Human iPod [part IV]
>look here for part III<
~*~
The next day, Jongin recieved a text from Kyungsoo, informing him that Kyungsoo had called Yixing and had accepted the company's offer. But this meant that he would have to quit his job as a waiter at EXO-café. So he asked Jongin to come to the café that day if he had time, so that Kyungsoo could serve him a drink of his choice on the house one more time. Jongin agreed to come in the late afternoon before his shift at the convinience store started.
On arriving at the café, Jongin found Kyungsoo nearly in tears, as he was apologising profusely to Luhan for having to quit, but the café owner just smiled in return and patted the smaller male's back. "Don't worry, Kyungsoo-ya," he said reassuringly while giving the other a big hug. "As long as you don't completely forget us when you're a star, we'll be fine. Just do a little special concert in here every now and then, and we're good, I promise!"
Kyungsoo gave a teary nod and turned around to greet Jongin with a smile that brightened up his face considerably. "Ah, Jongin! Good to see you. Which drink would you like?"
"A non-spilled latte macchiato, please," he replied with a cheeky grin.
Kyungsoo blushed a little at the memory of his mishap from their first meeting, but nodded again and went off to bring the beverage to Jongin. The latter had just decided on a seat, when he checked the clock and realised with a frown that he wouldn't have the time to sit down and have a relaxed drink before his shift started. Kyungsoo returned with the latte and upon hearing the news, agreed to change the beverage again into a cardboard cup, just like the last time.
He accompanied Jongin out the door. "I still have a bit of spare time until my meeting with Yixing starts over in the company building. If you like, I'll come with you to the convenience store?" he offered. Of course Jongin agreed.
They walked quietly next to each other and while Jongin was still busy contemplating whether or not he should dare to grab Kyungsoo's hand, the smaller male spoke up.
"I still feel guilty for leaving Luhan-hyung and Minseok-hyung alone with the café," he said and hung his head. "But at least now I might be able to make a lot of money. So I could try to repay them a bit for losing me as an employee," he added and lifted his head again with a hopeful smile.
He's so adorable, Jongin thought and decided not to mention the fact that Luhan and Minseok had probably gained so much more income simply from the couple of nights in which Kyungsoo had performed which had drawn a great amount of customers. But little, selfless Kyungsoo would only feel even guiltier about leaving, then.
"Ah! This reminds me," Kyungsoo suddenly exclaimed. "That also means that I will soon have enough money to repay for your broken iPod, Jongin!" He beamed.
"Why, so that you can finally get rid of me?" Jong said, trying to sound like he was joking, but being actually somewhat worried.
Kyungsoo's face fell and he frantically waved his hands around. "What? No! Not at all!" His eyes widened in their trademark cuteness and his cheeks turned pink.
"Really?" Jongin smirked, teasing the other to gloss over his own relief. "In that case, why did you buy the expensive webcam? If you need to save up money so bad?"
Now Kyungsoo blushed even harder and his eyes darted around. "Errr..."
Jongin's grin grew. "Ooh, don't tell me you bought it on purpose so that I would have to wait even long-"
"Look, we arrived at the shop!" Kyungsoo exclaimed and frantically pointed at the sign above the entrance.
"It's alright, I'm just messing with you," Jongin chuckled and ruffled the other's hair affectionately. "Make sure to rock the interview for me, yeah? Tell me later how it went."
Kyungsoo nodded like an obedient puppy, still flushed. Jongin gave him a last assuring smile and turned around to enter the shop.
~*~
The following time was hard. In the weeks before Christmas, the cold hit the city full on and several of Jongin's coworkers, including Sehun, fell ill due to a rampant flu epidemic. Jongin had to often take over their work shifts at the shop, consequently sometimes even working three or four shifts a day. Besides, the kids' music school was preparing for a staging of the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, so the girls needed extra hours of practice.
Kyungsoo's schedule was packed immediately after signing up to the music company, leaving him less and less freetime to record his little exclusive song covers for Jongin via webcam, until he had to stop all together. In response to this music withdrawal, Jongin's hyperactivity increased again, too, only worsening his insomnia, despite the daily hard work at the shop and the dance studio.
