Jjang!
Title: Jjang!
Author: nanaspineapple
Pairing: Kaisoo
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I own nothing beside this fic
Word Count: 5,930
Summary: Jongin wants to get his poodle back. He gets more than that.
Cold wind hits Jongin’s face as the boy sprints down the road, beads of sweat on his forehead and breath coming out as thin, fading fog. He looks around frantically, panic obvious in his eyes. His right hand is trembling because he’s clueless and confused and scared, a black nylon leash grasped tightly under his long fingers.
It’s been about an hour since he started searching and as he feels that his legs grow weaker as a result of running too long, hopelessness hits his head hard and his eyes start to tear, wetting his lashes.
“Jjangah...” he whispers sadly.
oooooooooooooo
“Kyungsoo-yaaa! How long are you going to make me wait?!”
Kyungsoo grunts before punching Chanyeol’s arm, making the taller male groans in pain. He doesn’t say anything, though, and he only rubs his arm in an attempt to erase the pain away.
“Do you still want to buy rice cakes or not?” Kyungsoo scolds, he folds his arms in front of his chest.
“Let’s forget the rice cakes and go home. It’s getting cold, I’m going to die,” Chanyeol suggests and Kyungsoo only shrugs. He can see that his roommate is shivering badly. They start to walk to the direction of their shared apartment, arms touching to prevent the warmth between them from fleeing away.
All of a sudden, Kyungsoo stops and Chanyeol has to halt his steps, too. He doesn’t want to walk without a company in such cold air. “What is it?”
“Ssh,” Kyungsoo hisses as he holds up a finger in front of his mouth. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Chanyeol should admit that Kyungsoo is a lot sharper to him, the short guy is extremely aware of his surroundings and that’s exactly what makes him scary.
Kyungsoo approaches a dark alley and squats, observing the place before gasping and snaps his head at Chanyeol. “Chanyeol!” he shrieks. “Look at this!”
Since Kyungsoo isn’t the type of a person that becomes excited over useless thing, Chanyeol bends to see what makes Kyungsoo surprised, and he widens his eyes upon seeing a tiny, white poodle sticking to the wall behind her, she’s shivering from the cold and she looks scared. Chanyeol almost feel sorry, but he shakes his head.
“Let’s get her to a dog shelter,” Chanyeol tells, but Kyungsoo frowns at him.
“What about taking care of her until we find her owner?” Kyungsoo pleads.
“Kyungsoo, we’re not allowed to bring animals into the apartment...”
“I’ll try asking the landlord! Only until we find the owner!”
It has been years since Kyungsoo and Chanyeol started to become best friends, and Chanyeol knows well that Kyungsoo isn’t the type to do aegyo to beg because despite his small frame and cute look, Kyungsoo is the boyish type and he can’t do aegyo. But he does know that he looks cute without even trying, and he takes advantage of it at times like this because Chanyeol is extremely weak to cute things.
Kyungsoo stares at Chanyeol with his round, wide eyes, eyebrows down and lips pouted in disappointment. Chanyeol’s legs tremble, no one knows this side of Kyungsoo except him and he starts to wonder why Kyungsoo never uses this so-called weapon to anyone else but him.
He decides to give up.
“Only until we find the owner,” Chanyeol repeats helplessly as he facepalms, and Kyungsoo grins happily, arms stretched to the puppy to ensure her that he’s not going to hurt her.
“It’s okay,” he says softly. What the heck, Chanyeol thinks, he doesn’t even speak that soft to me. “Come here, it’s okay.”
It takes almost a minute for Kyungsoo to make the poodle walks to his hands and he carefully lifts her in his embrace. Chanyeol steps closer and lightly tugs at the round metallic tag hanging to her collar to see her name. He squints and turns it to see if the owner left their phone number or address, but there’s nothing but her name.
“Her name is Jjangah?” Chanyeol asks as he caresses Jjangah’s head. “Her owner is careless enough to leave this tag without their address.”
“We’ll find your owner so don’t worry, Jjangah!” Kyungsoo smiles at the poodle and she responds by wiggling her tail. Both of the males laughs and continues to walk home since the air is getting colder.
oooooooooooooo
“Hey,” Sehun calls because he’s sick seeing Jongin laying his head soullessly on his table with a helpless face. The lunch break is about to end and Jongin doesn’t even go to canteen, which indicates that there’s something terribly wrong because Kim Jongin lives for food. He taps on Jongin’s back and sits beside him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Yesterday you called me excitedly because you were going out with Jjangah.”
Jongin lifts his face up from the table and huffs. “I lost her.”
“You lost-what?? How?”
“It was the metal clip that connects the leash with her collar! We haven’t changed it for months so it’s already loose and noona told me to buy a new one, but I’m too lazy to do it and I thought it would be okay... I’m such an idiot,” Jongin grumbles while ruffling his own hair before pressing his forehead on the table. He lets Sehun plays with his messy hair, tongue clicks escaping his mouth.
“So your noonas were angry at you?”
“They are angry at me,” Jongin corrects, he turns his face and this time it’s his cheek which is pressed to the cold, wooden surface so that Sehun can see his desperate face. “Jjangah is our youngest kid, and to think that I was that careless...”
“Have you looked for her?”
“I went to the places we frequent three times and she was nowhere to be found.”
“Hmm.” Sehun rests his cheek on his palm, face flat as how usually it is. “Do you want me to help you?”
Hearing that question (or more like, offer), Jongin immediately straightens his back, eyes wide and sharp, making the younger boy squints in confusion at him. “Oh Sehun, I love you...”
Sehun almost throws the chair he’s sitting on.
oooooooooooooo
In the end, Kyungsoo managed to ensure the landlord that he and Chanyeol are going to keep the puppy only until they find the owner. She only gives two weeks and Kyungsoo is a bit concerned, but Chanyeol tells him not to worry and two weeks are more than enough to look for the owner.
“We barely feed ourselves, how should we feed her?” Kyungsoo asks while throwing Chanyeol’s old tennis ball to the end of the room and watches when Jjangah chases it enthusiastically. The poodle bites the ball gently and brings it back to Kyungsoo who accepts it with a smile.
“Junmyeon hyung has a dog, too. Let’s just ask him for some pellets or biscuits,” Chanyeol answers after replying some Kakao Talk messages in his phone. He glances at Kyungsoo who’s holding Jjangah’s front legs, lifting them so she’s standing with her back ones.
“Is it really okay? Isn’t dog food a bit pricey?” Kyungsoo asks again, head turns to Chanyeol who’s still busy with his phone and judging from his smile, he’s chatting with Baekhyun.
“He’s a rich ass who takes out credit card as if it’s some changes, no worries,” Chanyeol jokes and Kyungsoo only snorts in response. The taller male then puts his phone away to sit on the floor with Kyungsoo.
“Sit,” Kyungsoo demands and even though it takes a bit long, Jjangah obeys quietly. “Uwa, she’s good.”
“Hand,” Chanyeol adds as he holds out a hand and the poodle immediately puts one of her paws onto Chanyeol’s palm, and both of them laughs. Chanyeol shakes the paw in excitement because he’s never had a dog before and he didn’t know that this kind of thing is actually fun. He detaches Jjangah’s paw and caresses her back. “I only had a ferret back then.”
“But you lost it, right?”
“Yeah. What a pity. By the time I lost it, I was busy with school so I didn’t bother buying pets.”
Kyungsoo doesn’t answer and he keeps on playing with Jjangah, making sure she’s not bored. He throws Chanyeol’s tennis ball a few times, and when Jjangah comes back for the fifth times, she drops the ball and crawls onto Kyungsoo’s thighs, climbs the male’s chest to stand and nuzzles her nose to Kyungsoo’s chin.
