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When Seungmin’s friends told him he had to get out more and “live a little,” he thought they meant something like going out clubbing and getting blackout drunk or getting high. You know, the usual crazy college stuff.
He did not expect them to commit a crime.
“You guys are fucking idiots,” Seungmin hissed, his breath puffing out in a little white cloud. He had lost the feeling in his toes and fingers about five minutes ago. Now he only had his pure rage at their idiocy to keep him warm. “I thought you meant something like getting drunk or high! Not vandalizing the founder statue!”
“It was a spur of the moment idea.” Jisung grinned from ear to ear, completely shameless. “The original plan was to get you drunk or high because I wanted to have that blackmail material since you have plenty for me, but I thought you would be more on-board with this idea!”
“Absolutely not!” Seungmin retorted. “Vandalizing public property like this is a crime, you idiot!”
“So is drinking and getting high at our age.” Jisung gave him a smug smirk.
Seungmin could have strangled him, but luckily Felix held him back by slinging an arm around his shoulders and giving them a squeeze. Seungmin, despite his grumpy, anti-social exterior, actually couldn’t say no to hugs, especially from his friends (except for hugs from Jisung. Jisung could choke for all he cared.). So his anger momentarily dissipated.
“There’s a good reason for this, though,” Hyunjin said. “This isn’t just the founder statue. This is the guy who also founded that Alpha Pie or Alpha whatever frat on campus.”
“Alpha Pie?” Jisung grinned at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin just waved him off.
“Apple pie?” Felix perked up at that.
“Your point?” Seungmin looked at Hyunjin with his eyebrows set in a straight line.
“In this day and age, we support the gays,” Jisung said, turning and glaring up at the statue with pure hatred as he shook one of the spray cans aggressively. “This guy does not support the gay agenda. He needs to die.”
“He’s already dead,” Seungmin deadpanned.
“He lives on through his homophobic frat dudebros,” Jisung retorted. He hopped up onto the step-stool he and Hyunjin had brought. “This is for Minho you piece of shit!” He sprayed a line of red paint across the statue’s head.
Felix let out a whoop while Seungmin just frowned.
“Wait, what?” Seungmin asked. “What do you mean, for Minho?”
“You know those guys that cornered Minho at a party a week ago?” Hyunjin said, tossing a can of orange spray paint to Felix, who caught it in one hand. “Gave him that black eye and a split lip and called him a whole bunch of slurs before Chan got to them? Yeah, those assholes are from the frat this guy started.” He gestured to the statue.
“Buncha homophobic, misogynistic, racist rapists,” Jisung said, his tone and face venomous. “All ’cause of this guy.”
“Wouldn’t you rather trash those guys’ cars instead?” Seungmin made a pained, pleading face.
“Nope, this makes a statement against the whole university!” Jisung pointed the paint can at Seungmin, who leaned away. He didn’t trust Jisung not to spray him in the face with red paint. At least if he did, his face would match his hair, he supposed. “A statement that shows that they are also being homophobic by letting this kind of hatred go unpunished.”
“Chan got Minho to report the guys, but the university wouldn’t do anything about it,” Hyunjin added.
“So, do you need more of an explanation or are you gonna start helping?” Jisung arched an eyebrow at Seungmin.
Hyunjin held out the yellow spray paint to Seungmin. An invitation.
Seungmin clenched his jaw and took the paint. “You guys better have a place to run and hide when the cops come.”
Jisung just grinned at that.
Thirty minutes later, Seungmin was no longer shivering. The sharp smell of paint hung in the air as they stepped back to survey their work. Jisung held out a hand to Hyunjin, who slapped it in somewhat of a low high-five. They had identical, smug looks on their faces.
“I especially like the black dick,” Felix said, nodding appreciatively. “Adds a nice touch.”
“I wanted to make it small but then you wouldn’t be able to see it,” Jisung said.
Seungmin just shook his head, unable to keep himself from smiling. The four of them had completely covered the statue from head to toe in rainbow spray paint. On the back, Felix had written in big, black letters, HOMOPHOBE. Then Hyunjin had drawn black X’s over the guy’s eyes. To finish it off, Jisung had drawn a comically large dick just below the statue’s waist, on the stone coat.
