Wired [2/2]
Jonghyun walked out of his session with Jinki in a complete daze. He drove home in a daze, nearly causing three accidents at three different intersections. He wasn’t in too much of a daze, however, to roll down his window and flip the bird to the driver that decided to tailgate him after the last accident he nearly caused.
He parked his car in his driveway and turned off the engine. Jonghyun’s seatbelt was still on, and he made no motion to take it off or get out of his car.
He rested his hands on the steering wheel and stared into the rearview mirror, furrowing his eyebrows at himself. Was he really that predictable? Never in his life did he ever think that his life would become predictable.
His phone rang in the cup holder, making him reach for it and answer.
“Hello?”
“You sound confused. Are you drunk already? It’s the middle of the day, Jonghyun. Do you have any decency?” Key’s voice rang out from the phone.
“I’m not drunk. I just had the revelation of a lifetime.”
“I see. Well, I just called to tell you-”
“I can’t believe it, Key. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. You know, I lived my entire life thinking I was this rebel, doing what I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it, sticking it to the man, you know?”
“Yes, that’s nice and all, but I called you to tell you-”
“What have I been doing with my life? What do-”
“Jonghyun! Shut up! Talk about this with Jinki, that’s what he’s there for. I called you to tell you the show tonight was canceled. Good fucking grief.” Jonghyun stared at his phone in surprise when Key hung up abruptly.
Jonghyun pursed his lips and sat back in his seat with a sigh. He popped open the seatbelt and got out of his car. Maybe he’d do something out of his routine tonight.
--
Jonghyun was sitting on his porch drinking a beer when Jinki pulled up into his driveway. Jonghyun watched him out of the corner of his eye and took a swig of his beer before turning his gaze back over his lawn. <i>Maybe I should mow it</i>, Jonghyun thought to himself. It was overrun with weeds, and the grass itself looked like it could swallow a man whole.
After a little bit, the sun started to set, and Jonghyun went inside briefly to flip on the porch light and get another beer. The light buzzed above him, making him sink further into his thoughts of nothing. He turned his eyes up to watch the bugs buzz around the light until he heard Jinki turn on the hose to water his lawn.
Jonghyun turned in his seat and watched him water his lawn, beer in his hand. Jinki whistled a tune as he watered until he felt eyes on him. He turned his gaze towards Jonghyun and raised an eyebrow at him. Jonghyun blinked a few times before holding up his beer.
“Want a beer?” Jinki pursed his lips. His show was coming on soon, but the way Jonghyun grinned at him from across the fence made it impossible for him to say no.
--
“Four years ago,” was the first thing Jinki said as he down down next to Jonghyun on his porch bench before taking a drink of his cold beer. Jonghyun gave him a confused look until he remembered their conversation from earlier in the day.
“You moved in four years ago? Seriously? My memories of you existing start from last year maybe. That one time your paper was thrown at me instead of delivered to your house.” Jinki nodded, taking another sip of his beer.
“I remember that. I’ve never heard someone mumble more drunken swear words before in my life.” Jonghyun chuckled a little bit. The two of them sat in silence for a moment. It was surprisingly comfortable with no awkwardness in the air. They were just neighbors enjoying a beer together.
“What do you do for a living?” Jinki asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
“This. Play, party, get drunk, pass out, wake up, eat, and do it all over again.”
“What’s your day job?”
“That <i>is</i> my day job.” Jinki blinked a few times before looking over at Jonghyun with furrowed eyebrows.
“What do you do at night then?”
“I save the city from evil super villains that threaten the citizens.” Jinki laughed, covering his mouth with his beer. Jonghyun was mildly disappointed, but he was enjoying this conversation with Jinki, so he tried not to think about his braces.
“How do you pay for bills? Your gigs really pay that much?” Jonghyun pursed his lips and shook his head, taking another sip of his beer.
“I won the lottery when I was eighteen. Mega multiplier and everything. The government took out the taxes, and now, they’re still paying me the money. I get paid to live basically.” Jinki stared at Jonghyun in disbelief for a moment until a smile appeared on his face.
“You’re shitting me.”
“I’m not. Seriously. I was on the news and everything. I have the ticket framed in my house if you wanna come see.” Jinki followed Jonghyun inside, and there it was, on his wall along with numerous pictures and newspaper articles.
Jonghyun got another beer and watched as Jinki admired the articles.
“So, does this mean we’re friends now or something?”
“I guess,” Jinki said, not taking his eyes off of the newspapers.
“I have a gig tomorrow at a club. You should come by. I’ll even sing you a song.” Jinki glanced over his shoulder at Jonghyun. Jonghyun avoided his gaze and stared resolutely at his beer bottle.
“And it’s not like you have any excuse. Tomorrow is Friday, and you don’t work the weekends.” Jinki grinned at Jonghyun.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice.”
--
Jonghyun seemed a little bit more nervous than usual backstage, and it was terribly obvious to his band mates as he paced back and forth.
“Jonghyun, are you not drunk enough or something?”
“I haven’t had a drink yet.” Collective gasps rang out from around the room.
“You’re kidding me. You’re going on stage sober?”
“Oh yeah. Here. We’re playing this song tonight.” Jonghyun handed out some sheets of paper and went back to pacing.
“What the fuck is this, Jonghyun?”
“I invited my neighbor out to come watch us play, and I said I’d sing him a song.”
“No. I refuse. This is creepy as hell.”
“Hey, Minho. A hundred bucks says his neighbor doesn’t get creeped out by this song,” Taemin said, turning towards the taller man. Minho turned his eyes upwards in thought for a moment before grinning.
“That’s a sucker bet. I’ll take you on.” They shook hands as Key gave them a look of absolute disbelief.
