sixty seconds
sixty seconds
chen/liyin, pg, au, one-shot, #twelvetoten universe, 1229 words
this is how liyin falls in love with jongdae.
I quit writing a few months back, but since naladot and I are currently posting #twelvetoten, I figured it'd be ok if I wrote a companion piece to whatever we already have :)
There wasn’t too much to it. Nothing like she had expected it to be, like a rainstorm of truth pouring down on her in a very movie-like fashion. Jongdae was just there, helping to fix the doorknob of the bathroom that wouldn’t turn properly. She was in an oversized grey pullover with their school’s name printed on the front, slightly faded due to too many cycles in the wash. He had frowned a little as he shook at the knob, and then the thought settled in quietly. It didn’t take more than sixty seconds.
She loved him.
Liyin lived down the hall from Jongdae. He moved in a year after she did-Stephanie was the one who went over to say hi first, bringing a half of the pie she had baked the day before. Liyin smiled at the side as Jongdae answered the door, flustered, and started speaking in Korean. She didn’t understand any of it, but he did seem sweet. Stephanie made him promise to come over for dinner the same night, and then grabbed her by the arm to go home. She spotted him waving and tried to do the same.
He washed the dishes with her as Stephanie vacuumed the floor after dinner. They were all from the same high school, and thankfully Jongdae spoke English as well as he did Korean. They talked about their mutual friends (Yixing she knew, as she also did Kris and Lu Han), and Liyin laughed as he regaled her with tales of their incompetence in school.
“Seriously though,” Jongdae said thoughtfully as he handed her a clean, dripping plate, “they’re all kind of dumb.”
“Like Taecyeon dumb?” She asked. Taecyeon was the standard they used for measuring levels of insanity.
Jongdae flinched. “Not like that, maybe.”
She laughed again.
They went to the same college, so there were too many chances to meet, predestined or otherwise. Liyin found herself in the company of Jongdae most days of the week. Sometimes Jongdae’s fascinating housemate, Jay, would join them. Jay was special and funny, but only Jongdae really made her laugh. They would sit down in the nearby park and have lunch sometimes, while watching pigeons waddle and peck at food. Jongdae would feed them as she watched. It was interesting, to her at least, how well they connected. She had never really met him when they were in high school. Now it seemed like they would be best friends.
“Why did you choose Boston?” She asked one day as he flung the remains of his burger bun to the waiting pigeons. He looked up at her and frowned. It was an odd sort of frown, because he didn’t actually look upset when he did that. She called it Jongdae’s happy frown. He didn’t mind. “I mean, you did say you liked engineering too. Your friends are all in the Midwest, right?”
He made a slight unintelligible sound, before sinking back into the bench beside her. “I guess I liked singing more.”
There was a distant look in his eyes as he said it. The wind flapped the ends of his blue, striped t-shirt, and Liyin simply watched. She understood without having to at all.
Zhou Mi was infamous for his parties, and his insistence that they be as big and loud as possible. He had the ability to make that happen, Liyin didn’t doubt it, and allowed herself to be dragged to the next one he organized. It was the end of the year, and she hadn’t talked to Jongdae in three weeks. She blamed it on the projects they had to complete before the finals season. In actuality she didn’t know what to say.
They had changed. Liyin found it hard to admit to herself. She wanted to be close to him but also wanted to stay away. It was an awkward tug-of-war that consistently dragged on in her head. So Liyin shut it away and let them at it, at least in the back of her mind. It bothered her much less that way.
She flew down with Stephanie, who had booked their tickets. Younha, their senior from high school, picked them up in a yellow cab. New York cabs were expensive, and she wanted to pay, but Younha grabbed the tab faster than she could. Liyin was always taken aback by the insistence of age difference in her group of Korean friends-they were as Westernised as she was, but still managed to thread Korean customs in the fabric of their daily lives. Liyin wondered if Jongdae paid for his younger friends, before reaching for her duffle bag and pushing the tug-of-war further back in her head.
