Chapter Text
Seungmin’s alarm rang, and rang… and rang. Finally, he lifted his head to check his phone.
7:39am.
He shot up in bed, pushing his messy hair out of his face and running to the bathroom to turn on the shower.
“No, no, no, no. This can not be happening right now.” He was supposed to be up by 7am, and now he was going to be completely, utterly late to the first day of his senior year.
“I blame Felix for making me drink so much,” he muttered to himself as he jumped out of the shower and started brushing his teeth.
It was tradition for Seungmin and his friend group to hold a party the day before the first day of class. He wouldn’t care so much about waking up late if he hadn’t needed to be at school first thing in the morning to get first dibs on club admissions. He had been putting off the credit until the last possible minute, and now he was starting to regret it.
He was, for once, glad that his university made them wear uniforms as he shrugged on his blazer, grabbing a granola bar from the cabinet. He stumbled while slipping on his shoes and bolted out the door, checking his watch.
8:02am.
There is absolutely no way Seungmin was going to make it in time for Music Club sign-ups. Even though it was literally his major, everyone else viewed it as the “easy” club. This meant sign-ups usually closed within minutes of being open.
In his last sliver of hope, he began borderline jogging to the Student Union, knowing that the bus was way too unpredictable to depend on at a moment like this. He pulled his phone and earbuds out of his pocket so that he could at least enjoy this “jog.” He shuffled through his music, looking for something that might help distract him.
He was rounding the corner towards the Student Union, clinging to the small chance that he might actually make it to the admissions booth on time—until he ran into someone head-on, landing them both on the pavement.
“Ow,” Seungmin muttered as he rubbed his shoulder, looking across from him to see who he collided with. It was a boy, another university student, he guessed from his uniform. The boy was rubbing the center of his chest, wincing in pain.
Aside from the expression on his face, Seungmin thought the boy looked—pretty? That was never his go-to word when describing people, but the bustling environment of the university dulled as he looked at him. Pretty.
“Shit,” he heard the boy mutter, breaking him out of his daze. Only when the boy looked up did Seungmin realize he was definitely staring, darting his eyes to the side. The boy had brown hair that went past his ear, in an almost-mullet style. His eyes were soft, yet Seungmin couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
“I’m—I’m so sorry!” the boy stammered. “Today is my first day and—and I don’t really know where my first class is, and I don’t want to be late and—” He glanced at his watch. “Shit, I’m totally going to be late now.” He started standing back up in a frantic, dusting off his uniform.
Seungmin, well, he just stared. He couldn’t say he was proud at how speechless he was, watching the boy stumble. He also quickly realized he was still on the ground, now stumbling himself as he stood back up.
“I—it’s no problem. Really. I would help you if I could, but I’m also running late to something,” Seungmin said, making eye contact with the boy.
The adrenaline started to wear off as they looked at each other, bringing Seungmin back down to the reality of the situation. As much as the urge tugged at him, he couldn’t stay.
He took a glance at his phone.
8:14am.
“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry, I really need to go. I’ll see you around!” He rushed out as he adjusted the straps to his backpack and started booking it towards the Student Union. He heard the boy say something, but couldn't make out the words.
He took a quick look behind him and saw the boy starting to run to whatever class he was late to. Some weird part of him hoped he made it on time.
As he finally neared the Student Union, he shuffled his way through the crowd and made it to the club admissions booths. He tried to level his breathing before he spoke.
“Hi, I’m here to sign up for the Music Club.” Seungmin crossed his fingers in spirit. He had to get in. The student at the booth started flipping through the packet on her clipboard.
“I’m sorry, but it looks like the Music Club got filled up a while ago,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “There’s always next year!” She exclaimed as Seungmin just stared blankly.
Next year, my ass. He had no backup plan, so he didn't really know what to do next.
“I’m a senior, so I have to sign up for a club to finish my credits. Is there anything else open?” He pleaded. He picked at the straps on his backpack as he started growing restless. He did not want to be stuck in a club he didn’t want to be in. The girl directed her attention back to her packet and showed him a list of all the remaining clubs.
Chess Club
Ultimate Frisbee Club
Newspaper Club
Greek Life
Since there was no way in hell he’d do most of these, Seungmin chose the safest option in his mind.