--
Jinki didn’t look too out of place at the club. He mostly kept to himself and enjoyed the overpriced drinks. He didn’t drink often, but his alcohol tolerance was that of a whale’s, and it was needless to say that he wouldn’t be getting drunk on a few bar drinks.
When the stage lights came on the curtains went up, Jinki leaned back against the counter with a smile on his face as he saw Jonghyun and his group on the stage.
Jinki couldn’t quite tell if Jonghyun was really singing. It sounded like screaming to him, but the crowd seemed to be enjoying it, jumping up and down with the music.
As the night started to round out, Jonghyun grabbed the microphone and took a look around the crowd.
“So, I invited one of my friends out tonight. He’s somewhere out in that crowd, and I promised I would sing him a song. So here it is.” Jinki’s interest perked up as Jonghyun started to sing. As he listened to the lyrics of the song Jonghyun was belting out, he started to laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was because the song was absolutely ridiculous, or if he was crying out of sheer embarrassment.
Jonghyun was singing to him about his braces. Jinki sighed, burying his face into one hand. He was going to have to work a little bit harder as a professional, but as Jonghyun’s neighbor and friend, he wanted to punch him across the face for being such a creep.
“I like it when you kling klang-” Jinki sighed again. He was twenty-six, but even he knew a Pokemon reference when he heard one.
--
Jonghyun didn’t see Jinki beyond the occasional wave across the fence until his scheduled session with him the following week.
The first thing Jinki said when Jonghyun walked through the door was, “You’re a creep.”
--
Jonghyun noticed during one session that Jinki seemed a little bit more agitated than usual. Curious, he stared at him until he looked up from his desk.
“What?”
“Are you okay? You seem a little bit more snippy than usual,” Jonghyun said, tilting his head in curiosity.
“I just got my braces tightened. My teeth hurt a little bit.” A wide grin spread across Jonghyun’s face.
“Want me to kiss them and make them feel better?”
--
The sessions with Jinki were becoming more and more active. Jinki was delving into the depths of Jonghyun’s mind, and coming out with new revelations about him, new revelations that left Jonghyun with his jaw permanently dropped.
Periodically, Jinki would test Jonghyun by making Jonghyun stand still while he stood in front of him, faces a few inches apart and smile. Jonghyun had nearly no tolerance at first, reaching out for Jinki almost immediately the first week.
But as time went on, Jinki would be able to stand there with his hands in his pockets, grinning, smirking, smiling at Jonghyun, and Jonghyun would stand there with his hands to himself. At first, Jinki could see Jonghyun struggling with himself, and the faces he made were priceless.
And over time, Jonghyun became almost normal, standing there and having conversations with Jinki as if everything were fine. And Jinki made sure, with the occasional glance towards his pants.
Jonghyun caught him looking a few times. “Sorry to disappoint. Trying to keep it under wraps. But uh, you know, if you’re ever interested, I could exercise my ability to completely lose control. It’d definitely be worth your time.”
Jinki rolled his eyes. “I might take you up on that offer, if I’m ever bored at home.”
Jonghyun’s interest piqued. Did Jinki just agree to have sex with him?
--
Occasionally, after work, if Jonghyun didn’t have a gig or a party to go to, the two of them would sit on his front porch and talk about things irrelevant to everything while sipping on beers.
One week, Jinki got a little bit bolder. Jonghyun stood nonchalantly in the middle of his office with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Jinki stood in front of him and smiled.
Jonghyun shrugged his shoulders, returning his grin. “Pretty,” he said, flicking his hair out of his eyes.
Jinki stepped in a little closer, almost so their bodies were touching. “And how are we doing now?” Jonghyun held his breath for a second, counted to five then took a deep breath.
“Still fine.” Jinki’s smile turned into amusement as he studied Jonghyun’s face. He could tell he was flushing a little bit, but anyone would, given the close proximity of their bodies. That’s just how humans reacted to stimuli like that.
“And now?” Jinki leaned in closer so their cheeks were almost touching. His lips were right at Jonghyun’s ear, and he practically felt the shudder that went through Jonghyun’s body. Jinki grinned in amusement before bringing his other hand up and tracing Jonghyun’s jawline gently with his thumb.
He felt Jonghyun lean into his touch before watching him squeeze his eyes shut. Jinki could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he was sure that Jonghyun felt the same way.
“You know, I think that would turn anyone on, regardless of whether or not they had weird fetishes.” Jinki took a few steps back and made his way back to his desk before sitting down in his chair. He did his best to hide the fact that his hands were shaking slightly.
“To be honest, I never thought there was anything wrong with you. You’ve got a sound mind, your behavior isn’t particularly destructive, and you’re surprisingly healthy for someone who lives life they way they do. You can control your desires, so I’m not even really sure why you’re here.” Jonghyun turned around and gave Jinki a look of disbelief.
“And sure, you’re a bit of a creep, but that’s just a personality quirk.”
“So what you’re saying is...” Jinki finished writing something down and looked up at him with a grin.
“You’re perfectly fine. There was no need for you to even come see me in the first place. And yes, I am a money grubber.” Jonghyun blinked at him a few times before narrowing his eyes.
“Can’t you get fired for that?”
“Are you gonna tell?”
“Well, no, but-”
“Then no.” Jonghyun blinked again in confusion before shaking his head and deciding that he didn’t really care. It wasn’t like it was his money that paid for him anyway.
“You’re free to go,” Jinki said, turning back down to his paperwork. Jonghyun made robotic movements to leave, but stopped in the doorway of his office.
“Why did you have me come in every week then?”
“You’re interesting to talk to.”
