modern wage of love {4/4} ; jongho ; PG ; 3641wc (Part 1/2)
"jonghyun," minho's deep voice bellowed from the gates.
"what are you doing here?" jonghyun replied, eyes cold with hurt.
kibum told me what happened during this afternoon, jonghyun felt sick just hearing that name, i'm sorry if what i did had really hurt you. so he's apologizing? kibum - he -
"if you're going to tell me how kibum didn't mean it and how you're sorry because you two are already in a committed relationship -- save it."
"what?" minho looked at jonghyun, face clouded with confusion and body stiff partly due to the wind, "what are you talking about?"
"look, i'm not that pathetic to cry, alright? if you really like kibum and whatnot then i'll just say congratulations and back off."
"you're not getting this!"
"so just what am i supposed to get?!" jonghyun breaks down, frozen fingers clinging onto the grates, legs giving way, "why don't you tell me?" he whispers.
minho waddles over to the curled up figure, hands making their way to the back of a fetal jonghyun. he ignores the struggle jonghyun puts up, legs kicking, arms pushing and nails scratching. it hadn't been a pretty scene. the gate creaks a little when both of them leaned against it, minho's legs awkwardly spread to accommodate a crying grown man.
jonghyun was pretty sure the only reason why minho had bothered to address the situation was because he didn't want things to be awkward during team-building. either that or key had been a bitch and said something. he had to grow up and man the fuck up for god's sake! he's in college but he's still acting like a grade schooler. a female grade schooler getting pushed away in school by her friends just because of a rumor. he has to get back to the dorm room and pack his bags and call heechul up and tell him he doesn't want to stay with taemin anymore starting from tomorrow and start anew and just cuddle up with minho forever in this moment because he was so warm and cuddly.
no. he told himself he was going to sever all ties with kibum and everyone else.
jonghyun inhaled a deep breath, taking in the familiar musky cologne minho wore and the slight salty taste of his tears lingering on his tongue as he exhaled. he pulled himself away from the safety of minho's embrace, pushing the other and running back into the dorm despite the shouts coming from the other. he ran despite the sore sting in his calves. despite the way he was dying a little more on the inside when the elevator door closed right when minho was about to reach him. kibum said it, didn't he? he'd been all talk but no do, this time, he wasn't going to be that soft little boy his mom had brought him up to be.
--
wiping his tears and taking in a deep breath, jonghyun unlocked the door and walked in nonchalantly, eyes roaming everywhere just refusing to look at the other boy hugging the backrest of his chair. he noticed though, the way taemin's eyes had been set on him. he moved around, grabbing his bag and started pulling clothings off the hangers which seemed to even be against him; nylon stretching however far he was pulling them without falling off the hanger itself.
"what are you doing?" taemin asked in a weary voice, legs stretching out, "you just got back."
"what does it look like i'm doing, taemin? i'm packing. i'm getting heechul-hyung to get me a new roommate tomorrow."
taemin couldn't suppress his anger as he stood up, effectively banging the chair into the hollow walls and slamming jonghyun against another. his eyes were challenging and his nails were threatening to rip jonghyun's shirt apart. for what we thought was worth, jonghyun. taemin muttered, grow the fucking hell up!, he shouted and pushed jonghyun onto his bed. minutes of silence passed, both their eyes were bloodshot and ready for a fight.
"why don't you back the fucking hell off?" jonghyun had never liked being challenge.
"i trusted kibum, and i'm angry at him. but do you know what's worse? that all of you seemed to know what happened but none of you bothered to tell me!" jonghyun half-heartedly shouted, blinking back his tears at the same time, "and i thought we were friends-"
"we are friends, hyung! why can't you see that all we're doing is for the best-"
"for the best of the both of you," jonghyun imitated in a girlish squeak.
"thanks for attempting to explain, but i'm sorry that i don't understand what all of you are trying to make me get because i don't speak bullshit."
for the second time of the day, jonghyun left.
