Love Me The Same (1/3)
Title: Love Me The Same
Ship(s): Yifan/Junmyeon, broken!Junmyeon/Chanyeol, mentioned Yifan/Lay,
Side ship(s): Sehun/Baekhyun, Tao/Jongin, Kyungsoo/ Luhan, eventual Minseok /Yixing, Chanyeol/ Jongdae, broken!Yifan/Minseok
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 18k
Warnings: Age gap, age switch, possessive!yifan, virgin!junmyeon, smut, first time sex
Summary: Yifan works hard to get what he wants, and when he lays eyes on a barely legal, new employee in his art gallery he decides he must have him.
Notes: Originally written for Yifantasy.
The ringing of his phone pulls Yifan out of his sleep. He had went to bed completely shit faced, with someone, and as he reaches for his phone to stop that god awful ringing he takes small notice that the other half of the bed his cold and empty. Not that he cared, Yixing knew to leave before Yifan woke up.
It's not an alarm, it's someone calling him. He groans and tries to pry his eyes open long enough to read the caller ID and groans as the sun practically attacks his sensitive eyes. He'll definitely need sunglasses if he even wants to think about living his comfortable bed.
"What?" he groans when he finally swipes the correct part of the screen of his phone and answers the call.
"You were drinking last night." the voice deadpans. Of course, Kyungsoo can read Yifan like a book, even through a phone call. "Figures. You didn't hook up with some random person again did you?"
".." Yifan just breathes into the phone as he thinks of a adept lie to tell Kyungsoo when the other sighs. "Of course. Yixing, is it? As long as he didn't take any pictures of you two, or you passed out drunk in your bed."
Kyungsoo is Yifan's manager / publicist. He makes sure that news of Yifan's new paintings gets out into the word, and makes sure that Yifan goes to events that an artist should go to, makes sure that people go to his gallery and pays for the tours, helps make Yifan's money.
Yifan has gotten very popular, and wealthy over the years thanks to his art and Kyungsoo. So whatever Kyungsoo thinks he should do, Yifan ends up doing. "Why'd you wake me up?" Yifan pushes out his mouth.
"Of course you wouldn't remember. We have a private showing booked today, and you're supposed to give the tour yourself. Fortunately it's at two, so you have time to pull yourself together and make yourself presentable and get the smell of beer and sweat off you."
Yifan pulled his phone away from his ear to look at the time. It was eleven. Kyungsoo called him at the right time, making sure he had enough sleep so that he wouldn't just ignore Kyungsoo's call and go back to sleep, but not too much time sleeping so that he could take a long shower to wake himself up and drink himself into a coffee stupor.
"Do you need me to come pick you up, or are you okay to drive?"
"Give me a second, Kyungsoo. Let me see how I am on my own two feet." Yifan uses his free hand to pull away the blankets and uses his feet to kick the remainder on the opposite side of the bed. He wouldn't bother making the bed, the sheets would no doubt need to get cleaned today.
Yifan throws his legs over the side of the bed and they touch the carpeted floor with no effort. He moves his phone from his hand to the junction between his neck and face and uses both his hands to help himself stand. When Yifan does stand he gets a little dizzy and his world goes a little fuzzy, but afterwards he feels completely fine.
"I can drive myself, I'll just need a shit ton of coffee. Make sure there's some there when I get there as well."
"No problem, as long as you're here. This are very important people, Yifan. Don't fuck it up." the line went dead with that and Yifan pulled his phone away from his ear to make sure that Kyungsoo had actually hung up. Sometimes Kyungsoo will go extremely quiet, making Yifan think that he had hung up only to start talking again a minute later.
Kyungsoo was certainly off the phone, and his phone was inches from death. He bent down with a groan to pick up the cord of his charger off the floor and plugged his phone in. If he put his phone on airplane mode then he could maybe get half a battery before he had to leave.
Yifan knew that if he put his phone on airplane mode and Kyungsoo called he'd be fucked, so he put it on airplane mode, hooked it up to his wifi, and sent Kyungsoo a text over Kakako talk telling him to text him through the app if anything came up in the time between now and him leaving his apartment.
Now that he was awake, and had to get ready, he officially started the day by reaching his hands above his head and stretching, a yawn pushing past his lips and one hand coming down the scratch his stomach. His first stop was the shower.
It started off cold to wake Yifan up, then he eventually warmed it so that he could wash himself properly. Forty minutes later he was wiping off the fogged up mirror so that he could shave. He was proud that he made it with only a nick on his chin and broke off a piece of toilet paper and stuck in on the part that was bleeding so that it would stop.
His first stop was the kitchen, and he got the coffee maker going to get a good strong pot of coffee started before making it back to his bedroom. He headed straight for the walk-in closet. Yifan knew he had great taste (forget what Kyungsoo says) and instead goes for an all black suit with white accents.
The coffee is ready by the time Yifan is fully dressed, so he walks out to the machine and turns it off. The coffee mugs are on a rack next to the machine, and he pours himself a cup and adds in cream and sugar before downing it in a few gulps, ignoring the heat that wasn't smoldered by the cool cream.
He has two more cups before throwing the dirty dishes in the sink to be cleaned later before making his way to his bedroom to check his phone. No missed texts, and it's nearly one. Yifan decides to leave now, just so he can get a small briefing from Kyungsoo before whoever is so important gets there.
Yifan pulls his phone from the charger and turns it off airplane mode. He hurries to the door and grabs his keys off the hook (at least drunk him knows where to put his shit) and slips a pair of dress shoes on.
The door automatically locks as he leaves and goes towards the elevator. It's a few floors down and has to slowly make its way up to his floor.
Seoul traffic is the worse, and even with Yifan going as fast as he can he makes it to his gallery at 1:40. Kyungsoo is waiting for him at the door, considering that the gallery is closed to the public until after the private tour is finished, he is able to do that.
"Right on time, Yifan, as always. You have maybe five minutes before they show up."
"You said the tour started at two!" Yifan shouts. Kyungsoo takes it in stride. "Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't be here earlier to introduce themselves to you. They're thinking about asking you to paint something for someone important back in China, don't ask me who they didn't tell me. They just said that they'd be willing to pay a lot of money for a painting by you, if you gave them a personal tour to look at some of your past artwork. Don't screw it up, please, I like getting paid, and expect some kind of bonus after dealing with you year round. Keep in mind that I won't be here to help you out if you fuck something up."
"Why not?" Yifan narrows his eyes.
"I have to interview someone, the other tour guide went part time, so I need someone to take over the hours that the original one can't do. He's sitting in the back right now, in my office. He's probably sweating bullets wondering what's taking so long." Kyungsoo tells him as he looks past Yifan. "They're here. Now remember: don't act like an idiot, smile and be informative, and ask what they have in mind for the painting when they bring it up."
Yifan watches as Kyungsoo passes through the door back to his office and he pulls on his happy face before turning around to greet those he'll be showing around. He goes to reach for the door to open it for those on the other side, but someone beats him to it and pushes it open. Yifan waits with an almost painful smile on his face.
The group that walks in, it's three men, they stop and look at him as he bows. "Hello, I'm Kris Wu," just the name he does his artwork under, but a simple Google search will bring up the results of his real persona. "Nice to meet you."
All he can do is listen without interruption as the group introduces themselves and he nods. Some millionaire back in China is who he is expected to paint for.
His gallery is three floors, the first and second having completed artwork, and the third one is currently empty save for a cash register and copies of his famous paintings It's currently used as a gift shop, but he's going to expand the gallery so that he could use the third floor as another level for artwork, and maybe an extension as the gift shop on the ground floor. He needs a few more paintings if he's going to get that level filled in. "How about we start on the first floor, then work our way up? That's how it usually goes."
"We can do that."
Yifan walks past the white wall that separates the main lobby from the beginning of the artwork. The group follows him without falter. Yifan stops at the first piece of art that is always seen when walking into the gallery. The way the hall is set up is that when walking in and looking straight all that can be seen is Yifan's very first piece of artwork. It's horrible, he knows, but as they go farther into the exhibit, having to turn a right to see it once they get to his first drawing.
Yifan glances at his first drawing, a horrible picture of a dragon that he drew sometime when he was a lonesome teenager. "This is the picture that inspired me, it lead me to begin my life as an artist." he begins, turning to face the group.
"It's horrible, I know. I was going through that awkward phase in school, the one with no friends until puberty stops treating you so horrible and your voice doesn't crack every other sentence." he smiles. "In fact, it was someone making fun of how bad the picture was that inspired me to get to where I am. If that person hadn't picked on me, I probably wouldn't have felt as though I had to improve my drawings to prove that I was good at something."
He walks them forward, which actually means they have to turn left to see the rest of the artwork on this floor, and stops at his second drawing, like the first, in a case so that the delicate notebook paper doesn't get torn. "This one isn't much better, I was trying to replicate a stuffed Alpaca that my mother had gotten me for my birthday. We didn't grow up with a lot of money, with my father not being in the picture, and so for her to save and get me the animal was great. I still have it back at home, in good condition for how old it is."
They stop on the second floor nearly an hour later after Yifan goes into detail about each drawing or painting or sketch. One of the largest pictures is located on the second floor, a drawing of his mother in exact detail that took months to do. There's one below this drawing of his mother, the one is in paint. He has it as the last thing on each floor just so the visitors can know just how important she is to him.
"There's a gift shop, on the third floor, if you wish to get something from there. If not, then we should talk about what you wish for me to do."
"Our employer, who is unfortunately doing business in China and was unable to make it, wishes for you to draw a painting of him. A portrait. We're willing to pay you a lot of money." Yifan lets out a small whistle when the amount is spoken. That is a lot of money.
"Any time limit?"
"He said no rush, as long as you get it to him as soon as possible. He wants the detail to be very noticeable. We have a picture of him, the one he wants you to replicate exactly, if you wish to take on the job."
Yifan nods and holds out his hand. One of the men reach into their back pocket and pulls out a wallet, and pulls out a piece of paper which they unfold and hand to Yifan. "Here, can you do it?"
Yifan studies the picture closely. It's some rich guy from China, head of a big company, which explains the money amount they're willing to spend. "Yeah, I can do it. I'll do it for you."
"A contract needs to be signed."
"Yeah, I'll have my publicist read over it for me, and if you come back in a few hours I'll give it to you, signed."
"Sounds like a deal, Mr. Wu."
