Work Text:
1.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of being cramped in some random persons crappy college apartment while drinking warm beer and listening to terrible music that’s so loud you think your ears could actually bleed.
It should be a universal experience.
Everyone should be able to reminisce in the future about the sweat that layered their skin as they manoeuvred around furniture and just as perspired bodies. Alcohol sloshing around in red cups and bumping into people who may as-well be full on fucking against the walls.
“Sorry!” You can’t help but laugh as you collide into someone, only to realise it’s one of your favourite people. “Hyunjinnie!”
“Hey you,” Hyunjin laughs, steadying you with a hand around your waist, drink splashing around and threatening to spill over the edge. “How much have you drank?”
“Not enough!” You shout over the music with a giggle. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
“We managed to convince Minho to come! I wouldn’t miss out!”
“Ah the famous Minho! The only one of your friends I’ve yet to meet!”
“I keep telling him Y/N! The guy just doesn’t socialise!”
“And all I do is socialise!”
“Exactly!” Hyunjin agrees, hand still around your middle as he looks around the room for a certain person while you bring your own cup to your lips and ‘enjoy’ the lukewarm taste.
Bingo.
Hyunjin found him.
Staring directly at you.
Not Hyunjin.
You.
Just off to Hyunjin’s left, where Minho can see enough of you.
And Hyunjin just… knows.
And he watches.
He can see the moment Minho knows he’s been caught. Like a deer in headlights right before his eyes flick back to acting as disinterested as he possibly can be, pointedly turning his head away in fact as if to suggest he hadn’t just been caught looking at you.
And you are none the wiser!
You see… Hyunjin isn’t stupid, contrary to popular belief and being labelled the “pabo,” of his friendship group which he believes honestly should go to Han Jisung. And Minho by default, since their platonic soulmates or whatever, and therefore… Minho is the stupid one.
Because he fell right into Hyunjin’s trap without knowing.
A very risky trap.
Risky for Hyunjin’s life expectancy, that is.
But he may or may not have convinced his entire friendship group to help him drag Minho out to a party, firstly to get him out of his dorm apartment and secondly… to meet you.
And now? Now Hyunjin knows he was right.
You are exactly Minho’s type.
And Hyunjin damn well knows it.
And Hyunjin loves love! So this is like him being Cupid! Who wouldn’t want to be Cupid for two of his friends?
He just knows (hopes) there comes a time when Minho will thank him for this moment!
He just has to… survive first.
“There he is!” Hyunjin points out. “Want to come meet him?”
“Sure!” You agree easily, and Hyunjin’s hand moves from your waist up to your free arm, latching on and dragging you through the bodies you just came from just to his left.
“Hey Minho!”
And it’s embarrassing that you hear a small gasp leave your lips, luckily the music is loud enough that nobody fucking else can.
Becuase the man Hyunjin is talking too? Minho? The last friend of the group you’ve yet to meet.
Is gorgeous.
Like… GORGEOUS.
And that’s saying something considering Hwang Hyunjin has his arm looped through yours right now.
His features are sharp, and intense, but you can see two bunny teeth poking out the front of his mouth, and his eyes… fuck his eyes.
Predatory… but in a hot way.
Is that weird?
Potentially.
Maybe you have drank enough after all, come to think of it.
“This is Y/N!”
“Nice to meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you!”
“Whatever Hyunjin’s said is a lie.” Minho spits out harshly, tone defensive and bitter.
And you… you just laugh at him? Laugh. Full on belly laughing in his face.
“What?” Minho asks, tips of his ears already scalding, trying to hear every single decipher of your laugh over the thumping music.
“You’re funny,” you say as an explanation. “What Hyunjin’s told me shouldn’t be your concern though! Seungmin however-“
“He’s dead.” Minho says flatly. “I’ll kill him.”
“I better say my goodbyes to him then!” You carry on the joke. “It is really nice to meet you though!”
“Is it?”
“It is!” You confirm, happy as can be. “I hope I get to see you more!”
Minho hopes he gets to see you more too.
His eyes definitely do.
His mouth dares to start to curl up.
