Work Text:
On a quiet Tuesday evening, Soobin’s bedroom door flings open, and he’s extremely grateful that he stashed away his Men’s Health magazines ten minutes prior. Before Soobin can say or see anything, his one hundred and eighty-five centimeters tall body is pulled into a suffocating hug. The person squeezing the life out of him takes an extremely long deep breath, and—oh, Soobin knows who this is. He braces himself for the scream; in three, two, one.
“HIIIII, MY LOVELY LITTLE BROTHER!” Jinsol shouts like she’s not right by his ear, “did you miss me? I know you did! ‘Cause I missed you! How are you? How’s colle- no, wait! How’s your love life?” All in the same breath.
When Jinsol graciously remembers that Soobin needs to breathe and pulls back, Soobin notices her hair is now dark blue instead of the light blonde he last saw her with.
“My love life is terrible,” he sighs, flopping back onto his bed and staring blankly at the ceiling. “It’s just me third-wheeling Beomgyu and his boyfriend.”
“You know,” Jinsol says, ignoring his reply and staring at the dead ends of her hair, “you sound just like me when Jungeun and I were looking at sororities to join. There was, like, this one sorority called Luna, and the girls were hot, but anyways, it was actually kind of a cult. Assigned us all animals and colors, I got a stupid beta fish. Soobin, don’t you think I’m more of like a deer?”
Jinsol flicks her gaze back to Soobin who’d been smothering himself with a pillow for the last fifteen seconds.
“Oh, right. Continue what you were saying,” she says a little apologetically.
Soobin sighs and yanks the pillow away from his face, “Nevermind, I give up. I’m just going to be single for the rest of my life. Maybe own a hedgehog so I’m not lonely, I don’t know. Or respond to the cougar in my dms, or download Grindr. Or—“
“Okay, okay,” she cuts him off, giving him a pitying look as she plops down onto his desk chair and raises her feet onto the desk. She’s still wearing her shoes, and there’s a patch of dirt and grass stuck in the soles. It makes Soobin’s grimace. “Tell me what’s wrong with your love life.”
It was impossible to miss Huening Kai the first time Soobin saw him.
On the first day back to classes, there’d been a huge crowd congregating around the university’s gated entrance, and Soobin concluded it was a celebrity sighting so he weaved into the crowd.
If Soobin didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought Seoul Fashion Week was being held at his university, because when the chauffeur opened the door, two boys wearing the latest Gucci collection stepped out (Soobin only knows it’s the latest collection because he’d seen the clothes in Beomgyu’s online shopping cart for the past two weeks).
At first, Soobin had only been looking at their outfits, too impressed by the fact that they’d shown up wearing the exact same Gucci sweater, pants, socks, and shoes. He wondered if they dressed up identically like this all the time (he later finds out that they do, and they get dubbed ‘The Designer Twins’ by the entire university). One of them had silver hair, lighter than the grey shade Beomgyu had dyed his hair freshman year, and he was incredibly adorable in a younger brother sort of way to Soobin. Then, the other one came into view, and Soobin’s mouth had dropped open so fast that he still gets lockjaw to this day sometimes.
The other boy’s platinum blonde hair glistened so brightly in the sun, cherry blossom petals cascading down on him perfectly as time halted, though, maybe that was just part of Soobin’s tunnel vision (it was January, and there were no cherry blossom trees blooming). He was doe-eyed, cute, and the most ethereal person Soobin had ever laid his two eyes on. He walked closer, and closer, and closer until Soobin realized he was literally stopped right in front of him.
“Is this the entrance to Seoul University?” The blonde had shyly asked, beautiful eyes sparkling as he looked at Soobin expectantly.
And Soobin will forever label this as the number one most regretful moment in his life because he wanted to say something charismatic like Yes, but you're entering my heart and woo him over. Instead, like every other twenty year old with heart eyes popping out of his skull, Soobin had opened his mouth to very eloquently say, “Yep.”
Ethereal blonde lit up and thanked him with a heart-stopping smile, giving Soobin a little grateful wave goodbye before he linked arms with the other person. Along with everyone else in the crowd, Soobin was left in awe watching them skip towards the university’s office together. Two hours later he ran to the office and begged the secretary to tell him their names: Kang Taehyun, the grey-haired boy, and Huening Kai, the blonde-haired boy.
That was the day Soobin fell in love with Huening Kai.
Soobin’s mid-bite into his croiffle when Beomgyu plops down onto the table abruptly, churro falling off of his plate from all the impact. Beomgyu reaches down, grabs his churro off the university’s tile floor and takes a bite out of it. Gross.
“So,” Soobin says, dragging out the last sound of the vowel, “I’m guessing Yeonjun can’t make it this weekend?”
