bermuda triangle

“minjoon you’re blushing. I didn’t even know you could blush, it’s adorable,” hoetaek says. and maybe they feel a little bad about poking at it and pointing it out so bluntly, but they really can’t help it. it’s so cute, minjoon’s red ears and the way he’s trying to argue that he’s not that obvious when he really, definitely, is. hoetaek’s seeing their roommate in a whole new, much much softer light, and they’re kind of having fun. though not so much fun that they don’t recognise minjoon’s shyness and embarrassment. this is clearly so far out of his comfort zone, and honestly, that’s part of the reason they want to help him.

they listen as minjoon responds to them, nodding a little when he says he can be patient, that he doesn’t want to scare jisoo away, that he doesn’t do the shirtless thing with him. they appreciate that. it seems like minjoon is being honest here, and hoetaek hopes they’re not going out on a limb here, but they trust his answers. they don’t miss how defensive minjoon gets when hoetaek calls him out though, but they’re not going to apologise for it. most of the time it seems minjoon can navigate the line between appropriate and inappropriate, but hoetaek doesn’t see the harm in their reminder, especially in this situation.

“of course I’ll help you minjoon,” they reply with a nod. “I care about jisoo a lot, everyone knows that, and I care enough to know he deserves to be loved.” he also deserves to believe he deserves to be loved, they think, though they don’t tell minjoon that part. there are things hoetaek knows and understands about jisoo, things jisoo has told them in complete confidence, that hoetaek has no right to share with anyone, so even though they’ve agreed to help minjoon, they have to be careful about what they say. “and I care about you,” they continue instead. “you’re my friend too. so if there’s a future where the two of you are happy and cute and together, then I want to do my part to get you guys there.” they smile at minjoon, warm and genuine. “so how can I help?”

Minjoon was tempted to whine. Tempted to. Mostly because his roommate was teasing him about his uncharacteristic blushing and then be called adorable. Park Minjoon was hot and sexy, not adorable. And he says just that. “I’m not adorable,” he muttered, although the pout that came after didn’t do much to disprove this claim. God, was this why people called him soft? He’s pretty sure Minho was the more approachable one, but people just would not stop calling him soft. He was just thankful that he was relatively close to Hoetaek because otherwise, he would’ve walked out on them already.

“It’s why I approached you,” he admitted shyly. Who better to help him with Jisoo than one of his closest friends? They knew more about Jisoo than he did, and they could call him out when he was being too much for the other stoner. Minjoon believed Hoetaek to be the perfect person to help him out. That, and Somin scared the fuck out of him. “I really want to take him out on a...date?” Admitting it had him becoming shy again—it seems as if finally putting it in words had this whole situation becoming real.

Minjoon bit his lips again, unsure how to continue because his idea wasn’t exactly the most private of dates. He had planned on inviting Jisoo to one of his gigs, maybe get dinner before that, and then have coffee after the gig. He wasn’t dumb—he wasn’t going to let Jisoo drink alcohol unless he was cool with it. But then just thinking about the date he had planned had him second-guessing if the other stoner would even appreciate it at all. “Hoetaekkie,” he finally whined, “I don’t know if Jisoo even wants to go on a date with me.” Because even if they were friends, Minjoon wasn’t sure if Jisoo saw him as more than that.

i“i… i’m sorry minjoonie… i really wish i c-could support you… because you’re my f… friend and i… i care about you.” his words are timid and the sentence ends in a soft murmur. it’s the look of disappointment that paints minjoon’s face that makes his body only draw in further onto itself, shame and frustration pressing down on his shoulders until they’re all he can feel in this instance. he wishes he could say yes ( god, why couldn’t he just say yes? ) the word sits at the tip of his tongue, patient and ready to be pushed over onto the precipice of acceptance, but tendrils of uncertainty snake around his jaw and hold it clenched shut. they whisper you don’t deserve this, you’re broken and not worthy of his friendship in his ear, an ongoing mantra that reverberates through his skull and travels along his spine all the way down to his hollow ribcage where it sits comfortably—a constant reminder.

it’s only the younger boy’s suggestion that surprises him out of his thoughts. “what? but… i mean… that would be nice….” he isn’t sure why he’s so hesitant, why he feels a sudden heat in his cheeks and the warmth of the stars in his belly glowing rosy and true. he brings his hands up to hide his flush, pressing his palms to his face and looking down at his feet. “i-if.. if it isn’t too much trouble…” he looks up at the taller boy through his eyelashes, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. “i would love to go and support you… but… b-but you don’t… you don’t have to go to all this… just for me….” he just doesn’t get it—why would minjoonie go through all this trouble just for him? and why does it make him feel like this?

