k-pop; breaking down doors (to your heart)
Title: Breaking down doors (to your heart)
Pairing: Chanyeol/Jongin
Rating: PG
Summary: Chanyeol comes to his neighbor’s rescue, but gets a lot more than what he expected.
Author’s Note: 5780 words. Inspired by this prompt. Eventually...I will post something to the comm this year that isn’t chankai....
Chanyeol switches the stove off, setting the frying pan onto a placeholder on the counter so he can grab a plate from the cupboard. He hums to himself as he puts his meal together, feeling pretty good after his long day at the office. Cooking always calms him down. All he wants now is to mindlessly watch TV as he eats and then maybe work on that song he’d been stuck on for a few days before--
A sudden, loud scream pierces through Chanyeol’s thoughts, startling him so severely, he drops his entire plate to the floor, food spilling everywhere and the ceramic in pieces by his feet. “Shit,” he curses, staring down at the mess, but before he gets a chance to lament all his hard work, there’s another scream, louder, if possible, and it sounds like someone is being murdered next door.
“Oh my god,” Chanyeol says, wondering if Jongin is okay, and before he even realizes it, he’s left his apartment and is pounding on his neighbor’s door. All he hears is what sounds like Jongin’s panicked shouting and Chanyeol’s mind fills with terrible images of Jongin being in trouble or hurt or something, and even if they don’t exactly know each other that well, Chanyeol can’t just ignore this. He has to do something. He takes a step back and kicks the door in the way Zitao had once taught him, and barges inside. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
There’s a loud banging noise from down the hall so Chanyeol quickly rushes over, pushing open the first door to find Jongin crowded into the corner of his bathroom, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of black boxer briefs and staring in horror at his bathtub. “Um,” Chanyeol says, because this isn’t what he was expecting. Jongin looks perfectly fine. “What were you screaming about?”
“Spider,” Jongin hisses, pointing at the tub, and Chanyeol jerks away from it frantically, pressing himself into the wall.
“What?”
“Kill it, please!”
“Don’t ask me!” Chanyeol exclaims, shuddering. “Shit, Jongin, I thought you were being murdered in here.”
“Hey, did you get a look at that thing?? It could totally eat me!” Jongin snaps back, but at least he doesn’t look nearly as terrified, the corners of his lips twitching upward into a smile.
Chanyeol doesn’t even want to look. He hates spiders. Just thinking about it is making his skin crawl. “Come on,” he says, backing out the door and waving at Jongin to follow. “Let’s get out of here before it attacks.”
Jongin nods and quickly darts out of the room after Chanyeol. He yanks the door closed after him and heaves a deep breath. “Fuck,” he says, laughing a little incredulously. “That was scary.”
Chanyeol laughs, too, amused and relieved that his neighbor wasn’t being killed and Chanyeol didn’t have to fend off a murderer. Zitao hasn’t taught him nearly enough self-defense for that. He runs a hand through his hair and grins at Jongin, who smiles back prettily, and suddenly Chanyeol is aware that his neighbor is mostly naked.
Jongin seems to realize the same thing, blushing hotly and taking a step back, looking awkwardly down at the floor. “Uh, I should, um--”
“You can use my shower if you want,” Chanyeol blurts out, and then coughs into his fist embarrassedly when Jongin looks at him in surprise. “There weren’t any spiders in there, last I checked.”
“I--um, yeah, that would be great. I just got back from dance practice and I look and feel disgusting,” Jongin says with an awkward laugh.
Chanyeol bites his tongue as hard as he can to keep from telling Jongin he looks perfectly fine to him, because, well, that’s probably inappropriate right now. Even if it’s true. “Yeah, it’s no problem,” he says, nodding.
“Then, um, let me just get. Clothes. Yeah.” Jongin turns quickly and disappears into the last room down the hall, and Chanyeol wills the sight of his body to the back of his mind. He’s always found Jongin to be attractive, what with his pretty smile and sharp jawline, but all those muscles in his back, the thickness of his thighs...Chanyeol didn’t need any of that. Really.
He thunks his head lightly against the wall a few times and keeps his eyes firmly on Jongin’s face when he returns. He’s thrown a shirt on, thankfully, and is smiling sheepishly at Chanyeol, thanking him for letting him use his shower.
“Don’t worry about it,” Chanyeol waves off, leading the way out, only to stop in his tracks at the broken door to Jongin’s apartment. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.”
“You kicked my door in?” Jongin exclaims, inspecting the lock and the broken frame.
“I thought you were being murdered!” Chanyeol defends himself. “Who screams that loudly over a spider?”
They both stare at the other for a moment, testing, until Jongin laughs, a cute little giggling sound that he hides behind a hand, and Chanyeol can’t help but laugh, too. “I am really sorry,” he says, “I’ll pay for it to get fixed.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Jongin says. “I must’ve scared you.”
“Maybe a little,” Chanyeol admits and grins when Jongin laughs cutely again. “Come on, it’s not that late yet, I can call Minseok and see if he can get someone up here to fix it soon. You can take that shower.”
“Thanks,” Jongin says, closing the door to his apartment behind him. It’s just enough to look like it’s locked from the front, which will have to do until they get it fixed. “And, thanks, you know, for caring enough to break down my door. It’s good to know I have a neighbor who’d jump to my rescue if I ever was being murdered in my own home.”
Embarrassed, Chanyeol just chuckles, rubs at the back of his neck, and points down the hall. “Bathroom’s the first door. There are clean towels in the closet there,” he says, and Jongin thanks him again before heading off to shower. Chanyeol watches him go before returning to the kitchen where he left his phone. He calls Minseok, who sounds mostly exasperated as Chanyeol explains what happens, but says he’ll get back to him about someone to fix the door.
“Do you think you can kill the spider, too?” Chanyeol asks hopefully and Minseok hangs up on him. He pouts at his phone for a moment, then sighs, setting it aside so he can assess the damage of his earlier mess. It’s not that bad, really, but he’s pretty bummed about his dinner. Maybe he’ll just order for delivery, now. He wonders if Jongin’s eaten anything yet.
He ends up calling out for some chicken, hoping Jongin will be okay with that, and if not, Chanyeol can just keep the rest for the weekend when he sometimes feels to lazy to cook. With that done, he carefully cleans up the kitchen, cautious of all the broken glass, and is just about finished when Jongin joins him, dressed now in a pair of soft sweats and a loose tank top that really shows off more than it covers in Chanyeol’s opinion. He’s toweling his hair dry, smiling at Chanyeol, who has to tear his gaze off from his damp collarbones and back to his face.
“Thanks so much, really,” Jongin says, and Chanyeol sweeps up the last of the mess into the trash and shakes his head.
“No problem. We’re neighbors, right?” he says, grinning, and Jongin nods back. “I, uh, don’t know if you’ve had dinner yet, but I ordered some chicken if you want to stay.”
“I love you,” Jongin says seriously, and Chanyeol gapes at him, eyes widening, before Jongin seems to realize what he’s just said and promptly turns red. “I--I mean, yeah, I love chicken, so, that’s...perfect.” He hides his face behind the towel and turns around quickly, but Chanyeol can still hear the muffled, embarrassed groan, and it has his heart pounding loudly in his ears.
Fuck, Chanyeol thinks. He’s really cute.
