for starwells: stop, rewind
For: starwells
Title: stop, rewind
Rating: pg-13
Pairing: Tao/Kai
Word Count: ~7400
Summary: what happens when you suddenly have to pretend to be a couple.
A/N: dear starwells, thank you for your lovely prompts, I didn't know which one to choose first because I liked them all. :> (and yes, the title actually has nothing to do with the story, i just listened to this song so much during the writing process lol)
Jongin is busy playing solitaire on his computer when he notices that his division head stands in front of his desk; disapproval very clearly written all over his face. He just shrugs and is about to go back to his game - he isn’t really doing anything important for his team anyway - but the persistent stare that gets sent his way distracts him.
“Is there anything I can help you with, Junmyeon?” he finally asks and looks up, barely withholding his need to roll his eyes.
“Actually, yes, there is. You are needed for a job,” Junmyeon answers and sighs.
Jongin would have felt offended if it wasn’t for the fact that his boss just told him that he’s needed for a job. That certainly changes things, because hey, at the Exo division you don’t get chosen for a job on a regular basis, especially not if you haven’t been around for a terrible long time. (Something something about having to prove yourself first, according to his colleague Kyungsoo.) To say he’s surprised is the understatement of the century it seems. And apparently that is written all over his face.
“Yes, it’s you. No, it’s not a mistake. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the big boss thinks you’re ready for your first case. I think it’s a record really, usually you have to wait longer for your first case. I waited at least seven years - “
“Oh god, he’s talking about this again. Is it just me or does he say that to everyone who gets a case? I think I can recite his words by heart now,” Baekhyun, from two desks further, helpfully adds to the conversation.
“You know, Baekhyun, I know several ways to keep your mouth shut, several of which you wouldn’t even think about,” Junmyeon says to his general direction and his grin seems really creepy to Jongin.
“Are you even supposed to say that? With you being a cop and all?” Jongdae stage-whispers.
“You think you’re so clever, right? I’m not going to raise to your bait today, I’ve got more important things to take care of. So Jongin,” Junmyeon says and looks at him again. He throws a file on his desk and motions for him to open it. “This is your case. There is not going to be a huge briefing from me on this, just know that you’re not going to be responsible for this case alone. Your partner knows more about this case than me at this point so if you have any questions I’m sure he’ll give you all the answers you need. We’re going to meet your partner tomorrow, be extra early. Any questions up to here?”
“O...kay? Wait, who exactly is this partner? I mean, I know there are a lot of agents that don’t come to the office often, but do I at least know this mysterious agent?” Jongin asks.
There are a lot of questions he could have asked instead, but somehow this is the first one that got out. And apparently it was one of the wrong questions according to Junmyeon’s raised eyebrows.
“This is the thing you’re worried about? I’m beginning to question whether big boss’ decision to give this case to you was the right one. But to answer your question, agent AB is your partner’S code name. If you don’t have any other - sorry for saying this - stupid questions I’ll go back to my work now.”
Junmyeon takes Jongin’s baffled silence as an indicator to leave, which he promptly does. Baekhyun and Jongdae leave their respective desks to join Jongin and look at him like he won the lottery.
“Wow, your first case and you get to work with Agent AB. I’m very impressed,” Baekhyun finally says. “I’ve never had the honours before.”
“Honours? WIth a code name as ridiculous as AB? I’m not technically impressed if I’m being honest here,” Jongin replies doubtfully.
“Funny that you say this, Kyungsoo said the same before his work with Agent AB. He said something along the lines of ‘Are you kidding me? What kind of ridiculous code name is that? Who is my real partner?’ at first with that threatening look on his face, but after he worked with Agent AB he was all starry-eyed and impressed. I actually wanted to give him a medal just for that, but I have yet to meet Agent AB, unfortunately,” Jongdae wistfully answers and sighs dramatically as if meeting Agent AB is the one thing that’s missing from his otherwise perfect life.
“I don’t trust you guys enough to believe you to be honest, so I’m going to forget everything you just said,” Jongin responds and ignores the other two.
“Suit yourself, don’t come crying to us when you regret it!” Jongdae says obnoxiously and winks.
Sometimes Jongin hates his work and the people he has to associate with. Today seems to be one of those days and - as usual - Jongdae and Baekhyun are to blame.
~
The Exo division is a respectable division that specifies in solving cases that the police seems unworthy of their attention. At least in theory, because the amount of drug lord observation for example has been unrealistically high lately.
Still, they are expected to do the dirty work so the police can come in and save the day. Or that’s what Jongin’s best friend Sehun tells him when he tries to recruit him. When Jongin first heard of this he got really excited, because really, who doesn’t dream of being the good guy who helps in getting the bad guys where they belong?
He should have known not to trust anything Sehun says, since he mostly does boring office work. (“What did you expect? You are a rookie here, did you really think big boss would just throw cases left and right at your feet when you just started? Please tell me you’re not that naive,” Sehun replied monotonously without looking up from his seemingly very engaging game of internet chess when he told him his troubles. Once again, he wondered why he even told Sehun anything.)
Despite his troubles however he likes working for the Exo division. It has a nice ring to it and he does his work in helping the world make a better place. The pay is also nice, so he can’t really complain. Now that he has his first real case he feels like all the files he had to file away were only the first step (of many) to this particular development.
“Look who we have here, Exo division’s new golden child,” Jongdae greets him when he arrives at the office. “Before you roll your eyes or insult me let me tell you I’m really proud of you.”
“It feels like it was just yesterday when you entered this office, young and hopeful,” Baekhyun continues and wipes away imaginary tears.
“Please stop,” Jongin says.
“...young and hopeful,” Baekhyun repeats. “Not to mention a little clumsy considering you stumbled over your own feet when Junmyeon introduced you to the team. In any way, you’ve proven yourself now. Your first case! I feel like a proud parent!”
“Again, please stop!”
Before Jondae and Baekhyun can ridicule him any further, he is saved by Junmyeon, who as usual looks a little too cheerful for this hour.
“Are you ready? Time to meet your partner,” he says and looks at his watch.
“As ready as I'll ever be,” Jongin answers.
“A little bit more enthusiasm please, it's your first case. I would jump up and down if I were you.”
“But you only cried,” Jongdae stage-whispers.
Junmyeon ignores him and gestures for Jongin to follow, which he does. Jongin doesn't say a word until they are in Junmyeon's car, when he realizes that he still has no clue where exactly they're going.
“So, where are we going?” Jongin cleverly asks then.
“You'll see,” is the answer he gets and it seems that this is the end of that line of conversation.
Jongin takes the opportunity to nap a bit, because why not.
~
You'll see turns out to be the last thing Jongin would have ever expected - a Burlesque bar.
When he's done staring at the building, he slowly turns around as if to ask if they are at the right place. He finds Junmyeon looking at him, encouragement clearly written all over his face and the question dies on his tongue.
“Okay,” is what he says instead. He'll get his answers later this day anyway (hopefully) so he can wait a couple of more minutes. Maybe his partner is one of those extravagant hipsters that take a liking to unusual business meeting places. Or something.
“Good that you're taking it so well, though I don't think you do, but at least you're not freaking out. So, without further ado, let's meet your partner,” Junmyeon tells hims and motions to the entrance.
After a short moment of hesitation Jongin follows him into the bar; it seems as if they just arrived for a show. He soon decides that the dancing is not for him and looks around for a potential person that looks like he could work for the police. As predicted it's not as easy as it sounds, since anyone could double as an agent here.
And that's why Jongin gives up his search and waits for the big announcement Junmyeon probably prepared for anyway - which is also a lot less time consuming anyway. He follows Junmyeon to a table that's located a little in the back, where not many people pay attention to. And then they wait.
“You did look through your files, right? I don't want you to go into this unprepared, and I'm sure Zitao - that's agent AB's name - would rather not explain all the details to a fellow agent,” Junmyeon then asks.
“Of course I looked through them. I may not fully know everything, for example the nature of Agent...I mean Zitao and my partnership for this case, but I know the gist of the case...”
“An influential man in a rich neighbourhood got tipped off to be dealing with less than legal things, we are supposed to look into this - incognito of course - and give the evidence for or against it,” Jongin gets interrupted and just as he's about to get into a speech about manners to this random stranger said stranger sits down at their table with a mischievous grin on his face.
At first sight Jongin has to admit that he's quite handsome; black hair with catlike eyes and not to mention a great body, too. But the fact that he just got interrupted by this guy makes him roll his eyes.
“I guess this is Jongin, then? Nice to meet you, partner,” the guy - Jongin assumes this is no other than Zitao - introduces himself.
“True. And as you probably guessed this is Zitao,” Junmyeon introduces.
