#3: So Far (It's Alright)
Prompt: #3
Title: So Far (It's Alright)
Pairing: chen/suho
Rating: pg-13
Warnings: bff!luchen/mentioned chansoo
Word count: 6,532
Summary: Jongdae and Joonmyun meet on Twitter through a mutual friend, but it takes them a longer to meet than planned.
Jongdae leans back in his matte black office chair, taking off his glasses to rub at his tired eyes and runs a hand through his dark hair.
"Yo," Jongin, his new assistant peaks his head through Jongdae’s office door. "It's past 10. Are you leaving anytime soon?"
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes. You can go ahead and leave, it’s getting late." Jongdae answers, trying to blink the sleepiness away from his eyes.
He's sitting in his office, which is placed on the 19th floor on the outskirts of Gangnam.
"Everyone's left for the night; you should just go home, too. Your work will be there when you get back." Jongin tells him.
"Yeah," Jongdae answers. He stares at the work in front of him, a small sketch of the new building his boss wants him to design.
After Jongin leaves, Jongdae decides he might as well too. He packs up his belongings to leave his office before taking a glance outside his window as the sky darkens. The drive home is mundane as usual, and he stops by the convenient store to pick up a few packs of instant ramyun and a bag of chips.
Once he gets home to his cozy apartment, he relaxes to the fact that it's a Friday and he doesn’t have to get up early the next day for work. He changes out of his usual suit for work and into a comfortable t-shirt and his boxers.
He settles on his couch and turns on the television after making the ramyun, his so called dinner. It’s been his routine for the past few weeks since he’s been promoted at the head architect in his building, which means late nights in the office. He takes out his laptop, hoping to catch up on some new drama that’s currently his guilty pleasure. When he turns it on, his phone buzzes, and he looks down to see he has a notification from Twitter.
luhan_490 mentioned you in a tweet:
"can some please tell @kjong92 that...."
Jongdae eyes his phone warily when the message on the top of his phone gets cut off and eventually opens up the website to see the full tweet:
can someone please tell @kjong92 that he needs to answer his goddamn phone for once
Jongdae laughs to himself, knowing that he has a reputation among his friends for never answering text messages and calls, and even when he does it's usually hours later. He hadn't even realized Luhan had been texting him throughout the day while he had been working on his project. He’s scrolling through his texts with Luhan, most of them complaining about how no one is answering him.
He's about to type his reply when another notification pops up.
suho favorited a Tweet you were mentioned in
@suhoooo22 mentioned you in a Tweet: hi i’m not sure who you are but please answer your phone bc luhan won't shut up about you
He raises an eyebrow at the stranger before he clicks on his profile, and is pleasantly surprised when he's greeted with an extremely attractive man on the profile picture. He's got platinum blonde hair and pale skin that looks incredibly soft, and Jongdae's starting to question if that person is actually him or he just stole the picture off the internet.
His fingers hover over the keyboard of his laptop, trying to think of a response to both Luhan and whoever this Suho person is.
@luhan_490: shut up u prick i had more important things to worry about like my JOB!!!
@suhoooo22 hi i’m not sure who you are either but sorry about that
For the next few minutes, he spends his time searching through Suho’s Twitter page, most of them containing banter with Luhan and pictures of himself posing in various outdoor sceneries.
He averts his attention back to the top of the screen when he gets a new notification.
@suhoooo22 mentioned you in a Tweet:
@kjong92 hi i’m a friend of luhan’s. he talks about you a lot. a lot a lot a lot.
@kjong92 and by talk i mean complain a lot. btw i like your profile pic
Jongdae’s face heats up at that moment, becoming slightly embarrassed about his profile picture, which was taken when he was completely trashed at Chanyeol’s birthday party. His eyes are shut in the picture, and he’s sporting a peace sign with his fingers. There’s also a peace sign emoji at the end of Suho’s tweet. Jongdae’s wondering if he’s mocking him or not, but he chooses to ignore it.
He cracks his knuckles on his thighs before typing his reply:
@suhoooo22 hi nice to meet u i'm also a friend of luhans he talks about me a lot cause i'm so great and wow thanks i like yours too
He’s not sure why he’s talking to this stranger, especially since this isn’t something that Jongdae has ever done before, but he’s not entirely surprised when he gets a new notification.
suho is now following you
He figures it’s somewhat safe because this person knows Luhan, so Jongdae doesn’t hesitate to follow back. But then again, anything regarding someone like Luhan is never really safe at all.
Jongdae spends the next half hour making small talk with Suho, nothing too serious. He finishes his ramyun when Luhan decides to reply back.
@luhan_490 mentioned you in a Tweet:
@kjd0992: wait u answer him in like 2 seconds but it takes u 2 HRS TO TEXT BACK ok I h8 u goodbye!!
Jongdae tries to hold in his laughter before replying:
@luhan_490: srry but this guy is more interesting than u :// btw what do u want u’ve been bugging me all day
Luhan decides it would be easier and faster to call Jongdae. Apparently he’s been in a cranky mood this whole day because he just found out he has to work overtime on his birthday. This is something that Jongdae would expect, though, since Luhan complains about almost every single thing that happens to him.
“Doesn’t that mean you’ll be able to spend more time with Minseok at your office?” Jongdae asks, typing a reply to Suho, who just asked for this skype.
“Shut up,” He hears Luhan groan, “That’s not the point. I guess have to reschedule the birthday dinner or whatever.”
It was something Jongdae and his group of friends did every time a birthday came around, between him, Luhan, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. The four of them had met in college, but because of their jobs, they seldom saw each other anymore, except for Chanyeol, who he works with.
“We’ll just do it the week after or something.” Jongdae says back, who opens up his skype to add Suho’s username.
suho: hi :-)
jongdae: yes hello
suho: i hope it wasn’t weird for me to ask for your skype...it’s just luhan was complaining about work and stuff so i was thinking…like..
jongdae: like….
suho: we could throw him a surprise party or something? for his b-day……besides i haven’t spent a b-day with luhan before so i figured it would be fun. he’s a fun drunk.
jongdae: idk y u wanna be nice to luhan when luhan = spawn of satan but sure ok
“Jongdae, you idiot, are you listening to me?”
Jongdae jumps at the sound of Luhan’s voice, almost dropping his cell phone on his laptop.
“Shit, sorry, sorry. What were you saying?”
“Oh my god, are you talking to Joonmyun right now?” Luhan demands. “Are you really ignoring me for-“
“Who?” Jongdae asks, pushing his glasses up.
“Suho. His real name is Joonmyun.”
“Oh. Well, yeah. I’m talking to him right now,” Jongdae answers as he’s typing.
Luhan sighs, “Just call me tomorrow, okay?”
Jongdae probably won’t call Luhan tomorrow.
He hangs up before Jongdae can answer, so he averts his attention back to his laptop.
jongdae: so luhan told me ur name is joonmyun
suho: it is indeed
jongdae: so why use suho???
suho: to protect myself from strangers on the internet…
jongdae: lame…
suho: am not!
jongdae: so how do u want to plan this ‘surprise party’ thing
suho: i mean…i was just planning to do it at my apartment…..you know. very cheap. renting out a place is pointless.
jongdae: yes makes sense
suho: can we meet or something? we can just talk about it then. like details and stuff. this was kind of a last minute thing i just came up with.
jongdae: we just started talking and u wanna meet already??? i thought u were the type to ‘protect yourself from strangers on the internet’
suho: hahaaaaaaaa. you’re funny. just do it for luhan!!
jongdae: ok u kno what.. just bc you’re luhan’s friend and you guys seem close, i will trust u. but if u end up kidnapping me i will kill u
suho: how do you know we’re close
jongdae: i may or may not have stalked your twitter
suho: he doesn’t talk about me?
jongdae: no.
suho: ok. understood.
Joonmyun then gives Jongdae his phone number and apartment address, both of them agreeing they would meet up Monday after Jongdae finishes work.
“A surprise party?” Chanyeol asks over lunch in the office’s break room, “That sounds…” He puts down his chopsticks in his carton of Chinese takeout, “That sounds kinda childish, actually.”
“I’m surprised you of all people find this childish,” Jongdae says, raising his eyebrows, “You’re like a 5 year old trapped in a grown ass adult’s body. Besides, Luhan told me he’s a preschool teacher, or something like that. He probably likes ‘childish things’.” He makes the air quotes.
“Why does he even wanna throw Luhan a surprise party? He’ll probably figure out halfway through the planning because of how damn nosy he is.”
Jongdae shrugs. “Luhan and Joonmyun are really close.”
Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “And you’re meeting with this guy today? When you literally just met him?”
“Yeah, in a few hours, actually,” Jongdae says, checking his watch.
“Well, text me later and let me know how that goes.” He pats Jongdae’s leg before he walks out of the break room, leaving Jongdae by himself.
After he’s finished eating, he cleans up and walks towards the elevators when his boss, Wufan, calls him over from his office. The door to Wufan’s office is open, which is something that rarely happens, and from the looks of it, he’s been waiting for Jongdae to pass by.
“Yes, boss?” Jongdae asks when he approaches the door.
“Sorry, but you’re probably gonna have to stay here an extra few hours. I have to leave right now, but I need help with the new interns.” Wufan tells him. He’s completely distracted, scrolling on his computer without even looking up at Jongdae.
Originally, Jongdae was supposed to get off at five in the evening, which was something incredibly rare for him, but Wufan wanted to be nice and cut his hours short for the day because he’s been working so late the past few weeks.
“Alright, sure. No problem.” Jongdae says, still standing by the door. Wufan bids his goodbye, and Jongdae makes his way to the interns, but doesn’t forget to send Joonmyun a quit text before he does so.
sorry i can’t make it today :/ stuck at work
He puts his phone away to greet the new interns, all with young, bright faces, eager to learn. All Jongdae basically has to do is show these people around, but he knows how long it'll take because of how big the building is.
He finishes at about eight in the evening, a lot later than he expected too, but still earlier than when he usually leaves.
As soon as he gets into his car, he checks his phone and sees two missed messages, surprisingly none from Luhan.
Joonmyun: that's okay, we can always do it another time
And another, a picture attached, a picture of Joonmyun himself with a small puppy, making a pouty face.
Jongdae's eyes slightly widen in shock. That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. He tries to deny how cute Joonmyun looks in the picture as he types out a reply, cheeks flushing a bit.
are u trying to make me feel guilty about canceling by showin me a cute puppy
yeah did it work
no. i’ll txt u later gotta drive
When Jongdae finally gets home, he’s greeted with two more pictures of Joonmyun with the small puppy, and Jongdae can’t help himself to coo at them.
very cute he texts back before changing out of his work clothes.
me or the puppy? the text reads. Jongdae shakes his head; he would’ve never guessed Joonmyun to be the flirty type.
both, i guess. but more of the puppy. ;) are u free tomorrow? we can meet at my lunch break
Jongdae thinks it’s finally time to make himself an actual meal since he can’t remember the last time he didn’t eat something that wasn’t fast food or takeout.
sorry, no can do. i’m taking my kids to the zoo tomorrow!! :’)
It takes Jongdae a few seconds to realize that Joonmyun means his students rather than actual kids. He ends up eating dinner, and still talking to Joonmyun. He’s still talking to Joonmyun even after he’s finished showering. They talk about the most trivial things, like where they’re from, how they met Luhan, Joonmyun’s dog, and what their jobs are like.
It’s not even past midnight until Joonmyun goes off to bed, claiming that he has to wake up early for the school trip.
Jongdae’s sitting at his office again the next day, tired from staying up last night. There’s an unfinished sketch that’s staring at him on his desk, but he has no motivation or any idea what the hell to do next. This upcoming project is his biggest one yet, and although he’s having a few people to assist him on this, Wufan’s been drilling in on to have this project be completed flawlessly.
“You look like shit,” Chanyeol comments when he walks into his office. He’s carrying a cup of coffee and sets it down on Jongdae’s desk.
“Yeah, I stayed up last night talking to Joonmyun, and thinking about what to do with this piece of shit.” He gestures to the drawing on his desk, which is pretty much buried beneath the eraser shavings.
“Really?” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “The weird guy that Luhan’s friends with? The preschool teacher?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Jongdae answers. He blows on his coffee to cool it down while eyeing Chanyeol, slightly offended that he’s not offering any advice on his new project.
“Alright, I’ll see you.” Is all Chanyeol says.
He leaves Jongdae to himself to finish working, while his phone buzzes just as he takes another sip of his coffee.
Luhan: so i hear u can answer joon’s txt messages but not mine?????
Another buzz.
asshole
Jongdae laughs to himself before thinking of a reply,
sorry he’s a little more interesting than u
he can actually talk about other things than himself so :----)
He gets a reply in probably less than 30 seconds, which is not surprising to him because it’s Luhan.
wow ok jongdae i see. u two wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for me. i hope u remember that when u two get together and forget about me
Jongdae basically spits his scorching hot coffee on himself after reading Luhan’s text.
why would u say smth like that??? i hardly know him
Jongdae feels his phone vibrate against his lap again, but he thinks to himself a minute before responding.
He wasn’t lying when he said he told Luhan he hardly knows him, but from what he could tell, Joonmyun was attractive and had a decent personality. Jongdae felt as ease talking to him, but probably only because it was over text messages rather than in person.
Luhan’s words become stuck in Jongdae’s head; he can’t even think without getting this strange feeling in his gut, and he doesn’t even know why.
I hardly know this guy, Jongdae tells himself.
He looks down at his phone to see Luhan’s message:
srry it was a joke pls dont hate me :-)
i already hate u :-) Jongdae responds.
Since the two of them have been friends for years, he knows how Luhan is, and he knows that he’ll probably end up saying something like, “It’s been over a year since you and Baekhyun broke up, you should move on! He’s a nice guy,” just like Luhan’s been saying about ten other guys that Luhan has tried setting Jongdae up with.
Jongdae’s tried too many times to try and shake Luhan off about the situation, but, of course, Luhan is persistent when he wants to be, always nagging Jongdae about anything and everything.
Jongdae sighs, opening up his laptop. Since it’s his lunch break, he decides to just browse on the internet since he has nothing better to do. He would be working on his project even during his break, but he just can’t seem to come up with anything.
He checks his Twitter, but then decides it’s a bad idea when he finds pictures of Joonmyun that have just been recently posted.
“Oh dear God,” He says to himself, before clicking on his profile.
There’s quite a few pictures, the first one he clicks on is Joonmyun lined up with a bunch of little kids who come up to a few inches above and below his waist. The next one shows a lion in the background, and Joonmyun has his mouth wide open as if he’s pretending to be attacked by the animal, that is actually lying down in the picture, and damn, why is he so cute even when he’s making the most embarrassing faces?
“Hyung?” Jongin’s voice causes Jongdae to jump and bump his knee on his desk.
“Shit,” Jongdae says, “Sorry, I didn’t even notice you come in.”
“Are you okay?” Jongin asks him, squinting his eyes at him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jongdae assures him while he exits the tab and closes his laptop. “Do you need anything?”
“Oh, Wufan just wanted me to tell you that you have another meeting in about an hour.” Jongin tells him. He takes another look at Jongdae again before asking. “Are you sure you’re okay? Your face is a little red.”
“No, I’m fine, really.” Jongdae airily laughs at Jongin, “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”
Jongin only raises his eyebrows at Jongdae before leaving.
He pats the apples of his cheekbones with the back of his hands.
“Shit,” he says to himself.
The next day, Jongdae and Joonmyun try again to meet up, Joonmyun giving Jongdae his address again, but he feels as though the entire world is against him when he gets a call from Chanyeol.
“I thought you had off today,” Jongdae says.
“I do,” Chanyeol responds, “But I kind of need your help.”
Jongdae can tell by the tone of Chanyeol’s voice that it’s something that he feels guilty for.
“What is it? I’m supposed to meet Joonmyun in like an hour.” Jongdae says, looking at the time on his laptop.
“Well, you see. I was supposed to meet Kyungsoo, but then…” Chanyeol drifts off, and Jongdae furrows his eyebrows, trying to figure out where the hell Chanyeol is. He has to take his phone away from his face because of how loud it is.
“Where the hell are you?” Jongdae asks, “I can barely hear you.”
“Ha. Yeah, uhm. I’m kind of on the highway? My car broke down and I think I need you to pick me up. There’s some traffic and I called a tow truck but it won’t be here for another hour and it’s our anniversary and Kyungsoo will kill me if-“
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Jongdae tells him. “I’ll come get you. Where are you anyways?”
“Are you sure? Don’t you have to meet Joon-“
“It’s fine, really. We’re only meeting to talk about Luhan’s party. Anything regarding Luhan can wait,” Jongdae laughs.
Once Jongdae gets directions to where Chanyeol is, he decides to actually call Joonmyun.
“Hello?” A voice answers.
“Joonmyun?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Joonmyun says, “What’s up?”
