k-pop; time for something real 2/2

[tatoeba]

"Where are you at with the latest chapters?" Junmyeon's irritated voice blares through the phone and makes Jongin's ears bleed.

Jongin rolls over in bed with a groan, pulls a pillow over his head.

"Jongin? Are you there?"

"No," he grumbles, "I've died. Goodbye, Junmyeon."

"Jongin."

"Hyung, it is six in the morning."

"No, Jongin, it's six in the evening," Junmyeon says slowly. Jongin imagines him pinching the bridge of his nose as he pulls his phone from his ear to peer at the screen. Oh. So it is six in the evening.

"It's Tuesday?" he asks, and Junmyeon lets out the most upsetting sigh Jongin's ever heard.

"Maybe you really have died," Junmyeon says. "Have you done any work this past weekend?"

"Of course I did," Jongin says, rolling over again and pulling his blankets up around him. "I finished a thing."

"A thing."

Shit. Jongin probably shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Does this thing include sketches of a certain man you went out with the other day?"

Yes, is the truthful answer. That Jongin somehow ended up drawing a short, five-page story of a character that looks strikingly like Chanyeol teaching a group of small children sometime in the last 72 hours. That's pretty much all he remembers doing, and he's actually a little concerned about his actual work.

"No," Jongin eventually says. He scratches his stomach and yawns audibly.

"Do you enjoy causing me trouble?" Junmyeon says.

"Yes," Jongin answers instantly, defiant. He's glad Junmyeon isn't here, otherwise he'd be getting a smack across the head.

"Get out of bed, Jongin," Junmyeon says. "Get to work. I'm going to stop over tomorrow to morning to see your progress."

"Fine, fine," Jongin says, making no effort to move at all.

"And if you're so bent on drawing your boyfriend, please just get it out of your system now so you can focus."

Jongin opens his mouth to instinctively insist that Chanyeol's not his boyfriend, except that's definitely what they are, remembering the way Chanyeol had said it casually over breakfast Sunday morning. He flushes at the memory, the way Chanyeol had walked him back to his apartment afterward, and pressed a fleeting kiss to his forehead before running off down the sidewalk. He'd glanced back at Jongin over his shoulder, waving at him and grinning widely, that furry hat of his slightly lopsided on his head, and Jongin had felt so warm, so inexplicably giddy, that he'd ended up drawing a Chanyeol-oneshot instead of his actual manhwa.

"How do you suggest I do that?"

"Just ask him?" Junmyeon says, like Jongin is an idiot.

"I can't do that," Jongin insists. What does Junmyeon expect him to do? Shout it at Chanyeol a la Kira in MARS? Jongin blinks at the ceiling, and realizes if he did ask Chanyeol to lend him his body, Chanyeol would really be more than happy to do it. He groans, scrubs at his face. "Okay, I'm hanging up now," he says, because he can't think about this anymore. He needs sleep. Or food.

"Get some work done. Please," Junmyeon manages to say before Jongin hangs up, dropping his phone to the side of the bed.

It takes him awhile, but he finally climbs out of bed and heads to his desk in the other room. He finds his Chanyeol-story, feels his face heat up at the images he's drawn. He really can't believe he did this. It's not exactly bad, either, and if Junmyeon sees it, he might be compelled to add it in as an extra in the next volume. Chanyeol would definitely love that, Jongin's sure, but he's determined to keep this a secret for as long as possible.

He's glad to find that he did get some work done over the weekend. Nearly the full chapter, thankfully. He should head to the studio to get some more done, especially since he's sure he'll fall right back asleep if he stays too close to his bed.

After a quick shower, Jongin packs up his things and bundles up for the cold. He’s barely made it a block before his phone rings, and he’s mostly expecting it to be Junmyeon checking to make sure he actually got out of bed. He’s pleased, however, to find it’s Chanyeol, smiling at the ground as he answers the call and heads carefully down the streets.

“Hey, I wanted to see your face,” Chanyeol says, his words and his deep voice making Jongin’s stomach flutter a bit. “Are you busy?

“I-I’m heading to my studio right now, I--”

“Oh, great, where is it, I'll meet you there!” Chanyeol says excitedly.

Jongin would much rather spend the evening with Chanyeol than work on his manhwa, but he knows he has to get things done before Junmyeon attacks him tomorrow. “Wait--”

“I promise I won't get in the way if you're working. I have some things I need to do, too,” Chanyeol says, and Jongin just knows he’s pouting. “And I want to see your studio, I bet it's cool.”

It’s really not, but that still won’t stop Chanyeol from trying to come over. And, well, Jongin wants to see him, too. He sighs. “All right,” he says. “I’ll text you the address. I was gonna stop to get something to eat, do you want anything?”

“Whatever you're having is good with me!” Chanyeol says. “See you soon, Jongin.”

Jongin texts Chanyeol the address of his studio and stops by a nearby jjajangmyeon place to get the two of them dinner. By the time he makes it to his studio, Chanyeol is already waiting outside, teetering back and forth on his feet, hands stuffed into his pockets, a leather briefcase hanging from his elbow. Tucked into his other arm, there’s a large rolled up sheet of what looks to be poster paper.

Chanyeol’s face lights up when he sees him, striding over quickly and greeting Jongin with a kiss to his cheek. Jongin lightly pushes at his chest, and Chanyeol laughs happily. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long,” Jongin says, leading the way into the office building and up the stairs to his studio. He’s pretty sure Kyungsoo and Yifan won’t be there but now he’s wishing he’d called ahead to make sure so they could’ve left before he brought Chanyeol over.

