psychology of human sexuality; xiuhan; pg-13
psychology of human sexuality.
◊ exo
◊ xiumin/luhan, xiumin/chen bffs, special appearances from the rest of m.
◊ university au
◊ 4,080 words
◊ PG-13
◊ for ambiguous 츄~♡
He was perfect.
The boy’s blonde hair was curled in perfect waves that bounced with each perfect silent movement of his mouth, his perfect eyebrows furrowed over the edge of dark rimmed glasses with deep concentration. There was something ethereal about the way the early evening light crept in through the windows of the library, creating a halo around his head and...what was he looking at?
Minseok blinked once, twice, under Luhan’s intense stare. He’d been talking, hadn’t he. Quick, think of something to say. Even if he had been listening, Luhan’s Chinese was always too smooth and quick for him to pick up every word every time. What felt like a full minute of awkward silence ticked by until he could formulate his genius response.
“Huh?”
Luhan let out an exasperated sigh and set about slamming books shut in an over-dramatic fashion. That’s cute. Minseok’s lips twitched at the way he pushed himself back from the table, frustration emanating from his skinny body. It was not unlike watching a rabbit try to be angry.
“I swear to God if you are not going to take this seriously I will do this all by myself. I need a B in this lab to keep my scholarship and I’m not letting some exchange student who can’t even speak Chinese mess this up for me. Be here tomorrow with some good ideas, or never talk to me again. I’ll just do it all on my own.”
His tirade finished, Luhan tossed all of his books into his shoulder bag and stalked off, past the librarian who’d been shooting him disapproving looks ever since the beginning of his outburst. Minseok probably should have been embarrassed, eyes all over the room pretending not to look at him, but he couldn’t help the grin that crept across his face as he tilted his chair back and yelled over his shoulder.
“See you tomorrow!”
The librarian shushed him.
It was a miracle that he’d found another Korean exchange student, considering the small size of his university. A godsend that he had someone to speak his native tongue with in between classes. Really, he was grateful for it. But did that person have to be Kim Jongdae?
Jongdae’s smile was catlike over folded hands, an untouched salad on the plate in front of him. The noise of the cafeteria around them was enough to fill the silence between them as Minseok tried his hardest to look at anything but Jongdae. Maybe he’d just let it drop.
“So. Tell me more about Luhan.”
Then again, this was Jongdae.
“He’s good looking, but I’m pretty sure he’s one of those kids that studies and does nothing else.” Minseok tried his hardest to act casual, shrugging it off and stuffing his mouth full of rice. Ever since he’d confessed to Jongdae drunkenly that he maybe, possibly, wasn’t 100% straight, the younger boy had been on a mission to set him up with someone (but definitely not Jongdae himself, no matter how gay he was, because Jongdae had standards, dammit.). He could see the cogs turning in in his head already. This had to be shut down.
“Look.” Minseok set his chopsticks down with a clatter to make his point. “He’s probably straight, anyway, I bet he even has a girlfriend, and I’m not fucking up my whole lab-” Jongdae wasn’t paying attention.
“You said he was blond, right? Looks like a deer caught in headlights?” There was that obnoxious purr to Jongdae’s voice once more and Minseok was almost afraid to look over his shoulder to see what his eyes were fixed on now.
Of course, he did.
Of course, it was Luhan.
Not just Luhan, but Luhan with some statuesque model of a man, easily over six feet tall, with a perfectly sculpted jawline and just the right amount of “I don’t give a fuck about any of you” in his gaze. Somehow, even with Luhan’s wide eyes shining up at him, even with Luhan’s beautiful fingers fussing at the scarf around his neck, his face remained a perfect, frowning mask.
“There’s smoke coming out of your ears, hyung,” Jongdae crowed with just a little too much satisfaction, lips curled up in the smug expression of someone who had just been proven right. Only when Minseok spun back to look at him, venom in his eyes, did he manage to rearrange his expression to almost (almost) look like he was sympathetic. “Better luck next time.”
4:11 pm. They’d agreed upon 4 o’clock, hadn’t they? He’d already spent half an hour pretending to look busy so he wouldn’t look over-eager, and there was only so many times he could read his notes over while making a show of nodding knowingly. Luckily, 4:12 brought a very tired and rumpled looking Luhan through the library doors. All thoughts of what sort of tall, handsome things could have been keeping Luhan up were immediately pushed out of his head, because Minseok was absolutely not lusting over his lab partner. The blond boy nearly stumbled over his own feet in surprise at the sight of Minseok. Minseok was rather proud of himself.
“Didn’t really expect you to show up again...” Luhan kept his head bowed as he set his books out on the table, and (maybe Minseok was imagining things, but) a red colour spread across his cheeks to tinge the top of his ears. Could it be he was actually embarrassed about his earlier outburst? The moment of weakness passed as quickly as it has arrived and Luhan was all business once more, hands folded on the table, clinical stare fixated on Minseok. “Let’s hear your ideas.”
