Chapter Text
On Thursday, Minho walks into the dance studio with a tired but genuine smile on his face. He stayed up late last night perfecting the turn that’s been giving him trouble, but he finally got it down it, and he’s excited to show Hyunjin and Felix.
The two in question greet him as he approaches their usual corner with their bags strewn across the floor.
“Hi, hyung!” Felix grins, he has the same tired but satisfied look on his face. “You look tired.”
“Hey, Minho hyung.” Hyunjin greets.
“Hey.” He sets his bag down and doesn’t look twice when Felix goes to rummage through it, taking out multiple water bottles and Minho’s shoes for him. “I was fixing that turn in the fourth interval. Was up ‘till 3. I’m pretty sure Jisung glared at me when he left this morning.” Minho snickers, switching his shoes out.
Jisung’s been one of Minho’s best friend since they were in high school, even knowing Minho before he started transitioning. Embarrassingly enough, they met because they were in the same group therapy, but they helped each other quite a bit back then. Jisung’s seen Minho far beyond his worse and vice versa. They even tried a relationship back when they first started college, but they quickly realized they were actually just pretty co-dependent rather than romantically interested in each other, so they broke it off. It didn’t hurt their friendship, much to their relief, and they’re roommates now, have been for three years and going strong. Minho wouldn’t trade Jisung for the world.
Both Hyunjin and Felix chuckle at the image.
“Did you get it?” Hyunjin asks, referring to the turn.
“Yeah, thankfully. I had to spend like 10 minutes figuring out why my balance was so off, I was so mad when I realized it was just because of my angle. Got it pretty quick after that.”
“Nice.”
“Good job, hyung.”
“Thanks guys.” He smiles.
There’s a recital coming up in about two weeks that has the entire dance department on edge. Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix are excited for it, they know there will be tons of scouts for all kinds of performing jobs attending, and they want to do well. The theme was all about performing arts, and the groups performing got their prompt from a little box filled with paper with different jobs in the arts written on it. Minho’s group got a slip of paper with the word Skits written on it, and they were all proud of what they’ve come up with.
“I think we should focus on the fourth interval today then,” Felix starts. “If not to get Minho used to the turn, then to get us used to him.”
“Yeah, for sure.” Hyunjin agrees. “I might need to work on the first and last one too. Mostly the last; I keep tripping on the ending pose.” He says wryly.
Their routine has six intervals total, three acting and two dancing respectively, with the last being a combination of the two. It’s one of the longest numbers of the night, so Minho knows they’ll have the attention of many agencies. He’s counting on it.
“I’m good with both of those.” Minho affirms. “We have time to run it fully too, I think.”
The three of them go over small kinks in their routine while they wait for the instructor to arrive and the class to start. It doesn’t take much to get them to work something out; they’re all extremely aware of their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to dancing.
The instructor arrives two minutes after Hyunjin and Felix have somehow started an argument on if Adidas are good shoes to dance in. Both parties know the answer is a resounding no, but Felix takes great pleasure in seeing Hyunjin get more and more worked up about Felix’s extremely incorrect opinion.
Their instructor, a middle-aged man named Shin Wooseok, has a woman standing next to him as he calls the class to gather round.
She’s pretty, Minho can admit. He’s gay, but he has eyes. She has long brown hair down to her back, slightly tanned, and face round. She wears a simple brown long sleeve and jeans with a clipboard in her hand. Her eyes are hard but kind, smile welcoming in the way that Minho can tell she’s a no-nonsense kind of woman. Minho likes her already.
“Class, this is Do Daeun, she’s a director for the theater department.” The class give their greetings to her; she waves back. “She’ll be sitting in on the class to observe today.”
“Hi, everyone,” Daeun says, brightly. “Just pretend I’m not even here. I’ll only be here for today, but if anyone has any questions regarding the theater department, feel free to ask!”
Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix share a look as they resign themselves to having a random person watch them practice a not perfect routine. It’s one thing to preform a clean routine you’ve been perfecting for a while in front of a crowd, it’s much different when there’s a crowd watching you when you’re not at you’re best.
Wooseok doesn’t do much instruction, dismissing everyone to work on their routines with a quick reminder about the deadline. He walks around to observe and give feedback when needed, but he’s mostly unobtrusive during recital practices. Minho appreciates it.