--
Jonghyun felt weird again, and he’d felt weirder than he’d ever felt before. And when he felt weird, he drank, and since he was feeling the weirdest he’d ever felt, he drank more than ever and partied harder than he had before.
Even his band mates noticed something was weird. Jonghyun hardly ever went out every night for weeks in a row.
“Maybe he should go back to seeing the psych again...”
--
Jinki had no idea what had gotten into him that day at the office. It was one thing to try and turn someone on with his braces as a form of therapy. It was another thing to try to turn him on with sensual touches. Jinki sighed, leaning back against his couch in the living room. What was he doing?
Sure, Jonghyun was attractive, but that didn’t mean he could go taking advantage of him in his office. Jinki stuffed his hands into his pockets and let out a huff. He should probably just work up the courage to ask him out already.
Jinki pursed his lips before running his tongue over his teeth. Maybe after he got his braces off so Jonghyun wouldn’t say yes just for them.
--
In his foggy, liquor hazed-mind, it was an absolutely wonderful idea to be climbing up the trellis on the side of Jinki’s house in the middle of the night. Jonghyun just wished that everything wouldn’t shake so much, because he didn’t want to fall. That would be embarrassing, if he fell. Jonghyun just wanted to see Jinki, stare at his braces for a bit. He was suffering through a withdrawal, and Jinki was the closest thing to his fix.
Jonghyun cursed as he felt a thorn catch his hand and leave a long gash on the back. He stared at it until it started bleeding, making him sigh. He’d get that bandaged up later. Right now, his goal was the window at the top of the trellis where Jinki was probably sleeping.
When he got to the top, Jonghyun was met with another challenge. The window. How was he supposed to get the window open? He pressed at it with his hand, ignoring the stinging sensation where his hand was wounded.
Surprisingly, the window opened. Jonghyun stared at it for a few seconds before waving his hand in the open space to make sure it was really open, and that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him again. He wasn’t sure he’d survive a mind fuck like this.
Jonghyun climbed up further and slid into the bedroom, landing with a soft thump on the floor. He took a few heaving breaths on the floor before dusting off his shirt and pulling random leaves out of his hair. He froze when he heard someone snore on the bed.
His eyes shifted in the dark to the figure sleeping on the bed. Jonghyun grinned before scrambling to his feet and taking off his shoes. It was rude to wear shoes like that into someone’s bedroom, especially since he came in uninvited, his alcohol watered brain reasoned.
Jonghyun wiggled his toes in the plush carpet before sneaking over to Jinki’s bed and looming over his face as he slept.
Jinki slept on his back, arm above his head. His sheets were wrapped around his body as he slept, and Jonghyun couldn’t help but wish he were tangled up in the sheets too. Jinki had already reprimanded him once or twice about saying things like that, something about a rule of doctors not dating their patients, but Jinki blew that rule out of the water at their last meeting.
But right now, as Jonghyun watched him sleep, Jinki was just his next door neighbor that he just happened to have a gigantic crush on because he had braces, in a house that Jonghyun just happened to somewhat break into so he could watch him sleep.
Because that wasn’t creepy and stalkerish at all.
Jonghyun watched Jinki sleep for a few seconds before reaching out slowly and poking at his lips. Behind those plump lips were the little bits of metal on his teeth. The brackets, the wires going through them and the colorful donuts holding the wire in place so his teeth could move in the right direction.
Jinki did an especially good job brushing his teeth, Jonghyun noticed. His braces seemed to almost shine whenever Jinki flashed him a smile. Or maybe it was just Jonghyun’s imagination.
Jonghyun hovered over Jinki for too long though, because he could start to feel his presence above him. Jinki opened his eyes and squinted in the dark, yelling when he saw Jonghyun hovering over them.
“Holy shi-” Jinki instinctively brought his arm up and punched the intruder across the face, sending Jonghyun stumbling back onto the floor.
“Oh my god, what the hell?! Who are you?! How did you get in here?!” Jinki fell out of bed and placed a well aimed kick to the person’s ribs before running for his light switch.
His expression turned from terror to disbelief when he saw Jonghyun groaning on the floor, holding his ribs.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Jonghyun! What the fuck are you doing in my house?!" Jinki ran his hands through his hair and squatted beside the other man as he tried to catch his breath.
“I... I just wanted to see your braces! If I'd have known you were going to react this way, I would've taken my chances with that other girl..." Jinki’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed Jonghyun’s chin and moved it around so he could look at his neck. Jinki’s eyes fell on a pair of braces lined hickies and sighed.
“Are you drunk?”
“C’mon, Jinki. Give me a smile, and let me see those braces,” Jonghyun slurred out.
“Jonghyun! Are you fucking kidding me? You break into my house, scare the living shit out of me, just to ask me to show you my braces? How drunk are you?"
“It's not breaking into your house if the window was unlocked. Now, come on. Smile." Jonghyun reached out for Jinki’s face, but Jinki smacked his hand away and ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You know, what’s the real reason?” Jonghyun asked, getting up on all fours. Jinki turned to look at him as he struggled to his feet. Jonghyun pushed himself up and staggered to his left for a second before steadying himself. Jinki could smell the alcohol on him and wondered how he even had enough dexterity left to get into his house through the window.
“The real reason for what?”
“For... for... shit, what was I gonna say? For... oh right. For having me come in every week? If I was fine?” Jonghyun slurred, lurching forward unsteadily. He burped, making Jinki close his eyes and hope that Jonghyun wouldn’t throw up on his sheets.
“I may as well tell you, since you won’t remember in the morning. That’s how you are. Maybe I had you come in every week because you were my attractive next door neighbor, and I wanted to get to know you.”
