RED | nyukyu ✓

nine

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 : 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲
❝ i'll hold your hand
yes, i'll be on your side. ❞
— ᵛᵉʳⁱᵛᵉʳʸ —

ᵕ̈♡˳೫˚∗

"no."

choi chanhee glared at his teammates, fully aware that they were trying to unload the rest of the project onto him simply because he was the best in their class.

they pouted, thinking that if they batted their eyes enough, chanhee would give in but instead, he stood up, his chair scraping against the floor and creating a sound which caused them to squirm slightly.

"pass or fail, it won't affect my grade at all - i can always make up for it. but, for the rest of you, this project is a godsend so if you guys don't want to put in the work, don't expect me to do it for you," chanhee said, picking up his backpack and making his way out of the library.

"this is why people don't like you, you know?" a girl from his group yelled, standing up from her seat and drawing the attention of everyone else, the rest of his teammates trying to calm her down. "you think you're all that with your mysterious shit but really, you're a nobody choi chanhee! who the fuck even cares about you?"

chanhee didn't turn around, seeing the librarian quickly approaching her to tell her to be quiet. once he was outside, he felt himself release a breath he had been holding unintentionally, his feet still moving to an unknown destination.

eventually, he found himself in the isolated choir room, sitting on the floor yet again.

he knew that his personality wasn't the easiest to get along with - how could he not know when he had always been criticised for it? but, people making a scene out of it had always been overwhelming for him. it was as though they were flashing bright neon lights to the rest of the public, indicating to them that he was undesirable and not worthy of anyone's affection.

he knew he was overthinking and yet, he couldn't help himself, endless thoughts racking his brain as though challenging him to make a change, to make himself likeable to others by putting on a fake persona of happiness and optimism that was miles away from the truth of the matter.

his phone began ringing and, with a sigh, he opened his bag in an attempt to find it. but instead, he found ji changmin's umbrella (that he had yet to return) sitting at the very top of his bag.

he had intended to give it back to him as soon as possible but it completely slipped his mind.

he kept staring at the umbrella, his phone soon going silent as a notification popped up that he had a missed call.

"how do you do it?" chanhee asked, staring at the inanimate object belonging to one of the brightest people chanhee could think of. "how are you so...you?"

"chanhee!" chanhee shoved the umbrella back inside his bag, his head snapping to the direction of the door. "i called you to say i was using the room today!"

"you're the vice-president too so why bother telling me?" jacob smiled as chanhee gathered his things and stood up, stumbling slightly but regaining his footing. "what're you going to do?"

"oh! kevin and i just wanted to have a space to do our own music for a bit and, he wouldn't have minded doing it in the dorms but i figured that since it's a saturday, no one would really be here. but chanhee, why're you here? not that i mind of course! but, is everything alright?" jacob rambled, his words leaving chanhee's head as soon as they entered.

before chanhee could even respond to jacob, he heard other voices approaching the room and soon enough, kevin moon stood by the doorway with ji changmin next to him.

the second that changmin saw chanhee, he gave him a small smile paired with a boyish grin while kevin approached his boyfriend to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, causing changmin to jokingly retch. "eek! my eyes!" he exclaimed, receiving a blunt pencil to the stomach. "bully!"

changmin directed his gaze at chanhee, walking over to him in tiny steps. "since i'm pretty sure kevin and jacob wouldn't want to be bothered, do you want to get coffee with me?" he whispered, leaning slightly towards him and gesturing at the lovebirds who were already sitting closely next to each other.

chanhee weighed his options. either he went back to his dorm and spend his day zoning out or he went out with ji changmin who had suddenly seemed to take a keen interest in him. truthfully, the former seemed more comfortable for him but with a sigh, he nodded, accepting his offer.

"i owe you one for the umbrella and the keychain," chanhee justified, handing changmin his umbrella back. "are we going or are you going to keep staring at me?"

changmin snapped out of it, taking out his phone to show chanhee different cafes near their university that he had taken note of. "i really like the coffee here but in this one, they have really cute pastries but-"

chanhee sighed, taking changmin's phone from his hand and walking straight out of the choir room, changmin quickly following him and matching his pace with his.

chanhee scrolled at the list of cafes he had taken note of and when he scrolled all the way to the top, he felt his heart skip a beat, the title of that specific note shocking him.

"ji changmin, why'd you name this 'places to take chanhee' with all these hearts and sparkles-"

"because they're place i want to take you to!" chanhee was taken aback by his honesty, unable to make eye contact with him as he fixed his mask and continued scrolling through his options. "did i do a good job?"

"at what?" chanhee asked, maintaining a monotonous tone of voice.

"at making your heart flutter." chanhee stopped dead in his tracks, unable to wrap his head around changmin's words. changmin laughed softly, gently taking his phone back from chanhee. "have you decided on a place?"

"why...why're you trying so hard?" chanhee asked, still unable to meet changmin's eyes. "have you not heard about how mean i am? have you not had first hand experience with my defective personality or do you have some odd kink that draws you to people like me? it doesn't make sense for anyone to put in this much effort for me because i genuinely think that it's a waste of your time and-"

"do you want pasta?" chanhee looked up at changmin, the slightly younger boy still smiling at him as he showed him a nearby cafe which sold different types of handmade pasta. "if you feel bad that i wasted my time, which, by the way, i don't think i did, then pick a place for us to eat."

"there's something seriously wrong with you," chanhee muttered but nevertheless picking a place for them to eat at.

and, as they walked and talked about inconsequential things, chanhee slowly felt changmin's warmth melting the ice that had kept a hold of him for so long.

ᵕ̈♡˳೫˚∗

[a/n: been wanting to write so many ffs but I CANT EVEN SUSTAIN THE ONES I HAVE NOW im in spain minus the s ;-;;)