Archive of Our Own ^beta

Seungmin’s hands were trembling as he took the First Violin Chair but he did his best not to let it show. He’d earned this. He’d worked his way up from the back of the Second Violins over the last two years and he’d earned this. Still, it felt like all the final year violinists were glaring daggers in Seungmin’s back for outranking them. All but one. When Seungmin glanced across, Seo Changbin winked at him as he tightened his bowstring. Changbin had been his desk partner in first year, when most of the rest of Seungmin’s cohort were down in the Third Violins. In second year, Seungmin had been moved to the Firsts and Changbin stayed where he was in the middle of the Seconds. He was still there now, even as Seungmin took the First Chair.

“Did you keep practicing over the winter?” Changbin asked, calling Seungmin confidently across the bustle of people tuning and warming up.

“Of course,” Seungmin replied. He practiced for at least three hours every day. Half an hour on scales; an hour on group work- orchestras, ensemble parts, duets; half an hour on sight reading and playing by ear; and an hour on his solos. It was all recorded meticulously in his practice diary.

“I didn’t,” Changbin grinned. “Time to see if my left arm still remembers third position.”

“I’m sure it does,” Seungmin said. “Muscle memory and all that. “It’s fifth position you’ve got to watch out for.”

Changbin waved him off with his bow, coming very close to hitting the First Violinist sitting one desk over from him. “I’ll leave those high notes for you. Seconds rarely have to go that high and I can always mime.”

Changbin was bold but incredibly personable and so he could get away with saying things like that. He also wasn’t in the instrumental degree which meant he wasn’t competition for the students around him. Changbin was just there for fun.

“Have you had a look at the sheet music?” Seungmin asked. The piece was new to most of them but Seungmin had emailed their conductor well in advance so he would be prepared to play fluidly by the first practice.

“No.” Changbin looked worried as Seungmin smiled. “Why? "The music was being handed back as they spoke and Changbin flipped open his folder, taking out the crisp new sheet at the front.

Seungmin rosined his bow and waited.

“Aw, come on,” Changbin whined when he found it. “I’m not- why do I have a high F?”

“F5,” Seungmin corrected. It was inaccurate to call it ‘high F’ when they could span four octaves of F notes on the violin.

Changbin played an E (E5), shifted to what might have been fifth position on his E string, at Seungmin. “High F,” he retorted. “It’s high.”

“Flat,” Seungmin advised, pointing up to get Changbin to sharpen the note. They hadn’t been tuned yet so Changbin’s bad pitch might just have been his violin falling out of tune and not a misplaced fifth position but Seungmin had perfect pitch so he could correct it all the same. Changbin wiggled his finger minutely up the fingerboard until Seungmin gave him a thumbs up. “Now immediately forget that position because your string is slack.”

“Seungminnie,” Changbin whined, letting his violin drop from his shoulder. “If I’m out of tune with the rest of the Seconds I’m blaming you.”

Seungmin stuck out his tongue and didn’t answer as Professor Lee tapped his baton on the stand to call attention.

“Aigoo, my little Seungminnie, all grown up,” Changbin said at the end of practice, coming over to pinch Seungmin’s cheek.

“Don’t, Hyung,” Seungmin said shortly, brushing past him with the stack of First Violin folders to hand back to Professor Lee. They were his responsibility now as First Chair.

“Aish, are you too cool to talk to your Binnie-hyung now you tune the entire orchestra?” That was Seungmin’s responsibility too. He had a lot of them and he was determined to do them right.

“I need to speak to Professor Lee,” Seungmin said.

“You can go socialise, Seungmin,” Professor Lee said, interrupting their bickering to take the folders from Seungmin. “This is only the first practice and I would say it went surprisingly well.”

“In awe at my raw talent, Professor Lee?” Changbin asked cockily.

“In awe at your ability to read over all the rests,” Professor Lee replied in good humour. “Let the piece breathe, Mr Seo.”

“Next time,” Changbin said confidently. He stepped away slowly with his hand firmly on Seungmin’s shoulder, pulling him with him whether Seungmin liked it or not. “I’ll be as good as little Seungminnie here.”

“I’m taller than you,” Seungmin protested but that was all the distraction Changbin needed to take Seungmin’s case and sweep them out of the room.

“Don’t look now,” Changbin whispered in Seungmin’s ear, “but there is a hot boy trying to melt you with his eyes.”

Seungmin didn’t look, though Changbin probably wanted him to. “Tall, blonde, eyebrows?” Seungmin asked tiredly.

“Yeah…” Changbin trailed off as he turned to stare at Hwang Hyunjin, for that’s who it was. “His eyebrows really are insanely good,” he mumbled before Seungmin yanked him around the next corner and cut off his line of sight. “Who is he? What did you do?”

“He is Hwang Hyunjin,” Seungmin said grandly, and it appeared that Hyunjin’s reputation preceded him because Changbin’s eyes widened like saucers. “And I did nothing,” Seungmin continued. “I’ve never even spoken to him.”

“Ok, that can’t be true,” Changbin said, skipping to keep up with Seungmin’s long strides. “He was looking at you like you spoiled his favourite TV show or killed his dog or stole his crush- wait, are you dating anyone?”

“No, I’m not dating anyone,” Seungmin answered, hoping his voice didn’t betray any emotions that he definitely wasn’t feeling. “I don’t have time.”

“Bullshit,” Changbin said. “I bet you could find time in that beautiful schedule of yours for a little love.”

Seungmin stopped outside the practice rooms and spun to face Changbin. It was safer to joke than answer honestly. “Why, Binnie-hyung, are you feeling neglected?” he asked with a sickly sweet tone and a mocking pout.

“I am, actually,” Changbin said, completely unaffected. He pushed past Seungmin into the practice room and plopped from on the only chair. “Romance me, Seungminnie.”

Seungmin did ‘romance’ Changbin, letting him sit in and critique his singing. Changbin had a talent for teaching and an ear for music and it was a privilege to be his friend and hear his opinion for free. No doubt, it would soon be worth a fair amount of money. Even in the half hour he was there he fixed a lot of Seungmin’s problems with breath control and improved his delivery massively, cheering his dongsaeng on in that suave manner of his that had even lecturers swooning.

He left before Seungmin’s booked time was over, heading down to the basement where the practice rooms came equipped with computers housing specialised production software. Those rooms were supposed to get booked out too but Changbin, a kid in Seungmin’s year, and a post-grad worked together to have a virtual monopoly over one of the rooms. Seungmin would disapprove of such behaviour but he’d never been down to that room and not seen one of them in there working. More music probably got made in that one room than the rest of the practice rooms combined.

Seungmin knew other students would also stay in the practice room if nobody else was waiting but it weighed on his conscience when he tried it once and so he had his stuff packed away and was out the door on the hour, sharp. He had other things to do anyway- eat, research for an essay, read papers for a workshop, review his lecture notes. Seungmin always had something to be doing and he didn’t have time to date or work out why the most handsome boy on campus seemed to hate him suddenly.

That was a fact- Hyunjin being handsome -not Seungmin's opinion. Though if you asked, Seungmin may agree with the facts. Hyunjin studied dance, not music, so he and Seungmin hadn't had much reason to interact. They had classes in different buildings and Seungmin hardly ever saw him in the cafeteria or at the library, and only at a distance. The closest they'd come to a conversation was at the end of the previous year, when they'd both been lined up to collect academic awards at the same time. They hadn't even spoken- Hyunjin had shown up seconds before he was due on stage with an overwhelmed expression and Seungmin had taken half a step backward to indicate the space in front of him where Hyunjin should be. Hyunjin had bowed his head in thanks, taken the spot, and turned to face the stage. By the time Seungmin reached the other end of the stage, he was gone.

Seungmin had thought they might have developed some kind of comradery as the teacher's pets of their respective studies. He thought wrong. Something had happened over the winter break when they had both elected to stay on campus and now instead of sweet dazed smiles Hyunjin gave him glares intense enough to be felt from behind. It was an impressive glare, with Hyunjin’s strong eyebrows pulled down and his golden hair softening the edges of his fierce expression. Seungmin just wished it wasn’t so often fixed on him.

“Why do you care, Seungmin,” he mumbled to himself. “He’s just some overhyped dancer.”

He cared because Hyunjin was fucking everywhere and he couldn’t avoid him if he tried.

It wouldn't be so bad if Hyunjin was rude and aloof with everyone but Seungmin saw him holding doors open for girls and guys alike and letting out that adorably musical giggle when the cafeteria server said something to him. His reputation as a good listener flew round the student body just as fast as his reputation as a dancer. And yet, Seungmin was the undeserving recipient of glares and cold shoulders. He was not going to become obsessed with Hyunjin though. He would leave that to the rest of the population.

It might have helped if the rest of the population had been a little more vocal in their obsession however. Then Seungmin wouldn’t have had to be the recipient of ‘FUCKING KIM SEUNGMIN AGAIN’ being yelled rather loudly on a busy street. The yeller, of course, was Hwang Hyunjin and Seungmin had merely bumped into him as they walked in opposite directions. It was as much Hyunjin’s fault as his own, that is to say that it was nobody’s fault because sometimes in a busy street you have no choice but to hit shoulders with someone. You would normally just mumbled an apology (as Seungmin did) and go on your way but Hyunjin only got three steps past him and then his internal ‘anti-Seungmin’ senses must have kicked in and he stopped dead in his tracks to announce to the entire student body moving locations between hours 3 and 4 than his mortal enemy had dealt him a fatal glancing blow.

“I barely fucking touched you,” Seungmin muttered under his breath and kept his head down as he hurried on to his lecture. The university was small enough that many people would be able to connect his face to the name Hyunjin cursed and he really didn’t need the extra judgement. At least it looked like Hyunjin was getting strange looks too for his outburst- served him right for trying to make everything about him.

"Hey, did you hear the 00's are throwing a party this weekend?" Felix asked, sneaking up on Seungmin and cuddling into his side for no reason. Felix was the one dancer Seungmin trusted but he was on thin ice now.

"Which '00's'?" Seungmin asked snippily. "We're all born in the same year, it could be anyone."

Felix butted his head into Seungmin's arm like a very persistent cat. "Minniiiie," he whined. "You know who I mean."

"They shouldn't call themselves that." Seungmin said. Who was Hyunjin to gatekeep a fucking year?

"They didn't," Felix argued. "They were called that at the winter showcase. You were there!"

"Exactly," Seungmin said. "They weren't even the only second years performing so they shouldn't have used that name."

Felix just pouted sadly up at him until Seungmin relented.

"Fine." Seungmin said, snapping his book shut. "When is the party?"

"Next Friday night."

"I have duet practice."

"Seungminnnnnnnn," Felix despaired. If Seungmin stuck to his schedule he would be busy whenever the party happened to be but he had made exceptions in the past and he could make them again. Maybe if he got drunk he'd be brave enough to ask Hyunjin what the fuck his deal was.

"I'll reschedule it," Seungmin promised and Felix beamed.

"You're the best, Seungminnie!"

Seungmin did reschedule his practice but he shouldn't have bothered.

"Hyunjin says you can't come," Felix admitted shyly when Seungmin mentioned it the next time they met.

"What?" Seungmin asked, genuinely caught off guard.

Felix looked at his feet, scuffing the toe of his trainer in the dirt. "Hyunjin said you weren't invited because- he said you couldn't come."

"What did he say, Felix," Seungmin asked. He was no stranger to exclusion from his peer group- it came with the territory when you were a bit of a prodigy -but Hyunjin wasn't even in his class. Their academic performance was in no way competitive and Seungmin hadn't even spoken to the guy. Hyunjin had no right to be judging Seungmin so harshly.

"He- you don't want to hear it, Minnie," Felix mumbled.

Seungmin gripped his arm. "Yes, I do. Tell me, Felix, or I'll find Minho-hyung and drag him into this."

"Oh gosh, don't do that," Felix winced. Minho was a senior dancer that was somehow weirdly protective of Seungmin in an aggressive way and nobody, Seungmin included, were very sure why. "Ok, um, so, uhh."

"Spit it out, Felix," Seungmin said impatiently.

"Hyunjin said you were self-centred and rude and he didn't want such a mood dampener at his party," Felix mumbled very quickly, his eyes widening with every word that tumbled out of his mouth.

"He's never even met me!" Seungmin exclaimed, flames of injustice burning in his belly.

"Are you sure?" Felix asked. "Because he seemed pretty convinced you were irredeemable."

"Yes!" Seungmin exclaimed. "Well… We met once backstage at Prizegiving last year and I've obviously seen him around… but we've never had a real conversation! He has no right-!"

"What's upset Golden Boy?" Jisung asked, appearing with half a croissant. It was an irritating nickname but at least Jisung had given it to him due to the honey blonde hairstyle he'd had in first year and his puppy-like demeanor, and not his grades.

"Hwang Hyunjin," Seungmin said through gritted teeth.

"Oh! Fuck that guy!" Jisung said cheerfully, taking another bite of his croissant. "He said I was shit at dancing."

"You are shit at dancing," Felix pointed out. "And didn't you insult him first?"

"So?" Jisung said, and stuffed the rest of the croissant into his cheeks. "What's he done now?" he mumbled through the pastry. "Want me to write a diss track?"

Seungmin wiped the stray crumbs off of Jisung's face and didn't answer. It felt too pathetic to say 'he sends me mean looks and doesn't want me at his party'. Felix had no such qualms.

"Hyunjin doesn't like Seungmin for some reason. He's explicitly banned Minnie from his party on Friday."

Jisung pulled a pained face, only slightly ruined by his puffed cheeks. "That's brutal. Hey, at least you wouldn't go anyway, right?" he added optimistically.

Seungmin's cheeks burned and he couldn't work out whether to lie or not.

"You were going to go?" Jisung exclaimed, spraying crumbs everywhere.

"I- Yes." Seungmin said grumpily, focusing very hard on being angry about it so he wouldn't do something dumb like cry. "I cleared my schedule."

"Minnie," Felix said, sounding heartbroken. He hated it when people were sad or left out and Seungmin was currently both. He pulled Seungmin into a hug and Seungmin was grateful he could hide his face in Felix's shoulder and have a moment to reset his expression to one less pitiful. "I'll talk to Hyunjin," Felix offered.

"I'll talk to Hyunjin," Jisung said in a very different tone and when Seungmin pulled back from Felix's hug he was rolling up his sleeves.

"Hyunjin would deck you in a fight," Seungmin sniffed, looking at Jisung's skinny little wrists.

"Why are you siding with him?" Jisung wanted to know.

"I'm not," Seungmin said. "He's just taller than you and he's got big hands and he moves really fluidly and- why are you looking at me like that?" Seungmin asked, suddenly self-conscious with the twins grinning at him creepily.