“Nah, got here like five minutes ago,” Chanyeol says.

Thankfully the studio is empty when they get in, Jongin flicking on the lights and quickly scanning the room for anything that might give away his pen name and manhwa. Kyungsoo’s cleanliness seems to have saved him in that aspect, the giant whiteboard they keep on the wall with plot lines and details now wiped clean, save for the date for their next deadline in the corner in red with a strange image of something that looks like a dog next to it. Jongin’s pretty sure that was drawn by Yifan and he laughs at it as he passes it to his desk.

“Well, this is it,” Jongin says, gesturing grandly to the room. “There’s not much really.”

“It’s nice,” Chanyeol says, setting his things down on the small loveseat by the window. There’s an empty space in front of it where Jongin had set up lots of large pillows and blankets when he’d first gotten the studio and ended up sleeping on the couch (and sometimes the floor) a lot the night before deadlines instead of going back home. Chanyeol flops down onto one of the Totoro pillows, leaning back against the bottom of the couch, and pats the space beside him.

Laughing, Jongin joins him, lets Chanyeol cup a hand around the back of his neck and and draw him in for a slow kiss that sends a pleasant hum through Jongin’s veins. Chanyeol's fingers play with the short hairs at his nape and Jongin sighs into his mouth, enjoying the way their mouths fit together. He thinks he could probably be content with this, because it's definitely more appealing than spending a night slaving over his work, but he knows he should get to that before Chanyeol manages to distract him much longer.

The tiny noise of protest Chanyeol makes when Jongin pulls back almost makes Jongin give in, but he just laughs softly and pecks Chanyeol once more before turning away. "Dinner!" he declares, scrambling up to his feet to grab the bags of takeout he'd set on his desk.

Chanyeol sighs loudly, flopping out across the pillows and Jongin pokes his knee with a toe when he returns. He sits back up slowly, reaches out to tug Jongin down next to him again and rifles through the bag, handing Jongin a box and taking the other for himself.

"You know, I was hoping there'd be something here that'd give away what you're working on," Chanyeol says around a mouthful. He glances around the room, eyes narrowed like it's the fault of the many posters Jongin has put up that they don't tell him what he wants to know.

"I spend enough time on my work that I don't need to plaster the walls with my own stuff," Jongin says.

"So you picked Digimon and Beyblade instead?" Chanyeol snickers, pointing at the two posters hung by the table in the corner.

Jongin flushes and sucks around his chopsticks. "Those are classics, okay," he huffs and Chanyeol laughs, holds his hands up placatingly.

"You're the expert here," he says.

Jongin wants to point out that Chanyeol knows an awful lot about high school manhwa than the average person, but he just shrugs and keeps it to himself, focuses in on his dinner. They eat quietly, Chanyeol occasionally asking him about how much time he spends in the studio, about Kyungsoo and Yifan. He tells Jongin about how his kids thought it would be funny to scream every time he tried to teach them something. Jongin enjoys listening to him talk, Chanyeol’s low voice settling in the pit of his stomach and spreading throughout his veins soothingly. The way he smiles widely and his face gets a little scrunched up, the way he slaps a hand to his knee when he laughs, and even how he watches Jongin so intently when he speaks, Jongin tries to memorize everything so he can put it to paper later.

It's interesting to have someone around while Jongin's working that’s not Kyungsoo, Yifan or Junmyeon. When he's not with them, he usually works alone. Chanyeol's presence is nice, somehow relaxing even if he's also incredibly distracting. Not because he's bothering Jongin, but because Jongin can't stop thinking about him, discreetly glancing over his shoulder to see what he's doing. He hums softly to himself as he works on his project, a familiar Jason Mraz tune that Jongin likes, too, and it's comfortable, like this. It's been a long time since Jongin has found someone he feels this way around.

He's in the middle of doing some touch ups on his computer when warm hands slide over his shoulder and around his chest. Chanyeol notches his chin atop Jongin's head and Jongin grins at his screen, continuing to work.

"Can I help you?" he asks.

"Actually, you can," Chanyeol replies, surprising Jongin who just figured Chanyeol got bored of working and wanted a distraction. He glances at him over his shoulder because Chanyeol is holding onto him so securely it makes it a little difficult to move. Chanyeol smiles at him and says, “Remember how I said I can’t draw to save my life?”

“Yes?” Jongin says slowly.

“Well, it’s a good thing I have an artistic boyfriend who can help me out, then, right?” He’s giving Jongin terribly adorable puppy eyes that makes him laugh, reaching up to pat one of Chanyeol’s hands.

“Okay, okay, let me see,” he says, and Chanyeol cheers, letting Jongin go in favor of throwing his arms up in the air. Jongin joins Chanyeol on the floor again where he’s spread out that giant poster paper, has the corners pinned down with his bag and coat, a tape dispenser and stapler that he stole off Yifan’s desk. Across the top in large characters, he’s written what is your dream? but the rest of the poster is blank. Jongin can see some light pencil marks in the corners that have been furiously erased and he wonders what Chanyeol had tried to draw before giving up and asking for help.

“I want the kids to talk about their dreams and stuff and thought we could put them all up on a poster to hang in the room,” Chanyeol says, rubbing the back of his head and staring at the poster. “I wanted to draw some images to make it less...boring, but.”

“You can’t draw,” Jongin says.

“Right,” he says meekly. “Help?” He pouts at Jongin.