His palms have the audacity to sweat and his ears are actually burning him at this rate and Hyunjin has the sheer gumption to look so proud of himself, arms crossed now over his chest and loopy grin on his face as if he’s got Minho all figured out.
You know what Minho HAS got figured out? His air fryer settings for Hyunjin.
He should not have come to this fucking party.
“Do you want a drink?” Minho croaks, voice dry from your words about hoping to see him more. Him?! He hasn’t scared you off yet? You called him funny for fucks sake! There’s a fluttering in his stomach that he needs to evaporate and Hyunjin has the nerve to walk away and LEAVE HIM WITH YOU and-
“Don’t die on me, Jesus. Here! It’s just some sort of beer-“
There’s a cup being put to his lips and he takes a sip on autopilot.
“It’s warm.” Minho grimaces.
“Of course it’s warm! It’s not a party without warm beer.”
“I knew there was a reason I hated parties.”
“Am I not even making it slightly tolerable?”
Is this flirting?!
Are you FLIRTING with Minho right now?
This is a joke.
It has to be a joke.
He’s going to be the punch line and then he’s going to punch-
“You’re the one who gave me the warm beer in the first place!” Minho complains, and your laughter is sweet enough to get rid of the sour taste in his mouth.
Fucking Hwang Hyunjin.
Maybe this party wasn’t… so bad after all.
2.
“Tell me again why we had to come here?”
“I already told you!” Changbin complains as they open the door to the restaurant. “They have really good ribs here! Plus the service is quick!”
“How quick? Because you just made me do a chest workout and if I don’t eat in the next thirty minutes I’m going to waste away.”
“Tch,” Changbin rolls his eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
Minho smiles, sugary sweet and fake as can be. “What did you just say, Changbinnie?”
“I love you Minho.” Changbin grumbles.
“Thats what I thought!” He sing songs, sitting himself into the free table and opening up the menu.
“Changbin!”
Minho looks up at the voice calling his friend only to have his eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
“Changbin-“ Minho says through gritted teeth. “Give me ten reasons why I don’t grab my chopsticks and-“
“Hey Y/N!” Changbin is SO grateful you decided to arrive at the table when you did.
“Hey Minho!” You greet him easily. “It’s nice to see you again!”
“Nice?!” Changbin splutters. “If you had come over five seconds earlier you would have heard Minho threatening me.”
“I was simply going to explain why we have two chopsticks and two eyes-“ Minho replies dryly.
“Unless you want a spoon to scoop them out instead?”
“Y/N!” Changbin pouts at you. “You’re meant to be on my side here! The customers always right!”
“I am also a customer too!” Minho says back.
“You didn’t even want to come here!”
“I never said-“
“Ouch.” You suck in a breath as if wounded. “What did I ever do to you Minho huh?”
“No!” He splutters. “That’s not-“
“I’m just messing,” you ease straight away. “Can I get you both something to drink to start you both off with?”
“Changbin will have poison. I’ll take an iced americano!”
“Coming right up!” You turn on your heels and walk away, and Changbin audibly gulps. “Minho-“
But Changbin is saved, by some mercy. Because the chopsticks are long forgotten, fallen out of Minho’s fingertips and sprawled across the table, his gaze elsewhere.
Changbin cranes his neck to see what’s caught his attention and-
Oh.
It’s not what.
It’s who.
Changbin guesses Hyunjin was right.
When he suggested he take Minho to try out this restaurant, Changbin didn’t even think twice. Hyunjin said they had good ribs and fast service? Sold.
Hyunjin sold Changbin so that Minho could be sold by you being a worker here.
Damn.
Maybe Hyunjin really ISN’T the pabo of the group.
What a fucking revelation.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
Changbin regrets saying ANYTHING the second the sentence is strung from his mouth.
Minho’s head whips back to Changbin so fast, that he almost misses the blush on his cheeks. Almost. But it’s there. So Changbin KNOWS.
Minho picks the chopsticks right back up, places them expertly between his fingertips.
“Even if I did take a photo… it’s a shame you won’t have eyes to see it, isn’t it?”
“See what?”
The chopsticks fall clumsily back out of Minho’s hands, right as an iced americano gets placed in front of him.
