Work Text:
Jisung’s fingers fly over the keyboard, searching for songs that fit the mystery theme of their organization’s dance competition production. So far, they have a couple of jazz and hard-hitting songs, all collated into a temporary playlist. They still needed approval for the songs they have so far, but the coordinator from the Street division hasn’t replied to their latest email yet.
The org room air is hot, as usual. If only they have enough space for a bigger electric fan, instead of a small one Jisung currently has right in front of his face and laptop. Unfortunately, the rest of the room not occupied by tables and chairs held piles upon piles of props, signs, and promotional material. It sucks that the room assigned to the dance production org and the theater org just so happened to be one of those without aircon.
Jisung left the door and windows open, hoping to let at least some air in. Still, the only thing seeping through the windows are the rays of the setting sun. Jisung sighs. There isn’t air coming from the door either. Instead, it’s a person wearing black and carrying a laptop who is entering the room through the door. Jisung startles, immediately turning back to his laptop. As a Sounds production newbie and a first year student, he still feels shy around other students in the university.
The guy who entered settled down opposite of Jisung. Ah, an SNU Dance Troupe member, then, since he’s using our side of the room , Jisung concludes. The guy opens his laptop, gives a nod to acknowledge Jisung’s presence, and starts doing his own work. Jisung silently replies with a slightly awkward smile and a nod of his own, then once again busies himself with his laptop.
WHAT THE HELL , his mind screams. How could someone possibly be THAT handsome?? It’s not fair!!
The guy’s purple hair compliments the sky of the setting sun. His brown eyes are focused on his laptop screen, and his lips are pursed, forming a triangular-shaped pout. Why the hell is he so HOT???
As if he noticed Jisung’s (admittedly) loud thoughts, the guy’s gaze finds its way back to him. “Are you also in SNU Dance?” the guy asks.
(And so what if the guy’s voice is the most gentle and most beautiful sound he’s ever heard? It doesn’t matter, stupid brain voice! It doesn’t!! )
“Uh–” Jisung’s thoughts freeze. “Yes…yes, I am!”
The other’s lips quirk upwards in amusement. “I’m Lee Minho, from Street. And, you are…?”
Lee Minho , Jisung’s brain echoes, latching onto the name. Lee Minho, from Street . It bounces around in his mind. He almost forgets to reply.
“I–I’m, um, Han. Han Jisung,” he says after a long, awkward silence. “I’m a prod newbie from Sounds.”
Minho’s eyes light up with something like recognition. “Ah, yes, so you’re Jisung. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Jisung tilts his head to one side. What does Minho mean by “finally”?
“We’re teammates for the production, aren’t we?” Minho says, noticing his confusion. “You are helping with the music for oldies 2, right…?”
“I am,” Jisung answers, the realization setting in. Does that mean he has to work with Minho for the next three months? I’m never getting through this alive , he despairs.
Minho smiles. He continues typing on his laptop. “I’m sorry I haven’t replied to the email yet. It’s been a busy week for me, unfortunately.”
“What?” Jisung pauses, confused once more. “What email?”
“I haven’t approved any of your songs yet. I was supposed to, but something came up and I forgot all about it.”
Jisung acts before he can think about it. “You can listen to them right now,” he suggests. “I can explain the song choices if I need to.”
He finds himself carrying his laptop to Minho’s side and sitting beside him. He turns the tiny electric fan to blow air in their direction and pulls up the playlist and his earphones.
“Right or left?” he asks.
“Left,” Minho answers.
Jisung hands him the left ear of the earphones, then inserts the other bud in his right ear. He automatically shifts closer to Minho, making sure not to extend the wire too much. He immediately regrets the action. His heart jackrabbits in his chest. Minho’s body heat is warm against his side as he explains the reason they chose the first song, more of an upbeat one compared to the others in the playlist.
“So our idea is that it starts upbeat, then something happens, and the music becomes mysterious,” Jisung explains, waving his hands around. “Since oldies 2 is performing twice, we chose an upbeat one first to kind of introduce the conflict, then songs with a more mysterious vibe for the main part.”
“I like that idea,” Minho comments, scanning the songs in the playlist. “For Street, it’s all of us first, then oldies 2, and then there’s oldies 1 and 3 before we go on again. I’m sure the songs would be all mysterious by then. What song did you plan to use for that part anyway?”
“We…haven’t actually decided yet. It still depends on the songs the other groups picked. For now, we have a bunch of jazz and detective movie type songs.”
“Let’s hear them, then.”
They spend the next hour listening to the songs. Jisung continues explaining each one to Minho before he plays them. Minho continues commenting on certain parts of the songs after they play. The sun has completely set without them realizing. So far, Minho has approved five of the songs they picked: two upbeat ones, two mysterious-sounding ones, and one “detective movie type” one. Jisung transfers them all into another playlist before he registers the action. Damn, he really went and decided that hey, today I’m gonna follow everything a pretty boy tells me to do!
And then, he remembers the unanswered email to the Street coordinator and realizes. “Wait,” he pauses, whipping his head to face Minho. “Are you telling me you’re the Street coordinator?”
Minho blinks at him. “I thought we already established that, Jisung-ssi.”
Jisung smiles awkwardly. “Just Jisung is fine. Still, I thought you were a Street leader for the production, not the literal assistant head of the Street division! ”
“Well, yeah, I just happened to be both. Are you sure you didn’t know?”
