It doesn’t take as long as Kibum expects for the others to join him in the dining hall. Since Jonghyun was the one who invited him over, he sacrifices the meal swipe so that Minho can also eat. They disperse to gather food then gather at a empty booth in the corner. Jonghyun ends up sitting with Kibum, since they each have one plate and Minho has two and a half. As Kibum and Minho get set eating, Jonghyun starts a new parade of questions.

“So Kibum. Why do you call Minho ducky? Actually, Minho did you grow out of your speech problem or just like work on it? No wait. Why did you guys decide to go to different colleges if you’re so close? Do you guys like the same music? Is it physically possible for Minho to eat a normal sized portion?”

Kibum holds up a hand to silence Jonghyun, making Minho laugh. The two share a look.

“Reasons. Yes. No. Additional reasons. Rarely.” he says.

Jonghyun huffs. “That doesn’t answer any of my questions, Kibum. These are meant to be qualitative not quantitative. I'm trying to get to know Minho here.”

“I really liked feeding ducks when we were little and my top and bottom lip look the same, so sometimes I get the duck lips look when I’m talking.” Minho answers, taking a bite. “It got better as I got older but I also went to speech therapy so in a way, yes to both. We’re majoring in different things and work better under different circumstances so different colleges make better sense. While there is overlap, we usually listen to different music. And normal varies from person to person, so since 3 plates of food is my normal portion I’m eating one right now.”

“Thank you, Minho. You see what I mean, Kibum? That’s a qualitative answer.”

Kibum and Minho share a look and continue eating. When he finishes his second plate, Minho puts his fork down for a moment.

“Full?” Jonghyun asks, somewhat excitedly.

Minho laughs. “No, just waiting for you to catch up.”

When they’re all finished eating, Jonghyun remembers that he does, in fact, still have class to go to. He runs off without a backpack and once they’re done laughing, Kibum leads the way to his room. He’d texted his roommate earlier that he was going to be in need of some alone time earlier and he hopes that he actually left. The room is thankfully empty when they get there. When Kibum shuts and locks the door behind them, Minho sits down on the bed with a sigh. Kibum goes next to him, shimmying his way back on the bed so his back is against the wall.

“What did you want to talk about, ducky?”

“How affectionate are you today?”

Kibum purses his lips and tilts his head back and forth. “Depends. What are you wanting?”

“Can I lay next to you with my head in your lap, a la the break down of 9th grade? You can put a pillow on your lap if you want.”

“That should be fine.”

Kibum grabs his pillow and sets it on his lap as Minho scoots back and lays down. He knows that if Minho’s asking for this there must really be a lot on his mind. He does his best to pet Minho’s hair while he arranges his thoughts.

“Ok, so there’s two kind of things on my mind and I want your super honest opinion but in the most loving and supportive tone you can put it in if that’s manageable.”

“Are we talking Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast supportive or Sebastian in Little Mermaid supportive?”

“Sebastians honesty Mrs. Potts niceness.”

“Got it. Alright. You may commence venting when you’re ready.”

Minho sighs again and Kibum’s worried that he’ll cry. He doesn’t though and eventually starts talking.

“So the first and probably more obvious is Jonghyun.”

“Yeah, pretty obvious, ducky. What about him?”

“I mean I don’t know how much of our messages you saw but like we’ve been talking a lot and I’m really unsure. Like I think I like him but I’m worried that it’s not necessarily him that I like and that I just like the attention he gives me. And like I know having crushes isn’t your division by any means but like you’ve read and watched enough romance genre there has to be something helpful you can say.”

“Is there something he said or did that made you wonder or are you just doubting your own feelings?”

Minho pauses. He pulls his phone out and starts scrolling through messages. Eventually he finds what he’s looking for and turns his phone to show Kibum

Chat: ㅎㅅ~

( Monday, 8:00 pm)

Jjongie: Waaah you’re too cute!!
Jjongie: sorry i didn’t answer earlier i was Trapped in the Confines of Compose Everything On Demand Because Capitalism class.

CineMin: its ok ^^

Jjongie: I’m not religious but you have the patience of a Saint

CineMin: nooo~ I just realize that you also have classes
CineMin: how was class, by the way?

Jjongie: i mean i Like composing until i am Required to do it in a particular time for a particular theme so there’s that but it went well. I managed to get something out to appease the capitalist supervisor that is my professor.

CineMin: Nice ^^

Jjongie: So your test went ok?s

CineMin: not really ;; but i’ll be okay ;; Bummie is supposed to go over it with me when i get it back so ;;

Jjongie: You don’t know the grade right?

CineMin: I’m supposed to get it back next Monday.

Jjongie: !! ㅎㅅㅎ !! I believe in you !! good vibes !!

Kibum hands the phone back to Minho.

“Do you see what I mean?” Minho asks, face full of uncertainty.

“No, ducky. You’re going to have to give me a little more than 12 text messages.”

Minho sighs and puts his phone away.