Minjoon lights up when Jisoo considered going after he suggested giving him enough space during his gig. Maybe this is meant to be after all was the first thought that came to mind, before he shook his head because there was no way in hell would Jisoo look at him that way. The fame chaser gives another reassuring smile and a relieved laugh comes out of his mouth because holy shit, this was actually happening. “No, it’s fine! We could bring in guests and they were asking if we had anything specific or something but I told them I’d get back to them. So I mean I have this now and I can just ask them to do that and then give your name and stuff, so all you really have to do is show an ID or something...” He turned red yet again after realising that he was rambling in front of the other male.

Clearing his throat, he stood up straighter and finally realised that they were in the middle of the corridor. “Were you going anywhere or something? Because we can hang out until we both need to go?” He remembered his conversation with Hoetaek and how he should be patient in dealing with Jisoo. In his defence, he’s been nothing but patient and appropriate when it came to the stoner but he knew Hoetaek was only concerned about their friend. The fame chaser bit his lip before finally smiling again—a bit more confidently this time—and had relaxed then. “We could go get coffee or something? Unless you wanted something else?”

it’s so… interesting to see minjoon like this, stuttering and awkward. honestly, hoetaek’s starting to warm up to it a little bit. not enough to put them completely off their guard of course—they’ll never ever be off their guard when it comes to protecting a friend like jisoo—but enough to make them relax slightly. they finish their cigarette, put it out on the outside of the windowsill, before shifting to get more comfortable, positioning themself so they’re looking at minjoon completely.

“okay, first of all, I know it’s yourself you’re talking about, minjoon, so I think it’s time to drop the whole ‘my friend’ thing,” hoetaek begins, cutting right to it for ease of conversation. “second of all…” for this one hoetaek rests their elbow against their knee and props their chin up on the palm of their hand, a sly grin making it’s way across their face. “you really like jisoo, huh?” honestly it’s written all over minjoon’s face, in the way he’s talking about jisoo. hoetaek’s spent enough time around minjoon to know that rambling is not something he does. and all the stuff he’s saying? about jisoo making him laugh and smile, jisoo being his muse, well it’s kind of cute as shit. hoetaek’s still cautious, but the more minjoon talks the more they keep warming up to the idea of helping him woo jisoo—so to speak.

“so here’s the deal. as far as I’m aware, jisoo is not interested in anybody, and I’m willing to help you out with him. but..” hoetaek hesitates, tapping at their bottom lip as they contemplate how best to word this next bit. “it’s going to require… patience. jisoo is…” broken is the word that comes to hoetaek’s mind, but it’s not their word for jisoo, it’s jisoo’s word for himself. hoetaek doesn’t believe it, honestly they think jisoo is a lot stronger than he thinks he is, but it still might, potentially, serve a problem for minjoon. of course, hoetaek’s not about to tell minjoon that. “soft.” is what they end up at, it’s not exactly what they mean, but it’ll do the job. “your whole, shirtless confidence ‘I’m a cool guy rapper, everyone should want me’ thing is probably not going to work.”

His ears and cheeks turned red at being exposed like that about Jisoo. Sure, he was far too obvious with the my friend thing, but he expected Hoetaek to save him from further embarrassment and not mention it. But then maybe this was a good thing too. At least he didn’t need to go back and forth with I and my friend anymore. But with a little more pride still on the line, he cleared his throat and avoided his roommate’s eyes for a bit, the red tinge still on his face. “Okay but I’m not that obvious,” he huffed out, despite the fact that he knew he was. He goes even redder when Hoetaek had gone and voiced out their observations about his...fondness for Jisoo.