-
Yifan decides he needs out the house. He's been locked in it for the past month, not really seeing any reason for him to leave other than to go out and get drunk at the club, then text Yixing for a booty call. Then he would stay home until he was sober enough to add onto the outline of the portrait of Mr. Yang.
From past mistakes, Yifan learned to sketch out at least the outline of his subject before painting. It saved money in the long run and was easier than having to go over a mistake with different paints to try and fix it.
What brought on the decision to leave his home was because he actually hadn’t woken up half drunk or with a hangover for once, and he thinks the cleaning people deserve to clean in silence, and because his room is starting to smell bad and needs to be cleaned.
The drive to his gallery is nice and mellow, he's listening to a few of his favourite songs and the weather is nice so he has the windows down , going through his freshly red dyed hair. He needed a change from blonde.
He parks behind the gallery where employees park so that he doesn't have to deal with any visitors asking for his autograph for the time being. He fumbles to find the correct key to the back door and pushes it open once he does. The door closes with a bang and there goes his chance of slipping in without Kyungsoo noticing.
And sure enough he and Kyungsoo run into each other when Yifan is trying to make his way to the break room. "Oh. What do we owe this pleasure to? Finally decided to rejoin the living?"
"I've been amongst the living, thank you."
"Going out clubbing and getting drunk and then either finding someone to bring home from the club to fuck, or getting drunk at home and calling Yixing to come and fuck hardly counts." Kyungsoo frowns. "You're lucky you're an artist and not an idol or movie star, because if you did any of that you'd be screwed and out of a career. But you should still be careful who you bring home. What if one of them recognizes you or takes a picture of your work in progress?"
"I'd be screwed." Yifan answers like a scolded child would answer its mother. He would be screwed, and out of big money, if someone were to take a picture of his progress in drawing a picture of the millionaire. The men that had arranged for the drawing had been very clear when they said that if it was shown to the public before their employer then the deal would be off.
"Yes, you would be. So would I, and the other people that work here." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Nice of you to join us. Are you going to stay and introduce yourself to the people currently here? We have some looking around and the new guy giving a tour," Kyungsoo looks at his watch as nods, "He should be almost done, you could probably sneak up there and give the group a surprise."
Yifan groans and Kyungsoo hands up his hand, "I don't want to hear it. It would be great publicity if the people left reviews or told their friends that the great Kris Wu came and greeted them in person and was so nice. And with your red hair people might not recognize you at first, allowing you to go up."
Kyungsoo wouldn't let Yifan say no, so he pockets his keys and sticks his tongue out at Kyungsoo and teases him by saying, "Yes, mother." The worst part is that Kyungsoo is right, so he makes his way into the gallery. There is only one way in that isn't the fire exit, and going that way would trigger alarms. So Yifan makes his way into the gallery, walking fast and keeping his head down to avoid attention. When he gets to the second floor he hears a voice different from the last tour guide speaking in the usually silent space.
Whoever it is is talking loud enough to be heard over the small hum of music coming from the overheads, but his voice is still so soft and gentle. "Here is the last part of the gallery. A drawing of Kris Wu's mother. He has it as the last thing you see on each floor for a reason, perhaps to remind himself and us of who helped him get to where he is today. It was her encouragement that lead him to paint for a living. He did struggle for a few years, but it paid off in the end."
Yifan towers over most of the people in the crowd but he still can't get a good look at the new guide who is half turned towards the drawing and half towards the crowd. "It's sweet, at least I think it is. He loves his mother very much. And do have her as one of the biggest things in his gallery, it's just, great."
"Any questions?" the guy turns around to face the crowd and Yifan gets a good look at his face.
He's gorgeous.
This wide smile that shows all his teeth and reaches up to his eyes, the glossy hair on his head is flat on his head and he's constantly brushing a piece away from his eyes. His brown eyes sparkle in the lighting and it complements his light skin. The guide looks over the crowd and his gaze makes his way to Yifan who has to make sure that his mouth is closed and that there isn't drool coming out.
The guide looks startled for a moment before his smile widens. "Oh, well, it looks like we have a visitor everyone." the group turns around and their eyes one by one start flickering with recognition. "It's a pleasant surprise that Mr. Wu has come to visit us! This doesn't happen very often. Maybe he'll be more able to answer any questions than myself."
As the group starts coming towards him, women already rustling in their bags to get out paper and pens, the guide tells the group that if they want to find him and ask him any questions he'll be downstairs at the front desk. Yifan watches in distress as the guide walks away and down the stairs, out of sight. It takes him nearly an hour to get away from all the questions and autographs, and that is only because he says he has things to do.
He does make sure to tell them to visit the gift shop to pick up replicas of their favourite paints before making his way down to the main floor with them following. He sees the guide manning the counter with the same smile on his face and nodding and handing tickets and taking money from new people that are going into the gallery.
Yifan wishes very much to make eye contact with him again, but instead he goes back to Kyungsoo's office. He knocks first because he has sure learned his lesson with walking in on Kyungsoo (and Kyungsoo's boyfriend). Kyungsoo doesn't say 'come in' and instead comes to the door and opens it enough to peak his head out.
"Still here?" Kyungsoo says and pulls the door open the rest of the way to let Yifan into his office. It's clean as ever, and Yifan makes his way to the couch (probably in the room specifically for him) and plops down.
"Of course, that group was unreal. It was like one left and two came. I'm lucky I got away when I did." Yifan moans.
"Mhm." Kyungsoo goes back to his desk and is doing something on the computer, probably emailing someone. "And you're still here because?"
"Well, I wanted to know who the guide was that sicced them on me."
Kyungsoo laughs and turns off the screen in order to turn all his attention on Yifan. "I very much doubt Junmyeon 'sicced' them on you. That's his name, by the way. Kim Junmyeon. Hired part time. Manages the front desk and scheduled tours. He's very nice, by the way. Maybe if you came out more and came here more you'd get to know your employees very well, considering you kind of pay them."
Yifan regrets his past month now, because all that time that he's been sitting at home drunk off his ass he could have been here getting to know Junmyeon. Yifan just wants to say it, to feel the name roll of his tongue.
"Was Junmyeon the one you were interviewing the last time I was here?"
Kyungsoo nods. "He left probably a little bit after you did. I would have introduced you to him then, since he pretty much got hired on the spot. Smart, so nice, great voice to talk to the people with. He hasn't shown frustration once since he's been hired."
"He's a great employee, too bad he's only part time. If you stay for another hour his shift will be over, you could meet him yourself."
Yifan likes the sound of that. "That would be nice."
Kyungsoo stares at him for a few seconds after he turns on the screen and starts typing again. "Are you just going to sit on the couch for the next hour?"
"Why not? I have nothing else to do while I wait, and I did pay for it."
Kyungsoo scowls in return and Yifan smiles smugly and closes his eyes, fully willing to wait this next hour out in silence. He doesn't know when, but he eventually dozes off only to be awoken by Kyungsoo's shaking. "Wake up you slob, so you don't introduce yourself looking completely shitfaced."
Yifan watches as Kyungsoo leaves the room and hurries to right himself. He combs his hair with his fingers and reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pack of gum. He picks out a piece and pops it in his mouth quickly enough and chews it fast to get the minty smell out quicker.
He stands right as the door is pushed open and there's Kyungsoo with Junmyeon. Junmyeon is barely taller than Kyungsoo and looks up at Yifan with a huge smile on his eyes. He looks so innocent, so adorable. Yifan really wishes he had seen this beauty sooner.
"Oh, wow. It's great to meet you." Junmyeon comes rushing forward and offers his hand, which Yifan takes easily in his. As Junmyeon bows Yifan can't help noticing how smooth his hand is, and how small it is, how his hand practically swallows Junmyeon's.
"No need to bow, take it easy." Yifan chuckles as Junmyeon stands straight up and sheepish smile on his lips with the hint of a blush. "Sorry, I just feel it's right when meeting someone as huge as you."
"I heard you've been working here for a little bit, how do you like it so far?"
"It's great!" Junmyeon replies quickly.
"You're not just saying that because I pay you, are you?"
Junmyeon looks shocked and quickly shakes his head, clearly not hearing Yifan's joking tone. "Of course not, I love it. I meet nice people, and I'm surrounded by beautiful artwork done by one of my favourite modern artists. It’s an honor, and I'm so glad that I was able to get the job here."
"And it's nice finally meeting you. I didn't apply for the job thinking I'd see you, but I'm glad that I had the chance to formally introduce myself."
"It's a pleasure meeting you. Tell me, Junmyeon, what do you do as free time when you're not here?"
"Oh, I study!"
"Study?"
"College. It hasn’t started yet but I want to be prepared for my first year there. I was thinking of taking a leap year, but decided against it. I don't plan on just working here in the summer, though. I have full time hours now, but I'll go to actual part time hours once school starts."
"A freshman in college? How old are you?"
"Eighteen." Junmyeon grins. "Just turned eighteen in May."
Shit. Yifan thinks, kid is barely legal. It's legal though, if Yifan were to make a move. No law against it, even though Yifan himself is twenty-nine. That's an eleven year gap between their ages.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Wu, but I have to go home now. I'll see you next time we're here together, maybe?" Junmyeon offers a wave before turning around and heading towards the door to then go out the back entrance.
Kyungsoo gives a smile. "So, how'd you like meeting him?"
"Oh, it was great, Kyungsoo. Good to know you hire good people."
"I do my job exceptionally well."
-
For once, later that night, Yifan doesn't go out to the club, and doesn't even drink. He sits in his studio sketching out on the canvas all while thinking about Junmyeon. Thoughts race around his head, like, does he think I'm attractive? , and, would he ever go for someone my age?'
The next day Yifan has to se Junmyeon again. He makes up the excuse of going to see Kyungsoo about any upcoming events he should be worried about and goes early in the morning, right when he gallery opens. Usually no one comes in until an hour after opening, so Yifan knows he can walk in and not be interrupted. He parks in the front this time, and walks in.
Junmyeon is at the front desk and his surprise is clear on his face when he see's Yifan, but he greets enthusiastically, "Hello Mr. Wu! Nice to have you back so soon. Will you be staying a little while?" Junmyeon's smile overpowers the lighting of the room. It shines so bright.
"Yes, I am. Any tours today?" Yifan leans across the desk as casually as he can manage and watches as Junmyeon turns to the computer and logs into the system and scrolls down, the screen lighting his face. "Yes, it looks like we have one in about an hour." he turns away from the computer to look Yifan in the eyes. They sparkle as he asks, "Will you join us today?"
