It takes 23 years for Lee Jinki to realise that some superstitions are worth believing. It isn’t on purpose though that Jinki gets his mind blown as he finds himself as living proof that a wish made on a shooting star will indeed come true.

Unable to sleep, Jinki had been staring at the night sky, not knowing one bit about the Perseid meteor shower, when he was suddenly treated to a spectacular myriad of shooting stars right before his very eyes. Jinki was dumbfounded, in awe of the sight before him, and the next thing he knew, he had casually wished out loud, in a flippant tone mind you, for the ability to read minds. If only Jinki knew that some things in life should be taken seriously…

And well, that explains the constant unending noise Jinki hears ever since he stepped out of the comfort of his dorm and made his way to his first class of the day. Jinki learns the hard way that the impossible is possible and that there are reasons why being normal is special in its own way. It only takes a split second for him to regret ever making that wish because boy oh boy does he feel like killing himself (and them) every time he walks past a random person and hear their thoughts loud and clear to the point that he can’t even hear himself think. That is probably why it takes Jinki a tad too long to realise that plugging in his earphones is one solution to his problem. And as he does just that and turns on the music to shut all the noise out, Jinki’s life goes back to being perfectly normal.

Until the wire of his earphones gets caught with what Jinki realises is a spiked, studded leather wristband worn by Kim Jonghyun aka the guy everyone wants a piece of but can’t have because rumour has it he has his heart set on someone (Who? No one knows.).

Not even realising that the notorious junior had been walking towards him, Jinki first feels his earphones get forcefully pulled out of his ears before he instinctively turns around and spots Jonghyun staring disbelievingly at the earphones that are now dangling on one of the spikes of his wristband. Jinki’s eyes widen in shock (and a little fear) as he finds himself swallowing a lump that formed in his throat. Jinki has heard about the junior before (everyone knows Kim Jonghyun), seen him around in school since they were both in the same faculty but never in his life has he imagined that he will be meeting him like this. Besides, it really doesn’t help one bit when Jonghyun, up-close and personal, looks a little too intimidating for plain old average Jinki’s comfort.

When Jonghyun finally looks up and meets his eyes with the earphones now in his hand, Jinki immediately scurries forward to apologise.

, it’s Lee ing Jinki!

Jinki’s apology gets caught in his throat the moment he hears Jonghyun’s voice but sees that the younger’s lips are tightly pressed together, his face as emotionless as can be. He frowns, wondering how Kim Jonghyun knows his name and why the disrespectful junior rudely adds expletives in between. It instantly piques his curiosity and in the next moment, Jinki has his ears perked, eager to read Jonghyun’s mind with his new found power. 

Why is he looking at me like that? What should I do? Shouldn’t he be apologising? Or should I say something first? But , what the hell am I supposed to say to Lee ing Jinki?

“It’s Lee Jinki, without the- .”

Jonghyun’s eyebrows furrow; and that marks the second time Jinki feels like killing himself that day. He really needs to get it into his thick head that he must always think before he speaks. Not giving Jonghyun a chance to react, Jinki quickly covers his mistake by clearing his throat and raising a hand out.

“I’m sorry about that, I have no idea how the wire could get caught with your wristband but those are my earphones. Can I please have it back?”

Damn, I could from his voice alone. 

Jinki’s jaw drops, his breath instantly catches and in the next moment, he chokes on air.

“Are you alright?” Jonghyun naturally reaches out to pat Jinki on his back in an effort to soothe his discomfort.

What I’d give to feel the skin underneath… I bet it’s soft and smooth.

Needless to say, Jinki’s coughing worsens.

How can he give s if he chokes so easily?

Jinki heaves, swiftly pushing Jonghyun away and anxiously covering his ears because he doesn’t think he can handle hearing any more of the junior’s thoughts without feeling like he is about to die from the embarrassment.

“Stop! Please stop!”

Wow, only Lee Jinki can make that sound so .

Stumbling a step back, Jonghyun stares at Jinki in confusion. Jinki can only stare back, boggled with the fact that Jonghyun still has the cheek to look at him that way when his thoughts are so crude, because sadly, Jinki’s hands still couldn’t block out the sound of Jonghyun’s voice. He’s the one who should be the most confused about why Kim Jonghyun, almost stranger, is having such indecent thoughts about him. Remembering Jonghyun’s comment that he could from his voice, Jinki finds himself fearing the possibility of that happening in public and decides not to speak anymore. Instead, he raises his hand out once more and silently asks for his earphones.

Can I just take his hand and drag him back to my room so I can him-

“No! You can’t! You don’t even know me, Kim ing Jonghyun!”

In retrospect, Jinki really should have done this right from the start but as they say, curiosity killed the cat. And so, it takes him this long to finally snatch his earphones out of Jonghyun’s hand and storm off before the junior can even do anything let alone think.

Jinki concludes with a huff that his encounter with Jonghyun is definitely enough mind reading for a day.

