(no subject)
Title : A matter of strawberries
Beta : haru_ran
Poster : unknowntibidip
Genre : AU / Humor
Pairing : Yunjae
Length : 4 / ?
Rating : PG for swearing words
Summary : They have always been rivals, fighting over customers. But what if someday they had to work together ?
A/N : I'll tag chap per chap by the way. The genres that will appear in the fic are: AU, Humor, Romance, Fluff and Smut that's why the rating will raise from pg to nc-17 :D
‘Damn that Jung guy. He succeeded in luring many potential customers. Even I turned my head to listen to him!’ Jaejoong thought, frowning in exasperation. He needed to come up with a plan and soon. He was fuming, pacing back and forth trying to think hard. Meanwhile, his rival was already selling his fruits. Time was running out.
“Mom always says that to attract people, you have to find your assets and to point them out,” the young man murmured as he was still moving. “Okay. I can’t act like Yunho, he would make fun of me again and people wouldn’t believe me. I can’t give boxes for free; I’m not a volunteer, I need to earn money. So, what are my qualities?”
In a normal situation, he would have already mentioned them, but now he was so stressed that he couldn’t find at least one. Instead of doing this, Jaejoong didn’t know why he started to state his flaws or things he didn’t like about him. He knew he wasn’t as expressive as the other man was; he wasn’t a public speaker wannabe. Besides, he thought that for once that Jung guy was radiating confidence and… charisma? Even admitting that Yunho could have a quality hurt him. He didn’t want to acknowledge it; Jaejoong was the stubborn kind.
“Wait. I’m handsome,” he said all of a sudden. “Of course I am. Now, how can I turn this into my advantage?”
On the other hand, Yunho was enjoying being the businessman without competition for once. He knew his rival would hurry to find an alternative though. Just seeing the other man in front of his stand all thinking was too obvious. He took the advantage of it by selling as many boxes as he could. It was now or never. Besides, he got lucky these days: because of his little ‘promotion’ he attracted more customers of course, but he didn’t expect the phenomenon called ‘word of mouth’ to happen.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” Jaejoong exclaimed suddenly. “Nowadays big companies invade our fields, pollute our plantation and our cultivated land until degenerating our biological system. I’m sure you all know that. But what you don’t know is that I live away from those companies unlike Yunho. If you buy my strawberries, I guarantee you no track of fertiliser. Because of that, my fruits, which have a high vitamin C content, will provide you well-being and energy! This vitamin also has effects on your skin. Look at my cheeks, they’ve never been so soft!”
What was that? The Jung son watched his rival with widened eyes. He never heard something that crazy. First, how come that he knew he was actually living not so far away from a factory? Moreover, how come he really knew those true facts about vitamin C? Could it be that this Kim guy could also be smart? However the ‘soft-cheeks’ part was a bit exaggerated. The other man insisted too much.
“Yes ma’am you can touch it!” Jaejoong smiled widely as many women joined his stand.
Several women enjoyed touching him too much. Come on, Kim Jaejoong was really handsome, it was not everyday you got to stroke someone like him! Despite his speech about his fake family’s problems, Yunho saw almost all of his customers walking towards the other stand. ‘Why were they mostly women? How come they were always doing the ‘grocery shopping’ kind of thing?’ he told himself. Yunho turned his head to see his enemy giving him the ‘I got my revenge’ smirk. He frowned while letting out a sigh of frustration. ‘Well played Kim Jaejoong, well played.’
Little by little, Jaejoong was noticing that all the customers were in front of his stand; that Yunho was alone. He wanted to scream of joy but couldn’t so he just looked at the other man and grinned. He finally found a plan! So, this was for claiming the big stand when he came late.
“Since it’s almost noon, you can taste some of my strawberries,” he smiled before taking a small basket and putting it on his table. “Just some! Haha I see you coming Mrs. Park!”
And this for taking the stand once again. ‘Since Yunho lured people, why can’t I flatter them now, huh?’ the young man told himself, still smiling. He heard many chuckles around him, teased the women about touching him and received cash. Everything was looking good, for now actually.