--
jonghyun did feel stupid after leaving the dorm -- where was he supposed to go? his friends were all asleep (he was pretty sure about that. it was half past two in the morning!), mr. big ego wouldn't want to go back to his dorm room either. that left him to roam all around till it was morning. maybe if he was lucky he could be the first to arrive in school and sleep in the lecture hall till the class started.
it was rather breezy for the night; jonghyun had both his hands stuck in the pockets of his coat, walking aimlessly around. the moment he'd realize that he had been idly walking for thirty minutes was when he got hungry. but i just fed you less than two hours ago! fine, i'll just get something off the stores.
jonghyun didn't have the least idea of turning back when he'd heard someone calling his name. it was dark, and the last time he remembered, no one had been around except for the flickering lights on the streets. he didn't need the unnecessary problem; probably ending up in the headlines tomorrow morning with something like -- 'college student goes missing after a fight with friends' or the likes. well, at least he had the decency to close his eyes and whisper a soft please don't harm me, i mean no harm under his breath.
"jonghyun!" there it goes again.
"jonghyun!"
"jonghyun! up here!" god damn, they're going to kill me the moment i see their face. don't look back jonghyun!
jonghyun picked up his pace, opting to run for his life and back to the dorm.
--
he didn't turn back till three streets back down. he panted hard, chest heaving heavily and covered in sweat despite the cold night. jonghyun couldn't possibly go back in at this time; it was too late to get back in (automatic door locks at two a.m) yet too early to go to school (mr. jeong arrives at four everyday just to make sure no students are hoarding). jonghyun chose to take his seat on the cleaner side of the curb, a little too rough on his skin for his liking but hey, what can a homeless guy choose.
he had never expected things to go this way; he should've taken some time off his anger and listen to what taemin had to say. yes, yes. he should've done that, shouldn't he? he was just... never any good when it came to patience and all. jonghyun pulled his coat tighter to his body, now that he had finally came down from all that excitement earlier on. it was cold and he was still hungry, lips quivering just because he was so sad, cold, so fucking heartbroken and disappointed with himself. he deserved so much better than all these pain. how was he even supposed to be going to school in a couple of hours time when he hadn't brought his books and stuff along? this honestly wasn't his night.
--
"hyung came back last night." taemin mumbled.
krystal looked up in anticipation, egging him to continue.
"so? did you tell him anything? i heard from kibum that he had already apologized to minho and told him everything." jessica said from her end.
taemin shook his head, head looked down earnestly.
"i suppose that meant 'i didn't tell him but everything went fine and now the both of them are back together."
"i fought with him last night." he uttered, raising a few 'what?' from the table, "he came back last night packing his bag, saying that he was going to get heechul-hyung to get him a new roommate. i just... exploded." taemin sighed.
"i mean -- after all we've tried to do? really? i just... pushed him against the wall and then shoved him onto the bed --"
"sounds kinky."
"very funny, amber. why don't you go shove that fucking fry up your ass." jessica commented, eyes shut in frustration.
taemin frowned as all amber did was to whisper a soft 'alright, alright, no need to get pissy now.'.
"another word from you and i will reach over to strangle you with your hoodie."
"enough, alright!?"
the entire cafeteria quietened down after krystal's outburst, some staring over in curiosity and the rest stayed with their mouths sealed.
"when are all of you going to stop bickering? i'm tired of us constantly fighting because of this issue. none of us were like this when jonghyun-oppa was around, and after kibum-oppa messed up and went missing for the whole day, if any of you had even took notice, we're always fighting over minor things." she shivered, "i just want all of us to go back to the past when there was no such thing as relationship problems and we'd quarrel but know deep down that it's just a friend-thing! all of you are hypocrites; you keep saying that you want them to be back together, but none of us are doing anything. has anyone of you even realize that the main issue here is that all of us are getting frustrated with another because we're not done solving jonghyun-oppa's problem before we've got another bubbling up? this is stupid, you're all stupid -- if you're not going to help him with his problem, i will." krystal sniffled, hands rubbing her teary eyes.
"he was the only one who stood up for me when i got accused of cheating. i am not going to let him suffer." she spoke in a voice that seemed so small, yet so indignant over the case.
krystal left the cafeteria, stomping away and leaving the rest to figure out what had just happened. the noise resumed soon after, students scrambling around, finding their way to the exit and the food counter. one table in exception.
they sat and waited for someone to break the tension, to tell them that no, krystal did not just scream in their faces and break down. no, the youngest, the quietest had just exploded at them a few minutes ago. not one squeak from taemin, and not one harsh comment from jessica.
just silence.