“Yeah, but – but you –”
Jisung gives up and levels Minho with a resigned glare, only to see the other sporting a teasing smile. He counters the smile with a playful smack that doesn’t even make contact with Minho’s shoulder. He retracts his arm before the embarrassment can take over.
“No wonder,” he mutters, turning back to his laptop. He saves and sends the new playlist with the approved songs to their team group chat. They still need Minho’s official email reply to their first email, but this would do for now.
Just then, Minho’s phone rings. He picks it up and talks to the caller for a few minutes. When the call ends, Minho gives Jisung an apologetic look and begins to gather his things.
“Street head called,” Minho explains. “I have to meet him to discuss the training week schedules.”
“That’s okay,” Jisung shrugs. “I have to get back to the dorm anyway. It was nice to meet you, Minho-ssi.”
He holds back all the poetry beating against his heart. You’re so radiant, it’s unreal , he thinks, as if his sappy thoughts for the past hours weren’t already enough. Still, he can’t help it, not if Minho looks like that under the admittedly boring white lights of the room.
Before he leaves, Minho smiles. “Call me hyung,” he says in lieu of goodbye. Jisung replies with a wave. He sears that smile into his mind’s eye.
With the approved songs on hand and Minho’s email reply finally coming through, their team sends the final playlist to their Sounds head to double check if the songs fit with the songs the other groups chose. After they’re double checked, everyone from Sounds will work together to mix and edit the songs to make the final mash-up that will be used for the overall Street division performance.
Since Jisung currently has nothing to do, he decides to visit the organization’s dance studios in the arts building. As long as they don’t disturb the performing division’s training, other SNU Dance members are allowed to watch the Street and Contemporary divisions train.
The third floor of the building is silent. It makes sense, since all the dance studios are located there, and all of them are soundproof. Plus, the other university students are either on other floors or not in the building at all. Jisung first peeks into the clear glass part of the doors, trying to identify which studios the performing divisions are using. He finds the Contempers in dance studio 4. There aren’t a lot of members this year. Only 7 new members who auditioned were accepted, but one of them never attended training because their parents didn’t want them to stay in school too late. Or, at least, that’s what Park Jimin, the Contemp head, told him. He was also the one who told Jisung that he can watch training any time.
Jisung moves on to dance studio 5, which is empty, then to dance studio 6, one of the bigger studios meant to house a lot of people. There, he finds the Street division marking their movements to what seems to be an upbeat song. He spots Minho at the front, near the mirror. Minho is watching the other Streeters with a look of concentration on his face. His bangs are pushed back, sitting in an artful mess away from his forehead and showing more of his eyes. He’s also wearing loose black pants and a plain white shirt.
The dancers soon slow to a stop. They automatically gravitate towards the front where Minho was, to await his comments on their dancing and the choreography itself. Jisung watches as all the Streeters pay attention to their coordinator. When Minho finishes speaking, everyone shuffles back to the center and he moves to start the music again. As he walks back to his earlier position, his eyes meet Jisung’s through the door’s glass window. Upon recognizing him, Minho smiles and motions for him to enter the studio. Jisung gulps. He cautiously pulls the door open and enters the room as discreetly as possible.
The song currently playing is definitely upbeat. This time, the dancers are going all out. Their movements are sharp, energetic, and precise. In the large group of dancers, Jisung spots his best friend Felix beside a tall, black haired guy he thinks is named Hyunjin. They’re somewhere to the right of everyone else and are consistently in sync.
He moves his gaze away from them and decides to settle near the left corner at the back of the studio, away from where all the bags are placed. He leans on the wall and pushes his glasses higher up his nose bridge. They’re always sliding down to rest at the tip of his nose and he has no idea why.
He notices how the choreography the dancers are doing doesn’t seem to be very long. He may have blinked maybe only a little over three times and was surprised to see that they already finished the choreo. The dancers hold their last poses for a few seconds, then relax into varying positions. Some only fold forwards with their hands on their knees, and others crouch down or even sit on the floor.
“Okay guys, water break!” Minho calls out, clapping to get everyone’s attention.
As the dancers trudge over to grab their water bottles, Minho walks over to Jisung. Jisung, meanwhile, tries his best not to freak out. He’ll never admit it, but the way Minho’s bangs have fallen over his eyes as he walks does a little something to his heart.
“Han Jisung,” Minho greets with a smile. “I thought you were in Sounds. Have you decided you wanted to try and be a Streeter as well?”
Jisung cracks his own smile at that. “I doubt I’d even get past the auditions, Minho hyung. I’m not really a dancer, anyway.”
“Nah,” Minho laughs, just a little. (Jisung also thinks the dancer glows, you know, just a little. ) “I’m not kidding. You look like you can do a pretty impressive jump, Jisung-ah.”
Jisung’s ears go warm. “O-oh,” he stutters, scratching the back of his head. “Thanks, I guess…?”
Minho lets out a breath, amused. “I have to get back to training,” he says. “But you’re free to stay and watch. Actually, come over and watch us whenever you want.” Then, he waves and jogs back to the front, leaving Jisung breathless.
As much as he still wants to talk to Minho, he knows he has no other choice but to shift his weight back onto the wall and watch as Minho does his job as the Street coordinator. He eventually gets tired of standing, sliding down to sit on the floor instead. He spends the entire hour there in a daze, watching the dancers dance their hearts out, and paying the most attention when Minho decided they were doing good enough and finally joined them. Jisung’s heart nearly jumps out of his chest when Minho meets his eyes in the mirror and winks. Scratch that, he may as well have fainted. How dare you, Lee Minho? How dare you be so hot?
