Unfamiliar Territory, for zeerafuu (1/2)
Title: Unfamiliar Territory
For: zeerafuu
Pairing: Joonmyun/Jongdae
Rating: PG-13
Length: 11.5K
Summary, potential warnings: “Sometimes, one change is needed to initiate another change. That summer, the heat thawed our frozen relationship; we were afraid to move forward but if no one had moved at that time we would have both drowned.” warning: not actually a sad fic
May 2021
“I think I’m going to throw up,” Joonmyun whispers quietly as he accepts a glass of water from Lu Han.
He glances down at the marble flooring, eyes wide with panic, “At least the venue doesn’t have carpet.”
Lu Han plops down onto the leather couch with a sigh. He pats Joonmyun comfortingly on the shoulder, shooting an amused glance at Baekhyun on Joonmyun’s left. Baekhyun, who previously was sorting through the alcoholic drinks on the glass coffee table, scrunches up his nose in distaste.
“You are not throwing up on that tuxedo. I did not custom-make that tuxedo just to have you ruin it because of your nervousness,” Baekhyun snaps. He sets down the bottle of chardonnay with a thunk.
Joonmyun looks up at Baekhyun, an apologetic smile wobbling on his lips, “Sorry, I just-I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“Nobody is ever ready for a wedding,” Lu Han reasons, his hands rubbing comfortingly up and down Joonmyun’s arms.
“Careful there, Lu Han, Jongdae might bite you for getting too touchy.” Baekhyun’s words are still sharp but his glare has softened, eyes taking in the pallor of Joonmyun’s face and the knuckled grip he has around his water glass. Baekhyun exhales sharply through his nose before turning to grab a paper bag at his feet. He flaps it in front of Joonmyun.
“Use this.”
Joonmyun’s eyebrows knit together, “What’s this for?”
“If you’re going to puke, at least do it in the bag. Or use it to hyperventilate, whichever comes first.”
Lu Han guffaws loudly, eyes bright with mirth and Joonmyun rears to the left, his right hand immediately coming up to cup his ear in pain. Joonmyun scowls at both men, “This is the least comforting pre-wedding talk I’ve ever had.”
“Technically, this is the only pre-wedding talk you’ve ever had,” Kyungsoo walks into the room, cello case gripped tightly in hand. He sets the case down against the couch before pushing in between Baekhyun and Joonmyun to sit. “How are you going to get through the rest of the wedding if you can’t calm yourself now?”
Joonmyun holds up the paper bag, “I won’t pass out, don’t worry.”
“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” Lu Han says with a cheeky grin.
“Oh?”
“Hey,” Baekhyun leans forward excitedly, “Doesn’t this remind you guys of that time in Japan-“
Joonmyun opens his eyes in alarm, “How about we not remember that time in Japan-“
“-when Joonmyun almost peed his pants going into the haunted house at the amusement park?”
Lu Han grins as the memory, “Didn’t Jongdae buy an inflatable hammer for you to carry in with you?”
“No!”
“If I remember correctly,” Kyungsoo starts, “Jongdae won it at the game stands. I think Joonmyun grabbed it from him when they went in.”
“Joonmyun, our shining leader, so brave!” Baekhyun coos. He pats Joonmyun’s cheeks, and Joonmyun’s face twists into an expression of despair. It’s the one that he’s had on in his face ever since Baekhyun was introduced as Jongdae’s college roommate eight years ago.
“He’s not Junmen for nothing, you know.”
The four men look up to see Jongdae sneaking into the room.
“You’re not supposed to be in here,” Kyungsoo frowns.
“Does it really matter?” Jongdae moves around the coffee table to squeeze into the space between it and the couch. He bangs his knees against Lu Han’s, both letting out hisses of pain, before plopping down onto Joonmyun’s lap. Jongdae leans back with a grin, “The wedding ceremony will start soon anyways.” Joonmyun brings a hand up to Jongdae’s hip to move him because Jongdae’s weight is entirely on his thighs, but Jongdae grabs his hand, holding it in place while wriggling his butt ever so slightly. Joonmyun stills at the brush of pressure against his crotch.
“So, what are we harassing Joonmyun for?”
"We're talking about how Joonmyun almost wimped out when we visited that Japanese haunted house back in the day."
Jongdae grins, "Oh yeah, that wasn't his most glorious moment..." Jongdae proceeds to describe all of the times Joonmyun shrieked on the walk through and Joonmyun puts his head in his hands with a self-pitying chuckle.
The group laughs at Joonmyun's expanse for a minute or so more before Lu Han brings up how Baekhyun almost cried when the snakes were brought out at the petting zoo. Baekhyun turns pink and bites back angrily, the two standing up to squabble. Joonmyun hides his smile behind his hand.
“Are you feeling better now?” The words are whispered into Joonmyun’s ear. Jongdae has his head turned to the side, lips brushing against the shell of Joonmyun’s ear, eyes bright as he watches Lu Han and Baekhyun argue. Joonmyun swivels his head to the right, eyes flicking upward. He realizes that his queasiness has subsided and he feels that familiar warmth, like the heat of a warm embrace, spread through him as his eyes traces over Jongdae’s side profile.
“Yeah…” Jongdae’s gaze moves downward at the soft reply, “I’m feeling better now…” There’s a small smile on Joonmyun’s face and Jongdae’s eyes soften.
“Good. Worrying is just going to give you more wrinkles.” Jongdae knocks his forehead softly against the side of Joonmyun’s head, and Joonmyun lets out a breathy laugh.
Lu Han looks over at the sound and rolls his eyes at the two of them, “Can you guys be any more gross?”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Ye-“Kyungsoo tiptoes up to clap a hand over Lu Han’s mouth, eyes wide as he shakes his head. It’s too late though, Jongdae’s smirk widens and he suddenly leans into Joonmyun, eyes on the other men in the room as he gives a small lick at the corner of Joonmyun’s mouth. Joonmyun gurgles, cheeks flaming, and pushes back against Jongdae’s shoulders. Lu Han cringes and Kyungsoo lets go and averting his eyes. Baekhyun groans.
“I’m not drunk enough for this.”
“Jongdae, this is not the time-get off!”
“You know what, I’m going to go check on Sehun,” Lu Han mutters.
“I’m coming with you!”
Joonmyun watches helplessly as Kyungsoo scrambles after Lu Han, the pair slipping quickly out the door. Baekhyun shoves his hand in Jongdae’s face, pushing back and the other man topples over easily, laughter ringing out loudly in the room. Joonmyun heaves a sigh of relief. A smile starts to curl on his lips because Baekhyun is now attacking Jongdae with a couch pillow, complaining about how single people don’t enjoy being subjected to PDA. It’s like watching Baekhyun kicking Jongdae’s ass out of bed eight years ago because the pair overslept and were going to be late for morning classes. Some things never change-
Jongdae looks up from where he’s wrestling Baekhyun on the ground and catches Joonmyun’s eye. He grins brightly, and Joonmyun’s breathe hitches.
