we chose each other | s.coups/woozi [2/?]
title: we chose each other [chapter two]
pairing: s.coups/woozi
genre: angst, romance, friendship
rating: m
warnings: in depth interaction with suicide, depression, homophobia and related issues, bullying, firearms, manipulation, smoking, language, implied sexual situations
wordcount: 1.9k
summary: au. Seungcheol passes the days trying to escape his past and find meaning in the future. Jihoon goes through each day trying to find a reason to live for himself, and not just exist pretending for others. Little do they know, a chance encounter gives them both what they’re searching for, and something more.
[ series tag]
chapter one | chapter two
a/n: if you haven't realised, this is a slow build fic lol but i promise it'll be worth it <3 (lol irony at the song im listening to)
Jihoon is neck deep in reports and ready to just put the latest workings in the shredder and pretend he’s not responsible for this whole department. He sighs and runs a hand over his face.
He glances at his phone, hesitating for a moment, before calling one of the few numbers stored in it. Aside from his parents, his brother, household staff and the company, Jihoon only has one number saved.
Soonyoung is his only friend.
“Are my eyes deceiving me? Is Jihoonie seriously calling me first?” Soonyoung answers.
Jihoon smiles. “Hey, Soonyoung. Are you going out to that bar again tonight? Can I tag along?”
“Did you just ask me to go out? Willingly?” Soonyoung gasps dramatically. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Jihoon?”
Jihoon chuckles softly. “Stop being like that, Soonyoung. I really did enjoy myself the other night, and work is beginning to get to me again.”
“You didn’t even spend much time with me two weeks ago,” Soonyoung whines, “you spent most of the night at the bar talking to the bartender - ” he gasps. “Oh!”
“Soonyoung,” Jihoon says, voice low in warning, though he’s not sure what for.
“You have a crush!!! On that bartender!!!”
“I had an engaging conversation with an interesting person,” Jihoon deadpans, “that does not equate to feelings.”
“Lee Jihoon does not find someone ‘engaging’ or ‘interesting’, just like that,” Soonyoung retorts before giggling. “Okay, okay, we’ll head over to Healing in an hour.”
Jihoon looks at his watch. “Okay, I’ll leave the office in half an hour then,”
“What?”
“What what?”
“Aren’t you going home to change?”
“Into what?”
“Jihooooooooon,”
“Soonyoung, you know I don’t understand your whining,”
Soonyoung sighs heavily. “If you like someone, you have to put effort into your appearance.”
“My clothes get meticulously checked every morning,” Jihoon replies. “And I do not like someone,” he adds quickly. Soonyoung groans.
“I give up. Come in your suit then, if you want, but don’t blame me if he thinks you’re stuffy,”
Jihoon pauses and Soonyoung is about to hang up when he hears Jihoon quietly ask, “Does the suit make me look stuffy?”
A smug grin slides onto Soonyoung’s face. “I’ll meet you at your house in twenty minutes.”
Jihoon tugs at the edge of his jumper self-consciously.
“I don’t know, Soonyoung. I feel like this makes me look twelve,”
“You look underage regardless,” Soonyoung answers back, “at least this way it won’t seem so hard to approach you,”
“I’m hard to approach?”
“You’re dense, Jihoon, you know that?”
“How does this relate to my approachability?” Jihoon asks, puzzled.
Soonyoung sighs. “Just…. Let’s go,” and he gets out of the car, Jihoon following suit.
Jihoon watches Soonyoung scrawl in green marker on the board at the front. I’m scared my friends aren’t genuine.
Jihoon picks up the red one, thinks for a moment and then writes his confession.
I rarely find people interesting.
Disappointment hits hard, like a sucker punch to the gut, when Jihoon finds out Seungcheol isn’t working that night. The longer-haired bartender says he injured himself at his other work and was taking the night off to rest.
Soonyoung gives his shoulder a squeeze before diverting the attention, brightly discussing liquors on the list. Jihoon sighs and runs a hand through his hair, messing it up. Soonyoung tried to style it for him, but there’s no point now. Why did he want to impress him anyway?
And now that he’s no longer distracted by the intriguing bartender, Jihoon is reminded about all the reports he’s ignoring at work. He sighs. He’s going to need a different distraction, and he’s at a bar where liquor is plentiful. Jihoon sighs, and is about to ask for whatever strong drink they have, but then his eye lands on the board above the bar.
