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It’s cool outside - the near constant breeze rustling the leaves in the trees and blowing already fallen ones about the ground. Hyunjin has always loved this time of year. He has on his favorite hoodie, the one that has holes worn into the seam between the sleeve and the cuff that he often works his thumb through on the left side. It helps to keep Hyunjin warm in the chilled air as he walks toward his favorite coffee shop. It is only a few blocks away from campus and has the best baked goods. When he goes inside, he glances around the shop and then pauses when he sees a vaguely familiar face sitting at one of the corner tables.
Lee Minho is a friend of Hyunjin's friend Chan. A few days prior, Minho had joined Hyunjin, Chan, and the others at lunch. Hyunjin hasn’t seen or talked to Minho since even though they both have classes in the same building. Minho hadn't said a lot at that lunch, and Hyunjin isn’t entirely sure what he thinks about the elder guy. He knows that Chan and Changbin are his friends, that the high school kid that Felix is friends with is Minho’s cousin, that he is a dance major; that is all Hyunjin knows about Lee Minho. But Chan had wanted them to get along, to all be friends. Chan had never steered them wrong yet. Hyunjin decides then that a not so great first encounter wasn't enough to deter him from trying again.
So, he gets himself a drink and orders a second one for Minho - whose own drink seemed to be forgotten in favor of the laptop that sat open on the table in front of him. Then he goes over to the table and sits down in the empty seat across from Minho, who looks up from his laptop with a confused expression on his face. "Hello, Minho-ssi," Hyunjin greets with a smile as he places the drink he got for Minho down next to the obviously cooled cup already on the table.
"Hello," Minho says, the word coming out slow and hesitant as if he isn’t sure what is going on.
"I'm Hyunjin. We met the other-"
"I know who you are," Minho interrupts, scowling as he turns his focus back to his laptop.
Hyunjin presses his lips into a thin line and takes a sip out of his cup. "You should actually drink this one." Hyunjin's words cause Minho to glance over to the new cup on the table. "Wouldn't want it to go cold too."
Minho stares at the cup for several seconds before he looks up at Hyunjin again. "What are you doing here?" He grabs the drink and pulls it closer to himself, wrapping both hands around the cup once he has it where he wants it to sit. "Thank you. For the coffee."
Hyunjin smiles and lets himself get comfortable in his spot, figuring that Minho isn’t going to kick him out at. "We didn't really talk a lot the other day." Minho shakes his head and takes a tentative sip of his coffee. He looks cute with the sleeves of his dark green sweater gathering near the tips of his fingers. His hair looks soft and Hyunjin has to fight the urge to reach over and play with the golden strands. "What are you working on?"
"A paper for my history class." Minho scrunches up his face as he answers, idly twisting his cup back and forth between his hands. "It's not going well; but to be fair I haven't really been paying attention in my lectures." His smile is almost sheepish which makes Hyunjin laugh softly.
"Wow, hyung, you're a rebel."
"Hyung?"
Hyunjin shrugs at the question, knowing that they haven’t exactly discussed or okayed using more familiar language; somehow, though, he knows that Minho was going to be more than just Chan's friend. "I'm not overstepping, am I?" Minho seems to hesitate for a second but then he shakes his head with a small smile.
The two of them sit around talking for several hours, taking turns buying drinks and snacks for each other before Minho finally packs up his laptop into the bag that had been on the chair next to him. The two of them then start to walk together to the restaurant down the way that Hyunjin had suggested. They have dinner together and end up at a nearby park, talking about anything and everything that comes to mind the entire time. "This was fun," Minho admits once they have finally decided that they should head their separate ways and walk along the sidewalk toward the bus stop that Minho needs.
"It was," agrees Hyunjin with a smile, finding that he is glad he had decided to approach Minho earlier. "Hyung, can I have your number?"
"What?" Minho laughs softly at that, sounding more surprised than Hyunjin expected him to be.
"I want to talk to you later. I like talking to you."
"O-oh." Minho nods his head and seems to consider it for a second before he holds his hand out, gesturing for Hyunjin to hand him his phone. Hyunjin quickly pulls out his phone and unlocks it. He pulls up the contact list before handing it over to Minho. Minho adds his number to a new contact.
