[oneshot] in your smile.
in your smile.
pg. hyunjoong/jungmin.
jungmin talked and smiled too much, but maybe that's what hyunjoong liked about him the most. even if he wouldn't admit it.
written for yeonah for gyonggo_ss. :)
Hyunjoong had lost count of the days he had been wandering around the deserted country. It seemed like he had left Seoul months ago, but he knew in reality it had only been a few days. Around two days ago he believed he had entered Wonju, which wasn't too far from the city.
But it was quiet, too quiet. Buildings were either abandoned or filled with corpses, streets were empty....it was just so desolate; a far cry from what the country had been like not even a month ago. Bombs had hit and all hell broke loose.
Hyunjoong hadn't seen a person (or a breathing, living one, at least) in days. His supply of snacks and water (taken from an empty grocery store and shoved into his backpack) were running out. It had been raining for the past few hours and his hoodie could only soak up so much of it. It was freezing and he was so close to just giving up. It wasn't worth it, none of this was. He was traveling without a purpose and a part of his mind figured he would be better off dead, like nearly everyone else. Why was he the one that had to survive? Why him?
He let out a sigh and pulled the sleeves to his hoodie down over his hands, eyes surveying the destroyed buildings around him. Everything was just so depressing...more the reason to give up, he thought. He was about to just find a bench and sit down for a while until he suddenly saw a flash of red move out of the corner of his eye.
Groaning, he rubbed at his eyes. He was clearly hallucinating.
He looked again. No, his eyes hadn't been playing tricks on him. A person stood in front of him with red hair (matted down due to rain), wearing torn jeans and a sweater.
Hyunjoong opened his mouth to speak, but the redhead beat him to it. "You're not a robot, are you?"
Of all the things...Hyunjoong blinked. "Excuse me?" He questioned.
The redhead only flashed a smile. "I guess not. You're the first person I've seen in days, so...you never know." He stuck his hand out. "Jungmin."
Really? A robot?
"Hyunjoong." The man muttered, quickly taking Jungmin's hand and shaking it.
Jungmin kept his smile as he sat down on the bench beside Hyunjoong. "I assume you're heading to Busan, then?" He questioned.
Busan. Hyunjoong wracked his brain. Before signals cut out, he recalled hearing Busan was the location of the safe place. "Y-yeah." He answered quietly.
"Good! We can travel together." Jungmin replied, hopping up from the bench. "How long have you been walking for?" He asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and bouncing on his feet.
Hyunjoong wanted to blurt out that there was no way he was traveling with him. Given...he'd only known the man for not even five minutes but he seemed like a hyperactive child on Christmas Eve, waiting to explode and open presents. Or something like that. Hyunjoong was quiet, Hyunjoong liked quiet. Traveling with the redhead probably meant none of that at all.
Two fingers snapped in front of his eyes and he almost yelped, going back to reality. "Huh?"
Jungmin sighed. "I asked how long you've been walking for. You sure space out easily." He murmured, lips forming a pout.
Hyunjong tried not to snort. "Five days at most." He answered. "I'm from Seoul."
"So am I!" The redhead exclaimed with a grin. "I think I've been gone for around five days too....weird how we never saw each other." He mused, grin fading slightly in thought.
Hyunjoong kept in the slightly mean reply he had in mind and only shrugged. "Seoul's pretty big, it probably depended on where we started from." He pointed out, at least attempting to have a conversation with the man. He was apparently stuck with him for who knows how long so he might as well try and talk.
"True." Jungmin suddenly held out his hand, smiling again (did he ever not get tired of smiling?). "Might as well head to the next town, right? The rain's letting up."
Hyunjoong could only nod, letting the redhead pull him off of the bench. He had a feeling either way, he didn't really have a choice.
-
In not even three hours, Hyunjoong knew quite a lot about Jungmin. The top thing being that he liked to talk. Maybe like was a bit of an understatement....but Hyunjoong was surprised the younger (that, on the other hand, was something he wasn't surprised about) man's voice hadn't gone out an hour in of nearly non-stop babbling.
He talked about his family (an older brother and sister, he was the youngest), his parents, his love for acting, and...how his family hadn't survived. He had spent maybe two minutes on the topic and quickly moved on to something else.
Hyunjoong didn't blame him, really. Couldn't blame him. He himself had no idea where his parents and brother were. He had been at class the day it happened. He had tried calling them but there was only static on the other line.
"You could have just told me if I was boring you." Hyunjoong didn't have to look to know Jungmin was pouting.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Even if I did you wouldn't have stopped talking." He pointed out.
