quest for the other half
chanyeol/jongdae
pg-13 | ~8k
Chanyeol doesn't even believe in the whole soulmate concept-he's just testing the artifact, making sure it's real. That should be part of his job, right?
note: written for yeolliepopday, originally posted here
From: zhang.yixing@admissions.stfu.ac.kr
Subject: Fall 2014 Admission
University ID Number: 92112792
Program: MA Nuclear Technology and Engineering
Start Date: Sept 2014
Dear Mr. Park,
Thank you for your interest in our study program. We have reviewed your application for the above course and we are sorry to inform you that we can no longer accept you in any of our study programs. Although you are more than qualified to be admitted, it has been the board's decision to delegate your offer(s) to younger applicants with less academic qualifications. This decision is final and applies for any future applications.
Let it be known that we admire your love for education and that you are welcomed to try for a position of lecturer in the following semester.
I would appreciate it if you stop bothering me with questions, but should you have any emergency queries (and by this I mean things of extreme importance) please feel free to e-mail me.
Regards,
Prof. Zhang Yixing
Head of Admission
Department of Science and Engineering
Seoul Technology and Fashion University
There is a loud thud as Chanyeol snaps his laptop shut and bumps his head on the table. This is the first time he has ever been rejected for anything academic. Chanyeol never would have guessed that having multiple degrees would prohibit him from getting more, and now he's left with an entire semester with nothing to do. This is devastating.
"Hey, schoolboy," Luhan's voice is more annoying than ever this morning, Chanyeol thinks. He doesn't even need to look up to know that Luhan is wearing that annoying smirk on his face. Every day he wonders why he's best friends with Luhan. "What'd you apply for this time?"
Chanyeol groans. Summer holiday sucks and he really doesn't need a reminder of the wondrous study program he's supposed to be enrolled in for the next academic year. "Nuclear engineering," he answers anyway, sighing.
Luhan places a cup of caramel latte in front of Chanyeol before sitting down opposite from him. Ah right, this is why. The free coffee. "Fancy," Luhan responds, his bottom lip jutting out in mock-admiration. "Also dangerous, considering it's you," he adds with a scowl.
Chanyeol makes a noncommittal noise and sips on his coffee, spilling some on the front of his shirt as he chokes from the heat. This is his morning routine.
"You'd think all those time you spent in class would at least teach you how to drink coffee with elegance," Luhan mutters, shaking his head as he hands Chanyeol some tissue. "Apparently not."
"Shut up," Chanyeol mumbles. He's really not in the mood to have Luhan as his best friend. Especially now that he's got his coffee.
Luhan tilts his head and blinks, and Chanyeol would think that he looks adorable, except he's known Luhan for too long. He's not adorable. "Something's wrong," he states.
"Yeah, your wardrobe choices," Chanyeol retorts. This is not true-Luhan looks like someone straight off a fashion runway, but Chanyeol just really doesn't want to talk about what's wrong. Because what's wrong is that he's perfect for nuclear engineering but they won't let him enroll.
"Gee, if only you're not wearing what you're wearing I might probably be offended," Luhan snaps, causing Chanyeol to self-consciously stare down at his outfit. What's wrong with oversized shirt and baggy shorts? "So, spill, what's wrong?"
From the unfortunate half of his life being best friends with the guy, Chanyeol knows Luhan isn't going to drop this. "They rejected me," he sighs, "for having too many qualifications already."
Luhan snickers. "Yixing's finally fed up with you?" There is a pause when Chanyeol merely pouts, until Luhan adds, "That actually makes sense, though."
Why of course, Luhan is never that supportive about Chanyeol's love for education. "And why is that?" Chanyeol demands. It doesn't make sense at all, Chanyeol thinks. Everyone should be allowed to get proper education. Everyone should be allowed to learn nuclear engineering. It sounds like a beautiful study program.
"Come on, Chanyeol," Luhan retorts before sipping on his coffee. "Just how many degrees do you have already? Five?"
"Eight," Chanyeol corrects.
"That-is actually impressive, man, how do you do that? Don't you have a life?" Luhan splutters. Chanyeol begins to think of the possibility that Luhan never actually listens to anything he says, because how is he still shocked at this fact? He's been with Chanyeol the entire time. "Anyway," Luhan shakes his head, getting back to what he originally wanted to say. "Why would you need more?"
"I like studying!" is Chanyeol's obvious answer. Having gone through enough classes and graduations, Chanyeol definitely knows what he wants to do in life-he wants to study. Proving himself to be smart at tests, coming up with praise-worthy essays, getting straight-A's, isn't that what life is for? Chanyeol feels a surge of excitement just by thinking about it. This must be what they call passion. "And I'm really good at it!"
From the way Luhan is staring at him, Chanyeol knows that his answer doesn't satisfy his best friend. "I don't know, man, I think you should get a job," Luhan advises. "Make some money out of that brain."
It's the same thing his mum has been saying over and over again, every time Chanyeol comes home on a holiday, every time Chanyeol comes home with yet another new diploma. That's great, baby, but how about you get a job? Nothing would make Chanyeol happier than making his mum happy, but no job is exciting enough for him. Also, he has no confidence in doing things other than going to classes and getting perfect scores. "I'm only good at studying," he mutters.
Luhan scoffs. "You're at least good at programming," he comments. "I know you made that game! How else did you score 8192 in a game called 2048?"
"With patience and intelligence," Chanyeol replies immediately, earning a snort from Luhan. Chanyeol did make that game, but he got 8192 out of pure hard work. "I didn't cheat!"
An alarm beeps on Luhan's phone, distracting them from the current debate. Chanyeol notices the time and he knows it's already time for Luhan's morning briefing. It's still a wonder to Chanyeol how this coffee shop hasn't gone out of business, considering a person like Luhan runs it. But he's proud of Luhan for how well the place is doing-not that he'll ever say that out loud. "Not the point," Luhan says impatiently. He starts cleaning up the mugs from their table and stands up to leave. "You're more than qualified for any job in the world, really," he says, looking at Chanyeol with actual concern. "Just... you know, try something out?"
It doesn't happen often, this kind of Luhan. The caring, sincerely concerned Luhan. And when he does show this side of him, it's not possible for Chanyeol to say no.
"Fine."
*
The best thing about job hunting, Chanyeol decides, is filling up his CV. It feels amazing to be able to legally brag about all the academic achievement he's gotten and every single degree he's obtained. Master's Degree - Computer Science, Master's Degree - Mechanical Engineering, Master's Degree - Arts History, Master's Degree -
An annoying chorus of Call Me Maybe rings from his phone and Chanyeol cringes at the needy ringtone that Luhan has set for himself on Chanyeol's phone. Chanyeol contemplates not picking up, but that would risk Luhan coming all the way down to his apartment and that would definitely be worse. Chanyeol picks up the phone, and Carly Rae Jepsen's voice is replaced by Luhan's.
"Stop updating your CV," Luhan scolds instead of saying hello. They have probably been friends for too long-how did Luhan know what he's doing?
"How did you know-"
There's an impatient knock on his door and Chanyeol groans. It's 9 AM on a Sunday and he has deliberately deprived himself of coffee just to be free from Luhan. Obviously not working. "Open the door, I'm outside," Luhan demands. Chanyeol regrets everything.
Sighing, Chanyeol walks to his door and opens it to find Luhan beaming at him with two cups of coffees at hand. Luhan shoves one at Chanyeol and invites himself in, finding his place on the couch in front of the TV, and Chanyeol sighs some more. Well, at least he's got coffee. He takes a sip and chokes from the heat-his morning has officially started.
With the way Luhan is sitting smugly on his couch, Chanyeol can already tell that he's going to hate whatever Luhan has to say. "Say you love me," Luhan commands.
"Why would I-"
"Ah, ah, ah," Luhan raises a finger at Chanyeol, still looking smug. "Say you love me," Luhan repeats.
"You love me," Chanyeol deadpans.
Luhan pouts and Chanyeol laughs in victory. "I love you," he says finally when Luhan insistently keeps sulking. Luhan beams in an instant, and Chanyeol concludes that his friend is a toddler. "So why do I love you?"
With extreme enthusiasm, Luhan rummages his bag and Chanyeol easily catches on the excitement and starts jumping around and clapping-Luhan probably bought him one of those big encyclopedias he had been asking for. The anticipation dies a little when instead Luhan pulls out a white envelope with a big red crest of Seoul Metropolitan Library on the top left corner of it and Chanyeol's name on the center. He stares questioningly at Luhan, who is just grinning with his hand held out at Chanyeol, motioning for him to take the envelope. "Scored you an interview at the library," Luhan says proudly as Chanyeol rips the envelope open and reads the contents. Dear Mr. Park, We would like to invite you to attend an interview for a position as The Librarian. "That job screams you! Thick books! Ancient artifacts! Other geeky things!"
Chanyeol isn't really listening to Luhan anymore, busy with the letter on his hand. He only has three days to prepare for the interview, but everything in the letter feels so right. Do understand that it will be a very strict interview since we are only looking for the best of candidates, one with broad knowledge of various subjects. This is it, Chanyeol thinks, this is the job for him. He finishes the letter with a huge grin on his face, beaming at Luhan.
"I love you."
*
If the long line of people waiting and the increasing number of people leaving the room with sadness in their faces are any indication, Chanyeol isn't going to like this interview. He carefully makes his way inside the huge room, clutching his CV tightly in his hands. There's a man sitting behind a huge desk, sharply dressed in a suit. He doesn't look that much older than Chanyeol-possibly younger, even, with that cute face and chubby cheeks. "My name is Kim Minseok and I will be interviewing you," the man states, not looking up from the papers on his table. Chanyeol comes forward to hand him his CV. "I don't need that," Minseok says, holding up his hand. He gestures for Chanyeol to take the seat opposite from him.
"Why should we pick you as the librarian?" he questions as Chanyeol sits down, clasping both hands and staring at Chanyeol, looking intimidating despite his face. Chanyeol still doesn't get what the big deal is with being a librarian and why so many people applied for the position. In his case, he was definitely lured by the high requirement. The best candidate, one with broad knowledge of various subjects is how Chanyeol defines himself, after all.
Chanyeol clears his throat and anxiously answers, "I know a lot about books, and I enjoy them, so-"
This Minseok person is annoying, Chanyeol concludes, as he stops Chanyeol mid-sentence. "I'm sorry, Mister..." he doesn't even remember Chanyeol's name. This is insulting. "Ah, Mister Park. We're not looking for a librarian, here," he says.