The three of them are able to claim an unused area of the mirror and they get to work quickly, forgetting about the director on the other side of the room. They work diligently, pointing out each others mistakes kindly and helping them improve them. At some point, Hyunjin complains about the timing of a move and Felix attempts it only to fall flat on his butt. His face flushes when Minho and Hyunjin laugh at him. They do their best to help Hyunjin though, and he works through it easily.
By the time class is over, Minho is satisfied in their progress and confident in their routine, he says as much to the others, who vehemently agree. They down at least one and a half water bottles each.
They pack their bags back up and begin to walk out of the studio when Daeun approaches them. Or rather, Minho.
“Minho-ssi?”
Minho turns to her with a little confusion on his face.
“Yes?”
“Can I speak to you quickly? I promise it won’t take up much of your time.”
He, Hyunjin, and Felix share a look before they both shrug. “We’ll be outside.” Minho nods and watches them walk out.
“Today I sat in your class because I asked a favor of the dance department. I’m looking for an assistant choreographer for an upcoming play the theater department is putting on. Many instructors vouched for your talent, so I was keeping an eye on you today. I’d like you to consider coming to work in the theater as a choreographer’s assistant, and if things go well, we can discuss promotion.”
Minho is stunned by her casual admission, in fact, he’s flattered. His instructors recommended him? Multiple of them? Minho is so pleased to know he’s made a positive impression on them.
However… Minho’s never done theater. He’s pretty sure the choreography they’re used to isn’t anything he’s familiar with, it’s an entirely foreign art to him. He wouldn’t mind learning, but he doesn’t know if it’s something he’d be particularly passionate about. He likes his style of dance, he’s not really into Broadway or anything of the sort. The closest he’s gotten was probably his Hamilton phase in high school. He’s unsure.
“I appreciate the offer, Daeun-ssi, I’m honestly a little flattered, but I’ve never done anything relating to theater before. It sounds like an amazing opportunity, but I’m not familiar with it.” He frowns. “How long until rehearsal begins? Or what is it training like?”
“Rehearsal begins in four weeks, 3 times a week. You’d be trained every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until then, but I honestly don’t believe it’ll take you that long. It’s easy to grasp in only a week or two.”
Minho considers. He’s not into theater, but it would be a good opportunity, he supposes, not to mention Seu-
Nope. Not mentioning him.
“Would it be compatible with my classes?”
She considers.
“Do you have any classes after 5pm on those days?”
He shakes his head. “No, I don’t”
“Then yes, it’d be compatible. We usually meet from 5-8 then. Towards the opening date, we work almost all day for around four days, but I’m sure we can work something out for then.”
Minho would like to take the job. It doesn’t feel like a workload and it’s part of something he already enjoys: performing arts. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, he thinks, but he shouldn’t make decisions too impulsively.
“Is there any chance I can get back to you on Tuesday? That’s when I have this class next.”
Daeun smiles kindly at him. “Of course, I’ll check in with you then. Thank you for considering, Minho-ssi.”
She bows at him; Minho scrambles to bow back.
“Thank you for approaching me about it, Daeun-ssi.”
She smiles at him once more before taking her leave and Minho is stuck staring in slight bewilderment questioning if that just happened.
He steps out of the studio with a slight smile on his face, Felix questions him the second he sees him.
“What was that about?”
Minho sniffs. “A job offer, apparently. The theater department is looking for an assistant choreographer.”
Hyunjin gasps. “No way?”
“Yeah, not what I was expecting.” He says. “It was cool, though. She said a bunch of the instructors recommended me.”
Felix smiles and Hyunjin laughs. They start making their way to their bus stop.
“Well yeah, hyung, you’re this school’s pride and joy.”
“Exactly,” Felix agrees. “If we didn’t have you, we’d fall to ruin, or something.”
Minho snorts. “What would they do without my skills?”
“They’d resort to faith, trust, and pixie dust.” Felix says solemnly, which makes the other two laugh.
“Did you take it, hyung?” Hyunjin asks. “Might be good to get yourself out there.”
“I’m not sure. I told her I’d think about it until Tuesday.”
Besides him, Felix giggles. “Top 10 things to say to an employer.”
Minho swats his head.
“I meant that I’ve never worked in theater before, so I need to consider if I’m up for learning it right now.”
