Chapter Text
Chan can’t help but be nervous.
He’d been anxious the whole plane ride, his legs had bounced constantly in the cab on the way to their new apartment, and he didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath as Jaejung rattled around with his keyring before managing to unlock the door.
Chan exhales when they finally step into the apartment, their new home .
It’s different. It’s smaller than the quaint townhouse they’d been renting in Australia, but there’s plenty of windows, sunlight flooding into the living room that they’ve just entered. The kitchen is connected, with modern appliances and white countertops. A hallway leads back further into the apartment, where Chan knows the bedroom is from having studied the floorplan months ago.
Jaejung had arranged to have the place furnished before they arrived, having stated that he wanted them to be able to settle in quickly so Chan could start his classes without any stress. Although, just the thought of his classes has Chan’s heart jumping with anxiety. He’s starting late in life, compared to most students, he’ll be 24 going into his first year, rather than the usual 18 or 19.
He’d wanted to go to college at the usual time in Australia, but well… he’d found his soulmate, Jaejung, during the summer before his senior year of highschool. He’d been head over heels for the older man and they hadn’t wanted to wait around before moving in together, barely managing to wait until Chan had graduated. Jaejung had already been two years into university, and they didn’t have the money for them to both be in school, so… Chan had waited.
He didn’t mind, it made sense for them to wait. The plan had been for Chan to go to university once Jaejung graduated, but Jaejung had still been stressed about the money once that time came, so Chan had picked up a second job as a barista to go along with his menial internship position at a local radio station.
It had been hard, especially considering the radio station hadn’t been the friendliest of workplaces, but Chan had managed, and he’d saved up to get back to school. Because, as happy as he was to have found his soulmate, he’d always dreamed of making music and he wanted to get into the industry for real.
Working so much put distance between him and his family, he barely had time to spend with Jaejung during the week, much less friends. Plus, Jaejung’s own work schedule was demanding, having taken an entrance level job at a well-known office building. Of course, Chan wanted to spend time with his soulmate, they were made for each other after all, but Jaejung was adamant about making sure all free time they had was spent together.
It was a trait Chan had loved in the beginning of their relationship. Jaejung always wanted to know where Chan was going, who he was going with, and he’d been blunt telling Chan that he expected them to eat together every evening and to Chan it was sweet . Jaejung loves him and wants to spend as much time with him as possible.
That didn’t mean it was easy. Jaejung’s demand of Chan’s time was a main point of contention in their relationship for quite a while. Chan was a workaholic by nature, often staying at the library to study or getting caught up working on music at the local studio building.
Chan had been steadfast in his love of music throughout their time together, and for a while he was reluctant to change his work ethic for Jaejung. That’s what their first real fight had been about. Chan’s obsession with music and Chan will never forget when Jaejung had accused Chan of loving his work more than Jaejung.
That hurt. But what hurt more was that Chan realized just how bad of a soulmate he was. And so he’d caved. Jaejung was right. Soulmates should come before work, and especially before stupid hobbies as Jaejung had snapped.
Chan had stopped staying late at the studio, trying to find a better balance between work, music, and Jaejung and in the end it meant Chan had pushed nearly everyone else out of his life in an effort to reassure Jaejung that he loved him. And as far as he could tell, it worked. He and Jaejung were better than ever.
Jaejung even began to seem more… supportive of Chan’s dream of making music, although Chan knows he has his doubts. That he’s worried Chan will fall back into old habits. And a part of him wonders if Jaejung is worried about how Chan will take it if he isn’t successful. Before Jaejung, music was everything to Chan. Not even Chan knew what he’d do if he couldn’t keep making music.
But that wasn’t something Chan needed to worry about right now. Not when his classes, his music production classes , for the music production program he’d been accepted into started in three days.
Jaejung’s condition for Chan going back to school was that they finally make the move from Australia to Korea. Which… was hard for Chan. Australia was his home . All of his family and friends lived there, his Korean was fine, but it wasn’t his native language and he wasn’t too knowledgeable about how societal norms would be different between the two countries.