-Except for the things that had.
2013, that was when it all began. It was the year of the Snake; a year meant for progress, discipline, and boldness. It was a year to remember.
June 2013
Joonmyun adjusts the cords around his neck for the fifth time. Eight meters ahead of him, the dean is speaking at the podium; the audience of 4000 graduates is barely paying attention.
"Does my hair look okay?" Joonmyun pulls off his black graduation cap to run a hand through his hair, eyes glancing at Kyungsoo anxiously.
Do Kyungsoo. A 91-liner that had skipped pre-school, Kyungsoo is second in our class. A talented musician and singer, he already has a job lined up as a cellist in a ritzy Hongdae club.
Kyungsoo, with his hands clasped in front of him as he waits for his turn on stage, peeks one eye open to rove lazily over Joonmyun's head. "You have a cow lick in the back."
Joonmyun exhales in frustration and licks his fingertips, reaching back to smooth his hair when the crowd explodes in applause. He whips around in time to see the dean bowing before Kyungsoo is jamming his cap back on his head and pushing him forward.
"Don't forget to breathe," Kyungsoo whispers.
"Please welcome your Class of 2013 valedictorian, Kim Joonmyun!"
Joonmyun walks slowly, counting his steps in his head as he approaches the podium. He feels his fingers quivering and he clutches at the hem of his gown sleeves with his fingertips, suddenly grateful for the gowns' too-long length.
His pre-typed speech is already on the stand and Joonmyun adjusts the microphone quickly before speaking, "Today, we are about to end our academic journey at K-Art..." Joonmyun stutters a few times over the course of his speech, and at one point he gets so fired up that he leans in too close to the microphone, causing audio feedback to ring gratingly through the stage speakers. The end of his speech, rounded out with a “Class of 2013, you are done!” is met with hollers of excitement. Kyungsoo rushes quickly towards the podium, noticing the students getting ready to leave, and starts to sing the graduation theme song. The crowd sings along; several students screech off-key for fun and cameras flash brightly in the back to cement the moment.
Kyungsoo slings an arm around Joonmyun when he finishes singing, his eyes crescenting happily. He pulls Joonmyun off stage towards a group of guys under the trees.
“Joonmyun! Who’s the man?!” A tall boy claps Joonmyun on the back hard, grin threatening to split his face in half, “That was a nice speech, hyung-couldn’t have said it any better myself.”
The boy is slapped on the back of his head by another equally tall guy, “Don’t run your mouth, Chanyeol, you haven’t even graduated yet.” Wu Fan says.
Chanyeol pouts, "I was just trying to be encouraging..."
"Yeah, Wu Fan, play nice." Baekhyun curls a hand around Chanyeol's bicep in mock comfort, an impish grin in place. The pair turns to give Wu Fan matching puppy eyes and the older man pinches his nose in exasperation.
Park Chanyeol, Wu Fan, Byun Baekhyun. The golden trio. Wu Fan had taken Chanyeol under his wing back when Chanyeol was just a freshman and Baekhyun had inevitably steamrolled his way into the friendship. The three are nearly inseparable, and Wu Fan visits the university often despite having graduated already.
"It really was a nice speech, Joonmyun. I'm glad our class had a decent speaker for valedictorian." Yixing claps a hand on Joonmyun's shoulder, a sincere smile on his face. His eyes, however, are twinkling and he laughs when Lu Han yells in indignation. At Lu Han's side, a shorter man locks his arms around Lu Han's torso to prevent him from attacking Yixing.
Zhang Yixing, Lu Han, Kim Minseok. Yixing and Lu Han are two halves of a whole, brothers at heart and equally mischievous. Last year, Lu Han had been the valedictorian and unfortunately knocked over his water glass while attempting to shuffle his papers. The water got on the microphone and Lu Han ended up using a bull horn to finish the rest of his speech. Minseok, the oldest, also graduated in Lu Han's year and is currently loaning his couch for Lu Han to sleep on.
"Can we go celebrate now? I'm starving. None of the food here is free."
"You wouldn't be hungry if you'd eaten breakfast like I told you to. You don't have any weight to lose."
"It’s not like I didn't want to eat. Someone ate all of the cereal in our room!" A gangly boy with dyed pink hair glares at the slouching teen next to him.
"Can you two not argue? Sehun-ah, I'll buy you lunch, okay?"
Oh Sehun, Kim Jongin, Huang Zitao. The youngest of the group and the most vocal. Sehun and Jongin are old junior high friends who decided to room together for freshman year. If a day goes by without the pair having rooming problems, something is amiss. Zitao is the Chinese exchange student assigned to Jongin; unfortunately for Jongin, Sehun and Zitao get along a little too well.
"Why don't you just let him starve, "Jongin grumbles. "He said his legs are getting too big for his skinny jeans anyways."
Sehun and Zitao slap Jongin on both arms, Sehun's cry of "asshole" causing several parents to look in the group's direction. Wu Fan bows his head at the adults quickly before going over to knock the three boy's heads together.
"Graduation day is always fun," a boy wearing plastic round glasses walks up to Joonmyun with a bouquet of flowers in hand. "Here, take this. Mom told me to give it to you. The thing is bigger than your face; I wanted to just pick some of the carnations in the backyard but she said that giving you weeds would be bad luck."
Joonmyun takes the flowers with a dry grin. He plucks a sprig of baby's breathe off of the bouquet and inserts it behind the boy's ear. "Thank your mom for me then," Joonmyun says. "Have you seen my parents?"
"They're somewhere in the back, my parents stopped them to talk." Jongdae smooths the side of his parted hair with one hand, pulling out the baby's breathe to twirl between his teeth.
And lastly, Kim Jongdae. My best friend and childhood playmate. We met when Jongdae's family moved to our neighborhood in Gangnam. Back then, he was the only kid not prissy enough to refuse a game of basketball. I'm not sure what my social life would have been like if I hadn't met Jongdae, but I'm sure it would have been lacking in sass.
"Did you forget your insoles today?" Jongdae bends down to peer at Joonmyun's black Oxfords, "You're a little shorter than usual."
"It's because you're wearing insoles."
"No, I'm not. I never wear insoles." Jongdae smirks and Joonmyun refrains from pointing out that he'd seen Jongdae pick up a set the last time the two had gone shopping for groceries together.
"Oh look at all of you, it’s so nice to see you all supporting Joonmyun's big day." Joonmyun's mother steps out of the crowd towards the group, a gentle smile on her face. She reaches over to give Jongdae a quick hug before walking to Joonmyun's side and looking proudly over everyone.
Jongin and Sehun who were still rough housing in the back immediately separate, bowing awkwardly towards Joonmyun's mother. The rest of the group does the same. Someone coughs.
"It was uh our pleasure to come see Joonmyun and Kyungsoo and Yixing graduate today. You must be very proud." Lu Han says. He's trying not to stumble over his Korean and Yixing snickers quietly at his side.