A short silence followed, causing Hyunjoong to smirk in triumph.
"Since I apparently talk too much for your tastes...tell me about yourself. I barely know anything about you." Jungmin scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
I wonder why. Hyunjoong kept the retort to himself and let out a sigh. "There's not much to know." He replied.
The redhead managed a small noise of protest. "You know tons about me now, wouldn't it be nice to return the favor?" He asked.
And apparently he wasn't going to get away with not saying anything, whether he liked it or not.
"I'm Hyunjoong. I'm older than you, I have an older brother. I like soccer, I like to play the guitar. Me in a nutshell." He tried to keep it as simple as possible.
Jungmin groaned and began walking ahead of him, turning around and folding his arms behind his head. "You're no fun. I spent hours telling you my life story, and all I get is three sentences." He murmured.
Hyunjoong smirked. "You told me to tell you about myself. I did." He replied.
The younger man sent him a glare and Hyunjoong tried not to laugh. The usual saying of if looks could kill... didn't apply to this man. Even glaring he looked harmless.
"It's almost nightfall...say we stop in the next town and find somewhere to rest?" Jungmin questioned out of the blue.
To be honest, Hyunjoong had no idea where they were now. He actually had been paying attention to Jungmin's so-called life story, not what was left of the signs and buildings. He nodded as an answer, keeping a mental time in his head. That meant he'd been walking for nearly six days, then.
It was so surreal. He couldn't count how many times he had thought this was a dream, that if he pinched himself he'd wake up and everything would be back to normal. No deaths, no bombs, just...normal.
But so much for that, right?
"You're spacing out again." Jungmin's voice musing brought him back. "You seem to do that a lot." He pointed out. "I haven't even known you for a day and yet..." He shook his head.
"It feels like it's been weeks." Hyunjoong murmured.
Jungmin laughed and nodded. "Don't I know it." He then sighed. "Look, I know I may bore you, I may talk too much but...we've both been alone for days. We're all the other has, really, and...just a truce, please?" His lips curled upward in a small smile (the smallest one Hyunjoong had seen since he'd met the redhead) and he extended his hand.
Hyunjoong took it, ignoring the small pang of guilt in his chest. "Truce." He agreed.
The smile widened.
-
Two days later brings them approximately three miles from Busan (or that's what Jungmin deciphered from the road sign that was barely standing, anyway).
Hyunjoong had to give the redhead credit -- he didn't talk as much anymore. Maybe because he had ran out of things to say, but the older man was thankful. Sometimes. He'd only admit to himself during the silence that he wanted Jungmin to say something, whatever it may be. But only to himself.
"So....we're almost there." Jungmin murmured. "They say Busan's the only city not completely demolished." He cleared his throat. "What are you..." His voice trailed as he bit his lower lip.
Hyunjoong knew the rest of the question. What was he going to do when he got there? The first thing to fly into his mind was to hunt for my parents, to see if they're there. He knew it was a long shot...a very long shot, but it was worth trying. Maybe they had survived, maybe they were already there, maybe...
"I've always wondered this whole time why I'm traveling." Jungmin spoke up again. "I have no family, the chances of my friends being there are small, I...see no point." He whispered.
Hyunjoong tried not to grimace. That had been just how he had felt. But to hear it coming from the redhead...it sounded off. He didn't like it.
"You never know." He had to say, as clichéd as it was. "Besides, you have me now." The words spilled out of his mouth without much thought. He almost winced at how awkward it sounded -- but in a way it was the truth. Maybe at first he hadn't liked Jungmin, but...he grew to in these two days (although it felt much, much longer). Kind of.
Dark brown eyes snapped to him. "Really?" Jungmin let out a snort. "I thought you weren't too fond of me." He pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
Hyunjoong licked his dry lips. "Then." He blurted. "Just....then."
The redhead let out a laugh, leaving his place from walking beside the older man to walk backwards in front of him. "So you like me now, huh?" That damn grin was back.
Hyunjoong rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself too much." He replied.
Jungmin chuckled. "Just admit it. You like me. I daresay if we go our separate ways once we get to Busan you'll miss me." His eyes sparkled.
Maybe he would, but it wasn't like Hyunjoong would say that out loud. "Don't think so." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You're a bad liar." Jungmin went back to walking beside him, that stupid grin still intact.