Jaejung had been born and raised in Korea, having moved to Australia only to go to university. So, of course, they had been talking about visiting before and overtime visiting melted into moving . It was just unfortunate that their hometowns were oceans apart. One of them would always be away from family, and considering Jaejung had waited a few years after graduating was sweet in Chan’s eyes. But he always knew Jaejnug wanted to go back home.
Jaejung had said so on multiple occasions.
And the guilt had eaten at Chan the whole time. It was his fault that Jaejung couldn’t comfortably go home. He tried not to think of the night Jaejung had gotten drunk and said it to Chan’s face just how much he blamed Chan for being stuck in Australia. So of course, Chan had accepted Jaejung’s condition. It was the least he could do.
And now here they are.
Hundreds of thousands of miles away from everything Chan knows and loves. Even the ocean here is hours away compared to Chan’s usual walk down to the shore back home.
Jaejung’s arm wraps around Chan’s waist as he leans in to press a kiss to Chan’s cheek. “Welcome home, babe.”
Chan smiles weakly, trying to push down his insecurities and doubts. He wants to make this work. For his soulmate, for Jaejung.
~
Jisung curses under his breath as he hurries down the music building’s long hallways. He’s late, of course he’s running late on the first day, and for once it wasn’t his fault. Jeongin had forgotten to set his own alarms the night before and had overslept. Had it been Jisung who overslept Minho would have simply ditched him, but everyone in their relationship had a soft spot for Jeongin, so they’d waited.
Jeongin, to his credit, forwent his skincare routine and threw on the first thing he found rather than agonize over his fashion like usual. That didn’t change the fact that Jisung was about to walk into his intro to music production class fifteen minutes late, and it didn’t change that this professor was a notorious hardass in the music school.
When Jisung finally makes it to the classroom he steels himself before pushing the door open. He can feel embarrassed heat spread through his chest when multiple students glance in his direction. The professor is still going over the syllabus, but he pauses when Jisung walks in.
“Ah, perfect timing, we were just getting to the tardy policy. You can be late twice before I start deducting from your grade. So, that’s one for you Mister…” The professor waits expectantly and Jisung frowns.
“Han Jisung.”
Nodding, the professor continues, “Right. And going off of that, I expect everyone to notify me about absences.”
Jisung scurries further into the room as the professor drones on about the course policies. He slinks to the back of the room, sliding into the first empty seat he can find and tries to convince himself that there aren’t still eyes on him. He hates feeling called out, so of course that’s how he was going to start this day.
A quiet voice next to him makes him jump. “Are you okay?”
Jisung looks over to see big doe eyes looking at him with concern, the boy’s gentle expression framed by soft brown curls and Jisung blinks. The boy glances at the front of the class where the professor is still talking before focusing on Jisung again.
He smiles sheepishly before whispering, “He seems a little uptight.”
Jisung snorts, making sure to stay quiet so that they don’t disrupt anyone around them.
“Yeah, he’s one of the most strict on campus,” Jisung says back and the boy nods in understanding. They fall into silence after that, but Jisung plays their small conversation over in his head again, trying to pinpoint what about this stranger seemed so… familiar.
He forgets about it once the professor announces that their semester-long assignment will be completed in groups of two and that they’re expected to have their partnerships organized by the end of the week. Jisung more than ever wishes Changbin and he had started college at the same time, because the two of them would do amazing work together for a production class. That and Jisung wouldn’t have to figure out what stranger he would work with…
The rest of the class is a lecture that Jisung mostly pays attention to and before too long the end of class has arrived.
The boy next to him stands, packing up his things before he addresses Jisung once more, “See ya next class.”
And that’s when it hits Jisung. “Where are you from?”
The accent is familiar, that’s what Jisung had been picking up on before. The other seems surprised, just the slightest dusting of pink spreading over his cheeks as he answers, “Ah, I didn’t think my accent was that noticeable. I’m from Australia.”
Jisung’s eyes widen. “Australia? For real?”
The boy blinks a few times, head tilting in confusion and Jisung can’t help the way his heart swells at how cute the action is. “One of my boyfriends is from Australia,” Jisung clarifies and the other’s eyes widen even further.
“Really? There’s another Aussie in this city?” The excitement in his voice is so, so endearing, and Jisung can’t help what happens next.
