You're My Star, for everyone
Title: You're My Star
Recipient: everyone
Pairing or character: Jinwoo-centric, Jinwoo/Minho
Rating: G
Warnings: unbetaed, unedited.
Summary: Jinwoo finds a dragon egg. He seeks for help in taking care of it.
Notes: I am so sorry the prompt ran away from me haha! I was writing another prompt, hit a dead end, and ended up finishing this one instead. I was also heavily experimenting as this is my first time writing Winner, so I apologize if their characters are a little off. Also, I suck at fantasy-ish stuff. Please enjoy anyways! (Can you tell how bad I am at titles? Lol)
"What the fuck is that." Taehyun blinks down at a big, roughly textured egg, sitting there between all the other chicken eggs. It's a broken white color, unlike the cream brown color the chicken eggs has. "Uncle!"
Jinwoo comes out of the small house, wearing his ugly red plaid apron with "cutie" written on it. Taehyun, his sweet nephew, thinks it's ugly and tasteless and bought him a nice, clean, brand new gray colored apron last Christmas. It's very minimalist and fashionable (very Taehyun-like) and the tag says it's from some posh brand up in Seoul, where his nephew lives. It looks expensive, so Jinwoo never wears it. He wears his old, ragged, red "cutie" apron instead, because he always gets oil or other ingredients on it when cooking. He doesn't want to ruin Taehyun's gift, even though Taehyun had meant it as a gift for Jinwoo to wear, not keep.
"What is it?" Jinwoo asks softly. He's very patient with Taehyun. The boy was born and raised in Seoul, so he knows nothing about the farm animals Jinwoo keeps and the flowers and herbs he grows in the garden. Taehyun comes down to Imja-do every summer and Christmas to look for inspiration--either painting or making music--and he helps out with feeding the chickens every morning. Sometimes, he does something stupid, though, so Jinwoo has to keep a close eye on him, and when he calls out to him, it's usually not a good thing.
"What is that? Can't be a chicken egg, right?" Taehyun tilts his head to the side, his "fashionable" middle part hair messy and all over the place from all his hard work this morning. His platinum blonde hair (he likes to have lighter colors for the summer, and he was the one who convinced Jinwoo to dye his hair pink this summer) shines brightly under the sun, and Jinwoo squints a little to look at him, before looking down at the chicken eggs Taehyun's supposed to pick for breakfast.
"Which--" And then Jinwoo stops. He blinks. And then blinks. And squints. And then he rubs his eyes before crouching down to eye level with the big egg, sitting majestically between all the chicken eggs.
It's unmistakably a dragon egg.
Understandably, Taehyun doesn't know what it is--they don't have dragons up in Seoul, they only have druids and banshees and sometimes, the rare gumiho or werewolf, which would all be extremely rare down here in a small island like Imja-do, but they do have merfolk here--so he only stands there dumbly. Jinwoo is cautious, even though this is his first time seeing a dragon egg. He knows about dragons, though he's never seen one himself.
So someone in Imja-do is a dragon. Or, a dragon is passing by Imja. Normally, dragons come from high mountains, and Imja is a small island. A fishing village. With no mountains.
"It's a dragon egg." Jinwoo says simply. "But Taehyun, we have to find its mother before it hatches. Otherwise it'll think of whoever is there when it hatches as its mother."
"Dragons live in Imja-do?" Taehyun tilts his head again, and it's a cute gesture. He does it a lot--even when he was just a little boy and learning about magic from his father. Taehyun hated being a witch, because his father was one, and his father cheated on Jinwoo's sister with someone else after Taehyun's younger brother was born. But Taehyun had learned to accept and love his powers anyways because it means he can curse people he dislikes and ward people he cares about.
Nowadays, he's been warding Jinwoo's home like crazy, because Jinwoo lives alone, and Taehyun won't admit it, but Jinwoo thinks it's cute that he's worried.
"No, I don't think so. Dragons live in mountains. Maybe they're just passing by, but I can't imagine why one would travel while carrying. Or why they would lay their egg here. They'd want it near them at least. Unless..."
"Unless?" Taehyun raises an eyebrow. His eyebrows are amazingly judgmental. Jinwoo thinks it's hilarious, but Taehyun has had a bit of a complex about it ever since he turned old enough to care about his looks (which was at 15 years old for him).
"They want to throw it away."
---
Predictably, nobody comes for the dragon egg. Jinwoo doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't want to throw it away and abandon a baby dragon, or worse, kill it, but he also doesn't want a baby dragon to imprint on him. He doesn't think he's ready, and he doesn't have the money to feed an extra mouth, especially a dragon. Dragons have special diets and exercises which Jinwoo has no idea about. The next closest dragon around the Sinan County is in Heuksan-do.
Taehyun goes back to Seoul after summer ends, but offers to take Jinwoo to Busan to maybe give the dragon egg away.
"You're not seriously keeping it, are you?" Taehyun had asked 2 days before he returned to Seoul. "You don't know how to raise a dragon."
And Jinwoo agrees. He's a vampire. He drinks blood--animal blood. He enjoys staying indoors and cold winters. Dragons enjoy meat, doing activities outdoors, and likes spring and summer the best.
Jinwoo considers tagging along with Taehyun to Busan. It's a big city, and there's probably more than a family of dragons there, unlike the one family of dragons in Heuksan. But that means leaving the family home in Imja for who knows how long.
"You love that house too much." His sister always tells him, but his father had loved the house, so Jinwoo does, too. Jinwoo plans to live out the rest of his freakishly long vampire life in this house, but his sister (and Taehyun) always bugs him to travel and leave the house.
Jinwoo doesn't make up his mind quick enough--Taehyun leaves at the start of August and 2 days after that, the egg starts cracking.
In a week, it'll hatch a small baby dragon.
Dragons grow up fast, and they quickly learn how to transform and they start to eat a lot after a month or two, and they imprint. Jinwoo isn't ready for that commitment. He doesn't think he can be a great dad like his dad was. Jinwoo's a vampire who doesn't know shit about raising dragons.
5 days after Taehyun leaves, he decides he'll just keep the dragon.
---
The egg hatches a pretty little dragon, with red scales and the prettiest green eyes Jinwoo's ever seen.
He's never seen a dragon this close before. The dragon blinks up lazily at Jinwoo before walking on unsteady legs towards him, curiously peering up.
"Hey there little guy." Jinwoo smiles. Maybe now he won't be so lonely anymore.
And okay. It's a little bit scary because he doesn't know what to do, doesn't exactly know what he's dealing with, so he settles for caring for the baby with the information he managed to get off of Naver while he searches for more reliable sources and info.
He names the baby dragon Hanbin.
---
Seunghoon laughs loudly at Jinwoo when he'd called him up.
"You what? You knocked up some girl?" Seunghoon jokes, but Jinwoo just sighs.
"Come on. Help me out. Do you know anything about this whole dragon parenting thing? Anything?" Jinwoo bites his lips nervously. Looking stuff up on the internet and asking Taehyun had been equally unhelpful. Normally, he wouldn't bother Seunghoon, he knows how busy the guy is in Busan. But Jinwoo is getting desperate.
"Awh, Jinwoo hyung, I'm so disappointed you didn't tell me you got some action! Who and where? Don't tell me you got some old cougar knocked up in Imja?" Seunghoon laughs again. "God knows how old people are on that island."