“I think you should take it if it’s still open on Tuesday.” Hyunjin pitches. “It’s a good opening for short term jobs and it’ll look good on your resume. Not to mention you’ll get used to working backstage so you’ll have more to offer and a broader span to apply for.”
Minho nods. “That’s true. There’s a lot of reasons to take it, theater just kind of scares me,” He says with a lopsided smile. “It’s a lot different from what I’m used to.”
For some inconceivable and unfathomable reason, Felix starts snickering.
“By any chance, do one of those many reasons start with a Kim and end with a Seung-”
Minho covers Felix’s mouth before he can finish his sentence, ears burning. Hyunjin bursts into laughter as Felix struggles to free himself. He resorts to licking Minho’s palm an giggles as Minho yelps.
“Gross, Lix!”
“I’m just saying-”
“That has nothing to do with my decision-”
“I don’t know, hyung,” Hyunjin trails off, smirk on his face. “You seem pretty defensive.”
“I’m not-!”
“Tt, shame on you, hyung.”
“For what-?”
“It’s okay to let your years long crush dictate your every move-”
“Felix, I will mash you into human potatoes-”
Let it be known that Lee Minho is a big, fat, lying, liar who lies by omission.
He will never admit it, but Seungmin’s name holds a lot of weight in his decision. And okay, sue him for wanting to get closer to his crush; it’s actually embarrassing how little contact they’ve had with the amount of time Minho’ been crushing on him.
Minho thinks it officially started two years ago when he first ran into the boy while he worked in the schools cafe. How the hell was he supposed to act? Seungmin was just so sweet. He wrote small notes or drawings on all the cups and he always smiled and joked around with Minho when there was a lull in business.
They never got closer than that, but Minho’s fate was sealed in stone, and he was doomed to live out his days with a pathetic crush on the barista.
Minho remembers when Felix offhandedly mentioned he had Seungmin in his class, which lead to him finding out about his crush, which lead to Hyunjin finding out because nothing stays secret between them for long.
So yeah, Minho has a stupid, likely unrequited crush on some guy who probably doesn’t even remember him. It’s cool. It’s chill. Fine. Okay. And synonyms.
The chances of seeing Seungmin on the job are probably slim, Seungmin is popular in the department because he’s good, so he likely won’t be working with an amateur like Minho anyway.
When Minho meets with Daeun next Tuesday after his class, he’s prepared to accept her offer. He’s a little excited, mostly nervous, but he thinks the job will be a great stepping stone to better ones in the future, so he’s made his peace with it. He’ll work hard.
Minho should’ve known God was never on his side.
As Hyunjin and Felix make their way out to give Minho and Daeun some privacy, none other than Kim Seungmin comes rushing into the room, apologizing for being late, not noticing how Minho instantly goes rigid. He actually freezes full stop at the sight of the younger man, it’s a little embarrassing.
Seungmin is panting, hands on his knees, hair falling over his face. When he does look up, the hair on his forehead is lightly stuck together with sweat, and there’s beads dripping down his neck. His cheeks are flushed with exertion and his mouth is parted between pants and apologies. He’s wearing a gray short sleeve and black sweatpants. His hands are beautiful and dainty and his eyes are wide and God, he looks fucking divine. Minho wants to hold him in his arms and lick the sweat straight from the source.
“I’m really sorry, my physics prof needed me, and I-”
“It’s alright, Seungmin-ah. You’re just in time, actually.” Daeun nods over to where Minho is and Minho puts actual genuine effort into looking Normal and Chill.
“Minho-ssi, this is Kim Seungmin, he’s playing the lead role in the show you’d be working on.”
…
What?
“Seungmin-ah, this is Lee Minho, I offered him the position of assistant choreographer. He really is an amazing dancer.”
Minho sees himself bow more than he registers actually doing it.
Seungmin’s eyes don’t light up with recognition. Not that Minho truly expected him to remember him, but it’s still a little disappointing.
“Nice to meet you, Minho-ssi.”
Ouch.
“You as well, Seungmin-ssi.”
"Have you given any thought to my offer, Minho-ssi?”
Oh, Minho has. Jobs, upon opportunities, upon expanding his skills.
…Definitely doesn’t hurt that Minho just got confirmation of Seungmin’s presence.
“I have, and I accept your offer. I’m looking forward to working with you both.”
Minho smiles sheepishly, nervously making eye contact with Seungmin whose eyes widen.
He’s so cute, I’m going to throw myself off a bridge.