That immediately makes Beomgyu pout and drop his churro. Soobin looks away before he has to see Beomgyu pick it up off the floor and eat it again.
“Nope, he’s finishing his collab with IU then he has to film a music video with Ariana Grande on Saturday,” he huffs.
(When Beomgyu first told Soobin he was dating Yeonjun, Korea’s biggest new pop star, Soobin didn’t believe him at all. That was until Beomgyu facetimed Yeonjun seconds after to prove himself, and honestly, Soobin was completely starstruck when Yeonjun picked up and said in all his suave glory, “Hey, Soobin, Gyu’s told me a lot about you.”
He had asked Beomgyu how they got together, but Beomgyu just shrugged and simply said Yeonjun messaged him on Instagram one day, and that was believable because Beomgyu is one of the most handsomest people Soobin has ever seen.
But then it also didn’t make sense, and Soobin was confused, because Beomgyu? His Choi Beomgyu that can’t read a full paragraph but whose favorite book is The Art of War by Sun Tzu? Choi Beomgyu who can’t eat anything with tomatoes because he has irritable bowel syndrome? Beomgyu who owns a life-sized pillow of Naruto Uzumaki?
Soobin was also really scared that Beomgyu was getting led on by Yeonjun. But one day, he accidentally oversaw a conversation between the two of them that went, “You are so sweet, cotton swab,” from Beomgyu, to which Yeonjun replied, “You are sweeter, sugar booger. <3”
Soobin decided right then and there that Beomgyu and Yeonjun suited each other, and he never saw Yeonjun the same.)
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to walk into oncoming traffic,” Beomgyu says, standing up from the table dramatically and staring a little too long at the road.
Soobin reaches over the table and pats Beomgyu’s arm sympathetically, saying, “Sorry to hear that, Gyu. I’m sure he’s just as upset about it as you are.”
His damage control is successful when Beomgyu sits back down and purses his lips childishly. Then Beomgyu’s demeanor switches instantly, and he’s got that wicked glimmer in his eyes that he always gets before he proposes a bad idea.
“Hey,” he says, gripping the edge of his table and leaning in closer, “we should go to Daegu and stay at my parent’s place while they’re gone.”
“Uh,” is all Soobin can say. The last time they stayed at Beomgyu’s house while his parents were out, Soobin woke up with no shirt on, a hangover, and a text from Jinsol: “why did u leave me a voicemail at 3:27 am asking if i knew any milfs.”
“If you say no, I’m assuming you'll be having too much fun looking at your Men’s Health magazines,” Beomgyu says drily.
“There’s good workout tips in there!” Soobin defends, but Beomgyu gives him a look—they both know he doesn’t work out.
Soobin sighs and tries to salvage what’s left of his pride, “I’ll come.”
The library looks like My Little Pony and Build-a-Bear threw up all over the floor when he walks in. He almost steps on a splatter of holographic slime on the carpet, but Hyeju warns him just in time.
“Wow,” Soobin stares, “This place looks… Wow.”
“Listen, bitch. I cleaned up Yeojin's arts and crafts activity the best I could,” Hyeju grumbles, sliding him the library key. He’s on closing duty today. “If I get any more glitter on me I might kill myself.”
And with that, Soobin’s left alone to scrub neon pink paint from the library tables. He’s wiping down the last table when a shiny object in one of the chairs catches his eye. Soobin pulls back the chair to find a little molang keychain, and — is that a Chanel keyring strap attached to it? He’s about to snap a picture of it to Yeojin and ask if it’s from her activity when something knocks into him and sends him to the ground.
“My molang!”
Soobin looks up and almost goes into cardiac arrest, because standing in front of him is Huening Kai. In a houndstooth Dior sweater vest and silk blouse, beret sitting on top of his blonde hair — wow, he’s the most beautiful person Soobin’s ever seen. He doesn’t even register that his ass hurts from the fall, or that Kai’s been talking to him for the past fifteen seconds.
“Sorry, what?” He blinks.
Kai squeaks and smiles before repeating himself, “Thank you for finding my keychain. I’ve been looking everywhere for it.”
Soobin definitely did not mean to find that keychain, but he has been meaning to redeem the first day he saw Kai.
“Oh! No problem. I’d be really sad if I lost my keychain. You know how important keychains are, they're so underrated,” Soobin says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He's cringing internally, because who the fuck calls keychains underrated?
Kai beams, which is relieving to him, but then Kai’s smile is morphing into a horrified expression, eyes widening as he crouches down in front of Soobin. Suddenly, his hands are around Soobin’s arm. Soobin sputters and tries (fails) to fight the heat creeping up his face and neck at the contact.
