Untitled (Perry/Youngbae)
Title: -
Paring: Perry/Youngbae
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Perry comes back to Korea after taking a long break from his job - and from Youngbae.
A/N: A continuation of my Perry/Youngbae series, which hasn't been updated in forever.
Those dramatic moments in movies where two people's eyes meet and everything slows down around them? Youngbae would've called them an exaggeration until he looked up from Teddy's latest lyrics at the quiet clicking sound of the studio door, met Perry's eyes, and everything stopped. So much so that it took him a moment to realize that Perry had frozen in the doorway, too, and that the sudden stillness wasn't just a consequence of Youngbae's brain struggling to cope with his reappearance.
"Dude, welcome back!" Teddy exclaimed, perking up in his chair. Perry's eyes flicked over to him and then the moment passed; he stepped into the studio, his lips quirking up. Youngbae still couldn't breathe.
"I have to work," he said desperately, his English still not nearly good enough to address all of the emotions in Perry's eyes. "I can't-- It's not--"
"It's like we ain't even living together," Perry replied. "You ain't ever gonna make time for me, right?"
Youngbae frowned and shook his head in response to the accusation, unable to find his words. "I try," he finally managed. "It's just... I can't."
"What's the point, then."
The silence was deafening.
"Welcome back," Youngbae parroted, and Perry nodded to him in acknowledgment. He looked tanned. Youngbae wondered if he'd been on Guam all this time. Or maybe LA - he was pretty sure Perry still had a house there. He didn't have any right to ask, though.
Teddy stood briefly to give Perry a hug and a slap on the back. "When'd you get back? D'you have your own place already?"
"Just got here this morning, man. I'm gonna room with Danny for a while."
"Oh, cool. You been writing?"
Youngbae found the note on Perry's desk, where his laptop had been.
CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE
LOVE YOU THO
XOXO
P
He took out his cell phone and called the first person that came to mind.
"Yeah, he left like, three days ago," Teddy said, confusion tinging his voice. "Didn't you know?"
Three days. Youngbae stood there staring at their (his) half-bare bedroom, then at the neat, blocky writing on the bright blue post-it, and Perry's point was driven home more efficiently than it ever had been by the fights they'd had over the past few months.
"Yeah, a little. Just needed a break, you know?"
He was wearing the custom Chuck Taylors Youngbae had given him for his birthday. They were worn and stained with sand but he was wearing them - that had to count for something.
"So uh, you seen everything yet?" Teddy asked too loudly and too cheerfully, and when Youngbae looked up he was making a vague arm gesture that tried to encompass the entire building they were in.
"No, but it looks pretty damn good so far. We still got a gym in here?"
"Third floor," Youngbae blurted out, and he at least managed to brace himself before Perry turned to him, this time. "It's. ... Nice."
They needed to talk. He needed to talk, anyway, to tell Perry how much he'd missed him and to apologize. Teddy tried to fill the awkward silence ("so uh...") but then Perry laughed softly, shook his head, and reached out to give Youngbae's arm a light squeeze.
"Shit, YB, you look like you're gonna puke."
"Maybe you should stop wearing that, you know," Jiyong said quietly as they watched Daesung pose for the photographer.
Youngbae's first, defensive reflex was to shrug carelessly as he continued to twist the silver ring around his finger.
After a moment, though, it suddenly occurred to him that the matching ring was probably in Perry's box of keepsakes by now, lying somewhere among Sean's letters, the necklace Se7en had given him years ago, Christmas cards from his mother, and other odds and ends Perry didn't want to think about or show anyone.
"Don't mess up your make-up," Jiyong said, his voice even softer.
Youngbae blinked a few times and slipped the ring off his finger. "I'm fine."
Youngbae managed a smile he was sure looked weird. "I'm fine. It's... surprise."
"Yeah, man, it's been a year already," Teddy cut in. "You even know about YG yet?"
