Chapter Text
If there is one thing that Han Jisung knew going into university it was that he absolutely did not want to join a fraternity.
“Felix it’s just not my thing, okay? Why do I even need to go with you at all, isn’t the point of joining a frat to make new friends?”
Felix grabbed Jisung’s hands and looked at him with puppy dog eyes, a silent plea to join him after class for the beginning of rush week. Felix had always been extremely outgoing and it was rare to find someone that disliked him, it was no surprise to Jisung that he had spent his summer researching the various fraternities that their university had to offer. Though despite his friendly demeanour and ability to make everyone like him, Felix was also a little shy, a quality that he and Jisung had always shared.
“I know that’s the point but can’t you just come with me even for the first day? Just this once, it’s only a couple of hours and then we can go back to the dorm and you can pretend like it never happened,” Felix pleaded.
“I have readings to do though Lix, I don’t even have time to do this with you,” Jisung retorted, motioning to all the textbooks laid out in front of him.
“Han Jisung it is day two of the semester, there is no way you are so busy that you can’t spare a couple of hours, even as a production major.”
Felix was right, he could definitely spare a couple of hours but that still didn’t change the fact that he had no interest in going to the silly meet and greet thing with him tonight. Besides, Jisung was determined to stay focused on his studies this year so he could get into the honours program the following year, it wouldn’t hurt to get a head start on all of his readings without Felix there to distract him.
“I’m not going Lix, sorry,” Jisung said, hoping that his voice sounded firm enough to make Felix drop the subject.
“If you come with me tonight I’ll do your laundry for the rest of the semester,” Felix bargained. Jisung paused to think about this one, a couple hours of torture would be a small price to pay for an entire semester of laundry service...
“Are you really that desperate?” Felix nodded in response, eyes lighting up at the lack of a quick ‘no’ from his friend. “You know you can’t back out of that deal right? And that I am very particular about how I like my laundry done?”
“Jisung we have been best friends for almost eight years, I know how you like your clothes separated,” he responded, rolling his eyes.
“And you promise it will only be a couple of hours?”
Jisung had been friends with Felix for long enough to know exactly when he was lying, and this was definitely one of those times. “Yes, two hours tops!”
He could guess by the way that Felix’s left eye was twitching that if he went he was going to be in for at least three hours worth of socializing with dumb frat guys. Despite that however, Felix was almost impossible to say no to when he whined, and he knew it, putting on the sad eyes once again as he watched Jisung internally weigh his options.
“Fine. I will go with you on the condition that you do my laundry once a week for the rest of the semester, bedding and towels included.”
“Deal!” Felix all but screamed, warranting some annoyed looks from the other students in the library.
“I hate you, you know that right?” Felix was practically glowing despite the harsh words. “When does this thing start anyways?”
“Uhhh...in twenty minutes,” Felix mumbled back sheepishly.
“Twenty minutes?! That’s barely enough time to get back to the dorm and drop all my textbooks off. Come on then, help me get everything organized.”
The two scrambled to shove everything into Jisung’s backpack and head back to their shared dorm room. They were fortunate enough to have their roommate request approved for the year, knowing that they would be miserable rooming with anyone else.
“How do I look?” Felix asked, fixing his hair in front of the mirror as Jisung changed into something a little nicer than library sweatpants and an old hoodie.
“You look great Lix, everyone is gonna love you,” Jisung said honestly. People always loved Felix, it was just his charm.
Felix turned to look at him and frowned. “Is that what you’re wearing?” Jisung looked down at his plain white tee shirt and black jeans then back up at his friend.
“What’s wrong with what I'm wearing, is there a dress code or something?”
“It’s just...I feel like you’ll have a better chance of getting a bid if you dress a little more...expensive,” Felix suggested, turning back towards the mirror to admire his own outfit.
“But I don’t want to get a bid,” Jisung deadpanned.
“You say that now but I think you’ll change your mind when you see all the cute upperclassmen in person.”
“I would rather live with you for the rest of my life than date a frat guy,” Jisung responded, having none of Felix’s teasing.
“Rude. Come on, let’s go or we’ll be late.” Felix grabbed a leather jacket from their closet and threw it at Jisung. “At least put this on?”
Despite his protests, Jisung did end up leaving their dorm in the jacket. With that he and a very giddy Felix were on their way to what Felix referred to as “greek row”, a street that contained all of the sorority and fraternity houses for their university.
