Chapter Text
Hanbin has a run-in with destiny right after the freshman orientation ceremony.
It’s the annual matchmaking session - a mini festival of sorts but with the express purpose of appealing to freshman or transfers about the joys of extracurricular activities. Technically, Hanbin should have been out there mingling with the other newbies and collecting flyers and trinkets, but he’s duty bound to represent the dance club as an early recruit.
“Come join the dance club,” he says energetically, beaming in the direction of two starry-eyed girls who receive a flyer each.
“I… can’t dance,” one of them responds shyly, attempting to give back the paper.
Hanbin shakes his head. “No experience necessary! We all start as beginners.”
“Ah, okay,” she mumbles, speaking to the ground.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Hanbin says to her retreating form.
“You really shouldn’t say things like that,” Heesu, the club president, remarks with a wry smile. “And don’t give me that look like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted more beginners joining?” Hanbin counters.
“Yes, but I want them interested in dancing - not hooking up with you.”
“Why would they want to hook up with me?” Hanbin asks, baffled.
Heesu opens her mouth to respond but closes it instead, opting to groan into her iced vanilla latte.
“If half the girls leave after finding out you’re gay, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
“Now that’s just homophobic.”
Heesu snorts a quick laugh before turning her attention back to the crowd. Hanbin follows suit, chatting with potential newcomers and running through his leaflets relatively quickly.
Later, Hanbin will think that it must have been an act of god or fate, but at the present moment nothing of the sort runs through his mind. And so he leaves the booth temporarily to stretch his legs and to bum a soda off another booth offering free soft drinks. Hanbin is three sips into his fizzy something-or-other when he spots the silhouette of a complete stranger with uncanny familiarity.
It hits him hard - gnawing at his heart and itching through his stomach and neck until the momentum of curiosity drives him closer. Hanbin’s throat feels dry as he stares at the still form of a man furrowing his brows in a soft pout as he looks at the map of booths.
He looks out of place in the sea of chattering, excited students, but before Hanbin can make his way over and strike up a conversation, the pout disappears from his face and is replaced by a mellow smile into the crowd. Hanbin is not overly familiar with the sensation of falling, but he supposes this would be a close substitute. His heart beats quicker when he realizes the man is walking towards the dance club’s booth, and Hanbin’s feet move before his mind even registers a command to walk.
“Are you interested in joining the dance club?” Hanbin asks breathlessly, cutting Heesu off from her usual spiel after nearly running back to the booth. He pointedly ignores the way Heesu gives him the Eye. He’d talk to her later.
“Yes, but I’m not great,” comes a firm but kind voice. Hanbin catalogs the stranger on auto-pilot from where he stands - practically soaking in the way his hands accept the flyer and the soft sheen of sweat on his forehead. Hanbin’s heart squeezes when he sees that the pout has returned. And up close, Hanbin can tell that it’s less a frown and more a habit - resting pout face.
“I can teach you,” Hanbin responds as the gnawing feeling in his heart increases in embarrassing intensity. He’s man enough to admit that the stranger in front of him is attractive, but that alone is typically never enough to incite such a reaction. It feels almost desperate somehow.
He finally looks directly at Hanbin with a careless, straightforward gaze. Hanbin feels simultaneously naked and detached from his body when the hot stranger gives him an appreciative smile.
“Thanks,” he says, “I’ll count on it.” He signs up without further prompting.
“Sure,” Hanbin responds, managing to find his voice but feeling pitifully inadequate when all he can do is wave goodbye after he leaves.
Looking down at the roster, Hanbin can finally put a name to the face. (And what a face it was.)
“Zhang Hao,” Hanbin repeats.
“What was that?” Heesu says with a knowing wink and raised eyebrows once Hao is out of earshot.
Hanbin shrugs in response, ears hot and probably giving him away. He wishes he could even tell her what the deal was because aside from admitting that he was completely bewitched by the mere presence of a pretty man, there was no other way Hanbin could explain his uncharacteristically flustered actions.
The mischief doesn’t leave Heesu’s face.
“D’you know the guy?” she asks.
“No,” Hanbin replies, the words feeling like a lie in his mouth.
“Well, you got all semester to get to know him,” she says cheerfully.
Hanbin’s heart leaps at the thought.