Chapter Text
hanbin doesn’t think much of it at first.
their first introductions are short and sweet, introducing themselves to one another in the chaos of the dorm, gyuvin chuckling when hanbin introduced himself (he still doesn’t know why!), a “can i call you hanbin hyung?” softly mumbled, and gently accepted before they’re all called to start practicing for the signal song mission; their first real challenge in this contest.
gyuvin’s a sweet boy, albeit a tad too shy, so much so that other boys can’t really understand what he’s saying sometimes, but hanbin gets it.
the overwhelming pressure of being known as the first all star in K group, only to be knocked down in such a humiliating manner by kooyoung-nim who doesn’t seem as though he’s going to be letting up on either yujin or gyuvin anytime soon.
when they’re back in the dorms as dinner is being set up, hanbin talks to him about it.
“gyuvin-ah, it’s okay to feel discouraged at first, but from what i’ve seen from you during your first stage, you’ll get the hang of it eventually! you know that, right?”
gyuvin turns around from unpacking his bags and looks at him in shock, with such a silly look on his face what is that, as though he didn’t think hanbin would talk to him.
“you… you remember my first stage?” gyuvin mumbles to him, wide-eyed.
“why wouldn’t i?” hanbin smiles at him, “you were memorable even before they gave you your star level! i looked at you for the first time and was wondering since then what kind of performance you’d give, and you definitely didn’t disappoint.”
gyuvin still looks as though someone had told him he won the lottery and discovered the cure for cancer by accident all at once, but then he ducks his head shyly and mutters a “thank you, hyung” that makes hanbin want to pinch his cheeks until they turn red.
after that, they talk as though they’ve known each other for years. gyuvin tells him about his family, his brothers and sister, his classmates, how long he’s been a trainee, his obsession with hugging yujin, and hanbin listens, smiles, and occasionally adds his own comments.
sometimes, when people do this to him, treat him as a board to bounce thoughts off and never listen to his opinions, he does have to fake a smile just to get through the conversation. but with gyuvin? it feels as though gyuvin wants him to know everything about him, so that his hyung can see what kind of person he is and so they can skip past the awkward phase because he wants to get to the good part now; because who knows how much time any of them will have with each other and they already get along so well.
he’s a touchy person too, they’ve barely known each other for a few hours and gyuvin is already putting his arm around hanbin’s shoulders, laying his head on his legs, and he even lets hanbin ruffle his hair. it’s really so cute to him that gyuvin acts like such an older brother to yujin, but transforms into such a big golden retriever when they’re talking. hanbin can practically visualize the tail wagging behind gyuvin every time he pats his head or cups his face to tell him how adorable he’s acting.
at one point, he’s barely able to hold back his snorts as gyuvin tells him different stories about how much he annoys his friends before they’re all taken down to the kitchen to have their first real meal in the dorms as 98 trainees.
as they walk out their room together, gyuvin gesturing wildly with his hands and hanbin watching fondly, he doesn’t notice until it’s too late and he accidentally bumps into another trainee with how distracted he is. he’s just thankful that the other ends up holding onto him before he falls onto his ass and embarasses himself.
“oh, please excuse me!”
“ah, i’m so sorry!”
they both say at the same time, then chuckle at their own nervousness. hanbin looks at the other boy, and doesn’t think he recognizes him. he feels bad, of course, but there’s just so many trainees here from so many different countries that he doesn’t think anyone can blame him.
“are… are you two going down to get some dinner?” the boy asks, looking at him and gyuvin.
“yes! would you like to join us, ….?” hanbin trails off, and the boy is looking at him blankly before he suddenly realizes what hanbin is looking for.
“it’s echan, jeong echan.” he smiles at them, “and that’d be great, hanbin-ssi. i’m just waiting for someone else to come if you don’t mind?”
hanbin blinks in surprise, “yes, that sounds good! but… i’m sorry, have we met before?”
“no? why do you ask?” echan looks at him, “because i know your name?”
hanbin doesn’t understand why echan looks at him quizzically when he nods, then he says, “who wouldn’t remember your name? even when you walked into the room for the first time, i think everyone was taken aback by you.”
…
he can’t help the red that grows on his cheeks, and the high pitched tone that he speaks in when he stutters out, “ah! t-thank you but what do you mean, everyone stood out during the star evaluations… i’m sure i was just another face that blended into the crowd, haha…”
echan smiles at him then, a little sad and resigned all at once, and added, “if there was one name to remember that day, it was yours,” and he keeps going, ignoring how hanbin’s ears are also slowly turning red, “the song you performed, the clothes you wore, the charm you had on stage, even your facial expressions… you were kind of enchanting.”
hanbin is this close to just burying his face in his hands and running away, and he’s incredibly grateful echan stopped at this moment because he found a way to change the subject since he finally remembered, “no, i really wasn’t all that…! besides, your mirotic performance was amazing!”
echan blinks, and the smile on his face decreases but somehow becomes more genuine, “you remembered me from mirotic?”
“of course!” hanbin beams at him, “you were the individual trainees, right? you and jiwoong especially caught my attention, it’s hard to pull off such a sexy concept like that but- ah!”
hanbin doesn’t manage to finish his sentence since gyuvin —where has he been this whole time?— grabs him by the wrist and physically tears him away from the conversation.
he looks up at gyuvin, a little dazed and confused, and quietly asks, “...gyuvin?”
gyuvin looks at the both of them as though he still hasn’t realized what he’s done, before the recognition fills his eyes and he chuckles a bit nervously, “is your friend gonna take much longer?” he asks, without taking his hand off hanbin’s wrist.
the awkwardness from the situation melts away a bit with the innocent question, as echan scans around the hallway they’re standing in and says, “ah, i’m not sure? he said we’d meet for lunch, but…”
“then maybe hyung and i can go on ahead,” gyuvin interrupts, and hanbin already wants to scold him for being rude but hearing him say hyung makes him want to let gyuvin get away with everything, and there’s not even much he can do before he’s dragged away from echan in the direction of the kitchens.
“gyuvin-ah! why are you being so pushy right now? that was kind of rude, you know!” hanbin asks, panting a bit because there’s no way anyone can expect him to keep up with gyuvin’s long legs.
gyuvin isn’t looking at him when he answers, “just hungry, hyung,” while still dragging him across the building.
hanbin digs his feet into the floor, and that’s when gyuvin finally stops and notices he’s still holding onto his wrist. gyuvin hesitates a bit, it seems like he realizes hanbin wants him to let go, but he just doesn’t want to.
it’s not that hanbin doesn’t notice. he sees how gyuvin is always touching yujin, hugging and kissing him all over. it’s obvious that’s how gyuvin communicates, it’s how he calms down and how he calms others. it even seems natural to him, almost.
why would he deny him something so simple that makes him so happy?
so hanbin shakes off gyuvin’s grip, and immediately interlocks their fingers together.
he can’t help the fondness that blooms up in him when he sees the puppy-like smile that grows on gyuvin’s face, and he tells himself that it’s nothing, that he used to hold hands his dongsaengs’ hands back in highschool all the time, that everyone needs a little physical affection here and there.
he tells himself that he really doesn’t think anything of it, even if his heart skipped a beat.