Chapter Text
killing me slow, out the window
i’m always waiting for you to be waiting below
The walk from Jisung’s apartment to 3racha Studios generally takes him about twenty minutes. If he hurries - jaywalks and dodges into the bike lane to pass people walking too slow and cuts down that sketchy alley behind the convenience store - he can make it in under fifteen.
But most days, he takes his time. Headphones in, hands in his pockets, ambling down the street with one eye on the pavement and one eye on the clouds.
Most days, he can stop outside Two Kids’ Dance Studio and see the boy inside.
Okay, not boy, man. Jisung may have a baby face but he can safely say that he thinks this guy is older than him by at least a little. At any rate, he works full time, if the amount of time he’s present behind the glass windows of the dance studio is anything to go by. (Jisung’s not a stalker, he just happens to commute this way thank you very much.)
Two Kids’ is a small dance studio, rented out of a building that also houses a laundromat and a chiropractor. It’s really just one big room, with wood floors and mirrored walls and giant glass floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street for natural light. It’s usually full of small children - Jisung Googled it one time and found out that Two Kids’ is specifically for kids using dance as therapy, which is such an insanely nice thing for someone to do for a career, of course he’s just the nicest person in the whole world. He would be, with a smile like that.
Him being the boy inside.
Jisung’s never spoken to him, only seen him, but he thinks he might be in love.
And Jisung considers himself to be a wholly self-aware sort of person, and knows that he’s the exact sort of person who is wont to fall in love with pretty strangers on public transportation and baristas who are extra nice.
But this feels different. Jisung has walked to and from 3racha almost every weekday for a year. And once he started noticing, he couldn’t stop. At first it was just pausing on the sidewalk for less than a second, glancing at the boy standing in the window, laughing with a room full of little kids pliéing. But as more time passed, he started to pause for longer, noticed how the boy is actually really sweet with the kids.
One day he’s standing next to a girl wearing a tutu in the mirror, showing her how to place her feet. The next he’s running as two little boys chase him across the room, laughing as he looks playfully back over his shoulder. And then the next he’s holding one of the really little kids in his arms as they cry.
And then Jisung started noticing little things, things you’d only notice walking the same way every day. Like how pretty he is, sharp features that could have been cut from marble, something almost catlike about his face. Or how his faded black Two Kids’ t-shirt is just a little too tight across his shoulders, or how his whole body shakes when he’s laughing.
Maybe that’s when Jisung started to feel it, the butterflies sprouting wings in his stomach. Or maybe it was the time about a month ago when he stayed late at the studio and walked home in the dark, all but running to escape the cold, and stopped short when he saw the light still on in Two Kids’, and the boy, alone, dancing to a song Jisung couldn’t hear.
But Jisung felt like he could hear it, the way he was moving, so effortlessly it took Jisung’s breath away. And when the song ended, and he stopped dancing, hair slick with sweat, his eyes met Jisung’s in the window for the very first time. And Jisung ran away, and walked a different route to 3racha for the next week.
Eventually, Jisung had to start walking past Two Kids’ again, at risk of losing his job for being perpetually late. But it was like something had changed. All of a sudden, no matter how quickly or sneakily he tried to dart past, the boy behind the window would always see him. And smile. And wave.
And all Jisung can do is wave back, and keep walking and wonder if maybe this is going to be the rest of his life.
Today is no exception. He takes a deep breath and steels himself as he spots the familiar brick building up ahead, forces his chin up and strolls by as though there’s nothing wrong with the world. He slows down, and his head turns as if pulled against his will, and he pauses for a brief moment.
There he is. Today he’s with a group of older kids, who are doing what looks like hip-hop. The boy’s hands hover gently over one girl’s arms as he guides her into the correct position. And then, as if alerted by magic, his eyes drift up and he spots Jisung. His face breaks into a grin, and he waves casually, as if waving to a friend. Jisung’s face burns, but he forces himself to wave back.
The girl that he was helping now looks at Jisung, curious who her instructor is waving at. The boy says something to her, and now she’s waving at Jisung too. The boy smiles, mouths something at Jisung, motioning with his hand. Come in.
Jisung feels like his heart is about to beat out of his chest, and his feet feel rooted to the cement.
He couldn’t do that.
Could he?
As if the universe designed to answer his question, Jisung is jolted back to earth by the feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket. When he checks it, there’s a text from Changbin asking where the hell he is. Which is fair, Jisung realizes, because he’s about five minutes late and he’s still ten minutes away from the studio.
He looks back up, and the boy is still looking at him expectantly.
Can’t, Jisung mouths, miming a pout, raising his wrist to tap a watch he isn’t wearing. Late.
The boy pouts too, but it’s cuter when he does it.
Next time, Jisung reads on his lips, and it feels vaguely like a promise, and that is absolutely terrifying.
But for now, he’s gotta get to work.
He feels extra guilty because he knows he can get away with being late as long as he uses the dancing boy as an excuse. That’s because Changbin’s not his boss - Chan is. And Chan thinks it’s cute.
And as the man who single-handedly keeps Jisung employed, (and is his entire shot at a job post-grad) Jisung knows it isn’t in his best interests to punch Chan in the face. But it’s really hard when Chan pinches his cheeks and says things like “You’re so cute when you get that faraway look in your eyes and I know it’s because you’re thinking about that dancer guy!”
I’m crossing the street, I can see the studio now, Jisung texts back, which is a total lie, even as he breaks into a sprint.
Changbin thinks the whole thing is hilarious - most of the time. It’s his favorite thing to tease Jisung about, despite Jisung’s many attempts to physically fight him. Whenever Chan coos, Changbin just sits there with an evil little smirk that Jisung absolutely despises.
But if Chan is the roof over their heads, Changbin is the pillar holding everything together. Chan is manic genius, days without sleep and one matcha latte away from total system failure. Changbin is the quiet force of nature that nails down deadlines and cooks noodles on the hotplate in the storage closet breakroom.
Jisung tends to mirror Chan in the self care department, and somewhere along the way Changbin has (albeit begrudgingly) added Jisung to his list of People I Keep Alive At Great Personal Cost. But Changbin is incredibly protective of Chan, and if he thinks that Jisung’s shortcomings are going to fuck with Chan’s deadlines, well-
“You little rat,” Changbin hisses as Jisung bursts into the front office, out of breath and drenched in sweat. Changbin is sitting in the worn-out desk chair behind the chipped mahogany desk that functions as a reception area (except they don’t have a receptionist, it’s just where Changbin sits when Chan is testing his audio mixing without headphones). “You know Jackson’s demos are supposed to go out today! What the fuck were you doing!?”
Jackson Wang is one of 3racha’s newer clients - an up and coming rapper from Hong Kong. He knows Chan through a friend of a friend, and has offered to let 3racha produce his next mixtape.
Jisung knows Chan hasn’t slept in weeks.
“I know,” Jisung half-whines, cringing as he avoids Changbin’s glare. “Dance man. Stupid. Me. Stupid. Sorry.” Changbin opens his mouth, probably to yell again, and Jisung cuts him off at the pass. “Look, I’m gonna go lock myself in the recording booth and I’m not gonna come out until everything is polished exactly to Chan’s liking. Okay?”
Changbin glowers, shaking his head. “You better.” But he throws a protein bar at Jisung’s head as he slides past, and Jisung knows that he’s forgiven.
Inside, the throb of a heavy bassline makes Jisung resist the urge to slap his hands over his ears. Chan is slumped over the soundboard, a hand tangled in his bleach-damaged hair, and when he looks up there are deep purple shadows under his eyes. “Oh. Hey Jisungie. You’re early.”
“Uh-huh,” Jisung says, not caring to correct him. “Look, I’m gonna go into the booth. Just tell me when you’re ready, okay?”
Chan doesn’t really acknowledge Jisung beyond slightly-more-rapid blinking, but Jisung will take what he can get. He throws off his backpack and jacket and slides into the booth, clearing his throat and taking a sip from his water bottle. He’s just recording guide vocals, to show what Chan envisioned for the song, (Jackson will rerecord with his own people back in Hong Kong) but he still doesn’t want to sound completely like a strangled cat.
“Alright,” Chan’s voice rasps through Jisung’s headphones. “It’s the same part of the bridge we were doing yesterday. Can you go an octave higher?”
Jisung offers Chan a thumbs up, and for the rest of the day they slip into an easy rhythm of work. Changbin pops in occasionally, listens to what Chan shows him, offers notes and disappears again. Chan is a perfectionist, and won’t stop tinkering until every beat is tuned to his standards, despite Jisung and Changbin repeatedly telling him that at the end of the day they’re still just demos.
Ultimately, the email gets sent exactly twenty-eight minutes before the deadline, and Chan collapses in his chair immediately afterwards. As they lock up for the night, Changbin half-carries Chan out with Chan’s arm around his shoulder and Changbin supporting him with an arm around his waist.
