𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗧 & 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗. ❥ shimkongz.

2) PRETTIEST MAN I SAW

Gyuvin got up from his seat slowly, always being the last one to pack up. Gunwook had long since given up on waiting for him before heading to the dance practice room for their makeshift dance troupe, ZEROBASEONE, but Gyuvin liked to take his time and make sure that he had all of his things, even if he was completely unorganized in every single other aspect of his life.

He walked down the stairs to leave before pausing, seeing what looked like a student ID on one of the tables. That was never good to lose. He didn't look at it before sweeping it up, already thinking about returning it to the student services desk like the good Samaritan he was.

It was a long walk to the main building, Gyuvin had to admit, but he was overly excited for dance. More than usual. Today was the day that Jiwoong and Seobin, the TAs of the group, would be joining them. It was already rare to get one of them, let alone both.

Gyuvin walked past the library, already approaching the student services desk. Before Seobin could catch sight of him, however, he pulled out the ID and looked at it.

Yeah, Gyuvin wasn't returning this. Not just yet. Gyuvin had been walking this Earth for 19 years, but he hadn't seen someone as pretty as that... well, ever.

He slowly drifted away from the student services desk, his eyes travelling over the student ID. Shen Quanrui. A foreigner, how interesting. Gyuvin decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea for the university to let the student's select their ID photos. Maybe the student– Quanrui– was just posed normally in the photo, but Gyuvin was taking it personally. How dare he stare up at the camera with those seductive eyes, slutty sunglasses, and bedazzled earrings! And the hair– don't even let Gyuvin get started on the hair.

Gyuvin read over the ID again. Same age as him, and he looked like that? It wasn't like Gyuvin had never seen pretty people, but what Jiwoong and Hanbin had as an advantage was that they were older than Gyuvin. Older, less awkward, and fitting their personalities with ease. Quanrui, on the other hand, was straight out of this world in comparison to Gyuvin. Yet again, Gyuvin didn't know what he was like.

Quanrui. Shen Quanrui. Gyuvin read the Hangul, then the English, and then the Hangul again. He was sure the boy was Chinese– he'd have to ask Hao for the proper pronounciation. Shen Quanrui. And he had just been... sitting three rows ahead of Gyuvin and Gyuvin hadn't noticed? Insane, really. And extremely dumb on Gyuvin's part.

Gyuvin slipped off his backpack, placing the student's ID with his own. He'd return it, of course, in a day. Or two. Or a few more.

He quickly moved on to the pracice room, finding that Gunwook and Taerae were already set up in there and stretching. He figured he should do the same and warm up, grabbing his headphones to turn on some music.

His warmup and stretching routine went as usual, going through some isolations slowly as The Real played in his ears.

Gyuvin paused his music when he heard Hao and Hanbin's voices, which signalled their arrivals. They were the MVPs of the troupe, essentially, being the creator and the leader respectively. They didn't walk in immediately, however, which had Gyuvin turning his head to see what had them caught up.

Rather, who.

Gyuvin's heart jumped to his throat, dove back into his chest, and did a whole gymnasics floor pass when his eyes landed on Shen Quanrui, who leaned against the doorframe talking to Hao as if it were the most casual thing ever.

Questions popped into Gyuvin's mind as he watched the two interact. How did Hao know Shen Quanrui? For how long? Did they have the same classes? Were they friends? They seemed relatively acquainted, which could mean that Gyuvin and Shen Quanrui probably knew Hao for the same amount of time. How had Hao never mentioned him? He always joked about his only friends being in the troupe, but now... this was different. This was a friend outside the troupe and therefore a violation of what Hao had said! He was a liar, deceiver, and fibber, all while Shen Quanrui stood talking to him like he was a normal human being. Did he have no rage? Anger? Could he not feel the feelings that Gyuvin was attempting to shoot him by staring straight at him?

Actually, Gyuvin hadn't realized that he had stopped dancing, instead staring directly at Shen Quanrui. It was only when Shen Quanrui locked eyes with him suddenly that his heart jumped and time stopped. Maybe an exaggeration, but Gyuvin felt like he was moving in slow motion when he tried to look away.

Through his peripheral, he could see the stoic look on Shen Quanrui's face morph into a smile– no, a laugh. He had made Shen Quanrui laugh by doing absolutely nothing, and it was to the extent that the older was covering his mouth in order to hid the smile behind his hands. Gyuvin wanted to see it, but he wasn't going to say anything about it.

After a few seconds, Gyuvin looked back hoping that Shen Quanrui was looking away or preoccupied with Hanbin and Hao. But no, Shen Quanrui was still staring at Gyuvin and Gyuvin had never felt like such a loser before. Did he look too suspicious? Did he look like he had something that belonged to him and didn't want to give it back because Shen Quanrui looked too attractive in it?

Just his luck, Shen Quanrui was still staring. He didn't stay much longer, however, casting Gyuvin a brief wave and small smile before turning around, leaving Gyuvin awed and thankful to whatever god let him see Shen Quanrui smile.

He debated on asking Hao about it before he decided to fuck it, walking up as casually as ever. "Yo, who was that?"

Hao narrowed his eyes. Rats. "Why do you care?"

"I can't be curious?" Gyuvin asked, attempting (and most likely failing) to not let his emotions shine through. "Plus, what happened to Mr. All-My-Friends-Are-In-The-Troupe?"

"He's not exactly my friend," Hao replied.

"You looked really close."

Hao shot Gyuvin a death glare, which was something he'd received enough times to know that it meant that he should stop asking. "Guys, Jiwoong's still on his way, so let's start warming up for Kick It. You guys ready?"

Gyuvin wasn't exactly, his mind still elsewhere, but it was fine. He'd been practicing this song even before going into university, let alone joining the troupe (Yujin was in there, of course, the one random high schooler of the group).

As long as he didn't mess up the choreography.