“Better! There’s another Aussie in this school . I’m literally about to go meet him for coffee, do you want to come?”
And at those words the excitement on the other’s face falters and Jisung is quick to start babbling, “Oh my god, sorry that was weird of me, wasn’t it? I don’t even know your name, you don’t even know my name –”
“I’m Bang Chan,” the boy– Chan –interrupts and Jisung’s anxiety eases, especially when Chan continues, “I… would like that a lot, if that’s okay with you and your boyfriend.”
Jisung grins, eyes bright as he gathers his own things so they can start making their way out of the classroom. “I’m Jisung, and my boyfriend’s name is Felix, he’s going to lose his shit when he meets you.”
Chan chuckles, following Jisung out of the classroom and through the building.
“So… one of your boyfriends?” Chan asks and Jisung can’t help but smile fondly at just the thought of his relationships.
“We’re a little unconventional, but we make it work,” Jisung says vaguely, “If you want you can meet all of them sometime, but full disclosure it’s highly possible Felix will have roped at least one other person into our coffee date, he does that.”
“This person would be another boyfriend?”
Jisung grins, “Yup. There’s six of them so–”
Chan chokes on air. “ Six ?!”
“Well, seven if you count me, I guess,” Jisung says and Chan looks like his eyes might bug right out of his skull. Jisung is glad to see that through the surprise, Chan doesn’t seem to be judging him. Good. Jisung is proud of his relationships, and he’s very open about it. He won’t tolerate anyone hurting his boyfriends, so he’s learned to get the truth out quickly in an attempt to weed intolerant people out of his circle.
Thankfully, Chan doesn’t seem to be one of those kinds of people as he says in awe, “That’s incredible. How do–I mean–I don’t mean to pry, but have you met your soulmate? What do they think about it?”
Jisung grins as he explains, “Oh Changbin loves it. I mean, technically he’s got six boyfriends too. Like I said, we make it work.”
Chan blinks owlishly at Jisung, who can practically see the gears turning in Chan’s head. It’s cute. Chan’s pretty cute, Jisung thinks distractedly.
“What about you? Have you found your soulmate? Dating anyone?” Jisung spins the conversation on Chan, although he regrets it when Chan’s expression falls just slightly.
“My soulmate and I met years ago now,” Chan explains, a small smile spreading across his face. “We actually just moved here from Australia last week.”
Now it’s Jisung’s turn to stare at Chan with wide eyes, “That recently? What made you move?”
Chan hesitates slightly before answering, “Jaejung got a job in the city and I wanted to go back to school, so the timing worked out for us here.”
“Back to school?” Jisung repeats and then he’s asking, “Wait, are you older than me?”
Chan hums, “I’m 24.”
Jisung makes a pained expression. “ Another hyung?”
Chan laughs, “You don’t have to use formal language, I don’t really care.”
Jisung sighs in relief, his hand coming up to grip Chan’s shoulder dramatically, “You’re too nice.”
Chan rolls his eyes, taking in their surroundings as they approach a cafe. They’re still technically on campus, he thinks, but the cafe looks local and there's a diverse group of people seated inside. An older couple is at the counter ordering, a man in a business suit has his laptop open at one of the tables with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, and there’s a few different groups of younger people chatting in booths.
One table in particular seems to become livelier upon Chan and Jisung’s arrival. There’s three of them in total: a freckled blonde, a stoic boy with dark hair and a pretty face, and a boy with fluffy brown hair and when he smiles widely at the freckled boy Chan can see he’s got braces too.
“Sungie! Who’s this?” The freckled boy asks as they approach the table, and Chan almost recoils with how deep his voice is compared to his fairy-like features.
Jisung looks all too amused, gesturing at Chan before he introduces him, “Everyone, this is Chan, Chan this is Felix, Minho, and Seungmin.”
Chan had been excited to meet a fellow Aussie, but now faced with three new people, Chan feels significantly out of his depth. Especially considering one of them, Minho , is staring at him critically, as if Chan is auditioning for something. He guesses he sort of is… auditioning to be their friend, that is.
Chan raises a hand, giving a tiny wave before bowing slightly, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you all.”