“Oh my god,” Kai cries, inspecting Soobin’s arm carefully, “you have blood on your arm! I’m so sorry! Are you okay—does it hurt? Oh my god, it’s all my fault.”
The “blood” is actually a smudge of cherry-scented red gel paint that Soobin had gotten on himself when he was cleaning.
Soobin blinks before trying to say, “Uh, that’s not blood,” but chokes halfway when Kai whips out a handkerchief (a Dior one that matches his sweater vest) from his back pocket and wraps it around his arm. His heart nearly crumbles inward when Kai’s palms brush against his skin, all warm and soft like the angel that he is.
“I have class in five minutes, but I’m so sorry,” Kai says, worry coating his voice as he dusts off his knees and stands up frantically.
Kai grabs his keychain and is about to whiz out the door when he turns around abruptly and waves, “Thank you again, Soobin hyung! I owe you!” Then he’s gone.
Kai just said his name. Kai knows his name. He has Kai's handkerchief. Kai touched his arm.
Clutching his tied arm against his heart in awe, Soobin attempts to stand up, but his ass actually really hurts from the fall.
from: soobin
to: jinsol best sister
then he TIED his handkerchief around me and was like
"thank you again soobin hyung!! ^__^ i owe you!!!"
I cantddothis
from: jinsol best sister
to: soobin
YAY NO MILF HUNTING *message sent with Slam Effect*
awwww i bet you blushed didn't you
THEY GROW UP SO FAST
finally we can throw away your huge stash of Men's Hea—
Soobin stops reading there. He's on his way to meet Beomgyu at a bakery for lunch, yesterday's events at the library looping through his head with "Careless Whisper" playing every time he thinks about the part where Kai's hands touched him. Today, he feels victorious, and there's an extra pep to his step as he waltzes in and takes a seat across from Beomgyu, doing his 'magical boy' wink at the younger.
"Whoa," Beomgyu marvels, starting to look a little concerned when Soobin giggles, "you only make that face when you're really, really happy."
(It's true. Soobin had also made that face every lunch time at Beomgyu back at the beginning of semester. Back then, Kai's classroom was temporarily across from Soobin's first class, and he got to longingly sneak glances at him through the door's window. Kai looked really adorable when he was concentrating, lips pouting slightly as the morning sunlight would illuminate his sculpted side-profile. Soobin had to train himself to not look out the window after Kai's class relocated to another floor two weeks later.)
They sit, order food, and talk for a while, with Soobin retelling yesterday's LibraryGate incident to a very amused and interested Beomgyu. He snorts when Soobin tells him how Kai thanked him and knew his name.
("How did he know my name? Or that I'm older than him? He's definitely an angel," Soobin surmised, nodding to himself.
"Your library name tag literally has your full name and school year," Beomgyu pointed out, which made Soobin flush in embarrassment.)
“Huening Kai is literally the cutest person I have ever seen,” Soobin cries and smacks his head down onto the table before he continues, “he’s like a lump of flour. A little dough baby. A perfect rice ball. You know what I mean?”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” Beomgyu says, noisily stirring his boba tea with a straw, “if you repeat it another seventeen times — which, by the way, you’ve been doing for the past hour — maybe I will?”
Soobin keeps his head glued to the table, he wants to get to know Kai more, to be the one that makes him smile and laugh. Beomgyu puts down the tea and pats the top of Soobin's head gently.
"This is the most interaction you've had with him all year, I'm proud of you," Beomgyu reassures, in the same nice tone he always uses whenever Soobin's had a particularly rough day and feeling low. "You used to turn super red and couldn't even speak when he was in the same room."
Soobin still turns super red and incoherent in a fifteen feet radius around Kai, but he appreciates the sentiment. "Thanks, Gyu. Anyways, what was the favor you wanted to ask me about?"
"Oh, yeah!" Beomgyu says, eyes lighting up. "I'm supposed to be a model for a fashion major's final portfolio, but I have rehearsal, so do you think you can fill in for me? You just have to attend fittings like twice."
"I'm down, who's the fashion major?" Soobin asks, stealing Beomgyu's tea so he can take a sip.
"I don't kno- hey, my drink!" Beomgyu yanks back his tea before raising a brow. "Wait, Soobin, what are you going to do with Kai's handkerchief?"
His lips purse in thought — he hasn't even considered that yet. He would feel absolutely terrible keeping the handkerchief since after all, Kai only gave it to him because he thought Soobin was injured. But he doesn't even know when he'll meet Kai again and be able to give him the handkerchief along with a long spiel of how Soobin thinks he's an angel sent to Earth.
Soobin shrugs, resting his chin on his hand. "Hopefully I'll run into him again and return it."
