for kikutan
Title: Stubborn
For: kikutan
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung; brief mentions of Jiho/Yukwon
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,476
Summary: Back before Zico and Kyung were famous, there was talk of going abroad.
A/N: Firstly, hello~ This is an apology for a strange summary! I'd also like to mention that this story took on a mind of its own so I'm not sure if it fits into many (if any) of the things you'd love to see--but that being said! The story I originally started with your prompts will be better, but it's turning into a long, long story also of its own. I promise to give you notice once I post it! In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this one. Happy Holidays! ^^
Kyung spent most of his time at work. He worked at a record store, attached to a radio booth. It was a show hosted nightly, occasionally with a local guest to be interviewed for entertainment. He liked it a lot because it gave him a transition into the music industry, and he often featured on the show with one of his best friends. The pay sucked, but when everything was said and done, he got to return to his other best friend: Jaehyo.
Jaehyo spent more time at home than anything. He was pursuing his master's degree of business. There wasn't really anything he planned to do with it but his father was already a CEO of a major company, wanting him to take over some day. Jaehyo figured that the longer he took with studying then the longer he could avoid working. So far, it was working.
"Hyung," Kyung shut the door with his foot, keys hitting the table before he was taking off his jacket.
The man pushed himself away from his desk, headphones around his neck. "What's up?"
"Nothing, checkin' if you were here. What's going on for dinner? You hungry?" he made his way over, ruffling up the elder's hair while checking out what he was listening to, grinning because of it. "Listening to my mix tape?"
"Mhm," he nodded, marking his pages and closing his books, headphones placed on the desk before he was stretching. "I ate already, but there's some Chinese in the fridge for you."
Kyung smiled brightly, scrambling into the kitchen for food. "How'd your day go? Did you get that shit straightened out with your dad?"
He was followed into the kitchen, met with a heavy sigh. "No, he's still expecting me to intern for him. Follow him around the office, it's ridiculous," he took a seat at the table, fingers running through his hair and over his face.
"Oh, fuck that. Say you're working on your thesis abroad or something." The food made its way into the microwave, Kyung leaning against the stove. "Then you can take the trip with me."
"I'll keep trying. But his ass is more stubborn than yours," he huffed, teasing.
"Yo," Kyung shook his head, turning to get his food out of the microwave prematurely. "Ain't nothin' going near my ass, okay. Not even a finger," he rolled his eyes, getting a set of chopsticks to eat at the table. "No matter how much you want to."
"No need to point at me with those," he laughed, pushing his friend's hand down. "Just eat. I've got more studying to do."
"Aight, hyung," there was a nod, promptly followed by him stuffing his face with semi-warm food.
━
Kyung had long since passed out, sprawled all over his bed, the sheets kicked off his body.
It was only a couple hours, but Jaehyo is still surprised when he goes to check in on him, a soft smile lighting his features as he fixed up the blankets and messed up Kyung's hair for extra enjoyment.
━
In the morning, Kyung isn't surprised to find that Jaehyo was already gone. He only had two classes a week when he actually went to campus and the rest were online.
Either way, Kyung had his box of cereal for these days. And the rest of the day, he was off on his own.
━
"Jiho, get your lazy ass out of bed and answer the damn phone," he left another message, which ended in a failed hang-up and some additional mumblings before he heard the beginning of the 'if you would like to hear your recording,' dialogue. Rather than recording it again, he just hung up and went back to lounging on the floor in front of the TV.
And then his phone rang.
"Kyungie, you really should stop harassing Jiho's phone."
"Shut up, Kwon. Give it to Jiho."
"I already did~"
Kyung rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh, "You can go back to molesting him after you tell him he's on the show tonight."
He's met with some hurried fumbling and a few heavy breaths before he hears Jiho's voice, "Tonight? Dude, I can't tonight. I have a real gig."
"Uh huh, solo performances for Yukwon don't count~ And anything else you wanna say as an excuse isn't true either, otherwise I'd know about it!"
Jiho chuckled, the start of a moan getting cut off by his voice again (and Kyung was close to throwing the phone across the room), "Yeah, aight. I'll see you later."
Before Jiho could hang up, Kyung was giving a 'keep the noises to yourself!' and hanging up first. Why on earth did Jiho feel the need to have that stuff going on whe--wait, it was Yukwon that returned the call.
Kyung shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.