"But I thought-"
"We're looking for the librarian," Minseok finishes. Chanyeol stares at him blankly-what the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't you have to be a librarian first before becoming the librarian? This person has no logic. "Either you impress me right now or stop wasting my time," Minseok waves his hand towards the door, returning to the stack of paper in front of him.
Chanyeol refuses to be labeled a waste of time. He examines Minseok for tiny little details that normal people would miss-this excessive cologne he's using, the wet ends of his hair, the small appointment notes on his calendar. "You go to gym every weekday morning, except on Tuesdays and Fridays," comments Chanyeol sharply, and Minseok instantly looks up from his papers, intrigued. Chanyeol looks around for more-the way Minseok squints a little when he looks at Chanyeol, the tiny brown stain on Minseok's tie and the plastic cups in his trash can. "You drink cold coffees in the morning. You forgot your glasses today," Chanyeol stops, observing Minseok's face. He's impressed, alright. "Did I waste your time?"
There is a pause when Chanyeol bravely stares right at Minseok, who seems to be carefully examining Chanyeol. Minseok finally picks up the phone on his desk. "Yeah, send everyone home," he says to the phone. Chanyeol grins widely. "I've got the one."
*
First day has to start with bonding over coffee, thinks Chanyeol as he holds a cup of cold cappuccino in one hand and his latte on the other. Minseok is already on his desk, and Chanyeol skips over to give him the coffee, which his boss takes with no change in expression whatsoever. Chanyeol heaves a deep sigh-Minseok is extremely annoying, but Chanyeol will face him patiently because there is no way he's going to get a better job than this.
Yesterday Minseok finally explained about the "the" in front of his librarian title. As a start, Chanyeol followed him into a secret dark chamber hidden behind big, tall racks of old book. That in itself was already the coolest thing Chanyeol has ever done in his life. "This is where you'll work," Minseok explained, waving around the place and leading Chanyeol around. "It's better if you don't touch anything, just keep these safe."
Apparently, having a workspace in a secret hidden chamber is not the most awesome part of his job-the things he has to keep safe are. What he thought was a replica of the Mjölnir turned out to be the actual Mjölnir. That sword stuck in a huge black rock in the middle of the room is the Excalibur. Chanyeol initially refused to believe, but once he saw the blazing heat and blinding bright light in the corner of the chamber, securely placed in a glass cage made of God-knows-what, he chose to believe, because that is, no doubt, the actual Chariot of Fire. Chanyeol is The Librarian-guardian of all those things he once thought were merely myths.
"Good morning, Minseok hyung," Chanyeol greets, returning to the reality in which his job is amazing but his boss isn't. "Enjoy your coffee!" he adds a gentle pat on Minseok's back, because he assumes that it's what the nature of their relationship should be-mentor and mentee should be close and comfortable with each other, no?
Minseok stares at him, sipping on his coffee. "You should keep in mind," he states, tapping his fingers on the table impatiently, as if Chanyeol is the one getting on his nerves. He points a finger back and forth between the two of them. "In this relationship, I am a master and you are my slave."
Chanyeol chews on his bottom lip and retreats to his desk. So much for bonding over coffee.
*
As fascinating as magical relics are, they get old pretty fast. The guarding part, with no one trying to steal or destroy the artifacts, is basically Chanyeol sitting on his desk being bored to death. He fills his days with making documents and learning about the artifacts, creating a comprehensive archive on them, but with his ability to read over ten thousand words per minute, it's done within his first week in the job.
"Well, good for you," comments Minseok unenthusiastically when Chanyeol reports this astonishing accomplishment. "Go play in the park or something, I'll call you when I have things for you to do," Minseok dismisses him.
A part of Chanyeol wants to protest, because this job pays quite well and he doesn't want to feel guilty for wasting his time not doing anything, but then again any time away from Minseok should be treasured. Chanyeol decides on a trip to the library's gift shop-it's recreational enough, yet he can still reason that it's for research purposes. Besides, he needs to buy his mum and Luhan something to remind them that he is now employed.
The souvenir shop is a bright, colorful place compared to the rest of Seoul Metropolitan Library. It's located near the entrance, two stories below where Chanyeol's office is. The place is pretty much empty, but one thing catches Chanyeol's attention-next to the door there is a big, red sign saying Kim Minseok Keep Away. Chanyeol loves this place already.
Chanyeol browses through racks of tacky t-shirts and ugly key chains, desperately looking for something that Luhan wouldn't throw away at first glance. Just as he's about to give up and buy Luhan an i love SML t-shirt, someone taps him on the back. Chanyeol turns around to see a guy with wavy brown hair and a friendly face looking at him. His lips are curled up in the corners, smiling as he awkwardly greets Chanyeol.
"You know, this section here is more designed for tourists," the guy comments. "You probably will like the stuff over there better," he adds, pointing to a corner of the shop that Chanyeol initially thought was the stockroom.
"Those are for sale?" Chanyeol blurts when he sees the piles of mess behind a glass separator that supposedly are more interesting stuff.
The guy laughs, and his eyes turn into crescents, making it easier for Chanyeol to see his long lashes. Chanyeol doesn't think he's supposed to notice this much details about a guy he's just met but this guy is so cute. "Yeah, I keep telling Joonmyun hyung to clean things up but he won't listen," he tells Chanyeol. Chanyeol has no idea who Joonmyun is, or who this person talking to him is, for that matter, but when the guy motions for him to come along to the room, Chanyeol finds himself following. "Ah, I haven't introduced myself," the guy finally realizes when they go past a rack of notebooks with huge Seoul Metropolitan Library crests on the fronts. "I'm Jongdae."
It's nice to finally have something to call him by other than the guy. "Chanyeol," he replies, shaking Jongdae's hand.
The room is messier than it looks from behind the glass wall. Thick books are stacked in random places and racks are full of thingamabobs. But Chanyeol's eyes light up at everything in there, because is that a blueprint of the White House? Those are old won bills that Chanyeol has only seen from pictures on the internet! That in the corner is the first edition of-
"Pretty great, right?" Jongdae snickers at Chanyeol's awed expression. Chanyeol tries to collect himself but really, he's tearing up. This is the most magnificent place he's ever been in. Well, aside from his office, that is-his office is pretty cool. He continues browsing around the racks and racks of awesome. "I can tell that you're someone who can appreciate stuff like this!"
"Wow, a customer!" a voice comes from behind the counter, the only dusty place in the room, because everything else, despite being supposedly historical and most probably ancient, are in top condition. "Welcome, welcome!"
Chanyeol looks up from where he's crouching in front of a set of old silverwares, and he thinks this place must be heaven. First there's the no Minseok thing, then the cute friendly stranger, and now, this. A gorgeous, blond haired guy with pretty eyes and even prettier smile, who, Chanyeol knows this from the nametag, turns out to be the keeper of this amazing place. "I'm Joonmyun," the new stranger tells Chanyeol. "I hope you enjoy this place?"
Chanyeol can feel himself grinning. "Oh, you have no idea."
*
The library's gift shop has become Chanyeol's safe haven, but the bitter truth is that he still works for the devil incarnate. "Chanyeol," Minseok calls him this morning, looking more stern than usual-if that's possible. He points on a seat in front of him and gestures for Chanyeol to sit down. "You've shown impressive work so far," Minseok comments after letting out a deep breath, as if admitting to Chanyeol being impressive is the hardest thing he's ever done in his life. It probably is.
Chanyeol grins anyway-he's very proud about the fact that Minseok has somewhat warmed up to him. He doesn't look at Chanyeol with disgust in his face anymore, he lets Chanyeol touch him from time to time, and also, he apparently can smile. A little. "Thank you," Chanyeol replies.
Minseok holds a paper folder tightly, looking hesitant before finally opening it and taking some papers out of it. "It's time for your first field assignment," he continues seriously, spreading out the papers on the table in front of Chanyeol.
Naturally, Chanyeol's heart starts beating faster and faster. Field assignment sounds very important-this is exciting. He looks up at Minseok in anticipation. Where could it be? Berlin? Stockholm? Maybe Brazil? Ooh, what if AMERICAAA?
"You will be picking up a relic called the Heartstone," Minseok explains, pointing at a picture of what looks like a stone, shaped like a heart. Such inspired name. He slides another piece of paper to Chanyeol, where three lines of text are written in Hangul. "And this is the address."
Chanyeol picks up the small piece of paper and reads it out loud. There must be some kind of mistake. "But this is.. just three blocks from here?" he asks Minseok with furrowed eyebrows. What about America?
Minseok sighs. "It is," he replies, traces of a smirk start appearing in his face. "Do you think you can handle it?"
Chanyeol crumples the piece of paper into a ball and throws it at Minseok. "I hate you."
Minseok cackles. Apparently, he can cackle. "I know."
*
The piece of artifact feels lighter than he thought, and Chanyeol holds it carefully in his hands. "You shouldn't activate it," he remembers Minseok warned him this morning. Chanyeol has read pretty much everything there is to know about the Heartstone-its effects, how to use it, known use over time. He's learned that if you grip it with both hands and go down on both knees, the stone will guide you to your perfect match. Chanyeol can't really say that he believes that. "Never use these powerful, magical relics for your personal gain," Minseok told him wisely. Chanyeol knows it's just his way to tell Chanyeol not to mess around with the artifacts like he almost did with the Pandora box.
He wonders, though. It's really easy to use the Heartstone. It's also harmless. Chanyeol doesn't even believe in the whole soulmate concept-he's just testing the artifact, making sure it's real. That should be part of his job, right?
Those reasoning and justification are probably why he's now on his knees, holding the piece of heart-shaped stone in both hands. He looks behind to make sure that Minseok isn't there to stop him from seeing the thing that will supposedly guide him to his happily ever after. It's safe. Minseok isn't around. Chanyeol tightens his grip on the stone. It should work now.
It's a lot more chaotic than Chanyeol expected-bright hot-pink light surges out of the stone, filling up the room. He can hear a slow, jazzy music playing in the background. Light pink smoke covers Chanyeol around his head and he starts seeing tiny little hearts and stars flying around him. This has got to be the corniest artifact there is.
Chanyeol sees bright light, and there's a view of his office. A huge letter J floats everywhere around him before the picture moves, taking him on a walk in first-person point of view. For an artifact this thing works in such a modern way. The movie-like picture takes him on a trip outside of his office and to the gift shop downstairs. Chanyeol frowns as the man in the picture opens the door and goes towards the glass separator in the middle.