How come that Kim guy still had a trick or two up his sleeve? What the hell was happening? Did he turn brilliant over one night? And why, didn’t he think about it earlier? Yunho groaned when he bumped his feet in one of his stick. The impact of the action made one of the remaining nineteen balloons to be carried by the wind. And Yunho choked back tears.
Jaejoong was sure that in less than fifteen minutes he earned more money than Yunho. He couldn’t help but humming softly while eating a few cherries. Cherry-boy -a.k.a his stand’s neighbour- called him and started to chat a little, since there weren’t too many people.
“Ah Jaebeom-ah~ Your cherries are really good!” Jaejoong exclaimed while eating another fruit.
“I know. Sang-hee even called them ‘little red pearls of heaven’,” his friend replied, trying his best to not show his smile.
“You’re cute.”
“Yah!” Jaebeom retorted as he blushed lightly. “Anyway, did you know that someone is coming to the town? I thought it was a rumour but we heard the mayor confirming it.”
“Hm, Mrs. Choi told me. Although I don’t think it would be a big event…”
“Really? Aren’t you a bit worried that he or she would take your stand? Because we don’t know yet where he or she would be and it scares me a bit,” Cherry-boy admitted.
“You don’t have to be afraid, maybe they’ll create a little stand just for him or her. Or maybe they’ll group stalls together and you’ll get to be with Sang-hee, haha!”
Cherry-boy, who just slapped Strawberry-boy on the arm, was something epic. At least for some teenagers who enjoyed too much yaoi actions, even if this wasn’t one. Fortunately for him, Jaejoong got them as potential buyers; they wanted to touch him and to buy strawberries, it was kind of a godsend!
Yunho really thought he would win over Jaejoong, really. He just wanted to take his revenge from his rival. If Jaejoong was the stubborn kind, Yunho was the rancorous kind. That was why he was so hateful towards the other man. He remembered each of Jaejoong’s words when he came for the first time to this place. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed at the beginning, but he was really weak at that time; he was used to cry over anything.
«“Why would a Jung come here in the market? Do you want to buy us?” Jaejoong told him, frowning.
“I-I am not related to my father’s business…!”
“So what? You think you can turn just like that?” the other young man walked towards Yunho. “It doesn’t work that way, you mummy’s boy.”»
Yunho didn’t really succeed in integrating with the other merchants; he was naturally left alone and he was sure Jaejoong had something to do with this situation. He couldn’t talk to someone since he was lonely, that was why he chose to see the mayor. The latter came up with a solution: the two men who were selling the same fruits -such as strawberries- had to be next to each other. Unfortunately for him, it was Jaejoong.
«“I know it’s you. So, you think you can go over the mayor and whine like a child? Or maybe you paid him? Yeah, it must be it. Well, listen to me Jung, I’m not going to be pretty kind with you,” Jaejoong threatened the new man. “If you’re thinking about using your daddy’s fame, well you’re wrong. I hate people like you.”»
Yunho tried to ignore the other male’s words but he couldn’t help being affected by them. He was still young and definitely not used to being humiliated almost every time he met Jaejoong. Besides, he had to bear some problems in his family: his father had been bankrupt at the same time and his brother seemed to be exhausted. It was a bit hard to come ‘at work’ knowing that someone is coming just to annoy you. As if Jaejoong had nothing else to do.
«“Hey Jung, what’s with that face?” the Kim son asked as if he was really caring about him. “Oh I know! Maybe you’re affected by your father’s fail? Hmm… That must be it… So, how are you holding up, huh? I really wonder…” he added with a smirk.»
Just thinking about his rival’s harsh words made him grit his teeth. Even if it had been two years, the same resentment against Jaejoong was still high. He didn’t know why he deserved such a treatment from the other man. Maybe the latter felt he was competition, but still. ‘If you’re a well-educated human being, you know how to acknowledge people, right? So why acting like a barbarian?’ Yunho thought. He let out a sigh; why was he thinking about this all of a sudden anyway? When he was sitting on his stool, someone came across him.
“Yah Yunnie-ah! You know what?” a young lady said excited next to him before jumping to sit on the table.
“Hello to you too Hyori,” Yunho sighed in amusement.
