Picture This
Title: Picture This
Pairing: Jinwoo/ Joohyun (Irene, Red Velvet)
Word count: 2,331
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Summary: When Dispatch releases pictures of Jinwoo and Joohyun on a date all hell breaks loose.
note: written for win-derland advent challenge
It was a dull sensation. A slight vibration against her arm that was only momentarily annoying, she could ignore it. Pulling the comforter over her head she burrowed, half asleep and not willing to be anything more than that.
“Joohyun!”
Stupid noise and dreams and…
“JOOHYUN!”
She groaned but didn’t move. Was she late for a meeting? No, her alarm would have gone off. Without opening her eyes she grasped around, looking for her phone. And then her precious 900 thread count fortress was unceremoniously torn away from her.
“What?!” She bolted upright in bed, ready to stare down whoever had dared to disturb her last few minutes of sleep.
“Look.”
It took a good thirty second before she could focus her eyes enough to make out the cell phone screen being held in front of her, the fatigue from yesterday’s twelve hour work day and beers afterwards rendering her all but catatonic - still. How to function, how to...oh.
“What happened?”
She looked from the screen to her secretary to the screen and back. Shit.
Exclusive: New Couple Alert - Actor Kim Jinwoo and B Electronics Heir Bae Joohyun Caught Dating
He was on his third cup of coffee when Mino reached across the table and grasped his wrist. “Seriously, how much coffee are you going to drink?”
“Um, enough to feel awake?” He poured in another cup of cream before taking a sip and smacking his lips together.
“Long night last night?”
Jinwoo shook his head, probably overdoing it with his protest. “I was in bed by 10.”
“Right.” Mino leaned back in the café seat, folding his arms behind his head. “Then why did I practically have to drag you out of your parents’ house this morning?”
“Have you ever heard of catching up on sleep?” Jinwoo hoped that his small smile was enough, he needed it to be. The last thing he wanted was for his manager to know exactly what had occurred twelve hours ago, because if Mino had an inkling he would probably be lecturing him to the moon and back.
Mino’s ringtone was loud, a welcome distraction, the noise cutting off any further questioning. Jinwoo watched as his manager picked up the phone, quickly answering it.
“Hell-“
Jinwoo could hear the person on the other end, at least he could hear that they were shouting. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, the voice a strung together, muffled sound of anger and frustration.
“Yes sir, I will find out right away, sir.”
Mino was flustered, which wasn’t a good sign. His longtime manager was hardly ever flustered - annoyed, yes, flustered, no. Mino was as easygoing as a person could get.
Jinwoo took a swig of his coffee feeling like he would need it and more, a lot more. His agency couldn’t have found out about last night, could they? No, it was so discreet, so innocent and so-
“God damnit Jinwoo, what in the hell did you do last night?!” Jinwoo cringed as Mino tossed his phone on the table. “You better have a good fucking explanation for this.”
Jinwoo stared at his manager, then decided the center of the table looked far more interesting. In a low voice he muttered, “I was out with friends.”
“Friends that hug your mom and are seen fucking making out with you in an alley?!”
Jinwoo didn’t have an answer, at least not right at that moment. He closed his eyes, counting to ten, listening as Mino erupted. Damnit.
Joohyun had decided she liked the word fuck. It was a great word, and she had said it at least three dozen times in the last half an hour as she thought about what was about to happen. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This was bad.
Her secretary had already relayed that her father wanted to see her, ranted about the company needing to come up with a statement SOON, and quietly asked “Are you seeing him? I mean, please tell me this wasn’t just a drunk thing.”
Fuck.
Joohyun guessed that there would already be half a dozen if not more reporters camped outside her apartment building, so leaving in her BMW wasn’t an option.
“Your father is sending a car for you.” The secretary explained. Of course, even if her father was pissed he would see to it that she was escorted to the office building discretely. Twenty minutes later she found herself in the underground parking garage, a luxury sedan with tinted windows waiting for her. She climbed into the car, feeling like she was about to be sent to prison. Would they disinherit her? Maybe. But that wasn’t her biggest worry. No, her biggest worry was that she would lose her job, a job she loved more than anything else in the world. Well, almost more than anything else. There was him.
With Mino’s help Jinwoo made it back to his apartment, a forty-five minute drive in heavy traffic. It was a miracle he made it home before the reporters got there. Apparently being an up and coming actor had its advantages, like not having your address known by everyone and their brother. The entire drive over Mino rambled on - about consequences and the future and why the hell was Jinwoo so damn stupid to be caught?