“It’s gonna make the news,” Jisung said proudly.
“Yeah, to tell you that you’re gonna get expelled for vandalism,” Seungmin said.
“Pfft, do I look like I care?” Jisung broke away from them to glare up at the statue. “Worth it, honestly.” He suddenly whirled around, throwing his hands out to both sides as he said, “Plus they don’t even know it was—” He was cut off by the hand that held a spray paint can smacking into one of the hands on the statue. Apparently the statue wasn’t as strong as it looked, because the hand flew off and landed in the grass behind them a few feet away.
Hyunjin gasped and threw his hands over his mouth while Felix’s eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were going to fall out of his head. Seungmin just stared, a sickening feeling settling into his stomach.
“Oops.” Jisung picked up the hand and chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, anyone know how to reattach a hand?”
Hyunjin and Felix both shook their heads, their eyes wide.
Then, with the absolute worst timing, the moment they had all been dreading finally arrived.
“Hey!” a gruff voice shouted. A flashlight beam landed on Jisung, who was holding both a can of spray paint and a statue hand. A couple of campus police officers were walking across the lawn towards them.
“RUN!” Hyunjin shrieked, and everyone scattered in different directions.
Seungmin’s self-preservation took over. He bolted from the others, sprinting through the trees lining the lawn and towards the academic buildings, leaving the others to fend for themselves. He heard more shouts behind him but didn’t slow in the slightest as he vaulted over rocks and benches and dodged trees and trash cans and finally reached one of the parking lots. It was late on a Thursday night, just after the night classes. The parking lot was deserted except for a few cars here and there. The buildings were all locked, and the dorms were in the opposite direction, back where the statue and cops were.
The best option was to get off campus.
Seungmin scanned the area and spotted his ticket out of here. He ran towards it, thinking in the back of his mind that desperation made people do some crazy things.
There was a section of the parking lot reserved for motorcycles only, and it just so happened that one of them was parked there right now. Except the rider was there as well, getting ready to leave. Their helmet was on and they were already revving the engine. Seungmin put on one last burst of energy and skidded to a halt in front of the motorcycle, gesturing for it to stop. The motorcycle did stop, though judging from the tilt of their head, they were thoroughly confused as to why this crazy freshman with paint all over his hands and a flushed face was waving him down.
“Can I get a ride?” Seungmin asked, glancing in the direction of the lawn, hoping the cops weren’t heading for him just yet. He looked back at the motorcyclist. “Please?”
The motorcyclist reached up and pulled off his helmet, revealing a frustratingly familiar face. Seungmin almost scowled, recognizing the dark hair and sharp chin and somewhat large nose.
“What are you doing?” Seo Changbin asked him, frowning.
“What are you doing?” Seungmin couldn’t help firing back.
“Trying to leave, but some idiot jumped in the way.” Changbin gestured to where he stood. “What, are you trying to steal my bike from me?”
“Why the hell would I want to steal that piece of shit?”
Changbin arched an eyebrow at him and started to put his helmet back on. At that moment, Seungmin glimpsed the beam of a flashlight cutting through the darkness, heading towards them. Once again, panic and desperation took over.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he said to Changbin, holding out his hands for him to stop. Changbin did stop, though he still gave Seungmin an unamused look. “That all slipped, okay? In all honesty I just really really need your help right now so can I just catch a ride with you to the shopping center? Please? You can drop me off at the diner there—I don’t care—just please let me come with you.”
Changbin blinked at him but still made no move to help him. The cops were getting closer, momentarily distracted by searching the grove of trees Seungmin had run through earlier.
He grabbed his wallet out of his pocket, pulled out the last of his cash, and held it out to Changbin.
Changbin arched an eyebrow at the cash but took it and pocketed it without hesitation. “Hop on,” he said, jerking his head in the direction of the back of the bike.
“Thank you,” Seungmin said, running around to the back of the bike. He didn’t really think this part through—the part where he had to sit behind Changbin and hold onto him—but he shoved the disgust and panic out of his mind and forced himself to get on. Once he was situated, though, Changbin held out the helmet to him.
“I only have one helmet, sorry,” Changbin said. “It might be a little tight ’cause it’s not made for your big-ass head.”