“Hi!” she smiled while kissing him on the cheek. “You know, there’s a new person with us. Wait, you must know it since that’s all people are talking about. I mean, it’s like the guy is a star or… yeah whatever. Yes! You heard me, it’s a boy! Well, I gently asked my dear neighbour -you know how- and he told me it’s a guy! I don’t know how he got to know that, I think he told me he misheard some discussion… Anyway! So, isn’t it that great?”
The strawberry boy closed his eyes, as he tried to remember each of his best friend’s words. He was used to hear her rambling all the time but sometimes he couldn’t follow her. He frowned and spoke:
“So err… Dongwook told you that the newbie is a guy… How come it is this thrilling?” Yunho raised one of his eyebrows. “Besides, I wonder how Rain would react when he’d know that you were with another man…”
“You wouldn’t dare…” Hyori whispered, feeling her heart beating like crazy. “In my defence, I just wanted to know some information that only Dongwook was aware of, that’s all. And I know he had an eye on me because duh, he’s not being obvious~ So I told myself that I would do anything and… I teased him a bit and he got excited and we almost had some skinship -he was aroused, like I’ve never seen someone that hard I tell you man, it was just crazy- but I stopped the thing you know? So, really, no need to tell Rain, okay? Good,” the young lady laughed nervously as she patted her best friend on the head.
“I won’t. I just wanted to see you freaking out, it was worth it,” Yunho laughed before his friend slapped him on the head. “Ouch! Anyway, just go back to your stand. No! Don’t-!”
She left after taking a few strawberries and he couldn’t even stop her. ‘That brat…’ he thought with a smile. So the new person was a man? It was not like as if it would change something anyway… This information was quite useless actually. Letting out a sigh, Yunho stretched his arms before sitting on his stool again. He turned his head to see his rival who was doing nothing like him. The latter was eating a few fruits since there were fewer people in the place. He was staring into space when he spoke suddenly:
“Staring at me, aren’t you Jung?”
Yunho was startled by the other man’s voice; he was caught red-handed! Moreover, it was like Jaejoong tricked him since he hadn’t made a move. He really did want to surprise him.
“I know you admire me for being smarter than you but you can’t bear to lose against me, can you? This time, you got beaten at your own game, right?” Jaejoong told him, their eyes finally meeting.
“You ba-”
Out of nowhere, the mayor’s voice called all the merchants to gather near him since the customers had already left the place. The two men walked towards him like their ‘colleagues’. Hyori joined his best friend while Jaejoong was next to Sang-hee, at the other side of the crowd. As if he did it on purpose. ‘Yeah, you stay away from me you bastard,’ Yunho couldn’t help thinking.
“As you all know, someone will join you all. Now, I’m sure you wonder what will happen,” the mayor declared. “I’ve decided to group two stands in one in order to let a smaller one to the new person. By the way, he’s on his way to the town; he’ll be here tomorrow. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, he sells cucumbers.”
“Oh, I love cucumbers, haha. I feel he’s the perfect guy~” Jaejoong couldn’t help whispering to his friend with a wink.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a cucumber-guy,” Yunho smiled.
“Yummy, I love cucumbers too, maybe more his.”
“Just… Shut up Hyori,” Yunho sighed, trying to hide his chuckle.
“The people who will work together are Kim Jaejoong and Jung Yunho.”
“WHAT?!” the two men yelled together while the crowd started to murmur some things.
“Well,” the mayor cleared his throat. “Since you both sell the same fruits, I decided to group your stands. My decision is final. I’ll explain to you how this will work tomorrow.”
He suddenly left them while the other merchants were still surprised. They knew the young men disliked each other. How come they would work together? That was quite impossible.
“That’s not even a vegetable that people like…” Yunho groaned, fuming.
“Yah! Who the hell even eats cucumbers nowadays?!” Jaejoong blurted out, completely contradicting his previous words.
<< CHAPTER 3 ________________________________ ______________ CHAPTER 5 >>
A/N: Finally the 4th chapter! Sorry for the lateness again u.u I hope it was worth the wait... (no? D:) *gets bricked*
Thank you all and don't forget to tell me if you like it :)
Beta : haru_ran
Poster : unknowntibidip
Genre : AU / Humor
Pairing : Yunjae
Length : 4 / ?