"What the hell are you doing?!" a voice scolds from behind him, causing Chanyeol to jerk upwards and stand up immediately. The smoke dissipates and the light dims before disappearing completely, along with Chanyeol's hope of seeing his soulmate-not that he believes in this stuff. These things are totally bogus.
Minseok is standing by the doorframe, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looks like a furious hamster. "I told you not to use the things we have here for personal gain," he snaps, stomping towards Chanyeol and snatching the Heartstone away. He looks at Chanyeol threateningly before walking out of his office. "I'm keeping this."
*
Not that he believes in the Heartsone-thingy, but after seeing those visions, Chanyeol finds himself staring at Jongdae and then at Joonmyun and back at Jongdae every time he spends time with them in the library's gift shop-he's smart enough to figure out that much. The letter J, souvenir shop-surely his alleged 'perfect match' is one of these two.
He starts noticing tiny little details about the two of them, like the way Joonmyun presses tip of his thumb on his lips before flipping the pages of a book, making his pink lips look thicker and more sinful than anything should ever be. Or the way Jongdae musses his hair approximately every five hundred and sixty seven seconds on Mondays through Wednesdays, and every seven hundred and twenty one seconds on Thursdays and Fridays, except when the temperature is above 25 degrees. He ruffles his hair every four hundred and ten seconds on hotter days.
Chanyeol doesn't know much about relationships, but he has a master in psychology, and what he's doing can easily be categorized into obsession. This is not good.
"Something bugging you?" Joonmyun's voice snaps Chanyeol out of his deep critical thinking and making him jump a little. Joonmyun looks at him with concern, placing a hand on Chanyeol's arm and oh my god not a single person on earth should have a hand that soft.
"Uh," Chanyeol stutters. You. Yeah, you're bugging me. Also Jongdae. Your very existences bug the hell out of me because I'm not supposed to believe this but we might be soulmates, you know? "Nope, I'm okay. Peachy," Chanyeol replies hurriedly before his brain to mouth filter stops working.
Joonmyun frowns at him, but in the end he just smiles and walks away to his post behind the counter, picking up a thick book and starts reading-complete with that annoying lip touching habit of his. Chanyeol really needs to get out of here.
"Hey," Jongdae calls out to him and flings an arm around him and no, no, no this is too much body heat to handle. What is wrong with these people? "Where are you going? Joonmyun hyung is expecting a package of new stuff in an hour or so!" Jongdae exclaims excitedly, pressing his body closer to Chanyeol with each words. Chanyeol wants to explode. "Stay! It should be fun!"
"Uh," Chanyeol stutters once more. This place used to be so peaceful and pleasant. Now it's just him daydreaming about Joonmyun's lush lips and Jongdae's soft, soft hair. This is a problem. "I really need to go, uh," Chanyeol tries to make something up. Surely one of those eight master's degrees can help him out. "Work. Stuff." Lame.
Jongdae furrows his eyebrows in suspicion, but ends up smiling his kittenish smile. "Good luck then," he says, patting Chanyeol on the back, "With your work stuff." He walks away towards Joonmyun, running a hand through his hair, which looks so soft and fluffy and all Chanyeol wants is to brush it all day with Jongdae lying on his lap.
Chanyeol really needs to get out of here.
*
He has no complaints about his amazing job, but truthfully, Sundays are the best. He sits on his table in Luhan's coffee shop, pretending to read the newspaper when in truth he's just going back and forth between thinking of Joonmyun and thinking of Jongdae. He pulls out his hair out of frustration when for the tenth time in a row he misread Sunday as Jundae, which, you know, is a mix of Joonmyun and Jongdae. This. Is. A. Problem.
"Hey, libraryboy, what's eating you?" Luhan is still bothersome even after Chanyeol started missing their weekday morning chats because he has work. Also, libraryboy isn't even a word.
However, Chanyeol has to admit that Luhan is more advanced than he is in the topic of social situations. This problem Chanyeol is having is surely a social situation. "Hyung, what do you think about chasing two guys at once?"
Luhan smirks almost instantly. "Interesting," he comments, gripping his coffee mug tight in his hands and taking a sip from it. For dramatic pause, Chanyeol can imagine Luhan saying. They've definitely been friends for too long. "Is it the Minseok guy from work? He sounds so hot every time you tell me about him," Luhan gushes.
"Ew, no," Chanyeol replies with a scowl. What part of his work stories can possibly indicate that Minseok is hot? Then again, this is Luhan-they never really share the same view about guys. Or anything in general, really. How they became friends is still the biggest mystery of Chanyeol's life.
Luhan keeps staring at him with a strange sneer on his face, probably hoping that Chanyeol will cave in and mention a name or two about these guys he wants to chase. Not a chance. He eventually gets bored with staring and answers Chanyeol's question. "I'd pick one," Luhan replies. Chanyeol looks at him for explanation. "Two-timing is always tricky, I don't recommend it," Luhan continues wisely, "Especially since you're an amateur."
Amateur is a very triggering word for Chanyeol-it makes him want to prove Luhan wrong and make him believe that Chanyeol can do this. But Chanyeol swallows his pride because it's pretty obvious that he is an amateur at this relationship thing.
Pick one it is.
*
Chanyeol is really good at math. He knows that both Joonmyun and Jongdae have a fifty percent chance of being his soulmate. One date is all it takes to confirm-one date to find them, one date to bring them all in. If the date flops, then the one he doesn't take on the date is the one destined for him. This is a foolproof plan.
Again, it's not that he believes in the whole soulmate stuff-he just has a really high level of curiosity on how this plays out.
As non-scientific as it sounds, Chanyeol ends up choosing Joonmyun through the flip of a coin. Luhan has taught him a thing or two about how to ask guys out on a date, and Chanyeol has come to the souvenir shop today fully prepared. Confidence, he remembers Luhan saying. Do not stutter. Look him right in the eye. "Uhm, Joonmyun," Chanyeol calls, knocking on the counter.
Joonmyun looks up from his book in the middle of flipping a page, which means his thumb is on his lips and all kinds of concentration Chanyeol supposedly have flies away from his body. Can I interest you in a dinner with me, Luhan's voice echoes inside his mind. "Are you interesting enough to have dinner with me?" Chanyeol asks. Wait, that doesn't sound right.
Joonmyun certainly doesn't think that it sound right either. "What's that, now?"
"Can I be interesting enough to dinner you?" Chanyeol tries again. And fails again, he assumes. What does dinner you even mean? This surely isn't supposed to be that hard. "Can I have you for dinner?" Well, that makes him sound like a cannibal. But at least grammatically correct.
"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying," Joonmyun replies, raising an eyebrow. He's put away his book and stares at Chanyeol with his chin rested on both hands, leaning forward on the counter. He smiles in amusement at Chanyeol's struggle.
Chanyeol clears his throat. "Can I," he slows down. Maybe that'll help. "Uh, can I," he repeats. "Can I-"
"Chanyeol wants to take you out to dinner, hyung," Jongdae comes out of nowhere and grins next to Chanyeol, putting him out of his misery. Chanyeol looks at him and starts exaggeratedly mouthing thank you thank you thank you. Jongdae laughs at him. "Have fun, you two," he comments with a wave before walking to examining a new package of an old world map Joonmyun has just received this morning.
Joonmyun tilts his head at Chanyeol, blinking cutely. "Well, why didn't you say so," he teases. Chanyeol can feel his face heating up. He probably looks pathetic, because a couple seconds later Joonmyun is laughing and touching Chanyeol's arm, saying, "Sure, Chanyeol, just text me the details."
*
These are the details, planned carefully and written down in Chanyeol's notebook alongside a checklist of the things he has to prepare. First, a pretty bouquet of red roses to steal his attention and win his affection. Next is a nice, romantic dinner at a fancy yet affordable restaurant, and finally, a walk in the park, with the bright starry sky above them, and Chanyeol's hand around Joonmyun's shoulder to keep them both warm. Perfect.
He finds Joonmyun already seated in their table, looking fantastic in black shirt and red tie, with his hair swept to one side. Joonmyun waves at him when he enters the restaurant and Chanyeol checks his look one more time before taking big strides towards his seat. He reaches their table and sits down before extending one hand to give Joonmyun the flowers. This is perfect.
Except Joonmyun's eyes grow wide and he starts sneezing.
"I'm allergic-" Joonmyun rubs a finger on his red nose and lets out another sneeze, "to flowers."
Chanyeol can hear his heart breaking, because that is so sad. How can anyone be deprived of the beauties that are flowers? Such a tragic life Joonmyun's leading. "Ah, it's okay, it's okay, I'm sorry," Chanyeol stammers, hurriedly shoving the flower under his seat and away from Joonmyun's face. "I didn't know."
It takes another minute for Joonmyun to collect himself (It's ok- achoo- kay, this will just- achoo- take another- achoo- minute), and Chanyeol can finally stop feeling so guilty for almost murdering his date with a bouquet of roses. He raises his hand to place an order and a waiter comes just as he's finished reading the menu. "Would you like to order now?"
Chanyeol frowns and looks up to find a familiar face greeting him. "Jongdae?"
Jongdae grins, looking adorable in his white shirt and black bowtie. "Hello," he says. He turns to Joonmyun, sending him a concerned glance that is met by a sheepish smile from the older guy. "Hi, hyung," he greets. "You okay there?"
"Allergy," replies Joonmyun. "Chanyeol got me flowers."
Jongdae clicks his tongue. "Should've asked me first," he tells Chanyeol, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You know, I tried to give him lilies once, he sneezed to no end," Jongdae says, covering his mouth as if not wanting Joonmyun to hear. Chanyeol blinks at him, still confused about the fact that his waiter is Jongdae. "And to think that he works at that dusty counter."
"Do not insult my workplace," Joonmyun retorts threateningly, although it's hardly threatening when he looks so soft and delicate and angelic and beautiful. Jongdae grins cutely at him.
"Anyway, I should take your order before my boss fire me," Jongdae says, lifting his notebook and pen. He straightens up his pose and clears his throat, behaving with overdramatic professionalism. "So, gentlemen, what can I get you?"
Joonmyun laughs and stares at Chanyeol. "You decide," he says.
"Do you have a chef's recommendation or something?" Chanyeol asks Jongdae pleadingly. Honestly, he's really bad at decision making. Picking a menu for two will definitely be a thousand times worse than trying to choose college classes.
"Would you like me to surprise you, then?" Jongdae challenges the both of them with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Chanyeol looks at Joonmyun for confirmation. Joonmyun replies with a shrug and a smile, so Chanyeol turns to Jongdae, and, "Yeah, sure, surprise sounds nice."