The list of home created cocktails is still there, and at the bottom is a new one. In pale blue marker, the cocktail Simple is made from vodka, cranberry juice, sugar syrup and a hint of lemon juice.
Suddenly Jihoon doesn’t want a strong drink. He just wants a simple cocktail.
(Soonyoung sees Jihoon smile at the drinks board and doesn’t understand what’s going on in his friend’s head, but he knows that whatever can make Jihoon smile like that is worth protecting.)
“Yo,” Seungcheol mock salutes as he appears at the edge of the bar counter.
“You’re meant to be resting at home, asshole, or did you forget you hurt your back today?” comes the reply as Yejin makes a cocktail with quick twirls of her hand. She deftly receives the cash and wishes the guy a pleasant evening before Seungcheol even flashes a grin at her.
“Hello to you too, Yejin-noona,” Seungcheol greets. He leans across the bar. “Just came by to get my cap. I accidentally left it here last night,”
“It’s a cap, Seungcheol, it could have waited until you come back tomorrow, or whenever,” Yejin sighs, but doesn’t even turn to look at him, attending the next customer. Seungcheol just smiles softly at her, because she knows why he treasures that cap.
“You know it makes me feel badass,” he grins at her playfully. Yejin spares him a moment to roll her eyes.
“I’ll have Jeonghan get it in a minute,” she says, continuing to handle two customers at once. It’s really busy tonight. Seungcheol sees Jisoo poke his head out of the kitchen to ask Jeonghan something - seems like it’s his break from performing right now, and he’s been recruited to help out Junhui in the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Seungcheol looks up from his phone as Jeonghan appears from the back room and hands him his cap. “Oh, by the way, the blond cutie asked for you,”
Seungcheol tries not to raise his hopes that it’s the same blond cutie he’s thinking of. “Who?”
Jeonghan points over to the booth in the corner. “Ordered your new concoction too,” he says, but Seungcheol isn’t listening anymore. He’s just looking through the crowd of people, at the blond haired young man sitting at the edge of the booth. He’s dressed in an oversized sweater and jeans this time, and it makes him look so much younger.
Like the other night, he doesn’t seem very engaged in the other conversations, though he does pretend to listen every now again. Seungcheol notices him looking at the pink cocktail in his hands, his lips quirking into a smile every time.
As Seungcheol debates whether or not to go over and say something (like what? his brain asks, and he can’t even answer himself), the young man finishes his drink, looks at it with a thoughtful look on his face, and then gets to his feet.
He’s almost at the crowded bar before he recognises Seungcheol standing at the edge of the bar, not behind it this time.
“I heard you were injured, Seungcheol-sshi,” he says in greeting.
“I see you ordered your special cocktail, Jihoon-sshi,” Seungcheol answers and Jihoon lets out a soft laugh.
“It was good, of course I would order it again if it was on offer,” Jihoon answers with a smile. Seungcheol grins back.
“Jeonghan made it?” he asks. When Jihoon looks puzzled, Seungcheol points out the dark-haired bartender attending another customer at the other end of the bar.
Jihoon nods. “He didn’t have enough lemon juice though. Not the same as yours,”
Seungcheol grins, like a proud parent. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it for you some other time then,” he says and Jihoon returns the smile easily.
“I guess you will,”
“Choi Seungcheol, I love you dearly, but you're not on duty and if you’re not going to be a customer and order something, even I will kick you out soon,” Yejin mutters darkly as she leans over the bar between them. She’s got three different customers asking for her attention to order drinks.
“How about a simple cocktail?” Jihoon asks, playful grin on his lips, and Seungcheol rubs the back of his neck, seeming bashful.
“I, uh, don’t have enough cash on me at the moment,” he says, like he’s admitting something shameful. Jihoon blinks at him. Who doesn’t carry enough cash to even pay for a drink at a bar? He wouldn’t be able to catch a cab home or anything if he were to get into any unfortunate circumstance.
“How about I buy you one then?” he offers before he even realises what he’s saying. “I-In return for creating such a nice cocktail for me, the other night,” he adds quickly. And Jihoon internally curses, because Lee Jihoon does not stutter, damnit. What is wrong with him?
Seungcheol flashes him a grin. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary,” he offers Yejin a salute. “I’ll get out of your hair, noona. I’ll see you tomorrow,”
And then he’s stepping away from the bar, and Jihoon finds himself panicking. He dodges a couple of people to latch onto a jacket sleeve before he even realises what he’s doing.