“Could’ve just said hi or something,” Jonghyun said, falling forward onto Jinki’s bed and nuzzling his face into the sheets.
“You were always passed out or gone. Then there was that time you woke up in my driveway and tried to make out with me.” Jonghyun stopped moving and looked up, squinting his eyes.
“Say what? We’ve already kissed?”
“Yep.”
“Oh. Then get down here so I can finish the job. You and your goddamn sexy braces. Hell, I think I’d do you even without the braces.” Jinki sighed.
“Go to sleep, Jonghyun.”
“I’m not sleep...” Jonghyun dropped the bottle of alcohol he was holding onto Jinki’s bed, making him sigh even deeper as it spilled onto his sheets. Jonghyun smelled disgusting, and there was no way Jinki was going to let him sleep in his bed smelling like that.
--
It was unusual for Jonghyun to be woken up by his phone instead of the sprinklers in the morning. It was more unusual that he felt comfortable, perhaps a little bit too comfortable. What he was laying on didn’t feel like grass, weeds, or concrete.
Groaning, he tried to sit up, but his head started to spin as soon as he opened his eyes.
“Fuck, what happened last night,” he croaked out, covering his eyes with his arm. He was naked. Oh god, he just hoped he wasn’t in some girl’s bed and that her crazy husband or boyfriend wasn’t going to come barreling through the door at any moment. It wasn’t the beating he was dreading, it was the door slam.
“Sounds about right.” Jonghyun froze. Even in his hangover state, he recognized that voice.
“Oh god.”
“Oh god is right. I had to change my sheets because of you.”
“How did I get here?”
“You climbed in through the window.” Jonghyun groaned and rolled over, burying his face into the pillow. Damn, that pillow smelled good.
“What happened?”
“That’s a good question. If you don’t know, then I won’t tell you.”
--
Needless to say, things got very awkward between Jonghyun and Jinki. Jonghyun had a million thoughts racing through his mind as soon as he could think straight without his head throbbing about what happened that night. Jinki still refused to tell him and went on with his life as usual.
It didn’t help when Jonghyun saw the braces lined hickies on his neck when he finally sobered up enough to go home.
“Shit, shit, shit. What happened? Why can’t I remember anything? Fuck.” He might’ve had sex with the object of his desire for the past few months, and he couldn’t remember a thing.
He avoided Jinki for the next two weeks, trying to wrack his brain for information. Key mentioned something about spiking his drinks with something one day at the diner, making Jonghyun throw his steak knife at him before getting up and leaving in a huff.
It was driving him crazy, the uncertainty with Jinki, so he finally just decided to suck it up and be a man and ask him about it one more time.
--
Jinki was only mildly surprised to see Jonghyun on his doorstep, face free of makeup. His face showed nothing but frustration and sleepless nights, so Jinki decided to take pity on him.
“Not going out tonight?”
“Obviously not, if I’m here,” Jonghyun said, making Jinki grin and invite him inside.
“So, what brings you to my side of the fence?” Jinki asked, pointing Jonghyun to the direction of the couch as he entered the kitchen to grab him a drink.
Jonghyun accepted the beer and took a long drink from it as Jinki sat down next to him, taking a sip of his own drink.
“Doesn’t it get lonely, living here by yourself every day?” Jonghyun asked, eyeing the house.
“That’s not what you came here to ask me,” Jinki stated, grinning at Jonghyun.
“You’re right. What happened that night I ended up naked in your bed? Did we...?” His voice trailed off at the end as Jinki smirked at him.
“No.” Jonghyun let out a sigh of... relief? Was he really relieved that they hadn’t slept together after all? Part of him was disappointed, that he knew for sure.
“Why didn’t you just say so then? I was going crazy for the past few weeks.”
“You never asked.”
“You knew what I wanted to know!”
“Yeah, but you never asked.”
“You’re an ass, you know that?”
“I know that, too,” Jinki said with a smile. He took another drink of his beer and sat back on his couch.
“But you know, if we did, it would’ve been amazing right?” Jinki scoffed and chuckled as Jonghyun turned to look at him with serious eyes.
“I’m dead serious. Forgive me if you’re homophobic or something, but that would’ve made for some hot sex.”
“So I can’t forgive you if I’m not homophobic?” Jonghyun gave him a weird look before brushing off his question.
“I still turn you on?” Jinki asked, staring at his beer in amusement.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t you- Wait. Look up.” Jinki looked up from his beer and couldn’t stop the grin on his face.
“Your braces are gone.”
“They’re gone.”
“Since when?”
“Since last week. It feels a little bit weird, and my teeth are a little bit slimier than I remember.” Jonghyung drummed his fingers on the arm rest of the couch and chuckled to himself.
“You bored?” Jinki blinked at Jonghyun as he placed his beer on the table and turned towards Jinki, crawling over to him on the couch. Jinki laid back, placing his beer on the floor as Jonghyun hovered over him with a grin.
“Does it matter what I say?”
“You’re right. You’ll say yes, and I’ll kiss you, and we’ll fuck. Or you could say no, and I’d kiss you anyway, and we’d still fuck. Take your pick.”
“Forty-one.” Jonghyun shook his head as he laughed and leaned down to kiss Jinki, tentatively at first, but when Jinki bucked up to grind their hips together, Jonghyun decided that maybe slow wasn’t going to cut it.
“You’re an asshole,” Jonghyun said in between pants. “And you know what, I don’t even think I’m attracted to braces anymore. I like nice smiles. Or maybe it’s teeth. Your teeth in particular,” he said, kidding him again and forcing his tongue into Jinki’s mouth to run it over Jinki’s perfectly straight teeth. Jinki laughed and broke the kiss.