"You like him," Felix said gleefully.

"I do not," Seungmin retorted.

"Dude, you were three words of saying he has a great ass," Jisung backed Felix up, crossing his arms for added effect.

"He does," Seungmin said. "That's an objective fact."

Jisung howled with laughter. "Now I see why you were upset to miss the party. You've been enemy-zoned! Ooooh oh! This is too funny. I'm gonna tell Daehwi."

"Do not tell Daehwi," Seungmin hissed, grabbing Jisung's collar to stop him escaping. "Do not tell Daehwi about any of this."

"It's Daehwi's party too," Felix pointed out. "He probably knows Hyunjin's side of the story already."

"Hyunjin doesn't have a side of the story," Seungmin said, getting manic now. "We've never even said hi."

"And yet, he hates you," Jisung concluded. "You really picked the wrong person to get a crush on."

"I'm gay and he's perfect," Seungmin whined. "It's not my fault."

"'Perfect' is going a bit far," Jisung said, trying to bring Seungmin back to earth but Seungmin had been bottling this up for months now and he couldn't be stopped.

"His grades are nearly as good as mine, he does charity work, he's tall and just the right amount of muscly, his laugh is a fucking major scale, and have you seen his face."

"I have, yeah," Felix said. "It's nice to look at."

"It's very nice to look at," Seungmin agreed. "Oh and did I mention he's on the football team and the swim team, because he is."

"You're like a little Hwang Hyunjin Wikipedia," Jisung mused. "How tall is he? Does he have any pets?"

"He is approximately 3 centimetres taller than me and he has a dog called Ggami," Seungmin rattled off, too buzzed from finally being able to talk about Hyunjin to care he was probably being mocked.

"What are his weaknesses," Jisung asked next.

"Vegetables, eggplant in particular, and jumpscares."

"Cool, cool." Jisung was writing this down. "Is he single?"

Seungmin blushed at that. "I believe so," he admitted.

Jisung's little interrogation was brought to an end by a nearby class finishing early and a sea of students swept by them. Seungmin closed up like a clam. Hyunjin was far too popular to just talk about with other people in hearing range.

Felix mimed drinking (presumably, coffee) as students walked between them and Seungmin started to walk with him in the direction of a cafe but Jisung hung back.

"I'm meeting someone," he admitted. That was fine by Seungmin- Jisung was too quick-witted and it was bad for Seungmin's health. They waved him goodbye and parted, Seungmin and Felix heading for coffee, cake and he hoped, a conversation not featuring Hyunjin.

Felix didn't talk anymore about Hyunjin but everyone else fucking did. It was all Seungmin could hear about at orchestra, in class, at lunch. Even his vocal teacher asked about Hwang Hyunjin's party.

"I'm not going," Seungmin said lightly. "I have duet practice." (It was now duet practice alone because, of course, his partner was going to the party, but his teacher didn't need to know that.)

"Come on now, Seungmin," Professor Kang said playfully. "One night off will do you no harm. And socialising is good for the soul. You need a healthy soul as an artist."

"I get enough socialisation, sir," Seungmin assured him. "This party is just not for me." It was very explicitly not for him.

"I worry about you, Seungmin," Professor Kang said. It was the end of the lesson and Professor Kang was known to get sentimental. "Your technique is well beyond your years but there is little emotion behind the words. I know you work on it but some things can't be improved by practice alone. Some things you just have to feel, you know? Now, that will come with time of course, but you have to be ready to feel those emotions when you experience them, bottle them and remember what it was like."

"Are you saying I need to get my heart broken, sir," Seungmin asked with a smile. He was good at ballads, technically, but clearly Professor Kang thought his rendition of You Were Beautiful was missing something.

"No, no," Professor Kang said quickly. "No- well, yes -no. No, definitely not. But it is experiences like that that put the soul into your singing."

"I will work to do that," Seungmin said politely and bowed to leave because he could see the next student patiently waiting outside.

"Ah, Seungmin," Professor Kang sighed. "Not as homework." But Seungmin was already gone.

He hadn’t gotten more than ten steps out of the door and there he was- the man of the year, Hwang Hyunjin, leaning against the wall like a model, arms crossed, glaring. Seungmin was still moving on autopilot from his lesson, checking his phone for messages he had missed, and so he answered the glower sent his way just as he always did when Changbin got like that….with a finger heart aimed right at Hyunjin’s face as he walked past. Hyunjin’s mad expression dropped into one of complete bafflement and he still hadn’t shut his mouth when he left Seungmin’s peripheral vision. It wasn’t at all how Seungmin’s plan to ignore Hyunjin was supposed to go but he couldn’t deny it felt good to surprise Hyunjin and put a different expression on his face.

It appeared, however, that Hyunjin took that heart as a personal attack because when Seungmin opened his locker late on Friday morning there was a little sketch waiting for him- a disturbingly accurate drawing of his own wonky finger heart in red pen, along with the words ‘have a good weekend’ and a little filled in heart exclamation mark. What wasn’t waiting for Seungmin were any of his pens that weren’t red. He checked his pencil case- no plain black or blues, no standard multi pen, no pastel multi pen. His highlighters were still there but even the green ballpoint he saved for special notes was gone. Only his two red marking pens (one in-use and one back-up) were still there. His secondary pencil case was equally gutted, one sad red pen was all that was left and even the spare pens he kept in the front of his backpack were gone.

“You ok there, Seungminnie?” Lia asked, closing the locker beside him. They had class together in five minutes. “Have you lost something?”

“No, I-” Seungmin sighed, giving up his hope in finding a pen Hyunjin had missed. The dancer had clearly been thorough in his work. “Can I borrow a pen for today? Black, please.” Anything but red. He’d use the pencil from his violin case if he had to but Lia had borrowed from him often enough that it didn’t feel rude to ask for the favour returned.

“Sure.” Lia flipped open the top of her handbag and pushed aside her flute case to open the zip of her pen case and fish out a pen to hand over. “Keep it,” she said with a sweet smile. “I’ve stolen enough of yours in the past.”

“You have,” Seungmin agreed wryly. He kept a different, less desirable, brand of pen in his bag specifically to lend to people so he wasn’t annoyed Lia hadn’t returned all of them. It was paying off now.

“So what leaves the Great Organiser, Kim Seungmin, penless,” Lia asked as they walked to class.

“The Great Disorganiser, Hwang Hyunjin,” Seungmin muttered darkly. He carefully unfolded the note he’d stored in the back of his phone case and handed it over for Lia to see. “He’s got a vendetta against me or something.”

Lia took it and covered her mouth as she laughed. “Cute drawing,” she said, handing it back. Of course she wouldn’t see the threat in it. “You should ask him out.”

Seungmin missed the next step on the stairs and stumbled. “What? He hates me, Lia.”

Lia stopped at the top of the stairs and waited for Seungmin to catch her up. When he reached the top step she took his right hand and forced it into a finger heart, holding it up to Seungmin’s eye. “That’s what he drew, right? Your awful finger heart, which means you have done it to him before and he either took a picture or memorised it well enough to replicate it. Looks like a crush to me. And he left you only red pens. What’s red the colour of?” Lia asked. She didn’t wait for an answer and spun, her long hair flying out behind her, to strut into the classroom.

“Wrong answers!” Seungmin called after her. “Red pens are only used for grading, you know that!”

Seungmin was horrendously distracted all day. The grip of Lia’s pen in his hand wasn’t quite right and it didn’t write as smoothly as he would like and with his concentration already broken he could hear the whispers of people planning their Friday night. It sounded like most of the year was at least considering the 00’s party. They weren’t a large year group, what with the university being highly specialised and elite, but still it would be more people than a single flat could contain. Hyunjin would probably have to have his bedroom open to guests. Seungmin wondered what it was like. Would he be one of those boys that tidied by shoving everything in their wardrobe or under their bed? Would he have posters on his walls or plants on his desk? What would his bedsheets be like? You could tell a lot about people by their bedsheets.

“Seungmin,” Lia said sharply as she passed him. “Aren’t you leaving?” Seungmin focused back into the world around him and realised that everyone was headed for the door. Class was over and he hadn’t even noticed.

“Yes,” he said, hurriedly packing away his half-taken notes in his bag. “Sorry, I-” zoned out while thinking about Hyunjin’s bed? “I’ll see you next week,” he said and waved as Lia and her friends left.

“Looking forward to the weekend, Seungmin?” their lecturer, Miss Kwon, asked, starting a conversation since Seungmin hadn’t come to her with questions today.

“Uhh, yes,” Seungmin said unconvincingly. “The weather is supposed to be nice on Saturday so I might go for a walk in the park.”

Miss Kwon hummed in agreement. “Good idea. I should take my daughter. She loves the slide in the playpark down by the bridge.”

Seungmin knew the one she meant. It was deadly fast, more than any child’s slide had a right to be, and Changbin had gotten stuck in it once in a moment of drunken hubris. “It’s a good slide,” he agreed. “See you Monday, Miss. Have a good weekend.”

“You too, Seungmin,” Miss Kwon replied with a soft smile. Seungmin bowed as he left but he wasn’t focused on her anymore though. He flipped over his phone as he walked to the door and took Hyunjin’s note out again. Have a good weekend! Heart. The bastard knew Seungmin wouldn’t because all Seungmin’s friends would be at his party and then they’d be too hungover on Saturday to meet up and do anything meaningful. It was clever but Seungmin wasn’t going to have a bad weekend just because Hwang Hyunjin wanted to make it so. He was perfectly happy with his own company.

Who was Seungmin kidding? He was a clear-cut extrovert and after a whole week of carefully managed time he was craving human interaction. Felix was going to the party (he was Hyunjin’s classmate and most of his peers would be there, Seungmin didn’t grudge him it). Jisung would be in bed with the glow of the internet as he was every weekend, retreating from the world, and Changbin was visiting his family. He knew other people of course, but many of them were also headed to the same party he was banned from and he wasn’t close enough with many other people to ask them to meet without good reason. He did try calling Minho and, to his credit, Minho answered on the third ring.

“What?”

“Are you free?” Seungmin asked bravely. “Tonight or tomorrow?”

Minho hummed. “Well, I’m on a date right now and it’s going well, so, no.”

“Ah,” Seungmin felt his cheeks begin to burn at the thought of Minho saying that so boldly right in front of his date. As far as Seungmin knew he wasn’t dating anyone so whatever was happening was a new development. “Enjoy?”

“I will, Kim Seungmin,” Minho replied and Seungmin could hear his smirk. “Don’t study too much, you nerd.” And with that, he hung up, leaving Seungmin with no more options. Seungmin ignored Minho’s advice and worked on his studies for Friday night. There was plenty to do with the orchestra being introduced to another two new pieces the following week. He even had a solo in one of them. They wouldn’t reach that part during full orchestra rehearsal but it never hurt to be prepared.

Seungmin felt more confident in his abilities by Saturday morning but he was exhausted mentally and it took all of his effort to get dressed and to the park. He’d said he would go which was possibly the only reason he was there but he chose not to walk and instead sat on a bench with his earphones in and watched the world go by. At some point the world had stopped being stimulating enough and he’d closed his eyes to hear better. He only realised he’d done it when he felt someone sit next to him and he snapped to alertness again.

It was Hwang Hyunjin.

No man hosting an art school university piss up had the right to look that good that morning after. Hyunjin’s blonde hair was tied up messily and from the dark circles under his eyes it had been a long night but the smudges of his eyeliner and the way his t-shirt draped off of his shoulders only made him look more alluring. Edible.

“Are you sad yet?” Hyunjin asked when Seungmin pulled out an earbud. His voice sounded damaged. Maybe he’d been singing too much at the party. Dancers never did know how to properly warm up their throats.

“Sad?” Seungmin echoed.

“Yes,” Hyunjin said. “Sad. The emotion. I know you’re not dumb, Seungmin.” For someone ‘not dumb’ Seungmin was doing a pretty poor job of showing it as his brain short-circited hearing his name on Hyunjin’s lip.

“You want me to be sad?” he asked in confusion.

“I did,” Hyunjin said.

“Why?”

“I was room 226,” Hyunjin. “Over break.” That was room right next to Seungmin’s in the temporary accommodation for those performing in (and suffering the two weeks of non-stop practice leading up to) the winter showcase. Seungmin had auditioned for the orchestras (full and string), the choir, and had a solo slot. Hyunjin had had a solo dance and two group performances too. Seungmin had watched them all, utterly captivated.

“Oh my god,” Seungmin gasped as he realised. “Schindler’s List.”

“Is that what the piece was called?” Hyunjin asked mildly.

“I am so sorry,” Seungmin said, completely mortified. It wasn’t an easy piece to hear, even for Seungmin, who had broken it down to intervals and durations, played it in such miniscule fragments that the subject became removed. He only heard the flaws when he played it himself but to an untrained ear it would be just as haunting and mournful as the original composition and to have heard it over and over again for days on end... “The receptionist said there wasn’t anyone in the room next to mine,” Seungmin said, begging Hyunjin to understand. “And I put my mute on so I thought it would be fine-”

“Yeah, there was nobody in room 224,” Hyunjin said. “Jaemin pulled out at the last minute. And I don’t know who sold you that mute but it didn’t mute anything. I cried every night. For two weeks straight.”

“I'm so sorry,” Seungmin repeated. He’d put his hands over his nose and mouth, initially in humiliation, but now he was struggling not to laugh. Was Hyunjin really that emotionally sensitive? Seungmin’s playing hadn’t even been that good in the beginning, and it had been muted, and through a wall.

“Why didn’t you go to the practice rooms?” Hyunjin asked. “It’s what they’re for.”

“I did,” Seungmin said. “I had two hour slots each day but I used that to practice for orchestra and choir since my parts are less interesting on their own.”

“You could have mixed it up,” Hyunjin complained. “That kpop medley you did was fun.”

“That was easy, it didn’t need practice,” Seungmin argued. “I am sorry you had to listen to Schindler’s List every day though. You should have told me it was bothering you. I could have fitted it into my scheduled practice time.”

Hyunjin shrugged. “I can’t pretend I didn’t practice in my room too. Body popping is quieter though.”

“What’s-” before Seungmin even got the full question out of his mouth, Hyunjin demonstrated, making his entire chest vibrate in a sudden robotic moment. “Wow.” Seungmin was too gay for this.

Hyunjin smirked and did it again. Seungmin stared at his pecs longer than he should have.

“You’re good at that,” he told Hyunjin accidentally. Hyunjin smiling at him was doing weird things to his brain.

“Thanks. It looks better with a thinner shirt.”

“Schindler’s List sounds better without a mute,” Seungmin answered.

“You mean ‘sadder’,” Hyunjin said. “I don’t know how you could stand to play it over and over. Just hearing it through the wall messed up my mood for the rest of the day.”

