Insatiated
Title: Insatiated
Pairing: YeolJong
Rating: PG-13
Description: College AU setting, warning: first bit of writing in a LONG time
Summary: Sungjong thought he was doing everything right, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
(1/1)
Sungjong was used to being overlooked.
He was a good student, but there was always someone else that was better. He was mediocre at all kinds of athletics, preferring to stick to the sideline during team sports. He burned nearly anything he baked or cooked, which meant he lived off of Top Ramen. The one thing he did excel in was piano, but a mistake in his audition to the prestigious arts college prevented him from going to the school of his dreams.
Needless to say, he was ready to make a new start at college. He had decided to go to a large school that had a decent arts program, although it wasn’t anything like what he had wished for. But at this school, no one knew about how mediocre he was. He wanted to make a name for himself and be someone, instead of blending into the sea of all the other freshmen moving into the dormitories at the same time.
His parents helped him move his things into the double, and he had bid them goodbye, looking around in embarrassment as his mother burst into tears at her precious baby leaving to go into the real world. He and his father had a short hug before he walked them out to their car and waved goodbye, finally able to start meeting people on his own.
He made his way to the registration booth to receive his schedule, frowning that he had eight AM courses every day of the week, but glad that he didn’t have class past noon. That meant he’d have all the time in his day to meet people, get his homework done, and maybe even practice piano again. Well, that’s what he thought.
--
And then the rush of school began, and Sungjong was thrown into an onslaught of assignments, projects, and exams. Along the way, he had managed to meet Myungsoo, his next-door neighbor who quiet but interesting. Myungsoo had a cousin at the college named Sunggyu, and through Sunggyu, they met Woohyun, Howon (who went by the nickname of Hoya, a name derived from when he was a baby and couldn’t even pronounce his own name) and Dongwoo. Sungjong was the youngest of the group but he was never treated like that, and it was refreshing and relieving that they wanted to be around him as much as he wanted to be around them.
And then there was Sungyeol.
Sungjong first noticed Sungyeol at the coffee shop he frequented every morning, 7:45 on the dot. Sungjong realized after a week of class that he would have to drink the vile liquid (after filling it up with vanilla creamer and sugar, of course) to stay awake during early morning lectures. He saw the taller male behind the counter, brightly smiling as he took every students’ order, even managing to throw in a few jokes to put a smile on everyone’s faces.
His smile was one reason to wake up each morning. Sungjong had hardly said anything other than “Good morning” or “I’m doing fine, thank you”, but after a week he found himself longing for more conversation.
It was around the third week of school when Sungyeol saw Sungjong’s face and automatically knew his order.
“Vanilla latte, right?”
Sungjong tried not to show the shock on his face, but couldn’t help it as the barista’s lips curled into a smile. “Y-Yeah, vanilla latte.” He bit on his lip and looked away, fishing out his wallet and handed over the exact change before shuffling to the side counter to wait for his drink. When he went to pick up his drink, Sungyeol handed it to him personally, giving him one of his trademark gummy smiles, winking at him before rushing back to the register to take more orders. Sungjong never knew he could blush so much.
--
Myungsoo was the first to notice Sungjong’s change of behavior. Sungjong had never been one to space out during conversations, but Myungsoo repeatedly saw him blanking out every now and then as if he were deep in thought.
ldquo;You’re going to the party this weekend, right?” Myungsoo waved his hand in front of Sungjong’s eyes, blinking a few times.
“Party? What party?” Sungjong snapped out of his stupor, and stared at Myungsoo with the most confused expression that made any annoyance the older had melt away.
“Sunggyu hyung is holding it at his apartment… You should come. And he said to invite people too! Do you have anyone in mind?”
Sungjong wished the tall barista wasn’t the first person that popped into his head. He hadn’t even had a real conversation with him, but he couldn’t even think of anyone in his classes that would be remotely interested in going to a party with a bunch of dudes (mostly because he didn’t even talk to anyone in his classes, so how would he know what people were interested in).
“Um… I dunno if I’ll bring anyone. But I’ll be there for sure!” Sungjong smiled at Myungsoo before packing his books into his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder as he walked out of the library the pair of them were studying in.
By the time the party rolled around, Sungjong had been to the coffee shop four more times and each of those four times, Sungyeol was working at the register. They exchanged the same amount of words as usual, and not once did Sungjong have the courage to invite Sungyeol to the party, let alone introduce himself. He walked with Myungsoo to Sunggyu’s apartment where they were greeted with Dongwoo’s big grin and a drink for each of them. Sungjong sunk into the corner of the couch and let the liquid warm his body up, laughing at whatever stories were being told about his friends’ week when the doorbell rang. Myungsoo brightened up and answered the doorbell, bringing in a tall barista that seemed to occupy Sungjong’s thoughts more and more.
