the problem with fiction - six (part one)
kris/chanyeol | PG-13
summary: that's right, this is your usual idol oppa/ordinary high school boy fake engagement story. unless you never read one. you know, you should click the link.
o n e / t w o / t h r e e / f o u r / interlude / f i v e
kris grasps his clammy hands into his own cold ones, hides his face to the space between the edge of the table and his chest, squeezes, and says-
no, he pleads,
“i’m so sorry.”
this is not a math problem.
the hands are not jongdae’s.
but.
“what are you talking about,” chanyeol’s voice creaks although he succeeds in holding back his tears. he squeezes kris’ hands too and adds desperately, “h-hyung, it’s okay. i’m okay. i promise,” in order to reassure kris that he’s really, really okay so kris canshouldmust stop whatever he’s doing-because if kris continues then jongdae is past tense and chanyeol furiously tells himself, i don’t want that.
that as in jongdae becomes a past tense and that as in kris is his now.
*
“holy shit, chanyeol-ah, you’re not fucking fat okay,” kris rasps, still high from their impromptu comedy show, “you’re perfect.”
one of the businessmen makes a dying animal sound.
jongdae who’s not here versus kris who probably only touches (flatters) him because of the contract battle current result;
0 : 1.
and suddenly it’s 0 : 2.
now, it’s not i don’t want that but can i have it-no question mark, because if chanyeol puts a question mark at the end of that sentence then it will evolve into something more and chanyeol really shouldn’t-couldn’t want more; remember the world’s economic recess? global warming? kid soldiers?
0 : 3, and it’s not because of the kiss, no, it’s because of how kris bows to the shopkeepers later before they leave the shoe outlet; kris refusing to hold hand until he washes his own on the restroom and then he buys chanyeol a lion plushie from toys r’ us.
*
can i really have it?
chanyeol is more than grateful that kris doesn’t say anything the whole ride home. about him quietly crying on the passenger seat, that is. or maybe it’s because chanyeol hides his face with the neck of his t-shirt, sniffing and giving up already. the tears just can’t stop streaming now that he admits he wants everything.
kris unbuckles his seatbelt for him, and by then chanyeol’s sobs are reduced into clamminess of his damp cheeks and a pair of badly reddened eyes. he glances at kris, who stares at him with an unreadable expression. or maybe it’s just their apartment complex’s parking lot dim lighting and chanyeol’s overreacting mind wanting kris to appear troubled or worried or guilty.
chanyeol stretches his dry mouth to form a wry smile because he can’t remember being this selfish before.
but maybe it’s because chanyeol-despite his painful naivety about his own feeling-understands that this is the problem with fiction; kris will never see him beyond an unfortunate kid from gangwon who becomes his only ticket out of his idol career’s hellish scandal, no matter how much in love that ticket is with the idol.
kris reaches for the tissue box on the dashboard and proceeds to clean chanyeol’s face. he spreads his left hand on chanyeol’s jawline while his right hand is gently wiping the remaining tears and snots.
kris’ hand feels so cold but chanyeol wants everything, right, and so he leans more into the touch and closes his eyes to greedily savor it.
kris puts the used tissue in his jeans pocket and gets out of the car. chanyeol follows suit and they walk to the elevator side by side without words, without kris offering his hand for chanyeol to take. chanyeol doesn’t understand, of course, why-but it doesn’t feel wrong anyway. he will live without kris’ hand entwined with his. he keeps his head down as the elevator dings and brings them up to the fifth floor.
but then kris squeezes his wrist after he locks their apartment, and asks cruelly with his monotonous voice, “can i get your promised hug now?” and chanyeol is only seventeen he is not accustomed to quickly tame his jumbled emotions, okay, like, why does kris suddenly want the hug he’s promised a long time ago? does kris really want it? or is he just using it now because oh my god.
it just comes crossing chanyeol’s mind that he is the one who needs a hug so bad right now.
chanyeol gasps. he practically pounces on kris and kris steadies his stance as if he’s already expecting the force. the not-goes-unnoticed act is so sweet and chanyeol becomes more hopeless.
“i’m sorry,” kris inhales. “i’m so sorry.” exhales.
chanyeol chokes on a hasty, “it’s okay,” because it really is. in the end, kris has always been here and it’s enough as long as they stay this way, he will endure everything just like how he wants it. and as a ticket he will be expired in a matter of four months time.
chanyeol tightens his hug at his silly wishful thinking, laughing at himself. but.
four months, park chanyeol! let’s monopolize kris wufan for yourself hehehe fighting!!!
kris is stroking his spine, letting chanyeol to step on his cold feet. he sways their bodies to a nonexistent rhythm because apparently their proximity calm chanyeol’s frantic heartbeats.
they don’t even bother switching on the living room’s lamps.
after awhile, chanyeol sighs loudly to indicate that maybe they should separate but he makes no move to do so. kris just hums. chanyeol pulls his head back from the comfiness of kris’ neck, looks down-he’s taller than kris for once-and smiles.