See the hypothetical picture Minho was going to take of you because he got caught staring at you. Again.
“Ummm-“
Changbin gives in, he lets Minho have a breather, and hopefully saves his eyes in the process. “Can we order Y/N? I’m so hungry!”
“You’re always hungry!” You tease, “but sure! Why can I get you both?”
Conversation forgotten.
Minho exhales.
Changbin gets to keep his eyes for another day.
It’s a win-win for everybody.
3.
“You didn’t tell me Y/N was coming!” Minho hisses out, the lights of the bowling alley always way brighter than they need to be.
It’s like they are mocking Minho, purposely giving him a headache AND a better view to see you, in all his clarity and view and all your glory.
Who the fuck wears a skirt bowling?! It’s like you’re asking for Minho to die. Is that what you want? Are you trying to kill him?
Maybe you’re a murderer.
A psychopath.
The love of Minho’s fucking-
Okay he’s getting carried away.
Murder is fine but he draws the line at something like love.
It cannot be love.
He hardly knows you!
“Lust” doesn’t sound strong enough though.
“Crush” makes him want to physically gag.
“Desire” does not even come close to how Minho feels when he’s within your vicinity.
Crazy?
Minho feels crazy.
He should not feel crazy over this.
Over you.
Should he? No! No! Fuck.
This is getting out of control.
Minho is always in goddamn control.
What is it about you that has him spiralling? Seriously! It’s driving him insane.
You are driving him insane.
“Minho-yah!”
Minho looks up at Chan, and hates the frown that creases his own forehead when he sees that cheeky dimpled smile plastered on his friend’s face.
Mother fucker.
“What?”
“Awww Minho-“ Chan coo’s going towards Minho with his stupid fingers wiggling as if he’s about to pinch Minho’s cheeks.
He wouldn’t dare.
“Take one more step and it’ll be your last. Bang Chan.”
There’s a snort coming from the group of friends behind him and even chan just smiles wider, not deterred by Minho’s words in the slightest.
“Alright! Let’s play before someone gets hurt!” Jisung calls out lovingly and jokingly and Minho could fucking kiss him for speaking up right now.
“I’m really terrible, just so you know.”
“You better not go on the same team as me then!” Jisung teases.
“Why don’t we go on opposite teams?” You suggest. “We can be the worst player on each team then!”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Hyunjin pipes up. “My Y/N is so smart.”
“Your Y/N?” Minho didn’t mean for the question to bluntly come out of his mouth but… it’s out now.
“I claimed her as mine the second we met!” Hyunjin says proudly.
“Jinnie, we met because you were so drunk that you barrelled into me and the fall broke my wrist.”
“It was fate!”
“It was alcohol.” You deadpan, watching Minho smile out of the corner of your eyes.
“Red string theory!”
“Can I cut the string?”
Hyunjin whines high in his throat and you give him a hug and pat at his cheeks condescendingly as he just carries on his protests against you until you give in and tell him how grateful you are that he broke your fucking wrist so the two of you could meet.
And then, bowling finally starts.
“Sorry you’re stuck on a team with me.”
“You’re fine,” Seungmin assures you. “Minho’s probably worse than you.”
“Yah!”
“I’m only telling the truth!”
“Kim Seungmin-“
“Y/N your up!”
“Oh God. Uhhh- don’t look?”
That’s like asking Minho to stop breathing.
How dare you.
And as respectful as he wants to be.
His eyes clearly do not want to be.
Because they are watching your every move, especially the way you’re struggling to pick up the heaviest fucking bowling ball and-
“Why are you trying to lift this one?” Minho asks, taking the bowling ball from your hands.
“Ah, I wasn’t sure which one to use?”
“One you could lift, would be a good start.”
Rude. Fuck shit bollocks that was rude. “I just mean-“
“Try the green one!” Chan shouts out, and you take his advice and slip your fingers into the three holes before lifting.
“There,” you take a breath.
“It’s just bowling.” Minho says with a shrug. “It’s meant to be fun.”
“So is drinking warm beer at a party and we all both how much fun you had doing that.”
“There is nothing fun about warm beer and I will die on that hill.”