“Just shut up, Jonghyun. Shut. Up. And do me a favor. Don’t ever sing about my teeth again.”
--
Prev
He parked his car in his driveway and turned off the engine. Jonghyun’s seatbelt was still on, and he made no motion to take it off or get out of his car.
He rested his hands on the steering wheel and stared into the rearview mirror, furrowing his eyebrows at himself. Was he really that predictable? Never in his life did he ever think that his life would become predictable.
His phone rang in the cup holder, making him reach for it and answer.
“Hello?”
“You sound confused. Are you drunk already? It’s the middle of the day, Jonghyun. Do you have any decency?” Key’s voice rang out from the phone.
“I’m not drunk. I just had the revelation of a lifetime.”
“I see. Well, I just called to tell you-”
“I can’t believe it, Key. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. You know, I lived my entire life thinking I was this rebel, doing what I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it, sticking it to the man, you know?”
“Yes, that’s nice and all, but I called you to tell you-”
“What have I been doing with my life? What do-”
“Jonghyun! Shut up! Talk about this with Jinki, that’s what he’s there for. I called you to tell you the show tonight was canceled. Good fucking grief.” Jonghyun stared at his phone in surprise when Key hung up abruptly.
Jonghyun pursed his lips and sat back in his seat with a sigh. He popped open the seatbelt and got out of his car. Maybe he’d do something out of his routine tonight.
--
Jonghyun was sitting on his porch drinking a beer when Jinki pulled up into his driveway. Jonghyun watched him out of the corner of his eye and took a swig of his beer before turning his gaze back over his lawn. <i>Maybe I should mow it</i>, Jonghyun thought to himself. It was overrun with weeds, and the grass itself looked like it could swallow a man whole.
After a little bit, the sun started to set, and Jonghyun went inside briefly to flip on the porch light and get another beer. The light buzzed above him, making him sink further into his thoughts of nothing. He turned his eyes up to watch the bugs buzz around the light until he heard Jinki turn on the hose to water his lawn.
Jonghyun turned in his seat and watched him water his lawn, beer in his hand. Jinki whistled a tune as he watered until he felt eyes on him. He turned his gaze towards Jonghyun and raised an eyebrow at him. Jonghyun blinked a few times before holding up his beer.
“Want a beer?” Jinki pursed his lips. His show was coming on soon, but the way Jonghyun grinned at him from across the fence made it impossible for him to say no.
--
“Four years ago,” was the first thing Jinki said as he down down next to Jonghyun on his porch bench before taking a drink of his cold beer. Jonghyun gave him a confused look until he remembered their conversation from earlier in the day.
“You moved in four years ago? Seriously? My memories of you existing start from last year maybe. That one time your paper was thrown at me instead of delivered to your house.” Jinki nodded, taking another sip of his beer.
“I remember that. I’ve never heard someone mumble more drunken swear words before in my life.” Jonghyun chuckled a little bit. The two of them sat in silence for a moment. It was surprisingly comfortable with no awkwardness in the air. They were just neighbors enjoying a beer together.
“What do you do for a living?” Jinki asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
“This. Play, party, get drunk, pass out, wake up, eat, and do it all over again.”
“What’s your day job?”
“That <i>is</i> my day job.” Jinki blinked a few times before looking over at Jonghyun with furrowed eyebrows.
“What do you do at night then?”
“I save the city from evil super villains that threaten the citizens.” Jinki laughed, covering his mouth with his beer. Jonghyun was mildly disappointed, but he was enjoying this conversation with Jinki, so he tried not to think about his braces.
“How do you pay for bills? Your gigs really pay that much?” Jonghyun pursed his lips and shook his head, taking another sip of his beer.
“I won the lottery when I was eighteen. Mega multiplier and everything. The government took out the taxes, and now, they’re still paying me the money. I get paid to live basically.” Jinki stared at Jonghyun in disbelief for a moment until a smile appeared on his face.
“You’re shitting me.”
“I’m not. Seriously. I was on the news and everything. I have the ticket framed in my house if you wanna come see.” Jinki followed Jonghyun inside, and there it was, on his wall along with numerous pictures and newspaper articles.
Jonghyun got another beer and watched as Jinki admired the articles.
“So, does this mean we’re friends now or something?”
“I guess,” Jinki said, not taking his eyes off of the newspapers.
“I have a gig tomorrow at a club. You should come by. I’ll even sing you a song.” Jinki glanced over his shoulder at Jonghyun. Jonghyun avoided his gaze and stared resolutely at his beer bottle.
“And it’s not like you have any excuse. Tomorrow is Friday, and you don’t work the weekends.” Jinki grinned at Jonghyun.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice.”
--
Jonghyun seemed a little bit more nervous than usual backstage, and it was terribly obvious to his band mates as he paced back and forth.
“Jonghyun, are you not drunk enough or something?”
“I haven’t had a drink yet.” Collective gasps rang out from around the room.
“You’re kidding me. You’re going on stage sober?”
“Oh yeah. Here. We’re playing this song tonight.” Jonghyun handed out some sheets of paper and went back to pacing.
“What the fuck is this, Jonghyun?”
“I invited my neighbor out to come watch us play, and I said I’d sing him a song.”
“No. I refuse. This is creepy as hell.”
“Hey, Minho. A hundred bucks says his neighbor doesn’t get creeped out by this song,” Taemin said, turning towards the taller man. Minho turned his eyes upwards in thought for a moment before grinning.
“That’s a sucker bet. I’ll take you on.” They shook hands as Key gave them a look of absolute disbelief.
