Our Own After Party ~ Ji Changmin
You smiled apologetically to your group member, noticing Changmin hovering out of the corner of your eye. He tried to be subtle, but you were aware of just how badly he was failing, despite the crowds that were in the arena.
For some time you had tried to ignore him, pretending as if you hadn’t noticed him like he wanted you to. Somehow in the mix Younghoon had been dragged across to help Changmin with his decoy, slowly edging closer and closer towards you.
Eventually you felt as if you had no choice but to look across, and as you did, you noticed how quickly Changmin pushed Younghoon away, almost as if he had never been there.
“Are you alright?” You asked him, noticing his blushed cheeks in reply to your sudden attention, “it’s just you seem to have been getting a little too comfortable around me for a while.”
“Oh,” Changmin stuttered, scratching his hand over the top of his head, knowing that the eyes of the boys were watching. “I just wanted to come across and say congratulations, I’m not surprised you guys won best dance tonight.”
You smiled appreciatively back at him, “we had some stiff competition, I’m a big fan of your group.”
Your words sent a shiver down Changmin’s spine as he took in a deep breath, determined to remain composed around you. He had already failed once tonight, jumping up a little too quickly when you were announced as the winners of the award despite the fact that it ended up making his groups the losers, which the other boys very quickly reminded him of.
“I’m supposed to go to this winner’s dinner tonight, but it’s not really my scene,” you then spoke up, glancing nervously around the room, “it’s always just a bunch of idols getting drunk and dancing terribly bad.”
“It’s not really my thing either,” Changmin agreed, making himself as relatable to you as possible. “You’ve got to celebrate your win somehow though, you can’t just go back to your dorm, especially if your other members are going to one of these after parties.”
“I don’t mind my own company,” you assured him, noticing a slight glint in his eye, “I’ve not really got any plans, sometimes it’s quite nice to just grab some food and celebrate watching a film and relaxing instead of dancing.”
“You like films?” Changmin excitedly asked, “me too.”
Your smile grew as he cheered, trying his best to still keep his composure. Luckily for him, you were clueless as to how excited Changmin was to finally get the chance to speak to you after spending most of his evening staring across at you and getting teased by his friends.
“What are your plans for the rest of the evening?” You then asked Changmin, finding yourself enjoying his company despite the chaos that was going on around you.
A first flutter of his heart came as you began to take an interest in Changmin too. His confidence was slowly building, surprised that you were so willing to take the time to talk to him and listen in to what his interests were too.
Behind him Changmin knew that there was a likely chance that the boys would be watching him too. He couldn’t return to the table without letting them know that he had made the effort with you and tried to get a little conversation from you too.
“That depends on a little something,” Changmin admitted.
“Your other group members? It must be hard to make plans with thirteen of you.”
“Not quite, I was thinking more whether you want to have your after party with me, doing something a little less drunk and loud.”
“Oh, I see.”
You struggled to stop your eyes from going wide in response to Changmin’s offer, surprised by Changmin’s offer. He wasn’t quite sure how you were feeling as he asked, struggling to decide if he had done the right thing or not.
“You can say no, I don’t mind, but I don’t really like the thought of you celebrating alone.”
Your head shook back at him, “I’m not just going to say no, I really appreciate that you thought of inviting me to do something.”
Despite your preconceptions about Changmin as he lingered beside you, you were finding yourself quickly warming to him. In a world that was often so lonely it was nice for you to have someone so willing to take an interest in you.
“Did you have any plans for our after party?” You enquired, smiling weakly across at Changmin, watching as his head nodded confidently back at you.
“We might not be able to take food and sit in one of our dorms, maybe we could grab a pizza or something and head down to the river,” Changmin proposed, “we can just sit and watch the world go by, that can be the movie that the two of us can watch too if you fancy.”
It was a plan that was calm, relaxed, exactly how you wanted to spend your evening after the hecticness that came with a day of award ceremony preparation. “Are you asking me out to a little after party, or is this a date?”
Changmin’s shoulders shrugged back at you, “if I told you that it was a date would you think that I was a suspicious man who’s been lingering around for most of the night to get his chance with you?”
“I’d admire your perseverance,” you laughed in reply to him, “but if you told me that it was a date then I’d still agree to it, it’s not very often that you come across an idol who actually wants to speak to you and get to know you too.”
You could tell that Changmin didn’t quite want to be friends with you, but the effort that he made with you was something that you just couldn’t ignore. He seemed lovely, kind, and sincere, all of the qualities that you often missed in someone in the industry.
“I can’t promise alcohol or loud music, but I can promise human conversation and the chance to be able to enjoy your win in the way that you want to celebrate,” Changmin assured you, “we can head off soon if you fancy it?”
“I might just need to go and tell my members where I’m going,” you explained, suggesting that Changmin did the same too. “Although I might have to then run away quickly before I start having to listen to them tease me about what my plans are.”
“I’m already thinking about just sending a text to Sangyeon so that I don’t have to face them.”
Your head nodded, impressed with his idea as you took your phone out of your bag that was over your shoulder, “what do you say about heading out first and then texting before they can text back and try and get us to change our minds?”
Changmin looked pack, finding a path to reach the exit door, moving his hand cautiously around your shoulders to help guide you out whilst ignoring the stares of the other members.
“I know the perfect place for pizza too,” Changmin joked as he led you away.
“You’ve really thought of everything.”
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