93 Pages • 23,535 Words • PDF • 576.3 KB
Uploaded at 2021-09-24 07:57
This document was submitted by our user and they confirm that they have the consent to share it. Assuming that you are writer or own the copyright of this document, report to us by using this DMCA report button.
take a photo, it'll last longer Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/21697441. Rating: Archive Warning: Category: Fandom: Relationship: Character: Additional Tags:
Stats:
Teen And Up Audiences No Archive Warnings Apply M/M Stray Kids (Band) Han Jisung | Han & Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know Han Jisung | Han, Lee Minho | Lee Know, Bang Chan, Seo Changbin, Background & Cameo Characters Explicit Language, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, han is a rapper still, Lee Minho | Lee Know is Whipped, Han Jisung | Han is Whipped, Songwriting, 3racha cameo, puns, Business, Honorifics, hoodie season, Social Anxiety, Acting, kinda Slow Burn but not really, minsung - Freeform, Photography, soft, Happy Ending Published: 2019-12-06 Completed: 2020-01-03 Chapters: 12/12 Words: 22159
take a photo, it'll last longer by oh_canada Summary
Minho didn’t flinch as he thought he would, managing to avoid breaking character the entire time. A camera came in close on his left and a drone flew overhead, but nothing phased him until he opened his eyes again, so the cameramen could get a shot to CGI later on. That was when his gaze accidentally fell on Jisung, who was cowering in fear. The tough rapper and confident sweet talker had fallen over due to the sound of a loud noise. Minho couldn’t help it. He laughed, hard. The explosions and the chorus of Hoodie Season stopped at the same time. “Woah, CUT! We’ll reshoot that last part, don’t worry Minho-ssi.” Jisung snapped to attention, scrambling back to his feet before realising the thing Minho was laughing at was him. He narrowed his sparkly eyes in Minho’s direction, a pout on his lips, but Minho didn’t fail to notice the smile playing at the corners of his mouth. ... Popular solo producer, songwriter and rapper of JYP entertainment J.One has an upcoming comeback. The normal model he has act in his music videos is back in Australia, so he is scheduled a meeting with upcoming model, Lee Minho. Things only get better from there.
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
☆♦️♢★
"Han-ssi? PD-nim found you a model for the music video. I booked you a meeting with him and his manager at 12:00.”
The message delivered by Jisung’s new manager fell on deaf ears the first time he spoke, as Han had his own rap blasting into his ears in the recording studio, a pen and paper in front of him. His foot tapped along with the backing, and he hummed quietly, occasionally taking notes when he came upon an area of improvement.
The manager cleared his throat, stepping forward and raising his voice. “Han-ssi?”
Jisung caught the end of his name this time, fiddling with the keyboard in front of him until he found the button that paused the music. He then spun in the black office chair, pulled his headphones off of his ears in an action that lightly ruffled his dark brown hair in a way that made him want to grab the snap back he cast onto the couch earlier.
Instead, he shot an apologetic grin towards the man at the door of the studio. “Yes, sorry, managernim?”
The manager smiled back at Jisung, unable to resist his natural charm. “Ah, don’t worry. I booked you a meeting with the model for the Hoodie Season MV at noon.”
Jisung perked up at the news, his emotive eyes widening with his smile. “That’s great! Would you like me to finish up for now?”
The manager clutched the books he was carrying to his chest, slightly confused by Jisung’s pretty appearance. He knew Jisung could have been an idol rapper, but he hadn’t expected him to look the part so perfectly on top of his many other talents. He cleared his throat. “That would give you some time to get ready.”
That was all the encouragement Han needed. He spun back to face the monitor and folded his notebook shut, discarding the muchloved black pen into a mug before speaking. “Okay, sweet!
☆♦️♢
Can I take my car or..?"
The manager shook his head lightly before realising the rapper wouldn’t be able to see him. “No, sorry, Han-ssi. JYP wanted to have you escorted there due to your popularity at the moment.”
As he unplugged his headphones and shut down the monitors, Jisung stood and offered the manager a comforting smile, sensing his hesitancy. “That works well, actually. Changbin still hasn’t found my keys.”
“Changbin-ssi lost- nevermind, I’ll meet you on the street over from your apartment then.”
Jisung hummed. “Sounds good. See you later, manager-nim!”
After shutting down the studio for the day, Jisung checked the time. 7:00 am.
It was times like these that he wished he had signed to be in Stray Kids, or one of the other JYP boy groups. If he had joined Stray Kids, it would have allowed him a dorm near the industry, and a stylist to clean him nicely and put all of his attributes on show.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. He was a rapper, producer and songwriter, and although he worked under JYP Entertainment, he would never consider himself an idol. And he was thankful for that, knowing just how stressed and exhausted his fellow label mates were nearly all the time.
Jisung was a hot topic among the citizens of Seoul and the rest of South Korea, but he found that if he wore a cap and a mask, someone would have to look pretty closely to pick him apart from the other men on the subway. He endured the busy noise of the crowded train for a few moments before plugging in his earphones and playing someone else’s music, longing for something fresh to separate his mind from his work.
He hummed quietly, knowing no one around him would be able to hear him over the noise.
It was warmer than Jisung had predicted the day would be, and as he adjusted the grey hoodie he was wearing, he made a mental note to not wear something so thick again, despite the theme of his upcoming comeback, Hoodie Season , being about this exact article of clothing.
The issue may have been enhanced by the fact that there were far too many people on the train. Jisung had his hand looped through hand railing above him, which helped him fit between the ocean of people, but it didn’t do anything to ease the nervousness growing in his chest.
Pushing the gold framed sunglasses back up his nose, Han realised he was nearing his station and was about to get off when a needy hand wrapped around his wrist.
He spun back, hoping that the unknown person didn’t catch the worry in his eyes behind the glasses.
The girl blushed, squeezing her way passed the man next to Jisung. “A-are you Han Jisung?”
Jisung grit his teeth before raising a casual hand to adjust the black mask that apparently wasn’t doing its usual job of obscuring his face. He didn’t like lying, but he really needed to get out of this train and away from... people.
“No, sorry. I think you have the wrong person.”
Without waiting for a reply, he hurriedly slipped passed the man on his other side and exited the train, taking a deep breath has he stepped out into the open air.
. ..
Jisung ran a hand through his loosely styled hair, studying his face in the mirror skeptically before deciding it would do. This dude was just a model anyway, and he was working for him. Jisung doesn’t need to care about his opinion.
But he probably will anyways.
He had gone safe and simple; ditching the snap back for once so that the gold highlights he had put into his hair recently would actually see the light of day, he had parted his dark brown hair to the side and touched it with the tiniest amount of gel.
Jisung’s clothing was mundane, which would help him blend into the crowd on his journey to and
from the meeting. He donned a fitting black shirt with short sleeves and some generic word printed in white. It was something like Changbin, another rapper in the industry and one of Han’s closest friends, would wear.
He paired it with a pair of ripped black jeans and plain white shoes to match the white mask he had chosen. Of course, he couldn’t go anywhere outside without his sunglasses, that served both the purpose of shielding him from eye contact and uv rays, but also sharpened his vision.
He plugged his air pods back into his ears as he checked the time, before snatching his phone and his wallet and rushing out of the apartment to the street where his manager was waiting.
“Hello, Han-ssi. How are you feeling?”
Jisung looked up in surprise as he buckled himself into the back seat, realising he hadn’t been asked that since he last saw Chan, which had to be a few weeks ago.
“Uh, I’m feeling pretty good, I guess.”
The new manager smiled at him in the mirror. “That’s good. If you have any concerns about the meeting, I can assure you, Mr Lee is much nicer than his first impression implies.”
Jisung picked up on the name, intrigued by this Mr Lee. He hadn’t worked with a new model in a while, normally just relying on Chan’s Austrailian friend, Felix to play parts in his music videos. The Austrailian was at home now though, and would be for the next few months until his company sorted out the messy contract.
It was a new experience to work with , and despite his nerves, he couldn’t help but feel intrigued. “Oh, is he the model?”
The manager nodded. “I’m sure you two will become good friends."