"What about YG?" Perry replied, and Youngbae saw Teddy shoot a quick look his way as he started recounting the whole saga. He forced another smile to reassure him, then looked at Perry some more, at his bare finger and bleached hair and the new lines around his eyes.
"Perry."
"What's her na-- yeah?"
Youngbae took a deep breath. "I think we should... Can we go somewhere and--"
"No, no, man, I'll go," Teddy cut in again, but Perry shook his head when he made a move to stand up. The silence that followed as he eyed Youngbae appraisingly had him struggling not to say something inane or to simply leave the studio to regroup. Boram was fetching them food, after all, and he'd be back soon and always gave Youngbae good advice--
"I'm gonna go check on my dog in quarantine tomorrow, you wanna come along?"
"Fuck, he's tiny," Perry said, laughing, as Boss clambered into his lap. "Whose dog is it?"
"What? ... He's my dog," Youngbae replied confusedly, unsure he'd understood.
"Oh. You bought him?"
"Yes. I was shopping with Kush and Jiyong and--"
"You went shopping with--" Perry cut himself off with a slight shake of his head and looked down at Boss again, smiling when he bit at the sleeve of his hoodie. "Okay, so what we gonna name him?"
"Boss. I already choose with Kush," he said, grinning, but his gut tightened when he, once again, saw clear disappointment in Perry's eyes. He couldn't do anything right these days. "You like dogs, right?"
"Dog?"
"Yeah. She's gonna be stuck in there for ten days."
"Oh... Okay."
Teddy sprang up from his chair. "So hey, how about I give you a tour, dude? I bet the girls are gonna be happy to see you."
He led Perry toward the door with a kind of purposefulness Youngbae rarely saw from him. He must still have looked like he was going to puke.
"Just text me when Boram gets back," Teddy added over his shoulder. "And check out those lyrics."
The door clicked shut behind Perry and Teddy, and Youngbae looked down at the sheet he'd been clutching all this time. The ink had smeared where his thumb had been and he couldn't remember a single word of what he'd read.
Paring: Perry/Youngbae
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Perry comes back to Korea after taking a long break from his job - and from Youngbae.
A/N: A continuation of my Perry/Youngbae series, which hasn't been updated in forever.
Those dramatic moments in movies where two people's eyes meet and everything slows down around them? Youngbae would've called them an exaggeration until he looked up from Teddy's latest lyrics at the quiet clicking sound of the studio door, met Perry's eyes, and everything stopped. So much so that it took him a moment to realize that Perry had frozen in the doorway, too, and that the sudden stillness wasn't just a consequence of Youngbae's brain struggling to cope with his reappearance.
"Dude, welcome back!" Teddy exclaimed, perking up in his chair. Perry's eyes flicked over to him and then the moment passed; he stepped into the studio, his lips quirking up. Youngbae still couldn't breathe.
"I have to work," he said desperately, his English still not nearly good enough to address all of the emotions in Perry's eyes. "I can't-- It's not--"
"It's like we ain't even living together," Perry replied. "You ain't ever gonna make time for me, right?"
Youngbae frowned and shook his head in response to the accusation, unable to find his words. "I try," he finally managed. "It's just... I can't."
"What's the point, then."
The silence was deafening.
"Welcome back," Youngbae parroted, and Perry nodded to him in acknowledgment. He looked tanned. Youngbae wondered if he'd been on Guam all this time. Or maybe LA - he was pretty sure Perry still had a house there. He didn't have any right to ask, though.
Teddy stood briefly to give Perry a hug and a slap on the back. "When'd you get back? D'you have your own place already?"
"Just got here this morning, man. I'm gonna room with Danny for a while."
"Oh, cool. You been writing?"
Youngbae found the note on Perry's desk, where his laptop had been.
CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE
LOVE YOU THO
XOXO
P
He took out his cell phone and called the first person that came to mind.
"Yeah, he left like, three days ago," Teddy said, confusion tinging his voice. "Didn't you know?"