“Aigoo.” Chanyeol shakes his head. “She likes you.”
oooooooooooooo
Jongin practically throws himself onto his bed, making it creaks a bit and lets out one of the most unattractive groan Sehun has ever heard in his life that’s muffled by the pillow. The younger boy silently kicks Jongin’s thigh as a signal for him to shift a bit and Jongin does, creating more space and Sehun lays beside him, phone in his hands.
“Oh God, it’s almost a week...” Jongin whines and Sehun shifts his eyes from his phone screen to his friend’s face. “I feel like crying.”
“Shut it, you’re ugly when you’re crying. You cried yesterday, anyway.”
“I cried every night thinking of her.”
“What a cry baby.”
“Shut it,” Jongin repeats mockingly. “I’m the youngest son and this is my house, it’s my territory to be babied around.”
Sehun turns his head with a disbelief stare. “Do you acknowledge yourself as a senior in high school? You’re a nuisance.”
“Why are we friends again?”
This time, instead of answering with another annoying thing, Sehun shoots up, eyes wide and Jongin thinks he sees a light bulb above Sehun’s head out of nowhere so he sits as well even though he doesn’t know what Sehun’s up to. “What? What?”
“Let’s use the internet, idiot!” he almost shouts and Jongin’s face goes blank for a while before he realizes what Sehun said and points at him while letting out a loud, ‘aaaaah!’ with a dumb face. Sehun shakes his head while turning on the wifi in his phone and waits until it connects with Jongin’s router. “Everything’s on internet these days, why should we go around tiring ourselves out like this.”
“Search for it! Search for it!!” Sehun moves his device a bit so that both of them get the full view of the screen and he types ‘Jjangah’ on the search bar. “Are you sure we’re going to find her just by her name?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the only idiot in Korea who named his dog Jjangah,” Sehun says and he presses the search button, results come in a blink of eye and they both scan them and go ‘oooh!’ at the same time because there’s a blog provided for lost dogs with ‘Jjangah’ in it. Sehun taps on it and when the picture fully loads, Jongin screams on his ear.
“That’s Jjangah! Oh my God, my baby! She’s there! She’s there!” Jongin squeals, and Sehun swears he sees tears forming in his eyes.
“There’s a phone number there, jot it! Where’s your phone?”
“My phone’s being charged...” Jongin slides off the bed and snatches an unused paper and a pen before crawling back next to Sehun’s spot and carefully writes the phone number with a name above it. “Do Kyungsoo... I hope he’s treating Jjangah well...”
“She looks fine in this picture, I think he’s really taking care of her,” Sehun adds.
“I’ll call him after I finish charging my phone.” Jongin stares at the paper, and then he looks at Sehun with a sincere gratitude in his eyes. “Thanks, dude.”
“You owe me a glass of bubble tea.”
“I knew you would say that.”
oooooooooooooo
Kyungsoo has just finished showering that night, towel draped on his wet hair and his skin is still cold. He coughs a bit because the air feels dry and his feet feel cold so he looks for his socks to keep them warm. In the living room, Chanyeol is feeding Jjangah (with the dog biscuit they got from Junmyeon, thank you very much) and he only gives the food to Jjangah every time she does something he tells her.
“Roll~” he says, grinning as the poodle lays and rolls to her back. He shoves the biscuit gently to her mouth and she accepts it immediately. Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo walking closer to him and his grin somehow grows wider. “Kyungsoo-ya! I’ll show you what I taught her!”
Giggling because Chanyeol is extremely excited, Kyungsoo sits with him. “What is it?”
Jjangah rolls to her stomach again, tongue sticking out and she turns her head to Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. The taller male snaps his finger to get her attention and once the poodle is looking at him, Chanyeol points his two fingers at her as if his hand is a gun and, “ppang!”
“Oh!” Kyungsoo is left impressed because Jjangah puts her head down, playing dead. They have tried to do that to her before, but it looked like her owner haven’t taught it to her so Chanyeol took the initiative to do so. They laugh, and Chanyeol gives Jjangah another biscuit.
Kyungsoo’s phone rings and the latter stands up to pick up the phone. It’s from an unknown number, but it might be the owner of Jjangah. He slides his finger on the screen before greeting a polite, “hello, this is Do-”
“ARE YOU DO KYUNGSOO???”
Kyungsoo has to snap his head away from his phone because the other line’s voice is extremely loud, and he tries to calm himself first before pressing the device to his ear again. “Yes, speaking. How can I help you?”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Where-where is Jjangah?”
He knows the answer, but he still turns his head at Chanyeol’s direction. “She’s... in the living room?”
“Please, let me talk to her. Put your phone on speaker and let me talk to her,” the male on the other line begs and even though he’s still a bit confused, he puts his phone on speaker and approaches Jjangah.
“She’s here. Say something.”
“Jjangah??” the male calls and the poodle seems to recognise that voice and she starts to jump in excitement while barking loudly. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo exchange surprised stare because that means the caller is her owner. “Oh God, you’re really there! I miss you, baby! Listen, I’m really sorry for another day, I should’ve changed the metal clip, but hey, I’ve bought you a new one. Guess what? It’s red! It’s your favourite color!”
The two males decide to stay quiet while the Jjangah’s owner talking to his poodle, and Chanyeol leaves in the middle of the (one-sided) conversation to take a bath. After about three minutes, the conversation seems to have come to an end.
“I’ll meet you soon, baby. Take care of yourself until then, okay??” Jjangah makes a whiny sound and the male on the other line only laughs. There’s a pause and Kyungsoo waits. “Um... sir, I’m done. You can turn off the speaker.”
“Alright.” Kyungsoo deactivates the speaker mode and presses his phone to his ear again. This owner sounds awkward and he unconsciously smiles. “Hearing your conversation, it looks like you’re the owner.”
“Yeah... I’m-I’m really sorry, am I being impolite? It’s just, I, I was really worried about her...”
“No, I truly understand your concern. Can you give me your name, please?”
“Ah, I’m Kim Jongin. I’m a student in K high school.”
He’s a high schooler and he’s this childish? Kyungsoo asks himself inwardly before clearing his throat. “Okay, since you’re younger I’ll just follow you. Where do you want us to meet?”
“Um, there’s this park Jjangah and I frequent... it’s near an ice cream shop, this park has a vee~ry big tree in it? Do you know it?”
“Ice cream shop... big tree...” Kyungsoo repeats, trying to remember all the parks he has ever been and the one Jongin has just mentioned comes to his mind and he nods even though Jongin can’t see him. “Oh, I know that park.”
“Okay?” Jongin pauses for a while, and despite having no clue about this kid’s appearance, Kyungsoo can imagine him biting his lips because he’s nervous. “So... Friday? At 5?”
“Sure. I’m the man in black. See you on Friday, Jongin-ssi!”
“Yes. Thank you very much. See you.”
The call is disconnected and Kyungsoo cups Jjangah’s face, a bit part of his heart feels sad that Jjangah has to go but there is where she belongs and she’ll definitely be happier there. After all, Kuyngsoo knows that he’s too broke to keep an animal for a long time. It’s not good to keep on asking Junmyeon to share his dog’s food even though he doesn’t seem to mind.
oooooooooooooo
(“I found her, noona! This Do Kyungsoo person found her. We’re meeting on Friday!” Jongin says proudly to his noona who has been listening. The older girl only shakes her head. Jongin frowns. “What? Don’t you feel impressed?”
“I’d be impressed if you had changed the metal clip days ago.”
Jongin can only sigh. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ve bought the new one anyway.”
“Oh, and be careful when meeting this Do Kyungsoo person, okay?”
“Why is that? He sounds kind enough.”
“His voice doesn’t define who he is. What if he’s a perverted middle aged man?”)
oooooooooooooo
Friday comes faster than Jongin thought it would be and he finds himself sitting on a bench at the park he and Kyungsoo are supposed to meet. The air is getting colder and the wind is also getting stronger, but it has no effect on Jongin. Kim Jongin is a boy who grows up with an abnormally high body temperature which makes him sleeps shirtless even during winter, and also made him went to the park without zipping up his jacket-heck, he doesn’t even wear socks.