They’re saved from the sudden awkwardness by the delivery arriving, and Jongin takes the bags to the table, pulling things out with excitement. Chanyeol laughs as he gets them something to drink, “You weren’t kidding, huh? You really do love it.”
“My favorite,” Jongin says, flashing him a grin. “And I’m starving.”
They settle down on the couch with plates of food, watching reruns of Running Man. It’s the first time they’ve really spent so much time with each other that wasn’t saying hi in the halls or walking down to the street corner together before parting ways. Chanyeol’s always had the impression Jongin was shy, a little quiet, and while that still seems true, he’s a lot more at ease right now, laughing loudly as they watch and getting sauce all over his lips. Not that Chanyeol is looking, or anything.
Minseok stops by around an hour later, looking torn between amused at their stupid story and angry about the broken door. “I’ve called someone to come fix it tomorrow morning,” he says. “It’s up to you if you want to stay there while it’s unlocked, but I suggest maybe moving anything exceptionally valuable somewhere else for the time being, just in case.”
Jongin nods understandingly. “I’m sorry for the trouble, hyung,” he says and Minseok’s expression softens a bit.
“Just be more careful next time,” he says, giving Chanyeol a pointed look, but then laughs and waves them off, heading back down the stairs.
“Wait, hyung--” Jongin says before he gets too far. “The spider…can you…?” He looks hopefully at Minseok who stares back for a long moment before heaving a deep sigh.
“All right, all right,” he says and Jongin cheers. “Where is it?”
Minseok steps into the bathroom while Jongin and Chanyeol wait out in the hall and barely a minute later there’s a resounding bang and Minseok walks out calmly, clapping his hands together. “Is that all?” he asks, raising a brow at them, and Jongin nods again quickly, thanking him repeatedly.
Once he’s gone, Jongin turns back to Chanyeol with a sheepish smile and Chanyeol just laughs, because this night has turned out to be completely different from what he intended and yet he wouldn’t change any of it. “Minseok-hyung is way braver than either of us,” Chanyeol says.
“I don’t know, breaking down a door to defend me from a potential murderer is pretty brave too,” Jongin says quietly, meeting Chanyeol’s eyes for a brief second.
Chanyeol scratches lightly at his cheek, feeling it burning warm under his fingertips and says, “Uh, well, I’m glad they’re coming to fix the door tomorrow. Make sure you send me the bill, okay? I swear I’ll pay for it.”
“No--No, it’s okay, I mean, it’s really my fault, since I was the one screaming over a spider,” Jongin says hastily, waving his hands at him, but Chanyeol is resolute. He still feels bad about the mess he’d made.
“Honestly, Jongin, I didn’t have to kick down your door to help you, but I did,” he says. “So just let me take care of this.”
“You did a lot already, you know,” Jongin says, pushing his hair back from his face. “Borrowing your shower, dinner...so, really…” He trails off as Chanyeol opens his mouth to insist it’s okay once again, but then adds quickly, “Why don’t we just split it? Just pay me for half of it and we’ll call it even, okay?”
Chanyeol frowns at him for a moment, but Jongin has a very good pleading face and, well, Chanyeol’s always had difficulty saying no to cute boys. “All right,” he says eventually and Jongin grins. “I can do that.”
“Good,” Jongin says, looking a little relieved Chanyeol didn’t fight him on it. “And, really, thanks for everything, Chanyeol. Somehow, it was...fun.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says. “It really was. We should hang out again sometime.” He shifts his weight between his feet, not really sure how to say goodbye without making it all awkward, but then Jongin says, “Well, I should let you get back to your night. I’ll try not to scream like I’m being killed the next time I see a spider.”
Chanyeol laughs, heading back toward the door. “Hopefully you won’t find anymore at all, right?” he says and Jongin laughs, too, nodding. Chanyeol bids him a quick goodnight and then returns to his own apartment, which suddenly feels a lot more empty and much quieter now that it’s just him.
He sighs and gets to work cleaning up the mess they’d made of the living room and tries not to let his thoughts linger too much on how nice it was spending time with Jongin. He really does hope they can hang out more. He ends up cleaning up a bit around the apartment, tossing things into the hamper to do this weekend and finally looking for that DVD he needs to return to Kyungsoo. Once Chanyeol’s taken care of all those little things, he settles up in the living room with his guitar and laptop, working on that song the way he’d meant to spend the night.
Maybe it’s because he’s still in a good mood from hanging out with Jongin, but the inspiration to compose comes a lot easier than it has in days. He manages to figure out the bridge and update the lyrics, singing as he plays again and again, until a knock at the door surprises him.
Chanyeol’s even more surprised to find Jongin when he answers it, looking a little nervous as he rocks on his feet. “Hey, what’s up?” he asks. “You didn’t find another spider, did you? I think you already know I’m useless in that department.”
“No, no,” Jongin says, laughing as he shakes his head. “I uh, being in the apartment when the door is broken is maybe making me a little uncomfortable? I know it’s just for one night and all but what Minseok said earlier is kind of getting to me so I was wondering if--”
“The couch is all yours,” Chanyeol says as he realizes why Jongin’s there and steps in before he has to ask. He moves aside and gestures into his apartment, smiling at Jongin, who seems to sag in relief, shoulders slumping and eyes turning grateful. When he opens his mouth, presumably to thank him, Chanyeol just waves a hand and adds, “Don’t worry about it. You can bring over whatever you need, I’ll just clean up.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Jongin says, and disappears back into his place. Chanyeol returns to the living room to throw out the bottles of juice he’d been drinking and put his laptop back in his room. Jongin wanders in a few minutes later, holding a pillow and blanket and standing off to the side a little awkwardly.
“You were just here like three hours ago,” Chanyeol laughs, waving him in. “There’s no need to be all shy now.”
“Sorry,” Jongin says, but he smiles a little sheepishly. “I guess I just realized I’ve taken up so much of your time today and we don’t really even know each other.”
Chanyeol makes a soft humming sound as he picks his guitar up from the end of the couch and moves over to the armchair to sit instead. Jongin takes the couch, settling his pillows and blankets down, and Chanyeol notices he’s brought his laptop over, too. He probably didn’t want to leave it in his unlocked apartment. “Well, I think we can get to know each other more after tonight?” Chanyeol says, and prays he doesn’t sound as hopeful to Jongin as he does to himself. “I’ve learned that you hate spiders and love chicken.” There’s so much more than that, like the high-pitched sound of Jongin’s laughter and the beautiful slope of his back, but Chanyeol pushes those thoughts away as quickly as they come. “That’s a pretty good basis for a friendship, don’t you think?”
Laughing, Jongin pulls his legs up to sit criss-crossed in the middle of the couch, and then hugs his pillow to his chest. “Right,” he says. “Now I know you’re also afraid of spiders and I’m not alone, and apparently that you play the guitar.” He nods towards where Chanyeol still has his guitar across his lap, then laughs again. “Though I guess I already knew that, somewhat. I can hear you play sometimes. You, uh, have a nice voice.” He meets Chanyeol’s eyes for a second before looking down at his pillow, and Chanyeol is torn between being embarrassed Jongin could hear him all this time, and a little intrigued by his reaction.
“Thanks,” he ends up saying, plucking at the strings on his guitar, “I’m not that good though. I just write music sometimes for fun.” He strums a chord and grins at Jongin, asks, “You mentioned before that you dance. Are you in a team or something?”