"Maybe."
Oh god, he's pouting, he's adorable. Yifan thinks as Junmyeon juts his bottom lip out jokingly. "It would be great if you could join us, Mr. Wu."
"Call me Yifan."
Junmyeon looks down and grins at the table before looking up. "Alright, Yifan." Junmyeon seems to be testing his name out on his tongue. "Please join us if you can."
Yifan excuses himself to go see Kyungsoo, who is walking around his office on his cell phone. "What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know?" the person on the phone replies and Kyungsoo lets out a humorless laugh. "Fucking find out, will you?" Kyungsoo takes the phone away from his ear and presses the screen before tossing it on his desk.
"Yes, Yifan?" Kyungsoo turns around and faces Yifan. "I don't think I should ask anymore, you seem tense."
"Tense is a bit of an understatement, but you're my employer, I kind of have to ask why you're here."
"I was just coming to see if there were any important art events coming up that I should know about, you know, that I could possibly go to." Kyungsoo looks genuinely shocked. "You've never came here and voluntarily wanted to go to an event."
"Figured you were right, and I need to get out of my house and come out more." Yifan shrug.
"Well if that's the case, then alright. I'm sure that I can find something for you to go to." Kyungsoo walks over to his desk and boots up the computer. "I always have something saved in my history just in case you want to go to one of these things."
Yifan listens as Kyungsoo lists of the many things that he could go to, the many things he could do to get his name out there. "How about the charity auction one? I could paint something just for that, and you said the proceeds would go towards helping those help overcome mental disorders?"
"Yes. Charities are good, they make you seem like a good person. Not that you aren't…" Kyungsoo pauses, "Though you spend more money than you should going out clubbing."
"Cut the chit-chat Kyungsoo. I'll do that one. I can paint something up, it'll probably go for a lot of money too."
Kyungsoo nods in agreement. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to call Han. Something's going on right now, kind of important."
"Oh, and is that who you were yelling at on the phone?"
"Yes, it was. Now go, so I can yell at him some more in private."
When Yifan comes back to the front there is someone different at the front desk, one of their full timers. "What are you doing here?" he asks.
"I work here, sir."
Yifan figures he should rephrase that, "I know that, Soojung. I thought the other one, Junmyeon, was doing the front desk today and taking money."
The employee, Soojung, shakes her head. "No, Junmyeon's job description doesn't formally say he's to take the money. In fact, he is mainly supposed to be for tours. If he is here and taking money, it's probably because no one else was able to come yet. When Junmyeon isn't giving tours he's walking around, answering any questions that customers may have, or at the front desk and talking to potential customers."
"Oh. Where is he now?"
"Giving a tour, it just started."
Yifan says goodbye to Soojung before walking towards the exhibit. He wants to see Junmyeon in action some more. The group is now at the second drawing, the one of the alpaca, and Junmyeon is talking enthusiastically.
"This is a drawing of an alpaca." Junmyeon starts, "Like the first drawing in the gallery, it is on notebook paper. This was back before Kris Wu had made his interests of drawing known to his mother and therefore didn't have professional art supplies to draw. This was drawn with his mother, single and working multiple jobs with not a lot of money, saved up and bought Kris Wu a stuffed alpaca. He tried to draw it, but as you can see it doesn't have as much realism as his current pieces."
"Of course if you go further into the exhibit, I did redraw it, with much more likeness to the actual stuffed animal." Yifan interrupts. Junmyeon whips around and his smile gets that much bigger. "Well, look at who we have here! Kris Wu has came to watch us in person!"the crowd rushes towards him much like they had yesterday but he holds his hands up, like he's surrendering. "Let the walkthrough of the gallery finish, then I'll make out autographs and talk to you."
Yifan watches as Junmyeon speaks about each of his pieces. He's impressed; Kyungsoo found a good worker. Junmyeon is very passionate about his job, he talks with so much enthusiasm. When they get to the end Junmyeon releases those he was giving the tour to onto Yifan. Junmyeon waves as he walks away once more.
-
"You're good at your job." Yifan says when he's able to get a hold of Junmyeon once more. Junmyeon is in the back for his break.
"Thank you, I work hard at all tasks that I am given. I think what makes it so much easier is that I love this job, I love the people, they aren't too rude. And, I get to see my favourite artist on occasion. It has its perks."
"Glad to know you didn't take this job just for the money."
"I wouldn't have applied for a job I wouldn't have enjoyed. I would like to work here as long as possible, so I think it's best that I enjoy it."
"How long is as long as possible?"
Junmyeon smiles. "Until college is over. Then I'll be perusing another career. One that'll suit my major. As much as I may enjoy working here now, the pay won't get me a fancy place to live, or much money for personal enjoyment."
If you lived with me you could quit altogether. I'd provide for both of us. Yifan shakes his head to rid himself of those thoughts and focuses back on the conversation. "What's your major going to be?"
"I'm studying business as of now, but that could change. I've become very indecisive these past few years. Who knows? Maybe I'll try my hand at artwork." he teases Yifan. "Seriously though, I'll see how the first semester goes. If I like my classes, I'll stick to my major. If not, I'll switch."
Yifan falls silent as Junmyeon pulls out his phone to scroll on it. He wonders if he's annoying Junmyeon, which is why after five more minutes of Junmyeon on his phone he still doesn't strike up another conversation. It is Junmyeon's break, and he will have to be here four more hours after this. Yifan decides he should leave for the day and go back home.
When he stands Junmyeon's attention goes back to him and the younger looks surprised. "Oh, going already?" he questions as Yifan straightens is jacket. Yifan nods. Yeah, it's time for me to go. I have work to do."
"You know," Junmyeon looks like he's trying to figure out how to formulate his words without sounding too off-putting, "In my month of working here I thought it was strange that you never came and painted in your gallery."
"How so?" Yifan raises one of his pointed eyebrows.
"You paid for this gallery, your lifework is here. But you don't paint here. I don't know, it just seems weird. You have plenty of room to move you art supplies here if you wanted to."
"Do you think I should?"
"I didn't say if I thought you should, but it may be a nice change of pace. Painting in a different environment, that is."
Yifan hums as he heads towards the door. "Maybe I'll take you up on your suggestion."
-
Yifan does end up moving a few of his art supplies to his gallery. There's plenty of room to paint, but no privacy. Anyone would easily be able to come up to the third floor to buy something from the gift shop and take a sneak peek at any upcoming works of art. He could move the break room upstairs to the third floor and make that his new location, but that wouldn't work either because he wasn't cruel and wasn't going to make his employee's walk up three flights of stairs to take their break.
Kyungsoo's office was an immediate no.
That left the basement. It was a step up from the bland concrete that most basements where, but not by much. Wood panels that looked like copy and pastes of each other, the wall was a stale white. The basement was so bland, and Yifan would have to spice it up to get the creativity flowing.
The windows and overhead lamps gave Yifan enough light to see what he was working on, and if he spilled any paint it wouldn't be much of a lost. The basement would have to get redone eventually. He'd just add to its character along the way.
One advantage of moving his work to his gallery building was that he could see Junmyeon more. The fresh out of high school teen (Yifan called him that, though he knew full well Junmyeon was a legal adult) was now a freshman in college. Which meant that his hours were cut back, so Yifan would stay as late as possible in hopes of getting a glance at Junmyeon in the evening.
Often times Junmyeon is in the break room for an hour before his shift begins and he spends that time catching up on homework. The first time Yifan sees him that early he was confused and thought that Kyungsoo had changed shift times on him.
"What're you doing here so early?" Yifan was leaning against the doorframe as he asked this question. He felt bad as Junmyeon nearly jumped out of his skin before looking up at Yifan.
"My ride drops me off early. He has to go to work before me, so this is how it works out for me."
"You can't take the bus?"
"Yes, I could, but that would be more of a hassle. And, the gallery is on the way to his job, so he honestly doesn't mind. When he gets off he comes and picks me up and takes us back to the dorm."
"That's awfully nice of him."
"He's a nice guy."
Yifan knows that he and Junmyeon aren't a thing, yet, but he can't help the pang of jealousy that shoots through his spine. "Is he your roommate?"
"No." Junmyeon doesn't give clarification and Yifan doesn't ask. He'll find out another day. "You know, if it ever gets too noisy in here, because I know the walls aren't soundproof, you could always come downstairs. I'm a quiet painter, and there's even a desk that I don't use except for storage."
Junmyeon grins. "I think I'll take you up on your offer. Another day though, this seat is warm and I don't want to lose my page in the textbook."
"I'll see you down there then." Yifan exits the room and does a fist pump as soon as he's out of sight. Perfect.
-
Junmyeon always makes the same face when he's concentrating on homework, Yifan finds out weeks after that. His forehead scrunches up and he chews on the metal part of his wooden pencil before jotting down a few steps to the probably before re-reading them.
Yifan knows this because every time he's sure that Junmyeon isn't looking he's chance a glance. He thinks it's hilarious, and so he wants to capture this moment for Junmyeon to see himself. But pulling out his camera and taking a picture would be too obvious; with the lighting in the basement a flash would surely be needed to get a decent picture.
As Junmyeon leaves Yifan decides he should do what he does best: draw. Over the course of a week he steals subtle glances at Junmyeon to make sure a feature on his face is just right. He hands it to Junmyeon one night as the young man is about to leave. Junmyeon already has his book bag on and is about to bust out the door when Yifan gently grabs his arm.
Junmyeon turns around confused and the expression only deepens as he grabs the paper that Yifan hands him. "Don't tell me these are my termination papers," he's only half joking, and Yifan quickly assures him it's not. "No, no. I don't do the firing, Kyungsoo does. So if you ever get a paper from him, that's when you should start sweating. I drew this for you."
Junmyeon looks at it and a grin spreads across his face. "Whoa. It's me. Looks just like me."
"I always see you working so hard on your homework. Thought you'd like to see what I see through my eyes, and not just some picture."
"Whoa. This is really nice. Thank you so much!" Junmyeon clutches the paper in his hand like a child would hold its favourite toy at Christmas. "I'm going to hand this up at the dorm. Or maybe I shouldn't, my roommates hands are kind of grubby."
"Do whatever you want with it, it's yours."
Junmyeon's smile makes Yifan's day that much better.
-
"Chanyeol? What are you doing here?"
"Got the rest of the day off, someone came in and they said I could go home. Thought I may as well stop by and see what you do outside of school."
