Everything You Do Is Magic | seventeen au

Chapter 14: Nights Like This (Pt. 1)

Soonyoung had taught two beginner's hip-hop classes, and then spent an extra three hours with Minghao working on a choreography they were going to teach together to a group of college students in need of a jazz routine for their showcase.

It took a bit of research from Soonyoung's part–because his limited experience with the genre was not enough to successfully build a full four-minute dance—though overall his and Minghao's overtime in the dance studio was worth it. They now have a nearly finished choreo.

Minghao was not hard to get along with, not even when creating a dance routine. He let Soonyoung lead as expected, but the vampire would throw in suggestions for movements which were both eye-catching and elegant. The vampire was surprisingly flexible, and he revealed that it was because of the martial arts skills he'd acquired during his pre-adolescent years.

Their trip on the subway home was silent for the most part, both because Minghao was naturally quiet and because they were tired. Satisfied with their progress on the routine, but tired.

Soonyoung couldn't help but ask questions though as this was probably the first time he's been alone with Minghao. "How have you been holding up?" They had a row of seats to themselves, but Soonyoung kept his voice down as to not disturb the napping businessman and the old woman sat across them.

Minghao only had one of his headsets slotted in his ear, slim but toned arms on display due to the grey muscle tee he'd changed into after a quick shower. The vampire turned his head to raise an eyebrow at Soonyoung's question. "In what way, hyung?"

"You know, moving into the house with us, from living alone to sharing everything with twelve other people, this job..." Soonyoung trailed off with a shrug. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

Maybe it was because Minghao was younger (only by a year), or maybe it was because Minghao was painfully reserved and didn't open up often. He'd chime in with his own jokes and banters back at home, and he has been smiling more lately, but Minghao was not one to start sharing without someone requesting him to.

Minghao, either because he was uncomfortable telling them things about his past or because he didn't want to talk about his emotions in general, was a little hard for Soonyoung to read.

Despite that, Soonyoung understood the vampire. Of course he did. He knew, with time, that Minghao would begin to loosen up and trust them more with his thoughts and his own traumas.

"I'm doing good, hyung." The smile was small but truthful—Minghao's eyes were truthful. They're doe-like and really expressive, unlike Soonyoung's. If it weren't for the vampire's eyes, Soonyoung would still have zero clue about whether Xu Minghao was lying or not. "Moving into Jeonghan hyung's house is nice. In the beginning, I didn't expect everyone to be so... accepting."

Soonyoung tilted his head in thought. "You seem especially close to Jun. He's practically glued to you whenever you're both home." Jun and Minghao spoke Mandarin to each other all the time, and they got along effortlessly despite the stark differences in their personalities.

Soonyoung dared to think that Minghao and Jun balanced each other out.

"Jun gege's interesting."

"Because he's a wizard with magical abilities?" So Soonyoung was fishing for more details, sue him.

Minghao took the bait. "I once asked gege if he thought I should cut my hair. He showed me a picture of him with long-ish hair, and told me that the reason he didn't grow it to that length anymore was because he got gum stuck on the tips once and couldn't get it out." Soonyoung nodded, having heard of that annecdote before and also seen that particular picture of Jun.