Seungmin was about to say that Changbin should wear it since he was the driver, but now the cops were heading into the parking lot. He quickly shoved on the helmet.
Changbin turned back around and revved the engine. Seungmin reluctantly wrapped his arms around Changbin’s waist, loosely enough so that he wasn’t pressed up against him. But that all went out the door when the motorcycle jerked forward. Seungmin automatically latched onto Changbin, his arms tightening with sick fear as the motorcycle shot out of the parking lot, past the cops, and down the short road to the stoplight. Changbin barely stopped to check for traffic before he turned right on red. Seungmin had to hold back his scream when they turned, since the whole bike leaned to the right as they went around the corner. He swore he felt their legs just barely skim the asphalt. He also swore he felt Changbin’s torso move with laughter, to which he responded by tightening further, somewhat with the intent of squeezing Changbin to death.
To his immense relief, the ride was over quickly, partially because Changbin was a bit of a speed demon and did not obey the speed limits whatsoever. When they pulled up in front of the diner, Changbin was completely calm and collected as he ran his hand through his short, windblown hair. Seungmin, on the other hand, practically fell off the bike. He blamed the helmet for making him disoriented. Though he couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to explain why his legs were suddenly too shaky to support him.
Changbin smirked at him in amusement. “You good?”
“You know—” Seungmin tugged off the helmet, “—speed limits are not a suggestion.”
Changbin just shrugged, still smirking.
Seungmin huffed and shoved the helmet back at him. Then he quickly ran his hands through his hair to tame it somewhat.
“So, I couldn’t help noticing the pair of cops roaming around campus when we left.” Changbin rested his arms on the handlebars of the bike and leaned forward. “Care to explain that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Seungmin replied, squaring his shoulders. “I didn’t see any cops.” That was partially because he couldn’t see jack-shit with that damned helmet on, but that was irrelevant.
“Mm.” Changbin was back to smirking at him.
“Thanks for the ride,” Seungmin said. “Maybe obey the speed limits when you drive back, yeah? Wouldn’t want to get a speeding ticket since, apparently, the cops are out tonight.”
“Oh, I could outrun them,” Changbin replied. “What about you? Can you outrun cops?”
“I don’t run,” Seungmin retorted.
“You just take a stand, is that it?”
“You look guilty if you run.”
“Right.”
Seungmin had nothing more to say to him, so he just said shortly, “Goodnight.”
Changbin didn’t say anything in reply—he just continued to smirk at him—so Seungmin turned sharply on his heel and went into the diner. He could only hope as the waitress gave him a booth that he had enough money on one of his cards to pay for something here, since he had given all of his cash to Changbin. He didn’t plan on staying long—only long enough to maybe drink a milkshake and for things to calm down on campus. Then he’d hop on one of the city buses and head back.
“Just out of curiosity, how do you plan to get back to campus?” Changbin slid into the booth across from him and raised his eyebrows at him. “The shuttles don’t run this late.”
“There are metro buses, you know.” Seungmin gave him a look, especially as Changbin seemed to make himself comfortable across from him. He even had his own menu from the front counter. “Or I could just walk. It’s not that bad.”
“It’s past ten-thirty on a Friday night—you sure you want to be walking alone?” Changbin glanced up at him before going back to perusing the menu.
“What are you doing?” Seungmin demanded.
“Thinking about whether I want just some pie or an actual meal.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I mean, I could really go for something salty right now, you know? The eggs and bacon look good…” Changbin pursed his lips as he thought.
“Changbin.”
Changbin glanced up at him once again and smirked at Seungmin’s incredibly annoyed expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, is something wrong?”
“Yeah, get your own table,” Seungmin scoffed.
“But this booth is so comfy. Besides, at another table, I wouldn’t have you for such lovely conversation.”
“Oh fuck off.”
“Maybe I will if you tell me why you of all people are running from campus police.” Changbin raised his eyebrows at him, completely unaffected by Seungmin’s annoyance. As Seungmin opened his mouth to respond, though, Changbin held up a finger. “And before you try to deny that again, there’s obviously spray paint on your fingers. So I’m guessing you vandalized something and had to bolt when the cops showed up.”
“Maybe I just like arts and crafts,” Seungmin retorted, though he deliberately put his hands under the table to hide them from view.
