[G21] REACT TO MY LOVE (2/3)
Prompt Code: G21
Title: React to My Love
“How much do you love me?”
Jongin turned around from editing his new vlog to see Baekhyun walk through his door and plop himself on his bed.
“I don’t.”
Baekhyun pouted and walked over to Jongin at his desk. “Aw, don’t be grumpy. But listen, I overheard Minseok saying he needed more members for his art club so naturally I volunteered us to go. The meeting is in twenty minutes so grab your sweater and put on your shoes so that we aren’t late.”
Jongin scratched his head. Neither he nor Baekhyun knew how to draw or paint. In fact, they got ten points deducted from their partner presentation for lack of creativity. They both had no actual reason to be in a club that specializes in something they both lack skills in. It was not just because he didn’t know how to draw that he didn’t particularly like doing it but rather he wanted to focus on different arts like video making.
Love really did make one do stupid things, Jongin guessed.
“I’m not going. I went to that stupid café thing last week for you and Minseok wasn’t even there. Those are two hours I’m never getting back.”
“I’ll pay you fifty bucks.”
Jongin eyed the elder with doubt, “Fifty bucks and you won’t bug me for the next two weeks unless it is something important. I have a lot of work to be done and I need peace and quiet around this place.”
“Fine, fine. You have a deal.”
Jongin quickly saved his video so that he could edit it later and put on his shoes. Lucky for Baekhyun, Jongin had just come back from class not thirty minutes before so he was already dressed to leave.
The walk to back to campus didn’t really take that long but to Jongin if felt like forever due to the fact that a certain short friend of his was swooning and openly gushing over his crush the whole way. Jongin tried so hard not to roll his eyes at his friend’s babbling over his senior crush because he’s pretty sure this was how Baekhyun felt when Jongin talked about Kyungsoo after meeting the boy.
Long story short, Jongin had a certain fondness for the cover artist and wanted to know him more. Their initial meeting, although not ideal, really left a deep impression on Jongin. He yearned to meet the younger again so that they could talk more.
After about ten minutes of walking, Jongin vocally complained about how it was too cold to be walking around outside especially for a club he doesn’t even want to join but all Baekhyun heard is blah blah blah. Jongin was a known whiner and there was no way Baekhyun would let his friend bring his mood down. Six years of having Jongin as a constant in his life had done his patience well. He was already one step closer to dating Minseok and not even Jongin would ruin that for him.
“This club better be good otherwise I wasted precious time that could’ve been used on something more important like editing my videos.” Jongin blew hot air into his hands and rubbed them together. He definitely regrets not wearing a bigger sweater.
“Stop whining, we made it campus already and the club is being held in the closest building to us you baby so suck it up for two more minutes. Geez, I should’ve asked Sehun to come instead, he would’ve have been less annoying than you.”
“Yes, you should’ve asked Sehun. Why do I always have to go to these things with you?”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes and turned to open classroom door, where the meeting was supposed to be held. He had casually heard, meaning he eavesdropped, his senior crush Minseok talking about how the art club needed a few new members to keep the art club up to the school mandated quota otherwise it would have to get cut from the clubs on campus. Baekhyun couldn’t let his poor senior be sad. So being the kind boy that he is, he signed him and Jongin up during the university’s weekly club rush without his friend’s knowledge.
Baekhyun feigned innocence as Jongin pushed him away and walked through the door first. Baekhyun smirked and followed his friend but was only met with a hard back.
“Jongin, what the hell?”
Jongin turned around with a noticeable crimson blush on his cheeks, avoiding all eye contact with his friend. Baekhyun looked behind the embarrassed boy and noticed a small, lean figure talking to Minseok. Baekhyun squint his eyes to observe the two guys in front of him, more so in curiosity rather than jealousy, or at least that’s what he told himself.
“Why’d you stop for Minseok and that boy?”
Jongin grabbed his friend’s shoulder and grasped them, slightly panicking. “No you don’t get it. Look again at the boy. Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? It’s Kyungsoo aka ‘hellodks’ aka the object of my affections. I’ve literally showed you his videos at least a dozen times and you even met him last week, how could you not recognize him?”
Baekhyun once again looked over and recognized the doe-eyed boy. He had a small frame just like himself but yet he oozed a friendly demeanor. His face was rather cute and his lips turned into a heart shape when he smiled towards Minseok. Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrowed at the boy. Why was he smiling at Minseok like that? He thought they had a strict tutor-student relationship?
