such great heights
1585 w, pg (sunny/jonghyun, implied!seohyun/yonghwa)
this isn't a love story, at least, not yet.
a/n: lol, hey look, it's my nonexistent couple.
She is not his type, and she probably never will be.
Minhyuk ponders the theory, the expression, and merely replies with a crude, "Do you even have a type, hyung?"
His smile after that is rightly justified.
Begrudgingly, Jonghyun accepts defeat. Maybe he doesn't have a type, and although that is debatable, he doesn't find her crescent moon eyes all that appealing. Her smile is too soft, and she's almost too fragile for him. He treads on the thought for another moment, shakes his head, and returns to playing his guitar.
"So, that's it? You're not even going to give her a chance," Yonghwa asks, the underlying tone of disbelief faint but clear.
Jonghyun nods, strings plucked underneath slender fingers.
"You and Seohyun should stop trying to play match maker."
She's shorter in person, shorter than she already looks on television. They find humor in comparing her height to Jungshin, who in all fairness, could easily tower over anyone. He watches at how she doesn't mind much, at least not on the surface. Jonghyun wonders if he can get into her head, out of the deep blue that has consumed his own. It isn't likely because he doesn't plan on approaching her. Instead, she approaches him.
Her presence is seemingly large - at least, for a small person. Jonghyun feels himself shrink behind his guitar, like he usually does when it comes to talking to others. She dons a smile that doesn't match her black, sequined dress. He tries not to pay too much attention to her curves, and it isn't that difficult. Up close, Jonghyun finds something charming about her face, the distinct features. He returns the smile with a sheepish grin and strum on his guitar.
"Jonghyun," Sunny greets.
He doesn't want to talk to her, but he decides to anyways.
"Am I supposed to call you noona?"
She laughs so lightly, as if flesh and bones weren't holding her down, maybe defying the laws of gravity. "Please don't," He doesn't miss the tremor in her vocal range. Well, there's one piece of information: she doesn't like her age.
They end up going out for coffee together. Once, twice, and then it turns to lunches. Neither of them plan these things, coincidentally, they're all run ins. On this specific day he notices that she has gone blond. A new concept is likely the answer; he doubts that Sunny has any reason to rebel. He doesn't ask, he doesn't compliment, and she doesn't want him to. She doesn't like it, and it's painfully obvious by the way her hair is hidden behind a knitted hat.
Bobbing pins. Jonghyun counts three, but there are probably more in the back that keep her hat perfectly in place. All he sees are her bangs, blond bangs, and he doesn't really want to see the rest of it.
But her hat is nice.
"I think I have a hat like that."
"It's a woman's hat."
"That's debatable."
He wants to take a picture, maybe press the pause button on life. He's close enough to actually count the crinkles in her nose when she smiles, but seconds don't last long enough. It's a sad moment, he thinks, but maybe time will present other opportunities in which he can keep focus.
"We like the same coffee, I am guessing," Sunny says.
"Well, it would explain why we ran into each other here .. again."
"Let's see if we have the same taste in food."
They look at their menu's separately. He tries to steal glances and she lifts her menu up so that he can't see her face. He wonders if she's giggling behind the plastic covered paper. He wonders if he can tell from only seeing the top of her head.
"Okay, at the count of three. One, two, three -"
Both of their fingers point to rice in pork soup. There's an awkward silence, then a laugh.
It's hard to believe, but it's louder on his part.
They exchange numbers after that. Somehow, they get onto the topic of birthdays.
mine is may 15, when is yours?
Jonghyun asks Yonghwa to clarify, "When is my birthday?"
"..Isn't it May 15?"
"I thought so."
A lot of things change, and Jonghyun watches them underneath dark lashes.
He watches Seohyun and Yonghwa change, and drift, and crumble. Occasionally, he tries to help pick up some pieces, but they're sharp and they hurt. So, there's Japan, and things almost feel the same there - things almost feel whole. They pretend like their leader isn't hurting, at least no anymore than they are.