“Or, maybe, the great Kim Seungmin isn’t as much of a goody-two shoes as everyone thinks.” Changbin smirked. “So, what’d you vandalize? That one sewer drain that that one homeless guy likes to shoot up in? Or that bridge that everybody makes out under? Did you make out with someone under it? Or shoot up with the homeless guy?”
“Do I look like I made out with anyone or shot up with some hobos?”
“Hey, don’t call them hobos—they’re real people who just get kicked around by society.” Changbin pointed a finger at him. “Plus a lot of the stereotypes against them aren’t true. They’re just trying to get by, man.”
Seungmin spread his hands defensively, forgetting about the fact that he was supposed to be hiding the evidence on his fingers. “How is it offensive when I call them hobos as opposed to you making fun of a homeless man shooting up?”
“I didn’t make fun of him, I just stated a fact,” Changbin countered. “But you’re dodging the question. The more you continue to dodge them, the more I’m just gonna make up crazy theories that completely destroy your goody-goody image.”
“I’m not required to tell you anything,” Seungmin shot back. “Just because we happen to have mutual friends does not make us friends.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve made that very clear throughout every single interaction I’ve had with you.” Changbin rolled his eyes. “I think this is the longest I’ve ever talked to you, honestly. I guess guilt and fear makes some people very chatty.”
“I am not guilty and I’m sure as hell not afraid of you.”
“Oh no, no, not of me.” Changbin waved that thought aside. “I mean of what getting caught for vandalizing school property will do to your perfect record.”
Seungmin clenched his jaw, and at that moment, the frazzled, exhausted-looking waitress finally came over.
“You guys ready to order?” she asked in a tired voice.
“Yeah, I’ll have the Sunshine meal with some chocolate milk, please,” Changbin said with a charming smirk. Seungmin rolled his eyes so hard he gave himself a headache.
“How’d you like your eggs?”
“Over-easy, please.”
The waitress nodded and, without even looking up from her notepad, asked, “And for your boyfriend?”
“Excuse me?” Seungmin sputtered.
“I think he needs some pie, to be honest,” Changbin said, smirking even when Seungmin snapped his head around to shoot him a look. “Yeah, a slice of apple pie with some vanilla ice cream on the side. And water, I guess.”
“Um, no, what the fu—” Seungmin started to say.
“You got it,” the waitress said in a monotone as she grabbed their menus, tucked them under one arm, and walked away—once again without even looking at them.
Changbin smiled at Seungmin’s face, absolutely loving this situation. “Oh, cheer up, I got you pie.”
“Fuck you,” Seungmin scoffed.
“Yeah, love you too.”
The response surprised Seungmin to the point where he couldn’t even come up with a proper comeback. To his annoyance, that insufferable smirk on Changbin’s face just grew bigger.
“You’re blushing,” Changbin said. “Imagine that! I, Seo Changbin, made Kim Seungmin of all people blush. Not that I haven’t made people blush in the past.”
“You sure their faces haven’t just been turning red with anger at you?”
“Well, judging by the make-out sessions and one-night stands that followed, I’m guessing it was a blush out of attraction more than anything.” Changbin smiled at him. “But I guess angry sex is a thing.”
“Oh, so that’s what this is? You trying to get some?”
“Some pie, yes. Hence why I just ordered it.”
“You ordered the pie for me.”
“Yeah, but you’re acting so ungrateful that I might just keep it for myself.”
“That’s some manipulative, toxic behavior right there. You buy me pie I don’t even want and then try to make me feel bad for not wanting it and make it seem like I’m being punished.” Seungmin glared at him, and his anger spiked when Changbin just laughed at him.
“Aw, man, why haven’t I picked fights with you more often?” Changbin grinned at him, genuinely looking like he was enjoying himself. “This is the best conversation I’ve had in awhile.”
“Oh, because the only other person you talk to is yourself?” Seungmin shot him a look.
“I talk to more than one person,” Changbin said. He smiled again. “It’s my mom. Talk to her everyday.”
“Good for you,” Seungmin sneered, when in reality he hated how that simple sentence struck his heart. When was the last time he talked to his mom? Oh, probably when he mentioned he didn’t want to be a lawyer like his dad. Or when he mentioned that he liked boys.
