[TC1] The Circle
Title: The Circle
Word Count: 3108
Rating: PG
Pairing: Junhyung/Hyunseung
Summary: Everything looks as normal as it can be - Junhyung works, makes money, is satisfied with his life and with the reality he doesn't even want to think about, but the appearance of a certain stranger turns everything around. Things get complicated, he finds out nothing is as it seems and Junhyung's curiosity just jumps in joy.
A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing. It's late and I'm sleepy.
It wasn’t light outside when he first saw him. The figure was wrapped in his thin jacket as rain had been pouring down mercilessly, making the already cold weather even colder. He had managed to save himself from the downpour and his jeans were only half-drenched as the slight raincoat was now shed off. His back was against the stone-wall and gaze down, looking at his frozen fingers opening a bag of bread.
At first Junhyung didn’t pay much attention to him because he looked just like another homeless in the busy streets. Just sitting there, passing their days and hoping for a better tomorrow - a sight he was used to seeing and hearing daily.
He wasn’t old, it was obvious from the face he only caught a slight glimpse of as the rain had still managed to wet his hair - the holes in the slicker were not something that an eye could miss. Sitting there like nothing was wrong, like he was just taking a break and not worrying about being chased away the moment the sun sets.
Junhyung would’ve forgotten him easily if it wasn’t for his frequent appearances. At first claiming his spot twice a week, from the sunrise until dusk when Junhyung finished. Sometimes looking energetic, sometimes looking like having continuously gone through hell but nevertheless there were many beside him whom he generously offered his own bits of food.
He had even gained the fondness of various cats who Junhyung often found in his lap or at least somewhere near, sneaking or meowing for food. He had never seen him shoo them away, instead he always managed to take out a small piece of sausage of some sort and he would eye the cat eating it in peace. Only birds kept their distance.
Junhyung can’t help but think about why and how.
He walked along the same street every day, just took that same route for some unknown reason, but the sight of the other giving out food so early in the morning with a small smile kept giving him assurance of some sort. Hearing his slight mumbles as he scolded a cat with playfulness made him appreciate what he had.
And he respected him.
For everything he seemed to be.
Then he started to appear more frequently until the point it felt empty when the spot was vacant. He would see a cat or even a kitten curled up in his place, would see the sad faces of other people gathered around it and would hear how it was such a shame and how much they miss him already.
But just then one day he suddenly appeared with a guitar, in a shabby state but still playable and Junhyung could hear the others urging him on to play from afar- but the street stayed quiet. He didn’t know why, why there was such conflict in his every movement and why he kept opposing every single plea for even a couple of notes, a verse.
Junhyung also wanted to urge him to play, but he kept his distance.
Not a single note made it out and he didn’t understand why. Why not?
He heard it some days later, heard it already from metres away, wind carrying a melody that immediately caught his attention. It was sad, heartbreakingly going up slowly and swiftly down, dragging on as a conversation, bringing out various feelings perfectly. The flow was smooth but also awakening the mind and capturing the ear, taking him along, grabbing at the edge of his soul and shared a story which he didn’t understand but still made shivers run down on his back.
And Junhyung was absolutely mesmerized.
Having heard many excellent guitarists in his life, he didn’t even doubt this one was below their level, heard ones from overseas and even locals - all amazing and professionals. The melody wasn’t even perfect, had small mistakes in it and parts where the finger must’ve slipped because it was cold, but the melody just stuck. It was perfect in its own weird way that made Junhyung just look, gaze more attentively at the guitarist whose face was still hidden under a hood falling on his face.
People around him stood still, eyes glazed and just looking in awe, passerby’s reaching for their wallets and dropping quite generously bits into the guitar-case.
Junhyung passed him, not even thinking twice before doing the same.
What he hadn’t expected was how the melody would really get stuck and wouldn’t leave.
It played on and on, and only in his head as he could never mimic it. He tried to write it down but there was no success; the sound, the feeling was always different - too strange, didn’t fit, too wrong and just off. It kept playing on and on and weirdly it was relaxing.
The stranger on the street disappeared for some weeks. He was there for only one night, filling the street with the same melody and the next, gone, disappeared into thin air and once again Junhyung now had to face a rather empty street while walking towards his day full of music again.