Zitao waves a little, but not soon after that he gets hit with a newspaper from someone who looks a little angry - a manager, Jongin thinks. Zitao looks a bit apologetic even when the guy hisses ‘you’re here for work, not to talk too much to the customers.’ Which is why he soon leaves them alone to talk by themselves until his shift is over. Junmyeon assures it will be soon, and, true to his word, not half an hour later Zitao heads their way again, this time with his stuff.
He nods his head in the direction of the exit and they follow him wordlessly. Outside, in the safety of Junmyeon’s car, is when they start talking again.
“Have you found anything out during your shifts here?” Junmyeon asks.
“Not really, everything’s more or less quiet. Well as quiet as you can expect from a bar like this. I think my replacement will find it very boring,” Zitao answers.
“I see. Good to know. I’ll tell Baekhyun that,” Junmyeon replies.
It is a little quiet on the drive back to their office, but shortly before arriving Zitao speaks up again, this time to talk to Jongin it seems.
“So, are you ready? Is everything packed?”
“What are you talking about?” Jongin asks confused.
Zitao raises a brow at that.
“Didn’t you say you read the report of our mission?”
“I did. And nowhere did it say that I was going to move away. Right, Junmyeon?”
“Well, I did tell you that Zitao can tell you more about it. So, if you could do that, I’d be very grateful,” he finishes while looking at Zitao, who just nods.
“Where to start..Well, you know the most basic facts, right? About our observation, I mean.”
Jongin nods.
“Good, then what you probably don’t know is that we’re moving in this neighbourhood. Together. As a couple, or shall I better say pretending to be a couple?”
Jongin looks at him with disbelief clearly written all over his face. He has a lot to say about this subject, but then settles for a less wordy “What?”
“You heard me. Seriously, Junmyeon, why didn’t you tell him these things in the first place?”
“Big Boss’ order’s. You know how he likes to surprise us,” comes Junmyeon’s reply.
“The boss is in the wrong job field it seems.”
“Can we stop talking about whatever boss’ intentions were and focus on the problem at hand? I can’t just play someone’s boyfriend. Our cover would be blown over the minute our target says ‘hi’. Please reconsider!” Jongin says in rapid speed. He isn’t above begging to be left out of this mess.
“Which is why you have Zitao at your side. He’s a pro. You don’t have to worry about a thing with him there,” Junmyeon tries to calm him down, which obviously doesn’t seem to have the desired success.
“Big Boss chose you, why don’t you show him what you’re made of? This could be your chance at a promotion. Think about it. No more files to file or do the things your colleagues drop at you because they’re suddenly above these things,” Zitao lazily mentions and rubs at his eyes.
This stops Jongin from worrying for some reason. He can see it clearly. If this mission is a success, he will make Jongdae and Baekhyun file his files. His paperwork will be done by none other than these two. He can almost hear their whining at the unfairness of it all while he looks down from his big office doing the real work - solving cases left and right like he always wanted while the lesser beings of the Exo division (mainly Jongdae and Baekhyun, maybe add Sehun too for good measure) do his work. Kyungsoo gets spared and turns into his right hand man (Jongin ignores the fact that this would never work out in real life; it’s his fantasy and he can imagine whatever he feels like) and...it will be glorious.
But first, Jongin has to actually get there, which means working together with Zitao it is.
“Is he alright?” Zitao faintly whispers, looking a little concerned.
“It happens to the best of us,” Junmyeon answers wisely and sighs.
“Anyway,” Jongin intervenes loudly. “I guess it doesn’t sound half bad now that I think about it. I’m good-looking, you are sort of alright looking-”
“Hey!” Zitao looks at him with an appalled frown on his face, but Jongin ignores him and just blabbers on.
“-we’ll sure to make this work! Trust me, I’m a great boyfriend!”
“Are you sure about that?” Zitao asks doubtfully and raises an eyebrow.
“Positive. They won’t know what hit them to be honest!”
Zitao watches him as he leans back with a satisfied grin on his face. He figures whatever made him suddenly change his mind about the whole thing is back on his mind now.
~
The next morning Jongin is uber punctual, not because he’s actually an early riser (as if), but more because they (meaning Zitao and Jongin) decided to go to their houses together to fetch some stuff.
Much to his surprise he didn’t wake up with the feeling of regret. Zitao seems pretty cool from what he learnt about him yesterday. Maybe it won’t be a disaster waiting to happen. Hopefully.
With these thoughts Jongin enters the office and is surprised to see Zitao already there, with almost everyone in their unit as well. He hopes he is not the last person to arrive for once, but a quick headcount tells him that this is almost the case. He mentally highfives himself for this achievement.
“Hey,” he greets them when he gets to them.
“I can’t believe it,” Jongdae says, eyes wide open in mock shock.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Baekhyun chimes in.
“Hi Jongin,” Zitao says and waves with one hand.
Jongin is surprised to see a little fluff ball in his other hand. By closer inspection he notices it’s a tiny dog and smiles.
“I didn’t peg you to be a dog person,” he says.
“How can you not know when we’ve been together for years? Seriously Jongin, this hurts,” Zitao replies in mock disappointment and lowers his head as if he was trying to hide his crying face.
“You are heartless!” Jongdae plays along and chuckles.
“And you are an idiot,” Kyungsoo, who just entered the office, says. “Why do I have to be here? It’s not like this is my case and I would have rather slept a little longer.”
At his voice the tiny dog perks up, almost as if it recognizes the voice. Now that Jongin sees its head, he raises an eyebrow, because it wears a tiny pink hairclip. He wants to judge Zitao, but what gives him the right when he thinks about his own dogs.
“Oh, hi Kyungsoo,” Zitao says and waves again. “You look good!”
Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything and just glares...affectionately at him.
“Do you remember Candy? She immediately recognized you! What a smart dog she is! She used to follow you around all the time when we worked together that one time, surely you remember?” Zitao goes on.
“I do, yes, now if you’ll excuse me…” Kyungsoo says and quickly walks to his desk.
Zitao grins at that and puts his dog - Candy - down, who immediately follows to where Kyungsoo went just minutes ago.
“Kyungsoo is one of the only people she follows. I have no idea why, but it is hilarious,” he comments when they witness Kyungsoo bending down to pet her.
“What’s so great about it?” Baekhyun asks, scoffing.
“You’re only mad because she didn’t react to anything you did earlier. And not even your silly aegyo games, which were disgusting and unfunny by the way. If I were Candy I would have given you the cold shoulder as well,” Jongdae answers and laughs.
“Who asked for you stupid opinion again, asshole?”
“Baekhyun!” a scandalized voice floats through the office. “What did we agree on when it comes to profanities this early in the morning?”
Junmyeon is hidden behind a couple of boxes interestingly. Jongin imagines him to have a scolding look on his face. Either that or the ‘I’m so disappointed in you right now’ look.
This is when Zitao hops of the table he had been sitting on and goes to where Jongin is.
“How about we leave, pick our stuff and visit our new home?” he says and winks.
Jongin doesn’t answer and just nods. Zitao gives a thumbs-up and saunters to Kyungsoo’s place, where he is still petting Candy. It looks adorable, even if Kyungsoo still looks like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. Looks like he isn’t the only one who is not a morning person here.
When Zitao picks up Candy and they say their goodbyes to the others (Jongin looks pleased that Baekhyun has to file the files Junmyeon brought in earlier away) they make their way to their respective places to pick up their stuff. This doesn’t take as long as expected to both their surprise.
On the way to their new house, Zitao quickly briefs him about their job. Their target so to speak is a rich man (Jongin knew that already) who lives together with his wife and recently has been accused of taking part in illegal gambling. Zitao and Jongin are supposed to look into this and look for as much proof as they can find. All while staying as unsuspecting as possible. Jongin can’t say he isn’t nervous at the prospect, but at least he has an experienced agent at his side.
“I think it’s kind of funny that we both have dogs,” Jongin remarks when the briefing seems to be over.
Zitao looks at him for a moment; then smiles in a teasing way.
“You better keep your hooligans away from my princess though. I mean it!”
Jongin gapes at that and looks back at his own dogs who are sleeping soundly at the backseat of Zitao’s car. How dare he call his babies hooligans!
“Who are you calling hooligans! You better take that back!” he snarls.
Zitao just smiles mischievously and goes back to focusing on the road. Jongin silently fumes and ignores Zitao’s everything. And he’s going to do that until he apologizes for his words.
~
The rest of the car ride is spent more or less in silence. It also doesn’t take long for their destination to appear in front of them. In fact, Jongin is quite surprised to see a rather big house with a big garden in front of him, when Zitao stops the car.
“Wow,” he says.
Zitao just snorts at that. “Showtime!”
