Irises Collage : Colour 4
A/N: Is it too fast for some angst? This will be my last update on LJ. I will only keep updating on my AFF account here: http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/54405
Yoseob bolted out from the passenger side of his black sleek van when he caught sight of Hyunwoo waiting for him under the awning of the night festival entrance. His poor manager, the designated driver, was shouting some things to him - things about calling him and letting him know what time to fetch, things about not going home too late, things about not attracting too much attention - which were all lost to Yoseob because he was too excited to notice anything else but the tall man waiting for him.
Checking that his mask and cap were covering him properly, Yoseob jogged to approach the annoyed-looking Hyunwoo and smiled widely behind his white mask. “Hi, Ahjussi.”
“Kid?” Hyunwoo frowned, not recognizing the thoroughly covered up man standing in front of him. Yoseob nodded enthusiastically and Hyunwoo saw the younger man’s eyes were reduced into small crescent moons, most probably from the huge smile behind the mask.
Instead of a welcoming smile or a relieved sigh, Hyunwoo’s face crumpled into annoyance as he stated the obvious, “You’re late.” Yoseob did not lose his smile, he waved his hand off dismissively in the air and answered lightly, “Just a few minutes late, what’s the big deal?”
Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow at the indifferent reply and glanced at his forever-accurate watch, “You are twenty six minutes and thirty-three seconds late. That is a big deal. You don’t come late when you were the one who asked me here.”
Yoseob frowned, he was beginning to feel irritated as well, and he did not like Hyunwoo’s tone, it was belittling and he hated how Hyunwoo just scolded him off-handedly. “Well,” Yoseob began, “you said you wouldn’t be coming and so I thought you wouldn’t be here; you should have been clearer on your messages, Ahjussi. I don’t read minds. You have my number, call me, message me, it’s not like we do not have any means of communication.” Yoseob slipped on his defensive mode, “I was rushing here from a schedule. At least you could appreciate that. Traffic was horrible and my manager was a lousy driver. It was not my fault.” The verdict had been dropped, and it had been decided that Yoseob was not at fault, he never was.
The silence that followed was unpleasant as Hyunwoo and Yoseob did some staring contest, none of them would back down from their own opinions. Yoseob crossed his hands over his chest, a classic defensive pose as he stared belligerently at Hyunwoo; he raised an eyebrow as a challenge and the older man sighed in defeat, there was no point in fighting with a kid - Hyunwoo was better than that.
Hyunwoo’s rigid posture visibly relaxed as he puffed a cold air out from his mouth, “Fine, I’m sorry for telling you off like that.” Yoseob did not move for a few seconds as he scanned Hyunwoo from head to toe, but he finally nodded. He untangled his arms from his chest, quickly losing the hostile attitude towards the agent. Hyunwoo cocked his head towards the festival, “Shall we?”
Yoseob’s eyes twinkled as he marched happily into the night festival with Hyunwoo following closely behind, wary of any dangerous sings in their surroundings. The night festival was beautiful, lanterns and bright lights covered every inch of the festival ground - the trees, the pushcarts, the lamp posts, the small shops - it was almost late into the night but the festival was still crowded and bustling with energy; couples and families and groups of friends gathered for some fun and a good time. The smell in the night festival was incredible with steam of delicious food permeating the air around them and Yoseob could hear faint sounds of people singing trot songs in the distance.
It had been too long since the last time Yoseob went to a night festival. He used to go with his parents when he was much younger and always had a match at the shooting game booth. But when the Yang family acquired their current wealth, suddenly night festivals were beneath them and they stopped coming altogether. And then, he used to go with Hayoon Noona when they were still together and happy as a clam, but after their traumatic break up, Yoseob decided not to go anymore because he was snowballed in his hectic schedules and simply because he had no one to go with.
“Ahjussi, quit being such a party pooper! Lighten up, will you?” Yoseob was bouncing up and down in excitement while Hyunwoo walked slowly through the throng of people. The older man cursed softly as two teenagers rudely bumped into him without apologizing, “Kids these days. They have no manners, no discipline, nothing.”