Jongin shakes his head, his hair falling into his eyes and he brushes it away easily. “I go to K-ARTS for dance,” he says, smiling. “It’s my last year. I am hoping to join a company or something after I graduate though, if all things go well.”
“That’s really cool,” Chanyeol says, genuinely impressed. He can’t dance to save his life, but he can easily picture Jongin, and well--he quickly pushes those thoughts away, too. “I’d like to see you dance sometime,” he says, and as Jongin looks at him, surprised, rushes to add, “I mean, it’s only fair, right? You’ve heard me play.”
“Only because your voice is so loud,” Jongin says and the way he laughs tells Chanyeol he doesn’t really mean it. “And that’s not really the same thing.” He eyes Chanyeol for a moment, then points at the guitar. “Play something now, and then maybe.”
“What do you want to hear?” Chanyeol asks, sitting up a little straighter and holding his guitar properly in his hands. When Jongin shrugs, leaving the decision up to him, Chanyeol ponders for a few minutes before launching into a cover of Girl’s Generation’s latest release. That easily has Jongin cracking up, as Chanyeol pitches his voice higher than usual, making up the lyrics when he forgets, and time passes like that, Chanyeol playing and singing and Jongin joining in on occasion when he’s feeling bold enough. Chanyeol beams at him every time and enjoys the slight flush that creeps up high on his cheeks, the way his laugh fills up the room, fills up Chanyeol’s heart.
When Jongin starts dozing off, they call it a night, bidding each other goodnight. Chanyeol makes sure Jongin is comfortable enough on the couch before retreating to his room and flopping into bed. It takes him longer to fall asleep that night, thoughts lingering out on the boy in his living room, the sound of his laugh and his pretty, pretty smile.
-
Chanyeol wakes up at seven in the morning, slapping a hand at his phone until the alarm stops wailing and groaning loudly up at the ceiling. He lies there for a few minutes before finally dragging himself out of bed, stretching his arms over his head. It’s only when he wanders out toward the kitchen to put on some coffee does he remember about Jongin, stopping at the couch and staring because it’s empty, all of Jongin’s things gone.
The disappointment in his gut is ridiculous. There’s no real reason for Jongin to stay longer than he needs to, he has his own life and probably needs to get ready for his day just the same as Chanyeol, and there’s no point feeling upset about it. He sighs, running a hand through his hair, and continues into the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine. He sets a mug out, contemplates what he could make for breakfast, when a knock at the door has him jumping.
It’s Jongin on the other side, dressed in the same sweats from the night before and a long coat. He holds up a plastic bag and says, “I hope you’re hungry,” and Chanyeol gapes at him for a moment, stunned, before he laughs and takes a step back.
“I was just thinking of what I could make,” he says, as Jongin slips out of his shoes and follows Chanyeol inside. “Not that you had to go bring me anything, you know.”
“I know,” Jongin says, smiling at him. “Consider it payback. You bought dinner last night.”
Chanyeol nods, rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. He only just rolled out of bed and his hair is definitely a mess and here’s Jongin, who looks soft and cute, pulling out some kimbap and bowls of what looks like jjigae and sets them out onto Chanyeol’s kitchen counter. Chanyeol watches him, how easily he fits into his space, and his gut lurches as he takes a step back.
“Hey,” Jongin says, brows furrowing in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, quickly shaking out of it. “I-I’m gonna go wash up and I’ll be right back.”
He escapes to the bathroom, finding it easier to breathe in there away from Jongin, and splashes some water onto his face to help clear his head. It doesn’t help much, because Jongin is still out there, waiting, but Chanyeol just brushes his teeth and tries his best not to overthink this. He’s just repaying his kindness from last night. Now they’re basically even. That’s it.
His hair really is a mess and he can’t believe Jongin’s seen him like this. He flattens it down as much as possible before heading back out to the kitchen, where Jongin is seated at the table with food and smiles up at him.
“You know, the bed hair was kind of cute,” he teases and Chanyeol laughs, ignoring how warm he gets from that comment.
“I think your definition of cute might be a little skewed,” he replies, settling down across from Jongin and pulling a bowl toward himself. It’s been awhile since he’s had such a fulfilling breakfast, living off of leftovers the past week or two. “Did you wake up this early just to get breakfast?”
Jongin shakes his head. “Minseok called, said that someone would come by for the door by nine, so I figured I should probably be awake for that.”
Chanyeol snorts. “Yeah, probably,” he agrees and Jongin smirks at him.
“Do you have to leave soon for work?”
“I have enough time to enjoy breakfast with you,” Chanyeol says after he casts a quick glance at the time on the microwave. He smiles at Jongin, who looks pleased by this information.
“Good,” he says, smiling down at his own bowl, and Chanyeol is glad that he’s not the only one interested in spending more time together.
It goes by too fast though that morning. They chat over their breakfast, picking up right where they left off the night before and Chanyeol wishes it could’ve been a weekend so they could sit here and talk for as long as possible. He’s always been a pretty friendly guy but he hasn’t connected with someone this quickly in a while, and well. Jongin is really cute, and Chanyeol would like to keep him around.
Jongin’s the one who asks Chanyeol for his number, looking a little hesitant about it as they clean up the dishes. He smiles brightly though when Chanyeol easily agrees, hoping Jongin doesn’t catch just how eager he sounds. “Thanks,” Jongin says afterward, “I’ll be sure to call you the next time I see a spider instead of screaming bloody murder.”
“I think you should call Minseok from the start,” Chanyeol says, reminding him that Chanyeol’s useless in killing creepy-crawly insects. “But if he’s not around and you need to get away....then, I’m available.”
Jongin laughs but nods, tucking his phone into his pocket and heading for the door. “I’ll definitely take you up on that,” he says. “Have a good day at work, Chanyeol.”
“Yeah, you have a good day, too,” Chanyeol says, smiling warmly at Jongin who stares at him for a moment, standing in the hall between their doors, looking like he wants to say something more.
In the end he just waves lightly and mumbles out a quick goodbye, and then disappears behind his broken front door and Chanyeol retreats back into his apartment, leaning his head against the door and sighing deeply, his thoughts a mess inside his head. He can’t decide if he’s happy about everything that’s happened in the last day, upset because maybe nothing more came from it, and confused because, well, why does he even want more? What does he want at all?
Unfortunately Chanyeol doesn’t have time for this existential crisis, not when he has to be at work within the hour, so he rushes to shower and dress and does about as good a job as he did last night to push the thoughts of Jongin out of his head.
-
“Who is it?” Kyungsoo asks, showing up behind Chanyeol out of nowhere as he’s prone to do and scaring the life of him.
“Who is what?” Chanyeol says as he hastily shoves his phone back into his work bag and pretends he hasn’t been staring at it, waiting for Jongin to message him.
“The person you keep hoping is going to text you,” Kyungsoo says. He crosses his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall of Chanyeol’s cubicle, and dressed primly in a fitted suits and shiny shoes, his hair perfectly coiffed, he looks every bit the part of the department’s supervisor, even though Chanyeol’s known Kyungsoo since they were fourteen and Kyungsoo still thought he’d be able to grow taller than five feet. “Don’t give me that look,” Kyungsoo adds when Chanyeol opens his mouth to refute it. “You’ve been staring every time I’ve passed by today.”