“chinese takeout for dinner?” he says, just a breath away from kris’ lips. the darkness makes him losing his sense of distance. he blinks and pulls back even further nervously.
kris moves his hands to chanyeol’s hips and nods, “alright.” he half lifts chanyeol off of his feet and pushes at chanyeol’s sweaty fringe before he goes to make a call. chanyeol touches his forehead as he gets into his bedroom to change.
behind his closed bedroom, chanyeol kisses his palm and grins.
everything.
the next day chanyeol wakes up with a much, much lighter body and he feels like singing on top of his lungs. he does, muffling his totally off-tune muse’s unintended to his pillow.
so this time, this is what musicians often wail about on their music and lyric. with jongdae it wasn’t like this when chanyeol first realised that he liked his classmate. jongdae was all trying to look cool and be a good friend (and then hopefully progressing into actual boyfriends), and most of the time it's a challenge to his patience, because jongdae tended to reply to his texts―plural―with a dot or only a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘thanks’ but at the end of the day, jongdae’s pretty crow feet eyesmile made chanyeol’s knees budging anyway.
kris is not a man with words, and honestly chanyeol can’t say he prefers him otherwise. he’s all about the small things that brings chanyeol to the special place in the sky; his harsh push to chanyeol’s head to show that he is listening and is amused by chanyeol’s blabbering, a tap on his shoulder and a pat on his back and their seemingly always in autopilot mode hand holding business. and chanyeol is not quite familiar with romance, but kris has kissed his knee twice without any sensible reason goddammit.
it’s like jongdae hurts his knees and kris kisses the pain away.
or maybe chanyeol should just stop comparing his past and present tense.
▲ ▼
“good morning,” kris greets him with a small smile, towelling his hair.
chanyeol doesn’t even care if he’s being too transparent, because he greets back with baekhyun’s most favorite wangja sunshine edition smile. kris snorts as he leads them to the dining room.
chanyeol claps happily at the sight of toasts, scrambled eggs with bacons, steamed potatoes-broccoli-cheese and sliced apples on the table. he’s about to squeal and praise kris but kris stops him with a sheepish smirk (which is so cute by the way!) and says that kyungsoo cooked the breakfast, not him. chanyeol pouts but he is swooned anyway.
“i’ll drive you to school starting from today,” kris announces as they sit across each other. chanyeol gapes. “i’ll pick you up, too.” and his tone is final, so chanyeol just smiles and agrees.
he gapes again twenty minutes later when kris unlocks the convertible sports car what’sthenameagain with a breathtaking design; exactly like those cars in racing movies baekhyun likes to rent.
kris’ last words before chanyeol gets in the car is, “i hope you bring a comb with you.”
“oh my god!” chanyeol doesn’t stop laughing even when kris finally parks on his school’s parking lot; doesn’t pay any mind about them because he is too busy finger combing his messy hair. kris also unnecessarily helps chanyeol grooming the ever so precious bob hair and he says, no, declares,
“let’s see if someone still dares to lay a fucking finger on you,” and then just like that, kris plants a lingering kiss to chanyeol’s temple.
“see you soon,” he pats chanyeol’s cheek and unbuckles the seatbelt for him. chanyeol stutters a goodbye before he bolts out of the car and practically half running to the main lobby; his skin prickles from the intensity of what kris just did―not from his bullies’ intense stares, no, not today.
he only starts hyperventilating when he walks down the vast corridor to his class. but no insults are being thrown at him. as he waits for the bell to ring he anticipates what kind of daily gay jokes his classmates (boys) will verbalise, especially after what kris just did.
but nothing happens. in fact, not a single person dares to lay eyes on him like he’s oozing a blinding aura or.
or like, kris’ PDA! he was marking me!
chanyeol passes the first period of his school life in peace. and it’s weird. at lunch, he takes his time to enjoy the doshirak he and kris bought from a street vendor. the pine tree-ish disinfectant aroma in the boy restroom’s on the fifth floor doesn’t bother his appetite for once.
“na na na i like food~” chanyeol makes up a catchy tune to accompany him in the midst of comfortable silence.
“hm hm hm oh no paprika! chanyeolla no like pa―”
suddenly there's a loud bang, followed quickly with a hurried click.
chanyeol freezes.
footsteps, and, “i. hate. you.”
a short but arrogant chuckle, then, “well you agreed, gongju-yah,” belts being unbuckled―wet kisses, rustling clothes, something is being teared (twice) and then a grunt―
chanyeol quietly folds his legs and sits cross legged on top of the closed toilet lid, balancing his lunchbox on his lap, swallowing the half munched rice and feeling his throat dry because―
“ah―” the whiny voice who hates the other (?) lets out a long moan. “ah, c-come on.”
chanyeol sighs inaudibly, relieved beyond belief that it’s not them; that he’s saved, his only sanctuary where he can have his lunch without girls looking at him eating with such sheer loathing is not discovered. not yet, right, because the fact that the two boys going at it just right on the washbasins area is telling chanyeol enough that he needs to move away from here like a good nomad.
“fuck,” the cocky voice growls, so pleased with himself since the whiny voice just urges him to go faster and harder and more.
chanyeol blinks, shivering at another stream of tiny moans with the provocative melodies of skin slapping against skin―
more wet kissing that muffles their mutual despair for release―
chanyeol tries to calm down, tries to block their sex voices, but they sure have stamina because it seems like forever before he decides to continue eating to distract himself.
he counts his every chews; one, two, three, four, “jongin!”, five, six, seven, eight, god is being cursed, nine, ten, eleven, swallow.
one, two, three, four, fivesixseveneight, “sehun-ah―”, swallow.
one, two, and both are chuckling.
“what?” the cocky voice groans contentedly. the whiny voice of course whines some more and then the cocky voice murmurs an apology as―chanyeol honestly doesn’t want to know what he’s doing. he closes his eyes and prays for them to finish their business because the smell of c-c-cum is quite horrifying. he stares at his lunchbox blankly.
“let’s have bubble milk tea later,” the cocky voice says with a slight, but surprisingly sweet, imploring tone after they’re done fixing their most likely wrinkled uniforms.
“of course we are,” the whiny voice grumbles with a slight lisp, a pause, and then he gasps. “oh my god it hurts, jongin-ah. i hate you.”
the cocky voice kisses the whiny voice once more before he jokes that should i carry my gongju bridal style? and the said boy doesn’t respond but he might hit the cocky voice in the head or face or somewhere and chanyeol only dares to move; to have a drink from his orange tupperware when the door is finally shut and by the sweats trickling down slowly on his nape he feels that the usually cold toilet is getting hotter...