Rating : PG for swearing words
Summary : They have always been rivals, fighting over customers. But what if someday they had to work together ?
A/N : I'll tag chap per chap by the way. The genres that will appear in the fic are: AU, Humor, Romance, Fluff and Smut that's why the rating will raise from pg to nc-17 :D
‘Damn that Jung guy. He succeeded in luring many potential customers. Even I turned my head to listen to him!’ Jaejoong thought, frowning in exasperation. He needed to come up with a plan and soon. He was fuming, pacing back and forth trying to think hard. Meanwhile, his rival was already selling his fruits. Time was running out.
“Mom always says that to attract people, you have to find your assets and to point them out,” the young man murmured as he was still moving. “Okay. I can’t act like Yunho, he would make fun of me again and people wouldn’t believe me. I can’t give boxes for free; I’m not a volunteer, I need to earn money. So, what are my qualities?”
In a normal situation, he would have already mentioned them, but now he was so stressed that he couldn’t find at least one. Instead of doing this, Jaejoong didn’t know why he started to state his flaws or things he didn’t like about him. He knew he wasn’t as expressive as the other man was; he wasn’t a public speaker wannabe. Besides, he thought that for once that Jung guy was radiating confidence and… charisma? Even admitting that Yunho could have a quality hurt him. He didn’t want to acknowledge it; Jaejoong was the stubborn kind.
“Wait. I’m handsome,” he said all of a sudden. “Of course I am. Now, how can I turn this into my advantage?”
On the other hand, Yunho was enjoying being the businessman without competition for once. He knew his rival would hurry to find an alternative though. Just seeing the other man in front of his stand all thinking was too obvious. He took the advantage of it by selling as many boxes as he could. It was now or never. Besides, he got lucky these days: because of his little ‘promotion’ he attracted more customers of course, but he didn’t expect the phenomenon called ‘word of mouth’ to happen.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” Jaejoong exclaimed suddenly. “Nowadays big companies invade our fields, pollute our plantation and our cultivated land until degenerating our biological system. I’m sure you all know that. But what you don’t know is that I live away from those companies unlike Yunho. If you buy my strawberries, I guarantee you no track of fertiliser. Because of that, my fruits, which have a high vitamin C content, will provide you well-being and energy! This vitamin also has effects on your skin. Look at my cheeks, they’ve never been so soft!”
What was that? The Jung son watched his rival with widened eyes. He never heard something that crazy. First, how come that he knew he was actually living not so far away from a factory? Moreover, how come he really knew those true facts about vitamin C? Could it be that this Kim guy could also be smart? However the ‘soft-cheeks’ part was a bit exaggerated. The other man insisted too much.
“Yes ma’am you can touch it!” Jaejoong smiled widely as many women joined his stand.
Several women enjoyed touching him too much. Come on, Kim Jaejoong was really handsome, it was not everyday you got to stroke someone like him! Despite his speech about his fake family’s problems, Yunho saw almost all of his customers walking towards the other stand. ‘Why were they mostly women? How come they were always doing the ‘grocery shopping’ kind of thing?’ he told himself. Yunho turned his head to see his enemy giving him the ‘I got my revenge’ smirk. He frowned while letting out a sigh of frustration. ‘Well played Kim Jaejoong, well played.’
Little by little, Jaejoong was noticing that all the customers were in front of his stand; that Yunho was alone. He wanted to scream of joy but couldn’t so he just looked at the other man and grinned. He finally found a plan! So, this was for claiming the big stand when he came late.
“Since it’s almost noon, you can taste some of my strawberries,” he smiled before taking a small basket and putting it on his table. “Just some! Haha I see you coming Mrs. Park!”
And this for taking the stand once again. ‘Since Yunho lured people, why can’t I flatter them now, huh?’ the young man told himself, still smiling. He heard many chuckles around him, teased the women about touching him and received cash. Everything was looking good, for now actually.
