Chapter Text
Weebs assemble ( 5)
Chicken Little has added Chan Bang, Jisung Han and Lee Felix to “Weebs assemble!”
Chan Bang:
What,,, is this
Jisung Han:
Seconded. What the heck hyung?
Felix Lee:
I have no idea but I’m living for it
Mini Mina:
You’re going to confuse them so hard, Jae
Chicken little:
Yeah, you’re right
Lemme just
Chicken Little has changed their name to “Jaehyung Park”
Jaehyung Park:
That should help the confusion
Anyways.
Welcome to the anime club, weebs
That’s how it all started.
“A year ago, Jae-hyung, our anime club’s president, added me into a random group chat. Well, it actually didn’t really start like that. If you want to go into specifics it all started with when I was born, the 14th of September-”
Hyunjin shoots a glare at the grinning boy sitting across from him.
Jisung lifts his hands up in defence, but relents. “Okay, okay. Well, it started all with Jae adding me to that group chat that actually ended up being the gc for the anime club. So, technically, it all started with me joining that club. I met Jae-hyung and Mina-noona at the club fair back when we started and well, yeah. Gave him my contacts so he could contact me for the first meeting. Didn’t think I’d get yeeted into that group chat out of nowhere.”
Hyunjin snorts. “After all the stories I’ve heard about that Jae-hyung, I’d think it’s very typical of him to do such things.”
Jisung nods. “Yeah, it really is. Anyways, this wasn’t what we were going to talk about. We’re here to talk about my crisis.”
“Jisung, I really don’t understand why you can’t just accept it was a gay panic and that you’re head over-”
“It was only ,” Jisung pauses as he stands up to face the older boy, finger pointing at him as if trying to make a point, “a cosplay photoshoot.”
Hyunjin snorts. “Sure, because apparently you ran out right as it ended with a beet red face.”
Jisung crosses his arms in front of his chest, dropping back down on his butt, pouting as he lands. “Did not!” And then mumbles, “You have too much internal info through Felix.”
Hyunjin outright laughs at that. “I do have a lot of extra information on how Chan is hopelessly in love with you and how you apparently are so goddamn oblivious to all the signs.”
Jisung sighs loudly, and puts his head in his hands.
“Okay yes, he’s damn handsome, for sure as Taki. Why does he have to be as handsome as Taki?”
“Wait, who’s Shirou again? What anime?”
Jisung’s face changes from surprised to unsurprised in the split of a second. “Why am I not surprised you forgot the names of the main characters of Brand New animal .”
“Hey! I didn’t see as much anime as you did! And look at some point I got used to blocking out your voice when you’re rambling about anime.”
Jisung sighs deeply, and pulls out his phone. He goes right to his photo album, to the favorite section, and shows Hyunjin the picture of Chan in the character’s outfit.
“Ooooh yes, that character! You showed me the pictures after the shoot.”
“Yes, that one. And so yes, he’s handsome as that character. Of course I’d have a gay panic! I’m just a simple gay, and a simp for every good looking man out there. And Chan just seems to be part of that audience.”
Hyunjin nods in agreement. “The man does have some heck of biceps-”
“NO, WE’RE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT HIS-” Jisung sighs, dropping his face in his hands again. “This is not the point , Hyunjin, please.” Jisung whines.
“The point is that you have another cosplay coming up with Chan and I really don’t understand why you’re stressing so much. You’ve worn skirts before, Sungie. For both cosplay and daily matters. What is going to be so different about it?”
“ Because Chan has never seen me in one!”
“As if he doesn’t know your cosplay account and has probably not swooped around it.”
Jisung wants to retort that he probably hasn’t when Hyunjin interrupts him. “Don’t tell me you haven’t swooped around his account just to check his other cosplays out.”
“He… actually… doesn’t… have… a cosplay account?” Jisung sounds unsure when he says it.
Hyunjin looks at him, perplexed. “Wait, then why is he doing those cosplays?”
“Because no one else felt like they fit the cosplay?”
Hyunjin sighs. “And now the real reason?”
“Because no one else had time and he offered to do the cosplay with me because I really wanted a partner for it and we had fun last time doing it so he offered to do the next one again with me?” Jisung’s cheeks are as red as tomatoes.