Yifan watches the exchange between the two men. 'Chanyeol' is his height, with a more friendly face and a grin that looks like it could break his face into two. "It looks much nicer on the inside."
"Yeah, we make sure to keep it clean. Also, looks can be deceiving, You of all people should know that Chanyeol." Junmyeon is leaning across the front desk, and god, is he teasing this guy? Yifan wants to know who he is, stat.
"Hello," he comes up behind Chanyeol and side eyes him, not giving him his full attention. "Your first time here?"
"We'll, I've been outside the building a lot, but yeah, first time inside. Looks way cooler than I thought it would." Chanyeol's voice is deeper than Yifan's, and it carries in through the floor.
"Outside the building a lot?"
"I give Junmyeon his rides here."
"Oh yes, I remember talking about you. I was wondering why Junmyeon was wasting an hour of his time at work when he could be out." Not that I mind. "Yeah, I wouldn't do that to him if it could be avoided. But our schedules are on the same days, and in order for him to be on time and for me to be on time, he has to be stuck here an hour in advance. Not that he minds, he told me he really likes the guy who draws all these paintings."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Junmyeon never stops, actually. Says how nice he is, how silly he can be sometimes. He even drew Junmyeon a nice picture, which is really nice." As Chanyeol keeps talking Junmyeon's face becomes more and more red, his gaze flickering between Chanyeol, Yifan, and his desk. It is then that Yifan realises that Chanyeol doesn't know he's talking to the guy he's talking about.
"Uh, Chanyeol." Junmyeon weakly interjects but Chanyeol hears it anyway and falls silent. "Yeah?"
"This… is… the…. painter." he says slowly. As if saving himself the embarrassment. Chanyeol's eyebrows shoot up once it comprehends and he looks at Yifan, who has finally turned so that Chanyeol can get a full view of his face.
"Whoa, you're right." Chanyeol holds out his hand, which Yifan takes with the reminder to run his hand under boiling bleach later.
"Nice to finally meet the other guy in Junmyeon's life."
"Other guy?"
Junmyeon rolls his eyes. "Chanyeol, I have work to do. Go look around, you might see something you'll like?"
"Right-o." Chanyeol does a mock salute and walks away.
"Sorry about him, he gets too excited sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Yeah. Most of our friends wonder how we're even dating. We contrast a lot, but I like to think our differences is what put us together." Junmyeon watches as Chanyeol turns the corner into the exhibit. "Oh, wait. He didn't pay. I should probably pull him back."
"No, it's fine." Yifan would much rather be in Junmyeon's presence without Chanyeol being there as well. "Let him enjoy himself. As long as the other people here don't get word of someone getting in for free."
At the end of Chanyeol's walk around he asks Junmyeon if he's ready to go, and Yifan is surprised to see that it's time for Junmyeon to clock out and leave. He says goodbye to Junmyeon and gives a tiny wave to Chanyeol, who returns it much more enthusiastically than Yifan wanted. Yifan watches as Chanyeol leads Junmyeon to his car, and notices that he doesn't open the door for Junmyeon.
Yifan is busy comparing himself to Chanyeol over the brief time that he's met him, thinking about all the ways he's better, and he jumps with he feels a hand on his back. "They're gone, so why are you still standing here."
"Just thinking."
"You must think about Junmyeon a lot?" Kyungsoo asks softly. Yifan hums his answer, not completely listening to Kyungsoo, and he misses the shake of Kyungsoo's head as Yifan turns to go into the basement and finish the last touches on his painting before leaving for the night.
-
It doesn't take long for Yifan to notice Junmyeon's absence from work. He usually works on Sunday mornings and Yifan hasn't seen him since last weekend. In fact, Hwasa who doesn't work as often anymore has been at the gallery as his replacement.
"You're here more. Something happen with school?"
Hwasa raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "No, I'm covering Junmyeon's shifts while he's out, so it doesn’t go against his attendance. I'll probably be here more another two months. I'm surprised you didn't know."
"Two months?"
"Yeah, Kyungsoo permitted him medical leave. You know, his accident?"
"A-accident?" Yifan's mouth has dried and his heart is beating out of pace. No one told him. He should have been told. He makes a lame excuse to get away from Hwasa and makes his way back to Kyungsoo's office, where the door is surprisingly open.
Kyungsoo hadn't been doing anything and he looks at Yifan with mild surprise. "Oh, you've graced me with your presence? Usually you're locked in your home or in the basement."
"What happened to Junmyeon? Why didn't you tell me he was on medical leave."
Kyungsoo crosses his arms and his eyes harden, not ready to take any grief from Yifan. "I'm in charge of everyone who works here, I don't need to inform you of all the hiring I do, Yifan. Or of the state of their employment status. Would you like to read my contract? Junmyeon is on medical leave, something that I'm not obligated to tell you. He's been in the hospital since last Sunday. You've never shown this much care for any of the employees except for Junmyeon."
Kyungsoo quickly raises a ringer and a matching eyebrow before Yifan's mouth can open. "Besides, you two appeared so close that I thought he had already told you. His boyfriend called and told me. Junmyeon had been sent into surgery at the time and I thought that Junmyeon would have told you after he had woken up."
Yifan's face turns sour at the mention of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo gives him a particular look but remains quiet on whatever he wanted to say. He instead continues with, "I'll write down what hospital he's in, and the room number, if you'd like to go visit." It's not really a question because Kyungsoo knows that Yifan does want to visit Junmyeon and he gets to writing down the information.
"Here you go. Don't spend all your afternoon there, he needs to rest so he can get back to work as soon as possible." Kyungsoo had snatched the paper out from Yifan's reach before giving him the verbal warning. He then hands it to Yifan with a, "Tell him we'll miss him while he's out."
"Will do."
-
He double then triple checks that the door he's about to knock on is actually Junmyeon's room. He hears a soft, 'come in' and walks in slowly. Junmyeon has a room by himself but there's still a curtain around his bed and the side closest to the door is pulled enough for Junmyeon to not be able to see him approaching.
Junmyeon's entire left leg is wrapped in a thick cast and it's held up above head level. He gapes before fixing his face. He shows the bouquet of flowers he had bought on the way to the hospital first and he hears a pleased gasp.
"Wow, someone actually decides to get me flowers. Who could it be? Baekhyun?" Junmyeon starts. "No, fingers way too thick. And the hand is too big. Chanyeol?" Yifan's grip tightens around the stems of the flowers and he's afraid he's going to break off the stems as Junmyeon continues. "No, because if it was Chanyeol he'd have bought flowers already. And he wouldn't have picked such an expensive looking batch. You've finally come to visit your ailing friend, Yifan?"
Yifan finally moves the curtain back to reveal Junmyeon who is in a T-Shirt and pair of shorts. He looks incredibly tired and Yifan sets the flowers down on the table next to Junmyeon's bed. "I forgot the vase, I'll get one later. You look tired, do you want me to leave?"
"Of course not! You'll probably wake me up a little. I've been on painkillers and sedated this week, they had to do another surgery on me two days ago, but I'm up now." Junmyeon blinks and looks up at Yifan. "I look like crap compared to you and your beautiful hair."
Junmyeon must still not be completely there.
"Mmm." Yifan hums and looks around for somewhere to sit. He takes the seat against the wall under the window and pulls it closer to Junmyeon's bed.
"The reason it took me so long is because I didn't know you where in the hospital. Chanyeol called the gallery and told them, and no one told me."
"You're my friend. I can't believe they didn't think to tell you."
"You consider me your friend?"
"Yeah. You listen to me. Talk to me. You even drew me a very nice picture. Why wouldn't I consider you a friend? Because you're older than me?"
"Some people like to keep the old ones away."
"You're old but not old, Yifan. Your age doesn't deter me from being your friend."
Would it deter you from being my boyfriend? Yifan digs his fingernails into his palm to bring himself back to reality and the situation at hand. "No offense, but you look terrible. What happened to you?"
"None taken, I know I do. Bunch of drunk assholes. Hit me with their car. Chanyeol really feels terrible, but it wasn’t his fault. I got out his car to cross the street and that's when they came and hit me. He thinks that if he parked on the other side I wouldn't have gotten hit, but that wasn't possible. I was knocked out on impact. The guys did stop and they're in jail now."
"How are you now?"
"In pain. The painkillers have my legs only throbbing right now. I get to go home in a couple days. My parents want me to be there before I go back to my dorm. All my teachers have been informed that I won't be in school for the next two weeks, at least. I won't be able to work until the cast comes off, sorry."
Yifan would rather not have Junmyeon away from the gallery and he knows how selfish that is. "I'm sure we could change your job description for the moment. You could be a cashier and someone else could lead the tours. If you'd be up to it when the time came to be."
"It'd probably keep me from going stir crazy."
Yifan hears someone clear their throat and he looks up to see a couple who are in their forties looking at the two. They're probably Junmyeon's parents. Yifan stands up to greet them and bow, and he's met with a similar response, and the man, Mr. Kim, says, "You can sit down. We were interrupting the conversation."
"Who are you?" Mrs. Kim asks politely.
"This is my boss, Mom. Kris Wu." Junmyeon looks up at her.
"You could call me Yifan, if it would make you more comfortable. Or Mr. Wu, whichever really."
"Nice to meet you, Yifan. You're the guy our Junmyeon's been talking about, huh?"
"Oh?"
"Junmyeon showed us the picture you drew him, it was really lovely. He was really excited to get the job at your gallery, he's been a fan of your artwork for a while. You should see his room at home, he's got posters of your paintings hanging up."
"Mooooom." Junmyeon draws the word out and covers his face in embarrassment.
"What? I thought he already knew how much you liked him." but Mrs. Kim apologizes to her son anyway.
"It's nice of you to visit him, Yifan. Not many employers would do that."
Yifan nods as Mr. Kim talks. "Yes, well, I had only been informed of the accident today, and wanted to come and check up on one of my best employees. I brought him flowers. And, a card." Yifan completely forgot about it until now, and he pulls it out of his coats large pocket and hands the envelope to Junmyeon. "It's from all of us at the gallery."
"Thank you so much, tell them all I said thank you."
"Will do. I should leave now, so you can talk to your parents."
"Wait!" Junmyeon yells, too loud and Yifan wonders if the teen knows how loud he is speaking. "Your number. My number. Let's exchange them. Yeah?"
"Alright. Sounds good."
By the time he leaves he has Junmyeon's number. It's a small victory but it is still one.
