Chapter Text
Kihyun paces back and forth outside of the dean’s office. The head of the school had told him to wait there for a student named Minhyuk to come and show him around the university campus but whoever Minhyuk is, is running late. He’s lucky though. It’s still winter but the bitter cold has faded into something a little more bearable. The sun is shining too, even if it’s warmth is a little week at the moment. He allows himself to pause by the window and take in the lush greens of the campus as grassy patches begin to show themselves through the rapidly melting snow.
“Hey! You must be the transfer student! I’m so sorry I’m late.” shouts a slender boy with black hair, presumably Minhyuk, as he jogs down the hallway to Kihyun’s side. He sticks out his hand for Kihyun to shake and then beams at him. They are roughly the same height with Minhyuk being just a little bit on the taller side.
“I’m Minhyuk and I’m supposed to be showing you around the campus today and helping you get adjusted. Second semester classes start tomorrow so hopefully we can get you familiar enough with the campus so you don’t get lost. You can always find me and ask for help if you need.” Minhyuk rambles as he begins to walk down the hallway the way he came, just expecting Kihyun to follow, which he does.
“Actually, I’ll give you my number and then you can just text me if you need help finding anything tomorrow. The campus isn’t huge so I don’t think you’ll have a problem. Though Hoseok got lost on his first day here, so whose to say really.” Minhyuk continues. Just as they reach the front door of the building, he stops abruptly and turns to Kihyun with a grimace.
“Sorry, what’s your name? I tend to get a little carried away sometimes.”
“Kihyun.” He answers simply.
“Well, okay Kihyun.” He chirps, with that camp councillor smile plastered on his face. “Let’s get you familiar with this campus!”
The campus is absolutely beautiful just as Kihyun had expected. He had been anticipating coming to this school ever since he was in middle school and he had decided that he wanted to be a singer. Of course it had taken him a little longer than he would have liked to save up the funds to come a place that was so prestigious but now that he was here, he was glad that he had waited.
After he had graduated high school he had decided to take a couple years off, live with his parents and work full time instead of heading to some community college right of the bat. He had ended up upgrading a few of his high school credits at the local college and then transferring those credits when he had saved the money to go to the school of his dreams.
Minhyuk guides him quickly through most of the buildings that he won’t be spending much time in considering he’s a vocal major. He saves the place where Kihyun will have most of his classes for last.
“This is the arts courtyard.” Minhyuk says proudly, spreading out his arms in presentation like some kind of hilarious Vanna White imitation. “This is where most of your required classes will be. Also it’s where all the vocal practise rooms are. Basically you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”
Kihyun doesn’t think that he’s really going to mind spending time here. It’s a circular cobblestone courtyard surrounded by four buildings evenly spaced around the circle. There are spindly little trees spaced out in the grass around the cobbles that are sprouting little emerald green leaf buds and there are neat little park benches scattered around the grounds where a person could sit and watch the birds while perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee.
“This is the Fine Arts building. This is where most of your required lectures will be. There’s also a cafe inside. They server great coffee, if you’re into that. Also this is where all the high tech computers are and printers so you can print your digital photos. Also the dark room is there if you’re into film.” Minhyuk says, pointing to the first building that’s laden with white brick.
“Next is the Visual Arts building, where I spend most of my time. Theres a drawing studio, a painting studio and three galleries you can rent out for art shows if you want. There’s also the sculpture yard and the offices for most of the arts faculty. You can pretty much always find me in there if you need anything.” Minhyuk turns to the next building, red brick and the second largest in the courtyard.
“That is the theatre building. They put on a musical and a play every semester and auditions are starting pretty soon if that’s something you’re interested in.” Finally he turns to point to the largest building in the courtyard.
“And that is the Music building. All the practice rooms are in the basement, then on the main floor is the class rooms for theory and the smaller lectures. The second floor is more class rooms and some offices and the top floor has two fully equipped recording studios that you can rent out for free if you’re a music student.” Minhyuk turns back to a slightly overwhelmed Kihyun whose still trying too take everything in. He’s glad that the Dean had asked someone to show him around because he certainly would have gotten lost otherwise. Even if he would never admit it.
“So that’s pretty much everything!” Minhyuk says with a megawatt grin. Kihyun thanks him for the tour, kind of expecting him to just sort of wander off to do his own thing but he doesn’t.