“First of all, how can you think Kyungsoo is cute when Minseok is standing right beside him? Second of all, Jongin, I need you to go seduce Kyungsoo so he isn’t flirting with my Minseok anymore.”
“Baek, you and I both know that my flirting skills are on par with my drawing skills. I’m going to befriend him before I do anything drastic. Besides, why don’t you just ask Minseok out if you are so concerned of people get up all over your man,” Jongin emphasized man in air quotes because Baekhyun was acting like a jealous girlfriend when in fact he hadn’t even held a decent conversation with the club leader. At least, Jongin has held a conversation with Kyungsoo.
“Whatever. If you think about it it’s a win-win situation. You get the guy of your dreams and I get the guy of your dreams away from the guy of my dreams. Honestly, nothing sounds better than that right now. So go interact.”
Baekhyun had no mercy on Jongin and pushed him toward the two subjects of their conversation. He accidently bumped into the singer but quickly whipped his head to glare at his friend who somehow manage to sit down and look as if he had been sitting the whole time. He quickly turned back to the others.
“I am so sorry. I tripped and well here I am.” Jongin laughed embarrassedly. But Minseok only smiled and shook his hand.
“Oh are you a new member to the club, Jongin? Welcome!”
Jongin briefly nodded before getting an idea. “Actually my friend here really wanted to join because he is so fascinated with art,” Jongin points out Baekhyun to Minseok, “That’s him right there his name is Baekhyun. I think you might know him from the music club or something. He’s always praising your marketing skills or something like that.”
That’ll show Baekhyun, Jongin thinks.
Minseok releases Jongin’s hand with a soft smile on his lips, “As club president, I think I should go introduce myself to him. Keep Kyungsoo here entertained while I talk to your friend.” With that, he left Jongin alone with the freshman who was just as flustered as he was.
Jongin felt awkward because as much as he wanted to start a conversation with the other he wasn’t sure how to begin. The other also looked nervous as he twiddled his thumbs and pursed his lips. What would Sehun or Baekhyun do in this situation?
“Um lovely weather we are having today. Isn’t it?”
The doe-eyed boy only stared at Jongin. “I wouldn’t say cool fifty-four degrees is the most ideal of temperatures but its okay.”
Jongin opened his mouth as if to speak before shutting his mouth again. He didn’t know quite what to say now. “So what do you like about art?”
The boy in front of Jongin peeked behind him to see if Minseok was within hearing distance. “Honestly, I’m not that interested in art. My friend and Minseok are cousins so he asked me to join for him, although when I got here he suddenly cancelled on me. So I’m left by myself but since Minseok already saw me I couldn’t bail now. I guess I’ll stick it out for now.”
“Oh that’s a bummer. Since you were honest, I’ll be honest too. My friend Baekhyun dragged me hear so that he could find more time to spend with Minseok. You crushed his poor black hole of a heart when you said Minseok wasn’t at the café last week.”
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Kyungsoo looked genuinely apologetic and sad at Jongin’s remark.
Jongin winked at the cover artist. “No need to be sorry. Baekhyun is tough enough to handle it. He won’t give up from one road block standing in his way.”
At the words of his assurance, he received the most beautiful of smiles that made him melt a little on the inside. The guy in front of him was no doubt adorable. Although Kyungsoo seemed a bit reserved and shy, Jongin appreciated the fact that he went along with Jongin’s random conversation starters. Most people would just look at him strangely and not respond.
“Your name is Jongin right?”
Jongin tilted his head and opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Minseok as the senior stood at the front of the classroom and announced the start of the meeting.
Everyone stopped talking and went to sit in the desks nearest to them. Jongin, who was hoping to sit near Kyungsoo, got the short end of the stick when Baekhyun dragged him to the front of the classroom to be closer to Minseok. Baekhyun called it revenge for making Minseok go over to Baekhyun. Judging by Baekhyun’s stern look, he could tell that it didn’t go well. If anything, he bets Baekhyun made a fool of himself and that’s why he was mad.
Jongin sighed and looked back to his former spot to see his guy of interest. Just as he made eye contact with the freshman, said boy blushed and looked away. A smirk adorned Jongin’s face as he turned back around to face the front. If the freshman blushed and looked away that meant that he too was looking at Jongin and that he was also interested, right? Either that or Jongin was just getting too confident in himself.