"It takes one to know one." Hyunjoong bit out. The younger man had to be rubbing off on him and he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
"Harsh." Jungmin let out a low whistle at that, shaking his head. He then stopped in his tracks, reaching out to grab one of Hyunjoong's arms.
"Ow---what?" Hyunjoong winced in pain. For his height and weight, Jungmin was pretty damn strong.
Jungmin pointed at a sign to their right with his free hand. "Welcome to Busan." He read, and Hyunjoong didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling.
It was....different.
Hyunjoong was so used to seeing wastelands, so used to seeing desolate, dirty land...
The grass was green, the sun was shining, all the buildings were still there. Nothing was destroyed. Hyunjoong never was one to fall for landscaping, but this? This was breathtaking.
"We're finally here." Jungmin laughed. "After days of...god knows what, we're finally here. It feels like it's been years, you know? That we've known each other forever and oh, Hyunjoong, we're finally here---" He was rambling and Hyunjoong could blame it on a million things, but he wanted the redhead to just shut up and he only knew one way how.
Jungmin's talking immediately halted as a pair of lips touched his.
Mission accomplished.
Hyunjoong broke apart to see Jungmin just as red as his hair, mouth open and eyes wide. "B-but...I...you---"
"You're an idiot." Hyunjoong interrupted, extending his hand. "We aren't going separate ways, sorry to burst your bubble." Jungmin was definitely rubbing off on him. He normally wasn't this nice.
Jungmin was still gaping like a fish, and Hyunjoong only thought it was polite to reach up and gently close his mouth. "Don't attract flies. We haven't even entered the city yet." He grinned.
"You're confusing." Jungmin said under his breath but took the older man's hand anyway.
"You want an answer? I think I do like you, Jungmin." Hyunjoong replied.
"Of course you do." Jungmin cleared his throat, hesitantly lacing his fingers through Hyunjoong's. "You're so confusing." He repeated with a groan.
Hyunjoong laughed. "I guess you're stuck with a confusing man then, aren't you?" He questioned.
Jungmin sighed. "Seems like it." A tiny hint of a smile appeared on his face and Hyunjoong smirked. "Are we ready?" He gestured to the welcome sign and the place that lay ahead.
"As ready as we'll ever be." Jungmin mused.
And as they got closer and closer to the buildings of the city, the further away they got from the damaged roads and towns they had wandered for days. For good.
pg. hyunjoong/jungmin.
jungmin talked and smiled too much, but maybe that's what hyunjoong liked about him the most. even if he wouldn't admit it.
written for yeonah for gyonggo_ss. :)
Hyunjoong had lost count of the days he had been wandering around the deserted country. It seemed like he had left Seoul months ago, but he knew in reality it had only been a few days. Around two days ago he believed he had entered Wonju, which wasn't too far from the city.
But it was quiet, too quiet. Buildings were either abandoned or filled with corpses, streets were empty....it was just so desolate; a far cry from what the country had been like not even a month ago. Bombs had hit and all hell broke loose.
Hyunjoong hadn't seen a person (or a breathing, living one, at least) in days. His supply of snacks and water (taken from an empty grocery store and shoved into his backpack) were running out. It had been raining for the past few hours and his hoodie could only soak up so much of it. It was freezing and he was so close to just giving up. It wasn't worth it, none of this was. He was traveling without a purpose and a part of his mind figured he would be better off dead, like nearly everyone else. Why was he the one that had to survive? Why him?
He let out a sigh and pulled the sleeves to his hoodie down over his hands, eyes surveying the destroyed buildings around him. Everything was just so depressing...more the reason to give up, he thought. He was about to just find a bench and sit down for a while until he suddenly saw a flash of red move out of the corner of his eye.
Groaning, he rubbed at his eyes. He was clearly hallucinating.
He looked again. No, his eyes hadn't been playing tricks on him. A person stood in front of him with red hair (matted down due to rain), wearing torn jeans and a sweater.
Hyunjoong opened his mouth to speak, but the redhead beat him to it. "You're not a robot, are you?"
Of all the things...Hyunjoong blinked. "Excuse me?" He questioned.
The redhead only flashed a smile. "I guess not. You're the first person I've seen in days, so...you never know." He stuck his hand out. "Jungmin."
Really? A robot?
"Hyunjoong." The man muttered, quickly taking Jungmin's hand and shaking it.
Jungmin kept his smile as he sat down on the bench beside Hyunjoong. "I assume you're heading to Busan, then?" He questioned.
Busan. Hyunjoong wracked his brain. Before signals cut out, he recalled hearing Busan was the location of the safe place. "Y-yeah." He answered quietly.
