Chapter Text
Campus is bustling with activity as Minseok carries his bags into his dorm, freshmen accompanied by their parents lugging oversized suitcases and stuffed shopping bags from their cars. Minseok doesn't have much by comparison, a backpack and two small suitcases, but it's already far more than he's ever had to his name before. It's far more than he needs, in his opinion, but his local handler, Heechul, insisted that if he wants to blend in, he has to have the clothes and technology and mementos that any college student would.
Minseok isn't worried about blending in. He was born for this, literally, and he's spent his whole life training to be the perfect spy, to fit in wherever the government sends him and do whatever they need of him. Add to that the last few months that he's spent thoroughly preparing for this assignment, learning everything about American colleges and building a solid cover story, and he's ready to be Minseok "Michael if you really must" Kim, ordinary eighteen-year-old Korean student come to the U.S. to expand his horizons and prepare for the future. He has nothing to be afraid of. Besides, he's never been afraid of anything.
There are three people in Minseok's dorm room when he opens the door, two adults and a boy in shorts and a t-shirt. The boy grins when he sees Minseok and hops to his feet. "Hi!" he chirps. "Are you Minseok?"
Minseok flashes him the smile he practiced in front of the mirror until it looked convincing. "That's me." Minseok's English is flawless when he wants it to be, but he's adopted a mild accent for this mission in order to avoid questions of where in Korea he learned such perfect English.
"Nice to meet you! You can call me Bill if you want, but I guess since you're Korean, you'd probably rather call me Baekhyun."
"Bill?" Minseok asks.
"It doesn't fit me, does it? I was thirteen when I came to the U.S. and I didn't know anything about English names, so I picked that, and it's too much effort to change it now. You can stick to Baekhyun."
"You're Korean?" Minseok had the option to contact his roommate before the start of the school year, but he didn't. He has an excuse prepared if he needs it, that he was traveling all summer and was barely online, but Baekhyun doesn't seem to care.
"I am." Baekhyun suddenly switches into Korean. "I went to high school here, so I can help you out if you don't understand anything."
"Thank you." In Korean, at least, Minseok doesn't have to pretend to not know the language perfectly.
Baekhyun introduces his parents, and Minseok introduces Heechul as his uncle, and they proceed to chat as they unpack their things and arrange the room. "It's a tiny room for two people, isn't it?" Baekhyun comments, gesturing at the small space between their beds and the desks at the far end of the room.
Until last week, Minseok slept in a bunkroom with nine other people, bunk beds lined up with just enough space around them to get in and out. Here, he has a bed and a desk and so many drawers to put his things in. He shrugs. "We'll manage."
Minseok and Heechul end up getting dragged out to dinner with Baekhyun and his parents, but after that, they say their goodbyes. Minseok is left alone with Baekhyun and the knowledge that this mission, and this role as a spy that he's spent his entire life preparing for, are finally beginning. So far, all that means is spending time with his new roommate, but tomorrow, orientation begins and the wheels will be set in motion. He's not sure what to call this feeling that makes his heart beat faster, but it just might be excitement.
Freshman Orientation begins with something called an "icebreaker," which turns out to mean an activity for getting to know new people. Minseok has a survey to fill out, looking for someone who's done each of the things on the list. There are twenty people in Minseok's group for the icebreaker, presided over by an RA named Henry, but Minseok's attention is focused on one. Kim Junmyeon is the son of the CEO of Guardian Gold, Inc. and the reason Minseok came halfway around the world to an American university.
Guardian Gold is a powerful company, and while government intelligence has yet to prove it, they're suspected of having black market ties, including arms dealing. Whatever they're involved in, it's drawn the attention of a dangerous multinational organization the government refers to as Organization X. Operatives of said organization are believed to be targeting Junmyeon in order to gather information from him about Guardian Gold or, if it comes to that, to use him as leverage against his father.
Minseok's primary mission is to get close to Junmyeon and prevent him from falling into the clutches of Organization X or anyone else who might seek to use him against his father. He's also supposed to gather any information he can regarding Guardian Gold's illegal activities. Ideally, he should keep Junmyeon safe in process, but that's not a priority. They're playing a much bigger game than one man, however rich and powerful his family may be. Junmyeon's life isn't important, only keeping others from controlling it.
Junmyeon isn't at all what Minseok expected from his file, which showed his perfect grades and clean-cut appearance. He cheerfully introduces himself as James Kim, but after Minseok gives his own name, he says, "Oh! Then you can call me Junmyeon." With a grimace, he admits, "I don't like James that much, but it beats people here trying to say Junmyeon."