“I might...be a little distracted,” Chanyeol admits, because it is always better to tell the truth around Kyungsoo. It’s not like Chanyeol hasn’t been getting all his work done either, and Kyungsoo also knows that, despite how much Chanyeol’s mind keeps wandering.
Kyungsoo raises a brow expectantly and it takes Chanyeol a second of hesitation before he spills everything, doing his best to keep his voice down because everyone around is still working. Kyungsoo stares at him with a blank look on his face as he talks and Chanyeol is pretty worked up by the end. “Should I message him first? Or should I wait?” he asks, looking at Kyungsoo imploringly, “He’s so cute, Kyungsoo, and I want to talk to him more but--”
“You’re an idiot,” Kyungsoo says, with finality, and Chanyeol is so distraught that he doesn’t even attempt to disagree. “If he’s as great as you say he is, then text him. He asked for your number for this very reason, clearly.”
Chanyeol glances at where he’d hidden his phone, then back at Kyungsoo helplessly. “What if--” he starts but Kyungsoo puts a hand up to stop him, giving Chanyeol a severe look.
“You broke down his door and instead of killing you like I would do, he was inexplicably charmed,” Kyungsoo says slowly, as if he’s speaking to a child. Chanyeol would be offended, except Kyungsoo talks to him like this so often he’s gotten used to it. And maybe, right now, he kind of deserves it for being pathetic. Since when has he ever been afraid to text someone and get to know them? “He gave you his number. He wants you to message him.” Kyungsoo pokes Chanyeol in the forehead. “So just do it and get back to work already.”
“Okay, okay,” Chanyeol says, rubbing at his forehead and pouting. “I get it. I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Kyungsoo says, and he smirks slightly. “I can’t believe you’re into your neighbor, is this some kind of television drama?”
“Shut up,” Chanyeol mutters. His ears feel kind of hot and he pouts a little harder at Kyungsoo, but he’d taught himself to be immune to that when they were in high school. “You’d understand if you met him.”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure I want to,” Kyungsoo says. “Now stop pouting at me. Work.” He narrows his eyes and adds, “And I expect you to have messaged your new crush by the time I come back around.”
“I don’t have a--” Chanyeol protests futilely, but Kyungsoo pulls on one of his ears and he yelps a little too loud for the office. Kyungsoo just laughs and leaves, and Chanyeol rubs at his ear now, instead as he spins back around in his desk and stares blankly at the work he has to do on his computer screen.
Before he even has a chance to pull up one of the new IT support requests sent in to his name, he hears the familiar buzz of his phone vibrating in his bag. He yanks it out, lowering the noise down to silent, and feels his heart leap in his chest when he notices Jongin’s sent him a message.
the door’s been fixed! 👍 thought u’d like to know
Chanyeol sighs in relief at that. He’d been a little worried about it all morning. I’m glad it’s fixed and again, really sorry about the whole mess.
stop apologizing!! Jongin sends back within the next minute, and Chanyeol can picture him frowning at his phone. what’s done is done and it’s as good as new now 😄 besides the repairman found the whole story really funny 😛
Despite being in his cubicle alone, Chanyeol still feels embarrassment creep up his neck at that. He thinks he’ll feel pretty stupid about the whole thing for awhile, even though it’s clear Jongin is over it. Even though his brash decision in breaking down a door led him to get to know Jongin in a way he never thought he’d be able to before.
I guess finding it funny is better than thinking I’m a complete idiot, so I’ll take it! Chanyeol types back. He sets his phone aside and manages to help out Jongdae with one of his stupid IT questions that he sends in about five times a day, before his phone blinks with Jongin’s reply.
maybe partly an idiot, at least, he says, and Chanyeol groans. This is not the impression he wanted to make. He’s trying to think of the best way to respond, to redeem himself, when another message pops up. don’t mind it~ otherwise we wouldn’t have spent time together the way we did last night. and well...i really liked that we did
Fuck, Chanyeol thinks, staring at his phone, his heart suddenly loud in his ears. He gnaws on his lower lip for a moment, then sends back: Me, too. I had a lot of fun.
It’s really so much more than that, but Chanyeol doesn’t know how to explain it. Doesn’t want to scare Jongin away with how much he can’t stop thinking about him and all the time they enjoyed together last night. Okay, so maybe Kyungsoo is right. Maybe it is a crush. He’s always liked Jongin, from their rare conversations before this, and he’s been a good neighbor for the past two years after he moved in; never too loud and always willing to give Chanyeol an egg or two because he hasn’t been to the store in weeks. Now, though, Chanyeol wants to get to know him more and more, wants to see him again, and not just when they’re passing each other on the way up the stairs.
He’s typing again before he realizes, before he can overthink it and miss the chance. It doesn’t have to mean anything, right?
Hey, would you like to get dinner with me tonight?
He sends it after a moment of staring at the words he’s typed out, forcing himself to go through with it and not be so afraid. The worst is that Jongin will say no, and then, maybe, Chanyeol can try again another time. Jongin asked for his number, opened the door to continue whatever it was that happened last night, so Chanyeol won’t waste it. He wasn’t sure, earlier, what he wanted, but he thinks now he might have a better understanding.
The wait for Jongin’s reply is agonizing, so he focuses on work again, filtering out emails that got sent to him by accident, and rolling his eyes at the messages Baekhyun’s left in his chat window, talking about how he’s super close to getting Taeyeon-noona to fall in love with him. Chanyeol sends him back ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋand is about to call Junmyeon to explain to him the troubles he’s having with his program, when his phone blinks with a notification.
yes!!!!!!!!
i mean, i’d really like that
The initial message has Chanyeol chuckling, Jongin’s excitement hopeful. He’s relieved, too, that he didn’t say no, that he wasn’t busy or uninterested. He lets out a deep, relieved breath, and decides to take care of Junmyeon’s issue as he thinks about a good place to meet Jongin for dinner.
“If it happens again, just call me, okay?” he says, when he’s walked Junmyeon through troubleshooting the errors. “It’s easier to explain this sort of thing over the phone.”
“Thanks, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon says with a tired sigh and Chanyeol bids him good luck before hanging up and pulling his headset down to rest around his neck.
He picks his phone back up and considers for a moment, then sends Jongin the name of a restaurant in Hongdae that he thinks Jongin will like. He’s trying not to overthink it. It’s not a date, he has to remind himself, even if truthfully, Chanyeol would really like it to be. Maybe soon he can get the courage to ask for real.
A few minutes later, Chanyeol finds Jongin’s reply, swiping his thumb over the screen to pull up the message. He blinks at it for a second, then laughs, unable to resist the wide, happy grin that’s taking over his face. He’s so relieved, so excited to know that everything he’s been feeling and thinking about since he and Jongin parted ways this morning hasn’t been entirely one-sided. There’s still over half the day left to get through, but at least now Chanyeol has something wonderful waiting for him.
it’s a date! 😉
note:
this wasn’t supposed to be so long cry curse u chankaibot /shakes fist
pls excuse the lameass title >_>
also i apologize for being so pathetic at replying to comments >.< your comments mean a lot to me and i truly appreciate them,
so thank you very much for leaving them and i will do my best to respond. it’s something i really want to work on (ง'̀-'́)ง
as always thank you, thank you, thank you for reading (´ ▽｀).。ｏ♡ i sincerely hope you enjoyed this! ♥
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come talk to me (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Pairing: Chanyeol/Jongin
Rating: PG
Summary: Chanyeol comes to his neighbor’s rescue, but gets a lot more than what he expected.