"Shut up." Jinwoo huffs. "Please help me out."
"Hey, you know, I'm no druid. I'm just your average cupid boy." Jinwoo can practically hear him rolling his eyes all the way in Busan. "Also, I'm really disappointed you think knocking someone up is a story not worth telling me immediately, especially if you're asking me for help in looking for the kid's mom."
"Fucking hell Seunghoon." Jinwoo grunts under his breath. "I never asked that."
Seunghoon just laughs a little softer this time. "Fine, fine. I'll ask around and try to find some dragons willing to help you out. They probably won't want to take the kid away, though."
"I know. I want to keep him."
"Keep--" Seunghoon sighs. "Hyung. Are you serious?"
"You know how lonely it is down here, Seunghoon."
There's silence, as if Seunghoon is thinking of what to say. Maybe he's just not sure of how to react. After all, he and Jinwoo had been best friends since they were neighbors in Imja years ago. Seunghoon must feel upset that Jinwoo didn't tell him anything about his love life, especially considering how Seunghoon is a cupid. It's basically what he does for a living--assign soulmates to people. He has all the right in the world to be nosy about Jinwoo's love life.
The thing is, his love life is nonexistent. The kid isn't his--Taehyun had just found him with the chicken eggs one morning. But he makes no effort to correct Seunghoon anyways.
"I don't know." He can hear Seunghoon worrying his lips. "Hyung, this might make things different. You don't know if it's a change for the better or the worse."
"You're right, but I just can't let this kid live alone. He needs me and I need him. I know nothing about this whole parenting thing, it's why I asked you for help. I was hoping you'd gotten to know a dragon or two up there in Busan."
"Oh, I know a few, alright." Seunghoon says. "I'll ask around and get back to you."
"Thank you so much. I know how busy you are, Hoon. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just thought--"
"It's fine, I was joking!" Seunghoon laughs. "Guess we'll see each other at Christmas."
Jinwoo smiles at that.
---
Seunghoon had given him the contacts of one Song Minho, who lives in Seoul. Seunghoon had met him through Seungyoon (who Jinwoo hasn't talked to in a while, but apparently his tour has brought him to Japan so the catching up might have to wait) who had met him through Woo Jiho, one of those people everyone in Jinwoo's circle knows, but Jinwoo doesn't know. Taehyun had mentioned that Jiho is a great musician like Seungyoon, which is probably how they met.
The phone number glows intimidatingly on Jinwoo's phone contacts. "Song Minho" written in black on top of it, and Jinwoo hesitates before pressing "send a message".
I'm Kim Jinwoo. Lee Seunghoon gave me your number.
He hovers over the "send" button for a while.
I'm Kim Jinwoo. I asked
He deletes again.
Hi. I'm Seunghoon's friend Jinwoo.
He presses send.
Not 5 minutes later, he gets a phone call from Song Minho himself.
"Hello?" Minho's voice sounds deep and smooth over the phone, and Jinwoo sighs at the voice.
"Hi. I'm Jinwoo? Seunghoon gave me your number."
"Right, right! I heard from Seunghoon. You have a dragon baby?" Minho asks, sounding really nice and polite over the phone that Jinwoo's heart jumps at it.
"Uh, yes? Well he's not mine but... I took him in." Jinwoo stirs the tea in front of him absentmindedly. Earl Grey always calms him down. Taehyun brings in lots of packets enough to cover Jinwoo for half a year whenever he comes down during summer and Christmas.
"Ahh..." Minho says. "Well anyways! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via text and I'll try to answer as soon as possible. I have my own son and everything so it might take a while before I get back to you, but don't worry, I'll eventually answer."
He laughs and it sounds really nice that Jinwoo has to shake his head to snap himself out of it.
"Okay." Jinwoo lamely replies.
"Okay, great! Hope we could meet each other sometime!"
They hang up and Jinwoo glances at the sleeping bundle on the cushion next to him.
---
13:05 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Will he ever turn human? Or are all dragons like this and you're also scary.
Song Minho: Haha! No, he will! Once they hit 3 months they'll eventually start turning human!
Song Minho types with exclamation marks half the time. He also uses one too many KakaoTalk stickers, but Jinwoo doesn't mind. It's cute.
13:07 PM
Song Minho: Wait.
Song Minho: Do u honestly think dragons are scary?
Jinwoo sighs.
13:07 PM
Kim Jinwoo: No
Minho sends him a ridiculous sticker.
It's only been 2 days and they're already firing KakaoTalk messages back and forth. Minho always sends stickers and types with lots of exclamation marks, but it just makes him look cute. Minho's display picture is of his son ("Yunhyeongie!", he had affectionately gushed in their chatroom) and Jinwoo is really curious about his face. Because his voice and the way he types just doesn't match up and Jinwoo has this ridiculous, tall guy with a cute face and a bright smile but with a deep voice and the excitement of an 8 year old image drawn in his head.
Other than that, caring for Hanbin is a breeze. He's not fussy and doesn't need a lot of attention, so Jinwoo's thankful for that. He eats a lot, though, and Jinwoo's starting to feel his pocket burning through, but it's all worth it. If Jinwoo wasn't sure about keeping Hanbin then, he's sure about keeping him now.
Plus, if it means he gets to talk to Song Minho and ask him ridiculous questions everyday, that's fine, too. At least he won't be so lonely anymore and there's someone who'll understand his problems, even if he's never seen Minho before.
---
"Hello?" Jinwoo picks up his phone and glances at the clock above the TV. 6 AM.
"Ugh, I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Seungyoon's voice sounds tired, and Jinwoo sighs.
"Where are you?"
"Japan! I told you I'm having a tour!" There's the sound of cutlery and plates clanging against each other. "But answer me! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Are you having breakfast?" Jinwoo avoids the topic instead, opening his curtain and bedroom window. It's 6 AM in fall, but he likes the cold air.
"Yes! Stop changing topics!" He whines, and Jinwoo smiles fondly at the sound. "You didn't tell me and I'm so angry that you told Seunghoon hyung first!"
"Tell you what?"
"That you had a kid!" Seungyoon says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"He's not mine." Jinwoo flatly replies.
"But stiiiill!" Seungyoon huffs, sounding annoyed over the line. "I had to find out from Seunghoon hyung."
"I'm sorry?" Jinwoo rubs his eyes.
"When I come back, I want all the details, okay? I gotta go now hyung, bye!"
Jinwoo sighs.
---
Time passes by quickly when he's with Hanbin. Maybe it's just because he's too preoccupied with caring for him that time seems to fly faster. Without realizing it, it's already Christmas and Taehyun's knocking on his door.
"Hey Uncle Jinwoo." Taehyun drops his duffle bag by the door to shrug off his coat and shoes. "Ugh, the boat ride was painful."
"Isn't it always?" Jinwoo takes Taehyun's coat and hangs it on the coat hanger by the door. Taehyun lines his shoes up neatly before picking up his duffle bag. "You always complain about it every year."
"It's fun in the summer, but not so much during winter." He frowns. "Anyways! I wanna see him! Where is he?"
"Asleep in my room. He just turned human a month ago or so and he keeps changing back and forth. He keeps babbling nonsense at me. It's really cute. He reminds me of you when you were younger." Jinwoo leads Taehyun to the guest room (which is more like Taehyun's room since Taehyun is the only person to have ever stayed there).