Three days. Youngbae stood there staring at their (his) half-bare bedroom, then at the neat, blocky writing on the bright blue post-it, and Perry's point was driven home more efficiently than it ever had been by the fights they'd had over the past few months.
"Yeah, a little. Just needed a break, you know?"
He was wearing the custom Chuck Taylors Youngbae had given him for his birthday. They were worn and stained with sand but he was wearing them - that had to count for something.
"So uh, you seen everything yet?" Teddy asked too loudly and too cheerfully, and when Youngbae looked up he was making a vague arm gesture that tried to encompass the entire building they were in.
"No, but it looks pretty damn good so far. We still got a gym in here?"
"Third floor," Youngbae blurted out, and he at least managed to brace himself before Perry turned to him, this time. "It's. ... Nice."
They needed to talk. He needed to talk, anyway, to tell Perry how much he'd missed him and to apologize. Teddy tried to fill the awkward silence ("so uh...") but then Perry laughed softly, shook his head, and reached out to give Youngbae's arm a light squeeze.
"Shit, YB, you look like you're gonna puke."
"Maybe you should stop wearing that, you know," Jiyong said quietly as they watched Daesung pose for the photographer.
Youngbae's first, defensive reflex was to shrug carelessly as he continued to twist the silver ring around his finger.
After a moment, though, it suddenly occurred to him that the matching ring was probably in Perry's box of keepsakes by now, lying somewhere among Sean's letters, the necklace Se7en had given him years ago, Christmas cards from his mother, and other odds and ends Perry didn't want to think about or show anyone.
"Don't mess up your make-up," Jiyong said, his voice even softer.
Youngbae blinked a few times and slipped the ring off his finger. "I'm fine."
Youngbae managed a smile he was sure looked weird. "I'm fine. It's... surprise."
"Yeah, man, it's been a year already," Teddy cut in. "You even know about YG yet?"
"What about YG?" Perry replied, and Youngbae saw Teddy shoot a quick look his way as he started recounting the whole saga. He forced another smile to reassure him, then looked at Perry some more, at his bare finger and bleached hair and the new lines around his eyes.
"Perry."
"What's her na-- yeah?"
Youngbae took a deep breath. "I think we should... Can we go somewhere and--"
"No, no, man, I'll go," Teddy cut in again, but Perry shook his head when he made a move to stand up. The silence that followed as he eyed Youngbae appraisingly had him struggling not to say something inane or to simply leave the studio to regroup. Boram was fetching them food, after all, and he'd be back soon and always gave Youngbae good advice--
"I'm gonna go check on my dog in quarantine tomorrow, you wanna come along?"
"Fuck, he's tiny," Perry said, laughing, as Boss clambered into his lap. "Whose dog is it?"
"What? ... He's my dog," Youngbae replied confusedly, unsure he'd understood.
"Oh. You bought him?"
"Yes. I was shopping with Kush and Jiyong and--"
"You went shopping with--" Perry cut himself off with a slight shake of his head and looked down at Boss again, smiling when he bit at the sleeve of his hoodie. "Okay, so what we gonna name him?"
"Boss. I already choose with Kush," he said, grinning, but his gut tightened when he, once again, saw clear disappointment in Perry's eyes. He couldn't do anything right these days. "You like dogs, right?"
"Dog?"
"Yeah. She's gonna be stuck in there for ten days."
"Oh... Okay."
Teddy sprang up from his chair. "So hey, how about I give you a tour, dude? I bet the girls are gonna be happy to see you."
He led Perry toward the door with a kind of purposefulness Youngbae rarely saw from him. He must still have looked like he was going to puke.
"Just text me when Boram gets back," Teddy added over his shoulder. "And check out those lyrics."
The door clicked shut behind Perry and Teddy, and Youngbae looked down at the sheet he'd been clutching all this time. The ink had smeared where his thumb had been and he couldn't remember a single word of what he'd read.