He hoped to see him, hoped to hear anything said about him but all he got were confused wonderings about where their favourite boy had disappeared to and suspicious looks as why was Junhyung asking in the first place. No one knew a thing and soon he overheard it was usual - disappearing and appearing as he liked.
He never stood still.
Junhyung went on an errand, something that happened rarely considering the amount of people under his command and the weaklings he has to oversee. But this time it was important and he had no choice but to get his ass out to the street and walk, drag his legs behind him as he headed towards another big building seen somewhere far away.
With a sigh he stepped into the swarm of people flooding the streets.
He wasn’t expecting it at all, explaining well why he was completely taken by surprise seeing a familiar guitar case and a raincoat. He saw it from behind but recognized immediately. There wasn’t much thinking done before he quickened his step, didn’t even think before placing his hand on the other’s shoulder and made out a pathetic hey.
The stranger managed to surprise him even more as now facing him he looked taller than expected, only a bit shorter than Junhyung himself, looked more composed even in clothes decorated with small holes and thinning parts. But there still was something, and that something made Junhyung unable to look away.
He didn’t expect him to be that young. He expected scars, dirt, tired eyes, suffering looks and for some reason he was baffled to see almost perfect white skin and big doe eyes looking so naive and innocent. He questioned himself how the other managed with his life, how he managed to survive looking pure, managed to still have that glint and stay so...unaffected.
His eyes were nonchalant, totally empty and expressionless as he just looked into Junhyung’s. It was so vacant that he didn’t know if it was his place to say anything but a small smile appeared on the other’s face as he waited and for him it was a sign enough.
“I just...Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said and saw confusion flash across his face before his lips turned into a big smile reaching his eyes. Junhyung’s lips curled into a small one, it was contagious.
A smile so innocent. But the reality?
“Yes, I’ve been busy,” he scratched his neck, looking apologetic when unnecessary. “I’ll stop by soon enough.” In a second his smile was wholehearted again and Junhyung didn’t know what to think.
“Hey, that song you played back then, is it yours?” He asked, trying to drag it on just a bit, just a bit to satisfy his curiosity about the notes and about everything that circled in his head.
The other blanked out for a good two seconds, blinking at Junhyung as if he seriously had no idea what the other was talking about. But as Junhyung’s eyes fell to the guitar-case, his followed and cleared up in an instant.
“Ah yes! I’m Hyunseung,” he said, so cheerfully that even though Junhyung didn’t even know if that was supposed to be an answer or not, his hand met the stranger’s in a firm handshake and without even thinking he muttered out his own name.
“So I have heard,” the other said, placed the guitar case on the ground safely and even though Junhyung’s eyes were obviously confused and questioning, it was not paid attention to.
At all.
Instead he eyed him up and down, fast before managing on a sly smile and stepping closer.
“So...” One side curved into a smirk, voice becoming softer, quieter, almost above a whisper, “How much are you willing to pay?” He grabbed at the helm of his jacket, tugging down at it and Junhyung was honestly shocked, brain taking seconds to register what was going on, to understand that a certain stranger called Hyunseung didn’t seem to be joking at all.
He grabbed at the other’s hand and removed it before taking a step back into safe distance, seeing how Hyunseung’s eyebrow rose in a questioning manner.
This...
“I’m sorry but you must’ve misunderstood. It’s not...like that,” he tried to explain, looking how other’s mouth made an o as his face lightened up and that smirk had vanished in seconds. His eyes were vacant again, attention seeming somewhere else when he smiled again and voiced out an apology.
“It’s nothing,” Junhyung assured, his smile so awkward that it hurt.
And that was it. Hyunseung sincerely apologized once more for the confusion and leaned down to grab his guitar case, mumbling out a see you later as he waved and on the way he was.
Junhyung shook his head, still digesting what he had just seen and heard while seeing Hyunseung’s back disappear behind a corner. He eyed the watch and continued with rushed steps and slight curses.
He didn’t appear the same night, nor did he in the following week. Junhyung constantly met with an empty wall or even others swarming to his place - he didn’t think much of it. In some way he didn’t believe he’d ever appear again, had accepted never to hear that melody ringing through his ears. It was silent and only the left notes were still reminders it had really happened.
But he understood it really was Hyunseung’s.