"Thank you, dear. Weren't you last year's valedictorian? I remember seeing you speak last time." Lu Han winces and nods. Joonmyun's mother takes the hint and changes topics, "We have reservations set up at a nearby barbeque house if you all want to join us. We can probably ask them to give us a couple more tables."
Everyone raises their hands in protest, claiming to still be full except for Sehun who mentions that he wouldn't mind.
Joonmyun's mother claps her hands together, "Great, I'll call the restaurant. Joonmyun, darling, can you lead everyone over? It's the usual place near the mall. The car isn't going to fit all of us."
When Joonmyun's mother is out of sight, Baekhyun jabs Sehun in the shoulder, "Why did you say yes, you idiot?! Don't you know how much this is going to cost the Kims?"
"But I was hungry," Sehun whines.
"It's fine, we don't really mind. I fed you all through half of the school year anyways," Joonmyun says as he ushers everyone towards the subway station. In the back, Baekhyun's face is pinched with annoyance.
"That's exactly why we don't want you to treat us today," Baekhyun mutters. Joonmyun is too far away to hear, but Jongdae is only half a meter away from Baekhyun. He slows down just enough for Baekhyun to catch up before speaking.
"It's just the way Joonmyun's family is. You get used to it. Just pretend to be full early on, it only works half of the time though." Jongdae pats his roommate on the shoulder once before jogging up to the front.
It's half-way through lunch when Joonmyun's parents bring up the trip.
"Joonmyun-ah," Joonmyun's father sets down the grill tongs and folds his hands together, "Your mother and I talked, and we've decided to give you a graduation gift."
Joonmyun looks up from his plate, a lettuce wrap half in his mouth, and hastily swallows his bite and wipes his lips. Right next to him, Jongdae perks up.
"I don't need a gift," Joonmyun says, "Besides wouldn't it be better for you to use the money on the company?" Joonmyun twists his hands in his lap. He knows his father's small banking company is going through hard times; too many people taking out loans and not being able to pay the bank back in the recessive years. Along with that and paying for both his and his older brother's degree, Joonmyun's family wasn't as well-off as they used to be.
Joonmyun's father frowns ever so slightly, eyes flicking to the rest of the boys seated around the table, and pauses for a moment on Jongdae's parents seated on the right. Joonmyun immediately straightens, a small polite smile lighting up his face.
"I mean, I would be most grateful for whatever you give me. You and mother work so hard," Joonmyun says. He reaches across the table to pour his father more tea, not looking up at the rest of the boys who are pretending to not listen to the conversation.
"Yes. Yes, we just want to reward you a bit for all of your effort, Joonmyun-ah." Joonmyun's mother interjects with a nervous laugh. She smiles at Jongdae's parents who smile and nod back in approval.
"We're giving you a ten day trip to Japan. The flight and hotel fees will be paid for in advance, and we'll transfer extra money onto your card to use on food and touring the country.” Joonmyun’s father goes back to grilling the meat. He pulls off some of the pork belly and holds it out to Wu Fan and Jongin who hold out their plates with nods of thanks.
Joonmyun’s eyes widen and he opens his mouth to protest. At his side, Jongdae digs his elbow into Joonmyun’s side while leaning over to grab the beef ribs, and Joonmyun closes his mouth into a pained smile.
“Of course, all of you boys are welcome to tag along!” Joonmyun’s mother waves her hand over the table excitedly, “Kyungsoo, Yixing, we know you’ve both worked just as hard as Joonmyun to end this last year on a high note. And the rest of you boys surely need a break from all of the academic stress! If Minseok, Lu Han, and Wu Fan aren’t busy with work, they can come as well; we’ve planned everything out already.”
At this, everyone’s heads snap up from their plates. Excitement is written clearly on the majority of the boys’ faces, but there is unease as well. Wu Fan speaks up on the groups’ behalf, “We can’t possibly accept such a grand gift.”
“There’s no need for you to be polite. You’re all a bunch of good boys; I wouldn’t do this for just any group of kids!” Joonmyun’s father laugh, “You boys can surely spare ten days for a summer trip, right?”
Everyone nods and any room for argument is closed.
Joonmyun picks at his plate for the rest of lunch, chopsticks moving on autopilot. A trip to Japan is beyond anything he could have imagined, and he knows it’s no use thinking about the money spent on the trip. The real worry was how he was going to prevent the group of twelve from getting lost in the Japan’s busy cities.
A pile of meat is placed on Joonmyun’s plate and he turns his head to see Jongdae pulling his chopsticks back. “I don’t like this set of pork belly; a little too much fat, not enough meat,” Jongdae sniffs. Joonmyun quirks an eyebrow in amusement and bites into the meat with a grin.
Jongdae glances back at Joonmyun a couple of times before smiling and bumping shoulders with Joonmyun, “Don’t grin at me like that, I’m going to lose my appetite.”
The rest of lunch is a less eventful affair with Jongdae’s parents actually picking up the bill despite Joonmyun’s parent’s protests. Everyone parts ways at the restaurant entrance, and Joonmyun heads back home with his parents.
His boxes of packed dorm materials are still clustered near the door of his room and Joonmyun kicks one out of the way as he walks to his desk. He pulls his laptop forward, opens up a word document; planning this trip was the only thing he had to think about now.
Jongdae Skypes him three days later, “So, we’re leaving in five days? Your mom gave a call to my mother this morning.”
Joonmyun moves some papers around on his desk, glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. A couple of library books on Japanese tourism nearly slide off his desk and Joonmyun fumbles after them.
“Hello? Hyung!”
“Yes, Jongdae, I’m here! It’s in five days. I don’t know if I’ll be able to prepare everything by then.” Joonmyun frowns down at the translated Korean text in a Japanese brochure. The words don’t make a lot of sense and Joonmyun squints at the Kanji to see if he can understand the information there.
“What are you talking about?” Jongdae has his feet resting on his desk on the Skype screen, penned music sheets in hand and the pen cap in his mouth. “All you need to do is pack a set of clothes. The flight details are all taken care of and our only job now is to have fun.”
Joonmyun sets down the brochure to stare at Jongdae in exasperation, “Do you seriously expect us to travel to Japan without any planning?”
Jongdae doesn’t look up, scribbling a few notes on his sheets, “Yes. What’s the point of trying to create the trip before it even happens?” Jongdae points his hand at the screen, “Oh right, but you can’t possibly do that because of your OCD.”
“Hey, I just want to be prepared, okay?” Joonmyun shoves the brochure at the screen and asks Jongdae if he can make out any of the words. Jongdae mistakes the word “river” for “bear” and Joonmyun pulls the brochure back with a sigh.
“If you’re really that stressed over this, I’ll come by the night before we leave and look over your plans with you.”
“Why can’t you do it earlier?”
Jongdae waves his music sheets in the air, “No time. I’m composing some songs and I need to get these done before we leave.”
“Can I see them?” Joonmyun asks curiously.