“I’ll take the Newspaper Club, please,” he sighed. It couldn’t be that bad... could it?
The girl’s smile widened. “Perfect, I’ll mark you down. I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun, best of luck for your senior year!”
Seungmin gave the girl a quick wave before he made his way out of the crowd, sitting down on a bench near the cafeteria and pulling out his phone.
Seungmin
bruh music club was filled AGAIN
i stg they only open up like 5 spots
innie
damn dude were you at least able to get something good?
btw me, chan, and lix are about to go to the cafeteria before our classes
Seungmin
i mean i got newspaper so it’s not the worst but i can barely write my own papers lmao
ok bet i’m already here so i’ll snag us a table
Seungmin shoved his phone in his pocket before making his way to the cafeteria. The adrenaline rush he had gotten from running all the way here made him hungry, and he began to scan the place for tables and places to eat. He settled on just a coffee and a muffin from one of the cafes since he didn’t have long before his first class. He sank into his seat with a huff, finally feeling like he could somewhat relax after his hectic morning.
As he waited for Jeongin, Chan, and Felix to arrive, his mind drifted back to the boy he bumped into on his way here. He couldn’t help but wonder what his name was. Maybe he should have asked. He looked like they were similar ages, too. Maybe he was in the same year?
“What’s got your head in the clouds?” Chan asked as he and the others sat down at the table Seungmin found. They all started pulling out the food that they picked up on their way there.
“Oh—nothing. Just had a long morning,” he said, shaking his head from his thoughts. He realized he probably looked weird, just sitting there staring at nothing as his muffin sat untouched.
Felix narrowed his eyes at Seungmin. “Right. Anyway, I have to take a stupid stats class before lunch. Like, my major is Graphic Design, why should I even have to do that?” He huffed, ripping apart his croissant roughly.
Chan put his arm around Felix, cozying him up to his chest as he cooed at him. “You’re so right, Lixie. I’m sorry they’re making you take that dumb class. I can always try to help if you need it.” Felix immediately melted into the touch, his frown dissipating into a look of contentment.
Seungmin looked between the two of them. He knew there must be something going on between them, but they had never admitted to being anything other than friends. He thought maybe they were just oblivious. He probably wasn't the person to make judgments on relationships, since his dating history was nearly nonexistent.
“He literally put all of his math credits off until this year, hyung,” Jeongin started. “He hasn’t even taken math in the 3 years we’ve been here. Plus, your major is Music, how could you even help him with that?” He took a sip of his coffee and looked to Seungmin for moral support.
While Seungmin started snickering at Jeongin’s comments, he heard Chan mumble “Semantics…” before smiling down at Felix.
“Thanks, hyung. You’re the best friend ever,” Felix smiled back as he finished his croissant.
Right, friend, Seungmin thought. The eye contact between the two of them was getting to be too intimate for the mildness of this conversation.
“As much as I would love to continue… Whatever we’re even talking about right now, I should probably head to my first class,” Seungmin said.
Jeongin halted his coffee drinking. “What? We just got here. Please don’t leave me with them.” He grabbed Seungmin’s wrist as he started to get up from his chair.
“I’ll catch up with you after class. And about that… Good luck.” He held back a laugh as Chan and Felix finally broke out of their trance and looked up, noticing Seungmin leaving.
“Wait! Bye, Minnie, see you later!” Felix yelled as Jeongin pressed a hand to his head and groaned.
Seungmin shook his head warmly as he walked away from his friends, fishing his earbuds out of his pocket again. He made his way out of the Student Union when he noticed a familiar face. Well, a familiar back-of-the-head.
It was when he registered the brown hair that he quickly realized this was the boy. He was walking a ways behind him when the boy stopped suddenly, beginning to turn around while he looked down at his phone. Seungmin moved on instinct as he frantically pivoted for another route to his class.
His thoughts were muddled as they caught up to the situation. He didn’t have a reason, but he didn’t think he could handle the boy’s eyes on him again.
Seungmin was not about to deal with whatever was going on there. His life was peaceful. He had a good friend group, he was finishing up school, and he didn’t want to know anyone… new. If he steered clear, then the boy would never have the opportunity to talk to him. Problem solved!
