Minho didn't regret telling Changbin his real identity, it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. However, he hadn't expected the hundreds of questions Changbin had for him. Honestly, he didn't really know what he had expected. It wasn't every day that you just come upon a Guardian Angel that is just willing to spill their secret. He should've known better than think that the boy would have about five questions max.
"So, can you like fly? Or something?" Changbin said as they walked towards the main college area on campus.
"No, I cannot fly. I could in Heaven, but what's the point if you just walk everywhere anyways?"
"True, I guess... What about going through walls!?"
"Changbin, I'm a Guardian Angel, not a ghost. Now, lets drop this conversation, we're nearing other students." Changbin only nodded after letting out a chuckle, probably thinking his question was pretty stupid after hearing Minho's thought process.
The two walked into music class, finding Jisung and Chan already sitting at their tables. Everyone greeted one another, excited about the class. Today was the day the first half of class had to perform their work. All four boys had to present that day, however the two oldest among them were up first. Only 2 duos were before Chan and Minho, until the they were called to the front. Jisung watched with anticipation. He knew how good Chan was, but he was excited to hear Minho's vocals. From the way the older talked, Jisung knew he had a soft voice and he wondered how that would translate into a song.
He watched the two set up their gear, Chan going to be DJ-ing live. Jisung always thought Chan had the coolest gear. He never dared to ask, but when they would hangout alongside Changbin, the oldest could see the excitement in Jisung's sparkling eyes. He'd let Jisung try a few things on it once in a while, happy to see the youngest eyes shine ever so slightly. Even though Jisung had never realised it, his mind too hateful towards himself, but Chan always made his best effort to become close with him. Gradually the two became friends and Chan soon realised Jisung didn't talk less around him because he didn't like him, but more so because it was just the way he was. From there on out, he had made it his mission to make the younger feel as included and loved as he could offer.
Minho tapped the mic once, checking to see if it was on. He glanced over at Jisung, a smile appearing on his face as the two locked eyes. Jisung returned it, giving a small thumbs up. The two boys at the front of the class signaled the teacher they were ready before the class quieted down. Seeing everyone in the class was passionate about music, silence filled the room. Excited to hear whatever Chan had cooked up this time, they also looked forward to Minho's voice.
Chan got to work, playing an interesting beat. Whenever Christopher Bang was working on a song, it left everyone wondering what it would sound like the next time, seeing he wasn't shy about experimenting. Soon enough he started singing, Jisung becoming captivated by the interesting melodies the boy had written. The prechorus seemed to hit, Minho closing his eyes for a moment before he started singing himself. Jisung was internally screaming at this point, so shocked by Minho's voice. It was soft yet strong, tender but also energetic. He couldn't take his eyes off the older, his orbs filling with wonder.
The song seemed to end faster than Jisung would have liked, the class quickly applauding loudly. The teacher gave some feedback, telling them their final score would be announced later next week after all students had finished their performances. The boys gave a small bow before returning to their seats, Jisung still staring at Minho, his mouth slightly agape. When Minho turned to look at him he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"You alright there?" He asked, smirking slightly.
"Yeah, Uhh, I'm just shocked you complimented me before and then you pull this shit? Your voice is beautiful!" For what seemed like the first time, Jisung wasn't shy to instantly speak his mind. Chan watched the youngest, a smile forming on his lips. Just then, Jisung also turned to him. "A-And you were great too Chan hyung, like always. Your melodies are so interesting, I love it."
"Thanks Ji, means a lot, especially coming from you."
Two more classmates each did their own performance before Jisung and Changbin were called to the front. He plugged the USB containing the instrumental into the computer, making sure it would be blasted through the speakers. Just like everyone else, they had to give an explanation to the song and its lyrics. The two best friends went right after Matthew who had sung about big tiddies, making the class —and teacher, laugh at the silly but still impressive song. It was completely different from the two boys' song, causing Jisung to worry that they'd either bring the mood down or it wouldn't be as well received.
"Alright next up, Han Jisung and Seo Changbin. Can you tell us the song title as well as the meaning behind it? Maybe how you came up with it as well?" Changbin looked over at Jisung and motioned with his hands for th younger to speak up. He was the one that written all the lyrics, after all. The two had originally thought about doing a more powerful song, but when Jisung had let Changbin listen to one of his drafts, the older had quickly convinced Jisung to change to this one instead. Jisung mentally flicked Changbin off for making him the one to do the talking, but he spoke up regardless.
"Y-Yeah... So the song is called '19' and it's about the fear of growing up and the expectations everyone has of you once you become an adult. The worries surrounding the path you want to take, that kinda stuff..." the teacher raised their brows, seemingly impressed at the heavy topic. "And uhh, I thought of the idea whilst eating cheesecake? I wrote the draft and just tweaked it later on with Changbin, I guess." He scratched the back of his head, remembering how he sang a part of his final draft to Minho that one night. The teacher laughed, amused that all it had taken was some cheesecake. She wished the boys luck and Changbin started the track.