He’s playing with the new leash in his hands, head keeps on replying his sister’s words about the possibility that Do Kyungsoo is a perverted middle aged man... Jongin doesn’t really remember how he sounds but to think about it, Kyungsoo’s voice is really... manly.
What if I get raped... Jongin thinks to himself in worry. He glances at his wristwatch, it’s precisely 5.00 pm. He arrived about 10 minutes earlier because the clock in his room is out of battery and he doesn’t mind waiting, but he’s the type that gets bored easily so the next second he’s already busy with games in his phone. Jongin isn’t the type to take selcas, he has an iPod to play songs and he doesn’t like social medias so the available memory in his phone is excessive and that explains why he has 21 different games there.
The car he’s playing in Hill Climb Racing fails a backflip and it crashes right before he breaks his previous record and he curses under his breath and groans loudly in frustration. He exits the game as a sound of barking reaches his ears and he swears he’s never gasped that loud before. A familiar white poodle is running toward him and he can feel himself tearing up at the sight.
“Jjangah!” he shouted happily, and he doesn’t care about anything else in this world. It’s only his youngest, beautiful white poodle and him. He squats and everything suddenly goes in slow motion as Jjangah jumps to his arms and he catches her before pulling her into a tight hug, kisses her forehead and hugs her again. He puts the poodle on the ground, grinning happily. However, the grin disappears as he catches an unfamiliar leash that’s connected to the poodle’s collar.
A perverted middle aged man.
Jongin gulps as his eyes follow the leash. There’s a pair of clean sneakers, okay. He shifts his gaze upwards. A pair of black jeans. He keeps on lifting up his face and all he sees in black. Black belt, black jacket.
I’m the man in black.
Jongin cranes his neck until he gets the view of Kyungsoo’s face.
See you on Friday, Jongin-ssi!
“Hello there,” Kyungsoo greets as he smiles, eyes turning into crescents and Jongin gapes at the sight. He has his eyes on the latter’s lips. Heart shaped???? Seriously???????
Jongin stands up abruptly and Kyungsoo’s face looks even better from the front view and-oh gosh he’s shorter than me! Jongin groans inwardly, feeling stupid for expecting a perverted middle aged man when the one who came is a cute shorter male with squishable cheeks, adorably round eyes and heart-shaped lips he doesn’t know exist. Kyungsoo looks like he’s Jongin’s age, but the other day he said something about Jongin being younger so he gives him a proper 90 degree bow.
“Hello, my name is Kim Jongin, it’s nice to meet you!” he greets before straightening his body again. “Thank you for taking care of Jjangah... I was-I was really careless...”
“No, it’s okay. She didn’t mess up and was really kind to me.” Kyungsoo gives him another smile and Jongin thinks he will faint anytime soon if the shorter male doesn’t stop smiling right here and there. He decides he’s interested in this person. All of a sudden, Kyungsoo squats in front of Jjangah who’s sitting quietly and unlinks the leash from her collar and caresses her head. “Be a good girl and don’t lose Jongin again, okay?”
Jjangah barks softly and Jongin’s heart drops. What did he just say? He’s planning to leave already?
After Kyungsoo’s done ruffling Jjangah’s head, he stands up. “Well, there your puppy goes. So... we’re done? Then, I’m going...”
NO!!! Jongin wants to screech but the words seem to be stuck at the tip of his tongue. He doesn’t want Kyungsoo to go. There’s a peculiar feeling in his chest and he can’t really tell what it is, but he’s sure it’s the ‘don’t go because you’re cute and I think I like you and what about a date sometime because you and I would look good together’ kind of feeling.
Fortunately, as if knowing Jongin’s heart, Jjangah jumps into Kyungsoo right on his second step, the poodle stands on his back legs and her front legs are on Kyungsoo’s thighs, refusing to let go. “Jjangah, what is it?”
“She-” Jongin stutters. “-she likes you.”
“Oh well,” Kyungsoo laughs and he bends to rub on Jjangah’s back. “I like you too.”
Jongin melts at Kyungsoo’s expression because he’s never seen such a sweet man before. Please say that to me too??? “I-I think she doesn’t want you to go... yet.”
“That’s quite obvious, right? Do you want to play something, Jjangah?”
Hearing the question, Jongin immediately reaches for his pocket and takes out a rubber ball before handing it to Kyungsoo. “I bring her favourite ball...”
“That’s really thoughtful of you,” Kyungsoo giggles as he takes the ball and shows it to Jjangah and throws it slowly.
“Umm, what about sitting here for some minutes while watching her... um chasing the ball?” Jongin offers, his hand gesturing at the bench behind him and Kyungsoo nods. They sit on a safe distance, not too far to keep themselves warm and not too close to be awkward. They’re going nowhere if all they do is watching Jjangah running here and there chasing the bouncing ball, so Jongin decides to break the ice. “So, uh, Kyungsoo-ssi, are you in college?”
Kyungsoo chuckles at the formal honorific. “You can call me hyung. Yes, I’m in college. I enrolled this year. What about you? Are you a sophomore?”
“No, I’m a senior...” Jongin rubs his thighs nervously. His inner-self is throwing imaginary confetti. Okay, not a middle-aged man. We’re only a year apart. I can do this.
Jjangah comes with the rubber ball between his teeth and gives it to Kyungsoo. The older male takes the ball and throws it again, to a different direction this time. Kyungsoo turns his head at Jongin who flinches a bit at the sudden action. “What do you want to study in college?”
“Um, dancing?”
“Wow.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and Jongin didn’t expect that. He thought those eyes can’t be wider than before and-why does Jongin sees stars in there?? Kyungsoo scans Jongin from head to toe and the corner of his lip tugs a small smirk. “On second thought, you do look like a dancer.”
“Really?” Jongin laughs lowly, hand rubbing the back of his neck. They both watch Jjangah running at a full speed to catch the ball and have to do a U-turn because the ball bounces on a tree. The silence is a bit awkward but it’s not uncomfortable. He hears Kyungsoo hisses and holds his breath upon seeing the older male shivering under his jacket, he’s shaking his legs in an attempt to shrug off the cold. “Do you... do you feel cold?”
“Huh?” Kyungsoo looks surprised, but he smiles anyway. “Uh, well, I don’t really like winter...”
“M-my hands are warm...” Jongin holds out his hands, but he regrets it the next second. WHAT AM I DOING, he thinks, I’M OFFERING MY HANDS TO A STRANGER-well not really-BUT WAIT NOOOO!!
It’s too late to take his hands back, and Kyungsoo looks flustered-he can’t decide to take the hands or not. His eyes are on Jongin’s blushing face, his hands are still held out and they are trembling. Slowly, Jongin avoids eye contact and bites his lower lip. Kyungsoo finds it adorable and he decides that Jongin is cute. His shy look is somehow priceless and he wants to see some more so he takes the hands, holding them tightly.
“You’re warm,” Kyungsoo says softly, and he feels Jongin’s hands grow warmer. He looks up a bit and the younger boy is blushing madly, he’s obviously trying to say something but he can’t find anything to say. Kyungsoo knows it’s his role as the older one to comfort him. “So that’s why you don’t zip up your jacket.”
“Ah... well...” Jongin blinks, he hasn’t stuttered this bad before. He’s a lead dancer in his school’s dance club, he has an amazing confidence that once he ripped off his shirt when dancing, revealing his collar bones and shoulders and he remembered there was this one girl who fainted upon seeing him like that. That amazing amount of confidence crumbles in front of Do Kyungsoo and he doesn’t know how to build it back. “My sisters always say that I’m abnormal since I don’t really feel the cold.”
“I don’t think you’re abnormal,” Kyungsoo denies while shaking his head. He grabs each of Jongin’s hand in his before bringing them to cover his cheeks, and soon he’s enjoying the warmth because his cheeks are frozen. He exhales, faint white escaping his mouth. “It feels really good...”