There was an awkward silence until Seungmin asked. “Is that why you glared at me so much and stole all my pens?”

Hyunjin had the decency to look ashamed. “Channie-hyung says I need to express myself better outside of dancing. Sorry. I just wanted you to understand what it was like. I can give your pens back.”

“Please do,” Seungmin said. “The four in one pens are expensive.” He paused and glanced over at Hyunjin’s expression. His eyes were downcast and he was chewing on his lower lip, a nervous habit Seungmin had never seen on him before. It gave Seungmin the confidence to take a leap. “I was sad, you know. Only a little about the party because I’d rearranged my schedule to go, but mostly because I thought we might be friends and suddenly you hated me. We hadn’t even spoken to each other yet and I couldn’t work out why.”

Hyunjin looked up hopefully. He studied Seungmin’s face for sincerity and he must have found it because he reached over and slid his hand into Seungmin’s, squeezing it tight. “We can be friends,” he promised. Seungmin flexed his hand to try and make the grip more comfortable and somehow his pinkie finger ended up between Hyunjin’s ring finger and middle finger. They both tried to adjust it and suddenly their fingers were laced, hands joined together like a couple. Hyunjin smiled shyly at him but didn’t let go. Seungmin didn’t either.

“It was a shit party, by the way,” Hyunjin said. “People got really loud and wouldn’t leave so I actually went to sleep at Channie-hyung’s place. That’s why I’m up so early.” It didn’t explain why he looked like a sculpture brought to life though.

“It’s ten thirty,” Seungmin said, judging Hyunjin’s definition of early.

“Yeah, early,” Hyunjin answered sassily. “I was going to find breakfast when I found you, by the way. If you want to join?” The last sentence was tacked on nervously and Hyunjin nearly fumbled his words.

“I’ve had breakfast,” Seungmin said. “But if you go somewhere with cake, I’ll eat.”

“Cake for breakfast,” Hyunjin said, pulling Seungmin up by his hand. “Now that’s a plan.”

“Your fingertips are really callused,” Hyunjin noted while they were waiting for the lights to change at a crossing. He was still holding Seungmin’s left hand.

“Violin,” Seungmin replied, running an imaginary scale up and down Hyunjin’s knuckles. “You must have the marks of a dancer too.”

Hyunjin snorted. “Yeah. Bad knees.”

“Really?” Seungmin asked. Hyunjin didn’t dance like he had a bad anything.

“Really really,” Hyunjin replied. “And my wrist clicks now.” He held up his left fist to demonstrate and Seungmin grimaced at the crunching noise it made as he rotated it. He pulled on the hand he was holding in reprimand.

“Don’t do that. It’s bad for you.”

“So is dancing,” Hyunjin pointed out.

“Yes, but at least that’s pretty,” Seungmin said. The pedestrian light went green and they stepped forward in sync. Or Seungmin stepped forward and Hyunjin instinctively matched him.

“You think I’m pretty?” Hyunjin asked with a teasing smile.

“Only some of the time,” Seungmin answered. Two could play that game.

“I have been told I’m a very ugly sleeper,” Hyunjin said seriously before pulling Seungmin’s arm suddenly to take him left down the street, not the direction Seungmin had been expecting at all. Seungmin stumbled into his side with all the grace of a not-dancer and Hyunjin unlaced their fingers to steady him with an arm around his waist. “Sorry,” Hyunjin said. “I had an idea.”

“It’s ok,” Seungmin breathed. This position was fine too, and if his brain was trying to engrave the handprint of heat Hyunjin was leaving on his side into his memory that was nobody’s business but his own. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere with good cakes,” Hyunjin grinned.

The tiny cafe did indeed have good cakes, and gigantic portions, so even though Seungmin convinced Hyunjin to break his fast with real food Hyunjin got to share Seungmin’s slice of sponge cake too.

“Good?” Hyunjin asked once their plates were clear.

“Very good,” Seungmin decreed, but the quality of the food was the last thing on his mind. Instead, a solid portion of his focus was under the table where Hyunjin’s knee was pressed against the inside of his thigh. The aesthetic of the cafe didn’t really allow the space for two men of their stature to share a single table and not be bumping limbs but Seungmin wasn’t taking that as a negative. In fact, he’d grown bolder the longer they sat and he let his free hand brush Hyunjin’s forearm as it rested on the table while he nursed the last of his coffee to make this last longer.

“Good,” Hyunjin echoed. He pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “Sorry you got me for company.”

“Why?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin gestured from his hair down to his feet. “I’m wearing last night's clothing and my hair is a mess. And I’ve been a dick to you..” Hyunjin looked down at his empty plate.

“Hyunjin.” Seungmin waited until Hyunjin looked up to continue. “You glared at me for two weeks, stole some pens you intend to give back, and said I couldn’t come to a party you said was shit anyway. You're already doing better than most of my class.”

Hyunjin pouted. “That’s sad.”

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “You really are emotional, huh? It’s fine. I’m the top of the class. It happens.”

“It doesn’t happen to me,” Hyunjin mumbled.

“Not even when you got the winter showcase solo?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin tilted his head to the side as he thought and his knee came up between Seungmin’s thighs again. “Ah," he said in a small voice as he remembered something. "Yeah. Some people got pretty mad about that actually. They said I only got it because of my looks.”

“That’s not true,” Seungmin refuted. “I watched the rehearsal for your solo- you were as good as that senior with the pink hair.”

Hyunjin laughed. “I wasn’t, not technically. But it’s nice to hear I can fool a music student.”

“Hey!”

“You didn’t know what body popping was,” Hyunjin pointed out, demonstrating with his chest again. It felt highly inappropriate for the tiny cafe and Seungmin pulled all his limbs back to himself in embarrassment.

“Hyunjin!” he whisper-scolded to no effect.

“What?” Hyunjin laughed. Seungmin glanced around and a few people were looking their way but more than that, the cafe was now full.

“We should go,” Seungmin said. He liked that cake and he wanted to be able to come back to the cafe without the guilt of embarrassment. He stood and grabbed his coat. Hyunjin had already paid when they ordered so they only needed to leave.

Hyunjin found his actions funny, giggling again, but he stacked their plates for the waitress and left with Seungmin, bowing politely as he went without any more inappropriate hip hop. Seungmin paused in the door, trying to remember which way they came and Hyunjin came up behind him and laced their hands back together.

“Come on,” he said, tugging Seungmin to the right. “This way is fastest back to campus.” That was fine by Seungmin (both the hand-holding and the direction) but he wasn’t sure what the plan was once they got back to campus. Hyunjin (no offence to him) probably needed a shower and a change of clothes and Seungmin had kind of planned on doing some laundry.

“What are you playing?” Hyunjin asked as they waited at yet another traffic light. The traffic gods had not been kind to them but Seungmin didn’t mind the delay.

“Hmm?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin squeezed his hand. “What are you playing, on my hand?”

“Oh!” Seungmin hadn’t even realised he’d been doing it. He stopped for a second before letting his muscle memory work through the tune until his brain recognised it. “Ha. Schindler’s List.”

“Really?” Hyunjin asked, shaking his head in fake annoyance.

“I’ll play it properly for you some time,” Seungmin said, pressing an unnecessary vibrato between the bones of Hyunjin’s hand. “You didn’t hear it at the showcase, did you?”

Hunjin shook his head. “Costume change. I probably wouldn’t have listened to it anyway- I was still mad at you and it would have messed up my performance. Don’t you play anything happy?”

“My favourite band is Day6,” Seungmin said in lieu of answering and Hyunjin shook his head.

“Of course it is.”

Hyunjin stopped at a junction just a few streets from the university.

“I- Do you want to get your pens now?” he asked. “I can’t guarantee what state my flat will be in.”

“If someone has stolen my pens I’m holding you accountable,” Seungmin warned him.

“If someone has stolen your pens then they’ve been in my bedroom and definitely stolen much worse,” Hyunjin answered, leading them towards his home.

“Why, what’s stealable in your room?” Seungmin asked.

“Well, your pens are in my art supplies drawer,” Hyunjin said, “along with my watercolours and art pencils.” Oh. Hyunjin was an artist. That explained the scarily accurate finger heart. “But if they got that far,” Hyunjin continued, “they’ve already raked through half my stuff. I really should have put a lock on my door.”

Hyunjin’s flat looked less destroyed than Seungmin would have thought. They dropped hands at the door and Hyunjin led the way. There was the occasional stray glass but someone must have tidied up at least a little.

“Jesus,” Hyunjin muttered, sticking his head into the kitchen. “I should probably do the dishes later.”

“And put something on that,” Seungmin said, indicating a dark stain on the rug in front of the coffee table.

Hyunjin grimaced. “Yeah. Soap?”

Seungmin stared him down but Hyunjin was being serious. “No. Detergent and vinegar.”

“Oh,” Hyunjin said. “Like, normal vinegar?”

Seungmin could just tell Hyunjin was going to fuck it up and he was too much of a clean freak to let that happen. “Give me back my pens and I’ll do it for you.”

Hyunjin’s face lit up with a smile and he scrambled over the couch to lead the way to his room. “Deal!”

Hyunjin’s bedspread was blue. A nice bright middle shade of blue with matching pillows, made of cotton. His duvet was a little rumpled but, from the pinched look on Hyunjin’s face, that wasn’t his doing.

“Nobody better have had sex in here,” he muttered, flipping off the duvet to examine the sheet before flipping it back down. “I’ll wash them anyway.”

“Good idea,” Seungmin said quietly. He was a little distracted by the collage of pictures on Hyunjin’s cork board. It featured a lot of dancers Seungmin knew vaguely but also some of his friends too- Chan and Felix and Daehwi -and a cute second year music student Seungmin had seen around the department. There were also flowers and buildings and Ggami featured frequently. “Did you take all of these?” he asked.

“Mm, yeah,” Hyunjin said, rummaging in a drawer. “It’s just polaroids so they’re not all good shots. I was capturing memories mostly.”

“I take photos,” Seungmin offered. He wouldn’t go into more detail unless Hyunjin asked. Bragging about your extracurriculars when you were already top of the class just invited hatred.

“You do?” Hyunjin asked. He straightened and handed back Seungmin’s pens, wrapped neatly together with an elastic band with a little note ‘Kim Seungmin’ tucked into it. “What of? Film or digital?”

Seungmin put the pens in his pocket. “Digital,” he answered. “And kind of everything. Friends, mostly. Scenery. I got a really nice shot of the main building at sunset once.”

“With all the glass,” Hyunjin mused. “Nice. I should really go out with my film camera one day but I’m always worried I won’t find something to shoot.”

“There’s lots of stuff,” Seungmin encouraged him. If Hyunjin had a film camera and knew how to use it he was probably a better photographer than Seungmin but still he offered- “We could go together some time?”

Hyunjin smiled and his eyes crinkled into little crescents. “I’d love that.” He went to ruffle his hair and grimaced. “You don’t have to stay, by the way. I can ask the internet how to get that stain out and I should really have a shower before my flatmates wake up and start hugging the toilet.”

The sensible thing to do would be to leave. Unfortunately, Seungmin was riding the high of Hyunjin interactions and he didn’t want to come down.

“I can help,” Seungmin offered. “I like cleaning.”

“You are insane,” Hyunjin told him but he pulled out his desk chair and gestured for Seungmin to sit. He opened a drawer under the desk beside Seungmin and pulled out a few photo print envelopes which he dropped on the desk in front of Seungmin. “You can look at them for now and I’ll have a very quick shower. Then we can clean, together. No cleaning without me, ok?” Hyunjin said sternly.

Seungmin held up a scout promise. “I will stay right here.” Hyunjin’s room was by far the most interesting thing in the house anyway.

“Ok,” Hyunjin said harriedly and dashed about to find clean clothes before he hurried out of the room.

He was back less than a minute later, shirtless, with his clothes clutched to his chest.

“There’s a stranger asleep in my shower!” he squeaked, backing up against his door.

“Really?” Seungmin asked in interest. “How? Did you not know everyone at the party?”

“No,” Hyunjin whined, pulling his t-shirt back over his head. His hair elastic sprang free and his golden hair spilled out over his shoulders in messy waves. “We all just invited everyone. He could be any course. Oh god, what if he’s an actor?”

Seungmin laughed. “He’s probably an actor. Want me to wake him up?”

“Why are you so nice?” Hyunjin asked. “What if he spews on you?”

“Then I get first dibs on the shower?” Seungmin suggested, getting up. Hyunjin shuffled behind him the whole way to the bathroom (that he had to point out) and Seungmin had to muffle a laugh when they arrived. “Well, it’s not an actor,” he informed Hyunjin. He took a face cloth and soaked it in cold water before dropping it over the sleeping boy’s face. “Hey, Eric. Get out the shower.”

“Eric?” Hyunjin exclaimed, peering over Seungmin’s shoulder.

“Hyunjin?” Eric mumbled as he squinted up at them, trying to work out where he was. “Seungmin?”

“Weren’t you blonde?” Hyunjin asked.

“What?” Eric asked. Poor boy.

Seungmin nudged Hyunjin. “Get him some water.”

Hyunjin ran and fetched Eric a glass of water and Seungmin helped him out of the shower.

“Ahh, my back,” Eric moaned, bending over. He had been curled up like a pretzel all night so Seungmin wasn’t surprised.

“Are you hungover,” he asked.

Eric stretched backwards and his back popped. “Uhh, nah, not really. Why is my leg sore?” Eric was wearing skinny jeans so there was no easy way to know but Seungmin would take an educated guess at ‘sleeping in the shower stall’. Hyunjin came back with water and Eric downed it in three gulps. “Am I in your bathroom?” he asked.

“Yes,” Hyunjin replied. “If you could be not in my bathroom while I shower that would be great,” he told his coursemate.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Eric stumbled over his words and his feet. "I can, um, go.”

Eric did not go. Eric made it as far as the hallway and was struck by the same overwhelming need to clean. He didn’t even say a word as he bent to pick empty glasses and plates from the floor and took them to the kitchen. He seemed to know his way around the flat better than Seungmin at least.

Bomin was on the couch and looked up as they passed. “People were still here? I thought everyone left?”

“I came with Hyunjin,” Seungmin explained. “Eric was in the shower.”

Bomin stared at them. “Weirdly, the second is less of a surprise.”

“I can’t believe nobody came to find me,” Eric complained, collecting stray snack bowls from the table. Seungmin eyed the rug. “Like, my whole flat was here!” Eric added as he walked away to the kitchen.

Seungmin only barely knew Bomin but Eric had broken the tension enough for him to ask, “do you mind if I clean the stain out of that rug?”