The rest of the ride was executed in silence, giving Jisung time to calm his nerves by thinking of his oldest friends. He missed Chan and Changbin.
He would visit them as soon as the industry’s hype for the comeback calmed down, knowing they were just as busy as he was right about now.
When they pulled to a stop outside a famous shopping mall, Jisung’s usually cheery smile fell. He raised an eyebrow at the manager. “Are we trying to give away as many spoilers as possible?”
The manager laughed as he twisted the keys and turned off the ignition. “Don’t worry, Han-ssi. We plan on meeting Mr Lee in the Racha .”
“Really?! That’s so cool!” Jisung’s eyes lit up at the sound of the cafe, normally reserved for the hottest new artists. His hands found the car door, suddenly far more eager to get out into the open. The manager was quick to follow him, tapping Han to remind him that his mask was in his pocket.
The mall was pretty, in an industrial sort of way. Jisung found his eyes jumping between colourful store fronts as they approached the glass elevator, in awe of the way they all broadcasted their own styles through not only the designs on the doors but the music flooding out of them and the showcases in each window.
All of them had something to say, and they were saying it.
The elevator made a loud ping! when it stopped for them to get on, and then again when it reached the story that Racha was located on. Upon seeing various well-known idols almost as soon as they entered the floor, Jisung began to feel subconscious about his clothing choice.
The manager had said it was fine, the only touch up he made was to apply a barely visible amount of make-up to Han’s face, but as Jisung glanced around at the other artists summery outfits, his black attire felt out of place.
But Han Jisung wasn’t going to let that phase him. He removed his mask and tucked it back into the pocket of his black jeans, but left his pink-tinted sunglasses on while he ran his other hand through his hair.
They entered Racha moments later, and Jisung didn’t have the time to admire the golden theme of the contemporary cafe before his manager tapped his arm. “Han-ssi? Mr Lee Minho is just over there.”
When Jisung’s eyes fell on the area that had been highlighted, he hadn’t expected to have the air knocked from his lungs. The model, Lee Minho, wasn’t looking in his direction, involved in an animated conversation with his own manager. This was probably a good thing, as Han was not sure whether he would be able to react without tripping over his feet and tying his tongue into a knot at the same time.
Minho had dressed up slightly more than Jisung had, wearing a white dress shirt that had a pair of roses detailed on its chest that tucked into a pair of light wash pants that flattered his clearly fit form. He wore a touch of makeup, Jisung’s attention drawn to Minho’s devastatingly attractive eyeliner that made his sharp eyes even harder to meet. His dark, dark blue hair fell in waves onto his bare forehead, and Han suddenly understood why this guy was the first recommendation.
He was gorgeous .
None of the other important faces in the building mattered anymore; he just needed to focus on having a normal conversation and leaving before he really did fall over his own feet.
“Hello, you must be Park Hae-Won?”
Jisung tried not to flinch as his manager’s voice startled him from his crisis, causing both Minho and his manager to look their way as they neared the booth. When Jisung says Minho looked their way, he really meant Minho stared directly at him, his analytical eyes seeming to leave no area of Han’s face unnoticed.
He felt the tips of his ears flush before he scolded his hormones.
He had to keep this meeting quick and professional, just because Minho was a really, really pretty boy doesn’t mean he… wait, what? Even Han’s own thoughts where leaving him stranded.
Minho’s manager smiled in greeting, her eyes squishing into crescents. “Yes, thats me. Kim Jinyoung?”
Manager Kim nodded, bowing his head to return her greeting before turning his attention to Minho. “Mr Lee! It’s so good to meet you. PD-nim did not hesitate to speak of your outstanding acting ability”
Jisung watched curiously as the model nodded, murmuring a quiet thank you with the ghost of a smile on his lips. Apparently the model wasn’t much of a talker.
As his manager eventually ran out of compliments to give, Jisung took the wheel, pretending not to notice the burn of Minho’s eyes on his face as he slipped his phone from his pocket.
“So, Minho-ssi. I presume you’ve heard the song?”
The model’s eyebrow arched, surprised by Jisung’s straight forward attitude. Many people he had worked with in the past had a way of adding minutes worth of unnecessary fluff to a sentence that could have been stated within a few seconds. He liked Han's bluntness. “I have.”
Jisung paused for a moment, meeting Minho’s intense gaze across the table. He grinned, trying to help the model feel more comfortable. “So? What did you think?”
Minho leaned backwards, resting against the back of the gold framed chair. “I thought it was good. You have skill. I’m actually excited to work on this project.”
Han smiled wider, his lips stretching into a grin that Minho didn’t think could be any cuter. He struggled to maintain his skeptical expression. When he had listened to Jisung’s entire discography the night before, he had expected a scary, intimidating rapper, not someone even prettier than the people he had star in his videos.
Sure, he had also binged a couple live performances as well, but Jisung had an aggressive stage presence that had led Minho to expect something far from the cute guy in front of him.
Jisung slipped his glasses from the bridge of his nose, placing them on the table in front of them as he scrolled through to his notes as a way of distracting his mind from the fluidity of Minho’s voice. “Most of the stuff I have down in my notes is for when shooting starts, but I’m sure you know what you’re in for. Right?”
Minho nodded, his eyes never straying from the rappers face. He couldn’t seem to look away. “Yeah, I’m playing the main character; a man who is so obsessed with his clothing he fails to notice the world exploding around him.”
Jisung gasped. “You can’t possibly think that’s all there is to it?!”
Minho laughed at the younger’s disdain, deciding it would be a good idea to tease him further. He already liked Han Jisung, and that was saying something. “Isn’t it?”
The managers made their way to a different table after the two hit it off, leaving an adorably frustrated Han Jisung to explain to the model the many meanings behind his music.
Minho listened, and despite his expressionless face, he was genuinely intrigued by this rapper who put so much thought into his work. He really ought to go back and listen to the songs again this evening but pay closer attention to the lyrics instead of Jisung’s voice.
Jisung knew he had a habit of rambling if he started talking about his music, or anything really, so he was surprised to see the model was still listening by the end of his rant.
It was after the good ten minute discussion on the lessons to be learnt about his song and the music video that Jisung had planned out with the crew back at JYP, Jisung remembered what his manager had told him in the car.
He raised a hand to his chin and leaned onto the table, studying the models smile. “Manager Kim told me that you have a scary first impression, but I don’t understand where he got that from.”
Minho faltered for a second, before wincing. “Yeah, that’s probably my bad. I don’t normally enjoy working with idols that much. They can be… difficult. It sorta puts me in a bad mood.”
Jisung absorbed this knowledge before grinning. “I’m glad I didn’t put you in a bad mood.”
Minho nudged a strand of wavy hair out of his eyes, smirking in a way that Han knew he was going to have to get used to as it was becoming a recurring theme. “I’m glad as well, Han-ssi.”
Han’s weak heart fluttered dangerously as he changed the subject. Something told him the next couple of weeks were going to be very interesting.
Chapter Summary
First day of filming, and Minho begins to rethink his grudge against Kpop Idols due to one person in particular.
Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes
It took Minho a few moments after getting into the sleek black vehicle to realise that he was humming one of Han’s songs under his breath. He blinked a couple times before smiling to himself.
He was looking forward to the shooting. Purely because of the concept of course. It had nothing to do with his 13 year old fan boyness making a reappearance for the first time in years.
Minho originally wasn’t sure if Jisung would be at the shoot, but the depth in which Han explained its many messages convinced Minho that directing a music video would be a piece of cake for the talented rapper.
Minho had been nervous when he was introduced to the rapper in person, but Jisung had an air of confidence, walking directly towards the table despite the fact that Minho knew he was staring. If Minho was honest, he couldn’t help it.
Han Jisung was far too pretty to be out of the spotlight. He’s the one who should be a model, not Minho.
Manager Park glanced in the rear view mirror at Minho, who seemed far more cheerful than he ever was before a shoot. She raised an eyebrow as she took a turn down into the next street.
“Excited, Minho-ssi?”