....somehow.
chanyeol is no stranger to porn, he thinks maria ozawa is cute okay―but he’s never been a fan to watch people faking moans and and and stuffs let alone p-pleasuring himself and that was...
that was...
chanyeol counts to ten before he gathers his lunchbox hastily, holds his breath as he walks past the washbasins and runs out of the boy’s restroom on the fifth floor to finish his lunch at the other end of the corridor; his hands are shaking with kris smiling, laughing, frowning, talking, touching him somewhere in his head.
▲ ▼
kris picks him up with the previous white audi, wearing a thick black jacket, sweatpants, and his adidas. chanyeol doesn’t quite look at him in the eye as kris drives him home, but then kris teases at the first red light,
“you’re not immune to our deal, right?” chanyeol frowns. “that’s one.”
chanyeol frowns even harder. kris puts his cold thumb in the crease between his eyebrows and chuckles, “two.”
“what―” chanyeol blushes because oh. “aw, hyung!” he laughs. “ugh i totally forgot about our deal! not fair!”
kris just laughs heartily as the light turns green and chanyeol is left all warm on the inside.
chanyeol eats his lunch on the floor; just next to his desk which is at the back of his class, because kris’ marking method to banish his bullies is super effective. but chanyeol is still self conscious considering they are still staring-glaring-glancing every now and then at him, so he opts to sit cross legged; his back against the wall, with the strokes’ special DVD interview extras with korean subtitle on his phone.
it’s ryeowook-sshi behind the driver’s seat of a red volkswagen with kris next to him. ryeowook-sshi is taking them to the MTV’s headquarter to get a briefing from the PD in charge for the ‘a day with...’ show.
upon first impression, chanyeol is sure that the boy wearing a donald duck hoodie is either a new child-actor happens to be in the same meeting room or he’s one of the staffs’ son.
“baby-yah this is lu han, the youngest PD in the history of korean’s entertainment industry. lu han-ah, this is my baby chanyeolla.”
lu han-hyung openly scowls hearing ryeowook-sshi’s nickname and shamelessly ravishing chanyeol from head to toe using his bambi-ish doe eyes. those chocolate orbs are not only dilating but also decorated with a hint of hunger plus obvious, professional predator quality that chanyeol opts to sit closer to kris and zip his hoodie up to his neck-just in case.
bambi is supposed to be a harmless deer, right?
“hyung,” chanyeol presses his forehead to the back of kris’ right shoulder. currently they’re reading the rundown sheet. kris shifts to face him a little bit.
“why is lu han-hyung looking at me like that?” chanyeol whispers because there are two noonas with super hi-tech DSLRs; they’ve been told to capture any of ‘krisyeol moments’ that can be posted later on MTV’s official twitter and website as teasers. chanyeol doesn’t want ryeowook-sshi to overhear his question as an insult about lu han-hyung, because of course the two peculiar older men are best friends. if he can’t survive another hour being in the same room with lu han-hyung, how will he live tomorrow when they’re going to shoot together from morning to-according to the rundown-dinnertime?
kris stealthily looks to the man in question. then he snorts softly and flicks chanyeol’s nose, “minseokkie wondered why the same a year ago. he still is.”
“really?” chanyeol huffs because thanks god he’s not the only one!
kris nods, whispering again without moving his lips, “he does it to the people he likes.”
chanyeol puts a hand to his cheek, feeling flattered, although surely lu han-hyung shows his affection in such extraordinarily abnormal way.
“kris,” ryeowook-sshi interrupts them with an apologetic smile, “any question?”
chanyeol shakes his head. kris just shrugs.
“i think we’re settled, lu han-ah.” ryeowook-sshi turns to lu han-hyung, who’s been sitting on the long table, legs crossed, busy with his shabby and creaking rubik cube. “yah.”
“i heard you,” lu han-hyung knocks down a donald duck water bottle to the floor as he swings his legs. chanyeol bites his bottom lip to prevent a smile.
but lu han-hyung with his creepy bambi eyes caught him anyway, and so he beams cutely at chanyeol who flushes and uses kris’ bigbigbig palm as a shield.
the two noonas wildly clicking their DSLRs.
“you’re scaring him, pabo!” ryeowook-sshi shrieks. lu han-hyung pouts.
“whatever. so, no question? are you sure?” kris nods in behalf of chanyeol, and so lu han-hyung, honest to god, leers as he claps his hands and announces that he can’t wait to work with chanyeol, my chan chan, and that he envies kris for claiming chanyeol first because it’s not fair how pretty you are completed with such alluring voice...
chanyeol feels kris tenses before he comments rather wryly, “i’ll make sure to let minseokkie know about that, hyung.”
lu han-hyung pleads on his knees at kris to not breathe a word to his precious bao zi please, kris, i’ll get you a free pass to insert a foreign name that chanyeol assumes a restaurant which actually one of the most prestigious club in seoul-but kris just pats the older man’s head before he grabs chanyeol by the waist and for the first time ever chanyeol feels pity for the scary lu han-hyung.
and oh. his appa needs to know that he has a competition regarding minseok-hyung.
ryeowook-sshi asks where does chanyeol want to have dinner and chanyeol asks if he can just eat with the other exo members, it doesn’t matter where because, “i miss them,” he confesses.
kris looks away with a smile and ryeowook-sshi is tearing up for real before he immediately calls (sobbing) joonmyun to meet at the previous fancy restaurant they visited when they were back from gangwon two months ago.
tao is clinging to minseok-hyung as they enter the restaurant, swiftly glancing at chanyeol who just winks in response.