The rest of the time in the meeting consisted of Minseok talking about the fundamentals of the club and what they do as well as membership information and how to become a member. It seemed very light and easy and Minseok seemed very nice to the members. The other previous members in the club also seemed very kind, or at least the people he met through the ice breaker did anyways. He wouldn’t mind coming back each week, especially if it meant seeing his freshman.
Minseok ended the meeting after an hour by having all the members draw something that was very important to them. Of course, Jongin drew a camera and a YouTube account as best as he could. That was his baby. Baekhyun opted for drawing a microphone and music notes around it. Jongin let out a soft ‘pfft’ as he noticed his friend drawing a small heart with a KMS+BBH on the right-hand corner of his paper.
Baekhyun looked over at Jongin’s judgmental stares, “What?”
“Nothing…Are you done so we can go?”
“Yeah let me just go talk to Minseok real fast.” With that Baekhyun scurried off, leaving Jongin alone. Having no real purpose to stay inside the classroom, he walked outside the classroom where he saw the freshman looking through his backpack.
Just the person he wanted to talk to.
Jongin walked up to him and held his shoulder, scaring the daylights of the other boy. “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you but I wanted to know if you were coming back next week.”
“Oh um…yeah I think so. Or I mean I might come back. I haven’t decided yet,” the freshman hesitated.
“Well, I hope you do so that I can see you again.”
“Um yeah that would be great. I’ll uh-see you around uh-Jongin.” Kyungsoo tried to speed his way out of there but not before tripping over his own foot and stumbling. He cursed to himself and looked back at Jongin who was still smiling and waving, showing no indication of having seen him trip over nothing.
Jongin may have seemed bold in front of Kyungsoo but his heart was pounding inside his chest rapidly. He had never really taken initiative to go after another person but Kyungsoo was making him want to be direct with his feelings. Jongin’s crush went from an admiration of a voice to an admiration of the whole person. All Jongin could tell himself was “the heart wants what it wants.”
“Well that was quite interesting, don’t you think? I came here to get my man but instead it was you who found yours. Aren’t you going to say thank you to me for dragging you here?” Baekhyun, who had been observing the scene from behind Jongin at the door, raised his eyebrow as if to mock Jongin and his small love interest. Jongin ignored his friend and began walking down the hallway. Baekhyun was running right behind him to catch up.
“When will you learn that me dragging you places is good? First you meet Kyungsoo in the café and then you meet him again in art club. Seriously, I’m like some kind of matchmaker.”
“Shut up Baekhyun. No one asked you.”
Baekhyun scoffed and walked right beside him. “Oh stop being uptight and take a joke, besides that kid is a freshman, a baby practically, he’s probably not looking for anything serious right now anyways. So I wouldn’t even push my luck if I were you.”
Jongin’s lips twitched downward, “I’m only a year older than him. Don’t younger people want an older significant other?”
“You’re better off swooning over ‘hellodks’ and his videos rather the real-life Kyungsoo, who obviously is nervous to be around you. Did you see how fast he left after you approached him? I think you scare him.”
“Do you think he has a Twitter account?”
Baekhyun stopped walking and looked over at his dazed friend. “Oh no, you are not going to stalk his Twitter account. I would classify you as a grade A stalker if you did that.”
Jongin pouted at that. “I just want to know him! Why do all the bad things happen to me?”
Honestly even before this talk, Jongin had desperately tried so hard not to become an ultimate fan boy of ‘hellodks’, but he had lost the internal battle with himself and ended up trying to stalk him on every form of social media platform out there just to learn more about the boy. Too bad he was met with countless bumps in the road ending in failure. He had honestly just given up because he felt like such a stalker, lurking around the internet for a man he didn’t even know at the time.
His roommate Sehun had suggested that he just ask his followers for help since many of them had seem to be a fan of him since before Jongin reacted to his video. The YouTube star considered giving up his vow of using his fans for help on something before throwing his roommate’s plans to the backburner in the meantime. He wasn’t that desperate yet.
“Be normal and talk to him if you want to know him. Don’t stalk his social media accounts. And uh hello, not all bad things happen to you, I’m right here standing in your presence. You should be glad,” Baekhyun chirped up.
Jongin let out a pitiful sound before making his way back to his apartment to start homework.