Taehyun peeks his head into Jinwoo's room on his way to the guest room, and watches as Hanbin rolls over to the side of the bed with more sunlight.
"He likes the sun." Jinwoo says. "Minho told me it's a dragon thing."
"Oh, there we go again with this Minho guy." Taehyun turns around and rolls his eyes. "Seriously, oh my God!"
Jinwoo avoids the lighthearted hit aimed at him by Taehyun, wincing when he realizes that Taehyun's right--he's been talking about Minho an awful lot lately.
"Come on. You can't honestly tell me you don't have feelings for the guy."
"I've never even seen him." Jinwoo says, pushing Taehyun towards the end of the hall, where his room is.
"And? You obviously like him!"
"He has a son!"
"And so do you." Taehyun rolls his eyes as he drops his bag by the bed.
"What if he has a wife?"
"So you admit that you like him?" Taehyun wiggles his eyebrows.
Jinwoo just sighs. "Let's not talk about this now."
"You're avoiding this!" Taehyun yells as Jinwoo walks away. "You can't avoid your feelings!"
Jinwoo rolls his eyes, annoyed.
---
Hanbin really likes Taehyun.
He clings onto Taehyun a lot and smiles more whenever Taehyun's around. He always asks Taehyun to pick him up--reaching out his hands towards Taehyun until the boy picks him up and carries him around the house.
It's absolutely adorable, if Jinwoo has to say so.
"Stop using your witch powers to charm my son." Jinwoo says when he catches Taehyun feeding Hanbin.
"Would I ever?" Taehyun rolls his eyes with a snort. "He thinks I'm better than you because he knows I have awesome Christmas presents for him."
"Minho says he probably only likes the fact that you're wearing colorful clothes."
"You have pink hair, uncle."
"Which is already fading out." Jinwoo touches his pastel pink hair and his black roots. He really needs to touch it up.
"And also, don't think I didn't notice! There we go again with Minho. Have you ever seen his face? His display picture? Anything?" Taehyun asks.
"Uh, no. His display picture is of his son Yunhyeong."
Taehyun looks done with Jinwoo before grabbing his laptop from the coffee table, Hanbin babbling dissatisfied by his side. Taehyun feeds him more of the mushy baby food Jinwoo has made and then starts typing.
"What are you doing?" Jinwoo asks, peering over the couch.
"Researching this Minho guy because obviously, you haven't."
And there it is, a picture of the Song family, in all their majestic royalness that Jinwoo can't quite describe.
"Huh." Taehyun says. "He's a single dad."
"How do you even know this?"
"His sister Dana runs a blog." Taehyun turns his laptop towards Jinwoo. "She talks about her family a lot. Apparently she's studying abroad."
Jinwoo sits down and reads through the blog. How Minho was divorced and left with their only son, how Dana has to deal with homesickness. It's weird. He can't stop wanting to know more about Minho, but this is Dana's blog, so of course there's more Dana than anyone else.
Jinwoo can't help his curiosity. So he asks Minho about Dana.
15:03 PM
Kim Jinwoo: You have a sister?
Song Minho: Yup! Dana! Why?
Kim Jinwoo: I found her blog.
Kim Jinwoo: Well, my nephew did. But.
Minho replies with another one of his ridiculous stickers.
15:05 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Sent a Picture
Kim Jinwoo: So which one are you?
Song Minho: Lol you know which one! I'm the only guy besides my dad in the picture!
And then Minho sends one of his ridiculously cute stickers again.
---
"Will you ever stop gushing about Song Minho?" Seungyoon sighs over the phone. "Seunghoon hyung warned me about this. I should've listened."
"Nobody's gushing."
"You sound like you are. Anyways, have you ever seen this guy?"
"His picture, yes. Face to face, no. He lives in Seoul." Jinwoo says while wiping the table down. Seunghoon had promised to come back down this year for Christmas, so Jinwoo had bought extra groceries and made sure to clean the house thoroughly.
"So? It's not like he lives in America. Go visit him and have some play date or something." Seungyoon sighs.
"That's ridiculous. I can't travel that far, I have a son."
"Well, when your son is older then." Seungyoon says. "Seunghoon hyung says he's a great guy."
Jinwoo frowns. "He set me up, didn't he?"
"Eh, I don't know. Maybe. And even if he did, it's literally his job to find you a soulmate, whether you like it or not. He can't be that bad. You have to trust Seunghoon hyung."
Jinwoo just sighs. "So will you be back for Christmas or no?"
Seungyoon sounds sad when he replies no.
He hasn't been home for Christmas in 4 years.
---
13:03 PM
Song Minho: Do you have any Christmas plans?
Jinwoo unconsciously smiles.
13:04 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Seunghoon and my nephew Taehyun are coming down here to Imja for a nice dinner together.
Kim Jinwoo: You?
Song Minho: Dinner with my family! Mom, dad, Dana, Yunhyeong. Same old same old.
Kim Jinwoo: Sounds fun.
Jinwoo settles to replying neutrally. He's secretly jealous Minho still has a big family to enjoy Christmas dinner with.
13:07 PM
Song Minho: You should come here sometimes!
Song Minho: Have dinner with me and my family! Your nephew lives in Seoul, right?
Kim Jinwoo: Yeah
Kim Jinwoo: One day, maybe.
Minho sends him a grinning sticker. It's getting less ridiculous everyday and more Minho-like. Whenever Taehyun sends the same kind of sticker it remids him of Minho. Jinwoo might be going crazy.
---
Seunghoon arrives in time for Christmas, Taehyun answering the door with Hanbin in his arms while Jinwoo prepares dinner.
"Hey Jinwoo hyung!" Seunghoon enters the kitchen with a bright grin, and Jinwoo smiles back at him.
"Hey." Jinwoo hugs him.
"Still using that red apron, I see. Missed me?"
Jinwoo only laughs at that.
"Anyways, Hanbin is a cutie!"
"Isn't he? Why would anyone want to abandon him?" Jinwoo sighs with a frown. "He's such a cutie, honestly."
"I know." Seunghoon replies. "And how are you and Minho nowadays?"
Jinwoo frowns. "Did you set us up?"
"No, that's not how it works." Seunghoon sighs. "I thought you knew we don't just make people fall in love out of nowhere."
Jinwoo rolls his eyes. "But you want us to fall in love."
Seunghoon grins guiltily. "Well, you guys are very lonely. And you both bond over your sons. But most of all, you did ask me for help and I gave you help."
Seunghoon always means well. And he's right--he did ask for help. And Seunghoon gave him help in the form of one Song Minho.
---
"He won't stop talking about Minho, what have you done to my uncle?" Taehyun whispers while Jinwoo is showering, careful not to speak too loud lest Jinwoo is eavesdropping.
"I didn't do anything." Seunghoon shrugs.
"He's never even seen the guy." Taehyun says, feeding Hanbin baby biscuits. "He's texting Minho everyday."
Seunghoon recalls their dinner. Jinwoo's eyes had been glued to the phone once dinner was over.
"I know. I'm Minho's friend, too. He gushes about Jinwoo all the time. They have a schoolgirl crush on each other."
Taehyun snorts, but smiles fondly anyways. It's quiet for a while, except for the sounds of the shower.
"You know, your uncle is very lonely. Seungyoon hasn't come home for 4 years. I rarely come back here. You're the only person who still regularly visits him, and even then, you're his nephew. He's lonely."
