𝐨𝐧𝐞 : 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬
❝ if you go one step at a time, we will meet. ❞
‒ ᵍᵒˡᵈᵉⁿ ᶜʰⁱˡᵈ ‒
ᵕ̈♡˳೫˚∗
"kev! are you setting up?" changmin asked, titlting his head slightly as he rocked back and forth on his heels. kevin looked up and met his friends' gaze, already fully aware of what he was going to ask him since he had asked the same question since their first year. so, before changmin could even utter a word, kevin held his hand up to his face.
"i will try again to get his name and major just please don't loiter around my booth - you attract too many people and it's tires me out."
during their first year in university, changmin had absolutely no interest in anybody and he had intended it to stay that way but his plans got completely derailed the second he caught glimpse of the boy in one of kevin's portraits.
nothing about him seemed exemplary - in fact, he looked like everyone else with dark brown hair and his dark brown eyes that kevin had painted on canvas. but, unlike everyone else, something about the way he smiled in the portrait made changmin's heart skip a beat and, even though it was just for a second, he wanted to know who he was. he found himself observing every single detail that kevin had so meticulously drawn and, throughout the years, changmin noticed that the things that never changed about the boy were his smile and the red rose pin he constantly wore.
years had passed and yet, despite how he felt that he had the boy's face ingrained into his mind, he still didn't have the slightest bit of a clue as to who he was, with kevin always trying to pry for information from the mysterious boy who had decided to keep his mouth shut.
"you promise?" changmin asked, holding his pinky finger out to kevin who sighed and locked pinky fingers with him.
"promise. now, don't you have a dance performance?" changmin nodded, grabbing his bag and running to the hall where he would be putting on a show along with the rest of the dance club in their university.
ᵕ̈♡˳೫˚∗
choi chanhee was bored.
he had grown tired of listening to people who could barely hold a note try to impress them (them being the choir club leaders) and had to stifle a yawn almost every five seconds as he scribbled down their results on the piece of paper placed before each one of them.
every year, their club had to conduct auditions for people who wanted to reserve a spot for themselves on their prestigious choral group but, even when he was merely a first year, chanhee had already been placed on the board of leaders, his keen ear and strong voice immediately surprising his seniors who had long graduated and given him the title of a permanent leader in their club, forcing him to participate in the yearly fair even when he was just a first year.
chanhee hated the yearly fair and to him, everything about it pointed to it being a complete waste of time. but of course, he kept such thoughts to himself, thankful that he had worn a mask to hide the numerous times he had yawned.
"we'll be taking a quick break for the time being!" jacob, the vice-president (along with chanhee), announced, everyone nodding and acknowledging what he had just said while sangyeon, the president, collated the pieces of paper that each leader had to write their thoughts and remarks on for each candidate.
sangyeon glanced at everyone's paper before stopping at chanhee's and sighing slightly. "chanhee, your comments are so harsh again," he said, not really expecting chanhee to make any changes to his words as chanhee merely shrugged and stood up. "where are you going?"
"for a walk. hyung, my legs have lost all feeling and i think it's stunting my hearing capabilities," chanhee replied, walking out of the music room and towards the main plaza where numerous other booths were.
ᵕ̈♡˳೫˚∗
"hyung! you did great!" hyunjun said while accepting a bouquet of flowers from some first years he didn't know. changmin laughed, accepting some presents from people from different years.
"you both did great too!" changmin, the president of the dance club, complimented his partners, hyunjun and juyeon as more and more people came over to congratulate them on a good performance that was sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who had come to view the university and its' clubs.
as the trio left the hall and made their way towards the plaza, a crowd of adoring fans followed them seeing as how, although the dance club had yet to achieve trophies, the club in itself was filled with the most attractive and talented people in their university therefore making them well known within the student population.
"well, they're noisy," chanhee commented, fixing his jacket as kevin began drawing, trying his best to remain focused on chanhee (since his reputation as an artist would be at stake if he couldn't make a beautiful drawing of the boy) while at the same time, trying to send telepathic signals to changmin to look in their direction and notice that his mystery boy was right there. "are you okay?"
kevin directed his attention onto chanhee and nodded. "anyways, you come here every year but you never take the picture home so i've been wondering-"
"i'm just bored really," chanhee replied, his tone monotonous as kevin let out a soft hum and an awkward smile, unsure of how to proceed with his interrogation with ji changmin being so close yet so far to the boy he had claimed to have fallen for since first year but could never recognise. "and, you draw well."
kevin looked at the boy and said a quiet thanks to which chanhee nodded to, looking around and watching changmin and his adoring fans that followed him like moths to flame. "he's really popular isn't he?" chanhee asked, momentarily shocking kevin since it was the first time in their three years had he heard the mystery boy ever ask anything related to anyone.
"do you know changmin?" kevin asked, beginning to shade the portrait to add more definition to his picture. he tried his best to feign nonchalance, thanking god for the fact that he took acting in high school and was able to pretend well enough to fool the boy in front of him.
chanhee shook his head. "not personally but i've heard of him - the dance club's god, ji changmin." chanhee sighed and ran a hand through his hair as kevin continued his shading. "you're his friend aren't you?"
"you know me?" kevin asked, his act of indifference dissipating into thin air as he stopped his drawing momentarily.
"you're the president of the art club and you even started running the booth since your first year," chanhee said, his calm tone suggesting that he found such information to be commonplace to everyone in their university. "it would be impossible not to know of you."
kevin chuckled. "well, i wasn't the only first year dragged to participate. have you heard of choi chanhee?" chanhee almost choked on his spit but nevertheless nodded. "he's the vice-president of the school choir but barely anyone has seen him without his mask on - it's like, he only exists inside the choir room." chanhee nodded, biting his lip to prevent any remarks from falling from his mouth. "but honestly, i only know of him as changmin's competitor since their majors are constantly at war with one another."
before chanhee could explain himself, his phone started ringing and, quickly excusing himself, he made his way back to the choir room since sangyeon had been the one to call him. and, a few minutes right after he left, changmin walked towards the booth and asked him what he had found out about his mystery boy, his army of fans trailing behind him.
"you just missed him you idiot," kevin said, taking his canvas and wacking him on the head.
"why'd you wack him?" kevin turned his head slightly and met eyes with jacob who had his hands shoved inside his jacket pockets. "that's not very nice kevin!"
"hyung's right kevin!" changmin groaned, massaging his head as kevin sat back down and continued to draw, quickly asking why jacob had bothered to visit since throughout the years, he had been far too busy to even make a quick stop at his boyfriends' booth.
jacob smiled and pointed in the direction of the choir room. "sangyeon hyung told me to take a break since chanhee was back and so i decided to-wait, why are you drawing chanhee?" he asked, pointing at the canvas with the half completed drawing of changmin's mystery boy.
changmin's eyes widened in shock as he took hold of jacob by his shoulders. "hyung, can you repeat that?" kevin looked from jacob to the drawing he had sitting on his lap and back to jacob, praying that what he had said was simply an error.
jacob looked at both of them, completely unaware of the situation going on. "kev's drawing chanhee. you know? the choir club vice-president? i thought you two both knew of him-"
changmin grabbed the canvas from kevin's grasp and showed it to jacob. "this is choi chanhee?" jacob nodded, taking a small step back because of the unexpected lack of space between him and changmin.
"what's the big deal?"
changmin let out a high pitched scream, causing his fan girls (that loitered nearby but not near enough to hear their conversation) to stare at him in concern. changmin found himself unable to find the words to express himself as he stood paralysed, tightly gripping onto the drawing of his mystery boy that he now knew to be choi chanhee.
"the big deal is that changmin just found the identity of his love at first sight."