Bomin craned his neck to see. “If you want to? Go for it, dude. Did Hyunjin force you to come here though..?”

“No, no,”Seungmin said quickly. “I’m here to get my pens back.” He brandished the little bundle. “And I like cleaning, so...”

“You can definitely come to the next party,” Bomin said. “We’ll out-vote Hyunjin.”

“I’m not sure I want to be there,” Seungmin joked as he examined the stain. It seemed to be the largest of several stains now he looked closely. “How attached are you to this rug?”

"It's Sanha's, so not at all," Bomin said. "I would actually prefer it if you set fire to it. It sheds fibres everywhere."

"Do one of you guys play the trombone?" Eric called from the kitchen.

"No?" Bomin replied suspiciously. "Why?"

Eric appeared in the doorway with a u turn of rigid orange plastic. "There's a dis-assembled plastic trombone in your fridge," he announced.

"Sweet, free trombone," Daehwi croaked, stumbling down the hallway towards the kitchen. "Hey Eric, hey Seungmin."

"Hi Daehwi," Seungmin replied. He wondered how long it would take Daehwi to realise he shouldn't be here.

"Do we have ramen?" Daehwi asked and Eric lit up.

"Great question! Do you have ramen?"

They did have ramen and Eric made a large pot of it for them all to share. Seungmin politely declined and started washing their dishes. It didn't take long for the smell to attract the rest of the house's occupants and another three hungover boys bumbled their way to the living room to partake in the feast. Hyunjin, not hungover and now looking even more like a Greek statue than ever, was the last to appear.

"Where's Seungmin?" were the first words out of his mouth.

"Kitchen," Bomin garbled. "Dude, we should keep him. He's like an elf."

"What do you mean.." Hyunjin mumbled in confusion and then his head appeared around the kitchen door. "Seungmin!" he scolded. "I said no cleaning."

"I'm just rinsing all the cups," Seungmin said. "Someone else can clean them later."

"Nope," Hyunjin said and grabbed Seungmin and dragged him backwards, barely giving Seungmin a chance to dry off his hands before he was pulled out of the kitchen, past Hyunjin's friends, and into Hyunjin's room. Hyunjin made sure the door was securely closed before he turned back to Seungmin.

"Seungmin. I can't let you clean up from a party you weren't a part of. Look," Hyunjin looked a little flustered. "I'd like it if you stayed to hang out or, or, we went somewhere, or of course you can just go home because I bullied you and buying you cake absolutely does not undo that-"

"We can go take pictures today if you'd like," Seungmin interrupted him. "We'll need to stop by my flat for my camera but it's a nice day and the light is good."

"Yes," Hyunjin said far too quickly. "Yes, I'd love to. I'll just- find- gotta dry my hair-" Hyunjin was a whirlwind of chaos getting ready. He wouldn't finish one task before starting a new one and more than once Seungmin had to hold something in front of his face before he remembered he wasn't done with it.

"Are you ever on time to class?" Seungmin asked as the door slammed behind them, Hyunjin having not given his flatmates any chance to question where they were going or why they were together.

"My first class? No," Hyunjin answered. "But normally once I'm already out of the house it's fine." Why was Seungmin attracted to this man? They reached the front door and Hyunjin held it open for Seungmin to pass through first before making sure it was shut behind them and sliding his hand into Seungmin's again to tug him down the street. "C'mon my neighbour has pretty flowers."

They did have to let go of each other to take pictures but under the guise of leading the other to the next subject they always came together again, fingers linking in a way that already felt natural. Seungmin got brave enough to initiate it too and Hyunjin smiled at him brilliantly, happy to follow him wherever. It was an electrifying feeling and Seungmin was a little concerned to realise he didn't care about the studying he was missing for this spontaneous outing. Hyunjin could be very bad for Seungmin's future if this kind of thing continued.

"It's over-exposed," Hyunjin complained as he tried to take a picture of Seungmin against the background of the bright blue sky. His camera was far harder to use than Seungmin's and he had to keep checking the settings with his phone to get an idea of what the finished product would be.

"Lower the aperture?" Seungmin suggested, trying not to frown in case Hyunjin suddenly took the shot.

"I dunno," Hyunjin grumbled and sank to a crouch to fiddle with the settings more. Since Seungmin was no longer in frame he felt it was safe to move and came over to squat next to Hyunjin.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's not working," Hyunjin said. He was fast to make judgements and slow to be coaxed to the opposite view but Seungmin knew it could be done.

"Just too bright?"

"I dunno. Your hoodie should contrast really nicely and make you stand out but it's just not. It looked fine on my phone but I wanted the wider lens."

"Try mine," Seungmin suggested, taking the strap off his neck and holding out his precious camera. "You can put it in manual to work it out and then try those settings on yours."

“Are you sure?” Hyunjin asked, cradling the camera carefully. Seungmin reached out and hooked the strap over Hyunjin’s neck.

“I’m sure. Do you want a crash course in the controls?”

“Please,” Hyunjin said and turned to allow Seungmin to see the screen from the same angle as him. Seungmin could hear Hyunjin’s breathing as he leaned in close to explain everything, he could smell Hyunjin’s shampoo, feel the heat of his skin only inches away. It took far more control than it really should have to stop himself leaning into Hyunjin’s side.

“Yeah, so, have a go!” Seungmin finished cheerfully and stepped back to take up his original pose. The distance was good and bad at the same time. Seungmin really needed to get a grip of himself but it was just so hard when Hyunjin crouched for a better angle and murmured ‘cute’ as he lined up Seungmin in the frame.

Far too soon, Seungmin’s camera ran out of battery, giving them a moment to stop and consider their plans. The sensible plan would be to go and get lunch since it was after two and they'd been out taking pictures for hours. Seungmin was a little wary to suggest it though. Their meal at the cafe was circumstance, an olive branch. Taking pictures together- that was taking advantage of an uncommon hobby, sharing techniques and knowledge. A second meal in the same day, however... That would be a date in most people’s eyes. Seungmin wouldn’t be opposed -he was hungry and smitten with Hyunjin already- but Hyunjin had only very recently decided to stop actively hating Seungmin and he didn’t want to push his luck.

“I can’t ask you to hang around and model while I mess about with this,” Hyunjin said, holding up his film camera.

You definitely could, Seungmin thought.

“Should we go…. home?” Hyunjin asked tentatively. Seungmin had almost expected another destination but either Hyunjin couldn’t think of any or he was too shy to offer.

“Do you want to go anywhere else?” Seungmin asked, giving him a second chance to be brave, braver than Seungmin was being. Hyunjin gave a half shrug and turned from side to side without answering yet. Seungmin had a thought that he could probably get some really nice shots of Hyunjin doing one of his dance choreos out here- all strong wide movements against a soft background.

“I’m not overly keen on going home,” Hyunjin admitted. “But I probably should since it was my party to clean up.”

Seungmin had forgotten about that. “Probably,” he agreed neutrally. They held eye contact for what might have been too long.

“Can you take some instagram shots for me first,” Hyunjin suggested holding out his phone. Then we can go.” Seungmin took the offered phone and opened the camera app as Hyunjin worked out where was best to pose.

“Are you Instagram famous, Hyunjin-ssi?” Seungmin asked, seeing how the boy looked through the lens. He already knew Hyunjin had a high following. He himself was even a part of it but it wasn’t suspicious because he didn’t know anyone at university with an account that didn’t also follow Hyunjin.

Hyunjin groaned. “A little,” he admitted. “The photos I take never get the same hits as my selfies though.”

“I like them,” Seungmin said, crouching to make Hyunjin’s legs look longer, not that the boy really needed it.

“You do?” Hyunjin asked, the sultry look falling off his face in surprise.

“Kimchi_sky,” Seungmin said, giving his handle. “You can check.”

“Kimchi sky,” Hyunjin echoed as he committed it to memory. Seungmin took a picture. “Why…?”

“I lived in America,” Seungmin revealed. Hyunjin’s face lit up and he broke into a smile so suddenly Seungmin barely remembered to take a picture and not just stare. “My English name was Sky,” he continued, “and my family name is Kim and I’m Korean so..”

“I lived in America too!” Hyunjin exclaimed. “Las Vegas, as a kid. My name was Sam.”

“I was in L.A.,” Seungmin answered. “I like it better here but the Cheetos were good.”

“I was too young to remember,” Hyunjin said, getting wistful. Seungmin took another few pictures. “It’s so weird that we have so much in common.”

Seungmin stood up and took another picture. “Cameras and countries of residence?”

Hyunjin sent him a look that last week Seungmin would have interpreted as pure hatred. It melted in a second though, nothing but Hyunjin being dramatic and very good at glaring. Seungmin managed to take a picture before it disappeared.

“There’s other stuff,” Hyunjin said unconvincingly. “We’re both friends with Felix, and Channie-hyung.”

“I’m not that close with Chan-hyung,” Seungmin said. “I only know him through Changbin-hyung.”

Hyunjin looked a little surprised at that, his large eyebrows raising slightly. “Oh. Channie-hyung seems to be pretty protective of you though. Last night, when I went to his place, I didn’t even get to say hi and he said ‘why are you hurting a nice boy like Kim Seungmin?’ He wouldn’t even let me in until I explained and promised to stop.”

Seungmin suddenly felt slightly ill and he lowered Hyunjin’s phone to his side. “You’re doing this because Chan-hyung told you to.”

“No, no!” Hyunjin exclaimed, waving his hands between them to erase the words. “Channie-hyung..” Hyunjin suddenly got very red. “Channie-hyung explained all- all these things about you- about how you have a schedule and work harder than everyone else, and you’re, like, super nice to everyone and you don’t hold grudges. And, I, um.” Hyunjin was really red now, the blush creeping down his neck. He took a deep breath before continuing. “I was scared that you might hate me too now if I tried to be nice. But I don’t think you do?”

“I don’t,” Seungmin confirmed, smiling despite Hyunjin doing his very best to be serious about this.

“So, like, I was going to tell you about the winter break but I had no idea when to do it because at school you’re always going somewhere and I had your pens so I was thinking of writing a note but you- I thought it should maybe be in person so there’s no miscommunication because, like, I stole your pens and then I was walking through the park and you were just there and I didn’t really think about what i was going to say and-”

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin interrupted. “Hyunjin. It’s ok.”

“I hadn’t even had a shower,” Hyunjin continued. “And you were having a nice time quietly enjoying your music and I just barged in and asked if you were sad yet? What kind of person does that?”

“Hyunjin.”

“Like, you probably had a whole schedule for today and I’ve ruined it and-”

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin said again and finally Hyunjin stopped talking and listened. “I don’t want to be doing anything else. I don’t want to be with anyone else. I’m really glad you explained why you were mad at me and I’m even more glad that you’ve decided to stop being angry and be my friend. I like you, Hyunjin.”

“Oh,” Hyunjin said. If he blushed any more it was impossible to tell but Seungmin’s face was certainly heating up too now. “Good.”

“Yeah,” Seungmin said awkwardly. He wasn’t sure how Hyunjin had interpreted that but he was just going to pretend that nothing had changed. He handed Hyunjin his phone back. “Hopefully, there’s some good photos in there.”

“What?” Hyunjin asked in confusion. “But I didn’t even pose.” He flicked through the photos, glanced up at Seungmin in puzzlement and looked down again to flick back through the pictures more slowly. “Seungmin, these are amazing.”

“I-”

Hyunjin looked up again. “No, really. These are- have you seen them?” Hyunjin grabbed Seungmin by the shoulder and pulled him close to flick through to where Seungmin had revealed he’d lived in America. “I look like I’m-”

In love, Seungmin’s brain supplied. Hyunjin didn’t finish the thought fast enough and Seungmin swiped through the next few pictures.

“And here you look like you’re planning to murder me,” he commented.

“What did you say?” Hyunjin asked. He rested his head against Seungmin’s and Seungmin could feel the movement of his mouth tugging at his hair.

“I said we didn’t have much in common,” Seungmin said. It had been a lie. Seungmin’s attraction to Hyunjin in the first place had started because they had things in common. They were even almost the same height, Hyunjin's few extra centimetres making Seungmin the perfect height for him to sling his arm around.

"That's not true," Hyunjin said.

"Not really," Seungmin agreed. "It got you to make a good expression though." He flicked through the photos he'd taken. "The full range of human emotion."

"I didn't cry," Hyunjin noted without thinking.

"Do you want me to make you cry?" Seungmin asked teasingly. Hyunjin immediately clamped Seungmin's free arm against his side, pulling him tight against his chest to immobilise him.

"Nope! Not again, Seungminnie. No more."

"I've gotten really good at Schindler's List," Seungmin teased.

"Yes I am aware!" Hyunjin answered. "Never play it again!" He squeezed Seungmin tighter and Seungmin could feel his breath on his neck. "Promise, Seungminnie."

Seungmin awkwardly raised his little finger and Hyunjin slackened his hold for them to make the promise.

"No more Schindler's List," Seungmin promised with their fingers linked. "This year."

"Ever," Hyunjin countered.

"It's a good audition piece!" Seungmin protested.

"It makes me cry!" Hyunjin argued. "Do you want to make me cry?"

"No," Seungmin said softly. "I will only play it when I know you are not around," he offered. It really was too good a piece to give up for good.

"Fine," Hyunjin grumbled and pressed their thumbs together. "If I hear you playing it though, I will demand compensation."

"What kind of compensation?" Seungmin asked. His father was a lawyer and he knew better than to leave these kinds of things down to interpretation.

"A hug," Hyunjin decided. "And free coffee."

"Deal," Seungmin said, unlinking their hands. A hug and a coffee? Seungmin might just start playing Schindler's List again for the opportunity. "Home now?" he asked. "Or do you want more pictures?"

"Can I have a selfie with you to send to Channie-hyung?" Hyunjin asked. Seungmin nodded and Hyunjin arm snaked back over his shoulder. He lifted his phone and shuffled them around until the sun was in their eyes for the best shot.

When Hyunjin counted down Seungmin threw up a peace sign and then Hyunjin counted down again and again and again. Seungmin switched poses every time and even ended up doing aegyo. He didn't think Chan needed quite so many angles to prove they were friends and by the fourth picture he'd started to suspect that some of these photos were never going to reach the older student in the first place.

Hyunjin did lower his phone eventually but Seungmin missed the moment to casually ask for them to be sent to him. He thought about it the whole way home though, the little happy pixel versions of himself hidden away in Hyunjin's phone with the little happy pixel versions of him.

At an unassuming crossroads they stopped, Seungmin going tense. "I live that way," he explained. Hyunjin would head in the other direction.

"Oh," Hyunjin said. He almost loosened his grip on Seungmin's hand and then tightened it again. "We'll split when the lights go green?" he offered, asking to hold Seungmin's hand for one more minute when Seungmin should really be standing around the corner so he could cross at the other pedestrian crossing as quickly as possible. He could run though, if the light didn't give him enough time.

