Chapter Text
Prologue
Shirabu thought pink hair only existed in anime. Turns out he was wrong. With his back to him stood a tall, slender man, a mop of soft strawberry locks adorning his head. In front of them, the light across the street flashed bright bluegreen, signaling it was safe to cross. “Prince Rosebush” didn’t seem to notice, however, and he remained glued to the street on his phone.
Tokyo crosswalks could get busier than school hallways, and Shirabu didn’t need pedestrians in the way. Shoving past, he didn’t even realize his backpack got caught until someone behind him cried out in surprise.
“Ah- jamkkanman !”
The foreign word rang in Shirabu’s ear. He paused to turn around, and sure enough, Prince Rosebush was trying to untangle his bag from the Totoro keychain on Shirabu’s backpack.
He’s a foreigner . Shirabu panicked. What do I say? There were maybe 20 seconds until the crosswalk light turned red, and Rosebush was still struggling.
Just as Shirabu was about to spout some conversational English (wasn’t it the global language?), the keychain came loose and Rosebush regained his posture.
“My apologies!” he bowed quickly. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
For one quick second, their eyes met, and the hazelnut pair widened at the familiarity of the chocolate ones in front of them. The next second, Shirabu was speeding across the street to avoid getting run over and to avoid another glance.
Rosebush speaks perfect Japanese , he thought. Those warm chocolate eyes had invoked a feeling within Shirabu, but he shook his head to dismiss it. There was no way he had just run into Semi Eita.
Chapter 1: Spontaneity
Another sunny day, another ten minute walk to school. The sights were roughly the same: a cafe on the right, a CD shop on the left, and the university campus up ahead. The unusual aspect of today, though, was the crowd drawn around the front window of the CD shop.
Being the nosy person he was, Shirabu couldn’t help eavesdropping as he walked by.
“Who’s your bias? Do you have their lightstick? Are you a Lotus ?”
Bias, lightstick, and… Lotus? Either he’d heard too many foreign words today, or the crowd, mainly composed of girls, was speaking nonsense. He was about to walk away when someone casually tossed out the name Eita .
Now, there was absolutely no reason to perk up at this. There were many people named Eita in Japan. But as far as Shirabu knew, there was only one Semi Eita. The Semi Eita with horribly dyed hair. The Semi Eita with pretentious retorts that almost always found ways to complete Shirabu’s. The Semi Eita that Shirabu had been trying to forget about for the past five years.
Hesitantly, Shirabu spared a glance at the CD shop, and his jaw dropped. On the store window was a mural of stickers and photos of the very person he didn’t want to see: his former senpai Semi was photographed from almost every angle imaginable, dressed in fabulous designer outfits, and his hair styled in a rainbow of colors. A range of expressions flew across his angled face, portraying emotions from seriousness to excitement and everything in between.
Semi-san looks handsome when he smiles , Shirabu thought. Then he shook his head roughly. Get a hold of yourself.
So what if the CD shop was advertising Semi for some bizarre reason? Shirabu could just shrug it off. It had been years. How was he supposed to be able to recognize Semi now? Then he read the top of the largest poster: “Semi Eita-san, the all-rounded singer from k-pop group Cristal!”
His heart almost stopped. Shirabu had figured Semi would end up a successful musician, but never would he have foreseen his senpai launching a career overseas. K-pop? All-rounded singer? That couldn’t be true.
“Excuse me,” he said to the crowd. “Do any of you know something about this Semi Eita-san ?”
A young girl on his left, no more than thirteen years old, spoke up. “Eita-kun from Cristal? He’s performing this week at the stadium!”
Shirabu noticed how the girl addressed Semi by his given name, and he almost laughed. He must’ve gone crazy as his hopes of doubting himself slipped away.
Skimming through Semi’s (Eita’s?) introduction on the poster, it said, “Cristal performing for 2 days only! Get your tickets today!” Shirabu thought about this. There was absolutely no reason to see Semi, nor did he have reason to go to a concert. Yet somehow, the infuriating poster egged him on.
On a complete whim, Shirabu walked out of the CD shop with a light purple concert ticket for a group he knew nothing about.
“I’m crazy,” he sighed into his palm. “Completely crazy.”
Be back by noon . That was what he was told. Yet here Semi Eita was, running out of a cafe at 12:13.
“Thanks for the talk!” he blurted to the old friend standing at the cafe door. Hurrying across the nearest intersection, Semi replayed their conversation in his head.
