MINISONG | i'm seeing stars (and they belong in your eyes)

"i breathed and he already hates me."

his final encounter with a member of hyeongjun's social circle isn't as pleasant as the earlier instances, yet it's the one with the most unexpected plot development.

the event occurs on a friday afternoon bio lecture, where a late son dongpyo slides into the seat next to minhee's after finding every other row full. minhee instantly feels himself stiffen when the pouty-lipped boy grudgingly plops down next to him with a disdainful huff.

"seriously, you'd think less people would sit in the front fucking row," dongpyo murmurs to himself, quiet enough not to catch the attention of the professor, but still loud enough for minhee to hear him.

minhee rolls his eyes and decides to ignore the smaller boy for the entirety of the lecture. dongpyo seems to express the same sentiment, and they peacefully pretend like the other didn't even exist while taking down notes and paying attention to the lecture - as they should be, of course.

that really should have been the case, except minhee is constantly catching dongpyo in the act of shooting him mistrustful glares every now and then, and it is seriously messing with his concentration. it's up until the professor asks a question, and minhee's hand shoots up on pure reflex to answer it does everything come to an impasse.

"of course, mr. scholarship student just has to show off, acting like he's better than everyone else," dongpyo mutters after the psych major gives a perfect model answer, and seriously. minhee has had it up to here with dongpyo's passive-aggressive bullshit.

"okay seriously, what is your fucking problem?" minhee hisses quietly, startling dongpyo.

minhee holds back a smug grin at the pouty-faced teen's reaction, feeling a little vindictive for managing to put an expression that wasn't haughtiness or distrust on the smaller boy's face.

dongpyo's startled expression doesn't last very long, and it swiftly snaps back to the look of aloof hostility he had when they first confronted each other at the café. minhee would commend on the smaller boy's impeccable control over his facial features, except he was being too fucking insufferable for minhee to say anything nice about him.

"nothing, i just don't know why you have to act like such a know-it-all all the time," dongpyo sniffs, and god, minhee has never wanted to strangle someone this tiny so badly in his entire life, "like yeah, we get it, you can study . chill . you act like it's your only personality trait."

"it's not about that and you know it," minhee bites back, desperately trying to reign in his temper, "if it's about me or hyeongjun or whatever i rather you just spit it out instead of being so passive-aggressive about it and dancing around the topic."

"fine. yeah. i do have a fucking problem with you and hyeongjun," and minhee internally squashes down his satisfaction at the flash of anger that passes through dongpyo's face, "seriously, do you know how fucking pathetic you look pining after hyeongjun like some desperate little puppy? he's talked to you for like...what. a grand five minutes in total? get over yourself. he'll never be interested in someone like you."

minhee feels all of his insecurities rush back into him in full force, hearing the three words that always echoed in his skull and made him constantly self-doubt his inadequacy sinking into his skin like burning acid. he lets his anger overtake whatever is left of his emotional control from dongpyo's scathing words.

"better than constantly latching onto seungwoo hyung everyday like some goddamn parasite," minhee snaps back without thinking.

dongpyo flinches and minhee's anger instantly leaves his system as quickly as it arrives, and - ah fuck - he can already feel the regret settling in.

the expression on dongpyo's face is...unexpected, to say the least. the smaller boy looks genuinely stunned. and a little... hurt ?

his expression changes quickly to confusion after hearing the way minhee addressed seungwoo.

"wait. d-did you just call professor han seungwoo hyu -"

"gentlemen, are we doing good back there?" biology professor eric nam singsongs good-naturedly, and both minhee and dongpyo's cheeks darken at the fact that they just got called out by one of the nicest professors on campus, "because i'd really hate to send two of my best students out for being noisy. it looks bad on the record, you see."

"sorry sir," minhee and dongpyo apologize meekly, and the professor nods, accepting their apology before resuming the lecture.

if the room was cold before, it was positively frigid now. while dongpyo was no longer shooting minhee hostile looks or making his snarky little comments, he was clearly affected and a little cowed by the psych major's jibe from earlier. minhee grips his pen and tells himself not to feel bad about it, dongpyo deserves it. that little shit. what is his fucking deal with me even -

minhee should feel like he just won the battle or whatever, but all he can think about is the guilt forming in the pit of his stomach when the professor dismisses the class and dongpyo practically books it out of his seat. minhee spots little tear tracks forming in the corner of the smaller boy's eyes as the latter runs out of the lecture hall, and minhee feels like the biggest piece of shit in the world.

forget dongpyo's stupid little shitstain remarks. minhee had hurt him, and it was the first time in his entire life had minhee actually gone that far to hurt someone to the point of driving them to tears .

he can't even bring himself to study after class, feeling too much like shit to even bother hiding out in the library - his body too numb from the thought of actually making dongpyo cry - that he practically drags himself back to his dorm room in a zombie-like stupor. he barely registers someone calling out his name before feeling pressure on his shoulder and the familiar, sharp scent of honey lemon invading his senses.

hyeongjun .

"hey, minhee!" minhee shuts his eyes and tries not to react to the cheerful, satoori-heavy sound of hyeongjun's voice, "i'm so glad i ran into you. i wanted to ask about tomorrow. are you allergic to anything, because - oh ."

yeah, oh . minhee unlocks his door and glances at the poodle-haired boy's hand on his shoulder. hyeongjun must've seen minhee's face, because he looks absolutely crestfallen and minhee feels ten times worse than he already is for being the one responsible for putting that kind of expression on the pretty boy's face.

"minhee, what's wrong? you look awful," hyeongjun whispers, and carefully tiptoes to cup minhee's cheeks in his tiny, soft hands, tilting his face to the aside to inspect the tired rings around minhee's eyes and the paleness of his skin. if this was any day, any other day that wasn't today , minhee's heart would be racing at 600bpm. but even now, with hyeongjun of all people standing barely inches away from him, touching him, he just feels... dead .

"it's nothing," minhee replies, and his voice is just so dull and empty and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that minhee was absolutely not fucking okay , "just a bad day, i guess."

hyeongjun stares at minhee mindfully, and tiptoes back down. minhee can feel the warmth of hyeongjun's fingertips lingering on his cheeks. it's nice.

"no you're not, minhee," hyeongjun says carefully, "you don't look fine at all. would you like some company? i can bring snacks over and we can sit on the couch and pretend like i already know everything and do things to distract you."

minhee pauses opening the door, inhaling sharply.

he shouldn't give in. shouldn't accept this. he doesn't deserve this, he doesn't deserve hyeongjun's kindness, especially after what he said to dongpyo - hyeongjun's friend . hyeongjun will probably never talk to him again once he finds out about what he said to the sharp-tongued boy.

that doesn't stop him from uttering a tiny "okay". and the smile on hyeongjun's face? worth the world and more.