Taehyun nods. He knows how lonely Jinwoo is. Jinwoo will spend the better part of the year alone in an island full of old people, in the house where his parents died. His sister--Taehyun's mother--refuses to come back to the island. Taehyun's younger brother never visits. Seunghoon and Seungyoon are Jinwoo's only friends. It doesn't help that Jinwoo rarely ever travels outside the island, refusing to leave the house because of some emotional attachment.
"Minho sounds like a good guy." Taehyun says.
"He is." Seunghoon nods, agreeing. "Which is why I'm going to ask you a favor."
Taehyun turns to look at Seunghoon. "What is it?"
"Convince him to come with you to Seoul. Convince him to go meet Minho."
---
Seunghoon goes back to Busan before new year's. He does have a job and a family to return to in Busan, and Jinwoo can't keep him. Taehyun will stay until after new year's, but until then, he needs to come up with a plan to convince Jinwoo to pursue Minho seriously.
Seunghoon must be serious because he pesters Taehyun about it everyday and sends screenshots of his chat with Minho, where Minho gushes about Jinwoo and his cute face (Jinwoo's display picture is a selfie taken by the docks), his cute voice (oh my God, they've called each other?), and how Yunhyeong would love to meet him and Hanbin.
It's pretty much the same thing Jinwoo sends Taehyun, except Jinwoo is less intense and more casual in the way he mentions Minho in their chats ("Well, Minho did say that Hanbin would burn through calories a lot when he starts crawling and more when he starts walking." He had sent to Taehyun when Taehyun had asked about how Hanbin was doing, and Jinwoo complained about how Hanbin was starting to eat a lot after learning how to crawl).
Jinwoo still has his eyes glued to his phone half the time, which is a strange sight to see. Before Minho, he only had Taehyun, Seunghoon, Seungyoon, and occasionally, his sister to text with. But now Minho comes waltzing in texting him everyday about Yunhyeong and sharing tips and it's all so strangely endearing in Taehyun's eyes, that he really wants to just bring Jinwoo to Seoul. Besides Minho, Taehyun and his mom lives there, and Seungyoon's idol dorm is also located in Seoul. Seunghoon makes business trips to Seoul often as well. He'll significantly be less lonely and now that there's Minho, Taehyun hopes Jinwoo will be easier to convince than before.
---
"Hey Uncle Jinwoo." Taehyun slides up next to Jinwoo a day before new year's, while Hanbin's asleep in Jinwoo's room.
"What?" Jinwoo is looking down at his phone, distracted. Minho just sent him a picture of Yunhyeong.
"So I was thinking."
"Uh huh." Jinwoo types a reply, something along the lines of 'he's so cute!', not once turning to look at Taehyun.
"Would you... Like to come with me to Seoul after new year's?" Taehyun winces, expecting a loud 'what? No!' in reply, along with a paragraph of arguments to back up his refusal, but Jinwoo only turns to look at him.
"You mean leave here?"
"You know, just for a while? Maybe you'd like to see mom and, I don't know. Him." Taehyun shrugs. "Just a suggestion. An offer, if you will."
"What about Hanbin?"
"He's old enough to travel." Taehyun says. "Trust me."
He doesn't expect Jinwoo to say yes.
---
The days leading up to the small vacation, Jinwoo texts Minho endlessly, already making plans to meet up. They've only known each other for less than 6 months or so, and already, Jinwoo was willing to leave Imja for a vacation to Seoul when he was adamant about minimalizing the need to leave Imja just before that.
Seunghoon is glad, but claims to have nothing to do with it--that he was never assigned to Jinwoo or Minho at all, and only introduced them to each other because Jinwoo asked for help.
11:08 AM
Kim Jinwoo: So, I'm really excited and nervous.
Song Minho: You don't have to be nervous! Promise I won't bite! Lol
Kim Jinwoo: Haha, I don't know, I haven't been to Seoul in years and I haven't seen my sister since my parents passed away...
Song Minho: Oh :( well at least you're meeting her now!
Kim Jinwoo: Is it bad that I'm more hyped about meeting you than I am about meeting my sister?
Song Minho: Lol! I'm glad you're excited to meet me?
Jinwoo smiles at the cute sticker Minho sends.
---
Seoul is different from what Jinwoo remembers.
With Hanbin in one hand and a luggage in the other, he makes his way to Taehyun's apartment, somewhere near his university. He lives away from his mom and brother already.
"Your place is nice." Jinwoo says as he puts Hanbin down to sit on the couch. Hanbin makes grabby hands at Taehyun.
"Thanks. I try to keep it clean."
Jinwoo smiles. Taehyun tends to be messy when he's swamped with assignments and too deep in inspiration. He forgets to clean up and can leave a cup of coffee on the kitchen counter for a week. It's happened before in Imja, without Jinwoo really noticing.
"So when are you meeting Minho?" Taehyun asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, this weekend?" Jinwoo says.
"Great. Mom will want to meet you before then." Taehyun nods. "And you should meet your other nephew."
Jinwoo nods.
---
14:32 PM
Kim Jinwoo: I just arrived in Seoul.
Song Minho: Yay! Fun trip?
Kim Jinwoo: It was okay. The boat ride was the only unpleasant thing.
Song Minho: Can't wait to meet you!
---
His sister is... Different.
She looks older than he remembers. Her hair is graying (a result of her neglecting to dye it regularly), but her face remains as young as ever. The perks of being a vampire.
And then Taehyun's younger brother is adorable as ever. He keeps a mini hedgehog for a pet, which Taehyun is absolutely terrified of. His younger brother enjoys torturing Taehyun by placing the hedgehog wherever Taehyun is, though, so Jinwoo is amused by that.
When he gets back to Taehyun's apartment, he realizes just how lonely he's been.
---
"Uncle, hurry up, we'll be late."
Jinwoo sighs. He's still worrying over what to wear but why does he care so much? It's only Minho.
"Just a sec!"
11:37 PM
Song Minho: We're still on for later right? 1PM?
Song Minho: I'm so excited to meet you!
This time, it's Jinwoo who replies with a sticker.
---
On his way to their meeting place, he thinks about it. Thinks about how different Minho could be from the pictures. How different his voice could be from the phone calls and voice notes they send back and forth. How adorable Yunhyeong would be.
But most of all, if he's as fun and lively as he is on their chats, and if Jinwoo will like him in real life at all.
People act differently in real life. They can't carefully choose their words and hit backspace when something doesn't sound right, or something doesn't sound nice--everything just comes out and once something has been said, you can't take it back.
Jinwoo is also worried for himself. He wonders if Minho will like him in real life. If he looks different from his selfies and sounds different from his voice notes. If he's the exact same Jinwoo as the one Minho has imagined from their chats.
He can't help worrying.
---
Minho isn't that much different from the picture he saw on Dana's blog (and the selfies Minho has sent ever since). Jet black hair, a pastel pink snapback covering his hair. He's wearing a white shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and honestly, Jinwoo feels overdressed.
Yunhyeong is holding Minho's hand and walking on wobbly legs, while Hanbin is hiding in Jinwoo's neck.
"You must be Jinwoo." Minho says with a wide smile.
"And you must be Minho."
And it's like all of Jinwoo's doubts are out the window. He likes this Minho as much as he likes the one in their chats.