Although his manager was older than him, Minho had gotten used to her teasing nature. He straightened his face into it’s usual impassive expression, but he had a gut feeling he wasn’t going to fool her.
He tried anyway. “I don’t know what you are talking about, noona.”
Hae-Won resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She had a sneaking suspicion that the charismatic rapper had something to do with Minho’s abrupt change of heart towards idol jobs. But she wasn’t going to point it out until she had concrete evidence.
Manager Park cleared her throat, feeling the need to change the subject despite the fact Minho had already moved on from the exchange and was studying the neon lit streets of Seoul while humming quietly. “So, Minho-ssi, do you know what you’ll be doing today?”
Minho’s cat-like eyes narrowed as he furrowed his brow, trying to remember what Jisung’s manager had told him. “Uh… I think they have a street cleared near the river for us to film the first 30 seconds of the music video, and some post chorus shots.”
“Ah, that sounds much better than being cooped up in a building on a day like this.”
Minho nodded. It was pretty warm out, and he was going to need to wear a hoodie anyway, so it was better he was outside in the breeze. The only issue with it being such a nice day is that they can’t get all the first minute done, as Jisung had wanted the second half of the video, the one in which everything was turning to chaos, to be filmed on a cloudy day.
Jisung had truly put a lot of thought into this, something that Minho admired. The song’s themes of obsession and narrowmindedness would have taken years for Minho to come up with, where as it definitely was not the first time the young rapper had done something like this.
The camera crew was already at the scene when Minho showed up, and as much as he denied it, he was quick to scan the street for Jisung. He tried not to let his disappointment show as a man walked over and introduced himself as the director.
“Lee Minho! You’re here nice and early.”
Manager Park steps in front of Minho to shake the director’s hand, knowing that Minho was not a massive fan of doing so himself. Minho summoned a polite smile.
This man could be nice, Minho, no need to burn bridges. “I hope to make a good first impression, director-nim.”
The director laughed heartily, a little excessively for something that wasn’t even intended to be humorous. He smiled with a lot of teeth, causing Minho to take an imperceptible step backwards. “I look forward to working with you, Mr Lee. I hope JYP extends a warm welcome.”
Before any more discussion could take place, Minho’s usual stylist waltzed over with a bag full of cosmetics in one hand and a phone in the other. She hung up quickly before flashing Minho a bright smile.
“Time to get started, Minho-ssi!”
. ..
Minho glanced into the mirror the dresser had set up in the back of the van, savouring the feeling of being completely covered. It was hot, sure, but Minho had learnt to deal with the heat a long time ago.
The outfit, from the make-up, to the silver earrings, to the hoodie itself radiated boyfriend material, as both idol enthusiasts and Minho himself would put it. The hoodie was cute by itself, a warm creamy color, but it was enhanced even further by its pairing with a dark denim jacket that fell slightly off his shoulders.
Minho got tired of his reflection within a few minutes, both nervous and excited for the shoot. He was looking forward to seeing the end product, and all of the positive reactions it would receive, hopefully .
The first scene was easy, but took nearly half an hour; Minho walked down the empty streets as the cameraman got various angles of Minho and the pretty trees, Minho and the river, and of Minho and the sunshine glinting through his dark blue hair. All Minho really had to do was clutch a bag full of sweaters to his chest, but low enough for the words on the hoodie he was wearing to be visible. Eyes on Me.
Soon enough, they were moving further down the street to set up again for the next scene, which involved a few extras and a cameo by idol Hyunjin, from the boy group Stray Kids. Minho hadn’t really had time to talk to the idol properly, but they had exchanged a few good works throughout
the morning.
It was while his makeup artist was touching up his mascara that a shiny black car pulled into the restricted area, and came to a stop to let a familiar face out. Minho’s mouth twisted into a smile as Han Jisung rushed over to the shooting area, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a polaroid camera in the other.
His hair bounced beneath his cap as he jogged over, receiving many greetings from the crew who looked just as happy as Minho was to see him. Jisung didn’t notice Minho at first, slinging his black bag off of his shoulders and placing it next to the director’s tent before straightening his white top and taking a sip from his coffee.
Minho’s eyes snapped away from the rapper as his name was called, which happened to be what caused Jisung to glance his way. To Minho’s joy, Jisung gave him a wide smile, and mouthed a hello while simultaneously trying to wave with his hands full.
Minho laughed lightly as Jisung nearly dropped the camera and waved back at him. Remembering hurriedly that he had been called back, he thanked his stylist again and walking over to where the assistant director was assigning starting positions.
“Hyunjin-ssi, if you could stand here… excuse me, Chin? Could you move to the right a little? Ah! Minho! Just where you were before, that’s right. Yungmi, I need you to stand further back, we can’t see Minho as much with you there… okay, I think that’s it! Director?”
After receiving a thumbs up, the cameras started rolling again. Minho let the character take over his body, training his eyes on the bag in his arms with a small smile on his face. The extras walked passed, and the girl with pink hair bumped Minho’s shoulder just as planned.
This cast the bag to the ground, and Minho had to drop it at a specific angle for the top hoodies to slip out. He feigned an expression of absolute horror as he fell onto his knees, desperately collecting the hoodies from the ground. Han’s song came to a stop, signalling the end of the shot.
“Okay, good! CUT!”
Minho climbed back to his feet after collecting the hoodies back into the bag and passing it to the set-designer for the time being. He appeared to have missed his chance to talk with Hyunjin, as the idol had to leave for some sort of practice in the evening.
As he left, he offered Minho a far more professional exchange than Jisung had any of the times they had spoken.
Hyunjin bowed his head slightly as his manager led him back to the limousine. “I hope we get the chance to work together again, Minho-ssi.”
Minho smiled slightly. “As do I. Have a safe trip.”
Hyunjin replied to the polite smile with a grin, before being beckoned again by his manager.
Minho watched as the boy left the shoot, wondering whether he ever would get the chance to see these idols again. The industry was so giant and tangled, he couldn’t say for certain. Everything is changing, all the time.
Minho leaned against the dressing van, a contemplative frown on his face when someone tapped his shoulder.
He straightened quickly, unconsciously raising a hand to adjust his hair as he turned to face the person.
Instead of his face being met with someone else’s face, it was met with a polaroid photo of himself from only moments before. “You’re so pretty, Minho-ssi! How do you do it?”
Jisung lowered the photo as he smiled at the model. Minho’s eyes widen to take in the rapper’s glossy dark hair threaded with strands of gold, stunned by the sudden compliments. They weren’t uncommon praise to receive, but Minho hadn’t expected them to come from Han. “O-oh, uh thank you. I’m not sure, to be honest. I suppose I was just born this way.”
Minho got more confident the more he spoke, recovering quickly from Han’s adorable assualt. When he finished, he winked before walking away, leaving Jisung to dwell on the exchange before following Minho back to the director’s tent.
“Ya! You can’t just walk away!”
“And you, Jisung-ssi, can’t just show up late to an event you pleaded to be apart of.” The director spoke to Han as they neared the tent, a frown on his face.
Jisung smiled sheepishly as he came to a stop beside Minho before bowing his head. “Sorry, director-nim. Recording went on for longer than I had planned.”
The man in the chair sighed, but ultimately failed to remain angry. “Just don’t let it happen again, okay? Minho, I’m sure you’ve heard, but the next scene will involve a lot of noise and flying objects. We believe you will be safe, but you will need to keep a straight face.”
Minho nodded, his face void of emotion.
He was guided to the middle of the street this time, the hoodies he had collected carefully from the ground earlier spread all around him, ready for the stunt cars to run them over in the next shot. He knew there were going to be explosions. But he still had a gut feeling he was going to jump.
Breathe. One, two.
“Action!”
Minho scrambled to pick up one of the tops, bringing back the sense of desperation he had portrayed earlier. When his fingers latched onto a dark purple hoodie, he brought it close to his chest, a satisfied smile working its way onto his face as the first explosion went off.
This was part of Jisung’s message. Although it is comforting to only worry about the little things, sometimes we need to face the harshness of reality to protect not only ourselves, but the possessions and people we love most.