Jongdae pauses for a moment, not expecting Joonmyun’s voice to sound anything like it actually was. Joonmyun was already too perfect from what he could tell; Jongdae was hoping at least he had an ugly voice to ruin the flawless image that Jongdae had already created in his head.
“Jongdae? You there?” Joonmyun asks after he chuckles.
Dammit, Jongdae thinks, even his laughs are cute.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I’m here. Uhhh…” His mind goes blank, thinking only of Joonmyun so he forgets what he wants to say at first. “I’m sorry; I can’t make it again today. My friend’s car broke down and I need to pick him up.”
“You’re bailing on me again?” Joonmyun laughs again. “I’m starting to believe you’re fake or something.”
“No! I am, I just-“
“It’s okay, Jongdae,” Joonmyun says, “I’m only kidding.”
“We’ll just try again tomorrow, don’t worry about it. We have like a week and a half left before Luhan’s actual birthday.”
“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” Jongdae jokes as he starts his car.
“Because Luhan can be an asshole, but he is a good friend. Plus, I want to meet you.”
Jongdae feels heat rising up to his cheeks as he pushes his glasses up another time.
“I want to meet you, too.”
It’s Thursday now, and every second Thursday of the month, Jongdae is lucky enough to have a day off. He would prefer to have Fridays off to get the luxury of having a three day weekend once a month, but he’ll take what he can get.
Days off for Jongdae usually mean lying around and doing absolutely nothing, which is exactly what he’s doing now. He slept in until about noon, and went out to eat by himself for brunch at an empty diner. Now that he’s back home, he’s sprawled out on his couch with a bag of chips, his feet hanging up over the top of the couch while watching TV. As of right now, he’s supposed to meet Joonmyun at about five in the evening, when he gets home from school.
He hadn’t even realized he fell asleep until his phone starts vibrating profusely against his face.
Joonmyun:
4:35pm
wait i know we made plans but don’t come over right now
4:46
luhan is here
5:03
he won’t leave
Jongdae groans. Leave it to Luhan to ruin everything, even when this whole damn thing is supposed to be for him anyway.
that’s okay, there’s always tomorrow. i just feel bad for u cause u gotta deal w/ him haha
Joonmyun: he keeps asking me who if i’m talking to you
Jongdae immediately types out a reply:
tell him no
he’ll start whining
It’s a little past five now, but since Jongdae’s plans got cancelled; he’s at loss for what to do. Honestly, he was looking forward to meeting Joonmyun, but he guess it has to wait another day.
He gets another text in less than a minute.
aw i wanted to meet you.
you know, only to make sure you’re real :-)
Jongdae’s cheeks flare up once again, and he starts to whine out loud because someone he hasn’t even met is able to make him blush so profusely.
Before he can answer the text message, he gets a call from Wufan. Jongdae stares at his phone a few seconds before answering, knowing Wufan only calls in the evening if he needs Jongdae at the office, of if it’s an emergency.
“Hell-“
“I hope you’re packed for tomorrow.” Wufan says, cutting him off.
“What,” Jongdae says flatly.
“Please don’t tell me you forgot. Business trip. Tomorrow. In Japan. Jongdae, I told you-“
“Shit, shit, shit. I forgot.” Jongdae turns his TV off and runs into his room, hoping to find his suitcase in his closet.
“Jongdae, we’ve been talking about this for over a month,” Wufan sighs.
“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, but I’ve been working on that project and got a little side tracked.” He’s looking down at the desk in his room, phone tucked away between his shoulder and ear while he searches beneath torn and wasted sketches to find his flight information at buried underneath everything.
“I have the flight information,” Jongdae tells him. “I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m leaving for the airport, okay?”
After he hangs up, he drags his suitcase out of his closet, which still has some of his belongings from his last business trip that he didn’t bother to clear out.
He’ll be in Japan only for the weekend, his company wants to sign a deal with Japan for whatever reason Jongdae doesn’t remember, but all he knows is he was half asleep when that meeting was being held.
As he’s packing, his mind goes to Joonmyun, and how they’ll probably have to cancel again to meet.
His phone rings again, bringing him out of his thoughts. Jongdae looks at the caller ID and sees that it’s Joonmyun.
“Hello?” Jongdae says.
“Hey, it’s me,” Joonmyun says as if it’s nothing.
“Yeah,” Jongdae says, “What’s up?”
“Luhan finally left,” Joonmyun sighs. “He sure knows how to overstay a visit.”
Jongdae laughs, “That definitely sounds like Luhan.” He folds another shirt to put in his suitcase. “Sorry, I’m gonna have to cancel again. I’ve got a business meeting in Japan for the weekend.”
“Aw, that’s okay,” Joonmyun says, and Jongdae can slightly hear the disappointment in his voice. “We can always do it next week.”
“Next week,” Jongdae repeats. “That sounds good,”
“I’m more curious to meet you than anything else,” Joonmyun says.
“Me too,” Jongdae responds. “We should just meet to hangout and forget about Luhan,”
“We should,” Joonmyun laughs, “Have a safe slight tomorrow, okay?”
Jongdae decides to take a long, hot shower as soon as he gets done with the most boring meeting of his entire life. What was the point of him even going if he didn’t even understand any Japanese? But, of course, Wufan made him go for whatever reason.
When he’s finally cozy in bed, his phone rings, and he reaches for his phone that’s next to a lamp on the nightstand, that he knocks over in the process. He’s expecting a call from Chanyeol to let him know where his keys are, since he’s borrowing his car for the weekend while his is getting fixed.
“Shit,” Jongdae says, rolling over on the bed to try and reach for the lamp on the ground.
“Oh, is this a bad time?” Jongdae doesn’t expect to hear Joonmyun’s voice.
“Oh. Oh, sorry, hi, no, this isn’t a bad time, I just wasn’t expecting-“ He reaches further for the lamp but ends up with entire upper body on the ground, legs still planted on the bed. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I was just wondering if you were free this Monday,” Joonmyun tells him.
“As of now, yes. I mean, during my lunch break which can be any hour that I’m working, yes.”
“Okay. So can we actually meet without you canceling?” Jongdae can hear the smile in his voice.
“Hey, you cancelled on me too, don’t blame this on me,” Jongdae teases back.
“I’m sorry I had to take care of my kids,” Joonmyun laughs.
Jongdae reaches another inch for the lamp, but ends up bringing his legs to the ground as well, resulting in a loud thump.
“What was that? Are you okay?” Joonmyun sounds concerned.
“Yeah, I just fell, kinda,” Jongdae answers too lazy to move off the floor, “I’m okay.”
“You fell? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Joonmyun, I’m not five years old,”
“Sorry,” he laughs nervously, “It’s a habit. Oh, that reminds me. Jongdae, how old are you?”
“Twenty-five,” Jongdae answers, “What about you?”
“Ah, I’m a year older. So you have to call me hyung.”
“Oh,” Jongdae says. “Okay, hyung.”
They end up talking for a few more hours, and oh god, do they charge money for international calls like this? Jongdae thinks, but it doesn’t matter, because he gets to talk to Joonmyun.
Ever since Jongdae started working more hours, he’s been seeing his friends less and less, even losing contact with some of them completely. When he talks to Joonymun, he feels relaxed, like he doesn’t have to try too hard, even though his heart is beating profusely in his chest every time he hears Joonmyun laugh.
It’s Monday, four in the evening when Jongdae decides to take his hour break. He has Joonmyun’s address scribbled down on a piece of paper he has clutched in his hand as he makes his way towards the elevators to leave.
“Jongdae,” Wufan calls him his office, and Jongdae groans in his head.
“Yes, boss?” Jongdae walks over to his office door.
“Chanyeol told me he’s covering for you today with the interns,” Wufan tells him, “So you don’t need to stay late today.”
“Thanks,” Jongdae breathes a sigh of relief, and takes a mental note to thank Chanyeol later.
“Are you sure you’re free?” Joonmyun asks when Jongdae calls him to let him know he’s on his way, “Like are you really, really sure? You’re not gonna get called into work again, or-“
“Hyung,” Jongdae laughs, “I’m free.”
“Okay, I’ll see you,” Joonmyun smiles.
Twenty minutes later, Jongdae pulls up to a small, yet modern looking apartment complex.
Eventually, he ends up right outside of Joonmyun’s door, but too afraid to knock. This is the Joonmyun that he has developed a slight crush for, the Joonmyun that he spent almost every night for the past week talking to, the same Joonmyun that has been nothing but absolutely perfect to Jongdae and even said himself that he wants to meet Jongdae.