*
The surprise Jongdae picked for him is, indeed, very nice. Chanyeol enjoys every single bite of his meal. Joonmyun, however, looks like he's having a hard time swallowing. "Are you okay?" Chanyeol asks. He doesn't know much about dates, but it's pretty apparent that this one isn't going so well.
Joonmyun forces a smile. "It's okay," he replies, and ultimately putting down his fork and knife. He pushes his plate away and Chanyeol holds back the urge to ask mind if I finish that, because damn that dish tasted so good but he doesn't want to look like a starving pig. "It just doesn't suit my taste, that's all," Joonmyun explains.
"Do you want to order something else?" Chanyeol asks tentatively. He knows hunger makes people cranky, and as much as Chanyeol doubts that Joonmyun is capable of being even remotely grumpy, he really doesn't want to test it out.
Joonmyun shakes his head and smiles softly. "It's okay," he repeats. He reaches out his hand across the table to take Chanyeol's hand in his. "Let's just talk," he says, giving Chanyeol another reassuring smile and a squeeze on his hand. "So. How hard is it to work with Minseok?"
"I'm just glad I haven't strangled him to death," Chanyeol laughs before realizing how homicidal that makes him sound. Thankfully Joonmyun looks back at him with an understanding expression, which reminds Chanyeol of something. "How did that Kim-Minseok-keep-away thing happened?" he asks.
"He irritates me most of the time," Joonmyun answers with an airy laugh. Chanyeol realizes then that he hasn't seen much of Joonmyun's laugh. It's beautiful. "We're best friends since high school," explains Joonmyun. In Chanyeol's opinion it's almost impossible for anyone like Joonmyun to be acquainted to someone like Minseok, but he silently assumes that life works in mysterious ways. "Got the job at the library together, too."
Chanyeol keeps quiet as Joonmyun pauses to take a sip of his wine. "Oh, and he flipped when I told him you asked me out on a date," Joonmyun tells him excitedly, as if Minseok's wrath for Chanyeol is something amusing. "Kept saying I can't be your soulmate and stuff like that, he's probably mad at you right now."
Chanyeol flinches at the thought of a mad Minseok, accidentally knocking over Joonmyun's glass of wine straight to his lap. "Shit," he mutters, quickly fetching a tissue and leaning forward to dab on Joonmyun's clothes with it. The table unexpectedly tilts towards Joonmyun's direction, causing everything that's still on the table, including Chanyeol's wine and Joonmyun's unfinished plate of food, to fall on Joonmyun. Chanyeol can feel colors draining from his face as he stands there, frozen, seeing Joonmyun covered in all kinds of things Chanyeol wishes he could lick off of him. "Shit."
"Uh-" Joonmyun looks a little red. Whether he's mad, or embarrassed, Chanyeol doesn't really know, but it really doesn't matter. He already knows this date is over. Chanyeol can see Joonmyun sighing deeply before standing up-his shirt, and tie, and light brown slacks stained with red wine and mushroom sauce. "I think I have to leave," he announces.
Chanyeol stares at him apologetically, jaw slacked and at a loss of words. "I'll walk you home," he offers finally, standing up from his seat.
Joonmyun holds out a hand and pushes Chanyeol back to his seat. "No, Chanyeol," he sighs, putting his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. "I think we both know this date isn't working," he tells Chanyeol with a sincere smile. Even with his clothes smeared with food and wine, Joonmyun still manages to look so gorgeous, it's unfair. "See you at the library?"
He walks away before Chanyeol can answer. Chanyeol leans back on his seat, defeated, and he mutters to himself, "Yeah, see you."
*
It's probably best that Joonmyun's home already. Because even if he isn't, part three of the date, which was supposed to be a walk in the park under the starry sky, will still flop. Rain is pouring since the moment Chanyeol steps out of the restaurant, and Chanyeol feels like it will be too melancholic if he walks home in the rain. He sits down on a bench on the sidewalk nearby, hands inside his coat pocket and the bouquet of roses Joonmyun rejected earlier sitting next to him.
Chanyeol doesn't have a good track record in dating. He only dated once before, that one time during college-his first college, before he decided that studying and books and lectures are ultimately more interesting than guys. But he honestly didn't expect to be this bad at dating. Everything he's planned for today is basically ruined, in various degrees of failure. This is devastating.
"Hey, you," Jongdae's face comes into his vision, bending his body sideways to be on Chanyeol's eye level. "Where's Joonmyun hyung?"
"He ditched me," Chanyeol replies bitterly.
"Wow, Joonmyun hyung ditched you," Jongdae comments teasingly, "You must have been a really awful date."
That's true. He must have been pretty awful for a man as nice as Joonmyun to ditch him. Chanyeol laughs sadly. "I guess," he mumbles. He picks up the flower from the seat beside him and gestures for Jongdae to sit down. "Sulk with me?"
Jongdae takes his seat with a hearty laugh. He holds puts his arm around Chanyeol's shoulder and pulls him to a side-hug. "I'm joking," he says, rubbing Chanyeol's arm. He looks at Chanyeol with his adorable smile and Chanyeol weakly smiles back. "I'm sure you're not that bad, I mean," Jongdae nods at the bouquet on Chanyeol's lap. "You at least have a great taste in flowers."
Chanyeol lifts up the bouquet and examines it. He picks out some of the flowers that don't look as pretty as the rest and hands the bouquet to Jongdae. "For you, then," he says, smiling.
"Ooh," Jongdae teases, accepting the flowers and bringing them close to his nose to sniff on it. He doesn't sneeze. Thank God. "Does this mean we're on a date, now?" Jongdae asks with a grin.
That caught him off guard. "Uh," Chanyeol mumbles. All of a sudden the fifty-fifty theory he's been forgetting throughout his unsuccessful date comes back to his mind. If Joonmyun isn't the one destined for Chanyeol, which considering the date, he obviously isn't, then Jongdae is his soulmate. Not that Chanyeol believes in that stuff or anything. "Sure, if you want to," Chanyeol finally says. This is great. If the date with Jongdae also doesn't work, Chanyeol will just give himself a pat on the back because, see, soulmates aren't real.
"I'm not sure I'm up for it," Jongdae trails, rubbing his fingers on his chin. "You see, I don't like being second choice," he pouts cutely. He raises the bouquet in his hand. "But I'll take the flowers."
As if on cue, the rain stops drizzling and the sky clears up. "Ah, I should go home," Jongdae comments immediately, standing up from his seat. "You should go, too."
Chanyeol isn't really sure where the courage comes from, but he stands up next to Jongdae. "I'll walk you home," he says, earning him an intrigued look from Jongdae. "Not a date," Chanyeol confirms with both hands on the air. "Just-walking you home. Under a starry sky."
"With a bouquet of roses on my hand," Jongdae adds.
"With a bouquet of roses on your hand," Chanyeol repeats, laughing.
Jongdae tilts his head, thinking. "It really doesn't sound like a date," he finally says, chuckling. He walks forward and pulls Chanyeol by his sleeve. "Let's go, then."
*
It's not a date. Just him and Jongdae, walking side by side towards Jongdae's apartment, with a bright starry sky above them and a bouquet of roses on Jongdae's hand. They chat and banter easily-Chanyeol doesn't normally talk much, but with Jongdae words come out naturally.
It's not a date, but it's nice.
His hand accidentally brushes Jongdae's from time to time, until, they brush way too many times and it gets too much not to do anything about it. Chanyeol still doesn't know where the courage comes from, but he's glad that it's there. He takes Jongdae's hand, and when Jongdae doesn't pull away, laces their fingers together.
"Not a date, huh?" Jongdae asks, amused.
"Not a date," Chanyeol confirms, smiling softly at Jongdae.
They turn at a corner of the street, still hand in hand, and Jongdae stops in front of a high apartment building. "This is me," he says, almost sounding regretful. He still holds Chanyeol's hand tightly. "So. See you at the library?"
Chanyeol has a lot of courage tonight. He still doesn't know where it comes from, but he leans in and presses his lips on Jongdae's, letting out a sigh of relief as Jongdae reciprocates. Chanyeol closes his eyes to enjoy the moment, moving his hand up to cup Jongdae's face and rub his thumb on Jongdae's cheek. "Is it still not a date?" Jongdae whispers in between the kiss.
"Uh-uh," Chanyeol replies, shaking his head slightly. Jongdae smiles to the kiss and pulls away, placing his hands on Chanyeol's shoulder and keeping their faces close. He raises one eyebrow as a way of asking how come. Chanyeol slides his hands down to Jongdae's waist, hugging him close. "I'll take you on a proper date later."
"There's later?" Jongdae questions, smiling in amusement.
"I hope so."
Jongdae stares at him, thinking with his head tilted to one side, and he looks absolutely adorable. "There's later," Jongdae finally approves.
It's possible that Chanyeol is starting to believe the whole soulmate concept. A little.
*
There's something different when Chanyeol walks into the souvenir shop this afternoon. There's Jongdae smiling fondly at him, greeting him with a hug and a peck on his cheek, of course. That's different. But there's also something else. Something Chanyeol can't quite pinpoint.
"Did Joonmyun hyung do something to the place?" Chanyeol asks finally. He looks around to find the cause for this unfamiliar feeling he has, but coming up with nothing. Jongdae puts on a playful smile and pulls Chanyeol towards Joonmyun's office as an answer. The place behind his counter is empty. "Where is he, anyway?"
Jongdae laughs as he nods toward a shelf full of books where two people are standing behind it, punching each other with their lips. It looks so obscene that Chanyeol almost wants to cover his eyes with both hands. Jongdae clears his throat loudly and the two break apart almost immediately. "Brace yourself," Jongdae whispers at Chanyeol.
Why should he-
"Minseok hyung?" Chanyeol shrieks, too loudly for the empty place. From behind the shelf come Joonmyun, whose lips are swollen, and Minseok-a blushing, very disheveled Kim Minseok, the very same person as Chanyeol's boss from upstairs. That's what's different, Chanyeol realizes. The Kim Minseok Keep Away sign, the sign that keeps this place safe-it wasn't there on the door anymore.
"But what- I mean- how-" Chanyeol blabbers, in a loss of words. Then he remembers Joonmyun talking about Minseok talking about soulmates and Chanyeol figures out the how. "What happened to we don't use relics for personal gain, hyung?"
Minseok shrugs. "The Heartstone wants what the Heartstone wants," he replies nonchalantly.
"You're such a hypocrite."