“Only because you’re cute,” Jongin says, the words spilling out of his mouth before he realizes it. Heat fills his face, and Chanyeol’s mouth opens a bit in shock, but then he’s grinning widely and slinging an arm around Jongin’s shoulders, pulls him into his chest. Jongin squawks embarrassedly, elbowing his way out of Chanyeol’s grasp, but he’s laughing. “Let me go,” he chides, “I’ll get some markers and things.”

Chanyeol reluctantly pulls away and Jongin climbs to his feet to retrieve a bunch of utensils from the closet by the door. He spreads them out across the floor and lies down on his stomach, chuckling at the way Chanyeol’s eyes widen as he takes in all the different kinds of markers and colored pencils. Jongin hands him a handful of them and says, “I’ll draw, you color.”

They get to work. Jongin gets highly offended when Chanyeol colors what’s supposed to be a doctor’s face in purple, and then proceeds to give him an orange lab coat. (“I teach five year olds, they won’t care!” Chanyeol insists, but Jongin glares at him until he drops the colors to the floor, pouting.) It’s fun, definitely more entertaining than what Jongin should be working on. Chanyeol is enthusiastic and constantly complimenting Jongin’s skills, but gives Jongin a look when he draws a Pikachu in the corner. (“Do you think my kids are gonna tell me they want to be Pikachu when they’re older?!” Chanyeol exclaims. “Better Pikachu than a purple-skinned doctor in an orange lab coat!” Jongin says, screeching loudly when Chanyeol retaliates with his fingers at Jongin’s sides.)

Jongin draws a couple of fun images of different possible dream jobs that Chanyeol’s kids will probably say like a firefighter, a chef, and a princess. Chanyeol colors them in with the same artistic capability as Jongin had seen in his kids’ drawings, but his eagerness is adorable so Jongin doesn’t hold it against him. How can he really, when Chanyeol finishes with a flourish and stares at Jongin with big, hopeful eyes, waiting for Jongin to praise him. That first starts out as kind words, but then Chanyeol claims a kiss for every colored image (“This is hard work okay, I demand a reward!”) and soon they’re spending more time softly making out amongst the pillows over the floor than working at all.

“I should’ve known this would happen when I said you could come over,” Jongin says, even as he smiles into Chanyeol’s chest. He’s warm against him, his arms wrapped loosely around his waist delightfully comforting. “Junmyeon’s gonna kill me tomorrow.”

Chanyeol squeezes him and slowly pulls back. “Should I go?” he asks.

He probably should, but that’s not what Jongin wants. “Stay,” he says quietly, then adds quickly, “I mean, if you want to. I should get back to work, though, at least. Do you think your poster is done?”

“It’s the best poster ever,” Chanyeol says excitedly. “Thank you.” He drops a kiss to Jongin’s forehead and then lets him go entirely. “Since you’ve helped me work, I’ll help you.”

Jongin laughs as he gets to his feet and stretches his arms over his head. He enjoys the way Chanyeol’s gaze locks onto the slight stripe of skin that peaks out under the hem of his shirt. “How?” he asks, amused. “I think we’ve already figured out the extent of your artistic abilities.”

“I’ll get you coffee?” Chanyeol says, finally tearing his eyes up to Jongin’s face.

“Well, that’s a good start,” Jongin says, dropping his arms to his sides and holding them out to help Chanyeol up. “Thanks,” he says, and Jongin’s pretty sure he means that for more than just the coffee, but the other things are just too hard to say. Chanyeol grins brightly at him, and the look in his eyes is almost like he knows, and he pulls Jongin into a hug until Jongin elbows him to let him go.



Jongin doesn't date a lot, and it's been since a long time since he was in anything resembling a long-term commitment that he feels ridiculously like one of the high school characters in one of the manhwas all the teenage girls read, where they fumble over their words and awkwardly hold hands on dates. Jongin is turning into an exact replica of Jiyun, the main character of his own manhwa.

Chanyeol is usually the one to suggest dates, to text Jongin first, and to make plans. Jongin doesn't mind it, he finds Chanyeol's enthusiasm cute, and besides, Jongin wouldn't know what to do, anyway. Maybe Chanyeol can see that, maybe he's sparing him. Or maybe, like everything Chanyeol does, he's just confident. Jongin's only ever been confident in his art. His people-skills are subpar, at best.

But he really likes Chanyeol, and he doesn't want to screw this up. So he pushes aside the anxiousness and calls Chanyeol one evening when he's been holed up in his apartment all weekend as an order from Junmyeon and is starting to get a severe case of cabin fever. It's a little late on a Sunday, but maybe Chanyeol hasn't eaten dinner yet, and Jongin gnaws his lower lip as he rings him up.

"Hey!" Chanyeol answers his call excitedly. "How's it going? Have you finished your work for the weekend?"

Jongin smiles. He likes how Chanyeol remembers. He'd texted him on Friday, telling him about the house arrest and Chanyeol had sent him a message filled with encouraging words and emoticons. "I'm going crazy sitting here. I was, uh, wondering if you wanted to get dinner?" Jongin says.

"I'm actually just eating with a few friends," Chanyeol says and Jongin stomach plummets. He can hear now, the hushed voices in the background.

"Oh, well, nevermind--"

"Don't be stupid, come join us," Chanyeol says. "We'll be here awhile longer anyway. Jongdae eats like a horse and makchang takes forever to cook so."

Jongin hears a harried Hey! in the background, and then Chanyeol's rumbling laughter in his ear. He chews his lip again, considering.