“I - ” Jihoon falters and then hurriedly lets go of Seungcheol’s sleeve. “Sorry, I just, uh,” he hears Seungcheol chuckle.
“That’s okay, sorry for leaving so suddenly. Yejin-noona can be pretty scary when she wants to be, so I know better than to try and push my luck,” Seungcheol says. He smiles at Jihoon and Jihoon feels uncharacteristically nervous. He mentally shakes himself of it.
“You’ll be here tomorrow?” Jihoon asks.
Seungcheol smiles. “Yeah, I will be,” he pauses. “Will you?”
Jihoon is startled by the question. “I - uhm, maybe. I mean, yeah, probably,”
Seungcheol grins again and Jihoon keeps feeling like he’s getting warm sunshine shone on him. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, cutie.”
And then they hear Yejin yelling at him from the bar and Seungcheol flashes Jihoon another grin before disappearing through the crowd, leaving Jihoon standing in the middle of the crowded bar alone, heart hammering in his chest.
Jihoon sees Seungcheol the next night.
He nurses his Simple cocktail when talking to Seungcheol, about the most random things - like whether unicorns are real, or whether it would be physically possible to measure everything in spaghetti. When the bar is busy and Seungcheol goes to attend other customers, Jihoon sips at his drink and watches the way Seungcheol effortlessly mixes drinks and continues talking to the customer, or his co-worker, or sometimes even Jihoon himself.
They talk until Jihoon gets a message from his brother around midnight, reminding him not to overwork himself in the office, and Jihoon finally remembers that he has a home to go to - even if no one really notices when he gets home.
He reluctantly leaves Healing after giving Seungcheol some vague promise of returning when he can - to which Seungcheol relents to only after they exchange phone numbers, because Seungcheol insists he isn’t finished explaining why dogs are the best companion.
Jihoon leaves the bar rolling his eyes, because even at the door Seungcheol is yelling after him that dogs are better. He steps out of the bar and into the foyer area. He looks at his confession for the day. I want to make a friend is written on the side of the whiteboard in purple marker. Jihoon looks at his phone, which now has another contact saved, smiles, and steps out into the cool night air.
pairing: s.coups/woozi
genre: angst, romance, friendship
rating: m
warnings: in depth interaction with suicide, depression, homophobia and related issues, bullying, firearms, manipulation, smoking, language, implied sexual situations
wordcount: 1.9k
summary: au. Seungcheol passes the days trying to escape his past and find meaning in the future. Jihoon goes through each day trying to find a reason to live for himself, and not just exist pretending for others. Little do they know, a chance encounter gives them both what they’re searching for, and something more.
[ series tag]
chapter one | chapter two
a/n: if you haven't realised, this is a slow build fic lol but i promise it'll be worth it <3 (lol irony at the song im listening to)
Jihoon is neck deep in reports and ready to just put the latest workings in the shredder and pretend he’s not responsible for this whole department. He sighs and runs a hand over his face.
He glances at his phone, hesitating for a moment, before calling one of the few numbers stored in it. Aside from his parents, his brother, household staff and the company, Jihoon only has one number saved.
Soonyoung is his only friend.
“Are my eyes deceiving me? Is Jihoonie seriously calling me first?” Soonyoung answers.
Jihoon smiles. “Hey, Soonyoung. Are you going out to that bar again tonight? Can I tag along?”
“Did you just ask me to go out? Willingly?” Soonyoung gasps dramatically. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Jihoon?”
Jihoon chuckles softly. “Stop being like that, Soonyoung. I really did enjoy myself the other night, and work is beginning to get to me again.”
“You didn’t even spend much time with me two weeks ago,” Soonyoung whines, “you spent most of the night at the bar talking to the bartender - ” he gasps. “Oh!”
“Soonyoung,” Jihoon says, voice low in warning, though he’s not sure what for.
“You have a crush!!! On that bartender!!!”
“I had an engaging conversation with an interesting person,” Jihoon deadpans, “that does not equate to feelings.”
“Lee Jihoon does not find someone ‘engaging’ or ‘interesting’, just like that,” Soonyoung retorts before giggling. “Okay, okay, we’ll head over to Healing in an hour.”
Jihoon looks at his watch. “Okay, I’ll leave the office in half an hour then,”
“What?”