Felix’s eyes widen and he looks at Jisung in surprise. The shit-eating grin that spreads over Jisung’s face has even Minho’s mouth twitching up into a smile as he admits, “Chan-hyung is from Australia!”
He addresses Minho then, pointing at him almost accusingly, as he teases, “ And he’s older than you, so you have to call him hyung.”
Chan is about to insist that it’s fine, but already there’s intense bickering erupting around the table, with Felix and Seungmin jumping in to tease Minho about not being ‘The Hyung’ anymore, and… it’s nice. Chan thinks. He’s hardly known Jisung for an hour and he’s barely said two sentences to the others, and already it felt so natural to be around them.
Minho glares at Chan, but his voice is soft when he says, “Well, come sit with us then, hyung .”
It’s tacked on at the end like an insult, but the others are snickering and giggling, so Chan knows there’s not any real sharpness behind the word. He and Jisung sit then, Felix passes some kind of milkshake-looking frappuccino towards Jisung, who accepts it easily and then Felix seems to realize.
“Oh! Do you want something Chan-hyung?”
Chan blinks, noticing that the other four boys each have their own drinks in front of them and he shakes his head, “I’m not much for coffee, don’t worry.”
“They have other stuff,” Seungmin jumps in, “Juice, tea, hot chocolate—”
Chan perks up at the mention of hot chocolate, momentarily brought back to late nights in the library back in Australia when he’d sip hot chocolates while studying. Usually he’d been alone, but every once in a while Jaejung would join him and they’d stay into the night. Nostalgia floods through him.
Minho is the one that picks up on his reaction. He stands as he speaks, “I’ll get you a hot chocolate.”
Chan starts to stand, stumbling over his words, “Ah, you don’t have to, I can—”
“You and Felix should chat,” Minho insists, and Chan’s heart flutters a little when the other boy smiles down at him. Chan slowly sits back down and Minho turns to head towards the counter.
Felix doesn’t waste any time after that, bombarding Chan with questions of where in Australia he lived, what school he went to, did you ever go here? And then finally the question comes, just as Minho returns and presses the warm mug of hot chocolate into Chan’s hands before sitting down.
Seungmin is the one who asks, “How do you like it here?” His eyes are sparkly with wonder and Chan finds it quite endearing.
“It’s… different,” Chan answers vaguely. He doesn’t know if he likes it here yet. He misses his family, and the ocean, he misses his friends and guilt tugs at him when he remembers how distant he’d gotten from them in the months leading up to the move.
Felix’s smile turns into something softer, sadder . “I get it, hyung. It was really hard when I first moved too.”
Chan smiles at him weakly. Felix continues, voice more hopeful as he says, “But then I found these weirdos.” He gestures at the table and Chan feels something fond tug at his heart.
“How long have you all been together?” Chan asks.
Seungmin barks out a laugh. “How long do you have to sit here with us?”
Minho smiles, something proud in his eyes as he explains, “It’s a long story. It took a few years. Felix is the newest, having been with us for… almost a year now right?”
Felix grins, “It’ll be a year next month~”
“Wow,” Chan breathes, “How did you guys–?” He trails off, not even entirely sure what he means to say himself, thankfully Jisung speaks up then.
“It started when I met Changbin, my soulmate,” Jisung’s eyes soften and he has a fond smile on his lips that’s so sweet Chan can feel his own heart speed up, “He was dating Minho and I was dating our other boyfriend, Jeongin. It was…”
“A mess,” Minho fills in for him and that startles laughter from all of them.
“Yeah. A mess. Seriously, Chan, do you have other classes today? It’ll take hours to explain how we came up with this scenario.”
Chan blinks, before pulling out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, “I have two more classes today actually, um, dance and songwriting.”
“Dance? Lemme see,” Felix says, holding his hand out for the paper, which Chan easily hands over.
“No way,” Felix laughs, “Minho is your instructor.”
Seungmin’s face turns grave, “Oh… good luck Chan-hyung.”
Jisung smacks Seungmin’s shoulder, “Don’t scare him!”
“He should be scared!”
Chan looks between all of them before settling on Minho, head tilting as he asks, “You’re an instructor?”