"Can I call you tonight?" As he asks the question, he takes a quick photo of Minho to add to the contact information that Minho doesn’t seem to notice.
"It already is tonight." Minho laughs softly as he takes another step toward the bus stop they are near.
"When you get home, then?" Hyunjin pouts as he speaks.
Minho looks over at the bus as it pulls up to the stop. "Mn. An hour, then you can call." Minho waves at Hyunjin before pulling his backpack up onto his shoulder and getting onto the bus.
Hyunjin stands there and smiles until after the bus pulls away. He then starts to walk in the opposite direction toward the dorm building where he lives with Felix, tapping out a quick text message as he goes to let Jisung know he wasn't going to make it to meet up with him, Felix, and Seungmin that night but will see Felix when he gets home.
After that, meeting Minho at the coffee shop becomes commonplace. Before classes in the mornings or after they were done in the evenings - sometimes later if Minho has a late lesson. Hyunjin’s never goes over but sometimes he takes dance classes at a studio off campus that make him late. They text one another every day, especially when they are too busy to actually meet up for coffee.
Hyunjin finds that it is really just easy to be around Minho. They talk about anything and everything, sometimes their conversations not actually amounting to anything but speculative nonsense. Minho tells Hyunjin about his cats and his fear of heights and how he wants to own a dance studio one day or become a choreographer. Hyunjin tells Minho about his love of art and how spending days wandering an art museum is one of his favorite ways to de-stress and forget about his classes and the pressures to do well in all of them. Hyunjin finds that he really likes the way Minho laughs, especially the one where his eyes would get small and his face lights up then he tries to hide it behind a hand that Hyunjin always pulls away. Minho laughs at all of Hyunjin’s ridiculous jokes and gives him encouraging words whenever he seems to be stressed out about finals approaching. Minho somehow worked his way into every aspect of Hyunjin’s day without him realizing.
At least until the night he asks Minho to come to a party with him (not a date, even though he found his heart sped up at the idea of one) and Minho declines. Minho doesn’t give any real explanation, and Hyunjin doesn’t press for one - he doesn’t need one. Minho said he didn’t want to and that is enough. So, Hyunjin gets all dressed up and goes with his friends; but he soon finds that he doesn’t find anyone at the party interesting enough to keep his attention. He has a few drinks and tries flirting with the pretty girl from his algebra class - but it feels awkward and tense in a way that makes him apologize when she suggests they go upstairs. Hyunjin finds that he would have much rather been sitting on the couch talking with Minho about the drama they had watched the other day (they had huddled up together in a corner of the library intended to work on homework but ended up watching the drama with shared headphones and Hyunjin’s phone), or dancing in the living room with him like many others (including Jisung and his boyfriend Changbin).
He doesn’t bother to say goodbye to his friends; they won’t even notice his absence, honestly. He doesn’t really think about it when he gets a cab and gives an address, eventually showing up at the building that Minho’s apartment is at. Hyunjin had been over once, but they had quickly decided that it wouldn’t be a regular occurrence after Hyunjin discovered that he was indeed still allergic to cats. They never went to Hyunjin’s dorm, either, because Hyunjin wasn’t sure how comfortable Minho would be around Felix after their disastrous first meeting - and maybe a small part of him prefers keeping Minho to himself. Without allowing time to second guess himself, Hyunjin makes his way into the apartment building and to the door that he knows is Minho’s. He knocks on it and waits for several seconds for Minho to answer.
When Minho does, neither one of them says anything for several seconds. Minho because he is surprised to see Hyunjin there, looking as good as he does - and Hyunjin because he is caught off guard by how beautiful he thinks that Minho looks standing there. He isn’t wearing anything special; just some worn-in jeans and a large sweatshirt with his hair looking as though he’d simply combed it. He does, however, have glasses on his face which is something new to Hyunjin. “Hyung, you wear glasses?” Hyunjin finds himself saying instead of actually greeting Minho.
The question makes Minho laugh as he smiles. “I usually wear contacts,” he explains. “Dancing with glasses isn’t easy, but I was staying home tonight so…”
“Cute. I mean, no… yeah, that’s what I mean. You look cute.” Hyunjin smiles, his face flushing the faintest amount not because he’d voiced what he was feeling so much as the fact that he second guessed himself in the first place. It wasn’t something he did often, if at all. He is always confident when it comes to his feelings.