“you know, dongsaeng,” chanyeol head locks tao with his scrawny arms after they’re done with the main course, “hyung will teach you how to handle them. what do you say?” tao’s bottom lip wavers but he nods in determination and together they sneak out of the vip room to go to the mini fountain where the colorful kois are. chanyeol whispers a ‘fighting!’ as he goes to take one fish with black and orange scales. he holds it up, and tao crouches down next to chanyeol, poking the body like a curious five year old.
chanyeol beams.
“since you’re a beginner, coat your palms with dirt,” tao protests, “eyyyyy it will reduce the fish’ slipperiness! come on!” chanyeol points at the ground enthusiastically and tao pouts but he does as he’s told. “cool! now get ready. don’t squish it too hard or it will get panicked. just hold it naturally.” he slowly passes the gaping fish to tao’s hands.
tao giggles at the first touch, but then the fish plunges back to the fountain. chanyeol goes awww but quickly he catches another with the white-orange-red scales. tao squares his shoulders and slowly grabs it. he exclaims in awe as the fish wiggles in his palms and chanyeol claps to encourage him to hold on a little longer.
“hyung hyung take a photo!” tao shrieks as he gets to his feet. chanyeol wipes his hands on his school’s yellow blazer and activates his iphone’s camera. tao poses, making a kissy face to the wide eyed fish and chanyeol takes a perfect picture of them together.
tao goes to his side, and of course it’s selca time. if chanyeol is baekhyun’s wangja then tao is the selca prince. he doesn’t forget to show off the very first fish i’ve ever caught!!! gomawo chanyeolla-hyung ^o^ as he writes and uploads to his three hundred thousand or so followers on his twitter.
chanyeol tells kris on their way back home about his and tao’s little shenanigan and kris bursts out laughing because apparently he and the rest of exo members lose a bet of ‘who will manage to make tao no longer scared of fish’. a sudden wave of pride hits chanyeol because if only baekhyun knows that he and his beloved exo are sharing an inside joke! imagine how many girls baekhyun will get if chanyeol spill every single random facts about exo just so baekhyun can use it to-what, date sulli, maybe? the prettiest girl in their school? or maybe gyuri-noona the local goddess?-chanyeol snorts at the memory of baekhyun’s rejected love confession to gyuri-noona a couple of years ago.
ah, my commoner! i’m going to call him!
“you’re happy,” kris smirks as chanyeol speed-dials his best friend.
“i am!” chanyeol does a mehrong and waits for baekhyun to pick up. “BAEKHYUN-AH!” he cries out. kris frowns but chanyeol lets that one to slide. “baekhyun-ah waddup!”
“my wangja,” baekhyun mocks a courteous tone, “what is it that i am graced by your call?”
“not funny okay,” chanyeol huffs, “but whatever! i’m going to shoot a variety show tomorrow! i’m so excited! how are you? how’s jongdae?”
kris clears his throat.
baekhyun grumbles that chanyeol really should create a twitter account because that way, the whole world can see that @lordbacon (his new twitter) is a best friend of park chanyeol-kris wufan’s fiancee-and therefore he will get a little bit of the spotlight too and, you know, girls.
chanyeol and baekhyun bicker about how dare a commoner changing a crucial topic about jongdae and baekhyun just clicks his tongue and says that jongdae is finally going public with woohyun-
chanyeol pauses.
“oy are you listening?” baekhyun asks. “bro? you there? wangja-yah?”
“chanyeol-ah what’s wrong?” kris puts his right hand on top chanyeol’s head as he stops on the red light. chanyeol frowns.
“chanyeol-ah?”
“hey.”
chanyeol blinks only because of the honking from impatient cars and kris curses under his breath as he drives again.
“chanyeol-ah?” baekhyun is still sounding puzzled. “okay then i’ll just call you la-”
“what do you mean...” chanyeol can’t feel his tongue, “what are you talking about?”
“don’t tell me you didn’t know all along!” baekhyun chuckles. “yeah anyway it was last week i guess. as usual our woohyun got asked on a date by a girl from sunghwa high-she’s too tall though-and woohyun was like, ‘i already have jongdae, sorry,’ and the rest is history.” chanyeol is about to express his doubt (fear?) but then baekhyun adds,
“wait, chanyeol-ah. didn’t we discuss it with sungjongie? how woohyun always turns off his greasiness in front of jongdae? i remember you were objecting about the idea of jongdae dating anyone and now that i think about it, heh. why, dude? did jongdae say something to you?”
“chanyeol-ah we’re here.” kris cuts off softly, unbuckling his seatbelt. chanyeol just nods and gets out of the car and takes kris’ offered hand as he tries to verbalize anything.
“ha ha ha why are you so stunned, weirdo! what, did you have a crush on jongdae? or was it woohyun?” baekhyun is loud, and he and kris are inside the elevator already.
chanyeol forces to say, “eyyy~ i just never thought jongdae would be a pretty little liar to us! tsk tsk we’re his friends!” he bites his bottom lip. “um. so...so do you know how they happened?” he whispers it then, because he’s not sure kris is willing to kiss his knee this time; and plus, how is he supposed to ask for such silly symbolic gesture?
but.
actually, chanyeol doesn’t feel anything. nothing. he’s not even hurt by the fact that jongdae had lied to him. maybe jongdae lied because he didn’t want to hurt chanyeol’s feeling? then why didn’t he just say that he’s dating woohyun? it’s not like woohyun is a bad boy, woohyun is the most popular boy in their school who gets daily gifts from his fans; he’s an ulzzang, a vocalist of an indie band, and the last time he had a girlfriend she was treated unfairly by his fans.
right.
