[fic] grospierre thought he was clever; jonghyun/minho, pg-13
title: grospierre though he was clever
author: digitalbounce
pairing: jonghyun/minho
rating: pg-13 (for language)
summary: minho's unhappy with his life, and a wrong turn in the city and a strange shopkeeper fix things-at least a little bit.
all my little plans and schemes
lost like some forgotten dream
seems that all i really was doing
was waiting for you
no need to be alone
no need to be alone
it’s real love.
- the beatles
when you hear the name choi minho, you would think of a well-raised, intelligent young man who was extremely motivated and driven. polite, kind, fun but perhaps a little too quiet.
and this he was, definitely. for most of his life at least. everything seemed to be going fantastic. he'd graduated high school with honors, and only a little bit of struggle to achieve those marks, and now, in his first year of university, minho, choi minho the most ambitious nineteen-year-old to grace the earth, didn't know what he wanted anymore. engineering was full of elitist snobs or greasy nerds-neither of which minho particularly wanted to be associated with. and it simply...lost its lustre.
he calls kibum up halfway into his first semester, his best friend who was now studying fashion all the way in tokyo.
"maybe you just need a boyfriend," he tells minho over the phone. he can hear jinki's chuckles in the background and minho scrunches his nose up in distaste at the suggestion. a love life? honestly? he simply poured out all his issues with the grades and the entire faculty onto kibum and that's the best he has to offer? maybe minho needs a boyfriend?
well, in retrospect, he's not all that surprised.
it kind of sucks, actually, minho concludes while loitering around seoul late one wednesday night. he has class at seven a.m. the next morning but he'll probably ditch those anyways since he hates it so much, and sleep then. it's not exceptionally late, either, perhaps ten-thirty or a quarter to eleven. the street he's wandering down is unfamiliar, and a streak of fear jolts through the tall boy briefly because he's not sure where he's going but one thing he's sure of is that his cellphone's battery isn't going to last much longer and fuck, i better not get jumped.
the winter weather is unforgiving, harsh wind against the exposed apples of minho's cheeks. it starts to pick up, much stronger than they were when minho left the security of his apartment. unable to bear it well enough, he stumbled into a nearby open shop of some sort, inhaling shakily, the warmth very welcome.
it took him a moment to realize exactly where he had stumbled into. by the looks of it it seemed to be some sort of bookstore, shelves and shelves all around him filled with antique looking books. he could make out some titles through the dim light of the shop-by the looks of it, classic novels. wuthering heights, sherlock holmes, jane eyre...it was a literary student's dream.
too bad he wasn't one.
it looked rather empty, the shop. minho couldn't help but think that this had to be one of those freaky horror movies where the shopkeeper was going to attack and kill him or serve him tea then kill him and stuff him or something along those lines. he trudged forward despite this, but stumbled hip knocking sideways into an oddly-placed endtable stacked with books.
"yah! watch it!" minho spun on his heel, this time gracefully, and peered around for the source of the outburst. and there it was. over the register, on the other side, a mop of caramel-colored hair and eyes behind thick framed glasses peering at him. the figure was crouched down, but minho could tell this was very much so not an old ajjusshi like he would have expected.
"sorry," he mumbled, hands shoved in the pockets of his thick wintercoat once again. the figure straightened, eyes still narrowed suspiciously at minho, and the nineteen year old finally got a good look at this odd shopkeeper. he was shorter than minho, quite definitely, but extremely handsome, with defined features and a jawline that would send sculptors to heaven. for some odd reason, minho had the strange urge to slide his fingers along the young man's face, to feel those lovely features like he would feel on the marble he loved so very much. he made a face behind his muffler. note to self: never talk to key so late at night.
