I can read your smile - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic - Chapter 1 - Looking for a place
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 1 - Looking for a place
chapter word count: 3.1k words
~Third person POV~
"So you left just like that?" Jinki laughed.
"Yes! One more minute with Minho and I would've fucking killed him!"
"Wh-"
"And before you ask-" Kibum turned to Minho. "It's your mere presence that annoys the shit out of me. Just seeing you walk across the living room- ugh!" Key cut him off and grimaced. "Ugh." He repeated, as if suddenly remembering a horrible thing, and shuddered.
"Come on, just tell them the truth!!! You bought an apartment!" Minho whined.
"While that's also true, I also can't stand living with you anymore."
"Fine! Move out then!" Minho scoffed, annoyed.
"Are these the early stages of a divorce?" Taemin asked with a slight chuckle.
"What divorce?"
"We aren't married."
Key and Minho both replied at the same time, making Jinki and Taemin laugh. The boys were seated at their usual table in the cafeteria, eating lunch. Their university had a fixed 9-15:30 program with a 1-hour lunch break from 13:00 to 14:00, followed by a last class.
It became a habit of theirs to meet up daily, even if all of them studied different majors, or were in different years. Jinki was the oldest, and he was in his final year, the fifth, studying mechanical engineering, a difficult field he was passionate about. Key and Minho were both in the 4th year, with Key studying a combo of business and design, and Minho being a business major. He was getting the best education he could to assist in his family's business once he finished his degree. Taemin was also a business major, but he was in 2nd year.
"So anyway- what I'm saying is, now I have to find a new roommate because Key abandoned me." Minho shook his head and scowled.
"Why?" Key laughed. "It's not like you need the rent money."
"Right. Why do you want to live with someone else so badly?" Jinki inquired as well.
"I just... like it when the house is not empty, I guess." He shrugged and took a bite of his food.
"Then get a girlfriend and move in with her." Key rolled his eyes and stated this, as if it were an obvious solution.
"He's married to football." Jinki stated.
"And the gym." Taemin added.
"And he's insufferable." Key finished the point while sipping his strawberry juice with a straw.
---
"Morning!" Crystal sat down in her chair, throwing her backpack on her school desk. Thankfully classes started at 9, but she still found it a bit too early. She wished she could sleep in more.
Unfortunately, this was not a possibility, so she relied on the cup of coffee she managed to half-dunk before running out of the house to get to her class in time.
"Morning!" Everyone replied to the girl in unison.
"How's your quest going?" One of the girls behind her, Lydia, asked.
Lydia was a tall and slim girl with brown, silky hair, and a matching pair of hazelnut brown eyes. Her lips were always painted in a subtle glittery shine, and her eyes were contrasted by a smokey eyeshadow look. She seemed unfriendly at first, even quite mean at times, but once you got to know her, you'd realise she was a very sweet girl who just had to toughen up to face the world.
"Quest? What quest?" Taemin raised an eyebrow with a chuckle, confused. He's been Crystal's desk mate for a while now, wasn't he supposed to know things too?
"Oh, Crystal's been looking for a new apartment." Lydia reapplied her gloss and spoke nonchalantly.
"Yea, I'm getting kicked out in 2 weeks." Crystal frowned.
"No way! Why?" Lydia's deskmate, Jude, asked, as confused as Taemin.
This was their usual group – Crystal, Taemin, Jude and Lydia. All of them ended up in a group project in the first year since they were desk mates, and figured out they get along quite well, so they kept to their small entourage and became close, one could say even friends.
"The owner decided to sell." Crystal sighed deeply. She was in deep shit, and she kinda resented Lydia for reminding her of this.
"What? Why haven't you told me?" Taemin asked, hurt, almost with a whine. He was easily affected by people not confiding in him, especially if he's confided in them before, and he did; out of their small group of friends, he was the closest to Crystal, and they spent many late nights on the phone discussing his problems.
Never hers – he noticed bluntly once again.
She never talked about herself.
"I just found out, Taeminnie. Lydia was just with me when he called yesterday." Crystal clarified, patting the boy's back. She knew how high her walls could get, and she could tell that Taemin wanted to ask more, but instead, they just shared a short glance and her smile reassured him that she's okay.