He understood it the day he saw him again, when the melody in his head had been so faint and on the verge of disappearing. But he saw him, from afar sitting down with a kitten on his lap, slightly stroking it while the latter ate out of his other hand. There were no glances given, no acknowledgement as Junhyung passed but for some reason, the tune was again clear and he didn’t mind it.
Instead, he welcomed it.
One day, when it had been raining for a while, the streets were filled with puddles and the wind was so strong and umbrellas were useless, he furrowed his eyebrow at the almost-empty street. He was sitting there, his usual slicker pulled over his head and really was just sitting there, motionless and limp.
Junhyung didn’t think much before stopping before him, crouching down in worry before he could even think. Doe eyes met his and his head rose a bit, giving him a full view of the pale colourless skin.
“Shouldn’t you be at the shelter?” Junhyung asked, head motioning towards somewhere he thought one was located, far away but still there, now probably filled with the smell of warm soup mixed with damp dirty clothes.
“Some people need it more,” Hyunseung replied with a raspy voice and a set of coughs.
“Why do you do this?” He asked before he could stop. Something made him ask, maybe a small hope somewhere deep inside that maybe not everyone was like a certain selfish bastard that had messed up his whole day. Hoped that maybe people struggling on streets would be different. Other side wanted to say how stupid he was.
But he got no answer. He only got to hear another cough and see the other’s expression showing pain, eyes squinting just so as he tried to swallow.
Junhyung didn’t understand why.
His mind must’ve been out on a vacation because there was no way in usual situations he would’ve taken a stranger’s hand, tugging him to stand on his own feet. No reasons could explain why he wanted him to follow, why he kept persisting when Hyunseung said his cover for the night was free in mere 4 hours.
He didn’t listen.
“Let’s have a small chat.” It was his only reason.
And Hyunseung didn’t say much to that.
He followed, Junhyung noticing there was no guitar this time. He followed with heavy steps, walked up the stairs even more slowly and took an eternity to step in - the owner already somewhere inside placing his coat to dry and hurrying from one room to another.
Junhyung saw hesitation in his steps as he finally walked in and looked around, flinching at the suddenly turned on lights. His every flinch made Junhyung wonder but his mouth was kept shut.
“I placed some clothes in the bathroom you can keep. Just go take a shower,” Junhyung said as he went towards the kitchen, fast, ignoring all protests behind him which died out as he turned around the corner. Soon he heard the shower go on, heard the stumbling and almost got worried if he fell when the shower went off too soon.
Junhyung furrowed his eyebrows when he pulled out a jar of honey but it kept going on- turned on and off and finally as placing water to boil he let out a smile because it felt so ridiculous.
Hyunseung appeared just when the water was poured to the mugs and Junhyung motioned him to take a seat. A towel was loosely over his head as he leaned down to meet the cup halfway. Junhyung cringed, warning words cut off as a hiss escaped Hyunseung’s lips and he placed it back to the table, throwing the other a look as if he was at fault.
“You could’ve cooled it down you know.” Junhyung only snorted while taking a seat himself. Stirring the tea, he glanced up to see Hyunseung leaned over his own, not touching the cup but just blowing it air.
“Someone’s impatient. Here.” Junhyung leaned back, reaching the bag of bread and some other packages. He placed them on the table before him, pushing it over to Hyunseung whose eyes were caught already. He kept glancing up and down as if waiting for something.
“Ice would’ve done the trick,” he said but still straightened his back and started working on a sandwich. Junhyung ignored it as he sipped at his own tea.
“So,” Hyunseung started, “Reconsidered the offer?” It made Junhyung look up from his tea, only to see the other not paying attention and he wondered, couldn’t get whether he was serious or just joking around.
“When I said chat, I really meant just chatting,” he replied carefully, eyeing how Hyunseung cut the cheese slice in half.
“You know, I have enough of it,” Junhyung commented, still looking at the bread which was only half-covered by the piece but he went by ignored as the same was done with sausage. A small thank you made out as Hyunseung’s eyes lighted up again before taking a bite and sipping tea immediately.
“That song really is yours, right?” He asked, seeing how Hyunseung looked up, blinking innocently as for asking him to continue.
“It just got caught in my head,” he continued, honestly not really knowing what else he was supposed to say, he was even unsure what he wanted to know.
But Hyunseung didn’t wait for more.