“I’m gonna make sure he gets home and eats something. Take the day off tomorrow. Chan won’t be in either if I have anything to say about it.” And Chan may be an unstoppable force, but Jisung is inclined to believe Changbin on this one.
“Alright, thanks. I’ll see you on Monday then.” Jisung watches as Changbin drags Chan over to Changbin’s car - Chan usually bikes to work for the exercise. Chan slumps over against the passenger window as soon as Changbin closes the door, and Jisung hopes he doesn’t wake up again until it’s morning.
“You need a ride, Jisungie?” Changbin calls, and Jisung instinctually checks the time. It’s not five yet. If he starts walking now there’s still a chance he could catch the dancing boy - Jisung’s pretty sure there’s not an afternoon class on Thursdays. He thinks about seeing him wave through the window again, mouthing Come in, and Jisung actually doing it.
What if Jisung didn’t have to be in love through a window?
Changbin taps his foot impatiently, clearing his throat loudly in Jisung’s direction.
Jisung smiles apologetically.
“I’d love a ride.”
☂
You’d think that after all this, Jisung could at least go home and have some peace.
You’d think.
Unfortunately, Jisung has the two most obnoxious roommates this side of the Han River.
First there’s Hyunjin, who was his random roommate all the way back in their freshman year in the arts program at JYP University. They fought constantly for the first six months, until a psychology major on their floor told them that the problem could be sexual tension. They dated for exactly four days before deciding they were better off as best friends instead.
And Hyunjin thinks he should make a move.
“How was your day,” he asks, bounding up to Jisung as he lets himself through the door, completely ready to just melt on the sofa and play video games until his eyes burn out. “Did you send the songs to what’s-his-face? Did you talk to sexy dance guy?”
“Fine. Yes. No,” Jisung grumbles, shoving past Hyunjin as he drops his backpack next to the Switch controller.
“I think you should just get it over with and go in there and get his number. You’re acting like an idiot.”
“I think we’re all idiots,” Jisung supplies morosely as he heads towards the kitchen to grab a snack.
“Not true,” Hyunjin says, pliéing dreamily around the living room as he follows hot on Jisung’s heels. “Seungmin’s in law school!”
Seungmin is in law school, and Seungmin thinks he’s acting insane.
“It’s creepy,” Seungmin argues where he stands in the kitchen, catching onto their conversation as he violently scrambles a pan full of eggs with their warped black plastic spatula. “So he catches you staring one time - no big deal. You could have easily just been spacing out. But you walk by there almost every day. And you’re not exactly a parent. You’re just some dude with bleached hair and a bunch of piercings. If he notices you habitually ogling a room full of small children, he’s gonna call the cops.”
Jisung groans, opening the pantry and reaching for his default bag of chips. He hasn’t told Seungmin or Hyunjin about the recent waving development - he’s even less prepared to bring up the new actually-mouthing-words-to-each-other. They’d lose their shit. Not that they haven’t been losing it since this entire thing started.
Hyunjin waltzes over to Seungmin with a fork in hand and steals a mouthful from the pan, before retreating under Seungmin’s withering gaze.
“Oh come on, you’re just being paranoid. Sungie doesn’t look like a predator. He’s too cute!”
Jisung’s head is spinning as he attempts to unpack that statement, but Seungmin just shakes his head. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Someone has to hold onto the brain cell around here.”
Hyunjin scoffs. “Bold of you to assume that’s you.”
“Three words,” Seungmin says mildly. “Credit. Card. Fraud.”
Hyunjin’s eyes bug out cartoonishly. “That was one time!”
As the kitchen dissolves into bickering behind him, Jisung attempts to make his escape, but not before Seungmin holds Hyunjin back with one hand and manages to call after Jisung’s retreating form: “Mark my words! This is going to end badly one way or another!”
☂
Jisung was lucky enough to get the window spot for his desk in the apartment’s study room, but he’s really not as lucky as you’d think. Despite the advantages that come with fresh air, the view is directly into a window of the neighboring building twenty feet away. And you’d think even that might be interesting - some people watching, or someone to wave at periodically - but the curtains in that window have been drawn since Jisung and his friends moved in. And despite countless hours of sitting at his desk, the curtains have not opened once.
“Any movement?” Hyunjin asks, draping himself across Jisung’s desk and peering out the window like some sort of deranged spy.
“Nope,” Jisung replies, tapping his pen on the wood, squinting at the drawn curtains like if he focuses hard enough he can see right through them.
“Lame,” Hyunjin sighs. “One of these days I’m just gonna go over there and knock on the door.” Hyunjin likes to make up elaborate backstories for their mystery neighbor. His favorite is an ongoing plot involving vampirism and murder-suicide. Seungmin thinks no one lives there, but Jisung is inclined to agree with Hyunjin. He swears he’s seen the curtains move at some point. Besides, real estate isn’t easy to come by these days. No landlord in their right mind would leave a perfectly good apartment unoccupied for that long. Unless- “Maybe it’s haunted,” Hyunjin muses, squinting at the window as if he looks hard enough he can see through the curtain. “Everyone who moves in gets immediately run out by ghosts. Like that one season of American Horror Story.”
“Um,” Jisung says, because he really doesn’t have time to deal with this nonsense, not when he has a midterm in two days. “I don’t think-”
“Hey guys!” comes Seungmin’s voice from the living room. “Can you come here for a sec?”
“What’d you do this time?” Jisung asks immediately, whirling on Hyunjin.
“Me!?” Hyunjin exclaims, already edging backwards. “I’ve been golden this week. This is definitely about the mess you left in the kitchen when you decided to make waffles at 3am.”
“No way,” Jisung scoffs. “He already yelled at me about that one. You’re the one who’s been leaving gigantic puddles of water outside the shower every time you use it. I for one am sick and tired of getting my slippers wet every time I go in there to pee.”
Suddenly Hyunjin’s eyes go wide as he bites his lip, looking nervously towards the door. “You don’t think this is about Marshmallow Town, do you?”
Jisung freezes in his chair. “There’s no way. We destroyed the evidence. He can’t be that good.”
They lock eyes for a long moment, and Jisung reads what Hyunjin is about to do on his face before he even does it. Jisung lunges out of his chair, but he’s a second too slow - Hyunjin is already skidding down the hallway screaming bloody murder.
“It was Jisung!” Hyunjin announces as he collapses into a chair next to where Seungmin is sitting at the dining room table, glasses perched on his nose and laptop in front of him. “I had nothing to do with it, I swear.”
“Liar!” Jisung howls, only a beat behind. “It was his idea!”
Seungmin stares at them blankly. “What are you talking about?”
Hyunjin blinks cartoonishly, and Jisung kicks him in the shins. “You idiot! It wasn’t even about Marshmallow Town!”
Seungmin looks a little green around the gills as he processes. “Marshmallow- You know what, I don’t even want to know. That’s not why I called you in here, at any rate.”
“Oh,” Hyunjin says weakly, and Jisung kicks him again for good measure before he sits down across from Seungmin. Seungmin spins his computer around and Jisung squints at what appears to be an Excel spreadsheet, full of tiny numbers in boxes that mean absolutely nothing to him.
“So this is our combined projected monthly income - my tutoring gigs, Jisung’s paychecks from 3racha, and Hyunjin’s paychecks from Black Cat. As you can see on the graph, it was just enough to keep us afloat last year and still pay for groceries, utilities and internet. But with the new rent raise, to afford staying here we’d have to cut one of those things out. And I don’t know about you guys, but I think food, electricity and wifi all count as necessities.”
Jisung blinks at him, uncomprehending. “Your point?”
“I think we’re gonna need a fourth roommate.”
“Aww,” Hyunjin whines, flopping back in his chair. “I like our vibe. A new guy is gonna cramp our style.”
And it’s true- they do have a good dynamic going. Hyunjin cooks, Seungmin cleans, Jisung plays his music too loud and gets yelled at. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?
“A new guy is gonna mean you have more money to spend on your useless hobbies,” Seungmin shoots back.
“Photography is my major,” Hyunjin screeches, but Seungmin holds firm.
“The numbers don’t lie. We get another roommate, or we find a new place to live.”
“Hyunjin,” Jisung whines. “Why can’t you save us? Aren’t you a trust fund baby?”
“It’s not my fault the trust fund doesn’t kick in until I turn twenty-two,” Hyunjin retorts, shoving Jisung out of his chair.
“We could always find a new place-” Seungmin starts, but he’s cut off by Hyunjin and Jisung shouting ‘No!’ simultaneously (Jisung from the floor). They all have too much crap and memories stored in this apartment to even think about leaving. “Alright,” Seungmin sighs. “I’ll make a post on Facebook. Start asking around. Real estate is hard to come by these days, I’m sure we won’t have any problems finding a taker.”
“If I get axe-murdered by the forty-five year old divorcee you invite into our home, it’s gonna be on your conscience,” Jisung says. He’s still on the floor.