He looked away from Changbin as a sudden wave of homesickness and longing welled up in him. Lucky for him, the waitress returned at that moment with their orders, which had come out quickly due to the fact that they were one of the two groups of customers here.
Changbin didn’t say anything as he pushed the pie towards Seungmin.
“Don’t say anything until you’ve eaten at least half of that,” Changbin said. “I have a theory that you’re better to deal with once you have some sort of food in your stomach.”
Seungmin glared at him, and Changbin just grinned. Apparently he had no problem with courting death at this point. But the pie did look good, and unfortunately apple pie was Seungmin’s favorite pie, especially when the vanilla ice cream soaked into the crust just right…
He picked up a spoon (since it was easier to scoop the pie and ice cream) and dug into the pie without sparing Changbin another single glance.
They both ate in silence for a few moments, during which Seungmin tried not to inhale the entire slice of pie. He managed to hold himself back and savor it, though he glanced up at Changbin, who wasn’t looking at him as he focused on eating his own food.
Seungmin finally just sighed and mumbled, “Thanks. For the pie and for the ride.”
Changbin froze and looked up with wide eyes. Seungmin looked away, expecting some sort of scathing remark (since that’s how he would respond).
But to his surprise, Changbin said, as sincere as Seungmin had ever heard him, “You’re welcome. And you really don’t have to tell me anything about why you needed a ride, by the way.”
Seungmin finally looked up at him, a small smile making its way onto his face despite his best efforts to keep it suppressed.
Changbin smiled back before shrugging and saying, “We all know you were making out with some girl under the bridge after shooting up with the homeless guy and vandalizing the area together.”
Seungmin’s smile dropped as he groaned and rolled his eyes. Changbin grinned. “That’s extremely unrealistic,” Seungmin said.
“Oh?” Changbin raised his eyebrows.
Seungmin found himself smiling mischievously as he said, “Yeah, there’s no way I’d be making out with a girl. No, obviously I was making out with a guy under the bridge after shooting up with the homeless guy and vandalizing the area together.”
Now it was Changbin’s turn for his smile to disappear as he stared at Seungmin in surprise. “Wait, what?”
Oh no, Seungmin thought, already wanting to crawl under the table and die. “Uh, never mind.” He looked away as his fight or flight mode started to kick in. He thought Changbin had known about his sexuality due to their mutual friends, especially since no one else in their shared friend group was straight. As far as Seungmin knew, Changbin was the only straight one.
Great, now he really wanted to crawl under the table and die.
But then Changbin grinned again and said, “Damn, didn’t know you were into that, but okay. So if I ask you out on a date, would that be our first date or nah?”
“What?” Seungmin looked up at him sharply.
“Kidding,” Changbin said. “You’ve made it clear that you’re not into me.” His smile faded once again as he took on a more serious expression. “In all honesty, though, if my flirting makes you uncomfortable, tell me. I’ll stop, I swear.”
“You like boys?” Seungmin blurted.
Changbin was back to smirking. “Yeah?”
“I thought you were straight.”
“Eh, technically I’m bisexual but I’m like seventy-five-percent attracted to guys and like twenty-five-percent attracted to girls.” Changbin smirked at Seungmin’s shocked expression. “What, did the motorcycle throw you off?”
“You’re basically a cliché straight dude,” Seungmin said. “The motorcycle, the undercut, the eyebrow slit, the leather jacket—not to mention how you’re obsessed with going to the gym and getting ‘swoll’.” He made air quotes with his fingers.
“And here I thought you ignored me all the time.” Changbin settled back into the booth, crossing his arms. “What else makes me a cliché straight dude?”
“The constant flirting,” Seungmin scoffed. “You flirt with anything that moves.”
“Ah, no, see that’s where you’re wrong, because I’m not flirting with you just for fun. I’ve actually been flirting with you ever since we met. Thanks for noticing, though.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, I kinda lied.” Changbin smiled, though now he looked a bit more embarrassed than anything. “I, uh, don’t flirt with everyone just to get them to go out with me. I just flirt with you. So I guess you could say in a sense this is just me trying to get some.”
When Seungmin stared at him, rendered completely speechless, Changbin spread his hands and did jazz hands for some added, sarcastic flare.