Jongin doesn’t have time to go back to ignoring him, as he sees people approaching - assumingly their neighbours. They leave their car and greet them. Jongin only knows scenes like this from movies, but maybe that is just how this neighbourhood rolls. Since Zitao is more experienced with the whole making up things at the spot for the job, he lets him do the talking, while he awkwardly stands next to him and nods at appropriate times. He still hasn’t forgiven Zitao for what he said though.
He turns to Zitao when he feels his arm slide over his shoulders - apparently a sign that their act starts now and Jongin despite himself slides his arm behind Zitao’s waist. He’s not sure if he’s convincing but judging from the cooing they receive he might as well be.
Maybe he isn’t a lost cause after all. Not soon after their neighbours retreat to their houses again with promises of get-togethers to integrate them into their apparently tight-knit community. He’s surprised to see these people so open-minded about new arrivals; if he was honest with himself he’d admit that this wasn’t what he thought would happen.
“Are you coming, or not?” Zitao happily calls from the front door.
Jongin ignores him and lets his dogs out of the car instead. He’s glad that they seem to like the place if there running around in the garden is anything to go by. He smiles proudly at that.
“Sorry, I had to take my “Hooligans” out first,” he tells Zitao and makes air-quotes only to enter their house first.
“Are you going to mention that for the rest of our lives now?” Zitao asks, but can’t help but laugh.
Jongin gives him a pointed look and looks around in search for a suitable room.
Faintly he hears Zitao’s impressed whistles, but he ignores him. When he finds what he’s looking for he decides to just lie down for a while. Who knew that this whole facade would be this tiring?
~
Jongin only wakes up when it’s already dark outside. He goes to the kitchen and sees that Zitao already took his luggage inside. Despite his vow to ignore him, he can’t help but feel a little grateful for that, He looks around for something to drink and sits down in the living room when he finds something to his liking.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting there, but when he hears someone coming down from the stairs he shortly glances at the clock just to see it’s almost 2 in the morning. Way to fuck up your sleep schedule so early in the game, he berates himself.
When he looks at the doorframe to the living room a moment later he sees Zitao and gulps. He didn’t expect him to just walk around in nothing but underwear, but soon finds that he doesn’t really mind. Zitao, despite his earlier claims, is actually very good-looking. The lack of clothing makes way for Jongin to see well-defined muscles and an overall great body. Jongin has to remind himself that he’s currently angry at him and that he can’t drool because of that. He also has to remind himself that he knows him for a total of not even a day. Funny how one could forget these things.
“Please don’t tell me you’re still angry, I was only trying to joke around a little. I’m sorry if my joke backfired and it really wasn’t my intention to insult you or your dogs. They are quite cute, if I may say so.”
Jongin keeps on looking at him and can’t believe that he’s apologizing to him at a time like this.
“Please say something and don’t just look at me!” Zitao urges.
“Do you always walk around in only your underwear?” Jongin finally says and of course it would be something embarrassing
Zitao blinks a bit in surprise, but this soon makes way for a smirk. That bastard, Jongin angrily thinks.
“Oh….Come on, Jongin, don’t act like you haven’t seen me naked,” he says and Jongin looks at him confused. This also makes way for totally unwanted pictures in his mind, which is something he doesn’t need right now.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hahaha, silly you, are you acting like we haven’t been dating for the past couple of years again? You know damn well what I’m talking about,” Zitao tells him and waggles his eyebrows as if his innuendo wasn’t obvious enough.
“I’m just kidding, I’m trying to make you feel more comfortable with the idea of us being a couple you know,” Zitao says and winks. “And before I forget our targets have invited us over for dinner tomorrow, be ready! And good night!”
With that, Zitao leaves for his room again and leaves Jongin to ponder the implications of his blush and the quicker beating of his heart.
~
When Jongin wakes up for the second time this day, he finds Zitao standing in the kitchen (dressed this time even!). He’s surprised to see his dogs mingle around him and raises an eyebrow in question when Zitao notices him.
“Ah, look who finally woke up from his sleep. And before you ask, I took them for a walk already and I think they like me now. Monggu especially doesn’t leave me alone.”
As if to make a point, Monggu barks at the mention of his name and happily wags his tail.
“Aha, and where is Candy? Doesn’t she feel lonely if you abandon her for other dogs?” Jongin asks (and no, he totally doesn’t feel irritated that his dogs didn’t even greet them like they usually do) and looks around for the tiny dog.
“She’s taking a nap in the living room. I know you wanted to make a jab at me for playing favourites, but you don’t have to worry about me stealing your dogs away from you, I’d never do something like that.”
Jongin nods absentmindedly and goes into the living room to find Candy lying in her dog bed on the couch. It’s overall a really cute picture and Jongin smiles despite himself. He carefully sits down and pets her a little, which has her waking up. He expects her to go away but instead she stays where she is and makes happy noises.
“Interesting. She usually doesn’t warm up to strangers that easily. She seems to like you. But,” Zitao says and solemnly looks at Jongin. “you will never be her favourite. That is Do Kyungsoo’s place.”
“I’m not even going to ask why that is. Even though it seems totally ridiculous that the Kyungsoo I know is some kind of dog whisperer apparently.”
“Sometimes strange things happen. This being one of them.”
Jongin can’t help but agree with that.
~
Dinnertime is when Jongin and Zitao, dressed up, find themselves in the dining room of their neighbours. They have a couple of wiretaps and other devices with them that they want to place throughout their house so the observations will be a day and night campaign without either of them being there all the time. Sure, it’s probably one of the oldest tricks in their line of work, but it still works and this is crucial to the quick solving of their case.
“Thank you for inviting us over,” Zitao says gratefully over a glass of wine.
“You don’t have to thank me, darling, we always invite new neighbours over. It is kind of tradition here. Soon you will be hosting these dinners in your house,” the wife replies with a smile.
Jongin doesn’t care much for sweet-talking, so instead he discretely observes the husband, their main suspect for the time being. He seems nice and sophisticated, doesn’t talk much but doesn’t seem as if he doesn’t like having guests over.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go to the bathroom, if you’ll excuse me for a minute,” Zitao suddenly says and gets up from the table.
When he is out of the picture the woman’s focus immediately turns on Jongin. He dreaded this moment, but you have to do what you have to do, so he smiles at her, too, and tries his best to not look suspicious. He is sure why Zitao really got up and he has to play for time now for him.
“I’m sorry for not talking much, but I appreciate the invitation just as much,” he says and bows a little.
“Oh, like I told your boyfriend before, there really is no need for that at all. I hope we get to see you a lot when we throw our garden parties, they are always quite well liked here.”
Jongin raises his glass of wine at that and takes a sip.
Not long after, Zitao rejoins them again a knowing smile on his face as he kisses Jongin’s head. He still has to get used to that, but he’s getting better at it slowly. Maybe it’s time to initiate something on his own, they are after all very much in love with each other. And so he takes Zitao’s hand and intertwines their fingers. If Zitao’s surprised, he doesn’t show it.
After the dinner is done, they soon leave for their house claiming they still have to unpack (which is true in a way, even though they don’t plan on changing that anytime soon). The couple seems understanding enough, so they let them go.
They wait until they are in their own house to talk again,
“I assume you made it?” Jongin says while loosening his tie.
“Definitely. I hope I placed them at strategic places. I could even hide one in the living room without anyone noticing, so there’s that. You know, either we are working against one of the dumbest criminals ever or there is more to this guy than meets the eye. Assuming he is involved in illegal shenanigans.”
“Good! I’m glad it’s over.”
Jongin sits down on the couch and closes his eyes for a moment, while Zitao opens his laptop to connect it to the devices installed in their neighbour’s home. He only opens his eyes again, when he feels Zitao’s hand in his again. It startles him for about a minute then he lets it happen.
“You don’t mind?” Zitao asks while typing away with his other hand.
“Not really. I thought it wasn’t half bad and I always liked handholding, so yeah…” Jongin answers and blushes a little. It’s surprising how easy he can talk about these things with Zitao.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one then. I quite like it myself. I might even start to like you, if I may say so,” Zitao replies and grins.
Jongin blushes even more at that bold statement.
“If I make you feel uncomfortable, all you have to do is say something.”
“No worries about that.”
~
“Sounds to me like someone’s falling in love~” Baekhyun sings in a teasing voice when Jongin visits them in the office a few days later.
Jongin instantly regrets ever spilling the beans to him when he knows how Baekhyun is. Usually he would have talked with Kyungsoo about it, since they are fairly close and can talk about these things, but unfortunately Kyungsoo’s been out investigating another case today, so he had to take Baekhyun as a secret bearer instead.
“In all seriousness, I never expected that you’d fall for someone so quick. I always assumed it’s difficult to get through to you for some reason even though you are quite charming once one gets to know you,” Baekhyun continues.