Minho didn’t flinch as he thought he would, managing to avoid breaking character the entire time. A camera came in close on his left and a drone flew overhead, but nothing phased him until he opened his eyes again, so the cameramen could get a shot to CGI later on.
That was when his gaze accidently fell on Jisung, who was cowering in fear. The tough rapper, confident sweet talker, and badass performer had fallen over due to the sound of a loud noise.
Minho couldn’t help it. He laughed, hard.
The explosions and the chorus of Hoodie Season stopped at the same time. “Woah, CUT! We’ll reshoot that last part, don’t worry Minho-ssi.”
Jisung snapped to attention, scrambling back to his feet before realising the thing Minho was laughing at was him . He narrowed his sparkly eyes in Minho’s direction, a pout on his lips, but Minho didn’t fail to notice the smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Minho struggled to compose himself, but eventually managed to return to his acting when he met Jisung’s eyes again. Jisung was reassembling his soft, dark brown hair, and raised an eyebrow at Minho, smiling slightly. Minho tried his best to remain collected, uncharacteristic laughter still bubbling in his stomach.
“Okay, Director Ru would like to take it from the top. Ready, Minho?”
Minho nodded, his chest warmer than the rest of his body in the afternoon heat.
“Three, two, one, action!”
Chapter End Notes
Hahahaah we really be going for it Feel free to suggest ideas and I'll do my best to integrate them, I love myself a good challenge also hyunjin cameo, of which there might be more later on (; anyways hope you enjoyed, see you next chapter my dudes
Chapter Summary
Han's manager is confused and Jisung is visited by an old friend~
Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes
Jisung watched the playback of the cars over Minho’s shoulder, so absorbed in the coloured smoke that he didn’t realise just how dangerously close he was to the other until Minho pulled back, a satisfied grin on his face. Jisung quickly retracted from the warmth of the other’s shoulder, his ears flushing.
Minho turned his intelligent gaze to the director, who Jisung could tell he wasn’t a giant fan of. “It looks great. Tomorrow is our last outdoor film, right?”
The director nodded. “Yes, the district council are opening this road to the public again. We were only allowed four days worth of shooting, hence the long shifts.”
Jisung wrapped his arms around himself, the cold air of the evening finally setting in. This was bad news for Han. His pink, holey designer sweater did not provide much warmth. The industry were dressing him up now that he had so many public appearances.
It had been three days since the shooting started, a remarkably short time for a project of this scale, but Jisung wasn’t surprised by how easily Minho had fit into the role. He also wasn’t surprised by the fact that Minho still looked like the world’s hottest supermodel in casual attire, though he wasn’t going to admit that to Minho’s face.
Minho left after the camera finished playing back to meet his manager in the staff area, presumably to organise times and schedules for the next day. Han wanted to follow him, but the director cleared his throat, signalling there was still things to be discussed.
Jisung listened patiently, and answered the questions that he was asked, but his mind was elsewhere. Chan had messaged him earlier to give Jisung the heads up that he would be in the entertainment building for a week or so before heading off to America for his CB97 tour.
Jisung was hoping that Minho would have time to meet him; Han couldn’t say why he felt the urge to introduce Minho to one of his oldest friends, but he felt like it needed to happen.
Han was incredibly thankful when Jinyong rushed over, a fluffy white coat in his hands. He savoured the warmth for a few moments before thanking his manager. “I was so cold, thank you very much.”
Jinyong smiled at Jisung’s grateful expression, finally having gotten over the rapper’s youthful appearance. Many of the other workers apparently hadn’t, as when Jisung and his manager passed them, their eyes fell on a boy with golden skin, soft, messy hair and tired eyes, certainly not the music prodigy that was known for his intense rapping.
“Did today’s shoot go well, Han-ssi?”
Han nodded, the coat’s arms so long that they gave him paws as he offered a thumbs up with one hand, carrying his beloved polaroid camera in the other. “We got some really pretty scenes, and no one got injured, so I’d say it was a success.”
They approached the car, and Manager Kim spoke again. “Well, that’s great! Everything is right on it’s way to being completed by the deadline.”
Before Jisung could answer, a smooth voice interrupted his train of thought. “Han Jisung! You didn’t leave without saying goodbye, did you?”
Jinyong looked back at the same time as Han did, and was shocked to see that the person calling for Han’s attention was none other than the untouchable model. This was not what JYP had told him the model would be like at all.
Han shrugged nonchalantly, clearly acting. “I don’t know, did I?”
Minho raised an eyebrow as he got closer, a smile playing at his lips. “You should hope not, or you will feel my wrath.”
Jisung snorted. “I can’t imagine you being angry at all.”
Jinyong cast a single glance at the sharp-eyed model and immediately decided that he definitely could imagine him being angry. He was surprised; although he had predicted Han’s natural warmth would be able to thaw Minho’s cold exterior, he had in no way expected him to grow this comfortable.
“Well, whatever then, Jisung. See you tomorrow.”
Minho spun on his heels and walked away, trying to maintain a straight face as he felt Han tug him back.
Jisung whined dramatically. “Minho-hyung~”
Jinyong cleared his throat, feeling a little out of place. Jisung snapped back to attention, smiling sheepishly at the manager as he released Minho. “Sorry, manager-nim. Bye, Minho-hyung!”
Minho murmured a shy apology to the manager before jogging back over to where he was talking with the assistant director. Jinyong was perplexed the entire drive back to the agency.
...
Jisung kicked his feet up onto the desk as the sound of his raw vocals spilled through his head phones. He cringed a little as his voice cracked on a low note, but he knew that he could retake it in a few minutes.
Jisung wasn’t always a solo producer; he often had the older, more experienced producers come in and give him tips, but for the comeback after ‘Hoodie Season’, he wanted to be able to say he had done it on his own. This meant a lot of hard work, and all-nighters when he gets stuck on something that he really wants to get done.
Han edited the vocals to fit the same length as the backing track he had been working on, the true test to see if it was worth continuing the track on the same route, or rewriting the lyrics that were beginning to seem far more problematic than they should be.
As the music began, there was a knock on the studio door. Jisung heard immediately this time, pulling his wireless headphones to sit around his neck and placing his black snapback over his hair. “Come in!”
The door opened. Chan smiled at his dongsaeng, who’s mouth dropped open in shock. Jisung took a few seconds to recover, before launching himself out of the chair and wrapping his arms around his beloved hyung.
Chan laughed breathily as Jisung trapped him in a suffocating hug. “Hey, bud.”
Jisung pressed his tired head into Chan’s shoulder, the headphones around his neck digging into Chan as well but neither of them were complaining. Jisung’s words were muffled by the material of Chan’s dark hoodie. “Man, I missed you, hyung.”
Chan placed his hands on Jisung’s shoulder and held the younger boy away from him so he could get a read on Jisung’s mental health. “Hopefully not too much, Sungie.”
Jisung smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as though he hadn’t just been hugging Chan like his life depended on it. “Of course not, I’m doing better than ever.”
Chan laughed, taking a seat on the couch as Jisung slumped back into his chair. “I take it the filming is going well then?”
Jisung beamed at the mention of the successful project. “Yeah! We’ve got tons of good stuff, and Minho-hyung is really good with facial expressions, and he’s also really pretty, so the music video is going to look even better than I thought it was! Tomorrow’s our last day of outdoor filming before we move into the building to the sets that management designed.”
Letting out a breath of relief, Chan couldn’t help but be amused by his friends habitual rambling. “I’m glad it’s going well. I was worried the industry was going to fall apart while I’m on tour, but now its got you to hold it together, Jisungie.”
“Ya! You’re not that good, Chan-ah~”
Chan’s eyes widened at the lack of honorifics and Jisung’s provocative tone. He playfully narrowed his eyes at the younger. “What’s this about the oh-so-handsome ‘Minho-hyung’, huh?”
Jisung’s ears flushed and his smirk went away, now glaring at Chan. “I hope you get stuck in
America.”
Chan wiggled his eyebrows, outstretching his arms to tickle the younger boy. Jisung squirmed as Chan pinched his stomach. “Now that’s not very nice, Jisung-ah.”