This time, it’s Jongin who’s frozen because he can’t believe that he’s touching Kyungsoo’s cheeks, those cheeks which he expected really squishy and they are. Kyungsoo’s hands securing Jongin’s to cup his face, and slowly, Jongin’s expression changes because even though it has been a minute, he can feel the cold skin under his palm. Kyungsoo can’t really stand the cold and he starts to worry.
Jongin presses his palms to Kyungsoo’s cheeks and rubs his thumb delicately on the latter’s cheekbones. He feels Kyungsoo shudders a bit and neither of them move. They don’t notice that Jjangah is watching from afar, she has caught the ball but she knows Jongin too well that he doesn’t want to barge in and disturb them.
Kyungsoo’s cheeks start to become warm and Jongin notices this, but he doesn’t want to let go. Heck, he’s willing to stay in this position forever. However, Kyungsoo pulls Jongin’s hands away while smiling at him.
“My cheeks are warm already,” he says softly, “thanks.”
“N-no... no problem...”
Jongin feels disappointment clouding his heart as the older male detaches their hands, but as long as Kyungsoo feels warm, it’s enough for Jongin. The leash that Kyungsoo put on his lap earlier falls and both of them turn their heads at the nylon material and Kyungsoo bends to take it.
“Where did you get it?” Jongin asks curiously, just in case Kyungsoo also has a puppy.
“This leash? We borrowed it from a friend,” Kyungsoo answers as he puts the leash back on his lap, and Jongin stiffens at the word ‘we.’ “Chanyeol and I are pretty much broke, we can’t afford dog food ourselves, so we had to ask for a help from this friend we know.”
Suddenly the wind feels cold for the first time for Jongin. Now that he thinks about it, Kyungsoo is a university student. University world is definitely bigger and wider than high schools, and there’s always a possibility that Kyungsoo already has a boyfriend. Chanyeol and I are pretty much broke, does that mean they’re living together? If so, then their relationship is serious already...
Jongin feels like giving up.
He keeps on staring at Kyungsoo with a blank face that gets Kyungsoo confused. He waves a hand in front of Jongin’s face. “Jongin-ah?”
The deep voice manages to snap Jongin back to life and by the time he sees Kyungsoo’s worried face, he feels a bit flustered. “I’m sorry, I was spacing out...”
Kyungsoo frowns. “Are you okay?”
“I’m-” Jongin trails off. He contemplates about to ask about it or not. He’s really curious and he wants to know a lot about the older male, so he doesn’t care if this conversation would end up awkward. “Who’s Chanyeol?”
He’s a stranger, he’s fully aware about that. He shouldn’t have asked something too private like that, and Kyungsoo’s surprised face is only making it worse. He’s about to take his question back, but Kyungsoo is faster.
“He’s my roommate,” Kyungsoo answers and Jongin somehow catches a tone of disappointment in his voice. “We’ve been living together since high school, since the rent is cheaper that way.”
Jongin doesn’t say anything. He knows Kyungsoo isn’t finished yet.
“I think I should look for a job to pay the apartment on my own...” Kyungsoo forces himself to chuckle.
“Why is that?”
“Chanyeol is considering to move out with his boyfriend...”
Kyungsoo is sad, that’s obvious, but Jongin can’t help but letting his inner-self shrieks in delight because the fact that this Chanyeol person isn’t his boyfriend hits him hard straight on the heart like he just won a ticket to travel to outer space. He puts a hand over his mouth to suppress his (unmanly) squeal from passing his lips.
Jjangah runs toward Jongin because the ball is bouncing to his place, and he easily catches it, then lets Jjangah puts his front paws on his knees. Both Jongin and Kyungsoo laugh because the puppy is undoubtedly cute. The younger boy rubs Jjangah’s nose while smiling because he missed her so much. From his peripheral vision, Jongin sees Kyungsoo takes a look at his watch and he knows people don’t see their watches for nothing. Kyungsoo is up to something.
“I’m cooking dinner today, so I have to go now,” Kyungsoo says while standing. Jongin can only give him a blank stare because no, he really doesn’t want Kyungsoo to go. “It’s really nice to meet you, Jongin-ah. Bye.”
The last word makes a hole in Jongin’s heart. Bye?? Not even a see you around??? Jongin starts to fight with his inner-self because that means there are possibilities that they won’t meet again. Maybe Kyungsoo will delete his number, maybe one day if they bump into each other, Kyungsoo won’t even remember his face. He can’t let that happen!
That’s exactly why he grips Kyungsoo’s wrist just on time to stop him from walking.
“Do I forget something?” Kyungsoo asks in confusion. He even scans the bench to check if something from his pocket dropped or something, but the bench is empty and Jongin’s face is so, so unreadable. He blinks a few times because-what is this kid doing? “Jongin-ah?”
“Do you-” Jongin gulps. He may get a no later, but it’s better than doing nothing. “-do you like waffles?”
“Huh?” Kyungsoo widens his eyes at the sudden question, but then realization hits him and he smiles. Jongin is way too obvious and he finds it really cute. He’s still a high schooler anyway. Kyungsoo licks his lips once before nodding. “Yeah, I love waffles. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just, um...” Jongin steps closer and clears his throat. He’s avoiding Kyungsoo’s eyes again-one thing Kyungsoo learns that Jongin does every time he’s nervous. “There’s this new waffle store near the station, my friends said their waffles are really good... so... if you’re free...?”
The wind is definitely cold but Jongin’s grip on his wrist manages to make him feels warmer. He chuckles and his heart melts at the blushing cheeks before him. “I’m free on Sunday.”
That’s all Kyungsoo needs to say to make Jongin’s face brightens as if heaven is in front of him, and his eyes sparkle like fireworks. He forms a really excited, cute smile on his face with a disbelief expression. “R-really?”
“Yeah. Are you busy that day?”
“N-no!” Jongin unconsciously lets off Kyungsoo’s wrist to hold the sides of his head because he can’t believe that Kyungsoo didn’t reject him... well, he didn’t exactly say yes either, but this is already a good start. Jongin is normally the worst person on earth when it comes to asking out. “Uh, I have your number so... I’ll text you later? Or do you prefer phone call?”
Instead of answering, Kyungsoo steps closer until the tip of their shoes are touching, and he leans a bit to peck Jongin on the cheek. The younger boy nearly collapses but he quickly gets a hold of himself, a hand covering his mouth, forcing his lips to shut tight to force any kind of other unmanly voice from escaping. Kyungsoo chuckles and-Jongin thinks he will die if Kyungsoo doesn’t stop letting out that beautiful sound.
“Call me after 7, okay? See you, Jongin-ah,” Kyungsoo says as he waves his hands, feet walking toward the park’s gate. He gives Jongin a last wink before turning around and walks away from the park, hands in his jacket’s pockets.
The moment Kyungsoo is out of his sight, Jongin falls to his knees, mind fails processing what just happened. He can feel the heat all over his face-he must be all red now.
Jongin feels Jjangah nuzzles her nose to his leg and he looks down, his hand now covering the part where Kyungsoo’s lips were there before and it stings as if someone has just slapped him. However, it’s not stinging in an annoying way. Jongin likes it so damn much. The tanned boy picks Jjangah up from the ground and carries her in front of his chest. He grabs her new leash from the bench and quickly walks outside the park because he wants to show Jjangah to her sisters as fast as possible.
“I came here to get you but I got a cute boy as a bonus,” Jongin sighs, feet lightly stomping the ground to calm his erratically beating heart. The image of Kyungsoo, smiling, eyes turning to crescents and lips forming a heart with a melodic chuckle appears in his mind and he wants to protest to God about why such a cute man exists in this world. He really can’t wait to call Kyungsoo tonight. “Were you matchmaking me, Jjangah??”
The poodle only barks in response, and Jongin lets out a high-pitched screech of frustration and happiness, making Jjangah flinches in his arms.
