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One.
It’s no surprise that all the members practically have two houses now since all of them visit the other house quite often.
Today’s not an exception—3RACHA are out again, and Hyunjin has the house to himself. He’s not really complaining, he likes the peacefulness and solace of a quiet house with his small collection of flowers and art materials on their balcony. The sun isn’t too harsh today, and it’s breezy.
Seungmin thinks otherwise, always wanting to accompany someone who’s alone. He’s currently sitting in Hyunjin’s balcony as the latter paints while he has his nose buried in the new book he bought, “Inconvenient Convenience Store.” It’s silent, the two of them immersed in their hobbies after a tiring day. Hyunjin sketches and sketches until he’s satisfied, and Seungmin lets himself be taken away into another world while reading.
Hyunjin’s balcony is beautiful, it’s so Hyunjin. There are scattered art materials in his pegboard, paints were hung and brushes were stored. It’s so messy yet so organized at the same time, it provides some calm ambiance. Along the railings are a few mason jars Hyunjin took home from their restaurant drinks, a couple were for rinsing his brushes, and the rest had some flowers in them.
Seungmin is aware that Hyunjin is interested in flowers, he even bought a book to learn about them. He knows so many flowers and their various meanings behind them, he looks at them with awe and adoration in his eyes, resembling a child given a piece of candy. He’s innocent, he has a lot of love for the world, and Seungmin understands. Flowers are beautiful, and Seungmin doesn’t need to know the meaning behind things to find them pretty.
His eyes skim over the flowers displayed, temporarily distracted from reading. He can name the beautiful yellow carnation in one of the jars, slightly withered from age. There are a variety of colors, it’s almost like every color of flowers is present in Hyunjin’s balcony.
Seungmin’s vision lingers on the flower closest to him. It’s in his favorite color, vivid even under the shadow of the clouds. There are a few ones in the jar, and Seungmin assumes that it’s new with how fresh it looks. It stands tall compared to the other flowers.
His awe was cut short with the sudden opening of the front door, both their heads looking towards the door’s direction. Minho enters the house with a tupperware in his hand, and Seungmin assumes that it’s extras of what Minho cooked. That’s what Minho claims, anyway—Seungmin chooses not to speak on how Minho always cooks with a quantity that can feed five mouths.
“I made beef wellington again, Yongbok and Jeongin already ate, and I heard that both of you are here. Come eat.”
Hyunjin keeps his art materials on standby immediately, waddling his way towards the kitchen where Minho already started unpacking and getting plates. Seungmin’s gaze lingered a little bit longer on the pretty flower near him before inserting a bookmark in his book and following Hyunjin to the kitchen.
They have their meal, Minho’s beef wellington is scrumptious as usual. He knows that Minho has been over the moon since they moved dorms and he can finally install a big oven. Their kitchen was spacious and it’s practically Minho and Felix’s second room.
Seungmin has his manners, so he cleans up and washes the plates after they ate, and Minho’s scrolling through his phone while waiting for him to finish so they can go home together.
“Hyunjin is actually going to be alone for a bit since the rest isn’t going home yet, I’ll stay here for a while with him to keep him company.”
“Hyunjin is a grown man. You two don’t even talk, he’ll be fine on his own.”
Seungmin blinked. “I still want to stay over. You can go home first if you want, though.”
“Is it more comfortable here?” Minho asked, not looking up from his phone.
He took a second before answering. “Home is more comfortable, of course. I just want to spend time here in the meantime.”
“Alright,” Minho packed up his things, quickly drying the newly washed tupperware on the drying rack and putting it in his bag. “I’ll see you in the dorms.”
“Okay,” Seungmin looked at Minho from previously looking at the sink. “Go home in a single piece, hyung.”
“It’s only a few steps away, Minho snorted. “See you.”
Seungmin felt Minho walking towards the balcony, probably on his way to bid goodbye to Hyunjin, and he exited the house silently.
Seungmin does not know how to react when he sees the flower he has been eyeing sitting on his desk, its stem submerged in water in an old mug. He does not remember taking it home, or even mentioning it to Hyunjin. Its colors are less vivid now that it’s under artificial light instead of sunlight, but it’s still beautiful all the same. He did his night routine as usual, moving on autopilot.
