Chapter Text
Minho didn’t expect his world to be turned upside down on a trip to Italy.
But it did.
Rather spectacularly.
Minho began to make his way out of the stifling airport in Milan; his primary goal being to make it out of there before he melted or suffocated to death. It was only early May, yet the air was uncomfortably hot as he walked through the airport. The late afternoon sun was being amplified by the large floor to ceiling windows next to him, making it unbearably stuffy despite the air conditioning doing its best to regulate the temperature. He rolled his neck, readjusted his headphones and pulled his mask away from his face for a moment to try and breathe air that didn’t feel like it was coming from the surface of the sun. There was nothing actually playing in his headphones, but he kept them on as a barrier against a world that was trying to see him. He was hot, and tired, and uncomfortable from being on a plane for who even knows how many hours at this point. He could feel where his mask was beginning to stick to his face and he wanted nothing more than to rip it off and lie down in a well air-conditioned hotel room while waiting for some nice food. And he could, just so long as customs didn’t hold them up for an eternity.
His phone was vibrating endlessly in his pocket. Which definitely meant that at least some of the members had seen his message letting them know that he had arrived safely. Although he was sure it was well past midnight in Korea now, with the weird and wonderful hours they kept, he was certainly not surprised with the number of messages he was currently being bombarded with. He smiled to himself as he thought of the chaos that would be their group chat. As he neared the exit of the airport, he could see out of his peripheral vision people following him with their phones and he subconsciously shrunk in on himself. He understood that this was part of his job, and he knew that people would be here as this was a public schedule, however he still found being perceived by individuals to be uncomfortable. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that this was a solo schedule, which inevitability meant that all eyes were on him. He found himself wishing, not for the first time that day, that he had someone with him.
Finally exiting the suffocating airport, Minho was met with a cool breeze which he readily welcomed as he walked over to his designated vehicle. He climbed into the awaiting car and breathed a sigh of relief as he finally took off his mask and the air-con kicked in. It wasn’t a long drive to the hotel, and Minho pulled out his phone to see what had transpired on the group chat.
SKZ FIRE
You
Landed in Milan – finally
Hannie
wahoooo
congratulations on the safe landing, I’m sure the passengers were impressed
wait, aren’t you like super late tho? did u take a detour to dubai or smth?
Pabo
The flight was delayed
He literally said that already
Dwaekki
Read your messages Jisung-ah lol
Chan-ah
Good to hear, let us know when you’re at the hotel *thumbs up*
Dog
He even types like he’s 50
Chan-ah
Hey?!
Brownie Boy
Bwahahahahaha
Hannie
surely that numbers gone up by now
Chan-ah
Shut up Jisung
Hannie
Skrrr
Where’s Jeongin?
Pabo
Asleep I think
Maknae
Correction: I WAS asleep
Like the rest of you should be
Me
I’ve just arrived at the hotel, gonna go get checked in
Hannie
he lives!!!
i thought you’d been abducted by aliens
Dwaekki
You mean yourself?
Hannie
funny
Chan-ah
Okay Innie’s right you should all be asleep, we’ve all got early schedules tomorrow
Pabo
Don’t need to tell me twice – goodnight everyone
Maknae
Goodnight, again
Dwaekki
Goodnight
Dog
Night
Hannie
Nighty-night <3
Chan-ah
…
Felix I can see the light of your computer coming out the bottom of your door
Brownie Boy
Man, I thought I got away with that lol
G’night
Me
Night everyone
Chan-ah
Goodnight Lino!
Minho smiled and gathered his bags as they pulled up outside the hotel. He nodded his thanks to the driver as he made his way inside. He felt more relaxed already – talking with his members always did that. They were chaotic, sure, but there was some comfort in the chaos. And at least there was some predictability to their unruliness (most of the time). The hotel lobby had plush carpets, high ceilings and there was some piano music coming from somewhere. The receptionist handed him a key card, and he began to make the trek to his room. The chaos of the fashion world, however, was something that he was still getting to grips with. There was a lot of unfamiliar territory here and he had made a point to speak to Felix about it before the trip to gain some insight. But fortunately, he didn’t need to think about any of that until tomorrow.
After walking down what seemed like hundreds of identical looking corridors and up one very overly decorated lift, Minho finally stood outside his hotel room. As he opened the door to his room, he was greeted by the sight of the comfiest looking bed he had ever seen. Or maybe that was just because he was so tired. To be honest, he didn’t really care. He set down his things and stared longingly at the ridiculous number of plush cushions for a solid 37 seconds before deciding it really was still too early to sleep if he was going to try and fight the jet lag. Before he could even think about what to do next his phone rang.
Incoming call – Hannie.
Minho rolled his eyes before picking up.
‘I thought you were going to sleep?’
‘Yeah, well I totally was but then I started thinking- ‘
‘Sounds dangerous.’
‘Uh-huh, anyway I was watching this video earlier of this guy playing a video game and it totally gave me a great idea for a new song but like the idea just came into my mind like right now.’
‘I bet Channie-hyung is still awake, why haven’t you told him about it?’
‘Well, he kinda thinks I’m asleep right now.’
‘I bet he doesn’t, you’re not exactly being quiet right now.’
‘Eh, you’re probably right.’
There was a pause then, so long that Minho genuinely thought that Jisung had fallen asleep on the phone. It wouldn’t have been the first time.
‘Hannie?’
‘I’m here, I’m here.’
‘Did you write it down?’
‘Oh. No, I should probably do that. I’m gonna talk out loud while I do if that’s okay.’
‘Sure, I’ll put you on speaker while I unpack.’
It took Minho a grand total of 7 minutes to unpack his stuff. He then read through the menu twice, decided what he’d order for room service and then lay on the bed as he waited for Jisung to finish rambling. In all honesty, he wasn’t really listening. But he knew from experience that Hannie wasn’t really looking for someone to actually listen to what he was saying so much as he was just talking out loud to get his thoughts together. When the call hit the 20-minute mark Minho heard a soft knock on the other side of the phone and a sheepish ‘yeah’ from Jisung.
‘Jisung-ah, c’mon now you can’t stay in the bathroom all night.’ A muffled and mildly agitated Chan called from somewhere in the dorm.
‘You called me from the toilet?’ Minho exclaimed indignantly
‘I’m sat on the floor, I’m not on the toilet you weirdo,’ Jisung huffed, ‘Hyunjinnie fell asleep, so I didn’t wanna disturb him.’
‘How very considerate of you, so you thought you’d hide in the bathroom?’
‘Yeah, well, seemed like a good idea at the time.’
Minho hummed. Then there was a loud bang that made Minho jump.
‘Wow okay, Channie-hyung is tryna break the door down so goodnight I guess.’ Minho chuckled.
‘Goodnight Hannie. Goodnight Chan-ah.’ He said the later part louder for the benefit of the elder of the two on the other side of the phone. There was an incoherent mumbling that Minho couldn’t make out any words of.
‘He said goodnight. Bye! Alright, I’m coming, jeez.’
Jisung was cut off mid-complaint and Minho reluctantly sat up. He could barely keep his eyes open now but he was also famished so he made his way to order some food. Then he would face plant the comfy bed and sleep like a log.