[Fic] Only I Was Left Behind (1/7)
Title: Only I Was Left Behind
Author: Jasmine @ Hyuksu Bar
Pairing: Hyukjae/Junsu
Rating: PG
Genre: AU, Romance
Length: Multi-chaptered (1/7)
Summary: Let me tell you a story about Viola, where only I was left behind.
"It would be nice if you could stop 'hey'-ing me, too. I've got a name, it's Lee Hyukjae."
T/N: This fic is not written by me, but a translation of a multi-chaptered fic originally written in Chinese that I'd found in the Hyuksu Baidu bar and thought I'd want to share it here. To be honest, Chinese writers tend to kind of interpret Hyuksu's relationship in a way different to how we (I?) interpret it, portraying Junsu to be somewhat more girly than in real life as we can more obviously see these days. Either way, for some reason, it's mentioned somewhere in this fic that Junsu is shorter than Hyukjae (then again, it could've been Hyukjae's illusion HAHA) so please be understanding. x) Also, I'm normally quite Junsu/Hyukjae biased but I swear there are ZERO, ZILCH, NO Junsu/Hyukjae fics existing in the Chinese fandom. So yeah, this one is Hyukjae/Junsu. But then again, I guess you guys like that more. :D
I also did change quite a bit in this one (as opposed to the other fic " Expiry") while translating, just because I felt that it would help the story flow better, so please do be understanding. (: (eg, in the original it was a photo studio, but I wrote it as a gallery -- BUT WTF I just saw the pictures Hyukjae uploaded on Twitter for his birthday-- He was in an art gallery OMG I died. Deja vu much?!)
Only I was left behind.
Chapter 1/7
Just around the bend, a new art gallery had opened.
In the small town of Hwasu in Southern Jeolla-do, where colorful little shophouses and cottages littered almost every street, it was very rare to see a building like this one, with its post-modern architecture, many floor to ceiling glass windows and metallic framework. The gates were embellished with flowering creepers left behind by the previous owner, and a brass sign had been nailed on. On it, in freshly engraved and gold-plated characters, was the gallery's name, "Viola". Perhaps, due to the stark contrast between this building and the rest of the community, passers-by who so happened to wander to this end of the small village would always stop to stare, before carrying on with their lives.
Kim Junsu stood far away, on the opposite side of the street, and studied the building peculiarly, occasionally glancing at the map in his hand to make sure he was at the right location. Sweat rolled down his forehead, as he placed a hand over his eyes to minimize the harsh glare of the afternoon sun's golden rays. His eyes reflected his unsureness, and he seemed almost reluctant to cross over to the other side of the road to the house.
Today was the first time he had been assigned this task of delivering the prizes of the cafe's lucky draw to the many winners, who were picked at random from a list of all the shop owners on 5th Street. It was a new idea implemented by the cafe's owner and Junsu's guardian, Kim Jaejoong, and considering that he was pretty much freeloading off Jaejoong, he really had no choice but to comply.
Junsu, who had never really been the talkative sort, spent all day talking non-stop explaining to winners how the lucky draw worked, and why they should just gratefully except their prize and make his job easier. His was unbearably dehydrated. He had already given out all the consolation prizes (gift vouchers) as well as the top three prizes (ipods and a laptop), and the last envelope left to give out was labelled cheesily, "Destined for you". Junsu had to admit, it gave out a mysterious vibe, and he was curious to see what prize it would contain.
After a long day of walking, he finally arrived at the end of the street, and stood in front of the shop named "Viola" located around the bend. Junsu looked down at the envelope in his hand, and nodded to himself.
He had found the recipient to this last prize.
--
Lee Hyukjae had quit his job a month ago, liquidated all his assets, used all his life savings and borrowed a huge sum of money from his rich foster parents to open this art gallery here. It wasn't as big as he had dreamt of owning, and the location really wasn't where he had in mind either, but still the interior design of the place and quietness of the neighborhood was exactly as he dreamed of living in. He liked this place already.
The ground floor was the main gallery, and the upper floors was where he lived. In the middle of the gallery was a large antique table with pictures spread all over it. These were his own works, mostly pictures he had taken in his own time. Some of them were good, some of them were not so good, but he had kept and treasured all of them till now, until they formed the pile on the table. The older ones were all the way hidden at the bottom of the mess, lost amidst the other memoirs, much alike to real life. Hyukjae sighed at the endless of pictures he had to go through, and made a mental note to finish sorting through all of them by tonight so he could pick out the ones to frame up and display.
