Chapter Text
MARCH
. . .
He met Luhan in passing.
“Minseok, this is Luhan. He’s my duet partner for the exam.” Jongdae said as he pointed to the boy with honey-blonde dyed hair. Jongdae introduced Minseok as his roommate and childhood best friend.
Luhan introduced himself with glittering eyes and a soft smile on his face. They only chatted for a few minutes, but that was all it took for Luhan to captivate Minseok. There was something incredibly charming about Luhan, and Minseok was drawn into his bubble immediately.
It wasn’t until he was asked to listen to the duet a week later that Minseok really noticed Jongdae’s lingering gazes and bright smiles directed at Luhan. He wasn’t surprised. Luhan was definitely his roommate’s type, so Minseok did his best to keep his feelings out of it.
They sang together beautifully, he thought to himself. Luhan’s voice was a bit lower than Jongdae’s, so they balanced each other out. When Jongdae was soaring too high up, Luhan was pulling him back to earth before he got lost in the clouds.
“You’re both fantastic.” He told them when they finished. Minseok pretended not to notice how Jongdae’s cheeks turned pink when Luhan hugged him.
“Luhan’s pretty cute, isn’t he?” Minseok said nonchalantly as he sat next to Jongdae on the couch. Aiming for casual, he leaned his elbow on the arm of the sofa.
Jongdae was composing some lyrics for an assignment, so when he agreed with the statement, he didn’t really think it through. Minseok waited.
“Wait, what did you just say?” Jongdae demanded when his words finally sunk in.
Minseok shrugged, hopefully looking aloof. “I said he’s hot. I think he digs me, man. He’s been giving me the look.” He said, leaning close to Jongdae as he wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
Jongdae’s expression flickered from confusion to anger to disappointment to anger in the few short moments of silence. “What? What look? You’ve never talked to him! I know he’s hot but you can’t– not when I– no!” His last word was punctuated with a light shove on his shoulder.
Minseok laughed too loudly and it wasn’t quite genuine, but he hoped Jongdae didn’t notice. He clapped his hand on Jongdae’s shoulder and shook him a bit. “I’m joking. Even though you didn’t bother tell me, I’ll support you.”
Jongdae’s face transformed from angry to guilty in a matter of seconds. “I’m sorry, man. I wanted to tell you but it’s just… And I didn’t…” Jongdae apologized with his head down.
Minseok shook his head and ruffled his best friend’s hair affectionately. “No worries. I didn’t tell you about Soojung.” He pointed out.
Jongdae was silent, until the reality of the situation seemingly hit him. “Yeah, you didn’t. Shit, you didn’t even mention you were dating her until a few weeks in! Screw you you, man. You even made me feel bad!” He accused, looking scandalized.
Minseok stuck his tongue out at him. “Shut up.” He said as settled on the couch and leaned his head back. He turned his head slightly to peer at Jongdae and smile. “So you’re serious about him?”
He heard him sigh. Minseok looked at the ceiling but he heard the crinkling of the scores Jongdae was working on and he felt him lean on his shoulder. “I think so…” Jongdae whispered, almost as if to himself. He snuggled up to Minseok and hummed to himself. “I’ve known him for a while, but I wasn’t really interested until we worked together. I don’t know, singing with him is really fun. I like being around him.”
Jongdae rested his head on Minseok’s shoulder for a few more seconds before he got up and cleared his throat. He turned his face away, but Minseok noticed his ears were a little red. “Okay, now I’m embarrassed. No more feelings. I need to work.” He picked his pen back up and went back to humming his song.
It was clear Jongdae didn’t expect a response from Minseok, and he was glad, because he probably couldn’t speak without babbling out something dumb (like how much it hurt or how badly he wanted to throw something, but Jongdae didn’t need to know).
. . .
“Hey, are you even listening to me?” Minseok whined as he pushed Jongdae’s shoulder.
Jongdae shoved Minseok back but he didn’t look up from his phone. “I don’t care about whatever manga you’re reading. Luhan is texting me.” He said distractedly.
“Brat…” Minseok muttered under his breath. Curious, he peeked over Jongdae’s shoulder. “Why does he use so many emoticons? That’s like, five smiley faces. He can’t be that happy over your selfie.”
