Not Just Fan Service

stage 32: irritation

★·.·'𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎'·.·★

"Hey, do you want to hang out after this? I'm thinking of going out to eat," Minho shrugged, furrowing his eyebrows when Jisung didn't even turn to face him, "Ji?"

"Oh, sorry, I uh, I was just lost in thought I guess," Jisung shook his head, still not turning around. Not even lifting his head, "I um, I'm sorry actually, I was going to work on this record song I've been making. I got an idea for lines and a melody, and I want to get it out before I completely lose it, so."

"Yeah, I get that," the older one smiled gently and nodded, "how about a rain check then?"

"Uh, yeah, maybe," Jisung replied, turning his head to watch Minho's retreating figure as he walked away.

That was only the first in the list of rain checks to be started. Minho didn't realize until Jisung had declined to hang out with him for the third time in a row on their next day off, the younger saying he wanted to work on a couple songs he'd made to polish them and make some new ones since he'd gotten topic inspiration and ideas. The next time he'd declined the invitation, it was because Jisung was simply not feeling energetic enough and "didn't want to ruin the vibe" which Minho had realized, later on, that it was a silly response considering there was at least three separate times Minho could remember Jisung coming over to his room just to nap in there instead of his own bed where he'd actually come from.

He sent another text to the younger one to test the theory that maybe Jisung was avoiding him again. Hey, do you want to hang out on Friday night? Since we're free, I still want to try that restaurant. Minho stared at his phone as he awaited a response. He watched as they 'read' popped up under his message, Watched the way Jisung started typing, and then stopped. And then he started typing again. And then he stopped.

Jisung deleted his response again, trying to wrack his brain for the best excuse he could possibly think of. Until finally, he decided on one; I'm sorry, I actually planned to go to the studio with Chan that evening to record something.

It wasn't entirely a lie, Jisung was planning to go to the studio with Chan soon to record the song he'd finished, he just hadn't exactly consulted the leader on when they could go. So, as he hit send on his message, he walked over to the older's room to say, "hey, you free Friday night?"

"Yeah, why?" Chan replied, looking up from his own computer where he, too, was working on a song.

"Great, uh, wanna help me record my new track?" Jisung smiled in hopes that would further persuade the older male to agree.

"Sure?" Chan replied, "why do I sense that there's more to you asking me?"

"Not sure," the younger shook his head, "anyways, glad you're on board, I'll look forward to Friday, then."

Minho reread the message four times in his head and once out loud, taking the time to think about if he really believed it or not. Because if Jisung was avoiding him, Minho couldn't eliminate the possibility of Jisung lying just to get out of hanging out with him. Which was why the next morning, although feeling kind of like a child and he wasn't proud of the idea, Minho approached to ask, "hey, you and Ji are going to record tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Chan replied as he sipped his water. They were busy with dance practice that day, almost like it was a break from filming.

"Just- didn't know you guys had planned to do so," the other replied with a nod and fell quiet for a minute before speaking again, "when did you plan this?"

"Oh, uh," Chan wasn't always quick on his feet, but he didn't see the point in trying to make Minho upset with Jisung since he was fairly sure the younger was trying to avoid the older as a result of things he really couldn't control, "I think it was Monday night? I saw what he was working on and so he said that if he finishes it by tomorrow we could record it and he did, so, yeah."