Chapter Text
Taemin is dropped off at the entrance of his dorm building at Korea National University of Arts. He hugs his parents and older brother goodbye before entering the building with a single suitcase with all his belongings. He’s full of dreams and hopeful for this new chapter of his life. He’s an adult now, he doesn’t live with his parents anymore, and he gets to decide his future starting today.
High School had felt like a prison, like a mandatory training for a life that he didn’t ask for nor was he interested in living. The day he found out he passed his audition on the first try for the School of Dance was one of the happiest of his life. He’s loved dancing for as long as he can remember and now he gets to become a professional one and do it full time. Do something he actually likes.
He makes his way into the building and discovers that his dorm room is fairly small and lacks any sort of personality. There’s a big window at the back, 2 single beds on opposite sides of the room each with their own nightstand, 2 small desks and a big enough wardrobe for 2 people. He wonders who his roommate will be. Hopefully not someone annoying. Whoever they are, they don’t seem to be here yet.
He picks one of the beds, the one closer to the window, and throws himself in the mattress staring at the ceiling. He figures it’s ok to choose since he got there first.
He takes out his laptop to play some music and eventually begins unpacking his belongings. He’s lost in his thoughts when the door suddenly bursts open. The young man at the door looks at him surprised to find someone already there. He seems to be about his age, he has - dyed - light brown hair and seems to be taller than Taemin. They stare for a second, studying each other’s features.
“Hi. I’m Taemin” he introduces himself. Stopping what he was doing.
“I’m Jongin, but I go by Kai” says the stranger called Kai. He settles into the room and takes the other bed. “Are you in your first year?”.
“Yes, I’m starting my first year in the School of Dance, Dance Performance, what about you?”
“Oh, me too! We’re in the same major”. Oh. If his roommate is in the same program, maybe the assignments weren’t random after all.
“What’s your schedule like?”
“Here, I haven’t learned it yet” Taemin hands him the printed paper with his schedule.
Classes start the next Monday, but dorm students get a few days to settle in before their first day. He told his parents he wanted to arrive as soon as the university allowed him to. For no particular reason, of course. He just wanted to have enough time to settle.
“We have almost all the same classes! We can go together if you like. I don’t know anyone in our year. Well, other than you now” he grins “Have you met anyone yet?”.
“Not really, I just got here today, like an hour ago. I do have a… friend though, in 3rd year” well, yes he IS his friend, even if the little fucker has been practically ignoring him for the past 2 months. He’s probably too cool now to call his stupid little dongsaeng from high school who followed him to university. Maybe his imminent arrival made him realize there’s no room for Taemin in his life anymore. But he will still call him his friend because it’s him.
“Oh really? What’s their name?”
“Jonghyun. We used to be neighbours back home and were friends in school –”
“Wait, the Kim Jonghyun in the School of Music? He’s a singer right?” he interrupts Taemin.
What?… How does he know him?
…“Yes?”
“I’ve heard of him!” Kai says excitedly, answering the question he didn’t say out loud, “I know some people in second year and he seems really popular. I heard he’s so good he tutors the second and first year students and apparently is very known among the girls too, is that really your friend?” oh ok, so that may be what’s keeping him so busy then. Good to know. And yes, that sounds like him.
‘Um, well, we kinda grew up together, but lately he seems kinda busy…”
Taemin’s phone interrupts with a notification.
Speaking of the devil – “Are you here already, Taeminnie?” reads the text. From Jonghyun. “Your eomma said they were dropping you off today”. Says a second text immediately after.
So he’s been texting his mom? Why did he text his mom and not himself to find out when he would arrive? He groans.
Taemin texts back without thinking, “Oh, so you didn’t lose my number.”
“Taeminnie, I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy. Let me make it up to you. Are you on campus already?”
“Yes, I am. And no need”. He’s not being childish. He’s not jealous either. Jonghyun probably just has a million other, better things to do than spend time with him anyway. He can spend time with the girls from his classes for example. Or the cool hyungs he’s friends with now.
His phone buzzes again but he ignores it and puts it back in his pocket.
“Sorry about that – “
“It’s ok, judging by your face, that was someone important?”
Taemin glances back at his phone. “Umm, kind of”
Kai grins. “For a second I thought it was a girlfriend”
Taemin snorts. What makes him think that? “No, I don’t have one. Do you?”
“No, but I’m hoping to fix that”
“Well, good luck” he smiles sympathetically.
Maybe he should get one too, so he can let go of those annoying thoughts he gets about Jonghyun. Or at least quiet them.