“God don’t die on a hill, that would be such a bitch to get down from.”
“Leave me there,”
“I was thinking of kicking you down, you’d just roll then.”
Minho barks out a laugh at your unexpected humour.
“Well, break a leg!”
“I have just got over my broken wrist!”
“It’s metaphorical!”
You shake it off, obviously you know it was metaphorical, Minho is just… easy to tease. To fluster? Is that what you’re doing? Flustering him? You sure hope so.
You pull your arm back and swing forward, ball coming out of your grip and rolling down the alley and-
“STRIKE!”
“Y/N WHAT THE FUCK?!” You can hear Jisung shouting. “You said you were bad!”
There’s a thud and a yelp and you spin around to see the bowling ball that Minho took from you now on the ground, a mere inch from his toes.
“Jesus Minho.” Seungmin calls out. “Try not to break your foot!”
“Maybe keep an eye on the ball, yeah?” Chan jabs. Knowing just where Minho’s eyes were when he let it slip out of his hands.
“If you roll me down the hill like you rolled that ball I might come back to life.” Minho says as you approach him. Your confidence back and a spring in your step.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” You say with a warm smile. “You’re up, by the way.”
And then Minho drops to the floor to get the bowling ball and is met with your bare legs. All the way up to the hem of your skirt and-
Right. The ball.
Eyes on the ball.
Eyes.
On.
The.
“Fighting Minho!” You call out to him.
The ball falls again.
Ball.
4.
“Minho! Is there enough food for one more for dinner?”
It’s bad enough that Minho is the designated cook for the group but now he’s expected to cook extra?!
“Sure!” Minho shoots back. “You don’t need to eat, right?” He asks Jisung back, all nonchalant.
But his friends know him better than that.
Minho cooks like he’s feeding five thousand.
There is always enough food.
Enough for everyone to take leftovers home with every single time, in fact.
“I’ll just tell Y/N she can’t come then and-“
Hold up.
Rewind.
Backtrack.
“What?” Minho scarpers out of the kitchen to the living room. “Y/N?”
“Yeah, she’s been studying all day and Seungmin met her in the library and bribed her with dinner to stop, she hasn’t eaten yet and-“
“Yes!” Minho shouts out. “Yes I mean, I mean what type of person would I be to not feed her, you know? Umm, two Seungmin- yeah. Yes.”
“Just to clarify,” Chan speaks up. “Is that a yes?”
“You’re eating scraps.” Minho turns right back around and heads for the kitchen.
His friend’s laughter like a gunshot wound to his fucking head.
Bastards.
….
This is fine.
Minho is fine.
Fine.
Fine.
It’s like that one episode of friends where Ross says he’s absolutely fine about Joey and Rachel dating and then proceeds to drink himself into oblivion.
Minho’s fine.
He is fine.
He isn’t Ross.
You aren’t Rachel.
He needs to get rid of the ‘Friends’ boxset in his bedroom immediately.
This is FINE.
EVERYTHING IS FINE!
Gwen-fucking-chana.
It’s just that…
You’re sat opposite him at the table.
His table.
Eating food.
His food.
That he cooked.
And you… you are fucking MOANING as you take a bite.
Minho doesn’t even know if you’re chewing or just swallowing it down and his mind does not know how to process that information without his cock stirring to life in his pants and he’s honestly going to drop dead or smash his head into the table.
He’s not sure which one sounds more appealing right now.
Your eyes are closed and you must be chewing because your cheeks are moving, and there’s some sauce smudged on the corner of your mouth that your tongue pokes out to collect, all pink and wet and-
“Are you okay?”
“I’M FINE!” Minho says a little too loud, and your eyes open and Minho’s fly to the traitor that is Han Jisung.
Betrayed by his own soulmate.
Is there a worse crime?
“I mean,” he clears his throat. “Is the food fine?”
“Fine?!” You chew as fast as you can and swallow it down. “Minho what do you mean is it fine?! It’s phenomenal? When I die I want to be buried in this sauce. What the fuck?”
“Is that before or after you push my own dead body down a hill?”
“After. I don’t want to be sticky in sauce on top of a hill.”