The walk back to his off-campus apartment helped him clear his mind. The freshman boy was too cute and totally Jongin’s kind of guy but Baekhyun was right since he was first year, the possibility that he wasn’t looking to date anyone yet, especially so early in the year, did affect Jongin’s rather rash decision to start showing interest in him. But then again, based on their meetings, he seemed to be interested, right, or had he mistaken Kyungsoo’s blush and eye avoidance as interest rather than maybe intimidation.
He could always just show interest and then see where things go from there. If Kyungsoo was game, then Jongin would really step up his charm to woo the boy.
Now if only there was a way to see Kyungsoo without Byun Baekhyun being there.
***
The heavens answered his prayer a few days later when Jongin spotted a now spectacle wearing Kyungsoo sitting in the university’s quad, doing homework alone at one of the tables. Jongin loved when Kyungsoo wore his glasses. In most of his videos, he didn’t wear them so seeing them on his already adorable face made Jongin feel like he was privileged.
Trying not to seem too eager, Jongin coolly walked to the table and sat down in the chair across from Kyungsoo, grin plastered on his face. He started taking out his own lunch and homework to do. He hoped Kyungsoo wouldn’t mind, especially seeing as all the other tables in the quad were taken.
The sudden presence of someone else sitting at the table urged Kyungsoo to look up from his unfinished lab report and lunch.
What he was not expecting was the cute guy from the café and art club to be sitting across from him.
After the art club meeting earlier that week, Kyungsoo rushed back to his apartment to call his friend Jongdae and to gush to him about how he met the hot guy from the café again and that they actually talked, just the two of them. Any trace of bitter resentment he had towards Jongdae for ditching him and not showing up to the club was considered erased. Jongdae listened to Kyungsoo rave over how Jongin was the perfect specimen with a nice lean figure and amazing style.
Kyungsoo could’ve sworn that Jongin was flirting with him but just the thought of that made him a bit sad. What if flirted with everyone or what if that’s just how he talked to people? Some people don’t even notice that they are flirting half the time. But he hadn’t seen Jongin talk to anyone else like that. All these questions and worries had Kyungsoo impatiently waiting for the next art club meeting to see if Jongin would do it again.
He hadn’t expected to see him so soon, though. So when he looked and saw the presumably older student sitting across from him, he tried to keep his cool. No one had ever taken interested in him before and he was excited to see if this would play out like he wanted it to. Ideally, at the end of his scenario, Jongin would end up becoming his boyfriend. Jongin already watched his YouTube videos and like his singing, what more could he ask for? He nearly squealed at the thought.
“I’m sorry, am I disturbing you?” The freshman shook his head.
“Oh, good. All the other tables were full and since we kind of know each other I thought I could just sit here for a while. Do you always have lunch out here and do homework?”
Kyungsoo stayed mute for a few seconds before speaking up, “On-Only on days when I have classes in the afternoon so uh Mondays, Wednesdays, and uh Fridays.” Kyungsoo wanted to hit himself for sounding so nervous and unsure of himself.
Jongin set his backpack on the ground and pulled out his water bottle. “Do you mind if I join you then today? I promise I won’t bite.”
Once again, Kyungsoo only nodded his head and returned back to his homework. He dared not look up and let Jongin notice the obvious pink tint spread across his cheeks. Kyungsoo was never one to blush over trivial matters, but the boy in front of him had made him blush at least twice within the last three days by just looking at him. The doe-eyed boy wished he could turn it off.
Jongin stared at Kyungsoo to admire his features. “What class are you doing homework for?”
“It’s uh just some math problems for my math lab. It’s not due until Friday but I thought I’d get a head start on it.”
Jongin chuckled. “What a diligent student you are. I usually wait until the last minute for things but it only leads to all-nighters and shitty work. As someone who is older than you, I would advise you to stay diligent.”
“How do you know you are older than me?”
“They announced it at the café, remember? They said freshman audience member Do Kyungsoo and since I am a sophomore that makes me older than you.”
“Oh,” Kyungsoo said with a stammer.
“Listen, I’m actually done for the day, why don’t you let me walk you to your next class? Is it soon?” Jongin kept eating his packed sandwich as he waited for Kyungsoo to respond.
