Part Four and a Half

Staring Contest

Saying Seokmin was happy was an understatement. He was out right thrilled to be talking to his idol about dance. He loved the way Soonyoung’s eyes lit up when he spoke about his latest combination he had been working on. He listened to every detail and committed every single word to heart.

But honestly, he was extremely lost. Just because he liked dance didn't mean he had ever taken a class or knew anything about it. He had no idea what Soonyoung was saying but didn't have the heart to tell him that. If it made Soonyoung happy, Seokmin found himself growing happier. 

He had found Soonyoung's dance page about a year ago when he was studying with Seungkwan at his house. Seungkwan's friend, Hansol, had come over to help them in English but it just ended with Hansol becoming a distraction and showing them cool rapping and dancing videos. The video that caught Seokmin's eye had been of a boy dancing in a small practice room. He seemed so happy and carefree, and his dancing was ultimately flawless. When Seokmin asked about the boy Hansol quickly pulled up his dance blog and explained that the boy went to their school and was, quote, "the dance God of anything dance". 

And that's how Seokmin fell in love. 

Well, not in love. But he was in awe. Ever since that day he had always wanted to talk to Soonyoung. He just looked so happy and nice that Seokmin found himself wanting to befriend the boy. Everytime he tried, however, he just couldn't do it. He got nervous or talked himself out of it with a list of fifty reason why Soonyoung would never want to be friends with him. And so Seokmin just stuck to watching his videos. 

Now that he was actually having a legit conversation with Soonyoung, Seokmin didn't want to come off as creepy so he pretended that he hadn't stalker Sooyoung's dance blog for hours on end. And he pretended he hadn't gone to every single performance around town that he performed in. If anything that would probably of creeped Soonyoung out. 

Soonyoung on the other hand was thrilled to have someone so interested in what he was doing. He didn't mention to Seokmin that he had seen him at a couple (okay, a lot) of his performances. He had always wanted to talk to the boy but thought it might sound weird to start a conversation with "I've seen you watch me a lot". 

He also failed to admit that he had watched Seokmin a lot himself. Not in a creepy stalker way though. He spent a lot of time in the choir room because that's where Jihoon did a lot of his composing (which Soonyoung tagged along with because he just liked bugging the boy). So he had seen Seokmin and Seungkwan a lot and would be lying if he didn't say he fell in love with their voices. 

And he would certainly be lying if he didn't say he found himself actually attracted to the boy smiling in front of him right now. It was weird, he had never really had crushes on people besides, of course, a couple of singers here and there (because honestly who doesn't have a celebrity crush at least once in their life?). But concerning the people he went to school with, he had never found himself actually attracted to any of them. Of course he figured, why should he be attracted to people? That was an old person thing anyways. He was just a teenager, who needed love yet? He firmly thought all of this until he saw Seokmin. 

It was honestly so terrifying. That right now, as he ranted to the said boy about his latest dance project, he was so scared that the he was boring. That his hair might be messed up. That he might say the wrong thing. That Seokmin didn't like him or actually want to talk to him. 

It was all so confusing. So when he blurted out an invitation for Seokmin to come to the studio where he dances on Saturday to hang out for awhile, he wanted to shoot himself. Who invites their crush (ew, he hated that word) to their dance studio to see them all sweaty and tired? And what crush actually agreed to that? 

Apparently his did. 

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To say Jihoon was upset wouldn't even cover half of what he was feeling. How could Seungcheol just call him out like that? And in front of one of their very best friends at that. It was embarrassing and degrading. Seungcheol could of just said it straight to his face that he didn't like him back. 

Mingyu immediately noticed the pink haired boys upset behavior as he sulked into the living room where Wonwoo and Mingyu sat. They stopped feeding each other pizza and slowly moved over to where the boy sat. Out of all their years of being friends, the two boys had quickly learned that handling an upset Jihoon took skill. It didn't take a lot to anger the boy and a lot of times ended with Mingyu or Wonwoo (usually both of them) getting hit. So normally they would push the sad boy onto Seungcheol but for some reason that just didn't seem like an option right then. 

"Jihoon?" Wonwoo started, slowly taking a seat a little ways away from the boy. "What's wrong?" Jihoon just grunted as a response. 