This was what he had spent all night preparing for. He cleared his throat as he sifted through his notes, pages filled with carefully (almost illegibly) written Chinese characters. “Well, I was thinking since it’s based on observation we could do something about the amount of personal space people keep between themselves and others, maybe do some correlations between genders and ages.”
Either Luhan was impressed that he had actually come up with something, or he was shocked that Minseok knew words like correlation in Chinese, but his work was rewarded with a small smile. Little by little his body language relaxed, leaning in ever so slightly toward the Korean. “That’s interesting,” the compliment melted out like like caramel, “What else do you have?”
By the end of the week Minseok thought he had probably never put as much work into one project as he had into this stupid introductory lab. Its overall effect on his mark was miniscule, something like 2%, and he was sure slacking off a little and scraping by with a B or C probably wouldn’t have hurt too much. Still, when it was handed back with a red A scrawled on the front and Luhan turned to him with a smile that could cut through the darkest rain clouds, he figured it was probably worth it.
The next few weeks passed much easier. From four to five pm, Monday through Friday, Minseok and Luhan could always be found in the back corner of the library. Periods of hard work were punctuated by too-loud laughter as Minseok cracked all of his best jokes just to admire the way Luhan’s eyes wrinkled at the corner as he smiled. Sometimes, very few times, but sometimes he would look up to catch Luhan watching him quietly, only for him to flash a small smile and look away as their eyes met. Sometimes Minseok imagined himself saying hey, here’s my number. Let’s hang out for real? but then he remembered tall model guy, with his perfect eyebrows and his long legs, and he kept his mouth shut.
All too quickly, it was December. On one hand, cold weather meant that Luhan looked adorable bundled up in scarves with a bright red nose. On the other, it meant the end of the semester and their partnership. Their final lab report was a masterpiece. They both sat back in their chairs to bask in the satisfied glow of a course well finished, identical, tiny smiles fixated onto the papers in front of them. This was his chance. All he had to do was ask to exchange numbers, tell him to text him sometime, they could be friends. Nothing more. The thought of Luhan slipping away and becoming another face that nods at him as they pass on the street before continuing on his way made him sick to his stomach.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, though, Luhan’s obnoxious ringtone cut through the silence and earned him a couple of pretty pissed off glares from majorly stressed students around them. How many times had Minseok told him to put it on vibrate when they were in the library? Slender fingers swiped to unlock his phone and Minseok barely had time to catch a glimpse of a(n obnoxious, infuriating, rage-inducing) red heart before Luhan was pushing himself to his feet and gathering everything into his arms in a hurry.
“Have to run.” There was almost something apologetic in his smile as he wound and wound and wound his scarf around his neck. He paused like he was going to say something...then it was gone just as quickly, replaced by a ninety degree bow. “Thanks for all of your hard work.”
And he was gone.
The thud Minseok’s head made as it hit the table probably drew twice as many glares as the phone had.
Christmas break loses some of it’s luster when you have absolutely nowhere to go, Minseok decided a full two days after exams had ended. Mind you, the fact that he’d barely been able to pull himself out of his bed in that period of time could have contributed to that fact. It came as no surprise when Jongdae was bursting into his apartment Friday morning (seriously, when had he given him a key?) and made a big show of turning on every light and opening all of his blinds.
“Rise and shine, ugly.” Minseok lifted his head off of his pillow just enough to acknowledge Jongdae’s presence and get him to stop kicking him before falling back face first. Jongdae sighed.
“What is wrong with your hair, anyway. I swear you could look attractive if you just tried a little. I mean, you wear sweatpants outside.”
Minseok took offense to that and finally rolled to his feet, scratching at his balls through his boxers and earning another exasperated sigh from Jongdae for his troubles. “What do you call that center part, then,” he scoffed as he walked by, poking Jongdae’s oversized forehead.
“I look good no matter what I do. You need help.”
He was trailed all the way to the bathroom because Jongdae really had no concept of personal space, perching on his counter and chattering away as he flipped through a magazine and Minseok tried to shower off a couple days worth of sleep. Somehow he was still talking, even as he was being pushed out of the room so Minseok could pull on the horribly offensive sweatpants and a probably clean shirt. When he pulled the door open Jongdae was doing that annoying thing where he was staring at him expectantly, even though Minseok had been trying his hardest to tune out everything he’d been saying.
“So you’ll come, right?”
Stare.
“To the party.”
Stare.
“Everyone will be there.”
Eyebrow raise.
“Everyone.”
...Oh.
And so, the ever-difficult life of Kim Minseok and the ever-entertained life of Kim Jongdae carried on. Somehow he’d let the younger boy get his hands on his hair and it was dyed a shade of dark red, curled carefully to look like he hadn’t done anything to it at all (despite his protests, Jongdae had fixed his own center part and covered his forehead again).They were still a block away but it was obvious which house they were headed to, the foundation practically shaking from the pounding bass, a girl leaning over the second floor balcony to puke into the yard (“Sloppy,” Jongdae remarked with an all-too-pleased grin).