On screen, Jongdae pauses for a second. “Maybe some other time…” The reply is quiet and Joonmyun fights to keep the frown off of his face. For over a year now, Jongdae has refused to show him his song lyrics or score sheets. Joonmyun’s avoided starting a confrontation, but Jongdae’s refusal has been irking him for a while.
“I’m holding you to that promise.” Joonmyun says.
Jongdae rolls his eyes, “Yeah, sure. I have to go now, okay? Don’t blow a blood vessel while planning!” He ends the call before Joonmyun can get in a word, and Joonmyun closes his laptop screen with a shake of his head. He picks up his cell, clicks on the text group “everyone”, and sends out the flight date and details. T-minus five days.
Getting through the airport for boarding is a hassle that Joonmyun wishes he didn’t have to experience again.
Jongin forgets to weigh his suitcase before arriving at the airport, and he is two kilograms over the weight limit. Minseok and Lu Han have to store Jongin’s extra clothes in their suitcases, each boy having an extra kilo to spare-Lu Han purses his lips when he’s handed Jongin’s Chelsea sweatshirt and ceremoniously shoves it into a side pocket.
They lose more time at the security checks when Yixing forgets about the pen in his pocket, the buzzing of the metal detectors thrum along with the anxiousness beneath Joonmyun’s skin. He looks down at his watch; the group has another thirty minutes before boarding. As long as Yixing’s security search doesn’t take too long, they should have enough time to find their gate without rushing.
Jongdae taps Joonmyun on the shoulder and points to the screen displaying arrivals and departures. Right next to the slot for Korean Air Flight 241, the word “early” is displayed under arrivals, the word switching out a second later to show that the plane was coming ten minutes early.
Finding the gate really isn’t a problem because everyone is fairly familiar with Incheon airport, but Joonmyun’s panic leaves him frazzled, causing him to nearly snap at Sehun when the boy points out the right direction for their gate. Jongdae pushes Joonmyun forward before the man can do any damage, and they arrive at the gate two minutes before boarding starts.
Joonmyun settles into his seat with a sigh; they were finally on vacation. He pulls out the bag of in-flight slippers from his seat pocket, tucking the plastic away to dispose of later, and grins as he kicks off his leather loafers. He’s wiggling his socked toes in delight when Baekhyun drops into the seat next to him.
“You look like you’re getting ready for retirement. Are those keroppi socks?”
Joonmyun clears his throat, quickly tucks his slippered feet under his seat, and flips open the magazine in his lap, “These? They’re Jongdae’s; I must have pulled them on without noticing.”
Baekhyun stares back nonplussed, “Your magazine is upside down.”
Joonmyun fights down a flush of embarrassment, and casually turns the magazine right-side up. He turns to give Baekhyun a soft smile, hoping to distract the other man, but Baekhyun’s tapping at his phone.
“Jongdae has bigger feet than you do; those socks look like a perfect fit to me.”
“Baekhyun...”
“Don’t worry; it can be our little secret!” Baekhyun thrusts the phone in Joonmyun’s face. On the top interface is an uploaded photo of Joonmyun’s socks waiting to be posted on Cyworld, the bottom screen is a new contact page for Taeyeon-Joonmyun’s older cousin-with an empty space for her phone number. Joonmyun considers letting Baekhyun post the entry, but remembers the week-long teasing that Wu Fan had gotten over his hidden stash of stuffed animals, and relents.
“You’re such a good hyung,” Baekhyun coos, ripping open his own bag of slippers with his teeth as he powers down his phone.
“I don’t think Taeyeon is into wicked dongsaengs.” Joonmyun quips, hands gripping his arm rests as the plane ascends into the clouds.
“Well, I’m wickedly charming when I want to be, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
Joonmyun wrinkles his nose at Baekhyun’s cheese before reaching for his backpack under his seat. He pulls out his laptop, turning it on and searching for his daily trip itineraries. His brow furrows together as he clicks in and out of his document folders. He could have sworn he had everything saved in his trip folder but all that’s in there right now is the excel spreadsheets of trip finances. He clicks on his recycling bin just in case, but it’s empty.
Wait. No, he hadn’t emptied recycling bin in two weeks. There should be deleted copies of his graduation speech drafts in there but they’re all gone. Joonmyun’s eyes narrow before he slams his laptop shut. Joonmyun reaches into his backpack, rummaging through the files he has inside and finds all of his printed itineraries gone as well.
He turns to Baekhyun who has pulled an eye mask on. He lifts up a corner of the mask and Baekhyun pulls it off in annoyance, “What?”
“Why did you switch seats with Jongdae?”
Baekhyun blinks, “Jongdae said that sitting near the wing of the plane makes him nauseous, so we agreed to trade seats this morning.”
Joonmyun scowls and cranes his neck over the plane seats, spotting Jongdae’s head four rows ahead next to Kyungsoo’s. He drops down into his seat and fumes. Jongdae had no right getting rid of all of his plans.
When Kyungsoo takes a bathroom break an hour into the flight, Joonmyun pushes past Baekhyun to sidle into the vacant seat. Jongdae, who is watching a rerun of Running Man on the in-flight screen, tenses up.
“Aren’t you excited, Jongdae?” Joonmyun leans across the seat divider, resting his chin on Jongdae’s shoulder to look at the screen. “I’m so excited, you know. I have so many things planned out for when we touch down in Japan. Only a small portion of my plans are for Tokyo; you remember right? The day tours in Okinawa, Nara, and Kyoto?” One of the comedians on screen make a particular funny joke and Joonmyun laughs on cue. Jongdae’s eyes are glued to the screen and he his lips are pursed; Joonmyun’s resting his hand on Jongdae’s thighs, the nails digging in painfully. Joonmyun leans even closer and whispers, “Jongdae-ah, I still have a video of you singing Barbie Girl ten years ago. It’d be a shame for that to end up in Baekhyun’s hands wouldn’t it?”
A throat clears above Joonmyun and he looks up to see Kyungsoo standing in front of his seat. He looks pointedly at how Joonmyun is practically spilling into Jongdae’s lap and Joonmyun tries to move back with an apologetic smile. However, Jongdae leans a head onto Joonmyun’s left arm and says, “Sorry, Kyungsoo, Joonmyun missed me a little too much. Could you wait for a bit back with Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, suspicion clear on his face but walks down the aisle nonetheless. Joonmyun shakes his arm, a frown on his face, and Jongdae lifts his head reluctantly.
“Hyung, you need to relax. Like I said a few days ago, you can’t fully enjoy a trip if you’re just going to follow a schedule every day,” Jongdae sighs. “It’s no use trying to threaten me-I don’t have your paper copies and the electronic ones are permanently gone.”
“I put in so much time making those,” Joonmyun groans.
“Exactly! All of that time wasted. So just enjoy the free time we have in Japan, yeah?” Jongdae holds up fist and Joonmyun bumps it without his own weakly. “Good, you’re going to have the time of your life this summer. Nothing is boring when I’m around.”