"We know something's the matter. Don't try and hide it from us." Mingyu laughed, sitting on his opposite side. Jihoon sighed and rested his face in his hands. 

"If you liked someone, how would you want them to say that they didn't like you back?" Both boys were caught off guard. Jihoon liked someone? 

"Nicely? I don't know, I would probably want to be rejected privately." Wonwoo pondered. Jihoon sighed again and Mingyu instantly clicked part of the problem together. 

"Did someone reject you publicly?" He murmured and felt his heart break when the pink head slowly began to nod. "Jihoonie-" 

"It's fine. I just wish they would of been smart enough to know the proper way to reject me. Because now they've not only hurt me but damaged our friendship as well." Jihoon muttered bitterly. 

It was silent for a moment as the two boys let it all sink in. Finally Wonwoo spoke. "Who was it?" 

Jihoon sighed again, his face forming in a heartbroken smile. He glanced behind his shoulder at the room he had just came out of before shaking his head and looking back down at his hands. "Seungcheol." 

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Seungcheol couldn't believe his ears. His mouth hung open and he swore he blinked about fifty times trying to wake himself up from this dream, but nothing happened. There Joshua stood, looking slightly offended but mostly concerned for his odd behavior, not understanding that what he just said would literally kill his best friend: Jeonghan. 

“Are you okay?” Joshua finally asked as the thought of breaking Jeonghan’s hopes and dreams came crashing down in Seungcheol’s head. He nodded and slowly backed away from his now seemingly straight friend. 

“Yeah, I just. Jihoon called me.” And with that he ran for it. He needed to get away. Jeonghan wouldn’t be able to face the truth and Seungcheol was extremely not ready to share it. Especially not right now when they all would have to spend the rest of the night awkwardly with the fact that Joshua indeed did not like Jeonghan hanging over their heads. No, Seungcheol needed to keep this information to himself. It would be best for everyone. 

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Seungkwan didn't know what was going on but as all the boys piled into Jihoon's room to decide on where to sleep for the night he could feel the tension. He noticed how awkward Seokmin and Soonyoung looked talking to each other (which made sense, he knew his best friend was deeply in love with the dancer). Mingyu and Wonwoo kept giving Seungcheol angry looks as Jihoon just avoided the boy altogether, but Seungcheol seemed to not notice as he just stared down Joshua and Jeonghan as if he had laser vision. Seungkwan didn't know what was going on but he was sure to get to the bottom of all of this weird behavior by the end of the night. 

 

Sorry this chapter is such a let down guys. My life is a little chaotic right now and updating has been hard for me. 
Thank you for all the sweet and kind comments and I'm so sorry to let you all down like this. I promise the next chapter will be better. Thank you all for being patient with me. Please have the most wonderful day!

PS: this chapter is a filler chapter. I was trying to set up part of the plot for you by using POV's. The next chapter is not like this. 

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WritingForTheBeauty
hey, I'm still alive! "Staring Contest" will begin being update sometime within the next couple of months. I apologize for the wait.

Comments

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ogriff36
#1
Chapter 8: no more? I need to know if the jihan will be together
whattalassisolet
#2
Chapter 8: 💞💞💞
whattalassisolet
#3
Chapter 7: I... I was taken aback by this chapter. Didn't trigger me, just made me uneasy. Definitely unexpected. 😓
whattalassisolet
#4
Chapter 6: Man whats going on everything was so fine last chap what the h—
whattalassisolet
#5
Chapter 4: [speehless silence]
whattalassisolet
#6
Chapter 3: Whoaa competitive Seungcheol 👁👄👁
Also Jeonghan just admitting his crush PFFT if it weren't 2am I'd laugh out loud here
whattalassisolet
#7
Chapter 2: OHOHOHOHOHOOOOJHO THIS IS GETTING SPICYYY
whattalassisolet
#8
Chapter 1: Ah? I LOVED it?! This is the cleanest writing style I've read these past few week, no kidding; what a blessing to be alive 🙏🙏🙏
Also the storyline is really entertaining, not to mention the characterization (really, Sooyoung is my spirit animal but tbh I'm half Sooyoung, half Jihoon)

OP, please keep going~
birding
#9
Chapter 8: will you be updating this again? i miss this fic.. i wanna see how jihan unfolds
Julie1 #10
Chapter 8: Please update ㅠㅠ