“I actually have to start walking there in twenty minutes if you don’t mind waiting. I mean you don’t have to walk me either, I mean my class is on the other side of campus, I couldn’t-”
Jongin waved his hand in protest, “No, no don’t worry about it. I insist really besides this gives us twenty minutes to talk some more if you don’t mind.”
For the third time that week, Kyungsoo blushed and nodded his head.
Jongin visibly brightened.
***
“Hey guys Kai here again ready to bring you a new reaction video. Some of you may have noticed but this is a bit of a change of scenery than where I usually record. But that’s because my room is a total mess. Midterms were last week and I never got a chance to clean it so for now I’ll be recording in the living room. Don’t mind if my roommate walks in the background, he’s a tool.”
A low ‘I heard that’ resonated through the room making Jongin burst into a fit of giggles. Besides Baekhyun, his roommate Sehun was his other best friend whom knew since he was a child. It just so happened that they went to the same college that they decided to room together. They were even roommates last year in the dorms.
“Disregarding that useless noise, I’m here to react to a video you guys requested. Yes you heard right, it’s that time of the month again. I’ve read many of the requests sent in by the fans and I’m thankful that you guys are actually responding and putting your input for what you would like to see here on this channel so thank you.”
“This month it seems that everyone wants me to react to ‘hellodks’ again since he just put out a new video. And since I’ve become a huge fan of ‘hellodks’ and his covers I’ve decided to indulge you guys and watch the video. I haven’t seen it yet so I’m excited too.”
Jongin clicked the link and leaned forward, arms clutching his stomach.
If I told you I was perfect, I’d be lying,
If there something I’m not doing boy I’m trying,
I know I’m no angel
“Oh wow. Is this a rendition of ‘Nothing on You’? This is such a good song. It suits his vocals so well.”
But I’m not so bad, no, no,
You should know that beautiful girls all over the world,
I could be chasing but my time would be wasting,
They got nothing on you
“Why does his voice have to sound so perfect? I wish he would perform full songs instead of two minute clips. I honestly think that would be the death of me if he did that.” Jongin shook his head in disbelief at the singer on the screen. It obviously wasn’t his first time watching said singer, but each and every time, somehow the voice always hits his heart with emotions. The smooth tone and obvious passion resonating through his voice warmed Jongin up on the inside.
As weird as it sounds, Jongin liked listening to Kyungsoo’s voice because he sounded like singing meant everything to him and that that was what he’s meant to do. He was obviously good and wanted to show everyone who would listen the potential he has to be someone great, if the opportunity permitted itself. Similarly, Jongin too felt that way about dance. He’s always determined to show the true beauty and art through his movements to anyone who would watch. That’s why he loved being a part of the dance team who had many members with the same desires.
Kyungsoo seemed timid and shy in real life but when he sang his presence was undeniable. Jongin noted that Kyungsoo must feel at ease when he’s singing compared to when they talk. Either way, Jongin wanted to get to know the younger man.
They might say hi,
And I might say hey but you shouldn’t worry about what they say
‘Cause they got nothing on you baby
“I definitely have to give a listen to the original song again. It’s been so long since I last heard it but I think I like this version better if I’m being honest.”
Nothing on you baby, hey
A loud applause was heard through the living room. “Wow another fantastic cover by ‘hellodks’. I really like the way he dragged out the ‘hey’ at the end. It put a nice touch to the end of the song.”
With that Jongin stopped the video to make sure that the auto play button wouldn’t switch to the next video while he was recording and talking.
“Anyways, my thoughts about this cover…You know, like I said before this guy has amazing talent and seriously, I’ll be waiting for the day when he puts an album out. I don’t really have anything bad to say about this video but if I did I would say that I wished the video was longer. A minute and thirty second video is like appetizer, a tease. Now we want the real thing. I would buy his album so fast and I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan but rather as an avid music listener. His voice literally soothes the human soul and needs to be listened to by everyone.”
“Geez, you sound in love with the guy,” Sehun shouted in the background, seemingly having made his way into the kitchen during the duration of Jongin’s recording. Honestly, Sehun was like a snake, always moving places slyly. Sometimes that characteristic scared Jongin.
Jongin blushed and waved his hands in protest and looked in the camera, “Sehun’s dumb, don’t listen to him. I think what you are confusing is admiration and love. I admire his voice but I’m not in love with him. You hear that Sehun?”
“Yeah whatever, you are totally in love with Kyungsoo,” Sehun was walking back to the room with a sandwich in his hand waving off Jongin’s remark.