He’s curious about how the pretty flower mysteriously appeared on his desk—he doesn’t know how manifestation works, and he is definitely sure that he didn’t magically transport a couple of these flowers in his room. He stared at it a little too hard before he eventually brushed it off and walked outside his room again to grab a glass of water, until he saw a familiar hyung in the kitchen.
“You’re here,” Minho plainly stated.
“Safe and sound, yes,” he replied. “By the way, did Hyunjin give you lavenders before going home?”
Minho doesn’t look up from what he’s doing. “Yes, he gave a lot so I put some in your rooms with Yongbok and Jeongin. I don’t have room for too many lavenders.”
“Oh, okay,” Seungmin took a big sip of water. “Well, that explains it. Thank you, hyung.”
“No need to thank me, they’re not mine,” Minho countered. “They’re pretty, don’t you think?”
“They are. The colors are mesmerizing.”
Minho hummed. “I thought so. Anyway, good night, Seungmin-ah.”
“Good night, hyung.”
Seungmin watched Minho disappear in the bathroom after a while, and he sneaked inside his room, just to take a glance at the pretty flowers on his desk, just to see a little variety.
There are no lavenders on Minho’s desk. Not even on his side table.
That tells Seungmin more than he needs to know.
“Hm? What do you mean I gave Minho lavenders? He’s the one who asked me for a few before he left.”
Two.
Seungmin woke up with the sound of his alarm.
He gets up diligently as always, fixing his bed and heading towards the bathroom to freshen up. He went to the kitchen after, wanting to make his usual cup of coffee for the day.
What surprises him, however, is that there’s already a cup of steaming hot coffee on his designated seat on the table, and the coffee machine was already kept tidy at their counter. He’s awake enough to know that he did not make this beforehand, so he’s not really sure where it came from. He takes a small sniff to know if it’s his preferred coffee since both Minho and Jeongin use the red packaged coffee instead of the silver one, and oddly enough, it’s his preferred one.
He would think that a member misplaced their cup of coffee, but it’s not likely—both Jeongin and Minho put their coffee in the disposable cups so they can bring it to work, and Felix doesn’t drink coffee. It’s not even in his mug either, so he’s curious if this is his or not.
What’s more intriguing is that the mug is completely unfamiliar, Seungmin has never seen this mug in their vicinity before. It’s light purple on the outside and white on the inside with a small cartoon cat printed—he wonders if his housemates got this as a recent gift, and it’s weird enough that it’s in his favorite color and his designated area at the table for it not to be his.
He continues to look at it oddly, until he hears some ruffling of fabric in a distance, and he sees Minho assumingly getting ready for work.
“Looks can melt, but the coffee will become colder if you’re going to stare at it longer.”
Seungmin makes a noise at the back of his throat. “Is this mine?”
“No, it’s mine,” Minho sarcastically remarks, as if he does not have a cup of coffee in his hand as well. “Two caffeinated drinks with opposite temperatures are nice.”
Seungmin appreciates the indirect answer, not that Minho directly answers, anyway. He takes that as an indication that the coffee is indeed his. “Thanks for the coffee, if you made this one.”
“I’m offended,” Minho clicks his tongue frowns playfully. “I’m offended that you think Jeongin makes better coffee than me.”
Seungmin rolls his eyes. “I haven’t tasted it yet. And all of us use the same coffee machine with the same stuff, no one makes better coffee than the other.”
“You’re infuriating, Kim Seungmin,” Minho squats to tie his shoelaces. “You’re welcome.”
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Seungmin finally takes a sip of his coffee. “It tastes good, by the way. Is this a new mug?”
“Yes, I got it online from a cat shelter. Shipping fees are too expensive for just one mug so I bought two.”
“Can I see the other one?”
Minho gives him a weird look. “Why?”
“Just wanted to see it, I guess. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
The latter breaks eye contact. “Well… it’s at the company, so I can’t really show it to you.”
“That’s fine. I like the color of this one, though. I’m happy you know my favorite color.”
“I didn’t, it was just a guess,” he brushes him off. “I’ll get going now.”
“Keep safe, hyung.”
Weeks pass. Seungmin keeps trying to take a sneak peek at Minho’s lockers in the artist’s lounge as well as at the small cupboard located at their dance practice room, but he could not land his eyes on a certain identical mug as his. Or any mug that is cat-related, for that matter.