“What’s up, Semisemi?” Tendou waved a peace sign in the air as he slid into the seat across from Semi. “Already ordered us drinks, I see.”
With Semi living in Korea and Tendou working in France, the friends hadn’t seen each other in years. Through suspiciously coincidental timing, both were home for the week.
Tendou had shaved his red hair so that it lay close-cropped to his head, much different compared to how wild it had been in high school. He reclined across the cafe chair, clad in black jeans and white t-shirt that displayed a pattern of chocolate covered strawberries.
Semi looked at himself and figured he’d probably changed over the years too, now sporting a slimmer physique and, of course, dyed-pink hair. He never bothered too much with his clothes, but checking his dance practice outfit of a loose t-shirt and sweatpants made him anxious enough to jump straight to the point.
“Have you seen Shirabu recently?” he asked.
The question got a long chuckle out of the red head. “Ooh, so that’s what you called me for. I was beginning to wonder.”
Tendou laced his fingers together and lay them on the table, suddenly acting like one of those interrogators in detective movies. “You have come to me to discuss Shirabu Kenjirou, your former kouhai and previous unrequited crush.” Tendou’s voice deepened as he stroked his nonexistent beard. “Let me guess, you still have feelings for him?”
Semi choked on his iced tea. “Hey- listen- that’s not- I think I just ran into him !”
Hysterical howling erupted from Tendou as his head was thrown back with laughter. Eventually he hiccuped on his juice so hard, Semi was afraid it would come out his nose. “You- HICC- You ran- HICC- You ran into Shirabu?” Tendou almost fell out of his chair.
“Stop being so loud! People are staring.” Hopefully they were just looking at Tendou. Semi didn’t think he could handle fans right now. “I’ll tell you what happened if you get quiet.”
Semi explained the encounter of walking into someone that had looked identical to Shirabu (“He had the same hazelnut eyes!”). Sure, it had been five years since they last saw each other, but unless some Shirabu Kenjirou look alike was living in Tokyo, Semi chose to trust his gut instinct.
“So you literally got tangled up with him.” Tendou was on the verge of tears from laughter. “Well, look at that. I think you’re doing it yourself!”
“Doing what myself?” Semi closed his eyes, waiting for a remark. Tendou was going to drop a dirty joke, or a Ghibli meme, or-
“Chasing after your crush, of course!”
Even though he saw it coming, Semi grumbled. They’d had this conversation multiple times before he’d left for Korea, and here they were again with the same topic.
“I told you. I’m done crushing on Shirabu. Five years is way too long to be thinking about his pretty face.” The words were out of his mouth before Semi could catch them.
Instead of laughing, Tendou sat up straight in his chair, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “Shirabu with the pretty face now, is it?” He tilted his head. “Hmm, who’s to say Wakatoshi-kun and I won’t invite him to your concert with us?”
Semi felt his face warming to the color of his hair. “Stop right there, Tendou. I’m warning you.”
“Not like you can do anything to me.” Tendou slurped noisily as he finished his juice. “It’ll ruin your reputation.”
Semi grumbled. “I’m over Shirabu. End of discussion.”
Tendou snickered. “We’ll see about that. But back to your original question! Yes, I may have seen Kenjirou recently. I guess it’s none of your concern though.”
He stood and turned to the door, waving as he walked away. “Thanks for the drink.”
Semi rushed towards him. “Wait! You have to at least tell me where he was going earlier.”
Tendou turned around with a smirk. “Kenjirou goes to the university down the street on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from noon till three.” He sped out the door without another word.
Running as fast as he could didn’t seem to be fast enough, but Semi didn’t need to check his phone to know that it was nearing 12:30. Calling Tendou up had been a completely unplanned decision, and Semi really should have left right after running into Shirabu.
Finally, he swung open the door to the dance studio. It was laid out like most studios: sturdy wooden floor, long mirrors covering the back and front walls from floor to ceiling, exit doors along a side wall, and speakers and microphones opposite to the doors.
Semi’s band mates were just finishing up their stretches. Like his colorful pink hair, some of them also flaunted bright hair colors. One had a sea of sky blue and another had silky platinum blond. One more simply sported caramel brown.
Semi tried to sneakily join the members on the floor, but the blond member stood and grabbed his elbow before he could.
“You’re late,” he said in Korean.
Semi tugged himself free. “I know.” After years of practice and training, he was able to respond in Korean as fluently as his native members. “Some things popped up.”