“Oh God, Oh God, Oh God,” Jongdae mumbles to himself as he knocks on the door three times.
He hears shuffling coming from the opposite side of the door and his heart starts to beat faster. He switches his weight onto his left foot and he contemplates running away before Joonmyun answers the door. He slides back onto his right foot, trying to slowly back away when the door opens.
“Jongdae,” Joonmyun says, and holy shit, pictures do not do Joonmyun any justice. He’s much more handsome in person than Jongdae had expected.
“Joonmyun,” Jongdae says.
They stand there, staring at each other for a few seconds of awkwardness.
“Do you wanna come in?” Joonmyun asks.
“Yes,” Jongdae says, but it takes a few seconds of Joonmyun staring at him for Jongdae to actually move.
“Nice place,” Jongdae says when he walks in and toes off his shoes. He feels so incredibly out of place, like maybe this whole thing was a bad idea in the first place.
“Thanks,” Joonmyun says. They turn to face each other, and Joonmyun looks him up and down.
“Hm, you’re shorter than I expected.”
“What?” Jongdae says, slightly offended.
“You’re shorter than I expected,” Joonmyun repeats himself, looking into Jongdae’s eyes, “We’re kind of the same height. I thought you’d be taller,”
Joonmyun stares at him again longer. “You’re blushing,”
“No I’m not,” Jongdae immediately defends himself.
“You are,” Joonmyun teases again. “You want anything to eat? Or to drink?”
He walks into the kitchen, leaving Jongdae in the living room.
“Uh, anything is fine.” Jongdae tells him, “You don’t have to though, really,”
“My pleasure,” Joonmyun says. He walks back into the living room, carrying a box of pizza and a six pack of beer, “The pizza came about ten minutes ago, come on,”
He leads Jongdae on his sofa and puts down the stuff onto the table in front of him.
“You seem tense,” Joonmyun says as he opens a can of soda, eyes switching between Jongdae and the TV that’s playing some random variety show.
“No, I’m fine,” Jongdae responds. Joonmyun raises his eyes after he looks at the way Jongdae’s sitting, feet together, hands on his lap, and back completely straight.
“Here, take some pizza, I can’t eat this whole thing by myself,” Joonmyun opens the box and shoves a slice into Jongdae’s face.
It doesn’t take too long for them to fall into an easy conversation like they usually do over the phone, much easier, and Jongdae doesn’t even know why he was nervous in the first place.
He feels his heart speed up every time Joonmyun laughs at one of Jongdae’s jokes and playfully hits him, and a few times he gets really close to Jongdae when he leans into him.
“You seem to work a lot,” Joonmyun comments once they’ve finished a majority of the beer and pizza.
“Yeah, I do,” Jongdae says. After the few beers, he’s definitely more relaxed, even slouching so far down on Joonmyun’s couch that he swings his legs onto Joonmyun’s lap.
“Even looking at you is making me exhausted,” Joonmyun says, just as buzzed as Jongdae is.
“Well, excuse me, Mr. Preschool Teacher,” Jongdae giggles, “I’m sorry not everyone has the energy like you do,”
“Take a break or something,” Joonmyun says a bit more seriously, “Luhan tells me a lot of stuff. We were just talking about it the other day he was here,”
Jongdae lifts his head off the couch, “You believe what Luhan says?”
“He has no reason to lie about that type of stuff,” Joonmyun says, looking at him as he takes another swig of beer.
“True. I mean, yeah, I do work a lot, but I like my job, you know? Besides, I’m working on this project or something. It’s almost finished, except I can’t think of any new ideas. I’ve been stuck all week,”
“Take a break, or something. Just for a day. You probably can’t think of anything because you’re too stressed,” Joonmyun pats Jongdae’s leg that’s still resting on his lap.
“Yeah, but…”
“But? Tell me, Jongdae, when was the last time you’ve taken a day off from work just to relax?”
“Never,” Jongdae answers.
“Never? Geez, and I thought I was dedicated to my work. Just take a day off, you look like you haven’t slept in like thirty years,”
“I had off last Thursday,” Jongdae claims, “Besides, I’m not even thirty years old yet,”
“That clearly wasn’t enough,” Joonmyun laughs.
“Can you do me a favor?” Jongdae asks.
“What is it,” Joonmyun says, grabbing another bottle of beer.
“Can you call my boss for me to call out sick?”
A few minutes later, Joonmyun is on the phone talking with Wufan from the kitchen, claiming that Jongdae isn’t feeling very well and won’t be able to make it into work tomorrow. Jongdae’s on the couch, half asleep and he’s pretty sure he’s got pizza sauce on the side of his face. His glasses are even lopsided, causing him to see a half blurry chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Joonmyun walks over to Jongdae on the couch, still talking to Wufan.
“Yeah, he told me about that,” Joonmyun says, looking down at Jongdae. He wipes the pizza sauce off the side of his mouth, slightly grimacing as he wipes it down on his t-shirt.
“Okay. Thanks again, bye,” Joonmyun hangs up Jongdae’s phone and sets it on the table.
“You’re welcome,” Joonmyun smiles.
“Yeah, thanks,” Jongdae mumbles, eyes lidded and arms spread out above his head and his legs spread wide on Joonmyun’s couch.
“I guess you’re sleeping here tonight,” Joonmyun says to himself more than Jongdae, glancing at the clock to see that it’s almost midnight.
“Nah, I can leave,” Jongdae says almost incoherently, dragging his legs to the ground.
“No, I don’t want you driving this late when you can hardly function by yourself,” Joonmyun laughs, “I never pegged you as the type to be a lightweight,”
“Hey, I drank more than you did,” Jongdae defends.
“Do you want some clothes to change into? I don’t think sleeping in a suit would be all that comfortable. I mean, we’re pretty much the same size so you should probably be able to fit into my stuff,”
“Oh, thanks,” Jongdae says, slightly shocked at how nice Joonmyun is being.
“No problem,” Joonmyun says, walking into what Jongdae expects to be his room.
He pulls out his phone and decides to text Chanyeol.
I thnk my bbbb crush on ojoonmyun I s gettinff outta control!”
“You can, uh, change over there in the bathroom,” Joonmyun says pointing to another door after returning seconds later with a t-shirt and some basketball shorts.
“Thanks, hyung,” Jongdae smiles.
His phone vibrates with a new message as soon as he gets done changing,
Uhmmm?? Wtf you never told me you had a crush on this guy
Btw are you drunk
“Will I see you tomorrow?” Jongdae asks when he gets out of the bathroom.
“Yes, I would assume so, seeing as you’re staying in my apartment for the night,” Joonmyun laughs again, showing his pearly whites, “You’re cute when you’re drunk,”
“You are too,” Jongdae smiles. “Very cute,”
“Am I?” Joonmyun asks, walking closer to Jongdae.
“What are you doing,” Jongdae deadpans when Joonmyun starts getting closer, and closer. Jongdae’s still holding onto his work clothes and is starting to feel slightly embarrassed.
It all happens slowly, the way Joonmyun looks into Jongdae’s eyes, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes again. Jongdae’s not entirely too sure if it’s because Joonmyun likes him, or because he’s a little tipsy from the alcohol. The first brush of their lips is slow, and almost light as if it barely happened. Jongdae knew it was coming, but it doesn’t stop the little noise that comes out of his mouth.
He can feel Joonmyun smiling against his lips, granting himself permission to kiss him again, this time with more force. It’s a real kiss this time, one that heats up Jongdae’s skin so quickly, adding to the effects of the alcohol. Joonmyun leans in more, grabbing the back of Jongdae’s neck to pull him closer as Jongdae puts his free hand between Joonmyun’s neck and shoulder.
They eventually pull apart, out of breath as they rest their foreheads together.
“You know, I had a lot more fun spending my night with you like this than I would have if we actually planned this thing for Luhan,” Joonmyun laughs.
“Well then I’m glad we didn’t,” Jongdae smiles back, “We can always do it tomorrow,”
“It’s okay if we put it off another day. I’ll definitely be seeing you in the morning,” Joonmyun says, pulling away from Jongdae.
“Goodnight,” Jongdae smiles, making his way to his bed, or rather couch for the night, but manages to sneak in another peck on the lips from Joonmyun.
Jongdae goes to sleep with a giddy smile on his face that night, relieved that it took longer than he had planned to meet someone as great as Joonmyun, but it was all worth it in the end.
Author's note: thanks to whoever submitted this lovely prompt, i was sooo interested in doing this one the second i saw it. i hope i added a decent amount of fluff as requested, so enjoy!!!