Yoseob laughed unreservedly at Hyunwoo. It was difficult to get Hyunwoo out with him tonight, Yoseob terrorized him with countless phone calls and text messages, and the younger man was sure Hyunwoo would literally cut off Yoseob’s hands and choke him to death if the idol star made another call or send another text to the older man. Hyunwoo gruffly said he would not come, but Yoseob knew better. The older man was a little rough around the edges and was constantly sullen and uptight, but Yoseob knew that he was such a soft-hearted and kind man - Hyunwoo would not show up tonight if he was such a cruel man - he just needed someone to bring those out of him, and Yoseob wondered if Hyunwoo ever had a girlfriend or someone he liked. He wondered how Hyunwoo would act towards her.
Yoseob was slightly amazed by Hyunwoo’s outfit transformation tonight, the older man looked… normal, almost like he was not an uptight prick. He was dressed in black jeans, black laced up boots, plain white tee and a grey wool coat with big lapels. Hyunwoo looked so cuddly and warm that at some point, Yoseob wanted so badly to snuggle into the coat for warmth. The night was still freezing, although it was supposed to be summer already.
“Do you go to night festivals often, Ahjussi?” Yoseob asked as he eyed Hyunwoo who was curiously observing everything at the festival. Hyunwoo frowned a little and shook his head no. “Have you ever been to one before?” Yoseob continued asking. Hyunwoo tilted his head and answered, “Yes, a long time ago. I don’t even remember it being this crowded.”
Yoseob smiled as he watched Hyunwoo awkwardly adjusting to the festive environment, while the older man let himself be pulled here and there by the spoiled idol. They ate some snacks along the way - blood sausage, japchae, cotton candy, fried stuff, watermelon, some warm drinks, Yoseob ate a lot and Hyunwoo was shocked to see what could fit into the idol’s tiny stomach - while Yoseob was perpetually wowed by the smallest things. It had been a long time for him, too.
And then Yoseob saw it, the shooting game he always had with his father when he was young. It was a ritual for Yoseob and his father to win something at the shooting game booth, even something as petty as an eraser.
“Ahjussi, let’s play that!” Yoseob pulled Hyunwoo by the sleeves and dragged the older man to the shooting game booth eagerly. Hyunwoo sighed, following Yoseob quietly, letting himself get dragged around by the bouncing ball. Yoseob bought two rounds for himself and another two rounds for Hyunwoo. “Come on, Ahjussi. I bought two rounds for us each. Go shoot something!” Yoseob looked through the lens and started shooting. Hyunwoo winced at the sight of Yoseob shooting; the younger man was absolutely horrible at it - his aims were terrible and all of his plastic bullets were all over the place. Hyunwoo shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and watched the younger man, smiling slightly at the amusing scene in front of him.
When Yoseob was done shooting aimlessly, he placed the rifle back on the table and cursed loudly, “This game sucks.”
“Are you done?” Hyunwoo asked calmly.
Yoseob looked at Hyunwoo and pouted, “I’m sure they did something to the rifle that will mess up your aims.” He looked down at Hyunwoo’s untouched rifle, “Ahjussi, you are not playing? I bought two rounds for you! Come on, just shoot something at least.”
Hyunwoo studied the black plastic rifle on the table in front of him for the first time. He took it up and looked through the plastic telescopic sight which did not magnify anything at all, gauging the light weight in his hand. “Which one do you want?”
“What?” Yoseob asked, confused.
Hyunwoo stared at Yoseob like the younger man was an idiot, pointing at the moving numbers on the board with the plastic rifle. “Which number do you want me to shoot for you?”
Yoseob was silent for a while and then he smiled; he smiled and he grinned, wide and bright when he had fully digested Hyunwoo’s words. Ahjussi was going to shoot something down for him and Yoseob was totally excited for it. He scanned the prizes kept behind the counter and spotted the biggest teddy bear buried under a variety of other prizes.
“I want the big teddy bear.” Yoseob said smugly as he pointed to the hidden bear under the pile. Hyunwoo quickly spotted it and called over the old Ahjussi who mended the booth, “Ahjussi, what is the number for the teddy bear?”
The kind-looking Ahjussi smiled and beamed, “The Teddy Bear. Number 25. It’s been here for a while, I hope you can get it for your friend.” Hyunwoo nodded curtly and smiled briefly, thanking him for the encouragement. He looked back at the board and found number 25 to be placed at the corner of the board, furthest from the shooting spot; the number wiggling up and down, left and right.
“You want the teddy, right?” Hyunwoo looked at Yoseob for a confirmation one last time. Yoseob nodded and beamed at him. “Yes, go Ahjussi! Get me the teddy!”