The party did not disappoint. Liyin hung around socializing for a bit, before people she knew started turning up. Yixing and Amber were two kids she knew in high school, because they spoke Mandarin about as well as she did (which was to say not well at all). Yixing was telling her animatedly about his band (transcending countries and continents in performance venues), when she spotted the top of Jongdae’s head bobbing her way. It affected her less than she thought it would, except for the warm, smooth sensation that now spread itself evenly across her chest.
Zhou Mi’s friends were as enthusiastic about parties as he was. Liyin watched at the poker table as they played for very little money. She sat beside Jongdae as he tried to speak to her. She wasn’t uncomfortable, but he seemed to have it in his head that she was. Segyun (whom Jongdae had rambled on about for so long in the semester) couldn’t stop teasing him about that. Liyin liked that he was so mild about it. Jongdae didn't seem to have much of a temper.
That perhaps did them in when they were locked in the closet for seven minutes together. Liyin swore she knew that they had planned this in advance. They were too focused on distracting Jongdae that she had managed to spot Baekhyun deliberately tipping the punch bowl over. She just didn’t say anything. Liyin sighed silently before giving in to herself. There was only one reason why-she needed a chance. This was it.
When Jongdae kissed her for the second time, she knew that taking it was the right choice.
“And…done.” Jongdae turned the knob a few times to make sure that it worked fine now. “You now need not worry about Stephanie nuna’s rabbit coming in to peek at you while you shower.”
She stared at him as he stretched up straight, blinking very slowly.
“Liyin?” He didn’t call her nuna anymore. “Are you okay?”
She blinked a few more times, before reaching for his collar and pulling him in. Jongdae liked hugging her but now she realised she liked it more instead. The truth that had settled in just a few moments before now had roots that reached in and anchored deep in the beating muscle of her heart. She loved him. It was a lovely thing to say, to roll off her tongue.
“Jongdae,” she said softly and he responded by picking her up a little off the floor, “let’s get married.”
She remained in the air for a very long time before he put her down, looked her in the eye, and said yes.
It didn’t take more than sixty seconds.
chen/liyin, pg, au, one-shot, #twelvetoten universe, 1229 words
this is how liyin falls in love with jongdae.
I quit writing a few months back, but since naladot and I are currently posting #twelvetoten, I figured it'd be ok if I wrote a companion piece to whatever we already have :)
There wasn’t too much to it. Nothing like she had expected it to be, like a rainstorm of truth pouring down on her in a very movie-like fashion. Jongdae was just there, helping to fix the doorknob of the bathroom that wouldn’t turn properly. She was in an oversized grey pullover with their school’s name printed on the front, slightly faded due to too many cycles in the wash. He had frowned a little as he shook at the knob, and then the thought settled in quietly. It didn’t take more than sixty seconds.
She loved him.
Liyin lived down the hall from Jongdae. He moved in a year after she did-Stephanie was the one who went over to say hi first, bringing a half of the pie she had baked the day before. Liyin smiled at the side as Jongdae answered the door, flustered, and started speaking in Korean. She didn’t understand any of it, but he did seem sweet. Stephanie made him promise to come over for dinner the same night, and then grabbed her by the arm to go home. She spotted him waving and tried to do the same.
He washed the dishes with her as Stephanie vacuumed the floor after dinner. They were all from the same high school, and thankfully Jongdae spoke English as well as he did Korean. They talked about their mutual friends (Yixing she knew, as she also did Kris and Lu Han), and Liyin laughed as he regaled her with tales of their incompetence in school.
“Seriously though,” Jongdae said thoughtfully as he handed her a clean, dripping plate, “they’re all kind of dumb.”
“Like Taecyeon dumb?” She asked. Taecyeon was the standard they used for measuring levels of insanity.
Jongdae flinched. “Not like that, maybe.”
She laughed again.