Working through the survey, Minseok learns that Junmyeon has never been to Washington D.C. ("But I really want to go!"), is not afraid of spiders ("But that doesn't mean I like them") and was not born in January, but he is good at math. Minseok smoothly lies that he doesn't speak more than two languages (nine, actually) and he doesn't know how to drive (cars, motorcycles and trucks, in fact) and that he does have a little sister, two years younger than him. Junmyeon laughs loudly when Minseok says that she's a brat.
"It was nice meeting you!" Junmyeon says before they separate to talk to other students. "I hope we can talk more soon."
"Me too," Minseok agrees, pleased with the start things are getting off to.
That night, he has dinner with Junmyeon, along with Baekhyun and Junmyeon's roommate Han, an unassuming but good-looking guy from China. They're eating pizza, a food Minseok knows about but has never eaten before, and he's enjoying it greatly. It burns his tongue, but he likes the taste and the texture of the gooey cheese. He's eaten nutritious but bland rations his whole life, and he had no idea what he was missing out on.
"Orientation is fun so far, isn't it?" Baekhyun asks, his mouth full of pizza. "I think I'm going to like college."
Minseok nods in agreement because it seems like the right response, but he doesn't know if it's the truth. He can recite the dictionary definition of fun, but it's not something he has any experience with. He likes the food so far; is that fun? Mostly he feels satisfaction at finally being out here in the field, putting everything he learned into practice. He doubts that's what Baekhyun is feeling.
"It won't all be fun, you know," Junmyeon counters. "College is hard work."
"Yeah, yeah," Baekhyun grumbles. "Just enjoy the moment, killjoy."
Junmyeon laughs. "Guilty as charged. But I know how to have fun too, don't worry."
"Good." Baekhyun's mischievous grin makes Minseok think his roommate is going to make his job much more difficult if he has his way.
"I love meeting so many new people, don't you?" Junmyeon continues. "Everyone's so different and interesting."
"Yeah," Han agrees with somewhat less enthusiasm. From what Minseok has seen so far, he's a lot quieter than his roommate, and probably not as good at meeting new people.
Minseok nods again. In one day of orientation, he's already met more new people than he has in years, all of them very different. Minseok's fellow Students, as their government handlers dubbed them, aren't identical to him, but being born with the same genetic modifications to give them physical and mental advantages and raised in the same controlled environment means that they have a lot in common. The students here don't look alike or speak alike or dress alike or behave in the same way, and Minseok suspects he'll only notice more differences as he gets to know people better.
"'Different and interesting.' What a polite way of saying 'weird,'" Baekhyun jokes.
"Speak for yourself," Junmyeon retorts. Han laughs, so Minseok takes the hint and does too.
"Whatever." Baekhyun rests his arm on the back of Minseok's chair, and Minseok tamps down on the instinct to tense up like it's an attack. "My roomie and I will be weird together. Right?" He looks at Minseok for confirmation.
It's a strange thing to say, and Minseok doesn't know how to respond. His perplexed expression makes Junmyeon and Han laugh, and Baekhyun joins them a moment later. Minseok's still lost, but he smiles like it's funny. For all his training and preparation, he realizes, there's more he needs to learn about humor and human interaction if he's going to fit in here.
By the end of orientation week, Minseok has friends, or at least people who call themselves that. It's unexpected; he knows what friendship is, and it shouldn't, as he understands it, be possible to establish it in a week. Then again, if people want to call him their friend, he isn't going to argue, especially not when one of those people is Junmyeon. This is exactly what he needs, to fit in smoothly and get close to Junmyeon as quickly as possible.
Besides Junmyeon, Baekhyun and Han, there's Yixing, another Chinese student, and his roommate Jongdae, from Korea. They all live on the same floor, with Minseok and Baekhyun in the middle and the others at opposite ends of the dorm. There's also a group of girls in a triple on the floor above, Amber and Krystal from California and Luna (another Korean, Sunyoung, but she's happy with the nickname), who spend time with them.
"And here I thought in college I might branch out from hanging out with all the Asians," Baekhyun jokes when they fill up a long table in the dining hall the night before classes start.
"No one's keeping you here," Amber tosses back, waving her hand to dismiss him. Everyone laughs, so Minseok does too.