The class watched as it seemed like a completely different person had suddenly taken the stage. The shy, quiet boy everyone knew him as always dissapeared whenever he had to perform something. No one could imagine the biggest introvert in the school to be so charismatic whilst performing, yet here he was. The raps slipped right of the tongue, flowing perfectly from one verse into Changbin's parts. Speaking of the boy, he was definitely known as one of the most talented rappers in the history of the school. Everyone would be amazed at his ability to adept his flow and constantly play with new styles. The roughness in his voice as he rapped, but the soft tones as he sang along with Jisung in the choruses allowed him to show another side of him. It left everyone speechless and they were almost begging for more.
Minho watched, admiring from a distance. His eyes shone brightly as he realised it was the same song Jisung had sang him before, happy to finally hear the full version. Like he had predicted back then, it was better than he could have imagined. The struggles explained by the lyrics mixed with the emotions in Jisung and Changbin's voices made it easily the best performance of the day. The song quietly came to a close, Jisung looking back up at the class and the teacher as they all started clapping as loud as they could. Everyone in this class had a soft spot for Jisung, but more so they were always super impressed by his talents. Changbin slung his arm around Jisung's shoulder, smiling widely at him. The class loved their performance and Jisug was almost on cloud nine.
Jisung got some great feedback as he walked back to his desk, relief washing over him. The two boys at their table excitedly started talking, telling him how great the two of them had been. Shyly denying all the great claims, he told them he had been super nervous and couldn't have done it without Changbin's support.
"Well, it wasn't noticable at all. I'm sure you'll get the highest grade." Chan said, earning nods from the other two boys. "Thanks." Jisung couldn't help but blush, a proud feeling dwelling inside him.
The rest of the classes went by smoothly, apart from whenever the teachers were handing out more homework. By the end of it all, Jisung couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. He let out a long sigh as the eight boys sat around the table. They had decided to do some homework in the library, afraid they might not have motivation to do it otherwise.
"I can't believe the teachers would give us so much homework, right before our exam week!" Felix groaned as he looking through his calculus book. He had hoped he wouldn't need to follow calc in college as his major was performing arts, but sadly it was a standard class all students had to follow for at least the first two years. Chan let out a chuckle, not wanting to anger Mrs. Lee --the librarian, with his loud laugh. "It can't be helped, lets just focus and do our best, right?" Minho said with a smile, also telling Felix if he had any trouble he could ask him for help.
"I'm more worried about science." Hyunjin muttered. Jeongin looked over at his boyfriend and smiled. "I'm not the best either, but we can study together Hyunnie."
"Not sure how much 'studying' would actually be happening then." Seungmin said with a smirk, laughing as the two boys turned a light shade of pink. Jisung couldn't help but shake his head, wondering why all his friends were always ready to say some nasty shit. "Come on! Believe it or not, we actually study very well together!" Jeongin said, defending themselves. Hyunjin however, was about to pull something that made the entire table laugh. "But we do the other... thing better, right?" No one could help but burst out laughing, Jeongin now redder than a tomato. They got scolded by Mrs. Lee, but they considered it worth it.
"Sungie, do you mind helping me out with science? I just can't understand module 17, no matter how hard I try." Minho said, a tired smile on his face. It was true he couldn't really understand it, but he also hadn't put in his best effort to study it. Jisung nodded with a smile, agreeing to help him out that weekend. "I can't believe exam week is only three weeks away, I should've started studying earlier." Changbin groaned, regretting the fact he had spend all his time playing videogames with Felix. Changbin always struggled with studying in general, not finding the motivation to start early and then suddenly having to do everything at once. Jisung had pushed him to do better ever since they started college, but they had both been preoccupied by other things to even think about studying. It had been the last thing on their minds, in all honesty. The fact that Changbin was a very slow learning also didn't really help. Jisung admired how the olders' mind worked. The boy could remember the most insane raps, but he couldn't study for the life of him. Changbin called it 'selective learning', Jisung just called it 'remembering what you're interested in'.
Minho expected Jisung to invite Changbin to their freshly planned study session this weekend, but to his surprise it didn't happen. Rather, Jisung asked Changbin to come over that same night to study instead. Minho couldn't help but feel a few butterflies in his stomach, thinking about the fact Jisung wanted to spend time with just him.
"Sure, I can make it tonight."
"Not faaaaiiiiirrr, I need help studying too." Felix pouted, noticing the three had been making plans. "I can help you out, if you want?" Chan smiled. Felix' eyes lit up as he agreed. The two had become close friends the second they were introduced, both coming from Australia. They were always hanging out together, often changing from English to Korean within the same sentences. It was a great sight to see them being such good friends. No one really realised the two were developing feelings for one another though, both being good at hiding it. They wanted to test the waters and see how it would go before making anything public. It wasn't that they didn't want their friends to know... they would know when the time was right.
The rest of the study session went rather well. Occasional grunts and sighs of dissapointment filled the room, from themselves as well as a few other students who decided to stay a little longer after their classes had ended for the day. Finally, they packed their bags, deciding they had fried their brains more than enough. Everyone parted their seperate ways to their own homes, Changbin going with Jisung. They talked about recent music that had come out, until the topic turned back to their first class of the morning.