Seungmin went through his classes, getting caught up in the mess that is “first days,” leaving him with barely any time to check the schedule for the Newspaper Club.
He pulled out his phone during his last class, some seminar about dinosaurs. So, maybe the club wasn't the only thing he had procrastinated about signing up for. At least he got to just sit here and listen to the professor talk about something cool, unlike statistics. Poor Felix.
He snapped out of his thoughts to look at the email he got about the Newspaper Club.
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for joining the Newspaper Club! We are so excited to begin the semester with a fresh set of students, as well as those who have worked with us before.
My name is Jisung, and I am your new Editor-in-Chief! I have been working with the newspaper since my first year, and I’ll be graduating this year. Our club meets three times a week— Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 4-6 pm in room 3205. Due to this being counted as a credit to graduate, we unfortunately cannot allow absences unless due to extenuating circumstances.
I’ll explain more during our first meeting (which is today!), but our club will be split into designated groups (writers, photographers, etc., etc.), and for this to work, we NEED to work together. Use this as an opportunity to meet new people and find common interests. I look forward to meeting you all today, happy FDOC!
Jisung, Editor-in-Chief
Well, great. So much for not meeting anyone new. Seungmin just hoped everyone in this club was at least tolerable. He could deal with tolerable.
It was 3:47pm when Seungmin arrived in the building where the Newspaper Club would be. He saw some other students shuffling around, but he didn’t notice anyone familiar. He wouldn’t consider himself the most social person ever, but he wasn’t a total hermit either.
“3205… 3205…,” Seungmin muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway, glancing between his phone and the room numbers.
“Hi! Are you looking for the Newspaper Club?” asked a short, brown-haired student with round eyes. Seungmin jumped at the volume at which the other boy spoke.
“Uh, yes, I am.” He wasn't the best at being conversational with new people.
“Perfect! I’m Jisung, the Editor-in-Chief. I’m also the one who wrote the introduction email.” Jisung gave Seungmin a wide smile. “Please, have a seat anywhere you’d like and feel free to enjoy some refreshments we’ve provided!” Seungmin saw Jisung turn to another student standing at the front of the room, mouthing something to him about greeting himself.
The student scrambled over to Seungmin after Jisung’s cue, landing promptly in front of him.
“Hi, I’m Minho,” the boy said with much less enthusiasm than Jisung. “I’m the Managing Editor for the newspaper,” he finished, giving Seungmin a tight smile before going back over to the front of the room.
Seungmin grinned as Jisung’s smile dropped, leaving Seungmin with a quick “It’s nice to meet you! Please take a seat anywhere!” and running towards the front of the room as he hissed out a “Minho!”
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, he thought as he got a cup of water from the refreshments table and made his way to an empty desk. He figured this should probably be his time to meet people, so he sat next to a guy who seemed not completely boring.
“Hey, I’m Seungmin.” He tried for casual, but ended up internally wincing at his own social awkwardness.
“Hey!” the boy extended a hand out for Seungmin to shake. “I’m Changbin, nice to meet you. I was starting to think I might be a total loner in here since I haven’t really talked to anybody yet,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck. Seungmin unashamedly noticed how big his muscles were.
Okay, so maybe this guy could be social enough for the both of them.
When Seungmin didn’t say anything back, Changbin started again. “So, are you into writing?”
“Oh, absolutely not,” Seungmin snorted.
“Wait, then why are you here?” Changbin asked with a furrow forming in between his eyebrows. He leaned in closer to Seungmin. “You do know that this is a writing club, right?”
“Yeah,” Seungmin sighed. “Unfortunately, I do. I’m actually a Music major, but the club filled up before I could join. I’m a senior, though, so I need to fill the credits or else I can’t graduate.”
“Oh shit, you’re a senior? Not gonna lie, I totally thought you were a freshman,” Changbin said.
Seungmin’s eyes widened. “Wait– what?”
“Not– not in a bad way! You just look so innocent, so I was surprised. I’m also a senior, though,” he said, looking more relieved as Seungmin calmed his expression.
“Yeah, I get it. My friends always call me a puppy because of how innocent I look.” Despite being 22, his friends always treated him like the baby of the group.
Just as Changbin opened his mouth to respond, they heard Jisung welcoming another student. Seungmin whipped his head to the door to see who it was, and shit. Of course, it’s him.
