Chapter Text
“Aw, come on! We can do better than that, guys!”
Seungmin pushed up the microphone of his headset to mute it and groaned as he listened to Minho going on a rant over the voice call.
They’d lost another LoL match. Professional level was something else – and this had only been a practice round. What was the point, if they couldn’t manage to win either way?
“Sorry, Minho-hyung”, Jisung’s voice sounded out quietly. “I could’ve done more to support you in the bot-lane.”
Minho sighed. “No, Jisungie, it’s okay. That's the point of practicing, right? Let’s just go for another round!” He clapped his hands, loud enough for his mic to pick up on. “Right, guys?”
Felix made a tired, low-pitched “Mmh” sound.
“Right, guys?”, Minho repeated.
Seungmin unmuted his mic with a sigh. “Right. Thanks for the pep talk, leader.”
“Anytime.” Minho’s sarcastic grin could be heard through the voice call.
“Come on, guys!”, Changbin spoke up. “Where’s the enthusiasm that got us to the Worlds two years ago?!”
Jisung groaned, probably throwing his head back as he spoke. “That was one time, Changbin-hyung. You really think we’ll get that lucky again?”
“I mean, it’s not impossible.” Felix took a sip of his drink. “We made it once, so who’s to say we can’t do it again?”
“Thank you, Felix!” Minho had a smile in his voice. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“Maybe a sponsor would help”, Seungmin muttered into his mic, half expecting that no one would hear it.
“A sponsor!”, Changbin echoed. “You're right, Seungmin! Should we ask around?”
“Don’t you have a job at that nightclub, Seungmin?”, Minho wanted to know. “Maybe they could help us?”
“Well, first of all, that's just a side gig of mine. And I really doubt that the owner would be willing to throw even more of his money at me.” Seungmin shrugged. “But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
✩✩✩
Seungmin's “side gig” consisted of singing live every other night at a nightclub called “Red Lights”. Much like the name suggested, the place was often decorated with glowing red fairy lights all over, and the spotlight that lit up Seungmin's stage didn't seem to know any other color, either.
Singing was another one of Seungmin’s passions next to League of Legends. Neither of them were easily profitable, but both always fun to pursue.
Seungmin could simply have said that he was lucky to be able to make money with something he considered a hobby, but he preferred to tell himself that he was just an incredibly good vocalist. And the audience seemed to agree with that. They were very vocal about it every time he finished.
There was another gig right after Seungmin’s. A pole dancer. Seungmin didn't know much about him, save for his name – Hyunjin – which he’d heard from the club owner.
Hyunjin was pretty good at his job. If Seungmin had owned this place, he would have been paying him to dance on that stage, too.
Usually, Seungmin didn't stay long enough to witness Hyunjin's performances. He just finished his own job and dipped. But since he’d made a promise to his best friend, this time, he was standing beside the bar counter as he talked to the nightclub’s owner.
He was a pretty decent guy for an employer. His name was Bang Chan. Only a few years older than Seungmin, but his business was already quite successful. Something about red lights just seemed to draw people in like moths to a street light.
Or it was the pole dancing. Yeah, that seemed more likely.
“So, would you consider it?”, Seungmin asked hesitantly after relaying the situation to Chan.
The owner furrowed his brows. “I really would, Seungmin. I know it means a lot to you, but I do have a business to take care of. I could give you guys something small to start out with? But I think you’d be better off asking somewhere else.”
Seungmin let his head hang. “No, it’s fine. I get it. It’s tough.”
“I’m sorry”, Chan said anyway.
“Really. I’ll just find a millionaire and ask if they're willing to sponsor a bunch of noobs”, Seungmin laughed and raised his head again.
Chan laughed along with him, dimples throwing a dark red shadow in his cheeks. “Who knows?” He shrugged. “I think you’d make a great sugar baby.”
✩✩✩
Gaming with his friends was fun, but they were hardly good enough that it could be considered much more than a hobby to Seungmin. And singing was a good way to earn a little bit of money, since he was good at it. But it still didn’t feel like enough.