☂
Needing a new roommate, as it turns out, is a lot easier than finding a new roommate. They get a few interested parties off the Facebook post, but they are all quickly deemed unacceptable by the council (the council being Seungmin turning the first guy away because he spilled his coffee during the apartment tour and didn’t wipe it up, Jisung turning the second guy away because he called Twice “overrated” when he saw Jisung’s posters, and Hyunjin turning the third guy away because he was, quote, “too good looking and making eyes at Seungmin'').
But as the end of the month approaches and rent comes due, Jisung starts to wonder if maybe they’ve been too picky.
“You should go talk to your dancer guy and ask him if he’s looking for an apartment,” Hyunjin says one day, but without the usual teasing enthusiasm behind it, and Jisung wonders if after almost three years of living here, they’re really going to have to move.
Enter Chan.
Chan, Jisung decides, is a miracle worker. An angel sent from heaven, in fact. Because it’s just when Hyunjin has reached the stage of grief where he’s started sniffling and putting things in boxes that Chan knocks on their door, nose red from the cold and hair tucked up under a beanie.
“Hey, you guys are still looking for an apartmentmate, right?”
Jisung balks. “Um, yeah, no offense - in fact, the opposite of offense, because it’s full offense to us - but I think you’d go stir crazy if you lived here.”
Chan bodily shudders, squeezing his eyes closed as he makes a retching noise in the back of his throat - which Jisung thinks is a bit of an overreaction - and shakes his head. “Oh no, are you crazy? I’m perfectly happy living with Changbin, thank you. I’m actually here because I think I found you an apartmentmate. Who is not me.”
“Wait, back the fuck up, you live with Changbin?” Jisung squawks, because he’s worked at 3racha Studios for almost a year now and he did not know that.
Chan, on the other hand, suddenly flushes, and Jisung gets the sense that it’s not from the cold. “Um. It’s a new development. We both wanted a bigger place, so it made sense to-”
“You guys are dating,” Jisung crows, and as if summoned by the drama brewing, Hyunjin appears around the corner, an avocado in one hand and an apple peeler in the other.
“Dating? Who’s dating? Oh hey Chan! Do you want some guacamole?”
Chan blinks, processing, before turning back to Jisung with a scowl. “It’s not dating! We’re just! Friends! Who moved in together! There’s nothing weird about that!”
“Dude,” Jisung says, because he’s literally so dumb to have missed the completely obvious signs. “You guys are dating. This is so weird. I’m calling in sick on Monday. I don’t think I have the strength to see both of you in the same room anymore.”
“Aww, I think it’s cute,” Hyunjin says as he sidles over. “It’s literally so obvious, you guys are always clearly a half-step away from jumping each other’s bones.”
Chan, who cannot keep a secret to save his life, visibly withers. “You can’t say anything. Changbin and I agreed we’d take it slow and not tell anyone at first. He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you two.”
“Hey!” Jisung exclaims, offended, but Hyunjin shakes his head frantically.
“I can’t promise that. You guys were like, famous in the music program at JYP. My old sound design prof literally has a picture of you on his desk. There is no way I can keep this to myself.”
Chan narrows his eyes at Hyunjin. “Your secrecy in exchange for my cousin. That’s the deal.”
Hyunjin furrows his eyebrows. “Your cousin? Why would I-”
“Ohh,” Jisung exclaims as something suddenly makes sense. “Your cousin! The one you said was moving here from Australia! That’s who you found to be our new roommate!”
Chan nods, still keeping a wary eye on Hyunjin. “ If you can all behave.”
Hyunjin sighs dramatically. “Fine. But if this kid doesn’t end up living here, your deal is off, Mr. Bang.”
“You guys will love Felix!” Chan says, good humor evidently restored. “He’s transferring into the arts program at JYP, so you have a lot in common already.”
“As long as he’s not a photography major,” Hyunjin sniffs. “That’s my thing.”
“Dance,” Chan supplies helpfully. “Which, if I remember correctly, is the program you dropped out of after six months?”
Hyunjin adjusts his grip on his apple peeler a little too menacingly for Jisung’s liking, so he decides to detrack this particular train before it gets going. “Okay, great, thanks! Although, why are you all the way over here? You could have just texted me, you know.”
“Oh, because Felix is waiting in the car,” Chan says without an ounce of traceable guilt, and Jisung sighs heavily.
“Alright, send him up. Hyunjin, start cleaning shit. I’ll go wake up Seungmin.”
Hyunjin offers Chan one last threatening glare, but he does disappear into the kitchen with his apple peeler in tow.
Jisung rounds the corner into the bedroom Seungmin currently has to himself (Hyunjin and Jisung share) and begins violently jumping up and down on the bed. It takes Seungmin approximately 0.3 seconds to get his bearings and take a calculated swipe at Jisung’s legs that leaves him flat on his ass - and honestly that was Jisung’s mistake.
“Get up,” Jisung orders from the floor. “Chan brought over a potential new roommate.”
Seungmin groans. “Why didn’t he call first? We haven’t cleaned anything this week.”
“It’s probably better this way,” Jisung says soberly. “At least the kid’ll know what he’s getting himself into.”
Seungmin dives for the bathroom, and Jisung returns to the living room. Chan has disappeared and there are violent crashing noises coming from the kitchen.
It’s due to the crashing that it takes Jisung a little too long to register the knocking. When he opens the door it’s to a skinny kid with hair dyed a garish shade of orange, a whole lot of freckles, and the prettiest lips Jisung’s ever seen. He’s holding a tupperware container in his hands, and Chan is hovering behind him wearing that extra annoying encouraging-father look he gets sometimes. “Hi,” the boy says, a bit awkwardly, in a heavy accent. “I’m Felix. I brought brownies!”
Jisung is deciding whether or not he should laugh when Hyunjin materializes and winds himself around Jisung like an octopus, reaching over to snatch the container from Felix’s hands. “You’re hired!” he says brightly.
“I like your hair,” Felix tells Hyunjin shyly, and Hyunjin beams, running a hand through his now-shoulder-length platinum blonde tresses.
“Thanks! It’s where I keep all my secrets,” he says, and Jisung promptly elbows him in the stomach. “Ow!” Hyunjin yells, doubling over. “What was that for!?”
“I told you I’d do that if you made any more unprompted Mean Girls references,” Jisung says severely, and he hears a heavy sigh from Seungmin somewhere in the apartment behind them.
“Let’s at least let him come inside first, guys.”
Thus begins the apartment tour, where Seungmin drones on about square footage and electrical bills, Jisung consumes brownies (he’s gotta admit, the kid has a talent), and Hyunjin occasionally darts away to shove dirty clothes they forgot about behind furniture. Felix is quiet, asks occasional questions, and mostly seems distracted by Hyunjin. Jisung doesn’t blame him. Hyunjin is a menace to society.
“And this is the haunted closet,” Seungmin continues, deadpan. “We leave a bag of peppermints on the door handle as an appeasement to the ghosts.”
Felix blinks, clearly unsure if they’re fucking with him, and Jisung kind of wishes they were.
Hyunjin nods seriously. “It’s the only thing that got the door to stop squeaking in the middle of the night.”
“The door to stop-” Felix starts repeating, clearly terrified, and Jisung decides to steer the conversation away before they lose their potential roommate.
“So Felix,” Jisung interjects. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? I mean Chan told us the basics but I only listen to about half of what Chan says.”
Felix stiffles a giggle with his hand, as Chan takes a half-hearted swipe at Jisung. “Well, um, I’m Felix, I’m from Australia, I’m transferring to start at JYP University in the fall - which is where you guys go, I think - I’m a dance major-”
“I was a dance major!” Hyunjin interrupts, looking excited. “And then I was a music major! But I wasn’t that good at either, so now I’m a photography major.”
“He was great at both,” Seungmin grouses. “He just changes his mind faster than anyone you’ve ever met.”
“Meh,” Hyunjin shrugs. “I like to think of myself as a tortured soul. An artist, if you will.”
“The only thing torturing you is the cotton ball you call a brain,” Jisung snipes, and Felix looks so alarmed that Jisung wonders if he’d last the week as their roommate.
But then, to everyone’s surprise, Felix takes one of his own brownies from Jisung’s hand and says “I love this place. Can I move in?”
Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jisung only need to exchange a quick glance before knowing that they’re all on the same page. They don’t know Felix well, but he’s survived this long.
And they desperately need a roommate.
“Alright,” Seungmin says slowly, the first one with the wherewithal to react. “Let’s exchange emails, and I’ll send you the lease information. You’ll be rooming with me, which is lucky for you because those two heathens are walking tornadoes. You’ll be responsible for one fourth of the rent and one fourth of the chores, and I think that’s about… it?”
“The chores aren’t even that bad,” Jisung adds helpfully. “Just vacuum when you can’t see the floor and rinse the dishes and you’re good to go!”
Seungmin casts him a heavy glare. “Rinse the dishes?”