Hyunjin just stares at the younger for a good five seconds, and then sighs, again. “You, my friend, are a lost cause.”
Jisung opens his mouth to respond, but Hyunjin beats him to it as he lifts himself from the ground and grabs his back. “Now get moving, we’ve got to get to class.”
Jisung just pouts, but packs his bag as well and follows Hyunjin into the campus building.
It really did all start with the anime club Jisung had enrolled in. As a loud introvert, meeting people is already a big enough hassle. So when he scrolled through the multiple stands of the convention of his university, looking for a club to join, the anime club immediately caught his eye. What better way to meet people than by meeting people with the same interests, right?
That’s how he first met Jae and Mina. Jae was a whole mess trying to explain how it all worked, but he managed. Jisung found it more endearing than anything else, even if the boy was older than him. Mina added extra info here and there to make sure Jisung couldn’t miss any bit of info, and that Jae’s explanation became as clear as possible. A greater team for president and vice president can’t be found anywhere else, in Jisung’s opinion.
Soit, he filled in a form with contact info, and a few days later he received a message.
Unknown number:
Hi, is this Han Jisung?
Jisung
The one and only
Who has the honor of messaging me?
Unknown number:
Aight! It’s Jae-hyung
From the anime club
Jisung:
Oh yeah!
I remember
Jae-hyung:
Awesome
Give this just a minute
Jisung:
Euh
Sure?
Jisung shrugs his shoulders and goes back to his episode of Attack on Titan. Five minutes later, he receives another notification, showing he’s been added to the group chat.
.
Weebs assemble ( 5)
Chicken Little has added Chan Bang, Jisung Han and Lee Felix to “Weebs assemble!”
Chan Bang:
What,,, is this
Jisung Han:
Euh,,,, seconded
What the hell?
Felix Lee:
I have no idea what’s going on but I’m living for it
Mini Mina:
You’re going to confuse them so hard, Jae
Chicken little:
Yeah, you’re right
Lemme just
Chicken Little has changed their name to “Jae”
Jae:
That should help the confusion
Anyways.
Welcome to the anime club, weebs
Jisung could only snort at the absurdity of the chat, but he already liked it a lot. The group decided upon an hour and time to meet up weekly, and if there’s anything to prepare for it.
And that’s how Jisung met Felix, the rest of the anime club, and well, Chan during the first meeting. They decided to meet up every Tuesday after classes, aligning best with everyone’s schedules. They all agreed it was pure luck; most club activities were organized in the middle of the day as classes had very bad timing.
They met up in one of the higher located levels of the arts building. The classroom the club had received was not that big, but had enough space for all of them. The wall was filled with drawings from anime and the room had bookshelves filled with manga. There was also a big projector that was perfect for watching the different series and movies. Jisung kind of felt like he had entered paradise that day.
The first person he met was Felix, a real ball of sunshine. They are the loud duo of the club, and seem to resemble energetic twins. It seems like the whole club agrees on it, even though they sometimes wince at their loudness. He met multiple of the older members next to Jae, such as Joshua and Jihoon, two calming presences within the club, Yeri, a bubbly girl and Jeno, a more silent boy, just a year older than Jisung. The atmosphere within the club was great, the whole group getting along perfectly fine.
And then there was Chan. Chan, a friend of Jae that the latter dragged into the club. Even if a year older than Jisung, he only just joined the club. He was tall, had blond hair, crulls going everywhere as if he had just woken up. It might actually have been the case, seeing him yawn as he was sitting at the table.
Discussions started early on, and Jisung was excited to get to know more anime and to be able to discuss his favorite shows with others. Jisung was looking at multiple fanarts hanging on the wall of Your Name when someone behind him spoke up.
“Jisung, was it?”
Jisung jumped around, not expecting the soothing voice at all. His brain had already connected the voice to Chan, but he had been trying to ignore the older boy. Handsome and cute boys were not Jisung’s forte when it came to having a discussion, you see.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you! I’m sorry about that.”
Jisung waved in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. And yep, Jisung is me, I am Jisung. Chan, was it?”
Chan smiled brightly, his teeth showing and Jisung had to blink twice so that he wouldn’t zone out at the other boy’s beauty. “Yep! I hadn’t presented myself to you yet, formally. So here I am! Nice to meet you, Jisung.”