"Come on," Chanyeol says softly, his voice dropping the way it does whenever he likes to rile Jongin up, whispering into his ear and playfully dipping fingers up under his shirt. "It'll be fun. And my friends don't bite. Mostly."

That makes Jongin laugh. He wanted to see Chanyeol anyway, and even if the prospect of meeting his friends is a little daunting, Jongin figures he can deal with it. "Okay, give me a bit to get ready and I'll meet you," he says.

The Hongdae restaurant is pretty crowded for a Sunday evening and Chanyeol comes to find him by the door when Jongin arrives. He greets him with a wide grin, takes his wrist to pull him through to a table towards the back, already occupied with two other men. Jongin's stomach twists into knots and he hopes he doesn't look as anxious as he feels.

"Jongin, these are two of my friends, Jongdae and Lu Han," Chanyeol says, as they settle into seats side by side.

Jongin waves slightly at them, licking his lips, but before he even gets a chance to say hello, the man sitting across from Chanyeol, Jongdae, leans forward with interested eyes and a quirk to his lips.

"So you're Jongin," he says, his gaze darts up and down and then settle back on Jongin's face. "Chanyeol practically never shuts up about you."

Jongin feels his face grow hot. Jongdae yelps suddenly, reeling back, and it's clear that Chanyeol has just kicked him under the table. Jongin bites down a smile as he glances at his boyfriend, surprised to see Chanyeol's ears a little red. He turns back to Jongdae, grinning. He rarely has an opportunity to see Chanyeol embarrassed. "Does he now?" he asks, and Lu Han barks out a laugh as Chanyeol gives Jongin a betrayed look.

Jongdae, however, looks pleased. "It's pretty annoying," he says with a sigh. "And he's been so keen on not letting us meet you."

"I don't like to share," Chanyeol says, and he settles a hand on Jongin's knee just under the table.

"Then you shouldn't go off on how cute your boyfriend is all the damn time," Lu Han says before he takes a sip of his beer. "Even if it's true." He flashes Jongin a grin and Jongin laughs, rubs his nose.

"Fuck, I'm regretting this now," Chanyeol says, and Jongin slides a hand down to squeeze his on his knee briefly before letting go.

It's a good evening. Jongin gets excited when he learns of Lu Han's shared interest in football, even if his taste is questionable, and they chat long and hard over their favorite players and about the World Cup starting in the summer. Jongdae asks a lot of prying, invasive questions, the kind that get more aimed kicks from Chanyeol to his shins, but Jongin finds he doesn't mind. There's a sort of playfulness to him that reminds Jongin of Baekhyun, and he thinks Chanyeol would get along with him pretty well, too. Chanyeol meeting Jongin's friends, though, is something he hasn't really thought about, so he pushes the idea away for now, and settles in on the warmth of Chanyeol's hand on his leg that rarely leaves the whole night.

Apparently Chanyeol has enlisted their help to figure out Jongin's manhwa as well, and it isn't long before both Jongdae and Lu Han are asking him about it, looking more interested than Jongin would've expected.

"Is there a love triangle?" Jongdae asks curiously.

Jongin laughs, shaking his head. "Nope."

"What! There's always a love triangle," Jongdae exclaims. He takes a bite of his meal and chews, brows furrowed, and then asks, "Does someone get hit by a car? Get cancer?"

"I think you've been watching too many Korean dramas, Jongdae," Chanyeol laughs as Jongin answers in the negative again.

Jongdae frowns, slumping back in his seat and staring at Jongin with narrowed eyes like he's certain Jongin's lying. Lu Han pats his shoulder and says, "Vampires?"

"No, again," Jongin chuckles. "I think you're thinking too hard about this. Maybe I should just tell you."

"Not yet," Chanyeol says firmly. "I refuse to admit defeat."

"I thought the whole guessing thing was just a way to ask me out again," Jongin says as they leave the restaurant a while later, full to their stomachs. They say goodbye outside, Lu Han snagging Jongin away from Chanyeol with an arm around his shoulders to exchange numbers so they can talk more about football sometime. Chanyeol offers to take Jongin home, so Jongin follows him out to his car, walking slowly down the street.

Chanyeol laughs. "It sort of started that way, maybe," he says. "But clearly that doesn't matter since we're dating already anyway." He grins at Jongin. "I like guessing though. Keeps things interesting."

"Are you afraid you'll suddenly find me boring?" Jongin says, meaning to sound light and teasing, but it's probably clear on his face that he's a little apprehensive of the answer.

"You?" Chanyeol says as they get into his car. "I don't think so." He leans across the console to kiss Jongin swiftly on the mouth. "God, I was dying to do that all night."

Jongin flushes and Chanyeol ruffles his hair before he starts up the car. They drive mostly in silence, listening to the radio instead of speaking, and Jongin enjoys the way Chanyeol sings loudly and sometimes obnoxiously to the girl groups songs, nudging Jongin into singing with him.

"I'm glad you came tonight," Chanyeol says when they arrive at Jongin's apartment and Jongin is contemplating about inviting Chanyeol up. Maybe, if he was a little bolder, he could do it, or if his apartment wasn't a mess and he didn't still have work to do. If the stacks of his manhwa on the coffee table wouldn’t give away their game; Chanyeol would definitely hate losing that easily.

"Me too," Jongin says honestly. "Your friends are nice."