"Yeah," Seungmin agreed. "I'll see you… around." he said. Were they going to be friends at school as well now? Hyunjin had been pretty vocal about his dislike of Seungmin the last few weeks and Seungmin wasn't an idiot- he knew hand holding like this wasn't a 'new friends' kind of action. People would talk.

"I'm in your department sometimes," Hyunjin said. "To meet my cousin. Yang Jeongin? He's the year below- oh." The pedestrian light had turned green, accompanied by an incessant beeping telling them to get a move on.

"Bye," Seungmin said, giving Hyunjin's hand one last squeeze before he let go. It didn't feel like enough but they were still practically strangers.

"Bye," Hyunjin said and Seungmin tried to tell himself he was imagining how forlorn it sounded. They turned in opposite directions to obey the beeping and only when Seungmin was safe on the other side of the road did he look back to find Hyunjin doing the same on the other side of the intersection. He waved goodbye and then turned away to finish his walk home alone.

"Where were you?" Minho asked. He was sitting on the first steps to Seungmin's building, swinting up at him in the sunlight.

"How long have you been there?" Seungmin countered. He'd left to go on his photography outing with Hyunjin hours ago.

Minho waved his question away. "Just let me in. My butt is numb."

Seungmin did and Minho followed him up the stairs and into his room without invitation.

"I thought you were busy today," Seungmin said.

"I was," Minho lay out on Seungmin's floor, knowing his bed was out of bounds. "Now I'm not. I thought you had an appointment with being all sad and lonely today." Of course Minho had heard about the party.

"I rescheduled," Seungmin said dryly, nudging Minho's leg out of the way so he could put his camera back on his shelf.

"Were you taking pictures?" Minho asked. "Show me."

"No," Seungmin replied. Hyunjin was in far too many of those photos. "You can see them after editing.

"Seungmiiiiin," Minho whined. "Show meeeee."

"No," Seungmin said again. "You can see them later."

"Stop being a perfectionist," Minho complained. "Show me your blurry photos. I came all the way here and sat on the concrete for you."

"I didn't ask you to," Seungmin said. "If you'd phoned me I would have told you I was busy."

"I did phone you," Minho said. "And you didn't reply. Why else would I sit on your step for so long?"

Oh. Despite knowing him for years, Minho's tsundere qualities still took Seungmin by surprise. "I was fine," Seungmin said quietly. "You didn't need to worry."

"I wasn't worried," Minho lied. He rolled to his feet and his knees popped as he stood. Bad knees. Hyunjin had said dancers had bad knees. "You need to feed me now," Minho demanded.

Seungmin didn't really feed him. Minho raided his cupboards and made lunch for both of them while Seungmin made coffee. Minho had been his RA in first year so it was an easy routine, even if the kitchen layout wasn't quite the same.

"So," Minho said, when they were halfway through their meal. "Hwang Hyunjin."

"What about him?" Seungmin said cagily.

"Am I just scaring the living daylights out of him or can I injure him too?"

"He's the top dancer in our year, do not injure him," Seungmin said. "And don't scare him either. He's already apologised and you'll make him cry."

"Damn right, I'll make him cry," Minho said.

"Hyung," Seungmin admonished him. "Leave him alone. Really, it's fine."

Minho made a noncommittal noise.

"Hyung." Seungmin tried again. "Do not traumatise Hyunjin."

"He bullied you!" Minho exclaimed.

"It was barely bullying," Seungmin argued. "And I, really, did far worse to him."

"You did?" Minho asked, eyes lighting up in excitement. "What did you do?"

"I made him cry," Seungmin mumbled. "Several times."

"Seriously?" Minho grinned. "Seungminnie." He should really have sounded less proud of that. “Do you punch him?”

“No!” Seungmin frowned at Minho. “I was playing violin.”

“Lame,” Minho declared, stuffing his mouth. “You should have punched him.”

“I’ll leave that to Jisung,” Seungmin joked and Minho laughed so hard he nearly choked.

Seungmin must have done something right to convince Minho he wasn’t wallowing in misery because, after piling up all the dishes for Seungmin to do, he left. This was extremely good for Seungmin because he’d been itching to get the photos downloaded off his camera sim card onto his laptop for entirely too long.

“Why are you so pretty?” he told the picture of Hyunjin under the cherry blossoms that he was not going to set as his laptop background. It was worse than Hyunjin being just pretty, he also had a cherry blossom tucked into to his hair where Seungmin had been instructed to put it and Seungmin could remember the texture of his heavy blonde strands and how carefully he’d had to twist them to get the flower to stay in place for just a moment. Hyunjin had smiled so softly at him as well until Seungmin had reminded him to direct his gaze to the lens. There were other shots in that series but this was Seungmin’s favourite because it was the only one where Hyunjin wasn’t posing to highlight his features. There was no focus on his long legs or strong nose or sharp jawline. He wasn’t even doing that smile, the one he used on stage that was dangerous and alluring. This smile was shy, blooming on its own, and it had been aimed straight at Seungmin.

Not all of Seungmin’s pictures were of Hyunjin, some were even of himself, taken by Hyunjin, and he had managed to tear his eyes away from his crush long enough to appreciate their surroundings too. The best ones were of Hyunjin though. He wasn’t sure what to do with them. Was it weird to send them to Hyunjin? Was it weirder to keep them? Unable to reach a decision, he edited them and hid them all in a folder, inconspicuously named, before taking his violin to the practice room for some distraction.

Seungmin spent his Sunday similarity studiously distracted. Monday, however, Monday he got pretty distracted.

“That Hyunjin kid is here again,” Changbin told him as Seungmin joined him to leave orchestral practice. Seungmin had stayed behind to discuss his solo with the conductor after making sure all the chairs and stands were correctly put away and now the only other students still left were percussionists struggling to pack all their equipment back up and a few stray brass players.

“He might be waiting for his cousin,” Seungmin said. If Hyunjin was here for him, Seungmin just knew he was going to embarrass himself. Changbin didn’t give him a moment to say his final words if that was the case and just slammed open the door, walking out like he owned the place. Hyunjin was leaning against the lockers and looked up as the glass in the door rattled when it hit the wall.

“Whoops,” Changbin said cheerfully. “Too many push-ups.”

“Hi,” Hyunjin said shyly to Seungmin. “Have you seen Jeongin? He’s like this tall, fringe down into his eyes, plays the tuba.”

“Oh! Tuba baby!” Changbin said enthusiastically. He knew the entire orchestra, but not by name apparently. “Not going to lie, I think he might have broken something.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes and pushed off of Seungmin’s locker. “Not again. Do you think it’s ok if I go in?”

“Sure,” Changbin said and Hyunjin walked past them, offering Seungmin a shy smile as they made eye contact.

“So,” Changbin said when they were alone.

“Nope,” Seungmin countered, walking quickly away. Unfortunately, Changbin was strong, and clingy. “Nope,” Seungmin said louder but it was clear Changbin was going nowhere without answers. “Hyung, please,” he hissed. “Hyunjin is right through that door.”

“Oh?” Changbin said, loosening his hold a little. “It’s like that, is it? Ok. Hyung will leave you alone but I want answers later.”

“Later,” Seungmin promised and stopped at his locker while Changbin forged on ahead to his underground studio. He had half expected his locker to not be as he had left it before orchestra and he was right. Nothing seemed to be missing this time but there was a little note the same as there had been before with Hyunjin’s now-familiar handwriting.

Your solo sounds beautiful, the note said this time so presumably Hyunjin had been waiting out in the corridor for a while, listening. The thought made Seungmin feel a little shy even though everyone with a right to judge his playing had been in the room with him. Under the words (in red pen again) was another sketch. This time it was a thumbs up, skillfully done to give light shading for the tendons and knuckles and there was even the added detail of a freckle on the back of the hand, just below the thumb…

Wait a second.

Seungmin held up his own hand, left, same as the drawing and twisted it awkwardly so he could see it at the same angle. It was Seungmin’s hand. That was his freckle.

“Hyunjin, what the fuck,” Seungmin whispered in wonder. Hyunjin must have had a reference, a test shot he’d sneakily taken on his phone while getting the settings for his film camera, but even still it was impressive. Had he drawn it here, leaning against Seungmin’s locker, listening to Seungmin play? Or had he drawn it in advance, thinking of Seungmin even when he wasn’t there? Either option was enough to make Seungmin’s heart race.

He folded the note carefully to keep in the back of his phone case until he was somewhere more private to study it better and scribbles on the back caught his attention. He turned the note over and saw that the back was covered in symbols. Circles and arrows and numbers and stick figures in different positions. Seungmin knew Felix and Minho well enough to know what it was- choreo notes. Position changes, by the looks of it. He wondered if Hyunjin had meant to give that to him or if he was now missing vital information.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to spend too long having a moral dilemma as Hyunjin came out of the band room with his little cousin in tow and caught Seungmin with the note in his hands.

“I- Do you need this?” Seungmin asked, holding it out, choreo up.

“Huh?” Hyunjin asked, letting the door shut quietly behind him before stepping towards Seungmin. “No, that was for-” he cut himself off as he realised it wasn’t the drawing that Seungmin was showing him. “Oh!” Hyunjin took the note and turned it ninety degrees to frown at it for a second. “Shit, yeah.” He glanced up at Seungmin with a torn expression.

“You need to keep it?” Seungmin asked with a smile.

“Yeah, sorry-”

“Hyung, take a picture,” Jeongin interrupted them tiredly. Hyunjin nodded and Seungmin took back the note while Hyunjin fumbled for his phone. Hyunjin’s flash had barely dimmed and Jeongin added. “And for God’s sake, get his number already.”

Seungmin met Hyunjin’s eyes, both of them flushing and Hyunjin awkwardly held out his phone. “If you wanna…?”

“I do wanna,” Seungmin said boldly, taking it. “I have pictures to send you.”

“I’m going to go find Channie-hyung!” Jeongin announced loudly and walked past them.

“Ya! I waited for you!” Hyunjin yelled after him. Jeongin ignored him. “He’s an ungrateful brat,” Hyunjin told Seungmin.

“Cute though,” Seungmin commented. He’d seen Jeongin around a lot, he’d realised. He associated the boy more with the piano, which he practiced frequently in the same practice room Seungmin used, and he was always smiling when Seungmin passed him even though his long hair made it difficult to see his eyes.

“He’s off limits,” Hyunjin said so seriously Seungmin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not like that,” he assured his crush. “Little-brother-cute."

"He's off limits for that too," Hyunjin said, joking now. "I don't have any siblings so I adopted Innie and I can't have him finding another Hyung to get close to. Who else will I force my hugs upon?"

Seungmin finished typing in his number and saved it before opening his arms to make an offer. "If you let me bother Jeongin, you can hug me."

"And if I don't let you bother Jeongin?" Hyunjin asked, already wrapping his arms around Seungmin's back. He curled himself smaller when he hugged, tucking himself between Seungmin's shoulders with his arms squeezing tightly at Seungmin's narrow waist.

"Mm, then hugs are off limits," Seungmin said, echoing Hyunjin's earlier phrasing, but he pressed his cheek against Hyunjin's head and squeezed him back before letting go.

"Fine, you can bother Jeongin," Hyunjin said, stepping back quickly as the last students came out of the band room. "You have to bother him though- not preferential treatment."

"Oh, don't worry," Seungmin said. "He's going to be so embarrassed the next time I see him practicing."

"Tuba?" Hyunjin asked as they started to amble down the corridor. He had his phone back in exchange for the note and the backs of their hands were touching as they walked but neither had been bold enough to make a move to the hand holding Seungmin was itching for.

"Piano," Seungmin said. "We use the same practice room."

"Ah, small world," Hyunjin noted. "He's really good at piano."

Seungmin hummed in agreement. They reached the lifts and Seungmin would normally take a turn down the corridor to the aforementioned practice room but Hyunjin was no doubt chasing Jeongin to the basement so Seungmin decided he could go visit Changbin too. He pressed the button for lower floors and Hyunjin looked at him in surprise.

"You're going too?"

"I can do," Seungmin said. Maybe Hyunjin didn't want more people to see them together. "I know Chan-hyung's friends." He paused, wondering if he was being too invasive but ultimately decided to add, "you know, Jisung will almost definitely be there."

"Oh, no, fuck that," Hyunjin said immediately, stepping back from the lift. "Tell Jeongin he can starve."

"You're really leaving?" Seungmin laughed as Hyunjin set off down the corridor at a brisk pace. The lift pinged to let them know it had arrived at their level. "Hyunjin? Jisung's not that bad!"

"Yes he is!" Hyunjin answered cheerily and disappeared around the corner.

"Where's Hyung?" Jeongin asked when Seungmin arrived alone at the little makeshift studio.

"Jisung scared him off," Seungmin informed him. "He said you can starve."

Jeongin frowned. "Rude." You could tell he and Hyunjin were related- they made exactly the same expression. They both also changed emotions in an instant. "Who wants to pay for my lunch?" Jeongin asked the room at large.

"I'll feed you, Innie," Chan promised, not stopping in his production for a second.

"Now," Jeongin added.

Chan stayed slack-jawed in concentration for a moment before the words registered. "Uhh, I can't do now."

"Of course you can't," Jeongin grumbled. "Jisung-hyung?" he asked. "Since you scared my wallet away."

"You already asked my wallet," Jisung replied from the floor. (He'd never managed to explain it properly to Seungmin but he claimed to think better when under tables.) "And he said no."

"Some Hyung you are," Jeongin said. "Changbin-hyung? Money. Food."

Changbin didn't hear him, too busy concentrating on his lyrics.

"Changbin-hyung!"

Nothing.

"Bin," Chan intervened, moving Changbin's phone out of his reach so he looked up.

"What?"

"You pay, I eat," Jeongin said, simplifying his demands. "Now."

"Lunch?" Changbin asked. "Yeah, we can go for lunch? What do you want?"

"Jackpot," Jeongin said, ignoring the question.

"Can I come?" Jisung asked now that someone else was paying. "I want sushi."

Jisung did get to come but he didn't get sushi. Changbin invited Seungmin along as well and, since he was loaded and very weak to the pleading of his dongsaengs, they got barbeque. Unfortunately, nothing good in life came free (except maybe if you were Jeongin) and Seungmin was grilled by his peers alongside the meat.

"So you and Hwang Hyunjin are on speaking terms now?" Jisung asked with a greasy smile. Seungmin greatly regretted letting him find out about his crush.

"It's worse than that," Jeongin said, stuffing an alarming quantity of food in his mouth. "Hyung is leaving him love letters."