“He just always compliments me and says supportive things like that and I’m sure it’s just his personality but its just so weird to me to hear that kind of stuff from anyone but you. And like he’s so cute and I like talking to him but I’m just worried that it’s like Sulli all over again where I liked the attention more than the person.”

The Sulli Affair, as Kibum called it, had been messy. It had happened in Minho and Sulli’s sophomore year. After Sulli confessed her feelings to Minho after a soccer game, the two decided to give dating a go. It went well for a month or two, but as things went on it was clear that Sulli was much more romantically invested in it than Minho was. He did his best to end things as well as he could, but she was still unconsolable for a long time and they were never really able to repair their friendship.

“Has he indicated that he wants relationship type things from you? Because if not, then it doesn’t quite matter yet. It’s not like I’m trying to marry you two off.”

Minho laughs and starts scrolling through messages again, handing it to Kibum again.

Chat: ㅎㅅ~

( Tuesday, 9:07 pm)

Jjongie: So what type of things do you enjoy besides reading and competitive eating?

CineMin: I like watching movies. Petting my cat. Sleeping. Going for drives. Working out. Recently, I’ve been going for walks in the botanical garden on campus. You?

Jjongie: :O there’s a garden on your campus!!
Jjongie: if i come visit will you take me to the garden!!
Jjongie: we should have a picnic!!

CineMin: sure 6v6

Jjongie: ok i will try to give you a date for our Date whenever my TA actually updates the schedule like she’s been saying that she will for two weeks.

“Ok fair enough that does seem interested. Do you want me to talk to him about it? Like what his feelings are? Maybe that’ll help you gauge your own.”

“Yeah, that might help.”

There’s silence for a moment.

“Before you continue can you sit up?” Kibum asks. He wants to be there for Minho but his leg is starting to fall asleep and the closeness is getting to be too much. Minho obliges, moving a bit farther from Kibum to give him space.

“What if Jonghyun doesn’t like that I’m semi-ace?”

“He knows that I’m aro-ace and is very fine with that, if that helps?”

“Yeah but that just means you’re completely unattainable in anyway. Mine’s like ‘hey sometimes you’ll have all of my affections but sometimes you’ll only have half ,have fun!’”

“I know that talking about this kind of stuff is hard for you, ducky, but there’s only going to be one way to find out. Let me talk to him about his feelings for you and then we’ll go from there. Who knows, maybe he’s not even actually as interested as we think he is.”

Minho nods and pulls his legs to chest.

“Are you good on this part for now?”

Minho nods again.

“What’s part 2 of the venting?”

Minho takes a deep breath. “I made a comment about how I wasn’t sure how my grade would be for the college algebra test to my mom and like an hour later my dad called me again with the ‘maybe college isn’t for you why don’t you come learn the management end of the store’ spiel again.”

“Minho, I love you and you know that and I know that you love your dad because he’s your dad, but honestly your dad can off with that .”

“But Kibum, what if he’s right? I’m not doing well in my regular classes and I’m doing worse in my major classes. What if I’m just not cut out to be a smart person? What if I’m not meant to do this?”

Minho’s grades had been the real reason for the difference in colleges. Kibum had no problem getting into Palm Valley with his impeccable grades and had even been offered a full ride. Minho’s older brother had also gone there, along with around half of the graduates of their high school. Minho hadn’t been so lucky. Greenfield’s application pool was small enough that it was one of schools Minho had barely been able to qualify for and had been the cheapest out of the handful that had accepted him. He was offered little in terms of financial aid from any school and Greenfield was the only one his parents were willing to help pay for.  Originally, Kibum was willing to go to Greenfield to help him out but Minho refused to let him turn down the full scholarship.

“Minho. What did I tell you when you had to repeat 8th grade?”

“That I’m a smart and capable person.”

“And what else?”

“That the only reason I struggle to be successful is because the education system isn’t built fairly.”

“That’s right. And that applies here too. Just because memorization isn’t your strong suit doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. Just because you have test anxiety doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail. Did you go talk to student services yet?”

Minho shakes his head.

“Go this week and talk to them. We checked and you have all the paperwork you need to get the same type of exam accommodations you had in high school, remember? I know you don’t want to, but you’re going to have to, ducky.”

“I just want to be able to do academic things like normal kids, bunny. And if you say that normal is just a setting on a washing machine I will smother you with your own pillow.”

Kibum laughs and Minho seems to relax a little.

“I know you do. And I wish there was a way that I could make that happen for you. But, unfortunately, it’s not currently possible. So instead I will affectionately annoy you to get accomodations and keep tutoring you. And if your dad makes one more comment about how you should just drop out or compares you to your brother one more time, know that I am fully prepared to deck him.”

Minho properly laughs this time. “Thanks, bunny.”

He goes to say something else but is interrupted by his phone going off

Group Chat!: “Cheese fries”

Jjongie: I Am Freed From Capitalism And Would Like To Enjoy Some Comradeship If You Guys Are Not Busy Being Not-Boyrfriends ㅎㅅㅎ