--
Jinki didn’t look too out of place at the club. He mostly kept to himself and enjoyed the overpriced drinks. He didn’t drink often, but his alcohol tolerance was that of a whale’s, and it was needless to say that he wouldn’t be getting drunk on a few bar drinks.
When the stage lights came on the curtains went up, Jinki leaned back against the counter with a smile on his face as he saw Jonghyun and his group on the stage.
Jinki couldn’t quite tell if Jonghyun was really singing. It sounded like screaming to him, but the crowd seemed to be enjoying it, jumping up and down with the music.
As the night started to round out, Jonghyun grabbed the microphone and took a look around the crowd.
“So, I invited one of my friends out tonight. He’s somewhere out in that crowd, and I promised I would sing him a song. So here it is.” Jinki’s interest perked up as Jonghyun started to sing. As he listened to the lyrics of the song Jonghyun was belting out, he started to laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was because the song was absolutely ridiculous, or if he was crying out of sheer embarrassment.
Jonghyun was singing to him about his braces. Jinki sighed, burying his face into one hand. He was going to have to work a little bit harder as a professional, but as Jonghyun’s neighbor and friend, he wanted to punch him across the face for being such a creep.
“I like it when you kling klang-” Jinki sighed again. He was twenty-six, but even he knew a Pokemon reference when he heard one.
--
Jonghyun didn’t see Jinki beyond the occasional wave across the fence until his scheduled session with him the following week.
The first thing Jinki said when Jonghyun walked through the door was, “You’re a creep.”
--
Jonghyun noticed during one session that Jinki seemed a little bit more agitated than usual. Curious, he stared at him until he looked up from his desk.
“What?”
“Are you okay? You seem a little bit more snippy than usual,” Jonghyun said, tilting his head in curiosity.
“I just got my braces tightened. My teeth hurt a little bit.” A wide grin spread across Jonghyun’s face.
“Want me to kiss them and make them feel better?”
--
The sessions with Jinki were becoming more and more active. Jinki was delving into the depths of Jonghyun’s mind, and coming out with new revelations about him, new revelations that left Jonghyun with his jaw permanently dropped.
Periodically, Jinki would test Jonghyun by making Jonghyun stand still while he stood in front of him, faces a few inches apart and smile. Jonghyun had nearly no tolerance at first, reaching out for Jinki almost immediately the first week.
But as time went on, Jinki would be able to stand there with his hands in his pockets, grinning, smirking, smiling at Jonghyun, and Jonghyun would stand there with his hands to himself. At first, Jinki could see Jonghyun struggling with himself, and the faces he made were priceless.
And over time, Jonghyun became almost normal, standing there and having conversations with Jinki as if everything were fine. And Jinki made sure, with the occasional glance towards his pants.
Jonghyun caught him looking a few times. “Sorry to disappoint. Trying to keep it under wraps. But uh, you know, if you’re ever interested, I could exercise my ability to completely lose control. It’d definitely be worth your time.”
Jinki rolled his eyes. “I might take you up on that offer, if I’m ever bored at home.”
Jonghyun’s interest piqued. Did Jinki just agree to have sex with him?
--
Occasionally, after work, if Jonghyun didn’t have a gig or a party to go to, the two of them would sit on his front porch and talk about things irrelevant to everything while sipping on beers.
One week, Jinki got a little bit bolder. Jonghyun stood nonchalantly in the middle of his office with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Jinki stood in front of him and smiled.
Jonghyun shrugged his shoulders, returning his grin. “Pretty,” he said, flicking his hair out of his eyes.
Jinki stepped in a little closer, almost so their bodies were touching. “And how are we doing now?” Jonghyun held his breath for a second, counted to five then took a deep breath.
“Still fine.” Jinki’s smile turned into amusement as he studied Jonghyun’s face. He could tell he was flushing a little bit, but anyone would, given the close proximity of their bodies. That’s just how humans reacted to stimuli like that.
“And now?” Jinki leaned in closer so their cheeks were almost touching. His lips were right at Jonghyun’s ear, and he practically felt the shudder that went through Jonghyun’s body. Jinki grinned in amusement before bringing his other hand up and tracing Jonghyun’s jawline gently with his thumb.
He felt Jonghyun lean into his touch before watching him squeeze his eyes shut. Jinki could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he was sure that Jonghyun felt the same way.
“You know, I think that would turn anyone on, regardless of whether or not they had weird fetishes.” Jinki took a few steps back and made his way back to his desk before sitting down in his chair. He did his best to hide the fact that his hands were shaking slightly.
“To be honest, I never thought there was anything wrong with you. You’ve got a sound mind, your behavior isn’t particularly destructive, and you’re surprisingly healthy for someone who lives life they way they do. You can control your desires, so I’m not even really sure why you’re here.” Jonghyun turned around and gave Jinki a look of disbelief.
“And sure, you’re a bit of a creep, but that’s just a personality quirk.”
“So what you’re saying is...” Jinki finished writing something down and looked up at him with a grin.
“You’re perfectly fine. There was no need for you to even come see me in the first place. And yes, I am a money grubber.” Jonghyun blinked at him a few times before narrowing his eyes.
“Can’t you get fired for that?”
“Are you gonna tell?”
“Well, no, but-”
“Then no.” Jonghyun blinked again in confusion before shaking his head and deciding that he didn’t really care. It wasn’t like it was his money that paid for him anyway.
“You’re free to go,” Jinki said, turning back down to his paperwork. Jonghyun made robotic movements to leave, but stopped in the doorway of his office.
“Why did you have me come in every week then?”
“You’re interesting to talk to.”
--
Jonghyun felt weird again, and he’d felt weirder than he’d ever felt before. And when he felt weird, he drank, and since he was feeling the weirdest he’d ever felt, he drank more than ever and partied harder than he had before.
