Chapter Text
“This is it, my first day attending Korea University.”
Leehan had always dreamed of the big city. Getting away from the small town that he adored, but always felt trapped in. The dry air and the streets are quieter than he could ever be… Let's just say he doesn’t miss it.
The guy with the heart of gold and a weird obsession with fish, as his friends always said. He was sad to leave his friends behind, Jaehyun, Taesan, Woonhak, and Sungho, but at least Riwoo decided to go with him. It was just Leehan and Riwoo in the big city of Seoul.
Leehan and Riwoo had just moved into the dorms. It was small, but it had enough room to share with others, which was important to him. His wish for the year was to fill this room as much as he could, with people, with laughs, with love.
It was corny and cheesy, but that's what kept Leehan so alive. He's always loved the cheesy stuff, all the romance movies, the stereotypical trip and fall into the arms, he loved all of it.
He used to make the rest of his friends watch those movies with him, giggling to himself while the others made fun of the predictable plot line. He secretly pictured himself in those situations, cause surprisingly, he's never even dated anyone.
He was a good-looking guy, kind, charming, with a deep voice that people loved; he really was the full package. Despite that, he’s never really found someone he’s connected with like that.
Maybe the movies have warped his perception of love, but he’s waiting for the moment when he just knows. Secretly, he’s hoping he might find that person in Seoul. It’s such a big city, there has to be someone out there for them, right?
-
Well, today is Leehan’s first day at Korea University, so who knows what will happen. He’s on his way to his first class, Intro to Marine Biology, Leehan's favorite class. He’s always had a love for sea creatures, I mean, he’s already set up a fish tank in his dorm room. They were beautiful creatures, with such a tranquil existence.
He always admired how zen the fish seemed, maybe even a little jealous, too. Leehan has always dealt with a bit of anxiety, although he never really shows it to anyone. He never wanted his friends to worry, and being the resident friend therapist led him to worry more about others’ issues instead, so he just got fish instead to calm himself down. His fish, named Banana, is kinda his support animal in that way.
Leehan is walking down the hall, looking at the classroom numbers, trying to find his. “B12, B13, B14… Huh. It stops at 15. But my class is B17.” He starts to panic a little. “I can’t be late for my first class! What would they think of me then?”
He looks around frantically, biting his lip a little out of nervousness. Then this guy approaches Leehan. “Hey, are you lost? I can help you if you need. What room are you in?”
He panics, not ready to interact with his first schoolmate yet. He quickly perks up and says, “Uh, I'm so sorry, I'm in B17, and I can’t seem to find it.”
As he says this, he looks up from his paper and takes a good look at the guy. He is tall, maybe even a little taller than Leehan; he has silver-white hair that reminds him of the lighter hair he used to have. He has very kind eyes, with the expression of an excited puppy. Leehan is a quiet person, but he has never been this speechless.
The other guy seems a bit stunned at first before snapping back and pointing out the issue. “Ahhh, there’s your problem, the B classes are actually separated into 2 buildings, and your class is in the one across from here.” Leehan quickly thanks him and leaves so he's not late. Who was that guy? He was beautiful. I hope I run into him again.
-
Leehan finally arrives at his class, just a minute before it starts. He blushes as he glances at the full classroom waiting to start. He quickly apologizes and takes his seat.
Midway through, as the teacher is explaining how grading and meetings will work, some guy stumbles in. “Ugh, it's you again,” the teacher sighs. “Beomgyu, this is your second year taking this class. How can you be late?” The mysterious man gives a quick bow, “I apologize, sir. I swear my roommate turned off my alarm.”
He frantically scuttles to the seat next to Leehan and quickly starts to make conversation, “Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?”
Leehan stumbled over a response. “Uh, yeah, I'm new, just moved in, actually.” Beomgyu gave a little chuckle. “You seem pretty nervous, first day jitters getting to you?”
Leehan gives a wide, accepting smile, “Maybe a little bit, it’s mostly being in a new city though.” The other guy gives an understanding nod before taking the opportunity to help out, “Well, you seem cool. My friends and I are going out to the diner nearby tonight. Actually, a lot of the school will be there, it's kind of a first-day tradition.”
Leehan is shocked that someone would invite him to something so soon after meeting him. “Uh, sure, I think I can make it. Is it cool if I bring a friend?” The other, with his legs on the desk, gives a cool nod, “Yeah, it’s cool, the more the merrier.” Looks like the perfect opportunity for Leehan to make some friends.
-
Leehan rushes back to the dorm room where Riwoo is slumped on his bed, having just taken an improvisation class. “Riwoo, I just got invited to this thing at a diner, Pleeeaaaseee go with me.”
Riwoo turned his head lazily to face Leehan. “What time? I'm pretty tired, y’know, I kinda just want to rot for a while.” He looked at Riwoo with his wide, glistening eyes, which he’s known for. “I know you want your you time, but this could be such a good opportunity.”
“Someone actually approached me, this never happens, I have to go now.” Riwoo thinks back to high school. Leehan was never the loudest person, but he was surprisingly social. People tend to misinterpret his calmness for introversion and avoid him because of it. If only people gave him a chance, they would know just how much he loves talking to people, or how good a listener he is.
Riwoo knows this opportunity means a lot to Leehan, even if he was really sore from dance classes. “Fiiiinnneee, I’ll go with you, BUT, you have to promise to stay close by. You know I don’t do well with crowds.” His begging look turned into a soft, princely smile. “Thank you soooo much, I would never just abandon you there.” Looks like Leehan and Riwoo are going to their first college party.
-
Leehan and Riwoo got dressed and left the house pretty late at night. They arrived at the diner and swung the door open. It was packed with people, mostly from the university, and Leehan was excited to see all these possible friends.