As soon as they walked through the door people were shouting Jongdae’s name, four or five girls fawning over him and whispering in his ear while shooting Minseok what they probably thought were subtle glances. Jongdae must have informed them of his sexuality, though, (probably something more like “if you don’t have a dick, he’s not interested”) because the flirty looks soon turned to disappointment and they were dragging him off to make the rounds.
Without Minseok.
He should have expected it from the beginning, and he would have anticipated it a lot more if he hadn’t been blinded by promises of Luhan. As it was he just shook his head and made his way to the fridge, popping open a beer before he began his own awkward search of the party.
Not ten minutes later, he was back in position, leaning against the counter and nursing his second beer with what was maybe a pout. No blond hair, anywhere in the house. He also should’ve known Jongdae would lie to him to drag him out of his apartment. When he heard his friend's melodic laugh his head snapped up, begging to be saved, but it was no use. Jongdae wasn’t likely to move from the lap of the lanky, dark-skinned, probably underaged boy where he’d made himself comfortable. Maybe Jongdae’s best friend senses weren’t completely off, though, because he looked up to catch Minseok’s gaze with a small shrug, as if to say sorry.
Then his expression suddenly faded away as he caught sight of something behind Minseok and widened his eyes, making frantic, tiny gestures with his head. Yes, Minseok knew that look. With a deep breath he set his beer down and turned around as slowly and casually as he could.
Holy shit.
It was Luhan, alright, but definitely not the one he’d been studying with. His hair was pushed back from his forehead, a small change that took him from adorable to effortly sexy, and when he pulled off his long jacket Minseok finally had to admit that yes, he had a serious problem. His t-shirt dipped dangerously low to show off prominent collar bones and his dark jeans probably could have been painted onto his thighs. Another man walked in behind him and slung an arm over his shoulder and for a moment Minseok felt like he was going to explode, until a girl followed both of them and linked her fingers through the intruder’s.
He definitely had a problem. And he had approximately ten seconds to solve it, since they were moving from the entranceway to the kitchen.
Kim Minseok, social skill extraordinaire, decided to pull out his phone and focus all of his attention on it, ignoring them completely. The heat spreads from his chest, all the way through his face to the top of his head, as he listens to the three laugh and gather their drinks, until
“Minseok?”
If the three second pause didn’t give him away, his fake oh, I didn’t notice you there! expression had to have done it. Luhan was just smiling, though, probably a little tipsy already because he walked forward to run his fingers through Minseok’s freshly dyed hair and it’s the first time he’s ever touched him and can Minseok just get swallowed up and die now?
“I almost didn’t recognize you, your hair looks great!” Luhan turned back to his friends for their opinion, the boy with his arm wrapped protectively around the girl’s shoulder, both of them giving their nods of approval. To Minseok’s surprise they didn’t flit away like the social butterflies gorgeous people like them must be, instead the four of them falling into comfortable conversation right there in the kitchen.
The boy is Luhan’s childhood best friend Yixing, the girl is his girlfriend Qian and they’re both dancers (“I dance too!” Minseok excitedly exclaims through the alcohol and Luhan shoots him an impossible to decipher look). Eventually Yixing and Qian head off to find other friends, and other people come and go, but Luhan and Minseok remain opposite each other. It must have been an hour and five beers later when Luhan pushed himself away from the counter and stretched his arms over his head, exposing a stretch of flat stomach, before he’s smirking at Minseok. Minseok stared back dumbly.
“I need a smoke. Join me?” Luhan was already stalking off to find his jacket without waiting for an answer, but it wasn’t like Minseok was going to say no.
They were both a little more drunk than they’d thought, arms around each other’s shoulders like old friends as they helped each other out onto the back deck with nervous giggles. It’s empty and finally quiet (or at least, more quiet than inside had been) and Luhan took in a deep breath before digging into a pocket for his pack of cigarettes. The one placed between his lips gives Minseok an excuse to stare, although he probably looked for a little too long considering the smirk Luhan is giving him when he noticed that the pack was being offered to him.
“Ah, no, I actually...don’t...” he murmured with a touch of embarrassment and a wave of his hands. Why would he follow him out for a smoke break when he didn’t even smoke? Now he definitely looked like an idiot.
Luckily Luhan just laughed it off, lighting his own and leaning back against the railing as he takes a long drag in, tilting his head back to the sky as he lets out a ring of smoke. “You shouldn’t. It’s bad for you. Especially since you’re a dancer.” The way he said it made Minseok wonder if he was making fun of him, but watching Luhan’s eyes crinkle when he turned to smile at him made his mind go blank and simply offer up a dumb smile in return.