There seems to be competition for his attention here anyway. There always was. Jonghyun in high school used to be the loud fun student everyone wanted to be around, so no surprises there. He was popular back then too and being friends with him saved him from getting bullied in school. All the girls wanted to use Taemin to get close to him, and all the boys wanted to look cool to him. So no one bothered Taemin.
Jonghyun didn’t seem to mind that he was older than him, they would still eat together, play videogames at each other’s houses and sneak out from the school from time to time. Whenever they got caught, their parents would punish them by not being allowed to see each for a few days.
He missed him terribly when he graduated and moved to Seoul. But Jonghyun kept in touch. He would send him pictures from time to time. Call him sometimes. And they would meet up when he visited his parents about twice a year.
He helped him through the process of applying to the university and other than Taemin himself, no one was happier than Jonghyun when he got in and found out they would be in the same university.
But he’s not here because of Jonghyun, K-arts is just the best university in Korea for his major. He can definitely have a totally separate life from Jonghyun this time around.
Especially since for the past 2 months he was almost completely silent. No calls at all. No pictures. Taemin was more bothered by it than he would like to admit, he was nearly going crazy wondering what was going on with Jonghyun. He only knew he was alive from his short answers where all he would say is “I’m fine, can’t wait to see you at uni”. He didn’t seem to mean it though, with the way he was acting distant.
He didn’t know what to do now with the information that he had been texting his mom. But for the moment, he was going to file away that particular thought. He should focus on making new friends and getting to know new people. Like his roommate.
Taemin and Kai spend the rest of their evening getting to know each other. Taemin wasn’t sure at first but he did end up liking the guy. He is warm and kind hearted and way less socially awkward than himself. That’s probably gonna come useful if he wants to have any sort of social life on campus.
They hit it off so well that they ended up spending the whole weekend together too. By Sunday their room looked more like a shared space than a generic room. They decorated it with dance stuff and posters of bands they found they both liked. They bonded over dancing and videogames and also discovered a shared liking for udon from 7-eleven so they decide to get some for their last meal before classes begin.
They’re walking through campus on the way back when Taemin spots Jonghyun in the distance and he freezes on the spot. Shit. He didn’t expect to run into him, although it was bound to happen eventually. He just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
His heart starts beating out of his chest. How did he manage to get even more handsome? It’s only been a few months since they last saw each other, since the last time Jonghyun visited his parents back home. But he looks so different here, in this place, so grown up. Taemin feels guilty having to face him because now he is the one ignoring his texts since the day he got here.
Jonghyun is all smiles, enthusiastically engaged in a conversation with three other guys, each one of them almost as handsome as him. Why is everyone so pretty around here? The scene looks as if taken out of one of those university promotional flyers.
If those are his uni friends then no wonder he forgot about Taemin. He can’t help but think about how he has a whole different life here with people way cooler than himself…
Jonghyun turns his head in his direction as if Taemin’s stare had been calling him and spots him in the distance. He gives him that familiar, crinkly smile that Taemin has known for years and waves to get his attention. Taemin’s feet seem to have developed a mind of their own and start walking towards him against his will, dragging Kai along with him. He glances at him curiously but doesn't question him and Taemin is glad because he’s too busy trying not to look like he’s about to have a heart attack.
“Taeminnie! Have you been hiding from me? I’ve been looking for you everywhere” Ha! The audacity of him. You’re not that important Jonghyun. Truly. He had not been going out of his way to avoid him.
He embraces Taemin in a warm tight hug. His heart keeps racing and hopes Jonghyun doesn’t notice. He gets to briefly inhale that familiar scent, the one that reminds him of home and makes him want to give in, almost forget what he was upset about. But Taemin still doesn’t cave, he doesn’t hug him back, just pulls away discreetly.
“Sorry hyung, I just got busy settling in”. It’s not a lie.
“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?” Yep. There he is. Always seeing right through him.
He looks away, avoiding his eyes to stop him from reading them anymore.
“Taeminnie, please. I’m sorry! What will it take to get your forgiveness? Hyung will do anything for you…” Taemin’s face heats up. Jonghyun is giving him his characteristic puppy eyes. In front of everyone too. God, why is he just as beautiful as he remembers him? Why can’t he just stay mad at him? If he could resist Jonghyun’s charms his life would be way easier. That may actually be the root of the problem. He wouldn’t be mad if he didn’t care.