He puts out his hand for Jisung to take. Jisung returns the handshake, Chan’s grip firm on his hand. They start talking about the paintings on the wall, and about recent anime they have been watching. Their banter goes smoothly, and Jisung feels himself relax completely.
It was the first meeting of a lot of different ones, and Jisung couldn’t wait to have the rest of them.
Over the months, all of the members got pretty close to each other, teasing each other about other topics outside of anime. Some helped out with courses, gave some extra classes, and that’s how Chan and Jisung one evening ended up stuck in the club room for his creative writing class.
Jisung had a big assignment due for that week, but he was completely stuck in his lyrics. He tended to escape to the club room to continue these, just so he didn’t keep Hyunjin awake with his rhythmic tapping. Chan found him there around 7pm, after he realized he forgot something inside said room.
Jisung was so lost in his thoughts, head in his hands, elbows on the table, that he didn’t realize that someone had entered the classroom. He jumped up as the lights were switched on, turning his body to face the person who turned on the lights.
“Jisung?” Chan’s confused expression met Jisung’s. “What are you still doing here?”
Jisung gestured to his laptop. “Working for creative writing class. Don’t wanna keep Jinnie awake later.”
Chan hummed, scooching over. “How’s that working out?”
Jisung dropped his head on the table, resolution leaving his body. “It is not . It’s all shit and I have to finish this by midnight and I’m gonna fail this assignment and then I’ll fail the course and I’ll fail my year and I’ll just go work in a supermarket for the rest of my days.”
It was silent for a few seconds, before Chan burst out laughing. Jisung turned towards him, a scowl on his face. “Hey! It’s not funny!” The younger boy pouted.
“It kinda is, to be honest”, Chan responded when he caught his breath. “Can I help ya out? I had this course last year, so I can maybe help out. Outsider’s view and all that jazz.”
Jisung nodded and Chan sat down beside him. He read the lyrics intently, the concentration written all over his features. Jisung was sitting beside him nervously, until Chan turned to face him. “Jisung, you are an absolute genius. These are beautiful.”
Jisung let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Really? They just don’t feel okay at all.”
“They really are. Let’s go over them together?”
Jisung nods, and they get to work.
Chan and Jisung bonded that night over lyrics and music, and Jisung thanked the stars for this new friend of his.
Chan and Jisung keep talking over chat messages for hours until deep in the night. They also meet up at the library to study together.
(Study dates Hyunjin calls them, to which Jisung always responds that they’re not study dates.)
They get closer over time, Jisung being able to talk to Chan about whatever and whenever. He’s able to confide in him, and has found a safe place in him over time.
It’s now Jisung’s second year and he has finally tackled the topic of cosplay. Mina, Felix and Hyewon, their newest addition to the club, have been trying to make him participate in their cosplays, Felix knowing very well that one of his best friends had been dying to try it out, but he was too scared. The topic comes up during one of the meetings.
“Jisung, you’d look adorable as Michiru from BNA! You already resemble a quokka, so the animal part would suit you so well!”
“Felix, I already told you, I’m too shy for that! And I’m not as pretty as the cosplayers!”
“If I may interrupt,” Chan speaks up, and the heads of the self-proclaimed twins turn towards him. “Jisung, would it maybe help if you didn’t do it on your own?”
Jisung thinks it over, but he already knows the answer, which would be a yes. He knows Felix can’t cosplay Shirou, but he really doesn’t want to do this on his own. He has never done it before, but the others had already done such a cosplay and he doesn’t want to make them do it over just for him.
Jisung decides to nod, crossing his arms over his chest.
“What about I cosplay Shirou? That way you’re not alone, and I can try this out as well. It sounds like fun!”
Before Jisung can react, Felix squeeks. “Oh my god, YES! Chan, you could be perfect as a wolf! It suits your personality so well! We can even find you a wig, but honestly your hair’s crispy enough.”
Chan’s offended sound almost doesn’t register in Jisung’s brain as he imagines the elder in Shirou’s outfit. It’s not like he doesn’t know that he is attracted to the elder, so imagining him in Shirou’s white coat with wolf ears…
Oh shit , Jisung thinks, I’m screwed .