"That's so shitty of him. In the middle of the semester, too. How are you supposed to find a new place?!" Jude complained loudly, chewing on some piece of gum – peppermint flavoured.
Jude was the princess type. She grew up surrounded by all sorts of riches, since she was the only child of a big conglomerate owner. He spoiled her rotten, but she figured out early on in life that she doesn't want to rely on daddy's money forever. She wanted to do something more, using her own powers. She wanted to start her own fashion brand and make it successful without banking on her father's name.
"No idea." Crystal sighed. She hasn't even started looking yet, but the situation was dire. Money was scarce, rooms or apartments in the winter months were scarcer.
"2 weeks notice should be illegal." Jude scoffed.
"Tell me about it!"
"I actually have a friend who's been looking for a roommate. Maybe... it could work out and you could move in with him?" Taemin started, before Lydia intervened.
"A him? Taemin, dear, don't set Crystal up for being abused." Lydia intervened.
"Abused?! He would never-"
"Let's not get haste." Crystal spoke. "It doesn't matter if it's a she or a he. No one's gonna abuse anyone."
"You have too much faith in people." Lydia retorted, and Crystal knew it was coming from a place of hurt. Lydia's been wounded before. She knew, without having to ask her about it. She pieced it together during their talks in-between study sessions, and she knew at least a bit of the extent to which Lydia has trusted someone else, who ended up hurting her really badly.
It was hard for her to trust others.
"This is a crisis!" Jude spoke, loudly again. She somehow seemed the most disturbed by this, even if it had practically nothing to do with her.
"Anyways," Crystal interrupted them all, "how much is he charging?"
---
"Hmm, a friend of yours, you say? Do I know him?" Minho smiled, tying his shoes. Taemin went to see him before his football practice specifically so they could talk about this pressing matter.
Crystal needed help, and he wanted to help somehow. It was the first time he felt he could be of use to her, so he made it his #1 mission to make this work somehow.
"She's a girl. And no, I don't think so. She's my desk mate, but she's not really... the type of person you'd associate with, I guess."
"What do you mean by that?" Minho raised an eyebrow.
"I mean... she's not really... her family's not rich or anything." He tried explaining, but stumbled on his words. He knew Crystal worked at a restaurant somewhere, but he realised he knew next to nothing about her private life otherwise. Did her family live here, and if they did, why didn't she live with them?
He felt like a bad friend.
"You think I only associate with rich people?" Minho chuckled. This type of things never mattered to him. It was true, he was more fortunate than most, being born with a diamond spoon in his mouth, but he never let money be a deciding factor in what type of people he kept around him.
"It's not that... but she works a lot and doesn't really hang out or anything. I'm just saying it would be surprising if you knew her." Taemin tried explaining, and he was glad that Minho didn't seem to want to ask anything more.
"Hmm. I see." Minho hummed.
A girl was not exactly his idea of a new roommate, but if what Taemin said was true, she was the type of person who would move in with him because she needed the place, not because it was him. That was comforting in a way. It would also fill the void of Key's absence, because what Minho hated more than anything was an empty apartment.
"So? How much do you charge?" Taemin asked after a few seconds.
"Well, the apartment complex is, as you know, right next to the campus. A room in my complex usually starts at 750$, but... let's say, maybe, 500$?"
---
"500?!" Crystal exclaimed.
"Well, it's right next to campus..."
"Wow. I mean, yea, it's a good deal, but... sorry Taeminnie, you wasted your time." Crystal frowned. "I barely earn 500$ with tips, so..."
"Oh." Taemin stood silent for a moment. He had no idea how much she made. As Minho said, the price for a room here could start at 750$ and no one would bat an eye, but it was apparently a life-changing sum for Crystal, that she couldn't afford.
"I'm sorry." Crystal patted his shoulder. "And thank you for asking, really."
"Don't. I haven't done anything..." Taemin's expression saddened. He wasn't able to help her with anything, after all.
"Of course you did! You asked your friend, and he was offering a really good price for the area, it's just that it's out of my budget. But you helped a lot!" The girl praised Taemin, trying to be her cheerful self.
What did she expect? Obviously Taemin wouldn't have a friend with an apartment that she could afford.