Minseok hasn't gotten the hang of keeping up with lively conversation yet, but he doesn't have to in this large group. Baekhyun talks enough for both of them and then some, and Amber and Junmyeon easily keep pace with him. Jongdae can't quite keep up in English, but he tries. Minseok's heard him prattle on non-stop with Baekhyun in Korean, so he knows Jongdae's not quiet. Krystal and Luna join in often too, and Yixing observes more than talks but jumps in with good one liners. It's some comfort to Minseok that Han doesn't talk much either, though he does nod a lot and laugh enthusiastically at the appropriate times.
It's such a change from Minseok's experience at School, these noisy mealtimes, chatting over trays loaded with food. He's used to receiving his ration of food, porridge in the morning and a nutrient bar for lunch and dinner, and eating it quickly, surrounded by other Students also focused on getting needed sustenance. He's aware, of course, that ordinary people view food as a source of enjoyment and mealtimes as an opportunity for bonding with family and friends, but it's a foreign concept to him. So much of what his new friends take for granted is utterly foreign to him.
All the same, the food is pleasant, and Minseok takes advantage of the opportunity to observe other people his age and refine his behavior to match theirs. He keeps his ears open for any useful information from Junmyeon too, but he hasn't said a word about his father's company yet. He made one comment about being rich, but Baekhyun shoved him playfully and said, "Don't say things like that here. Americans don't like it," and he hasn't brought it up since. Minseok isn't concerned; this is a long-term assignment, and getting information from Junmyeon is a secondary objective to keeping other people from getting anything out of him. Thus far, Minseok is on track with his mission.
Minseok walks into his American literature class on Monday morning to see Junmyeon and Amber already sitting and talking. They all compared schedules before, so it's not a surprise to any of them that they're in the same class, but it's no coincidence that Minseok has this class, his freshman seminar, and an extra PE class with Junmyeon. He'd take every class with Junmyeon, so he could keep an eye on him at all times, if it wouldn't look suspicious.
Since it would be suspicious, Minseok is also taking a Spanish class without any of his friends in it, and introductory chemistry with Han. He doesn't know if getting close to Junmyeon's roommate will be of any use to him, but it can't hurt to try. Besides, having a familiar face in class means that he doesn't have to try to make more friends or risk standing out for being antisocial.
"I'm so not a science person," Han whines as he slides into the seat next to Minseok, in the back near the doorway. "Please tell me you are so you can help me."
"Uh, sure." Minseok isn't thinking about helping Han with chemistry. He's thinking about how many people are in this large lecture room and whether any of them pose a threat to him, and about the fastest way out of the building. He's thinking about where Junmyeon is and who he's talking to, and what he can do to monitor Junmyeon's activity during the times they're not together. He's planning to track Junmyeon's phone as soon as he can, but he can't very well stare at the tracker all the time without getting caught.
"I'm kidding," Han says. "Mostly. I won't pester you."
He sounds uncomfortable, which tells Minseok that he's doing something wrong in his interaction. He turns his attention to Han and offers him a smile. "You're not pestering me. Maybe we can study together." That could be a good excuse to spend some time in Han and Junmyeon's room.
Han's smile assures Minseok that he responded correctly this time. "Sounds great!"
Unlike Han, Junmyeon seems confident in his abilities, but Minseok hopes that as the semester progresses, he'll find some excuses for them to work together. If nothing else, having classes together will give Minseok an opportunity to get closer to Junmyeon, and to observe him and gain a better understanding of him. He can also keep an eye out for threats, but thus far, none of the students in their classes seem suspicious. That doesn't mean that Minseok will let his guard down; any undercover agent worth their salt wouldn't be so obviously suspicious.
As for the classes themselves, they're of little concern to Minseok. His chemistry knowledge is advanced and his Spanish fluent, his English more than good enough to read and write about any literature. He doesn't know what a freshman seminar entails, but he has no doubt that he'll be able to do well in it. It's not important as long as he does well enough to stay in school and not call attention to himself. As with everything, blending in is what matters.
On Friday after the first week of classes, Minseok goes to his first American party—his first ever party, in fact, but he doesn't say that. "I hope you're ready to get wasted," Baekhyun tells him as they head out. "We're not old enough to drink in the U.S., but no one cares once you're in college."
Minseok's information suggests that's not entirely true, but he was told to expect partying to be a large part of his experience, so he's prepared for it. His alcohol tolerance is naturally high (a useful trait added to the second round of Students), and he spent the last six months building it up further. Unless he goes way overboard, he should be able to avoid getting drunk. That way, there's no risk of any slip ups.