Immediately upon arrival Jisung felt out of place. He had never been someone who liked fancy things and the massive mansions with their greek inspired columns and front yard water fountains were totally throwing him off. Felix on the other hand was staring at the houses in wonder like a kid in a candy shop. On the way there he had talked on and on about how he had dreamed of being in a frat like in the movies and how he had researched all of them to pick which one he wanted to get a bid from the most. It turned out the frat he was interested in was called Sigma Kappa and they were notorious for being a little more mild as far as fraternities go.
“I can’t believe we are finally rushing!” Felix said excitedly as they walked up to the Panhellenic house, where they would be separated into rotation groups and subsequently visit each of the houses.
“You are rushing, I am just here for moral support,” Jisung reminded his friend as they made their way to the front of the line to grab name tags and head to their group.
As they huddled with their rotation group they noticed a boy with chestnut brown hair off to the side looking a little nervous. The thing about Felix is that all his shyness evaporated as long as he was with Jisung, and so dragging his best friend behind him he marched up to the boy and stuck his hand out for him.
“I’m Felix,” he stated, waiting for the boy to reach out and take his hand. He looked a bit startled, taking a quick glance at Jisung who gave him a sympathetic shrug.
“Jeongin,” the boy replied, tentatively taking Felix’s hand.
“Nice to meet you Jeongin, oh and this is my best friend Jisung.” He waved to the boy, not even getting a chance to say hello before Felix was already talking his ear off.
It turns out Jeongin was the only one of his friends who had gotten into their university and he knew absolutely no one and was hoping that joining a frat would be an easy way to make new friends.
“Well you’ve already made two new friends! Do you know which frat you’re hoping to get a bid from?” Felix asked.
“To be honest I haven’t really looked into it much, I was just going to put my preference down as whichever one seemed the friendliest.”
“Oh well that’s definitely Sigma Kappa, they do a ton of charity work and they had exactly zero infractions from national or the university last year and they have the highest GPA out of any greek group on campus.”
Jisung wasn’t sure if Jeongin was impressed by Felix’s knowledge of useless fraternity stats or if he was lowkey creeped out by it but he nodded and smiled nonetheless. It seemed like everyone had filtered in and it was finally time for them to start visiting the houses. Luckily for Jisung, Sigma Kappa was set to be third on their rotation, meaning he might be able to convince Felix to let him leave without having to visit the remaining three after it.
Their first house was Alpha Tao Zeta, or “the stoner frat” as Felix had called it. With the lowest GPA of any frat on campus and a history of frequent visits from the campus police, Felix had already written this frat off before they even stepped in the door. From the outside the house looked pristine but the second they stepped inside Jisung could smell the weed and his head was already hurting from it.
They had half an hour before they were set to move on to the next house so Jisung figured he would make himself comfortable, migrating immediately to the snack table as Felix and Jeongin stayed to mingle with the members. There was someone at the table handing out drinks so he took one and sipped on it, thankful for something to do with his hands as he stood awkwardly off to the side. Although Felix knew this wasn’t the frat for him he was being polite as always to the members who came up to him, chatting with them easily since he knew that Jisung was at least there for him if he needed him. It looked like Jeongin might have had the same idea as Felix, he had a permanent frown on his face as he scanned the room, showing little interest in mingling with the guys that came up to him.
Jisung spent the remainder of the thirty minutes snacking on the desserts that were laid out and getting refills of the punch he was drinking. If this was how the night was going to go maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, he’s at least getting free food out of it and they met Jeongin who seemed pretty nice.
After the thirty minutes was up Felix walked up to him and frowned.
“Okay one, that is a pot brownie,” he stated pointing at the dessert in Jisung’s hand. His gaze shifted to Jisung’s other hand and his frown deepened. “And two, that is alcohol.”
Jisung felt his eyes widen as he looked down at the items in his hands. Surely they have to tell you if they are giving you drugs or alcohol right?
“You’re joking right?”
“Those are definitely pot brownies, how many did you eat?” Jeongin said coming up beside Felix to find Jisung staring blankly in shock.
“F-four...?”
“And how many drinks did you have?”
“Three,” Jisung mumbled, quietly placing the brownie and cup back on the table and following the other two outside.
“If you embarrass me at Sigma Kappa I am disowning you as my friend,” Felix hissed, dragging Jisung by the collar of his jacket.