"They liked you," Chanyeol says, sounding proud for a moment before his face darkens. "Lu Han liked you a lot." He frowns and Jongin laughs, the slight jealousy in his tone settling warm in his belly. It's nice, he thinks, that kind of possessiveness.

"I liked him a lot, too," Jongin says airily, and tries not to laugh harder at the way Chanyeol glares. "He's cute. I'm glad he gave me his number."

"Hey," Chanyeol says, somewhere between a whine and a warning. He leans forward, reaching out with a hand to grip the back of Jongin's neck, draw him in closer. "I'm cooler than he is," he says seriously. "And definitely more handsome."

Jongin bites his lower lip but it doesn't help the pull in his cheeks as he struggles not to laugh. "I'm not so sure," he teases and Chanyeol sighs, hanging his head, his hair flopping down into his eyes.

"You're so mean to me, Jongin," he says, and Jongin finally gives into his amusement, chuckling softly as he threads his fingers gently through Chanyeol's hair.

"Yeah, but you still like me," Jongin says, without thinking, and he feels his heart rate quicken because even if it’s obvious, even if he knows, he’s still always a little unsure. Things have fallen together so easily with Chanyeol, and Jongin sometimes thinks it’s too good to be true. Jongin sometimes feels a bit like Sunako around Kyohei (just without all the nosebleeds), because Chanyeol is too bright, too confident and Jongin doesn’t know how to deal with that. He bites his lip as Chanyeol raises his head to fix him with a surprisingly intense look, and before Jongin can break the stifling tension, Chanyeol is pressing forward to kiss him.

"Yeah, I do," he says afterward, leaving Jongin panting and more flushed than he should be. The worry in his veins has faded away though, replaced by a soft simmer of pleasure and ease. Chanyeol smiles at him, tugs at Jongin's chin and pecks him on the mouth once more for good measure. "Goodnight," he says. "Go get some work done, lazy."

Jongin half-heartedly punches him in the arm and Chanyeol's laugh fills up his whole car and rings in Jongin's ears long after he leaves.



“Sehun, get off of me, I need to finish these pages before Junmyeon-hyung gets here in ten minutes,” Jongin grumbles, elbowing his friends in the ribs to try to get him off his back. They’re lying on the floor of Jongin’s studio, Sehun having stopped by for who even knows what reason, probably just to be a nuisance to Jongin and Kyungsoo and flirt strangely with Yifan. Unfortunately Yifan hadn’t come in yet, otherwise Sehun would be over at the other end of the room bothering him, and Jongin is tempted to text him to get him to hurry the fuck up.

“I’m comfy here,” Sehun says, lying halfway across Jongin’s back, his cheek pressed up between his shoulder blades. He sounds sleepy. Jongin is getting a crink in his neck.

“Go bother Kyungsoo,” Jongin says and Kyungsoo gives him a look from where he’s hunched over his desk.

“He’d stab me with a pen or something,” Sehun says, which is probably true.

Jongin sighs, rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms and tries to focus on his work and the clock ticking obnoxiously in his head that Junmyeon will be here any minute to yell at him and--

“Look who I found outside,” says Junmyeon, pushing aside the door as Jongin looks up from his pages curiously. His heart stops when he finds Chanyeol stepping into the studio, a sheepish smile on his face. Junmyeon looks terribly amused as he stares down at Jongin, and Jongin is not sure what’s worse: dealing with Junmyeon bitching about a missed deadline or having to unexpectedly introduce Chanyeol to his closest friends.

“Hey, Jongin,” Chanyeol says, peering down at him curiously. His expression is a little dark, and Jongin can tell he’s looking at Sehun more than him, now that Sehun’s turned himself around from all the noise to see what’s going on.

“Oh, it’s the boyfriend,” Sehun says.

“What’re you doing here?” Jongin asks, hoping he doesn’t sound as panicky to everyone else as he does to himself. He tries to nudge Sehun away again, but Sehun just clings to him even more.

“I brought lunch,” he says, looking back at Jongin again as he raises a brown paper bag. “Thought you might like a break.” He smiles at him, rubs the back of his neck with his other and. “I kinda forgot if this was the right place when I ran into your editor outside. He said he recognized me.”

“Yes, we can all recognize you,” Kyungsoo speaks up, and Jongin mentally groans from the clear intrigue in his voice. “From the pages and pages of sketches Jongin has of your face.”

“Definite likeness,” Junmyeon agrees, tilting his head at Chanyeol, who laughs a little embarrassedly. That surprises Jongin, because Chanyeol is rarely embarrassed. “I'd thought Jongin’s sketches were good since those ones he did at the park but--”

“Wait, what?” Chanyeol asks, blinking at Junmyeon.

Jongin knocks Sehun over as he struggles to get up, eyes wide as he whines, “Hyung.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon says, slowly catching on. “You didn’t tell him about that? Oops.” He doesn’t look very remorseful, just amused, failing to hide the quirk of a smile as he leaves Chanyeol’s side and heads to the small couch and flops down onto it. Sehun, looking quite miffed about losing Jongin as his personal body pillow, climbs up next to him to utilize Junmyeon’s shoulder instead.

Chanyeol’s eyes are on him, warm and curious, and Jongin pulls his knees to his chest and hides his face in his hands. “It was before we met…” Jongin starts slowly, “I saw you…at a park…I drew some sketches because that's what I do, I never actually thought I'd see you again, oh my god, it’s weird isn't it, I'm sorry, that’s why I never mentioned it or--”

“Jongin,” Chanyeol says, cutting across him. He sounds much closer than before, and Jongin peeks through his fingers to find him crouching down in front of him, pushing aside Jongin’s work so as to not ruin it. He reaches out and tugs Jongin’s hands from his face, and he’s grinning. “It’s okay,” he says, and he laughs a bit. “Yeah, it’s a little weird, but I already know you’re kind of weird, so.”