He went through his normal afternoon routine: boiling water for lunch and grabbing the mail while he waited, trying not to touch too many things because everything is always in its rightful place by the time Jaehyo goes to bed and if there's anything worse than Jaehyo's stubborn dad, then it'd be turning a magazine the wrong way.
He's standing in the kitchen eating from a bag of barbecue chips while the noodles are cooking, and he hears the opening of the front door, the drop of a bag, and the door closed.
"You're supposed to be saving your appetite for lunch," Jaehyo laughed, giving the clock a wary glance while he went to get bowls and forks for lunch.
"We both know these noodles won't be cooked well enough for me to be full after I eat them so I'm starting early," he nodded, patting his stomach happily with the only two clean fingers on his hand. "You're early today."
"Yeah, had an exam. Got it done early." The taller man set up the table, a folded towel in the middle for the pot of noodles.
"Are you done for the rest of the day?" he's stirring the noodles with the wrong hand while licking off his fingers, rubbing them against his teeth to get rid of the thick coating of barbecue powder.
Jaehyo simply nodded, folding his arms as he waited against one of the counters for a second, speculating on what he wanted to drink. "Why? Do you have something planned?"
"Other than work..." he had to glance over his shoulder to see that there was a nod in the first place, reaching out to offer a sip of his beer because he knew that look. It was a look he saw every day. "Just another interview with the show tonight."
"I'll be there," Jaehyo smiled, accepting the bottle as his own, which he took to the table and had a few sips already before he was even sitting down.
Kyung's previous smile was wiped off his face when he realized he needed to get himself a new beer. Except that that was the last one.
━
He's chilling at work with one of his coworkers, watching one of the female guests in the radio booth; whether she was recording or just talking, singing or just standing, Kyung didn't really know. And he wasn't all too worried, either, because all he could do was admire what she was wearing.
"Want help putting your tongue back in your mouth?" Minhyuk offered, "Think of your grandma."
Immediately, Kyung's face scrunched up in distaste and he curled up into the fetus position, resting his head in Minhyuk's lap.
Minhyuk was laughing like there was nothing funnier, and when it died down with the exception of a few chuckles, he smiled his infamous half-smile, his dimple appearing, "Did you get much sleep last night?"
"Yeah, slept fine. But now I'm thinking about my grandma!" he whined, shaking his head, hands rubbing over his face in an effort to erase the thoughts.
The elder man was still amused by it, his laughter returning in a softer chuckle. "Whoops~" he snickered, running his fingers through Kyung's dark hair while they were waiting. "Is your roommate coming tonight?"
Kyung's brows furrowed and he turned his head, "Why?"
"No reason. He usually comes when you're on the show," he shrugged, gently patting the younger man's head for him to move, "Now get up, I gotta get back to work."
It was a few more minutes before Kyung got himself up off the couch and went back to cataloguing music, passing the time by scribbling down some lines going through his head while he worked. He's in the middle of a drabble when someone's hands are on his shoulders, effectively breaking his concentration.
"Whoa," Jiho laughed at his friend's jumping, rubbing his shoulders to calm him down, "What are you working on?"
Kyung turned to glare at him, giving the clock a wary glance while he turned the scrap paper over. "Just some lines."
"Gonna keep them from me? I'm hurt," the man dropped his hands, one going to his chest over his heart. "Must be some serious shit, though," he commented, poking at one of Kyung's tinted cheeks. "You're blushing."
"I am not!"
"Yeah, you are."
He's still in denial when he folds up the paper and stuffs it into his back pocket where it won't get touched and therefore no teasing will happen. "Baro's gonna be lookin' to get you in the booth soon so don't go anywhere," he grumbled, smiling despite the bitterness in his voice.
"Aight," he was grinning when he turned to face the radio booth and the blond-headed man inside; the two waved at each other and Kyung finished up the current album he still had open.
"What's the topic for tonight?" Jiho looked over his shoulder.
"Us going abroad."
"He knows?" he laughed incredulously, "Don't need to tell him anything, damn."
"I asked for time off to study, of course he knows."
"Still can't believe he owns his own radio show and he's only our age," he frowned a bit, shrugged as he turned away from the booth.
"Well, his parents didn't care what he did with the garage so long as it was kept clean." Even so, Kyung had to wonder how they felt about random people coming into their home. They were probably starting to recognize everyone by now, though.
"I guess...how does he pay you to work here?"