“Dude, have you seen our faucet? It’s like a pressure hose. Why would anyone ever need to use dish soap- ow,” he howls, as Seungmin hits him over the head with a shoe.
“Welcome to the family!” Hyunjin says. Felix hides his smile with his hand.
☂
As the weeks pass, Jisung starts to forget what it was like before Felix lived with them. He fits in seamlessly - he burns pancakes with Seungmin and does homework with Hyunjin and plays Mario Kart with Jisung and stress bakes in the middle of the night which has caused everyone to gain about five pounds.
Chan comes over a lot more often now. He says it’s just because their apartment has a nicer kitchen, but Jisung suspects it’s so he can make sure Felix isn’t being slowly poisoned or something.
But this also means that Chan walks with Jisung to work more often than not. And ever since Chan has started walking with him, the boy behind the window has stopped waving.
The first time Chan accompanied him, Jisung hadn’t even thought about it. As they had approached the building, Chan had elbowed him in the ribs and grinned. Jisung had flushed, violently threatening him if he did anything embarrassing once they were within view. As they walked past, the boy had looked up, like usual, but he’d startled a little, and his smile froze in place as his eyes stayed fixed on Chan. Jisung had waved, and that had seemed to snap him out of it - he’d waved back and smiled, and Chan started screaming and Jisung had gone on his way.
But the next day, the boy didn’t even look up when Jisung passed. Jisung thought maybe it was a coincidence - that he was distracted, or busy.
But the days spun past, and it was as if Jisung had simply ceased to exist.
Not even so much as a glance.
And it bothered Jisung, more than he was willing to admit. No one else knew any better - Chan thought the waving was a one-time thing and Jisung didn’t correct him.
But something has changed.
And Jisung wants it back.
He’s loath to admit it, but the lack of waving from the mystery boy has started dragging his whole day down with it. He’s more inclined to bicker with Hyunjin, and Changbin made a comment about, quote, “the violently depressing nature” of the songs Jisung’s been turning in lately. He even snapped at Felix the other day - no one snaps at Felix, the boy is like sunshine personified. Jisung apologized profusely and did the dishes three days in a row as penance, but he still feels off. Unsettled. Morose. Melancholy.
Sad.
Jisung sometimes forgets that the nature of Spotify being a public streaming platform is that the people who follow him can actually see what he’s listening to. Most of the time, he could care less. Jisung is actually proud of his music taste, thank you very much, definitely not looking at Seungmin who hasn’t listened to a song that wasn’t by DAY6 in about five years.
But sometimes, sometimes, Jisung just wants to simp in peace. And he definitely doesn’t want nosy roommates barging in and demanding to know if he’s good.
“Are you good?” Hyunjin asks, striking a pose in the door frame so sensual that Jisung genuinely can’t tell if it’s on purpose or not.
“Why would you ask that question?” Jisung says, unwilling to raise his head from his pillow.
“Because you’re listening to ‘Feel Good’ by fromis_9, and you only listen to girl group songs when you’re sexually frustrated or depressed.”
“And what if I’m both,” Jisung shrieks before he can stop himself, and Hyunjin flops down on his bed uninvited.
“Okay seriously, it’s time for you to spill. You’ve been moping for over a week. I was willing to let it slide, but also I’m pretty sure you haven’t taken a shower in a few days and as your roommate it’s my legal obligation to tell you to fucking shower.”
“Don’t wanna,” Jisung mutters, mostly to be arbitrary, but something shifts in Hyunjin’s face, and he sits up suddenly on Jisung’s bed.
“Is it bad again? Ji, you promised you’d tell me if it got bad again.”
It takes Jisung a beat too long to register, and when he does he quickly rolls over to look Hyunjin in the eye. “No! I wouldn’t lie to you about that, I’m serious.”
Hyunjin narrows his eyes at Jisung, clearly not convinced. “So am I. We have a plan, remember, we can call Dr. Park and-”
“Hyunjin!” Jisung exclaims, sitting up too now. “If I tell you what’s wrong, do you swear not to tell anyone? Not even Seungmin?”
Hyunjin sits up straight, legs crossed, and pantomimes zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. “Scout’s honor.”
“You’re not a Boy Scout,” Jisung grumbles. “Fine. So, sexy dance man, right?” to which Hyunjin nods. “So, I may have been keeping it a secret that for about the past month and a half, we’ve actually been waving to each other every day when I walk by.” Hyunjin’s eyes get cartoonishly large, and Jisung holds out a hand for him to let him continue. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make it a big deal! But for the past two weeks, he’s stopped waving. He isn’t even looking at me at all, in fact. And I don’t know why or what to do about it, or worst of all why it’s making me so fucking sad.”
Hyunjin shakes his head, blinking rapidly. “Oh. Okay. This is. A lot. Um. So, first things first, I hope you know that I absolutely hate you and will never forgive you for keeping this a secret.” Jisung nods solemnly - that was a given. “Second, you are literally an entire fucking idiot.”
“Hey -” Jisung starts, but Hyunjin cuts him off.
“Think you can come up with anything that’s been different about your commute the past two weeks?”
Jisung blinks. “Well, Chan’s been walking with me since Felix moved in, but that doesn’t-”
“He thinks Chan is your boyfriend!” Hyunjin is looking at him expectantly, like it’s so incredibly obvious to everyone but Jisung, and Jisung winces as it hits him like a brick.
“Oh my gosh. You’re right. He only stopped after Chan started coming with me. I am so stupid.”
“Yeah,” Hyunjin says sympathetically. “But that means it’s an easy fix! All you gotta do is go in there and talk to him. He’s clearly into you.”
“Talk to him!” Jisung squawks. “And say what, exactly? ‘Hi, we’ve never met, but I just wanted to tell you that the guy who walks with me to work every morning is actually my boss, not my boyfriend. Okay love you bye?’”
Hyunjin rolls his eyes. “Alright fine, if you aren’t man enough, then I’ll take matters into my own hands.” And before Jisung can respond, Hyunjin ruffles his hair and vaults up off the bed. “Don’t you worry about a thing Jisungie. I’m going to fix all of this.”
And in hindsight, that statement probably should have worried Jisung a lot more than it did.
☂
Jisung forgets about his conversation with Hyunjin about half an hour after it occurs, when Seungmin and Felix accidentally start a fire in the kitchen and they have to spend the rest of the night on damage control. And maybe, he just assumes that Hyunjin forgot about it too. So he spends the next three days in blissful ignorance, until one night he’s lying on the couch scrolling mindlessly through TikTok, when Hyunjin marches over wearing the most maniacal grin Jisung’s ever seen on a person.
“I have news,” Hyunjin announces, looking very much like the cat who got the cream.
“Okay,” Jisung says warily, closing his phone and setting it down on the couch next to him. “Spill.”
“I found out the name of your mystery man.”
Jisung’s eyes narrow involuntarily until he can barely see Hyunjin standing in front of him. “And how, pray tell, did you acquire that information?”
“I paid some guy on Facebook twenty dollars.”
Jisung blinks once. Twice. Forces himself to swallow. And then he very calmly turns his entire body to face Hyunjin, and speaks. “What!?”
Hyunjin has the presence of mind to take a step back. “I told you I’d fix it, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but stalking the guy wasn’t exactly what I had in mind!” Jisung yelps. He feels lightheaded.
“Don’t overreact,” Hyunjin scolds. “Honestly, you should be happy. If you weren’t going to get off your ass and make this happen, then someone had to!”
Jisung stares, incredulous. Honestly, he should have known something like this was going to happen. Hyunjin is very much a ‘go big or go home’ kind of person. And he doesn’t go home.
At this moment, Seungmin and Felix enter the living room, holding Switch controllers and talking animatedly, but they both freeze when they spot Hyunjin and Jisung. Seungmin huffs out a breath through his nose.
“Oh, what now?”
“Hey, you’re a law student,” Jisung says, just getting warmed up, because once Seungmin hears this Hyunjin’ll be in for it for sure. “Is stalking legal?”
“This question is purely hypothetical, I assume?” Seungmin asks, narrowing his eyes at the two of them.
“Why don’t you ask Hyunjin,” Jisung grits out, and Hyunjin’s eyes fly open comically.
“Hey! I was doing you a favor, wise guy!”
Seungmin twitches - a full body twitch that pains Jisung just to look at it. He stares Hyunjin down with an expression that would’ve killed a lesser man. Fortunately Hyunjin just withers and steps behind Felix.
“Hyunjin, what exactly did you do?”
Hyunjin rolls his eyes disdainfully, which might’ve had an effect if he wasn’t still hiding behind Felix. “I don’t know what everyone is getting so upset about! If anything, you all should be praising me for my FBI skills. I went onto the Two Kids’ website and couldn’t find an employee directory. So I did some keyword searches on LinkedIn until I found someone who had Two Kids’ in their profile. Hopped over to his Facebook, location checked out, so I dm-d him and asked what his deal was. Turns out he’s a little extortionist, especially after he found out I was doing some sleuthing for my lovesick roommate. Charged me twenty bucks for the guy’s name, can you imagine!?”