“What what?”
“Aren’t you going home to change?”
“Into what?”
“Jihooooooooon,”
“Soonyoung, you know I don’t understand your whining,”
Soonyoung sighs heavily. “If you like someone, you have to put effort into your appearance.”
“My clothes get meticulously checked every morning,” Jihoon replies. “And I do not like someone,” he adds quickly. Soonyoung groans.
“I give up. Come in your suit then, if you want, but don’t blame me if he thinks you’re stuffy,”
Jihoon pauses and Soonyoung is about to hang up when he hears Jihoon quietly ask, “Does the suit make me look stuffy?”
A smug grin slides onto Soonyoung’s face. “I’ll meet you at your house in twenty minutes.”
Jihoon tugs at the edge of his jumper self-consciously.
“I don’t know, Soonyoung. I feel like this makes me look twelve,”
“You look underage regardless,” Soonyoung answers back, “at least this way it won’t seem so hard to approach you,”
“I’m hard to approach?”
“You’re dense, Jihoon, you know that?”
“How does this relate to my approachability?” Jihoon asks, puzzled.
Soonyoung sighs. “Just…. Let’s go,” and he gets out of the car, Jihoon following suit.
Jihoon watches Soonyoung scrawl in green marker on the board at the front. I’m scared my friends aren’t genuine.
Jihoon picks up the red one, thinks for a moment and then writes his confession.
I rarely find people interesting.
Disappointment hits hard, like a sucker punch to the gut, when Jihoon finds out Seungcheol isn’t working that night. The longer-haired bartender says he injured himself at his other work and was taking the night off to rest.
Soonyoung gives his shoulder a squeeze before diverting the attention, brightly discussing liquors on the list. Jihoon sighs and runs a hand through his hair, messing it up. Soonyoung tried to style it for him, but there’s no point now. Why did he want to impress him anyway?
And now that he’s no longer distracted by the intriguing bartender, Jihoon is reminded about all the reports he’s ignoring at work. He sighs. He’s going to need a different distraction, and he’s at a bar where liquor is plentiful. Jihoon sighs, and is about to ask for whatever strong drink they have, but then his eye lands on the board above the bar.
The list of home created cocktails is still there, and at the bottom is a new one. In pale blue marker, the cocktail Simple is made from vodka, cranberry juice, sugar syrup and a hint of lemon juice.
Suddenly Jihoon doesn’t want a strong drink. He just wants a simple cocktail.
(Soonyoung sees Jihoon smile at the drinks board and doesn’t understand what’s going on in his friend’s head, but he knows that whatever can make Jihoon smile like that is worth protecting.)
“Yo,” Seungcheol mock salutes as he appears at the edge of the bar counter.
“You’re meant to be resting at home, asshole, or did you forget you hurt your back today?” comes the reply as Yejin makes a cocktail with quick twirls of her hand. She deftly receives the cash and wishes the guy a pleasant evening before Seungcheol even flashes a grin at her.
“Hello to you too, Yejin-noona,” Seungcheol greets. He leans across the bar. “Just came by to get my cap. I accidentally left it here last night,”
“It’s a cap, Seungcheol, it could have waited until you come back tomorrow, or whenever,” Yejin sighs, but doesn’t even turn to look at him, attending the next customer. Seungcheol just smiles softly at her, because she knows why he treasures that cap.
“You know it makes me feel badass,” he grins at her playfully. Yejin spares him a moment to roll her eyes.
“I’ll have Jeonghan get it in a minute,” she says, continuing to handle two customers at once. It’s really busy tonight. Seungcheol sees Jisoo poke his head out of the kitchen to ask Jeonghan something - seems like it’s his break from performing right now, and he’s been recruited to help out Junhui in the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Seungcheol looks up from his phone as Jeonghan appears from the back room and hands him his cap. “Oh, by the way, the blond cutie asked for you,”
Seungcheol tries not to raise his hopes that it’s the same blond cutie he’s thinking of. “Who?”
Jeonghan points over to the booth in the corner. “Ordered your new concoction too,” he says, but Seungcheol isn’t listening anymore. He’s just looking through the crowd of people, at the blond haired young man sitting at the edge of the booth. He’s dressed in an oversized sweater and jeans this time, and it makes him look so much younger.
Like the other night, he doesn’t seem very engaged in the other conversations, though he does pretend to listen every now again. Seungcheol notices him looking at the pink cocktail in his hands, his lips quirking into a smile every time.