“Wow, he’s a keeper, Jongin,” Sehun says, staring at Chanyeol with interest. “No one puts up with your weird.”

Jongin wants to bite back you do, but Chanyeol says, “Who are you?”

“Sehun,” he says with a slight shrug. “The weird one's best friend. It's nice to actually meet you. When Jongin mentioned he had a boyfriend it was hard to believe, since he hasn't had one in years.”

Jongin wills the ground to open up and swallow him whole. “Shut up, Sehun,” he says when that doesn’t work.

“Well, I’m real,” Chanyeol says cheerfully, and he gently squeezes Jongin’s hands that are still in his. He looks back at Jongin then and asks, “Want to eat?”

Jongin nods, lets Chanyeol pull him to his feet and he takes the brown bag from the floor over to the table. He hears Chanyeol properly introducing himself to Kyungsoo, excitedly saying it’s nice to meet him because Jongin talks about him a lot, and Kyungsoo laughs softly, the way he does when he’s kind of charmed. He hopes Kyungsoo won’t say anything about him that’s too embarrassing, the anxious knot in Jongin’s stomach from when Chanyeol walked through the door still not loose enough to shake away.

“I should’ve called first, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol says, coming up behind Jongin and startling him. He rests his hands on his hips to calm him, and Jongin shakes his head.

“It’s okay,” he says with a smile. “I’m glad you’re here, you can save me from them.”

“But aren’t you supposed to save me?” Chanyeol hisses. He glances over his shoulder where the others are undoubtedly staring at them, and then back to Jongin. “Your friend looks like he wishes I wasn’t real.”

Jongin laughs. “Sehun always makes that face,” he says. “I think you’d both get along. He’s an idiot.”

“I can hear you,” Sehun calls out dryly as Chanyeol squawks, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Jongin grins at him and shrugs, amused, before ducking out of Chanyeol’s light embrace to settle into a chair at the table. He pulls one of the containers from the bag, surprised to find it’s not from a shop, but clearly home cooked. “Did you make this?” he asks, eyes widening up at Chanyeol.

“Yeah,” he says, shrugging as he sits down next to him.

Jongin just stares at him. He’s always a little amazed, because after all these years of being single and suddenly Jongin’s found someone who practically jumped out of the pages of Otomen.

He must have a ridiculously amazed expression on his face because Chanyeol laughs and pushes his hair back from his forehead. “I like to cook, I’ve told you that,” he says, and then lightly kicks Jongin under the table. His hair flops back into his eyes and he shakes them away a bit. “Now stop looking at me like I’ve grown another head. Eat.”

“Thank you,” Jongin says earnestly, and he’s delighted when Chanyeol blushes a bit, rubs at his nose.

“You should teach Jongin how to cook,” Sehun says, sliding into the empty seat on Chanyeol’s right. “So he’ll stop eating instant ramyeon all the time.” He reaches out to steal some of Jongin’s lunch but Jongin is quick, smacking the back of his hand and pulling the container away.

“Get your own boyfriend to make you lunch,” Jongin says as Sehun whines at him, slumping across the table.

“I would, but he’s not here,” Sehun says, throwing a glare toward Yifan’s empty desk and Jongin makes a face.

“Go home,” Jongin says, shoving his shoulder away hard enough that Sehun practically topples over in his chair. Chanyeol quickly reaches out to steady him and Sehun assesses him for a second, but then smiles. Chanyeol looks pleased by that, scratching the side of his face as he turns away to steal a little bit of the lunch he made for Jongin.

They don’t get much work done that afternoon, as Chanyeol sticks around and chats amiably with Junmyeon and laughs over Kyungsoo and Sehun’s embarrassing Jongin stories. Jongin tries to melt into a puddle on the floor but it doesn’t seem to work, and he figures with Chanyeol wrapping an arm around him that maybe it’s not all too bad.

“You know, meeting you now makes me understand a little how Jongin couldn’t resist drawing that comic of you,” Junmyeon says a few hours later, just before he leaves, dragging Sehun with him. Kyungsoo had left earlier to meet his girlfriend for a late lunch. Jongin makes a startled, anguished noise that has Junmyeon looking at him with a sigh. “You didn’t tell him about that yet? I told you I wanted to include it in the next volume.”

“You drew a manhwa of me?” Chanyeol exclaims, sounding like a little kid who had just gotten a present. He’s looking at Jongin with wide, bright eyes that makes him feel a little less terrible about the whole thing.

“It’s just a short...thing,” Jongin says weakly while Sehun doesn’t even bother hiding his laughter.

“It’s good,” Junmyeon says, nudging Sehun to get him to shut up. “Go show him. It was nice meeting you, Chanyeol.”

“You, too,” Chanyeol says enthusiastically, waving goodbye at them both as Jongin slinks back to his desk.

He pulls out the comic since there’s no way he can hide it from Chanyeol now, and when Chanyeol joins him again, he hands the pages to him. “Here,” he says, biting his lower lip anxiously. “It’s not supposed to like, actually, be you, but you definitely did inspire it.” He rubs a hand over his eyes and mumbles, “How embarrassing. I was pretty much never gonna tell you.”

