Chapter Text
Break ups, failed relationships, and broken hearts. Yoon Jeonghan was pretty used to these things, although he had hoped he wouldn't be. Nearly 2 years in the industry meant that he got around often; once the dating ban was lifted, he got around even more. It wasn't hard especially with his well known good looks and charming personality. However, he didn't think dating as an idol would be this hard, if he had to be honest. Sure, keeping things hidden was a given, but regardless, something always went wrong.
With that thought in mind, he found himself waltzing into the room that was shared by Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Jisoo. He knew the younger ones had a radio show to host which meant Jisoo should be the only one in the room. Sure enough, he found the pink haired boy on his bed, lazily plucking at his guitar. He was probably tuning it again, a habit that never disappeared even when his guitar was never out of tune to begin with. Jisoo looked up once he heard the door close and offered Jeonghan a smile before going back to his guitar; only to look back up at the loud sigh Jeonghan let out.
“Two months,” Jeonghan said the moment he got Jisoo’s attention, lying down on one of the empty beds, probably Seokmin's. “Broke up today. You don’t think I’m too suffocating, do you?”
“Jeonghan, how can you be suffocating if you haven’t even gone out with…” Jisoo paused as if trying to remember something, which made Jeonghan roll his eyes because Hong Jisoo never forgets. It was definitely an act, probably to emphasize how many dates Jeonghan has gone with different people. Jisoo did that bit often. “Minhee, right? In weeks. You stopped when we started practice again. Don’t you think maybe that’s why? She wouldn’t understand what dating an idol is like.”
Jeonghan hummed in agreement, “yeah, she probably has some kind of fantasy that I can’t live up to.”
“She probably does. Her and the other multitude of girls and guys you’ve dated. Then again, even the idol ones don’t seem to last, huh? How many has it been again?” Jisoo asked, a teasing smile on his face when Jeonghan turned to stick his tongue out at him. As harsh as the words appeared, he knew there was a layer of genuine concern under them. Jisoo never explicitly said Jeonghan should stop, but he did jokingly complain about how Jeonghan should find someone else to rant to every now and then. The latter liked ranting to Jisoo the most though, because he never saw or treated Jeonghan differently even with all that's been happening.
“Whatever, Hong Jisoo,” he found himself saying, shooting the other boy a challenging look. “At least I actually go out and date people. I’m hardly romantically challenged.”
Jisoo raised his brows at that, face unreadable as he stared back at Jeonghan, “what do you mean by that?”
“I know how to get people to date me,” Jeonghan said simply, crossing his arms across his chest in triumph.
Instead of admitting defeat or agreeing like Jeonghan expected him to do, Jisoo chuckled instead, which confused him. Jisoo wasn’t supposed to find this funny. He was supposed to say yes, Jeonghan was right, he didn’t go on dates and therefore wouldn’t understand. Then he was supposed to continue helping Jeonghan with his dating problem, or ask for advice from the other boy on how to date so he can get on with his life and have fun, too.
He does none of these.
He continues to smile.
“What’s with your weird smile, Shua?” Jeonghan asked warily.
Before Jisoo could open his mouth to reply, Jihoon enters the room with a question on his lips— something about asking Jisoo about his latest composition and whether he could help— but it falls short upon noticing Jeonghan in the room, too. He glanced back and forth between the two; from Jeonghan’s confused expression to Jisoo’s cheeky one. While a confused Jeonghan was common, the sight of the other boy was not. Something was going on. Jihoon always wanted to know what was going on.
“Alright,” he said instead, plopping himself down next to Jisoo. “Speak. What’s up?”
Jeonghan’s hand immediately shot out to point at Jisoo, “Jisoo here’s been silently judging me again for going on dates, which I don’t think is fair because he doesn’t even have a love life.”
Jihoon’s eyes widened in surprise and question, turning to Jisoo next.
“He doesn’t know?”
Jeonghan blinked, “what don’t I know?”
Jisoo still had that small smile on his lips as he shook his head at Jihoon, pretending to ignore the question that was just thrown by the other boy, “he doesn’t. Unlike our good friend Jeonghan, I don’t make it a point to update the group chat about dates I go on.”
“Hey!” Jeonghan exclaimed, pouting a little. There was an odd feeling brewing inside him, not exactly betrayal since he understood Jisoo’s point— more like unease. He didn’t think there was anything he wouldn’t know about the American boy. “We’re supposed to be friends— best friends! We should tell each other these things!”
