, what’s wrong? why did you stop filming?”
“i just... i-”
“hyunjin,” said chan a little sternly. “it’s the eighth time we’re retaking the same scene. we all want to go home.”
“i... i have a confession to make,” hyunjin’s expression suddenly went from sad to determined, and chan internally thought, oh no.
“i like you, jiwoo,” he said, turning to the girl, whose eyes widened at the sudden confession. “i like your personality, i love your smile... i love everything about you. i like you a lot, and the fact that i couldn’t tell you this killed me inside, so i decided to tell you.”
everything seemed to still for a moment, everyone stopping whatever they were doing to just stare at hyunjin. jiwoo opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, someone else beat her to it.
“hyunjin, are you serious?” said minho, crossing his arms and glaring. “you all knew that i like her, so how could you let yourself like her too?”
another silence enveloped the group as everyone took in the second sudden confession.
“let myself like her? it just happened, minho hyung! i can’t help my feelings.”
“well too bad, because i like her too, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“don’t you think that’s her choice to make and not yours?”
“of course it is, but-”
“stop it!” exclaimed jiwoo suddenly, coming in between the two boys who were glaring at each other. “can we not do this here? we have a film to shoot!”
“actually...” chan looked at his watch and then at the skyline, “the sun has almost set. the lighting isn’t good enough, we need to shoot this again tomorrow. pack up for today!”
—
his friends around him packing up was like white noise to hyunjin, because all he could focus on was minho and jiwoo, who was looking at both of them with an unreadable expression on her face.
“well?” asked minho, raising an eyebrow. “are any of you going to say something?”
jiwoo sighed. “hyunjin, listen... i like you, i really do, but not like that... i like you as a friend and i really don’t want to lose you as a friend. i really only like minho, though... i’m so sorry...”
hyunjin felt his heart crack a little as he nodded, his eyes tearing up as he said a “congratulations!” to both of them. the world around him blurred out as he walked out of the rooftop terrace, his head pounding as a result of his heartbreak.
he ran down the stairs and into the first classroom he could find, immediately collapsing against the wall as the tears started falling. hyunjin cried for his broken heart, he cried for his lost love, he also cried for his spoilt friendship with minho.
suddenly, he felt a hand on his back and a figure sitting down next to him. hyunjin weakly mumbled, “go away,” but the person didn’t listen and sighed.
“hyunjin hyung, if i go, what kind of best friend would i be? i made a silent promise to be with you through your happiness and pain, so i’m going to be here when you’re going through heartbreak. cry your heart out to me, it’s alright. i’m here. i love you.”
hyunjin sniffled as he looked at the younger boy, not believing what he ever did to get someone as amazing as him in his life. “i love you too, jeongin,” he said, hugging the other and burying his face on his neck.
the two of them spent quite a long time in that empty classroom, jeongin just holding hyunjin, not saying a word as the older broke into pieces in his arms.
—
Scene #6 : you can’t turn away
two weeks later
the rooftop was quiet, only disturbed by the sounds coming from the chocolate wrapper hyunjin held in his hands.
it was a month before they would show the film to the whole school, and their editor, jisung, was hard at work. jeongin hadn’t even seen him for the past week.
things were normal in the group, or at least a part of it. hyunjin and jiwoo were good friends, and minho, the protective boyfriend, did not appreciate it. this made things a little... awkward between hyunjin and minho. but the others made sure to not let it affect the group dynamics a lot, so jeongin was internally thankful for them.
the only problem jeongin didn’t know how to solve was his best friend.
hyunjin had been upset ever since that day two weeks ago, barely smiling and laughing or interacting with others. he spent classes (barely) listening to the teacher, and lunches doing work for the student council, so the others barely saw him. the only person he still properly talked to was jeongin, who he now spent almost every waking moment with. he talked more and laughed more with him, and the younger didn’t know if he was supposed to be happy or sad about that.
“innie, i don’t know how to stop being sad,” said hyunjin, looking at the sunset with teary eyes. “i think i’ll be doing okay, but then i look at minho hyung and jiwoo and it’s like my heart cracks into two. i don’t know what to do. how do i move on?”
jeongin felt his own heart hurt when he heard his love talking about being in love with someone else, but he swallowed down the lump in his throat. “i get what you’re saying, hyung. but it’s alright, it’ll be okay. you’ll find someone else who’s made just for you. everyone has someone for them, their soulmate, we just have to wait till ours comes along.”
but why did jeongin feel like his own soulmate was near yet so, so far?
“yeah, but when i see her-”
jeongin just wrapped his arm around the older, partly to comfort him and partly to stop himself from breaking down right then and there.
“it’ll be okay,” he said, rubbing a hand down hyunjin’s back but talking mostly to himself. “it’ll all be okay, one day.”