Kyungsoo and him desperately tried to keep up communication via text messaging, but with them both being so busy all the time, it wasn't easy. Frequently, Jongin caught himself being jealous of Kyungsoo's manager Junmyeon, as he was often brought up in Kyungsoo's texts. Despite making him work so hard, Kyungsoo always spoke nothing but highly of Junmyeon, praising his manager's patience and general friendliness to everyone and how nice it was of him to constantly encourage Kyungsoo in his singing. It didn't help that when Jongin googled the guy, he turned out to be as pretty as an angel.
In combination with his sleep deprivation, his jealousy turned Jongin into a daily ball of grumpiness.
Shortly after Christmas, Kyungsoo's first single was released: Angel/Into Your World was its title and it became a hit song instantly.
Sehun and Jongin were watching one of the year-end music shows on TV on New Year's Eve, bundled up in several blankets and munching crackers and tangerines, when suddenly the show host announced Kyungsoo as the next one of his guests. Jongin almost choked on the slice of tangerine in his mouth. He let out an angry growl as right behind Kyungsoo (who was looking dashingly cute in his little tuxedo and his hair styled up like that), Junmyeon entered the stage. He shook hands with the host as well and then followed Kyungsoo over to the couches and sat down next to him. He was sporting an angelic smile and Jongin felt sick.
"There's no need for this asshole to sit so close to him," Jongin snarled.
Sehun turned around to him, "Huh? Who?"
"This guy. Junmyeon. Or whatever. Look at how fake he is."
Sehun gave him a surprised look but turned back to the TV. "What's wrong with him? I think he looks... nice?"
"He's dumb," Jongin said venomously. "I bet this ridiculous stage name, D.O, was also his dumb idea."
"What makes you so sure that it was his idea?" Sehun said, taken aback by Jongin's sudden aggressiveness.
"I don't know!" Jongin spat. "He's everywhere. He follows Kyungsoo around like a shadow."
"More like a mother hen, or like a good manager."
"Like a bloody stalker."
And with that, Jongin fiercely grabbed the remote and switched the channel right before Kyungsoo could begin to sing his song live on TV. Sehun was about to protest, but then only rolled his eyes and shook his head, saying nothing.
~*~
Two weeks later, Jongin woke up to sleety rain outside his window. It was Jongin's birthday, so Sehun had taken his best friend's morning shifts, and Jongin had been able to sleep in for the first time in weeks. Still groggy, he got up and trotted, slightly swaying, over to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. Sipping the hot beverage, Jongin felt his mind slowly boot up and he noticed the carton of deep-frozen chicken sitting on the kitchen table next to two small wrapped packages.
He smiled at the sloppy way in which one of the packages was wrapped. He recognised the cheap wrapping paper from the convenience store and even without looking at the little card attached to it, he knew that it was from Sehun. He frowned at the other package, confused. The wrapping looked more expensive and while Sehun's gift had a slightly-out-of-season Christmas pattern, this one was covered in artfully drawn music notes. It even had a pretty blue ribbon around it.
However, deciding to savour the anticipation some more, Jongin turned to Sehun's package first. His face fell when he pulled the wrapping off: It was Kyungsoo's new album, which had been released just two days before. He sighed deeply. He knew that Sehun had only meant well. But lately, being reminded of Kyungsoo also just reminded Jongin of how crazily much he missed him. So far, he had tried to avoid any news about Kyungsoo or his music on TV or on the radio. He even refused to listen to any of Kyungsoo's old recordings, which were still stored on Sehun's computer.
Ironically, this made the distance to Kyungsoo feel even longer. It was a vicious circle.
Jongin sighed again and put the CD aside. Hopefully, the other gift would lift his spirits again. And really, when he looked at the small pink card that was attached to the ribbon, Jongin felt his heart skip a beat. It was from Kyungsoo!
Suddenly very nervous, Jongin opened the pretty wrapping with slightly shaking hands.
It revealed a brandnew iPod, the latest model, even including a casing and Jongin felt his insides turn to ice.
That was it.
The last string that bound him and Kyungsoo together. The only connection that was left. The only reason to keep in even the remotest contact.
And now it was gone. The debt was payed. It was over.
Feeling tears well up in his eyes, he grabbed the iPod and the CD from Sehun and stormed out of the flat, down the staircase and over to where the refuse containers were located and was just about to violently chuck in both things, when he caught himself.