Ship(s): Yifan/Junmyeon, broken!Junmyeon/Chanyeol, mentioned Yifan/Lay,
Side ship(s): Sehun/Baekhyun, Tao/Jongin, Kyungsoo/ Luhan, eventual Minseok /Yixing, Chanyeol/ Jongdae, broken!Yifan/Minseok
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 18k
Warnings: Age gap, age switch, possessive!yifan, virgin!junmyeon, smut, first time sex
Summary: Yifan works hard to get what he wants, and when he lays eyes on a barely legal, new employee in his art gallery he decides he must have him.
Notes: Originally written for Yifantasy.
The ringing of his phone pulls Yifan out of his sleep. He had went to bed completely shit faced, with someone, and as he reaches for his phone to stop that god awful ringing he takes small notice that the other half of the bed his cold and empty. Not that he cared, Yixing knew to leave before Yifan woke up.
It's not an alarm, it's someone calling him. He groans and tries to pry his eyes open long enough to read the caller ID and groans as the sun practically attacks his sensitive eyes. He'll definitely need sunglasses if he even wants to think about living his comfortable bed.
"What?" he groans when he finally swipes the correct part of the screen of his phone and answers the call.
"You were drinking last night." the voice deadpans. Of course, Kyungsoo can read Yifan like a book, even through a phone call. "Figures. You didn't hook up with some random person again did you?"
".." Yifan just breathes into the phone as he thinks of a adept lie to tell Kyungsoo when the other sighs. "Of course. Yixing, is it? As long as he didn't take any pictures of you two, or you passed out drunk in your bed."
Kyungsoo is Yifan's manager / publicist. He makes sure that news of Yifan's new paintings gets out into the word, and makes sure that Yifan goes to events that an artist should go to, makes sure that people go to his gallery and pays for the tours, helps make Yifan's money.
Yifan has gotten very popular, and wealthy over the years thanks to his art and Kyungsoo. So whatever Kyungsoo thinks he should do, Yifan ends up doing. "Why'd you wake me up?" Yifan pushes out his mouth.
"Of course you wouldn't remember. We have a private showing booked today, and you're supposed to give the tour yourself. Fortunately it's at two, so you have time to pull yourself together and make yourself presentable and get the smell of beer and sweat off you."
Yifan pulled his phone away from his ear to look at the time. It was eleven. Kyungsoo called him at the right time, making sure he had enough sleep so that he wouldn't just ignore Kyungsoo's call and go back to sleep, but not too much time sleeping so that he could take a long shower to wake himself up and drink himself into a coffee stupor.
"Do you need me to come pick you up, or are you okay to drive?"
"Give me a second, Kyungsoo. Let me see how I am on my own two feet." Yifan uses his free hand to pull away the blankets and uses his feet to kick the remainder on the opposite side of the bed. He wouldn't bother making the bed, the sheets would no doubt need to get cleaned today.
Yifan throws his legs over the side of the bed and they touch the carpeted floor with no effort. He moves his phone from his hand to the junction between his neck and face and uses both his hands to help himself stand. When Yifan does stand he gets a little dizzy and his world goes a little fuzzy, but afterwards he feels completely fine.
"I can drive myself, I'll just need a shit ton of coffee. Make sure there's some there when I get there as well."
"No problem, as long as you're here. This are very important people, Yifan. Don't fuck it up." the line went dead with that and Yifan pulled his phone away from his ear to make sure that Kyungsoo had actually hung up. Sometimes Kyungsoo will go extremely quiet, making Yifan think that he had hung up only to start talking again a minute later.
Kyungsoo was certainly off the phone, and his phone was inches from death. He bent down with a groan to pick up the cord of his charger off the floor and plugged his phone in. If he put his phone on airplane mode then he could maybe get half a battery before he had to leave.
Yifan knew that if he put his phone on airplane mode and Kyungsoo called he'd be fucked, so he put it on airplane mode, hooked it up to his wifi, and sent Kyungsoo a text over Kakako talk telling him to text him through the app if anything came up in the time between now and him leaving his apartment.
Now that he was awake, and had to get ready, he officially started the day by reaching his hands above his head and stretching, a yawn pushing past his lips and one hand coming down the scratch his stomach. His first stop was the shower.
It started off cold to wake Yifan up, then he eventually warmed it so that he could wash himself properly. Forty minutes later he was wiping off the fogged up mirror so that he could shave. He was proud that he made it with only a nick on his chin and broke off a piece of toilet paper and stuck in on the part that was bleeding so that it would stop.
His first stop was the kitchen, and he got the coffee maker going to get a good strong pot of coffee started before making it back to his bedroom. He headed straight for the walk-in closet. Yifan knew he had great taste (forget what Kyungsoo says) and instead goes for an all black suit with white accents.
The coffee is ready by the time Yifan is fully dressed, so he walks out to the machine and turns it off. The coffee mugs are on a rack next to the machine, and he pours himself a cup and adds in cream and sugar before downing it in a few gulps, ignoring the heat that wasn't smoldered by the cool cream.
He has two more cups before throwing the dirty dishes in the sink to be cleaned later before making his way to his bedroom to check his phone. No missed texts, and it's nearly one. Yifan decides to leave now, just so he can get a small briefing from Kyungsoo before whoever is so important gets there.
Yifan pulls his phone from the charger and turns it off airplane mode. He hurries to the door and grabs his keys off the hook (at least drunk him knows where to put his shit) and slips a pair of dress shoes on.
The door automatically locks as he leaves and goes towards the elevator. It's a few floors down and has to slowly make its way up to his floor.
Seoul traffic is the worse, and even with Yifan going as fast as he can he makes it to his gallery at 1:40. Kyungsoo is waiting for him at the door, considering that the gallery is closed to the public until after the private tour is finished, he is able to do that.
"Right on time, Yifan, as always. You have maybe five minutes before they show up."
"You said the tour started at two!" Yifan shouts. Kyungsoo takes it in stride. "Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't be here earlier to introduce themselves to you. They're thinking about asking you to paint something for someone important back in China, don't ask me who they didn't tell me. They just said that they'd be willing to pay a lot of money for a painting by you, if you gave them a personal tour to look at some of your past artwork. Don't screw it up, please, I like getting paid, and expect some kind of bonus after dealing with you year round. Keep in mind that I won't be here to help you out if you fuck something up."
"Why not?" Yifan narrows his eyes.
"I have to interview someone, the other tour guide went part time, so I need someone to take over the hours that the original one can't do. He's sitting in the back right now, in my office. He's probably sweating bullets wondering what's taking so long." Kyungsoo tells him as he looks past Yifan. "They're here. Now remember: don't act like an idiot, smile and be informative, and ask what they have in mind for the painting when they bring it up."
Yifan watches as Kyungsoo passes through the door back to his office and he pulls on his happy face before turning around to greet those he'll be showing around. He goes to reach for the door to open it for those on the other side, but someone beats him to it and pushes it open. Yifan waits with an almost painful smile on his face.
The group that walks in, it's three men, they stop and look at him as he bows. "Hello, I'm Kris Wu," just the name he does his artwork under, but a simple Google search will bring up the results of his real persona. "Nice to meet you."
All he can do is listen without interruption as the group introduces themselves and he nods. Some millionaire back in China is who he is expected to paint for.
His gallery is three floors, the first and second having completed artwork, and the third one is currently empty save for a cash register and copies of his famous paintings It's currently used as a gift shop, but he's going to expand the gallery so that he could use the third floor as another level for artwork, and maybe an extension as the gift shop on the ground floor. He needs a few more paintings if he's going to get that level filled in. "How about we start on the first floor, then work our way up? That's how it usually goes."
"We can do that."
Yifan walks past the white wall that separates the main lobby from the beginning of the artwork. The group follows him without falter. Yifan stops at the first piece of art that is always seen when walking into the gallery. The way the hall is set up is that when walking in and looking straight all that can be seen is Yifan's very first piece of artwork. It's horrible, he knows, but as they go farther into the exhibit, having to turn a right to see it once they get to his first drawing.
Yifan glances at his first drawing, a horrible picture of a dragon that he drew sometime when he was a lonesome teenager. "This is the picture that inspired me, it lead me to begin my life as an artist." he begins, turning to face the group.
"It's horrible, I know. I was going through that awkward phase in school, the one with no friends until puberty stops treating you so horrible and your voice doesn't crack every other sentence." he smiles. "In fact, it was someone making fun of how bad the picture was that inspired me to get to where I am. If that person hadn't picked on me, I probably wouldn't have felt as though I had to improve my drawings to prove that I was good at something."
He walks them forward, which actually means they have to turn left to see the rest of the artwork on this floor, and stops at his second drawing, like the first, in a case so that the delicate notebook paper doesn't get torn. "This one isn't much better, I was trying to replicate a stuffed Alpaca that my mother had gotten me for my birthday. We didn't grow up with a lot of money, with my father not being in the picture, and so for her to save and get me the animal was great. I still have it back at home, in good condition for how old it is."
They stop on the second floor nearly an hour later after Yifan goes into detail about each drawing or painting or sketch. One of the largest pictures is located on the second floor, a drawing of his mother in exact detail that took months to do. There's one below this drawing of his mother, the one is in paint. He has it as the last thing on each floor just so the visitors can know just how important she is to him.
"There's a gift shop, on the third floor, if you wish to get something from there. If not, then we should talk about what you wish for me to do."
"Our employer, who is unfortunately doing business in China and was unable to make it, wishes for you to draw a painting of him. A portrait. We're willing to pay you a lot of money." Yifan lets out a small whistle when the amount is spoken. That is a lot of money.
"Any time limit?"
"He said no rush, as long as you get it to him as soon as possible. He wants the detail to be very noticeable. We have a picture of him, the one he wants you to replicate exactly, if you wish to take on the job."
Yifan nods and holds out his hand. One of the men reach into their back pocket and pulls out a wallet, and pulls out a piece of paper which they unfold and hand to Yifan. "Here, can you do it?"
Yifan studies the picture closely. It's some rich guy from China, head of a big company, which explains the money amount they're willing to spend. "Yeah, I can do it. I'll do it for you."
"A contract needs to be signed."
"Yeah, I'll have my publicist read over it for me, and if you come back in a few hours I'll give it to you, signed."
"Sounds like a deal, Mr. Wu."