“Jongin, you should realize by now I think what you do is kind of cool,” Chanyeol laughs. “So there’s no reason to be embarrassed.” He looks down at the pages and then back at Jongin. “If you don’t want me to see, though--”

“No, it’s okay,” Jongin says quickly, waving his hands, and Chanyeol smiles and flips open to the first page of the comic. Jongin watches his face closely as he reads, worrying his lower lip between his teeth again. Chanyeol’s smiling slowly as he scans the pages, and he laughs softly when he reaches the end.

“I think you’re forgetting yourself in this story,” he says, grinning, as he sets it down onto Jongin’s desk.

“It’s not supposed to be you, remember?” Jongin says, letting Chanyeol tug him close by pulling on the hem of his shirt until Jongin practically tumbles into his chest.

“It was really cute,” Chanyeol says. “I knew I was too devastatingly handsome to not inspire something awesome from you.”

“Shut up, Chanyeol,” Jongin mutters, but he’s grinning. Chanyeol’s basically right, anyway, not that Jongin will ever admit it.



Jongin taps the end of his pencil against the coffee table, staring down at the blank page before him. He’s got twenty-four hours until his next deadline which he’s a hundred percent certain he will miss because of course now is when he’ll end up with an art block. He glares at the paper and drops his pencil, letting it roll across the table and topple straight off the edge. With a groan he slinks down onto the floor and flops an arm over his eyes.

He can hear Chanyeol fiddling around in the kitchen, then the heavy pad of feet getting closer. Chanyeol laughs when he walks into the room. “Going that badly, I take it?” he asks and Jongin lowers his arm to look up at him.

He’s holding two mugs of what smells like coffee in his hands and Jongin pulls himself upright to take one from him. He’s going to need some caffeine to keep himself awake enough to get through the work he has to do.

“I’m stuck,” he says quietly. He doesn’t particularly like admitting when he’s having trouble, but Chanyeol is staring at him almost worriedly so he gives in. “I know what has to happen but I’m not sure how to draw it? I don’t know.”

Chanyeol sits down on the floor next to him, pats Jongin’s knee. “That happens to everyone, don’t stress yourself out.”

“I’ve been staring at this all day,” Jongin says. “Even before you asked me to come over.” He takes a sip of his coffee, careful not to burn his tongue. “And if I don’t get something done, Junmyeon-hyung is going to kill me.”

“You always say that, and yet here you are,” Chanyeol says, lips quirking up in amusement.

“I have a lot of lives,” Jongin says. “I’m like a cat.”

“Does that mean you purr?” Chanyeol leers, leaning in toward Jongin interestedly and Jongin rolls his eyes, nudges him lightly with his elbow but laughs.

He sets his mug down on the coffee table and stretches his foot out underneath to slide his pencil back. “I have a day to get this done, Chanyeol,” he says. “What am I gonna do?”

Chanyeol rubs his back and it’s wonderfully comforting. He scoots closer to Jongin, sliding a leg over Jongin’s under the table. “Hey,” he says. “Don’t stress. You’ll be fine. And besides, I’m sure Junmyeon is expecting you to be late anyway, so that really gives you more time.”

Well, he has a point there. Jongin chuckles, shaking his head. “One day, I’d like to be on time, just to see how shocked he’ll get.”

Chanyeol laughs, shifting a bit so he can rest his chin on Jongin’s left shoulder. “It’s okay if you’re stuck, Jongin. That happens, you know.” He shrugs. “Sometimes I get stuck on what to do with my kids.”

That pulls a snort out of Jongin, turning to give Chanyeol an amused look. Chanyeol leans back and holds up a hand before Jongin can say anything.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s not quite the same thing, but you know what I’m trying to say,” he says. He grins, slides his hand up Jongin’s back and over his shoulder, pulling him close. “And even if sometimes I feel lost or stuck, when I’m with you, I feel like I could do anything.” he says and Jongin’s heart skids to a halt in his chest. “So, let me be your muse. I’ll help you however I can.”

Jongin lets out an incredulous laugh, turning to Chanyeol with wide eyes. “You stole that line from a manhwa, didn’t you.” He doesn’t have to ask, because he already knows. He knows all too well.

Chanyeol pointedly does not look at Jongin. “Maybe,” he says, busying himself by taking a few sips from his mug. Jongin stares at him expectantly, and Chanyeol blurts out, “Okay, fine, so I did! But I meant it!” He rubs the back of his neck and then smiles at Jongin curiously. “It’s one of my favorites, okay. I’ve been waiting for the new volume for ages.”

Jongin bursts out into laughter, practically doubling over in his mirth as Chanyeol stares at him with wide eyes like he’s gone insane. “Chanyeol,” Jongin manages to get out between laughs, “that manhwa--”

And then he gets it, recognition filling his eyes as he gasps loudly and points at Jongin. “No way! That’s yours?”

Jongin only nods a few times, his shoulders shaking. Chanyeol’s earlier surprise has faded away into something much more fond, and Jongin takes a long sip from his coffee before he manages to speak. “I can’t believe you just used a line from my manhwa on me,” Jongin says, grinning widely.

“Well, did it work?” Chanyeol asks, hopeful, and Jongin nods again.

“It is a good line,” he says with a small smirk and Chanyeol barks out a laugh.

“I can’t believe you’re Kai,” he says, shaking his head. “No wonder your art looked so familiar.”

“One of your favorites, huh?”

Chanyeol shoves Jongin’s shoulder. “Not that I read them or anything--”

“You’re not fooling anyone, Chanyeol,” Jongin laughs, nudging him back.