Minho shrugs, as if it’s nothing. “I graduated last year, they asked me to teach a few of the intro level courses.”
Felix’s smile is big when he boasts, “Minho hyung is a really good teacher, you’ll be in good hands!”
“If you can survive, that is,” Seungmin mutters, and Chan suspects he has some experience with being one of Minho’s students, but considering they’re still dating Chan doubts it’s that bad .
Minho fixes Seungmin with a look, and while Chan would be shaking, Seungmin simply sticks his tongue out in challenge. Minho rolls his eyes, not taking the bait.
“You guys should head out, shouldn’t you?” Felix asks, handing Chan’s schedule back as he clarifies, “It’s a ten minute walk to the studio, and his schedule says it starts at 12.”
Minho hums as he stands, “Yeah, I’ll show you how to get to the gym today, hyung.”
Jisung speaks up before Chan can stand too, thrusting his phone towards Chan urgently, “Wait, we should exchange numbers right? I’d like to hang out again with you, Channie-hyung.”
Chan smiles as he takes the device from Jisung’s hands, the cute nickname making his heart do a little flip as he begins tapping on Jisung’s phone. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot, Jisung.”
Once he’s handed the phone back to Jisung he gathers his things to leave the cafe with Minho, and Chan can feel anxiety tugging at him. Minho seems kind, but Chan can’t help but feel a little out of his depth. He had been social in Australia, but he hadn’t really interacted with friends in a few years.
Silence settles over them as they walk before Chan can’t take it anymore. “So you’ve already graduated? Did you major in dance?”
Minho nods, glancing at Chan before elaborating, “Yes, I want to open my own dance studio someday.”
“Well, if the program asked you back to teach, I’m sure you will.”
A small smile pulls at Minho’s lips and he murmurs quietly, “Thanks, hyung. Seungmin wasn’t kidding though, I won’t go easy on you.”
Chan chuckles nervously, “Not even a little?”
There’s a playful glint in Minho’s eyes as he confirms, “If anything I’ll push you extra hard.”
Chan whines a little, somehow finding it easy to fall into banter with Minho despite his anxieties. “You’re mean!”
Minho shrugs, smirk in place as they approach a larger building with many windows, clearly a recreational center. He opens the door for Chan as he retorts, “Stick around and you’ll see how mean I can be~”
That raises heat to Chan’s cheeks as he follows Minho into the building and down a few hallways before they finally make it to one of the dance studios. Already there’s a few other students milling about in the room, and one of them smiles upon recognizing Minho.
“Hyung!” The boy calls, and Chan thinks he’s never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. He’s lithe, with model-like facial features and blonde hair tied up into a loose bun. He trots up to them, registering Chan as he asks, “Who’s this?”
“Jisung made a friend; this is Chan-hyung,” Minho explains, accepting the kiss the new-comer presses to his lips without fuss. Chan’s eyes widen a little at the display of affection.
Minho notices Chan’s confusion and says easily, “Chan-hyung, this is Hyunjin, another one of our boyfriends.”
Chan blinks before smiling and offering a tiny wave, “It’s nice to meet you.”
Hyunjin tilts his head. “Nice to meet you too.” Then he addresses Minho, “ Jisung made a friend?”
Minho shrugs. “Chan is from Australia too, so I think Jisung wanted him and Felix to meet. It just happens that he’s in this class too, so we walked together.”
Hyunjin looks over Chan once more and Chan feels oddly exposed in front of the scrutinizing gaze of someone so pretty, but his worries are soothed when Hyunjin smiles at him softly, “Well, I hope we can get to know each other better too then, Chan-hyung.”
Chan offers a weak smile before nodding. “Me too.”
More students are starting to filter into the studio now, and finally Minho calls for the beginning of class to begin. Chan learns quickly that Seungmin was not kidding. Minho is a strict teacher, keen on making sure everyone manages their posture and form correctly as they walk through a warm-up exercise and the first moves of a simple routine.
It’s an intro level class, so Chan and many of the other students require a good amount of instruction, but Chan can’t help but notice that Hyunjin is hitting every move with precision that Chan can only dream of. It’s honestly a little inspiring to watch.