“What kind of conversation is this?”
Jisung blinks, looking around the table at his other friends. “Do any of you understand what’s happening?”
“I don’t want to know.”
Seungmin gives up.
“Some kind of really weird foreplay- OW!” Hyunjin leans down to rub at his freshly kicked shin.
“So it’s… fine?” Minho asks you, just for clarification.
“More than fine, Minho.” You tell him sincerely. Probably the most genuine you’ve ever sounded with him. “I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on your cooking all this time.”
“I see how it is. You only want me for my cooking.”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Changbin asks, cheeks loaded with food.
Minho narrows his eyes and Changbin looks back down at his emptying bowl of food, hand curling around it incase Minho tries to pry it from him.
Once everyone’s done eating and you insist of doing the washing up alongside Changbin, who’s apparently “turn” it is, Seungmin chooses the opportunity to strike.
“You know how Y/N had some sauce on her face earlier?”
Minho hums, trying to act disinterested as if that image is not going to continuously play on loop in his fucking head for the rest of his life.
“You’ve got something right-“ Seungmin points out and Minho goes to wipe whatever it is off.
“Ah wait, it’s drool.” Seungmin bursts into laughter at his own joke.
Minho plans to purposely leave a bone in his next meal so he chokes.
5.
“Okay, this is getting ridiculous now.” Hyunjin sighs.
“It’s sad, even by my standards.” Seungmin agrees.
“I know we call him weird, but this is just a whole other level.”
“It’s pathetic.”
“It’s romantic…”
“But pathetic.”
“But pathetic.”
“He’s not even listening to us,”
“We could be plotting against him, and he’s none the wiser because Y/N’s within his eyes distance.”
“I bet he’s so thankful he got laser eye surgery now.”
“Just needs to be able to hear again now.”
“Or maybe not.”
“Or maybe not.”
“My ears work perfectly fine,” Minho grits out. “I’m choosing not to listen to the pair of you, and you should both be thankful for that.”
“How do you know we’re saying anything if you’re not listening?” Seungmin questions like the menace he is right off the bat.
“Blah blah blah proper name place name backstory stuff….” Hyunjin waffles on, with him and Seungmin bursting into laughter together.
“You could just go talk to her, you know?” Seungmin offers once he’s calmed down. “Rather than watching her from afar.”
“I’m fine where I am.” Minho tells Seungmin, even going as far as to take his eyes off you to tell him this. Proud that he was able to do such a thing.
“Is it fine where she is though?” Hyunjin now speaks up. “Because she looks like she wants to be anywhere but chatting to that guy-“
And Hyunjin doesn’t even get to finish his sentence because Minho’s out of his seat and heading straight to the dance floor.
His eyes are always on you.
Always.
And the two seconds he took them off you to try and prove a point which is what exactly?
Pointless is the point.
Why is he so desperate to convince his friends that he isn’t doing what he’s doing anyway?
He’s staring. Plain as day.
You’re captivating.
You’ve captured Minho.
He wants to be fucking captured.
Hell, he walked right into the cage and closed the door behind it himself.
Why he’s depriving himself of that is…
Yeah. It’s pathetic.
Damn it.
Hyunjin was right?
Minho shivers just thinking about such a prospect.
“Minho,”
“Go on a date with me.”
The guy who’s clearly trying (and failing, might Minho add) to hit on you scoffs loud enough for him and you to hear.
“Really?”
“Really.”
The guy walks away, clearly unimpressed by how enthusiastic you sound, lit up like a fucking Christmas tree and God, Minho’s been so stupid.
“Thanks,” you tell Minho once the guys gone. “For interrupting.”
“My pleasure,”
“You umm, you sounded really desperate when you came over, and it was uhh- good acting!”
Good acting?!?!?!
“I wasn’t acting.”
“What?”
“Go on a date with me.”
“Really?!”
“Really. Didn’t we just have this moment?”
“Yeah but… really?”
“Do you not want to?”
“No! I mean yes! Yes! I do. A date. Please.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah… how uhh, how did you know I needed rescuing anyway? Was you doing the ‘stare’ thing?”
Minho is taken back. “Stare thing?”