Author: nanaspineapple
Pairing: Kaisoo
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I own nothing beside this fic
Word Count: 5,930
Summary: Jongin wants to get his poodle back. He gets more than that.
Cold wind hits Jongin’s face as the boy sprints down the road, beads of sweat on his forehead and breath coming out as thin, fading fog. He looks around frantically, panic obvious in his eyes. His right hand is trembling because he’s clueless and confused and scared, a black nylon leash grasped tightly under his long fingers.
It’s been about an hour since he started searching and as he feels that his legs grow weaker as a result of running too long, hopelessness hits his head hard and his eyes start to tear, wetting his lashes.
“Jjangah...” he whispers sadly.
oooooooooooooo
“Kyungsoo-yaaa! How long are you going to make me wait?!”
Kyungsoo grunts before punching Chanyeol’s arm, making the taller male groans in pain. He doesn’t say anything, though, and he only rubs his arm in an attempt to erase the pain away.
“Do you still want to buy rice cakes or not?” Kyungsoo scolds, he folds his arms in front of his chest.
“Let’s forget the rice cakes and go home. It’s getting cold, I’m going to die,” Chanyeol suggests and Kyungsoo only shrugs. He can see that his roommate is shivering badly. They start to walk to the direction of their shared apartment, arms touching to prevent the warmth between them from fleeing away.
All of a sudden, Kyungsoo stops and Chanyeol has to halt his steps, too. He doesn’t want to walk without a company in such cold air. “What is it?”
“Ssh,” Kyungsoo hisses as he holds up a finger in front of his mouth. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Chanyeol should admit that Kyungsoo is a lot sharper to him, the short guy is extremely aware of his surroundings and that’s exactly what makes him scary.
Kyungsoo approaches a dark alley and squats, observing the place before gasping and snaps his head at Chanyeol. “Chanyeol!” he shrieks. “Look at this!”
Since Kyungsoo isn’t the type of a person that becomes excited over useless thing, Chanyeol bends to see what makes Kyungsoo surprised, and he widens his eyes upon seeing a tiny, white poodle sticking to the wall behind her, she’s shivering from the cold and she looks scared. Chanyeol almost feel sorry, but he shakes his head.
“Let’s get her to a dog shelter,” Chanyeol tells, but Kyungsoo frowns at him.
“What about taking care of her until we find her owner?” Kyungsoo pleads.
“Kyungsoo, we’re not allowed to bring animals into the apartment...”
“I’ll try asking the landlord! Only until we find the owner!”
It has been years since Kyungsoo and Chanyeol started to become best friends, and Chanyeol knows well that Kyungsoo isn’t the type to do aegyo to beg because despite his small frame and cute look, Kyungsoo is the boyish type and he can’t do aegyo. But he does know that he looks cute without even trying, and he takes advantage of it at times like this because Chanyeol is extremely weak to cute things.
Kyungsoo stares at Chanyeol with his round, wide eyes, eyebrows down and lips pouted in disappointment. Chanyeol’s legs tremble, no one knows this side of Kyungsoo except him and he starts to wonder why Kyungsoo never uses this so-called weapon to anyone else but him.
He decides to give up.
“Only until we find the owner,” Chanyeol repeats helplessly as he facepalms, and Kyungsoo grins happily, arms stretched to the puppy to ensure her that he’s not going to hurt her.
“It’s okay,” he says softly. What the heck, Chanyeol thinks, he doesn’t even speak that soft to me. “Come here, it’s okay.”
It takes almost a minute for Kyungsoo to make the poodle walks to his hands and he carefully lifts her in his embrace. Chanyeol steps closer and lightly tugs at the round metallic tag hanging to her collar to see her name. He squints and turns it to see if the owner left their phone number or address, but there’s nothing but her name.
“Her name is Jjangah?” Chanyeol asks as he caresses Jjangah’s head. “Her owner is careless enough to leave this tag without their address.”
“We’ll find your owner so don’t worry, Jjangah!” Kyungsoo smiles at the poodle and she responds by wiggling her tail. Both of the males laughs and continues to walk home since the air is getting colder.
oooooooooooooo
“Hey,” Sehun calls because he’s sick seeing Jongin laying his head soullessly on his table with a helpless face. The lunch break is about to end and Jongin doesn’t even go to canteen, which indicates that there’s something terribly wrong because Kim Jongin lives for food. He taps on Jongin’s back and sits beside him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Yesterday you called me excitedly because you were going out with Jjangah.”
Jongin lifts his face up from the table and huffs. “I lost her.”
“You lost-what?? How?”
“It was the metal clip that connects the leash with her collar! We haven’t changed it for months so it’s already loose and noona told me to buy a new one, but I’m too lazy to do it and I thought it would be okay... I’m such an idiot,” Jongin grumbles while ruffling his own hair before pressing his forehead on the table. He lets Sehun plays with his messy hair, tongue clicks escaping his mouth.
“So your noonas were angry at you?”
“They are angry at me,” Jongin corrects, he turns his face and this time it’s his cheek which is pressed to the cold, wooden surface so that Sehun can see his desperate face. “Jjangah is our youngest kid, and to think that I was that careless...”
“Have you looked for her?”
“I went to the places we frequent three times and she was nowhere to be found.”
“Hmm.” Sehun rests his cheek on his palm, face flat as how usually it is. “Do you want me to help you?”
Hearing that question (or more like, offer), Jongin immediately straightens his back, eyes wide and sharp, making the younger boy squints in confusion at him. “Oh Sehun, I love you...”
Sehun almost throws the chair he’s sitting on.
oooooooooooooo
In the end, Kyungsoo managed to ensure the landlord that he and Chanyeol are going to keep the puppy only until they find the owner. She only gives two weeks and Kyungsoo is a bit concerned, but Chanyeol tells him not to worry and two weeks are more than enough to look for the owner.
“We barely feed ourselves, how should we feed her?” Kyungsoo asks while throwing Chanyeol’s old tennis ball to the end of the room and watches when Jjangah chases it enthusiastically. The poodle bites the ball gently and brings it back to Kyungsoo who accepts it with a smile.
“Junmyeon hyung has a dog, too. Let’s just ask him for some pellets or biscuits,” Chanyeol answers after replying some Kakao Talk messages in his phone. He glances at Kyungsoo who’s holding Jjangah’s front legs, lifting them so she’s standing with her back ones.
“Is it really okay? Isn’t dog food a bit pricey?” Kyungsoo asks again, head turns to Chanyeol who’s still busy with his phone and judging from his smile, he’s chatting with Baekhyun.
“He’s a rich ass who takes out credit card as if it’s some changes, no worries,” Chanyeol jokes and Kyungsoo only snorts in response. The taller male then puts his phone away to sit on the floor with Kyungsoo.
“Sit,” Kyungsoo demands and even though it takes a bit long, Jjangah obeys quietly. “Uwa, she’s good.”
“Hand,” Chanyeol adds as he holds out a hand and the poodle immediately puts one of her paws onto Chanyeol’s palm, and both of them laughs. Chanyeol shakes the paw in excitement because he’s never had a dog before and he didn’t know that this kind of thing is actually fun. He detaches Jjangah’s paw and caresses her back. “I only had a ferret back then.”
“But you lost it, right?”
“Yeah. What a pity. By the time I lost it, I was busy with school so I didn’t bother buying pets.”
Kyungsoo doesn’t answer and he keeps on playing with Jjangah, making sure she’s not bored. He throws Chanyeol’s tennis ball a few times, and when Jjangah comes back for the fifth times, she drops the ball and crawls onto Kyungsoo’s thighs, climbs the male’s chest to stand and nuzzles her nose to Kyungsoo’s chin.
“Aigoo.” Chanyeol shakes his head. “She likes you.”
oooooooooooooo
Jongin practically throws himself onto his bed, making it creaks a bit and lets out one of the most unattractive groan Sehun has ever heard in his life that’s muffled by the pillow. The younger boy silently kicks Jongin’s thigh as a signal for him to shift a bit and Jongin does, creating more space and Sehun lays beside him, phone in his hands.