“that’s enough,” kris takes chanyeol’s phone and apologizes to baekhyun that chanyeol really needs more energy for the shooting tomorrow and baekhyun is too mesmerized by kris’ voice transmitted via electronic device anyway that he hangs up with an energetic,
“annyeong, kris-hyungnim! we are one, we are exo!”
to be c o n t i n u e d
summary: that's right, this is your usual idol oppa/ordinary high school boy fake engagement story. unless you never read one. you know, you should click the link.
o n e / t w o / t h r e e / f o u r / interlude / f i v e
kris grasps his clammy hands into his own cold ones, hides his face to the space between the edge of the table and his chest, squeezes, and says-
no, he pleads,
“i’m so sorry.”
this is not a math problem.
the hands are not jongdae’s.
but.
“what are you talking about,” chanyeol’s voice creaks although he succeeds in holding back his tears. he squeezes kris’ hands too and adds desperately, “h-hyung, it’s okay. i’m okay. i promise,” in order to reassure kris that he’s really, really okay so kris canshouldmust stop whatever he’s doing-because if kris continues then jongdae is past tense and chanyeol furiously tells himself, i don’t want that.
that as in jongdae becomes a past tense and that as in kris is his now.
*
“holy shit, chanyeol-ah, you’re not fucking fat okay,” kris rasps, still high from their impromptu comedy show, “you’re perfect.”
one of the businessmen makes a dying animal sound.
jongdae who’s not here versus kris who probably only touches (flatters) him because of the contract battle current result;
0 : 1.
and suddenly it’s 0 : 2.
now, it’s not i don’t want that but can i have it-no question mark, because if chanyeol puts a question mark at the end of that sentence then it will evolve into something more and chanyeol really shouldn’t-couldn’t want more; remember the world’s economic recess? global warming? kid soldiers?
0 : 3, and it’s not because of the kiss, no, it’s because of how kris bows to the shopkeepers later before they leave the shoe outlet; kris refusing to hold hand until he washes his own on the restroom and then he buys chanyeol a lion plushie from toys r’ us.
*
can i really have it?
chanyeol is more than grateful that kris doesn’t say anything the whole ride home. about him quietly crying on the passenger seat, that is. or maybe it’s because chanyeol hides his face with the neck of his t-shirt, sniffing and giving up already. the tears just can’t stop streaming now that he admits he wants everything.
kris unbuckles his seatbelt for him, and by then chanyeol’s sobs are reduced into clamminess of his damp cheeks and a pair of badly reddened eyes. he glances at kris, who stares at him with an unreadable expression. or maybe it’s just their apartment complex’s parking lot dim lighting and chanyeol’s overreacting mind wanting kris to appear troubled or worried or guilty.
chanyeol stretches his dry mouth to form a wry smile because he can’t remember being this selfish before.
but maybe it’s because chanyeol-despite his painful naivety about his own feeling-understands that this is the problem with fiction; kris will never see him beyond an unfortunate kid from gangwon who becomes his only ticket out of his idol career’s hellish scandal, no matter how much in love that ticket is with the idol.
kris reaches for the tissue box on the dashboard and proceeds to clean chanyeol’s face. he spreads his left hand on chanyeol’s jawline while his right hand is gently wiping the remaining tears and snots.
kris’ hand feels so cold but chanyeol wants everything, right, and so he leans more into the touch and closes his eyes to greedily savor it.
kris puts the used tissue in his jeans pocket and gets out of the car. chanyeol follows suit and they walk to the elevator side by side without words, without kris offering his hand for chanyeol to take. chanyeol doesn’t understand, of course, why-but it doesn’t feel wrong anyway. he will live without kris’ hand entwined with his. he keeps his head down as the elevator dings and brings them up to the fifth floor.
but then kris squeezes his wrist after he locks their apartment, and asks cruelly with his monotonous voice, “can i get your promised hug now?” and chanyeol is only seventeen he is not accustomed to quickly tame his jumbled emotions, okay, like, why does kris suddenly want the hug he’s promised a long time ago? does kris really want it? or is he just using it now because oh my god.
it just comes crossing chanyeol’s mind that he is the one who needs a hug so bad right now.
chanyeol gasps. he practically pounces on kris and kris steadies his stance as if he’s already expecting the force. the not-goes-unnoticed act is so sweet and chanyeol becomes more hopeless.
“i’m sorry,” kris inhales. “i’m so sorry.” exhales.
chanyeol chokes on a hasty, “it’s okay,” because it really is. in the end, kris has always been here and it’s enough as long as they stay this way, he will endure everything just like how he wants it. and as a ticket he will be expired in a matter of four months time.
chanyeol tightens his hug at his silly wishful thinking, laughing at himself. but.
four months, park chanyeol! let’s monopolize kris wufan for yourself hehehe fighting!!!
kris is stroking his spine, letting chanyeol to step on his cold feet. he sways their bodies to a nonexistent rhythm because apparently their proximity calm chanyeol’s frantic heartbeats.
they don’t even bother switching on the living room’s lamps.
after awhile, chanyeol sighs loudly to indicate that maybe they should separate but he makes no move to do so. kris just hums. chanyeol pulls his head back from the comfiness of kris’ neck, looks down-he’s taller than kris for once-and smiles.
“chinese takeout for dinner?” he says, just a breath away from kris’ lips. the darkness makes him losing his sense of distance. he blinks and pulls back even further nervously.
kris moves his hands to chanyeol’s hips and nods, “alright.” he half lifts chanyeol off of his feet and pushes at chanyeol’s sweaty fringe before he goes to make a call. chanyeol touches his forehead as he gets into his bedroom to change.
behind his closed bedroom, chanyeol kisses his palm and grins.
everything.
the next day chanyeol wakes up with a much, much lighter body and he feels like singing on top of his lungs. he does, muffling his totally off-tune muse’s unintended to his pillow.
so this time, this is what musicians often wail about on their music and lyric. with jongdae it wasn’t like this when chanyeol first realised that he liked his classmate. jongdae was all trying to look cool and be a good friend (and then hopefully progressing into actual boyfriends), and most of the time it's a challenge to his patience, because jongdae tended to reply to his texts―plural―with a dot or only a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘thanks’ but at the end of the day, jongdae’s pretty crow feet eyesmile made chanyeol’s knees budging anyway.
kris is not a man with words, and honestly chanyeol can’t say he prefers him otherwise. he’s all about the small things that brings chanyeol to the special place in the sky; his harsh push to chanyeol’s head to show that he is listening and is amused by chanyeol’s blabbering, a tap on his shoulder and a pat on his back and their seemingly always in autopilot mode hand holding business. and chanyeol is not quite familiar with romance, but kris has kissed his knee twice without any sensible reason goddammit.
it’s like jongdae hurts his knees and kris kisses the pain away.
or maybe chanyeol should just stop comparing his past and present tense.