"Oh shut up, you still work for me."
pg-13 | ~8k
Chanyeol doesn't even believe in the whole soulmate concept-he's just testing the artifact, making sure it's real. That should be part of his job, right?
note: written for yeolliepopday, originally posted here
From: zhang.yixing@admissions.stfu.ac.kr
Subject: Fall 2014 Admission
University ID Number: 92112792
Program: MA Nuclear Technology and Engineering
Start Date: Sept 2014
Dear Mr. Park,
Thank you for your interest in our study program. We have reviewed your application for the above course and we are sorry to inform you that we can no longer accept you in any of our study programs. Although you are more than qualified to be admitted, it has been the board's decision to delegate your offer(s) to younger applicants with less academic qualifications. This decision is final and applies for any future applications.
Let it be known that we admire your love for education and that you are welcomed to try for a position of lecturer in the following semester.
I would appreciate it if you stop bothering me with questions, but should you have any emergency queries (and by this I mean things of extreme importance) please feel free to e-mail me.
Regards,
Prof. Zhang Yixing
Head of Admission
Department of Science and Engineering
Seoul Technology and Fashion University
There is a loud thud as Chanyeol snaps his laptop shut and bumps his head on the table. This is the first time he has ever been rejected for anything academic. Chanyeol never would have guessed that having multiple degrees would prohibit him from getting more, and now he's left with an entire semester with nothing to do. This is devastating.
"Hey, schoolboy," Luhan's voice is more annoying than ever this morning, Chanyeol thinks. He doesn't even need to look up to know that Luhan is wearing that annoying smirk on his face. Every day he wonders why he's best friends with Luhan. "What'd you apply for this time?"
Chanyeol groans. Summer holiday sucks and he really doesn't need a reminder of the wondrous study program he's supposed to be enrolled in for the next academic year. "Nuclear engineering," he answers anyway, sighing.
Luhan places a cup of caramel latte in front of Chanyeol before sitting down opposite from him. Ah right, this is why. The free coffee. "Fancy," Luhan responds, his bottom lip jutting out in mock-admiration. "Also dangerous, considering it's you," he adds with a scowl.
Chanyeol makes a noncommittal noise and sips on his coffee, spilling some on the front of his shirt as he chokes from the heat. This is his morning routine.
"You'd think all those time you spent in class would at least teach you how to drink coffee with elegance," Luhan mutters, shaking his head as he hands Chanyeol some tissue. "Apparently not."
"Shut up," Chanyeol mumbles. He's really not in the mood to have Luhan as his best friend. Especially now that he's got his coffee.
Luhan tilts his head and blinks, and Chanyeol would think that he looks adorable, except he's known Luhan for too long. He's not adorable. "Something's wrong," he states.
"Yeah, your wardrobe choices," Chanyeol retorts. This is not true-Luhan looks like someone straight off a fashion runway, but Chanyeol just really doesn't want to talk about what's wrong. Because what's wrong is that he's perfect for nuclear engineering but they won't let him enroll.
"Gee, if only you're not wearing what you're wearing I might probably be offended," Luhan snaps, causing Chanyeol to self-consciously stare down at his outfit. What's wrong with oversized shirt and baggy shorts? "So, spill, what's wrong?"
From the unfortunate half of his life being best friends with the guy, Chanyeol knows Luhan isn't going to drop this. "They rejected me," he sighs, "for having too many qualifications already."
Luhan snickers. "Yixing's finally fed up with you?" There is a pause when Chanyeol merely pouts, until Luhan adds, "That actually makes sense, though."
Why of course, Luhan is never that supportive about Chanyeol's love for education. "And why is that?" Chanyeol demands. It doesn't make sense at all, Chanyeol thinks. Everyone should be allowed to get proper education. Everyone should be allowed to learn nuclear engineering. It sounds like a beautiful study program.
"Come on, Chanyeol," Luhan retorts before sipping on his coffee. "Just how many degrees do you have already? Five?"
"Eight," Chanyeol corrects.
"That-is actually impressive, man, how do you do that? Don't you have a life?" Luhan splutters. Chanyeol begins to think of the possibility that Luhan never actually listens to anything he says, because how is he still shocked at this fact? He's been with Chanyeol the entire time. "Anyway," Luhan shakes his head, getting back to what he originally wanted to say. "Why would you need more?"
"I like studying!" is Chanyeol's obvious answer. Having gone through enough classes and graduations, Chanyeol definitely knows what he wants to do in life-he wants to study. Proving himself to be smart at tests, coming up with praise-worthy essays, getting straight-A's, isn't that what life is for? Chanyeol feels a surge of excitement just by thinking about it. This must be what they call passion. "And I'm really good at it!"
From the way Luhan is staring at him, Chanyeol knows that his answer doesn't satisfy his best friend. "I don't know, man, I think you should get a job," Luhan advises. "Make some money out of that brain."
It's the same thing his mum has been saying over and over again, every time Chanyeol comes home on a holiday, every time Chanyeol comes home with yet another new diploma. That's great, baby, but how about you get a job? Nothing would make Chanyeol happier than making his mum happy, but no job is exciting enough for him. Also, he has no confidence in doing things other than going to classes and getting perfect scores. "I'm only good at studying," he mutters.
Luhan scoffs. "You're at least good at programming," he comments. "I know you made that game! How else did you score 8192 in a game called 2048?"
"With patience and intelligence," Chanyeol replies immediately, earning a snort from Luhan. Chanyeol did make that game, but he got 8192 out of pure hard work. "I didn't cheat!"
An alarm beeps on Luhan's phone, distracting them from the current debate. Chanyeol notices the time and he knows it's already time for Luhan's morning briefing. It's still a wonder to Chanyeol how this coffee shop hasn't gone out of business, considering a person like Luhan runs it. But he's proud of Luhan for how well the place is doing-not that he'll ever say that out loud. "Not the point," Luhan says impatiently. He starts cleaning up the mugs from their table and stands up to leave. "You're more than qualified for any job in the world, really," he says, looking at Chanyeol with actual concern. "Just... you know, try something out?"
It doesn't happen often, this kind of Luhan. The caring, sincerely concerned Luhan. And when he does show this side of him, it's not possible for Chanyeol to say no.
"Fine."
*
The best thing about job hunting, Chanyeol decides, is filling up his CV. It feels amazing to be able to legally brag about all the academic achievement he's gotten and every single degree he's obtained. Master's Degree - Computer Science, Master's Degree - Mechanical Engineering, Master's Degree - Arts History, Master's Degree -
An annoying chorus of Call Me Maybe rings from his phone and Chanyeol cringes at the needy ringtone that Luhan has set for himself on Chanyeol's phone. Chanyeol contemplates not picking up, but that would risk Luhan coming all the way down to his apartment and that would definitely be worse. Chanyeol picks up the phone, and Carly Rae Jepsen's voice is replaced by Luhan's.
"Stop updating your CV," Luhan scolds instead of saying hello. They have probably been friends for too long-how did Luhan know what he's doing?
"How did you know-"
There's an impatient knock on his door and Chanyeol groans. It's 9 AM on a Sunday and he has deliberately deprived himself of coffee just to be free from Luhan. Obviously not working. "Open the door, I'm outside," Luhan demands. Chanyeol regrets everything.
Sighing, Chanyeol walks to his door and opens it to find Luhan beaming at him with two cups of coffees at hand. Luhan shoves one at Chanyeol and invites himself in, finding his place on the couch in front of the TV, and Chanyeol sighs some more. Well, at least he's got coffee. He takes a sip and chokes from the heat-his morning has officially started.
With the way Luhan is sitting smugly on his couch, Chanyeol can already tell that he's going to hate whatever Luhan has to say. "Say you love me," Luhan commands.
"Why would I-"
"Ah, ah, ah," Luhan raises a finger at Chanyeol, still looking smug. "Say you love me," Luhan repeats.
"You love me," Chanyeol deadpans.
Luhan pouts and Chanyeol laughs in victory. "I love you," he says finally when Luhan insistently keeps sulking. Luhan beams in an instant, and Chanyeol concludes that his friend is a toddler. "So why do I love you?"
With extreme enthusiasm, Luhan rummages his bag and Chanyeol easily catches on the excitement and starts jumping around and clapping-Luhan probably bought him one of those big encyclopedias he had been asking for. The anticipation dies a little when instead Luhan pulls out a white envelope with a big red crest of Seoul Metropolitan Library on the top left corner of it and Chanyeol's name on the center. He stares questioningly at Luhan, who is just grinning with his hand held out at Chanyeol, motioning for him to take the envelope. "Scored you an interview at the library," Luhan says proudly as Chanyeol rips the envelope open and reads the contents. Dear Mr. Park, We would like to invite you to attend an interview for a position as The Librarian. "That job screams you! Thick books! Ancient artifacts! Other geeky things!"
Chanyeol isn't really listening to Luhan anymore, busy with the letter on his hand. He only has three days to prepare for the interview, but everything in the letter feels so right. Do understand that it will be a very strict interview since we are only looking for the best of candidates, one with broad knowledge of various subjects. This is it, Chanyeol thinks, this is the job for him. He finishes the letter with a huge grin on his face, beaming at Luhan.
"I love you."
*
If the long line of people waiting and the increasing number of people leaving the room with sadness in their faces are any indication, Chanyeol isn't going to like this interview. He carefully makes his way inside the huge room, clutching his CV tightly in his hands. There's a man sitting behind a huge desk, sharply dressed in a suit. He doesn't look that much older than Chanyeol-possibly younger, even, with that cute face and chubby cheeks. "My name is Kim Minseok and I will be interviewing you," the man states, not looking up from the papers on his table. Chanyeol comes forward to hand him his CV. "I don't need that," Minseok says, holding up his hand. He gestures for Chanyeol to take the seat opposite from him.
"Why should we pick you as the librarian?" he questions as Chanyeol sits down, clasping both hands and staring at Chanyeol, looking intimidating despite his face. Chanyeol still doesn't get what the big deal is with being a librarian and why so many people applied for the position. In his case, he was definitely lured by the high requirement. The best candidate, one with broad knowledge of various subjects is how Chanyeol defines himself, after all.
Chanyeol clears his throat and anxiously answers, "I know a lot about books, and I enjoy them, so-"
This Minseok person is annoying, Chanyeol concludes, as he stops Chanyeol mid-sentence. "I'm sorry, Mister..." he doesn't even remember Chanyeol's name. This is insulting. "Ah, Mister Park. We're not looking for a librarian, here," he says.