Kyung's mouth was open to answer, but Sunwoo turned off the ON-AIR sign and opened the door, his deep voice interrupting the response. "What do you guys wanna drink?"
"Anything," Kyung answered for both of them, attempting to push Jiho's ass off the desk.
"Gimme a few minutes and we'll get started," he gave a salute and disappeared inside the house, already asking his mom for a few drinks for his guests.
"Yah!" Jiho pouted, stumbling forward when the other's attempts were finally successful. "If you wanted me to move, just ask."
"I'll ask next time. You can go in now," Kyung nodded in the direction of the door that was still open, a few chairs set up inside for the two guests. He glanced at the clock on the wall and the screen of his phone, his chest tightening with distaste.
━
"I know there's probably people tired of hearing their banter, but tonight's guests are Zico and Park Kyung. In a little bit we'll be accepting callers, but for now we've got some things to get out of the way," Sunwoo heavily sighed, "I heard you two are leaving?"
"Yeup," Jiho laughed. "I'm heading back to Japan."
"How long?"
"A few months. Really depends, but I'm looking to be there half a year at the least."
"That's more than a few months. What are you going for?"
"The experience," he answered simply, a few sounds of acknowledgement.
"Not for the girls?"
Jiho laughed (and to anyone other than Kyung, it sounded perfectly normal, but there was a hint in there that gave away Jiho's sheepish mindset on the subject), "No way, can't be seen like that if I wanna make a name for myself. Keeping my attention elsewhere."
Kyung knew there was a reason he didn't answer it the way he probably wanted to, announce something to the world, or at least this little part of Seoul where they were broadcasting. That was all that mattered, right?
"And the studio's very own Park Kyung is leaving us for a semester to study abroad. Where you going?"
"Ah~ Yeah, New Zealand."
"Is your English good?"
"He likes to say his English sucks so he can get compliments on it, please don't ask him that," Jiho chuckled at his own joke.
"I'll manage," Kyung agreed with a laugh of his own, "I speak better English than Zico's Japanese."
"That's not true!" Jiho countered, attempting to muffle Kyung's mouth with his hand while Sunwoo is laughing.
"Oh!" Kyung laughed a little louder, leaning out of reach of the ridiculously long arms trying to stifle him, "It'd be unfair to say that."
"Why?" Sunwoo was calming himself down, Jiho's hands still reaching for Kyung's face.
"He doesn't speak Japanese."
"He's lying!" Jiho blurted, shaking his hands in the air like the listeners could hear him, "I speak Japanese!"
"Let's hear some of it, then!"
"Ah..." Jiho laughed that same sheepish yet confident laugh of his, "After the break, let's start a break."
"Okay," Sunwoo laughed, leaning in to the mic, "For those of you listening, if anyone speaks Japanese, feel free to call for a live chat! We'll leave you with some tracks I got today and be back for a live performance and calls."
One glance out the booth's window is all it took for Kyung to notice Jaehyo still hadn't arrived.
━
"Now that we've given time for Zico to refresh his Japanese, we're gonna interrupt his mindset with a performance, we got him to agree to perform 'I'm Still Fly'," Sunwoo didn't need to give the full introduction before Jiho was up and taking the mic, getting into his charismatic mode to make girls swoon.
And he knows he's not supposed to, but Kyung is checking his phone idly while he's mouthing the words to the rap.
━
When he finished, he was out of breath in his chair, sipping at his water between giving his thanks and futile bows for the applause he received from the other people in the booth.
"For those of our listeners that didn't get to witness it in person there's gonna be uploaded webcam footage about an hour after the show," Sunwoo promised, easing over into another topic after he stopped the recording. "During our earlier break, someone let slip that Kyung was working on lyrics before the show?"
"What?" Kyung looked squarely at Jiho.
"If it's mentioned on air, maybe someone will call and convince him to share."
"If anyone wants to accept the challenge, feel free to call."
"Lookit, he's hoping no one's gonna call~" Jiho teased, poking at one of Kyung's dark cheeks again.
The latter pulled away and mouthed some revenge plot in Jiho's general direction, eyes growing wider when the light flashed for a waiting caller, even wider when the call connected.
"Go ahead, caller, you're on."
"Park Kyung," not much else needed to be said and Kyung was already persuaded into talking about what he wrote. "You're going to be gone for months and you won't share the last things you wrote?"
"Ah...yeah, I wanted to fine-tune it first!"
