#very sorry for making mingyu a milk-drinking fiend

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ෆ fic synopsis: kim mingyu’s trouble with luck makes you think you’re being played by him after failing to meet on every. single. date. what does it take for the two of you to finally meet in person?
ෆ pairing: kmg x reader (gn)
ෆ fic genre: humor, romance
ෆ preview warnings: cursing, food
ෆ preview wc: 1.6k (full fic is an estimated 7-15k)
ෆ a/n: here is the preview to chapter one of another fic i’m excited to share with you all. this one is dedicated to the best boy and the awkward phase glow-ups. please lmk down below or in my asks/dms if you would like to be on the taglist - whatever you’re most comfortable with! i’m aiming to post the full fic in june or july :0)

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chapter one: past (preview)

DK is positive that if he sneezed, the puff of air that shoots out of his nose would be strong enough to knock over the guy he is currently helping hold steady.

But Kim Mingyu – tall, lanky, and irrationally stubborn, refuses to accept help from his obviously more capable roommate. He stands on his makeshift stepladder and attempts to shimmy out his giant hard-shell suitcase he somehow managed to store at the top of his closet the day he moved into the dorm. However, the only thing Mingyu seems to be taking out of his closet is the dust that collected on top of his belongings, and DK is trying his very best not to sneeze.

Who would have thought that Kim Mingyu would be built like one of those wavy inflatable tube guys you see while driving past car dealerships on the highway? His little self-intro on the university roommates request page painted him to be an outgoing type of guy – likes photography, running, and dogs; dislikes people who are rude to waiters, bad vibes, and heights. His profile picture was an aesthetic photo of him in some art museum in Europe. Mingyu turned out to be exactly who and how he described himself. However, had DK or Minghao known their literal pre-serum Steve Roger roommate wasn’t who they thought him to physically be, they would’ve assigned him to the loft bed with the standing closet when they were deciding bedspaces before moving into their dorms.

Now, DK can only stand behind his roommate with his two hands gripped firmly around the wooden chair’s backrest and hope the suitcase doesn’t take his roommate out before the mosquitos from wherever Mingyu is heading do.

For starters, it’s hard to believe a college sophomore – one who has to sleep on the bottom bunk because the floor is closer to the humidifier – is going on a journey to some place where he probably couldn’t restock on his precious Aquaphor that he has to slug onto his cracked heels every night and then protect with his aloe-infused fluffy bed socks. Mingyu is physically weak. He is like a Basset Hound puppy who keeps tripping on its long ears because it still needs to grow into them. He is a Victorian child experiencing EDM for the first time. He is the school Wi-Fi when everybody is back from vacation. A Lego Man figurine is probably more built than Kim Mingyu in every single physical aspect – and that is not an overstatement.

And his luck – oh, how unlucky Kim Mingyu can be at times.

Minghao, their third roommate, tells him its puberty, but Kim Mingyu’s hardhead firmly believes he is the unluckiest man in the world. Puberty, Minghao reminds him. He’s simply going through puberty. It just doesn’t seem like it because his growth spurt arrived ages before his puberty did. Mingyu digresses.

It is a bunch of small, often uncomfortable or inconvenient, occurrences bundled into one that leads Mingyu to believe he has somehow been cursed. Setting off the fire alarm after using the new microwave in their floor’s common room? In reality, some kid snuck in an illegal rice cooker and forgot to open the window while cooking some rice. Sleeping past an alarm the day after he accidentally stepped on a crack in the sidewalk? He didn’t know he accidentally set his alarm as P.M. instead of A.M.. His clumsiness? He wears clothes in sizes either too big or too small for his body. He’s never heard of tailoring before.

Mingyu claims his curse started when he was dared to download an Ouija Board app on his phone on the bus ride home from one of his high school field trips. DK reminds him that where there is a cause, there is an effect.

So, when Mingyu abruptly announces to his two roommates that he’s leaving in the middle of the semester for some Eat, Pray, Love type of trip with his rich aunt, the two roommates can only ask why and whether or not rent is going to be more expensive given that there would technically only be two roommates instead of three:

“I dunno-” Mingyu picks up his sub, trying to adjust his grip so the tomato slices don’t slip out when he takes a bite. “I think it’ll be a nice change.”