They look around for a bit, trying to find a place to sit, when suddenly someone calls out to them. “Hey! new guy! over here!” Leehan turned his head; it was the guy from his class. There was no mistaking his long black bangs and wolf-cut.
Leehan and Riwoo walk over and are greeted by a group of 5 people. “Hey, don’t think I got to really introduce myself in class, my name's Beomgyu, and these are my friends.”
They each introduce themselves one by one, “Hi, I'm Yeonjun, 3rd year.” “I'm Soobin, also a 3rd year.” “Nice to meet you, I'm Taehyun, 2nd year.”
Leehan looked over at the last guy to introduce himself. He couldn’t believe it, the silver-white hair, that excited expression, it was the same guy. “Oh, it's you again!! I wanted to say hi, but you ran off so quickly. My name's Kai, it’s very nice to meet you!”
Kai gave a strong bow and quickly perked up. Riwoo glances over, waiting for Leehan to introduce him to these guys, but all he could see was Leehan's expression. His eyes… he's never seen him like this. I knows most of Leehan’s faces, from sad to excited but this one was new.
His eyes were softer, as if he wasn’t just using them to get what he wanted, his mouth was wide open, and he had a slight grin showing off his little dimples.
Riwoo gives Leehan a little nudge with his elbow, which snaps him out of his daze. “Uh, hello again! Thank you for the help today, I really owe you one!!!”
It was such a strong intro for Leehan, so weirdly uncasual of him. “My name is Leehan, I'm a 1st year, and this is my friend and roommate Riwoo!”
Riwoo realizes he should probably say something. “Hello, nice to meet you guys, I’m Riwoo. Thank you for helping Leehan with his first day.” Kai gives a wide, warm smile. “Come on, sit with us!! We already ordered drinks, you can talk about your first day!!”
Kai makes space next to him in the booth. Leehan sits next to him, with Riwoo sitting after. Yeonjun starts the conversation, “How was your first day? It couldn’t have been that good, considering you had a class with Beomgyu.” The rest of them giggle while Beomgyu scrunches his face in playful annoyance.
“Yeonjun, I know it was you who turned my alarm off!!! I was late on my first day back, you know how awkward that was!” Beomgyu gives a playful punch, knocking the entire booth back a little bit in a domino effect. Kai bumps into Leehan, which flusters him more than it should.
Leehan struggles to find something to say, but not wanting to feed the antisocial accusation, he gives a quick response. “It was actually really good. Beomgyu helped calm my first day nerves a bit by being later than me.”
Soobin jumps in, “How about you, Riwoo, what are you majoring in?” Riwoo seems surprised that they were so welcoming. “I'm a dance and performing arts major, although the classes are already wrecking me.” Yeonjun laughs, “Yeah… I get that. It was rough my first year as well.”
Taehyun makes a realization, “Oh yeah, Yeonjun has the same major. He was always complaining to us about how rough the start was.” Leehan tries his best to hold his composure, “How about you, Kai? What's your major?”
Kai gives a wide grin, knowing Leehan was interested, “I'm a composition major, always in the studio with a piano or a guitar.” Leehan's eyes grow wider, “Wow, really? That's such a cool talent to have.”
Kai lets out a proud grin. Taehyun quickly shuts it down, “Yeah, it would be if he wasn’t almost failing every non-music class.”
Kai curls up in embarrassment, “It’s hard to focus on other stuff when I’m in the studio so much, ok!” Leehan tries his best to comfort him, “Hey, it's fine, I struggled even getting into this university.”
Kai grinned and decided to return the favor, “How about you? I know you have a marine biology class. Is that your major?” Leehan didn’t know his eyes could light up this many times in one night. “Yes, it is! I love sea creatures, more than anything else.”
Kai gives a surprised look at how intense Leehan was just now, “Well… What's your favorite fish then?” Leehan gladly takes this opportunity, “Well, my favorite is the Corydoras, but the one I have in my dorm room is a cichlid. I also really like angelfish, or even some type of smaller catfish. Also, there's–”
He goes on about fish while Kai listens attentively. Riwoo takes up a conversation with Yeonjun, who gives him warnings of what's to come. Soon, the food had arrived.
They each got classic diner foods: pancakes, club sandwiches, and a big steak for Riwoo. The rest laugh at the steak's proportion compared to how tiny he is.
They all start eating and making conversation as if they are old friends. Kai and Leehan’s conversation has flipped into Kai talking about music while Leehan listens.
Kai takes a big bite of his sandwich while he stares intently. He’s making that sandwich look so good. Wait, why am I staring so hard? I should probably stop before–
Kai lets out a little chuckle, “You’re eyeing me up really bad, do you want some?” Leehan's eyes widen as he snaps back to reality, “Uh, really?” he responds.
Without a second thought, He leans over and takes a bite of Kai’s food, head placed right below Kai’s, as he watches this all happen.
He panics as he realizes how close he is and quickly jumps back, “I’m so sorry!! I should have let you break a piece off or something,”
Kai comforts him, “No, no, it's okay, really, you took such a small bite anyway.” They both giggle the moment away as the others notice both are surprisingly red, which contrasts with their paler skin.
Leehan’s mind is racing, he feels lightheaded. Not knowing what to say, he looks over to Riwoo, who lets out a tired eye roll. “Well, sorry guys, but I think we should be heading back now. I'm still pretty sore, and Leehan needs to get back on time to feed his fish.”
The rest let out a disappointed frown, “Aww, it was just getting good,” as they looked over at Kai and Leehan. “We should really be going, though,” said Leehan.
Kai looks down before perking up with the same excited smile, “Ok well, I hope we can see you around. Oh, I know!! We should exchange numbers first.” Both seemed equally shocked by the friendly invitation. They all exchange numbers before Leehan and Riwoo call it a night.