"Good! We can travel together." Jungmin replied, hopping up from the bench. "How long have you been walking for?" He asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and bouncing on his feet.
Hyunjoong wanted to blurt out that there was no way he was traveling with him. Given...he'd only known the man for not even five minutes but he seemed like a hyperactive child on Christmas Eve, waiting to explode and open presents. Or something like that. Hyunjoong was quiet, Hyunjoong liked quiet. Traveling with the redhead probably meant none of that at all.
Two fingers snapped in front of his eyes and he almost yelped, going back to reality. "Huh?"
Jungmin sighed. "I asked how long you've been walking for. You sure space out easily." He murmured, lips forming a pout.
Hyunjong tried not to snort. "Five days at most." He answered. "I'm from Seoul."
"So am I!" The redhead exclaimed with a grin. "I think I've been gone for around five days too....weird how we never saw each other." He mused, grin fading slightly in thought.
Hyunjoong kept in the slightly mean reply he had in mind and only shrugged. "Seoul's pretty big, it probably depended on where we started from." He pointed out, at least attempting to have a conversation with the man. He was apparently stuck with him for who knows how long so he might as well try and talk.
"True." Jungmin suddenly held out his hand, smiling again (did he ever not get tired of smiling?). "Might as well head to the next town, right? The rain's letting up."
Hyunjoong could only nod, letting the redhead pull him off of the bench. He had a feeling either way, he didn't really have a choice.
-
In not even three hours, Hyunjoong knew quite a lot about Jungmin. The top thing being that he liked to talk. Maybe like was a bit of an understatement....but Hyunjoong was surprised the younger (that, on the other hand, was something he wasn't surprised about) man's voice hadn't gone out an hour in of nearly non-stop babbling.
He talked about his family (an older brother and sister, he was the youngest), his parents, his love for acting, and...how his family hadn't survived. He had spent maybe two minutes on the topic and quickly moved on to something else.
Hyunjoong didn't blame him, really. Couldn't blame him. He himself had no idea where his parents and brother were. He had been at class the day it happened. He had tried calling them but there was only static on the other line.
"You could have just told me if I was boring you." Hyunjoong didn't have to look to know Jungmin was pouting.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Even if I did you wouldn't have stopped talking." He pointed out.
A short silence followed, causing Hyunjoong to smirk in triumph.
"Since I apparently talk too much for your tastes...tell me about yourself. I barely know anything about you." Jungmin scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
I wonder why. Hyunjoong kept the retort to himself and let out a sigh. "There's not much to know." He replied.
The redhead managed a small noise of protest. "You know tons about me now, wouldn't it be nice to return the favor?" He asked.
And apparently he wasn't going to get away with not saying anything, whether he liked it or not.
"I'm Hyunjoong. I'm older than you, I have an older brother. I like soccer, I like to play the guitar. Me in a nutshell." He tried to keep it as simple as possible.
Jungmin groaned and began walking ahead of him, turning around and folding his arms behind his head. "You're no fun. I spent hours telling you my life story, and all I get is three sentences." He murmured.
Hyunjoong smirked. "You told me to tell you about myself. I did." He replied.
The younger man sent him a glare and Hyunjoong tried not to laugh. The usual saying of if looks could kill... didn't apply to this man. Even glaring he looked harmless.
"It's almost nightfall...say we stop in the next town and find somewhere to rest?" Jungmin questioned out of the blue.
To be honest, Hyunjoong had no idea where they were now. He actually had been paying attention to Jungmin's so-called life story, not what was left of the signs and buildings. He nodded as an answer, keeping a mental time in his head. That meant he'd been walking for nearly six days, then.
It was so surreal. He couldn't count how many times he had thought this was a dream, that if he pinched himself he'd wake up and everything would be back to normal. No deaths, no bombs, just...normal.
But so much for that, right?
"You're spacing out again." Jungmin's voice musing brought him back. "You seem to do that a lot." He pointed out. "I haven't even known you for a day and yet..." He shook his head.
"It feels like it's been weeks." Hyunjoong murmured.
Jungmin laughed and nodded. "Don't I know it." He then sighed. "Look, I know I may bore you, I may talk too much but...we've both been alone for days. We're all the other has, really, and...just a truce, please?" His lips curled upward in a small smile (the smallest one Hyunjoong had seen since he'd met the redhead) and he extended his hand.
Hyunjoong took it, ignoring the small pang of guilt in his chest. "Truce." He agreed.