Jongin snapped his head around so fast, “You can’t say that Sehun, especially when I’m recording. And I’m not in love with Kyungsoo; I just like him right now.”
Jongin knows he’s going to have to edit this part out or at least mute it so that no one hears about what they are saying. In the off chance that Kyungsoo did watch his videos, he didn’t want to scare the younger away.
A vein popped out of Jongin’s neck out of aggravation from his roommate. He tried to relax himself for a few minutes before turning his attention back to the camera that was still recording.
“Well everyone knows what I think about Kyung-I mean ‘hellodks’ and his voice now so I think I’m going to end this video before it gets weird, um even more weird I mean,” Jongin nervously chuckles, “Oh and don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment. Look forward to my next vlog hopefully coming out on Tuesday of next week if all goes well, if not expect it on its regular day next week. Until then see you guys!”
***
Since art club meetings were held only once a week, it took about a month and a half before Jongin finally worked up the courage to ask Kyungsoo out on a date. Even despite the fact that they have lunch together twice a week, Jongin still hadn’t learned that much about the younger. They talked a lot but nothing really personal. Kyungsoo also seemed to get over his shyness and could hold a normal conversation (mostly flirting banters) with the sophomore.
The two had always sat next to each other during the meetings, whispering little jokes that only the two of them would think were funny or would make fun of each other’s art work because both sucked at drawing. Something Jongin didn’t learn until he mistook Kyungsoo’s penguin drawing for a turtle. Kyungsoo felt embarrassed but Jongin reassured the boy that they could suck at drawing together.
Baekhyun had quit going to the meetings after three weeks because he saw Minseok being chummy with some guy that wasn’t Baekhyun. The poor junior thought it was Minseok’s boyfriend and avoided going to the meetings to see his crush all together.
After Jongin told Kyungsoo Baekhyun’s predicament, Kyungsoo laughed and told Jongin that Baekhyun probably saw Minseok with Jongdae, his cousin. Jongdae always was a clingy one. It was common for the two cousins to be mistaken as a couple thanks to Jongdae’s constant need to touch someone. Jongin decided it would be funny to let Baekhyun keep thinking Minseok was taken so he decided not to tell him. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, felt bad knowing that his favorite music club singer was sad thanks to his own crush omitting the truth from his best friend. Kyungsoo did eventually tell Baekhyun the truth, much to Jongin’s protests.
“Hey Kyungsoo, I was wondering if you were free this afternoon. Maybe we can grab some coffee or something later, if you are free I mean.” Jongin rubs the back of nape nervously as he poses for the portrait Kyungsoo was supposed to be drawing. The pencil nearly falls from Kyungsoo’s hand as he stops drawing after hearing Jongin’s question.
Finally, the moment he had been waiting for had arrived.
Kyungsoo tries hard not to smile at the boy in front of him. “I’ll have to check my schedule but I think I’m free tomorrow if that’s okay with you.” The blush creeping up on his face didn’t go unnoticed by Jongin.
Jongin grinned, “Definitely, I’ll be looking forward to it then.”
***
Jongin nervously checked the time on his phone for the third time in ten minutes. Kyungsoo was supposed to meet him fifteen minutes ago and the younger still hadn’t shown up. Jongin, always the positive thinker, believed that Kyungsoo was just running late without give him a heads up about it. There was no way sweet Kyungsoo would just stand him up like that.
But his expression dulled as each minute passed and as each minute passed he was beginning to lose more and more hope.
The sophomore snapped himself out of such negative thoughts. Of course, Kyungsoo was going to show up. When they were texting the night before Kyungsoo had let it slip that he was excited for their date the next day stating that it was going to be good and that he couldn’t wait. Jongin smiled triumphantly when he received the message and bragged to Sehun about getting the man of his dreams and how soon enough, if all went well, Jongin would have a boyfriend too.
It had been three months since he first reacted to ‘hellodks’ and it had been almost two months since he first interacted with Kyungsoo. While he liked Kyungsoo’s voice a lot, there was more to him than just that. Jongin was just a normal boy falling in love with another boy, who happened to be his favorite cover artist.
Most recently, he noticed that Kyungsoo had been uploading even more videos than usual. It definitely made him happy because he had already exhausted all the other videos and needed new Kyungsoo videos to watch.