Jinwoo stayed silent. He already knew this was bad for his career. It wasn’t like his career was solid and lengthy, sure to weather the storm. He had been an actor for five years but he had only recently broke into the mainstream with a second lead role in a hit show. He was currently filming a drama - his first as a lead actor- that regularly pulled down double digits in the ratings. A dating scandal would not only impact his own future prospects but could also do a lot of damage to the people who were working so hard on the show.
But what he was most worried about was what it was doing to Joohyun. She worked so hard, so passionately, and he couldn’t bear to think that he had ruined things for her.
His phone had been buzzing since the news broke, but he ignored the calls. They weren’t from his parents or his close friends, which were the only people he would answer for at the moment. Well, other than her of course. He hoped she was okay. This would be just as bad for her as it was for him, maybe worse. And then he suddenly considered - what if she denied it. What if her parents forced her too? What if they were over, if the last month turned into nothing. It hurt his heart to think this way, to doubt.
Sliding his finger over the lock screen he quickly found her name in his contact list. He sent her a text, feeling entirely helpless at the moment.
Please let me know that you are okay. I love you.
Her father was scary when he was angry. Not because he threw things or was particularly nasty. No, it was because he was quiet. Too quiet. Joohyun had always hated that, the silence, the wounded look. It was what she was facing as she sat across his desk from him, waiting for him to say something. When he finally did she nearly flinched.
“Are you dating him?”
“Yes,” she answered firmly.
“How long?”
“A month.”
“Then we will deny the story. It will probably fizzle out any way.”
“No.” She slammed her foot down on the parquet floor of the office. Clenching her fists she stared down the second most important man in her life. “Don’t deny it.”
Her father leaned back in his leather chair, sighing. “You do realize you lost a lot of credibility with this, don’t you?”
Joohyun swallowed hard. How her career abilities had anything to do with two pictures - and that was all that was published - was beyond her. One showed her with her arm around Jinwoo’s mom, since they had been eating at his parent’s restaurant after all. The second was a long distance shot of a kiss they shared in an alley as Jinwoo walked her back to her car. It had nothing to do with how well she could run a business. For crying out loud she was twenty five years old - surely investors and the board would expect that she was dating someone?!
“I disagree.”
“Your mother cried this morning.” It was just like her father, to the point. It hurt to hear that her mother was upset but she knew that her actions weren’t wrong. What was wrong was that photographers waited, stalking her and Jinwoo until they could catch them together.
“I still don’t want to deny it.”
“Have it your way. You can have the day off, considering you probably won’t be able to get anything done anyway.” Her father made that motion with his hand, the familiar ‘you are dismissed’ gesture; it was particularly off-putting to Joohyun in this situation. Yet he wasn’t telling her no and he wasn’t talking about firing her - she held onto that as she left his office. When she checked her phone she saw Jinwoo’s text message. She hoped he was okay.
“He is releasing the standard response, thank god.” Mino pushed the coffee cup towards Jinwoo, no longer arguing with him about how much caffeine he was ingesting. “I was worried he would go ape-shit and actually try to clarify this, you don’t know how pissed he was when he called this morning. It sounds like he talked to their people and they aren’t denying it either, so he is kind of stuck.”
Jinwoo knew who Mino was referring to - ‘he’ could only mean his agency’s CEO, Kang Seungyoon. The standard response was ‘we don’t look into our stars’ private lives’. It was an answer without really answering and Jinwoo was okay with that, kind of. In a lot of ways he wanted to stand from the rooftops and scream out that it was true, that he had met the most amazing woman, a person so kind yet lively that he had already realized he couldn’t imagine life without her. Yet he took comfort in the fact her father’s company wasn’t issuing denials. That must mean something had gone right for her, thank god.
“I suggest you lay low today, but I probably don’t have to tell you that.” Mino sighed. “You have filming tomorrow morning so I will pick you up then.”
Jinwoo nodded.
“I am going now - I better drop in the office and make sure Seungyoon is standing by that response. You know how frazzled he can get sometimes.”
Jinwoo gave his manager a hug before bidding him farewell. Once Mino was gone the silence was heavy. Too heavy, the only noise the buzzing of his phone.
A half an hour, two cups of coffee, and a text message from Joohyun later Jinwoo decided he wasn’t about to sit around. He grabbed his keys and made his way to his car.