“Sometimes it just comes to me and doesn’t subside before I let it out. That’s how it goes.” He took another bite out of the bread, big one and half of the sandwich was gone in a second.
Junhyung still eyed him, watched him making another sandwich while glancing up constantly. Finished, knife still in his hands, he just stared at him with a furrowed eyebrow.
“You’re getting a little creepy,” he said, blinking as in his own world and Junhyung snapped out, thoughts still hanging at the last sentence.
His words had made sense, he understood it well because he had felt it many times before but unforgettable?
Junhyung pushed a bowl of snacks in Hyunseung’s direction and the other didn’t even seem to think twice before grabbing few and then some more, not paying attention at all before it was almost empty. For that second he looked apologetic and just then Junhyung noticed why.
“Don’t worry, I have more, but I wondered if-,” he tried but the words disappeared as Hyunseung stood up and started looking through the cupboards carefully, earning a look.
“What are you doing?” Junhyung asked, only getting silence in return before a quiet victory shout made it to his ears and he was puzzled to see him open another pack and placing it into the bowl while taking seat again.
“I’m going to keep these if you don’t mind.” And he placed the left-over few cookies into one of his pockets before managing on a sweet smile and his eyes glimmered in happiness.
Junhyung really had nothing to say, so he instead coughed to clear his throat before continuing.
“So...what keeps you so busy?” He asked, the rain still hitting harsh against the window as the clouds got darker.
Hyunseung rolled his eyes. “You probably think I’m some kind of whore.” His tone was amused but the answer was sharp. He then pulled one knee under his chin as his finger traced the edge of the mug. ”You’re not much wrong though.”
Junhyung’s eyebrow rose in question.
Hyunseung gave out a small laugh as he cut himself some sausage. “Ah your face. I’m just kidding.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my face,” Junhyung said dryly, hand reaching towards Hyunseung and snatched the sausage away.
“Hey!” Hyunseung yelped, eyes still on the food before squinting at Junhyung, shaking his head just like his own grandmother always did, voice filled with sarcasm. “Oh yes, you’re such a handsome boy.”
Junhyung looked away from him just so he could still eye him nibbling on a piece of bread and constantly muttering.
“Aish, couldn’t you take cheese instead...”
Word Count: 3108
Rating: PG
Pairing: Junhyung/Hyunseung
Summary: Everything looks as normal as it can be - Junhyung works, makes money, is satisfied with his life and with the reality he doesn't even want to think about, but the appearance of a certain stranger turns everything around. Things get complicated, he finds out nothing is as it seems and Junhyung's curiosity just jumps in joy.
A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing. It's late and I'm sleepy.
It wasn’t light outside when he first saw him. The figure was wrapped in his thin jacket as rain had been pouring down mercilessly, making the already cold weather even colder. He had managed to save himself from the downpour and his jeans were only half-drenched as the slight raincoat was now shed off. His back was against the stone-wall and gaze down, looking at his frozen fingers opening a bag of bread.
At first Junhyung didn’t pay much attention to him because he looked just like another homeless in the busy streets. Just sitting there, passing their days and hoping for a better tomorrow - a sight he was used to seeing and hearing daily.
He wasn’t old, it was obvious from the face he only caught a slight glimpse of as the rain had still managed to wet his hair - the holes in the slicker were not something that an eye could miss. Sitting there like nothing was wrong, like he was just taking a break and not worrying about being chased away the moment the sun sets.
Junhyung would’ve forgotten him easily if it wasn’t for his frequent appearances. At first claiming his spot twice a week, from the sunrise until dusk when Junhyung finished. Sometimes looking energetic, sometimes looking like having continuously gone through hell but nevertheless there were many beside him whom he generously offered his own bits of food.
He had even gained the fondness of various cats who Junhyung often found in his lap or at least somewhere near, sneaking or meowing for food. He had never seen him shoo them away, instead he always managed to take out a small piece of sausage of some sort and he would eye the cat eating it in peace. Only birds kept their distance.
Junhyung can’t help but think about why and how.
He walked along the same street every day, just took that same route for some unknown reason, but the sight of the other giving out food so early in the morning with a small smile kept giving him assurance of some sort. Hearing his slight mumbles as he scolded a cat with playfulness made him appreciate what he had.
And he respected him.
For everything he seemed to be.