They were set to visit Phi Delta Epsilon next, this frat was Felix’s second choice so he was much more engaged with the members this time. Jisung smiled lightly, it was nice to see his friend happy and socializing, this was something Felix had always dreamed of doing. It didn’t take long however for Jisung to start to feel the effects of the food from the previous house and he was starting to get a little dizzy.
Jisung knew he needed to sit down so he made his way to the couch and sat down beside another pledge who looked a little lost.
“Hey,” Jisung said, nodding at the boy.
“Hi,” he responded softly, smiling at Jisung.
“I’m Jisung.” he stuck his hand out for him much like Felix had done for Jeongin and waited for him to take it.
“Seungmin.”
“Nice to meet you Seungminie~” he replied in a sing-song voice, surprising even himself.
Seungmin gave him a look before blinking twice and doubling over in laughter.
“You ate the food at the last house didn't you?” he asked.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Rookie mistake dude, you never eat the food at these things,” Seungmin laughed, reaching into his backpack and offering Jisung his water bottle. Jisung gladly accepted, hoping that he could sober up quickly before they had to move on to the next house.
“How come you’re not socializing with the brothers? Don’t you want a bid?” Seungmin asked.
“Nah, I’m just here to support my friend. How about you? You’re not exactly being social either.”
“I’m a Sigma Kappa legacy, I’m basically just going through the motions because I have to, but I’ll be pledging Sigma Kappa,” Seungmin explained.
“A legacy?”
“My dad was a Sigma Kappa when he went here so I’m basically guaranteed a bid from them.”
“Ah there’s so many terms I didn’t know until today, I didn’t realize joining a frat meant learning another language,” Jisung joked.
“You know, I’m already pretty close with a lot of the Sigma Kappa brothers, if you change your mind about joining I could put in a good word for you. Not that you couldn’t get a bid on your own but just...if you wanted,” Seungmin trailed off, watching Jisung down the last of his water.
“It would take something crazy to happen for me to want to join a frat,” Jisung snorted, swaying a little as the room spun around him.
“Well, I don’t think Sigma Kappa is really known for being crazy, but you never know, maybe you’ll really click with the brothers and want to join.”
“My friend Felix that I came here with is hell bent on joining Sigma Kappa actually. He talks about these frat boys like they’re celebrities or something,” Jisung joked.
“Well he wouldn’t be the first person to ask Bang Chan for his autograph,” Seungmin responded, lost in thought about what Jisung was sure was a wild story.
“You know, I wouldn’t put it past Felix to do that honestly. You should have heard him talking about this guy on the way here.”
“He’s not wrong to think he’s a great guy. I met him when my dad brought me to the alumni barbeque over the summer, he just really makes you feel like you’ve been friends forever.”
“Hmmm, maybe I’ll have to actually try mingling at this next house,” Jisung murmured, more to himself than anything.
“Yeah, if you can stand up by then,” Seungmin teased, pushing Jisung lightly yet still causing him to fall over onto his side.
“Don’t take advantage of my poor physical state okay, how was I supposed to know what was in all that food,” Jisung whined, not yet getting the energy to right himself on the couch.
“Dude how were you not supposed to know, it’s a frat house.”
Jisung grumbled and blinked a couple of times, seeing a figure getting closer and closer to him. He realized it was Felix by his shoes which were now placed directly in front of him.
“Han Jisung I hate you,” he declared, helping Jisung up off the couch.
“I’m fine Lix, just a little tipsy is all.”
“You must be Felix, Jisung here said you’re hoping to pledge Sigma Kappa,” Seungmin said from beside Jisung.
Felix smiled brightly at Seungmin, completely letting go of Jisung in the process and causing him to fall back down onto the couch. The two of them talked about Seungmin being a legacy and once again Jisung was filled with fondness at how charismatic Felix was, picking up friends left and right all night.
“It’s time to go to Sigma Kappa Jisung,” Felix said, dragging him off the couch once more. “Maybe I should just pretend I don’t know you.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me,” Jisung whined. “Lixie, piggy back.” He tried latching onto Felix’s neck to no avail, the other swatting his hands away quickly.
Jisung huffed and followed Felix and Seungmin out of the house. They quickly spotted Jeongin and introduced him to their new friend, everyone minus Jisung giddy with anticipation for heading to the Sigma Kappa house.
Jisung took one last deep breath, hoping that he was sober enough to at least make it through the next half hour without making a fool of himself for Felix’s sake. When he entered the Sigma Kappa house he could instantly tell why Felix picked this one as the frat he wanted to join. Everything was so nice, from the fancy furniture to the paintings on the wall, he felt like he had entered a real liveable mansion rather than just a giant party house.