But then his brows furrowed and there was a worried look on his face when his roommate had talked about their friend. He didn’t know if he should be glad or disappointed that Jisoo’s not interested in anybody because it meant he had a chance but it also meant Jisoo didn’t see him as anything more than a friend. This is giving me a migraine, he said instead. “I can be patient,” he said softly, not even believing his own ears when he was hearing his own voice. “I don’t want to scare Jisoo away or anything.” The last thing he wanted was Jisoo drifting away from him after all.

Minjoon bristled at being called out for his otherwise indecent exposure. Not that it was really indecent, but he could readily admit that maybe he did expose himself more than the average amount of exposure that a person could do. “I don’t do that when I’m with him,” he said defensively, a pout on his face. “I mean I still talk a lot but I don’t do the whole shirtless thing with him.” After all, he knew some people were uncomfortable with him doing that and he’s not sure if Jisoo was but he wasn’t going to risk it. Fidgeting with his fingers as he bit his lip again, the shyness came back and with a voice so soft, Minjoon had asked, “Will you really help me? With him?”

sying felt and looked like a princess tonight. beautiful and elegant, just like the dress that she’d had specifically made to make sure that she’d look her best– because after all, tonight was now the kind of night that sying didn’t know if she’d ever get to have again, and because of that, she was going to look her best. only she’d lost taejoon a little while ago, and now she was just searching the drinks table, and avoiding all of it. alcohol wasn’t good for her, and sying was already aware that the drinks would not be a good idea. when she hears the voice though, the masked female, tilts her head at where he’s pointing. “shouldn’t someone look after them?” after all, most of them hadn’t known about the spiked punch.. and it didn’t seem fair to her..

He was a little amused that this elegant-looking girl thought it’d be a great idea to go ahead and help the people—people he assumed to be high schoolers considering no one was dumb enough in college to drink the punch without knowing it was spiked—who were already making a big mess in this school. She either had a bleeding heart or she was new. Like the high schoolers. Maybe she was a high schooler. Minjoon shook his head, taking a bite out of his food, his plate in one hand. “Nah, let them be. You don’t want to get involved in that,” he said as he finished his food. “The staff would appear soon enough and you might not want to get caught in that.” He points to the discipline committee head and points out her frown. “You don’t want to get in Ara-nim’s ire either.”

“are there any days that aren’t long around here?” hoetaek laments with an over exaggerated sigh. they make a face when minjoon mentions the RAs, nodding in agreement, knowing exactly what he means. hoetaek’s had their fair share of run-ins with the RAs, their eyes narrowed in their direction, noses raised and ready to sniff out anything hoetaek may or may not have been smoking. they really just needed to chill out in hoetaek’s opinion. they can think of one thing that could help them do it too, would suggest it to them if it wasn’t the exact thing they were trying to get them in trouble for.

hoetaek takes another drag of their cigarette, turning their head to make sure the smoke goes out the window, and hums in response as minjoon replies to their question. his answer is pretty safely in the realm of what hoetaek had been expecting and they open their mouth to ask something else about minjoon’s friday class. the question dies on their lips, however, when minjoon brings up something hoetaek definitely hadn’t been expecting: jisoo. it’s not just the subject matter though, it’s the way minjoon had brought up hoetaek’s friend. this isn’t the first time minjoon’s shown interest in someone hoetaek’s friends with, but it’s always been with complete confidence in the past. this whole saying “my friend” when it’s clearly himself he’s talking about thing is new and it’s taken hoetaek off guard. minjoon is… shy, which is an extremely odd concept for hoetaek to comprehend. they didn’t think minjoon was even capable of being shy.