-
he learned the shopkeeper's name was jonghyun, twenty-one years old, high school dropout and freelance author. he'd found out after the third or fourth week that he had a pretty girlfriend in the modelling business (you've probably seen her, he'd say often). this bookstore was his late grandfather's, and he spent most of his time either in the shop or in his studio apartment in downtown seoul writing. carefree, loud, open and charming. everything minho ever wanted to be.
minho started to drop by the old bookstore on the no longer so foreign street, more and more, almost every single day after school. despite his hyung's protests and claims otherwise, minho could tell jonghyun had grown rather fond of him, lending him his own personal novels and keeping tea and snacks prepared for whenever minho happened to swing by to visit.
minho arrives one friday evening after class, shooting a few texts off to jonghyun saying he would be late. a part of him started to fret-maybe he had already gone to meet his girlfriend, this ominous and (though minho would never ever admit to it) uncomfortably disliked girlfriend that was his hyung's.
his hyung's? minho shook his head of the thought and clutched jonghyun's copy of crime and punishment closer to his side. pushing open the door to the shop, he felt his heart drop slightly (slightly? a lot.) at the sight of one of other shopkeepers behind the counter-a pretty girl named jessica minho had chatted with a few times. she smiled at him a bit sadly.
"sorry, minho-ssi. you just missed him." minho flashed her a small smile anyways, shrugging lightheartedly.
"ah. that's alright. he probably keeps his girlfriend waiting a lot." the smile on jessica's face turned confused, eyebrows furrowing.
"jonghyun? girlfriend?" now it was minho's turn to grow confused.
"yeah...you know? sekyung? the model girlfriend?"
"jonghyun doesn't have a girlfriend." minho fell quiet, sliding the book across the counter. jonghyun lied? to him? about something as stupid as having a girlfriend?
part of him was thrilled.
but the larger part hurt.
"oh, minho-ssi!" jessica called out to him as he was about to leave the shop, a thick novel in her hands. "he left this for you to read."
minho turns to take it from her, hands running over the engraved cover, reading the scarlet pimpernel.
-
he called kibum up again four days, but it probably hadn't been a very good time, because he's panting uncontrollably and sounds very, very annoyed at his best friend.
"dear lord minho, really! he doesn't have a fucking girlfriend. whoop-dee-fucking-doo." minho pouted, whining into the iphone.
"kibum!"
"alright, alright. sorry. knowing you, you friggin' wimp, you've been avoiding him altogether, hm? texts, calls, going down the same damn street." kibum will take the silence as a yes, minho concluded. and the other young man does, exhaling dramatically.
"he's not going to stop chasing you, from what i hear the guy's a fucking idiot. or he's just crazy about you."
they both hoped it was the second.
-
"grospierre was at the gate, keeping good watch," began bibot, pompously, as the crowd closed in round him, listening eagerly to his narrative. "we've all heard of this meddlesome englishman, this accursed scarlet pimpernel. he won't get through my gate, morebleu! unless he be the devil himself. but grospierre was a fool. the market carts were going through the gates; ther was one laden with casks, and driven by an old man, with a boy beside him. grospierre was a bit drunk, but he thought himself very clever; he looked into most of them, at least, and saw they were empty, and let the cart go through."
-
after an hour long phone conversation early in the morning with kibum, minho found himself at the front of the ever-so-intimidating bookstore, one hand on the handle. with a deep breath he pushed the doors open. and there he was, perched on the counter as usual, two teacups settled next to him. as usual.
jonghyun didn't seem to be paying attention, though. he was flipping though a novel, idly, fingers caressing the page like a neglected lover. that was something minho always admired about jonghyun. he was so loving, despite his strange behavior at times.
"minho? minho!" he jumped off the counter, rushing forward to the younger boy but stopping short mere centimeters away.
"hi."
"i...missed you. and about the girlfriend thing...i...well. i'll show you." without another word he had minho's hand in his, pulling him towards the back room.
"y'know how you're always going on about hating engineering, and how you love art but can't afford the supplies and pay for utilities and food..." minho blinked a few times. jonghyun remembered all that?
"...sure?"
"i...when i went to go meet my imaginary girlfriend...i was actually circulating a few shops and..." almost shyly, jonghyun held out a long, wooden toolbox, filled to the brim with acrylics and new watercolors, brushes and charcoal and inks. written on the plain wood box was "to: squirtle, from: raptor hyung <3" painted on messily in blue. minho was sure that if the grin on his face got any wider, his face would split in two. and without another thought, he pulled the older, blushing boy into his arms in a tight embrace, that felt right, so very right. those little plans, those huge dreams that turned out to be worthless were all forgotten, and finally, finally after so long, minho felt right.
author: digitalbounce
pairing: jonghyun/minho
rating: pg-13 (for language)
summary: minho's unhappy with his life, and a wrong turn in the city and a strange shopkeeper fix things-at least a little bit.
all my little plans and schemes
lost like some forgotten dream
seems that all i really was doing
was waiting for you
no need to be alone
no need to be alone
it’s real love.