"This caller..." Sunwoo muttered under his breath, only loud enough for the occupants in the booth to hear.
Jiho nodded knowingly, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"What's it about? Can I know?"
"Not until I do," Kyung chewed on his lip, not so confident in his words for a minute because he lost his original thought, "I mean, until it all comes together, I won't know either. I promise to upload it when it's done!"
"That's a promise you better keep!"
"I will," he repeated confidently, but there was a growing ache in his heart the more he listened to the familiar voice, the sadness in so few words was overpowering. "And if this show always broadcasted video streams, I'd perform KARA's Mister to make up for skipping this now. Please forgive me everyone!"
"I guess you can be forgiven this once. I'm sorry for failing the challenge!" the caller apologized, sounding a little better than before.
"You didn't fail," Jiho interrupted, "Kyungie just doesn't want to share."
"Thank you for your attempt!" Sunwoo assured, the three of them giving their thanks for calling before hanging up.
There were several other calls, and a lot of joking to be had in the times that Kyung wasn't distracted thinking of the first caller. He thought back to the words he scribbled out in sloppy writing, back to his study abroad, and the earlier conversation he had with Jaehyo about being here tonight.
By the time the show was done, he was heading back home in a hurry; it's a mix between anger that Jaehyo didn't show and anxiety to see him after that call to the radio.
"Hyung?" he was speaking before he even got in the door, his heart racing with adrenaline while he got his jacket and shoes off, askew on the floor. But the door was locked behind him and his keys were dropped before he was hurrying to look around. "Hyung," he panted, checking the study area and the kitchen, the couch, the bathroom, the other's room, and finally his own room.
Someone was lying in his bed, some hair sticking out from under the blanket. "Hyung..." Kyung sighed in slight relief, padding over quietly to take a seat on the edge of the bed, carefully pulling down the blanket to see Jaehyo's face. "Holy shit--"
"Don't ask!" Jaehyo huffed, pulling the covers back up to hide his face.
"Don't ask how you got a black eye?! Am I supposed to ignore it!?"
"Yes!"
"You're a fucking idiot, what happened? Who did it? Do I need to beat someone up?"
Jaehyo laughed and shook his head, shifting to sit up a little. "It'd be a bad idea to beat up my dad, he's already mad enough I won't be there."
"Your dad did thi--wait, what? You told him?"
He nodded, hesitantly touching his cheek to examine how bad the swelling was now.
"Yah, don't--" Kyung pulled his hand away. "Are you going to be kicked out of school?"
Jaehyo's fingers tightened around Kyung's while he sat up more, kissing him softly on the lips before pushing him out of the way to get up. "Let's not talk about that. You just found out I'm going with you to New Zealand and you're still worried about my face," he scoffed, going up to the mirror, already groaning before he saw himself up closely. "Shit, that's bad."
"Well, yeah. Your face is much nicer without the black eye but," Kyung shrugged, wrapping his arms around Jaehyo's waist. "Are you really gonna come with me to New Zealand?" he asked quietly.
"Mhm, it'd be stupid not to at this point," he snorted and turned around, running his hands down the shorter man's back and into his pockets until he found the folded piece of paper.
Before Kyung could react and try to get it back, Jaehyo was holding his arm up in the air to keep it out of reach.
"How did you--"
"Jiho told me," he smiled confidently, unfolding it while he kept his other hand around Kyung, "You didn't want to say it over the radio so I went easy on you."
He only got a grumbled response, the inevitability only getting closer.
"Did you..." Jaehyo lowered his arm, still reading the random lines of nonsense. "Is this about me?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm never going to tease you about your stubborn ass again," he mumbled, dropping the scrap of paper on the dresser behind him while his arms wrapped around Kyung's shoulders. "You're the perfect height for an arm rest."
"Yeah, well, you're the perfect height fo--"
"Shh! I wasn't finished!" Jaehyo frowned, nuzzling his cheek, "And the perfect height for a boyfriend."
Someday, Kyung might admit to planning the whole thing, from going abroad to New Zealand to the paper in his back pocket, but given that he's too far gone to take credit for it, he'll sum it up to fate. That, and the possibility of being questioned on the accuracy and legitimacy of such a statement might cause more damage to his ego than anything.
But, for what it's worth, Park Kyung managed to get his best friend to be his boyfriend by being too stubborn about everything, and somehow that turned out to be a good thing.