Even his band mates noticed something was weird. Jonghyun hardly ever went out every night for weeks in a row.
“Maybe he should go back to seeing the psych again...”
--
Jinki had no idea what had gotten into him that day at the office. It was one thing to try and turn someone on with his braces as a form of therapy. It was another thing to try to turn him on with sensual touches. Jinki sighed, leaning back against his couch in the living room. What was he doing?
Sure, Jonghyun was attractive, but that didn’t mean he could go taking advantage of him in his office. Jinki stuffed his hands into his pockets and let out a huff. He should probably just work up the courage to ask him out already.
Jinki pursed his lips before running his tongue over his teeth. Maybe after he got his braces off so Jonghyun wouldn’t say yes just for them.
--
In his foggy, liquor hazed-mind, it was an absolutely wonderful idea to be climbing up the trellis on the side of Jinki’s house in the middle of the night. Jonghyun just wished that everything wouldn’t shake so much, because he didn’t want to fall. That would be embarrassing, if he fell. Jonghyun just wanted to see Jinki, stare at his braces for a bit. He was suffering through a withdrawal, and Jinki was the closest thing to his fix.
Jonghyun cursed as he felt a thorn catch his hand and leave a long gash on the back. He stared at it until it started bleeding, making him sigh. He’d get that bandaged up later. Right now, his goal was the window at the top of the trellis where Jinki was probably sleeping.
When he got to the top, Jonghyun was met with another challenge. The window. How was he supposed to get the window open? He pressed at it with his hand, ignoring the stinging sensation where his hand was wounded.
Surprisingly, the window opened. Jonghyun stared at it for a few seconds before waving his hand in the open space to make sure it was really open, and that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him again. He wasn’t sure he’d survive a mind fuck like this.
Jonghyun climbed up further and slid into the bedroom, landing with a soft thump on the floor. He took a few heaving breaths on the floor before dusting off his shirt and pulling random leaves out of his hair. He froze when he heard someone snore on the bed.
His eyes shifted in the dark to the figure sleeping on the bed. Jonghyun grinned before scrambling to his feet and taking off his shoes. It was rude to wear shoes like that into someone’s bedroom, especially since he came in uninvited, his alcohol watered brain reasoned.
Jonghyun wiggled his toes in the plush carpet before sneaking over to Jinki’s bed and looming over his face as he slept.
Jinki slept on his back, arm above his head. His sheets were wrapped around his body as he slept, and Jonghyun couldn’t help but wish he were tangled up in the sheets too. Jinki had already reprimanded him once or twice about saying things like that, something about a rule of doctors not dating their patients, but Jinki blew that rule out of the water at their last meeting.
But right now, as Jonghyun watched him sleep, Jinki was just his next door neighbor that he just happened to have a gigantic crush on because he had braces, in a house that Jonghyun just happened to somewhat break into so he could watch him sleep.
Because that wasn’t creepy and stalkerish at all.
Jonghyun watched Jinki sleep for a few seconds before reaching out slowly and poking at his lips. Behind those plump lips were the little bits of metal on his teeth. The brackets, the wires going through them and the colorful donuts holding the wire in place so his teeth could move in the right direction.
Jinki did an especially good job brushing his teeth, Jonghyun noticed. His braces seemed to almost shine whenever Jinki flashed him a smile. Or maybe it was just Jonghyun’s imagination.
Jonghyun hovered over Jinki for too long though, because he could start to feel his presence above him. Jinki opened his eyes and squinted in the dark, yelling when he saw Jonghyun hovering over them.
“Holy shi-” Jinki instinctively brought his arm up and punched the intruder across the face, sending Jonghyun stumbling back onto the floor.
“Oh my god, what the hell?! Who are you?! How did you get in here?!” Jinki fell out of bed and placed a well aimed kick to the person’s ribs before running for his light switch.
His expression turned from terror to disbelief when he saw Jonghyun groaning on the floor, holding his ribs.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Jonghyun! What the fuck are you doing in my house?!" Jinki ran his hands through his hair and squatted beside the other man as he tried to catch his breath.
“I... I just wanted to see your braces! If I'd have known you were going to react this way, I would've taken my chances with that other girl..." Jinki’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed Jonghyun’s chin and moved it around so he could look at his neck. Jinki’s eyes fell on a pair of braces lined hickies and sighed.
“Are you drunk?”
“C’mon, Jinki. Give me a smile, and let me see those braces,” Jonghyun slurred out.
“Jonghyun! Are you fucking kidding me? You break into my house, scare the living shit out of me, just to ask me to show you my braces? How drunk are you?"
“It's not breaking into your house if the window was unlocked. Now, come on. Smile." Jonghyun reached out for Jinki’s face, but Jinki smacked his hand away and ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You know, what’s the real reason?” Jonghyun asked, getting up on all fours. Jinki turned to look at him as he struggled to his feet. Jonghyun pushed himself up and staggered to his left for a second before steadying himself. Jinki could smell the alcohol on him and wondered how he even had enough dexterity left to get into his house through the window.
“The real reason for what?”
“For... for... shit, what was I gonna say? For... oh right. For having me come in every week? If I was fine?” Jonghyun slurred, lurching forward unsteadily. He burped, making Jinki close his eyes and hope that Jonghyun wouldn’t throw up on his sheets.
“I may as well tell you, since you won’t remember in the morning. That’s how you are. Maybe I had you come in every week because you were my attractive next door neighbor, and I wanted to get to know you.”
“Could’ve just said hi or something,” Jonghyun said, falling forward onto Jinki’s bed and nuzzling his face into the sheets.