By the time the class is over, Chan is out of breath, huffing lightly as he approaches Hyunjin to compliment him, “You’re a really good dancer, what are you doing in an intro level?”
Hyunjin smiles, cheeks tinting pink at the praise before clarifying, “I’m a dance major, but my concentration is contemporary. I need to take the intro levels for other styles, so of course I’d take Minho-hyungie’s class~”
He practically sings the last part as Minho makes his way towards them. Minho scoffs in response, but Chan can tell he’s fond as he cuffs the back of Hyunjin’s neck. “Don’t get too cocky, I’m expecting a lot from you.”
“Yes, teacher ~” Hyunjin teases with a wink and Minho rolls his eyes.
Minho turns his attention to Chan then. “Hyung, you mentioned before that you have another class today, what is it? Do you know how to get there?”
Fishing his schedule out of his pocket, Chan scans over the page before answering, “I have a songwriting class next, but I don’t know this building?” Chan points at the building acronym on his paper so that Minho can take a look, Hyunjin peeking over his shoulder to read with him.
Hyunjin grins, “Oh! I’m walking that way now for my next class, do you want to walk together?”
Chan smiles gratefully. “That would be really helpful. Thank you both for being so kind.”
Minho waves him off. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Do you want to walk with us, hyung?” Hyunjin asks Minho, who shakes his head.
“I have to teach another class soon, so I’ll stay here.”
“Ah, okay,” Hyunjin says, only slightly dejected before he smiles at Chan again, “Well, ready to go then, Chan-hyung?”
Chan nods, shouldering his backpack as he gets ready to follow Hyunjin out of the room.
“I’ll see you around, hyung,” Minho waves him off before giving Hyunjin a goodbye kiss.
This time the walk doesn’t fall into silence for a moment, already Hyunjin is probing Chan. “What’s your major, hyung?”
“I’m in the music production program, but I have a few general classes to take too.”
“Like dance?”
Chan grimaces playfully, “Like dance. It was fun but I think I might not survive to next week at this rate.”
Hyunjin laughs, loud and free and it makes Chan feel lighter. Talking to Hyunjin is easy, too. He counts in his head now, he’s met five of seven boyfriends, and everyone has been so kind to him. He still has a lot of questions. Jisung has a soulmate, does Hyunjin have a soulmate in the relationship too? What about the others? What would happen if one of them met their soulmate, would they be welcomed into the relationship too?
It was strange to Chan, who had always accepted that finding your soulmate meant you were done finding love, but maybe that wasn’t necessarily true. Guilt sinks into him when he realizes that he’s excited by the idea.
“Jisung and Changbin are in music production too, you met Jisung right? What about Changbin?”
Chan shakes his head. “I don’t know Changbin, but Jisung and I have intro to production together.”
“Ah, then it’s only a matter of time until you meet Changbin, they’re practically inseparable.”
“They’re soulmates right?” Chan asks and when Hyunjin nods he follows it up with another question, “Have you found your soulmate?”
Hyunjin smiles sheepishly, rubbing at his neck as he mumbles, “I actually have two. Seungmin and Jeongin.”
Chan’s brain stops working for a moment. Two soulmates? He’d heard of this happening, but he’d never actually met anybody with more than one soulmate, it was so rare.
“Seriously? Two?”
Hyunjin shrugs, smiling easily. “It’s not such a big deal to us. If I had it my way I’d have six soulmates, but the universe doesn’t always think that far ahead, I guess.”
Chan wonders about that last comment. Was Hyunjin implying that the universe had somehow made a mistake? Chan didn’t know if that was possible. The science behind soulmates wasn’t entirely understood. People got their soulmarks, they felt the spark when they first touched, and that was that. They were meant to be, always and forever. That’s what Chan had always been told, that’s what Chan had always expected.
Not everyone loved having a soulmate. Some people were vehemently against it for one reason or another, but ever since he was little Chan had wanted a relationship with his soulmate like his parents had. They were perfect together, and Chan’s belief in the universe had never wavered. Not until the last year or so, although he didn’t dare say it out loud.
“What about you? Have you found your soulmate?” Hyunjin’s question startles Chan out of his thoughts.