Jisung promptly kicks Hyunjin in the shins, because that seems like the only logical response at this point. “Are you crazy!? Have you actually lost your mind!? Did it ever occur to you that he might walk into work tomorrow and tell his boss ‘hey, some weirdo on Facebook paid me $20 to learn your name’ and that that might freak him out irreparably!?”
Hyunjin kicks Jisung back. “Of course it occurred to me. What do you think this is, amateur hour? I paid him another twenty for discretion. So you owe me forty bucks.”
“I’ll owe you money when-” but Jisung doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because Felix has calmly stepped over and placed a hand over Jisung’s mouth. He doesn’t move it, even when Jisung licks his palm.
“I think we should all take a step back and think about this calmly and rationally,” Felix announces.
“And I think Jisung is an ungrateful little-” but Hyunjin doesn’t get to finish either, because Felix puts his other hand across Hyunjin’s mouth.
“Hyunjin, is there anything else you’d like to tell us?” Seungmin asks, rubbing his temples.
Felix takes his hand away and Hyunjin promptly scuttles out of his reach. “After the Venmo transaction was over, Jeongin and I got to talking, and he’s actually pretty cool. I told him about Jisung and he wants to meet everyone. So I invited him over!”
Three pairs of incredulous eyes stare Hyunjin down. He stares back, looking as if he couldn’t possibly understand what could be the matter.
Jisung opens his mouth. Closes it.
“I think I’m going to bed,” he says faintly.
“His name is Lee Minho!” Hyunjin yells after him, and Jisung tries not to let that stop him in his tracks but it does. And as he heads towards his bedroom, he doesn’t walk fast enough to miss when Hyunjin tells Felix, “He’s honestly taking it better than I thought he would.”
Lee Minho
☂
To Jisung’s dismay, everyone and their brother is in the apartment the morning they meet Jeongin.
Felix is there out of morbid curiosity, Seungmin is there to make sure nothing gets set on fire. Chan came over because, quote, “I’m not having your lives on my conscience if I can help it.” And Changbin tagged along because, quote, “if Chan is going to die for you gremlins then the least I can do is make sure you all go with him.”
Truth be told, Jisung’s the tiniest, tiniest bit relieved that Chan and Changbin are here. (Not that he’d ever tell them that.) It’s not that he doesn’t trust Hyunjin’s intentions - it’s more like he doesn’t trust Hyunjin’s judgement.
Chan’s first question was whether or not it was a good idea that Hyunjin gave Jeongin their address. Hyunjin’s approximate response was ‘the internet is a thing grandpa’ and he could have found our address anyways if he really wanted it, duh.’ Jisung was at least able to follow that logic, but Chan excused himself to the kitchen mumbling something about a headache after that.
“Where did you meet this guy again?” Changbin asks, sounding slightly more amused than his counterpart.
“Facebook,” Hyunjin says for the millionth time.
“Like he even knows what that is,” Seungmin deadpans, and Jisung high fives him.
“I don’t know what you have to laugh about,” is Changbin’s only comment, directed pointedly at Jisung. “It’s your man on the line.”
“He’s not my man,” Jisung snaps, and Changbin just grins wolfishly.
“Yet.”
“Guys, he’s almost here!” Hyunjin yells, effectively silencing the debate and sending everyone scrambling for attempts-at-casual poses in the living room.
There are three sharp knocks on the door, and Jisung holds his breath as Hyunjin moves to go answer it.
And as the newcomer - Jeongin, Hyunjin called him - steps into the apartment, Jisung feels a tiny bit silly for having Chan here. Because this guy looks young - maybe even younger than any of them. He has tufts of bright blue hair sticking out from under a black beret. He’s wearing loose tan trousers and he has a black messenger bag across his chest. There is something distinctly sharp and fox-like about his face, all his features long and narrow, and an absolutely terrifying glimmer to eyes that are almost all pupil.
The very first thing he does is wink directly at Felix, who turns beet red and hides behind Seungmin.
We’re off to a great start, Jisung thinks.
“Welcome!” Hyunjin tells him, ushering him into the living room where everyone else is sitting. “Everyone, this is Jeongin! Jeongin, this is… everyone!”
Jeongin surveys them all with a smarmy little smirk, and Jisung resists the urge to pull a Felix and hide behind Chan. “You sure do have a lot of roommates.”
“Only four of us actually live here,” Hyunjin explains, perpetually cheery. “Me, Jisung, Seungmin and Felix.” He points to each of them in turn. “And then Chan and Changbin are just our friends who hang out a lot. Do you wanna sit down? Guys, shove over so Jeongin can sit down.”
Everyone hesitantly shuffles a few inches, and Jeongin sits down next to Felix, who is still bright red for no reason.
Jeongin, as it turns out, is a physical therapist. While Minho runs the studio and focuses on the dance aspect, Jeongin is on hand to make sure that no one is doing anything medically inadvisable - seeing how most of the kids who take classes there are recovering from something. He seems really passionate about his job, and speaks very highly of Minho, which makes Jisung feel slightly better.
What doesn’t make Jisung feel slightly better is that in the thirty minute conversation they have on their living room sofa, Jeongin seems to take an immediate shine to Felix. He exclusively addresses him 90% of the time, and by the end Changbin is out cold and Hyunjin is pouting. And once Jeongin finds out Felix is a dance major, it’s game over.
“Minho’s mentioned that he’s wanted to take on a new instructor, since they’ve started adding afternoon classes,” Jeongin says silkily, and oh no oh no Jisung does not like where this is going.
“I’ve been looking for a part time job, actually,” Felix stutters.
“Then it’s settled! I’ll bring you in for an interview with Minho tomorrow.”
Jisung tries to remember exactly when this whole thing began to derail so spectacularly.
Oh, right. It’s when he started waving at some guy behind a window.
☂
Amazingly enough, Felix’s interview goes swimmingly. At least, it does according to Felix. Minho, he says, is a super chill guy and an even better boss. He’s accommodating to Felix’s class schedule and he even takes his employees out for lunch sometimes.
So, naturally, Felix’s ravings aren’t helping Jisung’s crush. But Jisung has other things to worry about, because Chan is teaching Jisung how to drive.
Out of everyone Jisung knows, the pool of drivers is limited. Chan is a functional driver, but he bikes more often than he uses his car, because it’s good for the environment and because his work schedule means he can’t get to the gym as often as he’d like. Changbin is also a functional driver, but Jisung avoids getting in a car with him whenever possible on principle. Changbin’s style of driving can be best characterized by the words erratic and rage. Seungmin also has a car, a shitty 2005 Toyota Camry to be exact, so he’s responsible for grocery runs and emergency transportation at the apartment. But Seungmin drives about four miles an hour and Jisung is going to need dental work from the amount of teeth grinding he’s experienced from being in a car with him.
So when Jisung decided he wanted his driver’s license, Chan was the default option for a teacher. He wouldn’t say it’s going well, but he is learning to drive. Chan is less abrasive than Changbin and he’s more patient than Seungmin. On the other hand, his tendency to hang onto the handle above the door with a death grip and let out these terrified little whines when Jisung makes left turns makes Jisung nervous.
Their practice is limited because of their busy schedules. To compensate, Chan has taken to letting Jisung drive to his apartment after work - and then Chan drives himself home from there. As a result, Jisung is very comfortable with the route from 3racha to his apartment, but he’s a little shakier - well - everywhere else. So one day when Chan grabs his keys as they head out for the day and says “Let’s go pick Felix up from work!”, Jisung balks.
“Um, are you sure?” he asks, almost dropping the keys when Chan tosses them to him. “Parking over there is really sketch. I don’t wanna scratch up your car.”
“You’re not gonna scratch up my car,” Chan says pointedly, “because Changbin would kill you. It’ll be fine, you won’t even have to actually park, just stall long enough for Felix to run out and get in. Come on, I already told him we’d give him a ride.”
The truth is, Jisung’s been categorically avoiding the area ever since Felix got a job there. It’s pretty easy, what with the whole driving thing and his changed hours with his new class schedule for the semester.
It’s easy to tell himself that he’s not afraid to see Minho.
But Chan is standing next to the passenger door, eyebrows raised as he waits for Jisung, and Jisung heaves out a sigh.
“Fine, but no promises for your paint job.”
The drive to Two Kids’ is uneventful enough, Chan only has to scream twice, and they make it to the building unscathed. Jisung puts on his blinker as he prepares to pull into the loading zone, but Chan is frowning at his phone.
“Oops, Felix had to stay behind to talk to a parent. He’ll be out in five minutes.”
“Five!” Jisung squawks. “This is a two minute loading zone!”
“It’s fine,” Chan says. “Look, there’s a spot to park right up there.”