*

When his lecturer finally ends the class, Jinki almost falls to his knees to thank the gods above because he doesn’t think he can survive another second of hearing the ridiculous random thoughts of his classmates. Believe him, Jinki used the entire time in class to figure out if it was possible to shut their thoughts out but nothing he did worked. Jinki believes that it is because he didn’t make his wish specific enough and so the stars simply gave him what he wanted. Feeling like all of his energy has been drained from him, all Jinki desperately wants right now is to skip the rest of his classes and head back to his dorm so he can get his peace and quiet. However, as he wearily steps out of his classroom and finds Kim Jonghyun leaning against the opposite wall looking directly at him, Jinki knows his patience is about to be tested.

“Lee Jinki!”

Not even having the energy to turn away, Jinki sighs as he walks towards Jonghyun, “That’s Jinki hyung for you.”

“What?”

“I’m older than you, aren’t I?”

“Do you know me?”

“Everyone knows you.”

“So you’ve heard of me before?”

Jinki simply nods.

“What do you think of me?”

“Sorry?”

“I don’t know, I feel like you have a really bad impression of me, so I just want to clear things up.”

“Why? We never met each other before today so it really isn’t necessary for you to come and find me just to-”

“Trust me, it is.”

“Why?”

Because I’m ing in love with you.

This is what Jinki hears before Jonghyun clears his throat and answers out loud, “I… just don’t want anyone to have the wrong idea about me.”

Jinki suddenly has difficulty breathing as his eyes blow wide open, lips part in astonishment, unable to do anything except stare at Jonghyun.

“Oh , is it happening again?” Jonghyun worriedly asks as he watches Jinki heave for the second time that day, “Are you suffering from asthma? Can I help you with anything? Your inhaler? Or any medicine?”

Please don’t die on me, Lee Jinki. I haven’t confessed my love for you.

Jinki shakes his head so hard Jonghyun ends up worrying even more.

“N- no.” Jinki splutters, gulping to say, “No asthma! I’m fine. I just- I’m sorry but… how do you know me?”

Jonghyun freezes.

Dammit, I can’t tell him I knew about his existence the day I saw him running in the rain with his white shirt soaked wet, he was practically topless, plus his black jeans clinging to those goddamn thighs. , Kim Jonghyun, this is not the right time to get a hard on. He’s waiting for an answer, hurry the up. Think of something, you dumb . Oh oh! Maybe I should just skip that and tell him I fell in love with him the more I found out about him? No, I sound like a stalker. What am I saying? I am a ing stalker. , what the should I-

“You really need to stop cursing.”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.”

Jonghyun gapes in reply.

All of a sudden, the situation is all too funny that Jinki can’t help but laugh before he coos, “Aww, you look like a goldfish. That’s cute.”

Jonghyun is rendered speechless. And finally, for once, Jinki doesn’t hear his thoughts. Jonghyun’s mind must have gone blank.

Silence is golden indeed. Jinki lets out a blissful sigh and ponders out loud, “Stay like this and I will love you forever.”

“You… love me?”

“No, of course not!”

When Jinki sees how Jonghyun’s face falls, he feels a tug on his heartstrings and instantly shakes his head to clarify, “I mean, not now! But maybe, if we get to know each other, I don’t know, I may just love you in the future?”

Jonghyun’s eyes instantly lights up with hope, “Does this mean you don’t mind getting to know me?”

“Why not?” Jinki shrugs, seeing no harm in making more friends… even if it’s with a person who has inappropriate thoughts about him (he isn’t supposed to know about this anyway).

Jonghyun breathes in and decides to go all out, “Can I ask you out on a date then?”

“Umm, sure, I guess?”

Jonghyun beams, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Umm Jonghyun?” Jinki bites his bottom lip nervously.

“Yes?”

“I, erm, know you want to do a lot of indecent things to me, but please, I’m begging you, can we take things slow?”

Did he just say what I thought I heard him say?

Jinki quickly flashes a dazzling smile as he intercepts Jonghyun’s thoughts and asks enthusiastically, “So! Date?”

Nah, my ears must have been playing tricks on me. It’s impossible for Jinki to know how I think about ing him…

Jonghyun laughs at himself as he returns a smile to Jinki who has been acting oblivious the entire time and confidently says, “Yes, date… how does fried chicken and beer sound?”

“Perfect!” Jinki nods excitedly as he makes a mental note to give Jonghyun some credit for knowing what he loves the most.

It is only then does the reality truly sinks in. Kim Jonghyun actually loves him. The poor junior probably knows so much about him that Jinki actually feels bad he knows nothing about the guy… Nothing to worry about though, Jinki thinks. With his ability to read minds, Jinki is more than confident that he will catch up easily and maybe find himself falling in love with the guy who everyone wants but can’t have. True, it may be cheating but well, that’s what powers are for. And as long as Jinki has it, he will put it to good use. Who knows? Jonghyun may just end up grateful for his ability to read minds one day in the near future.

Author's Note: now that i'm reading/editing this again, i just thought of the idea to reveal that Jonghyun had also wished upon the shooting stars (because in reality he did) to have his chance with Jinki and that his wish came true as well but i liked the flow of the story and didn't know where to add it. so i thought i would just mention it here. hee. anyway. it's the first time i'm writing in present tense so do forgive me for any errors! i hope i did your brilliant prompt justice, anon! (＾▽＾)