Sungjong deadpanned. No one seemed to register his shock other than Myungsoo, however, who had a sly smile on his face. It was Myungsoo who had invited Sungyeol to the party, but that was after watching Sungjong go to the coffee shop every day for a few weeks. And it was coincidental that Myungsoo and Sungyeol had a class together, so it wasn’t too hard asking him to come to the party. After introductions were made and more drinks were had, Sungjong found himself wedged in the middle of the couch next to Myungsoo and Sungyeol, which was probably the least likely thing Sungjong had expected to happen that night.
And Sungjong was finally able to talk to Sungyeol, who seemed to occupy the majority of the conversation with his mindless babble about things no one really thought about, like how elephants are a maternal species and how a baby giraffe is born to be six feet tall, which coincidentally was how tall he was. Sungjong then found out that Sungyeol wanted to work in a zoo, even though he was studying to be a veterinarian. He was two years older than Sungjong, but only one grade ahead, and he had his job at the coffee shop for about six months.
“It wasn’t until you started showing up every day that I actually remembered the faces of who I saw every day.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… I have to make over one hundred cups of coffee a day, and everyone’s faces start to blend in with everyone else’s. But you kept coming in, every day at 7:45, ordering the same exact drink. How could I not forget your face?”
Sungjong smiled and brought his hand up to cover it, immediately feeling Sungyeol’s long fingers curling around his wrist to push the hand away from his face.
“You have a beautiful smile.”
--
Sungyeol hung out with their group a lot more from then on, falling into their rhythm of meeting up every now and then for dinner, randomly meeting up in the library to work on assignments, and drinking together on the weekends. Sungjong was glad that Sungyeol was their friend now because that meant that he could finally see the smile he loved more often than once in the morning.
And another month passed where Sungjong found himself craving Sungyeol, all of him, his company, his smile, his infectious laugh, everything. They had finally gotten past just saying hi to one another and Sungjong knew he was already falling for everything about Sungyeol, but couldn’t put the words together to say that it was so.
Things were beginning to look up when Sungyeol asked Sungjong to go to the movies with him. Sungyeol claimed that he had asked everyone else but no one would go watch a silly Disney movie with him (he hadn’t), and Sungjong just nodded and smiled, thinking of it as a kind gesture and nothing more.
Sungyeol was even kind enough to pay for Sungjong’s tickets and popcorn, insisting that they share popcorn and a drink as well because there was no way in hell the either one of them would be able to finish a full one on their own. Again, Sungjong had no objection, and even flushed when Sungyeol took his hand to pull him to the seat in the back corner, saying that they could talk during the movie this way.
And when Sungjong spilled a little bit of popcorn on Sungyeol’s lap, he waved it off like it was nothing and picked it up, popping it into his mouth. And when they both reached for the drink at the same time, Sungyeol always let Sungjong take a sip first, before taking the drink from him and sipping out of it. That was their first indirect kiss.
They walked out the movie in high spirits, smiling and walking a little closer than they had before but not crossing the friendship line; despite all the signals Sungjong sent that he wanted more. The pair of them reached the outside of Sungjong’s dorm and Sungjong was almost certain that Sungyeol would do something, a hug a the very least. But they left as they had come, and Sungjong tasted a tinge of bitterness on his tongue while walking to Myungsoo’s room. He was playing his guitar and looking over a sheet full of chords, not noticing the younger’s light footsteps until he was sitting next to him on the bed.
“How was the movie?”
“It was good, like all Disney movies are.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Of course! Yeollie hyung is the most fun.”
“Even more fun that me?”
“After you… duh.”
“Did you guys do anything after the movie?”
“Who are you, my umma?”
“I just wanted to know… He’s had a crush on you for a while and he was so excited when you said you’d go to the movies with him…”
“He has a crush on me?”
“And I figured he would have gotten the balls to kiss you or do something especially since he practically begged me to introduce you guys in class at the beginning of the semester…”
“He has a crush on me?”
“He’s really dumb sometimes but I thought by the way that you stare at him, he would have realized that you like him back.”
“He has a crush on me?!?”
“Yeah. He does. Go get him tiger.”
“… Thank you.” Sungjong hopped off of the bed and down the stairs, leaving a smirking Myungsoo who continued to play his guitar.
And Sungjong ran out of the dorm and down the street to where he thought Sungyeol would go, the coffee shop, because he had a shift after the movie. And he managed to catch his friend behind the register, taking orders like he was used to. He stood in line, smiling widely at Sungyeol when he stepped up to give his order.
“Vanilla latte?”
“Yes please.” Sungjong began to fish out the proper change for his order and handed it over, trying not to hide his smile behind his hand. “Oh… And thank you for taking me to the movies hyung. I really liked it… And I really like you too.” Sungjong stepped aside to the side table where his order would come out, not having looked at his crush. He looked up when he heard a murmur around the café as his favorite barista began to climb over the counter, reaching for the younger’s wrist to pull him closer.
And it was there that they had their first real kiss, Sungyeol’s lips pressing against Sungjong’s in front of everyone in that café, only disconnecting when the manager of the café stepped out and cleared his throat.
And it was at that moment when Sungjong realized his cheeks could go a deeper red.
end
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A/N - Not so bad for the first fic in a long time? I hope I did okay for you fluff lovers. Please comment ^o