He keeps searching and searching like he has anything to do with that mug when he finds it. He’s not desperate per se, but he just wants the satisfaction of finding the certain object. He had already gotten a few weird looks from the members when they caught him looking around the dance practice room’s cupboard, but he simply brushed off their questions, saying that he was just checking if the paper cups were running out. They took the bait, thankfully, saving Seungmin some of the embarrassment.
He has given up on his little treasure hunt, it’s not like he will die if he doesn’t find it. For all he knows, Minho might be lying, so he simply forgets about it. He will probably find the mug sooner or so when Minho brings it home to wash or if someone breaks one of his cups.
The answer still comes to him, though he was not expecting to find out about this situation at all.
“I didn’t know that cup was yours, Seungmin-ah,” Felix says as he was baking while Seungmin grabbed a snack and a drink from the kitchen.”I thought it was Minho hyung’s.”
“Oh, he gave it to me. He just randomly made me coffee in this mug and said it was mine.”
“Really? That’s cute. I saw Minho hyung holding the paper bag containing that mug before when he got home, I thought he bought it on his own.”
“Paper bag? He bought it from a physical store?” Seungmin’s eyebrows were furrowed.
“You didn’t know?” Felix sounds genuinely surprised. “To answer your question, yes, I think he bought that mug and some toys for SoonDoongDori together.”
“Oh,” Seungmin helpfully says. “This is the only mug he bought, then?”
Felix hums in response. “That’s the only one, unless he’s hiding another one in his room.”
“Strange,” Seungmin mutters to himself like he has not finally put the puzzle pieces together. “Thanks, Felix.”
Three.
Mondays have always been long, it’s dreadful to start work after a couple of days of break. Starts are often denoted as positive, but probably not if it’s the start of weekdays. Seungmin would probably share the same sentiment as everyone, but Mondays were quite something special for him.
Seungmin and Minho are now entering their van on their way home after filming Kiss the Radio with Young K. They were quiet, unusually so—it was probably because they spent the past hour talking and talking. They filmed Seungmin’s punishment, and it honestly seemed like both of them got the punishment instead.
Seungmin had to compliment Lee Know while holding his hand because Seungmin is unfortunate to land on a challenge like that. He’s not really used to seriously complimenting someone else, especially if it’s Minho, and he did have a hard time with his brain short-circuiting when Minho’s fingers are right beneath his palm.
Thank heavens for masks, really, because Seungmin is burning and he’ll probably burn even more if his face was seen. Minho’s hand was so small, probably winning only by a bit over Felix’s hand—it feels like it’s gonna drown under Seungmin’s large hands.
His hand was cold, presumably from the cold room in SBS, but Seungmin didn’t mind. If he couldn’t think of any compliments before, he certainly can’t now, not when Minho’s fingers timidly against his palm.
Those petite fingers, those damned petite fingers, one of those when Seungmin has worn a ring on him as a joke, but the voice at the back of his head says otherwise. Ring size 15, a detail that Seungmin has no idea why it was engraved to his brain, something so precious that he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to remember it. His eyes stare intensely at the fingers, with the latter’s ring size ringing throughout his head, echoing like it’s a voice speaking beside him like he has a purpose to know them. Seungmin doesn’t, at least not now.
It’s almost shameful to look at his hyung now after experiencing a whole dilemma. It hurts his ego somehow, but in reality, he has no reason to shy away. So he swallows his pride as he holds the phone in front of them, watching the various comments from fans rapidly appear on the device.
They talk about random things and they answer the questions of some fans, and Seungmin thinks he’s doing well. He’ll probably get over his shameful experience soon, it’s not like anyone can hear his thoughts, anyway.
They talk about the recent events and photoshoots, giving some stories behind the camera. They tell anecdotes after anecdotes, entertaining the fans, and Minho tells another one of his own, under the talk of their 1st Look photoshoot.
“Were you wearing shorts?”
“No, I was not,” Minho idly replies, “I was wearing purple pants…”
Seungmin’s body impulsively reacts before he can think of his next move—he raises his head from previously staring at his phone and scrolling through comments, somehow resembling a puppy who just heard a pack of treats being opened. He blames himself for reacting so quickly, not when he has no reason behind acting that way, and Seungmin’s heart beats triple times from the nervousness together with the mention of his favorite color slip from the latter’s tongue.