“It’s hard telling you anything without you first complaining about a break up,” Jisoo said casually. He peered at Jeonghan, almost playfully. “I never really minded. I figured between the two of us, you took up the talking aspect of the friendship.”
Jihoon snorted, “he’s not wrong.”
“Hey!” Jeonghan complained again, causing Jihoon to snicker and promptly leave the room, claiming the two should discuss these things alone. He had better things to do, apparently.
“Well,” Jeonghan continued once the small boy left, dragging the vowels of the word, shaking off what he felt before and opting to take things lightly. Jisoo had a point. This was nothing to feel weird about. He offered a cheerful grin. “Now’s the time to talk. Spill. Who have you gone on dates with?”
“The past is in the past,” Jisoo said in a sing-song tone that sounded vaguely like a song from Frozen.
Jeonghan rolled his eyes, “alright, fine. Who are you dating now, then?”
He didn’t mean to make it come out nervous, but was surprised to find that it did. Jisoo going on dates didn’t bother him— right? Yes, yeah, it definitely didn’t. What bothered him was that he didn’t know, and just like Jihoon and probably everybody else in Seventeen, he liked knowing things. He only told them so they’d know what their darling angel was up to. Jisoo should have done the same. Then again, Jihoon seemed to know. Was he the only one out of the loop?
“I’m not dating anyone,” came Jisoo’s reply, which relieved Jeonghan of a worry he didn’t know he had. “I do like someone though, but I haven’t done anything about it.”
Jeonghan brightened, “oh! I can help with this! I’m good at getting people, trust me. Who is she?”
He gave Jisoo his biggest, brightest smile— the type that usually got him whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. It usually worked on Jisoo, too, but apparently not today. The other boy merely chuckled, “no thanks, Yoon. I don’t need to be so obvious.”
“You mean, you’re just going to do your shy boy act and wait till she makes a move first?” Jeonghan scoffed. “That’s so lame, Jisoo, live a little.”
“Hey, it’s worked before,” Jisoo retaliated, reminding Jeonghan yet again that he has actually gone on dates; not that Jeonghan needed any reminding, since he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind. He vaguely drew up some memories of Jisoo mentioning dates here and there, but nothing concrete that his mind can actually latch on to. Maybe it was his fault for not noticing his friend going on dates, after all. He can't remember who they were with though. He wished he did.
“I just wanna help,” Jeonghan commented lightly, feigning a look of hurt. “We’re friends, Jisoo. Besides, you might be hopeless this time and you’ll never get her to notice you.”
“I think I’ll manage.”
“Wanna bet?”
Jeonghan grinned as he asked, knowing full well that bets were a thing all members of Seventeen took very, very seriously. With thirteen boys, there had to be some sort of friendly competition here and there. Then again, Jisoo was probably one of the members who didn’t participate in bets very often, but if he knew his friend well enough, sometimes he just couldn’t resist. Jisoo regarded him for a few seconds, looking lost in thought, before finally nodding.
“Alright, fine. How are we doing this?”
“Excellent,” Jeonghan clapped his hands, moving from his place on Seokmin’s bed to sit beside Jisoo. “You have to get your crush to date you without being obvious. That's your thing, right? No confessions, she can’t know your feelings, no outside help.”
“How long do I have to win my crush’s interests?”
“A month.”
Jisoo shrugged, “alright, fair enough. I’m still not telling you who my crush is, though.”
Drat. Jeonghan had hoped the bet would get Jisoo to confide in him. He was dying to know, but figured if they were already making a bet out of it, then he’ll find out sooner or later. It's probably more fair if he didn't know so he couldn't meddle, but hey— he's Yoon Jeonghan. Playing fair doesn't come easily to him. He could always figure it out on his own, anyway. Jisoo may be shy and subtle, but surely something like a crush would be obvious, right?
“Fine,” he said instead. “Let’s get Jihoon again. Does he know?”
“No, but I could tell him,” Jisoo said with a confident, almost devil-may-care smile that wasn’t something usually seen on his face. The sight made Jeonghan a tiny bit nervous. He shook it off immediately. “That way he can judge when I win.”
Jeonghan nodded, standing up to go get Jihoon. He was nearly out the door when he realized what the other boy said.
“Wait a minute, who said you’ll win?!”
Jisoo’s laugh followed him out of the room.