“Yeah, just hip hop stuff, nothing like those guys. I had a crew with some friends back in Korea and I guess we were pretty good...” Minseok tried his best to look humble but he grinned at the memories, stepping forward to lean over the railing next to him. Luhan cocked his head and tapped some ash off behind him into the snow.
“I bet your girlfriend loves that.”
Minseok started slightly. He knew this trick. At least, he thought he did. Subtly mention a significant other to find out if they actually had one. But there was no way Luhan could have meant it like that, right...? He smiled at him in return, cheeks pushing up in that way he hated as he shook his head. “No girlfriend.” A slight pause as he mulled over whether or not to ask his next question. “What about you?”
For a long moment, too long, Luhan looked him up and down, eyes boring into him like he might be able to catch a glimpse of his soul and be able to judge his character completely. Eventually he must have decided to trust him, letting out another long puff of smoke. “My boyfriend and I broke up a few months ago.”
Minseok almost had to close his eyes to block out the alternating flashing signs in his brain (Gay. Single. Gay! Single!!!) but he managed to recover enough to nod nonchalantly. “What happened there?” In his attempt to sound disinterested he almost ended up sounding robotic, covering it up with a cough and a hopefully concerned look. Luhan sighed, but it wasn’t directed at him, turning around so he’s facing the same way as Minseok and his gaze drifting away.
“He was a basketball player.” Model guy! Minseok bristled like an angry pomeranian but managed to keep quiet so Luhan could continue. “Turned out he was just experimenting with me while continuing to sleep around with half of the female population.” He shrugs it off and drops his butt over the railing into the snow. “So I dumped him.”
There’s a silence, and it’s slightly more awkward than any they’ve had so far this night, Minseok licking at chapped lips as he tries to think of something comforting to say that wouldn’t incriminate him too much. What he comes up with doesn’t exactly suit the criteria.
“He’s crazy.”
When Luhan looked up at him there was no surprise in his eyes, although Minseok looked like he might pass out from nervousness. Once the initial shock of shit, I actually said that wore off and he actually managed to see Luhan’s expression it almost seemed like he was waiting for something, expectant. Slowly, it dawned on Minseok. This was one of those now or never moments, wasn’t it? The kind where if you don’t make a move you regret it until you’re old and wrinkled. He’d already missed too many chances, there might not be another after this one.
In one quick step his fingers were tangled in hair fair too soft for the numerous dye jobs it must have gone through in the past semester and he tugged his head down (to his slight dismay, because somehow in his months of lusting it had never registered that Luhan was taller than him) in a lip numbing kiss (his lips were already numb, but that was beside the point). There was a heart stopping moment where Luhan did nothing and Minseok pulled back with a pretty good imitation of Luhan’s deer-caught-in-headlights look.
Was he laughing?
“Took you long enough,” Luhan’s voice was husky, either from the cold or the smoke, but he was dipping his hands into the back pockets of Minseok’s jeans, pressing his body flush against him and that was just about the end of his train of thought. Kissing him was definitely different than the girlfriends he’d had in high school and about a hundred times more amazing than the time Jongdae had kissed him “just in case”, or kissing the boys he’d fooled around with that seemed terrified he was going to report them to the cops. Luhan took no time in pressing him up against the house, cleverly in an alcove that would shield them from the view of anyone who managed to stumble around back. It’s hot and wet and Minseok can’t help but wonder if he’s moving too fast when he pushes his hips up against him, but Luhan responds by moving his lips next to his ear with a low whisper.
“The first time we met I couldn’t concentrate because I kept thinking about your mouth around my dick.”
Minseok’s knees buckled.
Dirty talking Luhan had never made an appearance in his fantasies, but he could probably adapt to this. Luhan was watching him silently, one eyebrow raised, and Minseok struggled to wet his lips and find his words. After a full thirty seconds he choked out
“My apartment is the next block over.”
Jongdae’s morning wake up was even less welcome when accompanied by a throbbing hangover.
“Your phone better be missing, because that’s the only reason I can think of for you to ditch me at a party without...” The rampage was brought to an abrupt halt when he entered the bedroom to find two sets of clothes scattered across the floor and a very-obviously-naked-under-his-sheets Minseok. Before Minseok could even muster up the energy to shoot him a warning glare or Jongdae had the time to shut his gaping mouth, Luhan was strolling out of the bathroom in only a pair of (Minseok’s!!!) boxers, flashing Jongdae his award winning smile.
“Come back in a few hours, okay?” His tone was kind, but he was pressing one hand against Jongdae’s chest to push him firmly back out the door, shutting it in his face and pushing the deadbolt across. When he turned to direct that smile back at Minseok he figured he probably had stars in his eyes.
“If you keep doing that, I might just fall in love with you,” he breathed dreamily, this time fully aware of how dumb he sounded and fully aware that Luhan just didn’t care (in fact, he found it pretty cute).
His reward was one of Luhan’s laughs and his return to the bed, curling into Minseok’s side with a heavy arm slung across his stomach, pressing sweet kisses into his neck. “Anything for you, baby.”