Funnily enough, Jisung falls asleep there, curled into himself and into the back left corner of the dance studio. It’s Minho’s gentle hand that shakes him awake. Jisung sits up and runs at his eyes tiredly. As his vision clears, he sees that the room is empty except for the two of them. He also notices Minho’s hand outstretched in front of him, holding a very familiar pair of glasses.
“You fell asleep,” Minho explains, placing the glasses on Jisung’s hands. “I didn’t want you to accidentally step on your glasses, so I kept them in my bag. Here you go.”
Jisung accepts the glasses, flushing at the realization that Minho’s hands were near his face . Oh, what he would give to have witnessed that.
“Thank you,” he says, sliding his glasses back on. He stands as quickly as his newly awakened body allowed him to and dusted off his clothes. “What time is it?”
“A little past seven,” Minho answers. “Do you commute home? I can walk with you to the terminal if you’d like.”
Jisung tilts his head to the side. “Commute? No, uh, I actually stay in the university dorm.”
“Ohh, I stay there too! Which one’s your room?”
“I’m in room 101.”
“That’s crazy! I’m just in room 105. How have we never bumped into each other before?”
Jisung shrugs. “I don’t know.”
Minho’s smiling at him again. Jisung doesn’t think he can take that along with the most recent discovery that their dorm rooms are apparently only four doors away from each other. “Well then, there’s nothing stopping us from walking together now,” Minho says cheerfully. He opens the studio door and gestures for Jisung to follow him.
I’ll go wherever you want me to go , Jisung almost says out loud. ( Damn it, brain, don’t do me like that! ) Instead, he simply follows and walks out the door. Minho closes it behind them both, and together, they make their way to the dorms.
“FELIX!” Jisung calls out. “I have so many things I need to tell you about. You have no idea! ”
He turns the doorknob and enters his best friend’s dorm as if he lives there. As he removes his shoes by the door, he notices a very familiar pair of rubber shoes already resting there. Sure enough, he spots Felix’s boyfriend Chan working on something on his laptop in front of one of the room’s desks. Felix, meanwhile, is on his bed and probably scrolling through Tik Tok on his phone.
“Hey, Sung-ah,” Chan greets without glancing away from his laptop screen. Jisung takes a closer look and cringes at the complicated music production software his hyung is working on. Despite being students from the same course, their skills are still on different levels, especially because Chan is already a graduating student.
“Hey, Channie hyung,” he greets back and decides not to bother him for any longer. Instead, he lowers his backpack on its usual place beside the cabinet and joins Felix on the bed. His best friend automatically rolls to the side to make space for him. It doesn’t matter anyway. Jisung will always find a way to pile himself on top of Felix’s stomach.
“ Feeelixxx ,” he whines. “I have something important to tell you!”
“What is it, Jisungie?” Felix asks, rolling around again to face Jisung better. “Wait, don’t tell me! Did you get another crush on a handsome stranger at first sight again?”
Jisung groans. “Damn it! You know me too well, it’s not fair!”
Felix snickers, and Jisung could just barely make out Chan laughing at him as well. “In my defense!” Jisung exclaims. “In my defense, he’s like the most handsome guy I’ve ever seen. No, listen , he has like this purple hair with long bangs that go past his eyes. And his eyes are brown and they sparkle in the light! And apparently he’s the Street coordinator ? Like, really, how could he be so perfect??”
Felix’s smile grows more and more as Jisung rambles on. He shuts off his phone and tosses it aside, humming once in a while to show he’s still listening. But, as soon as Jisung starts talking about Minho being in SNU Dance, Chan interrupts him.
“Are you, hypothetically, talking about Lee Minho?”
Jisung abruptly stops talking and gapes at Chan. “You know him??”
Chan shrugs. “Yeah, man, he’s in SNU Dance, isn’t he?”
“Well yeah, but I thought you were never in SNU Dance?”
“I wasn’t, but I’m close to your overall Prod head, so I know about Minho. I haven’t talked to him recently, though.”
Felix laughs even more. “No way!” he giggles. “You have a crush on Minho hyung? Jisungie .”
“I know, ” Jisung whines again. “Damn, I totally forgot he’s your Street coordinator.”
“He is indeed.”
“Well, what do you suggest I do about this, then?”
Felix sobers up. “Okay, listen,” he says calmly. “You like him, don’t you?”
Jisung shrugs. He finds Minho really handsome and really good at dancing, sure. But does he like him?
“Well, anyway, whatever it is you feel, I think it would help if you spent more time with him, or at least talked to him a lot. Just so you can make more sense of what you feel. Does that make sense?”
“Okay, true. We’re teammates for the dance production anyway, so we can probably hang out then.”
Felix pauses at that, then bursts into laughter again. If Jisung doesn’t know any better (and maybe if Chan isn’t there), he’d think Felix is drunk because of how giggly he is. “You’re–” Felix can’t stop laughing. “You’re teammates ? Oh, Jisungie, good luck.”
Before Jisung can retort in indignation, Chan chimes in. “Just remember it’s not impossible, Jisung-ah. Just because you’re two years apart doesn’t mean you can’t be together. For example, just look at Felix and I.”
“Aww, honey,” Felix melts.
“At this point, I’m surprised you haven’t moved in together yet,” Jisung deadpans. “You’re here so often I forget you don’t even live here.”
“Well, we’re both here so often we might as well both become Lixie’s roommates,” Chan suggests, amused.