“Just because we're in your home country doesn’t mean you can slack off.” Seojoon, leader of Cristal, sighed as he sat down again. “If something like this happens again, you have to let us know.”
All eyes turned toward Semi. From Minjae in blue hair and Daeyoung in brown hair, from Shine and Kangsik, and at last from Doyoon.
“I will, and I’m sorry for making you all worry.” Semi gave his arms a quick stretch over his head. “Who’s ready to start dance practice?”
It was safe to say that Shirabu could not focus in class the rest of the day. When this happened, the cause was usually a classmate disturbing his notetaking. Unfortunately, thoughts of Semi Eita were the cause of disturbance this time. Semi wasn’t even present at the moment, so why was he on Shirabu’s mind?
Shirabu marched out the doors of his last class, heading straight towards the courtyard in an aggravated fume. Mumbling to himself from where he sat at the roots of the nearest tree, he looked up when he heard a voice from above.
“How’s your day going, Kenjirou?”
More grumbling came from the med student. “Fuck off, Taichi.”
Like the totally obedient best friend he was, Kawanishi Taichi plopped down next to the tree. “Class went okay then?”
Shirabu glared at him. “Do you seriously think I’d be moping about Semi Eita at the bottom of a tree if my day went okay?”
He could tell that was not what Kawanishi had been expecting. “Semi- wait, what? Ken, it’s been five years!”
“I know.”
“And you’re still crushing on him?”
“...No.”
“Yeah, well, then your pink face is lying.”
Shirabu immediately brought his hands to his warm cheeks. “Ugh, Taichi, you have to help me.”
“Nah, uh.” Kawanishi wagged a finger to his friend’s face. “I thought we ended our Semi-is-so-pretty conversations when he graduated high school.”
“And we did! I just may have run into him today.”
The red-head groaned. “Don't tell me your class was ruined by him being on your mind all afternoon.”
“Well, I also may or may not have bought a ticket to his group’s concert on Friday.”
Kawanishi stood up. “That’s it. I am done meddling with your love life. Time for you to suffer alone.” He started towards the university exit.
“Taichi, come on!” Packing his things as quickly as he could, Shirabu had to jog to catch up to his lanky friend. “I’m not asking you to go with me; I’m not even sure why I bought it! I just want you to stick around for advice.”
“Uh huh, sure. Last time you asked for my advice, you didn’t take it, and Semi graduated without knowing your true feelings.” Kawanishi spun around. “I don’t think this is my problem. Goodbye.”
“I’ll do your homework for you!” Shirabu blurted. “Well, maybe not do it for you , but I can help you.”
“There’s no way of getting out of this, is there?” Kawanishi took a deep, heavy sigh. “Alright, fine. But if you lose Semi again, I am DONE helping you.” He crossed his arms. “Got it?”
“I knew I could count on you, best friend. ”
Kawanishi threw his backpack.
“1, 2, 3, and BAM!” Kangsik turned around to face the rest of the members after his quick demonstration. “Everyone got it?”
Cristal nodded their heads, too breathless to form coherent sentences.
“Alright, then. From the top!”
Nobody complained as they got into their starting positions once more. From left to right stood Minjae, Seojoon, Doyoon, Kangsik, Eita, Daeyoung, and Shine. Everyone but Kangsik bent their knees and brought their hands halfway into the air, waiting for their cues as the song began.
Dance practice was grueling as always. After starting training, Semi had been incredibly thankful for the stamina he’d built up playing volleyball in high school. Otherwise, he probably never would have debuted. He counted to eight as he and Doyoon stepped out, timing their bodies to be in sync with each other and the beat.
Before Semi knew it, the song ended and his legs were aching. Just thirty more seconds of ending pose . He counted them in his head as he tried to catch his breath, smiling through the exhaustion. Finally the time went by, and he collapsed onto the cold dance studio floor. The idols' break time was here.
Almost all of the members immediately rushed for their water bottles in the corners of the room. Doyoon looked like he wanted to dump the water onto his tall, sweaty body, and Semi laughed as he watched their maknae , the youngest, restrain himself. Seojoon, Daeyoung, and Kangsik gathered to tease Doyoon playfully.
The member with sky blue hair, Minjae, had joined Semi on the floor. “What are you going to do with your two hours of free time?” he asked.
Minjae may have had a small figure, but as soon as he opened his mouth to sing, rivers of melodies escaped and left people crying their hearts out. He’d had that effect on Semi the first time they’d met. Semi had just arrived in Korea, and he’d opened the door to what would become their training room. Minjae had been singing with everything he had, and after feeling so lost and alone on the plane, it had left Semi wanting to curl up in a ball of homesickness. He didn’t of course, and he’d never tell, but that moment had since made Minjae his closest companion on the team.