Recipient: everyone
Pairing or character: Jinwoo-centric, Jinwoo/Minho
Rating: G
Warnings: unbetaed, unedited.
Summary: Jinwoo finds a dragon egg. He seeks for help in taking care of it.
Notes: I am so sorry the prompt ran away from me haha! I was writing another prompt, hit a dead end, and ended up finishing this one instead. I was also heavily experimenting as this is my first time writing Winner, so I apologize if their characters are a little off. Also, I suck at fantasy-ish stuff. Please enjoy anyways! (Can you tell how bad I am at titles? Lol)
"What the fuck is that." Taehyun blinks down at a big, roughly textured egg, sitting there between all the other chicken eggs. It's a broken white color, unlike the cream brown color the chicken eggs has. "Uncle!"
Jinwoo comes out of the small house, wearing his ugly red plaid apron with "cutie" written on it. Taehyun, his sweet nephew, thinks it's ugly and tasteless and bought him a nice, clean, brand new gray colored apron last Christmas. It's very minimalist and fashionable (very Taehyun-like) and the tag says it's from some posh brand up in Seoul, where his nephew lives. It looks expensive, so Jinwoo never wears it. He wears his old, ragged, red "cutie" apron instead, because he always gets oil or other ingredients on it when cooking. He doesn't want to ruin Taehyun's gift, even though Taehyun had meant it as a gift for Jinwoo to wear, not keep.
"What is it?" Jinwoo asks softly. He's very patient with Taehyun. The boy was born and raised in Seoul, so he knows nothing about the farm animals Jinwoo keeps and the flowers and herbs he grows in the garden. Taehyun comes down to Imja-do every summer and Christmas to look for inspiration--either painting or making music--and he helps out with feeding the chickens every morning. Sometimes, he does something stupid, though, so Jinwoo has to keep a close eye on him, and when he calls out to him, it's usually not a good thing.
"What is that? Can't be a chicken egg, right?" Taehyun tilts his head to the side, his "fashionable" middle part hair messy and all over the place from all his hard work this morning. His platinum blonde hair (he likes to have lighter colors for the summer, and he was the one who convinced Jinwoo to dye his hair pink this summer) shines brightly under the sun, and Jinwoo squints a little to look at him, before looking down at the chicken eggs Taehyun's supposed to pick for breakfast.
"Which--" And then Jinwoo stops. He blinks. And then blinks. And squints. And then he rubs his eyes before crouching down to eye level with the big egg, sitting majestically between all the chicken eggs.
It's unmistakably a dragon egg.
Understandably, Taehyun doesn't know what it is--they don't have dragons up in Seoul, they only have druids and banshees and sometimes, the rare gumiho or werewolf, which would all be extremely rare down here in a small island like Imja-do, but they do have merfolk here--so he only stands there dumbly. Jinwoo is cautious, even though this is his first time seeing a dragon egg. He knows about dragons, though he's never seen one himself.
So someone in Imja-do is a dragon. Or, a dragon is passing by Imja. Normally, dragons come from high mountains, and Imja is a small island. A fishing village. With no mountains.
"It's a dragon egg." Jinwoo says simply. "But Taehyun, we have to find its mother before it hatches. Otherwise it'll think of whoever is there when it hatches as its mother."
"Dragons live in Imja-do?" Taehyun tilts his head again, and it's a cute gesture. He does it a lot--even when he was just a little boy and learning about magic from his father. Taehyun hated being a witch, because his father was one, and his father cheated on Jinwoo's sister with someone else after Taehyun's younger brother was born. But Taehyun had learned to accept and love his powers anyways because it means he can curse people he dislikes and ward people he cares about.
Nowadays, he's been warding Jinwoo's home like crazy, because Jinwoo lives alone, and Taehyun won't admit it, but Jinwoo thinks it's cute that he's worried.
"No, I don't think so. Dragons live in mountains. Maybe they're just passing by, but I can't imagine why one would travel while carrying. Or why they would lay their egg here. They'd want it near them at least. Unless..."
"Unless?" Taehyun raises an eyebrow. His eyebrows are amazingly judgmental. Jinwoo thinks it's hilarious, but Taehyun has had a bit of a complex about it ever since he turned old enough to care about his looks (which was at 15 years old for him).
"They want to throw it away."
---
Predictably, nobody comes for the dragon egg. Jinwoo doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't want to throw it away and abandon a baby dragon, or worse, kill it, but he also doesn't want a baby dragon to imprint on him. He doesn't think he's ready, and he doesn't have the money to feed an extra mouth, especially a dragon. Dragons have special diets and exercises which Jinwoo has no idea about. The next closest dragon around the Sinan County is in Heuksan-do.
Taehyun goes back to Seoul after summer ends, but offers to take Jinwoo to Busan to maybe give the dragon egg away.
"You're not seriously keeping it, are you?" Taehyun had asked 2 days before he returned to Seoul. "You don't know how to raise a dragon."
And Jinwoo agrees. He's a vampire. He drinks blood--animal blood. He enjoys staying indoors and cold winters. Dragons enjoy meat, doing activities outdoors, and likes spring and summer the best.
Jinwoo considers tagging along with Taehyun to Busan. It's a big city, and there's probably more than a family of dragons there, unlike the one family of dragons in Heuksan. But that means leaving the family home in Imja for who knows how long.
"You love that house too much." His sister always tells him, but his father had loved the house, so Jinwoo does, too. Jinwoo plans to live out the rest of his freakishly long vampire life in this house, but his sister (and Taehyun) always bugs him to travel and leave the house.
Jinwoo doesn't make up his mind quick enough--Taehyun leaves at the start of August and 2 days after that, the egg starts cracking.
In a week, it'll hatch a small baby dragon.
Dragons grow up fast, and they quickly learn how to transform and they start to eat a lot after a month or two, and they imprint. Jinwoo isn't ready for that commitment. He doesn't think he can be a great dad like his dad was. Jinwoo's a vampire who doesn't know shit about raising dragons.
5 days after Taehyun leaves, he decides he'll just keep the dragon.
---
The egg hatches a pretty little dragon, with red scales and the prettiest green eyes Jinwoo's ever seen.
He's never seen a dragon this close before. The dragon blinks up lazily at Jinwoo before walking on unsteady legs towards him, curiously peering up.
"Hey there little guy." Jinwoo smiles. Maybe now he won't be so lonely anymore.
And okay. It's a little bit scary because he doesn't know what to do, doesn't exactly know what he's dealing with, so he settles for caring for the baby with the information he managed to get off of Naver while he searches for more reliable sources and info.
He names the baby dragon Hanbin.
---
Seunghoon laughs loudly at Jinwoo when he'd called him up.
"You what? You knocked up some girl?" Seunghoon jokes, but Jinwoo just sighs.
"Come on. Help me out. Do you know anything about this whole dragon parenting thing? Anything?" Jinwoo bites his lips nervously. Looking stuff up on the internet and asking Taehyun had been equally unhelpful. Normally, he wouldn't bother Seunghoon, he knows how busy the guy is in Busan. But Jinwoo is getting desperate.
"Awh, Jinwoo hyung, I'm so disappointed you didn't tell me you got some action! Who and where? Don't tell me you got some old cougar knocked up in Imja?" Seunghoon laughs again. "God knows how old people are on that island."