“Ta-daaa, I like you,” he said. “That’s pretty gay.”
Seungmin could do nothing but stare at him. There were no words left in his brain. It was like he had just stopped functioning completely.
“What, no sarcastic remarks?” Changbin smiled, but it was so much shier and unsure than the shameless, cocky smirk from earlier. “Damn. Never thought I’d be able to make the great Kim Seungmin speechless, but here we are.”
Seungmin really was scrambling for a something—anything—in his brain to serve as a better response than this silence, but all he could come up with was, “Oh.”
He didn’t miss the wince that Changbin tried to hide.
“Yeah, uh.” Changbin gave an awkward laugh. “Uh…sorry. That was a bad time to confess, I guess. Um…god, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. Forget I said anything.” He laughed again, and for some reason it caused a bolt of pain to shoot through Seungmin’s heart.
“It’s okay, really,” Seungmin said. “Um, let’s just act like you didn’t say anything.”
Changbin nodded and forced a smile. “Right, right. Yeah, let’s do that.”
But for obvious reasons, that was impossible. An awkward silence fell over them, full of tension so thick it was almost tangible.
Again, lucky for them, the waitress came over at that point to drop the check off, barely slowing down as she walked by. Seungmin reached for it, but Changbin picked it up first.
“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” Changbin said, smiling.
“I can pay you back,” Seungmin said.
“No, really, it’s fine. You paid for the ride, remember?”
“Right.” Seungmin had no choice but to watch as Changbin dug out his wallet and left enough cash on the table for the waitress to pick up.
“Are you going to catch a bus, then?” Changbin asked, glancing up at him.
“Probably,” Seungmin said.
“I mean…if you want, I could give you a ride back. Free of charge.”
Seungmin’s first instinct was to decline, but he really didn’t want to wait for a bus or walk back alone at this hour. So he nodded, and Changbin forced a smile that still wasn’t anything close to the ones he had earlier.
“Cool,” Changbin said, standing. “Let’s go, then.”
Seungmin dutifully followed him out the door. He took the helmet from Changbin again and shoved it on while Changbin started and revved the bike. Seungmin climbed onto the back and tried not to think about how Changbin stiffened when Seungmin wrapped his arms around his waist from behind.
He was smoother this time when they rode out of the parking lot and turned on one of the main roads that led back to campus. Seungmin didn’t fear for his life as they rounded the corners or raced down the street; instead, he was surprised to find that he was kind of enjoying the ride. He was even more surprised when he realized that he wanted Changbin to go as fast as he did before, just so they could feel that adrenaline rush once again.
But Changbin went the speed limit right up to the little parking lot behind the dorm buildings. He slowed to a stop and glanced over his shoulder as Seungmin hopped off.
“Thanks,” Seungmin said once he had pulled the helmet off. He handed it back to Changbin, who gave a small smile in return.
“Yeah, no problem,” Changbin said. He looked like he was going to say something else, and Seungmin waited for him, almost hopefully. But then Changbin added, “Have a good night.” Then he shoved the helmet on, revved the engine, and took off.
Seungmin couldn’t help standing there, staring after him until he was long gone.
*
Changbin didn’t mean to throw open the door when he walked into the apartment, but he ended up doing it anyways. He also didn’t mean to slam it, but he ended up doing that too.
“You’re home late,” Minho said from the couch, where he was sprawled out and scrolling through his phone. “Didn’t your class end at ten? It’s eleven-fifteen.”
“Yeah, decided to go grab some food,” Changbin said, walking past him to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. He still couldn’t get his own damn voice out of his head, just kept hearing himself saying, Ta-daaa, I like you! over and over again. Each time he saw Seungmin’s blank expression and heard his detached, Oh, and it did a number on Changbin’s poor heart every single time.
What the hell was he thinking? Blurting to Seungmin just out of the blue that he liked him? Who the hell did that?
As much as he hated and felt bad for himself, he also couldn’t help feeling horrible for Seungmin. Seungmin must have felt so overwhelmed and shocked and uncomfortable, hearing some guy declare his undying love for him when he had previously barely had a conversation with said guy. It was awful of Changbin to do that, and he wished he could apologize.
Changbin couldn’t help groaning as he covered his eyes with one hand.