They went to the same college, so there were too many chances to meet, predestined or otherwise. Liyin found herself in the company of Jongdae most days of the week. Sometimes Jongdae’s fascinating housemate, Jay, would join them. Jay was special and funny, but only Jongdae really made her laugh. They would sit down in the nearby park and have lunch sometimes, while watching pigeons waddle and peck at food. Jongdae would feed them as she watched. It was interesting, to her at least, how well they connected. She had never really met him when they were in high school. Now it seemed like they would be best friends.
“Why did you choose Boston?” She asked one day as he flung the remains of his burger bun to the waiting pigeons. He looked up at her and frowned. It was an odd sort of frown, because he didn’t actually look upset when he did that. She called it Jongdae’s happy frown. He didn’t mind. “I mean, you did say you liked engineering too. Your friends are all in the Midwest, right?”
He made a slight unintelligible sound, before sinking back into the bench beside her. “I guess I liked singing more.”
There was a distant look in his eyes as he said it. The wind flapped the ends of his blue, striped t-shirt, and Liyin simply watched. She understood without having to at all.
Zhou Mi was infamous for his parties, and his insistence that they be as big and loud as possible. He had the ability to make that happen, Liyin didn’t doubt it, and allowed herself to be dragged to the next one he organized. It was the end of the year, and she hadn’t talked to Jongdae in three weeks. She blamed it on the projects they had to complete before the finals season. In actuality she didn’t know what to say.
They had changed. Liyin found it hard to admit to herself. She wanted to be close to him but also wanted to stay away. It was an awkward tug-of-war that consistently dragged on in her head. So Liyin shut it away and let them at it, at least in the back of her mind. It bothered her much less that way.
She flew down with Stephanie, who had booked their tickets. Younha, their senior from high school, picked them up in a yellow cab. New York cabs were expensive, and she wanted to pay, but Younha grabbed the tab faster than she could. Liyin was always taken aback by the insistence of age difference in her group of Korean friends-they were as Westernised as she was, but still managed to thread Korean customs in the fabric of their daily lives. Liyin wondered if Jongdae paid for his younger friends, before reaching for her duffle bag and pushing the tug-of-war further back in her head.
The party did not disappoint. Liyin hung around socializing for a bit, before people she knew started turning up. Yixing and Amber were two kids she knew in high school, because they spoke Mandarin about as well as she did (which was to say not well at all). Yixing was telling her animatedly about his band (transcending countries and continents in performance venues), when she spotted the top of Jongdae’s head bobbing her way. It affected her less than she thought it would, except for the warm, smooth sensation that now spread itself evenly across her chest.
Zhou Mi’s friends were as enthusiastic about parties as he was. Liyin watched at the poker table as they played for very little money. She sat beside Jongdae as he tried to speak to her. She wasn’t uncomfortable, but he seemed to have it in his head that she was. Segyun (whom Jongdae had rambled on about for so long in the semester) couldn’t stop teasing him about that. Liyin liked that he was so mild about it. Jongdae didn't seem to have much of a temper.
That perhaps did them in when they were locked in the closet for seven minutes together. Liyin swore she knew that they had planned this in advance. They were too focused on distracting Jongdae that she had managed to spot Baekhyun deliberately tipping the punch bowl over. She just didn’t say anything. Liyin sighed silently before giving in to herself. There was only one reason why-she needed a chance. This was it.
When Jongdae kissed her for the second time, she knew that taking it was the right choice.
“And…done.” Jongdae turned the knob a few times to make sure that it worked fine now. “You now need not worry about Stephanie nuna’s rabbit coming in to peek at you while you shower.”
She stared at him as he stretched up straight, blinking very slowly.
“Liyin?” He didn’t call her nuna anymore. “Are you okay?”
She blinked a few more times, before reaching for his collar and pulling him in. Jongdae liked hugging her but now she realised she liked it more instead. The truth that had settled in just a few moments before now had roots that reached in and anchored deep in the beating muscle of her heart. She loved him. It was a lovely thing to say, to roll off her tongue.
“Jongdae,” she said softly and he responded by picking her up a little off the floor, “let’s get married.”
She remained in the air for a very long time before he put her down, looked her in the eye, and said yes.
It didn’t take more than sixty seconds.