Still, that was not his fault, and she didn't want him to feel bad for things out of his control. He did his best.
---
~4 days later~
"I really like today's pork chop." Minho said while munching on his food, grabbing a spoonful of rice as well.
"Yea, and the soup is great." Jinki added while he ate happily, like a little kid.
"By the way, what happened with your girl friend who was looking for an apartment?" Minho raised his head to look at Taemin. Ever since that talk a few days ago, he hasn't heard anything anymore.
"Wait, does Taemin have a girlfriend? Which one?" Key asked shocked and started looking around the cafeteria.
"No, dummy." Minho laughed. "Girl friend as in a friend who is a girl."
"Great phrasing, dumbass." Key rolled his eyes.
"Oh, she said it's a great offer and thanked you, but she refused." Taemin took a bite of his food. He got sad once again for not being able to help more, and he absent mindedly glanced over Crystal's table. She was, as usual, seated with Jude and Lydia, and her back was turned to him.
"Rejected even outside a relationship." Jinki spoke, earning a side glare from Minho.
"But why?" Minho couldn't help but ask. Taemin seemed really eager to find out if he would want her as a roommate.
"Too expensive." Taemin clarified.
To that, Minho didn't know what to say. 500$ meant nothing to him, and to most people in this cafeteria.
"Who was it, though? The one who rejected Minho." Key grinned.
"The girl in the floral sundress at that table. Her name's Crystal." Taemin spoke and pointed out to the girl with the back turned on them, sitting a few tables over.
---
"An apple again?" Jude frowned.
"You know the saying... an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Crystal smiled.
"You can't keep eating just an apple for lunch every day. How do you have energy?" Jude asked in a worried tone.
"Hard will." Crystal shrugged. "Don't worry, if my body needed anything else, I would've eaten it."
A lie.
She did feel hungry most times, but that was okay. Hunger pangs came in overwhelming waves only late at night, if the restaurant was especially busy and she wouldn't have time to munch on anything.
"She's right, you know?" Lydia spoke while eating the cafeteria's lunch. She changed subjects quickly enough, with a follow-up question. "Are you browsing apartments again?"
"Mhm." Crystal frowned. "I have to move out in exactly 10 days and still have no idea where I'll go."
"You really didn't find anything?" Jude bent over the table trying to glance into Crystal's phone. "Your screen's broken."
"Nah. Everything in my price range is crap." Crystal chuckled and ignored the comment about her phone. She didn't have money to replace it right now, anyway.
"How can you even laugh in that situation? I would stress myself out to no end!" Jude exclaimed.
"You're so dramatic." Lydia rolled her eyes at her desk mate.
"Well, I am stressed out, but besides looking at advertisements, what can I do? Adding more stress is pointless."
"See? She has it all figured out." Lydia added and smiled at Crystal, feeling proud that she was keeping herself together so well.
"I wish I had your resolve." Jude said. "If you don't find anything in 10 days, you can always move in with me until you find something."
"I would never." Crystal chuckled. "I don't want to disturb you."
"You wouldn't!" Jude jumped in immediately, and then her attention shifted somewhere behind Crystal, and she started waving. Crystal, curious as she is, turned her head around and saw Taemin waving at them enthusiastically.
Then, he gestured towards her and asked her to come over.
Weird. She thought. He was with his other group of friends, and he's never asked any of them to join him before. But still, she got up and took her half-eaten apple – the only lunch of the day – and headed towards Taemin. She didn't recognise any of the men at the table, but then again, she didn't really know anyone outside the people from her class, so that wasn't so surprising.
"Crystal! You're shining today as usual!" Taemin complimented the girl and ushered her to sit down next to him, taking her into a side hug as soon as she sat down.
"Oh, shut up!" She chuckled and hugged him back. He would always make small jokes at her name, telling her she shines like a Crystal, and she would always find them funny and laugh, because Taemin was the only one who didn't make fun of her maliciously. He genuinely found the name funny.
Kids when she was younger would poke fun at the fact that she was poor and had such an unfitting name-
"Everyone, this is my friend and desk mate, Crystal. Crystal, this next to me is Kibum, and in front of us are Jinki and Minho." Taemin interrupted her train of thoughts, and she focused on the names of his friends, trying to remember them as much as she could.