So Seungmin had taken on a day job for extra insurance. Photography. He usually worked for the local newspaper, but also got occasional requests from other places. Perhaps he was just that good.
This time, the request had come from a fashion magazine. Definitely not Seungmin’s area - he had a tendency to just wear whatever clothes were at the top of his drawer that day. He’d put a little effort into his outfit for today, just to leave a good impression, but a quick look at him and even a fashion novice would have been able to tell he had no idea what he was doing.
When he arrived on set, he could immediately tell who the subject for his commission was. A young man – probably just around his own age – sitting on a chair next to a white screen and studio lights. Already dressed in extravagant fashion, he stood out from everyone else in the room at just a single glance. His outfit was clearly put together with thought and care, with the way it seemed to highlight every good aspect of the man’s natural appearance.
Seungmin approached the man to introduce himself.
“Hello, my name is Kim Seungmin. I’m a photographer.” He held up the camera in his hands, as if to support his statement. “Are you the model—Yang Jeongin?”
The man looked up from his seat and - woah. Without even saying anything, his face already screamed “I’m a top model”. Sharp jawline, thin almond eyes with a dark and piercing look, soft skin that Seungmin could only have described as looking like bread dough.
When the model saw Seungmin’s face, his nose scrunched up in obvious dissatisfaction.
“You’re the one taking my photo today?”, he asked, pronouncing each word like he was spitting out poison.
Seungmin lowered his camera. “I guess that’s a yes?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked Jeongin over. “Do I know you?”
Jeongin huffed a sarcastic laugh, over in a blink. Almost missable. But it made his eyes squint to look even thinner than they already did, and his lips dug small dimples into his cheeks.
“You just said my name, Kim Seungmin.”
The grin on his face was gone entirely when he stood up to stare directly at Seungmin. His eyes were cold and piercing, and he crossed his arms.
“Surely you would remember someone you just saw yesterday?”
Yesterday. What had Seungmin been doing yesterday? He’d been editing some photos from another commission, then playing LoL with his team. The only place he’d been after that was...
“At the nightclub?”, he asked. “What would an... illustrious model such as yourself be doing in a nightclub?” Seungmin hoped that his words didn’t sound too sarcastic.
Jeongin scoffed. “Trying to get on my good side through flattery? Sorry, but that doesn’t work on me.” He rolled his eyes and began posing for a photo.
“Take a shot first, then I’ll tell you.”
Seungmin did as he was told and took a few photos from different angles. Jeongin sighed when he was finished, sounding almost exasperated.
“I’ll go change. You wait here”, he demanded bluntly.
“Sure, Ice Prince”, Seungmin replied sarcastically as he looked through the photos. Man, this guy was obnoxious.
Jeongin disappeared into a changing room and took a while to return, wearing different clothes than before, of course. The shirt had a notable cleavage, and Seungmin’s eyes subconsciously flicked towards the exposed skin around the model’s neck. A silver necklace with a Christian cross pendant was hanging right above the collar.
“Do you get to choose your outfits yourself?”, Seungmin muttered, admiring the outfit as he spoke. He wasn’t even expecting an answer.
“I think I should be asking you that question, given your questionable fashion choices.” Jeongin grimaced as he glanced at Seungmin. “You do know you have free will, right?”
Seungmin looked down on himself. “Is it really that bad?”
“Not really.” Jeongin shrugged and posed again. “You only look like a basement dweller.”
“Dude!”, Seungmin blurted out, offended. “I do leave the house every day, for your information!”
Jeongin smirked and his dimples showed again. “Looks like I hit a sore spot, basement dweller.”
Without hesitation, Seungmin pulled up his camera and snapped a photo. Jeongin’s smile faded when he heard the shutter click.
“Wow”, Seungmin drawled sarcastically as he looked at the result. “This one turned out great. You should really smile more.”
Jeongin didn’t want to smile more. He looked furious, with shadows over his angrily squinted eyes.
“Give me that!”, he demanded, hand reaching for the camera. Seungmin dodged it and held the camera away from him.