Joohyun swung her legs back and forth, hands braced on the edge of the rusty carousel. She stared at the cracked concrete, remembering when she was young and the park was filled with people - back before her father closed it because “our current portfolio does not support running a money pit of a theme park”.
She was starting to feel cold, sighing that she hadn’t brought along gloves. At least she had a warm scarf, grabbed hastily as she dropped into her office before departing the building. The driver had looked a little concerned about her requested destination but didn’t argue. When she told him to leave her the driver barely raised an eyebrow, apparently no longer concerned why the young heiress wanted to be dropped off at a rundown amusement park.
He should be here soon, she took comfort in that. A smile played at the corner of her lips as she thought about it. He always made her smile. Five minutes later when a steaming cup of hot cocoa was thrust in front of her she jumped, so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard him approach. But he was there, wide smile and bright eyes. The cocoa was quickly set down on the edge of the carousel; she didn’t need the warm beverage at the moment - she needed him.
Jinwoo buried his face in her hair, his hands finding her waist and pulling her flush against him. “Are you okay?”
She nodded into his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him and pulling him close. “Are you?” Joohyun asked.
“Now I am.” It was the truth.
“Did you talk to your mom?” Of course, it was just like Joohyun to be worried about his parents.
“Yeah, on the way over. She was worried for you.” His mother had taken a liking to Joohyun that was rare, the pair had been nearly inseparable the night before.
“Tell her I am okay now.” A soft bit of laughter made Jinwoo’s heart leap.
“I will. How mad was your dad?”
“Hm. He will get over it.” Joohyun pulled away, Jinwoo not relinquishing his hold on her as she created a few inches of space in between them. She was so beautiful, so breathtaking, and his. He couldn’t help but smile.
“You certainly have odd tastes in dating locales.” Jinwoo smirked.
“Well, I did hear that this place has a kissing booth so I was kind of hoping to meet a cute guy here.” Joohyun leaned in, no longer wanting even a few inches to separate them.
Jinwoo wasn’t about to argue. Not today, a day that for most people would be considered terrible, horrible, and career ruining. A day that turned out to be one of the best, and all because of the woman in his arms, the woman who he loved. He captured her mouth in his own, feeling like he was on top of the world.
Pairing: Jinwoo/ Joohyun (Irene, Red Velvet)
Word count: 2,331
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Summary: When Dispatch releases pictures of Jinwoo and Joohyun on a date all hell breaks loose.
note: written for win-derland advent challenge
It was a dull sensation. A slight vibration against her arm that was only momentarily annoying, she could ignore it. Pulling the comforter over her head she burrowed, half asleep and not willing to be anything more than that.
“Joohyun!”
Stupid noise and dreams and…
“JOOHYUN!”
She groaned but didn’t move. Was she late for a meeting? No, her alarm would have gone off. Without opening her eyes she grasped around, looking for her phone. And then her precious 900 thread count fortress was unceremoniously torn away from her.
“What?!” She bolted upright in bed, ready to stare down whoever had dared to disturb her last few minutes of sleep.
“Look.”
It took a good thirty second before she could focus her eyes enough to make out the cell phone screen being held in front of her, the fatigue from yesterday’s twelve hour work day and beers afterwards rendering her all but catatonic - still. How to function, how to...oh.
“What happened?”
She looked from the screen to her secretary to the screen and back. Shit.
Exclusive: New Couple Alert - Actor Kim Jinwoo and B Electronics Heir Bae Joohyun Caught Dating
He was on his third cup of coffee when Mino reached across the table and grasped his wrist. “Seriously, how much coffee are you going to drink?”
“Um, enough to feel awake?” He poured in another cup of cream before taking a sip and smacking his lips together.
“Long night last night?”
Jinwoo shook his head, probably overdoing it with his protest. “I was in bed by 10.”
“Right.” Mino leaned back in the café seat, folding his arms behind his head. “Then why did I practically have to drag you out of your parents’ house this morning?”
“Have you ever heard of catching up on sleep?” Jinwoo hoped that his small smile was enough, he needed it to be. The last thing he wanted was for his manager to know exactly what had occurred twelve hours ago, because if Mino had an inkling he would probably be lecturing him to the moon and back.
Mino’s ringtone was loud, a welcome distraction, the noise cutting off any further questioning. Jinwoo watched as his manager picked up the phone, quickly answering it.