Jongin stared at the picture of Kyungsoo on the CD cover, even though the photoshop made him look a bit weird, it was still his Babysoo... Cowering down, silently sobbing, he realised that he simply couldn't throw Kyungsoo away.
~*~
A couple more frantic weeks passed, with Jongin immersing himself in his work. During the day, he usually managed to keep his mind too busy, but at night time, when his restless body forced him to stake awake, his thoughts of Kyungsoo frequently came rushing back to him.
On Lunar New Year, Sehun and Jongin were sitting in front of the TV again, watching mindless game shows and eating traditional New Year food. During a commercial break, Sehun took the remote and switched through different channels. He stopped at some sort of talk show. Jongin, busy slurping rice cake soup, didn't look up until he heard a painfully familiar voice answering one of the show host's questions, and his head shot up. Kyungsoo!
Jongin fidgeted and opened his mouth to ask Sehun to switch the channel again, but he just recieved a stern glance.
"Nope, forget it," he said as if he read Jongin's mind. "And calm down. His manager isn't even there, see?"
Jongin had to admit, that seeing Kyungsoo without this insufferably perfect Junmyeon person made it easier for him to watch and realising that he probably wouldn't win a fight with Sehun over the remote anyway, he slumped down on the couch again and stayed quiet.
"...what do you usually do in your free time, D.O-ssi?" the host, speaking with a slight Chinese accent, was just asking the petite guy sitting on the couch across from him. Kyungsoo was dressed in a simple midnight blue t-shirt, a thin jacket made out of smooth leather, and dark, skinny jeans with boots. His chocolate brown hair was styled messily and Jongin felt the longing inside himself like a fist clenched around his heart.
"Well, Tao-ssi, I actually have barely any free time anymore," Kyungsoo replied to the host on screen. "But back when I had some, before my debut, I liked to bake and sing."
"Oh, so you really started to work for your dream from very early on?"
"Not at all," Kyungsoo replied with a smile and shook his head. The host Tao gave him a questioning look so he went on, "Until very recently, in fact, I used to not believe in myself at all, when it came to singing. But a special person, who is very dear to me, suddenly started to believe in me, helped me defeat my insecurity and reach my dream. Without them, I wouldn't be here tonight," he added, voice firm.
"In this case, I guess we really have to thank this person," Tao exclaimed and started clapping along with the big audience in the studio. "Is this special person maybe here with us now, among the audience?" Tao asked as the applause abated and made a wide gesture with his arm.
"I doubt it, actually," Kyungsoo chuckled. "I haven't heard anything from them for quite a while now... and I miss them a lot," he admitted and lowered his head self-consciously.
"I'm sorry," Tao said with empathy. "I hope they are watching us tonight and maybe will give you a call later?" He winked and Kyungsoo gave a small, unconvinced smile in return.
"So, D.O-ssi, is it true that you're not presenting the promotion single of your album here tonight?" Tao abruptly changed the topic. "You're doing a cover version of Sunggyu's hit song instead?"
Kyungsoo nodded and followed Tao as he got from his seat.
"Well, ladies and gentleman, Tao's New Year Peach Club proudly presents D.O performing Kim Sunggyu's Because!" Tao cried and among resurging applause, Kyungsoo walked over to where the live band was located on the vast stage.
Kyungsoo positioned himself behind the microphone and Jongin started to fidget again. He would sing now! Jongin wasn't sure if his nerves could handle it.
On screen, Kyungsoo gave a serious gaze right into the camera and calmly said, "This is for Jongin." And before the surprised looking Tao could say anything, the song started.
Jongin had gone rigid in his seat on the couch. Frozen, he stared at the TV, listening how Kyungsoo visibly poured his soul into his voice, into the music. The lyrics pierced Jongin's heart and at some point, the screen got very blurry but Jongin didn't even realised the streaks of tears running down his cheeks.
The song ended and the bowl of rice cake soup in Jongin's lap was cold, forgotten. Sehun seemed to sense Jongin's pent-up tension and quick-thinking, he snatched Jongin's bowl away and put it on the coffee table. By doing so, he saved it from tumbling to the ground, because in this instant, something snapped inside Jongin. He jumped to his feet and without saying anything, stormed off to his room. Sehun just warily stared after him.
Jongin rushed to his wardrobe and began digging at its floor, frantically throwing clothes over his shoulder, until he had found what he'd been searching for: his birthday presents, the CD from Sehun and the iPod from Kyungsoo, both still unpacked.