"But I thought-"
"We're looking for the librarian," Minseok finishes. Chanyeol stares at him blankly-what the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't you have to be a librarian first before becoming the librarian? This person has no logic. "Either you impress me right now or stop wasting my time," Minseok waves his hand towards the door, returning to the stack of paper in front of him.
Chanyeol refuses to be labeled a waste of time. He examines Minseok for tiny little details that normal people would miss-this excessive cologne he's using, the wet ends of his hair, the small appointment notes on his calendar. "You go to gym every weekday morning, except on Tuesdays and Fridays," comments Chanyeol sharply, and Minseok instantly looks up from his papers, intrigued. Chanyeol looks around for more-the way Minseok squints a little when he looks at Chanyeol, the tiny brown stain on Minseok's tie and the plastic cups in his trash can. "You drink cold coffees in the morning. You forgot your glasses today," Chanyeol stops, observing Minseok's face. He's impressed, alright. "Did I waste your time?"
There is a pause when Chanyeol bravely stares right at Minseok, who seems to be carefully examining Chanyeol. Minseok finally picks up the phone on his desk. "Yeah, send everyone home," he says to the phone. Chanyeol grins widely. "I've got the one."
*
First day has to start with bonding over coffee, thinks Chanyeol as he holds a cup of cold cappuccino in one hand and his latte on the other. Minseok is already on his desk, and Chanyeol skips over to give him the coffee, which his boss takes with no change in expression whatsoever. Chanyeol heaves a deep sigh-Minseok is extremely annoying, but Chanyeol will face him patiently because there is no way he's going to get a better job than this.
Yesterday Minseok finally explained about the "the" in front of his librarian title. As a start, Chanyeol followed him into a secret dark chamber hidden behind big, tall racks of old book. That in itself was already the coolest thing Chanyeol has ever done in his life. "This is where you'll work," Minseok explained, waving around the place and leading Chanyeol around. "It's better if you don't touch anything, just keep these safe."
Apparently, having a workspace in a secret hidden chamber is not the most awesome part of his job-the things he has to keep safe are. What he thought was a replica of the Mjölnir turned out to be the actual Mjölnir. That sword stuck in a huge black rock in the middle of the room is the Excalibur. Chanyeol initially refused to believe, but once he saw the blazing heat and blinding bright light in the corner of the chamber, securely placed in a glass cage made of God-knows-what, he chose to believe, because that is, no doubt, the actual Chariot of Fire. Chanyeol is The Librarian-guardian of all those things he once thought were merely myths.
"Good morning, Minseok hyung," Chanyeol greets, returning to the reality in which his job is amazing but his boss isn't. "Enjoy your coffee!" he adds a gentle pat on Minseok's back, because he assumes that it's what the nature of their relationship should be-mentor and mentee should be close and comfortable with each other, no?
Minseok stares at him, sipping on his coffee. "You should keep in mind," he states, tapping his fingers on the table impatiently, as if Chanyeol is the one getting on his nerves. He points a finger back and forth between the two of them. "In this relationship, I am a master and you are my slave."
Chanyeol chews on his bottom lip and retreats to his desk. So much for bonding over coffee.
*
As fascinating as magical relics are, they get old pretty fast. The guarding part, with no one trying to steal or destroy the artifacts, is basically Chanyeol sitting on his desk being bored to death. He fills his days with making documents and learning about the artifacts, creating a comprehensive archive on them, but with his ability to read over ten thousand words per minute, it's done within his first week in the job.
"Well, good for you," comments Minseok unenthusiastically when Chanyeol reports this astonishing accomplishment. "Go play in the park or something, I'll call you when I have things for you to do," Minseok dismisses him.
A part of Chanyeol wants to protest, because this job pays quite well and he doesn't want to feel guilty for wasting his time not doing anything, but then again any time away from Minseok should be treasured. Chanyeol decides on a trip to the library's gift shop-it's recreational enough, yet he can still reason that it's for research purposes. Besides, he needs to buy his mum and Luhan something to remind them that he is now employed.
The souvenir shop is a bright, colorful place compared to the rest of Seoul Metropolitan Library. It's located near the entrance, two stories below where Chanyeol's office is. The place is pretty much empty, but one thing catches Chanyeol's attention-next to the door there is a big, red sign saying Kim Minseok Keep Away. Chanyeol loves this place already.
Chanyeol browses through racks of tacky t-shirts and ugly key chains, desperately looking for something that Luhan wouldn't throw away at first glance. Just as he's about to give up and buy Luhan an i love SML t-shirt, someone taps him on the back. Chanyeol turns around to see a guy with wavy brown hair and a friendly face looking at him. His lips are curled up in the corners, smiling as he awkwardly greets Chanyeol.
"You know, this section here is more designed for tourists," the guy comments. "You probably will like the stuff over there better," he adds, pointing to a corner of the shop that Chanyeol initially thought was the stockroom.
"Those are for sale?" Chanyeol blurts when he sees the piles of mess behind a glass separator that supposedly are more interesting stuff.
The guy laughs, and his eyes turn into crescents, making it easier for Chanyeol to see his long lashes. Chanyeol doesn't think he's supposed to notice this much details about a guy he's just met but this guy is so cute. "Yeah, I keep telling Joonmyun hyung to clean things up but he won't listen," he tells Chanyeol. Chanyeol has no idea who Joonmyun is, or who this person talking to him is, for that matter, but when the guy motions for him to come along to the room, Chanyeol finds himself following. "Ah, I haven't introduced myself," the guy finally realizes when they go past a rack of notebooks with huge Seoul Metropolitan Library crests on the fronts. "I'm Jongdae."
It's nice to finally have something to call him by other than the guy. "Chanyeol," he replies, shaking Jongdae's hand.
The room is messier than it looks from behind the glass wall. Thick books are stacked in random places and racks are full of thingamabobs. But Chanyeol's eyes light up at everything in there, because is that a blueprint of the White House? Those are old won bills that Chanyeol has only seen from pictures on the internet! That in the corner is the first edition of-
"Pretty great, right?" Jongdae snickers at Chanyeol's awed expression. Chanyeol tries to collect himself but really, he's tearing up. This is the most magnificent place he's ever been in. Well, aside from his office, that is-his office is pretty cool. He continues browsing around the racks and racks of awesome. "I can tell that you're someone who can appreciate stuff like this!"
"Wow, a customer!" a voice comes from behind the counter, the only dusty place in the room, because everything else, despite being supposedly historical and most probably ancient, are in top condition. "Welcome, welcome!"
Chanyeol looks up from where he's crouching in front of a set of old silverwares, and he thinks this place must be heaven. First there's the no Minseok thing, then the cute friendly stranger, and now, this. A gorgeous, blond haired guy with pretty eyes and even prettier smile, who, Chanyeol knows this from the nametag, turns out to be the keeper of this amazing place. "I'm Joonmyun," the new stranger tells Chanyeol. "I hope you enjoy this place?"
Chanyeol can feel himself grinning. "Oh, you have no idea."
*
The library's gift shop has become Chanyeol's safe haven, but the bitter truth is that he still works for the devil incarnate. "Chanyeol," Minseok calls him this morning, looking more stern than usual-if that's possible. He points on a seat in front of him and gestures for Chanyeol to sit down. "You've shown impressive work so far," Minseok comments after letting out a deep breath, as if admitting to Chanyeol being impressive is the hardest thing he's ever done in his life. It probably is.
Chanyeol grins anyway-he's very proud about the fact that Minseok has somewhat warmed up to him. He doesn't look at Chanyeol with disgust in his face anymore, he lets Chanyeol touch him from time to time, and also, he apparently can smile. A little. "Thank you," Chanyeol replies.
Minseok holds a paper folder tightly, looking hesitant before finally opening it and taking some papers out of it. "It's time for your first field assignment," he continues seriously, spreading out the papers on the table in front of Chanyeol.
Naturally, Chanyeol's heart starts beating faster and faster. Field assignment sounds very important-this is exciting. He looks up at Minseok in anticipation. Where could it be? Berlin? Stockholm? Maybe Brazil? Ooh, what if AMERICAAA?
"You will be picking up a relic called the Heartstone," Minseok explains, pointing at a picture of what looks like a stone, shaped like a heart. Such inspired name. He slides another piece of paper to Chanyeol, where three lines of text are written in Hangul. "And this is the address."
Chanyeol picks up the small piece of paper and reads it out loud. There must be some kind of mistake. "But this is.. just three blocks from here?" he asks Minseok with furrowed eyebrows. What about America?
Minseok sighs. "It is," he replies, traces of a smirk start appearing in his face. "Do you think you can handle it?"
Chanyeol crumples the piece of paper into a ball and throws it at Minseok. "I hate you."
Minseok cackles. Apparently, he can cackle. "I know."
*
The piece of artifact feels lighter than he thought, and Chanyeol holds it carefully in his hands. "You shouldn't activate it," he remembers Minseok warned him this morning. Chanyeol has read pretty much everything there is to know about the Heartstone-its effects, how to use it, known use over time. He's learned that if you grip it with both hands and go down on both knees, the stone will guide you to your perfect match. Chanyeol can't really say that he believes that. "Never use these powerful, magical relics for your personal gain," Minseok told him wisely. Chanyeol knows it's just his way to tell Chanyeol not to mess around with the artifacts like he almost did with the Pandora box.
He wonders, though. It's really easy to use the Heartstone. It's also harmless. Chanyeol doesn't even believe in the whole soulmate concept-he's just testing the artifact, making sure it's real. That should be part of his job, right?
Those reasoning and justification are probably why he's now on his knees, holding the piece of heart-shaped stone in both hands. He looks behind to make sure that Minseok isn't there to stop him from seeing the thing that will supposedly guide him to his happily ever after. It's safe. Minseok isn't around. Chanyeol tightens his grip on the stone. It should work now.
It's a lot more chaotic than Chanyeol expected-bright hot-pink light surges out of the stone, filling up the room. He can hear a slow, jazzy music playing in the background. Light pink smoke covers Chanyeol around his head and he starts seeing tiny little hearts and stars flying around him. This has got to be the corniest artifact there is.
Chanyeol sees bright light, and there's a view of his office. A huge letter J floats everywhere around him before the picture moves, taking him on a walk in first-person point of view. For an artifact this thing works in such a modern way. The movie-like picture takes him on a trip outside of his office and to the gift shop downstairs. Chanyeol frowns as the man in the picture opens the door and goes towards the glass separator in the middle.