Navigating to the fashion department is more difficult than Soobin thought because one, Beomgyu is absolutely shit at giving directions (which read: turn right across from McDonald's, go straight for 58 feet, then take a left at the big oak tree, you can't miss it), and two, Soobin has never been there before. Fortunately, he gets there on time according to the information Beomgyu sent him, but when he walks into the room, there's no one else there. For a split second, Soobin thinks Beomgyu's trying to prank him again and almost phones the younger.
But then the door swings open.
"Oh - Soobin hyung!"
It's Huening Kai, in all his dazzling, ethereal glory, carrying fabric and a pin cushion in his arms.
"Kai," Soobin breathes, feeling the room get ten degrees warmer.
"Thanks for coming. I thought I was going to have a hard time finding someone else after the previous model said he couldn't make it," Kai says, smiling at Soobin before setting his things down. Beomgyu — his best friend, his unintentional wingman, Soobin will never speak badly about him ever again.
"I'm more than happy to help," Soobin responds before shooting a shy grin back. It makes sense that Kai's a fashion major after seeing all his outfits throughout the semester.
"We can start by taking your measurements," Kai says, tucking a pen behind his ear and unravelling a tape measure.
Getting his measurements taken by Kai is simultaneously a dream and a step in the grave for Soobin. At one point, Kai has to circle his arms around Soobin's torso to measure his waistline, and Soobin feels his soul ascend from his body. The worst (best) part is when Kai's measuring the length of his arms and suddenly grabs onto his hand gleefully, exclaiming, "You have pretty hands!"
When he's done, Soobin's the same shade as the scarlet fabric on the table. He's watching Kai scribble down the last of Soobin's measurements, admiring Kai's pointed nose and long eyelashes. Kai catches his gaze, and Soobin almost starts sweating from the embarrassment of being caught until Kai announces that they're done for the day.
As Kai collects his belongings, the keychain dangling from his bag grabs Soobin's attention, and he remembers the handkerchief.
"I forgot to give you back your handkerchief, I'll bring it next time," he says.
"Don't worry about it, it's just - I hope your arm is okay," Kai says sheepishly, eyes darting to the ground and making Soobin feel like he's got an express ticket to hell for the red paint.
Then Kai whips his head back up and beams brightly. "But, hyung, can I get your number—" Holy fuuucccck, is Kai asking him out? "—so I can tell you more about the portfolio?" Oh, the portfolio.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Soobin stammers, fishing for his phone in his back pocket.
from: soobin
to: what's your name B.O.B. so they're calling you BEOM
so yeah
KAI IS THE FUCKING FASHION MAJOR
I could kiss you so hard rn beomgyu
from: what's your name B.O.B. so they're calling you BEOM
to: soobin
just threw up in my mouth
please kiss kai instead
Soobin snorts and places his phone down on the dinner table, ready to dig into whatever meal Jinsol has made when his phone buzzes again.
from: unknown number
to: soobin
hi!! this is huening kai's number! ^3^
is this soobin hyung?
"Oh, motherfucker," Soobin says lowly, reading over the text for the fifth time.
"What did you just call me?" Jinsol shouts from the kitchen, and Soobin quickly scrambles out a No, not you to her before typing out a reply.
from: soobin
to: <3 huening kai <3
Hey, this is Soobin!
"There's no way the cougar you're dm'ing right now is making you smile this big," Jinsol says, her straight brows raised in disbelief.
Soobin shakes his head, and he collects himself before he nearly implodes. "No, it's my crush I told you about - Huening Kai. We're texting."
Jinsol's mouth drops open and her spoon clatters against the plate. "Oh my god, I have to tell Jungeun. She'll be so happy to hear this after that time you tried to ask out her lesbian cousin."
(It was eighth grade and right before winter formal, Soobin thought Jungeun's cousin Jiwoo was pretty and didn't know she had a girlfriend from a different school.)
Kai texts him back before the eighth grade memories can fully embarrass him.
from: <3 huening kai <3
to: soobin
yay !!
(image attached) what do you think about this color? >3<
Soobin clicks open the image and slaps a hand over his mouth. Kai's winking at the camera with his lips curled up in a smile, holding a square patch of blue fabric to his cheek.
from: soobin
to: <3 huening kai <3
really pretty
the color is pretty! haha
He's talking about Kai.
They start texting more frequently, which kind of makes Soobin feel like Pavlov's dog every time he hears the specific text tone he has on for Kai. Though, the texts are usually just Kai asking Soobin what he thinks about a certain fabric or design, but sometimes it's Kai sending a selfie with the message, "have a good day! ^3^". Those messages make Soobin clutch his phone to his chest like a romance webtoon lead.
Soobin's on his way to meet Kai again and try on the clothes he designed, nearly skipping skipping down the corridor. It's been a week since he last saw him, and he's had the handkerchief neatly folded on his nightstand like a kid eagerly laying out their outfit before school.