“Hell-“
Jinwoo could hear the person on the other end, at least he could hear that they were shouting. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, the voice a strung together, muffled sound of anger and frustration.
“Yes sir, I will find out right away, sir.”
Mino was flustered, which wasn’t a good sign. His longtime manager was hardly ever flustered - annoyed, yes, flustered, no. Mino was as easygoing as a person could get.
Jinwoo took a swig of his coffee feeling like he would need it and more, a lot more. His agency couldn’t have found out about last night, could they? No, it was so discreet, so innocent and so-
“God damnit Jinwoo, what in the hell did you do last night?!” Jinwoo cringed as Mino tossed his phone on the table. “You better have a good fucking explanation for this.”
Jinwoo stared at his manager, then decided the center of the table looked far more interesting. In a low voice he muttered, “I was out with friends.”
“Friends that hug your mom and are seen fucking making out with you in an alley?!”
Jinwoo didn’t have an answer, at least not right at that moment. He closed his eyes, counting to ten, listening as Mino erupted. Damnit.
Joohyun had decided she liked the word fuck. It was a great word, and she had said it at least three dozen times in the last half an hour as she thought about what was about to happen. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This was bad.
Her secretary had already relayed that her father wanted to see her, ranted about the company needing to come up with a statement SOON, and quietly asked “Are you seeing him? I mean, please tell me this wasn’t just a drunk thing.”
Fuck.
Joohyun guessed that there would already be half a dozen if not more reporters camped outside her apartment building, so leaving in her BMW wasn’t an option.
“Your father is sending a car for you.” The secretary explained. Of course, even if her father was pissed he would see to it that she was escorted to the office building discretely. Twenty minutes later she found herself in the underground parking garage, a luxury sedan with tinted windows waiting for her. She climbed into the car, feeling like she was about to be sent to prison. Would they disinherit her? Maybe. But that wasn’t her biggest worry. No, her biggest worry was that she would lose her job, a job she loved more than anything else in the world. Well, almost more than anything else. There was him.
With Mino’s help Jinwoo made it back to his apartment, a forty-five minute drive in heavy traffic. It was a miracle he made it home before the reporters got there. Apparently being an up and coming actor had its advantages, like not having your address known by everyone and their brother. The entire drive over Mino rambled on - about consequences and the future and why the hell was Jinwoo so damn stupid to be caught?
Jinwoo stayed silent. He already knew this was bad for his career. It wasn’t like his career was solid and lengthy, sure to weather the storm. He had been an actor for five years but he had only recently broke into the mainstream with a second lead role in a hit show. He was currently filming a drama - his first as a lead actor- that regularly pulled down double digits in the ratings. A dating scandal would not only impact his own future prospects but could also do a lot of damage to the people who were working so hard on the show.
But what he was most worried about was what it was doing to Joohyun. She worked so hard, so passionately, and he couldn’t bear to think that he had ruined things for her.
His phone had been buzzing since the news broke, but he ignored the calls. They weren’t from his parents or his close friends, which were the only people he would answer for at the moment. Well, other than her of course. He hoped she was okay. This would be just as bad for her as it was for him, maybe worse. And then he suddenly considered - what if she denied it. What if her parents forced her too? What if they were over, if the last month turned into nothing. It hurt his heart to think this way, to doubt.
Sliding his finger over the lock screen he quickly found her name in his contact list. He sent her a text, feeling entirely helpless at the moment.
Please let me know that you are okay. I love you.
Her father was scary when he was angry. Not because he threw things or was particularly nasty. No, it was because he was quiet. Too quiet. Joohyun had always hated that, the silence, the wounded look. It was what she was facing as she sat across his desk from him, waiting for him to say something. When he finally did she nearly flinched.
“Are you dating him?”
“Yes,” she answered firmly.
“How long?”
“A month.”
“Then we will deny the story. It will probably fizzle out any way.”
“No.” She slammed her foot down on the parquet floor of the office. Clenching her fists she stared down the second most important man in her life. “Don’t deny it.”
Her father leaned back in his leather chair, sighing. “You do realize you lost a lot of credibility with this, don’t you?”
Joohyun swallowed hard. How her career abilities had anything to do with two pictures - and that was all that was published - was beyond her. One showed her with her arm around Jinwoo’s mom, since they had been eating at his parent’s restaurant after all. The second was a long distance shot of a kiss they shared in an alley as Jinwoo walked her back to her car. It had nothing to do with how well she could run a business. For crying out loud she was twenty five years old - surely investors and the board would expect that she was dating someone?!