Straightaway, he spotted an eye-catching piece: a pair of shadows casted on the beach, hands held together and leaning against each other. Even from such a simple picture, Hyukjae could feel vibes of genuine happiness from merely looking at it. Smiling softly, he inserted the picture into the largest frame that he had and proceeded to hang it up right in the center of the wall. To his dismay, he found that he just lacked the height to hook the picture onto the wall, despite his struggles and efforts at tiptoeing while bobbing the heavy frame up and down.
Damn, if only he'd worn those shoe-lifts today.
--
"Hey there, need help?"
A sweet voice floated into Hyukjae's ears. He turned around, and for a moment felt lightheaded as blood rushed back into his head from all the tiptoeing and reaching. Or maybe, it was purely because of the blinding smile on that person's face. So faint, so sweet, yet lacking something, somewhere. It was the most beautiful smile he had seen, at least for some time now. He froze -- This boy, who looked even shorter than him, was offering to help him with the hanging? At the thought of that, Hyukjae burst out laughing.
Evidently, the boy had understood the reason for Hyukjae laughing, but seemed to completely ignore it. He simply strode across the room haughtily, grabbed a stool along the way, and placed it at Hyukjae's feet.
"You're so dumb." The boy said flatly, and waited for some sort of moment of revelation or at least some kind of comeback, but Hyukjae only laughed louder and more heartily. Did the boy really think he was that stupid? Of course he would've thought of stepping on a stool already… if said stool wasn't vintage, and possibly cost more than all the paintings and equipment he had in this gallery. He had combed so many antique stores to find this, and barely dared to even touch it, much less stand on it!
Upon seeing the person before him laugh so carelessly, the boy felt a surge of anger rise within him, and felt increasingly like he was being ridiculed by this person. Yet there was something about this stranger that made him feel like laughing as well: As Hyukjae laughed, the flesh of his gums on the two upper corners of his mouth began to show, making his laugh feel so much more comedic than condescending -- At an instant, this stranger felt so much more familiar compared to how distant he seemed when Junsu had been watching from the door earlier.
Does he always laugh so freely like this to everyone?, The boy thought to himself.
"Hey you, can you stop laughing? I'm from the cafe on the next Street, I've come to deliver your lucky draw prize." He finally announced his intent, cutting off Hyukjae's laughter.
"It would be nice if you could stop 'hey'-ing me, too. I've got a name, it's Lee Hyukjae." Hyukjae said coolly. Drawing a name card from his card holder, he dangled it in front of the surprised boy with a slight smirk. "What's yours?"
"I'm Kim Junsu… But if you get a good prize out of this, from now on you're allowed to call me the God of Fortune." Junsu recovered quickly and answered, snatching the name card and handing over the aforementioned envelope with a slight fluster.
The last rays of the sunset flitted in through the window, enveloping the two figures in its warm glow. Time ticks away quietly all the time, and at any given instant in life even a really good camera and lens couldn't possibly capture every detail of a beautiful moment. But at that moment, watching the bubbly figure happily hum a tune while fixing the photo onto the wall (on his antique stool), Hyukjae felt like he was witnessing a very beautiful sight through his own eyes. The boy's unsuspecting innocence had captured him, imprinted in his mind forever.
He knew, that all the flowers in the world were beginning to bloom for him, if only because of this person before his eyes.
---
Since that day, Hyukjae had begun calling Junsu his God of Fortune.
In the envelope, was a card that read "The winner of this prize is entitled to unlimited free dining at the cafe for one year, with effect from 1/1/2011."
And so then, it would be that Lee Hyukjae would shamelessly show up at the cafe for coffee everyday at the same time.
Also then, Junsu would get so bothered by Hyukjae's harassment and complain to Jaejoong-hyung, telling him the lucky draw was a bad idea from the very beginning.
Of course, Hyukjae would still come back everyday, and would stop by the florist on the way to buy a huge bouquet of pansies.
Junsu could only refuse as politely as he could manage, "Lee Hyukjae, is your brain fried or something? I, Kim Junsu, am not a woman."
Upon hearing these words, Hyukjae only snickered. "Kim Junsu, of course I know you're not a woman."
"You do? So why are you still doing all this if you know? It's clearly impossible between us." Junsu said pointedly, shoving the bouquet back into Hyukjae's arms.
"Well I don't see what's so impossible -- I believe that anything can be achieved with perseverance and faith. Care to listen to me tell a story?" Hyukjae answered casually, his eyes gleaming in the sunshine. Junsu blinked, taken aback at the confidence this person exuded. It was strange, but he did not feel as repelled by this man's advances as he had expected himself to be. His response prompted Hyukjae to continue.
"Let me tell you a story… about Viola."
Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven