Jongin had even seen Sarangkun performing once or twice on late weekend nights. He'd been particularly impressed by their only female member because she looked and dressed exactly like a Korean, but was actually Russian and most probably drank like one. (That was a complete stereotype, but Jongin had seen her throwing back soju once and it was truly an impressive feat. An added point in her favor? No Asian glow.)

 

Jongin had never, however, wanted to be part of their show. Not until today, that is.

 

 

 

 

Jongin watched as the guy--he was blonde and lithe and graceful, but muscular too, and totally Jongin's type--moved in choreographed sync with the Russian girl and a skinny black guy with braids. The three worked together to pull a blushing high schooler from the awed crowd, and proceed to dance all over her while Jongin looked on in amazement. (And envy.)

 

One aspect unique to Sarangkun, and their almost legendary street performances, was that the dancers only engaged with audience members of the same gender. Jongin had four older sisters, and knew from experience that Korean men could be a little possessive over their girlfriends--to put it nicely. Since he was attending Hongik for dance but was also getting a minor in business, Jongin understood the brilliance of Sarangkun from their selectivity of participants alone. They managed to avoid conflict with jealous significant others, but still encouraged audience participation, and actually garnered more tips when a little rough and taboo.

 

The song ended before Jongin could fully process what he'd just seen, but before Minseok could figure out a way to project his angry-at-being-ignored voice even louder into Jongin's ear, Jongin hung up, and turned his full attention to the y blonde dancer. The guy, who Jongin recognized as Oh Sehun from his economics class--coincidentally enough--had started dancing again, this time to EXO's "Playboy." (If Jongin had ovaries, he thinks they would have exploded because Sehun was too much to handle at that point.) As his body moved to the beat of the music, Sehun sauntered seductively toward an attractive guy at the front of the crowd, and started grinding on him. Everyone watching loved it, but the guy looked uncomfortable, and Jongin just felt jealous all over again.

 

He wanted to be the one Sehun picked from the onlookers for a quick grind. He wanted to be grabbed by the hair and dragged with pretend force into the center for an even longer grind. Basically, if a grinding Sehun was involved, Jongin wanted in. This conclusion came to him too late, though, because "Playboy" was Sarangkun's last song of the night, and the mortified guy was Sehun's last audience victim.

 

 

 

Three missed calls, seven text messages, and one voicemail later--all courtesy of a now totally pissed Minseok--Jongin found himself literally loitering as he tried his hardest to inconspicuously watch Sarangkun pack up. The wait felt like hours but was most definitely less, and Jongin wasn't even sure what he was waiting for, only that something--or someone--was keeping him immobile, pleasantly so.

 

Eventually, though Jongin was doing his absolute best to creep subtly, someone noticed his presence, alerting the rest of the group before turning to greet Jongin with a slight bow and a smile. Like calls to like, so even though it wasn't Sehun saying hello, the dancer in Jongin couldn't help complementing the individual, his dancing, and Sarangkun as a whole.

 

"You're so good," he gushed excitedly to the street performer, soon learning that the other guy was Chinese, was named Yixing but went by Lay, and was kind of really obsessed with unicorns and Korean beer.

 

Lay seemed genuinely pleased by Jongin's praise, enough at least for Jongin to score an invite out for samgyupsal with the dance group and to ditch Minseok completely. (Actually, Jongin wasn't quite sure how Lay seemed to feel about anything because other than permanent dimples, the guy's range of facial expression was pretty slim. Regardless, when Lay smiled and asked Jongin if he was hungry, it was enough to get and instant "Yes!")

 

As Lay followed the rest of s to barbecue with Jongin in tow, they were joined by another guy, someone Jongin actually recognized as a fellow audience member. He was soon introduced as Lay's boyfriend, Jongdae, and turned out to be absolutely hilarious. Jongin, used to Minseok's--whose resting state was always at least marginally irritated--and Luhan's--whose definition of a good joke was something Jongin would have laughed at in second grade, maybe--types of humor, felt like his insides were about to burst because he had never laughed so much in his life.

 

The evening progressed as most weekend evenings do. As more drinks were purchased and passed around, so were further introductions, and by the time Sehun formally greeted a now pleasantly buzzed Jongin, it was almost 1am.

 

"I'm Sehun," he whisper-yelled in Jongin's ear as the two waited for their drinks at the bar of one of Hongdae's many clubs.

 

Jongin giggled and said, "I know!" before he could stop himself.

 

His instantaneous flush of embarrassment and regret was halted, though, when Sehun peered at him a little more closely. "Jongin, right? 8 am ECON?" he questioned curiously.

 

"You know who I am!" Jongin squeaked in elation, too drunk to care that he was probably making a fool of himself in front of his newly-formed crush.

 

"Uh, yeah," Sehun replied with a low chuckle. "You're a dancer who minors in business. Since that's basically me too, you're kind of hard to miss."

 

"Really?" Jongin questioned, searching Sehun's face for any indications of insincerity. He blushed and bit his lip, suddenly shy. "I could say the same about you."

 

Sehun leaned even closer, ignoring the now-prepared drinks on the counter next to his arm. He was a little taller than Jongin, but in that moment it seemed like he was towering over his fellow dancer as he brought his lips to Jongin's ear. Nibbling on Jongin's lobe, Sehun smirked at the reactionary groan he received, before asking, "You think I'm unmissable?"

 

Jongin gulped audibly, but nodded.

 

"Unmissable, baby?" Sehun repeated with a teasing whisper, his lips ghosting across Jongin's cheek and his arms placed on either side to trap a standing Jongin against the bar. "Baby, try unforgettable."

 

And from that moment, Jongin was a goner. (Arguably, he'd been a lost cause since first being jealous of a guy getting his hair pulled, but Jongin didn't like to dwell on the discovery of that particular kink of his. Sehun was always more than obliging when Jongin wanted to be particularly roughed up, but Jongin thought it was just too humiliating to talk about. Instead, he tells people an edited version of their story in which Sehun's eyes met Jongin's as the former was dancing on the streets with Sarangkun. It's more romantic like that--and PG.)