Kai's in deep concentration when he walks in, tongue darting to the side as he sticks a thread through a needle. When he hears Soobin's footsteps coming closer, he whips his head around and grins in a way that almost has Soobin stuttering.
"I brought this back," Soobin says, extending the handkerchief out for Kai, "thanks for letting me borrow it."
Kai's grin grows even wider as he accepts the handkerchief. "It smells like you."
Soobin doesn't have any time to think about what that means because Kai's holding up a blazer in front of his face and asking him to try it on. He puts the blazer on and lets Kai assess the fit, and he's gotten this whole crush thing under control because now, his heart only does one backflip instead of two when Kai brushes his hands against his skin.
He tries on a few more outfits before Kai says they're finished, much to Soobin's disappoint — seeing Kai is one of the few things he looks forward to the most throughout the week.
"Hyung, if you're not busy, do you want to go with me to get food?" Kai asks, rocking back and forth on his heels.
Soobin turns around to see if Kai's talking to anyone else, which he realizes is kind of stupid because it's just the two of them in the room.
"Me? I'd love to," Soobin says, not even bothering to hide his excited, dimpled grin.
"Nooo, I owe you after that time at the library!" Kai persists after Soobin paid for his food.
"Maybe next time, okay?" Soobin says in hopes that Kai gets the hint that Soobin wants to take him to dinner again after this.
"Next time, for sure. Thank you, hyung," is Kai's bashful response, twirling his straw inside his drink.
"I think your portfolio's nice already," Soobin says, glancing at the younger, "the clothes you're designing look really good."
Kai does this little laugh where the apples of his cheek make his eyes crinkle and his lips press thin shyly. "No, but, you make them look good."
Oh. Soobin's heart-shaped lips fall open. His heart does two backflips.
They can continue talking even after they're both done eating, with Kai animatedly talking about how he and his friend Taehyun are going to see Yeonjun's concert this autumn. Soobin figures Kai's too sweet to do any harm, so he tells him that Beomgyu's dating Yeonjun, to which at first, Kai's shocked that Soobin's best friend is dating the Yeonjun. Then Kai searches Beomgyu up on Instagram and says immediately after his profile loads, "Ah, that makes sense!"
Afterwards, they part outside the restaurant, with a one hundred and seventy-seven centimeter tall person (Taehyun) whizzing past Soobin to pick Kai up. Taehyun stares hard at Soobin with his huge, all-knowing eyes, then softens into a childlike grin when Kai waves at him — the duality of Taehyun kind of scares Soobin (it probably has more to do with the time Soobin came in for his library shift once and walked in on Taehyun looking through a Playboy magazine like it was an IKEA catalogue).
Soobin's on his way to Beomgyu's apartment after the younger invited him over. He's a foot past Beomgyu's front door when he hears it — Olivia Rodrigo's music blasting from Beomgyu's bedroom. Oh god, Soobin thinks. Beomgyu only listens to the SOUR album when he's sad.
"Beomgyu," Soobin shouts, sprinting to his bedroom, "please tell me you and Yeonjun didn't break up."
When Soobin rushes into his room, Beomgyu's starfished on his bed and staring up at his ceiling, not even changed out of his Givenchy blazer and slacks.
"Garfield, speak to me!" Soobin says dramatically, climbing onto his bed and shaking him by the shoulders.
Beomgyu inhales then exhales the world's longest sigh. "We didn't break up. We had a big argument- our biggest argument, actually."
"There, there, Gyu," Soobin consoles, letting Beomgyu wipe his snot on Soobin's Champion sweatshirt.
"I get that he can't tell anyone he's got a partner, and I know he's really busy and tired, but I just want us to work. I really like him," Beomgyu says, "I just need to cry for a good minute."
So Soobin lets Beomgyu soak his shirt with tears and snot while he pats his back. Beomgyu sits straight up after a minute, wipes his eyes and nose elegantly, then turns off his speaker. "Okay, I met my crying quota. Tell me about you and Kai."
"We went out to eat together before I came here," Soobin tells him, and Beomgyu's mouth drops open in genuine surprise.
"You're fucking lying. Isn't that a date?" Beomgyu shrieks, and Soobin flushes thinking about his words. Would that be considered a date? Maybe not technically since Kai probably doesn't like him like that, but it was just the two of them. Eating, talking, having a good time, Soobin internally cooing at how cute Kai's cheeks looked when he was chewing. That's likely the closest he can ever get to a date with Kai and just imagining what the real thing would be like makes him short circuit.
Before he can respond, his phone dings with Kai's text tone.
from: <3 huening kai <3
to: soobin
goodnight!