“Woah, that dude is beautiful,” Changbin muttered.
Seungmin stayed silent in his seat, finally being able to take in the details of whoever this boy is. He remembered him saying he was new to the university, so it made sense that Seungmin didn’t know him. Did Seungmin want to know him?
As his inner turmoil started once again about the boy, he noticed one second too late that he was staring. He only realized once the boy darted his eyes over to Seungmin.
Seungmin flinched like he was burned, putting his arm on his desk, leaning his head into his hand, and facing fully towards Changbin so that he couldn’t see him. He could only hope he didn’t recognize him from earlier.
“What were you saying? Something about writing?” Seungmin coughed, wanting his thoughts to be anywhere but near him.
“Yeah, uh—” Changbin stuttered, hesitating to take his eyes off the boy and back to Seungmin. “I like writing about sports. I was a part of the newspaper in my first year, but had to leave because of my schedule.” His eyes flicked back over to the boy as he finished his sentence. Seungmin felt a pit in his stomach. Was Changbin checking him out?
“Cool,” Seungmin hummed distractedly, shifting his eyes back over to the front of the room. He noticed the boy scanning the room, presumably looking for a place to sit.
“Minho!” Jisung sang. “Can you please sit with him? He just told me he’s new!” He clasped his hands together as he batted his eyes at Minho.
Minho put on an annoyed face before making eye contact with Jisung, his eyes softening. “Fine,” he huffed as he pulled open a seat in the front row.
Hm, Seungmin thought. I wonder what’s going on there. Before he could let his thoughts wander, the boy scurried next to Minho as Jisung pulled up a PowerPoint on the board.
“Alright, hello everyone! My name is Jisung, your new Editor-in-Chief. I am the one who sent you the email earlier, so hopefully everyone is familiar with our schedule. Since this is just the first meeting, I won’t keep you long. Unlike someone–” he glared at Minho, “I thought it would be fun to also do some icebreaker activities!” Seungmin had never seen someone look so happy to do icebreakers.
“Now, let’s get started,” he said, clapping his hands together.
If Seungmin was being honest, he pretty much zoned out during the whole thing. What was he going to eat for dinner? How much homework did he have tonight? His hair looked so pretty. How much longer until this thing is over?
The thing is, Seungmin was straight. Well, he never really gave it much thought, he guessed. He never felt the need to. He did have some insecurities himself, so maybe that’s why he thought the boy was so attractive. He squeezed his hands together under the desk, flustered by his own thoughts.
He looked over to Changbin, who was watching the presentation intently. Damn, maybe he needed to get a grip. His eyes flicked back over to the boy, making out his features from what he could make of his side profile from his seat.
He made sure to focus his attention back to Jisung every so often to not make his staring obvious. He was just admiring, that's all.
At some point, Seungmin couldn’t take his boredom and pulled out his phone, texting Jeongin.
Seungmin
send help pls
innie
is it really that bad lmao
Seungmin
it’s not terrible but doesn’t mean i wanna be here
plus i got this buff dude next to me
innie
say WHAT
are they still accepting sign-ups
Seungmin
bye jeongin
innie
WAIT
Seungmin shut his phone off and slipped it back in his pockets. So much for fighting his boredom. Just as he was about to slip his eyes shut, Jisung turned off his PowerPoint.
“Okay, everyone. Finally, time for some icebreakers!” he said. “We will be doing a rotating system, where you will sit with someone for 5 minutes. You will ask each other questions, talk, whatever you want to do. Then, once time’s up, we’ll switch with someone else. We’ll do this until everyone has met each other!”
Jisung looked so happy that it made Seungmin feel bad for how much he was dreading this. He looked to Changbin, who was already grinning at him.
“I guess we can start together?” Seungmin sighed.
Changbin dropped his grin. “Hey! Are you that annoyed by me already?” He lifted a hand to his chest in fake offense.
“No—no, sorry. I’ve just had a long day and wasn’t really planning on doing any of this,” he said, realizing he was coming off totally rude. Even though Changbin seemed like he wasn’t actually offended, he didn’t want to push his luck.
“You’ve been really cool so far,” he tried, coming out more sarcastic than intended.
“No worries, I was just messing with you,” Changbin said. “So, what are you into?”