Or were they? Upon further examination, Jongin noticed that the iPod's little box had actually been opened before. He must have missed it on his birthday! He put down the CD and curiously fished out the iPod from the box. A small note fluttered into his lap.
My dear Jongin!, it read in Kyungsoo's handwriting.
I'm so sorry for not being able to send you any more covers, lately. And I miss you like
crazy! I hope you're doing okay... Please don't think that this iPod is meant as a goodbye
gift! Although my debt is payed now, I really really really want to stay close to you, Jongin...
Do you want to stay close, too?
Anyway, hopefully this gift will help you with your music addiction. I put a few songs on it
already, I hope you'll like the little playlist I made for you...
Oh no, I gotta go now... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONGIN!!! <3
PS. Make sure to listen to the full playlist at least once!
Jongin's entire body was trembling. Slowly, he put the earphones in his ears with shaking fingers, and started the small electronic device. And sure enough, there was already a single playlist installed on the iPod. It was just titled My Prince and Jongin clicked to start it, his heart racing at approximately a hundred miles per hour.
The playlist consisted of a compilation of all of Kyungsoo's personal covers. Every single one of the songs that Kyungsoo had sung for only Jongin to hear. From the very first one, even including Hyeya and Oh My Goddess... Jongin cowered on the floor in his room and felt his insides melt, the way only Kyungsoo's velvet voice had the power to.
And then Jongin got to the last audio file of the playlist, and he was surprised to find out that it wasn't a song but, in fact, only a voice recording of Kyungsoo talking.
"Hey Jongin... If you hear this, you have reached the end of my little personalised playlist for you. I hope you liked it?" He chuckled, but then got serious again. "Jongin... I want you to know that I will, always and forever, be thankful for everything that you have done for me. I will never forget the way you believed in me when my own insecurity was threatening to drown my dreams. Your support means the world to me. I wouldn't be the person I am today, if it weren't for you, Jongin. And... I also want you to know that... I don't want to be just your jukebox anymore, in fact, I..." He awkwardly cleared his throat before taking a big breath. After a few tensed seconds of silence, Kyungsoo continued in a slightly shaky voice.
"I want to be your boyfriend, Jongin. I'm afraid my feelings for you aren't mutual but still. I want to let you know that you are the most beloved person in the entire world to me."
There, the recording ended. Jongin tried to swallow several times around the big lump in his throat. What an idiot he had been! He wiped his, once again, moist eyes with his sleeve and got up on wobbly legs since they had fallen asleep in his former kneeling position. He stumbled towards the living room where Sehun was still watching Tao's show.
"Is this live?" Jongin blurted the second he dashed in.
"Wh-what?" Sehun turned around, startled.
"This show!" Jongin gesticulated wildly to the TV. "Is this a live broadcast?"
"I... I think so, yeah..."
"Where is it?"
"Uh, the studio? I think it's in the building of Kyungsoo's music company. This host, Tao, is under the same label so it's probably-"
"Thanks!" Jongin cut his best friend off and rushed out again.
Remembering in the last second to grab his things (purse, phone, keys, jacket!), Jongin stumbled into his shoes and stormed out the door.
Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Jongin practically flew to the company building.
Of course the front door was guarded with burly security men, so Jongin tried to get in through the back doors, but to no avail, as they were guarded as well. His desperate attempt of sneaking around them was quickly thwarted.
"Please! Let me through!" he screamed. "I need to get inside!"
"Get lost, kid!" the security guard only grunted in return and shoved Jongin away. He tried to get through again, but another man grabbed his arms from behind and held him up in the air.
"Let me go!" Jongin struggled with all his might but the guard held him in a vicelike grip. "I need to see him! I need to see Kyungsoo! Please! Let me go, it's important!"
"We told you to piss off, you insufferable fanboy!" The security guard dropped him off a couple metres away and shoved him again, so that Jongin fell down on the concrete of the pavement. With a last contemptuous look, the man walked back to his position near the back doors.
Jongin winced as he slowly sat up and rubbed his hurting arm. They took him for just another fanboy trying to stalk his idol! There had to be another way of contacting Kyungsoo... With a start, he remembered his phone and frantically, he tried to fish it out of his pocket. Thankfully, it didn't break when he fell to the floor. But still, his shaking hands nearly dropped it and so it took him a few seconds until he had finally managed to dial Kyungsoo's number.