Then he started to appear more frequently until the point it felt empty when the spot was vacant. He would see a cat or even a kitten curled up in his place, would see the sad faces of other people gathered around it and would hear how it was such a shame and how much they miss him already.
But just then one day he suddenly appeared with a guitar, in a shabby state but still playable and Junhyung could hear the others urging him on to play from afar- but the street stayed quiet. He didn’t know why, why there was such conflict in his every movement and why he kept opposing every single plea for even a couple of notes, a verse.
Junhyung also wanted to urge him to play, but he kept his distance.
Not a single note made it out and he didn’t understand why. Why not?
He heard it some days later, heard it already from metres away, wind carrying a melody that immediately caught his attention. It was sad, heartbreakingly going up slowly and swiftly down, dragging on as a conversation, bringing out various feelings perfectly. The flow was smooth but also awakening the mind and capturing the ear, taking him along, grabbing at the edge of his soul and shared a story which he didn’t understand but still made shivers run down on his back.
And Junhyung was absolutely mesmerized.
Having heard many excellent guitarists in his life, he didn’t even doubt this one was below their level, heard ones from overseas and even locals - all amazing and professionals. The melody wasn’t even perfect, had small mistakes in it and parts where the finger must’ve slipped because it was cold, but the melody just stuck. It was perfect in its own weird way that made Junhyung just look, gaze more attentively at the guitarist whose face was still hidden under a hood falling on his face.
People around him stood still, eyes glazed and just looking in awe, passerby’s reaching for their wallets and dropping quite generously bits into the guitar-case.
Junhyung passed him, not even thinking twice before doing the same.
What he hadn’t expected was how the melody would really get stuck and wouldn’t leave.
It played on and on, and only in his head as he could never mimic it. He tried to write it down but there was no success; the sound, the feeling was always different - too strange, didn’t fit, too wrong and just off. It kept playing on and on and weirdly it was relaxing.
The stranger on the street disappeared for some weeks. He was there for only one night, filling the street with the same melody and the next, gone, disappeared into thin air and once again Junhyung now had to face a rather empty street while walking towards his day full of music again.
He hoped to see him, hoped to hear anything said about him but all he got were confused wonderings about where their favourite boy had disappeared to and suspicious looks as why was Junhyung asking in the first place. No one knew a thing and soon he overheard it was usual - disappearing and appearing as he liked.
He never stood still.
Junhyung went on an errand, something that happened rarely considering the amount of people under his command and the weaklings he has to oversee. But this time it was important and he had no choice but to get his ass out to the street and walk, drag his legs behind him as he headed towards another big building seen somewhere far away.
With a sigh he stepped into the swarm of people flooding the streets.
He wasn’t expecting it at all, explaining well why he was completely taken by surprise seeing a familiar guitar case and a raincoat. He saw it from behind but recognized immediately. There wasn’t much thinking done before he quickened his step, didn’t even think before placing his hand on the other’s shoulder and made out a pathetic hey.
The stranger managed to surprise him even more as now facing him he looked taller than expected, only a bit shorter than Junhyung himself, looked more composed even in clothes decorated with small holes and thinning parts. But there still was something, and that something made Junhyung unable to look away.
He didn’t expect him to be that young. He expected scars, dirt, tired eyes, suffering looks and for some reason he was baffled to see almost perfect white skin and big doe eyes looking so naive and innocent. He questioned himself how the other managed with his life, how he managed to survive looking pure, managed to still have that glint and stay so...unaffected.
His eyes were nonchalant, totally empty and expressionless as he just looked into Junhyung’s. It was so vacant that he didn’t know if it was his place to say anything but a small smile appeared on the other’s face as he waited and for him it was a sign enough.
“I just...Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said and saw confusion flash across his face before his lips turned into a big smile reaching his eyes. Junhyung’s lips curled into a small one, it was contagious.
A smile so innocent. But the reality?
“Yes, I’ve been busy,” he scratched his neck, looking apologetic when unnecessary. “I’ll stop by soon enough.” In a second his smile was wholehearted again and Junhyung didn’t know what to think.
“Hey, that song you played back then, is it yours?” He asked, trying to drag it on just a bit, just a bit to satisfy his curiosity about the notes and about everything that circled in his head.