As I stalked back to my flight seat in annoyance, I had no clue as to how right Jongdae would be. Touching down in Japan, the two of us were about to open a door that was previously locked to us: love.
part 2
For: zeerafuu
Pairing: Joonmyun/Jongdae
Rating: PG-13
Length: 11.5K
Summary, potential warnings: “Sometimes, one change is needed to initiate another change. That summer, the heat thawed our frozen relationship; we were afraid to move forward but if no one had moved at that time we would have both drowned.” warning: not actually a sad fic
May 2021
“I think I’m going to throw up,” Joonmyun whispers quietly as he accepts a glass of water from Lu Han.
He glances down at the marble flooring, eyes wide with panic, “At least the venue doesn’t have carpet.”
Lu Han plops down onto the leather couch with a sigh. He pats Joonmyun comfortingly on the shoulder, shooting an amused glance at Baekhyun on Joonmyun’s left. Baekhyun, who previously was sorting through the alcoholic drinks on the glass coffee table, scrunches up his nose in distaste.
“You are not throwing up on that tuxedo. I did not custom-make that tuxedo just to have you ruin it because of your nervousness,” Baekhyun snaps. He sets down the bottle of chardonnay with a thunk.
Joonmyun looks up at Baekhyun, an apologetic smile wobbling on his lips, “Sorry, I just-I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“Nobody is ever ready for a wedding,” Lu Han reasons, his hands rubbing comfortingly up and down Joonmyun’s arms.
“Careful there, Lu Han, Jongdae might bite you for getting too touchy.” Baekhyun’s words are still sharp but his glare has softened, eyes taking in the pallor of Joonmyun’s face and the knuckled grip he has around his water glass. Baekhyun exhales sharply through his nose before turning to grab a paper bag at his feet. He flaps it in front of Joonmyun.
“Use this.”
Joonmyun’s eyebrows knit together, “What’s this for?”
“If you’re going to puke, at least do it in the bag. Or use it to hyperventilate, whichever comes first.”
Lu Han guffaws loudly, eyes bright with mirth and Joonmyun rears to the left, his right hand immediately coming up to cup his ear in pain. Joonmyun scowls at both men, “This is the least comforting pre-wedding talk I’ve ever had.”
“Technically, this is the only pre-wedding talk you’ve ever had,” Kyungsoo walks into the room, cello case gripped tightly in hand. He sets the case down against the couch before pushing in between Baekhyun and Joonmyun to sit. “How are you going to get through the rest of the wedding if you can’t calm yourself now?”
Joonmyun holds up the paper bag, “I won’t pass out, don’t worry.”
“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” Lu Han says with a cheeky grin.
“Oh?”
“Hey,” Baekhyun leans forward excitedly, “Doesn’t this remind you guys of that time in Japan-“
Joonmyun opens his eyes in alarm, “How about we not remember that time in Japan-“
“-when Joonmyun almost peed his pants going into the haunted house at the amusement park?”
Lu Han grins as the memory, “Didn’t Jongdae buy an inflatable hammer for you to carry in with you?”
“No!”
“If I remember correctly,” Kyungsoo starts, “Jongdae won it at the game stands. I think Joonmyun grabbed it from him when they went in.”
“Joonmyun, our shining leader, so brave!” Baekhyun coos. He pats Joonmyun’s cheeks, and Joonmyun’s face twists into an expression of despair. It’s the one that he’s had on in his face ever since Baekhyun was introduced as Jongdae’s college roommate eight years ago.
“He’s not Junmen for nothing, you know.”
The four men look up to see Jongdae sneaking into the room.
“You’re not supposed to be in here,” Kyungsoo frowns.
“Does it really matter?” Jongdae moves around the coffee table to squeeze into the space between it and the couch. He bangs his knees against Lu Han’s, both letting out hisses of pain, before plopping down onto Joonmyun’s lap. Jongdae leans back with a grin, “The wedding ceremony will start soon anyways.” Joonmyun brings a hand up to Jongdae’s hip to move him because Jongdae’s weight is entirely on his thighs, but Jongdae grabs his hand, holding it in place while wriggling his butt ever so slightly. Joonmyun stills at the brush of pressure against his crotch.
“So, what are we harassing Joonmyun for?”
"We're talking about how Joonmyun almost wimped out when we visited that Japanese haunted house back in the day."
Jongdae grins, "Oh yeah, that wasn't his most glorious moment..." Jongdae proceeds to describe all of the times Joonmyun shrieked on the walk through and Joonmyun puts his head in his hands with a self-pitying chuckle.
The group laughs at Joonmyun's expanse for a minute or so more before Lu Han brings up how Baekhyun almost cried when the snakes were brought out at the petting zoo. Baekhyun turns pink and bites back angrily, the two standing up to squabble. Joonmyun hides his smile behind his hand.
“Are you feeling better now?” The words are whispered into Joonmyun’s ear. Jongdae has his head turned to the side, lips brushing against the shell of Joonmyun’s ear, eyes bright as he watches Lu Han and Baekhyun argue. Joonmyun swivels his head to the right, eyes flicking upward. He realizes that his queasiness has subsided and he feels that familiar warmth, like the heat of a warm embrace, spread through him as his eyes traces over Jongdae’s side profile.
“Yeah…” Jongdae’s gaze moves downward at the soft reply, “I’m feeling better now…” There’s a small smile on Joonmyun’s face and Jongdae’s eyes soften.
“Good. Worrying is just going to give you more wrinkles.” Jongdae knocks his forehead softly against the side of Joonmyun’s head, and Joonmyun lets out a breathy laugh.
Lu Han looks over at the sound and rolls his eyes at the two of them, “Can you guys be any more gross?”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Ye-“Kyungsoo tiptoes up to clap a hand over Lu Han’s mouth, eyes wide as he shakes his head. It’s too late though, Jongdae’s smirk widens and he suddenly leans into Joonmyun, eyes on the other men in the room as he gives a small lick at the corner of Joonmyun’s mouth. Joonmyun gurgles, cheeks flaming, and pushes back against Jongdae’s shoulders. Lu Han cringes and Kyungsoo lets go and averting his eyes. Baekhyun groans.
“I’m not drunk enough for this.”
“Jongdae, this is not the time-get off!”
“You know what, I’m going to go check on Sehun,” Lu Han mutters.
“I’m coming with you!”
Joonmyun watches helplessly as Kyungsoo scrambles after Lu Han, the pair slipping quickly out the door. Baekhyun shoves his hand in Jongdae’s face, pushing back and the other man topples over easily, laughter ringing out loudly in the room. Joonmyun heaves a sigh of relief. A smile starts to curl on his lips because Baekhyun is now attacking Jongdae with a couch pillow, complaining about how single people don’t enjoy being subjected to PDA. It’s like watching Baekhyun kicking Jongdae’s ass out of bed eight years ago because the pair overslept and were going to be late for morning classes. Some things never change-
Jongdae looks up from where he’s wrestling Baekhyun on the ground and catches Joonmyun’s eye. He grins brightly, and Joonmyun’s breathe hitches.
-Except for the things that had.