Pink with embarrassment, Jongdae nudged him off his shoulder. “Shut up! I sent it because- oh, he sent me one back!” Jongdae cheered.
Minseok squished in close again to see the picture. Luhan was smiling and leaning his head on some familiar person’s shoulder. “Who’s that?” He asked. He knew that face… it was on the tip of his tongue.
Jongdae turned to look at Minseok and pushed his face away when he realized how close they were. “That’s his friend, Yixing. He’s foreign and available… why are you laughing?” Jongdae questioned with a strange look on his face.
“Yixing! I knew it!” He yelled. “He was my dance club hoobae from high school!” He still remembered the exchange student with an unfortunate case of acne and horrible hair decisions. Still, though, he was a fantastic dancer.
Jongdae looked puzzled as he tried to remember a Yixing. “I knew everyone in your dance club, but I don’t remember him.”
Minseok laughed, surprise evident in his voice. “You don’t remember Yixing? He used to wear that orange hoodie all the time, remember?”
He waited a few seconds for the information to sink in. There was no way he wouldn’t remember the hoodie Yixing used to wear. It was a bright, highlighter orange and regularly blinded them every time they saw it. Jongdae himself complained about it to Minseok several times.
Jongdae’s jaw dropped open. “Yeah! I remember! Oh, god, I remember the hair. I don’t know who told him that mullets were ever going to come back.”
They both glanced down at the photo on Jongdae’s phone screen. Minseok whistled. “Damn, puberty was really nice to him, huh?” Minseok commented.
Jongdae nodded in agreement. “I don’t think he’s ever spoken more than three words to me, though. Actually, didn’t he completely ignore me the first time we met? I’m pretty sure he hated me.” Jongdae reminisced with a faraway look on his face.
Oh, Minseok remembered. When he had introduced them to each other, Yixing had stared at Jongdae for a good minute before he walked out the door. Their other meetings were just as awkward. Yixing was an angel around anyone else, but he didn’t speak a word to Jongdae. It wasn’t until Valentine’s day when Jongdae found a gifted scarf and a small note in his locker from a secret admirer that Minseok figured it out. He’d recognize that hideous scribble of Yixing’s anywhere. It also helped that whenever Jongdae wore the scarf (all the time), Yixing would be constantly blushing and hopelessly nervous.
…but Jongdae didn’t need to know that. “Nah,” Minseok said with a smile, “he was incredibly shy. I don’t think Yixing is capable of hate; he’s too sweet.”
Jongdae shrugged. “I guess so.” He said as he went back to typing a reply.
The last time Minseok had seen Yixing was his graduation ceremony. Even though they weren’t particularly close, Yixing had cried when Minseok had hugged him goodbye on his last day at dance. Minseok smiled softly to himself as he remembered.
Jongdae suddenly sat up straight and turned to Minseok excitedly. “Hey, do you wanna meet him?” He questioned with bright eyes.
“Uh, sure?”
Jongdae’s face lit up even more at that. “Awesome! We can totally double date! I’ll tell Luhan.”
“You’re not even dating him. How would it be a double date?”
His best friend didn’t pay any attention to him as he laughed over something on his phone.
Minseok arched a brow at the giggling Jongdae. “Shouldn’t you be working on your song? Finals are coming up.” He needed to take his own advice, too. His other classes were easy, but English Lit was kicking his ass.
Jongdae pouted at Minseok. “I’m stuck. I can’t think of any lyrics.” He whined.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone out of Jongdae’s hand and threw it behind him on the couch. He ignored his friend’s protests and gave him a pointed look. “Luhan can wait, then. I’ll help you, so let’s just go through it, okay?”
His heart flopped around when Jongdae threw him a bright smile. “You’re the best, thank you!”
Minseok rolled his eyes and tried to hide his happy smile from the compliment. “Yes, I know.”
. . .
“One extra hot latte for Sohyun!” Minseok called out the order as he placed it on the table. He smiled at the girl who walked up to him to pick it up and she smiled shyly back at him.
He also noticed how her cheeks turned a little pink. He was unfortunately in love with his best friend, but it still felt good to have people appreciate his looks, even if it was a stranger.
