Chapter Text
Minho wasn’t supposed to be going to a party tonight. There’s a pretty stranger eyeing him from the other side of the room. Wavy dark brown hair just below his soft cheeks, big round eyes, dressed nicely, a very fuckable small mouth sipping on cocktails in bright colors.
The guy has been watching him since Minho came in about an hour ago. It’s been all flirty smiles, fluttering of eyelashes and a nod or two. He hasn’t approached Minho yet though, and Minho isn’t going to take the first step.
Felix invited Minho here, basically begged him to come because according to him they never spend any time together lately, which is kind of ironic because Felix is nowhere to be seen.
Minho can feel the eyes of the guy across the room on him again. Over a year ago Minho would have been all over that guy within the first fifteen minutes of the party. Over a year ago Minho would have done a lot of things.
One moment Minho is alone, and then there’s someone sitting on the couch next to him. Not the guy, sadly, but a girl. She’s pretty, too, in a different way.
“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” she says, but Minho can tell from the way she’s looking at him that she knows exactly who he is.
“I’m not going to give you what you’re looking for,” Minho says, straight to the point. She frowns, huffs and then grins.
“Was worth a shot,” she says, before getting up and disappearing into the mass of people.
The guy across the room watched the whole exchange, a soft pout on his face until it’s clear Minho turned the girl down. He catches Minho’s eyes and smiles, and even from here Minho can see how his mouth takes on the shape of a heart. Minho is in trouble.
You see, he has a rule. Only one; Lee Minho doesn’t date or fuck around (anymore). Not even for pretty boys with fuckable mouths at a party he definitely didn’t want to go to.
Minho takes his phone from his pocket, checks his conversation with Felix. After six messages Felix finally replied a couple of minutes ago, already on his way home because Chan can’t hold his liquor and threw up.
“Hey,” the pretty boy says, even prettier up close now he’s finally found his way across the room.
“Hi,” Minho says, staying put on the couch even though he should get up and get going.
“Did you know that octopuses have three hearts?” the guy asks. Minho blinks up at him.
“What?” Minho asks.
“Your tattoo,“ the guy says, looking a little more pink in the half light now as he gestures to Minho’s arm, where the tattoo of a blue ringed octopus is crawling over his lower arm.
“Right,” Minho says. “Not going to lie, that’s the weirdest pick up line anyone has ever used on me.”
“I’m sorry, I’m really bad at this,” the guy says with a flustered laugh. “Do you mind if I start over?” Minho snorts and makes a gesture for the guy to go ahead.
The guy sits down on the couch next to Minho, all boyish bravado and he holds his hand out for Minho to shake. Minho indulges.
“Hi, my name is Han Jisung, and I swear I’m not lying when I say you are the prettiest man I’ve ever seen,” the guy, Jisung, says.
“I think I liked the random animal fact better,” Minho says like a liar, feeling his ears heat up. Jisung smiles, and yeah, Minho definitely didn’t imagine the heart shape of his mouth earlier. It’s cute. Everything about Jisung is cute, and kind of hot. A deadly combination.
“Squirrels can’t see the color red,” Jisung says, the lilt of his voice flirty. Minho bursts out laughing.
“So what color are red squirrels for each other?” Minho asks.
“Huh, you know what, I don’t actually know,” Jisung says, all flirtatiousness in his voice replaced by curiosity as he grabs his phone.
“You don’t know what colors you see?” Minho asks. Jisung blinks at him. Minho pokes Jisung’s cheek to clue him in. Jisung swats his hand away with a flustered smile.
“You know, I always thought I look more like a quokka that a squirrel,” he says then.
“What is a quokka?” Minho asks and Jisung’s eyes go adorably wide.
“You don’t know? They’re the happiest animal on earth. Wait, I’ll show you,” Jisung says, already typing it in on Naver.
Jisung is bright, funny, quirky and undeniably pretty. Minho is captivated as they hop from one topic to the next, going from animals to the best anime pets to debating the ending of a kdrama both of them have been hooked on lately.
They only stop talking when Jisung’s phone goes off, a shrill noise that startles them both. Jisung turns off the alarm and huffs, giving Minho a hopeful look.
“I know this is going to sound like some lame excuse to ditch you, but I swear it isn’t. I need to get up early because I start my new job in the morning and I really need to head home. Can I have your number?”
Minho is about to say yes, because for the first time in a long time he’s had a good time with a stranger. Tonight was fun. Jisung is fun.
And then Minho sees the girl from earlier in the crowd.
She’s watching them, Minho and Jisung, with a quirked eyebrow, an accusation in her eyes. You’re going to give this to him, but not to me? It makes panic rise up Minho’s throat. Minho forgot his one rule. Jisung made him forget.
Minho looks at Jisung, tries to figure out his intentions. There’s a chance Jisung has been completely sincere in his advances, he could just like Minho for Minho. But.
“Sorry, no,” Minho says. Jisung looks disappointed, and the small, hopeful part of Minho thinks maybe, maybe. The smarter part of Minho knows better, knows exactly why everyone approaches him.
“I swear I’m not-“ Jisung starts, soft.
“I can’t give you what you’re looking for. I have more self respect than that,” Minho says, maybe a little harsher than intended. Jisung looks confused now.
“Which is?”
“The chance to use me as a stepping stool to find your soulmate,” Minho says, and Jisung looks even more confused now, and a little hurt.
“What? What does that even mean?” Jisung asks, voice a lot harder now.
“Good luck with finding who you’re looking for,” Minho says, and gets up. He doesn’t want to look back, tries not to until he’s almost out of the room.
Jisung is still sitting on the couch, looking a little depleted as he watches Minho leave.