Instantly he saw Felix beeline for a guy near the back of the room before Jisung could even blink.
“That’s Chan,” Seungmin leaned over to whisper to him. Just then someone called Seungmin’s name and he left as well, leaving Jeongin and Jisung together.
“You should really try to actually talk to the brother’s this time you know, see what Felix’s been raving about,” Jeongin said from beside him.
“Mmm,” Jisung hummed in agreement. A taller man with long, raven coloured hair walked up to them then, introducing himself as Hyunjin. Jeongin immediately struck up a conversation with him, the two of them separating from Jisung and leaving him to himself.
It didn’t take long however for Jisung to come face to face with another stranger.
“Uhh hi,” Jisung said, blinking until the man came properly into focus. It took every bit of brain power Jisung had left to force himself not to gasp out loud at the boy in front of him. He was a little bit taller than Jisung, but definitely more built. He had dark brown hair and angular features that were somehow still soft as a ghost of a smile passed across his lips.
“Hi to you too,” the boy replied, giving Jisung the once over. He instantly wanted to zip his jacket up to his chin and hide, not wanting such a gorgeous human to waste their time looking at someone as mediocre as himself.
“I’m Minho.” It took Jisung a minute to realize that there was a hand extended in front of him and he clumsily reached up to shake it. Minho’s handshake was firm just like Jisung expected it to be and he found himself wondering what else Minho could use his hands for. He belatedly realized that he had not yet let go of Minho’s hand and quickly let it drop, feeling his face flush.
“Aren’t you going to tell me your name?” Minho teased, a smirk appearing on his face. Ah, so he was this type of guy, Jisung thought. Well two can play at that game.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Jisung retorted, puffing out his chest slightly and willing the blush to fade from his cheeks.
“Hmm, well I could make you tell me,” Minho replied, his voice barely a whisper, yet still causing Jisung to shiver as it reached every part of his body. When did Minho get so close to him? Jisung tried backing up but his arm was quickly caught and he was kept in place by Minho’s sturdy grip.
“You smell like alcohol,” Minho observed, getting way too close for Jisung’s already frazzled brain. He was split between wanting to run away and wanting to pull Minho just a little closer so their lips could brush together.
“I…” Jisung trailed off, his brain short circuiting as the boy continued to stare at him.
“Cat got your tongue?” Minho continued to tease. Maybe it was the liquid courage but Jisung brought his hand up to place two fingers underneath Minho’s chin.
“I’d rather something else got my tongue,” he replied suggestively. He watched shock register on Minho’s face before a flush crept over his cheeks and up to his ears. Ah, so he was just as shy as Jisung was then, his exterior just made it appear otherwise. It didn’t take long for the brunette to sober his expression however, unlike Jisung who was still internally screaming that Minho had even approached him.
“Come on mystery boy, I’m supposed to show you around the house.” With that Minho grabbed onto Jisung’s wrist and pulled him along, past the others, even passing Felix who was too enamored with Chan to even notice his friend getting dragged away. Minho led him up a flight of stairs, away from the loudness of the main room.
“This is where all our bedrooms are,” Minho explained, not stopping to show him the individual rooms until they came to one near the end of the hall. “This one is my room.”
Minho pushed the door open to reveal a pretty standard room with two beds in it, in fact it didn’t look that much different from Jisung and Felix’s dorm room. “You’ve got a roommate?”
“Yeah, I share with Hyunjin.” The name clicked in Jisung’s head and he remembered him as the guy who grabbed Jeongin right after they had arrived.
“Ah, I met him actually,” Jisung replied. “He seemed nice.”
“He is, he’s my best friend. We rushed together last year.”
“Wow really? That’s actually what me and my best friend are doing. His name is Felix, this was all his idea though, I don’t even want to join a frat.”
“No? And there’s nothing I could do to convince you?” Minho asked, taking a step closer to Jisung. The latter gulped, suddenly having difficulty catching his breath as Minho stared at him.
“I…uh…well probably not honestly,” Jisung admitted. “But maybe if you try hard enough.” Okay that was definitely the alcohol talking. If Felix was here right now he would lose his mind over Jisung actually flirting back instead of just gay panicking and running away like usual.