Daeun lights up. “Amazing! I’m glad you are, I look forward to working with you as well, Minho-ssi.”
“Me too,” Seungmin says, shrinking under Minho’s gaze. Minho almost frowns, he doesn’t think he’s that intimidating. “I’m excited to see your work.”
The next few minutes are simple. Daeun and Minho exchange contact info with a promise of a contract being ready by Thursday or Friday. Minho doesn’t get Seungmin’s number, but that’s alright, he’s going to be working with him now so there will be plenty of opportunity to do so in the future.
When they both leave and Minho walks out, not a second passes before Felix is interrogating him.
“We just saw Kim Seungmin run in there like the devil was on his ass, what the hell happened?”
And Minho smiles before explaining.
Tuesday’s are Minho’s nights to cook dinner, so of course his big decision of the day hits him during it.
He’s going to be an assistant choreographer for a play.
He huffs out a disbelieving laugh under his breath, shaking his head a little as he cuts up carrots. He’s never been that into theater other than the occasional musical, but this? Being involved in the making? Actually helping shape how things look on stage? He can’t really believe he said yes despite it being his decided answer throughout the time Daeun gave him to think.
The knife taps rhythmically against the cutting board, a little uneven since his thoughts won’t stay in one place for more than a second.
What’s the etiquette for this? Do actors expect him to be strict? Casual? Somewhere in between? Are there unspoken rules he’s supposed to know? Is there some kind of hierarchy? What if he messes something up? What if he oversteps? What if he doesn’t step in enough?
This is so fucking hard for no reason. What about-
Seungmin.
Minho pauses for half a second, then immediately keeps cutting, a little quicker than before.
Seungmin is the lead.
Nerves swarm him in equal parts excitement and dread. This means he’ll have an actual reason to talk to him. To be around him without it feeling forced or one-sided or-
His grip tightens slightly.
-to be close to him.
“Minho?”
His brain is already ten steps ahead—in what most people call overthinking but Minho calls being prepared—running through possibilities for every interaction they could have. First rehearsal, introductions, how he’s supposed to act, what he’s supposed to say. Does he keep it professional? Joke around? Does Seungmin even want to talk to him outside of what’s necessary?
“Minho.”
He’s not sure, he’ll have to get it from his general vibe when he sees him again-
“Minho.”
-And that’s not even counting the interactions he’ll need to have with everyone else to keep good relations-
“Lee Minho!”
Jisung yells right in his ear.
Minho jumps, a startled yell leaving him as he jerks back and swats at the intruder. “Motherf-!”
Jisung dodges easily, already grinning.
“Hyung,” he laughs, completely unbothered, “I’ve been calling you.”
Minho presses a hand to his chest, glaring. “Don’t do that- what is wrong with you? I have a knife in my hand!”
Jisung just shrugs not sparing the knife a glance and stepping past him to the stove to turn the heat down. “Watch the heat, hyung.”
Minho blinks, following his movement. The pot he completely forgot about is bubbling a little too aggressively, foam creeping up toward the edge.
“Oops,” he says, a little sheepish.
Jisung glances back at him, amused. He snickers.
Minho huffs, turning back to the counter, trying to pretend he wasn’t just completely out of it. His movements still have a quick pace, but it’s still in the realm of normal and careful.
“So,” Jisung asks, leaning against the counter. “What’s up with you?”
Minho hesitates, realizes he can’t get away with it, and relents.
“I accepted it.”
Not needing to ask for clarification, Jisung’s eyes widen.
“Wait, you actually said yes?”
Minho nods once, not looking at him. A beat passes.
“…You’ve been complaining about that all week.” Jisung says slowly.
“No, I haven’t.” Minho flushes.
Jisung keeps talking like he didn’t even hear Minho. “And you were dreading it.”
“I was not.”
There’s a moment where Jisung just looks at him, clearly trying to put it together. It takes him a second, but it’s not long before the Cheshire grin Minho wasn’t looking forward to shows up.
“Oh my god,” he says, breathlessly delighted. “Why?”
Minho stops cutting the frankly over-cut carrots. For a second, he considers lying. Shrugging it off. Saying something about experience, or opportunity, or whatever excuse would sound normal. But this is Jisung. Jisung, who’s known him for years. Who Minho knows is already piecing it together.
Minho sighs, trying to look unaffected and failing. “…Seungmin’s the lead.”
