Work Text:
Choi Han first knew about Cale when he accidentally came across the redhead's art post.
He was beyond mesmerized at the aesthetic piece he saw that he couldn't stop himself from commenting on the post. He even mentioned his best friend, Rosalyn, just to share what he found.
Later on, he found out that Rosalyn is actually friends with the artist.
Choi Han didn't really put much thought to it and even knew at the back of his mind that he would probably never encounter that guy's post again. Until he saw another art made by Cale.
At that point, he couldn't avoid becoming someone who looks forward to each and every art and even random posts that Cale made on his social media account. (Needless to say, Choi Han follows Cale and read his every post but never once reacted to it unlike the first time. He was kind of scared of being accused as a stalker even though he pretty much acts like it, but that's not the point.)
And then one day, Rosalyn decided to step in.
Rosalyn •
[Rosalyn]
You know...
I think you should talk to him
[Me]
????
What do you mean??
talk to who?
[Rosalyn]
Ugh...
stop pretending not to know!
You know, the artist friend I have that you literally stalk all the time!
[Me]
I. Don't. Know. Who. You're. Talking. About.
Me? Stalking? No. Way.
[Rosalyn]
Choi Han,,,
I can tell when you're trying to lie
[Me]
I. Really. Don't. Know.
Don't. Accuse. Me. Of. Lying.
You. Know. I. Don't. Lie.
[Rosalyn]
Sure.....
Anyway, Go and message him!
He already knows about you
[Me]
Wait what????
Why?????
Who told him about me?????
And what things did they tell him?????
[Rosalyn]
Well... that's a secret
Not my fault someone was being a coward :p
Alberu is already tired of watching you pin for a guy you don't even talk to
So I thought, why not help pave the way?
You never know, this might be your first and only chance of getting to know a great person ;)
[Me]
Rosalyn...
You and I know,
As well as Alberu,,
And everyone else,,,
That I... can't talk to someone new,,,,,
without needing someone's help...
[Rosalyn]
Typing...
[Me]
My point is
This is a horrible idea.
Let's just pretend this never happened
And let's never talk about this again
[Rosalyn]
He's waiting for your message
[Me]
....
Are you going to pretend not to see what I just said?
[Rosalyn]
well... :,)
I'm rooting for you!
Oh, and btw Alberu is threatening you
[Me]
???What???
[Rosalyn]
He said if you're not making a move he'll kick you out of the baseball team
[Me]
But I'm his mentor???
[Rosalyn]
He said, "Details"
Choi Han was rendered silent after reading Rosalyn's last message.
He can't believe his own friends would betray him like this (not that its exactly a betrayal but you get the point)
Choi Han took a deep breathe. 'Let's just ig—'
Ping!
Choi Han checked his phone and he almost stopped breathing after seeing the 'Cale Henituse is following you' notification.
'I might be seeing things'
He puts down his phone on his side and rubbed his eyes, then picked up his phone again and saw the same notification staring back at him.
"You're kidding" Choi Han said in disbelief.
There was another notification.
[Alberu]
Choi Han ^ ^
Whatever idea Choi Han had that may or may not include breaking his phone just to avoid talking to the artist guy he's.... well, stalking was immediately thrown out the window the moment he saw the smiling face in Alberu's message that doesn't feel like a smiling face at all!
He didn't respond to Alberu's message and instead, went to check Cale's account (like he always does) and stared at the "message" button.
Time passed by that honestly felt like decades before Choi Han took a very deep breathe that he didn't know he needed because he forgot to breathe a few seconds ago.
[Rosalyn]
I'm just gonna say this before you do anything you might regret
Be normal.
Don't try to act and just talk to him like how you would talk to us
And just like that, Choi Han took another deep breathe.
'Be normal, just be normal'
He was repeating those words like a mantra before he finally got the courage to click the message button. Once he did that, Choi Han just stared at his screen.
'I... don't know what to say...'
He hasn't even started anything but he already felt his mind going blank. Why was he forcing himself to do this again?
[Alberu]
Hey, don't ignore my message ^ ^
Choi Han's lips formed a thin line. Right. He was being threatened to do this.
'But why?! I was just trying to live?!'
He started to internally cry.
Choi Han decided not to compose a message (because he could already feel that he's going to somewhat fail...) and instead, scrolled through his gallery to find a perfect picture for starting conversation.