They walk over with Junmyeon and Han and find the party already in full swing. As Baekhyun said, no one asks his age before they hand him a plastic cup of room temperature beer. Minseok takes a sip and finds himself unimpressed with the taste compared to the flavorless alcohol he consumed before, but he doesn't show it. Junmyeon does react, wrinkling his nose. "You have more expensive taste, huh?" Baekhyun teases. "Get used to it. This is college."
The party is noisy and crowded, and Minseok doesn't like it. It's impossible to keep track of everyone in a place like this, and there are masses of already drunk people between him and the exits. If something happens, he'll have a difficult time getting himself and Junmyeon out. He doesn't anticipate any particular threat, but he needs to be prepared if one arises. With his training, there's no such thing as letting his guard down.
He immediately finds himself getting dragged into a drinking game (by Baekhyun, of course). Beer pong is a simple game consisting of throwing a ping pong ball toward some cups of beer, then forcing your opponent to drink the contents of the cup the ball lands in. It's unhygienic and requires minimal skill, but Minseok imagines that it's more fun if you're actually getting drunk in the process. His friends seem to enjoy it, in any case.
It's interesting to observe the changes in his friends as they drink. Baekhyun gets louder, which Minseok wouldn't have thought was possible. Jongdae, who joins them halfway through the beer pong game, does too, and Minseok thinks his English actually gets better as he drinks. Han turns chatty, inhibitions forgotten, and Junmyeon starts giggling at anything and everything. Yixing, who seems to have a higher tolerance than the others, shares a wry smile with Minseok as Junmyeon falls into him, laughing at some stupid joke Baekhyun made.
Somewhere around Minseok's fifth cup of room temperature beer, an unfamiliar girl approaches him. He's at the edge of his group of friends, largely ignoring their conversation in favor of sizing up the crowd, so it's clear that she's coming to him specifically. It's also clear that she's drunk. She's unable to walk in a straight line, and when she speaks, her voice is excessively loud. "Hi!" she chirps, grinning hugely. "I'm Amy! What's your name?"
It's so direct, coming from a complete stranger, but that seems to be the way of things here. "I'm Minseok," he tells her. It's unlikely that this girl will be in any way useful to him, but the ordinary college student he's pretending to be would talk to a random pretty girl who approached him.
"Min-sock?" Her pronunciation is abysmal, but Minseok smiles politely at her. "That's a cute name! Where are you from?"
"Korea," Minseok tells her.
"Oh, cool!" He doesn't know why she's so excited about Korea. Maybe she's just excited about everything. "What year are you?"
"I'm a freshman."
"Oh, me too!" Another exclamation sentence. She keeps it up through asking Minseok what dorm he's in and what his major is and what classes he's taking, sounding enthusiastic about all of it.
The conversation only stops when Baekhyun practically flings himself onto Minseok's back, arms over his shoulders. (It's a good thing Minseok was paying attention because he came dangerously close to throwing Baekhyun right over his shoulder as it is.) "Minseokiiiiiie," Baekhyun drawls. "Who's this pretty girl?" He says it in Korean, which may or may not be intentional at this point.
"This is Amy," Minseok answers in English. "Amy, my roommate, Baek—uh, Bill."
"Hi there," Amy answers. Her exclamation marks have stopped abruptly. Minseok wonders what did it. "I'm going to get back to my friends." She gestures vaguely across the room. "It was nice to meet you, Minsock."
"Minsock," Baekhyun echoes once she's a few steps away. "Minsockie. Should I call you that?"
"Don't." Minseok doesn't snap, but Baekhyun must hear that he means business.
"Aw, fine, I'll just call you Minseok. Minseokie. Your name sounds so cute like that. Is it too soon to call you Minseokie? My Korean manners are rusty."
Baekhyun suddenly moves away from Minseok, and he turns around to see that Jongdae has rescued him, his arms staying around Baekhyun's chest like he thinks Baekhyun might fly at Minseok again. "C'mon," Jongdae slurs, no more sober than Baekhyun. "Let's go get some beer." That sounds like a bad idea, but Minseok's just glad to be free of Baekhyun clinging to him. He really doesn't like parties.
"Minsockie." That comes from a giggling Junmyeon. "You'd better hope Baekhyun is too drunk to remember that or you'll never hear the end of it."
"And what about you?" Han asks, elbowing Junmyeon harder than is really nice.
