Taste

First Seat

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The first lecture of the new semester was already half full when Han Jisung slipped into the room, eyes scanning for somewhere to sit. There was only one seat left, by the window, next to a guy he recognised immediately. 

Lee Minho.

Even if you didn't know his name, you knew him.  The kind of person people always looked at a second too long. The kind always surrounded by girls in the hallway, yet still somehow untouchable. 

"Is this seat taken?" Jisung asked, dropping his bag beside the chair anyway. 

No answer.

Minho didnt even look up. 

Jisung hesitated, then sat down with a small shrug. "I'll take that as a no."

Jisung didnt take it too personally. He's aware of Minho's popularity. He knows he gets bothered all the time; questions, attention, people trying too hard. Still, the silence felt heavier than it should've for someone like Jisung.

"First lecture?" he tried again, leaning back slightly in his chair, like maybe acting more casual would help. "I feel like I've never seen this many people awake this early in my life."

Nothing.

Not even a glance.

Jisung let out a quiet huff of amusement under his breath, tapping his pen lightly against the desk. "Okay. Tough crowd." 

Beside him, Minho remained completely still, eyes fixed on the front of the room, but his focus wasn't really there.

It was on the presence next to him. 

Too close.

Too loud.

Too-

Minho's jaw tightened just slightly.

"Can you not do that?" he said suddenly, voice low and sharp enough to cut through the quiet. 

Jisung blinked, caught off guard. "Do what?"

"That." Minho didnt look at him. "Talk."

There was a brief pause.

Then, instead of backing off, Jisung smiled a little, like he'd just been given a challenge.

"...Right. Got it." he said, softly. His focus turns to the teacher.

Jisung quietly shifts in his seat, pulling his chair a little closer to the desk so he could actually write properly, the legs scraping softly across the carpet floor. 

It brought him closer.

Almost too close.

Minho's pen stilled mid-word. 

For a second, the noise of the lecture blurred into something distant, meaningless. His focus snapped sideways, sharp and immediate, every instinct narrowing in on the presence beside him. 

Warm.

Alive. 

His grip on the pen tightened, ink pressing harder into the page than it should have. He didnt move otherwise, didnt turn his head, didnt react. But something shifted. 

Too close.

 Minho focused his eyes back to the front, jaw setting as he dragged his attention away.

By the time the lecturer's voice came back into focus, his notes had stopped completely. 

Why does he smell so.. sweet?

No. You cant think that. 

Minho has never thought about a classmate's smell. What made Jisung special? 

He couldn't continue like this. He felt his stomach rumbling.

He ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook and started writing. 

He looked around to find Chan, who appeared to be a few seats forward. 

Minho quietly whispered to the person infront of him to pass the piece of paper to Chan.

As soon as Chan got it, he was confused. He looked up to meet Minho's eyes, who looked stressed. open it he mouthed. 

So, Chan did. He turned around and opened the note discretely so that other people couldn't see incase it was something secret.

"Pass me your bottle, quick, please"

Why? Chan had so many questions that he couldn't ask.

Instead he quickly pulled his "water" bottle and asked the guy behind him to pass it back to Minho, who put a huge smile on his face and a thumbs up to thank Chan. 

Minho quickly opened the bottle and started drinking the liquid inside. His stomach quickly stopped rumbling, leaving his hunger defeated.

Jisung watched the situation unfold. He realised Minho wasnt so mysterious ALL the time, like with Chan. But thats probably because they're close friends, unlike Jisung who's just a random guy.

Jisung wondered if it was water inside the bottle, or some kind of juice, as it smelled kind of weird. 

It doesn't matter for now. He thought.

But he knew he wanted to figure it out asap.

Soon enough, the lecture had finished and everyone was packing their stuff to leave. As soon as Jisung looked at the older boy next to him, he left without a second look. 

Jisung sighed. He knew this would take a long time.

He watched as Minho walked over to Chan and handed him the "water" bottle back. 

"Thanks hyung." Minho stated. 

"Why'd you even need it?" Chan questioned.

"I dont know. I suddenly got hungry." Minho partly lied. 

He knew one of the reasons was to do with Jisung moving closer, but why? No one else has made him so hungry just by being close before. And no, its not because no one is ever close to him.

Chan raised a brow. "Skipped breakfast again?"

Minho shrugged. "Probably. Anyways, lets go, I dont want a detention for being late to physics."

Chan laughed. "Yeah. See you at lunch!" He patted Minho on the back and walked out the class to his next one.

Jisung overheard the whole conversation on accident. (totally). Hungry? Breakfast? But that was water.  Jisung was more confused than ever, but as soon as he realised the time he rushed to his next class, which, wasn't with Minho. 

~~~

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