▲ ▼
“good morning,” kris greets him with a small smile, towelling his hair.
chanyeol doesn’t even care if he’s being too transparent, because he greets back with baekhyun’s most favorite wangja sunshine edition smile. kris snorts as he leads them to the dining room.
chanyeol claps happily at the sight of toasts, scrambled eggs with bacons, steamed potatoes-broccoli-cheese and sliced apples on the table. he’s about to squeal and praise kris but kris stops him with a sheepish smirk (which is so cute by the way!) and says that kyungsoo cooked the breakfast, not him. chanyeol pouts but he is swooned anyway.
“i’ll drive you to school starting from today,” kris announces as they sit across each other. chanyeol gapes. “i’ll pick you up, too.” and his tone is final, so chanyeol just smiles and agrees.
he gapes again twenty minutes later when kris unlocks the convertible sports car what’sthenameagain with a breathtaking design; exactly like those cars in racing movies baekhyun likes to rent.
kris’ last words before chanyeol gets in the car is, “i hope you bring a comb with you.”
“oh my god!” chanyeol doesn’t stop laughing even when kris finally parks on his school’s parking lot; doesn’t pay any mind about them because he is too busy finger combing his messy hair. kris also unnecessarily helps chanyeol grooming the ever so precious bob hair and he says, no, declares,
“let’s see if someone still dares to lay a fucking finger on you,” and then just like that, kris plants a lingering kiss to chanyeol’s temple.
“see you soon,” he pats chanyeol’s cheek and unbuckles the seatbelt for him. chanyeol stutters a goodbye before he bolts out of the car and practically half running to the main lobby; his skin prickles from the intensity of what kris just did―not from his bullies’ intense stares, no, not today.
he only starts hyperventilating when he walks down the vast corridor to his class. but no insults are being thrown at him. as he waits for the bell to ring he anticipates what kind of daily gay jokes his classmates (boys) will verbalise, especially after what kris just did.
but nothing happens. in fact, not a single person dares to lay eyes on him like he’s oozing a blinding aura or.
or like, kris’ PDA! he was marking me!
chanyeol passes the first period of his school life in peace. and it’s weird. at lunch, he takes his time to enjoy the doshirak he and kris bought from a street vendor. the pine tree-ish disinfectant aroma in the boy restroom’s on the fifth floor doesn’t bother his appetite for once.
“na na na i like food~” chanyeol makes up a catchy tune to accompany him in the midst of comfortable silence.
“hm hm hm oh no paprika! chanyeolla no like pa―”
suddenly there's a loud bang, followed quickly with a hurried click.
chanyeol freezes.
footsteps, and, “i. hate. you.”
a short but arrogant chuckle, then, “well you agreed, gongju-yah,” belts being unbuckled―wet kisses, rustling clothes, something is being teared (twice) and then a grunt―
chanyeol quietly folds his legs and sits cross legged on top of the closed toilet lid, balancing his lunchbox on his lap, swallowing the half munched rice and feeling his throat dry because―
“ah―” the whiny voice who hates the other (?) lets out a long moan. “ah, c-come on.”
chanyeol sighs inaudibly, relieved beyond belief that it’s not them; that he’s saved, his only sanctuary where he can have his lunch without girls looking at him eating with such sheer loathing is not discovered. not yet, right, because the fact that the two boys going at it just right on the washbasins area is telling chanyeol enough that he needs to move away from here like a good nomad.
“fuck,” the cocky voice growls, so pleased with himself since the whiny voice just urges him to go faster and harder and more.
chanyeol blinks, shivering at another stream of tiny moans with the provocative melodies of skin slapping against skin―
more wet kissing that muffles their mutual despair for release―
chanyeol tries to calm down, tries to block their sex voices, but they sure have stamina because it seems like forever before he decides to continue eating to distract himself.
he counts his every chews; one, two, three, four, “jongin!”, five, six, seven, eight, god is being cursed, nine, ten, eleven, swallow.
one, two, three, four, fivesixseveneight, “sehun-ah―”, swallow.
one, two, and both are chuckling.
“what?” the cocky voice groans contentedly. the whiny voice of course whines some more and then the cocky voice murmurs an apology as―chanyeol honestly doesn’t want to know what he’s doing. he closes his eyes and prays for them to finish their business because the smell of c-c-cum is quite horrifying. he stares at his lunchbox blankly.
“let’s have bubble milk tea later,” the cocky voice says with a slight, but surprisingly sweet, imploring tone after they’re done fixing their most likely wrinkled uniforms.
“of course we are,” the whiny voice grumbles with a slight lisp, a pause, and then he gasps. “oh my god it hurts, jongin-ah. i hate you.”
the cocky voice kisses the whiny voice once more before he jokes that should i carry my gongju bridal style? and the said boy doesn’t respond but he might hit the cocky voice in the head or face or somewhere and chanyeol only dares to move; to have a drink from his orange tupperware when the door is finally shut and by the sweats trickling down slowly on his nape he feels that the usually cold toilet is getting hotter...