To Jongin, Kyungsoo was kind, playful, and cuter than he believed himself to be. Jongin could just be with him all the time and would feel content even if they were doing different things in the same room. He met Kyungsoo through his voice but he stayed with Kyungsoo for his personality. The more time they sent together the more Jongin caught feelings. He desperately hoped that Kyungsoo felt the same.
Even Sehun, the usually stoic guy, enjoyed Kyungsoo’s company. They had only met once but Sehun had told Jongin that he approved of Kyungsoo as Jongin’s boyfriend if the sun-kissed man ever decided to stop wussing out and ask the younger out (which Jongin eventually did do).
The bell above the door rang and Jongin looked up. He was relieved to see a disheveled Kyungsoo running through the door, looking around for his date. Kyungsoo was out of breath, his backpack partially open, when he arrived at the table. Being ever so gentlemanly, Jongin helped Kyungsoo take off his backpack and helped him fix his side-swept hair.
“Jongin, sorry I’m late. I had to finish writing my essay before I came here and I lost track of time. It’s due tomorrow but I wanted to finish it because I wasn’t sure how long we were going to hang out for. So, now I don’t have to worry about it.”
Jongin let out short breath and smiled fondly at the unruly looking boy, “No worries, I didn’t wait that long. I remembered you always drink chai lattes so I bought you one when I ordered mine.”
Kyungsoo, still catching his breath, grinned at the elder, “Oh thank you Jongin. I really like chai lattes and I could really use one right about now. Man, that essay took forever. I’ve been working on it for about three days now but since the topic is complex and we needed like four resources, it took me awhile. But I think it came out great.”
“Anything you do would surely be great Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo shook his head with a smile on his face. “Do you say that to everyone you talk to?”
Jongin smirked, “Only the cute boys.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
The waiter brought both Jongin and Kyungsoo’s drinks to the table and set in front of each of them. Jongin blew at the top of his teas and took a sip. “So tell me about yourself. I feel like we always talk but I don’t really know that much about you besides the basics. Tell me something I don’t already know. Besides being a freshman in the art club who is majoring in chemistry, a weird combination though if you ask me, who is Do Kyungsoo? What does he do?”
Kyungsoo also took a sip of his tea before responding to the elder, “Well um, I’m not only in the art club. I’m also in the pharmacy club because that’s what I want to be after university. I also like to sing a lot but when I was going to try out for the music club there was this guy who auditioned before me who was amazing and I chickened out after that. If people like that are auditioning then there was no way they would accept my measly voice.”
“What? I think your voice is great! I’m sure the other person wasn’t that good.”
Kyungsoo shakes his head in resignation. “No they were better than good, they were great. Actually, it was my friend Jongdae, I don’t know if you remember me talking about him. I actually met him in pharmacy club but I recognized him from the auditions and we just bonded over music.”
“Well, I haven’t heard Jongdae sing but if a talented singer like yourself thinks he’s amazing then he must be pretty good at least.”
“After the open-mic night at the café I had a few people in the music club telling me to join the auditions next month so I think I’m actually going to go through with it this time. I’m hoping I can make it in. My brother said the music club was great and that he had a lot of fun and met a lot of new people so I really wanted to join too.”
Jongin stared at Kyungsoo with interest in eyes. He had never heard Kyungsoo talk so much about himself and honestly, Jongin really liked it. He felt like Kyungsoo was letting Jongin into his life little by little. And Jongin liked listening about it.
“Well I’m a second year business major with a concentration in finances. I’m not really sure what I want to do yet but I think I’ll probably end up being an accountant or something like that.”
Kyungsoo arched his eyebrow in curiosity.
“I know I know, it seems like a boring job right? But actually I really like numbers so why not be an accountant? Plus you can never go wrong with a business degree. Maybe I’ll go into a different sector of business, I don’t know yet. Maybe I can be a financial analyst, who knows?”
Jongin rubbed his hands together and dried off the sweat from them on his clothed thigh. “But anyways, besides the art club I’m also in the dance club here on campus. I know this sounds lame but I wanted you to know because sometimes I bring a camera around to hang outs but I actually do have a YouTube channel. Sorry I lied.”
“Well at least you told me now. But honestly, I already know you have a YouTube channel.”
Jongin choked on his drink, missing Kyungsoo’s worried face. “You know? Have you seen any of my videos?”