There’s a very brief pause and then Jisung actually laughs, pushing off the counter like this is the best thing he’s heard all day. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Don’t start,” Minho mutters immediately.
“Actually unbelievable,” The younger laughs, moving to pace like he has too much energy suddenly. “You’ve never even done theater.”
“I know-”
“You were stressed about this-”
“I’m the opposite of stressed-”
“-and you said yes because your crush is in it?”
Minho groans, dropping his head slightly. “It’s not just that.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Jisung says, entirely unconvinced. “Very professional decision making. No personal bias whatsoever.”
“Shut up.”
Jisung laughs again, then tilts his head. “So you’re going to be working with him now.”
“Yup.”
“And talking to him.”
“…Yeah.”
“And… what, correcting him? Telling him what to do?”
Minho makes a face. “Don’t say it like that.”
Jisung snorts. “I’m just saying, this is like, your dream and your worst nightmare at the same time.”
“Nuh-uh.” He says, super mature-like.
Jisung squints at him. “You’re freaking out.”
“I’m not freaking out.”
“You were literally dissociating over boiling sauce five minutes ago.”
“I was thinking.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s just a play.” He says, more to himself than anything.
“Mm,” Jisung hums. “Sure.”
Minho exhales. He’s excited; he’s overwhelmed. It’s a lot.
He taps the knife lightly against the board, then sets it down, staring at what he’s been chopping for a second longer than necessary.
“Hey,” Jisung says, nudging his shoulder. “You’re smiling.”
Minho immediately wipes the expression off his face. “I’m not.”
“You are.”
“No.”
Jisung just grins.
“Go sit down, asshole,” Minho huffs and turns back to the stove. “Or start helping.”
He swears he hears Jisung’s eye roll. “Yes sir.”
In the middle of his morning class on Thursday, Minho receives a text from Daeun.
Hi Minho-ssi, It’s Do Daeun from the theater department. Can you meet me in my office after your class? I have the contract ready. Thank you.
She sends the directions to her office after the message. Simple and to the point, Minho respects it. He doesn’t remember mentioning to Daeun that he has a class right now, so she probably heard from his teachers or looked him up. It’s not of concern to him, so he writes out a quick confirmation and sends it.
When his class is over, he makes a beeline for her building. It’s a performing arts office building, so Minho is unsurprised to find out her office is there, and makes quick work of finding her.
He knocks on the door frame where the door is already open. When she looks up, she smiles and waves him in.
Daeun’s office is smaller than he expected, but still comfortable. Some papers neatly stacked in the corner of her desk and a couple posters on the wall, it feels tailored to her. She greets him easily and he takes a seat.
“Sit,” she says, already pulling something up on her computer.
They go over logistics first. His class schedule, rehearsal times, when he’s expected to be there and what exactly he’ll be doing. It’s not complicated, but it’s enough that Minho has to focus, nodding along, asking a few questions just to make sure he’s not missing anything obvious. Daeun answers everything without hesitation, calm and straightforward; It helps him calm down
“What’s the play about?” Minho asks, slightly surprised it hasn’t come up earlier.
She seems to be just as surprised. “Oh, of course. It’s a play for pride month, so it’s about a gay couple who struggle with homophobia from their peers and also internally.” She looks at him kind of intensely. “It’s a romance. Second act gets pretty choreography-heavy, which is where you’ll come in more.”
She slides the contract across the desk. Minho picks it up and hums, eyes scanning the page. “Got it.”
Minho looks down at it, reading it completely before picking up the pen. This is it. Once he signs, that’s it–he’s in.
His hand stills, finally realizing what she’s saying.
Seungmin’s playing the lead in a play about a gay romance.
Seungmin is playing a gay character?
Oh.
Seungmin. Lead role. Gay romance.
It doesn’t… fit.
Not because of the role itself, it’s just-
Minho’s pretty sure Seungmin is straight.
The thought lingers, awkward and out of place, as he signs his name anyway. The pen presses a little too hard against the paper, the signature slightly messier than usual.
Daeun takes the contract back with a satisfied nod, already moving on to next steps, already talking about what to expect on Monday.
Minho listens. He nods where he’s supposed to.
But the realization doesn’t go away.
It follows him out of the office, enough that he knows he’ll be thinking about it an the way home and then some.
Isn’t Seungmin straight?