The smile widened.
-
Two days later brings them approximately three miles from Busan (or that's what Jungmin deciphered from the road sign that was barely standing, anyway).
Hyunjoong had to give the redhead credit -- he didn't talk as much anymore. Maybe because he had ran out of things to say, but the older man was thankful. Sometimes. He'd only admit to himself during the silence that he wanted Jungmin to say something, whatever it may be. But only to himself.
"So....we're almost there." Jungmin murmured. "They say Busan's the only city not completely demolished." He cleared his throat. "What are you..." His voice trailed as he bit his lower lip.
Hyunjoong knew the rest of the question. What was he going to do when he got there? The first thing to fly into his mind was to hunt for my parents, to see if they're there. He knew it was a long shot...a very long shot, but it was worth trying. Maybe they had survived, maybe they were already there, maybe...
"I've always wondered this whole time why I'm traveling." Jungmin spoke up again. "I have no family, the chances of my friends being there are small, I...see no point." He whispered.
Hyunjoong tried not to grimace. That had been just how he had felt. But to hear it coming from the redhead...it sounded off. He didn't like it.
"You never know." He had to say, as clichéd as it was. "Besides, you have me now." The words spilled out of his mouth without much thought. He almost winced at how awkward it sounded -- but in a way it was the truth. Maybe at first he hadn't liked Jungmin, but...he grew to in these two days (although it felt much, much longer). Kind of.
Dark brown eyes snapped to him. "Really?" Jungmin let out a snort. "I thought you weren't too fond of me." He pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
Hyunjoong licked his dry lips. "Then." He blurted. "Just....then."
The redhead let out a laugh, leaving his place from walking beside the older man to walk backwards in front of him. "So you like me now, huh?" That damn grin was back.
Hyunjoong rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself too much." He replied.
Jungmin chuckled. "Just admit it. You like me. I daresay if we go our separate ways once we get to Busan you'll miss me." His eyes sparkled.
Maybe he would, but it wasn't like Hyunjoong would say that out loud. "Don't think so." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You're a bad liar." Jungmin went back to walking beside him, that stupid grin still intact.
"It takes one to know one." Hyunjoong bit out. The younger man had to be rubbing off on him and he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
"Harsh." Jungmin let out a low whistle at that, shaking his head. He then stopped in his tracks, reaching out to grab one of Hyunjoong's arms.
"Ow---what?" Hyunjoong winced in pain. For his height and weight, Jungmin was pretty damn strong.
Jungmin pointed at a sign to their right with his free hand. "Welcome to Busan." He read, and Hyunjoong didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling.
It was....different.
Hyunjoong was so used to seeing wastelands, so used to seeing desolate, dirty land...
The grass was green, the sun was shining, all the buildings were still there. Nothing was destroyed. Hyunjoong never was one to fall for landscaping, but this? This was breathtaking.
"We're finally here." Jungmin laughed. "After days of...god knows what, we're finally here. It feels like it's been years, you know? That we've known each other forever and oh, Hyunjoong, we're finally here---" He was rambling and Hyunjoong could blame it on a million things, but he wanted the redhead to just shut up and he only knew one way how.
Jungmin's talking immediately halted as a pair of lips touched his.
Mission accomplished.
Hyunjoong broke apart to see Jungmin just as red as his hair, mouth open and eyes wide. "B-but...I...you---"
"You're an idiot." Hyunjoong interrupted, extending his hand. "We aren't going separate ways, sorry to burst your bubble." Jungmin was definitely rubbing off on him. He normally wasn't this nice.
Jungmin was still gaping like a fish, and Hyunjoong only thought it was polite to reach up and gently close his mouth. "Don't attract flies. We haven't even entered the city yet." He grinned.
"You're confusing." Jungmin said under his breath but took the older man's hand anyway.
"You want an answer? I think I do like you, Jungmin." Hyunjoong replied.
"Of course you do." Jungmin cleared his throat, hesitantly lacing his fingers through Hyunjoong's. "You're so confusing." He repeated with a groan.
Hyunjoong laughed. "I guess you're stuck with a confusing man then, aren't you?" He questioned.
Jungmin sighed. "Seems like it." A tiny hint of a smile appeared on his face and Hyunjoong smirked. "Are we ready?" He gestured to the welcome sign and the place that lay ahead.
"As ready as we'll ever be." Jungmin mused.
And as they got closer and closer to the buildings of the city, the further away they got from the damaged roads and towns they had wandered for days. For good.