“Really, though, half of the guesses I’ve had were from Naver searches,” Chanyeol admits. He rubs his fingers around the rim of his mug a few times before he takes a drink. “But that’s not important, anyway.” He pushes Jongin’s blank pages toward him. “You should get to work. And I’ll be your muse and do muse-like things.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Jongin says, raising a brow in amusement.

“Drink my coffee, and keep you company,” Chanyeol responds easily, and despite the workload Jongin has to accomplish, Jongin thinks he quite likes the sound of that.



“You know, you never took me up on my initial offer,” Chanyeol says one evening as they head up to Jongin’s studio after catching dinner together with Yifan and Lu Han.

“What’s that?” Jongin questions, glancing over his shoulder at Chanyeol inquisitively as he unlocks the door to the studio and lets them in.

“The first day we met,” Chanyeol says. He shrugs out of his leather coat and pulls off his snapback, ruffles his hair. “Letting me pose for you.”

Jongin blinks at him for a moment, and then the memory floods back, filling his cheeks with heat. “What you wrote in my sketchbook--” he says, chuckling softly and turning away from Chanyeol’s curious gaze. He unwraps the scarf from around his neck and drapes it over the back of his chair at his desk, unbuttons his coat. “I...well, that’s embarrassing. I mean, I’ve never really done that, or, well, I haven’t in a long time and you’re--” He turns back to Chanyeol and waves at him, like that single gesture will better explain what he’s trying to put into words.

Chanyeol, however, just looks amused. “I’m what?” he asks.

“I-I don’t know!” Jongin exclaims, throwing his hands up into the air in panic.

“Aw, Jongin,” Chanyeol whines, coming up behind Jongin to hug him gently. “What’s the big deal? I just think it’s cool you know, no one’s ever drawn me before.” He lets Jongin go and stretches his arms over his head before he drops them to his side with a deep sigh. “Well, other than the short manhwa you already drew,” he says, “but that doesn’t really count.”

Jongin squints at him. “Do you have some deep seeded dream to be an art model or something?”

Chanyeol laughs, the loud, slightly obnoxious one of his that Jongin hates how much he loves. He grins at Jongin and makes a tiny space in the air between his thumb and finger. “A little,” he says before he suddenly flings himself onto the couch. It’s too small for his long body, but he still manages to look attractive as he rests his head on his hand and stretches his legs out. “So, c’mon, draw me like one of your French girls.” He waggles his eyebrows.

Jongin snorts. “That’s not quite what I do,” he laughs.

“Who cares, draw me anyway.”

Jongin laughs even louder, shaking his head as he walks over. “You’re ridiculous,” he says, climbing onto the couch and straddling Chanyeol’s hips.

Chanyeol licks his lips and slowly smiles, shows off his perfectly white teeth. His hands settle on Jongin’s waist, warm even through the layer of clothing. “Yeah,” he says, “but you still like me.”

He does, Jongin really, really does. It’s been a long time since he’s felt like this with anyone. “I guess I do,” Jongin teases though, like he’s not entirely sure, and when Chanyeol’s fingers tickle his sides, he bursts out into a laugh, squirming above him.

“What was that?” Chanyeol questions loudly, unrelenting, and Jongin smacks his chest feebly to get him to stop.

“I like you, I like you,” Jongin gasps, and when Chanyeol finally ceases his attack, Jongin leans in close enough that their lips are just barely touching and he could count every one of Chanyeol’s dark eyelashes. “You know I do.”

“Do I?” Chanyeol says, pursing his lips thoughtfully, and Jongin swats him again before bridging the tiny gap between them in a kiss. Jongin sighs into his mouth, curls his fingers into the collar of Chanyeol’s shirt, pulling a bit to get him even closer and probably stretching the fabric out weirdly. He doesn’t care, and it doesn’t seem like Chanyeol does, either, not when he slips his hands into the back pockets of Jongin’s jeans and tugs him down.

When they part, Jongin is laughing softly against Chanyeol’s mouth, taking in the slightly flushed skin and the wetness of his red lips. “Okay,” Chanyeol says, reaching a hand up to brush Jongin’s hair away from his face. “I know.”

Jongin’s never been good at confessions that weren’t on paper, said between fictional characters that end up in an argument four pages later. This, though, he thinks, ranks up there with some of his favorites, like when Keiko tackled Yusuke on the beach at the end of Yu Yu Hakusho or when Ed and Winry finally expressed their love through equivalent exchange. Except, none of that is real, and this is. The Chanyeol looks at him and the way he feels, so warm under Jongin’s fingertips. This, he thinks, is actually better than all of that.

“Stop thinking and kiss me,” Chanyeol whines and Jongin laughs and laughs, his chest warm, heart pounding, and he takes Chanyeol’s face in his hands and he does.

“So you’re not gonna draw me like one of your French girls?” Chanyeol says, an hour later. “I’ll even strip for you.”

Jongin can hear the promise in his voice. He doesn’t even bother to look when he throws one of his manhwa volumes over his shoulder in Chanyeol’s direction, and the pained, “Ow!” has him smirking down at his work.

(Maybe later, he’ll take Chanyeol up on that offer.)

note: all the scene break anime emojis are from here and here.
the mangas chanyeol guessed are real, tho i haven’t actually read any of them so i can’t tell you if they’re good lmao.
anyway i hope you enjoyed this! it was fun to write! thank you very much for reading!!



one day i will write something not kaiyeol