"Come on, guys, be nice to Minseok," Amber says. (It sounds a lot like "Minsock" from her too, but that's probably unintentional.) "It's not his fault Korean is impossible to pronounce."
"It's not your fault..." Junmyeon trails off mid-joke, unable to think of a punch line, and everyone laughs, so Minseok does too. To his immense relief, the conversation turns to making fun of Junmyeon, leaving Minseok and his name alone. (Making fun of Junmyeon is already becoming a favorite pastime of their group. Minseok is glad his mission doesn't require him to protect Junmyeon from that.)
Besides keeping an eye on Junmyeon, Minseok has one piece of spy business to accomplish tonight: planting a miniscule tracker on Junmyeon's phone. He's prepared for it to be a challenge, but everyone is so drunk at this point that it's incredibly easy to lean against Junmyeon, pull his phone out of his back pocket, and put it into Minseok's without anyone noticing. As soon as it's done, Minseok extracts himself from the group, stumbling to the bathroom like he's as drunk as everyone else at this party.
Once inside, he quickly removes the case from Junmyeon's phone and fixes the tracker to the side of the phone, where it blends in neatly. He puts the case back on, checks that there's no indication of any tampering, and returns the phone to his pocket before heading back out. He's ready to make a joke of it if Junmyeon has noticed his phone's absence, like he's playing a prank, but Junmyeon is oblivious, laughing with Yixing and Han.
Minseok rejoins the group, and waits until attention has turned away from him and to some story about a dog Baekhyun is loudly telling before he slips the phone back into Junmyeon's pocket. He feels good about it for only a second or two before there's a thunk and he turns to see Junmyeon's phone on the floor. Junmyeon's so drunk he doesn't notice, so Minseok bends down to pick it up. "It fell," he explains when Junmyeon looks surprised.
To his relief, Junmyeon laughs. "Thanks. That happens to me all the time."
"That's what you get for wearing those skinny jeans," Baekhyun teases. "Haven't you noticed guys don't dress like that here?"
Minseok breathes an internal sigh of relief as Junmyeon shoves his phone into his pocket, none the wiser. Something as simple as bugging a phone is no more than he should be able to do with all his training, but it's the first real covert action he's taken on his first mission. He allows himself a moment of satisfaction, confidence swelling. He didn't doubt himself before, but now he feels with more conviction that he can do this.
"Having fun?" Yixing asks, startling Minseok out of his thoughts with a hand on his back.
"Yeah!" Minseok flashes Yixing a smile. He still doesn't think he'll ever like parties, but he is feeling pretty good, albeit for reasons that have nothing to do with having fun.
It's very late by the time Minseok and his friends stagger back to their dorm. The laughter and loud conversation continue all the way home, and Minseok is relieved when they finally part ways so he only has to deal with Baekhyun.
"Man, college is awesome," Baekhyun declares as he tumbles into bed fully clothed.
Minseok goes and brushes his teeth and changes into his pyjamas and when he gets back to the room, Baekhyun is curled up in bed. He's hoping Baekhyun has fallen asleep so he can have some peace, but as Minseok climbs into bed, he hears, "Goodnight, Minsockie."
Minseok rolls to face the wall and sighs himself to sleep.
Minseok is comfortable with routine, and he quickly develops one for his college life, to the extent that he can. He sets a time to go to sleep and a time to wake up. He doesn't need much sleep, so he gets up early every morning and goes to the gym to keep himself in good shape. After his workout, he eats roughly the same breakfast in the same dining hall, usually alone. For the rest of the day, he follows a pattern based around his class schedule and meals in the dining halls with his friends, setting aside consistent small blocks of time to do his homework and larger blocks of time to pretend to do his homework so it's not obvious how quickly he finishes it.
But despite Minseok's efforts to impose consistency on it, college life is enormously unpredictable compared to life at School. Sometimes his friends get caught up in conversation and stay in the dining hall long after they've finished eating, impinging on Minseok's homework time. Sometimes a friend will drop by Minseok and Baekhyun's room unannounced, and Baekhyun never hesitates to let them in or agree to go somewhere with them, dragging Minseok along regardless of his plans. Sometimes, someone wants to go out to dinner or have a movie marathon or play a prank on one of their hallmates, and routine or no routine, Minseok doesn't feel that he can say no.