It seemed to ring at least a million times and Jongin grew more and more frustrated until finally, the line was picked up.
"...Hello? J-Jongin?" He sounded hesitant but it was definitely Kyungsoo's voice.
"Kyungsoo!" Jongin breathed, relief washing over him. "Kyungsoo, I-- I saw your performance! On TV, I mean. And... I heard your song. And I listened to the playlist, too! Yes, only now, so late, I know and I'm so sorry! But-- Anyway... Now I really need to talk to you. Like, right now!" He spluttered, his tongue almost stumbling over the words.
Kyungsoo was silent for a seemingly endless moment, before he asked in a low voice, "Where are you now?"
"In front of your company's building! No wait, actually, I'm behind it, I mean-"
"Go to EXO-café. Wait there for me. I'll come as fast as I can, okay?"
"EXO-café? Do you think it's even still opened? It's quite late already..."
"Don't worry, did you forget that we're guests of honour there?" Kyungsoo said warmly and Jongin could hear his grin through the phone. But before Jongin could say anything more, Kyungsoo cursed, whispered a quick "Gotta go! See you there!" and hung up.
Feeling as if floating, Jongin darted off to the café.
~*~
Jongin jumped up from his seat next to the window where he had waited anxiously, and rushed up to Kyungsoo as he made the bells above the door chime. Luhan and Minseok disappeared quickly into the café's kitchen, smirking knowingly. Kyungsoo had been right: Although the café had been practically closed already, a suprised Luhan had willingly allowed Jongin to wait inside the deserted café, as soon as he had stammered something incoherent about meeting Kyungsoo here.
Now Kyungsoo stepped inside and pulled his hood down just as Jongin grabbed his shoulders. The smaller male looked up at Jongin with hope written all over his face and his big, round eyes reflected the dim lights of the room and the street lights outside. Jongin thought that Kyungsoo had never looked more adorable and for a second, he was awe-struck, before he took a big breath.
"Kyungsoo, you were wong," he said very seriously. Kyungsoo froze but Jongin quickly spoke on, "Your feelings are mutual. I am madly in love with you. Still. And I know I always will be."
Kyungsoo let out the breath he had been holding. "Gosh, Jongin! Why did you have to formulate it like th-"
But he never got to finish his sentence, as his lips were suddenly captured by Jongin's.
[end]
A/N: (watch out, it's long. But long fic needs long a/n. Yay for author's trivia!)
- IT'S FINALLY DONE OMFG this fanfic literally took me forever to finish. I started this thing in march 2013(!) when i wrote the first 13k but then the fluffy part was about to end and i couldn't bring myself to write the rest for TWO YEARS. But i never wanted to abandon it and now i'm so glad that i didn't. I know there's a lot wrong with this story (the pacing is off, some transitions are awkward and the very first few paragraphs still make me gag) but in my defense, when i started it, this was literally only my second try at writing fanfiction ever. So i guess this might explain a few things lol...
- i'd like to mention the fact that i don't even own an iPod myself since i'm not an apple-person. I just used the word iPod because it's easier to write and read than sony walkman or whatever haha.
- i am aware that if the "big music company" is presumably sm-ent, irl two blokes very probably wouldn't be able to afford a flat in gangnam but, eh.
- errr if anyone's interested, jongin is wearing this on their first date.
- i know it's sort of implied, but you could say that the lyrics of the mentioned songs rise in significance as the story progresses. /hinthint that means u should look them up/ ;3
- i think i need to do smth about my habit of always ending my stories with a kissing scene... hm.
- credit for this fic's original idea goes to rasha. ("hey sharon last night i dreamed i went on a date with my iPod lawl") also, funfact: baekyeol's two fangirls are supposed to be her and me lmao. (Happy belated birthday, gull!!!)
- i'd like to thank my lovely eva for beta reading and for being generally amazing.
- further dedications go to cedric as this fic is one of the reasons we even became bros and to yuku for being the supportive cutiepie that she is.
- as for stats, this is the longest piece of fiction i've written to this day. I know, not much in comparison to others but to me it's a little milestone c:
- if you've read this far pls let me know what you think in the comments cuz PEOPLE WHO GIVE FEEDBACK ARE SAINTS <3