"It's not that!" Seungmin quickly refuted. "The first one was a.. a.. threat?"

"What did it say?" Changbin asked, invested despite himself.

"Well, it said 'have a good weekend'," Seungmin said, hurrying over the words, "BUT that was when he'd banned me from the party everyone was going for and he'd stolen all my pens, so."

"I don't see how that's a threat," Jisung said. "'I will fucking wrap you around a lampost, Han Jisung'- now that's a threat."

"Who said that to you?" Changbin said defensively, sitting up a little straighter.

"Hwang Hyunjin," Jisung grinned. "I thought it pretty clever actually because I'd just told him he couldn't rap."

"Did you tell him you thought it was clever?" Changbin asked in concern. Jisung's responses to confrontation were known to be unpredictable and dangerous.

"Nah, I screamed in his face," Jisung said happily, filling his cheeks with beef while Changbin was distracted.

"Were you standing on a chair?" Jeongin asked him mockingly. He got a friendly slap on the arm for his wit.

"Ya! He's not that tall!" Jisung protested. "I'm tall!"

The conversation derailed, as conversations always did when Jisung was around, and Seungmin thankfully was not interrogated about his relationship to Hyunjin again. At least, not on that outing. It was a small world, however, and an even smaller university.

Seungmin encountered Jeongin again the next day at their practice room and felt they were close enough to comment 'your vocal tone is really unique' of Jeongin's singing as he finished up.

"Mm, bad-unique," Jeongin said, self-depreciatively. "I stand out too much."

"Good-unique," Seungmin argued. "It's a really full sound. Not a lot of people have that naturally. I've been trying to add depth to my higher notes for months but I'm a baritone and my voice just gets too thin.” It was something he was self-conscious about but if the admission got Jeongin to feel a little better about himself it would be worth it.

"Are you going to sing now?" Jeongin asked. His slot in the practice room was over and Seungmin's was just starting.

"Yeah," Seungmin answered. "You can watch?" he offered timidly. "If you'd like?"

Jeongin nodded enthusiastically, big eyes shining. It made Seungmin both nervous and confident at the same time.

"So, you and my cousin," Jeongin said when they took a break to drink fifteen minutes later.

"Yes," Seungmin answered, grudgingly allowing Jeongin to continue.

"Do you like him?"

"Why?" Seungmin answered, screwing the cap back on his water bottle. If Jeongin had more information, Seungmin wanted to hear it before he got vulnerable.

Jeongin shrugged. "Seems like he likes you and he'll just continue to be weird about it until you ask him out or tell him you hate him."

"I don't hate him," Seungmin said.

"Are you going to ask him out then?" Jeongin challenged him.

"No," Seungmin replied. That was a lie, he'd already decided he was going to.

"He's going to keep leaving you weird notes," Jeongin warned him.

"That's alright," Seungmin said. "As long as he doesn't steal my pens again."

"You guys are weird," Jeongin declared.

“Everyone is weird,” Seungmin said confidently. “You’ve met Jisung.”

Jeongin frowned dramatically for a moment (lower lip stuck out in a pout, eyebrows deeply furrowed, eyes cast to one side) and then resumed his natural expression and shrugged in agreement. "Has Hyunjin-hyung texted you yet?" he asked.

"No," Seungmin said. It didn't bother him, he'd see Hyunjin in person soon enough. Hyunjin hadn’t been able to stay away when he'd hated Seungmin and, if Seungmin was reading the signs right, his feelings were now at least a little romantic, so if anything he should appear more often.

"He's an idiot," Jeongin said. "Do I have to walk him through every step?" He sighed and picked up his bag. "Expect a text later," he said and left the room without even a goodbye.

"Tha..nks?" Seungmin said to the closed door. Jeongin was an unusual kid.

"Jeongin's trying to get the credit for setting us up," Hyunjinnie said without preamble just a few hours later, catching up to Seungmin on the steps that lead down around the ornamental pond. His golden hair was spilling loose from his hair tie and strands of it were catching in his mouth with the wind.

"He did get you my number," Seungmin pointed out, tucking Hyunjin's hair behind his ear.

"I could have gotten that myself," Hyunjin argued. "It's more romantic to leave you notes."

"The first one was a threat," Seungmin pointed out but he was smiling because Hyunjin had just admitted to trying to romance him.

"Ok, maybe," Hyunjin admitted, also smiling so wide that little dimples appeared in his cheeks. "But- but-" He took Seungmin's right hand and folded it to hold Seungmin's finger heart between their eyes. "It had a heart in it, two hearts."

"Yeah," Seungmin agreed. He pushed his hand forward until his finger heart knocked against the bridge of Hyunjin's nose. "But now you've broken into my locker twice."

Hyunjin held Seungmin's hand still and puckered his lips to press a kiss to the back of Seungmin's hand before pulling their arms down to link their fingers, an action that already felt natural and right. "Sorry," he said. "I'll take you on a second date to make up for it."

"Where are we going?" Seungmin asked. His heart was singing but he did his best to remain chill and attractive on the outside.

"Do you like dogs?" Hyunjin asked. Seungmin did. "We could go to a dog cafe?"

That sounded cute and the dogs would be a nice distraction so he wouldn't have to worry about running out of conversation or staring at Hyunjin too long.

"Yeah," Seungmin agreed. He was already tingling all over at the thought of a real date with Hyunjin. He could probably flirt overtly now, maybe kiss Hyunjin's cheek at some point? That would be amazing.

"Sorry," Hyunjin interrupted Seungmin’s thoughts with an amused lilt to his voice, “can I have my hand back for a moment?" He tugged at the hand laced with Seungmin's.

"Oh! Yeah, no problem," Seungmin said, letting him go. His arm felt misplaced without the pull of Hyunjin and he swung it by his side once before clasping his hands behind his back.

"I'm just going to call up," Hyunjin said, putting his phone to his ear. "You need a booking."

Seungmin nodded, standing quietly so as not to distract Hyunjin while he spoke on the phone. Hyunjin still pulled faces at him between responses.

"Oh. Really?" he answered eventually. "Wow. Let me just check with my date's schedule." He pulled the phone away from his ear and covered the microphone. "The earliest they've got that's a decent time is in two weeks. The fifteenth at four thirty."

Seungmin pulled out his own phone to check. It was a Thursday so he didn't have any classes at that time but he knew the football team trained on a Thursday night.

"Thursday," he said. "You've got football." Hyunjin pulled an exaggerated pained face. It was only two weeks into term now and Seungmin knew from baseball that the fifteenth would be around the time they'd be looking to see who was committed to select for the team. "What weird times do that have? We can do a weird date." Their first hadn't exactly been conventional.

"Hi," Hyunjin said, bringing the phone back to his ear. "That won't work unfortunately. What do you have during the day? We might be able to fit it around classes." Seungmin held out his phone where his class schedule and room bookings were integrated with his personal calendar and Hyunjin flicked through it as he listened to the options. "Next Tuesday, ten o'clock?" he asked Seungmin, letting him see his schedule again. Seungmin nodded and Hyunjin wrapped up the call, giving his name and contact information.

"Ok, so that's date number three," Hyunjin said. "I'm not waiting a whole week to spend time with you again."

"Who says I have time to go on another date with you before then?" Seungmin teased.

"Your schedule," Hyunjin answered seriously. "I'm not free tonight but you have a gap tomorrow between classes and baseball."

"I normally use that gap to eat," Seungmin pointed out.

"That's the great thing about dates!" Hyunjin said. "There's normally food involved!"

Seungmin couldn't act disinterested any longer and he smiled at Hyunjin's goofiness. "Ok. Chicken?" he asked. "It can't be fried though if I've got practice after. I'll feel sick."

"Naked chicken," Hyunjin agreed. "Awesome. When? Where? Wait, I have your number and I never texted you!"

Hyunjin pulled out his phone right there and immediately texted Seungmin. It was ten pictures of the two of them, the ones that were supposed to be proof of their 'friendship' for 'Chan'. The fifth picture looked very familiar.

"This was your reference," he noted, seeing the way his thumbs up had accidently pulled the focus, leaving their faces blurred.

"Mmm," Hyunjin agreed, leaning over Seungmin's shoulder. "Your thumb is weirdly long."

Seungmin jabbed two fingers towards Hyunjin's eyes. "In music that's a good thing."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing!" Hyunjin defended himself. "It was just an observation."

Seungmin hummed, letting Hyunjin know he wasn't fully forgiven for his observation but swiped out of the pictures to save Hyunjin's number. Hyunjin suddenly tensed.

"What?" Seungmin asked him.

"You know how I said the other day that I was normally late for my first class but then I was on time?" Hyunjin said.

"You're late for class," Seungmin deduced.

"I am so late for class," Hyunjin said. He leaned around and kissed Seungmin on the cheek. "I'll text you about tomorrow. Bye!" And with that he took off at a sprint up the steps towards the dance building, his backpack nearly tripping him up as it slipped down his arm.

"Be careful!" Seungmin yelled after him. When he was alone on the steps again he had a moment to think. Was he really dating Hwang Hyunjin now? Was that a thing that was happening, to him? He looked down at his phone and the photos of Hyunjin grinning by his side. It was looking increasingly likely.

The next morning Seungmin was a mess. His style was normally pretty predictable, described as 'dandy' by some of his friends. He wore neat, calming colours, and either shirts, t-shirts or hoodies, and jeans. His clothes were comfortable and unrestrictive for playing, not making any strong statements. However, he had a date after class and no time to change for it. His favourite jeans were a given but should he wear a shirt? Would that seem too formal? They were just going to a chicken place and then Seungmin would need to head to the playing fields afterwards where anything he wore would get crushed in his bag when he changed. Maybe a shirt was too much. On any other day with limited time he would just wear his sports gear all day since he wouldn’t get it sweaty until the evening but that would make it look like he didn’t care and he did care about Hyunjin. A lot. In the end he settled on a logo T-shirt and a hoodie, good for class and also a casual date. That didn’t stop him fretting over his choices all day.

He only got more nervous as the day went on and then Hyunjin was late to meet him, giving Seungmin even more time to panic and second-guessing all of his choices. However, his worries melted instantly when he saw his date walk into a glass door on his way out of the dance building.

"Sorry I'm late," Hyunjin gasped, pushing his damp hair back from his face. "I had a shower."

"Is your head ok?" Seungmin asked.

"What?" Hyunjin attempted to tame some of his hair into a half-bun.

"I saw you walk into that door."

Hyunjin glowered. "It normally opens automatically but yeah, I'm fine. Did you have to wait long?"

Seungmin shrugged. He'd been standing outside for 15 minutes but that was more to do with his need to be early than Hyunjin being late. He didn't mind though- this date was far better than going home to make himself some cheap questionable meal with what was left in his fridge.

“Are you cold?” Hyunjin asked, slipping his hand into Seungmin’s in what was a familiar ritual at this point. “Oh, you are.”

“I’m fine,” Seungmin said. His hand was only marginally colder than Hyunjin’s and Hyunjin had been exerting himself.

“Come on, let’s go,” Hyunjin said, starting them walking. “You need warmth and I’m starving.”

“Busy day?” Seungmin asked.

“Yeah.” Hyunjin yawned and then excused himself. “Sorry- fresh air. I was learning a flip as well as choreo today and it was taking more effort than it should.”

“Wow,” Seungmin commented.

Hyunjin shook his head. “No, no. That’s not because I’m good, it’s because I’m bad at it. Felix could do that, like, last year. I just tense up too much when I’m upside down and it messes up my landing. I have bruises everywhere and I’ve only been learning it for two days.”

“Be careful,” Seungmin said. It was common enough to see dancers walking around campus with medical tape and compression sleeves sticking out of their clothes but there were also always a few on crutches or with casts on their arms. A major injury really set them back mentally and physically and Seungmin didn’t want to see that happen to Hyunjin.

“I will,” Hyunjin said. “I had crash mats. How was your day?”

“Saw your cousin,” Seungmin said with a smirk. “Scared the shit out of him.”

“Excellent,” Hyunjin laughed.

A lot of people stared as they walked through the campus together. It wasn't even peak class time but unfortunately it looked like at least half of the students around knew either him or Hyunjin and they got a lot of double takes.

"Maybe we should have met off campus," Hyunjin whispered, walking close to hide their linked hands.

"Am I ruining your reputation?" Seungmin asked, failing to keep the bite out of his words. He liked Hyunjin and he wanted to spend more time with him but not if it was going to be like this any time they were around their peers. Seungmin had too much self-respect for that.

"Umm, no," Hyunjin said distractedly. "It's just.. I'm not really…. out- and I'm not trying to hide it or anything- but this is quite a lot."

So he was embarrassed, but not quite for the reason Seungmin thought he was. "We can stop holding hands," Seungmin offered and Hyunjin clung to him more tightly.

"No!" he said quickly. "I really really like holding your hand. I just… Keep talking, distract me."

"You're sure?" Seungmin asked as a girl in their year passed them with wide eyes looking them up and down.

"Yeah," Hyunjin said a little breathlessly. "They were going to find out anyway and being gay is fine, totally fine."

"Totally fine," Seungmin echoed, squeezing his hand. "I thought you dated girls before though."

"Well, yeah, technically I'm bi or something," Hyunjin said. "I dunno. I was kind of procrastinating it."

"Procrastinating liking guys?" Seungmin asked with a laugh.

"Yeah?" Hyunjin laughed too. "Or doing something about it. I mean, I'm a dancer- I can see guys are hot but I was mostly pretending it was aesthetic, that I was admiring their form, you know."

"Oh no, I am well aware that I'm watching dancers because they're hot," Seungmin said. "I couldn't give a shit how fancy your footwork is."

“But I worked really hard on that footwork,” Hyunjin said, trying to pout but breaking into a grin. Seungmin had meant his ‘your’ to be plural but now they were flirting directly he supposed. Or, Hyunjin was flirting directly. His words were nonsense- there wasn’t even a particular moment for them to be referencing. Seungmin had watched Hyunjin’s performances plenty of times but Hyunjin hadn’t noticed him or let him know in advance which dances had difficult footwork.

He should probably flirt back.

“Stop smirking when you dance then and give me a reason to look down,” Seungmin said. It came out perhaps a little dirtier than he intended and Hyunjin’s grip on his hand tightened like a snake constricting its prey. They exchanged a knowing look but it was really too early to push things that far, especially as Hyunjin was a little new to boys. Seungmin tapped the back of Hyunjin’s knuckles to get him to relax. “Second date,” Seungmin reminded him.

“Why did I not notice you earlier?” Hyunjin said rhetorically, walking at an angle so he bumped into Seungmin’s side and could tip his head onto Seungmin’s shoulder for a moment before walking properly again.