"What the hell are you doing?!" a voice scolds from behind him, causing Chanyeol to jerk upwards and stand up immediately. The smoke dissipates and the light dims before disappearing completely, along with Chanyeol's hope of seeing his soulmate-not that he believes in this stuff. These things are totally bogus.
Minseok is standing by the doorframe, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looks like a furious hamster. "I told you not to use the things we have here for personal gain," he snaps, stomping towards Chanyeol and snatching the Heartstone away. He looks at Chanyeol threateningly before walking out of his office. "I'm keeping this."
*
Not that he believes in the Heartsone-thingy, but after seeing those visions, Chanyeol finds himself staring at Jongdae and then at Joonmyun and back at Jongdae every time he spends time with them in the library's gift shop-he's smart enough to figure out that much. The letter J, souvenir shop-surely his alleged 'perfect match' is one of these two.
He starts noticing tiny little details about the two of them, like the way Joonmyun presses tip of his thumb on his lips before flipping the pages of a book, making his pink lips look thicker and more sinful than anything should ever be. Or the way Jongdae musses his hair approximately every five hundred and sixty seven seconds on Mondays through Wednesdays, and every seven hundred and twenty one seconds on Thursdays and Fridays, except when the temperature is above 25 degrees. He ruffles his hair every four hundred and ten seconds on hotter days.
Chanyeol doesn't know much about relationships, but he has a master in psychology, and what he's doing can easily be categorized into obsession. This is not good.
"Something bugging you?" Joonmyun's voice snaps Chanyeol out of his deep critical thinking and making him jump a little. Joonmyun looks at him with concern, placing a hand on Chanyeol's arm and oh my god not a single person on earth should have a hand that soft.
"Uh," Chanyeol stutters. You. Yeah, you're bugging me. Also Jongdae. Your very existences bug the hell out of me because I'm not supposed to believe this but we might be soulmates, you know? "Nope, I'm okay. Peachy," Chanyeol replies hurriedly before his brain to mouth filter stops working.
Joonmyun frowns at him, but in the end he just smiles and walks away to his post behind the counter, picking up a thick book and starts reading-complete with that annoying lip touching habit of his. Chanyeol really needs to get out of here.
"Hey," Jongdae calls out to him and flings an arm around him and no, no, no this is too much body heat to handle. What is wrong with these people? "Where are you going? Joonmyun hyung is expecting a package of new stuff in an hour or so!" Jongdae exclaims excitedly, pressing his body closer to Chanyeol with each words. Chanyeol wants to explode. "Stay! It should be fun!"
"Uh," Chanyeol stutters once more. This place used to be so peaceful and pleasant. Now it's just him daydreaming about Joonmyun's lush lips and Jongdae's soft, soft hair. This is a problem. "I really need to go, uh," Chanyeol tries to make something up. Surely one of those eight master's degrees can help him out. "Work. Stuff." Lame.
Jongdae furrows his eyebrows in suspicion, but ends up smiling his kittenish smile. "Good luck then," he says, patting Chanyeol on the back, "With your work stuff." He walks away towards Joonmyun, running a hand through his hair, which looks so soft and fluffy and all Chanyeol wants is to brush it all day with Jongdae lying on his lap.
Chanyeol really needs to get out of here.
*
He has no complaints about his amazing job, but truthfully, Sundays are the best. He sits on his table in Luhan's coffee shop, pretending to read the newspaper when in truth he's just going back and forth between thinking of Joonmyun and thinking of Jongdae. He pulls out his hair out of frustration when for the tenth time in a row he misread Sunday as Jundae, which, you know, is a mix of Joonmyun and Jongdae. This. Is. A. Problem.
"Hey, libraryboy, what's eating you?" Luhan is still bothersome even after Chanyeol started missing their weekday morning chats because he has work. Also, libraryboy isn't even a word.
However, Chanyeol has to admit that Luhan is more advanced than he is in the topic of social situations. This problem Chanyeol is having is surely a social situation. "Hyung, what do you think about chasing two guys at once?"
Luhan smirks almost instantly. "Interesting," he comments, gripping his coffee mug tight in his hands and taking a sip from it. For dramatic pause, Chanyeol can imagine Luhan saying. They've definitely been friends for too long. "Is it the Minseok guy from work? He sounds so hot every time you tell me about him," Luhan gushes.
"Ew, no," Chanyeol replies with a scowl. What part of his work stories can possibly indicate that Minseok is hot? Then again, this is Luhan-they never really share the same view about guys. Or anything in general, really. How they became friends is still the biggest mystery of Chanyeol's life.
Luhan keeps staring at him with a strange sneer on his face, probably hoping that Chanyeol will cave in and mention a name or two about these guys he wants to chase. Not a chance. He eventually gets bored with staring and answers Chanyeol's question. "I'd pick one," Luhan replies. Chanyeol looks at him for explanation. "Two-timing is always tricky, I don't recommend it," Luhan continues wisely, "Especially since you're an amateur."
Amateur is a very triggering word for Chanyeol-it makes him want to prove Luhan wrong and make him believe that Chanyeol can do this. But Chanyeol swallows his pride because it's pretty obvious that he is an amateur at this relationship thing.
Pick one it is.
*
Chanyeol is really good at math. He knows that both Joonmyun and Jongdae have a fifty percent chance of being his soulmate. One date is all it takes to confirm-one date to find them, one date to bring them all in. If the date flops, then the one he doesn't take on the date is the one destined for him. This is a foolproof plan.
Again, it's not that he believes in the whole soulmate stuff-he just has a really high level of curiosity on how this plays out.
As non-scientific as it sounds, Chanyeol ends up choosing Joonmyun through the flip of a coin. Luhan has taught him a thing or two about how to ask guys out on a date, and Chanyeol has come to the souvenir shop today fully prepared. Confidence, he remembers Luhan saying. Do not stutter. Look him right in the eye. "Uhm, Joonmyun," Chanyeol calls, knocking on the counter.
Joonmyun looks up from his book in the middle of flipping a page, which means his thumb is on his lips and all kinds of concentration Chanyeol supposedly have flies away from his body. Can I interest you in a dinner with me, Luhan's voice echoes inside his mind. "Are you interesting enough to have dinner with me?" Chanyeol asks. Wait, that doesn't sound right.
Joonmyun certainly doesn't think that it sound right either. "What's that, now?"
"Can I be interesting enough to dinner you?" Chanyeol tries again. And fails again, he assumes. What does dinner you even mean? This surely isn't supposed to be that hard. "Can I have you for dinner?" Well, that makes him sound like a cannibal. But at least grammatically correct.
"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying," Joonmyun replies, raising an eyebrow. He's put away his book and stares at Chanyeol with his chin rested on both hands, leaning forward on the counter. He smiles in amusement at Chanyeol's struggle.
Chanyeol clears his throat. "Can I," he slows down. Maybe that'll help. "Uh, can I," he repeats. "Can I-"
"Chanyeol wants to take you out to dinner, hyung," Jongdae comes out of nowhere and grins next to Chanyeol, putting him out of his misery. Chanyeol looks at him and starts exaggeratedly mouthing thank you thank you thank you. Jongdae laughs at him. "Have fun, you two," he comments with a wave before walking to examining a new package of an old world map Joonmyun has just received this morning.
Joonmyun tilts his head at Chanyeol, blinking cutely. "Well, why didn't you say so," he teases. Chanyeol can feel his face heating up. He probably looks pathetic, because a couple seconds later Joonmyun is laughing and touching Chanyeol's arm, saying, "Sure, Chanyeol, just text me the details."
*
These are the details, planned carefully and written down in Chanyeol's notebook alongside a checklist of the things he has to prepare. First, a pretty bouquet of red roses to steal his attention and win his affection. Next is a nice, romantic dinner at a fancy yet affordable restaurant, and finally, a walk in the park, with the bright starry sky above them, and Chanyeol's hand around Joonmyun's shoulder to keep them both warm. Perfect.
He finds Joonmyun already seated in their table, looking fantastic in black shirt and red tie, with his hair swept to one side. Joonmyun waves at him when he enters the restaurant and Chanyeol checks his look one more time before taking big strides towards his seat. He reaches their table and sits down before extending one hand to give Joonmyun the flowers. This is perfect.
Except Joonmyun's eyes grow wide and he starts sneezing.
"I'm allergic-" Joonmyun rubs a finger on his red nose and lets out another sneeze, "to flowers."
Chanyeol can hear his heart breaking, because that is so sad. How can anyone be deprived of the beauties that are flowers? Such a tragic life Joonmyun's leading. "Ah, it's okay, it's okay, I'm sorry," Chanyeol stammers, hurriedly shoving the flower under his seat and away from Joonmyun's face. "I didn't know."
It takes another minute for Joonmyun to collect himself (It's ok- achoo- kay, this will just- achoo- take another- achoo- minute), and Chanyeol can finally stop feeling so guilty for almost murdering his date with a bouquet of roses. He raises his hand to place an order and a waiter comes just as he's finished reading the menu. "Would you like to order now?"
Chanyeol frowns and looks up to find a familiar face greeting him. "Jongdae?"
Jongdae grins, looking adorable in his white shirt and black bowtie. "Hello," he says. He turns to Joonmyun, sending him a concerned glance that is met by a sheepish smile from the older guy. "Hi, hyung," he greets. "You okay there?"
"Allergy," replies Joonmyun. "Chanyeol got me flowers."
Jongdae clicks his tongue. "Should've asked me first," he tells Chanyeol, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You know, I tried to give him lilies once, he sneezed to no end," Jongdae says, covering his mouth as if not wanting Joonmyun to hear. Chanyeol blinks at him, still confused about the fact that his waiter is Jongdae. "And to think that he works at that dusty counter."
"Do not insult my workplace," Joonmyun retorts threateningly, although it's hardly threatening when he looks so soft and delicate and angelic and beautiful. Jongdae grins cutely at him.
"Anyway, I should take your order before my boss fire me," Jongdae says, lifting his notebook and pen. He straightens up his pose and clears his throat, behaving with overdramatic professionalism. "So, gentlemen, what can I get you?"
Joonmyun laughs and stares at Chanyeol. "You decide," he says.
"Do you have a chef's recommendation or something?" Chanyeol asks Jongdae pleadingly. Honestly, he's really bad at decision making. Picking a menu for two will definitely be a thousand times worse than trying to choose college classes.
"Would you like me to surprise you, then?" Jongdae challenges the both of them with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Chanyeol looks at Joonmyun for confirmation. Joonmyun replies with a shrug and a smile, so Chanyeol turns to Jongdae, and, "Yeah, sure, surprise sounds nice."