DK gawks at him while Minghao looks through his tote bag for a hair tie. Mingyu shrugs and brings the sandwich to his lips. A tomato slice slips out from the backend and lands on the ceramic plate. Mingyu sighs and sets his sandwich back down on his plate and opens it to tuck the tomato slice back into place.

The most level-headed of the trio, DK, stares at the guy who sleeps below him reattempt to take a successful bite of his sandwich. Minghao, whose long hair is now tied in a manbun, twirls his fork around his plate of spaghetti.

“You know it’s bad for your scalp if you tie your hair too tightly,” Mingyu gestures to his own head to show Minghao. There are bread crumbs in the corner of his lips, and some sauce on his fingers. He brings his fingers to his mouth and licks them clean before taking another bite.

Minghao ignores him and stares outside the window at the family of ducks making their way into the shade outside of the dormitory dining hall.

A nice change is what newly divorced couples say in movies. A nice change is giving your childhood bedroom a makeover. A nice change is when Mingyu finally takes off his damn braces so he doesn’t spit on people while he talks. DK reckons it’s because Mingyu is having trouble adjusting to adulthood. He’s a second-year going through what Minghao calls a “prolonged puberty experience,” but DK thinks that all Mingyu needs is time. He has the braces, the lisp, and the inability to act normal in front of crushes. It’s normal. Everybody moves at their own pace. All Mingyu needs is a little confidence and a major glow-up.

“You said you’re going with your aunt?” DK pinches a fry between his fingers and decides to drop it back down. “What about our dorm and school?”

Outside, a Resident Director leads a group of elementary school students on a tour around the dormitory area. The students look around the several tall dormitories and point at the ducks when they see them. The teachers who walk behind their students are too busy staring at their phones to care if the students chase after the animals.

“Hey, do you think ducks are easy to pick up?” Xu Minghao gently sets his fork down and cups his hands, placing them side-by-side. He looks at his imaginary bowl, “They look like they’ll fit perfectly in my hands, yunno. Perfectly scoopable.”

“My aunt isn’t married and doesn’t have any kids so she says she’ll give me her money if I travel with her,” Mingyu chews with his mouth open and pauses to wash it down with some milk. He exhales and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Something about going on a journey to prove that material wealth isn’t all there is in the world.”

Having lost his appetite, DK pushes his plate of fries away from him. He asks Mingyu, “Isn’t it counterproductive because you need money to travel the world?”

“Ehh,” Mingyu slinks in his seat, but reaches over to grab some of the abandoned fries. “But don’t worry about my grades. I’ll be studying abroad and will probably be back in time for graduation. Hopefully my credits can transfer. And my aunt is paying for my dorm so you guys don’t have to worry about paying more.”

“And the school is okay with you paying even through you’re not going to be here?”

“Universities don’t care as long as they’re earning money,” Minghao huffs and stabs a meatball with his fork. “But God forbid I take more than three free yoga classes at the rec center and all of a sudden I’m banned for the rest of the month.”

A new group of friends set their bags down at the table next to where the trio are sitting. One of them seems to recognize DK and politely waves at him before catching up with their friends to line up for food. DK smiles and waves back – he only met them a few days ago.

“I- I think taking that trip will be good for me,” Mingyu stutters when he realizes he has been staring at DK’s friend the entire time. His eyes quickly travel back to looking at his best friend’s fries. He fidgets his fingers before reaching for another one, “Maybe I can meet some new people, learn a few things, and bulk up from all the traveling I’ll be doing.”

Minghao opens the dorm door and enters with a duck tucked under his arm, American football style. He makes his way over to his desk and drops off a few textbooks. DK swears the duck looked at him straight in the eye.

“Yn said you should come to the beach hangout on Saturday,” he tells DK while grabbing his water bottle and yoga mat.

“I’ll think about it,” DK is still staring at the duck who seems perfectly content with being held by the Second Year.

Minghao shrugs and swings the mat over his shoulder. The duck quacks, and Minghao waves goodbye before exiting their shared room. Mingyu, who successfully managed to start pulling out his suitcase from an angle, sneezes and pushes it back into place.