Minho just clicks his tongue at Hyunjin. “What are you doing here? I thought you went to a party.”
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Hyunjin asks in lieu of explaining why he had found himself showing up at Minho’s apartment door instead of staying at the party he had been looking forward to previously.
Minho seems to hesitate for a few seconds but then he nods his head. “Let me get my things…” He gestures behind him into the apartment and Hyunjin nods before Minho shuts the door so that the cats won’t try to escape while he isn’t paying enough attention to block the door.
A few moments later, Minho comes out of the apartment with his keys, phone, and wallet. He had also pulled on a coat since it is pretty cold outside with the sun having gone down already. Neither one of them says much as they exit the apartment complex.
They end up at the river, walking alongside on the pathway there. Still neither one of them says too much, not in a hurry to break the calm, comfortable feeling that settled between them. Hyunjin finds that even walking in silence with Minho at his side is much more enjoyable than whatever he could have gotten up to with that girl back at the party. “So, was the party that boring?” Minho asks, his quiet voice not quite breaking the calm between them but initiating conversation all the same.
Hyunjin had found that while Minho could be loud and the center of attention when he wanted to be (namely when it came to dancing), he is often very soft spoken and almost cautious about what he says as if he was worried about saying the wrong thing. He prefers the moments when they are deep in conversation and maybe bickering a bit and Minho speaks over him and does not restrain himself as much. He can’t say that he minds Minho’s softer speaking voice, though. It is just… part of who he is. “Yeah,” Hyunjin answers with a nod of his head. “You weren’t there.” Minho smiles softly but doesn't seem to know what to say to that. He turns to look at the darkened water, but Hyunjin can still see the way that his face has reddened at the comment. Or Hyunjin found that he hopes it is the comment and not just the cold. “Hyung, are you going home for winter break?”
The backs of their fingers brush together as they walk and Hyunjin finds himself swallowing thickly as he fights back the urge to simply take Minho’s hand in his own. Minho nods his head in answer before he looks back at Hyunjin, seeming to have gotten control of the blush that had been on his face. “Mn. I didn’t go home for Chuseok so my mom is expecting me home. What about you?”
Hyunjin shakes his head, glancing down to where his fingers and Minho’s are still brushing against one another before looking where they are walking. He hesitantly links together his index finger with Minho’s and smiles to himself when he feels Minho gently squeeze his finger in response. “No, my parents are going on a cruise with some friends of theirs - we don’t really do Christmas. I’m probably going to give myself time to get a headstart on my spring portfolio.”
“Ah.”
“Promise me we’ll get coffee together before you go home?”
Minho chuckles softly at that and then hums his agreement. “I’ll be back for next term. It’s not like we’re never going to hang out again.”
“I know. I just… I’ll miss you.”
“Yeah…” Minho smiles softly at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin swears that Minho was leaning against his side a little more but he doesn’t want to say anything about it in case Minho pulls away. “I’ll miss you, too.”
The days after that are busy with studying, preparing for final exams and performances, spending time with friends that they won’t see until after the new year, and still trying to meet up for coffee when they get a chance. The break between semesters for Hyunjin is rather uneventful. He works a part time job, spends some time with the friends that stayed around Seoul for the break, messages Minho every day and talks to him on the phone quite often, and does some of the portfolio work that he said he was going to. The return to campus is met with the return of classes and getting settled back into that routine. It also finds Hyunjin and Felix moving out of their shared dorm to different apartments. Felix now living with several friends that decided to band together and rent a house because it was cheaper to split the rent that way, and Hyunjin lives by himself in an apartment with more space for him to do his artwork without it spilling over to someone else’s area.
Between all of that it is nearly February before Hyunjin and Minho manage to see each other in person again. Hyunjin sees Minho enter the coffee shop and he jumps up from his seat to rush over and throw himself on Minho in a hug. Minho laughs as he stumbles backward but wraps his arms around Hyunjin to return the hug once he has steadied himself. “How was your break?” Minho asks Hyunjin after they finally get settled at the table Hyunjin had been occupying.
“It was fine,” replies Hyunjin with a shrug of his shoulders. Nothing particularly wonderful happened, but it was nice to have a break from classes and the stress brought about by them. “What about you? How was your break?”