Author’s Note: 5780 words. Inspired by this prompt. Eventually...I will post something to the comm this year that isn’t chankai....
Chanyeol switches the stove off, setting the frying pan onto a placeholder on the counter so he can grab a plate from the cupboard. He hums to himself as he puts his meal together, feeling pretty good after his long day at the office. Cooking always calms him down. All he wants now is to mindlessly watch TV as he eats and then maybe work on that song he’d been stuck on for a few days before--
A sudden, loud scream pierces through Chanyeol’s thoughts, startling him so severely, he drops his entire plate to the floor, food spilling everywhere and the ceramic in pieces by his feet. “Shit,” he curses, staring down at the mess, but before he gets a chance to lament all his hard work, there’s another scream, louder, if possible, and it sounds like someone is being murdered next door.
“Oh my god,” Chanyeol says, wondering if Jongin is okay, and before he even realizes it, he’s left his apartment and is pounding on his neighbor’s door. All he hears is what sounds like Jongin’s panicked shouting and Chanyeol’s mind fills with terrible images of Jongin being in trouble or hurt or something, and even if they don’t exactly know each other that well, Chanyeol can’t just ignore this. He has to do something. He takes a step back and kicks the door in the way Zitao had once taught him, and barges inside. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
There’s a loud banging noise from down the hall so Chanyeol quickly rushes over, pushing open the first door to find Jongin crowded into the corner of his bathroom, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of black boxer briefs and staring in horror at his bathtub. “Um,” Chanyeol says, because this isn’t what he was expecting. Jongin looks perfectly fine. “What were you screaming about?”
“Spider,” Jongin hisses, pointing at the tub, and Chanyeol jerks away from it frantically, pressing himself into the wall.
“What?”
“Kill it, please!”
“Don’t ask me!” Chanyeol exclaims, shuddering. “Shit, Jongin, I thought you were being murdered in here.”
“Hey, did you get a look at that thing?? It could totally eat me!” Jongin snaps back, but at least he doesn’t look nearly as terrified, the corners of his lips twitching upward into a smile.
Chanyeol doesn’t even want to look. He hates spiders. Just thinking about it is making his skin crawl. “Come on,” he says, backing out the door and waving at Jongin to follow. “Let’s get out of here before it attacks.”
Jongin nods and quickly darts out of the room after Chanyeol. He yanks the door closed after him and heaves a deep breath. “Fuck,” he says, laughing a little incredulously. “That was scary.”
Chanyeol laughs, too, amused and relieved that his neighbor wasn’t being killed and Chanyeol didn’t have to fend off a murderer. Zitao hasn’t taught him nearly enough self-defense for that. He runs a hand through his hair and grins at Jongin, who smiles back prettily, and suddenly Chanyeol is aware that his neighbor is mostly naked.
Jongin seems to realize the same thing, blushing hotly and taking a step back, looking awkwardly down at the floor. “Uh, I should, um--”
“You can use my shower if you want,” Chanyeol blurts out, and then coughs into his fist embarrassedly when Jongin looks at him in surprise. “There weren’t any spiders in there, last I checked.”
“I--um, yeah, that would be great. I just got back from dance practice and I look and feel disgusting,” Jongin says with an awkward laugh.
Chanyeol bites his tongue as hard as he can to keep from telling Jongin he looks perfectly fine to him, because, well, that’s probably inappropriate right now. Even if it’s true. “Yeah, it’s no problem,” he says, nodding.
“Then, um, let me just get. Clothes. Yeah.” Jongin turns quickly and disappears into the last room down the hall, and Chanyeol wills the sight of his body to the back of his mind. He’s always found Jongin to be attractive, what with his pretty smile and sharp jawline, but all those muscles in his back, the thickness of his thighs...Chanyeol didn’t need any of that. Really.
He thunks his head lightly against the wall a few times and keeps his eyes firmly on Jongin’s face when he returns. He’s thrown a shirt on, thankfully, and is smiling sheepishly at Chanyeol, thanking him for letting him use his shower.
“Don’t worry about it,” Chanyeol waves off, leading the way out, only to stop in his tracks at the broken door to Jongin’s apartment. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.”
“You kicked my door in?” Jongin exclaims, inspecting the lock and the broken frame.
“I thought you were being murdered!” Chanyeol defends himself. “Who screams that loudly over a spider?”
They both stare at the other for a moment, testing, until Jongin laughs, a cute little giggling sound that he hides behind a hand, and Chanyeol can’t help but laugh, too. “I am really sorry,” he says, “I’ll pay for it to get fixed.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Jongin says. “I must’ve scared you.”
“Maybe a little,” Chanyeol admits and grins when Jongin laughs cutely again. “Come on, it’s not that late yet, I can call Minseok and see if he can get someone up here to fix it soon. You can take that shower.”
“Thanks,” Jongin says, closing the door to his apartment behind him. It’s just enough to look like it’s locked from the front, which will have to do until they get it fixed. “And, thanks, you know, for caring enough to break down my door. It’s good to know I have a neighbor who’d jump to my rescue if I ever was being murdered in my own home.”
Embarrassed, Chanyeol just chuckles, rubs at the back of his neck, and points down the hall. “Bathroom’s the first door. There are clean towels in the closet there,” he says, and Jongin thanks him again before heading off to shower. Chanyeol watches him go before returning to the kitchen where he left his phone. He calls Minseok, who sounds mostly exasperated as Chanyeol explains what happens, but says he’ll get back to him about someone to fix the door.
“Do you think you can kill the spider, too?” Chanyeol asks hopefully and Minseok hangs up on him. He pouts at his phone for a moment, then sighs, setting it aside so he can assess the damage of his earlier mess. It’s not that bad, really, but he’s pretty bummed about his dinner. Maybe he’ll just order for delivery, now. He wonders if Jongin’s eaten anything yet.
He ends up calling out for some chicken, hoping Jongin will be okay with that, and if not, Chanyeol can just keep the rest for the weekend when he sometimes feels to lazy to cook. With that done, he carefully cleans up the kitchen, cautious of all the broken glass, and is just about finished when Jongin joins him, dressed now in a pair of soft sweats and a loose tank top that really shows off more than it covers in Chanyeol’s opinion. He’s toweling his hair dry, smiling at Chanyeol, who has to tear his gaze off from his damp collarbones and back to his face.
“Thanks so much, really,” Jongin says, and Chanyeol sweeps up the last of the mess into the trash and shakes his head.
“No problem. We’re neighbors, right?” he says, grinning, and Jongin nods back. “I, uh, don’t know if you’ve had dinner yet, but I ordered some chicken if you want to stay.”
“I love you,” Jongin says seriously, and Chanyeol gapes at him, eyes widening, before Jongin seems to realize what he’s just said and promptly turns red. “I--I mean, yeah, I love chicken, so, that’s...perfect.” He hides his face behind the towel and turns around quickly, but Chanyeol can still hear the muffled, embarrassed groan, and it has his heart pounding loudly in his ears.
Fuck, Chanyeol thinks. He’s really cute.
