I Forgot You Last Christmas 2/?
Title: I Forgot You Last Christmas 2/?
Rating: R (liable to change)
Pairing: Jongyu
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Oh, woe is me:(
"An hour, he says... how's someone like me supposed to make himself look presentable in one hour? Easy for him, damn fashion major...” Jinki grumbled under his breath as he bustled about his small apartment, moving pillars of med textbooks into less conspicuous corners, grabbing onto scattered clothes littered over the couch and stuffing them into the closet haphazardly, and thrusting half-finished theses under the bed carelessly, flinching as he heard the tell tale sound of paper tearing. There goes three hours of hard labor Jinki thought pitifully. He paled as he heard the doorbell ring and grabbed a loose fitting t shirt and black jeans, pulling the clothes on at lightening speed before rushing to the door, sparing only a crucial moment to look over his apartment to make sure it looked decent, not out of any real desire to impress, but more out of fear of a certain irritating boy who could be quite frightening at times. Once he had deemed his home acceptable, Jinki turned and opened the
door. He was greeted with a grimacing Kibum, and a shorter boy who was sporting a crooked grin.
“Urgh... Jonghyun hyung, that's one of the worst jokes I've ever heard. And considering how long I've known Jinki hyung, that's a hell of a lot of bad jokes, so you can take my word for it,” Kibum griped at the shorter man before turning to face Jinki.
“Jinki hyung has ears, Kibummie. And feelings,” Jinki emphasized, mock glaring at the younger boy.
Kibum just shrugged nonchalantly and brushed past Jinki into the apartment. Jinki rolled his eyes, but his attention was soon averted from Kibum to the other man. Jinki didn't think he'd ever admit it, but the boy was breathtaking to look at. Deep chocolate brown eyes, a sharp jawline, full lips... Jeez, stop it, Lee Jinki. You sound like a love struck teenage girl. He shook his head frantically to clear his thoughts, causing the man to give him an unusual look while still chuckling at the youngest one's antics, and who was still in the hallway. Realizing this, Jinki bowed hurriedly in apology before stepping away from the doorway and letting the boy in. The stranger smiled at Jinki and bowed in thanks before stepping in as well.
“Jonghyun, this is Jinki hyung. Jinki, this is Jonghyun hyung.” Kibum introduced. The two men looked at each other and bowed again awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you, Jonghyun-ssi,” Jinki replied politely. Jonghyun nodded and smiled at Jinki.
After a few moments of silence, that seemed to Jinki to be much, much longer, Kibum finally released an exasperated sigh. “Wow... could you two be any more awkward. Jeez! You're just meeting each other. Nothing special.” Jinki wasn't sure if the other boy was angry or amused, or a mixture of both, but he didn't have much time to ponder on it when he heard Jonghyun reply.
“Thank you, Key. For bringing me. I'm sure Jinki hyung and I can take it from here,” Jonghyun answered, grabbing onto a bewildered Kibum's shoulders and pushing the boy gently but firmly back towards the front door. Jinki couldn't help but chuckle as Kibum spluttered- “You two can't even say hi properly!”- while at the same time contemplating Jonghyun's words. Were five minutes really enough for him to start calling me hyung? Jinki was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his door close shut and then it was just the two of them.
“I hope you don't mind me doing that. It's just Kibum can sometimes be...you know,” Jonghyun remarked sheepishly.
“A handful. Yeah, I know,” Jinki replied, an amused smile on his lips. “So, Jonghyun-ssi-”
“Call me Jonghyun. I don't mind. Just like I hope you won't mind me calling you hyung,” Jonghyun cut in. Jinki nodded, taken aback slightly at how forward the other boy was; like Kibum, but refreshingly
different. Jonghyun grinned.
“So, Jinki hyung. I was thinking we could go down to the Han River. Take a walk. It's a great place to talk,” Jonghyun suggested.
“Why not?” Jinki agreed, smiling amiably at the other man. He lived close enough to the river for the walk there to be taken in comfortable silence. Once they arrived, both boys looked at each other and groaned.
“I guess we forgot one thing. The snow.” Jonghyun groaned.
Jinki laughed out loud. “You think we would have figured it out when we were trudging though the piles of it on our way here.”
Jonghyun chuckled sheepishly before ducking his head in embarrassment. He had been the one to suggest the place after all. Jinki could detect the boy's discomfort and he couldn't help but find it incredibly cute. “How about the restaurant? It's gonna get dark soon anyway. We can talk over dinner,” Jinki suggested, grinning as Jonghyun immediately perked up.
“Cool,” Jonghyun replied, trying to play off his embarrassment as he led the way, leaving Jinki to shake his head and chuckle in amusement as he followed the brunette.
"So tell me about yourself, Lee Jinki,” Jonghyun remarked playfully after they had settled into dinner at a restaurant with a view overlooking the river.
Jinki laughed. “Should I go first then? Well, let's see...I was born in Gwangmyeong and I moved to Seoul two years ago to finish my internship at the hospital. I finished university earlier than usual and once my internship is done I'll be able to work as a surgeon there... what else do you wanna know about me?”
