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Soenghwa, couldn’t say he was a fan of parties; the drinking, the noise, and all the socialising never mixed well for his personality. It didn't take much to get him drunker than it was appropriate for him to be talking to strangers, but all the pointless conversations made him want to drink. So most of the time he just found himself sticking with one of the other members of the group or sat at the bar looking miserable.
This party was no different, the after party for some award show he didn’t particularly want to be at in the first place. Of course it was nice to see his group be nominated for awards but seeing the competition Seonghwa couldn’t help but be pessimistic about their chances. And like some sort of self fulfilling prophecy his pessimism was warranted, and of course he was disappointed he wanted to be wrong he knew how hard the others had worked on this but he knew that probably applied to the groups they lost to so he couldn’t be too mad about it.
So now he was sitting in the back of their car, waiting to get to the party venue so he could drown his misery in music for a couple hours and then sneak back to his dorm without the others dragging him into thirty conversations where he had to pretend to care what the other person was saying because they’ve been in the industry longer.
Reaching the venue, he greeted who he needed to his eyes searching the area looking for some sort of bar. A relieved sigh escaped him when he eventually found it. “Hey Joong, I’m gonna get a drink if that’s ok?” He muttered, grabbing at his captain’s sleeve the shorter man giving him a look.
“You, sure we just got here, are you not going to dance or anything?” the shorter replied. “Are you feeling good?”
“Yeah, just a bit tired.”
“Ok, if you want to leave we can.”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“Ok if you feel worse let me know, or just call management.” Hongjoong hummed, half knowing that Seonghwa was lying about being fine. He always seemed to know stuff like that, letting him know he knew without making it obvious. Seonghwa just gave a weak smile heading over to the bar.
Despite it not being that far from his position with Hongjoong, the amount of time it took to reach the bar felt agonising. The amount of people who stopped him to talk about pointless things made him want to slam his head into the wall, but for the sake of his own and the group's reputation just put up with it through gritted teeth. At least when he made it, there was no one there. He could just watch the party go by while nursing whatever cocktail he ended up picking. Honestly he didn’t mind being on the sidelines, he preferred to see his friends happy than drag their moods down with his misery. Wooyoung, San, Mingi and Yunho had found themselves on the dance floor, the four of them in the same pairings as always. Hongjoong was talking about music with some other idol, whose face he couldn’t make out from this distance. And Jongho and Yeosang were laughing with someone else.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
“Hey, long time no see.” A voice broke him from his people watching, familiar enough that the greeting didn’t feel out of place but not familiar enough for him to put a face to it. “Is this seat taken?” Seonghwa finally turned to face the man, his eyes falling on Bang Chan who was gesturing to the seat next to him.
“Oh. No it’s not.” He replied trying to hide the disappointment in his peace being disrupted.
The other man just let out an amused breath that sounded more like a chuckle than anything. “You don’t seem too happy to have me around?” He turned to Seonghwa after ordering his own drink.
He didn’t really know how to respond to the call out, he could be honest at the risk of sounding rude or he could lie and possibly be stuck in another convection that makes him want to die. “I’m just a bit down about the show, it’s not you.”
“Really? Because I always see you sitting by yourself at these things or at Hongjoong’s side looking like a wounded puppy. Even if you guys win.” He replied like it was the most casual thing in the world.
“You’ve been watching me!” Seonghwa almost spat his drink on the man next to him, instead choking it down, the alcohol burning the back of his throat.
Bang Chan just gave a deer in headlights look before replying, “I just realised how creepy I sound, I just mean it’s not that easy to ignore the one person who looks like they’d rather die than be in the room.” He waited a moment for Seonghwa to respond, upon getting nothing he continued. “At first, I thought you might have been a bit exhausted but by the third time I just started a mental tally.” He continued.
Something about that brought a smile to the man’s face, like there was someone who was checking on him without obligation. “Thanks?”
“No problem?” He chuckled somewhat unsure of himself. “So what makes you so miserable so consistently?”
“I hate these types of things.”
“Really?”
“It’s too loud, I never really know anyone and I can’t drink nearly enough to be like fuck it.” Seonghwa’s words came out devoid of any emotion. “I feel like I’m coming off really rude.”
“Not at all, I feel the same. I'd much rather be in the studio.”
“You might as well live in the studio.” Seonghwa chuckled, finishing off his drink.
Chan hummed a soft expression on his face, revealing his dimples. Something about it made the younger blush his hand reaching to cover his mouth.
“You're a bit flushed, I’ve heard you’re a light weight but Christ." He gestured towards his face, fear setting in Seonghwa’s eyes as he jolted back.