“that… depends…” hoetaek replies, cautiously. minjoon might be acting different, but hoetaek hasn’t exactly figured out what that means yet. jisoo’s one of hoetaek’s best friends, someone they’ve sworn to protect and look out for, and while they don’t think minjoon’s a bad guy, they want to make sure they wouldn’t be throwing jisoo to the wolves by answering minjoon’s question honestly. “what are your… friend’s… intentions with jisoo? because you know, I’m not a violent person, but I’d break every single bone of the body of someone who hurt him.” they can’t help throwing the threat on at the end, turning to watch minjoon’s expression.

maybe he should’ve expected that answer from them. if he were in hoetaek’s place and someone had asked about minho that way, he’d be suspicious as well. but hoetaek reacting that way had him finding relief in an odd sort of way. at least he knew jisoo was in good hands; not that he ever suspected hoetaek to be a bad friend to jisoo, but it was still reassuring that he heard that. he tapped his pencil on his notebook, his laptop screen fading to black as it went to sleep, biting his lip to figure out what he was going to do next—what he was going to say next.

“i know—my friend knows that. uh...he said he liked hanging out with jisoo. and he makes me feel—he makes him feel good and he makes him laugh and smile. and that jisoo smiling and cheering him on makes him work harder at his craft. he calls jisoo his muse.” minjoon rarely ever rambled about someone like—hell he didn’t really ramble at all unless he was completely drunk. well he wasn’t drunk now. god, he just hoped his roommate didn’t notice any of it.

and then he remembers the last part of the threat and minjoon couldn’t help but swallow and look away. minjoon might have the body for it and he was incredibly fit as well, but that didn’t mean shit when he was faced with hoetaek because he sure as hell won’t fight back when he knows he’s done something wrong. “i don’t—he doesn’t have any sort of bad intentions with jisoo. it’s just...he’s not sure if he has a chance...with him...”

The obnoxious banging on her door is what pulled Sora’s attention away from her cellphone. Minjoon was attractive, there was no doubt about that, however being discreet was not his strong suit. Then again, they were in the same boat if she recalled just how many times she blew up his phone after a night of drinking when she had the munchies, oops. Opening up the door, she let him in and laughed at his comment. “Oh please,” Sora rolled her eyes, giggling, “your abs are hardly a commodity anymore. All I have to do is throw some shots your way and mention strip poker.” Looking him up and down her eyes didn’t shy away from his tattoo adorned features. “Of course! Have I ever let you down before?” The rebel half pouted as she reached into her closet and pulled out a bottle of top shelf tequila along with a collection of weathered shot glasses. Perks of working at a bar. "Ta-da! No lime or salt today but you’ll live, I promise,” she teased with an accompanying wink.

Shortly after Minho made his appearance they were ready to get their night started. Sora shook her head at his question. “Uh no? I’m providing the drinks, Minjoon obviously has visuals on lock,” she motioned to his bare torso, “and what are you bringing to the table? Yangnyeom chicken, duh!” Shooting him an impudent grin, she tiptoed around the two tussling fame chasers to close the door behind them for some privacy. In doing so, Sora made eye contact with more than her fair share of her dorm mates making heart eyes at the twins. Quickly however those loving gazes turned into dirty looks they shot her way upon realizing she alone had these two boys to herself. It was obvious what they were thinking but she didn’t concern herself with the opinions of sheep. Pushing that out of her mind and coming back to get them started, Sora laid out three shot glasses and poured half a shot into each to start them off easy. "Lets play a game,” she suggested, holding up her glass with a cocky smile. “Loser has to make the chicken run.”

Sora was hot. It wasn’t as it was something to be denied considering her body was banging. But he’s seen her too much to actually consider her still as girlfriend material for him. Hanging out with her had him deciding that they’re probably better off as friends—friends with benefits would work but it wasn’t as if Sora would agree. Besides, Keisung was scandalous enough as it is. He ignored Minho calling him out, already knowing it was something he was going to say to him. His twin was hardly the humbler one considering they both jogged around campus without their shirts on. Minho was just as shameless as he was. While Minho had him in a headlock, he saw Sora’s other dorm mates give her the stink eye and teasing them further, he gives them a wink and a wave. It didn’t matter what kind of rumours came out, but Sora was still his friend and if dumbass jealous girls were angry at her for having two guys in her room...well they needed to up their game and be just as hot as the rebel princess was.