“I’ve only seen three of your videos if that makes you feel better.” Scooting his chair over, Kyungsoo sat closer to Jongin and rubbed his back to help ease his coughing fit.
“That depends. Which three did you see?” Kyungsoo just gives him a guilty smile. From that smile alone, Jongin knows he watched the only three videos he made about the other. Jongin had hundreds of videos up online and Kyungsoo only saw the three that he didn’t want him to see. He had really shitty luck.
Jongin buried his face into his hands and internally cried a bit. The freshman looked concerned at his date’s sudden silence.
“I’m so embarrassed Kyungsoo. I can’t believe you watched all of the videos I reacted to you. You probably think I’m a creep or something huh? Is this a pity date?”
“Jongin what are you talking about? You reacted to my videos?” Kyungsoo looked puzzled at Jongin’s confession.
“Aren’t those the one’s you’ve seen?”
Kyungsoo bit his lip and adjusted his glasses. “No I saw three of your vlogs. The ‘Embarrassing Trilogy’ I think it was called. I remember it was you, Baekhyun, and Sehun doing stupid things. It was pretty hilarious if you ask me. I was worried you didn’t want me to see that because you were doing stupid things with your friends. But wait, you reacted to me singing?”
The YouTube star avoided eye contact with Kyungsoo. “Um no, I didn’t. Please don’t go looking for them.”
“Why not?”
“Just, please. If you like me enough, you’ll please not watch those videos. You can watch all the other videos. Just not those three.”
“Fine, I promise not to watch those three videos until you say I can if you promise to come to my auditions next month for support and you have to tell me one more fact about yourself.” Kyungsoo cheekily smiled.
“I promise. As for the fact, I’ll tell you about my video making since I lied.”
Kyungsoo propped his elbows on the table and folded his hands. He was ready for Jongin to tell him something new.
“I think making YouTube reaction videos and vlogs was a good way for me to outlet my skills. I hope that didn’t sound arrogant but ever since I was younger I had a knack for editing videos and making funny videos for people to enjoy whether it was me or something I filmed. I even went through a phase where I wanted to be a film director or some kind of editor for an entertainment company. My mom called me the next ‘Steven Spielberg’ for a while. Eventually I grew out of that and I just enjoyed editing and filming as a hobby.”
“One of my friend’s from high school suggested I upload my videos on YouTube so that my friends could see my edits too since I never showed anyone my movies or edits. Because I left it public, I noticed people starting to look at my videos. When I saw that I was getting increasing views I felt so excited so I kept making more and more videos not in hopes of becoming internet famous but in hopes that people would recognize my skill and be like ‘oh yeah that’s Jongin’s work’ or ‘did you see Jongin’s new video’.”
“It was great for a while until I noticed that views were slowing down and comments were lessening. I considered quitting because no one new was looking at my hard work and I didn’t want to waste my time if no one was looking at my work. I was going to set all my videos to private and keep making more edits and videos without sharing them online. But then I uploaded this one reaction video to some band or something like that and suddenly I blew up overnight it almost seemed unreal. An influx of people was coming in and watching my past edits and reaction videos and before I knew it I had like two million subscribers. It was crazy. Since then I haven’t stopped making videos, although I make less edits and focus more on my vlogs and reaction videos. It’s just something I like to do on the side.”
A soft hand gripped Jongin’s own. When he looked up, he saw Kyungsoo smile at him.
“That’s really touching Jongin. I’m glad you shared that with me.”
“Well what about you? What’s the deal with your YouTube account?”
Kyungsoo chuckled but didn’t release Jongin’s hand. “It’s not as emotional as yours but basically my brother said I should send him videos of me singing since he’s in grad school across the country. He helps me hone my voice so that I can sing better. I thought YouTube would be easier since I could just link the video to my brother without having to share it to the public. But I forgot to change the settings and a few people ended up commented and liking my video. I figured since the damage was already done I might as well keep it like that.”
“Wow…that was definitely not as deep as my story.” Jongin teased.
“Shut up, mine was a good story.” Kyungsoo pushed Jongin’s shoulder.
Jongin and Kyungsoo remained in the coffee shop for a few more hours just talking about anything and everything. Never once did they let go of each other’s hands after the first initial physical contact. If they did release their hands for a moment, both hands would somehow find their way back together. Both guys knew that their relationship was growing into something more and that was right where they wanted to be. Together.
Part 3