Jisung was now in hysterics, laughing so hard that he slipped from his chair and crawled to the other side of the recording studio in an attempt to escape Chan’s clutches. “C-Chan-hyung, stop! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
It took awhile for the pair to recover from the unexpected turn in conversation, Jisung still breathing heavily as Chan sat down in his office chair and pulled up what he was working on.
“New track?”
Jisung nodded, leaning over the back of the chair to place his discarded headphones over his friend’s ears. “You can listen but no touching.”
Chan raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Jisung didn’t bother explaining, dropping himself down onto the grey couch and waiting till afterwards to share his plan. Chan was soon tapping his foot to the beat, his eyes fixed on the keyboard as Jisung’s heartbreakingly good vocals spilled into his ears.
Chan didn’t understand the way the industry labelled its artists; if he was considered a prodigy, then what the heck was Han Jisung? His best friend seemed to have no limits to his outstanding ability, and he never failed to surprise Chan. And he was still growing, learning from those around them. He had so much soul, so many ideas, and the determination to push through all of the obstacles in his way to achieve his goal. Chan couldn’t possibly have been more proud of his little brother.
When the track trailed off where Jisung had cut it earlier, Chan removed the headphones from his ears and smiled warmly at Jisung, his proud grin crooked. “It’s great, Jisung.”
Jisung perked up at his friends approval, a smile growing on his face. “Really? I thought it was kinda slow and... how do I put it? Out of character?”
Chan shook his head. “I think it’s you . The lyrics, your voice… how do you do it, Sungie?”
Jisung laughed, his wide smile threatening to tear his face in half. “It means a lot that you like it, hyung. I wanted to do this one all on my own.”
Chan opened his arms, offering his comforting hug that no one in their right mind would refuse. So Jisung didn’t. “I’m so proud of you. But remember I’m always here to help, yeah? You’re never alone, Jisung. Changbin and I will be right by your side.”
Jisung didn’t know whether he wanted to cry or hold his friend captive forever. In the end, he chose to do neither. “Thanks, hyung. You’re the best.”
Chan smiled. “I know.”
Chapter End Notes
Sorry for lack of minsung in this chapter but Chan is a very important person to Jisung and it needed to be shown~ also, i haven't really specified what Hoodie Season sounds like haha basically its like the 3Racha version, but more rappy, less singy yah feel me? Also, it has a drop in it for all of the super emotionally impactful shots to fit into kekekek out of pure curiousity, who is your stray kids bias? idk if mine is obvious or not - its jisungie
Chapter Summary
Minho is left to wonder what Han Jisung is doing to him, outdoor shooting is wrapped up and Chan meets the oh-so-handsome Minho-hyung. 'Chan swallowed. Maybe Jisung was more dangerous than he thought.'
Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes
Jisung showed up early to the final day of outdoor shooting (mainly due to the fact it started at sunset), but somehow, Minho was still there before him. Jisung got out of the car and thanked Jinyong before jogging over to where the model was sitting against a tree near the river, studying something on his phone.
“Hey, Minho-hyung.”
Minho glanced up as Jisung approached, quick to recognise the rappers voice. “Oh hey, Jisungssi.”
Jisung tugged down his black mask as he sat on the dry grass, no doubt getting foliage all over his jeans but he didn’t really care. “Woah, you didn’t use formalities yesterday! If I get to call you hyung then you don’t have to be so polite to your dongsaeng”
Minho raised an eyebrow before casting his eyes back down to his phone, his lips pursed. “Okay, Hannie.”
Jisung blinked at the nickname, his sunshine-filled eyes widening as Minho held back a grin, and pretending he had found an interesting post on his phone.
Jisung liked the fact the model was becoming more comfortable. He would be lying if he said he didn’t love the mischievous energy that Minho was now radiating. “Ya! Wait, can I call you a nickname?”
Minho turned off his phone and jammed it into the pocket of his floral pants. The pants weren’t
particularly flattering but there was no way a mere pair of pants would come even close to tainting Minho’s untouchable beauty. “We aren’t that close, Hannie.”
Jisung pouted as the model stood, smirking down at the younger boy. Minho ruffled Jisung’s soft hair, shocked by how silky it was but made sure not to show his awe on his face.
As Minho began to drift back toward the set, Han gazed out at the glistening water admiring the myriad of colors it reflected, before remembering why he wanted to talk to Minho in the first place. He couldn’t help that he was distracted.
He bounced to his feet, before running to catch up to Minho.
“Hey, Minho-hyung? Do you know CB97?”
Minho cast a hesitant glance down at the young rapper who had appeared at his side. “Uh… no. I don’t really listen to JYP stuff.”
Jisung gasped. “So why are you working with me!? Are you trying to bring down the industry from the inside or something?!”
Minho snorted. “No. You’re, like, the only rapper I listen to and actually enjoy.”
Minho realised what he had said too late, and his cheeks flushed. He tried to distract himself, but now he had said it, all he could do was watch Han’s face morph from shock to pure joy.
“No way . I feel so honoured, Minho-hyung!”
Minho scowled, annoyed that he could feel his cheeks burn in the cool night air. He was saved from embarrassing himself further by the director’s car pulling up. He quickly excused himself before Jisung could protest, and moved away with the half-assed reason of needing to go over his instructions again.
Jisung couldn’t tear his eyes away from Minho’s back, the smile on his face not fading. Minho was even more unpredictable than he thought. And he liked Han’s music.
Wait, he was pretty sure he had a point when he started the conversation … oh, Chan. Minho had successfully distracted him again.
The model had found his make-up artist and dresser, and Jisung sat down in a chair, knowing it was going to be a while before he could to talk Minho again.
He ruffled through his bag and found his polaroid camera, the one Stray Kids gave him when he first went solo. He had recently bought new film, and he snapped a few photos of the set to save in his folder in the studio.
It was before the group debuted when Seungmin began saving up, after Han first shared his feelings with him. Jisung had been so unsure of what he wanted his future to look like, and felt guilty for wanting to wait longer to debut, which Seungmin immediately reassured him not to. In fact, that was what gave him the courage to share his ideas with JYP and then, consequently, with the rest of the group.
It didn’t go so well with a few of them as it did with Seungmin, with Hyunjin refusing to talk to Han for days. But when the time came and the news of an upcoming JYP boy group was broadcasted to the world, all of them were sad to see Han go, but excited to see what he would be able to achieve on his own. Hyunjin broke down in tears, before sobbing about how he would kill Han if he didn’t take care of himself.
Seungmin pried Hyunjin away from Han’s shaking shoulders, smiling at the rapper. He offered a box to Jisung, who hastily wiped away his tears and held it close to his chest to open it.
Taped to the camera was a note; when your future seems uncertain, take a look back at the path you have paved.
Jisung had hundreds of photos now, of his family, of his friends, of his guardian angels, each just as important as the last. The camera was old, but he was never going to let it go, even when it was nothing more than a lens and a button.
“Okay, last check up.”
Han was brought back to attention by the assistant directors order, his eyes drawn away from the pale blue camera as they found something new to focus on.
Minho was so beautiful.
Jisung knew how this scene was going to go; they would get a few shots of Minho running from an invisible monster, his form lit by the light of the setting sun and few lights that would be edited out later on. Then he would dance between a set of streetlights, symbolic of being called out for an obsession.
When Minho reached the end of the street run, there would be two long paths, lined with fairy lights. A choice.
Jisung watched as Minho nodded patiently at the set designer, listening intently to the instructions for what was most likely the third or fourth time. His outfit was different from the earlier scenes; a stark white dress shirt buttoned down to his collar bones paired a red hoodie wrapped around his waist and black pants. This would change later on, when he was attacked by hoodies at the indoor shoot.
Jisung couldn’t stop staring, but fortunately, no one was paying attention to him.
Minho nodded for a final time as the assistant director pointed to the starting position before jogging to the place marked on the ground. Jisung snapped a photo of the cameras and lighting, but decided to ask Minho later for permission to take photos of him.
“Action!”