Baekhyun is the worst offender, in large part simply because he's around Minseok the most, but also because he's Baekhyun. He talks and talks and asks questions like "How do you feel about turtles?" out of the blue, not noticing or caring if Minseok is listening. He uses headphones to listen to his Korean and American pop music but then loudly sings along with it. He noisily chomps his way through bags of chips and dusts the crumbs off his fingers onto the floor and throws his dirty laundry onto any convenient surface (except Minseok's bed, after the death glare Minseok gave him when he did that by accident). He's so messy and undisciplined and Minseok can neither understand it nor stand it.
For now, there seems to be nothing to do but put up with everything, from Baekhyun to noisy hallmates to wild parties. Minseok tells himself that he really can't complain. His mission could have him sleeping on the ground in some dangerous location, subsisting on next to nothing. College may have its inconveniences, especially with a roommate like Baekhyun, but Minseok's training has prepared him to face far worse situations. He can cope. He has to.
By the end of the second week of classes, Minseok comes to realize that parties are going to be an inescapable part of his weekend routine. He can't understand the appeal at all, but he has to go to keep an eye on Junmyeon, if nothing else. He tells himself it's a good opportunity to observe human behavior—drunken human behavior, at least—but that doesn't mean it's fun for him.
Right now, Junmyeon is caught up in a conversation with Krystal, his hand on her arm suggesting that it's more than a friendly conversation. Minseok keeps an eye on them but doesn't interfere. He can see Baekhyun and Jongdae across the room, flirting much less subtly with a group of girls. They're loud, laughing uproariously at their own jokes. It's hard to say from here, but Minseok doesn't think the girls look impressed.
"Those two think they're so smooth," Amber comments, but she seems to be trying to get in on the flirting too. She's standing very close to Han, smiling up at him. Han looks uncomfortable with the attention, but Minseok can't tell if it's because he's not interested or only because he's shy. Either way, Amber isn't deterred, continuing to invade Han's personal space as they talk. "Any bets on how long it takes for one of them to get punched at a party?" she asks.
"Jongdae's not that bad," Han protests.
"I notice you didn't mention Baekhyun." Yixing seems amused by the whole situation, his eyes darting between Jongdae and Baekhyun, Han and Amber, and Junmyeon and Krystal.
"There's no defending him," Amber puts in. "I don't know how you deal with him as a roommate." She glances over at Minseok without moving any farther from Han.
"Headphones," Minseok answers. It's the truth, so he's confused when the others laugh like he told a great joke.
Jongdae and Baekhyun don't get punched, but they do come back over once the group of girls moves away. "Rejected," Amber sing-songs.
"And how many people have you managed to pick up tonight?" Baekhyun retorts, eyeing the way Amber's still standing so close to Han.
Amber gives him a look, then shrugs and turns to Han. "What do you say?" she asks bluntly.
Han's eyes go wide. "W-what?"
"I was trying to be a little more subtle, but hey, nothing wrong with the direct approach." It's obvious from Han's body language that this approach isn't working, but Amber doesn't seem to care. "I'm not saying you have to take me home tonight, but do I have a chance?"
"Um, well, I don't, you see..." Han takes a small step back, flustered.
"Hey, relax," Amber says, more gently. "I don't know how anyone could possibly reject me, but you're allowed to say no if you want to."
"I'm sorry, it's just...it's not you, but..."
"Are we doing the 'it's not you; it's me' rejection?" Amber's smiling, and Minseok sees no indication that she's only pretending to not be bothered.
"It is me!" Han protests. "I mean—I don't like girls!" It comes out louder than he probably intends, catching Junmyeon and Krystal's attention too. Han winces and looks down.
"Oh, hey, it's cool." Amber pats him on the arm. "I can't argue with that. Sorry, I didn't mean to push you into coming out."
"It's fine," Han tells the floor.
"It's no big deal," Baekhyun assures him. "We don't care. Right?" He looks around at the rest of them for confirmation.
Minseok joins in the chorus of agreement without thinking about it. He's aware, of course, that this must be difficult for Han, but something as trivial as his sexuality makes no difference to Minseok. It doesn't seem to matter to the rest of their friends either, so there's no need to make an issue of it.
It takes a few more drinks, but eventually Han relaxes. In the meantime, Junmyeon and Krystal step up their flirting with more touches and significant looks. That would be a convenient way to get close to Junmyeon, Minseok absently notes, if he could seduce him. Could it be that that's what Krystal is thinking? He's had no reason to suspect her thus far, but there's no telling how many people are after Junmyeon or how they're disguising themselves. Anyone who gets close to him is suspect.