Title: So Far (It's Alright)
Pairing: chen/suho
Rating: pg-13
Warnings: bff!luchen/mentioned chansoo
Word count: 6,532
Summary: Jongdae and Joonmyun meet on Twitter through a mutual friend, but it takes them a longer to meet than planned.
Jongdae leans back in his matte black office chair, taking off his glasses to rub at his tired eyes and runs a hand through his dark hair.
"Yo," Jongin, his new assistant peaks his head through Jongdae’s office door. "It's past 10. Are you leaving anytime soon?"
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes. You can go ahead and leave, it’s getting late." Jongdae answers, trying to blink the sleepiness away from his eyes.
He's sitting in his office, which is placed on the 19th floor on the outskirts of Gangnam.
"Everyone's left for the night; you should just go home, too. Your work will be there when you get back." Jongin tells him.
"Yeah," Jongdae answers. He stares at the work in front of him, a small sketch of the new building his boss wants him to design.
After Jongin leaves, Jongdae decides he might as well too. He packs up his belongings to leave his office before taking a glance outside his window as the sky darkens. The drive home is mundane as usual, and he stops by the convenient store to pick up a few packs of instant ramyun and a bag of chips.
Once he gets home to his cozy apartment, he relaxes to the fact that it's a Friday and he doesn’t have to get up early the next day for work. He changes out of his usual suit for work and into a comfortable t-shirt and his boxers.
He settles on his couch and turns on the television after making the ramyun, his so called dinner. It’s been his routine for the past few weeks since he’s been promoted at the head architect in his building, which means late nights in the office. He takes out his laptop, hoping to catch up on some new drama that’s currently his guilty pleasure. When he turns it on, his phone buzzes, and he looks down to see he has a notification from Twitter.
luhan_490 mentioned you in a tweet:
"can some please tell @kjong92 that...."
Jongdae eyes his phone warily when the message on the top of his phone gets cut off and eventually opens up the website to see the full tweet:
can someone please tell @kjong92 that he needs to answer his goddamn phone for once
Jongdae laughs to himself, knowing that he has a reputation among his friends for never answering text messages and calls, and even when he does it's usually hours later. He hadn't even realized Luhan had been texting him throughout the day while he had been working on his project. He’s scrolling through his texts with Luhan, most of them complaining about how no one is answering him.
He's about to type his reply when another notification pops up.
suho favorited a Tweet you were mentioned in
@suhoooo22 mentioned you in a Tweet: hi i’m not sure who you are but please answer your phone bc luhan won't shut up about you
He raises an eyebrow at the stranger before he clicks on his profile, and is pleasantly surprised when he's greeted with an extremely attractive man on the profile picture. He's got platinum blonde hair and pale skin that looks incredibly soft, and Jongdae's starting to question if that person is actually him or he just stole the picture off the internet.
His fingers hover over the keyboard of his laptop, trying to think of a response to both Luhan and whoever this Suho person is.
@luhan_490: shut up u prick i had more important things to worry about like my JOB!!!
@suhoooo22 hi i’m not sure who you are either but sorry about that
For the next few minutes, he spends his time searching through Suho’s Twitter page, most of them containing banter with Luhan and pictures of himself posing in various outdoor sceneries.
He averts his attention back to the top of the screen when he gets a new notification.
@suhoooo22 mentioned you in a Tweet:
@kjong92 hi i’m a friend of luhan’s. he talks about you a lot. a lot a lot a lot.
@kjong92 and by talk i mean complain a lot. btw i like your profile pic
Jongdae’s face heats up at that moment, becoming slightly embarrassed about his profile picture, which was taken when he was completely trashed at Chanyeol’s birthday party. His eyes are shut in the picture, and he’s sporting a peace sign with his fingers. There’s also a peace sign emoji at the end of Suho’s tweet. Jongdae’s wondering if he’s mocking him or not, but he chooses to ignore it.
He cracks his knuckles on his thighs before typing his reply:
@suhoooo22 hi nice to meet u i'm also a friend of luhans he talks about me a lot cause i'm so great and wow thanks i like yours too
He’s not sure why he’s talking to this stranger, especially since this isn’t something that Jongdae has ever done before, but he’s not entirely surprised when he gets a new notification.
suho is now following you
He figures it’s somewhat safe because this person knows Luhan, so Jongdae doesn’t hesitate to follow back. But then again, anything regarding someone like Luhan is never really safe at all.
Jongdae spends the next half hour making small talk with Suho, nothing too serious. He finishes his ramyun when Luhan decides to reply back.
@luhan_490 mentioned you in a Tweet:
@kjd0992: wait u answer him in like 2 seconds but it takes u 2 HRS TO TEXT BACK ok I h8 u goodbye!!
Jongdae tries to hold in his laughter before replying:
@luhan_490: srry but this guy is more interesting than u :// btw what do u want u’ve been bugging me all day
Luhan decides it would be easier and faster to call Jongdae. Apparently he’s been in a cranky mood this whole day because he just found out he has to work overtime on his birthday. This is something that Jongdae would expect, though, since Luhan complains about almost every single thing that happens to him.
“Doesn’t that mean you’ll be able to spend more time with Minseok at your office?” Jongdae asks, typing a reply to Suho, who just asked for this skype.
“Shut up,” He hears Luhan groan, “That’s not the point. I guess have to reschedule the birthday dinner or whatever.”
It was something Jongdae and his group of friends did every time a birthday came around, between him, Luhan, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. The four of them had met in college, but because of their jobs, they seldom saw each other anymore, except for Chanyeol, who he works with.
“We’ll just do it the week after or something.” Jongdae says back, who opens up his skype to add Suho’s username.
suho: hi :-)
jongdae: yes hello
suho: i hope it wasn’t weird for me to ask for your skype...it’s just luhan was complaining about work and stuff so i was thinking…like..
jongdae: like….
suho: we could throw him a surprise party or something? for his b-day……besides i haven’t spent a b-day with luhan before so i figured it would be fun. he’s a fun drunk.
jongdae: idk y u wanna be nice to luhan when luhan = spawn of satan but sure ok
“Jongdae, you idiot, are you listening to me?”
Jongdae jumps at the sound of Luhan’s voice, almost dropping his cell phone on his laptop.
“Shit, sorry, sorry. What were you saying?”
“Oh my god, are you talking to Joonmyun right now?” Luhan demands. “Are you really ignoring me for-“
“Who?” Jongdae asks, pushing his glasses up.
“Suho. His real name is Joonmyun.”
“Oh. Well, yeah. I’m talking to him right now,” Jongdae answers as he’s typing.
Luhan sighs, “Just call me tomorrow, okay?”
Jongdae probably won’t call Luhan tomorrow.
He hangs up before Jongdae can answer, so he averts his attention back to his laptop.
jongdae: so luhan told me ur name is joonmyun
suho: it is indeed
jongdae: so why use suho???
suho: to protect myself from strangers on the internet…
jongdae: lame…
suho: am not!
jongdae: so how do u want to plan this ‘surprise party’ thing
suho: i mean…i was just planning to do it at my apartment…..you know. very cheap. renting out a place is pointless.
jongdae: yes makes sense
suho: can we meet or something? we can just talk about it then. like details and stuff. this was kind of a last minute thing i just came up with.
jongdae: we just started talking and u wanna meet already??? i thought u were the type to ‘protect yourself from strangers on the internet’
suho: hahaaaaaaaa. you’re funny. just do it for luhan!!
jongdae: ok u kno what.. just bc you’re luhan’s friend and you guys seem close, i will trust u. but if u end up kidnapping me i will kill u
suho: how do you know we’re close
jongdae: i may or may not have stalked your twitter
suho: he doesn’t talk about me?
jongdae: no.
suho: ok. understood.
Joonmyun then gives Jongdae his phone number and apartment address, both of them agreeing they would meet up Monday after Jongdae finishes work.
“A surprise party?” Chanyeol asks over lunch in the office’s break room, “That sounds…” He puts down his chopsticks in his carton of Chinese takeout, “That sounds kinda childish, actually.”
“I’m surprised you of all people find this childish,” Jongdae says, raising his eyebrows, “You’re like a 5 year old trapped in a grown ass adult’s body. Besides, Luhan told me he’s a preschool teacher, or something like that. He probably likes ‘childish things’.” He makes the air quotes.
“Why does he even wanna throw Luhan a surprise party? He’ll probably figure out halfway through the planning because of how damn nosy he is.”
Jongdae shrugs. “Luhan and Joonmyun are really close.”
Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “And you’re meeting with this guy today? When you literally just met him?”
“Yeah, in a few hours, actually,” Jongdae says, checking his watch.
“Well, text me later and let me know how that goes.” He pats Jongdae’s leg before he walks out of the break room, leaving Jongdae by himself.
After he’s finished eating, he cleans up and walks towards the elevators when his boss, Wufan, calls him over from his office. The door to Wufan’s office is open, which is something that rarely happens, and from the looks of it, he’s been waiting for Jongdae to pass by.
“Yes, boss?” Jongdae asks when he approaches the door.
“Sorry, but you’re probably gonna have to stay here an extra few hours. I have to leave right now, but I need help with the new interns.” Wufan tells him. He’s completely distracted, scrolling on his computer without even looking up at Jongdae.
Originally, Jongdae was supposed to get off at five in the evening, which was something incredibly rare for him, but Wufan wanted to be nice and cut his hours short for the day because he’s been working so late the past few weeks.
“Alright, sure. No problem.” Jongdae says, still standing by the door. Wufan bids his goodbye, and Jongdae makes his way to the interns, but doesn’t forget to send Joonmyun a quit text before he does so.
sorry i can’t make it today :/ stuck at work
He puts his phone away to greet the new interns, all with young, bright faces, eager to learn. All Jongdae basically has to do is show these people around, but he knows how long it'll take because of how big the building is.
He finishes at about eight in the evening, a lot later than he expected too, but still earlier than when he usually leaves.
As soon as he gets into his car, he checks his phone and sees two missed messages, surprisingly none from Luhan.
Joonmyun: that's okay, we can always do it another time
And another, a picture attached, a picture of Joonmyun himself with a small puppy, making a pouty face.
Jongdae's eyes slightly widen in shock. That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. He tries to deny how cute Joonmyun looks in the picture as he types out a reply, cheeks flushing a bit.
are u trying to make me feel guilty about canceling by showin me a cute puppy
yeah did it work
no. i’ll txt u later gotta drive
When Jongdae finally gets home, he’s greeted with two more pictures of Joonmyun with the small puppy, and Jongdae can’t help himself to coo at them.
very cute he texts back before changing out of his work clothes.
me or the puppy? the text reads. Jongdae shakes his head; he would’ve never guessed Joonmyun to be the flirty type.
both, i guess. but more of the puppy. ;) are u free tomorrow? we can meet at my lunch break
Jongdae thinks it’s finally time to make himself an actual meal since he can’t remember the last time he didn’t eat something that wasn’t fast food or takeout.
sorry, no can do. i’m taking my kids to the zoo tomorrow!! :’)
It takes Jongdae a few seconds to realize that Joonmyun means his students rather than actual kids. He ends up eating dinner, and still talking to Joonmyun. He’s still talking to Joonmyun even after he’s finished showering. They talk about the most trivial things, like where they’re from, how they met Luhan, Joonmyun’s dog, and what their jobs are like.
It’s not even past midnight until Joonmyun goes off to bed, claiming that he has to wake up early for the school trip.
Jongdae’s sitting at his office again the next day, tired from staying up last night. There’s an unfinished sketch that’s staring at him on his desk, but he has no motivation or any idea what the hell to do next. This upcoming project is his biggest one yet, and although he’s having a few people to assist him on this, Wufan’s been drilling in on to have this project be completed flawlessly.
“You look like shit,” Chanyeol comments when he walks into his office. He’s carrying a cup of coffee and sets it down on Jongdae’s desk.
“Yeah, I stayed up last night talking to Joonmyun, and thinking about what to do with this piece of shit.” He gestures to the drawing on his desk, which is pretty much buried beneath the eraser shavings.
“Really?” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “The weird guy that Luhan’s friends with? The preschool teacher?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Jongdae answers. He blows on his coffee to cool it down while eyeing Chanyeol, slightly offended that he’s not offering any advice on his new project.
“Alright, I’ll see you.” Is all Chanyeol says.
He leaves Jongdae to himself to finish working, while his phone buzzes just as he takes another sip of his coffee.
Luhan: so i hear u can answer joon’s txt messages but not mine?????
Another buzz.
asshole
Jongdae laughs to himself before thinking of a reply,
sorry he’s a little more interesting than u
he can actually talk about other things than himself so :----)
He gets a reply in probably less than 30 seconds, which is not surprising to him because it’s Luhan.
wow ok jongdae i see. u two wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for me. i hope u remember that when u two get together and forget about me
Jongdae basically spits his scorching hot coffee on himself after reading Luhan’s text.
why would u say smth like that??? i hardly know him
Jongdae feels his phone vibrate against his lap again, but he thinks to himself a minute before responding.
He wasn’t lying when he said he told Luhan he hardly knows him, but from what he could tell, Joonmyun was attractive and had a decent personality. Jongdae felt as ease talking to him, but probably only because it was over text messages rather than in person.
Luhan’s words become stuck in Jongdae’s head; he can’t even think without getting this strange feeling in his gut, and he doesn’t even know why.
I hardly know this guy, Jongdae tells himself.
He looks down at his phone to see Luhan’s message:
srry it was a joke pls dont hate me :-)
i already hate u :-) Jongdae responds.
Since the two of them have been friends for years, he knows how Luhan is, and he knows that he’ll probably end up saying something like, “It’s been over a year since you and Baekhyun broke up, you should move on! He’s a nice guy,” just like Luhan’s been saying about ten other guys that Luhan has tried setting Jongdae up with.
Jongdae’s tried too many times to try and shake Luhan off about the situation, but, of course, Luhan is persistent when he wants to be, always nagging Jongdae about anything and everything.
Jongdae sighs, opening up his laptop. Since it’s his lunch break, he decides to just browse on the internet since he has nothing better to do. He would be working on his project even during his break, but he just can’t seem to come up with anything.
He checks his Twitter, but then decides it’s a bad idea when he finds pictures of Joonmyun that have just been recently posted.
“Oh dear God,” He says to himself, before clicking on his profile.
There’s quite a few pictures, the first one he clicks on is Joonmyun lined up with a bunch of little kids who come up to a few inches above and below his waist. The next one shows a lion in the background, and Joonmyun has his mouth wide open as if he’s pretending to be attacked by the animal, that is actually lying down in the picture, and damn, why is he so cute even when he’s making the most embarrassing faces?
“Hyung?” Jongin’s voice causes Jongdae to jump and bump his knee on his desk.
“Shit,” Jongdae says, “Sorry, I didn’t even notice you come in.”
“Are you okay?” Jongin asks him, squinting his eyes at him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jongdae assures him while he exits the tab and closes his laptop. “Do you need anything?”
“Oh, Wufan just wanted me to tell you that you have another meeting in about an hour.” Jongin tells him. He takes another look at Jongdae again before asking. “Are you sure you’re okay? Your face is a little red.”
“No, I’m fine, really.” Jongdae airily laughs at Jongin, “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”
Jongin only raises his eyebrows at Jongdae before leaving.
He pats the apples of his cheekbones with the back of his hands.
“Shit,” he says to himself.
The next day, Jongdae and Joonmyun try again to meet up, Joonmyun giving Jongdae his address again, but he feels as though the entire world is against him when he gets a call from Chanyeol.
“I thought you had off today,” Jongdae says.
“I do,” Chanyeol responds, “But I kind of need your help.”
Jongdae can tell by the tone of Chanyeol’s voice that it’s something that he feels guilty for.
“What is it? I’m supposed to meet Joonmyun in like an hour.” Jongdae says, looking at the time on his laptop.
“Well, you see. I was supposed to meet Kyungsoo, but then…” Chanyeol drifts off, and Jongdae furrows his eyebrows, trying to figure out where the hell Chanyeol is. He has to take his phone away from his face because of how loud it is.
“Where the hell are you?” Jongdae asks, “I can barely hear you.”
“Ha. Yeah, uhm. I’m kind of on the highway? My car broke down and I think I need you to pick me up. There’s some traffic and I called a tow truck but it won’t be here for another hour and it’s our anniversary and Kyungsoo will kill me if-“
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Jongdae tells him. “I’ll come get you. Where are you anyways?”
“Are you sure? Don’t you have to meet Joon-“
“It’s fine, really. We’re only meeting to talk about Luhan’s party. Anything regarding Luhan can wait,” Jongdae laughs.
Once Jongdae gets directions to where Chanyeol is, he decides to actually call Joonmyun.
“Hello?” A voice answers.
“Joonmyun?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Joonmyun says, “What’s up?”
