A week after the meeting in the auditorium and Yunho is standing outside of a dance practice room with his hands clenched tightly around the strap of his bag. He, Jongho, and Mingi had done their performance three days ago, and while their grade wasn't out yet, but he was sure they had done well. He was confident.
This though, this was something he wasn't so confident about. Two days ago, Choi San had texted him (Yunho immediately saved his name as "Ice Prince"), asking him when they should meet up to work on their project. It was a short message, but it filled Yunho with dread. He tried not to let it, tried to remember Chan's words, but he still felt his dislike for San deep in his bones. There was no way this project was going to end well.
But they had decided to get together to work on it, which was why Yunho was just standing outside the door. He couldn't bring himself to go inside. He peered through the window of the door to see if San was already there. He was. Yunho pulled his head from the window, hoping San hadn't seen him. The other boy was sitting on the floor, doing what Yunho thought was stretching.
His phone buzzed, and he looked down to see a text from Haknyeon.
Im meeting with hyunjoon omg im so nervos. Good luck with the ice prince bro!
Oh, right. He'd already told his friends that he was meeting with San today. If he chickened out and didn't go they'd never let him live it down. He sighed and squared his shoulders. Chan's words ran through his head, so he put a smile on his face as he opened the door.
San's head snapped to him as soon as the door creaked open. Their eyes met and San's cheeks turned a light pink. Yunho didn't understand why they did that. Was he angry? Embarrassed? All he did was walk in and smile at him. That didn't even warrant any kind of reaction.
"Hi," Yunho said, taking a seat in front of San, "How do you want to do this?"
San sat up, hiding his hands in the sleeves of his sweater, "I thought we could start by listening to some music and picking a song? That would probably help us decide how we want to mix our styles. Does that sound okay?"
San's voice was softer than Yunho had been anticipating, and Yunho realized it was the first time he had ever heard San speak. He had been expecting something sharper, stronger. San sounded... nervous almost. Yunho just nodded instead of dwelling on it further. San played music on his phone and the two sat listening quietly, vetoing songs and making a shortlist of songs they liked to choose from.
They had sat there for nearly two hours and Yunho couldn't believe how well it was going. So far, San wasn't arrogant or haughty, instead he just seemed... shy. He would make suggestions with a soft voice, nodding along when Yunho would make his own. Maybe Chan was right. Maybe San was misunderstood. Maybe none of the rumors about him were true.
Yunho looked at the list they had come up with, and all the songs were very different. They were stuck on what song to pick. It would probably help if they had some sort of concept in mind, or what style they were going to pick.
"Do you have an idea of what style we should dance in?" Yunho asked.
San hummed, "I was thinking we should probably do a fusion between our two styles, or even a new style, like contemporary, rather than doing specific moves from each of our styles. I know that ballet is very technical so–"
And there it was. The arrogance, the absolute haughtiness of the Ice Prince. He thought he was so much better than everyone because he did ballet. Well, fuck that!
"Oh please! You think you're so good but you're not, San. what do boys even do in ballet, huh? All you do is just stand there while the girls do all the work. You couldn't do hip hop if you tried! This is why nobody likes you!"
Yunho stormed out, not even looking back as the door slammed behind him. He was fuming. How dare he look down on him like that! San wasn't special. All he did was lift girls up and spin them around. Yunho could do that too, and he'd never done a single day of ballet training. San was overrated.
His phone buzzed, showing he had a new text from Mingi.
Bro, i just finished with Jaehyun today. The rest of the boys are free for lunch wbu??
Perfect. Yunho needed to vent, and there was no better way to do that than at lunch with his boys. He sent a text back to Mingi.
Hell yeah i need to vent dude
Yunho walked to the tables as fast as he could, but he was on the other side of the campus. By the time he got there, Mingi had his food waiting for him, an additional milkshake in his spot. Yunho grinned, wrapping Mingi in a hug as the younger boy squirmed. It was a tradition that when one of them was having a bad day, the other would buy them a milkshake to make them feel better.
"My hero," Yunho said.
Minhyuk leaned forward, "What happened? Lay it on us."
"Ugh, okay, so..." Yunho tells the story to his friends. He might be exaggerating a bit but come on, he's still upset. Sue him.
His friends are nodding along, occasionally throwing in their own jabs, though Chan's face is scrunched up in what looks like discomfort. Yunho ignores it though, reaching the part of the story where he stormed out.
Woojin shook his head, "It's like I said, just throw the whole group away."
Mingi nodded, "I feel so bad for you dude. And Chan too, he's stuck with Yerim ."
He says her name with a curl of disgust that feels weird in Yunho's ears. He doesn't know why. Chan frowns.
"I think Yeri's really nice. She was telling me all about ballet terminology today, it was really interesting."
Mingi scoffed, "You dumbass. She's just trying to get you to cheat on your boyfriends."
"Who's trying to get who to cheat?"
Yunho whirled around. Jongho was standing behind him with a soda and a confused look on his face.
"What's up, dude! I thought you and Yeosang were working together today?" Haknyeon asked.