The other blanked out for a good two seconds, blinking at Junhyung as if he seriously had no idea what the other was talking about. But as Junhyung’s eyes fell to the guitar-case, his followed and cleared up in an instant.
“Ah yes! I’m Hyunseung,” he said, so cheerfully that even though Junhyung didn’t even know if that was supposed to be an answer or not, his hand met the stranger’s in a firm handshake and without even thinking he muttered out his own name.
“So I have heard,” the other said, placed the guitar case on the ground safely and even though Junhyung’s eyes were obviously confused and questioning, it was not paid attention to.
At all.
Instead he eyed him up and down, fast before managing on a sly smile and stepping closer.
“So...” One side curved into a smirk, voice becoming softer, quieter, almost above a whisper, “How much are you willing to pay?” He grabbed at the helm of his jacket, tugging down at it and Junhyung was honestly shocked, brain taking seconds to register what was going on, to understand that a certain stranger called Hyunseung didn’t seem to be joking at all.
He grabbed at the other’s hand and removed it before taking a step back into safe distance, seeing how Hyunseung’s eyebrow rose in a questioning manner.
This...
“I’m sorry but you must’ve misunderstood. It’s not...like that,” he tried to explain, looking how other’s mouth made an o as his face lightened up and that smirk had vanished in seconds. His eyes were vacant again, attention seeming somewhere else when he smiled again and voiced out an apology.
“It’s nothing,” Junhyung assured, his smile so awkward that it hurt.
And that was it. Hyunseung sincerely apologized once more for the confusion and leaned down to grab his guitar case, mumbling out a see you later as he waved and on the way he was.
Junhyung shook his head, still digesting what he had just seen and heard while seeing Hyunseung’s back disappear behind a corner. He eyed the watch and continued with rushed steps and slight curses.
He didn’t appear the same night, nor did he in the following week. Junhyung constantly met with an empty wall or even others swarming to his place - he didn’t think much of it. In some way he didn’t believe he’d ever appear again, had accepted never to hear that melody ringing through his ears. It was silent and only the left notes were still reminders it had really happened.
But he understood it really was Hyunseung’s.
He understood it the day he saw him again, when the melody in his head had been so faint and on the verge of disappearing. But he saw him, from afar sitting down with a kitten on his lap, slightly stroking it while the latter ate out of his other hand. There were no glances given, no acknowledgement as Junhyung passed but for some reason, the tune was again clear and he didn’t mind it.
Instead, he welcomed it.
One day, when it had been raining for a while, the streets were filled with puddles and the wind was so strong and umbrellas were useless, he furrowed his eyebrow at the almost-empty street. He was sitting there, his usual slicker pulled over his head and really was just sitting there, motionless and limp.
Junhyung didn’t think much before stopping before him, crouching down in worry before he could even think. Doe eyes met his and his head rose a bit, giving him a full view of the pale colourless skin.
“Shouldn’t you be at the shelter?” Junhyung asked, head motioning towards somewhere he thought one was located, far away but still there, now probably filled with the smell of warm soup mixed with damp dirty clothes.
“Some people need it more,” Hyunseung replied with a raspy voice and a set of coughs.
“Why do you do this?” He asked before he could stop. Something made him ask, maybe a small hope somewhere deep inside that maybe not everyone was like a certain selfish bastard that had messed up his whole day. Hoped that maybe people struggling on streets would be different. Other side wanted to say how stupid he was.
But he got no answer. He only got to hear another cough and see the other’s expression showing pain, eyes squinting just so as he tried to swallow.
Junhyung didn’t understand why.
His mind must’ve been out on a vacation because there was no way in usual situations he would’ve taken a stranger’s hand, tugging him to stand on his own feet. No reasons could explain why he wanted him to follow, why he kept persisting when Hyunseung said his cover for the night was free in mere 4 hours.
He didn’t listen.
“Let’s have a small chat.” It was his only reason.
And Hyunseung didn’t say much to that.
He followed, Junhyung noticing there was no guitar this time. He followed with heavy steps, walked up the stairs even more slowly and took an eternity to step in - the owner already somewhere inside placing his coat to dry and hurrying from one room to another.
Junhyung saw hesitation in his steps as he finally walked in and looked around, flinching at the suddenly turned on lights. His every flinch made Junhyung wonder but his mouth was kept shut.
