minsung one shots

secret santa

ʳᵉᵠᵘᵉˢᵗᵉᵈ ᵇʸ Cloudx_xoxo
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fluff / 19582
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ᵐᵉʳʳʸ ᶜʰʳⁱˢᵗᵐᵃˢ 𐚁๋࣭⭑ֶָ֢

the name ‘lee minho’ stared back at jisung as if judging him.

his literature professor had decided that he wanted to do secret santa with the students in his class, so everyone had to pick a small piece of paper out of the ceramic bowl mr. yen had placed carefully on his desk. the bowl itself looked older than the building, pale blue with tiny cracks running through the glaze like veins. jisung had noticed it the moment he walked in, had even thought about how strange it was that something so fragile could hold so many names.

jisung had been nervous from the beginning. he hadn’t talked to half the people in this class. some of them sat in cliques, whispering to each other about things jisung didn’t understand, laughing at inside jokes he would never be part of. others sat alone like him, eyes glued to their notebooks, pretending not to care. he didn’t know what he would do if he had to buy a present for someone he had never spoken to. the idea alone made his chest tighten.

mr. yen had smiled when he explained the rules, clasping his hands together as if he were far more excited than anyone else in the room. a small gift. nothing expensive. something thoughtful, he had said. something that shows you paid attention.

paid attention. jisung swallowed at that.

one by one, students stood up when their row was called, walked to the front, and reached into the bowl. some laughed when they unfolded their papers, nudging friends beside them. others frowned, already mentally calculating what they would have to buy. jisung watched all of it with stiff shoulders and sweaty palms, counting each student until it was his turn.

he was the twelfth who pulled out a folded piece of paper.

his legs felt weak as he stood, chair scraping softly against the floor. he kept his head down while walking to the front, acutely aware of how quiet he was compared to everyone else. when his fingers dipped into the bowl, they brushed against several pieces of paper before he grabbed one at random. it felt heavier than it should have.

he returned to his seat before opening it, heart pounding so loudly he was convinced the people around him could hear it. his fingers trembled as he unfolded the paper, careful not to tear it.

lee minho - the piece of paper read.

jisung exhaled, then inhaled again, slower this time. okay. that was okay.

he knew minho.

of course he knew who minho was. minho was his roommate for the year, the person whose shoes always ended up kicked off near the door, whose laughter echoed through their dorm room late at night when jisung was pretending to study. the person whose presence had gone from unfamiliar to comforting so seamlessly that jisung hadn’t even noticed when it happened.

minho was okay.

jisung leaned back in his chair, eyes drifting to the front of the room where mr. yen was helping another student unfold a paper that had gotten stuck. the tension in his shoulders eased slightly. buying something for minho didn’t feel like a looming disaster. if anything, it felt… manageable.

jisung had been awkward with minho at first. this was just how he was. he didn’t really like new people, didn’t know how to act around them without overthinking every word. he needed time to get comfortable, needed routines and familiarity before he could truly relax. when he first moved into the dorm, the idea of sharing a room with someone he didn’t know had made him nauseous.