“Wow...I think out of all the things you said to me so far this is the one thing that actually sounds a hundred percent honest. I thank you for it.”
“Oh, don’t think I’ll let you guys off the hook. It just isn’t interesting to me to tease someone when there isn’t anything to tease just yet. I’ll wait until you are together. Then I’ll be your worst nightmare!” Baekhyun winks.
“And you’re back to being you. I admit I was a bit afraid of this new understanding side of you. I’m glad you’re back, I guess.”
Baekhyun just winks sleazily.
~
In the following days Jongin realizes that the more they pretend to do couple things in their new neighbourhood the less it feels forced. For some reason it feels as if they really are dating. Maybe, after this is all over, they can continue this - whatever it is. Jongin doesn’t want to think about the eventual end of it.
They are currently taking their dogs out, something they have been doing a lot lately, and are quite happy about Candy playing fetch with Jongin, when they decide they played enough for the day.
Once they are inside of their house they are surprised to hear muffled voices coming out of their living room and they almost grab for their guns when they realize that the voices come from Zitao’s laptop. They look at each other and sprint to the couch and really, it’s the husband who’s there. Since he’s supposed to be at work now, it doesn’t take rocket science to assume something isn’t quite right.
They listen for a while, but so far nothing of importance comes up. But then they hear the name of a hotel, a time and the invitation to play. Zitao and Jongin look at each other and Jongin mouths ‘Bingo’. After not finding anything of substance, they suddenly have something to report to their colleagues and superiors. It almost feels unreal.
It is Zitao who reports back to Junmyeon what they found out while Jongin entertains himself with playing with his dogs. He dreads the end of their case now that he’s aware he feels something for Zitao. He guesses it’s worth a shot to try.
“Junmyeon will take care of it from now on, but he asks us to stay alert just in case. Want to go to this hotel and try to find something out?” Zitao asks.
“What do you feel about me?” Jongin asks instead of answering.
He doesn’t see Zitao’s initial frown turn into a warm gaze, since his focus is still on Monggu.
“You’re asking me that when it should be obvious that I like you? I thought you knew already. I thought I was obvious enough.”
This has Jongin looking up with a smile.
“I can’t believe it. When I first met you I thought you were ridiculous with your work in a burlesque bar and a stupid agent name like agent AB. What made you think this was a good idea?” Jongin asks with a laugh.
“Oh...that. I don’t really remember? It sort of stayed with me though, so I didn’t change it.”
“Of course. Though I think you still remember the story behind that name and are just too embarrassed to tell me the truth,” Jongin accuses even though his smile grows bigger by the second.
“Even so, how about yourself? You called me alright-looking compared to yourself.”
“And?”
“It doesn’t take rocket science to see that I’m actually incredibly handsome and definitely not just alright-looking.”
Jongin looks at him in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you remembered that and held a grudge over it for so long. I also can’t believe how incredibly vain you are even though I should have known considering I lived with you for quite some time now. Why didn’t I see the signs? It’s too late to turn back now-”
Before Jongin can continue, Zitao moves forward and kisses him. Sure, it was probably to shut him up, but Jongin doesn’t mind. At all. He found out long ago that Zitao is a great kisser. Though this time it seems different, because this time it’s not for the sake of pretending. This time it feels actually real and like the start of something new.
They make out for a while, forgetting everything around them. They only stop when it’s time to take a breath.
“If you really regret falling for me now, how come you were ogling my body so much the first few times when I used to walk around in my underwear? Do you have a great explanation for that as well or…”
“How dare you bring that up! That’s it, I’m not talking to you anymore,” Jongin says, clearly embarrassed when he remembers himself during those times. He tried to be discreet after the first time it happened, but apparently this wasn’t lost on Zitao. Typical.
“Maybe I’m just too perceptive for my own good, my dear Jongin,” Zitao says wisely.
They get interrupted by Zitao’s shrill ringtone and Jongin rolls his eyes. He takes the call and after a few minutes hangs up. Jongin looks at him questioningly, but Zitao puts a finger over his mouth.
“Looks like we have to continue this later, Jongin,” he shortly waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “But work calls. Apparently we are needed after all.”
“Of course,” Jongin rolls his eyes again. It is true after all that work is the biggest cockblock of them all.
~
They change into their work clothes quickly and drive to the crime scene as fast as possible. They see many of their colleague’s cars, which is a good sign. Hopefully no one got hurt so far.
Before they enter the hotel, they kiss once more, as a token of luck. Because it looks like luck is definitely what they need.
It’s almost ridiculous how empty the hotel currently is. They haven’t met a single person while looking for clues where they could be.
“You know, this isn’t my first case like this. Let’s try the basement floor, it’s our best guess at the moment.”
Jongin nods and follows Zitao. It surprised them that this is - as cliché as it sounds - where they are indeed needed. Jongin assumes a couple of their men are down, but he hopes nothing too bad happened to them.
Zitao moves slowly and doesn’t make a single noise as they approach them - Jongin hopes he isn’t too loud in comparison. But it doesn’t really matter anymore since someone apparently noticed them anyway. How they are not quite sure, but the moment the person tells his accomplices about them they are already sprinting to them.
They fight back to back and surprisingly they make it out without a major injury.
After that it doesn’t take long for the police to arrive. No one from their team is really injured, a scratch here and there maybe. The exception is Baekhyun, who for some reason is knocked out. As some medics take him to the hospital, Junmyeon goes to their side, a proud smile on his face.
“Good job, agents! You’ve done a wonderful job. I’m glad it worked out in the end.”
“We are too!”
~
The following weeks weren’t quite as chaotic as one could imagine. After the criminals were arrested, Jongin returned to the office thinking everything would more or less be the same; meaning doing paperwork and general boring desk work.
“Ah, there he is,” Junmyeon says and goes to Jongin’s place. “The hero of our division has returned.”
Jongin looks down. Hearing it like this is a little embarrassing, considering he didn’t really do much.
“I’m glad to inform you that Big Boss has decided that you’re not a rookie here anymore. From now on you’re on the same level as Baekhyun and Jongdae are.”
Jongin’s eyes widen in surprise and he almost starts laughing at the irony.
“That hopefully means that they have to do their own paperwork from now on.”
“That’s exactly what it means.”
Jongin turns around quickly and goes to Jongdae and Baekhyun’s tables. It’s kind of funny how both of them are pretending as if they didn’t just listen to what Junmyeon told him, but he guesses he can play with them a little.
“How does it feel like to do your own paperwork?” Jongin whispers while watching them both.
Jongin almost laughs in their faces when he sees how disgruntled and sour they look at the news.
“Aww, maybe you’ll find a new rookie soon that can do these things for you,” Jongin says, stands up and pats both their heads.
~
“And then they just tried pretending they weren’t eavesdropping, It was really funny today,” Jongin finishes retelling what happened at work.
Zitao can only sigh in frustration and rolls his eyes as he starts going back to leave marks on Jongin’s neck. It’s been like this the whole time, sometimes Jongin really didn’t know when to stop talking. This was one of those times.
“Are you done now?” Zitao asks while fumbling with Jongin’s shirt.
“I think so, unless you want to hear what else happened today.”
At that Zitao groans.
“No, I really don’t want to hear that right now.”
“Okay then. But you’re missing out on a lot of funny stories.”
“Listen, do you want me to continue or not?” Zitao asks. He stops what he was doing just now in order to glare at Jongin, who just laughs in return.
“I’m just playing with you. It’s so easy to make you angry nowadays.”
“If you say so, but I wish you would stop right now, especially when I have far better ideas for this evening. If you still have some great stories to tell by the time we’re done, feel free to share, but right now, I’d rather we’d do something completely different.”
“If you say so,” Jongin says and throws a meaningful look in his general direction.
Zitao just smirks at that and goes back to unbuttoning Jongin’s shirt. Just as he’s about to open the last button, Jongin’s telephone rings. Usually he would ignore it at a time like this but since it’s his work phone, he can’t really do that.
Zitao of course is far from happy about this. Jongin smiles apologetically and starts buttoning up his shirt again.
“When I come back we can definitely continue this. Wait for me!” Jongin says and kisses Zitao’s face.
When Jongin is gone, Zitao goes to the living room to distract himself a little. Of course he’s still pouting and continues to do so even if Candy walks up to him. Zitao glances down at her and lifts her up after a while.
“It’s true after all that work really is the biggest cockblock out there. Also, when they become successful they suddenly don’t have time anymore. Typical.”
Candy just barks and Zitao assumes she is on his side.
(Later, when Jongin comes back from work, he finds Zitao sleeping on the couch surrounded by their dogs. All in all this is one of the cutest things he has seen in a while and it even makes him forget about Jongdae’s fake emergency just to annoy him.)