“Are you kidding me!?” Jisung inches the car forward, pulling as far to the side as he can so that other cars can go around him in the lane. The spot Chan is referring to is small as hell - a tiny stretch of curb between two gigantic SUVs.
“You’ve got this,” Chan says, voice irritatingly soothing. “Just pull up in front of it and put your blinker on.” Jisung does as Chan says, palms sweaty on the steering wheel. “Good… Now check your mirrors, put the car in reverse… Now turn the wheel to the right… More than that… Uh huh… Now take your foot off the brake… Slow… Uh huh…. Just like that…”
Thump.
Jisung’s brain is currently violently overstimulated. He takes his eyes off the gearshift where he was making sure it was clicked into place next to the little ‘R’ just in time to check the rearview mirror, and sees a person materializing out of literally nowhere. And Jisung doesn’t react fast enough, doesn’t press on the brake fast enough, and the bumper and the boy make contact. Jisung slams on the brake. The boy yells something - Jisung can hear it muffled through the glass. His palms slam against the back windshield, and then he disappears from view entirely.
Jisung’s mouth falls open, panic surging through his veins, as he realizes that oh shit the boy is on the ground. And Chan - thank God for Chan - reacts in seconds, pushing Jisung’s hand off the gearshift and putting the car in park, and then he’s out the door, crouched over the boy on the ground.
Jisung, on the other hand, is frozen, glued to his seat, as he watches the entire thing unfold in the rearview mirror and realizes that it’s him.
Lee Minho, the boy Jisung has been pining after for months, the mystery sexy dance man, Felix’s boss, is brushing asphalt off his track pants and having an exaggerated conversation with Chan, who has bowed at least fifteen times in the past thirty seconds.
And as Jisung watches, Felix comes flying out of Two Kids’, a gym bag slung over one shoulder, looking absolutely horrified. He joins the conversation, and suddenly all three of them are looking towards the front of the car - towards Jisung.
And Jisung knows, rationally, that he should be outside, making sure Minho is okay, probably exchanging contact information to make the lawsuit easier, but it’s him. And Jisung kind of just wants to shrivel up and die. So he takes the coward’s way out - he slides down as far as he can in his seatbelt, and prepares himself for the ass-whooping he’s sure Chan is going to deliver later.
But then.
A series of knocks at his window. And Jisung squeezes his eyes shut, unable to bear looking, as he wordlessly presses the button to let the glass slide down. And a voice, that isn’t Chan or Felix-
“Haven’tcha heard? Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.”
Jisung dares to look up, and yup, it’s him, and he’s grinning, which is not the reaction one would expect from a person who just got hit by a car. He’s even more breathtaking up close - dark brown hair that falls over his forehead so effortlessly it’s stupid, and the prettiest eyes that are currently glittering with something Jisung recognizes vaguely as mirth.
“I. Am so sorry,” Jisung wheezes, fully aware that he looks like a gremlin because he’s got a snapback over hair that he badly needs to wash and his glasses are sliding down his nose because his eyes are stressed so he didn’t want to put in his contacts, and he’s wearing the white sweatshirt that he only wears to the studio on off days because Hyunjin spilled coffee on it and forgot to tell him. “I don’t know how to drive. Literally. Chan is teaching me, and he’s a terrible teacher so really if you want to blame someone you should blame him, but also me because I’m an idiot and-”
“It’s fine,” Minho says, so confidently that Jisung almost believes him. “Really. You barely tapped me, I don’t even think you had your foot on the gas. I only fell over because I was so startled.”
Jisung isn’t entirely sure if he believes him, but Minho is smiling and maybe - maybe - the aching ball of guilt in Jisung’s chest can subside enough to breathe. But then someone is brushing past Minho and the door is being wrenched open and Jisung is being dragged out of the car by the scruff of his neck.
“You are never driving a car again if I have anything to say about it,” Chan says in his scary voice, pulling Jisung up in front of Minho, who is smothering his laughter in his sleeve, and Jisung wants to die. “Minho, if you have so much as a headache in the next week, you go straight to the hospital and it’s coming out of Jisung’s paycheck.”
“You know,” Minho says thoughtfully, clearing his throat as he tries and fails to compose his face. “I think I have a better idea. Felix, you said this was your roommate, right?”
“I’m sorry,” Felix says immediately, and oh Jisung is gonna kill him later.
“Jisung can make it up to me this weekend! We’re having our open house for parents of prospective students. I need someone to film the event for our website. Preferably someone I don’t have to pay.”
“Oh, I don’t have much experience with cameras-” Jisung begins, but a warning look from Chan shames him into silence. “I mean. I’d love to help.”
Minho grins at him and Jisung feels like there’s acid melting in his stomach. “Alright then. Give me your number so I can give you the details. Or so I can let you know if I feel a headache coming on.”
Jisung gives Minho his number, and then Minho says he has to get back inside so he can prepare for his next class. Chan apologizes profusely, and then Felix apologizes profusely for good measure, and then everyone looks at Jisung.
“I really am sorry,” he says mournfully. “I’m probably just gonna go home and die of embarrassment.”
“Don’t do that,” Minho says, sounding suspiciously like he’s teasing. “I’m counting on your free labor.”
“Ha ha,” Jisung says weakly, and then Chan grabs him by the scruff of the neck again and shoves him into the backseat. Felix takes shotgun, and Chan starts the engine.
As they pull away, Minho stands safely on the sidewalk, waving cheerfully. Jisung slides down until his shoulder blades are touching the seat.
“Never in my life have I seen such a reckless, irresponsible-” Chan begins, and Jisung tunes him out. He fishes his phone out of his pocket, and sees a single text.
[Lee Minho]
This Saturday at Two Kids. 2pm to 5pm. Wear something nice :)
Jisung slams his head back against the seat and groans.
☂
Chan drops Jisung and Felix off at their apartment, and it’s only then that Jisung realizes that Hyunjin and Seungmin are going to find out what happened and his humiliation will be complete.
Jisung turns to Felix and opens his mouth, ready to strike up a deal, or maybe issue a death threat, but Felix seems to read his mind before he can get the words out.
“No!” Felix shrieks, and then he takes off at a sprint.
“You little-” Jisung growls, but he’s too late. Felix beats him up the stairs, pausing only to fumble with the doorknob for a second before he’s crashing into the apartment screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Jisung ran over Minho!” Felix yells triumphantly, and it’s almost comical how fast Hyunjin comes hurtling out of the kitchen, an apron tied over his work clothes and a streak of flour across his cheek.
“You what!?”
Now Seungmin is here too, appearing out of the living room looking vaguely amused, and Jisung sinks to his knees in the entryway.
“Just kill me and put me out of my misery,” he gets out, before collapsing fully onto the floor. He doesn’t even have the strength to get out in front of Felix, who starts telling the story much too gleefully for Jisung’s liking, the whole thing sounding that much more dramatic in his deep accent.
“He and Chan were picking me up from work and Chan was letting him practice driving -- he was trying to parallel park in front of the studio at the same time as Minho was crossing the street. He wasn’t even looking, just backed right into him. I saw the whole thing from the window. You know when you’re watching something so horrible it feels like it’s happening in slow motion and you can’t look away? It was like that.”
“Is he okay?” comes Seungmin’s horrified voice, and Jisung kicks his legs out randomly, hoping to get Felix. He misses.
“It was nothing like that,” Jisung yells. “I was barely moving! He’s totally fine, he said so himself!”
“He was barely moving!?” Hyunjin exclaims, and Jisung prays for a quick and merciful death.
“I said I was barely moving, you idiot,” he mumbles into the wood, and then Hyunjin’s face appears inches from his own, looking both concerned and amused.
“Alright. Well, did you at least talk to him?”
“That’s what you’re worried about!?” Jisung shrieks, and Hyunjin just lies down on his belly and shuffles closer.
“Yes. I want to know if at least some good came of this.”
“Well. If it delights your royal nosiness to know. I’m working at his studio open house this Saturday as my punishment.”
Hyunjin screams, and he’s still too close to Jisung’s face, so Jisung is pretty sure he pierces an eardrum.
“Oh, this is better than I could have planned it myself! Ugh, you guys are gonna get married and I’m going to put LED lights that say ‘I told you so’ on the back of my tux.”
“Bold of you to assume you’ll be invited,” Jisung spits, but there’s no venom behind it. He is just suddenly very, very tired.
☂
When Jisung walks into the studio the next day (alone, Chan had to go in early about some important phone call), Changbin is grinning at him.
“Hey there hit-and-run,” Changbin says, and Jisung immediately throws whatever’s in his hand at him, which happens to be a plastic sleeve of powdered donuts. “Thanks!” Changbin smirks at him, peeling back the plastic and popping one in his mouth.
“That was my breakfast,” Jisung complains, but he’s too tired to take them back.
“Hey, Chan has something to tell you,” Changbin says, and the smile is still on his face which instantly makes Jisung suspicious.