Minseok had such a problem.
◊ exo
◊ xiumin/luhan, xiumin/chen bffs, special appearances from the rest of m.
◊ university au
◊ 4,080 words
◊ PG-13
◊ for ambiguous 츄~♡
He was perfect.
The boy’s blonde hair was curled in perfect waves that bounced with each perfect silent movement of his mouth, his perfect eyebrows furrowed over the edge of dark rimmed glasses with deep concentration. There was something ethereal about the way the early evening light crept in through the windows of the library, creating a halo around his head and...what was he looking at?
Minseok blinked once, twice, under Luhan’s intense stare. He’d been talking, hadn’t he. Quick, think of something to say. Even if he had been listening, Luhan’s Chinese was always too smooth and quick for him to pick up every word every time. What felt like a full minute of awkward silence ticked by until he could formulate his genius response.
“Huh?”
Luhan let out an exasperated sigh and set about slamming books shut in an over-dramatic fashion. That’s cute. Minseok’s lips twitched at the way he pushed himself back from the table, frustration emanating from his skinny body. It was not unlike watching a rabbit try to be angry.
“I swear to God if you are not going to take this seriously I will do this all by myself. I need a B in this lab to keep my scholarship and I’m not letting some exchange student who can’t even speak Chinese mess this up for me. Be here tomorrow with some good ideas, or never talk to me again. I’ll just do it all on my own.”
His tirade finished, Luhan tossed all of his books into his shoulder bag and stalked off, past the librarian who’d been shooting him disapproving looks ever since the beginning of his outburst. Minseok probably should have been embarrassed, eyes all over the room pretending not to look at him, but he couldn’t help the grin that crept across his face as he tilted his chair back and yelled over his shoulder.
“See you tomorrow!”
The librarian shushed him.
It was a miracle that he’d found another Korean exchange student, considering the small size of his university. A godsend that he had someone to speak his native tongue with in between classes. Really, he was grateful for it. But did that person have to be Kim Jongdae?
Jongdae’s smile was catlike over folded hands, an untouched salad on the plate in front of him. The noise of the cafeteria around them was enough to fill the silence between them as Minseok tried his hardest to look at anything but Jongdae. Maybe he’d just let it drop.
“So. Tell me more about Luhan.”
Then again, this was Jongdae.
“He’s good looking, but I’m pretty sure he’s one of those kids that studies and does nothing else.” Minseok tried his hardest to act casual, shrugging it off and stuffing his mouth full of rice. Ever since he’d confessed to Jongdae drunkenly that he maybe, possibly, wasn’t 100% straight, the younger boy had been on a mission to set him up with someone (but definitely not Jongdae himself, no matter how gay he was, because Jongdae had standards, dammit.). He could see the cogs turning in in his head already. This had to be shut down.
“Look.” Minseok set his chopsticks down with a clatter to make his point. “He’s probably straight, anyway, I bet he even has a girlfriend, and I’m not fucking up my whole lab-” Jongdae wasn’t paying attention.
“You said he was blond, right? Looks like a deer caught in headlights?” There was that obnoxious purr to Jongdae’s voice once more and Minseok was almost afraid to look over his shoulder to see what his eyes were fixed on now.
Of course, he did.
Of course, it was Luhan.
Not just Luhan, but Luhan with some statuesque model of a man, easily over six feet tall, with a perfectly sculpted jawline and just the right amount of “I don’t give a fuck about any of you” in his gaze. Somehow, even with Luhan’s wide eyes shining up at him, even with Luhan’s beautiful fingers fussing at the scarf around his neck, his face remained a perfect, frowning mask.
“There’s smoke coming out of your ears, hyung,” Jongdae crowed with just a little too much satisfaction, lips curled up in the smug expression of someone who had just been proven right. Only when Minseok spun back to look at him, venom in his eyes, did he manage to rearrange his expression to almost (almost) look like he was sympathetic. “Better luck next time.”
4:11 pm. They’d agreed upon 4 o’clock, hadn’t they? He’d already spent half an hour pretending to look busy so he wouldn’t look over-eager, and there was only so many times he could read his notes over while making a show of nodding knowingly. Luckily, 4:12 brought a very tired and rumpled looking Luhan through the library doors. All thoughts of what sort of tall, handsome things could have been keeping Luhan up were immediately pushed out of his head, because Minseok was absolutely not lusting over his lab partner. The blond boy nearly stumbled over his own feet in surprise at the sight of Minseok. Minseok was rather proud of himself.
“Didn’t really expect you to show up again...” Luhan kept his head bowed as he set his books out on the table, and (maybe Minseok was imagining things, but) a red colour spread across his cheeks to tinge the top of his ears. Could it be he was actually embarrassed about his earlier outburst? The moment of weakness passed as quickly as it has arrived and Luhan was all business once more, hands folded on the table, clinical stare fixated on Minseok. “Let’s hear your ideas.”