*
The surprise Jongdae picked for him is, indeed, very nice. Chanyeol enjoys every single bite of his meal. Joonmyun, however, looks like he's having a hard time swallowing. "Are you okay?" Chanyeol asks. He doesn't know much about dates, but it's pretty apparent that this one isn't going so well.
Joonmyun forces a smile. "It's okay," he replies, and ultimately putting down his fork and knife. He pushes his plate away and Chanyeol holds back the urge to ask mind if I finish that, because damn that dish tasted so good but he doesn't want to look like a starving pig. "It just doesn't suit my taste, that's all," Joonmyun explains.
"Do you want to order something else?" Chanyeol asks tentatively. He knows hunger makes people cranky, and as much as Chanyeol doubts that Joonmyun is capable of being even remotely grumpy, he really doesn't want to test it out.
Joonmyun shakes his head and smiles softly. "It's okay," he repeats. He reaches out his hand across the table to take Chanyeol's hand in his. "Let's just talk," he says, giving Chanyeol another reassuring smile and a squeeze on his hand. "So. How hard is it to work with Minseok?"
"I'm just glad I haven't strangled him to death," Chanyeol laughs before realizing how homicidal that makes him sound. Thankfully Joonmyun looks back at him with an understanding expression, which reminds Chanyeol of something. "How did that Kim-Minseok-keep-away thing happened?" he asks.
"He irritates me most of the time," Joonmyun answers with an airy laugh. Chanyeol realizes then that he hasn't seen much of Joonmyun's laugh. It's beautiful. "We're best friends since high school," explains Joonmyun. In Chanyeol's opinion it's almost impossible for anyone like Joonmyun to be acquainted to someone like Minseok, but he silently assumes that life works in mysterious ways. "Got the job at the library together, too."
Chanyeol keeps quiet as Joonmyun pauses to take a sip of his wine. "Oh, and he flipped when I told him you asked me out on a date," Joonmyun tells him excitedly, as if Minseok's wrath for Chanyeol is something amusing. "Kept saying I can't be your soulmate and stuff like that, he's probably mad at you right now."
Chanyeol flinches at the thought of a mad Minseok, accidentally knocking over Joonmyun's glass of wine straight to his lap. "Shit," he mutters, quickly fetching a tissue and leaning forward to dab on Joonmyun's clothes with it. The table unexpectedly tilts towards Joonmyun's direction, causing everything that's still on the table, including Chanyeol's wine and Joonmyun's unfinished plate of food, to fall on Joonmyun. Chanyeol can feel colors draining from his face as he stands there, frozen, seeing Joonmyun covered in all kinds of things Chanyeol wishes he could lick off of him. "Shit."
"Uh-" Joonmyun looks a little red. Whether he's mad, or embarrassed, Chanyeol doesn't really know, but it really doesn't matter. He already knows this date is over. Chanyeol can see Joonmyun sighing deeply before standing up-his shirt, and tie, and light brown slacks stained with red wine and mushroom sauce. "I think I have to leave," he announces.
Chanyeol stares at him apologetically, jaw slacked and at a loss of words. "I'll walk you home," he offers finally, standing up from his seat.
Joonmyun holds out a hand and pushes Chanyeol back to his seat. "No, Chanyeol," he sighs, putting his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. "I think we both know this date isn't working," he tells Chanyeol with a sincere smile. Even with his clothes smeared with food and wine, Joonmyun still manages to look so gorgeous, it's unfair. "See you at the library?"
He walks away before Chanyeol can answer. Chanyeol leans back on his seat, defeated, and he mutters to himself, "Yeah, see you."
*
It's probably best that Joonmyun's home already. Because even if he isn't, part three of the date, which was supposed to be a walk in the park under the starry sky, will still flop. Rain is pouring since the moment Chanyeol steps out of the restaurant, and Chanyeol feels like it will be too melancholic if he walks home in the rain. He sits down on a bench on the sidewalk nearby, hands inside his coat pocket and the bouquet of roses Joonmyun rejected earlier sitting next to him.
Chanyeol doesn't have a good track record in dating. He only dated once before, that one time during college-his first college, before he decided that studying and books and lectures are ultimately more interesting than guys. But he honestly didn't expect to be this bad at dating. Everything he's planned for today is basically ruined, in various degrees of failure. This is devastating.
"Hey, you," Jongdae's face comes into his vision, bending his body sideways to be on Chanyeol's eye level. "Where's Joonmyun hyung?"
"He ditched me," Chanyeol replies bitterly.
"Wow, Joonmyun hyung ditched you," Jongdae comments teasingly, "You must have been a really awful date."
That's true. He must have been pretty awful for a man as nice as Joonmyun to ditch him. Chanyeol laughs sadly. "I guess," he mumbles. He picks up the flower from the seat beside him and gestures for Jongdae to sit down. "Sulk with me?"
Jongdae takes his seat with a hearty laugh. He holds puts his arm around Chanyeol's shoulder and pulls him to a side-hug. "I'm joking," he says, rubbing Chanyeol's arm. He looks at Chanyeol with his adorable smile and Chanyeol weakly smiles back. "I'm sure you're not that bad, I mean," Jongdae nods at the bouquet on Chanyeol's lap. "You at least have a great taste in flowers."
Chanyeol lifts up the bouquet and examines it. He picks out some of the flowers that don't look as pretty as the rest and hands the bouquet to Jongdae. "For you, then," he says, smiling.
"Ooh," Jongdae teases, accepting the flowers and bringing them close to his nose to sniff on it. He doesn't sneeze. Thank God. "Does this mean we're on a date, now?" Jongdae asks with a grin.
That caught him off guard. "Uh," Chanyeol mumbles. All of a sudden the fifty-fifty theory he's been forgetting throughout his unsuccessful date comes back to his mind. If Joonmyun isn't the one destined for Chanyeol, which considering the date, he obviously isn't, then Jongdae is his soulmate. Not that Chanyeol believes in that stuff or anything. "Sure, if you want to," Chanyeol finally says. This is great. If the date with Jongdae also doesn't work, Chanyeol will just give himself a pat on the back because, see, soulmates aren't real.
"I'm not sure I'm up for it," Jongdae trails, rubbing his fingers on his chin. "You see, I don't like being second choice," he pouts cutely. He raises the bouquet in his hand. "But I'll take the flowers."
As if on cue, the rain stops drizzling and the sky clears up. "Ah, I should go home," Jongdae comments immediately, standing up from his seat. "You should go, too."
Chanyeol isn't really sure where the courage comes from, but he stands up next to Jongdae. "I'll walk you home," he says, earning him an intrigued look from Jongdae. "Not a date," Chanyeol confirms with both hands on the air. "Just-walking you home. Under a starry sky."
"With a bouquet of roses on my hand," Jongdae adds.
"With a bouquet of roses on your hand," Chanyeol repeats, laughing.
Jongdae tilts his head, thinking. "It really doesn't sound like a date," he finally says, chuckling. He walks forward and pulls Chanyeol by his sleeve. "Let's go, then."
*
It's not a date. Just him and Jongdae, walking side by side towards Jongdae's apartment, with a bright starry sky above them and a bouquet of roses on Jongdae's hand. They chat and banter easily-Chanyeol doesn't normally talk much, but with Jongdae words come out naturally.
It's not a date, but it's nice.
His hand accidentally brushes Jongdae's from time to time, until, they brush way too many times and it gets too much not to do anything about it. Chanyeol still doesn't know where the courage comes from, but he's glad that it's there. He takes Jongdae's hand, and when Jongdae doesn't pull away, laces their fingers together.
"Not a date, huh?" Jongdae asks, amused.
"Not a date," Chanyeol confirms, smiling softly at Jongdae.
They turn at a corner of the street, still hand in hand, and Jongdae stops in front of a high apartment building. "This is me," he says, almost sounding regretful. He still holds Chanyeol's hand tightly. "So. See you at the library?"
Chanyeol has a lot of courage tonight. He still doesn't know where it comes from, but he leans in and presses his lips on Jongdae's, letting out a sigh of relief as Jongdae reciprocates. Chanyeol closes his eyes to enjoy the moment, moving his hand up to cup Jongdae's face and rub his thumb on Jongdae's cheek. "Is it still not a date?" Jongdae whispers in between the kiss.
"Uh-uh," Chanyeol replies, shaking his head slightly. Jongdae smiles to the kiss and pulls away, placing his hands on Chanyeol's shoulder and keeping their faces close. He raises one eyebrow as a way of asking how come. Chanyeol slides his hands down to Jongdae's waist, hugging him close. "I'll take you on a proper date later."
"There's later?" Jongdae questions, smiling in amusement.
"I hope so."
Jongdae stares at him, thinking with his head tilted to one side, and he looks absolutely adorable. "There's later," Jongdae finally approves.
It's possible that Chanyeol is starting to believe the whole soulmate concept. A little.
*
There's something different when Chanyeol walks into the souvenir shop this afternoon. There's Jongdae smiling fondly at him, greeting him with a hug and a peck on his cheek, of course. That's different. But there's also something else. Something Chanyeol can't quite pinpoint.
"Did Joonmyun hyung do something to the place?" Chanyeol asks finally. He looks around to find the cause for this unfamiliar feeling he has, but coming up with nothing. Jongdae puts on a playful smile and pulls Chanyeol towards Joonmyun's office as an answer. The place behind his counter is empty. "Where is he, anyway?"
Jongdae laughs as he nods toward a shelf full of books where two people are standing behind it, punching each other with their lips. It looks so obscene that Chanyeol almost wants to cover his eyes with both hands. Jongdae clears his throat loudly and the two break apart almost immediately. "Brace yourself," Jongdae whispers at Chanyeol.
Why should he-
"Minseok hyung?" Chanyeol shrieks, too loudly for the empty place. From behind the shelf come Joonmyun, whose lips are swollen, and Minseok-a blushing, very disheveled Kim Minseok, the very same person as Chanyeol's boss from upstairs. That's what's different, Chanyeol realizes. The Kim Minseok Keep Away sign, the sign that keeps this place safe-it wasn't there on the door anymore.
"But what- I mean- how-" Chanyeol blabbers, in a loss of words. Then he remembers Joonmyun talking about Minseok talking about soulmates and Chanyeol figures out the how. "What happened to we don't use relics for personal gain, hyung?"
Minseok shrugs. "The Heartstone wants what the Heartstone wants," he replies nonchalantly.
"You're such a hypocrite."
"Oh shut up, you still work for me."