Jonghyun laughed incredulously. “Hyung, I'm your date, remember? I'm not interviewing you for a job!”
Jinki flushed at the boy's teasing words, although they had no bite. “Alright then, wise guy, you go.”
Jonghyun grinned. “Alright. I was born and raised right here, in Seoul. I have an older sister. School's never been my forte, but I've loved music since forever, so of course I'm a music major. I love to sing. I want music to always be a part of my life. Definitely not a fan of sports. I always get teased for being too short. Speaking of teasing, I'm always being called a dinosaur. Don't laugh! I can't cook to save my life. Mmm... Huge fan of horror movies, but I always end up getting too damn scared. What else?” Jonghyun paused contemplatively.
Jinki laughed. “You have a nice voice, Jonghyun. I'd love to hear you sing sometime.”
“Key tells me you're an awesome singer.”
“Kibummie said that? He's never said that to me before.” Jinki replied disbelievingly.
Jonghyun grinned. “He told me not to tell you, so do me a favor and don't tell him I said anything.”
Talking to Jonghyun was a lot easier than Jinki had imagined it would be. Conversation came quickly and the small silences were comfortable. When Jinki glanced at his watch, he was shocked to find that it was already nearing midnight. Once they had cleared out of the restaurant, Jonghyun accompanied Jinki back to his apartment building.
“It was great getting to meet you today, Jinki hyung. I hope we can hang out again soon,” Jonghyun remarked, hoping he sounded sincere and not desperate.
Jinki grinned.”How about this Saturday?”
Jonghyun blinked. “What? Really?”
The older boy chuckled. “I'll call you. Good night, Jonghyun.” Jinki smiled at the younger boy before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Jonghyun's forehead.
Jonghyun blushed and nodded, watching after the other man long after his silhouette had disappeared into the building.
End Flashback
The first time they had met had changed Jinki's life forever. He hadn't really thought about falling in love until Jonghyun had come along. But then again, he had been forced to think about a lot of things since meeting Jonghyun. Jinki shook his head to clear away any thoughts of the past. Thinking about it won't change what happened Jinki told himself as he settled into dinner, with Jonghyun right beside him and Kibum across.
'Do you like the decorations, hyung? Kibummie and I decorated the whole house just for you!” Jonghyun declared excitedly.
Jinki laughed. “You told me you didn't want to decorate this Christmas, Jonghyunnie.”
“Hehe. I was lying. I tricked you hyung!” Jonghyun replied, a childish grin on his face.
“You did, didn't you,” Jinki said, amused, ruffling Jonghyun's hair, as Kibum rolled his eyes.
“Time for bed you guys,” Kibum announced a while later, once dinner had been attended to. Jonghyun whined but stood up nonetheless when Jinki took a hold of his hand, whispering something about staying up Christmas night.
“Look, hyung. Mistletoe! Po-po!” Jonghyun giggled and turned to Jinki. The oldest looked to Kibum for help, but the other man just shook his head.
“You have to do it hyung. Rules of Christmas and all,” Kibum replied.
Jinki sighed before turning to the expectant Jonghyun. Leaning down, he brushed his lips softly against Jonghyun's, trying not to linger, lest he enjoy it too much and remember everything he had been trying to forget. He felt Jonghyun smile against his lips, and watched the smile falter slightly as he pulled away. Jonghyun looked hesitantly at Jinki, evidently surprised at the sudden lack of closeness. The older boy tried to smile, patting Jonghyun's shoulder reassuringly. Jonghyun gave Jinki one final unsure glance before turning and walking upstairs to the bedroom.
“You're not helping, you know.” Jinki turned angrily to Kibum.
“Aren't I? You need to stop being in denial. What happened, happened. Stop trying to change what you two are to each other.” Kibum growled back.
“Kibum, what the hell? This is hard enough as it is. I need you to back me up here,” Jinki pleaded.
“You've given up.” The words were sharp and cutting.
“Kibum, I-”
The other boy sighed. “Hyung, Jonghyun won't be this way forever. And when Jonghyun is... back to being Jonghyun, he's gonna wonder why the man he's in love with didn't try harder for him. I'm not going to let you be a coward anymore. He needs you to be stronger than this.”
“How do you know...he'll be back? You're both asking for so much. I don't think I can...” Jinki's voice was small, defeated.
“I know and you can.” The finality of the words and the unbelievably strong trust emanating from Kibum washed over Jinki and shocked him. “Now, go to bed. It's Christmas Eve and Jonghyun's probably waiting up for you. Good night, hyung.” With those words, Kibum turned and walked into his bedroom, leaving Jinki to trudge up the stairs, the chains binding his heart clenching that much tighter.
A/N: I wanted to tell you guys that the majority of the beginning will kind of bounce back and forth between present time and Jongyu's past. I hadn't realized this was gonna happen until this chapter. It might happen throughout the story, depending on how things pan out in my head. just letting you guys know and I hope you enjoyed:)