This was what he had spent all night preparing for. He cleared his throat as he sifted through his notes, pages filled with carefully (almost illegibly) written Chinese characters. “Well, I was thinking since it’s based on observation we could do something about the amount of personal space people keep between themselves and others, maybe do some correlations between genders and ages.”
Either Luhan was impressed that he had actually come up with something, or he was shocked that Minseok knew words like correlation in Chinese, but his work was rewarded with a small smile. Little by little his body language relaxed, leaning in ever so slightly toward the Korean. “That’s interesting,” the compliment melted out like like caramel, “What else do you have?”
By the end of the week Minseok thought he had probably never put as much work into one project as he had into this stupid introductory lab. Its overall effect on his mark was miniscule, something like 2%, and he was sure slacking off a little and scraping by with a B or C probably wouldn’t have hurt too much. Still, when it was handed back with a red A scrawled on the front and Luhan turned to him with a smile that could cut through the darkest rain clouds, he figured it was probably worth it.
The next few weeks passed much easier. From four to five pm, Monday through Friday, Minseok and Luhan could always be found in the back corner of the library. Periods of hard work were punctuated by too-loud laughter as Minseok cracked all of his best jokes just to admire the way Luhan’s eyes wrinkled at the corner as he smiled. Sometimes, very few times, but sometimes he would look up to catch Luhan watching him quietly, only for him to flash a small smile and look away as their eyes met. Sometimes Minseok imagined himself saying hey, here’s my number. Let’s hang out for real? but then he remembered tall model guy, with his perfect eyebrows and his long legs, and he kept his mouth shut.
All too quickly, it was December. On one hand, cold weather meant that Luhan looked adorable bundled up in scarves with a bright red nose. On the other, it meant the end of the semester and their partnership. Their final lab report was a masterpiece. They both sat back in their chairs to bask in the satisfied glow of a course well finished, identical, tiny smiles fixated onto the papers in front of them. This was his chance. All he had to do was ask to exchange numbers, tell him to text him sometime, they could be friends. Nothing more. The thought of Luhan slipping away and becoming another face that nods at him as they pass on the street before continuing on his way made him sick to his stomach.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, though, Luhan’s obnoxious ringtone cut through the silence and earned him a couple of pretty pissed off glares from majorly stressed students around them. How many times had Minseok told him to put it on vibrate when they were in the library? Slender fingers swiped to unlock his phone and Minseok barely had time to catch a glimpse of a(n obnoxious, infuriating, rage-inducing) red heart before Luhan was pushing himself to his feet and gathering everything into his arms in a hurry.
“Have to run.” There was almost something apologetic in his smile as he wound and wound and wound his scarf around his neck. He paused like he was going to say something...then it was gone just as quickly, replaced by a ninety degree bow. “Thanks for all of your hard work.”
And he was gone.
The thud Minseok’s head made as it hit the table probably drew twice as many glares as the phone had.
Christmas break loses some of it’s luster when you have absolutely nowhere to go, Minseok decided a full two days after exams had ended. Mind you, the fact that he’d barely been able to pull himself out of his bed in that period of time could have contributed to that fact. It came as no surprise when Jongdae was bursting into his apartment Friday morning (seriously, when had he given him a key?) and made a big show of turning on every light and opening all of his blinds.
“Rise and shine, ugly.” Minseok lifted his head off of his pillow just enough to acknowledge Jongdae’s presence and get him to stop kicking him before falling back face first. Jongdae sighed.
“What is wrong with your hair, anyway. I swear you could look attractive if you just tried a little. I mean, you wear sweatpants outside.”
Minseok took offense to that and finally rolled to his feet, scratching at his balls through his boxers and earning another exasperated sigh from Jongdae for his troubles. “What do you call that center part, then,” he scoffed as he walked by, poking Jongdae’s oversized forehead.
“I look good no matter what I do. You need help.”
He was trailed all the way to the bathroom because Jongdae really had no concept of personal space, perching on his counter and chattering away as he flipped through a magazine and Minseok tried to shower off a couple days worth of sleep. Somehow he was still talking, even as he was being pushed out of the room so Minseok could pull on the horribly offensive sweatpants and a probably clean shirt. When he pulled the door open Jongdae was doing that annoying thing where he was staring at him expectantly, even though Minseok had been trying his hardest to tune out everything he’d been saying.
“So you’ll come, right?”
Stare.
“To the party.”
Stare.
“Everyone will be there.”
Eyebrow raise.
“Everyone.”
...Oh.
And so, the ever-difficult life of Kim Minseok and the ever-entertained life of Kim Jongdae carried on. Somehow he’d let the younger boy get his hands on his hair and it was dyed a shade of dark red, curled carefully to look like he hadn’t done anything to it at all (despite his protests, Jongdae had fixed his own center part and covered his forehead again).They were still a block away but it was obvious which house they were headed to, the foundation practically shaking from the pounding bass, a girl leaning over the second floor balcony to puke into the yard (“Sloppy,” Jongdae remarked with an all-too-pleased grin).