The two of them spend the rest of the evening catching up, even though Hyunjin has homework waiting on him and Minho is supposed to be using one of the training rooms in the dance building to practice. Neither one really thinks much about the other things they should have been doing, each one too preoccupied with the other. They move from the coffee shop to a restaurant nearby, Hyunjin insisting on paying for their dinner and ignoring Minho's protests about it. "Do you want to see my apartment?" Hyunjin asks when they exit the restaurant. "You haven't been yet." Hyunjin pouts as he grabs ahold of Minho's hand. He swings their hands back and forth as he continues pouting while Minho laughs softly.
"Okay. But only if you let me see what you've been working on," he states.
Hyunjin smiles brightly and nods while he gently squeezes Minho’s fingers. “Come on. It’s not that far.”
Hyunjin talks non-stop as he leads the way; about how he got the apartment and why, about the disasters that had occurred when his other friends had helped him move in, about the cafe he found just down the road that he thinks Minho will like. Minho doesn't contribute much to the conversation, a couple of hums to let Hyunjin know he's being listened to and quiet laughter in all the correct places. Hyunjin doesn't mind and is still smiling by the time he lets go of Minho's hand to dig his keys out of his coat pocket. Hyunjin flips on the lightswitch by the door and then steps aside to let Minho in first.
The apartment is pretty big, a single large room and connected bathroom making up the entirety of it. There's a small kitchenette with a sink, dishwasher, cabinets, and microwave off to one side. Hyunjin has a seating area set up between the kitchenette and the bed. There's standing curtains that can further separate the bed and dressers from the rest of the room. In the corner is an easel with several used and several blank canvases propped up against the wall. There are some paints left on the stool in front of the easel and a tall thing of drawers that seems to house additional art supplies. "It's not a lot," Hyunjin explains as he closes the door. They both step out of their shoes. "But I'm no longer taking over Felix's side of the room with my stuff."
Minho hums in response, though his focus is more on the canvas that is still set up on the easel. Hyunjin had left it there to dry. He walks over to it to look at it closer, and Hyunjin idly bites his thumbnail as he watches Minho. Minho has a small smile on his face, and Hyunjin would like to think that the look he had was something akin to pride. Hyunjin had been working hard on his portfolio items. "What do you think?" he asks before he can second guess himself and if he wants to know Minho's thoughts.
"It's beautiful," Minho answers. He looks over at Hyunjin and smiles before walking over to the other finished canvases. He carefully looks at them and shifts them around so that he can see the others better. "You're very talented."
"Thanks. Thank you, hyung." Hyunjin lowers his hand to his side, some of his anxiousness fading away from the simple comment Minho had made.
Hyunjin has so much more that he wants to say but finds that he can't quite find the words to say them. So instead he goes over and stands next to Minho as they talk about Hyunjin's art pieces; what colors he chose and why, what they make him feel, what they make Minho feel. It makes the rest of the night go by far too quickly, and sooner than Hyunjin would like he finds himself walking Minho to the bus stop outside with promises to meet up again soon. Hyunjin doesn't want to say goodbye as Minho's bus approaches. He would like to think that Minho biting his lower lip and seeming like he tries to reach out for Hyunjin's hand only to catch himself and stop means that Minho doesn't really want to go, either.
They don't get a lot of time to hang out after that, until one morning Hyunjin decides to bring the coffee to Minho. He knows that Minho has been showing up to campus early in order to practice more for the spring showcase the performance arts department is putting on. Hyunjin's dance class isn't participating since it is for non-major students. They can audition separately to participate, but the class as a whole is not. Hyunjin doesn't want to do it, but he knows that Felix is auditioning. Felix has talked about the additional practices he's taken with some of the older students. Hyunjin never asked if Minho was one of those students. Maybe he should have, he realizes as he searches the different practice rooms for Minho.