Title: stop, rewind
Rating: pg-13
Pairing: Tao/Kai
Word Count: ~7400
Summary: what happens when you suddenly have to pretend to be a couple.
A/N: dear starwells, thank you for your lovely prompts, I didn't know which one to choose first because I liked them all. :> (and yes, the title actually has nothing to do with the story, i just listened to this song so much during the writing process lol)
Jongin is busy playing solitaire on his computer when he notices that his division head stands in front of his desk; disapproval very clearly written all over his face. He just shrugs and is about to go back to his game - he isn’t really doing anything important for his team anyway - but the persistent stare that gets sent his way distracts him.
“Is there anything I can help you with, Junmyeon?” he finally asks and looks up, barely withholding his need to roll his eyes.
“Actually, yes, there is. You are needed for a job,” Junmyeon answers and sighs.
Jongin would have felt offended if it wasn’t for the fact that his boss just told him that he’s needed for a job. That certainly changes things, because hey, at the Exo division you don’t get chosen for a job on a regular basis, especially not if you haven’t been around for a terrible long time. (Something something about having to prove yourself first, according to his colleague Kyungsoo.) To say he’s surprised is the understatement of the century it seems. And apparently that is written all over his face.
“Yes, it’s you. No, it’s not a mistake. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the big boss thinks you’re ready for your first case. I think it’s a record really, usually you have to wait longer for your first case. I waited at least seven years - “
“Oh god, he’s talking about this again. Is it just me or does he say that to everyone who gets a case? I think I can recite his words by heart now,” Baekhyun, from two desks further, helpfully adds to the conversation.
“You know, Baekhyun, I know several ways to keep your mouth shut, several of which you wouldn’t even think about,” Junmyeon says to his general direction and his grin seems really creepy to Jongin.
“Are you even supposed to say that? With you being a cop and all?” Jongdae stage-whispers.
“You think you’re so clever, right? I’m not going to raise to your bait today, I’ve got more important things to take care of. So Jongin,” Junmyeon says and looks at him again. He throws a file on his desk and motions for him to open it. “This is your case. There is not going to be a huge briefing from me on this, just know that you’re not going to be responsible for this case alone. Your partner knows more about this case than me at this point so if you have any questions I’m sure he’ll give you all the answers you need. We’re going to meet your partner tomorrow, be extra early. Any questions up to here?”
“O...kay? Wait, who exactly is this partner? I mean, I know there are a lot of agents that don’t come to the office often, but do I at least know this mysterious agent?” Jongin asks.
There are a lot of questions he could have asked instead, but somehow this is the first one that got out. And apparently it was one of the wrong questions according to Junmyeon’s raised eyebrows.
“This is the thing you’re worried about? I’m beginning to question whether big boss’ decision to give this case to you was the right one. But to answer your question, agent AB is your partner’S code name. If you don’t have any other - sorry for saying this - stupid questions I’ll go back to my work now.”
Junmyeon takes Jongin’s baffled silence as an indicator to leave, which he promptly does. Baekhyun and Jongdae leave their respective desks to join Jongin and look at him like he won the lottery.
“Wow, your first case and you get to work with Agent AB. I’m very impressed,” Baekhyun finally says. “I’ve never had the honours before.”
“Honours? WIth a code name as ridiculous as AB? I’m not technically impressed if I’m being honest here,” Jongin replies doubtfully.
“Funny that you say this, Kyungsoo said the same before his work with Agent AB. He said something along the lines of ‘Are you kidding me? What kind of ridiculous code name is that? Who is my real partner?’ at first with that threatening look on his face, but after he worked with Agent AB he was all starry-eyed and impressed. I actually wanted to give him a medal just for that, but I have yet to meet Agent AB, unfortunately,” Jongdae wistfully answers and sighs dramatically as if meeting Agent AB is the one thing that’s missing from his otherwise perfect life.
“I don’t trust you guys enough to believe you to be honest, so I’m going to forget everything you just said,” Jongin responds and ignores the other two.
“Suit yourself, don’t come crying to us when you regret it!” Jongdae says obnoxiously and winks.
Sometimes Jongin hates his work and the people he has to associate with. Today seems to be one of those days and - as usual - Jongdae and Baekhyun are to blame.
~
The Exo division is a respectable division that specifies in solving cases that the police seems unworthy of their attention. At least in theory, because the amount of drug lord observation for example has been unrealistically high lately.
Still, they are expected to do the dirty work so the police can come in and save the day. Or that’s what Jongin’s best friend Sehun tells him when he tries to recruit him. When Jongin first heard of this he got really excited, because really, who doesn’t dream of being the good guy who helps in getting the bad guys where they belong?
He should have known not to trust anything Sehun says, since he mostly does boring office work. (“What did you expect? You are a rookie here, did you really think big boss would just throw cases left and right at your feet when you just started? Please tell me you’re not that naive,” Sehun replied monotonously without looking up from his seemingly very engaging game of internet chess when he told him his troubles. Once again, he wondered why he even told Sehun anything.)
Despite his troubles however he likes working for the Exo division. It has a nice ring to it and he does his work in helping the world make a better place. The pay is also nice, so he can’t really complain. Now that he has his first real case he feels like all the files he had to file away were only the first step (of many) to this particular development.
“Look who we have here, Exo division’s new golden child,” Jongdae greets him when he arrives at the office. “Before you roll your eyes or insult me let me tell you I’m really proud of you.”
“It feels like it was just yesterday when you entered this office, young and hopeful,” Baekhyun continues and wipes away imaginary tears.
“Please stop,” Jongin says.
“...young and hopeful,” Baekhyun repeats. “Not to mention a little clumsy considering you stumbled over your own feet when Junmyeon introduced you to the team. In any way, you’ve proven yourself now. Your first case! I feel like a proud parent!”
“Again, please stop!”
Before Jondae and Baekhyun can ridicule him any further, he is saved by Junmyeon, who as usual looks a little too cheerful for this hour.
“Are you ready? Time to meet your partner,” he says and looks at his watch.
“As ready as I'll ever be,” Jongin answers.
“A little bit more enthusiasm please, it's your first case. I would jump up and down if I were you.”
“But you only cried,” Jongdae stage-whispers.
Junmyeon ignores him and gestures for Jongin to follow, which he does. Jongin doesn't say a word until they are in Junmyeon's car, when he realizes that he still has no clue where exactly they're going.
“So, where are we going?” Jongin cleverly asks then.
“You'll see,” is the answer he gets and it seems that this is the end of that line of conversation.
Jongin takes the opportunity to nap a bit, because why not.
~
You'll see turns out to be the last thing Jongin would have ever expected - a Burlesque bar.
When he's done staring at the building, he slowly turns around as if to ask if they are at the right place. He finds Junmyeon looking at him, encouragement clearly written all over his face and the question dies on his tongue.
“Okay,” is what he says instead. He'll get his answers later this day anyway (hopefully) so he can wait a couple of more minutes. Maybe his partner is one of those extravagant hipsters that take a liking to unusual business meeting places. Or something.
“Good that you're taking it so well, though I don't think you do, but at least you're not freaking out. So, without further ado, let's meet your partner,” Junmyeon tells hims and motions to the entrance.
After a short moment of hesitation Jongin follows him into the bar; it seems as if they just arrived for a show. He soon decides that the dancing is not for him and looks around for a potential person that looks like he could work for the police. As predicted it's not as easy as it sounds, since anyone could double as an agent here.
And that's why Jongin gives up his search and waits for the big announcement Junmyeon probably prepared for anyway - which is also a lot less time consuming anyway. He follows Junmyeon to a table that's located a little in the back, where not many people pay attention to. And then they wait.
“You did look through your files, right? I don't want you to go into this unprepared, and I'm sure Zitao - that's agent AB's name - would rather not explain all the details to a fellow agent,” Junmyeon then asks.
“Of course I looked through them. I may not fully know everything, for example the nature of Agent...I mean Zitao and my partnership for this case, but I know the gist of the case...”
“An influential man in a rich neighbourhood got tipped off to be dealing with less than legal things, we are supposed to look into this - incognito of course - and give the evidence for or against it,” Jongin gets interrupted and just as he's about to get into a speech about manners to this random stranger said stranger sits down at their table with a mischievous grin on his face.
At first sight Jongin has to admit that he's quite handsome; black hair with catlike eyes and not to mention a great body, too. But the fact that he just got interrupted by this guy makes him roll his eyes.
“I guess this is Jongin, then? Nice to meet you, partner,” the guy - Jongin assumes this is no other than Zitao - introduces himself.
“True. And as you probably guessed this is Zitao,” Junmyeon introduces.