- the beatles
when you hear the name choi minho, you would think of a well-raised, intelligent young man who was extremely motivated and driven. polite, kind, fun but perhaps a little too quiet.
and this he was, definitely. for most of his life at least. everything seemed to be going fantastic. he'd graduated high school with honors, and only a little bit of struggle to achieve those marks, and now, in his first year of university, minho, choi minho the most ambitious nineteen-year-old to grace the earth, didn't know what he wanted anymore. engineering was full of elitist snobs or greasy nerds-neither of which minho particularly wanted to be associated with. and it simply...lost its lustre.
he calls kibum up halfway into his first semester, his best friend who was now studying fashion all the way in tokyo.
"maybe you just need a boyfriend," he tells minho over the phone. he can hear jinki's chuckles in the background and minho scrunches his nose up in distaste at the suggestion. a love life? honestly? he simply poured out all his issues with the grades and the entire faculty onto kibum and that's the best he has to offer? maybe minho needs a boyfriend?
well, in retrospect, he's not all that surprised.
it kind of sucks, actually, minho concludes while loitering around seoul late one wednesday night. he has class at seven a.m. the next morning but he'll probably ditch those anyways since he hates it so much, and sleep then. it's not exceptionally late, either, perhaps ten-thirty or a quarter to eleven. the street he's wandering down is unfamiliar, and a streak of fear jolts through the tall boy briefly because he's not sure where he's going but one thing he's sure of is that his cellphone's battery isn't going to last much longer and fuck, i better not get jumped.
the winter weather is unforgiving, harsh wind against the exposed apples of minho's cheeks. it starts to pick up, much stronger than they were when minho left the security of his apartment. unable to bear it well enough, he stumbled into a nearby open shop of some sort, inhaling shakily, the warmth very welcome.
it took him a moment to realize exactly where he had stumbled into. by the looks of it it seemed to be some sort of bookstore, shelves and shelves all around him filled with antique looking books. he could make out some titles through the dim light of the shop-by the looks of it, classic novels. wuthering heights, sherlock holmes, jane eyre...it was a literary student's dream.
too bad he wasn't one.
it looked rather empty, the shop. minho couldn't help but think that this had to be one of those freaky horror movies where the shopkeeper was going to attack and kill him or serve him tea then kill him and stuff him or something along those lines. he trudged forward despite this, but stumbled hip knocking sideways into an oddly-placed endtable stacked with books.
"yah! watch it!" minho spun on his heel, this time gracefully, and peered around for the source of the outburst. and there it was. over the register, on the other side, a mop of caramel-colored hair and eyes behind thick framed glasses peering at him. the figure was crouched down, but minho could tell this was very much so not an old ajjusshi like he would have expected.
"sorry," he mumbled, hands shoved in the pockets of his thick wintercoat once again. the figure straightened, eyes still narrowed suspiciously at minho, and the nineteen year old finally got a good look at this odd shopkeeper. he was shorter than minho, quite definitely, but extremely handsome, with defined features and a jawline that would send sculptors to heaven. for some odd reason, minho had the strange urge to slide his fingers along the young man's face, to feel those lovely features like he would feel on the marble he loved so very much. he made a face behind his muffler. note to self: never talk to key so late at night.