For: kikutan
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung; brief mentions of Jiho/Yukwon
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,476
Summary: Back before Zico and Kyung were famous, there was talk of going abroad.
A/N: Firstly, hello~ This is an apology for a strange summary! I'd also like to mention that this story took on a mind of its own so I'm not sure if it fits into many (if any) of the things you'd love to see--but that being said! The story I originally started with your prompts will be better, but it's turning into a long, long story also of its own. I promise to give you notice once I post it! In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this one. Happy Holidays! ^^
Kyung spent most of his time at work. He worked at a record store, attached to a radio booth. It was a show hosted nightly, occasionally with a local guest to be interviewed for entertainment. He liked it a lot because it gave him a transition into the music industry, and he often featured on the show with one of his best friends. The pay sucked, but when everything was said and done, he got to return to his other best friend: Jaehyo.
Jaehyo spent more time at home than anything. He was pursuing his master's degree of business. There wasn't really anything he planned to do with it but his father was already a CEO of a major company, wanting him to take over some day. Jaehyo figured that the longer he took with studying then the longer he could avoid working. So far, it was working.
"Hyung," Kyung shut the door with his foot, keys hitting the table before he was taking off his jacket.
The man pushed himself away from his desk, headphones around his neck. "What's up?"
"Nothing, checkin' if you were here. What's going on for dinner? You hungry?" he made his way over, ruffling up the elder's hair while checking out what he was listening to, grinning because of it. "Listening to my mix tape?"
"Mhm," he nodded, marking his pages and closing his books, headphones placed on the desk before he was stretching. "I ate already, but there's some Chinese in the fridge for you."
Kyung smiled brightly, scrambling into the kitchen for food. "How'd your day go? Did you get that shit straightened out with your dad?"
He was followed into the kitchen, met with a heavy sigh. "No, he's still expecting me to intern for him. Follow him around the office, it's ridiculous," he took a seat at the table, fingers running through his hair and over his face.
"Oh, fuck that. Say you're working on your thesis abroad or something." The food made its way into the microwave, Kyung leaning against the stove. "Then you can take the trip with me."
"I'll keep trying. But his ass is more stubborn than yours," he huffed, teasing.
"Yo," Kyung shook his head, turning to get his food out of the microwave prematurely. "Ain't nothin' going near my ass, okay. Not even a finger," he rolled his eyes, getting a set of chopsticks to eat at the table. "No matter how much you want to."
"No need to point at me with those," he laughed, pushing his friend's hand down. "Just eat. I've got more studying to do."
"Aight, hyung," there was a nod, promptly followed by him stuffing his face with semi-warm food.
━
Kyung had long since passed out, sprawled all over his bed, the sheets kicked off his body.
It was only a couple hours, but Jaehyo is still surprised when he goes to check in on him, a soft smile lighting his features as he fixed up the blankets and messed up Kyung's hair for extra enjoyment.
━
In the morning, Kyung isn't surprised to find that Jaehyo was already gone. He only had two classes a week when he actually went to campus and the rest were online.
Either way, Kyung had his box of cereal for these days. And the rest of the day, he was off on his own.
━
"Jiho, get your lazy ass out of bed and answer the damn phone," he left another message, which ended in a failed hang-up and some additional mumblings before he heard the beginning of the 'if you would like to hear your recording,' dialogue. Rather than recording it again, he just hung up and went back to lounging on the floor in front of the TV.
And then his phone rang.
"Kyungie, you really should stop harassing Jiho's phone."
"Shut up, Kwon. Give it to Jiho."
"I already did~"
Kyung rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh, "You can go back to molesting him after you tell him he's on the show tonight."
He's met with some hurried fumbling and a few heavy breaths before he hears Jiho's voice, "Tonight? Dude, I can't tonight. I have a real gig."
"Uh huh, solo performances for Yukwon don't count~ And anything else you wanna say as an excuse isn't true either, otherwise I'd know about it!"
Jiho chuckled, the start of a moan getting cut off by his voice again (and Kyung was close to throwing the phone across the room), "Yeah, aight. I'll see you later."
Before Jiho could hang up, Kyung was giving a 'keep the noises to yourself!' and hanging up first. Why on earth did Jiho feel the need to have that stuff going on whe--wait, it was Yukwon that returned the call.
Kyung shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.
