Chapter Text
Minho woke up with a gasp, his lungs seizing as if he'd just surfaced from deep, freezing water.
He sat bolt upright in bed, clutching his chest, his heart hammering a frantic, uneven rhythm against his ribs. It was so loud in the quiet room that it made his ears ring.
For a moment, he didn't know where he was. The sunlight streaming through the blinds was too white, too sharp. The beige walls of his room looked flat, like a painting that hadn't quite dried yet. There was a lingering sound in his ears, a high-pitched screech, like metal tearing against metal, but when he shook his head, it dissolved into the mundane buzz of his alarm clock.
"Just a dream" Minho whispered, rubbing his temples. His voice sounded strange to his own ears, slightly muffled, as if he were speaking through cotton.
He swung his legs out of bed. His body felt heavy, sluggish, disconnected. When his feet hit the floor, he expected the cold shock of the floor, but it felt distant. Muted. Like there was a layer of static between his skin and the world.
He needed coffee. He needed routine. He needed to drown out the static buzzing at the base of his skull that whispered: Something isn't right.
He took a shower and got ready, grabbed his bag and headed out.
As he arrived at the university, the noise of the campus hit him, laughter, footsteps, distant cars. The world, in Lee Minho's humble opinion, was entirely too loud.
It wasn't just the traffic outside the dance building or the chatter of students rushing to their 9 AM lectures. It was the vibration of it all. Minho liked quiet. He liked his personal bubble, like a safe wall that kept everything calm and steady. Inside that bubble, nothing surprised him and nothing felt out of control.
He sat at his favorite table in the campus café, the one tucked furthest into the corner, away from the door. In front of him sat the holy trinity of his morning routine: a plate holding a slice of plain vanilla cake and a cup of black coffee, dark and bitter.
"Perfect," Minho whispered to himself.
He took a sip of the coffee, letting the bitterness wake up his tongue. He smoothed down the front of his beige sweater. He liked clothes like this, earth tones, soft fabrics, nothing that screamed for attention. Brown, beige, soft greens. They were safe. They were quiet.
He picked up his fork to take a bite of the cake, finally relaxing his shoulders. He had twenty minutes before his Contemporary Dance theory class. Twenty minutes of peace.
Jingle. Jingle. Clang.
Minho's fork paused in mid-air.
He didn't need to look up to know what that sound was. It was the sound of a headache approaching. It was the sound of peace dying a violent death.
"Minho-hyung! Good morning!"
The voice was high, bright, and vibrated right through Minho's teeth. Minho squeezed his eyes shut for a second, took a deep breath, and opened them to see the source of the noise sliding into the chair opposite him. A music major student that Chan and Changbin his childhood friends introduced to him last semster
Han Jisung.
Jisung was a walking sensory overload. Today, he was wearing a pastel yellow hoodie that looked two sizes too big, paired with light wash jeans that had colorful patches sewn onto the knees. But the worst part wasn't the clothes; it was the noise. Jisung had bracelets. Dozens of them. Beaded ones, metal ones, ones with little charms that clicked and clacked every time he moved his arm. And Jisung always moved his arms.
"I didn't invite you to sit" Minho said, his voice flat. He put the piece of cake in his mouth, chewing slowly.
"Aww, don't be like that, Hyung!" Jisung beamed, completely ignoring Minho's rejection. He slammed a plastic cup down on the table. It was filled with a thick, chocolate liquid with whipped cream piled high enough to touch the heavens. An Oreo milkshake. "Channie hyung and Binnie hyung are grabbing a table for everyone, but I saw you hiding in the corner like a mushroom and thought, 'Minho needs some sunshine!'"
"I don't need sunshine" Minho muttered, eyeing the milkshake with disgust. "I need silence. And why are you so loud in the morning"
Jisung blinked, his wide eyes innocent. He shifted in his seat, and his bracelets jingled aggressively. "I can't help it! I have a lot of energy today. I stayed up all night working on a new track and I had three sugars this morning."
"Great" Minho said dryly. "Death by sugar rush."