Zitao waves a little, but not soon after that he gets hit with a newspaper from someone who looks a little angry - a manager, Jongin thinks. Zitao looks a bit apologetic even when the guy hisses ‘you’re here for work, not to talk too much to the customers.’ Which is why he soon leaves them alone to talk by themselves until his shift is over. Junmyeon assures it will be soon, and, true to his word, not half an hour later Zitao heads their way again, this time with his stuff.
He nods his head in the direction of the exit and they follow him wordlessly. Outside, in the safety of Junmyeon’s car, is when they start talking again.
“Have you found anything out during your shifts here?” Junmyeon asks.
“Not really, everything’s more or less quiet. Well as quiet as you can expect from a bar like this. I think my replacement will find it very boring,” Zitao answers.
“I see. Good to know. I’ll tell Baekhyun that,” Junmyeon replies.
It is a little quiet on the drive back to their office, but shortly before arriving Zitao speaks up again, this time to talk to Jongin it seems.
“So, are you ready? Is everything packed?”
“What are you talking about?” Jongin asks confused.
Zitao raises a brow at that.
“Didn’t you say you read the report of our mission?”
“I did. And nowhere did it say that I was going to move away. Right, Junmyeon?”
“Well, I did tell you that Zitao can tell you more about it. So, if you could do that, I’d be very grateful,” he finishes while looking at Zitao, who just nods.
“Where to start..Well, you know the most basic facts, right? About our observation, I mean.”
Jongin nods.
“Good, then what you probably don’t know is that we’re moving in this neighbourhood. Together. As a couple, or shall I better say pretending to be a couple?”
Jongin looks at him with disbelief clearly written all over his face. He has a lot to say about this subject, but then settles for a less wordy “What?”
“You heard me. Seriously, Junmyeon, why didn’t you tell him these things in the first place?”
“Big Boss’ order’s. You know how he likes to surprise us,” comes Junmyeon’s reply.
“The boss is in the wrong job field it seems.”
“Can we stop talking about whatever boss’ intentions were and focus on the problem at hand? I can’t just play someone’s boyfriend. Our cover would be blown over the minute our target says ‘hi’. Please reconsider!” Jongin says in rapid speed. He isn’t above begging to be left out of this mess.
“Which is why you have Zitao at your side. He’s a pro. You don’t have to worry about a thing with him there,” Junmyeon tries to calm him down, which obviously doesn’t seem to have the desired success.
“Big Boss chose you, why don’t you show him what you’re made of? This could be your chance at a promotion. Think about it. No more files to file or do the things your colleagues drop at you because they’re suddenly above these things,” Zitao lazily mentions and rubs at his eyes.
This stops Jongin from worrying for some reason. He can see it clearly. If this mission is a success, he will make Jongdae and Baekhyun file his files. His paperwork will be done by none other than these two. He can almost hear their whining at the unfairness of it all while he looks down from his big office doing the real work - solving cases left and right like he always wanted while the lesser beings of the Exo division (mainly Jongdae and Baekhyun, maybe add Sehun too for good measure) do his work. Kyungsoo gets spared and turns into his right hand man (Jongin ignores the fact that this would never work out in real life; it’s his fantasy and he can imagine whatever he feels like) and...it will be glorious.
But first, Jongin has to actually get there, which means working together with Zitao it is.
“Is he alright?” Zitao faintly whispers, looking a little concerned.
“It happens to the best of us,” Junmyeon answers wisely and sighs.
“Anyway,” Jongin intervenes loudly. “I guess it doesn’t sound half bad now that I think about it. I’m good-looking, you are sort of alright looking-”
“Hey!” Zitao looks at him with an appalled frown on his face, but Jongin ignores him and just blabbers on.
“-we’ll sure to make this work! Trust me, I’m a great boyfriend!”
“Are you sure about that?” Zitao asks doubtfully and raises an eyebrow.
“Positive. They won’t know what hit them to be honest!”
Zitao watches him as he leans back with a satisfied grin on his face. He figures whatever made him suddenly change his mind about the whole thing is back on his mind now.
~
The next morning Jongin is uber punctual, not because he’s actually an early riser (as if), but more because they (meaning Zitao and Jongin) decided to go to their houses together to fetch some stuff.
Much to his surprise he didn’t wake up with the feeling of regret. Zitao seems pretty cool from what he learnt about him yesterday. Maybe it won’t be a disaster waiting to happen. Hopefully.
With these thoughts Jongin enters the office and is surprised to see Zitao already there, with almost everyone in their unit as well. He hopes he is not the last person to arrive for once, but a quick headcount tells him that this is almost the case. He mentally highfives himself for this achievement.
“Hey,” he greets them when he gets to them.
“I can’t believe it,” Jongdae says, eyes wide open in mock shock.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Baekhyun chimes in.
“Hi Jongin,” Zitao says and waves with one hand.
Jongin is surprised to see a little fluff ball in his other hand. By closer inspection he notices it’s a tiny dog and smiles.
“I didn’t peg you to be a dog person,” he says.
“How can you not know when we’ve been together for years? Seriously Jongin, this hurts,” Zitao replies in mock disappointment and lowers his head as if he was trying to hide his crying face.
“You are heartless!” Jongdae plays along and chuckles.
“And you are an idiot,” Kyungsoo, who just entered the office, says. “Why do I have to be here? It’s not like this is my case and I would have rather slept a little longer.”
At his voice the tiny dog perks up, almost as if it recognizes the voice. Now that Jongin sees its head, he raises an eyebrow, because it wears a tiny pink hairclip. He wants to judge Zitao, but what gives him the right when he thinks about his own dogs.
“Oh, hi Kyungsoo,” Zitao says and waves again. “You look good!”
Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything and just glares...affectionately at him.
“Do you remember Candy? She immediately recognized you! What a smart dog she is! She used to follow you around all the time when we worked together that one time, surely you remember?” Zitao goes on.
“I do, yes, now if you’ll excuse me…” Kyungsoo says and quickly walks to his desk.
Zitao grins at that and puts his dog - Candy - down, who immediately follows to where Kyungsoo went just minutes ago.
“Kyungsoo is one of the only people she follows. I have no idea why, but it is hilarious,” he comments when they witness Kyungsoo bending down to pet her.
“What’s so great about it?” Baekhyun asks, scoffing.
“You’re only mad because she didn’t react to anything you did earlier. And not even your silly aegyo games, which were disgusting and unfunny by the way. If I were Candy I would have given you the cold shoulder as well,” Jongdae answers and laughs.
“Who asked for you stupid opinion again, asshole?”
“Baekhyun!” a scandalized voice floats through the office. “What did we agree on when it comes to profanities this early in the morning?”
Junmyeon is hidden behind a couple of boxes interestingly. Jongin imagines him to have a scolding look on his face. Either that or the ‘I’m so disappointed in you right now’ look.
This is when Zitao hops of the table he had been sitting on and goes to where Jongin is.
“How about we leave, pick our stuff and visit our new home?” he says and winks.
Jongin doesn’t answer and just nods. Zitao gives a thumbs-up and saunters to Kyungsoo’s place, where he is still petting Candy. It looks adorable, even if Kyungsoo still looks like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. Looks like he isn’t the only one who is not a morning person here.
When Zitao picks up Candy and they say their goodbyes to the others (Jongin looks pleased that Baekhyun has to file the files Junmyeon brought in earlier away) they make their way to their respective places to pick up their stuff. This doesn’t take as long as expected to both their surprise.
On the way to their new house, Zitao quickly briefs him about their job. Their target so to speak is a rich man (Jongin knew that already) who lives together with his wife and recently has been accused of taking part in illegal gambling. Zitao and Jongin are supposed to look into this and look for as much proof as they can find. All while staying as unsuspecting as possible. Jongin can’t say he isn’t nervous at the prospect, but at least he has an experienced agent at his side.
“I think it’s kind of funny that we both have dogs,” Jongin remarks when the briefing seems to be over.
Zitao looks at him for a moment; then smiles in a teasing way.
“You better keep your hooligans away from my princess though. I mean it!”
Jongin gapes at that and looks back at his own dogs who are sleeping soundly at the backseat of Zitao’s car. How dare he call his babies hooligans!
“Who are you calling hooligans! You better take that back!” he snarls.
Zitao just smiles mischievously and goes back to focusing on the road. Jongin silently fumes and ignores Zitao’s everything. And he’s going to do that until he apologizes for his words.
~
The rest of the car ride is spent more or less in silence. It also doesn’t take long for their destination to appear in front of them. In fact, Jongin is quite surprised to see a rather big house with a big garden in front of him, when Zitao stops the car.
“Wow,” he says.
Zitao just snorts at that. “Showtime!”