Jongdae pauses for a moment, not expecting Joonmyun’s voice to sound anything like it actually was. Joonmyun was already too perfect from what he could tell; Jongdae was hoping at least he had an ugly voice to ruin the flawless image that Jongdae had already created in his head.
“Jongdae? You there?” Joonmyun asks after he chuckles.
Dammit, Jongdae thinks, even his laughs are cute.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I’m here. Uhhh…” His mind goes blank, thinking only of Joonmyun so he forgets what he wants to say at first. “I’m sorry; I can’t make it again today. My friend’s car broke down and I need to pick him up.”
“You’re bailing on me again?” Joonmyun laughs again. “I’m starting to believe you’re fake or something.”
“No! I am, I just-“
“It’s okay, Jongdae,” Joonmyun says, “I’m only kidding.”
“We’ll just try again tomorrow, don’t worry about it. We have like a week and a half left before Luhan’s actual birthday.”
“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” Jongdae jokes as he starts his car.
“Because Luhan can be an asshole, but he is a good friend. Plus, I want to meet you.”
Jongdae feels heat rising up to his cheeks as he pushes his glasses up another time.
“I want to meet you, too.”
It’s Thursday now, and every second Thursday of the month, Jongdae is lucky enough to have a day off. He would prefer to have Fridays off to get the luxury of having a three day weekend once a month, but he’ll take what he can get.
Days off for Jongdae usually mean lying around and doing absolutely nothing, which is exactly what he’s doing now. He slept in until about noon, and went out to eat by himself for brunch at an empty diner. Now that he’s back home, he’s sprawled out on his couch with a bag of chips, his feet hanging up over the top of the couch while watching TV. As of right now, he’s supposed to meet Joonmyun at about five in the evening, when he gets home from school.
He hadn’t even realized he fell asleep until his phone starts vibrating profusely against his face.
Joonmyun:
4:35pm
wait i know we made plans but don’t come over right now
4:46
luhan is here
5:03
he won’t leave
Jongdae groans. Leave it to Luhan to ruin everything, even when this whole damn thing is supposed to be for him anyway.
that’s okay, there’s always tomorrow. i just feel bad for u cause u gotta deal w/ him haha
Joonmyun: he keeps asking me who if i’m talking to you
Jongdae immediately types out a reply:
tell him no
he’ll start whining
It’s a little past five now, but since Jongdae’s plans got cancelled; he’s at loss for what to do. Honestly, he was looking forward to meeting Joonmyun, but he guess it has to wait another day.
He gets another text in less than a minute.
aw i wanted to meet you.
you know, only to make sure you’re real :-)
Jongdae’s cheeks flare up once again, and he starts to whine out loud because someone he hasn’t even met is able to make him blush so profusely.
Before he can answer the text message, he gets a call from Wufan. Jongdae stares at his phone a few seconds before answering, knowing Wufan only calls in the evening if he needs Jongdae at the office, of if it’s an emergency.
“Hell-“
“I hope you’re packed for tomorrow.” Wufan says, cutting him off.
“What,” Jongdae says flatly.
“Please don’t tell me you forgot. Business trip. Tomorrow. In Japan. Jongdae, I told you-“
“Shit, shit, shit. I forgot.” Jongdae turns his TV off and runs into his room, hoping to find his suitcase in his closet.
“Jongdae, we’ve been talking about this for over a month,” Wufan sighs.
“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, but I’ve been working on that project and got a little side tracked.” He’s looking down at the desk in his room, phone tucked away between his shoulder and ear while he searches beneath torn and wasted sketches to find his flight information at buried underneath everything.
“I have the flight information,” Jongdae tells him. “I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m leaving for the airport, okay?”
After he hangs up, he drags his suitcase out of his closet, which still has some of his belongings from his last business trip that he didn’t bother to clear out.
He’ll be in Japan only for the weekend, his company wants to sign a deal with Japan for whatever reason Jongdae doesn’t remember, but all he knows is he was half asleep when that meeting was being held.
As he’s packing, his mind goes to Joonmyun, and how they’ll probably have to cancel again to meet.
His phone rings again, bringing him out of his thoughts. Jongdae looks at the caller ID and sees that it’s Joonmyun.
“Hello?” Jongdae says.
“Hey, it’s me,” Joonmyun says as if it’s nothing.
“Yeah,” Jongdae says, “What’s up?”
“Luhan finally left,” Joonmyun sighs. “He sure knows how to overstay a visit.”
Jongdae laughs, “That definitely sounds like Luhan.” He folds another shirt to put in his suitcase. “Sorry, I’m gonna have to cancel again. I’ve got a business meeting in Japan for the weekend.”
“Aw, that’s okay,” Joonmyun says, and Jongdae can slightly hear the disappointment in his voice. “We can always do it next week.”
“Next week,” Jongdae repeats. “That sounds good,”
“I’m more curious to meet you than anything else,” Joonmyun says.
“Me too,” Jongdae responds. “We should just meet to hangout and forget about Luhan,”
“We should,” Joonmyun laughs, “Have a safe slight tomorrow, okay?”
Jongdae decides to take a long, hot shower as soon as he gets done with the most boring meeting of his entire life. What was the point of him even going if he didn’t even understand any Japanese? But, of course, Wufan made him go for whatever reason.
When he’s finally cozy in bed, his phone rings, and he reaches for his phone that’s next to a lamp on the nightstand, that he knocks over in the process. He’s expecting a call from Chanyeol to let him know where his keys are, since he’s borrowing his car for the weekend while his is getting fixed.
“Shit,” Jongdae says, rolling over on the bed to try and reach for the lamp on the ground.
“Oh, is this a bad time?” Jongdae doesn’t expect to hear Joonmyun’s voice.
“Oh. Oh, sorry, hi, no, this isn’t a bad time, I just wasn’t expecting-“ He reaches further for the lamp but ends up with entire upper body on the ground, legs still planted on the bed. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I was just wondering if you were free this Monday,” Joonmyun tells him.
“As of now, yes. I mean, during my lunch break which can be any hour that I’m working, yes.”
“Okay. So can we actually meet without you canceling?” Jongdae can hear the smile in his voice.
“Hey, you cancelled on me too, don’t blame this on me,” Jongdae teases back.
“I’m sorry I had to take care of my kids,” Joonmyun laughs.
Jongdae reaches another inch for the lamp, but ends up bringing his legs to the ground as well, resulting in a loud thump.
“What was that? Are you okay?” Joonmyun sounds concerned.
“Yeah, I just fell, kinda,” Jongdae answers too lazy to move off the floor, “I’m okay.”
“You fell? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Joonmyun, I’m not five years old,”
“Sorry,” he laughs nervously, “It’s a habit. Oh, that reminds me. Jongdae, how old are you?”
“Twenty-five,” Jongdae answers, “What about you?”
“Ah, I’m a year older. So you have to call me hyung.”
“Oh,” Jongdae says. “Okay, hyung.”
They end up talking for a few more hours, and oh god, do they charge money for international calls like this? Jongdae thinks, but it doesn’t matter, because he gets to talk to Joonmyun.
Ever since Jongdae started working more hours, he’s been seeing his friends less and less, even losing contact with some of them completely. When he talks to Joonymun, he feels relaxed, like he doesn’t have to try too hard, even though his heart is beating profusely in his chest every time he hears Joonmyun laugh.
It’s Monday, four in the evening when Jongdae decides to take his hour break. He has Joonmyun’s address scribbled down on a piece of paper he has clutched in his hand as he makes his way towards the elevators to leave.
“Jongdae,” Wufan calls him his office, and Jongdae groans in his head.
“Yes, boss?” Jongdae walks over to his office door.
“Chanyeol told me he’s covering for you today with the interns,” Wufan tells him, “So you don’t need to stay late today.”
“Thanks,” Jongdae breathes a sigh of relief, and takes a mental note to thank Chanyeol later.
“Are you sure you’re free?” Joonmyun asks when Jongdae calls him to let him know he’s on his way, “Like are you really, really sure? You’re not gonna get called into work again, or-“
“Hyung,” Jongdae laughs, “I’m free.”
“Okay, I’ll see you,” Joonmyun smiles.
Twenty minutes later, Jongdae pulls up to a small, yet modern looking apartment complex.
Eventually, he ends up right outside of Joonmyun’s door, but too afraid to knock. This is the Joonmyun that he has developed a slight crush for, the Joonmyun that he spent almost every night for the past week talking to, the same Joonmyun that has been nothing but absolutely perfect to Jongdae and even said himself that he wants to meet Jongdae.
