Chapter Text
Being the inexperienced friend or the unwanted friend is not easy. Watching your friends get into relationships and be wanted stings. Minho always wonders, why can't it be so easy for me?
Watch Hyunjin and Changbin for instance. They didn't know each other before Chan had introduced them through a mutual friend. It started slowly but Hyunjin made the first step, they texted, they met privately and inevitably fell for each other (I'll spare you the details, the pining, the fear of rejection). It ended well.
But once these two were happy together they started looking at their friends. Minho overheard Hyunjin talk to Felix once:
"What about Chan hyung?"
"What about him?"
"You would make a cute couple."
Nothing happened for many more months. Felix wasn't having it and Minho didn't talk to Chan about it. But through the grapevine he heard about Chan texting Felix after the latter gave him some baking tips and now whenever Chan tried some recipes he showed off to Felix. One thing lead to another.
Minho could rip his hair out. Why is it so easy for them???
Contrary to what others may think, he has feelings, crushes, people he is interested in, but he also has a great fear of rejection and being perceived as a person with feelings. Especially when Kim Seungmin is concerned.
Before their friend groups properly merged Kim Seungmin was only occasionally at group events. Everything was still quite new. Mainly their group consisted of Minho's friends: Hyunjin, Felix, Jisung and Chan. Later they met Chan's other friends at bigger events, at Chan's birthday for instance. Those friends, Changbin, Jeongin and Kim Seungmin. Minho liked Chan's friends and some of them started to be more often at casual events outside of birthdays, except for Kim Seungmin. But when they met Minho found himself next to him more often than not. They would talk, banter and bicker like they had known each other for ages. Minho is great at lying to himself and not questioning things too deeply, but on a random Tuesday, which had nothing to do with him looking at Seungmin's recent instagram post, he realised he may have a crush on Kim Seungmin. (If you ask him he will deny it).
And the spiral began.
Every interaction will be romanticised as if Seungmin had proposed to him and not simply invited Minho to join him, as well as Chan and Jisung by the way, to try the new Korean BBQ place around the corner.
Minho couldn't think straight anymore and he was dying to talk to someone about it, but the humiliation would be too great. If he told Hyunjin then Felix would know and when Felix knew Jisung would know and then everyone knew. Usually Minho would tell Jisung everything but this time he just can't. This only leaves Channie hyung Minho concludes.