Hyunwoo cleared his throat and assumed his usual shooting position, holding the rifle with steady hands and resting one cheek on it. He looked through the cheap plastic lens of the rifle’s fake telescopic sight and focused on the moving target - number 25, the big teddy bear.
At the moment, the surrounding disappeared around Hyunwoo as he focused into knocking down his target. He regulated his breathing slowly, waiting for the perfect timing to shoot. He was used to the moving rhythm of the numbers in no time at all and held his breath, Hyunwoo shot, the one single bullet knocking over number 25 perfectly. The target - number 25 - the teddy bear.
Hyunwoo placed his plastic rifle back on the table calmly, aware to the loud claps of people around them. The first thing he realized was a warm body knocking onto him, and Yoseob - in his moments of pure happiness - was hugging him tightly and jumping up and down.
“Yah, kid, you’d better - “
“THAT.WAS.SO.AWESOME.” Yoseob breathed loudly, his eyes shining with excitement and adoration. “Ahjussi, you are so cool!”
Hyunwoo cleared his throat and shoved his hands back into the pockets of his coat as people continued cheering him on. It was awkward for him to be the centre of attention, this was not really his scene. He just wished for Yoseob to quickly claim his prize and get the hell out from the shooting booth and the clapping crowd.
The kind-looking old Ahjussi came back with the big teddy bear for Yoseob with a wide smile on his face, “Here you go, young man. Your friend here is a great shooter.” Yoseob squealed, hugging the teddy bear close to him.
“You ready to go to other booths?” Hyunwoo asked impatiently.
Yoseob nodded and paraded his teddy like some awards he had won from a prestigious ceremony. “How do you shoot like that?”
Hyunwoo was taken aback by the question, “Um… because I… I’m a… I’m a police.”
Yoseob raised his eyebrows in curiosity, “Do police handle rifles and all? I thought it was pretty basic there?”
Hyunwoo stuttered a little and was about steer clear of the topic when his phone rang. He quickly fished his phone out of his jeans pocket and answered it, grateful for the perfect timing of distraction. Team Leader Jung was flashing on the screen of his phone.
“Yes, Team Leader. This is Hyunwoo.” Hyunwoo answered politely.
It was noisy on the other side as Yoogun answered, “Hyunwoo-yah, come over for some drinks! Sooyeon and I were drinking and it was lonely just the two of us.”
Hyunwoo stole a glance to Yoseob who was sitting down quietly on the wooden bench, busy observing his newly acquired teddy. He answered, “Yes, Team Leader. I am bringing a friend over, is it okay?”
Yoogun’s curiosity was piqued, “You are out with a friend?”
“Yes.”
The team leader laughed, “Sure! Bring your friend over, the more the merrier.”
Hyunwoo sighed as he ended the phone call and approached the still oblivious Yoseob, “Kid, are you legal for Soju yet?”
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Yoseob narrowed his eyes. He was getting something out of the situation he was in right now.
Yoogun and Sooyeon were laughing at each other’s jokes while Hyunwoo smiled along with them. They were some inside jokes that Yoseob did not catch at all, but he did not mind - because he was getting something really interesting here.
When they arrived at the small grill restaurant at the side of the road, a few bottles of Soju and two extra glasses had been prepared on the table waiting for their arrival. Both Yoogun and Sooyeon were extremely shocked when Yoseob removed his baseball cap and mask to reveal that Yang Yoseob, the icon of the current generation, was hanging out with Hyunwoo and currently sitting on the table with them.
Sooyeon was a heavyweight drinker, apart from her dainty appearance, one could never take her lightly. She was not one of those whiny women that Yoseob hated, she was cool and the kind that would safe herself and the prince charming instead of waiting to be saved - if she did believe in any prince charming story. She was a bad ass and Yoseob loved her already.
Yoogun, after some brief observation, was a lot like Hyunwoo. Quiet but charming, he had an authoritative aura around him and seemed to be the kind of person one could depend his life on as he was extremely trustworthy and loyal.
Sooyeon seemed to love Yoseob back as she gushed about how cute he was and constantly feeding him grilled meat and seafood. Hyunwoo, on the other hand, was totally another case.
Yoseob was getting something here. He caught Hyunwoo looking at Sooyeon a few seconds too long, he saw the longing flashing on Hyunwoo’s face for a few seconds before it settled back into one of his forced smiles, he saw the sadness in Hyunwoo’s eyes for a while before it disappeared. They were brief, but Yoseob caught the flashes of expressions on Hyunwoo’s face.
And Yoseob might be getting something.
“… and Yoogun got me a little windmill in the shooting booth.” Sooyeon laughed at the story while again, Hyunwoo forced a small smile at it.
“Ahjussi got me a huge teddy just now.”
All of them stopped laughing and quickly averted their attention to Yoseob.
“Eh?” Sooyeon was confused.
Yoseob smiled, not looking at a totally green Hyunwoo. “We went to the night festival earlier and Hyunwoo-sshi got me a huge teddy bear. It’s almost my height.” Everyone was suddenly silent and Yoseob continued, ignoring the sharp stares from Hyunwoo, “The teddy was number 25 and the number was going up and down and left and right. It was in the farthest corner and the old Ahjussi who mended the booth said that the teddy had been there for a while because no one could get it. I bought Hyunwoo-sshi two rounds but he only took a bullet to knock off number 25 and got the teddy for me. The teddy is sleeping in Ahjussi’s car right now if you want to have a look.”
Sooyeon raised her eyebrows and smiled in amusement, “The teddy is sleeping?”
“Yeah,” Yoseob shrugged, “It’s late, he’s tired.”
Yoogun started laughing at Yoseob and Sooyeon grinned at him, “So are you tired, too, Yoseobah?”
Yoseob shrugged again, “Nah, I’m used to not sleeping for my schedule. But I think Ahjussi might be tired.”
“Ahjussi…” Sooyeon snorted when Yoseob called Hyunwoo Ahjussi.
Yoseob looked at Hyunwoo expectantly, “Can you send me home?”
Hyunwoo widened his eyes as every pair of eyes was suddenly trained on him, “Yea - yeah… yes… yes, we can go home. I’ll send you home, are you done?” He asked Yoseob.
Yoseob nodded and they were quickly on their way after politely excusing himself from Yoogun and Sooyeon.
The ride to Yoseob’s dorm was silent, mostly because Yoseob was tired and a little sleepy - he was a good liar - but also because Hyunwoo was not making any effort to build any form of communication between them.
“You can thank me now.” Yoseob quipped.
Hyunwoo’s eyes never left the dark road ahead of him, “Thank you for?”
Yoseob sighed, “Getting you out of there.”
“I’m not in a hurry to get out of there.”
Yoseob rolled his eyes, “Come on, are you a masochist? You like to hurt yourself by watching them being happy together?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Hyunwoo supplied coldly.
“They are obviously happy to be together and you are moping alone. Don’t do that to yourself.”
Hyunwoo was quiet for a while before he answered, “I have no idea - “
“You like her.” Yoseob cut the older man off. “It was so obvious you like here, or love her, or whatever. You have feelings for her.”
Hyunwoo pursed his lips and muttered, “That’s none of your business.”
Yoseob turned in his seat to face a driving Hyunwoo, “Just don’t do it, okay. Don’t hurt yourself over something - “
Hyunwoo cut Yoseob off coldly, “It’s none of your business. I’m not talking about this with a stranger like you.”
Yoseob’s mouth gaped open and his eyes widened in shock, “A stranger? You consider me a stranger? I am a stranger?”
Hyunwoo let out a heavy breath, “No. I’m sorry, I did not mean that. I think you might want to sleep, Yoseobah. I’ll call your manager from your cell and get you back as soon as possible. It’s been a tiring day. Please, just rest, okay?”
Yoseob did not answer. He was hurt. He was hurt so badly he did not even realize that Hyunwoo called him by his name. He was hurt but it was weird. He did not mind when other people labeled him a stranger, he preferred that instead. He hated it when some people acted like they know him, he wanted to be strangers with people.
But this time it hurt and it confused him.
He lay back on the seat and forced his eyes to close, willing for the hurt in his chest to go away. Yoseob reached to the backseat to retrieve his huge teddy bear and pulled it to the front through the gap in between their seats. He buried his body under the teddy and burrowed his face into the soft fur of its neck.
He wondered if the hurt would go away when he woke up.
“I’m sorry I was late before, Ahjussi.”
“No, it’s - “ Hyunwoo was replying to Yoseob but the younger man quickly tuned out, blocking his ears from hearing any words from Hyunwoo’s mouth.
He just wanted to go home and sleep. And for the hurt to go away.