They’re saved from the sudden awkwardness by the delivery arriving, and Jongin takes the bags to the table, pulling things out with excitement. Chanyeol laughs as he gets them something to drink, “You weren’t kidding, huh? You really do love it.”
“My favorite,” Jongin says, flashing him a grin. “And I’m starving.”
They settle down on the couch with plates of food, watching reruns of Running Man. It’s the first time they’ve really spent so much time with each other that wasn’t saying hi in the halls or walking down to the street corner together before parting ways. Chanyeol’s always had the impression Jongin was shy, a little quiet, and while that still seems true, he’s a lot more at ease right now, laughing loudly as they watch and getting sauce all over his lips. Not that Chanyeol is looking, or anything.
Minseok stops by around an hour later, looking torn between amused at their stupid story and angry about the broken door. “I’ve called someone to come fix it tomorrow morning,” he says. “It’s up to you if you want to stay there while it’s unlocked, but I suggest maybe moving anything exceptionally valuable somewhere else for the time being, just in case.”
Jongin nods understandingly. “I’m sorry for the trouble, hyung,” he says and Minseok’s expression softens a bit.
“Just be more careful next time,” he says, giving Chanyeol a pointed look, but then laughs and waves them off, heading back down the stairs.
“Wait, hyung--” Jongin says before he gets too far. “The spider…can you…?” He looks hopefully at Minseok who stares back for a long moment before heaving a deep sigh.
“All right, all right,” he says and Jongin cheers. “Where is it?”
Minseok steps into the bathroom while Jongin and Chanyeol wait out in the hall and barely a minute later there’s a resounding bang and Minseok walks out calmly, clapping his hands together. “Is that all?” he asks, raising a brow at them, and Jongin nods again quickly, thanking him repeatedly.
Once he’s gone, Jongin turns back to Chanyeol with a sheepish smile and Chanyeol just laughs, because this night has turned out to be completely different from what he intended and yet he wouldn’t change any of it. “Minseok-hyung is way braver than either of us,” Chanyeol says.
“I don’t know, breaking down a door to defend me from a potential murderer is pretty brave too,” Jongin says quietly, meeting Chanyeol’s eyes for a brief second.
Chanyeol scratches lightly at his cheek, feeling it burning warm under his fingertips and says, “Uh, well, I’m glad they’re coming to fix the door tomorrow. Make sure you send me the bill, okay? I swear I’ll pay for it.”
“No--No, it’s okay, I mean, it’s really my fault, since I was the one screaming over a spider,” Jongin says hastily, waving his hands at him, but Chanyeol is resolute. He still feels bad about the mess he’d made.
“Honestly, Jongin, I didn’t have to kick down your door to help you, but I did,” he says. “So just let me take care of this.”
“You did a lot already, you know,” Jongin says, pushing his hair back from his face. “Borrowing your shower, dinner...so, really…” He trails off as Chanyeol opens his mouth to insist it’s okay once again, but then adds quickly, “Why don’t we just split it? Just pay me for half of it and we’ll call it even, okay?”
Chanyeol frowns at him for a moment, but Jongin has a very good pleading face and, well, Chanyeol’s always had difficulty saying no to cute boys. “All right,” he says eventually and Jongin grins. “I can do that.”
“Good,” Jongin says, looking a little relieved Chanyeol didn’t fight him on it. “And, really, thanks for everything, Chanyeol. Somehow, it was...fun.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says. “It really was. We should hang out again sometime.” He shifts his weight between his feet, not really sure how to say goodbye without making it all awkward, but then Jongin says, “Well, I should let you get back to your night. I’ll try not to scream like I’m being killed the next time I see a spider.”
Chanyeol laughs, heading back toward the door. “Hopefully you won’t find anymore at all, right?” he says and Jongin laughs, too, nodding. Chanyeol bids him a quick goodnight and then returns to his own apartment, which suddenly feels a lot more empty and much quieter now that it’s just him.
He sighs and gets to work cleaning up the mess they’d made of the living room and tries not to let his thoughts linger too much on how nice it was spending time with Jongin. He really does hope they can hang out more. He ends up cleaning up a bit around the apartment, tossing things into the hamper to do this weekend and finally looking for that DVD he needs to return to Kyungsoo. Once Chanyeol’s taken care of all those little things, he settles up in the living room with his guitar and laptop, working on that song the way he’d meant to spend the night.
Maybe it’s because he’s still in a good mood from hanging out with Jongin, but the inspiration to compose comes a lot easier than it has in days. He manages to figure out the bridge and update the lyrics, singing as he plays again and again, until a knock at the door surprises him.
Chanyeol’s even more surprised to find Jongin when he answers it, looking a little nervous as he rocks on his feet. “Hey, what’s up?” he asks. “You didn’t find another spider, did you? I think you already know I’m useless in that department.”
“No, no,” Jongin says, laughing as he shakes his head. “I uh, being in the apartment when the door is broken is maybe making me a little uncomfortable? I know it’s just for one night and all but what Minseok said earlier is kind of getting to me so I was wondering if--”
“The couch is all yours,” Chanyeol says as he realizes why Jongin’s there and steps in before he has to ask. He moves aside and gestures into his apartment, smiling at Jongin, who seems to sag in relief, shoulders slumping and eyes turning grateful. When he opens his mouth, presumably to thank him, Chanyeol just waves a hand and adds, “Don’t worry about it. You can bring over whatever you need, I’ll just clean up.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Jongin says, and disappears back into his place. Chanyeol returns to the living room to throw out the bottles of juice he’d been drinking and put his laptop back in his room. Jongin wanders in a few minutes later, holding a pillow and blanket and standing off to the side a little awkwardly.
“You were just here like three hours ago,” Chanyeol laughs, waving him in. “There’s no need to be all shy now.”
“Sorry,” Jongin says, but he smiles a little sheepishly. “I guess I just realized I’ve taken up so much of your time today and we don’t really even know each other.”
Chanyeol makes a soft humming sound as he picks his guitar up from the end of the couch and moves over to the armchair to sit instead. Jongin takes the couch, settling his pillows and blankets down, and Chanyeol notices he’s brought his laptop over, too. He probably didn’t want to leave it in his unlocked apartment. “Well, I think we can get to know each other more after tonight?” Chanyeol says, and prays he doesn’t sound as hopeful to Jongin as he does to himself. “I’ve learned that you hate spiders and love chicken.” There’s so much more than that, like the high-pitched sound of Jongin’s laughter and the beautiful slope of his back, but Chanyeol pushes those thoughts away as quickly as they come. “That’s a pretty good basis for a friendship, don’t you think?”
Laughing, Jongin pulls his legs up to sit criss-crossed in the middle of the couch, and then hugs his pillow to his chest. “Right,” he says. “Now I know you’re also afraid of spiders and I’m not alone, and apparently that you play the guitar.” He nods towards where Chanyeol still has his guitar across his lap, then laughs again. “Though I guess I already knew that, somewhat. I can hear you play sometimes. You, uh, have a nice voice.” He meets Chanyeol’s eyes for a second before looking down at his pillow, and Chanyeol is torn between being embarrassed Jongin could hear him all this time, and a little intrigued by his reaction.
“Thanks,” he ends up saying, plucking at the strings on his guitar, “I’m not that good though. I just write music sometimes for fun.” He strums a chord and grins at Jongin, asks, “You mentioned before that you dance. Are you in a team or something?”