“I disagree.”
“Your mother cried this morning.” It was just like her father, to the point. It hurt to hear that her mother was upset but she knew that her actions weren’t wrong. What was wrong was that photographers waited, stalking her and Jinwoo until they could catch them together.
“I still don’t want to deny it.”
“Have it your way. You can have the day off, considering you probably won’t be able to get anything done anyway.” Her father made that motion with his hand, the familiar ‘you are dismissed’ gesture; it was particularly off-putting to Joohyun in this situation. Yet he wasn’t telling her no and he wasn’t talking about firing her - she held onto that as she left his office. When she checked her phone she saw Jinwoo’s text message. She hoped he was okay.
“He is releasing the standard response, thank god.” Mino pushed the coffee cup towards Jinwoo, no longer arguing with him about how much caffeine he was ingesting. “I was worried he would go ape-shit and actually try to clarify this, you don’t know how pissed he was when he called this morning. It sounds like he talked to their people and they aren’t denying it either, so he is kind of stuck.”
Jinwoo knew who Mino was referring to - ‘he’ could only mean his agency’s CEO, Kang Seungyoon. The standard response was ‘we don’t look into our stars’ private lives’. It was an answer without really answering and Jinwoo was okay with that, kind of. In a lot of ways he wanted to stand from the rooftops and scream out that it was true, that he had met the most amazing woman, a person so kind yet lively that he had already realized he couldn’t imagine life without her. Yet he took comfort in the fact her father’s company wasn’t issuing denials. That must mean something had gone right for her, thank god.
“I suggest you lay low today, but I probably don’t have to tell you that.” Mino sighed. “You have filming tomorrow morning so I will pick you up then.”
Jinwoo nodded.
“I am going now - I better drop in the office and make sure Seungyoon is standing by that response. You know how frazzled he can get sometimes.”
Jinwoo gave his manager a hug before bidding him farewell. Once Mino was gone the silence was heavy. Too heavy, the only noise the buzzing of his phone.
A half an hour, two cups of coffee, and a text message from Joohyun later Jinwoo decided he wasn’t about to sit around. He grabbed his keys and made his way to his car.
Joohyun swung her legs back and forth, hands braced on the edge of the rusty carousel. She stared at the cracked concrete, remembering when she was young and the park was filled with people - back before her father closed it because “our current portfolio does not support running a money pit of a theme park”.
She was starting to feel cold, sighing that she hadn’t brought along gloves. At least she had a warm scarf, grabbed hastily as she dropped into her office before departing the building. The driver had looked a little concerned about her requested destination but didn’t argue. When she told him to leave her the driver barely raised an eyebrow, apparently no longer concerned why the young heiress wanted to be dropped off at a rundown amusement park.
He should be here soon, she took comfort in that. A smile played at the corner of her lips as she thought about it. He always made her smile. Five minutes later when a steaming cup of hot cocoa was thrust in front of her she jumped, so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard him approach. But he was there, wide smile and bright eyes. The cocoa was quickly set down on the edge of the carousel; she didn’t need the warm beverage at the moment - she needed him.
Jinwoo buried his face in her hair, his hands finding her waist and pulling her flush against him. “Are you okay?”
She nodded into his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him and pulling him close. “Are you?” Joohyun asked.
“Now I am.” It was the truth.
“Did you talk to your mom?” Of course, it was just like Joohyun to be worried about his parents.
“Yeah, on the way over. She was worried for you.” His mother had taken a liking to Joohyun that was rare, the pair had been nearly inseparable the night before.
“Tell her I am okay now.” A soft bit of laughter made Jinwoo’s heart leap.
“I will. How mad was your dad?”
“Hm. He will get over it.” Joohyun pulled away, Jinwoo not relinquishing his hold on her as she created a few inches of space in between them. She was so beautiful, so breathtaking, and his. He couldn’t help but smile.
“You certainly have odd tastes in dating locales.” Jinwoo smirked.
“Well, I did hear that this place has a kissing booth so I was kind of hoping to meet a cute guy here.” Joohyun leaned in, no longer wanting even a few inches to separate them.
Jinwoo wasn’t about to argue. Not today, a day that for most people would be considered terrible, horrible, and career ruining. A day that turned out to be one of the best, and all because of the woman in his arms, the woman who he loved. He captured her mouth in his own, feeling like he was on top of the world.