“Nah, hyung,” Jisung adamantly shakes his head. “I’d rather not subject myself to more PDA than I already witnessed. Urgh, I’m leaving .”
He’s halfway out the door when Felix interrupts him. “Just remember what we told you, Jisungie.” He smiles. “Talk to him. Hang out with him. Just don’t lead him on.”
“I won’t, I promise,” Jisung replies sincerely. He closes the door behind him and leaves for the library, planning to get at least some of his school work done.
Jisung visits dance studio 6 again during his next vacant. He manages to enter the room right as the dancers start their break. He stays in the back left corner again and waits for Minho to approach him. He never goes to the dancer first, just in case he’s busy doing his Street coordinator duties.
Minho spots him right as he leans on the wall. The dancer’s expression immediately brightens. Jisung’s breath gets caught in his throat. Which overarching power pushed him into the studio right as the sun was setting? Which omnipotent deity decided it’s the perfect time to make sure the golden light is hitting Minho’s eyes and making them glow?
“Jisung-ah, you’re here,” Minho grins. Jisung is so starstruck, he almost forgets to reply.
“He–hello, Minho hyung. I’m here again.” We know, you idiot! We know!
“You don’t have org work today?”
“Uh, no, actually. I’m also done with all my school work for now.”
“That’s good. I still have a paper to do for a class after this, so I have to make sure I save energy for that. Are you staying until 7?”
Jisung glances at the time on the studio’s clock. It’s a little past 6 PM, so there’s still an hour before 7. He has nothing important to do, though, so he tells Minho as much and decides to stay.
Minho’s smile widens. Jisung melts, just a little. “Let’s walk back to the dorms together, then,” Minho says earnestly.
And Jisung, hopelessly-infatuated-for-Lee-Minho Jisung, can’t do anything else but agree.
One time, Jisung is exiting his dorm room when he comes face to face with one other than Minho. Minho blinks at him, startled. Jisung, meanwhile, attempts to will his heart to beat normally as he slowly backs away.
“Han Jisung,” Minho says, his expression relaxing.
“Lee Minho hyung,” Jisung replies, relaxing as well.
Minho laughs. “Are we calling each other by our full names now?” he teases. “Well then, Han Jisungie, where are you going?”
“Oh, well, I was planning to get something to eat from the cafeteria.”
“Good news, then, since I’m going there too.”
Once again, Jisung finds himself walking around the campus with Minho. The past two times they’ve walked together, they spent in silence, most likely because Minho was tired from training. This time, though, Minho brings up the topic of their music for the dance production. They discuss how the Sounds team is almost done with the basic mixing, and that the tracks should be handed back to the performing divisions before the week ends.
When they reach the cafeteria, they split up to buy their own food. Jisung thinks that’s the end of it, so he’s surprised when Minho sits across from him on the empty table he decided to use.
“So, Han Jisung, what were you saying about the third song in the mix?”
They relax into comfortable conversation again after that. Jisung thinks he and Minho are closer now, and maybe he can even consider them almost friends. So far, he still isn’t sure if he wants to pursue a romantic relationship with Miho, but he at least knows he feels safe and comfortable in his hyung’s presence.
They split up for real once they finish eating. Minho has class and Jisung has an assignment due later that night.
“See you next training?” Minho asks before he leaves.
Jisung smiles softly. “Of course, hyung.”
Minho’s answering grin brightens up Jisung’s world.
They continue meeting in dance studio 6 at least once a week. Sometimes, Minho’s too busy helping the Street newbie with the choreography to come talk to Jisung. Other times, Jisung brings his laptop to work on essays he forgets about and has to do last-minute. During those times, they only really get to talk after training. Usually, Jisuung asks Minho about his choreographies, while Minho asks Jisung about his crammed essays.
(Jisung swats at Minho’s arm whenever he comes over to Jisung’s corner and teases the younger for forgetting to write another essay for class. Jisung tries to ignore the shit-eating grins Felix and Hyunjin are sporting from the other side of the studio.)
When midterms season arrives, they see each other less. The only time they ever really meet is during team meetings for the dance production. Still, whenever their team meets up, they make sure to choose seats beside each other.
Jisung continues barging into Felix’s room whenever he wants to. He always finds himself being more productive when working with other people, so he brings his laptop over to room 310, settles on the dining table if the two desks are already being used, and works on his midterms. Chan is often there as well. Sometimes, they would first go to the cafeteria to order iced coffee before going to work.
“How’s it going with Minho hyung?” Felix asks one day. They’re currently taking a break and are sprawled over each other on the floor.
Jisung hums. “It’s good,” he answers. “My heartbeat still wants to make itself heard to the entire campus sometimes, but I think I’ve calmed down enough around Minho hyung now.”
Felix beams. “So, have you figured out if you liked him yet?”
Jisung’s face warms. “I don’t know – maybe? I mean, I guess it would be nice to continue hanging out with him, but does that mean I want to date him?”
“You make a good point there,” Felix muses. “Maybe this is just a squish and you just want to be his friend?”
Jisung shrugs. “Maybe.”
Their productivity timer chooses that moment to chime. Groaning, they get up from the floor and return to their work.
Their dance production team meet one last time in the middle of production training month. Production training month the performing divisions train until 9 PM instead of only until 7. It also means Jisung and the rest of the production division members have a lot of workshops scheduled throughout the weeks.
“It feels like I haven’t seen you in a while, Jisung-ah,” Minho comments as he takes his seat beside Jisung.