“Nuh-uh.” He clicked his tongue rebelliously and hummed. “I’m going to keep this photo, actually.”
“What makes you think you even have the right to?”, Jeongin hissed.
Seungmin laughed maliciously. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t post it on social media or anything. I’m not a degenerate.” He looked back down at the camera.
“I just wouldn’t want to waste such a good shot.”
Jeongin growled under his breath, but he let go of the issue and readied himself for the next photo.
“You haven’t answered my question, by the way”, Seungmin pointed out as he took more photos. They turned out pretty good. Not quite as good as the one with Jeongin’s smirk, but still, it counted for something.
“No, I don’t choose these outfits myself”, Jeongin said while changing between poses. “But if you knew me privately – which I can only hope never actually happens – you’d know I do at least have a semblance of fashion awareness, myself. Unlike you.”
Seungmin paused, slightly hurt. “That wasn’t the question I meant, actually.”
“So you still want to know why I was at Red Lights yesterday?” Jeongin raised an eyebrow.
“Well... ‘want’ is a strong word.” Seungmin shot another photo. “But—maybe I am curious.”
Jeongin heaved a sigh and dropped himself back into his seat when Seungmin was done shooting.
“I work there.”
Short and blunt. It caught Seungmin off-guard. He would have had expected a more ambiguous answer, but Jeongin got straight to the point.
As he was processing the answer, Seungmin thought back to yesterday. He never really paid attention to anyone at the nightclub. Obviously, the audience were just “the people cheering for him”, and even the employees were little more than NPCs in his eyes. He knew Hyunjin – fleetingly, at least. They never talked, except for the occasional “Hi”, maybe even “How are you?”. And he knew Chan, the owner, because he was the one who’d hired Seungmin in the first place.
But Jeongin? Didn’t ring a bell. Seungmin was sure he would have known if there was another act before his own, and staying at a nightclub for two performances before his own didn’t seem like something Jeongin would do. That left only one option.
“You’re a barkeeper?”, he asked.
Jeongin ran his fingers through his hair. “You seem surprised.”
Seungmin shrugged. “Just wasn’t expecting a flashy model like you to work such a humble night job.”
“I could say the same about you”, Jeongin scoffed. “What’s a singer of your caliber doing with photography?”
“That’s different.” Seungmin put the camera back into its case. “I like photography. And I’m good at it, too.”
Jeongin raised an eyebrow at him. “You think I’m not good at my job?”
“I wouldn’t know.” Seungmin shrugged. “All I can say is that you don’t really stand out in a dimly lit nightclub when you’re not dressed like a model.”
“Or standing on the stage yourself”, Jeongin threw in sharply while glaring at Seungmin. “Soaking in all the applause. Must feel amazing to be loved so much by the regulars, doesn’t it?”
Seungmin raised an eyebrow, unable to suppress a smirk. “Jealous?”
Jeongin scoffed. “You wish.”
✩✩✩
Relief overcame Seungmin when he sat down in his desk chair, finally free from Yang Jeongin. There was only one thing left for him to do.
The magazine editor had given him relative freedom with which photos he were to submit. The only condition was that they had to show the model and everything he was wearing. A low enough standard to meet.
As Seungmin looked through his camera roll, he stumbled upon the picture that Jeongin had been so desperate to delete. The one that showed his annoying smirk with dimples and squinted eyes that looked as if he was judging you in secret.
The photo that Jeongin hated the most.
Seungmin opened his email drafts and found the one that he’d pre-written to the editor of the fashion magazine. He picked out some good photos and attached them to the email, but then, his cursor hovered hesitantly over the last picture. The smirk.
Just having to look at it pissed Seungmin off.
Realistically, there was no logical reason to submit this photo. It was unprofessional, unplanned, and didn’t even show the entire outfit. Seungmin decided to attach it to the email anyway.
Even after sending it to the editor, Seungmin spent a while still looking at this one specific photo. The annoying, unprofessional, unplanned dimple photo.
The photo that Seungmin hated the most.