-
Yifan decides he needs out the house. He's been locked in it for the past month, not really seeing any reason for him to leave other than to go out and get drunk at the club, then text Yixing for a booty call. Then he would stay home until he was sober enough to add onto the outline of the portrait of Mr. Yang.
From past mistakes, Yifan learned to sketch out at least the outline of his subject before painting. It saved money in the long run and was easier than having to go over a mistake with different paints to try and fix it.
What brought on the decision to leave his home was because he actually hadn’t woken up half drunk or with a hangover for once, and he thinks the cleaning people deserve to clean in silence, and because his room is starting to smell bad and needs to be cleaned.
The drive to his gallery is nice and mellow, he's listening to a few of his favourite songs and the weather is nice so he has the windows down , going through his freshly red dyed hair. He needed a change from blonde.
He parks behind the gallery where employees park so that he doesn't have to deal with any visitors asking for his autograph for the time being. He fumbles to find the correct key to the back door and pushes it open once he does. The door closes with a bang and there goes his chance of slipping in without Kyungsoo noticing.
And sure enough he and Kyungsoo run into each other when Yifan is trying to make his way to the break room. "Oh. What do we owe this pleasure to? Finally decided to rejoin the living?"
"I've been amongst the living, thank you."
"Going out clubbing and getting drunk and then either finding someone to bring home from the club to fuck, or getting drunk at home and calling Yixing to come and fuck hardly counts." Kyungsoo frowns. "You're lucky you're an artist and not an idol or movie star, because if you did any of that you'd be screwed and out of a career. But you should still be careful who you bring home. What if one of them recognizes you or takes a picture of your work in progress?"
"I'd be screwed." Yifan answers like a scolded child would answer its mother. He would be screwed, and out of big money, if someone were to take a picture of his progress in drawing a picture of the millionaire. The men that had arranged for the drawing had been very clear when they said that if it was shown to the public before their employer then the deal would be off.
"Yes, you would be. So would I, and the other people that work here." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Nice of you to join us. Are you going to stay and introduce yourself to the people currently here? We have some looking around and the new guy giving a tour," Kyungsoo looks at his watch as nods, "He should be almost done, you could probably sneak up there and give the group a surprise."
Yifan groans and Kyungsoo hands up his hand, "I don't want to hear it. It would be great publicity if the people left reviews or told their friends that the great Kris Wu came and greeted them in person and was so nice. And with your red hair people might not recognize you at first, allowing you to go up."
Kyungsoo wouldn't let Yifan say no, so he pockets his keys and sticks his tongue out at Kyungsoo and teases him by saying, "Yes, mother." The worst part is that Kyungsoo is right, so he makes his way into the gallery. There is only one way in that isn't the fire exit, and going that way would trigger alarms. So Yifan makes his way into the gallery, walking fast and keeping his head down to avoid attention. When he gets to the second floor he hears a voice different from the last tour guide speaking in the usually silent space.
Whoever it is is talking loud enough to be heard over the small hum of music coming from the overheads, but his voice is still so soft and gentle. "Here is the last part of the gallery. A drawing of Kris Wu's mother. He has it as the last thing you see on each floor for a reason, perhaps to remind himself and us of who helped him get to where he is today. It was her encouragement that lead him to paint for a living. He did struggle for a few years, but it paid off in the end."
Yifan towers over most of the people in the crowd but he still can't get a good look at the new guide who is half turned towards the drawing and half towards the crowd. "It's sweet, at least I think it is. He loves his mother very much. And do have her as one of the biggest things in his gallery, it's just, great."
"Any questions?" the guy turns around to face the crowd and Yifan gets a good look at his face.
He's gorgeous.
This wide smile that shows all his teeth and reaches up to his eyes, the glossy hair on his head is flat on his head and he's constantly brushing a piece away from his eyes. His brown eyes sparkle in the lighting and it complements his light skin. The guide looks over the crowd and his gaze makes his way to Yifan who has to make sure that his mouth is closed and that there isn't drool coming out.
The guide looks startled for a moment before his smile widens. "Oh, well, it looks like we have a visitor everyone." the group turns around and their eyes one by one start flickering with recognition. "It's a pleasant surprise that Mr. Wu has come to visit us! This doesn't happen very often. Maybe he'll be more able to answer any questions than myself."
As the group starts coming towards him, women already rustling in their bags to get out paper and pens, the guide tells the group that if they want to find him and ask him any questions he'll be downstairs at the front desk. Yifan watches in distress as the guide walks away and down the stairs, out of sight. It takes him nearly an hour to get away from all the questions and autographs, and that is only because he says he has things to do.
He does make sure to tell them to visit the gift shop to pick up replicas of their favourite paints before making his way down to the main floor with them following. He sees the guide manning the counter with the same smile on his face and nodding and handing tickets and taking money from new people that are going into the gallery.
Yifan wishes very much to make eye contact with him again, but instead he goes back to Kyungsoo's office. He knocks first because he has sure learned his lesson with walking in on Kyungsoo (and Kyungsoo's boyfriend). Kyungsoo doesn't say 'come in' and instead comes to the door and opens it enough to peak his head out.
"Still here?" Kyungsoo says and pulls the door open the rest of the way to let Yifan into his office. It's clean as ever, and Yifan makes his way to the couch (probably in the room specifically for him) and plops down.
"Of course, that group was unreal. It was like one left and two came. I'm lucky I got away when I did." Yifan moans.
"Mhm." Kyungsoo goes back to his desk and is doing something on the computer, probably emailing someone. "And you're still here because?"
"Well, I wanted to know who the guide was that sicced them on me."
Kyungsoo laughs and turns off the screen in order to turn all his attention on Yifan. "I very much doubt Junmyeon 'sicced' them on you. That's his name, by the way. Kim Junmyeon. Hired part time. Manages the front desk and scheduled tours. He's very nice, by the way. Maybe if you came out more and came here more you'd get to know your employees very well, considering you kind of pay them."
Yifan regrets his past month now, because all that time that he's been sitting at home drunk off his ass he could have been here getting to know Junmyeon. Yifan just wants to say it, to feel the name roll of his tongue.
"Was Junmyeon the one you were interviewing the last time I was here?"
Kyungsoo nods. "He left probably a little bit after you did. I would have introduced you to him then, since he pretty much got hired on the spot. Smart, so nice, great voice to talk to the people with. He hasn't shown frustration once since he's been hired."
"He's a great employee, too bad he's only part time. If you stay for another hour his shift will be over, you could meet him yourself."
Yifan likes the sound of that. "That would be nice."
Kyungsoo stares at him for a few seconds after he turns on the screen and starts typing again. "Are you just going to sit on the couch for the next hour?"
"Why not? I have nothing else to do while I wait, and I did pay for it."
Kyungsoo scowls in return and Yifan smiles smugly and closes his eyes, fully willing to wait this next hour out in silence. He doesn't know when, but he eventually dozes off only to be awoken by Kyungsoo's shaking. "Wake up you slob, so you don't introduce yourself looking completely shitfaced."
Yifan watches as Kyungsoo leaves the room and hurries to right himself. He combs his hair with his fingers and reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pack of gum. He picks out a piece and pops it in his mouth quickly enough and chews it fast to get the minty smell out quicker.
He stands right as the door is pushed open and there's Kyungsoo with Junmyeon. Junmyeon is barely taller than Kyungsoo and looks up at Yifan with a huge smile on his eyes. He looks so innocent, so adorable. Yifan really wishes he had seen this beauty sooner.
"Oh, wow. It's great to meet you." Junmyeon comes rushing forward and offers his hand, which Yifan takes easily in his. As Junmyeon bows Yifan can't help noticing how smooth his hand is, and how small it is, how his hand practically swallows Junmyeon's.
"No need to bow, take it easy." Yifan chuckles as Junmyeon stands straight up and sheepish smile on his lips with the hint of a blush. "Sorry, I just feel it's right when meeting someone as huge as you."
"I heard you've been working here for a little bit, how do you like it so far?"
"It's great!" Junmyeon replies quickly.
"You're not just saying that because I pay you, are you?"
Junmyeon looks shocked and quickly shakes his head, clearly not hearing Yifan's joking tone. "Of course not, I love it. I meet nice people, and I'm surrounded by beautiful artwork done by one of my favourite modern artists. It’s an honor, and I'm so glad that I was able to get the job here."
"And it's nice finally meeting you. I didn't apply for the job thinking I'd see you, but I'm glad that I had the chance to formally introduce myself."
"It's a pleasure meeting you. Tell me, Junmyeon, what do you do as free time when you're not here?"
"Oh, I study!"
"Study?"
"College. It hasn’t started yet but I want to be prepared for my first year there. I was thinking of taking a leap year, but decided against it. I don't plan on just working here in the summer, though. I have full time hours now, but I'll go to actual part time hours once school starts."
"A freshman in college? How old are you?"
"Eighteen." Junmyeon grins. "Just turned eighteen in May."
Shit. Yifan thinks, kid is barely legal. It's legal though, if Yifan were to make a move. No law against it, even though Yifan himself is twenty-nine. That's an eleven year gap between their ages.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Wu, but I have to go home now. I'll see you next time we're here together, maybe?" Junmyeon offers a wave before turning around and heading towards the door to then go out the back entrance.
Kyungsoo gives a smile. "So, how'd you like meeting him?"
"Oh, it was great, Kyungsoo. Good to know you hire good people."
"I do my job exceptionally well."
-
For once, later that night, Yifan doesn't go out to the club, and doesn't even drink. He sits in his studio sketching out on the canvas all while thinking about Junmyeon. Thoughts race around his head, like, does he think I'm attractive? , and, would he ever go for someone my age?'
The next day Yifan has to se Junmyeon again. He makes up the excuse of going to see Kyungsoo about any upcoming events he should be worried about and goes early in the morning, right when he gallery opens. Usually no one comes in until an hour after opening, so Yifan knows he can walk in and not be interrupted. He parks in the front this time, and walks in.
Junmyeon is at the front desk and his surprise is clear on his face when he see's Yifan, but he greets enthusiastically, "Hello Mr. Wu! Nice to have you back so soon. Will you be staying a little while?" Junmyeon's smile overpowers the lighting of the room. It shines so bright.
"Yes, I am. Any tours today?" Yifan leans across the desk as casually as he can manage and watches as Junmyeon turns to the computer and logs into the system and scrolls down, the screen lighting his face. "Yes, it looks like we have one in about an hour." he turns away from the computer to look Yifan in the eyes. They sparkle as he asks, "Will you join us today?"