"You're just grumpy because you drink that sad bean water" Jisung pointed at Minho's coffee. He then pulled a small box out of his bag and opened it to reveal a slice of strawberry cheesecake, pink and vibrant. "You need sugar. Sweetness makes you nice."
"I am nice" Minho argued, though he sounded very unconvinced. "I am nice to people who respect personal space."
"I am respecting it!" Jisung leaned over the table, invading Minho's personal space entirely. "So, did you hear about the semester project? The collaboration?"
Minho frowned. "What collaboration?"
Before Jisung could answer, the peace was further shattered as the rest of the group arrived. Bang Chan, the oldest and the glue holding this chaotic pack together, pulled up a chair. He looked tired
"Hey, Minho" Chan smiled, his dimples showing. Behind him trailed the others. Changbin, looking buff but holding a tiny iced americano. Hyunjin, dramatic as always with his long hair tied back. Felix, looking like a fairy behind him was the two youngest, Seungmin and Jeongin who look like they got dragged here
"Daddy!" Hyunjin teased, poking Chan's side as he sat down next to him.
Chan sighed, though his ears turned a little red. "Hyunjin, not in public. Please."
"You love it" Hyunjin whispered, winking.
Minho watched them with a detached sort of affection. He had known Chan and Changbin since childhood. They were his people. But somehow, over the years, the group had expanded, collecting these loud, chaotic extroverts like stray kids. And the loudest stray kid was currently trying to steal a bite of Minho's vanilla cake.
Minho smacked Jisung's hand away with his fork. "Touch it and you lose a finger."
"Stingy" Jisung pouted, rubbing his hand. "Anyway, Channie hyung, tell him! Tell him about the project!"
Chan cleared his throat. "Right. So, the Arts Department is trying something new this year. They want to bridge the gap between the majors. The Dance department and the Music Production department have to pair up for the final showcase."
Minho felt a cold dread settle in his stomach. "Pair up?"
"One dancer, one producer" Changbin explained, leaning forward. "The producer makes the track, the dancer choreographs it. You have to work together on the concept, the vibe, everything."
"And guess what!" Jisung clapped his hands together. Clap, jingle, clang. "I already asked the professor! Since we're a production team, we got to pick our partners early."
Minho looked at Jisung. He looked at the pastel hoodie. He looked at the noisy bracelets. He looked at the half oreo milkshake and half eaten strawberry cheesecake
"No," Minho said firmly.
"Yes!" Jisung grinned, a gummy, heart-shaped smile that was blindingly bright. "You and me, Minho! We're partners!"
"I didn't agree to this" Minho looked at Chan for help. "Chan, swap me. Put me with Changbin. or you. Anyone who doesn't vibrate."
"Sorry, Minho" Chan shrugged apologetically. "Hyunjin claimed me already."
"And Felix claimed me!" Changbin added, grinning at the freckled boy next to him. Felix giggled, leaning into Changbin's shoulder.
"Seungmin and Jeongin are Vocal majors, so they aren't in this specific module" Chan continued. "So, it's you and Jisung."
Minho looked back at Jisung. Jisung was practically bouncing in his seat, vibrating with energy, smelling like artificial strawberries and sugar. He was everything Minho tried to avoid. He was chaos. He was noise. He was a headache wrapped in pastel cotton.
"This is going to be a disaster" Minho stated, taking a long sip of his bitter coffee.
"It's going to be destiny!" Jisung corrected him, shoving a spoonful of strawberry cheesecake into his mouth. "Just wait, Hyung. We're going to make a masterpiece."
Minho stared at him, unimpressed. He didn't know then that this noisy, colorful boy was about to become his entire world.
But for now, all Minho knew was that he really, really wanted his quiet morning back.
"Finish your cheesecake, Han" Minho sighed, standing up and grabbing his bag. "And don't be late to the first meeting. If you're late, I'm dancing to silence."
"I'm never late!" Jisung shouted after him.
Minho walked away, the sound of Jisung's laughter and jingling bracelets following him all the way out the door.