“That’s because you haven’t, hyung. How’s training?”
Minho pulls a face. “To be honest? It sucks sometimes. You think you can retire for the night but here comes your professor giving you a last minute reading. Usually it’s okay, but since we now train for four hours every day , sometimes I don’t even get to sleep anymore.”
Jisung understands, to an extent. While he can’t imagine how much harder Minho’s workload is as a third year with a leadership position, he’s still having trouble balancing school requirements and org work. The fact he’s new to the university does nothing to help either.
“You can do it, hyung,” Jisung reassures. “Fighting!!”
Minho cracks a smile. “Thanks, Jisung-ah.”
THey don’t discuss much during the meeting, just necessary adjustments to the music and styling. There will be two more meetings after the first and second dance checks, but it’s only the Street, Documentary, and Lights members that are required to attend.
Jisung’s heart sinks when the announcement is made. With the way their schedule looks now, he doesn’t think he’ll have any more chances to spend time with Minho until after the production.
“What’s wrong?” Minho asks as they walk back to the dorms, noticing Jisung’s crestfallen expression.
“Ah, hyung,” Jisung tries to brush it off. “It’s nothing, really.”
Minho stops, pulling Jisung’s arm to make him stop walking as well. They’re somewhere between the org building and one of the university’s libraries. “I doubt it’s nothing, Han Jisung,” Minho regards him carefully. “Did you not get enough sleep? Are you hungry?” He pauses for a while before he adds, a little uncertainly, “Did you not want to walk with me anymore?”
Jisung startles. “No, of course not!” he immediately denies. “It’s not that, it’s just…we’re both busy now, so we can’t see each other that often anymore.”
Minho blinks, then his expression softens. He places a hand on Jisung’s shoulder reassuringly. “That’s okay, Jisung-ah. I’m not sure about hanging out, but we can always message each other.”
Jisung runs a hand through his hair. The silver strands are getting a little long now. “I don’t have your number or your KakaoTalk, though,” he says sheepishly.
Minho smiles. “Here.” He holds out his hand. “Give me your phone.”
Jisung does. Minho takes his time inputting both his number and his KakaoTalk on Jisung’s phone. Then, he sends two texts to himself – if the two chimes from his phone aren’t just coincidences – then gives it back to Jisung.
Jisung holds the phone to his chest, dumbstruck. Minho smirks. “Just message me when you need me, Jisung-ah.” Then, he starts speed walking towards the dorms.
“Wha– hey! Wait up!” Jisung collects himself and runs after him. Their joyous laughter brighten up the night, all previous sadness forgotten.
If Jisung isn’t in class (trying not to fall asleep but failing), or in the cafeteria (trying to make good budgeting choices), he’s in Felix’s room (trying to work on his midterms). It’s like all the school work is thrown at him all at once. All of a sudden, there are documentaries to be watched, papers to write, audios to record, and videos to edit. Felix and Chan are also working on their own things, so the three of them spend most of the week proofreading paragraphs, analyzing readings, and doing last-minute studying. Sometimes, Jisung and Felix want to play background music while working. But, since they don’t want to disturb Chan, who’s more likely than not working on an original composition, they settle for sitting back to back on the floor and sharing a pair of earphones.
During lock-in breaks, Jisung whips out his phone and messages Minho. Over time, they learn more about each other, and Jisung also gets a general idea of Minho’s schedule. Minho just so happens to be free every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon, so they often spend that time chatting. Other than the dancer’s general schedule, Jisung learns about his cats, his hobbies, and his dream of becoming a choreographer. Jisung returns the favor by talking about his fluffy white dog, his love for music, and how he’s planning to create a music producer trio with Chan and Chan’s friend Changbin.
---
Minho
Hold on.
You mean Seo Changbin?
Jisung
Yeah
Why? Do you know him?
Minho
He’s Hyunjin’s roommate
He’s also been fetching Hyunjin from training lately, so I think he has a crush on him.
---
When midterms season ends, they finally get another chance to meet up. Usually, it’s during lunch time three days a week. When their classes end, they meet in the cafeteria and eat lunch together. Sometimes, Felix and their other friends join them, which Jisung (surprisingly) doesn’t really mind. It’s nice that their friends also get to hang out with them during the day despite their conflicting schedules.
There’s one particularly vacant Wednesday where Minho invites Jisung to eat at a restaurant outside the campus. Jisung ignores all the voices in his head screaming that the hang out is a date (shut up, brain, it’s NOT a DATE!!) and accepts the invitation.
They decide to eat at a samgyeopsal restaurant nearby. Minho mostly takes charge of the cooking process, which Jisung can’t help but find incredibly hot (and not just because of the burning coals). While eating, they talk about anything and everything, from the midterms to the food they ate the past few days. Somewhere along the way, they find themselves discussing the dance production. There’s less than a month left. Minho’s eye bags seem just a little bit deeper. Still, he says the choreography is doing good and is almost complete, so that’s definitely something.
In a couple of weeks, SNU Dance will be moving preparations to the SNU theater, where the production will take place. All Sounds newbies, because of how few they are, are invited to take turns using the soundboard as part of training.
“Will you be there during stage prep week?” Minho asks Jisung before they part ways.
“Yes hyung,” Jisung replies with a smile. “I will.”
Minho’s own smile seems to take away some of his exhaustion, just a little bit.