That appeared to be all the confirmation that Minho needed to press forward, stepping fully into Jisung’s personal bubble. Jisung gazed up at him, a permanent fog now swirling over his brain and making his stomach feel like he was doing backflips. Minho brought his hand up and brushed it against Jisung’s cheek before taking a strand of his hair and gently pushing it behind his ear. The heat of his sharp gaze on Jisung’s skin was causing his cheeks to flush red once again, and he definitely was not going to be able to blame this on the alcohol. Jisung could feel the other’s breath on his lips and he let his eyes flutter closed, waiting to feel the sensation of the other’s lips on his.
“Time is up, thank you everyone for coming!” a voice suddenly boomed from below them. The spell was broken and Jisung seemed to sober up in a split second, realizing the position he was in. He sprung away from Minho and felt the blush on his cheeks traveling all the way to his ears and neck. Was he really about to just kiss a random frat guy without even telling him his name?
“Sorry, I have to go,” Jisung mumbled, refusing to meet Minho’s eyes. Oh god, this was mortifying. How was he going to face Felix looking like a tomato? He quickly spun around and exited Minho’s room, leaving the other standing frozen, confused as to what just happened. As Jisung bounded down the stairs he spotted Felix, Jeongin, and Seungmin all chatting happily with one another. He made his way through the crowd towards them, hopeful that his blush had died down at least a little bit.
“Hey guys,” he said, hoping that his voice sounded at least a little bit more casual than it felt.
“Why are you out of breath?” Felix asked, suspicion showing on his face.
“Out of breath? I’m not out of breath.”
“You’re panting like a dog,” Felix responded, silently judging him. “Whatever, I don’t have time for your weirdness right now Jisung, we have more important things to discuss.”
“Like the fact that you were just glued to Chan for half an hour?” Jeongin teased, causing Felix to flush a little.
“Shut up! I was just trying to get to know him since I’ve heard so much about him.”
“You mean like how Jisung was trying to get to know Minho?” Seungmin asked, a playful glint crossing his face.
Felix whipped around, looking at Jisung in an accusatory manner. “What?”
“N-nothing,” Jisung was quick to respond, putting his hands up in defeat. “Just one of the brothers I was chatting with after you left me to dead sprint towards Chan the moment we walked in the house.”
“I did not dead sprint,” Felix scoffed.
“Lixie, I can’t even blame it on your little legs making your movements seem rushed, that was a sprint.”
“Anyways,” Felix said, completely ignoring Jisung’s comment. “Tell me more about Minho.”
“There’s really nothing to tell, we chatted for a half an hour just like the rest of you did. Besides, I’m never going to see him again anyways because I’m not joining the frat.”
“But I am, and if I get a bid from Sigma Kappa that means you’ll probably be visiting the house a lot to see me.”
“Or we could just meet in neutral places like the library?” Jisung suggested, not willing to give Felix any more information about his encounter with the strong, brunette frat boy that was still causing Jisung’s cheeks to feel hot.
“Don’t be ridiculous, you know how much I hate the library.”
“Yes because your idea of whispering is practically the same volume as a scream of a normal person Lix,” Jisung teased. “Look, I think I’ve done my civic duty as your best friend, I’m gonna head back to the dorm.”
“Don’t puke in the room I swear to god,” Felix threatened, looking at Jisung with fake disgust.
“I’m practically sober now, leave me alone!” he argued back. He turned towards Jeongin and Seungmin, putting on his friendliest smile. “It was really nice to meet you guys, the four of us should really do something soon.”
“We should, and I hope you’ll reconsider joining a fraternity, it would be fun for all of us to be pledges together,” Seungmin replied, giving Jisung a small wave as he walked away.
The walk back to the dorm sobered Jisung up and he continued to replay the moment with Minho over and over in his head. He couldn’t believe how bold he had been with the other boy, Jisung was a lot of things but bold was not one of them. He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks once again thinking about how he let Minho pull him close and tilt his head up to meet his. If Chan hadn’t interrupted them Jisung isn’t sure how far he may have let the boy go, he knew it would have been further than a kiss but was he really about to let Minho do whatever he wanted with him? Jisung shuddered at the thought. He was happy he wasn’t going to have to see him again, it was dangerous to let himself be close to people that had that kind of effect on him.
As he settled into bed he did his best to not let his mind wander to the sharp features of the boy, the smirk that did something to Jisung’s mind, the strong hands that wrapped so effortlessly around him. By the time he woke up he was hoping all memories of the boy were gone.