He went through his normal afternoon routine: boiling water for lunch and grabbing the mail while he waited, trying not to touch too many things because everything is always in its rightful place by the time Jaehyo goes to bed and if there's anything worse than Jaehyo's stubborn dad, then it'd be turning a magazine the wrong way.
He's standing in the kitchen eating from a bag of barbecue chips while the noodles are cooking, and he hears the opening of the front door, the drop of a bag, and the door closed.
"You're supposed to be saving your appetite for lunch," Jaehyo laughed, giving the clock a wary glance while he went to get bowls and forks for lunch.
"We both know these noodles won't be cooked well enough for me to be full after I eat them so I'm starting early," he nodded, patting his stomach happily with the only two clean fingers on his hand. "You're early today."
"Yeah, had an exam. Got it done early." The taller man set up the table, a folded towel in the middle for the pot of noodles.
"Are you done for the rest of the day?" he's stirring the noodles with the wrong hand while licking off his fingers, rubbing them against his teeth to get rid of the thick coating of barbecue powder.
Jaehyo simply nodded, folding his arms as he waited against one of the counters for a second, speculating on what he wanted to drink. "Why? Do you have something planned?"
"Other than work..." he had to glance over his shoulder to see that there was a nod in the first place, reaching out to offer a sip of his beer because he knew that look. It was a look he saw every day. "Just another interview with the show tonight."
"I'll be there," Jaehyo smiled, accepting the bottle as his own, which he took to the table and had a few sips already before he was even sitting down.
Kyung's previous smile was wiped off his face when he realized he needed to get himself a new beer. Except that that was the last one.
━
He's chilling at work with one of his coworkers, watching one of the female guests in the radio booth; whether she was recording or just talking, singing or just standing, Kyung didn't really know. And he wasn't all too worried, either, because all he could do was admire what she was wearing.
"Want help putting your tongue back in your mouth?" Minhyuk offered, "Think of your grandma."
Immediately, Kyung's face scrunched up in distaste and he curled up into the fetus position, resting his head in Minhyuk's lap.
Minhyuk was laughing like there was nothing funnier, and when it died down with the exception of a few chuckles, he smiled his infamous half-smile, his dimple appearing, "Did you get much sleep last night?"
"Yeah, slept fine. But now I'm thinking about my grandma!" he whined, shaking his head, hands rubbing over his face in an effort to erase the thoughts.
The elder man was still amused by it, his laughter returning in a softer chuckle. "Whoops~" he snickered, running his fingers through Kyung's dark hair while they were waiting. "Is your roommate coming tonight?"
Kyung's brows furrowed and he turned his head, "Why?"
"No reason. He usually comes when you're on the show," he shrugged, gently patting the younger man's head for him to move, "Now get up, I gotta get back to work."
It was a few more minutes before Kyung got himself up off the couch and went back to cataloguing music, passing the time by scribbling down some lines going through his head while he worked. He's in the middle of a drabble when someone's hands are on his shoulders, effectively breaking his concentration.
"Whoa," Jiho laughed at his friend's jumping, rubbing his shoulders to calm him down, "What are you working on?"
Kyung turned to glare at him, giving the clock a wary glance while he turned the scrap paper over. "Just some lines."
"Gonna keep them from me? I'm hurt," the man dropped his hands, one going to his chest over his heart. "Must be some serious shit, though," he commented, poking at one of Kyung's tinted cheeks. "You're blushing."
"I am not!"
"Yeah, you are."
He's still in denial when he folds up the paper and stuffs it into his back pocket where it won't get touched and therefore no teasing will happen. "Baro's gonna be lookin' to get you in the booth soon so don't go anywhere," he grumbled, smiling despite the bitterness in his voice.
"Aight," he was grinning when he turned to face the radio booth and the blond-headed man inside; the two waved at each other and Kyung finished up the current album he still had open.
"What's the topic for tonight?" Jiho looked over his shoulder.
"Us going abroad."
"He knows?" he laughed incredulously, "Don't need to tell him anything, damn."
"I asked for time off to study, of course he knows."
"Still can't believe he owns his own radio show and he's only our age," he frowned a bit, shrugged as he turned away from the booth.
"Well, his parents didn't care what he did with the garage so long as it was kept clean." Even so, Kyung had to wonder how they felt about random people coming into their home. They were probably starting to recognize everyone by now, though.
"I guess...how does he pay you to work here?"