--
jonghyun didn't turn up for school afterall -- so much for sitting in front of the school till daybreak. he couldn't give a second fuck about how he was going to get demerit points for bailing out on school yesterday and skipping today. he was sad and every sad person deserved some time off for themselves -- to just sort things out, y'know? to stop being so sad, to stop being so hateful and critical of others. he just wanted to get out of all these troubles and be happy again. he just wanted to stay in his baggy minho-esque shirts and drink a cup of warm milk and go to sleep.
heechul found him sitting alone, and offered him a cup of coffee while they talked over the reason as to why jonghyun needed a change of room. we've got plenty of rooms, do you want to stay alone or get a roommate? either that, or you could get one of our design apartments. it's definitely expensive but comfy. it's pretty big, so you can share it with three people. he said. i don't usually allow transfers at this time of the year when all the freshmen are coming in, but you're an exception, alright? don't go around blabbering. jonghyun thanked him for the coffee and left college right after. he couldn't stand being surrounded by obnoxious jocks who've always wanted to get in his pants and noisy girls that couldn't stop chattering.
he was a little jittery while walking back to the coffee house, in hopes of finding jinki. the wind was twice as harsh than last night and the lights were glaring right into his face since the sky was pretty dark. he'd never really question why people liked him -- he had guessed that it was because he looked good. he did ask his previous few boyfriends. all they did was to sweep his question under the rug with a shrug and 'you're hot'. maybe that was why his relationships have never ended happily. maybe... that was why he never believed in love again. for once, minho had made him feel giddy with a smile and swoon with a kiss. he'd really invested his all in that relationship they shared.
as always, jinki was there -- standing behind the counter, smiling at everyone as though there was nothing to worry about. he walked in, tugging the right side of his lips up in an attempt to be happy (didn't work) and headed for the counter.
"you walked away when i called for you yesterday." jinki said, a mock frown present on his face.
"huh?"
"just yesterday night. you were walking down the streets and i called for you? thrice."
"that was you? i had thought that was some persistent ghost behind my back of something!" jonghyun exclaimed, body leaning forward to jinki.
"nah, just me. just old jinki." and he smiled.
"can i get the usual?"
"latte and cake for breakfast?"
"and may i know what's so wrong about that?" jonghyun raised his voice a wee bit higher.
"don't you have school?"
"no-"
"oh, hyesoon you came in at the right time. take over, i'm going out." jinki spoke over jonghyun's shoulders, "and jonghyun, if i may, could i get the honor of having brunch with you?" and jinki showed that toothy smile again.
"what about work?"
"no worries. i'm not supposed to be working today. i took an off but since the person on shift couldn't come in early, i'm here to open the store for her. now, brunch?"
"alright."
--
it was a quiet journey to the eatery. jinki occasionally tugged on jonghyun's coat to show him the way, and jonghyun so often pulled jinki away from the potential hazards of bumping into another pole. they shared a good laugh, but it was mainly quiet. jonghyun liked being around jinki. jonghyun liked how calm and slow things went when they were together. he even felt a little hip because the quietness made him want to burst out in singing with an acoustic guitar in hand.
jinki just had that magic.
so did minho. but he just had a different magic. one that wanted to make jonghyun giggle like a little schoolgirl with a crush, one that would calm him down with every word his honey coated baritone voice would speak. one that made jonghyun fall head over heels the first place.
...
jonghyun really was in love wasn't he? in his defence -- he was always slow in realizing problems relating to the heart.
and just when he'd thought things wouldn't get any worse, minho walked in alone, the waiter conveniently seating him two tables down. there wasn't any reason why minho wouldn't have noticed him -- jonghyun was with the biggest klutz in the world; what with tripping over his shoe laces and knocking onto the table edge.
he approached their table, a forced smile plastered on his face where a murderous glint was glimmering in his eyes displayed for the world to see.
"well, hi, jonghyun. hi... jonghyun's friend."
"hi, i'm jinki,"
"hey. what brings you here at this time? don't you have school?" jonghyun says, confusion splayed all over his face.
"probably the same reason as you," minho utters under his breath, "hey, jonghyun, could i have a quick chat with you? over at the corner." he reaches his hand behind his neck, before adding a soft, "a real quick one.".
jonghyun looked over to jinki, what was he supposed to do? on one hand, jonghyun was pretty excited about it, but on the other, what were they going to talk about? would it be filled with awkward little pauses and the both of them tries to say something at once, then they both would laugh and realize how they were wrong to have broken up, and jonghyun would stand on his tippy toes to kiss minho? just like how the sappy dramas would?