The first session is that much of a success that they agree on a second one. Jisung had been wanting to do a cosplay regarding Your Name that it’s the first one he proposes to do next. Chan is nothing but excited as well, having rewatched the movie recently. They decide on a day and place.
Jisung’s lying down on his bed looking at the second episode of Given , when get a message. He sits up right when he sees who it is from.
Chrispy:
Hey Sungie! I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to do a raincheck for tomorrow. I got an emergency. Can we move it to next week? I’ll make it up to you!
I am really really really really sorry
I know you were looking forward to it and everything and I’m really sorry
I just can’t not go home for this
Jisungie:
Hyung
It’s fine
I promise
You can’t help it; it’s a family emergency! Get your ass home so you can take of it
Stay safe, okay?
Chrispy:
I promise I will
Thank you sungie
I’ll make it up to you
“I know you will”, Jisung sighed out loud, his back hitting the mattress of his bed.
Jisung would admit he was disappointed. He had been looking forward to this cosplay for a while. He is sure that Chan as Shirou from Brand New Animal would have looked explicitly good on him. It had also been a while since Jisung had worn a skirt for a cosplay, one of his favorite layers of clothing such photoshoots.
Jisung sighs out loud again, and Hyunjin looks up from the bed beside him. “Sungie, what the hell are you sighing so hard for? You look like a puppy that just got abandoned.”
Jisung turns his body to him, lifts himself up from his bed to head over to Hyunjin’s and crashes on top of his roommate’s body. Hyunjin groans, but still wraps his arms around him. Hyunjin combs through the younger’s hair, his voice softer than before. “Sungie, what’s up?”
“Chan had to cancel on me.”
Hyunjin’s movements still, and he snorts once, just to dissolve into giggles afterwards. Jisung whacks his head up to look at the elder and pouts. “Hey! Don’t laugh at me! I was looking forward to that cosplay!”
“I- I know, S-Sungie”, Hyunjin hiccups in between words, “but still, that’s what you’re looking so sad about?”
Jisung pouts even more, burying his head into the other’s chest. It’s Hyunjin’s turn to sigh.
“Are you actually sad because of the cosplay or because you won’t see Chan tomorrow?”
Jisung lifts up his head again, his chin resting on the other’s chest. “The cosplay, of course. And what Chan’s outfit would have looked like in Taki’s outfit. He would have looked so good in it.”
Hyunjin snorts again. “And there’s our whipped Sungie, again. When are you going to admit to yourself that you like him?”
Jisung raises an eyebrow at him. “Me? I don’t like him. He’s good looking and yes, you can understand why I have a gay panic every time I see him and sure he’s complete boyfriend material,” Jisung rambles on, not even realizing how Hyunjin’s grin has grown, “but I do not like him.”
Hyunjin hums, a shit eating grin on his face. He pats Jisung’s back. “Sure sure, I’ll believe you.”
Jisung wants to retort something, but Hyunjin’s eyes widen. “Have you messaged Minnie yet? Wasn’t he supposed to be your photographer?”
Jisung’s eyes widen too. “Shit, you’re right, thanks!”
He rushes off Hyunjin, almost elbowing the elder’s stomach in the process, jumps on his bed and grabs his phone.
Sungie:
Sorry Minnie, raincheck for tomorrow
Chan had to cancel
Is next week good as well?
Minnie:
Oh, that’s a bummer
What happened?
And next week is just fine
Got more time for some school task then
Sungie:
Chan said smth about an emergency
I don’t know more about it
Minnie:
Oh okay
How do you not know though?
Sungie:
What do you mean?
Minnie:
Well, you two always talk
All the time
Whenever i see you on your phone you’re texting chan dude
Sungie:
I do not???
And we don’t talk that often
Minnie:
Yeah yeah sure
I’ll see you around
Jisung doesn’t understand what Seungmin means. Yes, he and Chan talk a lot, but that doesn’t mean they talk all the time ? And what did he mean by Jisung not knowing what emergency Chan has? It’s not like it’s his business unless Chan tells him himself, right?
Jisung tries not to think about it. Keyword: tries.
But Chan not sending him a message since his rain check of Friday does throw him off guard.