“You were always passed out or gone. Then there was that time you woke up in my driveway and tried to make out with me.” Jonghyun stopped moving and looked up, squinting his eyes.
“Say what? We’ve already kissed?”
“Yep.”
“Oh. Then get down here so I can finish the job. You and your goddamn sexy braces. Hell, I think I’d do you even without the braces.” Jinki sighed.
“Go to sleep, Jonghyun.”
“I’m not sleep...” Jonghyun dropped the bottle of alcohol he was holding onto Jinki’s bed, making him sigh even deeper as it spilled onto his sheets. Jonghyun smelled disgusting, and there was no way Jinki was going to let him sleep in his bed smelling like that.
--
It was unusual for Jonghyun to be woken up by his phone instead of the sprinklers in the morning. It was more unusual that he felt comfortable, perhaps a little bit too comfortable. What he was laying on didn’t feel like grass, weeds, or concrete.
Groaning, he tried to sit up, but his head started to spin as soon as he opened his eyes.
“Fuck, what happened last night,” he croaked out, covering his eyes with his arm. He was naked. Oh god, he just hoped he wasn’t in some girl’s bed and that her crazy husband or boyfriend wasn’t going to come barreling through the door at any moment. It wasn’t the beating he was dreading, it was the door slam.
“Sounds about right.” Jonghyun froze. Even in his hangover state, he recognized that voice.
“Oh god.”
“Oh god is right. I had to change my sheets because of you.”
“How did I get here?”
“You climbed in through the window.” Jonghyun groaned and rolled over, burying his face into the pillow. Damn, that pillow smelled good.
“What happened?”
“That’s a good question. If you don’t know, then I won’t tell you.”
--
Needless to say, things got very awkward between Jonghyun and Jinki. Jonghyun had a million thoughts racing through his mind as soon as he could think straight without his head throbbing about what happened that night. Jinki still refused to tell him and went on with his life as usual.
It didn’t help when Jonghyun saw the braces lined hickies on his neck when he finally sobered up enough to go home.
“Shit, shit, shit. What happened? Why can’t I remember anything? Fuck.” He might’ve had sex with the object of his desire for the past few months, and he couldn’t remember a thing.
He avoided Jinki for the next two weeks, trying to wrack his brain for information. Key mentioned something about spiking his drinks with something one day at the diner, making Jonghyun throw his steak knife at him before getting up and leaving in a huff.
It was driving him crazy, the uncertainty with Jinki, so he finally just decided to suck it up and be a man and ask him about it one more time.
--
Jinki was only mildly surprised to see Jonghyun on his doorstep, face free of makeup. His face showed nothing but frustration and sleepless nights, so Jinki decided to take pity on him.
“Not going out tonight?”
“Obviously not, if I’m here,” Jonghyun said, making Jinki grin and invite him inside.
“So, what brings you to my side of the fence?” Jinki asked, pointing Jonghyun to the direction of the couch as he entered the kitchen to grab him a drink.
Jonghyun accepted the beer and took a long drink from it as Jinki sat down next to him, taking a sip of his own drink.
“Doesn’t it get lonely, living here by yourself every day?” Jonghyun asked, eyeing the house.
“That’s not what you came here to ask me,” Jinki stated, grinning at Jonghyun.
“You’re right. What happened that night I ended up naked in your bed? Did we...?” His voice trailed off at the end as Jinki smirked at him.
“No.” Jonghyun let out a sigh of... relief? Was he really relieved that they hadn’t slept together after all? Part of him was disappointed, that he knew for sure.
“Why didn’t you just say so then? I was going crazy for the past few weeks.”
“You never asked.”
“You knew what I wanted to know!”
“Yeah, but you never asked.”
“You’re an ass, you know that?”
“I know that, too,” Jinki said with a smile. He took another drink of his beer and sat back on his couch.
“But you know, if we did, it would’ve been amazing right?” Jinki scoffed and chuckled as Jonghyun turned to look at him with serious eyes.
“I’m dead serious. Forgive me if you’re homophobic or something, but that would’ve made for some hot sex.”
“So I can’t forgive you if I’m not homophobic?” Jonghyun gave him a weird look before brushing off his question.
“I still turn you on?” Jinki asked, staring at his beer in amusement.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t you- Wait. Look up.” Jinki looked up from his beer and couldn’t stop the grin on his face.
“Your braces are gone.”
“They’re gone.”
“Since when?”
“Since last week. It feels a little bit weird, and my teeth are a little bit slimier than I remember.” Jonghyung drummed his fingers on the arm rest of the couch and chuckled to himself.
“You bored?” Jinki blinked at Jonghyun as he placed his beer on the table and turned towards Jinki, crawling over to him on the couch. Jinki laid back, placing his beer on the floor as Jonghyun hovered over him with a grin.
“Does it matter what I say?”
“You’re right. You’ll say yes, and I’ll kiss you, and we’ll fuck. Or you could say no, and I’d kiss you anyway, and we’d still fuck. Take your pick.”
“Forty-one.” Jonghyun shook his head as he laughed and leaned down to kiss Jinki, tentatively at first, but when Jinki bucked up to grind their hips together, Jonghyun decided that maybe slow wasn’t going to cut it.
“You’re an asshole,” Jonghyun said in between pants. “And you know what, I don’t even think I’m attracted to braces anymore. I like nice smiles. Or maybe it’s teeth. Your teeth in particular,” he said, kidding him again and forcing his tongue into Jinki’s mouth to run it over Jinki’s perfectly straight teeth. Jinki laughed and broke the kiss.
“Just shut up, Jonghyun. Shut. Up. And do me a favor. Don’t ever sing about my teeth again.”
--
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