With light footsteps, Minho ran. Scared, confused, lost. He glanced over his shoulder, before surging forward again. He followed the instructions to a T, slowing almost imperceptibly as he moved through the better lighting so the cameras could find new angles.
Jisung winced as Minho fell to harsh concrete the way he had been trained, although he knew it was apart of the scene. The camera director yelled out the command this time.
“Good! Stop rolling!”
Some workers ran out at helped Minho to his feet as Jisung rose from his seat, deciding to get
closer to the set. Minho glanced across the street, somehow conscious of the rappers movement. Han gave him a thumbs up and Minho smiled slightly, before snapping back into character as they ran through the scene again.
Jisung sighed. Life was so unfair. Minho already looked gorgeous all the time, yet somehow he was allowed to make Jisung want to freeze time forever whenever he smiled.
Minho fell to his knees again and the director signalled the camera’s to move onto the next shot. Of course Minho was skilled enough to nail the shot after only two takes. Of course.
While the crew moved everything further down the street, a make-up artist, slipped past Jisung’s shoulder and rushed over to Minho, who appeared as though he approaching them anyway.
Jisung glanced around to see if anyone would tell him off before following the make-up artist towards Minho.
The artist had just finished murmuring something when Han moved into earshot. He watched quietly as she dusted Minho’s sharp cheekbones with highlighter. She stepped back and almost jumped when she saw Jisung before beaming at him. “Hello, Han-ssi! Did you like the scene?”
Jisung smiled at her, proud of himself for being able to ignore Minho’s paralyzing gaze. Don’t falter . “Yeah, it looked exactly how I imagined. Thank you very much for your help with the music video!”
The girl blushed, but couldn’t take her eyes away from Jisung’s face. “It’s nothing, I’m just good at make-up. Thank you, Han-ssi, for coming to every shoot. I can’t even imagine how busy you are.”
Jisung laughed. “No, it’s my pleasure.”
After a minute of light discussion, the girl waltzed back over to the stylist van, and Han could finally ask Minho to stop staring at him.
“Hey, hyungie~”
Minho blinked a few times, realising what he had done, before brushing off the fact his cheeks were reddening almost as quickly as the make-up artists had. Lee Minho did not blush.
What was Han Jisung doing to him?
...
Chan opened his phone, unplugging his ear pods so he could focus properly on the message he had recieved from Han.
j.onethejackpot Yo chan chan chan chan
Chan rolled his eyes, knowing that if he didn’t reply Jisung was just going to keep going.
channiehyung what is it squirrel
j.onethejackpot chan oh you replyd *replied hey ill have u know i am not a squirrel I am a genius channiehyung hey squirrels can be geniuses too
j.onethejackpot okay lets pretend that i read your messages what i wanted to ask you was can you come to the fourth floor
channiehyung OOoooOOOoooo sungie is inviting me to a shoot
j.onethejackpot hyung
channiehyung okay okay ill stop Now?
j.onethejackpot yahhhh *yohhhhh (in binnies voice)
Chan snorted, shaking his head at the younger’s persistent bullying of their third counterpiece. As he stood, he tucked his phone in his pocket while trying to remember which route would be fastest.
Woojin waved at Chan as he passed the Stray Kids dance practice room, causing Chan to grin back and stop to talk, even though he knew Jisung was going to complain about how late he was.
“Hey! I didn’t know you guys got back so soon.”
Woojin grinned, brushing his dark and slightly sweaty bangs from his face. “We finished up in Beijing two days earlier than we thought we would.”
Chan’s phone buzzed again, and he could hear Jisung’s whining already. He sighed internally, before hugging Woojin, who was shocked by the sudden contact but made no effort to escape
Chan’s infamous embrace. “I’ll be sure to catch up with you guys before I leave for America, but Han’s begging for me to come and watch his shoot on Fourth, sorry. It’s great to see you, Woojin.”
Woojin was frozen for a few seconds as Chan released him and continued down the hall, before relaxing and laughing amusedly. He played back Chan’s hurried apology in his head, and extracted the line about Jisung’s shoot.
He glanced back into the practice room to see Jeongin singing off key to a Twice song while Seungmin and Hyunjin danced equally as badly. They really needed to do something with this break.
Maybe they would surprise Jisung later on.
...
When Chan entered the shooting room, his senses were immediately overwhelmed with not only the outstanding set and expensive lighting, but also the amount of people taking notes and shouting orders. Hell, he knew Jisung’s comeback was a big deal, but this big?
He approached the set and marvelled at the mountain of clothing before his phone buzzed again, reminding him of the reason he was down here.
j.onethejackpot Just saying, I’m gonna be late youre on your own until i get there if you see Minho just say your the rapper friend i was talking about
Chan raised an eyebrow, though appreciated he was warned ahead of time. He flicked the notification away and pocketed his phone before he was tapped on the shoulder by a worker.
“A-are you CB97?”
Chan smiled warmly and turned to face the flustered man. “Yeah, can I help you?”
The man blinked. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Oh, of course. Jisung invited me to watch the shoot today. Speaking of which… do you know where Lee Minho is?”
The man nodded vigorously, discarding the tripod he was holding into a black duffel bag before waving for Chan to follow him. Chan soon realised it wouldn’t have been difficult to pick Minho apart from the crowd of people around him.
Chan didn’t dwell on the models breath-taking appearance for too long, in the fear that he would be murdered. The model wasn’t exactly radiating sunshine thats for sure. If he wasn’t the nice person he was, Chan would even go as far as to say he was the definition of an icy prince.
Murmuring a grateful thank you to the man who had led him over, Chan worked up the courage to approach Minho, who was sitting on a chair and looked as though he was doing his best not to throw up on the director. It was almost comical, but the director didn’t even notice.
“...anyways, I’m sure you’ll catch on as soon as the cameras start rolling. See you soon, Minhossi.” Chan watched in amusement as Minho glared at the director who was walking away, but froze almost immediately when the model turned his sharp gaze Chan’s way.
He registered a staff members murmur of ‘is that CB97?’ as Minho quirked a brow, his icy expression not changing as he spoke. “Hello?”
Chan cleared his throat, before stepping forward and offering his hand. “I’m Chan. Jisung invited me to the shoot today. Oh, and he told me to tell you I was the rapper he was talking about the other day…?”
To Chan’s shock, the model’s expression softened at the sound of Jisung’s name, but he made no move to shake Chan’s hand. Chan lowered it in the least awkward way he could manage.
“Oh, I remember.”
When the model didn’t continue speaking, Chan rubbed the back of his neck. This dude was intimidating, yet he didn’t think he should walk away just yet. “I hope he only told you good things. I wouldn’t want to make a bad impression.”
Minho nodded, his black nylon coat billowing as he stood. “You are very important to him.”
Chan felt his heart swell, but before he could speak again, the set designer called over to Minho. “Minho-ssi? Will you be ready to start in five?”
Minho doesn’t bother to yell back, nodding once before turning back to Chan and, surprisingly, speaking. “Jisung is going to be late, isn’t he?”
Chan laughed. “Yeah, as usual.”
As if summoned by his name, Jisung burst in through the doors that Chan entered through, breathing heavily as his big eyes scanned the room worriedly. When they fell on Chan and Minho, a smile grew on the rappers face.
He waved hello in reply to many of the staff welcomes, before sifting through the crowd to get to the pair. “Hello- oh hi! Heya~”
When he finally escaped, Han appeared ruffled, his dark, gold lined hair falling onto his forehead and his striped red shirt untucked. “Hey hyungs!”
Chan grinned. “Hey, Jisung.”
To Chan’s surprise, Jisung then looked to the intimidatingly beautiful model expectantly. “Minhohyung?”
Minho’s smile was crooked and tentative but most definitely there. “Hey, Hannie.”
Chan’s eyes widened, but he refrained from highlighting the exchange, for Jisung’s sake. Holy shit, Minho can smile .
It was then Jisung’s turn to be shocked as his gaze found the set behind Minho. “ Woah .”
Minho nodded, still smiling at the rapper. Chan swallowed. Maybe Jisung was more dangerous than he thought. “That’s about right.”