2013, that was when it all began. It was the year of the Snake; a year meant for progress, discipline, and boldness. It was a year to remember.
June 2013
Joonmyun adjusts the cords around his neck for the fifth time. Eight meters ahead of him, the dean is speaking at the podium; the audience of 4000 graduates is barely paying attention.
"Does my hair look okay?" Joonmyun pulls off his black graduation cap to run a hand through his hair, eyes glancing at Kyungsoo anxiously.
Do Kyungsoo. A 91-liner that had skipped pre-school, Kyungsoo is second in our class. A talented musician and singer, he already has a job lined up as a cellist in a ritzy Hongdae club.
Kyungsoo, with his hands clasped in front of him as he waits for his turn on stage, peeks one eye open to rove lazily over Joonmyun's head. "You have a cow lick in the back."
Joonmyun exhales in frustration and licks his fingertips, reaching back to smooth his hair when the crowd explodes in applause. He whips around in time to see the dean bowing before Kyungsoo is jamming his cap back on his head and pushing him forward.
"Don't forget to breathe," Kyungsoo whispers.
"Please welcome your Class of 2013 valedictorian, Kim Joonmyun!"
Joonmyun walks slowly, counting his steps in his head as he approaches the podium. He feels his fingers quivering and he clutches at the hem of his gown sleeves with his fingertips, suddenly grateful for the gowns' too-long length.
His pre-typed speech is already on the stand and Joonmyun adjusts the microphone quickly before speaking, "Today, we are about to end our academic journey at K-Art..." Joonmyun stutters a few times over the course of his speech, and at one point he gets so fired up that he leans in too close to the microphone, causing audio feedback to ring gratingly through the stage speakers. The end of his speech, rounded out with a “Class of 2013, you are done!” is met with hollers of excitement. Kyungsoo rushes quickly towards the podium, noticing the students getting ready to leave, and starts to sing the graduation theme song. The crowd sings along; several students screech off-key for fun and cameras flash brightly in the back to cement the moment.
Kyungsoo slings an arm around Joonmyun when he finishes singing, his eyes crescenting happily. He pulls Joonmyun off stage towards a group of guys under the trees.
“Joonmyun! Who’s the man?!” A tall boy claps Joonmyun on the back hard, grin threatening to split his face in half, “That was a nice speech, hyung-couldn’t have said it any better myself.”
The boy is slapped on the back of his head by another equally tall guy, “Don’t run your mouth, Chanyeol, you haven’t even graduated yet.” Wu Fan says.
Chanyeol pouts, "I was just trying to be encouraging..."
"Yeah, Wu Fan, play nice." Baekhyun curls a hand around Chanyeol's bicep in mock comfort, an impish grin in place. The pair turns to give Wu Fan matching puppy eyes and the older man pinches his nose in exasperation.
Park Chanyeol, Wu Fan, Byun Baekhyun. The golden trio. Wu Fan had taken Chanyeol under his wing back when Chanyeol was just a freshman and Baekhyun had inevitably steamrolled his way into the friendship. The three are nearly inseparable, and Wu Fan visits the university often despite having graduated already.
"It really was a nice speech, Joonmyun. I'm glad our class had a decent speaker for valedictorian." Yixing claps a hand on Joonmyun's shoulder, a sincere smile on his face. His eyes, however, are twinkling and he laughs when Lu Han yells in indignation. At Lu Han's side, a shorter man locks his arms around Lu Han's torso to prevent him from attacking Yixing.
Zhang Yixing, Lu Han, Kim Minseok. Yixing and Lu Han are two halves of a whole, brothers at heart and equally mischievous. Last year, Lu Han had been the valedictorian and unfortunately knocked over his water glass while attempting to shuffle his papers. The water got on the microphone and Lu Han ended up using a bull horn to finish the rest of his speech. Minseok, the oldest, also graduated in Lu Han's year and is currently loaning his couch for Lu Han to sleep on.
"Can we go celebrate now? I'm starving. None of the food here is free."
"You wouldn't be hungry if you'd eaten breakfast like I told you to. You don't have any weight to lose."
"It’s not like I didn't want to eat. Someone ate all of the cereal in our room!" A gangly boy with dyed pink hair glares at the slouching teen next to him.
"Can you two not argue? Sehun-ah, I'll buy you lunch, okay?"
Oh Sehun, Kim Jongin, Huang Zitao. The youngest of the group and the most vocal. Sehun and Jongin are old junior high friends who decided to room together for freshman year. If a day goes by without the pair having rooming problems, something is amiss. Zitao is the Chinese exchange student assigned to Jongin; unfortunately for Jongin, Sehun and Zitao get along a little too well.
"Why don't you just let him starve, "Jongin grumbles. "He said his legs are getting too big for his skinny jeans anyways."
Sehun and Zitao slap Jongin on both arms, Sehun's cry of "asshole" causing several parents to look in the group's direction. Wu Fan bows his head at the adults quickly before going over to knock the three boy's heads together.
"Graduation day is always fun," a boy wearing plastic round glasses walks up to Joonmyun with a bouquet of flowers in hand. "Here, take this. Mom told me to give it to you. The thing is bigger than your face; I wanted to just pick some of the carnations in the backyard but she said that giving you weeds would be bad luck."
Joonmyun takes the flowers with a dry grin. He plucks a sprig of baby's breathe off of the bouquet and inserts it behind the boy's ear. "Thank your mom for me then," Joonmyun says. "Have you seen my parents?"
"They're somewhere in the back, my parents stopped them to talk." Jongdae smooths the side of his parted hair with one hand, pulling out the baby's breathe to twirl between his teeth.
And lastly, Kim Jongdae. My best friend and childhood playmate. We met when Jongdae's family moved to our neighborhood in Gangnam. Back then, he was the only kid not prissy enough to refuse a game of basketball. I'm not sure what my social life would have been like if I hadn't met Jongdae, but I'm sure it would have been lacking in sass.
"Did you forget your insoles today?" Jongdae bends down to peer at Joonmyun's black Oxfords, "You're a little shorter than usual."
"It's because you're wearing insoles."
"No, I'm not. I never wear insoles." Jongdae smirks and Joonmyun refrains from pointing out that he'd seen Jongdae pick up a set the last time the two had gone shopping for groceries together.
"Oh look at all of you, it’s so nice to see you all supporting Joonmyun's big day." Joonmyun's mother steps out of the crowd towards the group, a gentle smile on her face. She reaches over to give Jongdae a quick hug before walking to Joonmyun's side and looking proudly over everyone.
Jongin and Sehun who were still rough housing in the back immediately separate, bowing awkwardly towards Joonmyun's mother. The rest of the group does the same. Someone coughs.
"It was uh our pleasure to come see Joonmyun and Kyungsoo and Yixing graduate today. You must be very proud." Lu Han says. He's trying not to stumble over his Korean and Yixing snickers quietly at his side.