"Pleasure to meet you." She showed her sweet smile, and the boys returned her pleasantries.
"So, how's your apartment hunt going?" Taemin asked.
"Oh, is that why you wanted me to come here?" Crystal chuckled nervously.
"Yea."
"We could've talked in class." She smiled, and Taemin felt as if she was scolding him. Still, she replied. "It's not really going anywhere. I saw a few rooms yesterday but no luck so far."
"Were they ugly?"
"Very! Some of them were full of mold, or had an active cockroach infestation-"
"Ew!" Taemin grimaced at the thought of cockroaches. He hated all insects with a passion.
"Right?! I saw at least 5 and I took two steps inside. I'm scared to death of them!"
"Me too! They are horrible, and their little legs-"
"What's your budget?" Minho asked all of a sudden, interrupting Taemin and taking Crystal by surprise. She almost forgot other people were at the table, with how one-sided the conversation's been. Taemin excluded all of them from the start, when he asked her something personal his friends had no interest in knowing.
"Uhm..." Crystal tucked her hair behind her right ear, a bad habit she wanted to get rid of that showed she was uncomfortable.
"Taemin said 500$ is over the budget." Minho pressed.
"Oh." Crystal laughed, feeling a bit embarrassed. "You must be the friend with the apartment, then."
"Yea, he's the guy I told you about." Taemin confirmed.
"How much have you been paying until now?"
"Well, I was paying 200$, but with how much the market exploded, I could go to maybe 250$ with utilities. Would still be a bit over, but manageable if I cut a few more costs." She absent-mindedly looked at the apple. Obviously, an apple wouldn't be making a dent through her savings, but she thought in horror how many dinners she'd start skipping once she paid 50$ more monthly, especially on nights when she didn't work.
If she worked, the restaurant would usually cover one meal at least.
"Okay." Minho nodded and crossed his arms. "Are you a tidy person?"
"Huh?" She raised her eyebrows. This question took her by surprise.
"She's the tidiest person!" Taemin exclaimed. "Always spotless! You should see her notes, and how she arranges her pens on the table!"
"That sounds like OCD-" Key started before Taemin elbowed his side.
"Okay, then how about 150$?"
"Sorry?" Crystal tilted her head.
"I'm asking you if 150$ would be a good price for you to move in with me."
"150$? But-"
"Yea, I just want to move in with someone after my dear Kibum left me dry." Minho glanced at Key.
"Still, from 500$ to 150$... you'd certainly find someone else to pay you even more..." Crystal chuckled.
"He doesn't need money." Jinki shrugged.
"So? Is that okay? Should we go see the apartment after class?" Minho insisted.
Crystal found him pushy, but still, she agreed with an uncertain nod, so he took out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and handed it over to the girl.
"Your number?" He smiled, and she looked at Taemin unsure, who just nodded and smiled back at her.
She grabbed the phone and typed in her number, then gave it back to Minho.
"I'll message you later." He said, then took his empty tray and got up from the table.
only purely because i think this is so funny to me the thought genuinely makes me laugh. i also have nothing to post right now cuz i've been so busy... 😞
- ok hold on cuz i feel like jinki is one of those cocker spaniels??? idk they just seem so sweet and small you could just put them in your pocket.
- jjong is definitely a dachshund and not because roo is one but because they have way too much energy but are the sweetest companions. :(
- kibum has also got to be a poodle like comme des and garcon. HEAR ME OUT: poodles are extremely intelligent but stunning animals. they're often show dogs in most cases, so they're practically born to be on stage.
- i see minho as being a pittie. the pit bull terriers. AGAIN HEAR ME OUT. i feel like pitties have more strength than they realize and people are intimidated by them for no reason when they're literally the sweetest and most loyal friends.
- taemin is a labradoodle or some kind of retriever- there is no way he is not. the pure happiness and purity he radiates can be seen within a 10 mile radius, and like doodles, they can't NOT be loved.
guys pls don't unfollow me argue with me in the comments if u want,,,
producer to jonghyun: won’t the other members be eating more delicious food?
jonghyun: minho and key went to london, right? i think this is better than fish & chips- switzerland has a lot of snow so taemins’ probably eating snow-
