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He brushed his messy brown hair out of his eyes as he stared down at the equation before him. It was late and the clock was ticking beside his notebooks. Stacks of papers and textbooks surrounded him as he sat there in the dim light of his desk lamp. Minho sighed, sitting back in his chair. The sleeves of his baggy sweatshirt fell limply along with his hands.
“I’m done! I can’t even look at this anymore!”
Minho had been studying for what seemed like ages, and the time that hung tiredly on the clock confirmed his feeling perfectly well. He wondered who would be willing to speak to him at such an hour and without hesitation dialed Chan.
“What do you need?” Came the voice from the other end of the phone. Minho almost flinched - Chan seemed quite irritated.
“Sorry for calling so late,” Minho said hesitantly.
“What’s up, dude?” Chan sighed on the other end.
Minho glanced at the time reading the first hours of the morning. He clenched the long sleeves of his pastel blue sweatshirt and muttered,
“I need you to teach me to skateboard.”
“You- Wha-” Minho could almost see Chan shaking his head on the other end. “Minnie, why so suddenly? I thought you were studying… Does Jisung really never leave your mind?”
“I was just thinking…” Minho began. “And- Well- I just don’t have a chance with him unless I can skateboard!”
“Buddy, get some sleep,” Chan laughed. “It’s Saturday tomorro- I mean today, so we’ll talk later about your sudden urge to skateboard.”
“Channie, you HAVE to!” Minho whined.
“Goodnight!” Chan called before hanging up.
Minho huffed and tumbled into his bed. As he stared at his bookshelf, he thought of the blue-haired boy that haunted his mind so often. His smile and his style, the way he skateboarded. Minho had a crush and it wouldn’t leave him as easily as one might assume.
~
“What do you mean I can’t skate in this?” Minho pouted.
Chan looked his best friend up and down. From his pastel pink baggy hoodie to his light baggy jeans, purple socks and white slides.
“Alright! At least change your shoes and we’ll get you some knee pads. I can also let you borrow my helmet.” Chan gave up.
Minho had just arrived at Chan's house and didn’t look quite ready to skateboard in the latter’s point of view. Chan led the smaller boy in through his front door to prepare him for what was coming.
~
“Might as well bubble wrap me, hyung!” Minho whined, wobbling around in his extended safety gear.
“You’ll fall and hurt yourself.” Chan shrugged. “So, are you ready to start?”
Minho nodded eagerly. Chan chuckled at how his helmet bounced around on the boy’s head.
“Alright, stand on the board and we’ll get started.”
--
As it turned out, Minho was not naturally talented in skateboarding. As much as Chan urged him on and assured him he would make it in no time, Minho just seemed to tumble and tumble off the evil board. He sighed and huffed and groaned as Chan helped him back onto the board after they both fell on the pavement - Minho losing his balance and Chan, supporting him, taking a tumble as well. Minho brushed off the dust on his jeans and was grateful at last for the protective gear Chan forced onto him.
“Not to worry!” Chan smiled. “You’ll be skateboarding quite freely in a couple of weeks!”
“A couple of weeks?!” Minho exclaimed. “But hyung, he’ll already have a boyfriend by then! I need to be able to skateboard freely by NEXT WEEKEND!”
“Minho, I don’t know how to tell you this-” Chan crossed his arms over his chest.
“Nope! I won’t even hear it, hyung!” Minho shook his head. His helmet wiggled in agreement. “You will teach me and I will finally gather up the courage to make my move!”
Chan sighed deeply, contemplating the possibility for a while. Not finding the strength to state his true opinion, he said,
“Alright then. Let’s get learning.”
He felt that Minho was just slightly underestimating the time it takes to learn to skateboard - especially if one’s balance is equal to a needle perched upon its tip *cough* like Minho’s *cough*. Either way, he was not willing to disappoint his determined buddy, who was so in love, he would do anything. Chan would teach him to skateboard, even if it took all he had.
~
Sure enough, Minho wasn’t joking about his strong will to skateboard. After their first session where his stance had only improved towards the end, he was determined to keep trying. After that first lesson, Minho’s parents had a hard time rushing him back into the house that night after watching him skate down the sidewalk before the house with a powerful look on his face and Chan’s black helmet wobbling on his head. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were quite shocked to watch their son’s rather stable pose on the board as he propelled himself forward. But it was late and it was dark, so no matter his success, they were firm on bedtime. That night Minho climbed into bed with a grin on his face. The stack of finished homework on his desk came as a relief, but he knew more was coming. No matter the load of homework, the highschooler would find time for his new hobby. And Minho had nothing grave to worry about, as he was quite a bright boy and would find time for everything no matter what. The slight aching in his backside from all the times he collapsed off the skateboard didn’t worry him as he drifted off to sleep - peaceful as that very board sitting soundlessly still in the corner of his room.
~
Chan’s shift was coming to an end when he spotted the cute reminder sitting at a table with an expectant look on his face. Chan smiled as he emptied the ground coffee beans into the disposal. Minho jumped from his seat and rushed to the counter where he had closest contact to Chan and grinned widely,
“Are you almost done, hyung?”
Chan checked his watch.
“Just fifteen more minutes Minnie,” he replied. “Did you want to grab a drink while you wait?”
Minho adjusted the helmet on his head as he stared at the menu in thought. Chan immediately received his answer when he saw the way Minho’s eyes twinkled.
“Can I have the watermelon-ade?!” He exclaimed.
“Sure thing! You’ll just have to go order with the cashier.” Chan directed Minho with his hand to where the cashier named Seungmin stood.