How come that Kim guy still had a trick or two up his sleeve? What the hell was happening? Did he turn brilliant over one night? And why, didn’t he think about it earlier? Yunho groaned when he bumped his feet in one of his stick. The impact of the action made one of the remaining nineteen balloons to be carried by the wind. And Yunho choked back tears.
Jaejoong was sure that in less than fifteen minutes he earned more money than Yunho. He couldn’t help but humming softly while eating a few cherries. Cherry-boy -a.k.a his stand’s neighbour- called him and started to chat a little, since there weren’t too many people.
“Ah Jaebeom-ah~ Your cherries are really good!” Jaejoong exclaimed while eating another fruit.
“I know. Sang-hee even called them ‘little red pearls of heaven’,” his friend replied, trying his best to not show his smile.
“You’re cute.”
“Yah!” Jaebeom retorted as he blushed lightly. “Anyway, did you know that someone is coming to the town? I thought it was a rumour but we heard the mayor confirming it.”
“Hm, Mrs. Choi told me. Although I don’t think it would be a big event…”
“Really? Aren’t you a bit worried that he or she would take your stand? Because we don’t know yet where he or she would be and it scares me a bit,” Cherry-boy admitted.
“You don’t have to be afraid, maybe they’ll create a little stand just for him or her. Or maybe they’ll group stalls together and you’ll get to be with Sang-hee, haha!”
Cherry-boy, who just slapped Strawberry-boy on the arm, was something epic. At least for some teenagers who enjoyed too much yaoi actions, even if this wasn’t one. Fortunately for him, Jaejoong got them as potential buyers; they wanted to touch him and to buy strawberries, it was kind of a godsend!
Yunho really thought he would win over Jaejoong, really. He just wanted to take his revenge from his rival. If Jaejoong was the stubborn kind, Yunho was the rancorous kind. That was why he was so hateful towards the other man. He remembered each of Jaejoong’s words when he came for the first time to this place. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed at the beginning, but he was really weak at that time; he was used to cry over anything.
«“Why would a Jung come here in the market? Do you want to buy us?” Jaejoong told him, frowning.
“I-I am not related to my father’s business…!”
“So what? You think you can turn just like that?” the other young man walked towards Yunho. “It doesn’t work that way, you mummy’s boy.”»
Yunho didn’t really succeed in integrating with the other merchants; he was naturally left alone and he was sure Jaejoong had something to do with this situation. He couldn’t talk to someone since he was lonely, that was why he chose to see the mayor. The latter came up with a solution: the two men who were selling the same fruits -such as strawberries- had to be next to each other. Unfortunately for him, it was Jaejoong.
«“I know it’s you. So, you think you can go over the mayor and whine like a child? Or maybe you paid him? Yeah, it must be it. Well, listen to me Jung, I’m not going to be pretty kind with you,” Jaejoong threatened the new man. “If you’re thinking about using your daddy’s fame, well you’re wrong. I hate people like you.”»
Yunho tried to ignore the other male’s words but he couldn’t help being affected by them. He was still young and definitely not used to being humiliated almost every time he met Jaejoong. Besides, he had to bear some problems in his family: his father had been bankrupt at the same time and his brother seemed to be exhausted. It was a bit hard to come ‘at work’ knowing that someone is coming just to annoy you. As if Jaejoong had nothing else to do.
«“Hey Jung, what’s with that face?” the Kim son asked as if he was really caring about him. “Oh I know! Maybe you’re affected by your father’s fail? Hmm… That must be it… So, how are you holding up, huh? I really wonder…” he added with a smirk.»
Just thinking about his rival’s harsh words made him grit his teeth. Even if it had been two years, the same resentment against Jaejoong was still high. He didn’t know why he deserved such a treatment from the other man. Maybe the latter felt he was competition, but still. ‘If you’re a well-educated human being, you know how to acknowledge people, right? So why acting like a barbarian?’ Yunho thought. He let out a sigh; why was he thinking about this all of a sudden anyway? When he was sitting on his stool, someone came across him.
“Yah Yunnie-ah! You know what?” a young lady said excited next to him before jumping to sit on the table.
“Hello to you too Hyori,” Yunho sighed in amusement.