“Oh, yeah, I have. His name is Jaejung, we’ve been together for just over seven years now.” Chan answers, shifting to hold his left wrist rubbing his thumb over his soulmark, tracing over the ivy vines that circle his wrist like a bracelet. Jaejung’s matches his, although his vines don’t encircle, they trace over the back of his hand, reaching over his knuckles.
Hyunjin’s eyes widen at the admission, “Oh! A long time then!”
Chan gives a small smile, opting to turn the conversation back on Hyunjin, “When did you meet the rest of them?”
Hyunjin grins, obviously proud, “3 years ago! Seungmin and I actually went to high school together, but we both had another mark, so we knew we were waiting for someone else. When we started here we met Jeongin in a vocal class, at the time he was already dating Jisung, Changbin, and Minho. It was a little rocky at first; Jeongin felt torn between his boyfriends and us, but in the end we figured it out.”
Chan has so many questions still, but Hyunjin is slowing to a stop in front of a new building. “This is your stop, hyung, but I really liked talking to you.”
Chan smiles, genuine and happy, “I feel really lucky to have run into Jisung this morning. I’m glad to have met all— well most— of you.”
Beaming Hyunjin promises, “Let me give you my number, that way we can hang out again and you can meet everyone properly. Would that be okay?”
Chan pulls out his phone, handing it to Hyunjin easily, “I’d love that.”
Hyunjin punches his contact info in quickly before returning the phone to Chan. “Have a good class, hyung! I’ll see you around!”
Chan waves as Hyunjin leaves, and he only lingers for a moment before making his way into the building. Thankfully, the classroom is easy to find once Chan is inside. He’s a little early so he picks a seat towards the front. It isn’t long before more people begin filing into the room, sitting scattered around the room.
While he waits, Chan clicks his phone open to check if he has any messages. He’s not surprised to see a few from Jaejung, asking him how his first day is going and what he was doing. He replies honestly, that he’s enjoyed his classes so far and has even started making friends already.
He’s a little nervous to admit the last part. He knows how Jaejung feels about sharing Chan’s time, but Chan can’t help it. He wants to be friends with Jisung and Hyunjin and everyone else. They’re so kind and fun, Chan had felt so immediately comfortable among them, and he knew he couldn’t pass that up. Jaejung probably had differing opinions though.
Jaejung doesn’t text him back, and he rationalizes that he’s probably just busy at work.
Chan is surprised to see that Jisung has already messaged him too.
(xxx)xxx-xxxx
Hey hyung! It’s Jisung ^^
I meant to ask earlier, but do you want to work on that semester project with me?
I promise I’ll work hard!!
Chan chuckles to himself, typing out a quick response that of course he’ll work with Jisung. It’s at that time that the professor arrives and begins class; so Chan slips his phone back in his pocket to focus on the course introduction.
Once the professor has introduced herself she turns to a younger man standing next to her and says, “This is the TA for our class, Seo Changbin, if you guys need help with any assignments or want any tips for the class please reach out to him.”
Chan frowns. Changbin? There was no way this was the Changbin that was Jisung’s soulmate right?
Changbin bows to the class before addressing the class, “I took this class two years ago, but I have a concentration in songwriting specifically, so if you have any questions throughout the semester please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Chan is still reeling a little as the lecture moves on to talk about the songwriting process and brainstorming tips. Changbin has moved to sit down on the side of the classroom and Chan can’t help but steal glances at him from time to time; as if simply staring will get him the answers he so desperately wants.
This backfires when Changbin makes direct eye contact with him at one point, raising an eyebrow in question. Chan nearly gets whiplash with how quickly he looks away. Changbin is attractive too, muscular and yet soft around the edges with wavy black hair.
When Chan chances another glance at the TA, it’s to find that Changbin is smirking to himself as he types out a message on his phone. Chan realizes then that the professor is outlining their first assignment for the semester and decides to start paying more attention to the actual class. He is here to follow his dream after all.
When she’s finished explaining the exercise, she lets the students work for a bit while she and Changbin walk around to check over everyone’s progress. Chan is so focused on his work that he doesn’t even notice when someone is peering over his shoulder.
“That’s pretty good.” Changbin’s voice sounds and Chan nearly jumps out of his seat.