"I was honestly shocked by Minho hyung. He didn't seem the type to sing like a god, but there he was." Changbin laughed, shaking his head at the younger. "W-What's so funny?" Jisung grabbed his keys from his pocket as he opened the front door, stepping into the quiet house. Changbin forgot Jisung's father wasn't there for a moment, feeling somewhat relieved for the younger that he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet. "Well, I could see you gawk from the corner of my eyes this morning. It was super cute, really. You're absolutely whipped for him."
"Am not!" Jisung huffed, taking of his warm coat and hanging it in the closet. Changbin snickered before muttering a soft 'sure thing'. The two of them walked into the living room, both heading straight for the kitchen. They had been starving, the clock indicating it had already passed 5 pm. Jisung opened the fridge, only to find it mostly empty. He could feel the nerves rise through his entire body, becoming very embarrassed. He didn't want Changbin to worry more for him than necessary, like always. He wanted to get out of being a damsel in distress already, but for some reason he always seemed to be one.
He couldn't tell that Changbin was able to watch right through the gap between his arm and torso, seeing the emptiness in there. He felt slightly bad, but he decided to not make Jisung have to explain or try to figure something out.
"How about we order some pizza, actually? I haven't had one in what seems like way too long. My treat." He pretended to look at his phone as he heard Jisung close the fridge and turn to him. He glanced up at his best friend, pretending to not have seen a single thing. Jisung smiled at back at him, nodding slightly.
"Only if you want to?"
"Hell yeah, lets get it. I'm already looking at the menu, what do you want?"
"Union, cream and bacon." Changbin rolled his eyes, letting out a playful scoff in the process. "Why did I even ask, of course you would want that one." Jisung pretended to look offended, putting his hands on his hips as if he would look more intimidating that way. "Oh come on, it's better than picking a plain pepperoni like you always do!"
"Excuse me? Pepperoni for life. Here I am, respecting your choice and you dare to offend mine? Speechless, truly." He brought his hand dramatically over his forehead, pretending to be sick. Jisung let out a loud laugh. Sure, it probably wasn't funny to anyone else, but Jisung loved hanging out with Changbin and just talking about the most ridiculous things.
The two of them ordered pizza and decided to watch some netflix until the food eventually showed up. They ate quietly as they watched Violet Evergarden, both heavily invested in the storyline. Changbin wasn't normally the one to watch anime, but he usually enjoyed whatever Jisung recommended to him. Watching together made it more fun as well, as they would be able to talk about their thoughts after finishing an episode. They continued to watch quietly, munching on their pizza slices until they were full. Eventually, they had to turn their focus towards their textbooks, even if they really didn't want to. About an hour in, Changbin suddenly asked Jisung a question... and it didn't relate to the module they were studying.
"So, why did you invite me tonight and not when you were gonna study with Minho hyung? Wouldn't it be easier to just help us at the same time rather than two seperate days?" Jisung could feel his body become hotter, wondering why Changbin had just brought it up so suddenly.
"W-Well, you both struggle with different classes. I didn't know if my brain could keep up enough with having to switch between subjects constantly." The older looked like he wasn't having any of Jisung's explanation. "It's fine if you wanna spend time alone with him, you know? You can tell me, I won't judge you and your cute lil' crush."
"First of all it's not a 'little' crush. Second, I truly didn't intend to meet him seperately, but thanks for making me overthink it now. What do I do now, oh my god. Will he have thought the same as you?" Changbin laughed loudly, putting an arm around Jisung's neck. "It will be fine Sungie. If anything, I think you should start dropping hints about your feelings when you're with him. Subtle, but impactful too."
"Oh come on, you know I don't do things subtly. It's either overexcited or too awkward." Jisung could imagine himself tripping over the leg of a chair whilst confessing, or sneezing into Minho's face as he attempted to flirt. Both scenarios seem like they would come straight out of a k-drama, however Jisung was sure he would manage to have those things happen to him.
"Well, he likes you as a friend for all those things at the very least. It's not like he expects you to have big dick energy."
"You don't think I have big dick energy?!" Jisung looked offended, yet his eyes gave away the grin he was holding. There was no way he was confident. He had the biggest, brightest neon sign dangling above him that would simply read 'panicked gay'.
"Absolutely not, you know damn well yourself you are the biggest softie. Although, I'm sure if you pretend to be confident and gain confidence, you'd have the biggest dick energy of all."
"I don't know if I should be apalled or amused by that statement." Changbin shrugged in response, thinking his answer was a pretty nice compliment. "For real though, try to act confident sometimes even if you're not. Often times those who seem the most confident really aren't. If they can do it, so can you!"
"I guess... I'll be trying it soon."
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Forgive me for the break I took. Anyways, I went back and deleted the rat from this story. As it was reasonably new and more people will probably find it after the allegations etc. I don't want future readers to be triggered by his name :) Nothing really changed, I just switched his lines with another member!
Thank you for your patience. This chapter surely is my worst so far in this story, but I'm still semi writers-blocked. I left it half finished and didn't know what to do for this. Plot progression in the next two chapters though!
Stay safe everyone, remember you are loved!