As soon as they walked through the door people were shouting Jongdae’s name, four or five girls fawning over him and whispering in his ear while shooting Minseok what they probably thought were subtle glances. Jongdae must have informed them of his sexuality, though, (probably something more like “if you don’t have a dick, he’s not interested”) because the flirty looks soon turned to disappointment and they were dragging him off to make the rounds.
Without Minseok.
He should have expected it from the beginning, and he would have anticipated it a lot more if he hadn’t been blinded by promises of Luhan. As it was he just shook his head and made his way to the fridge, popping open a beer before he began his own awkward search of the party.
Not ten minutes later, he was back in position, leaning against the counter and nursing his second beer with what was maybe a pout. No blond hair, anywhere in the house. He also should’ve known Jongdae would lie to him to drag him out of his apartment. When he heard his friend's melodic laugh his head snapped up, begging to be saved, but it was no use. Jongdae wasn’t likely to move from the lap of the lanky, dark-skinned, probably underaged boy where he’d made himself comfortable. Maybe Jongdae’s best friend senses weren’t completely off, though, because he looked up to catch Minseok’s gaze with a small shrug, as if to say sorry.
Then his expression suddenly faded away as he caught sight of something behind Minseok and widened his eyes, making frantic, tiny gestures with his head. Yes, Minseok knew that look. With a deep breath he set his beer down and turned around as slowly and casually as he could.
Holy shit.
It was Luhan, alright, but definitely not the one he’d been studying with. His hair was pushed back from his forehead, a small change that took him from adorable to effortly sexy, and when he pulled off his long jacket Minseok finally had to admit that yes, he had a serious problem. His t-shirt dipped dangerously low to show off prominent collar bones and his dark jeans probably could have been painted onto his thighs. Another man walked in behind him and slung an arm over his shoulder and for a moment Minseok felt like he was going to explode, until a girl followed both of them and linked her fingers through the intruder’s.
He definitely had a problem. And he had approximately ten seconds to solve it, since they were moving from the entranceway to the kitchen.
Kim Minseok, social skill extraordinaire, decided to pull out his phone and focus all of his attention on it, ignoring them completely. The heat spreads from his chest, all the way through his face to the top of his head, as he listens to the three laugh and gather their drinks, until
“Minseok?”
If the three second pause didn’t give him away, his fake oh, I didn’t notice you there! expression had to have done it. Luhan was just smiling, though, probably a little tipsy already because he walked forward to run his fingers through Minseok’s freshly dyed hair and it’s the first time he’s ever touched him and can Minseok just get swallowed up and die now?
“I almost didn’t recognize you, your hair looks great!” Luhan turned back to his friends for their opinion, the boy with his arm wrapped protectively around the girl’s shoulder, both of them giving their nods of approval. To Minseok’s surprise they didn’t flit away like the social butterflies gorgeous people like them must be, instead the four of them falling into comfortable conversation right there in the kitchen.
The boy is Luhan’s childhood best friend Yixing, the girl is his girlfriend Qian and they’re both dancers (“I dance too!” Minseok excitedly exclaims through the alcohol and Luhan shoots him an impossible to decipher look). Eventually Yixing and Qian head off to find other friends, and other people come and go, but Luhan and Minseok remain opposite each other. It must have been an hour and five beers later when Luhan pushed himself away from the counter and stretched his arms over his head, exposing a stretch of flat stomach, before he’s smirking at Minseok. Minseok stared back dumbly.
“I need a smoke. Join me?” Luhan was already stalking off to find his jacket without waiting for an answer, but it wasn’t like Minseok was going to say no.
They were both a little more drunk than they’d thought, arms around each other’s shoulders like old friends as they helped each other out onto the back deck with nervous giggles. It’s empty and finally quiet (or at least, more quiet than inside had been) and Luhan took in a deep breath before digging into a pocket for his pack of cigarettes. The one placed between his lips gives Minseok an excuse to stare, although he probably looked for a little too long considering the smirk Luhan is giving him when he noticed that the pack was being offered to him.
“Ah, no, I actually...don’t...” he murmured with a touch of embarrassment and a wave of his hands. Why would he follow him out for a smoke break when he didn’t even smoke? Now he definitely looked like an idiot.
Luckily Luhan just laughed it off, lighting his own and leaning back against the railing as he takes a long drag in, tilting his head back to the sky as he lets out a ring of smoke. “You shouldn’t. It’s bad for you. Especially since you’re a dancer.” The way he said it made Minseok wonder if he was making fun of him, but watching Luhan’s eyes crinkle when he turned to smile at him made his mind go blank and simply offer up a dumb smile in return.
“Yeah, just hip hop stuff, nothing like those guys. I had a crew with some friends back in Korea and I guess we were pretty good...” Minseok tried his best to look humble but he grinned at the memories, stepping forward to lean over the railing next to him. Luhan cocked his head and tapped some ash off behind him into the snow.
“I bet your girlfriend loves that.”
Minseok started slightly. He knew this trick. At least, he thought he did. Subtly mention a significant other to find out if they actually had one. But there was no way Luhan could have meant it like that, right...? He smiled at him in return, cheeks pushing up in that way he hated as he shook his head. “No girlfriend.” A slight pause as he mulled over whether or not to ask his next question. “What about you?”
For a long moment, too long, Luhan looked him up and down, eyes boring into him like he might be able to catch a glimpse of his soul and be able to judge his character completely. Eventually he must have decided to trust him, letting out another long puff of smoke. “My boyfriend and I broke up a few months ago.”
Minseok almost had to close his eyes to block out the alternating flashing signs in his brain (Gay. Single. Gay! Single!!!) but he managed to recover enough to nod nonchalantly. “What happened there?” In his attempt to sound disinterested he almost ended up sounding robotic, covering it up with a cough and a hopefully concerned look. Luhan sighed, but it wasn’t directed at him, turning around so he’s facing the same way as Minseok and his gaze drifting away.
“He was a basketball player.” Model guy! Minseok bristled like an angry pomeranian but managed to keep quiet so Luhan could continue. “Turned out he was just experimenting with me while continuing to sleep around with half of the female population.” He shrugs it off and drops his butt over the railing into the snow. “So I dumped him.”
There’s a silence, and it’s slightly more awkward than any they’ve had so far this night, Minseok licking at chapped lips as he tries to think of something comforting to say that wouldn’t incriminate him too much. What he comes up with doesn’t exactly suit the criteria.
“He’s crazy.”
When Luhan looked up at him there was no surprise in his eyes, although Minseok looked like he might pass out from nervousness. Once the initial shock of shit, I actually said that wore off and he actually managed to see Luhan’s expression it almost seemed like he was waiting for something, expectant. Slowly, it dawned on Minseok. This was one of those now or never moments, wasn’t it? The kind where if you don’t make a move you regret it until you’re old and wrinkled. He’d already missed too many chances, there might not be another after this one.
In one quick step his fingers were tangled in hair fair too soft for the numerous dye jobs it must have gone through in the past semester and he tugged his head down (to his slight dismay, because somehow in his months of lusting it had never registered that Luhan was taller than him) in a lip numbing kiss (his lips were already numb, but that was beside the point). There was a heart stopping moment where Luhan did nothing and Minseok pulled back with a pretty good imitation of Luhan’s deer-caught-in-headlights look.
Was he laughing?
“Took you long enough,” Luhan’s voice was husky, either from the cold or the smoke, but he was dipping his hands into the back pockets of Minseok’s jeans, pressing his body flush against him and that was just about the end of his train of thought. Kissing him was definitely different than the girlfriends he’d had in high school and about a hundred times more amazing than the time Jongdae had kissed him “just in case”, or kissing the boys he’d fooled around with that seemed terrified he was going to report them to the cops. Luhan took no time in pressing him up against the house, cleverly in an alcove that would shield them from the view of anyone who managed to stumble around back. It’s hot and wet and Minseok can’t help but wonder if he’s moving too fast when he pushes his hips up against him, but Luhan responds by moving his lips next to his ear with a low whisper.
“The first time we met I couldn’t concentrate because I kept thinking about your mouth around my dick.”
Minseok’s knees buckled.
Dirty talking Luhan had never made an appearance in his fantasies, but he could probably adapt to this. Luhan was watching him silently, one eyebrow raised, and Minseok struggled to wet his lips and find his words. After a full thirty seconds he choked out
“My apartment is the next block over.”
Jongdae’s morning wake up was even less welcome when accompanied by a throbbing hangover.
“Your phone better be missing, because that’s the only reason I can think of for you to ditch me at a party without...” The rampage was brought to an abrupt halt when he entered the bedroom to find two sets of clothes scattered across the floor and a very-obviously-naked-under-his-sheets Minseok. Before Minseok could even muster up the energy to shoot him a warning glare or Jongdae had the time to shut his gaping mouth, Luhan was strolling out of the bathroom in only a pair of (Minseok’s!!!) boxers, flashing Jongdae his award winning smile.
“Come back in a few hours, okay?” His tone was kind, but he was pressing one hand against Jongdae’s chest to push him firmly back out the door, shutting it in his face and pushing the deadbolt across. When he turned to direct that smile back at Minseok he figured he probably had stars in his eyes.
“If you keep doing that, I might just fall in love with you,” he breathed dreamily, this time fully aware of how dumb he sounded and fully aware that Luhan just didn’t care (in fact, he found it pretty cute).
His reward was one of Luhan’s laughs and his return to the bed, curling into Minseok’s side with a heavy arm slung across his stomach, pressing sweet kisses into his neck. “Anything for you, baby.”
Minseok had such a problem.