—
Scene #7 : it’s late
one month later
hyunjin stood at the back of the large school auditorium, chewing his nails nervously. the hall was filled with a grand total of around a thousand students, all curious to see what the drama club had to offer after years of doing absolutely nothing.
next to him, chan nervously paced around anxiously, eyeing the students piling in. jisung, changbin, felix and seungmin were next to the projector, minho and jiwoo were nowhere to be seen (they‘re probably making out, thought hyunjin, internally rolling his eyes.) and jeongin was standing next to the entrance, for some reason, looking very cute as usual. being naturally cute was one of jeongin’s personality traits.
hyunjin had learnt to appreciate jeongin a lot more over the past one and a half months. the younger boy kept him company every single day, giving him a shoulder to cry on, and making him feel better in any way he could - whether it was hugs or words or just staying with him.
he had also learnt that jeongin loved someone a lot. the way he spoke about one sided love and how it hurt... hyunjin was convinced that he had someone he loved. when he asked him about it, the younger boy had just shrugged and said that yes, he did love somebody, but he wouldn’t reveal who it was until the time was right.
hyunjin just had just nodded and moved on, not wanting to pressurize the boy too much, but he was also curious. whoever jeongin loved was a very lucky person indeed.
once everyone settled down, jeongin returned to where he was standing and held out a toffee. hyunjin looked at it in confusion.
“better to chew a toffee than your nails,” replied jeongin, throwing one inside his own mouth. “you look like you’ll end up eating your whole nail, and that is not good.”
hyunjin smiled at him and took it, chewing the strawberry flavored candy. then, minho and jiwoo joined them, and the audience settled down.
one hour later, the audience was on their feet clapping and whooping, and all the students in the production team were beaming and hugging each other, all cold wars forgotten. minho was grabbing hyunjin by the jacket and shouting congratulations, and hyunjin was yelling back.
once they calmed down, hyunjin turned around to see jeongin looking at him weirdly, and he tilted his head in question.
“can i... uh... can i talk to you?” asked the younger boy, playing with a loose thread on his blazer sleeve.
“of course, innie! you can tell me anything.”
“no... i mean alone.”
hyunjin curiously followed jeongin the the hall outside the auditorium. jeongin looked nervous, and hyunjin took one of his hands in his own.
“don’t be nervous, innie. you could tell me that you murdered a man and i’d come help you bury the body. tell me what’s up.”
“hyung, i...” jeongin shook his head, and the next thing hyunjin knew, he felt a pair of lips on his own. his eyes widened in shock, and jeongin pulled away quickly, sighing.
“i’m sorry... i wanted to tell you that i like you but i didn’t know how, so i-”
hyunjin grabbed jeongin by his tie and pulled him forward, kissing him again, which made the younger boy immediately shut up. his eyes closed and he sighed against jeongin’s lips, and he wrapped an arm around the other boy’s waist.
they pulled apart a few seconds later, and hyunjin smiled at jeongin. “so... i was the person, huh?” jeongin nodded, a little shyly, and hyunjin giggled. “you’re so cute.”
“nope, you’re the cutest,” replied the younger boy. “and yeah, i’ve loved you for a pretty long time now. three years, to be exact.”
“three years?!” exclaimed hyunjin. “why didn’t you say something?”
“well, you’re pretty popular,” said jeongin. “a lot of people have crushes on you. and i was planning to confess to you, but that very day you met jiwoo, and so i pushed confessing back again. but i don’t know what possessed me to finally do it today.”
“i’m glad you did,” smiled the older boy. “i love you as a best friend, and like you as more, but it will take some time for me to fall in love with you.”
“i know, jinnie,” jeongin replied. “it’s alright, take your time. i’m just glad you didn’t friendzone me, i’m not sure how i would’ve handled that happening.”
“i’m the luckiest person in korea, i think,” said hyunjin. “a person as golden-hearted as you loving me... it’s almost like a dream.”
“stop being cheesy,” jeongin laughed, slapping him lightly.
“okay, sweetheart, but get ready for a lot of cheesy flirting.”
“don’t worry babe, i love it as much as i love you.
hyunjin’s heart skipped a beat, but jeongin didn’t have to know that.
“i’m pretty sure the others are waiting for us, chan owes us a celebratory party at the tteokbokki place. let’s go!”
and so they walked hand-in-hand back into the auditorium, looking forward to a celebratory party and the bright future ahead of them.
—
Scene #8 : the last train to you has already gone
“...and cut!” yelled the director, the cameraman stopping the shot and chaos erupting around the set.
hyunjin and jeongin smiled at each other, and then hugged each other to celebrate the end of another film, before they were joined by the other boys and jiwoo.
minho immediately made a beeline towards hyunjin, lacing their fingers together as conversation erupted around them, each person congratulating the others on a great shooting.
“you did great babe,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to hyunjin’s cheek.
“you too, darling,” he replied, brushing his fingers over minho’s knuckles.
then, he turned to see chan excitedly telling the others to meet him in his trailer, because he wanted to treat them to dinner in honor of the film shooting ending.
everyone cheered, excited about the free dinner. hyunjin grabbed the large megaphone and shouted out a thank you to the entire cast and crew for supporting them throughout the filming, and then passed it around so everyone could say their own last words.
at last it went to the director, who ended his speech with a “pack up!”
everyone skipped back to their respective trailers, hyunjin and minho going to their shared one. but no one noticed jeongin hanging out at the back of the group, looking at the couple with a longing gaze before he turned back to enter his own trailer.
he had to go through unrequited love both in the film and in real life, but the only difference was that it worked out for him in the film. in real life, he had to deal with his heartbreak on his own, just waiting until he found his own soulmate.
because even fools knew, he meant every single word, every single dialogue he had uttered to hyunjin.
even fools knew, how jeongin loved someone who would never turn back and look at him, and leave him to fall apart on his own.