“Purple pants?” Seungmin dumbly asks, because what else is he supposed to say?
Minho looks at him, possibly because he slipped in a question so suddenly while he was talking, but he lightly nods and blinks at him.
“You must have looked so nice,” Seungmin smiles widely, further resembling an excited puppy, like there is no thought behind his head. He probably doesn’t.
He would not say this normally, both Minho and Seungmin knew that, so Minho’s mind seemed to copy Seungmin’s empty head. He does not know how to react, and his lack of reaction seems too long even if it was just a couple of seconds—too many thoughts whirl in his head, ranging from ‘I always look nice’ and ‘What did he think of before to say something like that to me.’ Minho doesn’t know, and it probably beats his own stage name.
Minho stares at him, so Seungmin laughs and pokes. “Why?”
“Do you mean it?”
He breaks eye contact, since he already feels suffocated with the whirlwind of thoughts in his head right now. It’s too much, because Seungmin is the person who knows boundaries better than anyone else, yet Minho doesn’t know if Seungmin is purposely dancing over the lines or not.
So he laughs.
Half expecting an actual answer and half expecting for Seungmin to confirm if he was joking.
“You don’t normally wear such color.”
Minho’s thankful that the car’s lighting is poor, and it’s not enough to illuminate and show off his ear flaming. If Seungmin notices, he keeps his mouth shut, and Minho is undecided if that was the better option or not.
Plus one.
It’s award show season, and all of them were preparing for the red carpets and year-end performances.
They’ve been practicing repeatedly, the new arrangements of their songs blasting through their practice room speakers redundantly as their bodies move to their respective positions. It is tiring, of course it is, but preparing for year-end performances is not so intimidating now that they have prepared and conceptualized so much for Kingdom.
Now that they’re in separate dorms, Seungmin is not so updated with the other member’s routines and personal preparations for the award shows. As far as he knows, all of them are going on a diet, but that’s about it.
Seungmin is currently practicing his vocals in one of the company’s practice rooms as usual, warming up his voice and attempting to sing a piece over and over again. He’s feeling exhausted, so he takes a break to grab a cup of lukewarm water to soothe his throat. His tumbler gets empty fast, especially when he’s singing, so he stood up to refill his tumbler in the water fountain along the hallways.
As he waits for the fountain to fill up his cup, a faint voice calls his name.
“Seungmin-ah!”
The called man faces the direction where the voice came from, and Seungmin almost drops his damned tumbler.
He’s not sure why he’s so surprised, why he’s so hyperaware, because Minho already had purple hair a couple of years ago. He vividly remembers cooing over his hyung carrying a little bunny in his arms, eyes filled with adoration for the creature.
Now, the time has changed, but Minho’s freshly dyed purple hair is too striking for Seungmin to ignore. He’s sure his eyes are wide open in awe, but he quickly collects himself and replies.
“Hey, Minho-hyung,” Seungmin turns off the water fountain that was overflowing his bottle. “New hair?”
“Yes,” Minho replies in English, adorably so. “I haven’t dyed my hair an unnatural color in ages, so I figured out that now is a great time. I wanted a new color.”
“It looks great on you,” Seungmin leans on the wall. “When did you get it done?”
“Just now, actually. I just got out from the stylist noonas blow drying my hair.”
“That’s great,” he nods. “Are you heading to practice now?”
Minho hums. “I heard Hyunjin is already there, so I’ll head off now. Can’t keep him waiting.”
“You go then, hyung. I’ll see you soon.”
Seungmin watches Minho's figure disappear from a distance, and he takes a big gulp of water to calm down his raging chest.
Seungmin has not seen Minho for more than five minutes.
Therefore, he does not know why a certain purple-haired boy kept occupying his mind throughout the whole day, his freshly dyed hair lingering at the back of his mind as he sings and practices. Seungmin is well aware that having weird hair colors is part of idol culture, and he’s so confused why he’s so bothered by it now.
It’s getting concerning, as Seungmin keeps getting reminded of it. He doesn’t know if it’s just the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon getting through his head ever since he saw Minho’s hair, because suddenly, he has seen a lot more items around him that are colored in purple, almost like it’s teasing him. Purple is his favorite, and he is certain that he notices items of that color often before, but it seems more prevalent now. There are little constant reminders of a color so common that Seungmin laughs in disbelief whenever he encounters it.