“Can you get me the usual chicken? The extra spicy one—ow! Minho let me go!” Alcohol and spicy chicken always did go best after all, but Minho having him in a headlock wasn’t. And then a smirk made its way on his face at Sora’s suggestion. Games and alcohol weren’t always the best combination but he didn’t care. He was going to have fun and he was going to have it tonight. “Let’s play Never Have I Ever. I’ll start!”, he said loudly. “Never have I ever stared at somebody’s body for more than 5 seconds.” He took a shot himself and he could feel the burn in his throat; he was willing to sacrifice himself as well in the first shot, so long as he got the other two to down their shots as well.

jisoo is no stranger to admiration on campus and he’s more than aware of the looks he receives from students—he’s not dumb after all. he knows what he looks like; long limbs, a pretty face and wide doe eyes that people see as a demure invitation to proposition him with declarations of their feelings for him. and every time, he forces a kind smile to his face and gently tell them no. because he will never be cruel enough to tell them that he doesn’t know what love is; that inside his ribcage, where his heart should be, lies a hollow void of blistered trust, burning suspicion and unfathomable burden: within him lies a blackhole. and no one—no one— is terrible enough to deserve broken goods. 

( except… sometimes he thinks maybe… maybe he’s not as broken as he thinks he is. )

he sees minjoon from afar and stops to let him approach. the smile that waits for him is familiar and warm “hi minjoon-ie. did you need something?” he blinks slowly, contemplating the other’s words, only a little amused at the younger boy’s slight stutter; it’s kind of… cute, he thinks, to see the usually exuberant boy so… unsure and docile. “a gig? that’s great! i’m really happy for you.” he chirps softly, reaching out to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. he stops after that, hesitant words laying on the tip of his tongue. he wrings his hands together timidly—why is he feeling so nervous?—before peeking up at minjoon through his hair. “i… i’m not very… good. with people i don’t know. i mean,” he backtracks quickly, not wanting to make his friend sad, “it’s not that i’m saying i don’t know you, of course i do! it’s just… large crowds sort of… scare me.” the last words come out with a huff of quick breath and he wrings his hands tight, shoulders taught as he waits for minjoon to reply.

he doesn’t understand where his confidence goes when he’s faced with jisoo. it’s as if some sort of vacuum appears and he’s all shy and unsure when he’s with him. he may have given him a confident front, but now that he was actually asking him out now. but there wasn’t anything wrong with asking a friend to go watch one of his gigs right? except this is the first friend you’re asking to go watch you, park minjoon, he thought then. god, what kind of overconfident ass was he to invite jisoo to watch him when minjoon himself didn’t think he was good enough for the big leagues? he wasn’t minho.

but he couldn’t help but feel a little down when the stoner had refused, mentally beating himself because obviously jisoo wasn’t going to be comfortable with that many people. the place they were going to hold the rap cypher was going to be filled with people too. scouts as well, but a bit more audience as well. “oh. right. i knew that,” he said softly. his heart fell and he didn’t exactly understand why, but it did and now he’s even more confused.

“but if it’s not crowded, you’ll go right?” he wanted to make sure because if that was the case, then minjoon was going to ask the organisers to give him a bit of reserved space just enough for one person without the other people to crowd on him or bother him. “i could have space reserved for you at the venue so you don’t have to deal with people—or just crowded places in general not cool for you?” god, maybe this was a mistake. jisoo isn’t going to go to some dumb gig i’m in.

@ksxminjoon

hoetaek’s had a long day, mostly due to the big chunk of it they spent in the library working on an art history essay. hoetaek hates writing essays with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns, and normally they’ll leave them to the last second and bullshit something they can hope will scrape a pass. but unfortunately the school sees the theory assessments as just as important as the creative ones, and if hoetaek wants all the hard work they’ve put into their artworks to count, they need to get decent marks in their essays too. 

they head back to their dorm room, zombie-like in their exhaustion, shuffling inside and flopping face first onto the bed as soon as they’re in range. “hey minjoon,” they greet their roommate, having caught the fact he’s there in the corner of their eye before their face had hit the pillow. their voice is muffled by the sheets so they turn their head to the side so minjoon can hear what they say next. “I’m gonna have a smoke in a sec, I hope that’s okay.” hoetaek may be a stoner but they do have some level of respect for other people’s space. they’ve smoked in here before, but never when minjoon’s been around, and they’re praying he doesn’t mind. they haven’t had a cigarette since this morning, they’re craving one real bad, and they’re way too exhausted to go back outside. 