“Hey, are you dong anything right now?” He asks Kihyun, who shakes his head no. “You should totally come with me then. My friends should be finished their band rehearsal by now and we’re gonna head to that dumb little movie theatre to catch a movie as a kind of last hurrah before school starts up again. It’s gonna be fun!” He chirps and then he’s grabbing Kihyun by the wrist and dragging him toward the the outskirts of the courtyard, not giving Kihyun much of a choice. He definitely could have said no and pulled away if he really wanted to, but he doesn’t know anyone here yet and it’ll at least be good to have some acquaintances before starting school.
The near a tiny garage looking building that Kihyun hadn’t even noticed before with a set of metal stairs that run up the outside. Minhyuk lets go of Kihyun’s arm and bounds up the stairs, beckoning for Kihyun to follow. He gesture for Kihyun to stay quiet.
“They might still be practising and we don’t want to interrupt or they’ll get annoyed.” He explains.
When they reach the top of the stairs, it’s not the sound of any kind of practising Kihyun has ever heard. It sounds a lot more like arguing. Minhyuk’s brows furrow in concern before he’s hauling the heavy metal door open and stepping inside.
They’re standing on a loft with a set of metal stars leading to the main floor looking out over the confrontation unfolding below.
There’s a broad shouldered man with short, dark brown hair standing in the middle of the room with his head hanging down. There’s another man with brown hair sitting on the bench of the piano in the corner of the room looking defeated. He’s much more slender than the first man and his hair is a little bit longer. Next there is a tall, slender man lounging against the piano. He would look like some kind of model if it weren’t for the sour look on his face. Beside him, there’s a young looking man with soft looking cheeks and back hair that falls across his forehead and almost into his eyes. He’s pacing back and forth in front of the larger uncovered window. Lastly, theres a man sitting on the grungy looking couch that’s pressed against on of the walls. He’s blond and he’s got his face in his hands. The over all air of the room is one of defeat.
“Fuck, I can’t believe this is happening. I should have checked in with him over break. Then at least we could have been a little better prepared. I’m so sorry.” The blond says from where he’s seated on the couch. His voice breaks and it sounds like he’s about to start crying. Kihyun begins to feel very uncomfortable.
“Nobody’s blaming you.” The man with short brown hair placates.
“This is just a shitty situation that no one could have predicted.” The man at the piano bench chimes in.
“What the hell happened here? I was gone for like, an hour, and I come back to you guys in shambles?” Minhyuk says from the top of the stairs. He makes his way down straight to the man in the middle of the room with the short brown hair who instantly wraps an arm around his waist and presses a kiss to his cheek.
“Hoseok just got a call from Seokwon. His mom is sick so he’s heading home to help out until she gets better. He’s not enrolling in school for this semester and he’s not sure when he’ll be back”
“We should just hold off performing until he gets back.” The blond man laments from the couch.
“Don’t be stupid.” The tall one by the piano says with a little bit of a sneer. “You can’t put everything on hold just because of one little set back.”
“Well, what the hell are we gonna do with out a lead singer! Hyunwoo’s got enough on his plate and I sure as hell can’t carry this band vocally!” He squawks and Kihyun can see that his eyes are filling with tears even from up on the loft. Honestly, he thinks the blond man is being a bit dramatic. He doesn’t entirely get whats going on yet but it seems simple. All they need is a new lead singer.
At once, all six heads on the ground floor snap to look at Kihyun. He must have said the last part out loud.
“He’s right. All we need to do is find a new lead singer. Which is understandably easier said than done.” The one with black hair and fluffy cheeks says. “Who are you, by the way?”
“Oh, everyone,” Minhyuk says, gesturing for Kihyun to come down to the main floor. Kihyun obeys. “This is my new friend Kihyun. The Dean asked me to show him around campus and he’s pretty cool. I invited him to the movie tonight as well.”
The tension in the air dissipates as there attention is drawn away from their current problem to the stranger walking down the stairs towards them. The man standing with his arm wrapped around Minhyuk is the first to move to welcome their unexpected guest. He sticks out his hand for Kihyun to shake.
“I’m Hyunwoo. I’m a fourth year dance major and I’m Minhyuk’s boyfriend.” He says the last part with a smile that scrunches up his eyes. Kihyun thinks he looks remarkably like a teddy bear. Hyunwoo turns to the boy sitting on the piano bench and gestures for him to introduce himself.
“I’m Changkyun. I’m a first year and I'm a bio chem major.” Kihyun nods and the boy with the soft cheeks steps up and hold out his hand for Kihyun to shake.