(image attached)
thank you again for paying hyung!
Soobin almost dies when he clicks on the image. It's a mirror selfie of Kai looking like he's just gotten out of the shower. He's wearing silk button-up pajamas, the first button undone, and he's doing a peace sign to the camera with his pink mouth turned upwards. The room is completely silent, and Soobin doesn't have to glance over to know Beomgyu's gaping with him too.
"What a face," Beomgyu says, zooming into the picture. He turns his head to look at Soobin.
"Holy shit, Soobin - you're going to nose bleed all over my bed!"
With finals looming closer and closer, Soobin's swamped in his psychology textbooks and studying calculus with Beomgyu until midnight. And Kai really only needs him to try on the clothes, so it takes a while for Soobin to see Kai again.
On the positive side, Soobin and Kai still text occasionally (when Soobin's at home and Jinsol sees him grinning while texting Kai, she'll squeal and post a picture of him on her private Instagram story with the caption, "BABY'S FIRST ROMANCE!"). Sometimes, they'll chat about how each other's day is going, or play a game of darts on iMessage (Soobin will win). And once in a while, they'll send selfies to each other, like the one Soobin sent of himself cheesing in his glasses five minutes ago with a message about how tiring finals make him. Kai responds with, "your glasses look nice! >3<," and that's more than enough motivation for Soobin to power through his essay.
Half an hour later, his phone dings with Kai's text tone again. He unlocks his phone to see that Kai's asking him if he can drop by to try on clothes again whenever he has free time. Soobin looks at the word count on his essay — he's written more than enough for today, and young, one-sided love is more important than grades, so he says yes and gets ready to leave.
"Sorry for making you come all this way," is what Kai says when Soobin arrives. "I know you're busy with finals."
"No, I like being here," Soobin answers, panicking at how confession-like his response sounds. "To help! I like being here to help."
Kai's eyes sparkle as he smiles, and he lays out the clothes for Soobin to try on. Soobin can't help but feel a little shy when he's done putting them on, and Kai's looking him up and down to find any mistakes.
"Do you think you can come in one last time next week so I can take a picture for the portfolio?" Kai asks after he finishes tidying up all the loose threads.
"Sure," Soobin swallows, trying not to show the wave of disappointment that comes over him. He's had a lot of fun getting to know Kai, sitting with him while he works, and making him laugh. It would be a lie to say he's not a bit sad, and if anything, his gigantic crush on Kai is raging even more from all the interaction. Soobin just hopes they can still keep in touch, but then summer's coming, and the only chance he gets to see Kai is at university like this.
When Kai's about to get up and leave, Soobin musters up the courage.
"Can I walk you back to your place?" Soobin asks, mentally preparing himself just in case Kai says no.
"Yeah, thanks!" Kai beams, his eyes sparkling as Soobin holds the door open for him.
He walks side by side with Kai, listening to him talk about what he had for lunch, and grinning stupidly when he laughs. It's probably because Soobin keeps gravitating towards Kai, but their hands occasionally knock against each other. It makes Soobin's heart palpitate, and if this was a romance webtoon, he'd take the opportunity to intertwine his fingers with Kai's. Kai tells him it's about a ten minute walk, so Soobin tries to savor all sixty seconds of each minute sneaking glances at the younger.
"Anyways, thank you for walking me home," Kai says, staring down at the sidewalk. "You've done so much for me. I'm really grateful."
Soobin's breath hitches in his throat. "I'm glad I could help you out, Kai."
"This is my place," Kai gestures to an apartment building that looks as prestigious as Beomgyu's place, and his family's got at least three Tesla's.
Kai walks up to the entrance. When he's about a step away from the door, he looks back and waves his hand at Soobin, lips pulled up into a bean-shaped smile. Soobin's eyes soften at the sight, and he waves back.
"See you next week!" Kai calls out, then he's bouncing through the doorway and out of sight.
No matter how many times Soobin's been to Beomgyu's house, he just can't get over how grandiose it is. Every time he remembers how many cars they have, he understands why Beomgyu's rich, perfect, you-want-to-be-me-or-date-me image at university exists (few people, Soobin and maybe Yeonjun, know how Beomgyu really is — a little crazy with digestive system problems).
"So, what do your parents do again?" Soobin asks, dropping his bag down right next to Beomgyu's king-sized canopy bed.
Beomgyu shrugs. "My mom and dad love bitcoins."
Soobin nods understandingly.
It's already nearing midnight, so Beomgyu wastes no time in digging through his parents' liquor collection.
"You guys have so much whiskey," Soobin stares, too scared to touch any of the bottles that probably cost more than his entire reproductive system.
"Well, we all like a whiskey shot before bed. For good dreams," Beomgyu says nonchalantly, scooping up soju and rice wine bottles into his arms. "This should do the trick."