But what he saw was an almost empty gallery save for random pictures Alberu and Rosalyn took while his phone was on their possession. It was mostly stolen shots of him during practice and when they ate lunch together.
Choi Han might not know a lot about socializing but hell, he's aware randomly sending his picture to a stranger is downright weird! He might even get called a creep or whatever!
(the only photos that Choi Han took himself was of Lock and his siblings, cats he came across, and some random street. He doubt its something Cale would be interested in.)
He slightly got distracted and just scroll through his gallery and stare at every picture he saw until he found the perfect picture to send. Finally.
Its their first official talk anyway so Cale wouldn't really mind about the picture he's about to send, right? Choi Han just hope it gets to make Cale smile at the very least...
With the confidence of a goose, ready to face a battlefield, Choi Han sends Cale the image.
Cale Henituse •
[Me]
After sending the picture, Choi Han felt that he could finally relax.
He didn't immediately got a respond which was totally fine. Choi Han was currently trying to find a comfortable position in bed so he could lay down properly when—oh. Oh.
Cale finally repLIED—
Cale Henituse •
[Cale]
I can't see the picture
Typing...
I don't have a wifi connection at the place I'm at
[Me]
[Cale]
????
[Me]
Oh I'm sorry—
Once again, Choi Han cursed his awkward social skills.
[Me]
Did I disturb you?
Choi Han felt a little down at the thought that Cale might have been busy and he might have possibly disrupt whatever Cale was doing.
Cale Henituse •
[Cale]
Typing...
Just when Choi Han was slowly feeling even more dejected, he immediately brighten at Cale's response
[Cale]
You didn't
Choi Han moved to lay down on his stomach and read the next message he received
[Cale]
I was taking a short break when you messaged
My break is about to end though
Choi Han bit his lip as he tries to think of what to say before starting to type
[Me]
Can I bother you later then?
If you don't mind
Cale didn't reply for 3 minutes. Choi Han was staring at the time on his phone the whole time, until finally he received another message
[Cale ]
Okay
Choi Han smiles to himself after seeing Cale's reply. It was short but that's alright, they would probably end up with long conversations later on. This was their first conversation after all, he can probably consider this a success.
"Hyung," Cale called out to the guy who was oddly being quiet, standing beside him as he continue to stare at his phone that was trying to load the picture he received from the guy named Choi Han. "Are you sure you didn't ask some weird guy to message me?"
He slowly turn towards Alberu who was also staring at his own phone. When he mentioned the word "message" Alberu instantly whip his head around to look at him, "What? He messaged you?"
Cale couldn't tell if Alberu was shocked, in disbelief, or amused. Possibly all.
Alberu smiled brightly then reached out to pat his shoulder. "Dongsaeng, don't worry. He's a great guy"
Cale didn't know if he should trust his hyung who was smiling suspiciously but decided to ignore it when he heard another notification sound. Choi Han sent him another image right after he had just said he can't see the previous picture he sent. Cale furrowed his eyebrow before he started to type out a reply.
Alberu observed Cale typing for a while before turning to his own phone and composed a message.
Rosalyn •
[Me]
They're already talking
Alberu couldn't stop his lips from forming a smirk. He really didn't care since Cale won't see it anyway. If his dongsaeng saw it, he might get in trouble with him but since Cale have zero chance of seeing him right now since he's busy typing on his phone, Alberu was safe to let the smirk slip.
[Me]
Our mission is done. Let's just wait for them to start doing their own thing
"Hyung," Cale was still typing on his phone when he called out to Alberu for the first time since he started to have a long and easy-going conversation with the guy on the other side of his screen right after Cale was done with another art that he was working on earlier.
When Cale finally stopped typing and looked up from his phone, Alberu could see that his dongsaeng was amused at whatever thing he and Choi Han were talking about.
"Where did you say the location of the school you attend to was again?"
Alberu raised an eyebrow and crossed his arm, leaning on the back of his chair. "You don't forget things"
Cale rolled his eyes. "Yeah and you never told me the exact location of your school is"
"Why do you even want to know? Why are you suddenly interested? You never asked me about this before"
Cale just smirked instead of responding. For some reason, Alberu felt iffy after seeing that smug look on Cale's face. He felt like he's going to receive a major headache sooner or later after this very conversation.
'Choi Han...' Alberu calls out the name of the only person he could think of as the reason for Cale's current actions, 'I thought we told you to talk to him, why did you unleash Cale Henituse's inner demon instead?'