Kyung's mouth was open to answer, but Sunwoo turned off the ON-AIR sign and opened the door, his deep voice interrupting the response. "What do you guys wanna drink?"
"Anything," Kyung answered for both of them, attempting to push Jiho's ass off the desk.
"Gimme a few minutes and we'll get started," he gave a salute and disappeared inside the house, already asking his mom for a few drinks for his guests.
"Yah!" Jiho pouted, stumbling forward when the other's attempts were finally successful. "If you wanted me to move, just ask."
"I'll ask next time. You can go in now," Kyung nodded in the direction of the door that was still open, a few chairs set up inside for the two guests. He glanced at the clock on the wall and the screen of his phone, his chest tightening with distaste.
━
"I know there's probably people tired of hearing their banter, but tonight's guests are Zico and Park Kyung. In a little bit we'll be accepting callers, but for now we've got some things to get out of the way," Sunwoo heavily sighed, "I heard you two are leaving?"
"Yeup," Jiho laughed. "I'm heading back to Japan."
"How long?"
"A few months. Really depends, but I'm looking to be there half a year at the least."
"That's more than a few months. What are you going for?"
"The experience," he answered simply, a few sounds of acknowledgement.
"Not for the girls?"
Jiho laughed (and to anyone other than Kyung, it sounded perfectly normal, but there was a hint in there that gave away Jiho's sheepish mindset on the subject), "No way, can't be seen like that if I wanna make a name for myself. Keeping my attention elsewhere."
Kyung knew there was a reason he didn't answer it the way he probably wanted to, announce something to the world, or at least this little part of Seoul where they were broadcasting. That was all that mattered, right?
"And the studio's very own Park Kyung is leaving us for a semester to study abroad. Where you going?"
"Ah~ Yeah, New Zealand."
"Is your English good?"
"He likes to say his English sucks so he can get compliments on it, please don't ask him that," Jiho chuckled at his own joke.
"I'll manage," Kyung agreed with a laugh of his own, "I speak better English than Zico's Japanese."
"That's not true!" Jiho countered, attempting to muffle Kyung's mouth with his hand while Sunwoo is laughing.
"Oh!" Kyung laughed a little louder, leaning out of reach of the ridiculously long arms trying to stifle him, "It'd be unfair to say that."
"Why?" Sunwoo was calming himself down, Jiho's hands still reaching for Kyung's face.
"He doesn't speak Japanese."
"He's lying!" Jiho blurted, shaking his hands in the air like the listeners could hear him, "I speak Japanese!"
"Let's hear some of it, then!"
"Ah..." Jiho laughed that same sheepish yet confident laugh of his, "After the break, let's start a break."
"Okay," Sunwoo laughed, leaning in to the mic, "For those of you listening, if anyone speaks Japanese, feel free to call for a live chat! We'll leave you with some tracks I got today and be back for a live performance and calls."
One glance out the booth's window is all it took for Kyung to notice Jaehyo still hadn't arrived.
━
"Now that we've given time for Zico to refresh his Japanese, we're gonna interrupt his mindset with a performance, we got him to agree to perform 'I'm Still Fly'," Sunwoo didn't need to give the full introduction before Jiho was up and taking the mic, getting into his charismatic mode to make girls swoon.
And he knows he's not supposed to, but Kyung is checking his phone idly while he's mouthing the words to the rap.
━
When he finished, he was out of breath in his chair, sipping at his water between giving his thanks and futile bows for the applause he received from the other people in the booth.
"For those of our listeners that didn't get to witness it in person there's gonna be uploaded webcam footage about an hour after the show," Sunwoo promised, easing over into another topic after he stopped the recording. "During our earlier break, someone let slip that Kyung was working on lyrics before the show?"
"What?" Kyung looked squarely at Jiho.
"If it's mentioned on air, maybe someone will call and convince him to share."
"If anyone wants to accept the challenge, feel free to call."
"Lookit, he's hoping no one's gonna call~" Jiho teased, poking at one of Kyung's dark cheeks again.
The latter pulled away and mouthed some revenge plot in Jiho's general direction, eyes growing wider when the light flashed for a waiting caller, even wider when the call connected.
"Go ahead, caller, you're on."
"Park Kyung," not much else needed to be said and Kyung was already persuaded into talking about what he wrote. "You're going to be gone for months and you won't share the last things you wrote?"
"Ah...yeah, I wanted to fine-tune it first!"