Tonight, the flirting between Junmyeon and Krystal doesn't appear to go anywhere, but Minseok makes a note to keep a closer eye on Krystal and to ask Heechul to check her background more carefully than he already did. A good spy, like Minseok, will have a solid cover story, but it's worth looking for possible red flags, just in case. For now, Minseok will stay alert and see what happens. It feels a little strange, being suspicious of his friends, but he can't let himself forget: none of them are truly his friends, not when he's been lying to them from the beginning. The only thing that matters is his mission.
Minseok thinks he's doing well at appearing a reasonable level of competent in his classes until his seminar teacher calls him over after class midway through the third week of classes. "Something I find some international students have trouble with is adjusting to the style of American classes that have a lot of discussion," she says. "I imagine you're more used to lecture-style classes?" Minseok nods. "I understand if it takes some time to get used to, but for this class, it's important that you participate in discussions. I hope you'll try to speak up more."
"Yes, I will," Minseok says with feigned conviction. He doesn't care about the pointless discussions they have in this class and he has nothing to contribute, but if he wants to play his part convincingly, he has to try.
Junmyeon is waiting for him outside. (Yixing is in that class too, but he has to run to another class right after.) "What was that about?" he asks.
"She says I need to participate more," Minseok tells him.
Junmyeon grimaces sympathetically. "It's weird, isn't it, this type of class? Lucky for me I like to talk a lot." The appropriate reaction seems to be to laugh, so Minseok does, and Junmyeon looks pleased. "You'll get the hang of it." He gives Minseok a comforting pat on the back.
"I hope so." Minseok isn't interested in grades or whatever he's supposed to learn from a freshman seminar, but he cares about not standing out, so he'll have to figure this out.
"Why'd you decide to come to university here instead of Korea?" Junmyeon asks curiously.
"I thought it would be an interesting experience and give me more opportunities in the future," Minseok says, his carefully rehearsed cover story answer.
Junmyeon laughs. "That sounds like something you'd say in an admissions interview."
Minseok shrugs, hiding his concern that he's not being convincing. "It's the truth. I don't have any special reason. What about you?"
Junmyeon considers his answer for a moment. "To tell you the truth, it's partly to get away."
It's an unexpectedly honest answer to a casual question. Minseok quickly thinks about how he can take advantage of the opportunity to find out more about Junmyeon. "To get away from what?"
"My dad. Expectations. That kind of thing." When Minseok looks at him curiously, Junmyeon flashes him a sheepish smile. "More than you wanted to know, probably."
Minseok quickly shakes his head. "It's okay."
"I'm not saying I'm a poor little rich boy or anything," Junmyeon continues unprompted. "My family's not bad. It's just that when your dad is...like mine, it's hard to say that you want to study literature and become a teacher. I figured that if I was far away, I'd feel the pressure to do things my dad's way less." He glances at Minseok and smiles sheepishly again. "If nothing else, I'll have four years to experience new things before I have to go back and do what's expected of me. I'm enjoying it so far."
Minseok doesn't know what the appropriate response is in this situation, so he just nods and says, "Yeah."
Junmyeon laughs and pats Minseok on the back again; Minseok resists the impulse to jump away. "You're a good guy, Minseok. I'm glad we're friends."
That Thursday night, there's a knock on the door of Minseok and Baekhyun's room. Minseok is trying to finish a paper so he'll be free for the usual round of weekend fun, and Baekhyun is...Minseok doesn't know or care what he's doing, actually, but it involves pounding his keyboard emphatically and laughing from time to time. "Come in!" Baekhyun calls, louder than necessary given that the door is cracked open.
Han opens the door, looking sheepish, his backpack over one shoulder. "Hi. Do you guys mind if I hang out here for a while?"
"Sure. My bed is all yours." Baekhyun gestures toward his unmade bed with clothes that may or may not be clean scattered on top of it.
"Uh, thanks." Han approaches the bed warily, picking his way through the mess on Baekhyun's half of the floor (and trickling slightly over to Minseok's).
"You can sit on my bed if you want," Minseok offers, earning an extremely grateful look from Han.
"Just take your shoes off," Baekhyun cautions him, "or Minseok will make offended faces at you. He likes his bed to be clean."
"I don't like people on my bed either," Han says sympathetically. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
Minseok does, a little bit, but he doesn't want to deal with the awkwardness of saying so, so he shakes his head. "Go ahead."
"So, what brings you here?" Baekhyun asks once Han is settled.
"Oh, uh, Junmyeon asked me if I could go somewhere else for an hour or two. Krystal is coming over, and, well..."