Seungmin could only feel appreciative that they were moving on and that Changbin wasn’t completely put off by his awkwardness. “It’s probably obvious, but I love music. I sing, play guitar, write songs, you know.”
“So you do like to write.” Changbin wiggled his eyebrows at Seungmin. “Hm, well, I love music, sports, chilling with friends, the usual. My major is Music Production, but I also like to write, which is why I signed up for the newspaper.” He paused, thinking. “Oh, I also like working out.”
“Makes sense,” Seungmin hummed. Muscles.
Changbin had a confused look on his face. “What makes sense?”
“Uh—” shit. “Never mind. Wait, you said your major is Music Production? Why didn’t you mention it?”
“I didn’t think to, I guess. But, now that you mention it, we should totally make something sometime. That is, if your singing is any good,” he smirked.
“Good—dude, of course my singing is good. I would've switched majors three years ago if it wasn’t,” Seungmin laughed. He was starting to like this Changbin guy.
Changbin mirrored him with a chuckle. “I know, I’m just messing with you.”
Seungmin ended up exchanging numbers with Changbin in hopes of recording a song with him sometime. They moved on quickly, somehow getting on to the topic of sports before Jisung’s time went off.
“Ok, everyone. Switch!” he said as he gestured with his hands to swap with each other.
Seungmin made his way through each person. No one was very memorable, but they seemed bearable. He wasn’t sure who he’d end up working with, so he tried to put on a polite face with everyone.
He was actually having a pretty interesting conversation with the girl he sat with for this round. She seemed to be into music too, so they were discussing their favorite artists. As soon as Seungmin was about to ask the girl for her playlist, his eyes focused on the people behind her.
The boy was behind her. Right, okay. That was fine. He was talking to him next. Okay, sure.
The girl noticed him zoning out, pausing for a moment before trying to get through the rest of the conversation. Seungmin quickly fixed his attention back on the girl until the timer went off. As soon as it went off, he couldn’t focus his attention on anything other than who he was meeting next. He felt bad as he barely paid the girl any mind as they said goodbye to each other.
Seungmin’s hands felt sweaty. Why did he feel flustered? He shook his hands under the desk to release some energy, looking up to see the boy making his way over.
“Hi,” the boy said softly.
“Hi,” Seungmin replied, trying to sound casual.
It was silent for a second as both boys looked at each other. Seungmin couldn’t focus on anything else but the boy’s eyes as the noise of the room around him faded.
Seungmin saw the other boy’s mouth turn up into a shy smile. He smiled back.
“I’m Seungmin. It’s nice to meet you,” he said, trying to tame his fondness. He was even prettier up close.
“I’m Hyunjin,” the boy, Hyunjin, said. “I’m sorry for, well, running into you this morning. Literally.” He looked shy for a moment as he let out a sigh. Cute.
“Don’t even worry about it. I think it was my fault anyways. I was looking anywhere but right in front of me,” Seungmin said. “I think I remember you saying you’re new?”
“Yeah, I am,” Hyunjin laughed as he played with the sleeve of his blazer. “But I don’t think it would be hard to tell with how much I’ve been looking at the campus map on my phone. I probably looked so lost.”
“I could show you around,” Seungmin blurted. “If—if you want that, of course. Actually, you’ve probably already made enough friends, so—”
“I’d love that, actually,” Hyunjin smiled. Seungmin’s breath hitched before he returned it. He fidgeted with the ring on his finger under the desk, out of sight. He looked away and down at the desk.
Seungmin didn’t really understand what was happening. He never got flustered. This wasn’t—this wasn't him. He didn’t do things like this. Hyunjin seemed… soft. He wasn’t prepared for how much he liked him, and they had only just met.
He looked up from the desk and saw a light dusting of pink on Hyunjin’s cheeks, and wondered if his looked the same. He wondered what it would mean if they did. He brought his eyes back to Hyunjin's in an attempt to focus, but it really just further jumbled his thoughts.
“Can I have your number?” Seungmin asked without thinking. He mentally facepalmed. Smooth.
Hyunjin’s eyes widened as they made eye contact again. “Okay, yeah,” he replied with a surprised look on his face.
Seungmin pulled out his phone so that Hyunjin could add his contact information. Seungmin handed it over, sharply inhaling as their fingers brushed against each other.