"Shut up." Jinwoo huffs. "Please help me out."
"Hey, you know, I'm no druid. I'm just your average cupid boy." Jinwoo can practically hear him rolling his eyes all the way in Busan. "Also, I'm really disappointed you think knocking someone up is a story not worth telling me immediately, especially if you're asking me for help in looking for the kid's mom."
"Fucking hell Seunghoon." Jinwoo grunts under his breath. "I never asked that."
Seunghoon just laughs a little softer this time. "Fine, fine. I'll ask around and try to find some dragons willing to help you out. They probably won't want to take the kid away, though."
"I know. I want to keep him."
"Keep--" Seunghoon sighs. "Hyung. Are you serious?"
"You know how lonely it is down here, Seunghoon."
There's silence, as if Seunghoon is thinking of what to say. Maybe he's just not sure of how to react. After all, he and Jinwoo had been best friends since they were neighbors in Imja years ago. Seunghoon must feel upset that Jinwoo didn't tell him anything about his love life, especially considering how Seunghoon is a cupid. It's basically what he does for a living--assign soulmates to people. He has all the right in the world to be nosy about Jinwoo's love life.
The thing is, his love life is nonexistent. The kid isn't his--Taehyun had just found him with the chicken eggs one morning. But he makes no effort to correct Seunghoon anyways.
"I don't know." He can hear Seunghoon worrying his lips. "Hyung, this might make things different. You don't know if it's a change for the better or the worse."
"You're right, but I just can't let this kid live alone. He needs me and I need him. I know nothing about this whole parenting thing, it's why I asked you for help. I was hoping you'd gotten to know a dragon or two up there in Busan."
"Oh, I know a few, alright." Seunghoon says. "I'll ask around and get back to you."
"Thank you so much. I know how busy you are, Hoon. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just thought--"
"It's fine, I was joking!" Seunghoon laughs. "Guess we'll see each other at Christmas."
Jinwoo smiles at that.
---
Seunghoon had given him the contacts of one Song Minho, who lives in Seoul. Seunghoon had met him through Seungyoon (who Jinwoo hasn't talked to in a while, but apparently his tour has brought him to Japan so the catching up might have to wait) who had met him through Woo Jiho, one of those people everyone in Jinwoo's circle knows, but Jinwoo doesn't know. Taehyun had mentioned that Jiho is a great musician like Seungyoon, which is probably how they met.
The phone number glows intimidatingly on Jinwoo's phone contacts. "Song Minho" written in black on top of it, and Jinwoo hesitates before pressing "send a message".
I'm Kim Jinwoo. Lee Seunghoon gave me your number.
He hovers over the "send" button for a while.
I'm Kim Jinwoo. I asked
He deletes again.
Hi. I'm Seunghoon's friend Jinwoo.
He presses send.
Not 5 minutes later, he gets a phone call from Song Minho himself.
"Hello?" Minho's voice sounds deep and smooth over the phone, and Jinwoo sighs at the voice.
"Hi. I'm Jinwoo? Seunghoon gave me your number."
"Right, right! I heard from Seunghoon. You have a dragon baby?" Minho asks, sounding really nice and polite over the phone that Jinwoo's heart jumps at it.
"Uh, yes? Well he's not mine but... I took him in." Jinwoo stirs the tea in front of him absentmindedly. Earl Grey always calms him down. Taehyun brings in lots of packets enough to cover Jinwoo for half a year whenever he comes down during summer and Christmas.
"Ahh..." Minho says. "Well anyways! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via text and I'll try to answer as soon as possible. I have my own son and everything so it might take a while before I get back to you, but don't worry, I'll eventually answer."
He laughs and it sounds really nice that Jinwoo has to shake his head to snap himself out of it.
"Okay." Jinwoo lamely replies.
"Okay, great! Hope we could meet each other sometime!"
They hang up and Jinwoo glances at the sleeping bundle on the cushion next to him.
---
13:05 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Will he ever turn human? Or are all dragons like this and you're also scary.
Song Minho: Haha! No, he will! Once they hit 3 months they'll eventually start turning human!
Song Minho types with exclamation marks half the time. He also uses one too many KakaoTalk stickers, but Jinwoo doesn't mind. It's cute.
13:07 PM
Song Minho: Wait.
Song Minho: Do u honestly think dragons are scary?
Jinwoo sighs.
13:07 PM
Kim Jinwoo: No
Minho sends him a ridiculous sticker.
It's only been 2 days and they're already firing KakaoTalk messages back and forth. Minho always sends stickers and types with lots of exclamation marks, but it just makes him look cute. Minho's display picture is of his son ("Yunhyeongie!", he had affectionately gushed in their chatroom) and Jinwoo is really curious about his face. Because his voice and the way he types just doesn't match up and Jinwoo has this ridiculous, tall guy with a cute face and a bright smile but with a deep voice and the excitement of an 8 year old image drawn in his head.
Other than that, caring for Hanbin is a breeze. He's not fussy and doesn't need a lot of attention, so Jinwoo's thankful for that. He eats a lot, though, and Jinwoo's starting to feel his pocket burning through, but it's all worth it. If Jinwoo wasn't sure about keeping Hanbin then, he's sure about keeping him now.
Plus, if it means he gets to talk to Song Minho and ask him ridiculous questions everyday, that's fine, too. At least he won't be so lonely anymore and there's someone who'll understand his problems, even if he's never seen Minho before.
---
"Hello?" Jinwoo picks up his phone and glances at the clock above the TV. 6 AM.
"Ugh, I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Seungyoon's voice sounds tired, and Jinwoo sighs.
"Where are you?"
"Japan! I told you I'm having a tour!" There's the sound of cutlery and plates clanging against each other. "But answer me! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Are you having breakfast?" Jinwoo avoids the topic instead, opening his curtain and bedroom window. It's 6 AM in fall, but he likes the cold air.
"Yes! Stop changing topics!" He whines, and Jinwoo smiles fondly at the sound. "You didn't tell me and I'm so angry that you told Seunghoon hyung first!"
"Tell you what?"
"That you had a kid!" Seungyoon says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"He's not mine." Jinwoo flatly replies.
"But stiiiill!" Seungyoon huffs, sounding annoyed over the line. "I had to find out from Seunghoon hyung."
"I'm sorry?" Jinwoo rubs his eyes.
"When I come back, I want all the details, okay? I gotta go now hyung, bye!"
Jinwoo sighs.
---
Time passes by quickly when he's with Hanbin. Maybe it's just because he's too preoccupied with caring for him that time seems to fly faster. Without realizing it, it's already Christmas and Taehyun's knocking on his door.
"Hey Uncle Jinwoo." Taehyun drops his duffle bag by the door to shrug off his coat and shoes. "Ugh, the boat ride was painful."
"Isn't it always?" Jinwoo takes Taehyun's coat and hangs it on the coat hanger by the door. Taehyun lines his shoes up neatly before picking up his duffle bag. "You always complain about it every year."
"It's fun in the summer, but not so much during winter." He frowns. "Anyways! I wanna see him! Where is he?"
"Asleep in my room. He just turned human a month ago or so and he keeps changing back and forth. He keeps babbling nonsense at me. It's really cute. He reminds me of you when you were younger." Jinwoo leads Taehyun to the guest room (which is more like Taehyun's room since Taehyun is the only person to have ever stayed there).