“Because we study different subjects and I’m friends with Jisung, whom you avoid like the plague,” Seungmin answered. The shop they were headed to was suddenly on the right, appearing far faster than it even had on walks from the campus before. “We’re here,” he announced, steering Hyunjin into the shop.

Once they were seated and had placed their orders Hyunjin picked up the conversation again. “Are you like close friends with Jisung?”

“Is that a dealbreaker?” Seungmin asked lightly. “Chan-hyung is probably closer to Jisung than I am, and Felix and Jeongin are friends with him too.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Hyunjin said. “But I socialise with them separately from Jisung so we don’t have to interact. If we’re dating I’ll probably have to meet your friends.” It was very cute that he was already thinking about them dating long-term and integrating himself in Seungmin’s life.

“He’s not that bad,” Seungmin said. “You need to stop judging people by your first impressions of them.”

Hyunjin wrinkled his nose and fiddled with the sriracha bottle left on the table. He didn't like that idea.

“Hyunjinnie,” Seungmin said teasingly, tapping his fingers on the table in Hyunjin’s line of sight.

“Just because you turned out to be really nice doesn’t mean Jisung will be,” Hyunjin grumbled.

“Ok, Jisung isn’t nice,” Seungmin admitted. “But he’s funny and caring and one of my best friends so I think you should give him a second chance. I’ll try and stop him from insulting you on sight.”

Hyunjin dropped the sriracha and threw up his hands. “See! Even you think he’d start a fight with me.”

“You would win a fight with Jisung anyway,” Seungmin said. “You’re taller and stronger and you have good body control.”

“You’ve thought about this,” Hyunjin said after a second of silence.

“Maybe,” Seungmin admitted.

"I've never been in a fight," Hyunjin said.

"Neither has Jisung," Seungmin assured him. "Whenever someone squares up to him he talks really fast until he convinces them he's too small and pathetic to punch."

"I'm not sure I could pull that off," Hyunjin said.

Seungmin shrugged. It did seem unlikely with Hyunjin's build. "Jisung has a talent."

They kept talking when their food arrived, and while they ate, and after they (Seungmin) paid and started heading for the playing fields. Conversation was easy with lives that had run so closely in parallel until now. They knew the same people, went to the same places, liked the same foods. Hyunjin even knew the same shortcut to the fields that Seungmin had discovered all by himself. It was like this whole time Seungmin had been living half-experiences and they came into full colour with Hyunjin beside him.

When they got to the playing fields some of Seungmin's teammates were already there, warming up and practicing their hits. Eric was at bat and as Seungmin watched he struck the ball with impressive force. His form was always beautiful but he'd failed to notice the spin his pitcher had put on the ball and it sailed into the air in a beautiful arc.

"Oh fuck," they heard Eric say and Seungmin stepped across to the fence to lean in and yell

"OUT!!" good-naturedly.

Eric's head whipped around and he spotted them. "You don't know that!!" he yelled back, pointing the bat at Seungmin.

"Out!!" a tiny voice called from the far end of the field.

Eric sighed. "Good job, Yeji!" he shouted over to the girl holding up the ball before turning back to Seungmin. "Stop gloating."

"I'm not," Seungmin said. He was feeling great though and part of it might have been calling Eric's bat correctly. Eric handed the bat off to the next hitter and came over the fence to speak to them as Seungmin walked round to the gate. Hyunjin dropped his hand. Seungmin didn't blame him.

"Why're you wearing jeans?" Eric asked when he was close enough not to shout. "Did you forget we had practice?"

"I've got my kit in my bag," Seungmin said, shrugging his shoulders to make his backpack bounce. "I'll change."

"Someone's been opening the lockers again," Eric warned him. "I would leave your stuff at the edge of the field."

"Yeah, I've lost enough stuff from lockers recently," Seungmin said pointedly.

"I gave it back," Hyunjin complained.

"What are you stealing, Hwang?" Eric asked curiously.

"Hearts and fineliners," Hyunjin replied with a wink. "Kisses," he added and pecked Seungmin's cheek before sprinting off down the street the way they had just come. Seungmin was mortified and enamored all at once.

"Ohhh, so you're not friends," Eric said. "It makes sense now. Cute that he walked you to practice."

Seungmin watched Hyunjin spare a glance at the traffic before running across the road and around the corner out of sight. His running form was excellent- big easy strides and a straight back once he'd settled at his cruising pace.

"Yeah," Seungmin answered Eric a little too late and turned back to focus on stepping through the gate. He couldn't remember the question. Had there been a question?

Eric laughed and patted him on the back. "Go get changed. I need practice with your splitters."

By the next morning it was clear that word had gotten around about him and Hyunjin being together. He was sure Eric had a small hand in it but them walking through campus before dinner would have seeded more rumours. He got a few teasing comments from his classmates and curious enquiries from some of his closer friends but the person that really surprised him was Professor Kang.

"Seungmin!" his vocal teacher greeted him. He didn't even have a lesson, the man just hailed him down in the corridor.

"Hello, Professor Kang," Seungmin said, stopping and bowing slightly.

"You're looking bright today. Soulful," his teacher said, none-too-slyly.

“What have you heard?” Seungmin asked, resigned but not unwilling to have this conversation. He’d known Professor Kang for two years now and he liked the man a lot, even though he did have a tendency to pry into his students’ lives.

“Kim Seungmin, acclaimed first chair violinist, has been seen smiling and laughing hand in hand with the star of the dance department,” Professor Kang announced like he was a newsreader.

“I had a date,” Seungmin admitted. “It went very well.”

“So, a love song this week,” Professor Kang said enthusiastically.

“Sir,” Seungmin protested half-heartedly.

“No, no, this is good, Seungmin.” Professor Kang said. “We can get you to really connect with the emotion of the song.”

Seungmin wasn’t sure he was ready to really connect with a love song. He was two dates into a possible relationship with a boy he’d never spoken to before. It was much too early to be calling anything he was feeling love.

“If you say so,” he replied hesitantly.

“I do!” Professor Kang said enthusiastically. A girl with long dark hair hiding her face diverged from the flow of students and ducked her head in greeting towards them before slipping into Professor Kang’s lesson room. His next pupil. Professor Kang was too slow to return the gesture before she was through the door but it was enough of a distraction for Seungmin to make his escape.

“I’ll see you Friday, Professor Kang,” he said and bowed. “Have a good day.”

“Bottle those emotions, Seungmin!” Professor Kang reminded him as he left.

Seungmin went to the library after that. The routine was comforting after so many unpredictable encounters that morning and he could spend a few hours with himself, away from the curious questions about his love life. He got through the barrier at the entrance with ease and planned to go straight to the seventh floor where he always studied but in a moment of indecision between taking the lift or the stairs he spotted long golden hair skimming the wide shoulders of a back curved in concentration. He knew it was Hyunjin without having to look closer and he couldn’t stop himself from going over to see him.

“Isn’t it a little narcissistic to draw yourself?” Seungmin asked as he sat down.

Hyunjin jumped before noticing who it was and he put a hand to his racing heart. “Seungminnie,” he said once he’d recovered. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Seungmin grinned. Being next to Hyunjin was addicting. He leaned into his side so he could better see the sketch hidden by Hyunjin’s arm. “Show me.”

Hyunjin flipped the page over and put his hand on top. “It’s not good,” he said.

“Bet it is,” Seungmin argued but he didn’t push Hyunjin to show him, instead reaching for Hyunjin’s phone to see his reference photo. It showed a full body shot of Hyunjin, presumably in one of the university’s practice rooms, taken from a low angle as if the phone had been propped on a chair or something. Hyunjin had one foot stretched towards the camera, heel striking the ground, and both arms raised with bent elbows, creating a parallel line with the floor from one elbow through his shoulders to the other. His hands were in fists, thumbs pointing down, and from the way his chest was pushed out Seungmin had a feeling that this was the start of a body roll.

“I’ve got too much weight over my back foot,” Hyunjin explained. “It’s making me twist my back and then my shoulders are at different heights.” Seungmin could barely see the difference. “Look,” Hyunjin said, flipping his piece of paper back over. “The angle of my shoulders is here, and my hips are here. You can’t draw a perpendicular line between them.”

“And your back needs to be straight?” Seungmin guessed. Hyunjin’s sketch wasn’t as detailed as the others Seungmin had seen from him and there were the rough lines of him measuring proportions and angles all over the page but it was still clear that he was the subject. Or maybe Seungmin stared at Hyunjin too much and had memorised the shapes his body made.

“Ideally,” Hyunjin said. “But really I just need to balance my weight and then everything else should happen on its own. Anyway, sorry. That’s boring.”

“Not even a little bit,” Seungmin assured him. “Do you want to keep talking about it?”

“Nah,” Hyunjin said, slumping in his seat and tipping his head back. Seungmin heard his back crack.

“Have you been here a while?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin turned his head towards Seungmin and gave him a lazy smile. “Hiding. Did you get a lot of questions this morning too?”

“My vocal teacher,” Seungmin said. “My vocal teacher just stopped me in the middle of the corridor to tell me he’d heard I’d been on a date and he’s going to make me sing a love song in my lesson this Friday.”

Hyunjin’s eyes went wide. “Wow, ok. That’s…”

“Professor Kang,” Seungmin finished with a sigh. “He means well. How are you handling being out? Nobody’s given you a hard time?”

“It’s been surprisingly fine, actually,” Hyunjin said. “People were more interested in how I went from hating you to dating you so fast.”

Seungmin laughed. “Bang Chan-hyung?” It was the simplest explanation.

“The terrifying Bang Christopher Chan,” Hyunjin agreed.

“That’s his real name?” Seungmin asked. He knew Chan sometimes went by Chris but he hadn’t realised both names were on his birth certificate.

“Yeah,” Hyunjin said. “Does not fit on government forms at all.”

“His parents should have thought that through.”

“I don’t think they expected him to return to Korea,” Hyunjin said. His phone lit up between them with a message and Seungmin politely averted his eyes. Hyunjin told him what it was anyway. “Innie. He wants food.”

“Does he ever pay for his own food?” Seungmin asked.

“Not if he can help it,” Hyunjin said. “Are you free right now? I’ll tell him he has to third wheel and see what he says.”

“I have an essay to do,” Seungmin said. Hyunjin pouted. “I can do it later.” That earned him a bright smile. Who needed perfect grades anyway?

As it turned out, Jeongin did not want to be a third wheel. He didn’t want to be a third wheel so much he went and bought his own food and even sent Hyunjin a picture as proof.

“Does this mean you’re going to go do your essay?” Hyunjin asked sadly once he’d sent Jeongin a row of clapping emojis.

“Probably,” Seungmin admitted. “I had lunch not that long ago and I have a lot to do.”

“Cake?” Hyunjin said hopefully with his head tilted cutely to the side.

“No cake,” Seungmin said, tucking Hyunjin’s hair behind his ear and staying strong. “Essay.”

“Kiss?” Hyunjin tried next.

“Oh, you’re asking now?” Seungmin teased him. They were pretty exposed, in full view of anybody coming though the entry gates of the library and of half the people seated around the first floor. He didn’t expect Hyunjin to actually do it.

“Well, I stole one so I need to return it,” Hyunjin reasoned.

“You stole two,” Seungmin said. “By the pond, when you had to run to class,” he said to prompt Hyunjin’s memory of the first time. He certainly hadn’t forgotten the feel of those soft lips on his cheek.

“Ah,” Hyunjin said, a pretty blush rising on his cheeks.

“You can return them later,” Seungmin said. “When there’s less of an audience. I will be charging interest though.”

“What about now without an audience?” Hyunjin asked. “I’ll pay the interest.”

“Where?” Seungmin asked. There was supposed to be more depth to that question but he was using too much of his brain to stop himself staring at Hyunjin’s lips.

“South stairwell?” Hyunjin suggested. It was the one past the lifts and further from the entrance. Less people used that one. “Sorry it’s not very romantic.”

“I’m a nerd, it’s about time I kissed someone in a library,” Seungmin said and took Hyunjin’s hand to pull him to his feet.

They stumbled through the double doors without letting their hands separate and Seungmin pulled Hyunjin past the stairs going up, instead taking the restricted stairwell down to the basement. There was only half a flight until a locked door but it was enough to be partially out of sight of anybody coming down the stairs. Seungmin put his bag down onto a step a few from the bottom and turned to Hyunjin. The boy was still on the step above him.

“Come on,” he said, tugging on the front of Hyunjin’s hoodie. “You suggested this.”

“I didn’t really think it would happen,” Hyunjin admitted, staring at Seungmin in awe.

“We don’t have to,” Seungmin said.

“No, no.” Hyunjin shrugged off his bag and stepped down to Seungmin’s level. His bag tumbled until it hit the door at the bottom. Hyunjin ignored it and brought a hand to Seungmin’s jaw before changing his mind and sliding it up to cup the back of Seungmin’s head. He was nervous. Seungmin was too but nerves had never affected his ability to act and so he put one hand around Hyunjin’s ribs at his left side to stop him falling and his other hand behind Hyunjin’s head, and then he walked him back until his back hit the wall.

“Keep your weight over both feet, yeah?” Seungmin teased before diving in.

Hyunjin definitely gave more than two kisses, even if they were including interest. They both ended up stepping down with one foot as the stairs were really not the place to make out and Hyunjin’s hand was tight on Seungmin’s waist to hold him steady. Seungmin didn’t care. It was the best decision he had made all day. Hyunjin was everything he needed. The smell of him, the feel of him, the taste of him.

They were pulled from their moment to soon by the squeak of a door above them, followed by rapid footsteps descending. Seungmin stumbled back to stand on his own and then pulled Hyunjin down the stairs to huddle by the door at the bottom as the footsteps got closer. At the last moment Seungmin grabbed his bag from further up and they held their breaths as the person walked down the stairs directly above them. As it turned out, the girl had headphones on and didn’t spare a glance in their direction as she left but the scare still brought Seungmin back to his senses.

“What were we doing?” Seungmin whispered to himself. Curled into his side, Hyunjin burst into giggles.

“Having a good time,” he laughed into Seungmin’s neck. He came back to himself quickly though and scooped up both their bags before he got to his feet to offer Seungmin a hand up. “Your essay awaits, sir.”

“You expect me to concentrate on my essay now?” Seungmin asked, taking Hyunjin’s hand and letting himself be walked up the stairs like a princess and not the horny delinquent he was.

“I hope you get at least a little bit distracted thinking of me,” Hyunjin said at the top of the stairs, brushing Seungmin’s hair back into place. Seungmin took off his glasses and wiped them clean. There were imprints of Hyunjin’s skin on the outside of the glass.