“Oh God, it’s almost a week...” Jongin whines and Sehun shifts his eyes from his phone screen to his friend’s face. “I feel like crying.”
“Shut it, you’re ugly when you’re crying. You cried yesterday, anyway.”
“I cried every night thinking of her.”
“What a cry baby.”
“Shut it,” Jongin repeats mockingly. “I’m the youngest son and this is my house, it’s my territory to be babied around.”
Sehun turns his head with a disbelief stare. “Do you acknowledge yourself as a senior in high school? You’re a nuisance.”
“Why are we friends again?”
This time, instead of answering with another annoying thing, Sehun shoots up, eyes wide and Jongin thinks he sees a light bulb above Sehun’s head out of nowhere so he sits as well even though he doesn’t know what Sehun’s up to. “What? What?”
“Let’s use the internet, idiot!” he almost shouts and Jongin’s face goes blank for a while before he realizes what Sehun said and points at him while letting out a loud, ‘aaaaah!’ with a dumb face. Sehun shakes his head while turning on the wifi in his phone and waits until it connects with Jongin’s router. “Everything’s on internet these days, why should we go around tiring ourselves out like this.”
“Search for it! Search for it!!” Sehun moves his device a bit so that both of them get the full view of the screen and he types ‘Jjangah’ on the search bar. “Are you sure we’re going to find her just by her name?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the only idiot in Korea who named his dog Jjangah,” Sehun says and he presses the search button, results come in a blink of eye and they both scan them and go ‘oooh!’ at the same time because there’s a blog provided for lost dogs with ‘Jjangah’ in it. Sehun taps on it and when the picture fully loads, Jongin screams on his ear.
“That’s Jjangah! Oh my God, my baby! She’s there! She’s there!” Jongin squeals, and Sehun swears he sees tears forming in his eyes.
“There’s a phone number there, jot it! Where’s your phone?”
“My phone’s being charged...” Jongin slides off the bed and snatches an unused paper and a pen before crawling back next to Sehun’s spot and carefully writes the phone number with a name above it. “Do Kyungsoo... I hope he’s treating Jjangah well...”
“She looks fine in this picture, I think he’s really taking care of her,” Sehun adds.
“I’ll call him after I finish charging my phone.” Jongin stares at the paper, and then he looks at Sehun with a sincere gratitude in his eyes. “Thanks, dude.”
“You owe me a glass of bubble tea.”
“I knew you would say that.”
oooooooooooooo
Kyungsoo has just finished showering that night, towel draped on his wet hair and his skin is still cold. He coughs a bit because the air feels dry and his feet feel cold so he looks for his socks to keep them warm. In the living room, Chanyeol is feeding Jjangah (with the dog biscuit they got from Junmyeon, thank you very much) and he only gives the food to Jjangah every time she does something he tells her.
“Roll~” he says, grinning as the poodle lays and rolls to her back. He shoves the biscuit gently to her mouth and she accepts it immediately. Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo walking closer to him and his grin somehow grows wider. “Kyungsoo-ya! I’ll show you what I taught her!”
Giggling because Chanyeol is extremely excited, Kyungsoo sits with him. “What is it?”
Jjangah rolls to her stomach again, tongue sticking out and she turns her head to Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. The taller male snaps his finger to get her attention and once the poodle is looking at him, Chanyeol points his two fingers at her as if his hand is a gun and, “ppang!”
“Oh!” Kyungsoo is left impressed because Jjangah puts her head down, playing dead. They have tried to do that to her before, but it looked like her owner haven’t taught it to her so Chanyeol took the initiative to do so. They laugh, and Chanyeol gives Jjangah another biscuit.
Kyungsoo’s phone rings and the latter stands up to pick up the phone. It’s from an unknown number, but it might be the owner of Jjangah. He slides his finger on the screen before greeting a polite, “hello, this is Do-”
“ARE YOU DO KYUNGSOO???”
Kyungsoo has to snap his head away from his phone because the other line’s voice is extremely loud, and he tries to calm himself first before pressing the device to his ear again. “Yes, speaking. How can I help you?”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Where-where is Jjangah?”
He knows the answer, but he still turns his head at Chanyeol’s direction. “She’s... in the living room?”
“Please, let me talk to her. Put your phone on speaker and let me talk to her,” the male on the other line begs and even though he’s still a bit confused, he puts his phone on speaker and approaches Jjangah.
“She’s here. Say something.”
“Jjangah??” the male calls and the poodle seems to recognise that voice and she starts to jump in excitement while barking loudly. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo exchange surprised stare because that means the caller is her owner. “Oh God, you’re really there! I miss you, baby! Listen, I’m really sorry for another day, I should’ve changed the metal clip, but hey, I’ve bought you a new one. Guess what? It’s red! It’s your favourite color!”
The two males decide to stay quiet while the Jjangah’s owner talking to his poodle, and Chanyeol leaves in the middle of the (one-sided) conversation to take a bath. After about three minutes, the conversation seems to have come to an end.
“I’ll meet you soon, baby. Take care of yourself until then, okay??” Jjangah makes a whiny sound and the male on the other line only laughs. There’s a pause and Kyungsoo waits. “Um... sir, I’m done. You can turn off the speaker.”
“Alright.” Kyungsoo deactivates the speaker mode and presses his phone to his ear again. This owner sounds awkward and he unconsciously smiles. “Hearing your conversation, it looks like you’re the owner.”
“Yeah... I’m-I’m really sorry, am I being impolite? It’s just, I, I was really worried about her...”
“No, I truly understand your concern. Can you give me your name, please?”
“Ah, I’m Kim Jongin. I’m a student in K high school.”
He’s a high schooler and he’s this childish? Kyungsoo asks himself inwardly before clearing his throat. “Okay, since you’re younger I’ll just follow you. Where do you want us to meet?”
“Um, there’s this park Jjangah and I frequent... it’s near an ice cream shop, this park has a vee~ry big tree in it? Do you know it?”
“Ice cream shop... big tree...” Kyungsoo repeats, trying to remember all the parks he has ever been and the one Jongin has just mentioned comes to his mind and he nods even though Jongin can’t see him. “Oh, I know that park.”
“Okay?” Jongin pauses for a while, and despite having no clue about this kid’s appearance, Kyungsoo can imagine him biting his lips because he’s nervous. “So... Friday? At 5?”
“Sure. I’m the man in black. See you on Friday, Jongin-ssi!”
“Yes. Thank you very much. See you.”
The call is disconnected and Kyungsoo cups Jjangah’s face, a bit part of his heart feels sad that Jjangah has to go but there is where she belongs and she’ll definitely be happier there. After all, Kuyngsoo knows that he’s too broke to keep an animal for a long time. It’s not good to keep on asking Junmyeon to share his dog’s food even though he doesn’t seem to mind.
oooooooooooooo
(“I found her, noona! This Do Kyungsoo person found her. We’re meeting on Friday!” Jongin says proudly to his noona who has been listening. The older girl only shakes her head. Jongin frowns. “What? Don’t you feel impressed?”
“I’d be impressed if you had changed the metal clip days ago.”
Jongin can only sigh. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ve bought the new one anyway.”
“Oh, and be careful when meeting this Do Kyungsoo person, okay?”
“Why is that? He sounds kind enough.”
“His voice doesn’t define who he is. What if he’s a perverted middle aged man?”)
oooooooooooooo
Friday comes faster than Jongin thought it would be and he finds himself sitting on a bench at the park he and Kyungsoo are supposed to meet. The air is getting colder and the wind is also getting stronger, but it has no effect on Jongin. Kim Jongin is a boy who grows up with an abnormally high body temperature which makes him sleeps shirtless even during winter, and also made him went to the park without zipping up his jacket-heck, he doesn’t even wear socks.