"Maybe."
Oh god, he's pouting, he's adorable. Yifan thinks as Junmyeon juts his bottom lip out jokingly. "It would be great if you could join us, Mr. Wu."
"Call me Yifan."
Junmyeon looks down and grins at the table before looking up. "Alright, Yifan." Junmyeon seems to be testing his name out on his tongue. "Please join us if you can."
Yifan excuses himself to go see Kyungsoo, who is walking around his office on his cell phone. "What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know?" the person on the phone replies and Kyungsoo lets out a humorless laugh. "Fucking find out, will you?" Kyungsoo takes the phone away from his ear and presses the screen before tossing it on his desk.
"Yes, Yifan?" Kyungsoo turns around and faces Yifan. "I don't think I should ask anymore, you seem tense."
"Tense is a bit of an understatement, but you're my employer, I kind of have to ask why you're here."
"I was just coming to see if there were any important art events coming up that I should know about, you know, that I could possibly go to." Kyungsoo looks genuinely shocked. "You've never came here and voluntarily wanted to go to an event."
"Figured you were right, and I need to get out of my house and come out more." Yifan shrug.
"Well if that's the case, then alright. I'm sure that I can find something for you to go to." Kyungsoo walks over to his desk and boots up the computer. "I always have something saved in my history just in case you want to go to one of these things."
Yifan listens as Kyungsoo lists of the many things that he could go to, the many things he could do to get his name out there. "How about the charity auction one? I could paint something just for that, and you said the proceeds would go towards helping those help overcome mental disorders?"
"Yes. Charities are good, they make you seem like a good person. Not that you aren't…" Kyungsoo pauses, "Though you spend more money than you should going out clubbing."
"Cut the chit-chat Kyungsoo. I'll do that one. I can paint something up, it'll probably go for a lot of money too."
Kyungsoo nods in agreement. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to call Han. Something's going on right now, kind of important."
"Oh, and is that who you were yelling at on the phone?"
"Yes, it was. Now go, so I can yell at him some more in private."
When Yifan comes back to the front there is someone different at the front desk, one of their full timers. "What are you doing here?" he asks.
"I work here, sir."
Yifan figures he should rephrase that, "I know that, Soojung. I thought the other one, Junmyeon, was doing the front desk today and taking money."
The employee, Soojung, shakes her head. "No, Junmyeon's job description doesn't formally say he's to take the money. In fact, he is mainly supposed to be for tours. If he is here and taking money, it's probably because no one else was able to come yet. When Junmyeon isn't giving tours he's walking around, answering any questions that customers may have, or at the front desk and talking to potential customers."
"Oh. Where is he now?"
"Giving a tour, it just started."
Yifan says goodbye to Soojung before walking towards the exhibit. He wants to see Junmyeon in action some more. The group is now at the second drawing, the one of the alpaca, and Junmyeon is talking enthusiastically.
"This is a drawing of an alpaca." Junmyeon starts, "Like the first drawing in the gallery, it is on notebook paper. This was back before Kris Wu had made his interests of drawing known to his mother and therefore didn't have professional art supplies to draw. This was drawn with his mother, single and working multiple jobs with not a lot of money, saved up and bought Kris Wu a stuffed alpaca. He tried to draw it, but as you can see it doesn't have as much realism as his current pieces."
"Of course if you go further into the exhibit, I did redraw it, with much more likeness to the actual stuffed animal." Yifan interrupts. Junmyeon whips around and his smile gets that much bigger. "Well, look at who we have here! Kris Wu has came to watch us in person!"the crowd rushes towards him much like they had yesterday but he holds his hands up, like he's surrendering. "Let the walkthrough of the gallery finish, then I'll make out autographs and talk to you."
Yifan watches as Junmyeon speaks about each of his pieces. He's impressed; Kyungsoo found a good worker. Junmyeon is very passionate about his job, he talks with so much enthusiasm. When they get to the end Junmyeon releases those he was giving the tour to onto Yifan. Junmyeon waves as he walks away once more.
-
"You're good at your job." Yifan says when he's able to get a hold of Junmyeon once more. Junmyeon is in the back for his break.
"Thank you, I work hard at all tasks that I am given. I think what makes it so much easier is that I love this job, I love the people, they aren't too rude. And, I get to see my favourite artist on occasion. It has its perks."
"Glad to know you didn't take this job just for the money."
"I wouldn't have applied for a job I wouldn't have enjoyed. I would like to work here as long as possible, so I think it's best that I enjoy it."
"How long is as long as possible?"
Junmyeon smiles. "Until college is over. Then I'll be perusing another career. One that'll suit my major. As much as I may enjoy working here now, the pay won't get me a fancy place to live, or much money for personal enjoyment."
If you lived with me you could quit altogether. I'd provide for both of us. Yifan shakes his head to rid himself of those thoughts and focuses back on the conversation. "What's your major going to be?"
"I'm studying business as of now, but that could change. I've become very indecisive these past few years. Who knows? Maybe I'll try my hand at artwork." he teases Yifan. "Seriously though, I'll see how the first semester goes. If I like my classes, I'll stick to my major. If not, I'll switch."
Yifan falls silent as Junmyeon pulls out his phone to scroll on it. He wonders if he's annoying Junmyeon, which is why after five more minutes of Junmyeon on his phone he still doesn't strike up another conversation. It is Junmyeon's break, and he will have to be here four more hours after this. Yifan decides he should leave for the day and go back home.
When he stands Junmyeon's attention goes back to him and the younger looks surprised. "Oh, going already?" he questions as Yifan straightens is jacket. Yifan nods. Yeah, it's time for me to go. I have work to do."
"You know," Junmyeon looks like he's trying to figure out how to formulate his words without sounding too off-putting, "In my month of working here I thought it was strange that you never came and painted in your gallery."
"How so?" Yifan raises one of his pointed eyebrows.
"You paid for this gallery, your lifework is here. But you don't paint here. I don't know, it just seems weird. You have plenty of room to move you art supplies here if you wanted to."
"Do you think I should?"
"I didn't say if I thought you should, but it may be a nice change of pace. Painting in a different environment, that is."
Yifan hums as he heads towards the door. "Maybe I'll take you up on your suggestion."
-
Yifan does end up moving a few of his art supplies to his gallery. There's plenty of room to paint, but no privacy. Anyone would easily be able to come up to the third floor to buy something from the gift shop and take a sneak peek at any upcoming works of art. He could move the break room upstairs to the third floor and make that his new location, but that wouldn't work either because he wasn't cruel and wasn't going to make his employee's walk up three flights of stairs to take their break.
Kyungsoo's office was an immediate no.
That left the basement. It was a step up from the bland concrete that most basements where, but not by much. Wood panels that looked like copy and pastes of each other, the wall was a stale white. The basement was so bland, and Yifan would have to spice it up to get the creativity flowing.
The windows and overhead lamps gave Yifan enough light to see what he was working on, and if he spilled any paint it wouldn't be much of a lost. The basement would have to get redone eventually. He'd just add to its character along the way.
One advantage of moving his work to his gallery building was that he could see Junmyeon more. The fresh out of high school teen (Yifan called him that, though he knew full well Junmyeon was a legal adult) was now a freshman in college. Which meant that his hours were cut back, so Yifan would stay as late as possible in hopes of getting a glance at Junmyeon in the evening.
Often times Junmyeon is in the break room for an hour before his shift begins and he spends that time catching up on homework. The first time Yifan sees him that early he was confused and thought that Kyungsoo had changed shift times on him.
"What're you doing here so early?" Yifan was leaning against the doorframe as he asked this question. He felt bad as Junmyeon nearly jumped out of his skin before looking up at Yifan.
"My ride drops me off early. He has to go to work before me, so this is how it works out for me."
"You can't take the bus?"
"Yes, I could, but that would be more of a hassle. And, the gallery is on the way to his job, so he honestly doesn't mind. When he gets off he comes and picks me up and takes us back to the dorm."
"That's awfully nice of him."
"He's a nice guy."
Yifan knows that he and Junmyeon aren't a thing, yet, but he can't help the pang of jealousy that shoots through his spine. "Is he your roommate?"
"No." Junmyeon doesn't give clarification and Yifan doesn't ask. He'll find out another day. "You know, if it ever gets too noisy in here, because I know the walls aren't soundproof, you could always come downstairs. I'm a quiet painter, and there's even a desk that I don't use except for storage."
Junmyeon grins. "I think I'll take you up on your offer. Another day though, this seat is warm and I don't want to lose my page in the textbook."
"I'll see you down there then." Yifan exits the room and does a fist pump as soon as he's out of sight. Perfect.
-
Junmyeon always makes the same face when he's concentrating on homework, Yifan finds out weeks after that. His forehead scrunches up and he chews on the metal part of his wooden pencil before jotting down a few steps to the probably before re-reading them.
Yifan knows this because every time he's sure that Junmyeon isn't looking he's chance a glance. He thinks it's hilarious, and so he wants to capture this moment for Junmyeon to see himself. But pulling out his camera and taking a picture would be too obvious; with the lighting in the basement a flash would surely be needed to get a decent picture.
As Junmyeon leaves Yifan decides he should do what he does best: draw. Over the course of a week he steals subtle glances at Junmyeon to make sure a feature on his face is just right. He hands it to Junmyeon one night as the young man is about to leave. Junmyeon already has his book bag on and is about to bust out the door when Yifan gently grabs his arm.
Junmyeon turns around confused and the expression only deepens as he grabs the paper that Yifan hands him. "Don't tell me these are my termination papers," he's only half joking, and Yifan quickly assures him it's not. "No, no. I don't do the firing, Kyungsoo does. So if you ever get a paper from him, that's when you should start sweating. I drew this for you."
Junmyeon looks at it and a grin spreads across his face. "Whoa. It's me. Looks just like me."
"I always see you working so hard on your homework. Thought you'd like to see what I see through my eyes, and not just some picture."
"Whoa. This is really nice. Thank you so much!" Junmyeon clutches the paper in his hand like a child would hold its favourite toy at Christmas. "I'm going to hand this up at the dorm. Or maybe I shouldn't, my roommates hands are kind of grubby."
"Do whatever you want with it, it's yours."
Junmyeon's smile makes Yifan's day that much better.
-
"Chanyeol? What are you doing here?"
"Got the rest of the day off, someone came in and they said I could go home. Thought I may as well stop by and see what you do outside of school."