“You good?” Minho asked from the living room.
“Yeah, just made a fool of myself,” Changbin said.
“How is that any different than usual?”
Changbin wasn’t a stranger to his and Minho’s bickering, but after bickering—er, pathetically flirting, more like—with Seungmin for an hour or so, he didn’t feel like dealing with Minho’s own brand of sarcastic remarks right now. So he just said, “Can you not pick on me right now? Please?”
“Sorry,” Minho said, and he sounded somewhat genuine. “Wanna see what Jisung sent me? It’ll cheer you up, I swear.”
Changbin sighed as he wandered out of the kitchen and leaned over the back of the couch. “Better not be a dick pic or else I’m throwing myself out the window.”
“Chill, those are for my eyes only,” Minho said. He grinned as he pulled up a screenshot he had taken of a snap Jisung had sent over SnapChat. “He’s so fucking stupid but also I’d be lying if I said I don’t seriously wanna marry this guy now.”
Changbin frowned at the picture. It was a half-faced selfie of Jisung throwing up a peace sign, with the caption, Pro Homo Bro. Then, in the background was the statue of the college founder, spray-painted like a pride flag.
But what Changbin’s eyes immediately went to was the blurry image of this tall, artificial redhead with fluffy hair standing in the background, smirking up at the statue with his paint-covered hands.
“They’re gonna get in so much fucking trouble, oh my god,” Minho said, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t believe they spray-painted the entire statue and got away with it.”
“Yeah,” Changbin said, his mind already back to drifting, his heart back to aching, as he stared at that blurry picture of Seungmin. “What idiots.”
*
The following day, the campus was buzzing with talk about the statue. There was a mixture of reactions, but most of them fell between completely impressed to completely disgusted. Some people thought they were heroes for making such a statement, while everyone else called them morons.
Seungmin, honestly, could care less. His mind was elsewhere, like it had been all night. He hadn’t really been able to sleep and had spent most of it tossing and turning, replaying Changbin’s, Ta-daaa, I like you! in his head. Every time, he squeezed his eyes shut and cringed.
It turned out that Jisung and the others did, actually, get away from the cops, but they still got caught in the long run. Apparently the four of them had all showed up on the security cameras around campus around the time the cops had chased them, so they knew it was them. The four of them were called into the dean’s office a few days later, after the buzz had somewhat died down on campus. Seungmin was back to feeling sick to his stomach with fear, but it turned out that their punishment wasn’t as bad as he expected. It wasn’t good and it still left a mark on his previously spotless record, but he supposed things could be worse.
“Aw man, I was so freaked out I almost wet my pants!” Jisung said, a spring in his step as the four of them headed out of the building after the meeting.
“Dude, I did wet my pants,” Felix said. “I peed a little right as we went in there.”
“Honestly I was expecting something way worse,” Hyunjin said, slinging an arm around Seungmin’s shoulders. “Though I guess this is Minnie’s worst nightmare, huh?” He looked at Seungmin, whose eyes were on something else.
His eyes were on a section of the parking lot reserved only for motorcycles, where a familiar guy with dark hair and sharp chin and somewhat large nose was standing next to a bike.
“Min?” All of the others were looking at him.
“I’ll catch up with you guys later,” Seungmin said absent-mindedly.
“He’s probably still in shock,” Jisung said with a grin, and Felix nodded.
“Okay, we still on for lunch at the dining hall though?” Hyunjin asked Seungmin.
“Yeah, yeah.” Seungmin waved him off, already breaking away and heading for the parking lot. He picked up the pace, his eyes on the guy with the leather jacket and the undercut and the eyebrow slit, whom he hoped wasn’t going to leave before he reached him.
Changbin glanced up in his direction as he started to put the helmet on, but he stopped when he saw Seungmin. Seungmin once again picked up the pace and closed the distance between them, skidding to a halt right in front of the bike.
“Hi,” Seungmin said, suddenly out of breath.
“Hey,” Changbin said, more guarded than usual.
“I, uh, was walking by and I saw you,” Seungmin said.
“Cool,” Changbin said.
“Yeah,” Seungmin said. He was wringing his hands. “Yeah. Um…”
Changbin just looked at him, waiting for him to either move or say something more insightful. Seungmin decided to stop holding himself back and just let himself say anything.
