In the Meantime, Part 19 (Drabble)
Pairing: college roommates!JongKey
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fluff, Humour
Summary: Jonghyun entertains an unexpected yet persistent visitor.
A/N: This was a long time coming. It’s inspired by a prompt that the very kind loneofakind sent me over a year (or two?) ago. I haven’t forgotten it! Here it is, a year later… I hope you like it! College verse, again. I like these two, they’re fun.
Masterpost
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Jonghyun didn’t really know how he ended up here, exactly. All he knew was that he had a hard time saying no whenever Kibum asked for a favour.
It was the beginning of a new semester, which meant that the university’s clubs were putting up booths in the middle of campus to recruit members and welcome new students. Since Kibum was involved in no less than three different clubs and Jonghyun was involved in, well, none, he had asked Jonghyun for some help. The task was simple enough: stand behind the booth, greet students and hand out flyers. Kibum said it helped if there were multiple people behind a booth because it made the club look more popular. Kibum may or may not have also insinuated that Jonghyun’s good looks would work in the club’s favour, which made Jonghyun feel a little used, but he still agreed to help out in the end.
Kibum had assigned him to the pop culture club's booth for the day and things had been going well-they’d already collected a few names from interested students-when a particular student came up to him.
“Hey,” the guy said, “aren’t you in one of my classes?”
Jonghyun squinted slightly, giving the guy a quick once over. He was tall and slender, with long messy hair and an easy-going air about him. He didn’t ring any bells in Jonghyun’s mind, but then again the semester had just started and Jonghyun wasn’t one to notice random students.
“Uh, maybe?”
“Yeah,” the guy went on, gaining confidence, “you’re in one of my education classes.”
It was a bit embarrassing to admit Jonghyun still didn’t recognize this guy when the latter seemed so excited to have found a classmate, so Jonghyun decided to go along with it.
“Right,” he intoned agreeingly.
“I’m Joonyoung.” He extended a hand for Jonghyun to shake and gave a slight but respectful bow. There was something about his demeanor that made him seem very approachable. He was cute, Jonghyun had to admit, in a baby-faced kind of way. “Nice to meet you. So you’re a member of the pop culture club?”
“I’m Jonghyun, nice to meet you,” he introduced himself in return. “And, um, I’m not exactly a member but I help out sometimes. It’s a great club, you should join.” Jonghyun thought Kibum would be proud of him for that.
“I’ll definitely consider it then,” Joonyoung said, sounding genuinely interested, and Jonghyun mentally patted himself on the back. “I was actually wondering if you wanted to study sometime with me? I’ve been looking for a study partner for that class but I don’t know anyone.”
Jonghyun didn’t have the heart to tell this guy he usually studied alone, not when he looked so hopeful, leaning against the booth’s table and peering up at Jonghyun with big eyes.
“I don’t-I mean, uh, sure.”
“Great!” the guy exclaimed, giving Jonghyun a wide smile. He then grabbed one of the flyers and a pen from the table, scribbling something onto the back of it before folding it in half and handing it to Jonghyun. “Here’s my number.”
“Oh,” Jonghyun mumbled as he took the paper, a bit stunned by the action, but he tried to play it off, not wanting to be disrespectful or to come off as unfriendly. “Thanks.”
“So are you an education major?” Joonyoung asked, now resting his hip against the table, seemingly intending for this conversation to go on.
“Not exactly,” Jonghyun corrected, “I’m a double major, my main is music.”
“Wow,” the guy uttered, and then, so quietly that Jonghyun thought he might have imagined it, he added a meek, “that’s hot.”
Jonghyun did a double take. “Pardon me?”
“I mean, that’s so cool!” Joonyoung quickly amended, leaning further across the table. He was looking at Jonghyun with such an avid expression that it pulled an uncomfortable, shy chuckle from him.
“Thanks?” Jonghyun spoke, unsure.
“What’s your focus? Are you a performer?”
“Yeah but I mostly write and compose,” Jonghyun shared tentatively. He hoped that being vague would help steer their conversation to a close, but he was wrong; it only seemed to egg Joonyoung on.
Joonyoung kept asking questions about his music after that, which Jonghyun patiently answered. Things slowly started to sink into place as the guy leaned closer and closer to Jonghyun, always watching him with bright eyes, and it all clicked together when he placed a hand on his arm a few minutes into the conversation.
Jonghyun wasn’t blind to flirting. He just wasn’t used to it coming from a guy in public. And a guy who wasn’t Kibum.
Jonghyun was subtly trying to pull his arm away when he felt someone walk up behind him. A familiar hand settled on his waist, and Jonghyun didn’t have to look back to know it belonged to Kibum.
Something about Kibum’s sudden appearance had the guy taking a step back, hand falling from Jonghyun’s arm.
“Hey, Jjong,” Kibum spoke softly, using that low tone of his that Jonghyun always found alluring. “Who’s your friend?”
“Huh?” Jonghyun muttered not so eloquently, distracted by the arm Kibum had around him. “Oh, this is Joonyoung, from one of my classes. Weren’t you supposed to be at your faculty’s booth?”
Jonghyun looked back at Kibum just in time to see him briefly eyeing Joonyoung before turning his attention to Jonghyun again. “I was, but I wanted to see how things were going over here,” he explained, ending with a slightly forced, too-wide smile that Jonghyun guessed was for the benefit of their audience.
Kibum wasn’t exactly subtle as he then smoothed his hand up and down Jonghyun’s side, stopping just above his ass and hooking his thumb into Jonghyun’s waistband. A part of Jonghyun wanted to shake his head at him while another part just wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it all was.
Joonyoung was the first to speak up, and Jonghyun had to admire his courage. “It was nice talking to you,” he spoke quickly, like he was suddenly in a hurry to leave. “I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah, see you,” Jonghyun replied curtly, and Joonyoung took off without another word.
Jonghyun promptly turned around to face Kibum, who raised a challenging eyebrow at him and tugged on his belt.
Jonghyun took the bait. “Was that really necessary?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kibum replied calmly, keeping an impressive poker face.
Thankfully, Jonghyun knew just how to push his buttons. “You were jealous,” he sing-songed.
Kibum’s lip twitched and a slight frown took over his features. “Was not.”
“Were too,” Jonghyun teased. He then took on an overly sweet tone, pressing in close to Kibum just to mutter, “You know I’m only yours, baby.”
Kibum pushed Jonghyun away with a frustrated sound, to which Jonghyun couldn’t help but chuckle. He watched Kibum stomp off with a satisfied smile; it wasn’t often that he got to experience Kibum’s jealous side, but Jonghyun couldn’t deny that it was flattering to witness once in a while. Hopefully, later tonight, when they would both be alone in their dorm, Kibum would be in a more agreeable mood and Jonghyun could get him to act on his jealousy in ways that weren’t entirely appropriate to the public eye. Or so he hoped.
Part 20