Hyunjin quickly met Seungmin’s eyes with a flustered look as he took the phone.
Once he typed in his number and handed the phone back, Seungmin quickly looked at what Hyunjin had saved himself as under his contact.
hyunjin :)
Seungmin tried his best to remain present in the conversations that followed. He learned that Hyunjin was also a senior, as well as an art major. Soon enough, Jisung was calling for everyone to switch again. It felt like everything, and nothing happened at the same time. He felt so much, but needed to learn more.
Seungmin directed his attention back to Hyunjin. “I’ll text you,” he said softly, reluctantly standing up from his seat.
Hyunjin hesitated for a moment. “Yeah—yeah. It was nice meeting you,” He gave a brief wave as a small smile crossed his face. He took one more glance at Seungmin before turning to meet the next person.
Seungmin moved through the rest of the people as the minutes went by. He tried to remain optimistic, but since when did newspaper clubs have so many people? He was at the point where he wanted to go home and hop into bed. It had been too hectic of a first day for him.
He finally reached back to his starting point, giving a small wave to Changbin in place of a greeting.
“Dude, this club is awesome! I met so many cool people, how about you?” Changbin said at a volume that Seungmin was not ready to handle at this point in the day.
“Yeah, it was okay. I got, like, one person’s number,” he replied, feigning nonchalance.
Changbin high-fived him. “Nice! I think I’m definitely gonna hang around with some people. If you ever wanna join, just let me know.”
Seungmin gave Changbin a nod and watched as Jisung tried to get everyone’s attention.
“Hello! Hi, everyone! It was so nice to see you all get to know each other and bond before we start working together. I hope you were able to make some new friends. Now, I will hand the floor over to Minho.” He gestured to Minho, who was clearly not enjoying anything about this.
“Hi,” Minho waved. “Like Jisung said, I’m Minho. I’m gonna go over the different sections we have for the newspaper and how you can sign up for them. The club is divided into the following: news writing, sports writing, editorial writing, column writing, and photography. I’m going to go through each section for those of you who are new to working for a newspaper…”
Seungmin followed the presentation until he wasn’t. He thought the meeting would be shorter because it was only the first day, but when he glanced at his watch—
5:36pm.
Damn. He was really going to be stuck here until 6pm. He started to fidget with the bottom of his shirt, letting his thoughts drift. Minutes went by until it seemed like Minho was finally done.
“And that’s really all there is to it. We will be sending out a Google Form at 8pm tonight, where you can sign up for the section you want. To keep it fair, the sections will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Please understand, and I’m sure you will enjoy any section you end up getting. Thank you, everyone,” he finished, walking back to his seat as Jisung went back up to the front.
“That’s it for tonight, everyone. Thank you so much for coming, and we’ll see you on Wednesday! Don’t forget to fill out the form!” He started giving his thanks and goodbyes to all of the students leaving.
Finally. The club was more fun than he expected, but he was glad it was over. Now to figure out what section he wanted to sign up for at 9pm or whatever Minho said.
“It was nice meeting you,” Changbin said as he packed up his things and started to walk out of the room. “See you later, bro!”
“Bye!” Seungmin waved to him and turned around to start packing his own bag.
“Do you want to walk with me?” A voice asked, which made Seungmin jump and turn his head.
It was Hyunjin standing in front of his desk, asking Seungmin to walk with him. Yeah, of course. He could totally do that. He tried his best to tame his inner panic.
“Yeah—yeah, of course,” Seungmin said, trying not to let his voice waver. Hyunjin smiled as he turned around to walk towards the door, Seungmin trailing behind him.
“Bye, you two! It was so nice to meet you!” Jisung yelled on their way out.
“So, what did you think of that?” Hyunjin started, now shoulder to shoulder with Seungmin as they walked outside.
“It wasn’t terrible,” he answered honestly. “I’m not much of a writer, though, so I hope I can just take the photos or edit, or something.”
Hyunjin laughed at that. “I think, like, half the people I talked to said the exact same thing. I’m kind of surprised, though. You look like the writing type.”
The writing type. The writing type? Seungmin put on a leveled smile, unsure if his fluster was normal. He wanted to know more about what Hyunjin thought of him.
“What do you mean by that?” He tried to stifle his laugh, but it didn’t help when he looked at Hyunjin to see his amused face. “Do I give off a vibe, or something?”
“Well,” Hyunjin hummed, coming to a stop as they approached the sidewalk. He turned towards Seungmin, bringing his hand up to his own chin. He put on a contemplative look as he scanned up and down Seungmin’s figure.
Seungmin froze at the action. He had literally no idea what was going on, and this was not helping his already flustered state. Seungmin almost thought Hyunjin was flirting. As if.
“Yeah,” Hyunjin settled on, “just a vibe.” He gave Seungmin a grin to break his serious act, carrying on with their walk.
And, well, Seungmin realized probably 10 seconds too late as he rebooted from whatever the fuck just happened. He scurried back up beside Hyunjin as they made their way through the university courtyard.
“So—” Seungmin coughed, trying to regain his sense of normalcy. “Which dorms do you live in?”
“Ah, I live in the second building. How about you?”
This caught Seungmin’s attention. “Wait—the second building? Me too!” He was shocked by the volume of his own voice, getting caught up in the excitement.
“No way!” Hyunjin blinked in surprise. “What are the chances? I would have you come over, but I’ll admit my room is, well…” He winced.
Come over? Did they even know each other like that yet? Was he ready for that? Seungmin tugged on the sleeve of his blazer, playing with the loose thread that he always forgot to cut off. Maybe he was overthinking this.
“We could get something to eat, though. If you want to.” Seungmin didn’t have the chance to realize that was his own voice uttering the words before Hyunjin agreed.
“Yes, please. I’m starving,” he drawled.
They made their way to a 24/7 diner out of Seungmin’s recommendation, since Hyunjin hadn’t had the chance to explore the city yet.
They sat across from each other, their table now filled with plates of food and drinks. They both ordered burgers, and Seungmin didn’t waste any time diving in. He had been hungry for hours at this point, taking a big bite.
It wasn't until he heard a chuckle that he looked up to see Hyunjin watching him. He glanced down at his burger, then back up, doubling over in laughter. He probably looked like a complete fool, but all he could think about was the sound of Hyunjin’s laugh. He was glad he was the source of it.
Their dinner continued with shared glances and small smiles, paired with moments of laughter and jokes. Seungmin found that he got along with Hyunjin well. He could tolerate him. He supposed he could make room in his life for one more friend.
The waitress came to their table with the check once they were finished. Both boys shot out a hand to grab it.
“I got it, don’t worry,” Seungmin said.
“No, let me pay,” Hyunjin insisted. “As a thank you for being my first real friend here.” Seungmin didn’t budge.
“If we’re friends now, you can get the next one.” He gently pulled the check out of Hyunjin’s hand, placing his card inside and keeping it in his grasp.
Hyunjin gave him a shy smile. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he started to fidget with his fingers. Seungmin told himself he was being ridiculous, but he could’ve sworn Hyunjin's ears were dusted pink.
They soon made their way out of the diner and back onto the street. The day had come and gone, and now all that was left was the faint dim of the street lights.
Once they made their way to the second building dorms, Seungmin assumed this was it. A part of him hoped he and Hyunjin would actually keep in touch, unlike most people he met at university who somehow always got too busy to maintain any sort of real friendship. They entered the elevator with small talk, and Seungmin pressed the button for his floor, the sixth floor.
He noticed Hyunjin didn’t press the button for his floor. “Oh, you don’t have to walk me to my door or anything. I’m sure you’re tired,” he said.
“Oh—" Hyunjin adjusted the strap of his backpack, his eyes widening. “I actually live on the sixth floor too,” he stumbled. “Sorry, I probably should have mentioned it when you pressed the button. I think I just zoned out.” He let out a shy laugh, his cheeks turning pink.
“Right—no problem,” Seungmin replied, feeling his own cheeks warm. “Small world, huh?” Why had he even thought Hyunjin would walk him to his door? Like this was a date or something.
The situation became even weirder when they both walked toward the same hallway. They both stopped, glancing at each other.
“I’m going this way.” Hyunjin pointed in the direction of Seungmin’s apartment.
“Me too.”
Okay, really small world. They walked side by side again, Seungmin making his way towards room 607, his room.