"You're losing weight," Jonghyun tells him. Before any reply can be given, his pocket vibrates, tickling his thigh, and he checks his text messages.
I heard there's a nice cafe down the street of your hotel.
Really, I think I heard the same.
Twenty minute break?
I'll meet you in ten.
Jonghyun waits for a response, from either of them. Sunny doesn't text him back, and Yonghwa looks a little too distant for his liking.
Sunny's still blond, and he still looks the same. He doesn't feel any different either, but maybe she does. Jonghyun asks if she's okay, and she explains that she really needs that cup of coffee. He takes notice of the bags underneath her eyes, but he supposes he has them too.
"How convenient is it that we're both in Japan at the same time?" Jonghyun says, his smile tentative.
Sunny shrugs, not saying much. It only leaves the silence only to be filled by him.
He doesn't bother asking if she's okay, if she's tired, if she's anything, because he already knows the answer to that. She respects that, and Jonghyun respects that she respects that, and there's a lot of respect between the both of them. It makes it easier to breathe, so he tries to open his airways a little wider.
He feels their knees touch underneath the table, and if he wasn't so focused on the art of the respiratory system, maybe he would've moved them. Yet, that just seemed unlikely.
"I thought she wasn't your type."
Minhyuk is prodding, the way he always does. Jungshin is grinning, the way he always does. Yonghwa is looking at him, the way he never does. Jonghyun is understanding, but he isn't, and he sits on the corner of the bed. He feels like he could sink into it, like he's only just realizing how heavy his eyelids are. Maybe something will just swallow him up and it'll be better.
He teeters on the edge of reality, staying awake, and passing out. It's a wonder honestly, with the caffeine he consumed only half an hour ago. Jonghyun tries to find the words to indicate she isn't, and that she probably never will be, and how he likes that. He doesn't find the words and instead passes out for the next ten minutes before being rushed off somewhere for practice. He sleeps the whole way through in the van, and knowingly feels their leader's eyes burn into the back of his skin.
CN Blue and SNSD Romance? No, it isn't Seohyun and Yonghwa, but fellow members Jonghyun and Sunny!
It could be scandalous - if there was an actual scandal. Minhyuk is excited that Jonghyun is in a scandal in the first place, that he's actually getting some sort of publicity. Jonghyun is merely uncomfortable, setting the article down slowly. He considers throwing it out, but that might imply that he has something to hide. His eyes skim the paper, seeing creepy photos of the both of them out at coffee, because that's all they ever did. There's an edge of slight panic in his trail of thought, but that quickly diminishes. There's no point of being angry, or upset, or saddened, because he never is.
She doesn't call, she doesn't text, and he figures she doesn't care.
He doesn't call, he doesn't text, and he figures there are no more coffee dates for either of them.
( He's not okay with that, but he's probably never been okay in the first place. )
"Let's be friends," She says when they're back in Korea.
"Let's be friends that go out for coffee, and create scandals together, and share the same birthday and taste in food," She blinks, almost a million times, and Jonghyun feels like he isn't exaggerating that much. There's something tugging on the corner of his lips, a smile maybe, a smirk, but something content and happy. He supposes it's enough for her when she returns with a nervous smile of her own, fingers trembling in her pocket.
"Are you scared of me now?" Jonghyun asks, partially serious.
Her cheeks flare with a bright shade of pink. He pretends like it's only applied blush from her make up artist.
"That's a weird question."
"I figured it would be."
( Somewhere along the way they learn how to actually make plans. He tells her about how Yonghwa and Seohyun tried to get them together, and how life is funny that way. Then, they don't talk about Yonghwa or Seohyun, and they exchange sad smiles.
Too sensitive?
Yeah.
Further along the road he tells her about his theories, about his guitar, about himself.
On the way there they stumble, they trip,and they hold hands. Friends, that's good enough for them at first.
And somehow they just learn to wait for their turn to fall in love. Somehow, it just happens - and they're okay with that. )