“Can’t you tell me?”
“Nope, it’s gotta be Chan. He’s in the back.”
Jisung pauses, squinting at Changbin as if he’s gonna get answers. But Changbin just waves him off, and Jisung creeps into the back room, wondering vaguely if Minho did end up calling about a headache.
But when he gets to the back, Chan is grinning at him, and he jumps up out of his desk chair like a jacked Australian jack-in-the-box.
“Do I have some news for you!”
“Yeah,” Jisung says warily, dropping his backpack onto the closest desk chair. “So Changbin said.”
The way Chan’s face drops is almost comical. “Oh, did Changbin already tell you?”
Jisung shakes his head, digging through the basket on the desk where they sometimes keep loose granola bars and suspiciously mushy fruit. “He said you had to be the one to tell me.”
Chan lights up again like someone flipped a switch. “Jackson got back to me this morning! He loved the demos, and he’s in the middle of the re-recording process right now.”
“That’s great!” Jisung says as he settles on a slightly dusty peanut butter-flavored protein bar. And he means it. Chan worked so hard, he deserves all the praise in the world. “I told you it was perfect.”
“But that’s not the only thing Jackson said,” Chan says, and his eyes are glittering, and Jisung immediately directs his full attention to Chan for the first time since they started talking. “He specifically loved your guide vocals. So much, in fact, that he wants you to do the backing vocals for the title track.”
Jisung’s mouth drops open, all thoughts of breakfast and dancers and vehicular manslaughter flying from his head. “Seriously? Me?” is all he can get out. He’s always known he can carry a tune, but he’s never actually seriously considered himself a singer. He’s always been much more interested in the production side of music, which is why he’s at 3racha.
“Yeah, you,” Chan says, and he’s smiling at him with a look that usually means he’s proud. “So whaddya say? Are you down?”
Jisung makes a noise that’s a cross between a cough and a choke. “It’s Jackson Wang. I’d be crazy to not be down.”
“Good!” Chan exclaims, but he has a look on his face like he’s not done, which makes Jisung slightly nervous. “I’m glad you’re excited. But also, I thought this might lead into a larger conversation I’ve been wanting to have with you for a while now.”
“Oh?” Jisung asks faintly, a little sure that he already knows where this is going, even as Chan says it.
“I think it’s about time you released a solo project. The whole time you’ve worked here you’ve been helping us make music for clients - and there’s no denying you’re very talented. But you’ve never made anything for yourself.”
“I-” Jisung starts, but Chan cuts him off before he even begins.
“Don’t think I don’t see you scribbling in your notebook. I know you’re a talented writer, but I’ve seen what you can do for other people. I want to see what you can do for you.”
Jisung opens and closes his mouth like a fish. Chan’s right - he has been avoiding this topic, for a long time. The idea of making his own music is just so… Daunting. It’s not that he doesn’t have the inspiration - he has a special notebook where he writes the songs he wants to keep, the ones that are too personal for 3racha’s clients. But the thing is, he’s never particularly had a desire to do anything with them. Even though he knows Changbin sometimes does stints in the underground rap scene, and Chan puts his personal stuff out under a moderately successful Soundcloud alias, Jisung’s always been content to avoid personal projects altogether. The idea of letting people see that stuff? Absolutely disgusting, in Jisung’s opinion.
“I don’t want to push you, but I also think that this is your next step to growing as an artist,” Chan says with a sympathetic look on his face that makes Jisung feel kind of prickly. “Even if it’s just one song. Promise me you’ll try.”
Jisung sighs heavily. Honestly, he’s more grateful for Chan than he’ll ever be able to express. Most bosses wouldn’t care what he does with his personal music as long as he’s meeting deadlines. But Chan is out here wanting him to grow as a person and an artist? Jisung walks over and throws his arms around Chan, who makes a happy little noise in his throat. “Thanks,” Jisung mumbles. “I promise I’ll try, but I don’t promise it’ll be consumable content.”
“I know whatever you do, it’ll be incredible,” Chan says contentedly as he hugs him back, and Jisung huffs.
“I take it you told him the news,” a voice says behind them. Jisung turns, keeping himself plastered to Chan’s side, to see Changbin leaning against the desk. He’s watching them with a fondly amused smirk.
“Jackson Wang thinks I have the voice of an angel, suck it,” Jisung declares, sticking his tongue out at Changbin.
“Fallen angel, perhaps,” Changbin spits back easily, and Jisung almost throws the protein bar in his hand at him before realizing that he still needs to eat breakfast. “So now that all that’s out of the way, can we please talk about how Jisung ran that guy over?”
Jisung does launch the protein bar at Changbin for that one, and Changbin laughs the whole way back to the front office.
☂
In the days leading up to the Two Kids’ Dance Studio open house, Jisung is a nervous wreck. He thinks his apartmentmates might be worried they’ve pushed it too far, because they’re all being really nice to him, but honestly that just makes Jisung even more nervous. At first it’s just little things, like how Seungmin doesn’t get on him about forgetting to take out the trash, or how the last three things Felix baked all happened to be Jisung’s favorites. Even Hyunjin is acting like he’s been abducted and replaced by a helpful, very tall fairy who has assumed his form and is now complimenting Jisung’s outfits. But when Saturday rolls around and Jisung walks into the living room to find everyone gathered around the dining table as Hyunjin sets down a gigantic platter of blueberry waffles, Jisung cracks.
“Guys, I’m not twelve,” he complains even as he reaches for the syrup. “I’m seriously okay! It’s just a few stupid hours, it’s not even like I’ll be talking to him, we’ll both be busy the whole time anyways.”
“First of all, you’re not the only person in this apartment who likes waffles,” Hyunjin says mildly. “But second, you’ve looked like you’re about to cry for like three days and we absolutely have every right to be concerned.”
“Okay, so first of all, fuck you,” Jisung says around a mouthful of waffle. “And I can say that because I know Felix made these. Also, that’s rude. I’m totally emotionally stable.”
“I saw you burst into tears last night because you dropped your AirPods in between the couch cushions,” Felix supplies helpfully, and Jisung considers thwacking him across the head before realizing that A) he needs to hide behind Felix at the open house in an hour and B) Felix made him waffles.
“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” he says instead, sniffing imperiously.
“You’re gonna do great today,” Felix chimes, unperturbed. “Minho is super chill, I promise. You’ve just turned him into this mythical being in your head, and now you’re psyching yourself out.” Jisung pouts, because he knows Felix is right. “Oh,” Felix adds as if he just remembered something, smile turning sharp. “And he has abs.”
Seungmin snorts derisively, and Jisung’s brain instantly switches to a Windows loading screen.
“Hey, can you hold that waffle?” Jisung snaps out of his momentary lapse and realizes that he’s being addressed by Hyunjin, who’s holding a camera and staring at Jisung expectantly. Confused, Jisung looks at the swiftly-disappearing platter of waffles in the center of the table, and Hyunjin nods exaggeratedly. Jisung picks up a waffle with his hand, still lost, and Hyunjin raises his camera. “Great. Now… Can you look at it?” Jisung looks at the waffle dubiously, and he hears a click. Hyunjin checks the result and sighs heavily. “Not gonna cut it.”
“What’s happening?” Jisung asks, shoving half the waffle into his mouth.
“I’m doing a project for my portraiture class,” Hyunjin huffs. “You’re my subject.”
“What’s the project?” Jisung responds. He doesn’t bother asking why Hyunjin decided to make Jisung the subject without telling him. That wouldn’t get either of them anywhere.
“I can’t tell you,” Hyunjin exclaims with a wave of his hand. “Then it won’t be authentic. You’re a terrible actor, Jisungie. If I can’t get candids of you with the theme, then my last resort will be hiring someone off Craigslist.”
“Wow, thanks!” Jisung exclaims, not even bothering to tamp down on his sarcasm a little.
“You’re welcome,” Hyunjin says, in the exact same tone.
“Guys, time,” Seungmin intones, tapping at his watch, because Hyunjin and Jisung could go at this for hours unchecked. Jisung glances at the clock and realizes that it is, in fact, getting close to two.
He and Felix grab their stuff and make their way downstairs, and it begins to hit Jisung that this is really happening. The whole walk there he’s convinced he’s sweating through his clothes, but Felix seems perfectly calm next to him, whistling a little as they go along.
“You’re gonna let me hide behind you the whole time, right?” Jisung asks as the building comes into view, his anxiety finally getting the better of him.
The look Felix gives him is completely serious, which makes Jisung feel marginally better. “Of course! As long as you get shots of people who aren’t me every once and a while.”
Oh, right.
Jisung’s actually here to do a job.
After having walked past Two Kids’ so many times, being inside is surreal. It’s bigger inside than it looks from the outside, clean and minimalistic. There are a few folding tables set up around the perimeter, and Jeongin is there arranging papers and pamphlets on them. He waves at Felix and Jisung when they walk in, and Felix blushes furiously. There’s also a girl fixing the balloons that are scattered around the ceiling, tall and skinny with white-blonde hair that goes to her waist. When she hears the door, she smiles and comes over to greet them.