“Nothing, hyung, it’s ok. I’m not mad” Jonghyun gives him an unconvinced look but Kai coughs beside him, making his presence known to Jonghyun and bringing their attention to him. Taemin is thankful for the interruption.
“Jonghyun, this is my roommate Kai, we’re both doing the same major”. Jonghyun smiles brightly at him.
“Nice to meet you, Kai. Please take good care of Taemminie” Jonghyun says, out of all things. Taemin blushes a deep red. Even more than he already was. Why does he gotta be like that, and treat him like a child.
Kai just smiles back. “Oh don’t worry. He seems to take good care of himself.” Thank you, Kai!
“Nice to meet you too, Jonghyun, I’ve heard a lot about you!”. Mental faceslap. That seems to spark curiosity in Jonghyun’s eyes, he’s probably picturing Taemin telling Kai all about Jonghyun, but before he can say anything –
“Are you not gonna introduce us too, Jjong?” says the tall guy, wrapping his arm around Jonghyun’s shoulders.
“Oh right!. Taemin and Kai, this is Minho, he’s majoring in Acting.” Tall guy is called Minho. Ok, he does look like he belongs on TV. He has a warm smile too.
“Jinki – my roommate – he's in the Music School like me, we’re both singers.” he continues, pointing to a nice looking brown haired guy sending a polite wave their way.
“And Kibum, he’s majoring in musical theater. We all live in the same building. So we’re kinda stuck together” Jonghyun says grinning.
Kibum has black hair, sharp cheekbones and piercing eyes, mischievous almost. His name sounds vaguely familiar, he wonders if maybe Jonghyun has mentioned him before at some point, but he can’t place it. The problem is that Taemin is really bad with names, but Jonghyun has probably mentioned all of them at some point, he’s just not great at remembering them.
Kibum looks Taemin up and down for a second, not in a mean way, just observant. And then comes out with “Oh, so you’re Taemin, you ARE cute, Jjong wasn’t lying huh?”.
“Kibum, I never lie,” Jonghyun says, unfazed. Kibum scoffs.
Taemin short-circuits at the same time. “I-Umm, nice to meet you all”
“Likewise. He wouldn’t shut up about you. You’re both dancers right?” Kibum asks.
Taemin doesn’t know how to answer because he’s now stuck both at the “cute” and “wouldn’t shut up about you”, something is not adding up. So he lets Kai reply for them both instead. “Yeah, we are. We met 3 days ago and found out we have almost the same schedule and classes” says Kai.
“That’s convenient,” Jinki says. “You guys got lucky, sometimes room assignments are random and unfortunate, you two seem to get along”.
“Seriously,” Jonghyun agrees. “I was worried my Taeminnie would get stuck with some weirdo”
He what – his what? Taemin turns to stare at Jonghyun as if asking for an explanation for his behaviour, but he just grins at him as if he said the most normal thing in the world. Had he always been like that around other people?. He can't remember.
“Hey, you guys both should come to our party next Friday. We organized it to welcome new students, which you are, so you should definitely come” Presses Jonghyun.
“Oh, we’ll think about it –” starts Taemin.
“We’ll be there!,” confirms Kai. Him and Taemin exchange a look.
“Awesome! See you then!” Jonghyun hugs them both and sends them on their way back to their room while the group goes in the opposite direction.
They were mostly silent on the way back. Kai seemed lost in his own thoughts, but when they’re getting through the door to their room he goes: “Um, so you like him-like him, don’t you? Why didn’t you say so? I won’t judge, you know?” he says all of a sudden.
Taemin’s ears burn. Apparently he isn’t done getting embarrassed today.
“What? No!” Taemin rushes to say. but Kai is not having it, he just gives him a warning ‘don’t try to lie to me to my face’ kinda look.
So Taemin looks down, he has barely admitted this to himself, let alone another person. “Ok, but how–, why would you say that?”.
“C’mon, Taemin, you’re not subtle at all! You were blushing worse than a schoolgirl with a crush! Isn’t he your friend from like, forever? What did you need to be embarrassed about? Unless you like him, of course.”
Damn you, Kai. He didn’t take him to be this smart. Or maybe he is that obvious?
“If he doesn’t know it he’s blind, to be honest” he finishes.
So maybe that’s it. Maybe Jonghyun figured out that Taemin has a crush on him? – before he even did himself, mind you – and that’s why he was avoiding him before coming here and trying extra hard to baby him now that he is. To make their dynamics clear.
His trail of thought is interrupted by his phone vibrating.
“Meet me Tuesday at 2?” reads Jonghyun’s text. Taemin feels his stomach flip.