The next time Jisung sees Minho is two days before the dance production. He just finished his turn on the soundboard and decided to go down to the main theater area to look for Minho. It’s a little harder to spot him now. His purple hair isn’t that vibrant anymore, and he’s wearing the same color scheme everyone is wearing. Jisung eventually spots him near the edge of the stage, talking to the Street head. He decides to wait until they’re finished talking before approaching the dancer.
“Minho hyung,” he calls when he’s near.
Minho turns to face him. “Ah, Jisungie.” He gives Jisung a weary smile. His hair lays flat on his head, looking more silver than purple now, and the bags under his eyes are as deep as ever. The exhaustion seems to have set deep inside his bones.
And yes, it’s finals week next week and Jisung’s been working more hours than he’s been sleeping, but he can’t help but wish he has the ability to take away some of Minho’s stress and shoulder it instead.
“You look tired, hyung,” Jisung softly says.
Minho sighs. “I know.”
Jisung takes his time to first consider it, then steps closer to the other with his arms wide open. “Maybe a hug can help?”
Minho stays silent for a moment before closing the gap and melting into Jisung’s arms. He wraps his arms around Jisung’s waist and lets out another sigh against Jisung’s neck. Jisung tries not to tremble at its warmth.
It might’ve been just a minute, or maybe a couple hundred of years, before they let go. Jisung gives Minho a wobbly smile, skin still tingling where Minho had touched. “Better?”
Minho smiles fondly. “Much better. Will I see you on Friday?”
The day of the production . “Of course, hyung. I’ll be there, I promise.”
Minho’s smile grows even wider. “Good,” he says. “You won’t regret it.”
Jisung grins back. “If I get to watch you dance, then I won’t ever regret it. I won’t miss your performance for the world, hyung-ah.”
Minho gapes at him, stunned. Jisung’s sure his face is tinted red now, but he doesn’t take back his statement. Any time he spends watching Minho dance will always be worth it. He’s sure of it.
Jisung, regretfully, finds out he has a quiz he hasn’t studied for right on the day of the production. The only reason he knows about it is because of the email his professor sent early in the morning. For some reason, an invisible force pushed him to check his emails as soon as he woke up, which is how he saw the reminder. He scrambles out of the bed, alarmed, and rushes to shower. He originally planned to wake up a little later that day since his first class was cancelled. It’s a good thing it seems that he’s forgotten to turn off his 7 AM alarm. Now, he has more time to study for his quiz at 12:30.
It’s around 10 AM when he receives a text from Minho.
---
Minho
Han Jisung
Where are you?
Jisung
In the library
Apparently I have a quiz and I haven’t studied for it yet
So here I am
Minho
Oh…
I wanted to tell you something before the production starts
But I guess it can wait until after…
---
Jisung’s heart jumps to his throat. Minho has something to tell him? Judging by the tone of the dancer’s messages, it couldn’t be anything good.
He’s overthinking before he even realizes it. Still, he does his best to shake his pessimistic thoughts away. He has a quiz to study for, and he hasn’t even eaten lunch yet.
He then dives back into studying, unknowingly leaving Minho’s message on read.
Jisung arrives at SNU theater with time to spare. While he was eating lunch at around 11 AM, the Sounds head sent a reminder that all Sounds members should be at the theater’s sound booth by 2:30 PM. It just so happens that Jisung’s quiz ends at 2. So, as soon as their professor dismissed them, Jisung bolted out of the classroom and ran to the theater. It was just his luck that the theater was on the opposite side of the campus.
Once he enters the sounds booth, he finds the Sounds head signalling that he sit down. When the clock strikes 2:30, they all start working. It’s the allotted time for the dance teams from other organizations to do their full run throughs onstage.
Jisung’s turn isn’t until the last dance team, so he allows himself to sit back and admire the creative storylines embedded in the dance teams’ choreographies. There’s one particular group that he can already see winning first place. Not only is their choreography creative and dynamic, but their storyline is an emotional rollercoaster. Jisung did NOT see that ending coming.
The SNU Dance Troupe dance production may officially be called a dance production, but it’s really more of a dance competition between the different dance teams from different orgs. After all the dance teams perform, the SNU Dance performing divisions will take their turns on the stage. Jisung can’t wait to see what Minho looks like performing in an actual production instead of just in dance studio 6. Would Minho look vastly different from the Minho he knows and has feelings for?
Jisung freezes in the middle of his turn on the soundboard. Luckily, he’s practically done with his tasks and is only waiting for the last dance team to finish their run through. Just to make sure, he rewinds his thoughts and plays them again.
…from the Minho he knows and has feelings for?
Okay, Han Jisung.
What the fuck.
Could you really not have picked a better time to realize that YOU LIKE LEE MINHO???
Jisung does his best to collect himself and transition the dance team’s music to the emcee music as if he didn’t have one of the most important realizations in his life in the middle of the performance. The Sounds head claps him on the back, congratulating him for doing such a great job, but he barely hears it through the ringing in his ears.
Their head finally lets them exit the sounds booth when it’s almost 4 PM. They tell everyone to grab a snack and drink something refreshing before the production starts at 5 PM. Jisung doesn’t feel particularly hungry. His mind is still buzzing with his thoughts. It is a really hot day, though, so he grabs his wallet and buys a ridiculously expensive mixed fruit shake from one of the booths outside the theater. But hey, it’s still a little more bearable than walking across the campus and back again to buy juice in the cafeteria with ice that will probably melt on the way.