"Thank you, dear. Weren't you last year's valedictorian? I remember seeing you speak last time." Lu Han winces and nods. Joonmyun's mother takes the hint and changes topics, "We have reservations set up at a nearby barbeque house if you all want to join us. We can probably ask them to give us a couple more tables."
Everyone raises their hands in protest, claiming to still be full except for Sehun who mentions that he wouldn't mind.
Joonmyun's mother claps her hands together, "Great, I'll call the restaurant. Joonmyun, darling, can you lead everyone over? It's the usual place near the mall. The car isn't going to fit all of us."
When Joonmyun's mother is out of sight, Baekhyun jabs Sehun in the shoulder, "Why did you say yes, you idiot?! Don't you know how much this is going to cost the Kims?"
"But I was hungry," Sehun whines.
"It's fine, we don't really mind. I fed you all through half of the school year anyways," Joonmyun says as he ushers everyone towards the subway station. In the back, Baekhyun's face is pinched with annoyance.
"That's exactly why we don't want you to treat us today," Baekhyun mutters. Joonmyun is too far away to hear, but Jongdae is only half a meter away from Baekhyun. He slows down just enough for Baekhyun to catch up before speaking.
"It's just the way Joonmyun's family is. You get used to it. Just pretend to be full early on, it only works half of the time though." Jongdae pats his roommate on the shoulder once before jogging up to the front.
It's half-way through lunch when Joonmyun's parents bring up the trip.
"Joonmyun-ah," Joonmyun's father sets down the grill tongs and folds his hands together, "Your mother and I talked, and we've decided to give you a graduation gift."
Joonmyun looks up from his plate, a lettuce wrap half in his mouth, and hastily swallows his bite and wipes his lips. Right next to him, Jongdae perks up.
"I don't need a gift," Joonmyun says, "Besides wouldn't it be better for you to use the money on the company?" Joonmyun twists his hands in his lap. He knows his father's small banking company is going through hard times; too many people taking out loans and not being able to pay the bank back in the recessive years. Along with that and paying for both his and his older brother's degree, Joonmyun's family wasn't as well-off as they used to be.
Joonmyun's father frowns ever so slightly, eyes flicking to the rest of the boys seated around the table, and pauses for a moment on Jongdae's parents seated on the right. Joonmyun immediately straightens, a small polite smile lighting up his face.
"I mean, I would be most grateful for whatever you give me. You and mother work so hard," Joonmyun says. He reaches across the table to pour his father more tea, not looking up at the rest of the boys who are pretending to not listen to the conversation.
"Yes. Yes, we just want to reward you a bit for all of your effort, Joonmyun-ah." Joonmyun's mother interjects with a nervous laugh. She smiles at Jongdae's parents who smile and nod back in approval.
"We're giving you a ten day trip to Japan. The flight and hotel fees will be paid for in advance, and we'll transfer extra money onto your card to use on food and touring the country.” Joonmyun’s father goes back to grilling the meat. He pulls off some of the pork belly and holds it out to Wu Fan and Jongin who hold out their plates with nods of thanks.
Joonmyun’s eyes widen and he opens his mouth to protest. At his side, Jongdae digs his elbow into Joonmyun’s side while leaning over to grab the beef ribs, and Joonmyun closes his mouth into a pained smile.
“Of course, all of you boys are welcome to tag along!” Joonmyun’s mother waves her hand over the table excitedly, “Kyungsoo, Yixing, we know you’ve both worked just as hard as Joonmyun to end this last year on a high note. And the rest of you boys surely need a break from all of the academic stress! If Minseok, Lu Han, and Wu Fan aren’t busy with work, they can come as well; we’ve planned everything out already.”
At this, everyone’s heads snap up from their plates. Excitement is written clearly on the majority of the boys’ faces, but there is unease as well. Wu Fan speaks up on the groups’ behalf, “We can’t possibly accept such a grand gift.”
“There’s no need for you to be polite. You’re all a bunch of good boys; I wouldn’t do this for just any group of kids!” Joonmyun’s father laugh, “You boys can surely spare ten days for a summer trip, right?”
Everyone nods and any room for argument is closed.
Joonmyun picks at his plate for the rest of lunch, chopsticks moving on autopilot. A trip to Japan is beyond anything he could have imagined, and he knows it’s no use thinking about the money spent on the trip. The real worry was how he was going to prevent the group of twelve from getting lost in the Japan’s busy cities.
A pile of meat is placed on Joonmyun’s plate and he turns his head to see Jongdae pulling his chopsticks back. “I don’t like this set of pork belly; a little too much fat, not enough meat,” Jongdae sniffs. Joonmyun quirks an eyebrow in amusement and bites into the meat with a grin.
Jongdae glances back at Joonmyun a couple of times before smiling and bumping shoulders with Joonmyun, “Don’t grin at me like that, I’m going to lose my appetite.”
The rest of lunch is a less eventful affair with Jongdae’s parents actually picking up the bill despite Joonmyun’s parent’s protests. Everyone parts ways at the restaurant entrance, and Joonmyun heads back home with his parents.
His boxes of packed dorm materials are still clustered near the door of his room and Joonmyun kicks one out of the way as he walks to his desk. He pulls his laptop forward, opens up a word document; planning this trip was the only thing he had to think about now.
Jongdae Skypes him three days later, “So, we’re leaving in five days? Your mom gave a call to my mother this morning.”
Joonmyun moves some papers around on his desk, glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. A couple of library books on Japanese tourism nearly slide off his desk and Joonmyun fumbles after them.
“Hello? Hyung!”
“Yes, Jongdae, I’m here! It’s in five days. I don’t know if I’ll be able to prepare everything by then.” Joonmyun frowns down at the translated Korean text in a Japanese brochure. The words don’t make a lot of sense and Joonmyun squints at the Kanji to see if he can understand the information there.
“What are you talking about?” Jongdae has his feet resting on his desk on the Skype screen, penned music sheets in hand and the pen cap in his mouth. “All you need to do is pack a set of clothes. The flight details are all taken care of and our only job now is to have fun.”
Joonmyun sets down the brochure to stare at Jongdae in exasperation, “Do you seriously expect us to travel to Japan without any planning?”
Jongdae doesn’t look up, scribbling a few notes on his sheets, “Yes. What’s the point of trying to create the trip before it even happens?” Jongdae points his hand at the screen, “Oh right, but you can’t possibly do that because of your OCD.”
“Hey, I just want to be prepared, okay?” Joonmyun shoves the brochure at the screen and asks Jongdae if he can make out any of the words. Jongdae mistakes the word “river” for “bear” and Joonmyun pulls the brochure back with a sigh.
“If you’re really that stressed over this, I’ll come by the night before we leave and look over your plans with you.”
“Why can’t you do it earlier?”
Jongdae waves his music sheets in the air, “No time. I’m composing some songs and I need to get these done before we leave.”
“Can I see them?” Joonmyun asks curiously.
On screen, Jongdae pauses for a second. “Maybe some other time…” The reply is quiet and Joonmyun fights to keep the frown off of his face. For over a year now, Jongdae has refused to show him his song lyrics or score sheets. Joonmyun’s avoided starting a confrontation, but Jongdae’s refusal has been irking him for a while.