Jongin doesn’t have time to go back to ignoring him, as he sees people approaching - assumingly their neighbours. They leave their car and greet them. Jongin only knows scenes like this from movies, but maybe that is just how this neighbourhood rolls. Since Zitao is more experienced with the whole making up things at the spot for the job, he lets him do the talking, while he awkwardly stands next to him and nods at appropriate times. He still hasn’t forgiven Zitao for what he said though.
He turns to Zitao when he feels his arm slide over his shoulders - apparently a sign that their act starts now and Jongin despite himself slides his arm behind Zitao’s waist. He’s not sure if he’s convincing but judging from the cooing they receive he might as well be.
Maybe he isn’t a lost cause after all. Not soon after their neighbours retreat to their houses again with promises of get-togethers to integrate them into their apparently tight-knit community. He’s surprised to see these people so open-minded about new arrivals; if he was honest with himself he’d admit that this wasn’t what he thought would happen.
“Are you coming, or not?” Zitao happily calls from the front door.
Jongin ignores him and lets his dogs out of the car instead. He’s glad that they seem to like the place if there running around in the garden is anything to go by. He smiles proudly at that.
“Sorry, I had to take my “Hooligans” out first,” he tells Zitao and makes air-quotes only to enter their house first.
“Are you going to mention that for the rest of our lives now?” Zitao asks, but can’t help but laugh.
Jongin gives him a pointed look and looks around in search for a suitable room.
Faintly he hears Zitao’s impressed whistles, but he ignores him. When he finds what he’s looking for he decides to just lie down for a while. Who knew that this whole facade would be this tiring?
~
Jongin only wakes up when it’s already dark outside. He goes to the kitchen and sees that Zitao already took his luggage inside. Despite his vow to ignore him, he can’t help but feel a little grateful for that, He looks around for something to drink and sits down in the living room when he finds something to his liking.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting there, but when he hears someone coming down from the stairs he shortly glances at the clock just to see it’s almost 2 in the morning. Way to fuck up your sleep schedule so early in the game, he berates himself.
When he looks at the doorframe to the living room a moment later he sees Zitao and gulps. He didn’t expect him to just walk around in nothing but underwear, but soon finds that he doesn’t really mind. Zitao, despite his earlier claims, is actually very good-looking. The lack of clothing makes way for Jongin to see well-defined muscles and an overall great body. Jongin has to remind himself that he’s currently angry at him and that he can’t drool because of that. He also has to remind himself that he knows him for a total of not even a day. Funny how one could forget these things.
“Please don’t tell me you’re still angry, I was only trying to joke around a little. I’m sorry if my joke backfired and it really wasn’t my intention to insult you or your dogs. They are quite cute, if I may say so.”
Jongin keeps on looking at him and can’t believe that he’s apologizing to him at a time like this.
“Please say something and don’t just look at me!” Zitao urges.
“Do you always walk around in only your underwear?” Jongin finally says and of course it would be something embarrassing
Zitao blinks a bit in surprise, but this soon makes way for a smirk. That bastard, Jongin angrily thinks.
“Oh….Come on, Jongin, don’t act like you haven’t seen me naked,” he says and Jongin looks at him confused. This also makes way for totally unwanted pictures in his mind, which is something he doesn’t need right now.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hahaha, silly you, are you acting like we haven’t been dating for the past couple of years again? You know damn well what I’m talking about,” Zitao tells him and waggles his eyebrows as if his innuendo wasn’t obvious enough.
“I’m just kidding, I’m trying to make you feel more comfortable with the idea of us being a couple you know,” Zitao says and winks. “And before I forget our targets have invited us over for dinner tomorrow, be ready! And good night!”
With that, Zitao leaves for his room again and leaves Jongin to ponder the implications of his blush and the quicker beating of his heart.
~
When Jongin wakes up for the second time this day, he finds Zitao standing in the kitchen (dressed this time even!). He’s surprised to see his dogs mingle around him and raises an eyebrow in question when Zitao notices him.
“Ah, look who finally woke up from his sleep. And before you ask, I took them for a walk already and I think they like me now. Monggu especially doesn’t leave me alone.”
As if to make a point, Monggu barks at the mention of his name and happily wags his tail.
“Aha, and where is Candy? Doesn’t she feel lonely if you abandon her for other dogs?” Jongin asks (and no, he totally doesn’t feel irritated that his dogs didn’t even greet them like they usually do) and looks around for the tiny dog.
“She’s taking a nap in the living room. I know you wanted to make a jab at me for playing favourites, but you don’t have to worry about me stealing your dogs away from you, I’d never do something like that.”
Jongin nods absentmindedly and goes into the living room to find Candy lying in her dog bed on the couch. It’s overall a really cute picture and Jongin smiles despite himself. He carefully sits down and pets her a little, which has her waking up. He expects her to go away but instead she stays where she is and makes happy noises.
“Interesting. She usually doesn’t warm up to strangers that easily. She seems to like you. But,” Zitao says and solemnly looks at Jongin. “you will never be her favourite. That is Do Kyungsoo’s place.”
“I’m not even going to ask why that is. Even though it seems totally ridiculous that the Kyungsoo I know is some kind of dog whisperer apparently.”
“Sometimes strange things happen. This being one of them.”
Jongin can’t help but agree with that.
~
Dinnertime is when Jongin and Zitao, dressed up, find themselves in the dining room of their neighbours. They have a couple of wiretaps and other devices with them that they want to place throughout their house so the observations will be a day and night campaign without either of them being there all the time. Sure, it’s probably one of the oldest tricks in their line of work, but it still works and this is crucial to the quick solving of their case.
“Thank you for inviting us over,” Zitao says gratefully over a glass of wine.
“You don’t have to thank me, darling, we always invite new neighbours over. It is kind of tradition here. Soon you will be hosting these dinners in your house,” the wife replies with a smile.
Jongin doesn’t care much for sweet-talking, so instead he discretely observes the husband, their main suspect for the time being. He seems nice and sophisticated, doesn’t talk much but doesn’t seem as if he doesn’t like having guests over.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go to the bathroom, if you’ll excuse me for a minute,” Zitao suddenly says and gets up from the table.
When he is out of the picture the woman’s focus immediately turns on Jongin. He dreaded this moment, but you have to do what you have to do, so he smiles at her, too, and tries his best to not look suspicious. He is sure why Zitao really got up and he has to play for time now for him.
“I’m sorry for not talking much, but I appreciate the invitation just as much,” he says and bows a little.
“Oh, like I told your boyfriend before, there really is no need for that at all. I hope we get to see you a lot when we throw our garden parties, they are always quite well liked here.”
Jongin raises his glass of wine at that and takes a sip.
Not long after, Zitao rejoins them again a knowing smile on his face as he kisses Jongin’s head. He still has to get used to that, but he’s getting better at it slowly. Maybe it’s time to initiate something on his own, they are after all very much in love with each other. And so he takes Zitao’s hand and intertwines their fingers. If Zitao’s surprised, he doesn’t show it.
After the dinner is done, they soon leave for their house claiming they still have to unpack (which is true in a way, even though they don’t plan on changing that anytime soon). The couple seems understanding enough, so they let them go.
They wait until they are in their own house to talk again,
“I assume you made it?” Jongin says while loosening his tie.
“Definitely. I hope I placed them at strategic places. I could even hide one in the living room without anyone noticing, so there’s that. You know, either we are working against one of the dumbest criminals ever or there is more to this guy than meets the eye. Assuming he is involved in illegal shenanigans.”
“Good! I’m glad it’s over.”
Jongin sits down on the couch and closes his eyes for a moment, while Zitao opens his laptop to connect it to the devices installed in their neighbour’s home. He only opens his eyes again, when he feels Zitao’s hand in his again. It startles him for about a minute then he lets it happen.
“You don’t mind?” Zitao asks while typing away with his other hand.
“Not really. I thought it wasn’t half bad and I always liked handholding, so yeah…” Jongin answers and blushes a little. It’s surprising how easy he can talk about these things with Zitao.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one then. I quite like it myself. I might even start to like you, if I may say so,” Zitao replies and grins.
Jongin blushes even more at that bold statement.
“If I make you feel uncomfortable, all you have to do is say something.”
“No worries about that.”
~
“Sounds to me like someone’s falling in love~” Baekhyun sings in a teasing voice when Jongin visits them in the office a few days later.
Jongin instantly regrets ever spilling the beans to him when he knows how Baekhyun is. Usually he would have talked with Kyungsoo about it, since they are fairly close and can talk about these things, but unfortunately Kyungsoo’s been out investigating another case today, so he had to take Baekhyun as a secret bearer instead.
“In all seriousness, I never expected that you’d fall for someone so quick. I always assumed it’s difficult to get through to you for some reason even though you are quite charming once one gets to know you,” Baekhyun continues.