He takes a seat on the stairs leading to the second floor of the theater and finally tries to organize his thoughts. The most important thing to establish is this: he has romantic feelings for one Lee Minho. That brings in the question: does he tell Minho, or does he keep it to himself?
He probably spends a good ten minutes thinking it over before he buries his face into his free hand and groans. If he’s learned anything from the past three crushes he had in high school, it’s to shoot his shot before he loses his chance to do so. And so, he ultimately decides to confess to Minho after they wrap up the dance production. He envisions it in his head as he sips the last of his fruit shake. When the Street division takes the stage, he’ll look for Minho as fast as he can and keep his eye on him the entire performance. Then, when the winners are announced and the audience filters out of the theater, Jisung will do his best to outrun them to the performing division’s holding rooms. From there, he’ll search for Minho again, lead him to a space where no one can eavesdrop on them, and confess his feelings. Easy peasy.
And if Minho rejects him? Well, then Jisung would probably find the nearest window and smash his head in.
But it’s okay, because Minho won’t reject him, right? And if he does, then they can probably still stay friends, right…?
Jisung considers just running away then and there, but he can’t. He made a promise. And whatever happens, he doesn’t ever plan on breaking that promise.
The next time Jisung enters the theater, it’s downright packed with people. He struggles against the crowd on his way back to the sounds booth. Once he reaches the booth, he goes to the glass window and tries to spot people he knows in the audience. Eventually, he sees Chan and Changbin with their other friends Seungmin and Jeongin sitting along the middle seats. He grins and wishes he can greet them, but he’d rather not wrestle his way through the crowds again. Besides, the production is almost starting and Jisung has his duties in the sounds booth.
The production officially starts a few minutes past 5 PM. The voiceover of reminders plays over the speakers, courtesy of the Sounds head. As the curtains open and a combination of the Street and Contemp newbies take the stage to lead the introductory performance, Jisung takes a seat as near to the window as he can. His turn isn’t until the last dance team performs, which wouldn’t be for another hour or so, so he decides to relax for the time being.
He watches as the emcees start introducing the dance production and its theme to the audience. Then, they finish by announcing the first dance team and exit the stage. The stage goes dark, then the music plays.
At first, Jisung enjoys watching the dance teams dance their hearts out. The Lights members are doing a great job with the lighting. The audience seem to be enjoying the performances if their synchronized swaying and clapping means anything. Still, Jisung can’t help but grow antsier as time goes by, especially once he takes his place behind the soundboard to take his turn. Apparently, in between the dance teams and the SNU Dance performing divisions, the org invited one of the judges to be a guest performer. And so, there’s still time for Jisung to try calming his nerves before Minho goes onstage. He breathes an internal sigh of relief at that.
He slumps back into his seat as he finishes his turn and the emcees announce the guest performer. According to the introduction, the performer is a contemporary dancer. He danced under a single white spotlight at the center of the stage, with nothing but his body, his flowy clothes, and a multicolored shawl. Jisung couldn’t take his eyes off the stage. From what he can understand, the choreography shows the struggle of man vs. self. When it ends, Jisung feels tears streaking down his cheeks. He adamantly blinks the wetness out of his eyes. Whether he admits it or not, the choreography and the story behind it hits too close to home.
Which is why, when the stage goes dark again, Jisung practically jumps out of his seat when the energetic music of the Street newbies echoes through the theater. A couple of his fellow Sounds newbies chuckle behind him as he clutches at his chest to calm his heartbeat down.
He leans forward on his seat, trying to spot Felix’s long blond hair in the sea of red, black, and silver onstage. He eventually sees him when the lights flicker on and the newbies start the dance routine. His best friend is on the front line on stage left, and Jisung recognizes Hyunjin’s layered black hair from right beside Felix.
Jisung’s eyes widen in awe as he watches them all perform sharp and energetic movements, telling the story of a missing suspect. The music, lights, and dance formations reveal and hide many different possibilities. At the end, when the music is slowing down and the tension is rising, the members form a half-circle and slowly spin down to crouching positions. Jisung’s eyes go to the tall figure of Hyunjin in the center, walking backwards towards the audience, slowly backing away from something hidden.
Then, the lights turn red, and a gunshot rings throughout the theater.
Jisung blinks, stunned, as Hyunjin falls backwards and reveals Felix with a hand gun. Felix blows on his hand, an intense look in his eyes.
The lights go black.
Jisung stares at the dim-lit stage, mouth wide open, wishing he could scream, clap, and cheer along with the crowd. Unfortunately, he’s currently in a cramped room with at least seven other people and the head of the Sounds division.
When the Contemp members take the stage, the vibes change. The spotlights turn on, showing all the members wearing white polos, black ties, black flared pants, and black heels. From what Jisung understands as the members start dancing to an old jazz song, they’re some sort of students or employees. Then, somewhere in the middle of the choreography, instead of wearing polos and ties, the members enter the stage wearing form fitting black crop tops.
And, suddenly, the vibe changes again.
The rest of the members join them when the music changes again, this time to a more sultry jazz song, discarding their ties and polos to reveal the same crop tops underneath.
“Ohh,” a Sounds newbie says from Jisung’s right. “They’re probably supposed to be spies! And that was the big reveal.”
Ohhhhh , Jisung thinks as he watches the final portion of the dance. That makes sense .
Then, as he watches the Contemp members strike their last poses, his mind says, oh shit .
His heartbeat starts racing when the lights dim. He tries his best to track the movements onstage. Hopefully, he’ll manage to calm himself down before the Street division takes the stage.