Baekhyun cackles, pleased with the mockery potential of this information, but it takes Minseok a moment longer to understand. Are Junmyeon and Krystal at that point already? It's unexpected, but Minseok knows that Junmyeon is not as straitlaced as he appears, and this behavior isn't uncommon in American universities.
"Who would've thought Junmyeon would be the first out of us to get lucky? I mean, unless one of you already did and didn't tell me."
Han turns red and shakes his head quickly, but Minseok shrugs. "I wouldn't tell you if I did."
Baekhyun brings a hand to his chest in a stabbing motion. "You wound me, roomie. Aren't we friends?"
"I wouldn't tell you either," Han says, recovering from his embarrassment enough to tease. "Not unless I wanted everyone to hear about it."
"You guys are no fun," Baekhyun whines. "Fine, I won't tell you about my future sexual conquests either."
"Good," Minseok says. He doesn't know why, because he wasn't trying to be funny, but it's satisfying when Han laughs.
Han gets kicked out of his room twice more in the next week. The first time, Baekhyun is there too, and he chatters away as always, making Han laugh a lot. The second time is in the afternoon when Baekhyun has class, so Minseok is alone when Han knocks on the door.
"Hey." He looks more nervous than Minseok remembers him being before. "Mind if I invade again? They seem to be in the honeymoon period." He wrinkles his nose, transforming his pretty face into the kind of expression Baekhyun and the others laugh at him for.
"Sure, go ahead." Minseok gestures toward his bed, since Baekhyun's is a mess as usual.
"I'd say you're lucky to have a roommate who doesn't do this to you, but lucky is a strong word to use for living with Baekhyun. And I'm not sure it'll last."
"Yeah," Minseok agrees. Realizing that this might be a good opportunity to pump Han for information, he asks, "How is Junmyeon, aside from kicking you out?"
Han shrugs. "He's a nice guy," he says noncommittally.
Minseok raises an eyebrow at that. "That's the only good thing you can say?"
Han laughs, a little sheepish. "We get along great. He's just really messy. He seems pretty together, usually, so you wouldn't expect it, but then he throws his stuff all around the room. It's probably a fire hazard. There's a reason we never suggest hanging out in our room."
"It didn't look that bad." Minseok has seen Han and Junmyeon's room before, though only in passing when they were going to or coming back from somewhere.
"It wasn't at first, but it keeps getting worse. If you like things clean, you should probably stay away." Han makes another face, but then he shrugs. "But other than that, I like Junmyeon. I could do a lot worse."
They both have homework to do, so they turn their attention to that. Minseok gets through chemistry and Spanish quickly, but he also has a paper to write for his seminar class, which he still hasn't gotten the hang of. Facts he can handle, but opinion papers are a constant struggle. He has more important things to worry about than "cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation." He does his best to work on that for a while, but he's glad when he sees that it's time for dinner.
He turns around to look at Han, but he's frowning at his econ textbook and doesn't notice that Minseok has stopped working. "Hey, Han." Now Han looks up, but Minseok is surprised to see his frown deepen. "What?"
"You'd think I would be by now, but I'm still not used to people calling me Han," he explains.
Minseok is surprised by the comment. He hadn't given Han's name any thought until now. "What do people usually call you?"
"My full name, Lu Han. Or else a nickname from Lu. And even if people do call me Han, they don't say it 'Haaan.'" He adopts an exaggerated American accent, following it up with a grimace. "Maybe I should just give in and choose an English name. I don't know how you deal with everyone calling you 'Min-sock.'"
Minseok shrugs. He doesn't like it, but it's not worth being bothered by. "What do you want me to call you? Lu Han?" He doesn't realize until Lu Han does a doubletake that he forgot to mangle his Mandarin pronunciation, and he winces inwardly. What is he doing, forgetting such a simple thing?
Lu Han grins. "Your pronunciation is really good!"
"I'm a natural, I guess," Minseok says weakly. Lu Han doesn't seem to notice.
"Since you can say it so well, I'd like it if you could call me that." Lu Han is beaming and Minseok feels...strange. Lu Han being happy about this has nothing to do with Minseok's mission. It shouldn't matter to him. It doesn't matter to him, but he finds he doesn't have to remind himself to smile in response.
"All right, then, Lu Han. Do you want to take a break and go to dinner?"
Lu Han is still grinning as he closes his textbook with a resounding thud. "Sounds great. Let's go."