“No way,” he heard. He looked to Hyunjin, who was pulling out his set of keys. He quickly showed them to Seungmin, who noticed the faint “608” engraved in the middle.
Their eyes met, and their shocked expressions morphed into laughter.
“How come we’ve never seen each other?” Seungmin asked between laughs. He thought back to this morning, realizing he must have missed Hyunjin since he woke up so late. Good thing he hadn't seen that whole mess.
“Remember how I said my room was a mess?” Hyunjin started, catching his breath. “Yeah, well, I actually only got here yesterday. My flight got delayed and today was the first day I could actually do anything, but I didn’t have much time to do anything besides go to class and the Newspaper Club.”
Seungmin felt something resembling a sense of relief. From what, he didn’t know. All he knew was that it felt easy with Hyunjin. Every time he laughed, he got lost in the way his eyes glimmered.
“Well, maybe we’ll see each other around,” Seungmin said. “I–,” he hesitated. “I should probably go.” Even though a big part of him was pulling him in the direction of don’t go.
Hyunjin sighed, mirroring Seungmin’s hesitation. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for showing me around a little bit today. I had a lot of fun.” He made eye contact with Seungmin in the last sentence, making him nervous. God, could he get a grip?
“Goodnight, Hyunjin,” Seungmin said. Hyunjin gave a small wave as he unlocked his door. Once Seungmin was behind the safety of his own door, he sighed.
He felt overwhelmed. His thoughts were racing, and he couldn’t fit the pieces together. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t how he did things. He liked his pockets of life and didn’t like it when the lines got blurry.
He took off his shoes and walked into his room, slinging his backpack off and onto the floor. He threw himself into his chair and leaned back, pulling his phone from his pocket. His fingers tapped against his phone case, his mind unable to focus on the random video he pulled up on YouTube to watch.
After 10 minutes, he gave up and got ready to go to bed. He got under the covers, going back on his phone. He opened up Instagram, hesitating before typing Hyunjin in the search bar.
Hyunjin’s profile quickly popped up. Seungmin clicked on it, his eyes widening at the posts. They were mostly… paintings. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. He took in the colors, the paint strokes, the excerpts attached to the posts. Seungmin wasn’t very into art, but he wanted to understand it all. Something about Hyunjin’s profile pulled him in, and the next thing he knew, he hit the follow button and shut his phone off.
He forced his eyes closed, willing himself to sleep. That was enough thinking for one day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more normal.
Seungmin woke up with a groan. He couldn’t help but toss and turn all night. He pulled his phone from the nightstand, the screen blinding him from the brightness.
The first notification he saw caught his attention immediately.
Hynjinnn started following you.
He started running his thumb along his nails. They were friends now, so this was normal. Of course, Hyunjin would follow him back. It didn’t mean anything, so why did it feel so big to Seungmin?
He put his face in his hands, rubbing his face and pushing his hair out of his face to get himself out of his thoughts. He went back to his notifications and noticed he got an email from Jisung.
Hi Seungmin and Hyunjin,
I hope you guys had a good FDOC!! I just wanted to let you know that our form to sign up for sections for the newspaper went out last night at 8pm, but we didn’t see responses from either of you. Because of this, we had to fill your places in the last two spots, which are for the column section.
We’ll tell you more about it tomorrow during the meeting, but because the column section takes up such a small portion of the paper, we only allot two spots to the entire section. So, you two will be able to work together a lot! :D
Plus, you get to run the Campus Cupid! It’s our section designated for all things advice and love-related, and the fun part is responding directly to submissions from the student body. Everyone loves working on this section, so I hope you have fun with it!
If either of you have any questions, just let me know. See you tomorrow!
Jisung
Seungmin had to stare at the wall and contemplate whether or not the universe was fucking with him. All he could think about was two spots, Hyunjin, Campus Cupid… Hyunjin.
It was fine. He knew he could do this. His friends always told him he had the best composure in the group, so someone he just met yesterday couldn’t possibly shake that.
He glanced back down at his phone, pulling up Hyunjin’s contact.
Seungmin
looks like we both forgot to sign up lol
…you ready for this?
hyunjin :)
seems like we don’t really have a choice lol
let’s do this, cupid
What did Seungmin get himself into?