Easy peasy, right? All part of the plan.
Then, Minho decided it’s the perfect time to squeeze his way through the crowd of Street members, stopping front and center on the stage. The lights go from dim to a bright blue as the music plays, emphasizing the blue of the dancers’ clothes and the vibrant purple color of Minho’s curls.
Wait, what…….?
Pause.
Rewind.
Minho’s…
Curls………..?
Jisung nearly falls out of his seat in realization. Since when did Minho re-dye his hair? And since when did Minho have curls ??
He comes to the conclusion that Minho might just be plotting his death via being handsome as hell. While sporting curls. Vibrant purple hair in curls. What the actual fuck, Lee Minho.
JIsung watches, utterly mesmerized, as Minho lights up the stage with his presence. His eyes track Minho’s figure in every position he goes to. During the portions Minho’s group — oldies 2 — aren’t on stage, Jisung zones out until he sees the flash of purple again.
It’s Minho, dancing to music he helped mix. Someday, Jisung wishes he’d get the chance to watch Minho dancing to one of his songs as well.
The Street division performance lasts around ten minutes, give or take. The entire time Minho is onstage, Jisung’s eyes are on him. He watches as Minho expertly transitions from sharp to smooth and from innocent to fierce.
Damn, I really love him, don’t I?
The performance ends with the Street members slowly walking off the stage — a retreat. The entire time, the concept had them fighting each other for the top rank, and now it’s time to announce who came first place in the competition.
Jisung pays the emcees’ announcements no mind though, because he’s already halfway up the stairs to the third floor, where the dressing rooms and holding rooms are located. To hell with the plan, honestly. After seeing Minho like THAT, Jisung doesn’t think he can hold back any longer.
When he arrives on the third floor, it suddenly strikes him that he has no idea where to look for Minho. Although, he does see a group of people along the corridor. They’re wearing black and red, so they must be the Street newbies. Sure enough, Jisung spots Felix’s blond hair within the group.
“Felix!” Jisung calls.
Felix’s head pops out from the group. “Jisung! What are you doing here?”
Hyunjin’s head pops out from beside Felix’s. He smirks. “I bet he’s planning to confess to hyung.”
Felix gasps, delighted. “Ohh! Jisungie, is it true? Is it true? ”
Jisung’s cheeks redden. The other Street newbies can still hear them. His only saving grace is that Hyunjin didn’t mention Minho’s name.
“Yeah I—” he clears his throat. “Yeah, I’m planning to confess.”
Felix cheers. Hyunjin’s smirk grows into a genuine and proud smile. “What are you waiting for, then?” Hyunjin asks. “They’re in dressing room 7. He should be back by now.”
Jisung thanks them and starts his hunt for dressing room 7. He finds it after a while and, along with the room, he also finds a couple of Street members chatting and drinking water. He isn’t familiar with any of them, but it’s probably best to ask where Minho is rather than wandering around looking like a stray kid.
He approaches the Street members. “Um, excuse me…? Can I ask where Minho hyung is?”
A girl with two-toned hair in pigtails answers, “Oh! He’s right inside the room. Do you want us to call him for you?”
Before he can answer, though, another member with short red hair opens the door to the room and shouts, “Lee Minho! There’s a boy here looking for you!”
Minho exits the door seconds later. Jisung’s entire body freezes. His heart may have stopped beating altogether with how many beats it's skipping. He never factored curly and vibrant purple-haired Minho in his plan!
“What is it?” Minho is saying. “Who’s—?”
And then, he spots Jisung. The previous exhausted expression on his face is chased away by a smile. He walks to Jisung, smile growing wider the closer he gets. “Han Jisungie,” he says. “What are you doing here?”
Jisung takes a deep breath. “Hyung,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady. “I need to tell you something. Can we go somewhere more private?”
“Of course, of course,” Minho answers, leading him to a more secluded corner in the hallway. “What’s wrong, Jisungie?”
“There’s nothing wrong, hyung.” Jisung tries his best to smile reassuringly. He doesn’t think it ends up being very effective by the way Minho’s expression shifts into concern.
“Are you sure? You can be honest with me, you know?”
Jisung nods. He gathers his courage to look into Minho’s eyes and promptly reels at the discovery of the gem stickers decorating his eyes. “Minho hyung,” his voice cracks. “You’re so pretty. I’m so in love with you.”
Minho’s eyes widen. Then, he beams. “Han Jisung,” he says, giggling now. “Han Jisung, that’s my line! You stole my line!”
Jisung’s jaw drops. “What do you mean I stole your line?”
Minho inches closer, cupping Jisung’s face in his hands. “It means I’m in love with you too, Han Jisung.” Then, he drops a chaste kiss on Jisung’s lips.
Jisung chases Minho’s lips as he pulls away. “ Hyung ,” he whines, then realizes what just happened. “Wait. WAIT. You love me too ??”
Minho laughs. “Yes, Jisungie, I love you too.”
Jisung beams. “So does that mean it’s okay to ask you on a date right now?”
“Right now? The production isn’t even done yet, jagiya.”
“Ah, shoot.” Jisung knew he was forgetting something.
Minho laughs again. “It’s not a rejection, Jisung-ah,” he smiles softly. “You can still treat me to dinner after the production.”
Jisung cheers. “Hell yeah! You won’t regret this, Minho hyung!”
Minho sighs fondly. “Your presence means the world to me, Jisung-ah. As long as I’m with you, I won’t ever regret it.”