Jongin shakes his head, his hair falling into his eyes and he brushes it away easily. “I go to K-ARTS for dance,” he says, smiling. “It’s my last year. I am hoping to join a company or something after I graduate though, if all things go well.”
“That’s really cool,” Chanyeol says, genuinely impressed. He can’t dance to save his life, but he can easily picture Jongin, and well--he quickly pushes those thoughts away, too. “I’d like to see you dance sometime,” he says, and as Jongin looks at him, surprised, rushes to add, “I mean, it’s only fair, right? You’ve heard me play.”
“Only because your voice is so loud,” Jongin says and the way he laughs tells Chanyeol he doesn’t really mean it. “And that’s not really the same thing.” He eyes Chanyeol for a moment, then points at the guitar. “Play something now, and then maybe.”
“What do you want to hear?” Chanyeol asks, sitting up a little straighter and holding his guitar properly in his hands. When Jongin shrugs, leaving the decision up to him, Chanyeol ponders for a few minutes before launching into a cover of Girl’s Generation’s latest release. That easily has Jongin cracking up, as Chanyeol pitches his voice higher than usual, making up the lyrics when he forgets, and time passes like that, Chanyeol playing and singing and Jongin joining in on occasion when he’s feeling bold enough. Chanyeol beams at him every time and enjoys the slight flush that creeps up high on his cheeks, the way his laugh fills up the room, fills up Chanyeol’s heart.
When Jongin starts dozing off, they call it a night, bidding each other goodnight. Chanyeol makes sure Jongin is comfortable enough on the couch before retreating to his room and flopping into bed. It takes him longer to fall asleep that night, thoughts lingering out on the boy in his living room, the sound of his laugh and his pretty, pretty smile.
-
Chanyeol wakes up at seven in the morning, slapping a hand at his phone until the alarm stops wailing and groaning loudly up at the ceiling. He lies there for a few minutes before finally dragging himself out of bed, stretching his arms over his head. It’s only when he wanders out toward the kitchen to put on some coffee does he remember about Jongin, stopping at the couch and staring because it’s empty, all of Jongin’s things gone.
The disappointment in his gut is ridiculous. There’s no real reason for Jongin to stay longer than he needs to, he has his own life and probably needs to get ready for his day just the same as Chanyeol, and there’s no point feeling upset about it. He sighs, running a hand through his hair, and continues into the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine. He sets a mug out, contemplates what he could make for breakfast, when a knock at the door has him jumping.
It’s Jongin on the other side, dressed in the same sweats from the night before and a long coat. He holds up a plastic bag and says, “I hope you’re hungry,” and Chanyeol gapes at him for a moment, stunned, before he laughs and takes a step back.
“I was just thinking of what I could make,” he says, as Jongin slips out of his shoes and follows Chanyeol inside. “Not that you had to go bring me anything, you know.”
“I know,” Jongin says, smiling at him. “Consider it payback. You bought dinner last night.”
Chanyeol nods, rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. He only just rolled out of bed and his hair is definitely a mess and here’s Jongin, who looks soft and cute, pulling out some kimbap and bowls of what looks like jjigae and sets them out onto Chanyeol’s kitchen counter. Chanyeol watches him, how easily he fits into his space, and his gut lurches as he takes a step back.
“Hey,” Jongin says, brows furrowing in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, quickly shaking out of it. “I-I’m gonna go wash up and I’ll be right back.”
He escapes to the bathroom, finding it easier to breathe in there away from Jongin, and splashes some water onto his face to help clear his head. It doesn’t help much, because Jongin is still out there, waiting, but Chanyeol just brushes his teeth and tries his best not to overthink this. He’s just repaying his kindness from last night. Now they’re basically even. That’s it.
His hair really is a mess and he can’t believe Jongin’s seen him like this. He flattens it down as much as possible before heading back out to the kitchen, where Jongin is seated at the table with food and smiles up at him.
“You know, the bed hair was kind of cute,” he teases and Chanyeol laughs, ignoring how warm he gets from that comment.
“I think your definition of cute might be a little skewed,” he replies, settling down across from Jongin and pulling a bowl toward himself. It’s been awhile since he’s had such a fulfilling breakfast, living off of leftovers the past week or two. “Did you wake up this early just to get breakfast?”
Jongin shakes his head. “Minseok called, said that someone would come by for the door by nine, so I figured I should probably be awake for that.”
Chanyeol snorts. “Yeah, probably,” he agrees and Jongin smirks at him.
“Do you have to leave soon for work?”
“I have enough time to enjoy breakfast with you,” Chanyeol says after he casts a quick glance at the time on the microwave. He smiles at Jongin, who looks pleased by this information.
“Good,” he says, smiling down at his own bowl, and Chanyeol is glad that he’s not the only one interested in spending more time together.
It goes by too fast though that morning. They chat over their breakfast, picking up right where they left off the night before and Chanyeol wishes it could’ve been a weekend so they could sit here and talk for as long as possible. He’s always been a pretty friendly guy but he hasn’t connected with someone this quickly in a while, and well. Jongin is really cute, and Chanyeol would like to keep him around.
Jongin’s the one who asks Chanyeol for his number, looking a little hesitant about it as they clean up the dishes. He smiles brightly though when Chanyeol easily agrees, hoping Jongin doesn’t catch just how eager he sounds. “Thanks,” Jongin says afterward, “I’ll be sure to call you the next time I see a spider instead of screaming bloody murder.”
“I think you should call Minseok from the start,” Chanyeol says, reminding him that Chanyeol’s useless in killing creepy-crawly insects. “But if he’s not around and you need to get away....then, I’m available.”
Jongin laughs but nods, tucking his phone into his pocket and heading for the door. “I’ll definitely take you up on that,” he says. “Have a good day at work, Chanyeol.”
“Yeah, you have a good day, too,” Chanyeol says, smiling warmly at Jongin who stares at him for a moment, standing in the hall between their doors, looking like he wants to say something more.
In the end he just waves lightly and mumbles out a quick goodbye, and then disappears behind his broken front door and Chanyeol retreats back into his apartment, leaning his head against the door and sighing deeply, his thoughts a mess inside his head. He can’t decide if he’s happy about everything that’s happened in the last day, upset because maybe nothing more came from it, and confused because, well, why does he even want more? What does he want at all?
Unfortunately Chanyeol doesn’t have time for this existential crisis, not when he has to be at work within the hour, so he rushes to shower and dress and does about as good a job as he did last night to push the thoughts of Jongin out of his head.
-
“Who is it?” Kyungsoo asks, showing up behind Chanyeol out of nowhere as he’s prone to do and scaring the life of him.
“Who is what?” Chanyeol says as he hastily shoves his phone back into his work bag and pretends he hasn’t been staring at it, waiting for Jongin to message him.
“The person you keep hoping is going to text you,” Kyungsoo says. He crosses his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall of Chanyeol’s cubicle, and dressed primly in a fitted suits and shiny shoes, his hair perfectly coiffed, he looks every bit the part of the department’s supervisor, even though Chanyeol’s known Kyungsoo since they were fourteen and Kyungsoo still thought he’d be able to grow taller than five feet. “Don’t give me that look,” Kyungsoo adds when Chanyeol opens his mouth to refute it. “You’ve been staring every time I’ve passed by today.”