A loud crash and a yelp from behind him pulled him out of his thoughts. He didn’t need to see what it was to know that it was Chanyeol who probably dropped something. The slight wet feeling on his pants told him that there was probably milk all on the floor.
“Chanyeol…” he began, as he tried to keep his annoyance to a minimum.
“Sorry, sorry! I was moving too fast and then I just–”
“Tripped, I know.” He finished for him, “Just be careful, please? Mop this up, and I’ll finish the drink.”
Chanyeol hung his head and walked off to find the mop he had just put away. It was not the first drink Chanyeol dropped that day.
Minseok went about steaming the milk for the latte Chanyeol was making. Wufan put down his binder and walked over to stare at the mess. “Chanyeol again?”
Minseok just nodded. It was well known in their store that the big, lanky idiot they loved was a clumsy mess most of the time. If he were new to the job, they would be more forgiving, but four months into the job and it was still as if Chanyeol started yesterday. He was hopeless, but the guests loved his smile and his infectious happiness, so Wufan seemed to forgive him.
Still, Minseok’s uniform often got dirty from the various things Chanyeol would drop and splatter around the place.
Chanyeol came bumbling back and immediately cringed in fear when he saw Wufan. “I’m sorry, it was–”
“An accident, I know.” Wufan cut him off. “Honestly, Chanyeol, I’m not even surprised anymore. At this point, I’m just grateful that we don’t have very much glass here. Paper cups don’t shatter, and I don’t really want to die by Chanyeol.” He shuddered at the thought.
Minseok let out a laugh at Wufan’s words. Hearing stuff like that was precisely why Wufan was Minseok’s favorite manager. He handed out the drink he made to an old woman and walked back over to the two.
Chanyeol still seemed to be apologizing. Minseok chuckled at the sight. “Don’t worry, Yeol. As long as the guests like you, your job is safe. Wufan also likes you too much to fire you.”
Wufan scowled at Minseok for those words. “Hey, don’t encourage his clumsiness.” He scolded. His frown deepened as Chanyeol put down the mop to hug Minseok.
“Thanks, hyung. This is why you’re my favorite.” Chanyeol said as he rested his chin on Minseok’s head.
He elbowed Chanyeol off him and swatted his hands as he tried to pull Minseok back towards him. “No hugs for you. Keep mopping.”
The doorbell dinged and a short boy with soft brown hair and lots of eyeliner walked in. Minseok and Wufan shared a look immediately and they smirked. “Would you?” Minseok asked, quiet enough for only Wufan to hear.
“Hell yeah. He’s hot.” Wufan said, not so quietly.
Chanyeol heard them and looked up. “Who is?” his eyes landed on the boy who just walked in and his face lit up immediately. “Baekhyun! You came!”
The boy, Baekhyun, walked up to the counter and laughed at Chanyeol. “Were you just mopping up a spill? You weren’t kidding when you said you did that a lot, huh?”
Somehow, Wufan had managed to walk over to the counter without Minseok noticing. He roped an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder and put on his seductive smile. “Who’s your pretty friend, Chanyeol?”
Baekhyun looked completely thrown at the sudden compliment. Evidently, he was not used to people being as forward as Wufan tended to be.
Chanyeol just beamed at Wufan. “This is Baekhyun. He’s my roommate and… my boyfriend.” He said the last part shyly, his ears a little red.
He watched the two of them look at each other bashfully. Wufan just gave Chanyeol a disgusted look. “You never told me you had a boyfriend.” He accused. Minseok could hear the accusation he didn’t voice: Chanyeol never said he had a super hot boyfriend.
Chanyeol coughed and averted his eyes from his boss, clearly a little embarrassed. Minseok felt bad for the poor guy and interjected, “Wufan, don’t forget to finish the orders before you leave today.”
Wufan shot him a dirty look. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Don’t remind me.” He said, annoyance clearly on his face. “Get back to work, both of you.” He said without much power as he walked back into his office. Wufan had a hot Chinese boyfriend that he pretended to forget about when he saw hot guys in the store, but he didn’t fool any of them.
Minseok rolled his eyes and went to introduce himself to Baekhyun. He turned out to be just as friendly and goofy as Chanyeol was. They were so perfect together; it almost felt like he was reading some romantic novel.
(It made him a little sick, because he could be perfect with someone too.)
(When did he become so bitter?)