They sit on the floor of Beomgyu's bedroom, accompanied by no one else but their alcohol tolerance and the Naruto Uzumaki pillow facing Soobin. It's pretty tame, casual drinking at first, but then empty shot glass blurs into full shot glass which blurs into empty bottles, and the room starts to feel a little warmer.
Soobin's grinning cheek to cheek. He doesn't know how many shots he's had, but he does know that Beomgyu's recreation of Squidward's walking noise is actually starting to sound hilarious. So that means Soobin's pretty drunk right now. He downs another shot with Beomgyu, and the warmth from the alcohol that seeps into his chest makes him think of Kai. Kai, the one he wants to date, maybe forever, which reminds Soobin —
"Hey, Gyu, are you and Yeonjun any better?" He slurs.
Beomgyu, equally as inebriated as he is, nods and smiles at first. Then a tear falls from his eye, and he starts bawling.
"We fought again," Beomgyu wails, "I don't want us to break up."
"Gyu, I'm sorry," Soobin says, heavily petting Beomgyu's head.
Beomgyu wobbles to his feet and sniffles. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and tell him I miss him." Then he knocks into the doorframe on the way out.
"I wish I could help Gyu out more," Soobin mumbles, grabbing the Naruto pillow to rest his back against. "Maybe if I had more dating experience."
Wait, maybe I can get more dating experience, drunk Soobin thinks, swiping open his phone. It's starting to feel uncomfortably hot, though, so he takes off his shirt.
Soobin clicks open his conversation with Kai and coos at their messages before he starts typing.
from: soobin
to: <3 huening kai <3
hi kai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
ddo you jnow i thinkkm youre Very pretty. Nd cuteeand Smexxy i want 2 date uou
andkiss you a lil or makeuout but firsst I'll take you on A date!$
cuz ur. an angle anglo Hey Siri I said angel
Soobin clicks open the camera and takes a picture of his shirtless self smiling lopsidedly at the camera before sending that to Kai too.
He looks back at the Naruto pillow and scowls. "Hey, Naruto, no peeking at my text messages."
Naruto doesn't move, so Soobin lays his head on Naruto's polyester abs and closes his eyes.
"Um, at least you look hot in the selfie?" Beomgyu tries to console him, but it's too late. Soobin's already on his fifth Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar. Kai hasn't responded at all, which makes Soobin feel even worse.
"What does Daegu's traffic look like right now?" Soobin asks, getting up. "I'm gonna go wait for a car to hit me."
"Soobin, I've read worse sober messages," Beomgyu says, patting his shoulder and dragging him back down. "You should still go see Kai for the last time today."
The fitting — Soobin almost forgot, he's got an hour before he has to leave if he wants to make it in time. Except, he doesn't want to go now that he's sent those messages to Kai.
Soobin sulks. "What if I just didn't show up?"
"My son Choi Soobin," Beomgyu starts, and normally Soobin would pinch him for it, but he kind of needs the pep talk right now. "You're still a hot and smart guy regardless if Kai's weirded out. Just show up, and then you might never have to see Kai again after this."
So with a lot more pep talks from Beomgyu, Soobin reluctantly finds himself in front of Kai's workshop room. Kai's not there when he shows up, then after ten minutes, Kai's still not there. Soobin's stomach drops at the thought of Kai being so repulsed that he ditched and didn't tell Soobin. He doesn't even want to text Kai and ask if he's coming because seeing his drunk messages makes him think he should've just walked into Daegu traffic when the opportunity was there.
Then the door slams open, and Kai barrels into the room.
"I'm sorry!" He huffs, hands on his knees as he's bent over trying to catch his breath. "I missed my alarm because my phone died last night."
Soobin jolts. "Wait, you didn't get my text, right?"
Kai shakes his head apologetically. "My phone's been dead since yesterday evening, and Taehyun took my charger. I'm really sorry."
"No, no, no!" Soobin nervously chuckles. "It wasn't - uh - a big deal!"
Kai breathes out an adorable sigh of relief, taking the hangers off of the clothes for Soobin to wear. Soobin's heart is racing, and he shoots a huge thank you to Earth that Kai has yet to read his messages. At least he'll be spared of the mortification once he leaves.
Snapping a few photos of Soobin with a camera after he's done changing, Kai shows him the pictures and compliments him again. Normally, Soobin would internally freak out and compliment Kai back, but nothing can hurt him anymore, so he returns two awkward thumbs-up and a thanks.
When Kai's done taking pictures and meticulously hanging the clothes back, Soobin's mentally prepared himself to run out the door and to never be able to walk near the fashion department afterwards. He can only imagine the glares Taehyun would give him if he ever saw Soobin on campus.