“Minho-hyung! This is gonna look so cool! Don’t you think so too, Channie?”
When Minho’s eyes flicked back to Chan, he agreed hurriedly. “It’s gonna be real good, Sung.”
“Minho-ssi! Starting positions!”
Minho turned to follow the directions of the manager before Jisung called out to him. “Good luck!”
This was when Minho did something that not only surprised Chan, but Jisung as well. He winked. “I don’t need luck, Hannie.”
And then the cameras rolled. Chan glanced at his friend, who had noticeably flushed. Oh dear.
Chan slung an arm around Jisung’s shoulders as Minho fell back into the mountain of clothing. “So Sungie, what’s up with yo-”
Jisung grit his teeth. “Don’t. Say. A. Word.”
Chan raised his arms in surrender, stepping away while laughing. “Okay, okay. Pfft. Touchie.”
Jisung spun, his doe eyes narrowing into a glare, but his tone as sweet as honey. “Do you have a death wish, hyungie?”
Chan mimed zipping his mouth closed, which seemed to succeed in quenching Jisung’s thirst for blood.
Jisung pulled his camera from his bag as he tucked his shirt back into his jeans, before snapping a picture of Chan, who was never a great fan of being in front of the camera. Which Chan had told Jisung on multiple occasions.
Chan itched to tackle Jisung to the ground as the other giggled, dancing the crowd who willingly parted to let him through.
Oh how the tables had turned.
Chapter End Notes
this chapter is way longer than i thought it was gonna be kekeke enjoy the plot thickens slowly but surely if y'all have any questions, be sure to comment cause i like it when people are intrigued by my confusing and messy plots, it makes me believe they aren't as confusing and messy as i originally thought
Chapter Summary
Han wrapped his arms around Minho, who nearly dropped his bowl out of shock. “I’m gonna miss you so much Minho-hyung~” Chan choked on whatever he was eating. Minho came back to his senses and pried Jisung’s arms from around him, but not before he sent a questioning glance Chan’s way. Chan covered his mouth with one of his hands. “I-I’m fine- it’s c-cool.”
Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes
It was at lunch that Minho finally complied to calling Chan hyung, despite his usual reputation. He was beginning to realise it was impossible to say no to Jisung, especially when he asked nicely.
They had moved to Minho’s private catering suite to eat, as Minho had never been a massive fan of eating in front of many people. He was okay with Jisung, of course, and he could see Chan was a nice person, but there was a lot of staff at the shoot today, and he didn’t really feel like talking.
“Okay, hyung.”
As Minho began eating, ignoring the shock on Chan’s face, Jisung sat down next to him. Minho had to suck in a breath. He wasn’t expecting that.
Chan eyed the food hungrily, and he was going to ask if he could eat some when Minho nodded, reading his mind. “I can’t eat all of it by myself.”
That was all the convincing Chan needed. Now distracted by the food, he didn’t bother trying to conversate. Minho picked up a bowl of something and a pair of chopsticks, and began eating. He knew he wouldn’t mind whatever it was. He wasn’t fussy.
Jisung leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. A small wrinkle appeared between his dark brows as he frowned thoughtfully, and Minho didn’t miss the slight pout on the younger’s lips. Not that he was looking at Jisung’s lips or anything.
Glancing at Chan, who was by this point completely absorbed by the food, Minho realised it was going to be up to him to ask Han if he was okay. “Uh… Jisung? Are you okay?”
Jisung snapped back to attention at the sound of Minho’s honey-like voice, his hair ruffling as he straightened and met Minho’s gaze. “Sorry?”
Minho smiled slightly, knowing that he shouldn’t even bother trying to stop it at this point. “Are you okay?”
Jisung grinned back and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about how close we are to the end of shooting.”
Minho raised an eyebrow. “Hannie, we still have two weeks.”
Han wrapped his arms around Minho, who nearly dropped his bowl out of shock. “I’m gonna miss you so much Minho-hyung~”
Chan choked on whatever he was eating. Minho came back to his senses and pried Jisung’s arms from around him but not before he sent a questioning glance Chan’s way.
Chan covered his mouth with one of his hands. “I-I’m fine- it’s c-cool.”
Jisung made a lazy attempt to try and keep his arms around Minho, who now held him at arm’s length. Minho’s food forgotten as his ears lit up an unfortunate shade of red. The colour was almost the same as the velvety seats that lined the walls of the booth. “Minho-hyuuuung.”
Minho laughed, a rare sound that made Jisung freeze in place and his eyes widen in awe. Then he offered his sunny smile. “I made Minho-hyung laugh. I must be something special, right?”
Minho straightened his expression and quickly turned his attention back to his food, pretending it the exchange had never happened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Before Jisung could protest, a knock at the makeshift door rang around the small room. Minho cleared his throat and adopted his usual professional tone, placing his bowl on the glass table. “Yes?”
“Is this Lee Minho’s booth?”
“Yes, it is.”
There was a pause, and then a familiar voice travelled into the booth. “Can we come in?”
Jisung shot to his feet, the smile on his face the main influence to Minho’s answer. “Yes.”
“Woojin-hyung!!”
Jisung wrapped his arms around his hyung as the older laughed, raising a hand to ruffle Jisung’s hair. “Hey Sungie. How are you doing?”
“Woah, do we not get a greeting?”
Jisung smiled impossibly wider as Hyunjin stuck his head over Woojin’s shoulder. “It’s so good to see you guys! Oh my god, I didn’t even know you guys where back so soon- wow okay.”
Minho loved to see Han happy, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous about the amount of people in the booth. When Jisung sat back down, talking animatedly to the members of Stray Kids, Minho shifted closer to him in hopes to escape the crowded feeling.
Woojin shook Minho’s hand, unaware of the model’s discomfort. “Hey, Lee Minho? I’m Woojin, this is Hyunjin, that’s Seungmin and the baby is Jeongin.”
Breathe, Minho.
Jeongin stuck his tongue out at Woojin from where he was slumped against the red seat. “I am not a baby.”
Jisung snorted. “Yeah right, Jeongin.”
Minho forced a faint smile, before leaning in to speak quietly to Jisung while the others continued to argue. “ C-can we do this outside? ”
Jisung glanced at Minho worriedly, and found that Minho was almost shaking, far paler than he normally was. And the worst thing was, Jisung knew exactly how he felt.
Minho was beginning to feel lightheaded. Breathe, god dammit. It’s not a big deal, Minho.
Jisung stood immediately, causing Chan to choke again in surprise. Woojin stared at him, confused. “What’s wrong, Jisung?”
“Nothing, don’t worry. I was just gonna suggest we talk in the main booth? It’s a little hot in here.”
The others were quick to agree, making their way to the main area with Chan, who was somehow still shoving food into his mouth. Jisung laughed at something Seungmin said, before helping Minho to his feet.
Minho focused on slowing his breathing, his eyes fixed on Jisung’s face. He croaked. “Thank you.”
Jisung’s brow was furrowed as he studied Minho. Knowing it’s best not to ask so many pointless questions, he was actually quiet for a while, waiting for Minho to recover.
After a moment or two, Minho sucked in a breath and nodded. “I’m fine now, it’s okay.”
Jisung made his voice softer, treading carefully but not moving as they stood near the entrance to the booth. “Does this happen often?”
Minho cast his eyes downwards, the floor suddenly very interesting. “N-no it only happens occasionally, when I’m tired I get overwhelmed, I’m sorry, it’s weird-”
Jisung grabbed Minho’s hand, hoping that like him, physical reassurance is more effective. “It’s not weird, Minho-hyung. It happens to me too. It’s okay.”
Minho lifted his head, and watched quietly as Jisung threaded his fingers through Minho’s. It felt good. Safe.
He believed Jisung. It was okay.
Jisung wanted to say more, to suggest that Minho talked to a professional, but he felt as though it wasn’t a great time for it. The last thing Minho needed right then was someone nagging at him. He made a mental note to talk to him about it at a later time.