Above all that, the question still remains in his head—why did his hyung choose purple?
He swears that he has heard Minho say that he doesn’t want to dye his hair with such vivid colors, the most he got recently was blonde and a really dark shade of green. Additionally, Minho has specifically said that he wanted a new color, so why would he dye his hair to something he already dyed his hair before?
Seungmin shakes his head as he spaces out inside the bus on his way home. He blinks multiple times, a habit he picked up from the purple-coded man himself, and he subtly hates himself for that.
Thoughts float around his head again, and he shouldn’t really overthink the situation. He is in no way related to Minho choosing to dye his hair all of a sudden, and he shouldn’t be surprised considering their work nature. It’s normal, Seungmin convinces himself, he did that for the award shows.
Seungmin repeats that inside his head like a broken record whenever he finds himself thinking of it (which was far too often for what he would like to admit). It helps him somehow, he’s getting himself together as the night passes by.
He lazes around their shared living room area, lying on the comfy couch as he reads his book. Time flies easily when you’re occupied, so Seungmin doesn’t really notice the time as he continues reading.
He temporarily closes his book and grabs a glass of water from the refrigerator and he’ll probably find something to order for tonight’s dinner afterward. He hears the rumbling of metal from behind their front door as he pours himself a drink, and that’s probably just anyone of the members who just got back home from work.
The door opens, as expected, and Felix enters as Minho holds the door open for him. They take off their shoes and masks to wash their hands subsequently, the two boys greeting Seungmin as they pass by him in the kitchen.
Felix exits the kitchen right after, heading towards his room to freshen up from the tiring day. Minho is now at the kitchen sink, minding his own business and washing his hands, and Seungmin blurts out the question that has been haunting him for the day mindlessly.
“Why purple?”
Minho abruptly stops moving his hands against each other, but the water from the sink keeps going. It’s almost like he’s taking time to process such a simple question. Slowly, Minho starts to wash his hands again so cautiously and speaks in an equally cautious way.
“You mean my hair?”
“Yes,” Seungmin settles his glass down. “Why did you choose that color?”
“It looks great, I saw it on the Salon Hair Color Chart and decided on that one,” Minho turns off the sink and turns around to face Seungmin. “Why do you ask?”
“No other reason?” Seungmin leans against the kitchen island. “I remember you already dyed your hair purple before, so I just got curious why you chose that color again.”
“Does it look bad?” Minho asks, almost sounding like he’s panicking, but he’s sure he played it off well. “Purple is a pretty color.”
“I agree,” Seungmin smiles with his eyes wide and earnest. “Purple is such a pretty color.”
Minho blinks at him, not comprehending what Seungmin is trying to say. Maybe he does not want to comprehend. And so, Minho’s semi-functioning brain comes up with a half-assed response:
“Are you calling me pretty, Kim Seungmin?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’re self-aware, no need to ask for affirmation from me,” Seungmin laughs. “But if it makes you happy, then yes, I’m calling you pretty.”
“Good,” Minho smiles. “My ex-husband should not find me hideous.”
“Why does my opinion matter so much?”
“You try burning your scalp for some stupid boy’s delight only to find him dismayed,” Minho glares. “Men don’t deserve anything.”
“So you dyed your hair for me?”
Seungmin sees Minho’s stunned state and he holds back a laugh, like he is any better. Butterflies would be an understatement to what Seungmin is currently feeling in his stomach, everything is finally getting through his head, all the little purple items that Minho keeps showing him are already tying down to a singular knot.
“No other people here obsess with a certain color like you do.”
“It made you ask for Hyunjin’s lavenders to give it to me, though.”
“What?” Minho’s ears turn red. “That’s not true. Who told you that?”
“No need to lie,” the latter looks at him amusingly. “Hyunjin told me so. I know your cards, Minho hyung. I know you think about me a lot.”
Blood rushes up to Minho’s face even more, painting his face in such a fiery color. It makes him look even more attractive, for some reason. Seeing Minho flustered and tongue-tied with him being the reason behind it strikes something in Seungmin, something so tingly and fairy-like.
Seungmin has always loved the pretty shades of purple, but the color of Minho’s burning ears may be his new favorite.