“The guys say you stare, at me? I’ve never… seen it? But apparently it’s a thing.”
A thing.
It’s a fucking thing alright.
“Are you plotting murder?” You ask, lightly teasing but also somewhat… not.
“Would it be too much to ask you to be my accomplice in such a thing for our first date?”
“Hmmmm… I’ll have to think about it.”
Minho clicks his tongue in fake disappointment. “I guess I can take you for dinner too… that’s always an option.”
You laugh. That same laugh you gave him the night you met.
Yeah.
Dinner is a great option.
+1.
“Everything looks so good!” You can’t help but beam as you take in the menu. “What do you think-“ the question fizzles out on your tongue as you look up to see Minho already watching you. The softness in his eyes different to anything you’ve ever seen before.
It’s… gentle.
Certainly… fond.
But there’s something else there.
Desire.
A warmth blooms across your entire body, every inch of your skin heating up.
He’s doing the stare thing.
“Min?”
“Hmmm?” He blinks. Six times in quick succession as he snaps out of it, and you can honestly say he’s never looked so endearing. “What?”
“I said it all looks so good,”
“You do yeah.” Minho agreed and then his brain catches up to what you actually said.
You didn’t say that you looked so good.
No.
Because you’re not shameless like that.
Although you should be, because you’re fucking beautiful.
You said the food looked good but Minho hadn’t even opened the menu, too entranced by you instead to even suggest doing something as ridiculous as taking his eyes off you and-
“I didn’t believe it, you know? When the guys… when they said you looked at me? But I uhhh, I think I caught you this time.”
Minho swallows hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No?”
“No.”
Minho knows exactly. Of course he does. You’ve already mentioned that you know about it. Called it a ‘state thing.’ He remembers it vividly.
“Hmmmm…” you reach your foot across the table and hook it with his own leg. A bold move but you were tired of holding back. “I think you might.”
“I-“
“I mean, we are on a date after all.” You tell him. “I’d be more offended if you wasn’t looking, at least a little bit.”
“A lot.” Minho confesses. “I look… a lot.”
“I like it.” You tell him right back. “Maybe you can… maybe you can do more than look though?”
Minho’s dead. You’ve finally killed him. His brain is whirling. He’s been pushed down the hill. Ready to hit the bottom.
But he doesn’t.
“Minho,” you laugh, reaching over to take his hand too. “Am I being too much?”
“Not enough,” he cracks. “I don’t think… looking isn’t enough for me anymore.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Are you both ready to order?” The waiter interrupts.
“Everything looks good enough to eat.” Minho says while looking straight at you. Not worried about being caught anymore.
You kick out your leg against his own. A playful warning.
“It does,” you agree slowly. “Can I get the salmon please?”
“I’ll have the same.” Minho tells the waiter hit his eyes haven’t budged from you. From your winged eyeliner and wide smile and the light rouge that’s starting to take place upon the roundness of your risen cheeks and-
“You’re staring again.”
“Yes.” Minho doesn’t deny it.
“How did I miss it all this time?”
“You weren’t looking hard enough,”
“As opposed to you looking more than enough?”
“It’s never enough when it comes to you.”
“Pffft. Cheesy.”
Minho kicks your own leg back in retaliation. “I’d rather be cheesy than offer you a warm beer.”
“It was one time!”
“It was the night we met!”
“It’s better than getting a broken wrist like when I first met Hyunjin!”
“I don’t know… that same beer left a really bad taste in my mouth.”
“Is it still there?”
“Yeah.” Minho catches on instantly.
“Can’t have that, can we…”
And Minho’s already moving out from being polite you to being next to you in the booth of the restaurant, finally getting his hands on the face he’s looked at for so long from afar.
Now it’s here.
You are here.
On a DATE with him.
And your lips are meeting.
And it’s… it’s glorious. Electric. Everything Minho could have imagined and more.
“It is gone? The lingering of that dreadful beer.”
“Hmmmmm…” Minho acts like he’s thinking about it. “Maybe we should keep going until I know for sure it’s gone.”
“Yeah?” You wonder but Minho’s already leaning back in. “Yeah.”