“I placed some clothes in the bathroom you can keep. Just go take a shower,” Junhyung said as he went towards the kitchen, fast, ignoring all protests behind him which died out as he turned around the corner. Soon he heard the shower go on, heard the stumbling and almost got worried if he fell when the shower went off too soon.
Junhyung furrowed his eyebrows when he pulled out a jar of honey but it kept going on- turned on and off and finally as placing water to boil he let out a smile because it felt so ridiculous.
Hyunseung appeared just when the water was poured to the mugs and Junhyung motioned him to take a seat. A towel was loosely over his head as he leaned down to meet the cup halfway. Junhyung cringed, warning words cut off as a hiss escaped Hyunseung’s lips and he placed it back to the table, throwing the other a look as if he was at fault.
“You could’ve cooled it down you know.” Junhyung only snorted while taking a seat himself. Stirring the tea, he glanced up to see Hyunseung leaned over his own, not touching the cup but just blowing it air.
“Someone’s impatient. Here.” Junhyung leaned back, reaching the bag of bread and some other packages. He placed them on the table before him, pushing it over to Hyunseung whose eyes were caught already. He kept glancing up and down as if waiting for something.
“Ice would’ve done the trick,” he said but still straightened his back and started working on a sandwich. Junhyung ignored it as he sipped at his own tea.
“So,” Hyunseung started, “Reconsidered the offer?” It made Junhyung look up from his tea, only to see the other not paying attention and he wondered, couldn’t get whether he was serious or just joking around.
“When I said chat, I really meant just chatting,” he replied carefully, eyeing how Hyunseung cut the cheese slice in half.
“You know, I have enough of it,” Junhyung commented, still looking at the bread which was only half-covered by the piece but he went by ignored as the same was done with sausage. A small thank you made out as Hyunseung’s eyes lighted up again before taking a bite and sipping tea immediately.
“That song really is yours, right?” He asked, seeing how Hyunseung looked up, blinking innocently as for asking him to continue.
“It just got caught in my head,” he continued, honestly not really knowing what else he was supposed to say, he was even unsure what he wanted to know.
But Hyunseung didn’t wait for more.
“Sometimes it just comes to me and doesn’t subside before I let it out. That’s how it goes.” He took another bite out of the bread, big one and half of the sandwich was gone in a second.
Junhyung still eyed him, watched him making another sandwich while glancing up constantly. Finished, knife still in his hands, he just stared at him with a furrowed eyebrow.
“You’re getting a little creepy,” he said, blinking as in his own world and Junhyung snapped out, thoughts still hanging at the last sentence.
His words had made sense, he understood it well because he had felt it many times before but unforgettable?
Junhyung pushed a bowl of snacks in Hyunseung’s direction and the other didn’t even seem to think twice before grabbing few and then some more, not paying attention at all before it was almost empty. For that second he looked apologetic and just then Junhyung noticed why.
“Don’t worry, I have more, but I wondered if-,” he tried but the words disappeared as Hyunseung stood up and started looking through the cupboards carefully, earning a look.
“What are you doing?” Junhyung asked, only getting silence in return before a quiet victory shout made it to his ears and he was puzzled to see him open another pack and placing it into the bowl while taking seat again.
“I’m going to keep these if you don’t mind.” And he placed the left-over few cookies into one of his pockets before managing on a sweet smile and his eyes glimmered in happiness.
Junhyung really had nothing to say, so he instead coughed to clear his throat before continuing.
“So...what keeps you so busy?” He asked, the rain still hitting harsh against the window as the clouds got darker.
Hyunseung rolled his eyes. “You probably think I’m some kind of whore.” His tone was amused but the answer was sharp. He then pulled one knee under his chin as his finger traced the edge of the mug. ”You’re not much wrong though.”
Junhyung’s eyebrow rose in question.
Hyunseung gave out a small laugh as he cut himself some sausage. “Ah your face. I’m just kidding.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my face,” Junhyung said dryly, hand reaching towards Hyunseung and snatched the sausage away.
“Hey!” Hyunseung yelped, eyes still on the food before squinting at Junhyung, shaking his head just like his own grandmother always did, voice filled with sarcasm. “Oh yes, you’re such a handsome boy.”
Junhyung looked away from him just so he could still eye him nibbling on a piece of bread and constantly muttering.
“Aish, couldn’t you take cheese instead...”