Yifan watches the exchange between the two men. 'Chanyeol' is his height, with a more friendly face and a grin that looks like it could break his face into two. "It looks much nicer on the inside."
"Yeah, we make sure to keep it clean. Also, looks can be deceiving, You of all people should know that Chanyeol." Junmyeon is leaning across the front desk, and god, is he teasing this guy? Yifan wants to know who he is, stat.
"Hello," he comes up behind Chanyeol and side eyes him, not giving him his full attention. "Your first time here?"
"We'll, I've been outside the building a lot, but yeah, first time inside. Looks way cooler than I thought it would." Chanyeol's voice is deeper than Yifan's, and it carries in through the floor.
"Outside the building a lot?"
"I give Junmyeon his rides here."
"Oh yes, I remember talking about you. I was wondering why Junmyeon was wasting an hour of his time at work when he could be out." Not that I mind. "Yeah, I wouldn't do that to him if it could be avoided. But our schedules are on the same days, and in order for him to be on time and for me to be on time, he has to be stuck here an hour in advance. Not that he minds, he told me he really likes the guy who draws all these paintings."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Junmyeon never stops, actually. Says how nice he is, how silly he can be sometimes. He even drew Junmyeon a nice picture, which is really nice." As Chanyeol keeps talking Junmyeon's face becomes more and more red, his gaze flickering between Chanyeol, Yifan, and his desk. It is then that Yifan realises that Chanyeol doesn't know he's talking to the guy he's talking about.
"Uh, Chanyeol." Junmyeon weakly interjects but Chanyeol hears it anyway and falls silent. "Yeah?"
"This… is… the…. painter." he says slowly. As if saving himself the embarrassment. Chanyeol's eyebrows shoot up once it comprehends and he looks at Yifan, who has finally turned so that Chanyeol can get a full view of his face.
"Whoa, you're right." Chanyeol holds out his hand, which Yifan takes with the reminder to run his hand under boiling bleach later.
"Nice to finally meet the other guy in Junmyeon's life."
"Other guy?"
Junmyeon rolls his eyes. "Chanyeol, I have work to do. Go look around, you might see something you'll like?"
"Right-o." Chanyeol does a mock salute and walks away.
"Sorry about him, he gets too excited sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Yeah. Most of our friends wonder how we're even dating. We contrast a lot, but I like to think our differences is what put us together." Junmyeon watches as Chanyeol turns the corner into the exhibit. "Oh, wait. He didn't pay. I should probably pull him back."
"No, it's fine." Yifan would much rather be in Junmyeon's presence without Chanyeol being there as well. "Let him enjoy himself. As long as the other people here don't get word of someone getting in for free."
At the end of Chanyeol's walk around he asks Junmyeon if he's ready to go, and Yifan is surprised to see that it's time for Junmyeon to clock out and leave. He says goodbye to Junmyeon and gives a tiny wave to Chanyeol, who returns it much more enthusiastically than Yifan wanted. Yifan watches as Chanyeol leads Junmyeon to his car, and notices that he doesn't open the door for Junmyeon.
Yifan is busy comparing himself to Chanyeol over the brief time that he's met him, thinking about all the ways he's better, and he jumps with he feels a hand on his back. "They're gone, so why are you still standing here."
"Just thinking."
"You must think about Junmyeon a lot?" Kyungsoo asks softly. Yifan hums his answer, not completely listening to Kyungsoo, and he misses the shake of Kyungsoo's head as Yifan turns to go into the basement and finish the last touches on his painting before leaving for the night.
-
It doesn't take long for Yifan to notice Junmyeon's absence from work. He usually works on Sunday mornings and Yifan hasn't seen him since last weekend. In fact, Hwasa who doesn't work as often anymore has been at the gallery as his replacement.
"You're here more. Something happen with school?"
Hwasa raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "No, I'm covering Junmyeon's shifts while he's out, so it doesn’t go against his attendance. I'll probably be here more another two months. I'm surprised you didn't know."
"Two months?"
"Yeah, Kyungsoo permitted him medical leave. You know, his accident?"
"A-accident?" Yifan's mouth has dried and his heart is beating out of pace. No one told him. He should have been told. He makes a lame excuse to get away from Hwasa and makes his way back to Kyungsoo's office, where the door is surprisingly open.
Kyungsoo hadn't been doing anything and he looks at Yifan with mild surprise. "Oh, you've graced me with your presence? Usually you're locked in your home or in the basement."
"What happened to Junmyeon? Why didn't you tell me he was on medical leave."
Kyungsoo crosses his arms and his eyes harden, not ready to take any grief from Yifan. "I'm in charge of everyone who works here, I don't need to inform you of all the hiring I do, Yifan. Or of the state of their employment status. Would you like to read my contract? Junmyeon is on medical leave, something that I'm not obligated to tell you. He's been in the hospital since last Sunday. You've never shown this much care for any of the employees except for Junmyeon."
Kyungsoo quickly raises a ringer and a matching eyebrow before Yifan's mouth can open. "Besides, you two appeared so close that I thought he had already told you. His boyfriend called and told me. Junmyeon had been sent into surgery at the time and I thought that Junmyeon would have told you after he had woken up."
Yifan's face turns sour at the mention of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo gives him a particular look but remains quiet on whatever he wanted to say. He instead continues with, "I'll write down what hospital he's in, and the room number, if you'd like to go visit." It's not really a question because Kyungsoo knows that Yifan does want to visit Junmyeon and he gets to writing down the information.
"Here you go. Don't spend all your afternoon there, he needs to rest so he can get back to work as soon as possible." Kyungsoo had snatched the paper out from Yifan's reach before giving him the verbal warning. He then hands it to Yifan with a, "Tell him we'll miss him while he's out."
"Will do."
-
He double then triple checks that the door he's about to knock on is actually Junmyeon's room. He hears a soft, 'come in' and walks in slowly. Junmyeon has a room by himself but there's still a curtain around his bed and the side closest to the door is pulled enough for Junmyeon to not be able to see him approaching.
Junmyeon's entire left leg is wrapped in a thick cast and it's held up above head level. He gapes before fixing his face. He shows the bouquet of flowers he had bought on the way to the hospital first and he hears a pleased gasp.
"Wow, someone actually decides to get me flowers. Who could it be? Baekhyun?" Junmyeon starts. "No, fingers way too thick. And the hand is too big. Chanyeol?" Yifan's grip tightens around the stems of the flowers and he's afraid he's going to break off the stems as Junmyeon continues. "No, because if it was Chanyeol he'd have bought flowers already. And he wouldn't have picked such an expensive looking batch. You've finally come to visit your ailing friend, Yifan?"
Yifan finally moves the curtain back to reveal Junmyeon who is in a T-Shirt and pair of shorts. He looks incredibly tired and Yifan sets the flowers down on the table next to Junmyeon's bed. "I forgot the vase, I'll get one later. You look tired, do you want me to leave?"
"Of course not! You'll probably wake me up a little. I've been on painkillers and sedated this week, they had to do another surgery on me two days ago, but I'm up now." Junmyeon blinks and looks up at Yifan. "I look like crap compared to you and your beautiful hair."
Junmyeon must still not be completely there.
"Mmm." Yifan hums and looks around for somewhere to sit. He takes the seat against the wall under the window and pulls it closer to Junmyeon's bed.
"The reason it took me so long is because I didn't know you where in the hospital. Chanyeol called the gallery and told them, and no one told me."
"You're my friend. I can't believe they didn't think to tell you."
"You consider me your friend?"
"Yeah. You listen to me. Talk to me. You even drew me a very nice picture. Why wouldn't I consider you a friend? Because you're older than me?"
"Some people like to keep the old ones away."
"You're old but not old, Yifan. Your age doesn't deter me from being your friend."
Would it deter you from being my boyfriend? Yifan digs his fingernails into his palm to bring himself back to reality and the situation at hand. "No offense, but you look terrible. What happened to you?"
"None taken, I know I do. Bunch of drunk assholes. Hit me with their car. Chanyeol really feels terrible, but it wasn’t his fault. I got out his car to cross the street and that's when they came and hit me. He thinks that if he parked on the other side I wouldn't have gotten hit, but that wasn't possible. I was knocked out on impact. The guys did stop and they're in jail now."
"How are you now?"
"In pain. The painkillers have my legs only throbbing right now. I get to go home in a couple days. My parents want me to be there before I go back to my dorm. All my teachers have been informed that I won't be in school for the next two weeks, at least. I won't be able to work until the cast comes off, sorry."
Yifan would rather not have Junmyeon away from the gallery and he knows how selfish that is. "I'm sure we could change your job description for the moment. You could be a cashier and someone else could lead the tours. If you'd be up to it when the time came to be."
"It'd probably keep me from going stir crazy."
Yifan hears someone clear their throat and he looks up to see a couple who are in their forties looking at the two. They're probably Junmyeon's parents. Yifan stands up to greet them and bow, and he's met with a similar response, and the man, Mr. Kim, says, "You can sit down. We were interrupting the conversation."
"Who are you?" Mrs. Kim asks politely.
"This is my boss, Mom. Kris Wu." Junmyeon looks up at her.
"You could call me Yifan, if it would make you more comfortable. Or Mr. Wu, whichever really."
"Nice to meet you, Yifan. You're the guy our Junmyeon's been talking about, huh?"
"Oh?"
"Junmyeon showed us the picture you drew him, it was really lovely. He was really excited to get the job at your gallery, he's been a fan of your artwork for a while. You should see his room at home, he's got posters of your paintings hanging up."
"Mooooom." Junmyeon draws the word out and covers his face in embarrassment.
"What? I thought he already knew how much you liked him." but Mrs. Kim apologizes to her son anyway.
"It's nice of you to visit him, Yifan. Not many employers would do that."
Yifan nods as Mr. Kim talks. "Yes, well, I had only been informed of the accident today, and wanted to come and check up on one of my best employees. I brought him flowers. And, a card." Yifan completely forgot about it until now, and he pulls it out of his coats large pocket and hands the envelope to Junmyeon. "It's from all of us at the gallery."
"Thank you so much, tell them all I said thank you."
"Will do. I should leave now, so you can talk to your parents."
"Wait!" Junmyeon yells, too loud and Yifan wonders if the teen knows how loud he is speaking. "Your number. My number. Let's exchange them. Yeah?"
"Alright. Sounds good."
By the time he leaves he has Junmyeon's number. It's a small victory but it is still one.