"i'd rather not so, minho. if you've got something to say, and since it's real quick, you might as very well say it here." jonghyun blurted out.
fuck.
now you really have blown your chance.
minho stood rooted to the ground, eyes wide and blinking fast.
"jonghyun, i think he's got something really important to say to you. i'll just head back over to the coffee house. hyesoon's alone and she wouldn't be able to handle the current crowd alone." and he smiles again.
"but what about our brunch?"
"you can have it with your friend since he's here, you can talk over food, too."
jinki stood up, smile never once leaving his face. he gives a soft sigh when he looks at jonghyun, then turning over to minho and patted him on his shoulder. he walks away, but turns back again, whispering a listen to what he has to say, don't let your anger get the best of you into his side. jonghyun nods, and mouths a quick 'thank you'.
--
"jonghyun-ah. i just really want you to know that what happened the other night between me and that girl was a mistake. i was just drunk and i couldn't remember what happened next." minho rattles off, "all i knew was that joon had offered me some drink that tasted like orange pop and the next, i saw you standing right in front of me and i turned sober and-and- i realized i was making out with some girl."
jonghyun sneers, teeth gritting and nostrils flaring.
"you... don't get it either, don't you?" he exhales, eyes settled on the plates stacked up one another on the next table, "so, you and kibum? and i'd thought... we stood a chance. i guess i had been way too ahead of myself." jonghyun sighed.
"then why don't you listen to me for once?" minho said, voice so tired that it almost seemed as though he was begging.
"between me and kibum? there's nothing! i don't know who told you what but it's impossible between me and your friends. he came up to me last night an- jonghyun sit down and listen to me! -- so, he came up to me last night and told me that it was all just a plan between him and taemin to get us back together. they were saying that you might just get jealous and you know..."
"why would they do that?"
"oh come on, are you seriously asking me that? they're your friends. moreover, they are nothing more than strangers to this situation we're in right now!"
"so are you making me take the blame for all this?"
"indirectly yes, if you hadn't blown things out of proportion after i'd explained to you so many times that i was drunk, none of this," minho tapped the table rudely, "none of this, would've ever happened."
jonghyun slumped back on his seat, arms going limp and back turning jelly. he shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. "you are... absolutely incorrigible." he muttered.
"i'm leaving." jonghyun said, voice devoid of emotions. he had to leave before he started to get overly emotional.
"wait, jonghyun!" minho shouts, finally understanding that yes, he missed calling this name so badly and no, this was not what he had expected.
"what more do you want from me!?" jonghyun turned around, eyes obviously tearing up.
"this wasn't supposed to happen," minho cursed, massaging his temple.
"so what did you think would've happened, minho? that i'd forgive you for straying in the beginning and then hooking up with my best friend behind my back less than two months after we broke up?" jonghyun paused, fingers reaching up to wipe away the tears that couldn't help but fall, "that we'd kiss and make up? that we'd be back to normal?"
"i didn-"
"it's okay minho, it's my turn to apologize. to apologize for even being jealous when i don't even have the right to." he looked up, eyes blinking back the tears, "i'm sorry." jonghyun whispered and walked away as his heart was pushed into the drain and gnawed on by hungry stray dogs.
--
minho couldn't sleep that night. he tossed and turned and teared a little (just a little) after the clock striked twelve, remembering that he was all alone again. that he was the one who caused jonghyun to be in so much pain. he knew both were at fault; he was too hard-headed and jonghyun was too hot-tempered. he knew that either one or the other would have to compromise in a relationship, but how were they supposed to go round with a angry jonghyun that wouldn't give in to listening?
"that we'd kiss and make up, huh?" minho sat up, knocking his head against the wall repeatedly.
"maybe i did."
--
"jonghyun."
"kibum? what are you doing in front of my room?"
"we honestly need to talk."
-----
honest spoiler here. they have sex at the next part. but who?????????????????????? lol
anyways, I'm really sorry for this late update (and it's only part one lmfao). I've got the whole damn thing written out, but I can't seem to put the stupid ending in. it sucks. but I'll make it good anyways. well, I hope you liked it and the next part would be the conclusion of this story :3 (i really hope you'll comment because i put in my all to writing this ;___;)