When he finds Minho in one of the rooms, Minho has music playing from his phone that is lying on the floor by the wall of mirrors. His hair is no longer the golden blond that Hyunjin has become familiar with. Minho has dyed it a dark, natural looking brunet since they hung out last. Hyunjin didn't think it was possible for Minho to look any better than he does daily, but seeing him there in his element was something different entirely. It isn't the first time he's seen Minho dance - he's seen Minho be the center of attention as he shows off his skills with some friends. It was always in a friendly, fun manner though. Everyone was talking and laughing and goofing off. It was very different from the Minho that Hyunjin sees in front of him at that moment. This Minho is calculating and focused. His moves are perfect and not even the sweat causing his hair to stick to his face at the sides or at his forehead takes away from how good he looks. Hyunjin swallows thickly and for several moments forgets why he showed up in the first place.
He can't help from letting his mind wander to how Minho might look dancing close to him in a dimly lit room with music playing that is much heavier and darker. He's pulled from those thoughts when Minho is suddenly in front of him waving a hand back and forth in front of Hyunjin's face. "Are you okay?" Minho asks with a laugh.
"Ye-yeah," Hyunjin answers before clearing his throat. "I know you said you were too busy to go to the coffee shop, so…" He holds up the two cups of coffee in his hands and smiles at Minho.
"You're a lifesaver," Minho says with a heavy sigh. He then takes both cups from Hyunjin.
It takes Hyunjin a few seconds to realize what happened. "Hyung!" he whines as he follows after Minho. He grabs Minho's upper arms to stop him from going farther and drapes himself over Minho's back when he catches up. "One of those is supposed to be for me."
He hooks his chin over Minho's shoulder while Minho shakes his head. "No, I don't think so." He's trying not to smile and his eyes are damn near sparkling with mischief as he glances over to the face so near his own, which makes it impossible for Hyunjin to not smile in turn.
"Go out with me Saturday," Hyunjin finds himself saying instead of the teasing words he had intended to say. Once the words were out, though, he didn't want to take them back and waited with baited breath for Minho's response.
"Mn. After five," Minho agrees and then takes a drink out of the cup that has his own drink order in it.
Hyunjin wraps his arms around Minho, pinning his arms to his sides though Minho still bends his arm at the elbow so that he can get another drink out of his cup. It's a little awkward but Hyunjin doesn't want to let go either. "I mean like a date," he decides to clarify after a few seconds of overthinking that makes him worry that Minho wasn't on the same page as him.
Minho laughs and smiles with a shake of his head that almost makes Hyunjin frown as Minho wiggles around until Hyunjin lets him go. "Good, because I planned on making you pay." Minho is turning to face Hyunjin as he speaks, smiling in a disarmingly sweet manner that doesn't quite match the level of playfulness that still reflects in his eyes.
"Hyung, I'm going to ask you to be my boyfriend."
Minho scoffs as he hands Hyunjin the second cup back. "Take me to dinner first. Then we'll talk," he says. His smile becomes a bit softer, less playful and more reflective of whatever anxieties or fears he has. It makes Hyunjin want to just wrap Minho up in his arms and kiss him until they go away.
It's not a new thought for Hyunjin. He has found increasingly over the time they spent together that he would think about it, dream about ways different days could have resulted in a kiss if he had just said what he felt instead of hesitating. Hyunjin wasn't even sure why he hesitated so long, he never has before. "Okay," Hyunjin agrees and he nods his head. He takes a step closer to Minho, almost too close but not close enough at the same time. "I'll take you to dinner first. Then I want to go dancing with you, and then I'm going to ask you to be my boyfriend. Maybe even kiss you goodnight."
"Maybe I'll let you." Minho's voice is almost inaudible, but Hyunjin hears it all the same. It makes Hyunjin smile and feel as though he can't wait for Saturday.
"I hope so."
Hyunjin smiles as Minho's face darkens with a blush, and Minho takes a step back. He clears his throat and takes a drink of his coffee. "Don't you have a class to get to?"
"Yeah." Hyunjin nods in agreement, but he's reluctant to leave all the same. He knows he really can't miss his classes that day, but still he would much rather stay with Minho. Minho doesn't give him much of a choice, and Hyunjin laughs when Minho uses his free hand to push him back toward the door. "Okay, okay. I'm going. Coffee in the morning?"
"Don't push your luck." Minho's tone of voice almost sounds irritated, but Hyunjin knows better. Minho is just trying to cover for how easily Hyunjin was able to make him blush so prettily. As he walks away with a grin, Hyunjin is already planning ways to make it happen again.