He’s playing with the new leash in his hands, head keeps on replying his sister’s words about the possibility that Do Kyungsoo is a perverted middle aged man... Jongin doesn’t really remember how he sounds but to think about it, Kyungsoo’s voice is really... manly.
What if I get raped... Jongin thinks to himself in worry. He glances at his wristwatch, it’s precisely 5.00 pm. He arrived about 10 minutes earlier because the clock in his room is out of battery and he doesn’t mind waiting, but he’s the type that gets bored easily so the next second he’s already busy with games in his phone. Jongin isn’t the type to take selcas, he has an iPod to play songs and he doesn’t like social medias so the available memory in his phone is excessive and that explains why he has 21 different games there.
The car he’s playing in Hill Climb Racing fails a backflip and it crashes right before he breaks his previous record and he curses under his breath and groans loudly in frustration. He exits the game as a sound of barking reaches his ears and he swears he’s never gasped that loud before. A familiar white poodle is running toward him and he can feel himself tearing up at the sight.
“Jjangah!” he shouted happily, and he doesn’t care about anything else in this world. It’s only his youngest, beautiful white poodle and him. He squats and everything suddenly goes in slow motion as Jjangah jumps to his arms and he catches her before pulling her into a tight hug, kisses her forehead and hugs her again. He puts the poodle on the ground, grinning happily. However, the grin disappears as he catches an unfamiliar leash that’s connected to the poodle’s collar.
A perverted middle aged man.
Jongin gulps as his eyes follow the leash. There’s a pair of clean sneakers, okay. He shifts his gaze upwards. A pair of black jeans. He keeps on lifting up his face and all he sees in black. Black belt, black jacket.
I’m the man in black.
Jongin cranes his neck until he gets the view of Kyungsoo’s face.
See you on Friday, Jongin-ssi!
“Hello there,” Kyungsoo greets as he smiles, eyes turning into crescents and Jongin gapes at the sight. He has his eyes on the latter’s lips. Heart shaped???? Seriously???????
Jongin stands up abruptly and Kyungsoo’s face looks even better from the front view and-oh gosh he’s shorter than me! Jongin groans inwardly, feeling stupid for expecting a perverted middle aged man when the one who came is a cute shorter male with squishable cheeks, adorably round eyes and heart-shaped lips he doesn’t know exist. Kyungsoo looks like he’s Jongin’s age, but the other day he said something about Jongin being younger so he gives him a proper 90 degree bow.
“Hello, my name is Kim Jongin, it’s nice to meet you!” he greets before straightening his body again. “Thank you for taking care of Jjangah... I was-I was really careless...”
“No, it’s okay. She didn’t mess up and was really kind to me.” Kyungsoo gives him another smile and Jongin thinks he will faint anytime soon if the shorter male doesn’t stop smiling right here and there. He decides he’s interested in this person. All of a sudden, Kyungsoo squats in front of Jjangah who’s sitting quietly and unlinks the leash from her collar and caresses her head. “Be a good girl and don’t lose Jongin again, okay?”
Jjangah barks softly and Jongin’s heart drops. What did he just say? He’s planning to leave already?
After Kyungsoo’s done ruffling Jjangah’s head, he stands up. “Well, there your puppy goes. So... we’re done? Then, I’m going...”
NO!!! Jongin wants to screech but the words seem to be stuck at the tip of his tongue. He doesn’t want Kyungsoo to go. There’s a peculiar feeling in his chest and he can’t really tell what it is, but he’s sure it’s the ‘don’t go because you’re cute and I think I like you and what about a date sometime because you and I would look good together’ kind of feeling.
Fortunately, as if knowing Jongin’s heart, Jjangah jumps into Kyungsoo right on his second step, the poodle stands on his back legs and her front legs are on Kyungsoo’s thighs, refusing to let go. “Jjangah, what is it?”
“She-” Jongin stutters. “-she likes you.”
“Oh well,” Kyungsoo laughs and he bends to rub on Jjangah’s back. “I like you too.”
Jongin melts at Kyungsoo’s expression because he’s never seen such a sweet man before. Please say that to me too??? “I-I think she doesn’t want you to go... yet.”
“That’s quite obvious, right? Do you want to play something, Jjangah?”
Hearing the question, Jongin immediately reaches for his pocket and takes out a rubber ball before handing it to Kyungsoo. “I bring her favourite ball...”
“That’s really thoughtful of you,” Kyungsoo giggles as he takes the ball and shows it to Jjangah and throws it slowly.
“Umm, what about sitting here for some minutes while watching her... um chasing the ball?” Jongin offers, his hand gesturing at the bench behind him and Kyungsoo nods. They sit on a safe distance, not too far to keep themselves warm and not too close to be awkward. They’re going nowhere if all they do is watching Jjangah running here and there chasing the bouncing ball, so Jongin decides to break the ice. “So, uh, Kyungsoo-ssi, are you in college?”
Kyungsoo chuckles at the formal honorific. “You can call me hyung. Yes, I’m in college. I enrolled this year. What about you? Are you a sophomore?”
“No, I’m a senior...” Jongin rubs his thighs nervously. His inner-self is throwing imaginary confetti. Okay, not a middle-aged man. We’re only a year apart. I can do this.
Jjangah comes with the rubber ball between his teeth and gives it to Kyungsoo. The older male takes the ball and throws it again, to a different direction this time. Kyungsoo turns his head at Jongin who flinches a bit at the sudden action. “What do you want to study in college?”
“Um, dancing?”
“Wow.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and Jongin didn’t expect that. He thought those eyes can’t be wider than before and-why does Jongin sees stars in there?? Kyungsoo scans Jongin from head to toe and the corner of his lip tugs a small smirk. “On second thought, you do look like a dancer.”
“Really?” Jongin laughs lowly, hand rubbing the back of his neck. They both watch Jjangah running at a full speed to catch the ball and have to do a U-turn because the ball bounces on a tree. The silence is a bit awkward but it’s not uncomfortable. He hears Kyungsoo hisses and holds his breath upon seeing the older male shivering under his jacket, he’s shaking his legs in an attempt to shrug off the cold. “Do you... do you feel cold?”
“Huh?” Kyungsoo looks surprised, but he smiles anyway. “Uh, well, I don’t really like winter...”
“M-my hands are warm...” Jongin holds out his hands, but he regrets it the next second. WHAT AM I DOING, he thinks, I’M OFFERING MY HANDS TO A STRANGER-well not really-BUT WAIT NOOOO!!
It’s too late to take his hands back, and Kyungsoo looks flustered-he can’t decide to take the hands or not. His eyes are on Jongin’s blushing face, his hands are still held out and they are trembling. Slowly, Jongin avoids eye contact and bites his lower lip. Kyungsoo finds it adorable and he decides that Jongin is cute. His shy look is somehow priceless and he wants to see some more so he takes the hands, holding them tightly.
“You’re warm,” Kyungsoo says softly, and he feels Jongin’s hands grow warmer. He looks up a bit and the younger boy is blushing madly, he’s obviously trying to say something but he can’t find anything to say. Kyungsoo knows it’s his role as the older one to comfort him. “So that’s why you don’t zip up your jacket.”
“Ah... well...” Jongin blinks, he hasn’t stuttered this bad before. He’s a lead dancer in his school’s dance club, he has an amazing confidence that once he ripped off his shirt when dancing, revealing his collar bones and shoulders and he remembered there was this one girl who fainted upon seeing him like that. That amazing amount of confidence crumbles in front of Do Kyungsoo and he doesn’t know how to build it back. “My sisters always say that I’m abnormal since I don’t really feel the cold.”
“I don’t think you’re abnormal,” Kyungsoo denies while shaking his head. He grabs each of Jongin’s hand in his before bringing them to cover his cheeks, and soon he’s enjoying the warmth because his cheeks are frozen. He exhales, faint white escaping his mouth. “It feels really good...”