Taehyun peeks his head into Jinwoo's room on his way to the guest room, and watches as Hanbin rolls over to the side of the bed with more sunlight.
"He likes the sun." Jinwoo says. "Minho told me it's a dragon thing."
"Oh, there we go again with this Minho guy." Taehyun turns around and rolls his eyes. "Seriously, oh my God!"
Jinwoo avoids the lighthearted hit aimed at him by Taehyun, wincing when he realizes that Taehyun's right--he's been talking about Minho an awful lot lately.
"Come on. You can't honestly tell me you don't have feelings for the guy."
"I've never even seen him." Jinwoo says, pushing Taehyun towards the end of the hall, where his room is.
"And? You obviously like him!"
"He has a son!"
"And so do you." Taehyun rolls his eyes as he drops his bag by the bed.
"What if he has a wife?"
"So you admit that you like him?" Taehyun wiggles his eyebrows.
Jinwoo just sighs. "Let's not talk about this now."
"You're avoiding this!" Taehyun yells as Jinwoo walks away. "You can't avoid your feelings!"
Jinwoo rolls his eyes, annoyed.
---
Hanbin really likes Taehyun.
He clings onto Taehyun a lot and smiles more whenever Taehyun's around. He always asks Taehyun to pick him up--reaching out his hands towards Taehyun until the boy picks him up and carries him around the house.
It's absolutely adorable, if Jinwoo has to say so.
"Stop using your witch powers to charm my son." Jinwoo says when he catches Taehyun feeding Hanbin.
"Would I ever?" Taehyun rolls his eyes with a snort. "He thinks I'm better than you because he knows I have awesome Christmas presents for him."
"Minho says he probably only likes the fact that you're wearing colorful clothes."
"You have pink hair, uncle."
"Which is already fading out." Jinwoo touches his pastel pink hair and his black roots. He really needs to touch it up.
"And also, don't think I didn't notice! There we go again with Minho. Have you ever seen his face? His display picture? Anything?" Taehyun asks.
"Uh, no. His display picture is of his son Yunhyeong."
Taehyun looks done with Jinwoo before grabbing his laptop from the coffee table, Hanbin babbling dissatisfied by his side. Taehyun feeds him more of the mushy baby food Jinwoo has made and then starts typing.
"What are you doing?" Jinwoo asks, peering over the couch.
"Researching this Minho guy because obviously, you haven't."
And there it is, a picture of the Song family, in all their majestic royalness that Jinwoo can't quite describe.
"Huh." Taehyun says. "He's a single dad."
"How do you even know this?"
"His sister Dana runs a blog." Taehyun turns his laptop towards Jinwoo. "She talks about her family a lot. Apparently she's studying abroad."
Jinwoo sits down and reads through the blog. How Minho was divorced and left with their only son, how Dana has to deal with homesickness. It's weird. He can't stop wanting to know more about Minho, but this is Dana's blog, so of course there's more Dana than anyone else.
Jinwoo can't help his curiosity. So he asks Minho about Dana.
15:03 PM
Kim Jinwoo: You have a sister?
Song Minho: Yup! Dana! Why?
Kim Jinwoo: I found her blog.
Kim Jinwoo: Well, my nephew did. But.
Minho replies with another one of his ridiculous stickers.
15:05 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Sent a Picture
Kim Jinwoo: So which one are you?
Song Minho: Lol you know which one! I'm the only guy besides my dad in the picture!
And then Minho sends one of his ridiculously cute stickers again.
---
"Will you ever stop gushing about Song Minho?" Seungyoon sighs over the phone. "Seunghoon hyung warned me about this. I should've listened."
"Nobody's gushing."
"You sound like you are. Anyways, have you ever seen this guy?"
"His picture, yes. Face to face, no. He lives in Seoul." Jinwoo says while wiping the table down. Seunghoon had promised to come back down this year for Christmas, so Jinwoo had bought extra groceries and made sure to clean the house thoroughly.
"So? It's not like he lives in America. Go visit him and have some play date or something." Seungyoon sighs.
"That's ridiculous. I can't travel that far, I have a son."
"Well, when your son is older then." Seungyoon says. "Seunghoon hyung says he's a great guy."
Jinwoo frowns. "He set me up, didn't he?"
"Eh, I don't know. Maybe. And even if he did, it's literally his job to find you a soulmate, whether you like it or not. He can't be that bad. You have to trust Seunghoon hyung."
Jinwoo just sighs. "So will you be back for Christmas or no?"
Seungyoon sounds sad when he replies no.
He hasn't been home for Christmas in 4 years.
---
13:03 PM
Song Minho: Do you have any Christmas plans?
Jinwoo unconsciously smiles.
13:04 PM
Kim Jinwoo: Seunghoon and my nephew Taehyun are coming down here to Imja for a nice dinner together.
Kim Jinwoo: You?
Song Minho: Dinner with my family! Mom, dad, Dana, Yunhyeong. Same old same old.
Kim Jinwoo: Sounds fun.
Jinwoo settles to replying neutrally. He's secretly jealous Minho still has a big family to enjoy Christmas dinner with.
13:07 PM
Song Minho: You should come here sometimes!
Song Minho: Have dinner with me and my family! Your nephew lives in Seoul, right?
Kim Jinwoo: Yeah
Kim Jinwoo: One day, maybe.
Minho sends him a grinning sticker. It's getting less ridiculous everyday and more Minho-like. Whenever Taehyun sends the same kind of sticker it remids him of Minho. Jinwoo might be going crazy.
---
Seunghoon arrives in time for Christmas, Taehyun answering the door with Hanbin in his arms while Jinwoo prepares dinner.
"Hey Jinwoo hyung!" Seunghoon enters the kitchen with a bright grin, and Jinwoo smiles back at him.
"Hey." Jinwoo hugs him.
"Still using that red apron, I see. Missed me?"
Jinwoo only laughs at that.
"Anyways, Hanbin is a cutie!"
"Isn't he? Why would anyone want to abandon him?" Jinwoo sighs with a frown. "He's such a cutie, honestly."
"I know." Seunghoon replies. "And how are you and Minho nowadays?"
Jinwoo frowns. "Did you set us up?"
"No, that's not how it works." Seunghoon sighs. "I thought you knew we don't just make people fall in love out of nowhere."
Jinwoo rolls his eyes. "But you want us to fall in love."
Seunghoon grins guiltily. "Well, you guys are very lonely. And you both bond over your sons. But most of all, you did ask me for help and I gave you help."
Seunghoon always means well. And he's right--he did ask for help. And Seunghoon gave him help in the form of one Song Minho.
---
"He won't stop talking about Minho, what have you done to my uncle?" Taehyun whispers while Jinwoo is showering, careful not to speak too loud lest Jinwoo is eavesdropping.
"I didn't do anything." Seunghoon shrugs.
"He's never even seen the guy." Taehyun says, feeding Hanbin baby biscuits. "He's texting Minho everyday."
Seunghoon recalls their dinner. Jinwoo's eyes had been glued to the phone once dinner was over.
"I know. I'm Minho's friend, too. He gushes about Jinwoo all the time. They have a schoolgirl crush on each other."
Taehyun snorts, but smiles fondly anyways. It's quiet for a while, except for the sounds of the shower.
"You know, your uncle is very lonely. Seungyoon hasn't come home for 4 years. I rarely come back here. You're the only person who still regularly visits him, and even then, you're his nephew. He's lonely."