“Hi!” she smiled while kissing him on the cheek. “You know, there’s a new person with us. Wait, you must know it since that’s all people are talking about. I mean, it’s like the guy is a star or… yeah whatever. Yes! You heard me, it’s a boy! Well, I gently asked my dear neighbour -you know how- and he told me it’s a guy! I don’t know how he got to know that, I think he told me he misheard some discussion… Anyway! So, isn’t it that great?”
The strawberry boy closed his eyes, as he tried to remember each of his best friend’s words. He was used to hear her rambling all the time but sometimes he couldn’t follow her. He frowned and spoke:
“So err… Dongwook told you that the newbie is a guy… How come it is this thrilling?” Yunho raised one of his eyebrows. “Besides, I wonder how Rain would react when he’d know that you were with another man…”
“You wouldn’t dare…” Hyori whispered, feeling her heart beating like crazy. “In my defence, I just wanted to know some information that only Dongwook was aware of, that’s all. And I know he had an eye on me because duh, he’s not being obvious~ So I told myself that I would do anything and… I teased him a bit and he got excited and we almost had some skinship -he was aroused, like I’ve never seen someone that hard I tell you man, it was just crazy- but I stopped the thing you know? So, really, no need to tell Rain, okay? Good,” the young lady laughed nervously as she patted her best friend on the head.
“I won’t. I just wanted to see you freaking out, it was worth it,” Yunho laughed before his friend slapped him on the head. “Ouch! Anyway, just go back to your stand. No! Don’t-!”
She left after taking a few strawberries and he couldn’t even stop her. ‘That brat…’ he thought with a smile. So the new person was a man? It was not like as if it would change something anyway… This information was quite useless actually. Letting out a sigh, Yunho stretched his arms before sitting on his stool again. He turned his head to see his rival who was doing nothing like him. The latter was eating a few fruits since there were fewer people in the place. He was staring into space when he spoke suddenly:
“Staring at me, aren’t you Jung?”
Yunho was startled by the other man’s voice; he was caught red-handed! Moreover, it was like Jaejoong tricked him since he hadn’t made a move. He really did want to surprise him.
“I know you admire me for being smarter than you but you can’t bear to lose against me, can you? This time, you got beaten at your own game, right?” Jaejoong told him, their eyes finally meeting.
“You ba-”
Out of nowhere, the mayor’s voice called all the merchants to gather near him since the customers had already left the place. The two men walked towards him like their ‘colleagues’. Hyori joined his best friend while Jaejoong was next to Sang-hee, at the other side of the crowd. As if he did it on purpose. ‘Yeah, you stay away from me you bastard,’ Yunho couldn’t help thinking.
“As you all know, someone will join you all. Now, I’m sure you wonder what will happen,” the mayor declared. “I’ve decided to group two stands in one in order to let a smaller one to the new person. By the way, he’s on his way to the town; he’ll be here tomorrow. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, he sells cucumbers.”
“Oh, I love cucumbers, haha. I feel he’s the perfect guy~” Jaejoong couldn’t help whispering to his friend with a wink.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a cucumber-guy,” Yunho smiled.
“Yummy, I love cucumbers too, maybe more his.”
“Just… Shut up Hyori,” Yunho sighed, trying to hide his chuckle.
“The people who will work together are Kim Jaejoong and Jung Yunho.”
“WHAT?!” the two men yelled together while the crowd started to murmur some things.
“Well,” the mayor cleared his throat. “Since you both sell the same fruits, I decided to group your stands. My decision is final. I’ll explain to you how this will work tomorrow.”
He suddenly left them while the other merchants were still surprised. They knew the young men disliked each other. How come they would work together? That was quite impossible.
“That’s not even a vegetable that people like…” Yunho groaned, fuming.
“Yah! Who the hell even eats cucumbers nowadays?!” Jaejoong blurted out, completely contradicting his previous words.
<< CHAPTER 3 ________________________________ ______________ CHAPTER 5 >>
A/N: Finally the 4th chapter! Sorry for the lateness again u.u I hope it was worth the wait... (no? D:) *gets bricked*
Thank you all and don't forget to tell me if you like it :)