A hand reached out grabbing his arm, stopping him from falling off his stool. “I’m so sorry.” He hummed his head resting on the man’s shoulder. Chan just let out a laugh dragging the man’s chair closer, a small yelp escaping the younger.
“Nah, I don’t have an issue with a pretty boy on my shoulder.” He set Seonghwa to sit up right.
Seonghwa paused for a moment, his eyes falling on the ground, his lips pulling into a small smile. A hand reaching to cover his face with his bangs.
His bangs were quickly moved from his face, the other man’s hand warm against his face. A strand pulling away wrapping between the man’s fingers. “I feel like I need another drink.” Seonghwa muttered, moving his gaze to the bartender.
The two ended up talking for way too long. Conversation flowed like nothing, from work to their younger members, Seonghwa felt himself laughing way too much at Chan’s jokes. For whatever reason, the younger man ended up a bit more tipsy than usual. Small touches falling between the two of them, a hand on someone’s knee, a hand on an arm just light moments of closeness. Something about the way the elder man spoke, kept Seonghwa’s attention a warm smile on his face the whole time.
“If I’m being honest, you guys should have won.”
“What?”
“Like objectively, your music video was the best. Honestly one of your best overall.”
“You watched our mvs?”
“I can’t help it. Changbin normally gets sent them by Wooyoung.”
“Bulshit you watch our videos." The younger replied his voice filled with triumph, Chan hiding his face in his hands. “I mean it’s fair, I listen to your music occasionally. I think your voice is nice.” He continued his voice just as light as before.
“You like my voice?”
“I do. I listen to Connected more than I should admit. And Railway but I feel that’s a bit basic.” His voice dropped to something a bit more soft at the mention of the second song.
“Well I did find Skin being stuck in my head for way too long after I listened to it.”
“You don’t need to say that. But back to you watching our music videos why?” His voice became more accusatory than prideful.
“Well there is this one member who just has stunning visuals. I think they were the visual of the group.” Chan replied, taking Seonghwa’s hand into his, bringing it to his lips.
“You came here to flirt didn’t you?” Seonghwa’s face fell into a shocked expression.
“Well I did want to know why you were so down, but I also couldn’t help but shoot my shot with such a beautiful idol.”
Seonghwa just remained silent, his lips parted slightly.
“Oh shit, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.” Chan corrected.
“Why? You’re cute.” The taller hummed. “If this wasn’t work related I’d go home with you.” He continued a bright smile on his lips.
The man just let out a flustered noise, the two remaining silent for a second.
“Seonghwa! Oh Chan, hey.” Hongjoong’s voice cut through the noise, his eyes falling on the pair. “You two are a bit close aren’t you?”
“Haha, Hongjoong what’s up?” Chan spoke, pushing Seonghwa’s chair away with his foot.
Seonghwa’s eyes flicked between his captain and the older man. His hand ended up grabbing at the captain’s arm, a smile painting his face.
“Oh nothing much, I was just looking for Hwa. We’re heading out that's all.” Hongjoong’s eyes fell to his member, “Hwa, I think you had too much to drink?” His voice came out weary, his hand running through Seonghwa’s hair.
“Bye Chan.” Seonghwa hummed, giving the man a smile and a wave, which was returned by the other man. “You should message me.” He hummed before getting dragged away by his leader.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Hongjoong didn’t say anything to his friend, his focus was mainly given to making sure the man doesn't end up tripping over himself. Seonghwa couldn’t help but lean on the shorter man, soft giggles escaping him occasionally.
Reaching the car Seonghwa ended up leaning on San’s shoulder, three pairs of eyes pinned on him.
“You had fun tonight hyung.” Wooyoung chuckled, gaining the eldest’s attention.
Seonghwa just hummed in response, “I can’t say it was horrible.”
“You spent the night flirting with Bang Chan.” San cut in.
“He was flirting with me.”
“You were so into it hyung.” Wooyoung spat back.
Hongjoong just sighed, lifting his hand to silence the rest of the boys, “Look, it doesn’t matter who was flirting with who. Seonghwa, I'm happy that you actually had fun at one of these things.”
The eldest hummed resting on San’s shoulder, his eyes falling to the ground, “Yeah, maybe I should try to have more fun.”
Wooyoung only chuckled, grabbing his phone, “Can’t wait to tell Bin about this.” Gaining a glare from his captain the other man pouted, “He probably already knows about this, I just want to see if I can get Stray Kids' side of events.” The elder man just sighed no longer entertaining the conversation as they continued on their way back to the dorms.