As Seungcheol debates whether or not to go over and say something (like what? his brain asks, and he can’t even answer himself), the young man finishes his drink, looks at it with a thoughtful look on his face, and then gets to his feet.
He’s almost at the crowded bar before he recognises Seungcheol standing at the edge of the bar, not behind it this time.
“I heard you were injured, Seungcheol-sshi,” he says in greeting.
“I see you ordered your special cocktail, Jihoon-sshi,” Seungcheol answers and Jihoon lets out a soft laugh.
“It was good, of course I would order it again if it was on offer,” Jihoon answers with a smile. Seungcheol grins back.
“Jeonghan made it?” he asks. When Jihoon looks puzzled, Seungcheol points out the dark-haired bartender attending another customer at the other end of the bar.
Jihoon nods. “He didn’t have enough lemon juice though. Not the same as yours,”
Seungcheol grins, like a proud parent. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it for you some other time then,” he says and Jihoon returns the smile easily.
“I guess you will,”
“Choi Seungcheol, I love you dearly, but you're not on duty and if you’re not going to be a customer and order something, even I will kick you out soon,” Yejin mutters darkly as she leans over the bar between them. She’s got three different customers asking for her attention to order drinks.
“How about a simple cocktail?” Jihoon asks, playful grin on his lips, and Seungcheol rubs the back of his neck, seeming bashful.
“I, uh, don’t have enough cash on me at the moment,” he says, like he’s admitting something shameful. Jihoon blinks at him. Who doesn’t carry enough cash to even pay for a drink at a bar? He wouldn’t be able to catch a cab home or anything if he were to get into any unfortunate circumstance.
“How about I buy you one then?” he offers before he even realises what he’s saying. “I-In return for creating such a nice cocktail for me, the other night,” he adds quickly. And Jihoon internally curses, because Lee Jihoon does not stutter, damnit. What is wrong with him?
Seungcheol flashes him a grin. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary,” he offers Yejin a salute. “I’ll get out of your hair, noona. I’ll see you tomorrow,”
And then he’s stepping away from the bar, and Jihoon finds himself panicking. He dodges a couple of people to latch onto a jacket sleeve before he even realises what he’s doing.
“I - ” Jihoon falters and then hurriedly lets go of Seungcheol’s sleeve. “Sorry, I just, uh,” he hears Seungcheol chuckle.
“That’s okay, sorry for leaving so suddenly. Yejin-noona can be pretty scary when she wants to be, so I know better than to try and push my luck,” Seungcheol says. He smiles at Jihoon and Jihoon feels uncharacteristically nervous. He mentally shakes himself of it.
“You’ll be here tomorrow?” Jihoon asks.
Seungcheol smiles. “Yeah, I will be,” he pauses. “Will you?”
Jihoon is startled by the question. “I - uhm, maybe. I mean, yeah, probably,”
Seungcheol grins again and Jihoon keeps feeling like he’s getting warm sunshine shone on him. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, cutie.”
And then they hear Yejin yelling at him from the bar and Seungcheol flashes Jihoon another grin before disappearing through the crowd, leaving Jihoon standing in the middle of the crowded bar alone, heart hammering in his chest.
Jihoon sees Seungcheol the next night.
He nurses his Simple cocktail when talking to Seungcheol, about the most random things - like whether unicorns are real, or whether it would be physically possible to measure everything in spaghetti. When the bar is busy and Seungcheol goes to attend other customers, Jihoon sips at his drink and watches the way Seungcheol effortlessly mixes drinks and continues talking to the customer, or his co-worker, or sometimes even Jihoon himself.
They talk until Jihoon gets a message from his brother around midnight, reminding him not to overwork himself in the office, and Jihoon finally remembers that he has a home to go to - even if no one really notices when he gets home.
He reluctantly leaves Healing after giving Seungcheol some vague promise of returning when he can - to which Seungcheol relents to only after they exchange phone numbers, because Seungcheol insists he isn’t finished explaining why dogs are the best companion.
Jihoon leaves the bar rolling his eyes, because even at the door Seungcheol is yelling after him that dogs are better. He steps out of the bar and into the foyer area. He looks at his confession for the day. I want to make a friend is written on the side of the whiteboard in purple marker. Jihoon looks at his phone, which now has another contact saved, smiles, and steps out into the cool night air.