The latter nodded and marched off to the cash register, looking only mildly ridiculous in his protective gear.
~
When the clock struck time for Chan to leave the cafe at which he worked, he briefly said his goodbyes and was off with Minho, who carried his skateboard in hand to the same court where they had begun their lessons the previous day. The second lesson passed as quickly as the first, as Chan, who was older and therefore had more school responsibilities, had to leave earlier, but urged Minho to practice on his new knowledge. Slightly disappointed by Chan’s absence, Minho was forced to balance on his own as he attempted again and again to keep steady course on his skateboard and secretly (as Chan had advised him not to without any assistance) to turn by shifting his body from side to side.
---
And so this pattern continued on through the week with Minho showing up at the cafe every afternoon, all dressed up in his protective gear, the helmet perched atop his head, skateboard in hand and his comfiest sneakers on. Chan gladly left work in a hurry to assist his eager best friend in learning to skateboard. They made their way together to the court where they practiced. Chan gave experienced tips and occasional demonstrations, holding Minho steady on the board when he could or running beside him as he rode just in case the boy toppled over. Minho did fall, he did fail, but he never gave up. The thought never left his mind - it stayed an assurance that when he was able to skateboard, the handsome boy he got all flustered over would finally pay attention to him.
-
And progress was surely made! Minho went from barely keeping standing on the board the previous Saturday to that Saturday when he and Chan sat there in the grass in the light of the street lamps. It had gotten dark while Minho practiced and perfected his simple techniques that he was sure to impress Jisung with. Chan sat silent, in thought. Minho rolled the skateboard along lazily, pushing it without thinking. He looked up at the dark sky where the moon was clearly visible - it looked peaceful. He spoke,
“Will you come to the skatepark with me tomorrow, hyung?”
“Of course I will!” Chan turned to smile at him. “I want to see you get that stupid skater boy already!”
“He’s not stupid!” Minho smacked his friend playfully. “Do you think he’ll be there?”
Chan stood up and brushed grass off his behind,
“I KNOW he’ll be there, Minho. Now let’s go home. You need some sleep. It’s the big day tomorrow.”
Minho stood as well, hugging the pastel colored skateboard Chan got him for his birthday to his chest. As he followed the older boy, he felt the urge to say something, but his thoughts were too mixed up.
“Thanks for teaching me, Channie,” was all he could manage.
“Aw, no problem.” Chan patted him on the back in reassurance. He knew his best friend well and could feel his uneasiness. “Just promise me you won’t try anything you can’t do tomorrow.”
“Of course not.” Minho nodded, his eyes fixed on the pavement beneath his feet.
~~~
Minho watched him from far away. Sure enough, Jisung was at the skatepark that Sunday, like he was every Sunday -and most of the week for that matter. Minho just watched and could feel a blush creeping up.
Jisung was too cool. His blue undercut looked especially free that morning as strands of hair blew around in the warm breeze. He was dressed in a long sleeved black and white shirt under a baggy black graphic tee tucked into black cargo pants adorned with a bulky black belt, decorated with chains of all sorts. He wore black and white Vans and his skateboard was black. Minho knew for sure his crush adored the color black. On top of everything, his nails were painted black, which, added to the rest of his appearance, quite literally drew heart eyes on Minho. The latter glanced briefly at Chan by his side, who was busy watching Jisung’s friend Changbin with a look of puzzlement. Minho poked his friend.
“I’m going.” He declared with certainty.
Chan turned his head quickly,
“Be careful, okay?”
Minho was sure this comment was related to his lack of protective gear that day, as he had whined that he looked ridiculous.
“I’ll be careful.” He nodded.
Chan patted the smaller boy’s helmet and grinned,
“Good luck!”
Minho was quickly left alone as Chan backed away, joining his coworker and friend Seungmin a few meters behind. Minho knew his best friend was watching and expecting success and he knew Jisung would see him too. He just stood there for a second before catching his crush’s glance in his direction and realizing it was time. Minho reran all of Chan’s advice in his head before hopping on the board. His heart fluttered as he looked in Jisung’s direction and noticed his still set gaze. He got moving.
Minho had never been so set on getting his form right, on not falling. For some reason it seemed a lot harder this time. He could feel that sharp gaze on him and he turned, wobbling slightly - he took a deep breath. He went for a turn in the other direction, but something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. As he fell, he saw him approaching. Everything seemed to slow down - Minho felt a sense of immediate embarrassment and regret wash over him. It was all a blur up to the part when he fell flat on his bum.
Minho closed his eyes and tried his best to ignore the burning of his cheeks. He fell back and pretended he was one with the pavement. As he lay there on his back, he heard a voice.
“Hey!”
It was him!
Minho looked up to see Jisung grinning down at him.
“Are you talking to me?” Minho flushed.
“Yes, I am.” Jisung nodded, brushing his hair back.
“Oh, okay.” Minho sat up, not daring to look at the beauty before him.
“Did you want some help with skating? I could teach you.” Jisung spoke again.
“Wh- huh?”
“I said: I could help you with skating. I saw you looked a bit unstable. And plus, I’ve been hoping to talk to you for a while.” Jisung smiled.
“Talk to me?” Minho looked up at once.
“Yeah silly! Get up, come on.” Jisung outstretched his hand.
Minho took it and was up in a second, still blushing.
“What’s your name, cutie?” Jisung looked the boy affectionately up and down, taking in the baggy style and pastel colours.
“I’m Minho.”
“And I’m Jisung.” The handsome skater grinned. “Nice to meet you.”
- And with that, Minho went from admiring the boy from a distance to skating with him … and maybe even a little more. -