“Jooheon and I major in music production and I’m in my second year!” He says with an enthusiastic smile.
“I’m Hyungwon and I’m a business major in my third year.” The tall model looking one says once Jooheon has stepped away from Kihyun. Kihyun nods and smiles.
Everyone turns to look at the blond whose seated on the couch scrolling through his phone with his brows deeply furrowed.
“Hoseok…” Minhyuk calls softly.
“Hoseok!” Hyngwon barks. The man in question looks up from his phone with wide eyes. He looks confused as to why on earth every one is looking at him.
“You should introduce yourself to Minhyuk’s friend.” Hyungwon adds. His voice is low and there is a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” He says with a sheepish smile before standing and holding out his hand. The frown on Hyungwon’s face melts into something much more sympathetic.
“I’m Hoseok. I’m a music production major, a year above Jooheon.” He offers Kihyun a smile and even though it looks remarkably fake and it doesn’t even come close to reaching his eyes Kihyun would be lying if he said that his heart didn’t skip a beat. He had noticed Hoseok the moment he had stepped into the room. He was undeniably attractive, with thick arms and a broad chest, he looks like he kept himself in good shape. Not to mention the slant of his eyes or the plump, fullness of his lips. Kihyun finds himself wondering if Hoseok wheres any lip products because there is literally no way his lips are naturally that pink.
His skin is quite soft, too, Kihyun notes as he shakes Hoseok’s hand. The tips of his fingers are calloused and rough but his palms are smooth and supple even though his hands are rather boney.
“And you know me already! Minhyuk, Visual arts major. Third year. Okay, so now that we’re all aquatinted, lets head to the theatre and get out tickets?” Minhyuk chirps. Everyone makes some kind of consenting noise and begins to gather their stuff. Well, everyone except Hoseok who has just gone back to looking through his phone, pausing momentarily to type something out and then scrolling again.
The rest of the group begins to traipse up the metal stairs, making small talk with Kihyun as they go. Hyungwon pauses at the bottom of the stairs for a moment when he sees that Hoseok isn’t following.
“Hoseok?” He calls. Hoseok hums in response, distracted.
“Come on, you don’t want to make us miss the movie do you?” Hyungwaon asks.
“You guys should go on ahead of me. I think I’m just gonna stay here and work tonight.”
Hyungwon sighs and walks from the bottom of the stairs toward Hoseok until he’s standing right in front of him. He snags the phone from Hoseok’s hand snd slips it into his own pocket. When Hoseok protests and tries to reach for it he catches the blonds wrist and stills his hands. Hoseok biceps alone are about the size of Hyungwon’s face so he could probably twist our of his grip fairly easily. He doesn’t though. He just lets Hyungwon holds his wrists and looks up at him with furrowed eyebrows.
“One last night before school starts again. You’re coming out with us and you’re gonna have fun. Okay?”
“But—“ Hoseok begins to protest.
“No buts! Minhyuk calls from the top of the stairs. “One last night of fun!” He says as he punches a fist up into the air. His enthusiasm has Hoseok cracking a smile and he hangs his head. Sensing their success Hyunwon drags Hoseok with him to the bottom of the stairs.
“Fine, fine. But after the movie I’m coming straight back here to find us a new vocalist.” Hoseok says as he climbs the stairs behind Hyungwon.
Once they’re back outside and on the ground making their way toward the theatre Changkyun pauses before turning to Kihyun with a quizzical look on his face.
“Wait, you never told us what you’re majoring in, Kihyun.” He asks with a curious tilt of his head, just like a little puppy.
“Oh, I’m a vocal major and I’m minoring in photography.” He says. He doesn’t notice that everyone has stopped walking until he nearly runs face first into Hyunwoo’s chest.
“What?” He asks with wide eyes, very confused as to why everyone is staring at him.
“You’re a vocal major? As in you’re literally here at school to sing and to have a job singing in the future?” Jooheon asks.
“Uh, well, yeah I guess so.”
“So you’re saying that you literally came to this school so that you could spend you’re time singing?” Minhyuk chimes in.
“Yeah.” Kihyun says looking from face to face. Every single on of his new friends is looking at him like he’s just announced that he had won the lottery and he’s giving each one of them a share.
“Tell me, Kihyun.” Minhyuk says as he slings an arm around Kihyun’s shoulder. “Have you ever wanted to be in a band?”