Changbin laughs a little, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Chan blushes, murmuring, “It’s okay, I just didn’t see you.”
“I mean it,” Changbin gets back on topic, pointing at a line on Chan’s paper, “This is really good. Have you taken classes before?”
And now Chan’s blushing for a whole different reason. “No, I write songs for fun, but I’m only just starting formal education for it.”
Changbin hums. “What was your name again?”
“Bang Chan.”
Changbin smiles knowingly, “Ah, you’re the one Jisung’s been blowing my phone up about, huh?”
“Huh?” The comment has Chan’s brain screeching to a halt. Jisung had talked to Changbin about him? Had talked to his soulmate about Chan?
“He’s gushing about you in our group chat. He thinks you’re so cool. Felix does too.”
Chan blinks. Why would they think that? They’d only talked for a little bit— and Chan didn’t really think anything about himself was very cool .
“Wait, group chat?”
“With all our boyfriends,” Changbin clarifies, “Jeongin is gonna be pissed that he’s the last to meet you in person.”
Chan can’t help the sheepish laugh that escapes him as the nerves start to catch up to him. He really liked these boys, but he hadn’t expected them to like him too. Why would they like him that much to talk about him?
Changbin must be able to see his confusion because he rolls his eyes, “Don’t think too hard. They want to be friends with you. Felix is already asking if we can add you to the group chat and then you’ll know exactly what they’re saying. Would you want that? I can tell Ji to add you.”
Chan’s head is spinning. How had he already been indoctrinated into such a close-knit group? This wasn’t usually how he made friends, but… maybe this would be good. He didn’t have anyone in Korea aside from Jaejung. But if he said yes he’d have seven people, seven friends .
“I…I’d like that, I think.” Chan answers and Changbin raises an eyebrow.
“You think?”
Chan bites at his lip before nodding, “I want to be friends with you guys. I just…” don’t know if I can be a good friend, don’t know if I can give you the attention you guys deserve, I’m scared of getting too close, I’m scared I’ll have to leave you .
Changbin waits expectantly and Chan finishes lamely, “I just am bad at texting.”
“That’s the hang up?” Changbin doesn’t sound convinced and Chan winces.
“Look,” Changbin starts, voice hushed as he levels with Chan, “Jisung and Felix like you. Seungmin and Hyunjin too. Even Minho wants to get closer with you and Jeongin is already jealous of the others. But I need to know that you’re not going to hurt any of them. So I’ll ask you again. Do you want this too?”
Chan does, he really does. But he’s scared . He’s so tired of feeling scared though, of feeling lonely and trapped. And so finally he nods.
“I want this.”
Changbin holds his gaze for a moment longer before finally nodding. “Alright then. I’ll tell Ji to add you. Now get this assignment finished up, yeah?”
Chan nods, heart beating loudly in his chest as Changbin takes his phone out to shoot Jisung a text before he’s off to help other students with their work. Chan looks down at the assignment in front of him, but within a minute his phone is vibrating with a message in his pocket. And then another, and another.
Chewing at his bottom lip, Chan slips his phone out to peek at it under the table. Already he has a plethora of messages flooding in all from unknown numbers as they bombard him.
Channie hyung!
Hey Chan ;)
That’s your hyung, Minho.
And I’m your hyung, brat.
Why haven’t I gotten to meet Channie hyung yet this isn’t fair :(
We should invite him over!
There’s more messages coming in with varying ideas of how they should all hang out together for the first time, and Chan smiles softly. This feeling is new and strange but he can’t say it’s entirely unwelcome.
He’s felt so nervous in the months leading up to the move from Australia to Korea, he’s been physically ill grappling with the reality that everything he loves is oceans away. And in the span of a day this group of seeming misfits has managed to wash away so many of his fears.
A tiny voice in the back of Chan’s head nags at him that this is a bad idea, that he can’t get too attached too quickly, especially not to a group that’s so intimately involved already. He wasn’t going to fit in with them, not when he already had Jaejung, not when he was supposed to have had his happily ever after already.
But for now, Chan lets the messages and greetings warm his heart.
He’ll hold onto this for as long as he can.