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Byungho hates orientation week.
It’s bad enough that he has had to go through mind-numbing tours and forced camaraderie icebreaker games, but a get-together dinner? It might just be the worst thing ever.
“You big baby,” Romeo coos as he drags his limp-bodied friend into the restaurant. It’s packed, chatter from overexcited freshmen and drunk seniors almost completely drowning out the pop song blaring through the speakers, assaulting Byungho’s poor, sensitive ears. He cringes.
“I’m going to college to study music,” he sneers, “not to… whatever this is.”
“You’ve skipped so much school you’ve forgotten how much socializing is usually done in the real world,” Romeo diagnoses sympathetically. It says a lot about his personality that he maneuvers them expertly to a more secluded spot anyway, relatively detached from all the noise.
Byungho crosses his arms and huffs. “Don’t call me out like that.”
He still doesn’t know if quitting his idol dream is the right call or not. Trainee life had been a demanding path to take, but it was a road he was determined to walk until the end. That was easier said than done, though. Byungho tried, but after six years and getting cut from two final lineups, he had enough and asked for a contract termination.
Romeo was the closest friend he made in that oddly lonely basement practice room. Why this hyung decided to quit and apply to university with him, he still doesn’t understand. Byungho knows a big company offered to take Romeo in. He could have made it, if given a couple more years.
“Is it so hard to believe that my dreams have changed?” was his answer when asked, eyes twinkling as he sent an application to K-Art’s acting department.
The choice of major makes the entire thing less confusing. Romeo is made for the stage. Good looks, clear voice, pleasant demeanor. He is stunning on camera and lovable even behind it.
Meanwhile, all Byungho has are the annoyingly persistent baby fat clinging to his cheeks and a perpetual resting grumpy face. Romeo thinks it’s adorable. Though only two years older, that hyung treats him like a baby. He even likes to call him that straight to his face, uncaring if they’re out in public or in front of acquaintances.
Which has led to scenes like this.
“Baby, right?” asks another freshman dumbly.
Byungho wants to shake his shoulders screaming, “Does that sound like a normal Korean name to you?”, but Romeo pushes him into the empty booth before he can unleash his wrath and practically shoves a menu to his face.
“Yes, he goes by Baby.” Romeo smiles brilliantly. He tucks a lock of his neck-length hair over his ear and sits down demurely, crossing his legs and leaning a bit into the guy’s space. “I’m his friend, Romeo. What’s your name, handsome?”
“Oh, I have a girlfriend,” says the guy instead of his name. He’s pretty enough to catch Romeo’s eyes — classically handsome like he stepped out of a drama, tall with a thick neck and strong broad shoulders — but there must not be much behind those big brown eyes if that’s his kneejerk reaction to light flirtation.
A moment too late, it looks like his brain finally catches up to answer the question. “I’m Jinu.”
Romeo leans back into the pathetically cushioned seats, mouth twisting in amusement and something just a tiny bit sinister. “I’m sorry, but you look a bit older to be a freshman. Are you sure you’re in Byungho’s class?”
Jinu is indeed three years older than Byungho. He enlisted right at eighteen years old then spent months studying like hell as soon as he got discharged to take the college entrance exams that same year, his sights set on SNU.
“I’m majoring in music production,” he says with pride.
Romeo nods indulgently. “Is your girlfriend in the same major as you?”
Jinu shakes his head. “Nah. She’s in a band, though.”
“That’s cool,” Romeo admits. “They any good? I’d love to hear them play, sometime.”
“They’re pretty amazing,” Jinu says, nodding seemingly on beat to How It’s Done by Huntrix playing in the background. “I don’t know about getting to see a show though. She’s so busy these days.”
Byungho raises an eyebrow. His mouth opens before he can filter out his words. “Does she even exist? Are you sure you’re not just homophobic?”
“Byungho!” Romeo glares out you don’t need to defend me like that, what the hell, then turns back to a flabbergasted Jinu. “Please ignore him, he’s just pissed to be here at all. I’m sure your girlfriend is lovely.”
“She is,” Jinu says, looking at Byungho warily. Fortunately, he lets it go, shrugging and picking his chopsticks back up and using it to point at the almost empty dish on the table. “You’re probably hungry. The sweet and sour pork is delicious.”
Byungho breaks out of his pout enough to mumble an apology when Romeo pinches his thigh under the table. He gets coaxed back into the conversation as they eat, the topic of Jinu’s girlfriend shelved as they talk about other things.
“He’s alright,” he begrudgingly admits to Romeo when they leave. It’s not terrible to know someone not insufferable in his class for future group project purposes and the likes.
I still think his girlfriend is fake, he doesn’t voice. He knows better than to test Romeo’s patience after a few drinks.