....somehow.
chanyeol is no stranger to porn, he thinks maria ozawa is cute okay―but he’s never been a fan to watch people faking moans and and and stuffs let alone p-pleasuring himself and that was...
that was...
chanyeol counts to ten before he gathers his lunchbox hastily, holds his breath as he walks past the washbasins and runs out of the boy’s restroom on the fifth floor to finish his lunch at the other end of the corridor; his hands are shaking with kris smiling, laughing, frowning, talking, touching him somewhere in his head.
▲ ▼
kris picks him up with the previous white audi, wearing a thick black jacket, sweatpants, and his adidas. chanyeol doesn’t quite look at him in the eye as kris drives him home, but then kris teases at the first red light,
“you’re not immune to our deal, right?” chanyeol frowns. “that’s one.”
chanyeol frowns even harder. kris puts his cold thumb in the crease between his eyebrows and chuckles, “two.”
“what―” chanyeol blushes because oh. “aw, hyung!” he laughs. “ugh i totally forgot about our deal! not fair!”
kris just laughs heartily as the light turns green and chanyeol is left all warm on the inside.
chanyeol eats his lunch on the floor; just next to his desk which is at the back of his class, because kris’ marking method to banish his bullies is super effective. but chanyeol is still self conscious considering they are still staring-glaring-glancing every now and then at him, so he opts to sit cross legged; his back against the wall, with the strokes’ special DVD interview extras with korean subtitle on his phone.
it’s ryeowook-sshi behind the driver’s seat of a red volkswagen with kris next to him. ryeowook-sshi is taking them to the MTV’s headquarter to get a briefing from the PD in charge for the ‘a day with...’ show.
upon first impression, chanyeol is sure that the boy wearing a donald duck hoodie is either a new child-actor happens to be in the same meeting room or he’s one of the staffs’ son.
“baby-yah this is lu han, the youngest PD in the history of korean’s entertainment industry. lu han-ah, this is my baby chanyeolla.”
lu han-hyung openly scowls hearing ryeowook-sshi’s nickname and shamelessly ravishing chanyeol from head to toe using his bambi-ish doe eyes. those chocolate orbs are not only dilating but also decorated with a hint of hunger plus obvious, professional predator quality that chanyeol opts to sit closer to kris and zip his hoodie up to his neck-just in case.
bambi is supposed to be a harmless deer, right?
“hyung,” chanyeol presses his forehead to the back of kris’ right shoulder. currently they’re reading the rundown sheet. kris shifts to face him a little bit.
“why is lu han-hyung looking at me like that?” chanyeol whispers because there are two noonas with super hi-tech DSLRs; they’ve been told to capture any of ‘krisyeol moments’ that can be posted later on MTV’s official twitter and website as teasers. chanyeol doesn’t want ryeowook-sshi to overhear his question as an insult about lu han-hyung, because of course the two peculiar older men are best friends. if he can’t survive another hour being in the same room with lu han-hyung, how will he live tomorrow when they’re going to shoot together from morning to-according to the rundown-dinnertime?
kris stealthily looks to the man in question. then he snorts softly and flicks chanyeol’s nose, “minseokkie wondered why the same a year ago. he still is.”
“really?” chanyeol huffs because thanks god he’s not the only one!
kris nods, whispering again without moving his lips, “he does it to the people he likes.”
chanyeol puts a hand to his cheek, feeling flattered, although surely lu han-hyung shows his affection in such extraordinarily abnormal way.
“kris,” ryeowook-sshi interrupts them with an apologetic smile, “any question?”
chanyeol shakes his head. kris just shrugs.
“i think we’re settled, lu han-ah.” ryeowook-sshi turns to lu han-hyung, who’s been sitting on the long table, legs crossed, busy with his shabby and creaking rubik cube. “yah.”
“i heard you,” lu han-hyung knocks down a donald duck water bottle to the floor as he swings his legs. chanyeol bites his bottom lip to prevent a smile.
but lu han-hyung with his creepy bambi eyes caught him anyway, and so he beams cutely at chanyeol who flushes and uses kris’ bigbigbig palm as a shield.
the two noonas wildly clicking their DSLRs.
“you’re scaring him, pabo!” ryeowook-sshi shrieks. lu han-hyung pouts.
“whatever. so, no question? are you sure?” kris nods in behalf of chanyeol, and so lu han-hyung, honest to god, leers as he claps his hands and announces that he can’t wait to work with chanyeol, my chan chan, and that he envies kris for claiming chanyeol first because it’s not fair how pretty you are completed with such alluring voice...
chanyeol feels kris tenses before he comments rather wryly, “i’ll make sure to let minseokkie know about that, hyung.”
lu han-hyung pleads on his knees at kris to not breathe a word to his precious bao zi please, kris, i’ll get you a free pass to insert a foreign name that chanyeol assumes a restaurant which actually one of the most prestigious club in seoul-but kris just pats the older man’s head before he grabs chanyeol by the waist and for the first time ever chanyeol feels pity for the scary lu han-hyung.
and oh. his appa needs to know that he has a competition regarding minseok-hyung.
ryeowook-sshi asks where does chanyeol want to have dinner and chanyeol asks if he can just eat with the other exo members, it doesn’t matter where because, “i miss them,” he confesses.
kris looks away with a smile and ryeowook-sshi is tearing up for real before he immediately calls (sobbing) joonmyun to meet at the previous fancy restaurant they visited when they were back from gangwon two months ago.
tao is clinging to minseok-hyung as they enter the restaurant, swiftly glancing at chanyeol who just winks in response.