“I’m holding you to that promise.” Joonmyun says.
Jongdae rolls his eyes, “Yeah, sure. I have to go now, okay? Don’t blow a blood vessel while planning!” He ends the call before Joonmyun can get in a word, and Joonmyun closes his laptop screen with a shake of his head. He picks up his cell, clicks on the text group “everyone”, and sends out the flight date and details. T-minus five days.
Getting through the airport for boarding is a hassle that Joonmyun wishes he didn’t have to experience again.
Jongin forgets to weigh his suitcase before arriving at the airport, and he is two kilograms over the weight limit. Minseok and Lu Han have to store Jongin’s extra clothes in their suitcases, each boy having an extra kilo to spare-Lu Han purses his lips when he’s handed Jongin’s Chelsea sweatshirt and ceremoniously shoves it into a side pocket.
They lose more time at the security checks when Yixing forgets about the pen in his pocket, the buzzing of the metal detectors thrum along with the anxiousness beneath Joonmyun’s skin. He looks down at his watch; the group has another thirty minutes before boarding. As long as Yixing’s security search doesn’t take too long, they should have enough time to find their gate without rushing.
Jongdae taps Joonmyun on the shoulder and points to the screen displaying arrivals and departures. Right next to the slot for Korean Air Flight 241, the word “early” is displayed under arrivals, the word switching out a second later to show that the plane was coming ten minutes early.
Finding the gate really isn’t a problem because everyone is fairly familiar with Incheon airport, but Joonmyun’s panic leaves him frazzled, causing him to nearly snap at Sehun when the boy points out the right direction for their gate. Jongdae pushes Joonmyun forward before the man can do any damage, and they arrive at the gate two minutes before boarding starts.
Joonmyun settles into his seat with a sigh; they were finally on vacation. He pulls out the bag of in-flight slippers from his seat pocket, tucking the plastic away to dispose of later, and grins as he kicks off his leather loafers. He’s wiggling his socked toes in delight when Baekhyun drops into the seat next to him.
“You look like you’re getting ready for retirement. Are those keroppi socks?”
Joonmyun clears his throat, quickly tucks his slippered feet under his seat, and flips open the magazine in his lap, “These? They’re Jongdae’s; I must have pulled them on without noticing.”
Baekhyun stares back nonplussed, “Your magazine is upside down.”
Joonmyun fights down a flush of embarrassment, and casually turns the magazine right-side up. He turns to give Baekhyun a soft smile, hoping to distract the other man, but Baekhyun’s tapping at his phone.
“Jongdae has bigger feet than you do; those socks look like a perfect fit to me.”
“Baekhyun...”
“Don’t worry; it can be our little secret!” Baekhyun thrusts the phone in Joonmyun’s face. On the top interface is an uploaded photo of Joonmyun’s socks waiting to be posted on Cyworld, the bottom screen is a new contact page for Taeyeon-Joonmyun’s older cousin-with an empty space for her phone number. Joonmyun considers letting Baekhyun post the entry, but remembers the week-long teasing that Wu Fan had gotten over his hidden stash of stuffed animals, and relents.
“You’re such a good hyung,” Baekhyun coos, ripping open his own bag of slippers with his teeth as he powers down his phone.
“I don’t think Taeyeon is into wicked dongsaengs.” Joonmyun quips, hands gripping his arm rests as the plane ascends into the clouds.
“Well, I’m wickedly charming when I want to be, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
Joonmyun wrinkles his nose at Baekhyun’s cheese before reaching for his backpack under his seat. He pulls out his laptop, turning it on and searching for his daily trip itineraries. His brow furrows together as he clicks in and out of his document folders. He could have sworn he had everything saved in his trip folder but all that’s in there right now is the excel spreadsheets of trip finances. He clicks on his recycling bin just in case, but it’s empty.
Wait. No, he hadn’t emptied recycling bin in two weeks. There should be deleted copies of his graduation speech drafts in there but they’re all gone. Joonmyun’s eyes narrow before he slams his laptop shut. Joonmyun reaches into his backpack, rummaging through the files he has inside and finds all of his printed itineraries gone as well.
He turns to Baekhyun who has pulled an eye mask on. He lifts up a corner of the mask and Baekhyun pulls it off in annoyance, “What?”
“Why did you switch seats with Jongdae?”
Baekhyun blinks, “Jongdae said that sitting near the wing of the plane makes him nauseous, so we agreed to trade seats this morning.”
Joonmyun scowls and cranes his neck over the plane seats, spotting Jongdae’s head four rows ahead next to Kyungsoo’s. He drops down into his seat and fumes. Jongdae had no right getting rid of all of his plans.
When Kyungsoo takes a bathroom break an hour into the flight, Joonmyun pushes past Baekhyun to sidle into the vacant seat. Jongdae, who is watching a rerun of Running Man on the in-flight screen, tenses up.
“Aren’t you excited, Jongdae?” Joonmyun leans across the seat divider, resting his chin on Jongdae’s shoulder to look at the screen. “I’m so excited, you know. I have so many things planned out for when we touch down in Japan. Only a small portion of my plans are for Tokyo; you remember right? The day tours in Okinawa, Nara, and Kyoto?” One of the comedians on screen make a particular funny joke and Joonmyun laughs on cue. Jongdae’s eyes are glued to the screen and he his lips are pursed; Joonmyun’s resting his hand on Jongdae’s thighs, the nails digging in painfully. Joonmyun leans even closer and whispers, “Jongdae-ah, I still have a video of you singing Barbie Girl ten years ago. It’d be a shame for that to end up in Baekhyun’s hands wouldn’t it?”
A throat clears above Joonmyun and he looks up to see Kyungsoo standing in front of his seat. He looks pointedly at how Joonmyun is practically spilling into Jongdae’s lap and Joonmyun tries to move back with an apologetic smile. However, Jongdae leans a head onto Joonmyun’s left arm and says, “Sorry, Kyungsoo, Joonmyun missed me a little too much. Could you wait for a bit back with Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, suspicion clear on his face but walks down the aisle nonetheless. Joonmyun shakes his arm, a frown on his face, and Jongdae lifts his head reluctantly.
“Hyung, you need to relax. Like I said a few days ago, you can’t fully enjoy a trip if you’re just going to follow a schedule every day,” Jongdae sighs. “It’s no use trying to threaten me-I don’t have your paper copies and the electronic ones are permanently gone.”
“I put in so much time making those,” Joonmyun groans.
“Exactly! All of that time wasted. So just enjoy the free time we have in Japan, yeah?” Jongdae holds up fist and Joonmyun bumps it without his own weakly. “Good, you’re going to have the time of your life this summer. Nothing is boring when I’m around.”
As I stalked back to my flight seat in annoyance, I had no clue as to how right Jongdae would be. Touching down in Japan, the two of us were about to open a door that was previously locked to us: love.
part 2