#shoutabe

𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀'𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, Seoul, SK May, 2025 w. 𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀

The last time Mindeulle saw Shouta, they'd both been crying. Min, breaking both of their hearts, had broken things off, 'for Shouta's benefit'. He still believed that to be true. Who wanted a boyfriend who was stuck in hospital? Who's health overtook their life over and over again. He'd set him free, and in doing so, he'd lost the only person he'd ever loved. They'd stay in touch, he'd told Shouta. They could still be friends, he'd told Shouta. Yet their messages were sparse, and lacked the feeling they used to hold. Both retained too much hurt and sorrow, and so they'd left their chat room dusty for far too long.

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+20 SING

+5 PRESENCE

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SOLO

@shoutabe

shouta is shy. he flusters so easily, acts like he wants to run away like a frightened rabbit the moment jiu gives him a little too much attention. it puzzled jiu at first, honestly. shouta comes across as someone with a lot of self-assuredness; he knows what he wants to do with his life, he moved to another country and learned a new language to accomplish it, and he seems to be excelling at everything he puts his mind to. and yet there's a shyness, a lack of confidence that conflicts with that image. it piqued jiu's curiosity. what would shouta look like if he were a bit braver? who would he be?

change can't exactly be made by an external source, but jiu thinks he might be able to encourage the younger man's confidence. experience is the best teacher after all and jiu is happy to volunteer his time to bring new experiences into shouta's life. he finds himself a little excited to meet the person shouta could be and, if nothing else, he hopes he'll be a happy memory in this chapter of the younger man's life. how could this not be, at least? the cheery sights of garland and lights adorning every last corner of the market, the distant sound of holiday music, the laughter from families and young couples testing out their first few steps onto the ice in the skating rink. it's like something out of a christmas movie and even jiu finds himself charmed and caught up in the festive atmosphere.

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, Seoul, SK Chuseok, 2024 w. 𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀

Chuseok is usually not the easiest of holidays. Not that Mindeulle would consider any of them easy, but anything involving a family get together always left him feeling uncomfortable. The tension between his mother and Jindallae was the main issue really, not that Min could judge him for how he felt about being around her. She could be a little... rough around the edges, and while Min rarely felt as if he was the one her sights were focused on when it came to criticism, he knew he wasn't safe from her cutting remarks and judgement of his direction in life. At least he could hide behind his college education. Jin didn't have that.

So, he didn't blame him for his decision to not attend Chuseok this year. It just meant that, without him, Min felt out of place somehow. Being a twin had always felt somewhat like they came as a pair, at leas to him. He'd always relied on Jin, but now that they were older, independece was somewhat expected, and Min just couldn't look to Jin for support in all situations anymore. Which is why he'd decided to put himself first this year as well.

He'd just finished cooking dinner when the doorbell sounds. It's nothing special, and nowhere near as good as Jindallae's food, but he'd tried hard, and was pretty sure it would be at least tasty enough to eat. He couldn't very well live with a professional cook and not learn a thing or two about cooking. He's still got his apron on when he rushes to the door, trying to keep his smile to a reasonable, normal width, instead of the cheek-splitting one that threatens to settle onto his face. As excited as he is to spend his evening with Shouta, he doesn't want to make it into a big thing. To him, inviting someone to spend Chuseok with him is, in a way, a sort of big deal, but he doesn't want to burden Shouta with the knowledge that Min would rather spend the night with him than his family who he most definitely doesn't see often enough.

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈-𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅, Seoul, SK Late August, 2023 w. 𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀

In all the twenty-two years of Mindeulle's life, he'd never been on a date. Isn't that lame? He'd tried to put it from his mind, and had been, up until recently, somewhat successful. He'd put aside any romantic desires to focus on his education. Or at least that's what Min likes to tell himself when he remembers that he's a fully grown man still sort of stuck on his first love. Not that that first love knows, or ever will know how Min feels. After all, he'd decided to move on from that, and try and actually step into the world of romance and relationships that moved past mere friendship.

That's what had landed him here, standing outside the mini-golf course, waiting for a man he'd seen only one picture of before. He knows that Shouta's shorter than him, and looks sort of like a cat-rabbit. The friend who'd set him up on this 'blind date' hadn't told him much past that. In all honesty, Min's not sure why he agreed to it. He'd never been on a date, so why was his very first one with someone he didn't even know? What if it went terribly? Sure, this guy looked really cute, but what if he wasn't nice? What if he thought Min wasn't cool enough? Or worse, what if he laughed at Mindeulle's atrocious golfing skills?

He's contemplating calling his friend to tell them to call this whole thing off, when he sees him. He's far smaller than Min imagined he'd be, and his eyes almost resemble those fo a deer, big and searching. He's pretty, so much so that Mindeulle feels himself grow far more nervous than he already had been. He realises a part of him hopes to impress this pretty boy, though another part of him assures him that he won't. It isn't that Min's insecure, because he isn't, he's just realistic. He's skinny, and that mixed with his height gives people the overall impression of a beansprout. He's not cool in th slightest; he's a book nerd. All he knows about this boy is that he's breathtakingly beautiful, and that he's a student at KU.