“Wow...I think out of all the things you said to me so far this is the one thing that actually sounds a hundred percent honest. I thank you for it.”
“Oh, don’t think I’ll let you guys off the hook. It just isn’t interesting to me to tease someone when there isn’t anything to tease just yet. I’ll wait until you are together. Then I’ll be your worst nightmare!” Baekhyun winks.
“And you’re back to being you. I admit I was a bit afraid of this new understanding side of you. I’m glad you’re back, I guess.”
Baekhyun just winks sleazily.
~
In the following days Jongin realizes that the more they pretend to do couple things in their new neighbourhood the less it feels forced. For some reason it feels as if they really are dating. Maybe, after this is all over, they can continue this - whatever it is. Jongin doesn’t want to think about the eventual end of it.
They are currently taking their dogs out, something they have been doing a lot lately, and are quite happy about Candy playing fetch with Jongin, when they decide they played enough for the day.
Once they are inside of their house they are surprised to hear muffled voices coming out of their living room and they almost grab for their guns when they realize that the voices come from Zitao’s laptop. They look at each other and sprint to the couch and really, it’s the husband who’s there. Since he’s supposed to be at work now, it doesn’t take rocket science to assume something isn’t quite right.
They listen for a while, but so far nothing of importance comes up. But then they hear the name of a hotel, a time and the invitation to play. Zitao and Jongin look at each other and Jongin mouths ‘Bingo’. After not finding anything of substance, they suddenly have something to report to their colleagues and superiors. It almost feels unreal.
It is Zitao who reports back to Junmyeon what they found out while Jongin entertains himself with playing with his dogs. He dreads the end of their case now that he’s aware he feels something for Zitao. He guesses it’s worth a shot to try.
“Junmyeon will take care of it from now on, but he asks us to stay alert just in case. Want to go to this hotel and try to find something out?” Zitao asks.
“What do you feel about me?” Jongin asks instead of answering.
He doesn’t see Zitao’s initial frown turn into a warm gaze, since his focus is still on Monggu.
“You’re asking me that when it should be obvious that I like you? I thought you knew already. I thought I was obvious enough.”
This has Jongin looking up with a smile.
“I can’t believe it. When I first met you I thought you were ridiculous with your work in a burlesque bar and a stupid agent name like agent AB. What made you think this was a good idea?” Jongin asks with a laugh.
“Oh...that. I don’t really remember? It sort of stayed with me though, so I didn’t change it.”
“Of course. Though I think you still remember the story behind that name and are just too embarrassed to tell me the truth,” Jongin accuses even though his smile grows bigger by the second.
“Even so, how about yourself? You called me alright-looking compared to yourself.”
“And?”
“It doesn’t take rocket science to see that I’m actually incredibly handsome and definitely not just alright-looking.”
Jongin looks at him in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you remembered that and held a grudge over it for so long. I also can’t believe how incredibly vain you are even though I should have known considering I lived with you for quite some time now. Why didn’t I see the signs? It’s too late to turn back now-”
Before Jongin can continue, Zitao moves forward and kisses him. Sure, it was probably to shut him up, but Jongin doesn’t mind. At all. He found out long ago that Zitao is a great kisser. Though this time it seems different, because this time it’s not for the sake of pretending. This time it feels actually real and like the start of something new.
They make out for a while, forgetting everything around them. They only stop when it’s time to take a breath.
“If you really regret falling for me now, how come you were ogling my body so much the first few times when I used to walk around in my underwear? Do you have a great explanation for that as well or…”
“How dare you bring that up! That’s it, I’m not talking to you anymore,” Jongin says, clearly embarrassed when he remembers himself during those times. He tried to be discreet after the first time it happened, but apparently this wasn’t lost on Zitao. Typical.
“Maybe I’m just too perceptive for my own good, my dear Jongin,” Zitao says wisely.
They get interrupted by Zitao’s shrill ringtone and Jongin rolls his eyes. He takes the call and after a few minutes hangs up. Jongin looks at him questioningly, but Zitao puts a finger over his mouth.
“Looks like we have to continue this later, Jongin,” he shortly waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “But work calls. Apparently we are needed after all.”
“Of course,” Jongin rolls his eyes again. It is true after all that work is the biggest cockblock of them all.
~
They change into their work clothes quickly and drive to the crime scene as fast as possible. They see many of their colleague’s cars, which is a good sign. Hopefully no one got hurt so far.
Before they enter the hotel, they kiss once more, as a token of luck. Because it looks like luck is definitely what they need.
It’s almost ridiculous how empty the hotel currently is. They haven’t met a single person while looking for clues where they could be.
“You know, this isn’t my first case like this. Let’s try the basement floor, it’s our best guess at the moment.”
Jongin nods and follows Zitao. It surprised them that this is - as cliché as it sounds - where they are indeed needed. Jongin assumes a couple of their men are down, but he hopes nothing too bad happened to them.
Zitao moves slowly and doesn’t make a single noise as they approach them - Jongin hopes he isn’t too loud in comparison. But it doesn’t really matter anymore since someone apparently noticed them anyway. How they are not quite sure, but the moment the person tells his accomplices about them they are already sprinting to them.
They fight back to back and surprisingly they make it out without a major injury.
After that it doesn’t take long for the police to arrive. No one from their team is really injured, a scratch here and there maybe. The exception is Baekhyun, who for some reason is knocked out. As some medics take him to the hospital, Junmyeon goes to their side, a proud smile on his face.
“Good job, agents! You’ve done a wonderful job. I’m glad it worked out in the end.”
“We are too!”
~
The following weeks weren’t quite as chaotic as one could imagine. After the criminals were arrested, Jongin returned to the office thinking everything would more or less be the same; meaning doing paperwork and general boring desk work.
“Ah, there he is,” Junmyeon says and goes to Jongin’s place. “The hero of our division has returned.”
Jongin looks down. Hearing it like this is a little embarrassing, considering he didn’t really do much.
“I’m glad to inform you that Big Boss has decided that you’re not a rookie here anymore. From now on you’re on the same level as Baekhyun and Jongdae are.”
Jongin’s eyes widen in surprise and he almost starts laughing at the irony.
“That hopefully means that they have to do their own paperwork from now on.”
“That’s exactly what it means.”
Jongin turns around quickly and goes to Jongdae and Baekhyun’s tables. It’s kind of funny how both of them are pretending as if they didn’t just listen to what Junmyeon told him, but he guesses he can play with them a little.
“How does it feel like to do your own paperwork?” Jongin whispers while watching them both.
Jongin almost laughs in their faces when he sees how disgruntled and sour they look at the news.
“Aww, maybe you’ll find a new rookie soon that can do these things for you,” Jongin says, stands up and pats both their heads.
~
“And then they just tried pretending they weren’t eavesdropping, It was really funny today,” Jongin finishes retelling what happened at work.
Zitao can only sigh in frustration and rolls his eyes as he starts going back to leave marks on Jongin’s neck. It’s been like this the whole time, sometimes Jongin really didn’t know when to stop talking. This was one of those times.
“Are you done now?” Zitao asks while fumbling with Jongin’s shirt.
“I think so, unless you want to hear what else happened today.”
At that Zitao groans.
“No, I really don’t want to hear that right now.”
“Okay then. But you’re missing out on a lot of funny stories.”
“Listen, do you want me to continue or not?” Zitao asks. He stops what he was doing just now in order to glare at Jongin, who just laughs in return.
“I’m just playing with you. It’s so easy to make you angry nowadays.”
“If you say so, but I wish you would stop right now, especially when I have far better ideas for this evening. If you still have some great stories to tell by the time we’re done, feel free to share, but right now, I’d rather we’d do something completely different.”
“If you say so,” Jongin says and throws a meaningful look in his general direction.
Zitao just smirks at that and goes back to unbuttoning Jongin’s shirt. Just as he’s about to open the last button, Jongin’s telephone rings. Usually he would ignore it at a time like this but since it’s his work phone, he can’t really do that.
Zitao of course is far from happy about this. Jongin smiles apologetically and starts buttoning up his shirt again.
“When I come back we can definitely continue this. Wait for me!” Jongin says and kisses Zitao’s face.
When Jongin is gone, Zitao goes to the living room to distract himself a little. Of course he’s still pouting and continues to do so even if Candy walks up to him. Zitao glances down at her and lifts her up after a while.
“It’s true after all that work really is the biggest cockblock out there. Also, when they become successful they suddenly don’t have time anymore. Typical.”
Candy just barks and Zitao assumes she is on his side.
(Later, when Jongin comes back from work, he finds Zitao sleeping on the couch surrounded by their dogs. All in all this is one of the cutest things he has seen in a while and it even makes him forget about Jongdae’s fake emergency just to annoy him.)