“Hey Felix!” she chimes, and Jisung realizes that she has the same accent as Felix.
“Hey Rosie,” he replies easily, turning towards Jisung. “Jisung, this is Rosie. She’s a dance instructor like me. Rosie, this is my apartmentmate Jisung.”
“Ah, yes, the one who hit Minho with his car,” she says, sounding like she’s discussing a very funny inside joke.
Felix grimaces and Jisung blushes. “That’s me,” he says awkwardly, shuffling his feet back and forth. “For the record, I don’t know how to drive and-”
Rosie waves her hand airily, stopping him mid-sentence. “Don’t worry about it! Minho thinks it’s very funny. Trust me, no one’s worried about it.”
“That’s true!” Jeongin calls from across the room, and Rosie laughs.
“Are you also from Australia?” Jisung asks, just to get the subject off vehicular manslaughter.
Rosie nods. “New Zealand originally, but I grew up in Australia. Super random, huh?”
Felix grins conspiratorially. “Minho complains that we’re gonna give all the kids accents, but secretly I think he’s mad that he doesn’t sound as cool as us.”
“Who’s talking about me?” a new voice chimes in, and everyone turns as Minho gently shuts the door to a back room and strides across the main room towards them. He’s wearing a nice white button-up with the top button undone, and Jisung reminds himself to breathe.
“And what about it?” Rosie retorts, sounding like she’s addressing a friend and not a boss. Minho rolls his eyes.
“Aussie dancers are gonna be the death of me.” His gaze flickers to Jisung as he comes to a stop next to the group. He fixes Jisung with a sharp grin. “Or maybe that’s just you.”
Jisung flushes all the way up to his hairline. “Again, I’m really really sorry-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Minho interjects, laughing. “Seriously, all is forgiven. And thank you for helping out today! If you come with me, I’ll get you set up with a camera.” He tilts his head and takes a step to the side, waiting for Jisung to follow.
Jisung looks over at Felix with his best help me eyes, which Felix studiously ignores. Jisung follows Minho into the back room he just came out of, which looks to be some sort of storage space as Minho ushers him in and shuts the door behind them. He begins rifling through a box on the floor, and Jisung shuffles his feet, unsure if he should be the one to break the silence.
“I’m surprised you trusted me to get quality footage after only having known me a minute,” Jisung ends up joking, defaulting into his humor-to-mask-anxiety factory setting.
“Well, if you’re in the arts program at JYP I’m sure you can at least point and shoot,” Minho says back easily, and Jisung grins.
“How did you know I went to JYP?”
The tips of Minho’s ears flush, and Jisung hides his smile, delighted. So Minho does think about him too. At least a little bit. “Felix talks about you a lot.”
Jisung coughs. Every day before Felix leaves for work, Hyunjin materializes and tells him to hype Jisung up to Minho. Felix must’ve been listening.
“Ah well, our whole apartment goes to JYP. Except Seungmin, actually. He’s in law school. He’s smarter than the rest of us put together, but we can’t tell him that because unfortunately his ego is bigger than the rest of us put together too. Except maybe Hyunjin. Hyunjin spends way too long in the mirror for his own good and-” Jisung blushes a bright crimson suddenly, stopping himself mid-sentence. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. That is not… I’ll stop.”
Minho is just watching him with this funny little smile, camera hanging from a strap that’s wrapped around his wrist. “Honestly, you could’ve kept going. I was enjoying myself.”
That statement doesn’t do much for the current color of Jisung’s face. “Ah,” is all he can say, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands.
Minho holds the camera out. “Unfortunately, I think people are gonna start showing up soon. But I would love to hear more about your apartmentmates some other time.”
Jisung nods, now unable to speak, and Minho leads him back out into the main studio.
Jisung’s job is, admittedly, pretty easy. As parents and children trickle through, Minho, Felix, Jeongin and Rosie do all the interacting, while Jisung wanders around trying to find interesting camera angles.
But Minho is… He’s really great with the kids.
Rosie and Felix and Jeongin all seem comfortable, but the kids love Minho. A lot of them leave their parents and sprint over to say hello the second they walk in the door, and there isn’t a second of the event that Jisung doesn’t see Minho walking around hampered by a posse of small children that cling to his legs. But it’s not just the kids that go up to him - Minho also goes out of his way to talk to the shier ones, crouching down to their eye level and speaking in gentle tones that seem to put them at ease.
Man, Jisung is gonna end up whipped if he’s not careful.
At one point, Jisung braves it and goes over to get a closeup shot of Minho and his kids. Minho smiles at him as he approaches, and Jisung hates that he gets butterflies.
He’s so focused on adjusting the lense that he almost misses the way a little girl in a pink tutu gapes up at him, recognition flashing in her eyes.
“I know you!” she announces proudly.
Jisung looks down nervously. He’s not sure why she would know him - he’s not acquainted with many small children besides his little cousins. But they live four hours away.
“Really?” he asks curiously, and the girl nods.
“Mr. Minho always waves at you! Mr. Minho says that you-”
“Okay,” Minho says loudly with a clap of his hands, and Jisung stifles a giggle. The girl doesn’t look upset, she just looks up at Minho questioningly. He smiles down at her with an expression that Jisung can only describe as a fond warning. “Jisung doesn’t need to know everything I say.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Minho.” The girl turns back to Jisung with an impish look on her face. “He’s shy,” she tells him in a stage whisper, and behind her Minho rolls his eyes with a grin.
Jisung checks to make sure the camera is okay before crouching down to be eye to eye with the girl. “It’s okay,” he whispers back. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a little shy too.” She nods furiously, and Jisung stands back up, knees cracking as he does so. “I’m gonna go film over there,” he says, to Minho this time.
After the last parents leave, Jisung stays behind with Felix to help clean everything up. They make quick work of it, and Jisung returns the camera to Minho while Felix waits for him at the door.
“Thanks for helping out today,” Minho says, a soft smile curving across his face. “Consider my headache nonexistent.”
Jisung snorts. “Good to hear. Mr. Minho.”
There’s an awkward beat where they just stare at each other, each clearly unsure what to do. Eventually, Minho slowly holds out a hand. Jisung waits a second too long to take it, and still doesn’t have time to worry about whether or not his palms are sweaty. Minho’s hand is firm and warm. He holds Jisung’s gaze, and Jisung realizes just how intense his dark eyes are. Sparks travel all the way up Jisung’s spine, and he doesn’t realize he was holding his breath until Minho let's go.
“See you around?”
Jisung can practically hear Felix cackling at the door. It's going to be a long walk home.
“See you around.”
☂
When Jisung and Felix come back, Hyunjin and Seungmin are doing a very bad job of looking uninterested in the kitchen.
“How was it?” Hyunjin asks nonchalantly from where he’s mixing batter with their KitchenAid mixer. His nonchalance is betrayed by the way his whole body is visibly vibrating. Seungmin is nearby, pouring batter into muffin tins, except he’s just holding the bowl and hasn’t poured a single tin since Jisung and Felix set their stuff down.
“It was whatever,” Jisung says, just to mess with them.
“Uh huh,” Hyunjin replies, sounding strained. “Would you care to elaborate on that?”
“Not really,” Jisung teases.
Hyunjin huffs. “Fine. No banana chocolate chip muffins for you. Seungmin and I are gonna eat them all.”
“Hey, what about me,” Felix complains as he takes a water bottle from the fridge.
“You can have some,” Hyunjin amends. “Just not Jisung.”
“That’s mean,” Jisung whines. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but only because you’re a muffin-hoarding bully. It was… Surprisingly good? We interacted and I wasn’t totally stupid, and he shook my hand when I left."
“Shook my hand?” Hyunjin repeats, sounding slightly incredulous.
“Boo,” Seungmin says. “Zero out of ten. More information required.”
“Okay but you didn’t witness it,” Jisung replies indignantly. “It was sexy.”
“Ah yes,” Hyunjin scoffs, falling backwards against the counter. “The sexual tension of a handshake.”
“You guys suck,” Jisung complains, sticking a finger in a muffin tin and licking it.
“It was a little pathetic, Ji,” Felix says sorrowfully, and Jisung smacks him in retaliation.
“Rude!”
“You didn’t ask him to hang out again?” A low hum fills the kitchen as Hyunjin turns the mixer back on, one eyebrow still raised precariously. “Nothing at all?”
Jisung groans. Leave it to his roommates to make mountains out of molehills. “No.”
“It’s okay,” Hyunjin amends, sounding slightly apologetic. “You’ve met. Felix works there now. Something’s bound to happen.”
Usually Jisung doesn’t like it when Hyunjin is right, on principle. But just this once, in the not-so-secret depths of his heart, he hopes Hyunjin is right.