"This caller..." Sunwoo muttered under his breath, only loud enough for the occupants in the booth to hear.
Jiho nodded knowingly, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"What's it about? Can I know?"
"Not until I do," Kyung chewed on his lip, not so confident in his words for a minute because he lost his original thought, "I mean, until it all comes together, I won't know either. I promise to upload it when it's done!"
"That's a promise you better keep!"
"I will," he repeated confidently, but there was a growing ache in his heart the more he listened to the familiar voice, the sadness in so few words was overpowering. "And if this show always broadcasted video streams, I'd perform KARA's Mister to make up for skipping this now. Please forgive me everyone!"
"I guess you can be forgiven this once. I'm sorry for failing the challenge!" the caller apologized, sounding a little better than before.
"You didn't fail," Jiho interrupted, "Kyungie just doesn't want to share."
"Thank you for your attempt!" Sunwoo assured, the three of them giving their thanks for calling before hanging up.
There were several other calls, and a lot of joking to be had in the times that Kyung wasn't distracted thinking of the first caller. He thought back to the words he scribbled out in sloppy writing, back to his study abroad, and the earlier conversation he had with Jaehyo about being here tonight.
By the time the show was done, he was heading back home in a hurry; it's a mix between anger that Jaehyo didn't show and anxiety to see him after that call to the radio.
"Hyung?" he was speaking before he even got in the door, his heart racing with adrenaline while he got his jacket and shoes off, askew on the floor. But the door was locked behind him and his keys were dropped before he was hurrying to look around. "Hyung," he panted, checking the study area and the kitchen, the couch, the bathroom, the other's room, and finally his own room.
Someone was lying in his bed, some hair sticking out from under the blanket. "Hyung..." Kyung sighed in slight relief, padding over quietly to take a seat on the edge of the bed, carefully pulling down the blanket to see Jaehyo's face. "Holy shit--"
"Don't ask!" Jaehyo huffed, pulling the covers back up to hide his face.
"Don't ask how you got a black eye?! Am I supposed to ignore it!?"
"Yes!"
"You're a fucking idiot, what happened? Who did it? Do I need to beat someone up?"
Jaehyo laughed and shook his head, shifting to sit up a little. "It'd be a bad idea to beat up my dad, he's already mad enough I won't be there."
"Your dad did thi--wait, what? You told him?"
He nodded, hesitantly touching his cheek to examine how bad the swelling was now.
"Yah, don't--" Kyung pulled his hand away. "Are you going to be kicked out of school?"
Jaehyo's fingers tightened around Kyung's while he sat up more, kissing him softly on the lips before pushing him out of the way to get up. "Let's not talk about that. You just found out I'm going with you to New Zealand and you're still worried about my face," he scoffed, going up to the mirror, already groaning before he saw himself up closely. "Shit, that's bad."
"Well, yeah. Your face is much nicer without the black eye but," Kyung shrugged, wrapping his arms around Jaehyo's waist. "Are you really gonna come with me to New Zealand?" he asked quietly.
"Mhm, it'd be stupid not to at this point," he snorted and turned around, running his hands down the shorter man's back and into his pockets until he found the folded piece of paper.
Before Kyung could react and try to get it back, Jaehyo was holding his arm up in the air to keep it out of reach.
"How did you--"
"Jiho told me," he smiled confidently, unfolding it while he kept his other hand around Kyung, "You didn't want to say it over the radio so I went easy on you."
He only got a grumbled response, the inevitability only getting closer.
"Did you..." Jaehyo lowered his arm, still reading the random lines of nonsense. "Is this about me?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm never going to tease you about your stubborn ass again," he mumbled, dropping the scrap of paper on the dresser behind him while his arms wrapped around Kyung's shoulders. "You're the perfect height for an arm rest."
"Yeah, well, you're the perfect height fo--"
"Shh! I wasn't finished!" Jaehyo frowned, nuzzling his cheek, "And the perfect height for a boyfriend."
Someday, Kyung might admit to planning the whole thing, from going abroad to New Zealand to the paper in his back pocket, but given that he's too far gone to take credit for it, he'll sum it up to fate. That, and the possibility of being questioned on the accuracy and legitimacy of such a statement might cause more damage to his ego than anything.
But, for what it's worth, Park Kyung managed to get his best friend to be his boyfriend by being too stubborn about everything, and somehow that turned out to be a good thing.