Chapter Text
Keonho wasn’t the lover-boy type.
People surrounded him all the time asking for his number, asking him out. It was never a big deal.
Dating had always been about the thrill, the chase, the temporary excitement.
But getting close to someone without ever fully knowing them always ended the same way.
He broke it off first.
So when this feeling started, he wasn’t sure if it was for the worse or for the better.
Keonho notices him before he means to.
Seonghyeon has that kind of face, the kind that makes you look twice and then feel a little stupid for staring. His eyes hit first: dark, clear, quietly expressive, like they’re always holding something he hasn’t said out loud. Not sharp. Not cold. Just… pretty, in a soft, almost unfair way.
His nose is straight and gentle, fitting his face so perfectly it feels intentional, like it was designed to belong exactly there. And his lips Keonho catches himself thinking about them longer than he should. Naturally full, always set in that half-serious, half-thoughtful line, like Seonghyeon is constantly on the edge of speaking but chooses silence instead.
Nothing about him is loud. Nothing asks for attention.
And that’s the problem.
Because the more Keonho looks, the harder it becomes to look away. Seonghyeon’s beauty isn’t the kind that shows off, it's the kind that stays, lingering in Keonho’s mind long after he tells himself to focus on something else.
Perfect doesn’t feel like the right word.
──── ୨୧ ────
He imagined it before walking up to the student council room, leaning casually against the doorframe, asking Seonghyeon for his number like it’s nothing.
In reality, his stomach flips every time he thinks about it.
Even with all the dating experience messy, dramatic, short-lived he’s still terrified of asking someone out properly. It feels embarrassing. Pathetic, almost.
But it also makes his chest flutter.
Whenever Seonghyeon passes him in the hallway, Keonho lingers near the lockers, near the school board, pretending he has time. His phone vibrates in his pocket late for swimming practice again but he ignores it if it means getting one last glance at Seonghyeon’s face.
Just one.
“Open up, damn it!”
The door bursts open as Keonho stumbles inside, rolling suitcase in one hand, gym bag slipping off his shoulder. The room is quiet.
Empty.
Maybe his roommate’s out.
He lets the thought drift away as he looks around.
The room is unexpectedly neat. Two beds one made perfectly, sheets tucked tight, pillows untouched. Keonho glances at his own side and sighs. His corner looks lifeless in comparison.
He spends two long hours setting up his side of the room, covering the walls with JB and radiohead posters.
Placing some of the photos he took with his family on the nightstand.
He then plopped onto the bed tired, scrolling would probably fix the problem right?
Before he could enter flow state, the faint sound of keys clinking and the door opened.
Keonho shot up and holy shit.
Eom Seonghyeon, was standing there looking at him with just as much confusion as keonho was.
He blinked once, twice, thrice nothing happened?
Seonghyeon didn’t disappear, he came in and it looked like he was saying something to..Keonho?
“..i didn’t know you were there or else i would’ve knocked..” Seonghyeon said, and keonho could’ve pretended to be mature but instead the tip of ears had turned red, heart beating a little too fast and then the worst thing happened his stomach growled.
“Shit..”, Seonghyeon laughed tilting his head towards keonho, eyes crinkling just enough to make him more prettier than he already was.
“Wanna have some ramen?”, Keonho nodded because even though this was the most embarrassing situation he had been in his whole life.
He couldn’t refuse a good bowl of ramen.
Especially If it was made by his crush.