“you know, dongsaeng,” chanyeol head locks tao with his scrawny arms after they’re done with the main course, “hyung will teach you how to handle them. what do you say?” tao’s bottom lip wavers but he nods in determination and together they sneak out of the vip room to go to the mini fountain where the colorful kois are. chanyeol whispers a ‘fighting!’ as he goes to take one fish with black and orange scales. he holds it up, and tao crouches down next to chanyeol, poking the body like a curious five year old.
chanyeol beams.
“since you’re a beginner, coat your palms with dirt,” tao protests, “eyyyyy it will reduce the fish’ slipperiness! come on!” chanyeol points at the ground enthusiastically and tao pouts but he does as he’s told. “cool! now get ready. don’t squish it too hard or it will get panicked. just hold it naturally.” he slowly passes the gaping fish to tao’s hands.
tao giggles at the first touch, but then the fish plunges back to the fountain. chanyeol goes awww but quickly he catches another with the white-orange-red scales. tao squares his shoulders and slowly grabs it. he exclaims in awe as the fish wiggles in his palms and chanyeol claps to encourage him to hold on a little longer.
“hyung hyung take a photo!” tao shrieks as he gets to his feet. chanyeol wipes his hands on his school’s yellow blazer and activates his iphone’s camera. tao poses, making a kissy face to the wide eyed fish and chanyeol takes a perfect picture of them together.
tao goes to his side, and of course it’s selca time. if chanyeol is baekhyun’s wangja then tao is the selca prince. he doesn’t forget to show off the very first fish i’ve ever caught!!! gomawo chanyeolla-hyung ^o^ as he writes and uploads to his three hundred thousand or so followers on his twitter.
chanyeol tells kris on their way back home about his and tao’s little shenanigan and kris bursts out laughing because apparently he and the rest of exo members lose a bet of ‘who will manage to make tao no longer scared of fish’. a sudden wave of pride hits chanyeol because if only baekhyun knows that he and his beloved exo are sharing an inside joke! imagine how many girls baekhyun will get if chanyeol spill every single random facts about exo just so baekhyun can use it to-what, date sulli, maybe? the prettiest girl in their school? or maybe gyuri-noona the local goddess?-chanyeol snorts at the memory of baekhyun’s rejected love confession to gyuri-noona a couple of years ago.
ah, my commoner! i’m going to call him!
“you’re happy,” kris smirks as chanyeol speed-dials his best friend.
“i am!” chanyeol does a mehrong and waits for baekhyun to pick up. “BAEKHYUN-AH!” he cries out. kris frowns but chanyeol lets that one to slide. “baekhyun-ah waddup!”
“my wangja,” baekhyun mocks a courteous tone, “what is it that i am graced by your call?”
“not funny okay,” chanyeol huffs, “but whatever! i’m going to shoot a variety show tomorrow! i’m so excited! how are you? how’s jongdae?”
kris clears his throat.
baekhyun grumbles that chanyeol really should create a twitter account because that way, the whole world can see that @lordbacon (his new twitter) is a best friend of park chanyeol-kris wufan’s fiancee-and therefore he will get a little bit of the spotlight too and, you know, girls.
chanyeol and baekhyun bicker about how dare a commoner changing a crucial topic about jongdae and baekhyun just clicks his tongue and says that jongdae is finally going public with woohyun-
chanyeol pauses.
“oy are you listening?” baekhyun asks. “bro? you there? wangja-yah?”
“chanyeol-ah what’s wrong?” kris puts his right hand on top chanyeol’s head as he stops on the red light. chanyeol frowns.
“chanyeol-ah?”
“hey.”
chanyeol blinks only because of the honking from impatient cars and kris curses under his breath as he drives again.
“chanyeol-ah?” baekhyun is still sounding puzzled. “okay then i’ll just call you la-”
“what do you mean...” chanyeol can’t feel his tongue, “what are you talking about?”
“don’t tell me you didn’t know all along!” baekhyun chuckles. “yeah anyway it was last week i guess. as usual our woohyun got asked on a date by a girl from sunghwa high-she’s too tall though-and woohyun was like, ‘i already have jongdae, sorry,’ and the rest is history.” chanyeol is about to express his doubt (fear?) but then baekhyun adds,
“wait, chanyeol-ah. didn’t we discuss it with sungjongie? how woohyun always turns off his greasiness in front of jongdae? i remember you were objecting about the idea of jongdae dating anyone and now that i think about it, heh. why, dude? did jongdae say something to you?”
“chanyeol-ah we’re here.” kris cuts off softly, unbuckling his seatbelt. chanyeol just nods and gets out of the car and takes kris’ offered hand as he tries to verbalize anything.
“ha ha ha why are you so stunned, weirdo! what, did you have a crush on jongdae? or was it woohyun?” baekhyun is loud, and he and kris are inside the elevator already.
chanyeol forces to say, “eyyy~ i just never thought jongdae would be a pretty little liar to us! tsk tsk we’re his friends!” he bites his bottom lip. “um. so...so do you know how they happened?” he whispers it then, because he’s not sure kris is willing to kiss his knee this time; and plus, how is he supposed to ask for such silly symbolic gesture?
but.
actually, chanyeol doesn’t feel anything. nothing. he’s not even hurt by the fact that jongdae had lied to him. maybe jongdae lied because he didn’t want to hurt chanyeol’s feeling? then why didn’t he just say that he’s dating woohyun? it’s not like woohyun is a bad boy, woohyun is the most popular boy in their school who gets daily gifts from his fans; he’s an ulzzang, a vocalist of an indie band, and the last time he had a girlfriend she was treated unfairly by his fans.
right.
“that’s enough,” kris takes chanyeol’s phone and apologizes to baekhyun that chanyeol really needs more energy for the shooting tomorrow and baekhyun is too mesmerized by kris’ voice transmitted via electronic device anyway that he hangs up with an energetic,
“annyeong, kris-hyungnim! we are one, we are exo!”
to be c o n t i n u e d