“Don’t worry, that’s going to happen,” Seungmin said. He put his glasses back on and smiled at the sight in front of him. “You should probably retie your hair,” he recommended and took their bags while Hyunjin pulled out the half-bun he was sporting and aggressively pulled his hair back into place. He then slipped his forefingers under the hair at his temples and pulled it free to frame his face. It was fascinating to watch.

“Better?” he asked Seungmin when he was done.

“Better,” Seungmin confirmed. He liked it best when it was down but it was Hyunjin’s hair and he could wear it however he liked.

“Ok.” Hyunjin took his bag back and slung it over one shoulder. “I should probably go.”

“Mm.”

They stared at each other without moving.

“One more,” Hyunjin said and stepped forward to cup Seungmin’s face. He moved with confidence now, his hand going exactly where he wanted it to go while the other found the belt loop at Seungmin’s side. The kiss was just the barest press of lips, ruined slightly by Seungmin smiling through the whole thing. He couldn’t help it, he was just so happy.

“Ok, now go,” Hyunjin said, tapping Seungmin’s butt to encourage him up the stairs. He wouldn’t let up until Seungmin moved.

“To the seventh floor?” Seungmin asked.

“You study on the seventh floor?” Hyunjin asked, disgusted at the thought.

“Yes,” Seungmin said. He’d stopped on the first step and Hyunjin’s hand had stilled still cupping his left ass cheek.

“That’s a lot of stairs,” Hyunjin noted and started hitting Seungmin’s ass again. “On you go.”

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin protested.

“Go, go. The climb will be good for baseball.”

“You’re making that up,” Seungmin said but he’d stepped up a few more stairs to be out of range so Hyunjin’s tactics were working.

“Am not,” Hyunjin said. “Ask your coach.”

Seungmin was going to argue that their coach considered all exercise good for baseball so that didn’t count when the double doors below him opened and three girls walked past them up the stairs, chattering away.

“I’ll see you soon,” Seungmin told Hyunjin when the girls were a flight up, suddenly realising how weird they must look, flirting awkwardly in a lifeless stairwell.

“I’ll text you tonight,” Hyunjin promised. “Don’t stay here too late!” And with that they parted, Seungmin going up and Hyunjin leaving the building.

Things became impossibly easy with Hyunjin after that. They kissed whenever they met or parted from each other (on the lips or on the cheek, depending on their company) and went on many more dates. Their date to the dog cafe even earned Seungmin the pet name of 'puppy' for the way he resembled the labrador there. Their relationship very quickly stopped being gossip-worthy and their friends had started passing information and borrowed items to the other person if they saw them first, knowing it would get to the recipient faster that way. Mr Kang despaired that Seungmin just didn't have the pain needed to really embody any of the heartbreak songs he loved so much but even Seungmin couldn’t deny he’d gotten better at love songs. Outside of class, Seungmin studied a little less than before but he couldn’t find it in himself to care if his grades slipped from perfect marks. He had better things to spend his time doing.

"Seungminnie," Hyunjin said. They were in Seungmin's room and his head was in Seungmin's lap. They were supposed to be picking a piece for Hyunjin to compose a dance to but it had been a while since either of them commented on the music.

"Yes, baby," Seungmin said.

Hyunjin's nose scrunched. He liked the pet name but he still wasn't used to it. "There's a party at my flat this Friday," Hyunjin said.

"Oh?" Seungmin said, smiling down at Hyunjin knowingly. "Am I invited?"

"Technically, yes," Hyunjin said. "My flatmates are inviting you regardless of what I say after what happened last time."

"I quite liked the outcome of what happened last time," Seungmin said. Not being invited had hurt a lot at the time but on the grand scale of things it had been well worth it.

"Me too," Hyunjin said. "But that's not the point. The point is I don't want to go. Can I stay over here instead?"

"You don't want to go to your own party?" Seungmin laughed.

"Don't laugh at me!" Hyunjin whined. "Seung. Don't."

"But you're funny, baby," Seungmin replied, poking his cheek. "Unfortunately for you, I like parties and parties at your house are soooo popular. I think the only other person that won't want to go will be Jisung. You'll have to stay with him."

"Nooo," Hyunjin whined, turning his face into Seungmin's stomach. He wrapped his arms around Seungmin's waist and curled his legs up around Seungmin's side. "Stay with me."

"But it's an 00's party," Seungmin said. "And I've been personally invited."

"You have your own personal 00's right here," Hyunjin argued.

"Daehwi is my favourite though," Seungmin teased.

"Seuuuuung," Hyunjin whined. He flopped into his back again to blink up at him. "I'll be really sad."

"Aww, let me play Schindler's List on the world's smallest violin," Seungmin answered, lifting Hyunjin's arm to press the notes lightly into the soft skin of his forearm.

Hyunjin jerked his arm away. "You promised you wouldn't play that anymore," he said petulantly.

"So I did," Seungmin agreed. "I suppose I owe you then. What was it? Coffee and kisses?"

"Coffee and a hug," Hyunjin grinned. "But I'll take a kiss." He sat up and Seungmin helped him to straddle his lap. This was a common occurrence by this point so Hyunjin wasn't really gaining anything but they both liked to keep tally of silly little things like that. Maybe it was their natural competitiveness that drove it- who could pay for the most meals, who could steal the most kisses, who could pretend to deny the other what they wanted for the longest. Seungmin excelled at the last one but Hyunjin was in the lead for the others, for now.

Hyunjin leaned forward and bumped their foreheads together first, in no rush to take the kisses he knew he'd get. Seungmin put his hands on Hyunjin's strong thighs, thumbs pressing into his hip bones, and leaned back against the headboard, letting Hyunjin take control.

"You know, if you don't go to the party we'll have this flat to ourselves," Hyunjin whispered, pressing his lips to Seungmin's once before pulling away. Seungmin made the mistake of chasing him. "Yeah?" Hyunjin grinned just out of reach. "Wanna do that, Seung? Wanna be alone with me?"

"Always," Seungmin replied, fisting a hand in the hair at the nape of Hyunjin's neck and kissing him soundly. Hyunjin's mouth was hot, tasted artificial and sugary. He'd been eating the jelly worms again even though he'd said he was going to stop. Seungmin could chastise him for it or he could keep kissing him. He chose the latter.

Hyunjin pulled back from the kiss first. "My knees," he groaned and braced off of Seungmin's shoulders to stand shakily on the bed. They were long past pretending to be the sexiest versions of themselves which was good because otherwise Hyunjin would have just silently endured the pain. "Ow."

"Do you want ice?" Seungmin asked. He knew Hyunjin had spent a lot of time in the studio that day and there was a high chance he was giving himself some sort of repetitive strain injury. The bruises had to hurt too.

"I want new knees," Hyunjin said. "But ice would be great, thank you."

"No problem," Seungmin said and helped Hyunjin sit down in his place while he dashed off to find some frozen peas. He actually had ice packs in his freezer because he was over-prepared like that but he was surprised to find two of them were there, frozen, and not left under the kitchen sink or in the tupperware drawer.

"Are you cooking?" Renjun asked from the stove as Seungmin rearranged the freezer drawer to get it to shut. He sounded concerned, with good reason. Seungmin was not good at cooking.

"Ice packs," Seungmin replied, stepping past Renjun to get tea towels to wrap them in so Hyunjin wouldn't get freezer burn. "Hyunjin's here."

Renjun's eyebrows raised in surprise. "What did you do to him?"

"He's injured from dance, get your mind out of the gutter," Seungmin retorted.

"Yeah he's injured from dance," Renjun said, "but you've just aggravated his injury, whatever it is." Renjun was too smart for his own good.

"Shut up," Seungmin said.

"What is it?" Renjun asked gleefully. He'd find out whether Seungmin told him or not.

"His knees," Seungmin said, feeling more ashamed than he should considering he and Hyunjin hadn't really done anything. He could hear Renjun's cackles all the way back to his room.

"If Renjun asks you any questions, do not answer him," Seungmin told Hyunjin, re-entering his room and making sure the door shut behind him. He held up the wrapped ice packs. "I have ice."

"I love you," Hyunjin answered and then froze, eyes wide.

Seungmin’s chest suddenly got very hot and he could feel prickles of sweat on his skin. Hyunjin had clearly said it reflexively, as you would to a friend or a family member, but it was still the first time he'd said it to Seungmin. Seungmin wanted him to say it genuinely and that realisation surprised him. He loved Hyunjin. He actually loved him.

"I love you too," Seungmin said shakily, trying to play it off by busying himself shaping the ice packs around Hyunjin's knees. Hyunjin put his hand on Seungmin's back.

"Seung? You love me?" he asked softly.

"You said it first," Seungmin said jokingly, avoiding Hyunjin's gaze. If Hyunjin saw his face he'd know in an instant.

"Seung, honey," Hyunjin said, using a brand new pet name as he turned Seungmin's chin towards him. "You love me?" He was looking right in Seungmin's eyes. The answer was already there.

"Yeah," Seungmin mumbled.

"I love you too," Hyunjin said, pulling Seungmin up the bed towards him. "You're so cute and funny and smart and amazing and I want to take a million pictures of you and buy you flowers and-"

"Woahh, ok, baby," Seungmin laughed giddily and stroked Hyunjin's hair back from his face to try and calm him down. It was too much adoration for Seungmin to face all at once. "Ok."

"But, like, I really love you, Seung, and I want to cook you dinner and fall asleep to the sound of your voice and-"

"Baby, Hyunjin," Seungmin said, stopping Hyunjin before he got overwhelmed. "We can do all that. Anything you want, we can do it."

"It's not too much?" Hyunjin asked. More than one person had idly commented on them moving too fast and it really knocked Hyunjin's confidence. Seungmin hated that it took an accident for Hyunjin to admit all these things he'd been holding back from. How long would Hyunjin have hid them if he hadn't said those three words?

"It's not too much," Seungmin assured him. Hyunjin needed more than words though, you had to show him you meant it. "How about you come over here on Friday, bring flowers, and we'll cook dinner together and have a date night in? And then in the morning we can go to that cafe for breakfast and then take photos."

Hyunjin stroked Seungmin's cheek where it rounded from his smile, staring at him with completely unfiltered love. "Like our first date."

"Like our first date," Seungmin agreed. "But with added extras. And this time you're not going to lose the film from your camera."

Hyunjin pouted. "Don't remind me. I had so many pictures of you and I have no idea where they are."

"You still have a lot of pictures of me," Seungmin placated him. Hyunjin had bought a second cork board and split his prints between them, filling most of the new gaps with Seungmin. "And you have at least ten from that day alone."

"Want more," Hyunjin said petulantly. He pulled Seungmin further up the bed until their faces were level and Seungmin felt the ice pack fall from one of his knees. He'd fix it in a minute. He kissed Hyunjin softly and then gave up trying to hold up his weight and lay down on Hyunjin's shoulder. Hyunjin's smell was so comforting. It was crazy how fast a person should become home.

"You can get more photos on Saturday," Seungmin told Hyunjin. "I'll even wear the same hoodie if that helps."

"Doesn't help," Hyunjin said. "You love me too much now."

"You do know I had a crush on you from the end of first year?" Seungmin said. He was sure if they found the film from that day it would be clear in his face that it was not his day one of being enamored with Hyunjin.

"First year?" Hyunjin asked.

"The end of first year," Seungmin clarified. He wasn't entirely superficial- it had taken witnessing Hyunjin being kind and polite around campus for months and then his end of year class performance to really seal the deal. "I bet you didn't even know who I was."

"No idea," Hyunjin said contentedly. "It was probably for the best. If you flirted with me then I would have ignored it. 'Boys are friends, not food.'"

"Are you saying I'm edible?" Seungmin asked, sitting up to look down at Hyunjin.

"Very," Hyunjin replied, pinching Seungmin's side. Seungmin shied away and Hyunjin chased him, hands outstretched to pin him to the bed

"Baby, your knees," Seungmin said as Hyunjin twisted and knocked the second ice pack off.

"They're fine."

"They're not." Seungmin said. "Sit back down." He pushed Hyunjin’s chest until he went back to sit against the headboard and then replaced the ice packs for him. "Stay there for twenty minutes," he said. He had no idea how long injuries should actually be iced for but that seemed a good length of time.

"It's cold," Hyunjin said.

"It's ice."

"Cuddle me," Hyunjin demanded. "Come tell me what else is happening on our date on Friday."

Who was Seungmin to deny a request like that?

"Seungminnie! Hi!" Felix said, bouncing out of the dance building. Seungmin barely had a chance to put his phone in his pocket before he was hugged aggressively. "Do you want a cookie? I made loads."

Felix swung his bag off of his shoulder and unzipped it to reveal most of the interior taken up by a large plastic tub. He opened it up and offered Seungmin to take one of the few dainty cookies left."

"Haven't you just been dancing for hours?" Seungmin asked, biting into his chosen cookie. It was soft and doughy, and full of little melted pockets of chocolate chip. Not the best pre-dinner snack but Seungmin wasn't going to turn down homemade cookies.

"Yup," Felix answered. "But now I'm free!" He did a little jazz turn in celebration. "I'm gonna twitch stream in like an hour since I'll be busy on Friday. You're coming to the party this time, right?"

"What party?" Seungmin said, just to be awkward.

"The 00's." Felix said.

"Which-"

"Your boyfriend," Felix interrupted, scowling as Seungmin broke into a grin. "You knew exactly what I was talking about."

"Yeah, I'm not going," Seungmin said, finishing off the cookie and holding out one arm as he saw something moving in his periphery.

Hyunjin dived into his side, greeting Seungmin with a messy kiss on his cheek. "Hiya."

"Hi," Seungmin answered softly, settling his arm around Hyunjin's waist. He'd ask Hyunjin about his day later when they were alone. He'd get better answers then and a conversation with Felix was rarer now and more precious.

Hyunjin drew back far enough to rest his head on Seungmin's shoulder, content to wait before they went to their now-weekly dinner date before baseball practice. Seungmin wore his sports kit all day on a Tuesday now since he didn't get to go home and Hyunjin was dressed similarly though he still showered before coming out of class to meet him. He smelled like the boys locker room regardless but it was the thought that counted.

"Hyunjinnie," Felix said, addressing his fellow dancer. "Seungminnie says he's not going to your party."

"Yeah, he's not," Hyunjin said. Seungmin could hear the smile in his voice. "We've got plans."

"We?" Felix exclaimed. "You're not going either? It's your party!"

"I don't care," Hyunjin said. "I'd rather be with Seungmin."

Felix groaned good-naturedly. "What do I have to do to get one of you to hang out with me for once?" he asked. Seungmin had had to miss their normal lunch date for an advisor meeting and Felix wasn't holding a grudge but he was a little bit holding a grudge.

Seungmin turned to look at Hyunjin before he answered and grinned as a thought hit him. He turned back to Felix.

"Steal my pens."