"Yeosang had to take care of something important and he told me to come eat, and all my friends were busy. Now, who is trying to get who to cheat on who?" Jongho asked.
"Kim Yerim is trying to get Chan to cheat on his boyfriends," Mingi said.
Jongho snorted, sitting in the empty seat between Haknyeon and Minhyuk, "Why would you think that?"
"Because that's what she does!" Mingi almost shouted it but managed to keep his voice down.
"That's the thing with that whole group, they all suck," Minhyuk said, nodding as if he had just imparted some ancient knowledge to Jongho.
Jongho sighed, sipping his drink, "All right, you guys are gonna have to tell me who and what we're talking about here because I am very lost."
And so Mingi launched into action, breaking down the crimes of San and every member of his group. About San and his Ice Prince ways, Yerim and Wooyound's infidelity, Seonghwa's haughty and distant attitude, Mina's, well, there wasn't much to say about Mina, but if she hung out with them she must be bad.
Mingi continued, "And Yeosang, ugh, don't even get me started on Yeosang."
Yunho hadn't noticed it before, but the more Mingi spoke the more serious Jongho's already stern face had become. Nearing the end he was practically glaring at them all.
His voice was deep and gravelly as he cut Mingi off, "Hey, fuckface. If you're gonna talk shit, get my boyfriend's name out of your goddamn mouth."
The table went silent. Jongho was staring Mingi down and Yunho didn't know what to say. Was Yeosang Jongho's boyfriend? Since when?
"Boyfriend?" Mingi asked.
"Yeah, boyfriend. I've been dating Yeosang for two years now and I really don't appreciate you shit-talking our friends over shit that never happened. Like, first of all, Wooyoung never cheated on you, you absolute moron."
Mingi sputtered, "B-but, but I saw the texts! Yerim texted him, thanking him for a good time the night before! Shit like that!"
Jongho rubbed his eyes, "The reason she texted him that was because he had spent the day before helping Yeri plan her anniversary date. With Mina. Her girlfriend. They're lesbians, you absolute dumbass. Did you know Wooyoung cried for three days straight after you broke up with him? That we had to convince him that he was still worthy of being loved?"
Mingi went pale and Yunho could feel his stomach drop. Had everything they thought really been a lie. Had they been so blind?
"Is that... is that true?" Mingi whispered.
"Yeah. Who do you think had to carry him to the table when he refused to eat anything? Me! All he did was help his friends with a nice dinner date and you crushed his soul."
Chan slammed his hands on the table and pointed at Mingi, "See! Communication! If you had just asked him about it none of that would have happened."
Mingi ignored Chan, "Do you think, do you think he would take me back?"
Jongho scoffed, "Oh please. As we've all just learned, Wooyoung isn't too keen on cheating. You know Yeonjun, from hip hop? Yeah, we like him so much more for Wooyoung. He doesn't accuse him of cheating."
Mingi turned even paler and buried his face in his arms.
"And let's talk about Seonghwa!" Jongho started again, "Seonghwa is an absolute sweetheart. Did you know that I got sick last year, Seonghwa stayed at my apartment the entire time, making sure that I had food and was taking my medicine? And that he's done that for all of us? Because he loves us and doesn't want us to be in pain?"
Yunho's head was starting to pound. Everything he thought he knew was falling apart. Yerim wasn't a homewrecker, just a lesbian thanking a friend for helping. Wooyoung was just a boy who wanted to help a friend and do something nice. Seonghwa was a motherly figure to his friends, a kind and healing presence. Yeosang was Jongho's boyfriend and San...
"And you!" Jongho pointed at Yunho with a glare so intense Yunho almost couldn't breathe, "Are you the reason my boyfriend had to cut our lunch date short to calm San down from a panic attack?"
Now Yunho really couldn't breathe. If what Jongho was saying was true, he was the last person to see San. he was the one who had said such harsh and ugly things to a boy he didn't know. Yunho only shrugged, knowing that Jongho was most likely about to put him in his place.
"San is not arrogant or haughty or sleeping with his teacher or whatever other bullshit you guys all think about him. He has really bad anxiety so we're the only ones he feels comfortable talking too. He's afraid that we all secretly hate him. He's intensely shy and insecure. But he's so sweet, god he's so sweet. You know, he has these little plants in his apartment, one for each of us. And he named them after us. He said it's so that he knows that even if he's alone, he's still got his friends with him. That he can help us grow and thrive in any way he can. And no, he didn't pay his way in, he's literally here on fucking scholarships and a tutoring job. You all just saw a quiet attractive guy and made him into the devil. All he wanted to dance with his friends, and now he's crying in my boyfriend's arms on the bathroom floor. Fuck you guys." Jongho got up with a huff, heading out of the room without even a look back.
It was more than they deserved, really. All of them had been so malicious, but Yunho was probably the worst of them all. Sure the others had had their comments at lunch, but Yunho was the only one to say anything to any of their faces. And over what? What Yunho had thought was an insult? He hadn't even let San finish speaking. He had no idea what he had actually wanted to say. He had broken a boy who was apparently already breaking. And he needed to fix it.