This time, it’s Jongin who’s frozen because he can’t believe that he’s touching Kyungsoo’s cheeks, those cheeks which he expected really squishy and they are. Kyungsoo’s hands securing Jongin’s to cup his face, and slowly, Jongin’s expression changes because even though it has been a minute, he can feel the cold skin under his palm. Kyungsoo can’t really stand the cold and he starts to worry.
Jongin presses his palms to Kyungsoo’s cheeks and rubs his thumb delicately on the latter’s cheekbones. He feels Kyungsoo shudders a bit and neither of them move. They don’t notice that Jjangah is watching from afar, she has caught the ball but she knows Jongin too well that he doesn’t want to barge in and disturb them.
Kyungsoo’s cheeks start to become warm and Jongin notices this, but he doesn’t want to let go. Heck, he’s willing to stay in this position forever. However, Kyungsoo pulls Jongin’s hands away while smiling at him.
“My cheeks are warm already,” he says softly, “thanks.”
“N-no... no problem...”
Jongin feels disappointment clouding his heart as the older male detaches their hands, but as long as Kyungsoo feels warm, it’s enough for Jongin. The leash that Kyungsoo put on his lap earlier falls and both of them turn their heads at the nylon material and Kyungsoo bends to take it.
“Where did you get it?” Jongin asks curiously, just in case Kyungsoo also has a puppy.
“This leash? We borrowed it from a friend,” Kyungsoo answers as he puts the leash back on his lap, and Jongin stiffens at the word ‘we.’ “Chanyeol and I are pretty much broke, we can’t afford dog food ourselves, so we had to ask for a help from this friend we know.”
Suddenly the wind feels cold for the first time for Jongin. Now that he thinks about it, Kyungsoo is a university student. University world is definitely bigger and wider than high schools, and there’s always a possibility that Kyungsoo already has a boyfriend. Chanyeol and I are pretty much broke, does that mean they’re living together? If so, then their relationship is serious already...
Jongin feels like giving up.
He keeps on staring at Kyungsoo with a blank face that gets Kyungsoo confused. He waves a hand in front of Jongin’s face. “Jongin-ah?”
The deep voice manages to snap Jongin back to life and by the time he sees Kyungsoo’s worried face, he feels a bit flustered. “I’m sorry, I was spacing out...”
Kyungsoo frowns. “Are you okay?”
“I’m-” Jongin trails off. He contemplates about to ask about it or not. He’s really curious and he wants to know a lot about the older male, so he doesn’t care if this conversation would end up awkward. “Who’s Chanyeol?”
He’s a stranger, he’s fully aware about that. He shouldn’t have asked something too private like that, and Kyungsoo’s surprised face is only making it worse. He’s about to take his question back, but Kyungsoo is faster.
“He’s my roommate,” Kyungsoo answers and Jongin somehow catches a tone of disappointment in his voice. “We’ve been living together since high school, since the rent is cheaper that way.”
Jongin doesn’t say anything. He knows Kyungsoo isn’t finished yet.
“I think I should look for a job to pay the apartment on my own...” Kyungsoo forces himself to chuckle.
“Why is that?”
“Chanyeol is considering to move out with his boyfriend...”
Kyungsoo is sad, that’s obvious, but Jongin can’t help but letting his inner-self shrieks in delight because the fact that this Chanyeol person isn’t his boyfriend hits him hard straight on the heart like he just won a ticket to travel to outer space. He puts a hand over his mouth to suppress his (unmanly) squeal from passing his lips.
Jjangah runs toward Jongin because the ball is bouncing to his place, and he easily catches it, then lets Jjangah puts his front paws on his knees. Both Jongin and Kyungsoo laugh because the puppy is undoubtedly cute. The younger boy rubs Jjangah’s nose while smiling because he missed her so much. From his peripheral vision, Jongin sees Kyungsoo takes a look at his watch and he knows people don’t see their watches for nothing. Kyungsoo is up to something.
“I’m cooking dinner today, so I have to go now,” Kyungsoo says while standing. Jongin can only give him a blank stare because no, he really doesn’t want Kyungsoo to go. “It’s really nice to meet you, Jongin-ah. Bye.”
The last word makes a hole in Jongin’s heart. Bye?? Not even a see you around??? Jongin starts to fight with his inner-self because that means there are possibilities that they won’t meet again. Maybe Kyungsoo will delete his number, maybe one day if they bump into each other, Kyungsoo won’t even remember his face. He can’t let that happen!
That’s exactly why he grips Kyungsoo’s wrist just on time to stop him from walking.
“Do I forget something?” Kyungsoo asks in confusion. He even scans the bench to check if something from his pocket dropped or something, but the bench is empty and Jongin’s face is so, so unreadable. He blinks a few times because-what is this kid doing? “Jongin-ah?”
“Do you-” Jongin gulps. He may get a no later, but it’s better than doing nothing. “-do you like waffles?”
“Huh?” Kyungsoo widens his eyes at the sudden question, but then realization hits him and he smiles. Jongin is way too obvious and he finds it really cute. He’s still a high schooler anyway. Kyungsoo licks his lips once before nodding. “Yeah, I love waffles. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just, um...” Jongin steps closer and clears his throat. He’s avoiding Kyungsoo’s eyes again-one thing Kyungsoo learns that Jongin does every time he’s nervous. “There’s this new waffle store near the station, my friends said their waffles are really good... so... if you’re free...?”
The wind is definitely cold but Jongin’s grip on his wrist manages to make him feels warmer. He chuckles and his heart melts at the blushing cheeks before him. “I’m free on Sunday.”
That’s all Kyungsoo needs to say to make Jongin’s face brightens as if heaven is in front of him, and his eyes sparkle like fireworks. He forms a really excited, cute smile on his face with a disbelief expression. “R-really?”
“Yeah. Are you busy that day?”
“N-no!” Jongin unconsciously lets off Kyungsoo’s wrist to hold the sides of his head because he can’t believe that Kyungsoo didn’t reject him... well, he didn’t exactly say yes either, but this is already a good start. Jongin is normally the worst person on earth when it comes to asking out. “Uh, I have your number so... I’ll text you later? Or do you prefer phone call?”
Instead of answering, Kyungsoo steps closer until the tip of their shoes are touching, and he leans a bit to peck Jongin on the cheek. The younger boy nearly collapses but he quickly gets a hold of himself, a hand covering his mouth, forcing his lips to shut tight to force any kind of other unmanly voice from escaping. Kyungsoo chuckles and-Jongin thinks he will die if Kyungsoo doesn’t stop letting out that beautiful sound.
“Call me after 7, okay? See you, Jongin-ah,” Kyungsoo says as he waves his hands, feet walking toward the park’s gate. He gives Jongin a last wink before turning around and walks away from the park, hands in his jacket’s pockets.
The moment Kyungsoo is out of his sight, Jongin falls to his knees, mind fails processing what just happened. He can feel the heat all over his face-he must be all red now.
Jongin feels Jjangah nuzzles her nose to his leg and he looks down, his hand now covering the part where Kyungsoo’s lips were there before and it stings as if someone has just slapped him. However, it’s not stinging in an annoying way. Jongin likes it so damn much. The tanned boy picks Jjangah up from the ground and carries her in front of his chest. He grabs her new leash from the bench and quickly walks outside the park because he wants to show Jjangah to her sisters as fast as possible.
“I came here to get you but I got a cute boy as a bonus,” Jongin sighs, feet lightly stomping the ground to calm his erratically beating heart. The image of Kyungsoo, smiling, eyes turning to crescents and lips forming a heart with a melodic chuckle appears in his mind and he wants to protest to God about why such a cute man exists in this world. He really can’t wait to call Kyungsoo tonight. “Were you matchmaking me, Jjangah??”
The poodle only barks in response, and Jongin lets out a high-pitched screech of frustration and happiness, making Jjangah flinches in his arms.