"We're finally done! Thank you for your help," Kai says sweetly. "I'll just upload these pictures onto my laptop before I leave so I don't forget."
Soobin can only nod in response.
"Oh, wait, I forgot my laptop's connected to my phone, let me read your text."
Soobin shoots straight up, eyes wide as saucers.
"Kai, wait. Don't—"
The text pops up. Then the shirtless selfie. Kai's jaw drops, and Soobin is frozen.
"Uh," he begins tentatively after a humiliatingly long moment of silence, "Kai, I'm really sorry. I was really drunk."
When he builds up the courage to peek once at Kai, he's got an unreadable expression on his face.
"You didn't mean any of this?" Kai asks.
Soobin sucks in a breath. It's too late to sprint out the door now. "I was really, really drunk, but I meant all of it, actually."
He hears Kai step closer and braces himself for the rejection that's about to come. He might have to transfer universities and change his name, maybe even live a humble life in the countryside after this.
"I like you too," Kai says, averting Soobin's shocked gaze with a sheepish grin.
"What," Soobin chokes, "I mean - you like me back?"
Kai's grin stretches wide, his full cheeks dusted red as he looks up and says, "I like you, Soobin hyung. So can we actually go on a date?"
Their first official date is as perfect as Soobin predicted it would be. Hours before Soobin met up with Kai, he enlisted the help of Jinsol and her army of sorority sisters to pick out an outfit (he would've asked Beomgyu but he saw him listening to Olivia Rodrigo again on his Spotify friend activity and didn't want to be inconsiderate). Jinsol then tried to livestream him leaving and announced, "Baby's first date! Make sure to use protec—" Which is when Soobin bolted out the house.
He's sitting on a blanket at the park with Kai, fondly watching him stuff his cheeks with egg tarts. At one point, Kai laces their fingers together, and Soobin melts into the ground. With the mood right, Soobin's leaning in close to kiss him. He's a few inches away, eyes focused on Kai's lips, when a flurry of people fly past and scare them apart. They laugh it off, and Soobin tries to lean in again, but then a whole stampede runs around them.
They both jump back bewilderedly and stand up to see what's going on. Soobin weaves them through the crowd, and then he sees it.
Yeonjun is on a rock holding a microphone in his hands.
"Isn't that your friend Beomgyu?" Kai points to the middle of the crowd where Beomgyu, whose mouth is almost on the floor, is located.
"I'm letting the whole world know right now that I'm dating Choi Beomgyu! Gyu bear, I want to be with you forever, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, BABY!" Yeonjun shouts, and the crowd goes crazy.
Yeonjun jumps down from the rock and pulls Beomgyu into a passionate kiss. Soobin shields his own eyes when Beomgyu's hands go to Yeonjun's butt.
"Aw, I'm really happy for them," Kai gushes.
Soobin flicks his gaze back to Kai and grins, curling an arm around his waist. "Yeah, me too."
He does get to make up his first kiss with Kai afterwards when he walks him home. It's just them in the garden walkway behind the apartment complex. Soobin's smiling when his lips meet Kai's, kissing him soft and sweet. Kai wraps his arms around Soobin's neck and hums, sending vibrations through Soobin's jittery nerves. They take their time kissing languidly, with Soobin pressing his lips to the curve of Kai's cheekbone after he parts.
"Actually," Kai says after a moment. "I didn't know you liked me until the drunk messages."
"What made you think that?" He wonders, quirking a brow.
"You looked like you were going to throw up every time we talked," Kai explains.
Soobin laughs, brushing his thumb across the back of Kai's knuckles. "I really like you."
BONUS
It's a week before Kai's birthday, and Soobin's still trying to buy more gifts for him. Beomgyu tells him that he already has five gifts for Kai, so he doesn't need to get more, but Soobin is a young, unstoppable man in love.
He's at the store for the third time this week, debating if he should get Kai another plushie or new headphones.
"Hey." A voice calls out. Soobin looks around to see if anyone's talking to him, but he doesn't see anyone in his section.
"Down here, bitch!" The voice says. Soobin looks down. Oh.
It's Taehyun.
"Oh, hi," Soobin says a little dumbfoundedly because Taehyun is staring expressionlessly at him, and he's never had a conversation with him before.
Taehyun continues looking at him with his omniscient eyeballs that make Soobin feel tiny even though he can see the top of Taehyun's head.
"Kai would like this," is all he says before thrusting a bread plushie into Soobin's hands.
"Thank you," Soobin replies, lips turned upwards into a small smile.
There's a pause.
"I approve of you," Taehyun finally says, and then he's walking away, leaving Soobin to hear his Saint Laurent boots squeaking across the vinyl floor.