They walked to join the others when Minho’s cheeks had regained color, and to Minho’s pleasure, Jisung never let go of his hand. No one seemed to notice but Chan, who had gotten over his choking phase and offered Minho a secret smile.
. ..
Seungmin punched Hyunjin lightly in the shoulder, causing the other to slump back in his chair dramatically. “Seungminnie, why would you hurt me like this??”
Seungmin rolled his eyes. “You are ridiculous.”
Jeongin snorted, pulling his pink hair out of his face so that he could adjust his gold glasses. “Rich coming from you, Seungmin-ah.”
“Ya! What did you just say to me maknae!?”
Minho smiled at their antics, causing Jisung to grin as well. Woojin leaned over Hyunjin to hold Seungmin back, as the younger looked as though he was about to launch himself over the table.
Chan shook his head, laughing as he took a sip from the canned drink Woojin had bought from the
vending machine on the third floor. “Now the only people we need are Changbin and Felix and then we will all be kicked out of the company.”
Jisung was in the process of leaning over the table to grab another roll when Chan made this point, so he narrowly missed knocking over Minho’s drink when he pulled back. “Hey! Me and Minho haven’t done anything wrong!”
Chan raised an eyebrow at Jisung, and Jisung met his gaze just as steely. He then realised Minho’s hand was still warm in his. Ah.
Woojin laughed. “Jisungie, we know, we know. Being loud will be Hyunjin and Seungmin’s job today.”
“Are you implying that I’m normally the loud one?”
The entire group spoke in a synchronised fashion, including Minho. “Yes.”
Jisung promptly released Minho’s hand, gasping as he used it to clutch his chest. “Minho, who’s side are you on?!”
Minho shrugged. “Sorry, Hannie. It’s the truth.”
Jisung tried to storm away, but Chan wouldn’t let him passed, laughing as he held Jisung back. Han gave up pretty quickly, sitting back down and sulking.
Everyone lost it, laughing at Jisung’s expense. Hyunjin grinned at Minho. “I like you, hyung.”
Minho brushed his hand against Han’s, hoping the comment hadn’t actually hurt Jisung’s feelings. The action caused Jisung to smile at Minho again with his heart-stopping grin, and Minho had to remind himself to breathe as he quickly withdrew his hand.
Jisung saved Minho from coming up with an excuse for his cheeks turning pink by speaking again. “Hey, when will Changbin-hyung finish up with his international schedule anyways?”
Chan hummed as he tried to remember what his friend had told him. “Oh, I think the 20th? Or the 23rd?”
Jisung beamed. “So he should be back for the premier! You guys are all invited, by the way.”
Hyunjin leaned forward and raised his can, proclaiming his words with unnecessary emphasis. “Wow, we have been invited to the grand Han Jisung’s third ever premier!? I’m so thankful for this oppor-”
Seungmin punched Hyunjin again before turning to Jisung. “Thank you, Jisung-ah.”
Minho waited for Jisung’s reply, but when he glanced at the boy, he was already lost in thought again. It appeared to be a habit.
Minho tilted his head to whisper to Jisung when the rapper sparked back to life, turning to Chan again. “And Felix? When does he get back?”
Chan’s smile faded a little at the mention of his little Australian brother. “Ah, he doesn’t know yet. It could be anywhere from three months to a couple weeks before they sort it out.”
Minho had heard of Changbin before, mainly from Jisung when he talks about his rapper hyungs, but the name Felix didn’t really ring a bell. He worked up the courage to speak. “Felix?”
Jisung jumped a little at the sound of Minho’s voice, having grown so comfortable with their close proximity that he hadn’t even realise how close they had gotten. “A-ah, he’s the model who normally works with me. You might have seen him in my last music video.”
Minho paused for a moment but then slowly remembered the model from Dragon Three . “Freckles?”
Jisung laughed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s Felix.”
Jeongin sniffed, resting all of his wait on Woojin. “I miss Felix’s freckles.”
The table grew silent before Hyunjin spoke up again, in typical Hyunjin fashion. “You guys are making it sound like he’s dead. I literally just talked to him yesterday.”
Woojin’s eyes widened as Seungmin slammed his hands down on the table. “You talked to Felix and you didn’t tell us?! ”
As the table collapsed back into chaos, Minho felt Jisung inch away from him, clearly trying to be subtle about it. Minho opted not to comment, but missed the rappers warmth almost immediately.
Raising his voice to be heard over the chatter, Minho asked the question that had been running through his head. “Hannie? What led to all of you being friends?”
Jisung froze, his escape plan being forgotten as his cheeks remained coloured. He considered Minho’s question, glad to be distracted from his racing heart. “Oh… I guess it started when I moved back to Korea. Changbin, Chan and I were friends almost as soon as I got into JYP.”
Minho was intrigued. “You moved back to Korea?”
The table quietened down a bit, everyone listening quietly as Han told the story. Despite the fact that they enjoyed teasing him, it was clear to Minho that everyone at the table cared a lot about Jisung.
“Oh yeah! I didn’t tell you, but I studied in Malaysia for a couple years. It was really cool there. But I wanted to be a lyricist and a performer at the time, so Korea was the best place to be. Anyways, once I got into JYP, Chan took me under his wing, ‘cause that’s what Chan does, and I spent two and a half years training alongside him and Changbin.”
Chan smiled.
Jisung spoke faster, excitement lacing his voice as he gestured to his other friends. “And that’s when Seungmin, Hyunjin, Jeongin, Felix and Woojin come in. We were already kind of close because we work in the same industry and stuff, but when JYP assembled a new boy group called Stray Kids, we practically became brothers…”
Minho frowned as Jisung’s voice trailed off, his expression not as happy as it had been before.
Seungmin spoke up, picking up where Jisung left off. “About two months or so before debut, Sungie had... a change of heart about becoming an idol. It wasn’t really what he wanted. So he talked to PD-nim, and was allowed to train for another six months and have a low budget debut.”
Hyunjin added to this. “Which ended up making far more money than anyone predicted, except for me of course. I always knew Jisungie was gonna be a star~”
Woojin rolled his eyes. “We all had a gut feeling. I can assure you, Hyunjin definitely wasn’t the most hopeful.”
Before Hyunjin could argue, Jeongin spoke again, eyes wide with expectation. “And what happened to everyone else?”
Minho raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were there?”
Woojin shook his head wearily. “Ignore Jeongin, he’s like that. Felix left after Jisung. Jisung-ah’s realisation kind of sparked something similar in Felix, and he’s now an actor and model working for a Korean company, though he spends a lot of time overseas.”
“And Chan and Changbin?”
Chan laughed at Minho’s new found confidence, deciding that interest is a far better expression on the model than distaste. “I debuted before Jisung was even recruited for Stray Kids, but Changbin only published his first official track a couple weeks before Sungie made his choice.”
Jisung perked up at the end of the story, turning to Minho so he could finish it off. “And that brings us back to now, kind of! A lot of stuff has happened since then, but you know, they aren’t super important.”
“Lee Minho? Han Jisung? You two are wanted on set.”
Minho hadn’t realised that time had gone by so quickly. He nodded at the starstruck woman at the end of the table, who wasn’t even looking at him, before leading Jisung back downstairs.
Jisung slowed down to wave aggressively at his friends. “Bye guys! Love you~”
Chan called out loudly, but not loud enough for Minho, who was already in the elevator, to hear. “Yeah, yeah. Get out of here, loverboy.”
This earned an applause from Hyunjin. Jisung liked to think the reason he didn’t reply was because Minho was already waiting, but the real reason was because Chan wasn’t wrong.
Jisung blinked. Oh shit.
If Chan wasn’t wrong…
Chapter End Notes
i wrote this chapter before the JYP tweeted that Han would not be participating in ISAC... i watched chan's live in which he discusses the way jisung has given everything he could for the comeback and how he was trying push through. i hope that he doesn't feel guilty and takes as much time to rest as possible, because we all know the boys deserve it. also, might i add that the way JYP has addressed the situation is admirable. I think all industries should take a page from JYP's books in the amount of both physical AND mental support they offer to their idols. we love you jisung, take your time