-
he learned the shopkeeper's name was jonghyun, twenty-one years old, high school dropout and freelance author. he'd found out after the third or fourth week that he had a pretty girlfriend in the modelling business (you've probably seen her, he'd say often). this bookstore was his late grandfather's, and he spent most of his time either in the shop or in his studio apartment in downtown seoul writing. carefree, loud, open and charming. everything minho ever wanted to be.
minho started to drop by the old bookstore on the no longer so foreign street, more and more, almost every single day after school. despite his hyung's protests and claims otherwise, minho could tell jonghyun had grown rather fond of him, lending him his own personal novels and keeping tea and snacks prepared for whenever minho happened to swing by to visit.
minho arrives one friday evening after class, shooting a few texts off to jonghyun saying he would be late. a part of him started to fret-maybe he had already gone to meet his girlfriend, this ominous and (though minho would never ever admit to it) uncomfortably disliked girlfriend that was his hyung's.
his hyung's? minho shook his head of the thought and clutched jonghyun's copy of crime and punishment closer to his side. pushing open the door to the shop, he felt his heart drop slightly (slightly? a lot.) at the sight of one of other shopkeepers behind the counter-a pretty girl named jessica minho had chatted with a few times. she smiled at him a bit sadly.
"sorry, minho-ssi. you just missed him." minho flashed her a small smile anyways, shrugging lightheartedly.
"ah. that's alright. he probably keeps his girlfriend waiting a lot." the smile on jessica's face turned confused, eyebrows furrowing.
"jonghyun? girlfriend?" now it was minho's turn to grow confused.
"yeah...you know? sekyung? the model girlfriend?"
"jonghyun doesn't have a girlfriend." minho fell quiet, sliding the book across the counter. jonghyun lied? to him? about something as stupid as having a girlfriend?
part of him was thrilled.
but the larger part hurt.
"oh, minho-ssi!" jessica called out to him as he was about to leave the shop, a thick novel in her hands. "he left this for you to read."
minho turns to take it from her, hands running over the engraved cover, reading the scarlet pimpernel.
-
he called kibum up again four days, but it probably hadn't been a very good time, because he's panting uncontrollably and sounds very, very annoyed at his best friend.
"dear lord minho, really! he doesn't have a fucking girlfriend. whoop-dee-fucking-doo." minho pouted, whining into the iphone.
"kibum!"
"alright, alright. sorry. knowing you, you friggin' wimp, you've been avoiding him altogether, hm? texts, calls, going down the same damn street." kibum will take the silence as a yes, minho concluded. and the other young man does, exhaling dramatically.
"he's not going to stop chasing you, from what i hear the guy's a fucking idiot. or he's just crazy about you."
they both hoped it was the second.
-
"grospierre was at the gate, keeping good watch," began bibot, pompously, as the crowd closed in round him, listening eagerly to his narrative. "we've all heard of this meddlesome englishman, this accursed scarlet pimpernel. he won't get through my gate, morebleu! unless he be the devil himself. but grospierre was a fool. the market carts were going through the gates; ther was one laden with casks, and driven by an old man, with a boy beside him. grospierre was a bit drunk, but he thought himself very clever; he looked into most of them, at least, and saw they were empty, and let the cart go through."
-
after an hour long phone conversation early in the morning with kibum, minho found himself at the front of the ever-so-intimidating bookstore, one hand on the handle. with a deep breath he pushed the doors open. and there he was, perched on the counter as usual, two teacups settled next to him. as usual.
jonghyun didn't seem to be paying attention, though. he was flipping though a novel, idly, fingers caressing the page like a neglected lover. that was something minho always admired about jonghyun. he was so loving, despite his strange behavior at times.
"minho? minho!" he jumped off the counter, rushing forward to the younger boy but stopping short mere centimeters away.
"hi."
"i...missed you. and about the girlfriend thing...i...well. i'll show you." without another word he had minho's hand in his, pulling him towards the back room.
"y'know how you're always going on about hating engineering, and how you love art but can't afford the supplies and pay for utilities and food..." minho blinked a few times. jonghyun remembered all that?
"...sure?"
"i...when i went to go meet my imaginary girlfriend...i was actually circulating a few shops and..." almost shyly, jonghyun held out a long, wooden toolbox, filled to the brim with acrylics and new watercolors, brushes and charcoal and inks. written on the plain wood box was "to: squirtle, from: raptor hyung <3" painted on messily in blue. minho was sure that if the grin on his face got any wider, his face would split in two. and without another thought, he pulled the older, blushing boy into his arms in a tight embrace, that felt right, so very right. those little plans, those huge dreams that turned out to be worthless were all forgotten, and finally, finally after so long, minho felt right.