“We just came from the dean’s office,” he said. “I no longer have a spotless record. I have to pay a fine and do twenty-hours of community service and help scrub the paint off the statue. And also find a way to reattach the hand that Jisung broke off.”
Changbin raised his eyebrows again. “Is that so.”
“Yeah,” Seungmin said. “But that’s not really what I came over here to say.”
“Oh, good,” Changbin said, and Seungmin couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
“I came here to say that I wasn’t uncomfortable or anything when you flirted with me,” Seungmin said. “And that I…kind of liked it, if I’m honest.”
Changbin just blinked at him.
“I liked being able to just talk with you so easily. I can’t really do that with that many people. It’s never been easy for me to talk to people or to make friends, mostly because I just don’t like talking to boring people and choose to ignore them instead.” Seungmin took a deep breath, his hands beginning to shake. “People can get the wrong idea. They think I hate them for some reason when in reality I…I don’t. I never hated you. I just never gave you a chance, and I’m sorry for that. I honestly never even realized how much I liked talking to and how much I liked you until I…actually did give you a chance.”
Changbin blinked again, this time more surprised than anything. “You…what?”
“Er, I don’t know if I like you as much as you probably like me, but…” Seungmin winced, not meaning for that to come out that way, “but I want to get to know you better. So…yeah.” He glanced at Changbin, waiting for his reaction.
Changbin was just staring at him, his jaw dropped. Then, he said, “So…if I asked you out, you wouldn’t say no?”
Seungmin shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t.”
Changbin stared at him for a few seconds more before that familiar, confident smirk started to make its way onto his face. “What about right now?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, can I ask you out and take you out right now?”
“Well…” Seungmin thought for a moment. He didn’t have any classes this afternoon. His only plans were to study and do homework, but those could wait. He looked back at Changbin, who was watching him almost nervously. Seungmin smiled. “Sure. Let’s go.”
A smile broke out on Changbin’s face. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” Seungmin’s smile widened and his heart did this strange flip at the sight of Changbin’s excitement. Excitement just at being able to spend time with Seungmin. It made Seungmin feel all gross and mushy inside, and he hated how much he liked the feeling.
“Let’s go, then.” Changbin was still grinning as he held out his helmet to Seungmin.
“Where to?” Seungmin took the helmet and walked over to the back of the bike.
“Oh, I dunno, I was thinking we could go to this other bridge I’ve heard of and vandalize that after we—” Changbin was cut off by Seungmin smacking him on the arm. But Changbin just laughed at that. “Kidding. How about we go twice the speed limit instead?”
“Not unless you want me to squeeze you to death from hanging on for dear life,” Seungmin scoffed. “You goddamn speed demon.”
“Hey, going fast around some twisty mountain roads is really fun,” Changbin said. “I think you’d like it.”
“We’ll work up to it,” Seungmin decided. He had the helmet on now, but the visor was up as he sat down behind Changbin.
“Work up to it?” Changbin looked over his shoulder at him, smirking. “So we’ll get to do this more, right?”
“Depends on how much you annoy me,” Seungmin replied.
“You secretly love it,” Changbin said.
“I most certainly do not,” Seungmin retorted. But he most certainly did.
Changbin laughed and faced forward. “Alright, alright, let’s just go get food for now. I know this awesome Thai place if you want? And it’s right next to a cupcake shop!”
“You had me at food,” Seungmin said, flipping down the visor.
Changbin snorted, glanced one last time over his shoulder at Seungmin, and then revved the engine like he always did. Seungmin took that as his signal to hold on, so he wrapped his arms around Changbin like he had already done twice before. He could feel even through the leather jacket how hard Changbin’s heart was pounding, how it was matching Seungmin’s beat for beat.
Changbin revved the engine one last time and shot out of the parking lot at a speed that nearly gave Seungmin a heart attack. When Seungmin tightened his grip out of instinct, Changbin laughed and rode on like the lunatic he was.
Though, Seungmin couldn’t help smiling to himself, thinking that the adrenaline rush from the crazy speeds was actually kind of addicting. It had nothing on the happy, excited beating of his heart, though.
Maybe, just maybe, he could get used to “living a little” as long as Changbin was there to show him how.