hansol knocked on the door and stayed still, patiently waiting for an answer. a minute passed by and no one came to welcome him inside, so hansol knocked for a second time, slowly regretting the decision of not bringing his spare keys.
the longer he waited, the more impatient he got. the weather was freezing cold and hansol could barely feel his hands. the male was shivering and desperate for any source of warmth. hansol knocked once more—harder this time. "boo? are you home?" he asked, calling for his boyfriend.
hansol then heard the door unlock before it opened, revealing a sleepy-looking chan. "sorry– seungkwan hyung was having his karaoke session and i couldn't hear the knocks because of it."
chan moved into their dorm about three weeks ago. the younger felt suffocated by the awkward tension he would feel whenever he was with jeonghan or cheol, so chan decided to move in with seungkwan and hansol, who happily welcomed him.
the american-korean chuckled and shook his head, "it's alright, it wasn't your fault. is kwan upstairs?"
"yeah, he's in his bedroom. anyways– can i go now? i need to continue studying." the younger asked, quickly heading back to his room once he received a nod.
hansol then walked upstairs, wanting nothing more than the comfort of his bed. the further he walked upon the halls that lead to his bedroom, the louder seungkwan's voice could be heard. hansol now understood why chan wasn't able to hear anything through all the singing.
instead of stopping at his bedroom, the young male continued walking up until he reached seungkwan's. the male's door was slightly ajar, and so hansol simply knocked once before opening the door wider. when seungkwan noticed the younger's pretty figure standing nearby, he froze.
hansol chuckled at his reaction before saying, "don't worry, boo. your voice is great. at least you're having fun, right?"
seungkwan blushed and nodded slowly as the latter approached him. "you promised me to a date, remember? what do you have in mind?" hansol asked.
"movies. let's stay home and watch some movies together."
and so movie night it was, with the two cuddled up on seungkwan's king-sized bed as they ate junk food and watched the lion king together for what seemed like the sixtieth time in a row.
halfway through the movie, seungkwan started to feel as if something was missing. perhaps it wasn't a something, rather it was more of a someone.
chan.
don't get him wrong– he didn't like chan in that way, but seungkwan still wanted to include him in as he had been seeing the younger huddled up alone in his room all day. when asked, chan would simply say that he was studying. as more time pass by, seungkwan started to get more concerned for the young boy. chan was no longer acting like himself.
"hey- i know this was supposed to be our date, but would you mind if we turn this into a hangout instead and have chan join us?" he cautiously asked, afraid of how hansol might react.
"i mean– sure? i wouldn't mind that. why so suddenly though?" the younger asked, pausing the movie and turning his full attention to seungkwan.
the latter sighed, "i don't know.. i just feel like something's been up with chan recently, and i don't want him to bottle up his feelings because he feels like nobody cares about him.
hansol's eye softened, "okay. if that's what you want, then let's call him over."
seungkwan smiled and pressed a chaste kiss on hansol's cheeks before heading downstairs to call for chan, leaving the american male a blushing mess.
when seungkwan reached chan's bedroom, he knocked once before letting himself in. as soon as he entered, he could see chan's petite figure sitting by his study desk. seungkwan then noticed how dark the room was. the curtains were closed and the lights were turned off, the small study lamp by chan's desk being the only source of light available.
seungkwan switched on the lights, illuminating the previously dark room and earning a groan from the younger. "hyung? what was that for?" chan asked, finally turning to the latter and giving him his full attention.
"sorry, just came by to ask you if you'd want to join hansol and i in watching a movie upstairs. he said as he sat down on chan's bed.
"i thought you two were having a date night?"
"yeah– that was the initial plan. i guess we just had a change of heart. so what do you say?" seungkwan asked, smiling as his eyes glinted with hope.
chan shook his head, "i- i'm alright. i still need to study a bit more."
the older sighed before carefully approaching chan, "you've been so hard on yourself lately, mind telling me what's wrong? i know you're everything but alright."
chan hesitated but seungkwan simply nodded and prodded him to speak. chan abruptly hugged the older as the tears that he had been holding back finally showed. the male had been keeping all his emotions to himself and putting up with his cheerful facade for weeks, but now that someone finally seemed to care, he couldn't help but break down and let it all out.
"it hurts, hyung. i knew that seungcheol-hyung was taken and in love with someone else, and yet i still fell in love with him even though there were no chances of a happy ending." chan sobbed, gripping tightly onto seungkwan's sweater.
"it's okay, chan. it wasn't your fault." the older said, trying his best to comfort the crying male.
"but it is my fault! i was so stupid. i knew exactly what i was going for, but i still got attached to him and got hurt when he rejected me."
chan continued to pour out his feelings and seungkwan stayed by his side to comfort him. by the end of it all, chan felt good. he felt good to have finally spoken up about how he felt. for the first time, someone genuinely cared.
of course– chan had yet to move on from seungcheol, but he knew that he was slowly getting there. as of right now, he has made the decision of focusing on studies and himself. after all, how could he expect others to love him when he could barely love himself?
after chan had fully calmed down and collected himself, seungkwan took him upstairs to watch the movie together. later when chan went to bed that night, he smiled in his sleep, glad to have finally understood how it felt to be loved.