“I might...be a little distracted,” Chanyeol admits, because it is always better to tell the truth around Kyungsoo. It’s not like Chanyeol hasn’t been getting all his work done either, and Kyungsoo also knows that, despite how much Chanyeol’s mind keeps wandering.
Kyungsoo raises a brow expectantly and it takes Chanyeol a second of hesitation before he spills everything, doing his best to keep his voice down because everyone around is still working. Kyungsoo stares at him with a blank look on his face as he talks and Chanyeol is pretty worked up by the end. “Should I message him first? Or should I wait?” he asks, looking at Kyungsoo imploringly, “He’s so cute, Kyungsoo, and I want to talk to him more but--”
“You’re an idiot,” Kyungsoo says, with finality, and Chanyeol is so distraught that he doesn’t even attempt to disagree. “If he’s as great as you say he is, then text him. He asked for your number for this very reason, clearly.”
Chanyeol glances at where he’d hidden his phone, then back at Kyungsoo helplessly. “What if--” he starts but Kyungsoo puts a hand up to stop him, giving Chanyeol a severe look.
“You broke down his door and instead of killing you like I would do, he was inexplicably charmed,” Kyungsoo says slowly, as if he’s speaking to a child. Chanyeol would be offended, except Kyungsoo talks to him like this so often he’s gotten used to it. And maybe, right now, he kind of deserves it for being pathetic. Since when has he ever been afraid to text someone and get to know them? “He gave you his number. He wants you to message him.” Kyungsoo pokes Chanyeol in the forehead. “So just do it and get back to work already.”
“Okay, okay,” Chanyeol says, rubbing at his forehead and pouting. “I get it. I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Kyungsoo says, and he smirks slightly. “I can’t believe you’re into your neighbor, is this some kind of television drama?”
“Shut up,” Chanyeol mutters. His ears feel kind of hot and he pouts a little harder at Kyungsoo, but he’d taught himself to be immune to that when they were in high school. “You’d understand if you met him.”
“Hmm, I’m not so sure I want to,” Kyungsoo says. “Now stop pouting at me. Work.” He narrows his eyes and adds, “And I expect you to have messaged your new crush by the time I come back around.”
“I don’t have a--” Chanyeol protests futilely, but Kyungsoo pulls on one of his ears and he yelps a little too loud for the office. Kyungsoo just laughs and leaves, and Chanyeol rubs at his ear now, instead as he spins back around in his desk and stares blankly at the work he has to do on his computer screen.
Before he even has a chance to pull up one of the new IT support requests sent in to his name, he hears the familiar buzz of his phone vibrating in his bag. He yanks it out, lowering the noise down to silent, and feels his heart leap in his chest when he notices Jongin’s sent him a message.
the door’s been fixed! 👍 thought u’d like to know
Chanyeol sighs in relief at that. He’d been a little worried about it all morning. I’m glad it’s fixed and again, really sorry about the whole mess.
stop apologizing!! Jongin sends back within the next minute, and Chanyeol can picture him frowning at his phone. what’s done is done and it’s as good as new now 😄 besides the repairman found the whole story really funny 😛
Despite being in his cubicle alone, Chanyeol still feels embarrassment creep up his neck at that. He thinks he’ll feel pretty stupid about the whole thing for awhile, even though it’s clear Jongin is over it. Even though his brash decision in breaking down a door led him to get to know Jongin in a way he never thought he’d be able to before.
I guess finding it funny is better than thinking I’m a complete idiot, so I’ll take it! Chanyeol types back. He sets his phone aside and manages to help out Jongdae with one of his stupid IT questions that he sends in about five times a day, before his phone blinks with Jongin’s reply.
maybe partly an idiot, at least, he says, and Chanyeol groans. This is not the impression he wanted to make. He’s trying to think of the best way to respond, to redeem himself, when another message pops up. don’t mind it~ otherwise we wouldn’t have spent time together the way we did last night. and well...i really liked that we did
Fuck, Chanyeol thinks, staring at his phone, his heart suddenly loud in his ears. He gnaws on his lower lip for a moment, then sends back: Me, too. I had a lot of fun.
It’s really so much more than that, but Chanyeol doesn’t know how to explain it. Doesn’t want to scare Jongin away with how much he can’t stop thinking about him and all the time they enjoyed together last night. Okay, so maybe Kyungsoo is right. Maybe it is a crush. He’s always liked Jongin, from their rare conversations before this, and he’s been a good neighbor for the past two years after he moved in; never too loud and always willing to give Chanyeol an egg or two because he hasn’t been to the store in weeks. Now, though, Chanyeol wants to get to know him more and more, wants to see him again, and not just when they’re passing each other on the way up the stairs.
He’s typing again before he realizes, before he can overthink it and miss the chance. It doesn’t have to mean anything, right?
Hey, would you like to get dinner with me tonight?
He sends it after a moment of staring at the words he’s typed out, forcing himself to go through with it and not be so afraid. The worst is that Jongin will say no, and then, maybe, Chanyeol can try again another time. Jongin asked for his number, opened the door to continue whatever it was that happened last night, so Chanyeol won’t waste it. He wasn’t sure, earlier, what he wanted, but he thinks now he might have a better understanding.
The wait for Jongin’s reply is agonizing, so he focuses on work again, filtering out emails that got sent to him by accident, and rolling his eyes at the messages Baekhyun’s left in his chat window, talking about how he’s super close to getting Taeyeon-noona to fall in love with him. Chanyeol sends him back ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋand is about to call Junmyeon to explain to him the troubles he’s having with his program, when his phone blinks with a notification.
yes!!!!!!!!
i mean, i’d really like that
The initial message has Chanyeol chuckling, Jongin’s excitement hopeful. He’s relieved, too, that he didn’t say no, that he wasn’t busy or uninterested. He lets out a deep, relieved breath, and decides to take care of Junmyeon’s issue as he thinks about a good place to meet Jongin for dinner.
“If it happens again, just call me, okay?” he says, when he’s walked Junmyeon through troubleshooting the errors. “It’s easier to explain this sort of thing over the phone.”
“Thanks, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon says with a tired sigh and Chanyeol bids him good luck before hanging up and pulling his headset down to rest around his neck.
He picks his phone back up and considers for a moment, then sends Jongin the name of a restaurant in Hongdae that he thinks Jongin will like. He’s trying not to overthink it. It’s not a date, he has to remind himself, even if truthfully, Chanyeol would really like it to be. Maybe soon he can get the courage to ask for real.
A few minutes later, Chanyeol finds Jongin’s reply, swiping his thumb over the screen to pull up the message. He blinks at it for a second, then laughs, unable to resist the wide, happy grin that’s taking over his face. He’s so relieved, so excited to know that everything he’s been feeling and thinking about since he and Jongin parted ways this morning hasn’t been entirely one-sided. There’s still over half the day left to get through, but at least now Chanyeol has something wonderful waiting for him.
it’s a date! 😉
note:
this wasn’t supposed to be so long cry curse u chankaibot /shakes fist
pls excuse the lameass title >_>
also i apologize for being so pathetic at replying to comments >.< your comments mean a lot to me and i truly appreciate them,
so thank you very much for leaving them and i will do my best to respond. it’s something i really want to work on (ง'̀-'́)ง
as always thank you, thank you, thank you for reading (´ ▽｀).。ｏ♡ i sincerely hope you enjoyed this! ♥
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