“My two hours?” Semi repeated. “I’m meeting up with someone.”
“Really?” Minjae took some deep breaths before continuing. “Do you have family in Tokyo?”
“They’re more like a friend.”
“Mhmm, yeah? Well, have fun!” Minjae began gathering his things, and Semi did the same.
The first thing Semi did was check his phone. On its screen was a large 2:41. Perfect timing. He took a long, much needed gulp from his water bottle and headed out the door.
Semi would be driven almost everywhere for official group schedules. The company would just call him a car and take him wherever he needed to go for the day. Not now though. Not for his two hours of break away from strict rules and reputations.
The university was just two blocks down from the dance studio; an easy walking distance. Semi slipped on a black face mask and threw his beige jacket hood up. Even in the humid June weather, he’d rather keep himself hidden from news reporters and crazy fans.
It’d been a day since he had come across Shirabu at the crosswalk, marking today as Wednesday. Two days until the first concert on Friday. Four days until he left Tokyo on Sunday.
Telling Minjae he’d be “meeting up with someone” had been a complete lie. Maybe not, if the person he had in mind actually came out the university doors any minute now. Punctuality was one of said person’s strong traits, after all.
Semi pulled out his phone and checked the time. 2:56, almost 3. He waited near the arched white entrance of the school courtyard, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible so he wouldn’t be fined for loitering. Hopefully he was in the correct location. Hopefully he wasn’t just standing around like an idiot. Hopefully the right person actually walked outside.
Suddenly, the campus doors blew open and a stream of students poured out. Most were rushing towards the arch, right where Semi was standing. Forging into the crowd didn’t seem like a safe option, but he didn’t want to lose the students either.
He stood on his toes to look above the mob, searching for someone with a small figure and copper hair. Suffice it to say, identifying a short person in a moving swarm was difficult.
After just about deciding that this venture had been a stupid idea, someone walked into Semi so hard he fell to the ground and his hood slipped off.
“Sorry about-” The student that knocked into him looked down, and it took only a matter of two seconds to take in pink rose colored hair. “S-semi-san?” he stuttered.
Semi warily pulled down his face mask and stood as the crowd dispersed. “Shirabu.”
Looking closer, Semi tried to find all the things that had changed about Shirabu in the past five years. His eyes were defiant as ever. Heck, even his bangs were almost the same, slanting in the horrendous angle that made Semi want to tuck them behind Shirabu’s ear. The only obvious change was Shirabu’s height; he’d definitely grown a few centimeters. The student was dressed in jeans and a simple t-shirt with a gradient of blue to white that reminded Semi of the ocean. Semi wanted to snark when he saw the white converse on the younger’s feet because it just felt so Shirabu .
“Semi.” Shirabu’s cold voice brought him back to reality. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you,” Semi said. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“Since when have you ever wanted to talk to me ?” Shirabu’s old sarcasm was definitely there. He crossed his arms. “Why are you really here?”
“Can’t an old senpai visit you just because?”
“You’re old, that’s for sure.”
“I heard that, Shirabu!” The bantering was making Semi’s heart race in a way he hadn’t felt for years, but he pushed the sensation down. “I just wanted to catch up.”
One of Shirabu’s eyebrows raised. “Seems like an awfully random time.” He lifted his fingers and began to count them off in a mocking gesture. “There’s no volleyball club reunion, or a gathering with old classmates, or-”
“Alright, I got it! Just let me get you a meal or something.”
A single second of silence passed between them.
“...Are you asking me out?” Shirabu asked.
Semi’s voice got dry. “Oh, I-I’m not supposed to-”
“Quit stuttering or else I’m not coming.”
Shirabu quickly pulled out his phone and typed something short enough to be a text message.
Immediately, Semi felt his heart drop. He should have been glad Shirabu had agreed to eat with him, but all he was thinking was shit , did Shirabu have a girlfriend? He felt like smacking himself on the forehead for not considering that before coming. Too late now, he might be going on a date with his high school crush.
Putting the phone away, Shirabu asked, “Where are we going, Semi-san?”
Semi really wanted to smack himself. “I... don’t know Tokyo that well.”
Shirabu smirked, and Semi’s heart floated back up to give way to some flutters. “We can get ice cream then, dumbass. I’ll take you.”