it’s another minute before they get up though, willing themselves to find the energy to peel themselves of their bed. they get there eventually, moving over to sit by the window and lighting up a cigarette. they take a deep drag, blowing the smoke out the window, before turning their attention to their roommate, looking at minjoon properly for the first time since they walked in. hoetaek likes minjoon well enough. even if minjoon seems to be half-naked half the time, or their conversations usually end up at “something something, somin’s hot,” he’s a decent enough roommate and nice enough to hoetaek that they get along fine. “how was your day?” hoetaek asks after another drag, deciding they’re not too exhausted to make small talk. “school work kicking your ass too yet?”  

his mind was drawing a blank and it was making him frustrated to no ends. he had a composition due on friday and he has yet to get started on it. minjoon was growing frustrated considering he doesn’t have any sort of drive to actually create something. but then his thoughts go to that stoner by the name of jisoo and a smile suddenly makes it way on his face. for some odd reason, the drive he lost had made a comeback and before he knew it, he was fleshing out a few beats, lyrics already making their presence known inside his head.

he was so into his composition that he almost didn’t notice hoetaek coming in. almost. contrary to popular belief, minjoon was not an oblivious chit. “hey, hoetaekie,” he answered as he clicked away on his laptop, making sure his melody was cohesive enough. “yeah, no problem. long day?” because he knew that students in keisung always had a long day. “can you open the window though? so the smell doesn’t stick to us and the RAs won’t come for our heads.” keisung RAs were always so uptight and he didn’t know what was up there asses that had them acting like that. or maybe they need something up there asses so they can chill out. 

and maybe it was a little unusual that he actually had a shirt on this time, but the cold weather was making its presence known and as much as he liked showing off his body, he’d rather not collapse from hypothermia. “as good as it’s going to be, i guess. my ass is being kicked by my friday class. but other than that, i’m good.” he bit his lip then as he remembered jisoo and knowing that hoetaek was friends with him...well now he was worried. “hey, so...uh...i have a...friend. and he’s asking about jisoo. i was—my friend was wondering if—you know—if he was interested in anybody?”

at this point, there really probably should’ve been a special place in the cafe reserved just for jitae for the amount of time he actually spent in there over anywhere else. it was among his top places to spend time in, usually reading, but on the odd occasion; sleeping. like he was today. sometimes, switching between lux and minsu, others taking over his head and body for different lengths of time, it took it out of him both mentally and physically. and with everything going on right now. it tired him out and after some time spent in the cafe that morning reading, jitae had nodded off a little while ago, coffee still half full on the table next to where his head had fallen to rest against the book he’d been reading. but it was long cold by now. still, he wasn’t so sure how long jitae’d let himself drift off for before some movement nearby was waking up the sleepy kid.

minjoon held all the exuberance and overconfidence that his twin never got. after all, minho was always known as the humbler one of the two of them—and he was fine with that. as long as no one came after his brother, he’s fine with being known as the cockier twin. and it was the very reason why his strides were full of arrogance and confidence, treating the roads like he was in a music video even when he got to the cafe. he had a gig tonight—and if he was lucky, he could convince jisoo to watch him later—and the nerves were starting to kill him, so what better way to calm him down than some nice steeped hibiscus tea from the hipsters. and once he finally had it, it was a matter of looking for an empty table while he went through his beats. seemingly out of character, minjoon had accidentally knocked his knee on the table, the sharp edge making the pain even more unbearable. “fuck—!”, he cursed out, before realising that he woke up the other person beside him. “sorry about that.”

“he’s my friend. and hoetaekie’s my roommate too. stop trying to make this bigger than it should be.”

“jesus, what is wrong with people in this school. please go to church and cleanse your soul.”

“because i love my twin? minho’s the only brother i have and we’ve never been separated long.”

“yes.”

“we’re close friends. why is jisoo being dragged in this?”

“jisoo’s my friend and he’s really special. why?”