Taehyun nods. He knows how lonely Jinwoo is. Jinwoo will spend the better part of the year alone in an island full of old people, in the house where his parents died. His sister--Taehyun's mother--refuses to come back to the island. Taehyun's younger brother never visits. Seunghoon and Seungyoon are Jinwoo's only friends. It doesn't help that Jinwoo rarely ever travels outside the island, refusing to leave the house because of some emotional attachment.
"Minho sounds like a good guy." Taehyun says.
"He is." Seunghoon nods, agreeing. "Which is why I'm going to ask you a favor."
Taehyun turns to look at Seunghoon. "What is it?"
"Convince him to come with you to Seoul. Convince him to go meet Minho."
---
Seunghoon goes back to Busan before new year's. He does have a job and a family to return to in Busan, and Jinwoo can't keep him. Taehyun will stay until after new year's, but until then, he needs to come up with a plan to convince Jinwoo to pursue Minho seriously.
Seunghoon must be serious because he pesters Taehyun about it everyday and sends screenshots of his chat with Minho, where Minho gushes about Jinwoo and his cute face (Jinwoo's display picture is a selfie taken by the docks), his cute voice (oh my God, they've called each other?), and how Yunhyeong would love to meet him and Hanbin.
It's pretty much the same thing Jinwoo sends Taehyun, except Jinwoo is less intense and more casual in the way he mentions Minho in their chats ("Well, Minho did say that Hanbin would burn through calories a lot when he starts crawling and more when he starts walking." He had sent to Taehyun when Taehyun had asked about how Hanbin was doing, and Jinwoo complained about how Hanbin was starting to eat a lot after learning how to crawl).
Jinwoo still has his eyes glued to his phone half the time, which is a strange sight to see. Before Minho, he only had Taehyun, Seunghoon, Seungyoon, and occasionally, his sister to text with. But now Minho comes waltzing in texting him everyday about Yunhyeong and sharing tips and it's all so strangely endearing in Taehyun's eyes, that he really wants to just bring Jinwoo to Seoul. Besides Minho, Taehyun and his mom lives there, and Seungyoon's idol dorm is also located in Seoul. Seunghoon makes business trips to Seoul often as well. He'll significantly be less lonely and now that there's Minho, Taehyun hopes Jinwoo will be easier to convince than before.
---
"Hey Uncle Jinwoo." Taehyun slides up next to Jinwoo a day before new year's, while Hanbin's asleep in Jinwoo's room.
"What?" Jinwoo is looking down at his phone, distracted. Minho just sent him a picture of Yunhyeong.
"So I was thinking."
"Uh huh." Jinwoo types a reply, something along the lines of 'he's so cute!', not once turning to look at Taehyun.
"Would you... Like to come with me to Seoul after new year's?" Taehyun winces, expecting a loud 'what? No!' in reply, along with a paragraph of arguments to back up his refusal, but Jinwoo only turns to look at him.
"You mean leave here?"
"You know, just for a while? Maybe you'd like to see mom and, I don't know. Him." Taehyun shrugs. "Just a suggestion. An offer, if you will."
"What about Hanbin?"
"He's old enough to travel." Taehyun says. "Trust me."
He doesn't expect Jinwoo to say yes.
---
The days leading up to the small vacation, Jinwoo texts Minho endlessly, already making plans to meet up. They've only known each other for less than 6 months or so, and already, Jinwoo was willing to leave Imja for a vacation to Seoul when he was adamant about minimalizing the need to leave Imja just before that.
Seunghoon is glad, but claims to have nothing to do with it--that he was never assigned to Jinwoo or Minho at all, and only introduced them to each other because Jinwoo asked for help.
11:08 AM
Kim Jinwoo: So, I'm really excited and nervous.
Song Minho: You don't have to be nervous! Promise I won't bite! Lol
Kim Jinwoo: Haha, I don't know, I haven't been to Seoul in years and I haven't seen my sister since my parents passed away...
Song Minho: Oh :( well at least you're meeting her now!
Kim Jinwoo: Is it bad that I'm more hyped about meeting you than I am about meeting my sister?
Song Minho: Lol! I'm glad you're excited to meet me?
Jinwoo smiles at the cute sticker Minho sends.
---
Seoul is different from what Jinwoo remembers.
With Hanbin in one hand and a luggage in the other, he makes his way to Taehyun's apartment, somewhere near his university. He lives away from his mom and brother already.
"Your place is nice." Jinwoo says as he puts Hanbin down to sit on the couch. Hanbin makes grabby hands at Taehyun.
"Thanks. I try to keep it clean."
Jinwoo smiles. Taehyun tends to be messy when he's swamped with assignments and too deep in inspiration. He forgets to clean up and can leave a cup of coffee on the kitchen counter for a week. It's happened before in Imja, without Jinwoo really noticing.
"So when are you meeting Minho?" Taehyun asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, this weekend?" Jinwoo says.
"Great. Mom will want to meet you before then." Taehyun nods. "And you should meet your other nephew."
Jinwoo nods.
---
14:32 PM
Kim Jinwoo: I just arrived in Seoul.
Song Minho: Yay! Fun trip?
Kim Jinwoo: It was okay. The boat ride was the only unpleasant thing.
Song Minho: Can't wait to meet you!
---
His sister is... Different.
She looks older than he remembers. Her hair is graying (a result of her neglecting to dye it regularly), but her face remains as young as ever. The perks of being a vampire.
And then Taehyun's younger brother is adorable as ever. He keeps a mini hedgehog for a pet, which Taehyun is absolutely terrified of. His younger brother enjoys torturing Taehyun by placing the hedgehog wherever Taehyun is, though, so Jinwoo is amused by that.
When he gets back to Taehyun's apartment, he realizes just how lonely he's been.
---
"Uncle, hurry up, we'll be late."
Jinwoo sighs. He's still worrying over what to wear but why does he care so much? It's only Minho.
"Just a sec!"
11:37 PM
Song Minho: We're still on for later right? 1PM?
Song Minho: I'm so excited to meet you!
This time, it's Jinwoo who replies with a sticker.
---
On his way to their meeting place, he thinks about it. Thinks about how different Minho could be from the pictures. How different his voice could be from the phone calls and voice notes they send back and forth. How adorable Yunhyeong would be.
But most of all, if he's as fun and lively as he is on their chats, and if Jinwoo will like him in real life at all.
People act differently in real life. They can't carefully choose their words and hit backspace when something doesn't sound right, or something doesn't sound nice--everything just comes out and once something has been said, you can't take it back.
Jinwoo is also worried for himself. He wonders if Minho will like him in real life. If he looks different from his selfies and sounds different from his voice notes. If he's the exact same Jinwoo as the one Minho has imagined from their chats.
He can't help worrying.
---
Minho isn't that much different from the picture he saw on Dana's blog (and the selfies Minho has sent ever since). Jet black hair, a pastel pink snapback covering his hair. He's wearing a white shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and honestly, Jinwoo feels overdressed.
Yunhyeong is holding Minho's hand and walking on wobbly legs, while Hanbin is hiding in Jinwoo's neck.
"You must be Jinwoo." Minho says with a wide smile.
"And you must be Minho."
And it's like all of Jinwoo's doubts are out the window. He likes this Minho as much as he likes the one in their chats.