“Oh God, Oh God, Oh God,” Jongdae mumbles to himself as he knocks on the door three times.
He hears shuffling coming from the opposite side of the door and his heart starts to beat faster. He switches his weight onto his left foot and he contemplates running away before Joonmyun answers the door. He slides back onto his right foot, trying to slowly back away when the door opens.
“Jongdae,” Joonmyun says, and holy shit, pictures do not do Joonmyun any justice. He’s much more handsome in person than Jongdae had expected.
“Joonmyun,” Jongdae says.
They stand there, staring at each other for a few seconds of awkwardness.
“Do you wanna come in?” Joonmyun asks.
“Yes,” Jongdae says, but it takes a few seconds of Joonmyun staring at him for Jongdae to actually move.
“Nice place,” Jongdae says when he walks in and toes off his shoes. He feels so incredibly out of place, like maybe this whole thing was a bad idea in the first place.
“Thanks,” Joonmyun says. They turn to face each other, and Joonmyun looks him up and down.
“Hm, you’re shorter than I expected.”
“What?” Jongdae says, slightly offended.
“You’re shorter than I expected,” Joonmyun repeats himself, looking into Jongdae’s eyes, “We’re kind of the same height. I thought you’d be taller,”
Joonmyun stares at him again longer. “You’re blushing,”
“No I’m not,” Jongdae immediately defends himself.
“You are,” Joonmyun teases again. “You want anything to eat? Or to drink?”
He walks into the kitchen, leaving Jongdae in the living room.
“Uh, anything is fine.” Jongdae tells him, “You don’t have to though, really,”
“My pleasure,” Joonmyun says. He walks back into the living room, carrying a box of pizza and a six pack of beer, “The pizza came about ten minutes ago, come on,”
He leads Jongdae on his sofa and puts down the stuff onto the table in front of him.
“You seem tense,” Joonmyun says as he opens a can of soda, eyes switching between Jongdae and the TV that’s playing some random variety show.
“No, I’m fine,” Jongdae responds. Joonmyun raises his eyes after he looks at the way Jongdae’s sitting, feet together, hands on his lap, and back completely straight.
“Here, take some pizza, I can’t eat this whole thing by myself,” Joonmyun opens the box and shoves a slice into Jongdae’s face.
It doesn’t take too long for them to fall into an easy conversation like they usually do over the phone, much easier, and Jongdae doesn’t even know why he was nervous in the first place.
He feels his heart speed up every time Joonmyun laughs at one of Jongdae’s jokes and playfully hits him, and a few times he gets really close to Jongdae when he leans into him.
“You seem to work a lot,” Joonmyun comments once they’ve finished a majority of the beer and pizza.
“Yeah, I do,” Jongdae says. After the few beers, he’s definitely more relaxed, even slouching so far down on Joonmyun’s couch that he swings his legs onto Joonmyun’s lap.
“Even looking at you is making me exhausted,” Joonmyun says, just as buzzed as Jongdae is.
“Well, excuse me, Mr. Preschool Teacher,” Jongdae giggles, “I’m sorry not everyone has the energy like you do,”
“Take a break or something,” Joonmyun says a bit more seriously, “Luhan tells me a lot of stuff. We were just talking about it the other day he was here,”
Jongdae lifts his head off the couch, “You believe what Luhan says?”
“He has no reason to lie about that type of stuff,” Joonmyun says, looking at him as he takes another swig of beer.
“True. I mean, yeah, I do work a lot, but I like my job, you know? Besides, I’m working on this project or something. It’s almost finished, except I can’t think of any new ideas. I’ve been stuck all week,”
“Take a break, or something. Just for a day. You probably can’t think of anything because you’re too stressed,” Joonmyun pats Jongdae’s leg that’s still resting on his lap.
“Yeah, but…”
“But? Tell me, Jongdae, when was the last time you’ve taken a day off from work just to relax?”
“Never,” Jongdae answers.
“Never? Geez, and I thought I was dedicated to my work. Just take a day off, you look like you haven’t slept in like thirty years,”
“I had off last Thursday,” Jongdae claims, “Besides, I’m not even thirty years old yet,”
“That clearly wasn’t enough,” Joonmyun laughs.
“Can you do me a favor?” Jongdae asks.
“What is it,” Joonmyun says, grabbing another bottle of beer.
“Can you call my boss for me to call out sick?”
A few minutes later, Joonmyun is on the phone talking with Wufan from the kitchen, claiming that Jongdae isn’t feeling very well and won’t be able to make it into work tomorrow. Jongdae’s on the couch, half asleep and he’s pretty sure he’s got pizza sauce on the side of his face. His glasses are even lopsided, causing him to see a half blurry chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Joonmyun walks over to Jongdae on the couch, still talking to Wufan.
“Yeah, he told me about that,” Joonmyun says, looking down at Jongdae. He wipes the pizza sauce off the side of his mouth, slightly grimacing as he wipes it down on his t-shirt.
“Okay. Thanks again, bye,” Joonmyun hangs up Jongdae’s phone and sets it on the table.
“You’re welcome,” Joonmyun smiles.
“Yeah, thanks,” Jongdae mumbles, eyes lidded and arms spread out above his head and his legs spread wide on Joonmyun’s couch.
“I guess you’re sleeping here tonight,” Joonmyun says to himself more than Jongdae, glancing at the clock to see that it’s almost midnight.
“Nah, I can leave,” Jongdae says almost incoherently, dragging his legs to the ground.
“No, I don’t want you driving this late when you can hardly function by yourself,” Joonmyun laughs, “I never pegged you as the type to be a lightweight,”
“Hey, I drank more than you did,” Jongdae defends.
“Do you want some clothes to change into? I don’t think sleeping in a suit would be all that comfortable. I mean, we’re pretty much the same size so you should probably be able to fit into my stuff,”
“Oh, thanks,” Jongdae says, slightly shocked at how nice Joonmyun is being.
“No problem,” Joonmyun says, walking into what Jongdae expects to be his room.
He pulls out his phone and decides to text Chanyeol.
I thnk my bbbb crush on ojoonmyun I s gettinff outta control!”
“You can, uh, change over there in the bathroom,” Joonmyun says pointing to another door after returning seconds later with a t-shirt and some basketball shorts.
“Thanks, hyung,” Jongdae smiles.
His phone vibrates with a new message as soon as he gets done changing,
Uhmmm?? Wtf you never told me you had a crush on this guy
Btw are you drunk
“Will I see you tomorrow?” Jongdae asks when he gets out of the bathroom.
“Yes, I would assume so, seeing as you’re staying in my apartment for the night,” Joonmyun laughs again, showing his pearly whites, “You’re cute when you’re drunk,”
“You are too,” Jongdae smiles. “Very cute,”
“Am I?” Joonmyun asks, walking closer to Jongdae.
“What are you doing,” Jongdae deadpans when Joonmyun starts getting closer, and closer. Jongdae’s still holding onto his work clothes and is starting to feel slightly embarrassed.
It all happens slowly, the way Joonmyun looks into Jongdae’s eyes, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes again. Jongdae’s not entirely too sure if it’s because Joonmyun likes him, or because he’s a little tipsy from the alcohol. The first brush of their lips is slow, and almost light as if it barely happened. Jongdae knew it was coming, but it doesn’t stop the little noise that comes out of his mouth.
He can feel Joonmyun smiling against his lips, granting himself permission to kiss him again, this time with more force. It’s a real kiss this time, one that heats up Jongdae’s skin so quickly, adding to the effects of the alcohol. Joonmyun leans in more, grabbing the back of Jongdae’s neck to pull him closer as Jongdae puts his free hand between Joonmyun’s neck and shoulder.
They eventually pull apart, out of breath as they rest their foreheads together.
“You know, I had a lot more fun spending my night with you like this than I would have if we actually planned this thing for Luhan,” Joonmyun laughs.
“Well then I’m glad we didn’t,” Jongdae smiles back, “We can always do it tomorrow,”
“It’s okay if we put it off another day. I’ll definitely be seeing you in the morning,” Joonmyun says, pulling away from Jongdae.
“Goodnight,” Jongdae smiles, making his way to his bed, or rather couch for the night, but manages to sneak in another peck on the lips from Joonmyun.
Jongdae goes to sleep with a giddy smile on his face that night, relieved that it took longer than he had planned to meet someone as great as Joonmyun, but it was all worth it in the end.
Author's note: thanks to whoever submitted this lovely prompt, i was sooo interested in doing this one the second i saw it. i hope i added a decent amount of fluff as requested, so enjoy!!!