Puzzle pieces

Jaehwan found him through his friends, who surprisingly knew the aloof med student, and waited outside of his lab one afternoon. They went for a coffee so they could sort through their mixed up notes and worksheets.

It went as spectacularly as Jaehwan expected after their first meeting.

‘Figures you would be an art student…’ Taekwoon said softly with a slight condescending frown and Jaehwan choose to think that it was an implied compliment to his fashion sense.

‘And you.’ he countered with a cheery grin, not about to take that tone of voice as he tapped one finger against the papers on the table between them and their lattés. ‘I never would have imagined that someone like you would be a med student.’

Taekwoon rolled his eyes with a huff and swept the papers into his bag, standing with flourished coolness to storm out and left Jaehwan behind with two lattés and the absentminded observation that he just walked off with his notes on Monet.

The next time they saw each other, it was a Friday night with a party and drinks and Hakyeon laughed unrestrained between them. Jaehwan had a headache and only came because Jin had given him the eyes and begged him not to leave him to be the only sane person there.

Sane seemed to be a very relative term in Jaehwan’s opinion.

Especially when Jin’s circle of friends was just as loud as his.

And Jin was the loudest of them all.

Okay, he was too, but not with a headache.

So he excused himself to go out onto the so called balcony to have a smoke, ignoring the two people who’d thought that same paper-sized opening to fresh air would be a good place to have a bit of a make out session.

When he returned inside, the noise of music hit him like a solid wall and he decided to find Jin and pout until he apologized before escaping. But before he had the chance someone pushed Taekwoon, of all people, into his arms.

He was most definitely drunk and Jaehwan wrinkled his nose as Hakyeon stumbled up to them, grinning unfazed and with a surprisingly sober conclusion that he lives in your building, Jaehwannie – well that was new to him – and can’t you please make sure he gets home alright? And Jaehwan agreed because he really wanted to be back home already to sleep his headache off, but regretted it immediately once he was out in the chilly night air having to support a staggering Taekwoon all the way home.

And then Taekwoon couldn’t quite remember his apartment number and may or may not have lost his keys too, and if he’d not been keeping him from staggering into the streets and the very busy night traffic Jaehwan would have thrown his hands up and would have been done with him. But as it was, his hands were full.

And he wondered as he bullied and coaxed Taekwoon into the elevator if that saying about stray cats following you home was true.

~*~

When Taekwoon woke, it was to too bright light shining in his eyes, and the realization that he wasn’t in his room unless someone decided to replace his Trey Songz poster with something weird in too many colors that could have been an anime poster. There was a note taped to his forehead, and after a minute of frowning at it cross-eyed he pulled it off and took a proper look at the offending piece of paper.

It was written in a comically curvy handwriting with little stars drawn across the paper.

If you are sober help yourself to the door, ice queen.

Taekwoon bristled and crumpled the note up, tossing it across the room. He sat up as he willed the remains of a hangover into a bearable pang in his head, trying to sort out the situation.

He was still wearing the jeans and shirt he had the night before and vaguely recalled leaning against someone’s arm as he’d staggered home, but the apartment seemed to be empty...

So who brought him back exactly?

It was sort of answered by a quick look around the room.

Books were piled up on the nightstand beside the bed, and a stack of larger, heavier art books on the top were the first clue to the owner of that bed. Clothes were flung over the back of a chair, paint smeared jeans and sweatshirts and a jacket that Taekwoon recognized as his own. The entire apartment smelled faintly of paint and turpentine and chocolate, and Taekwoon wrinkled his nose as he got up to stalk out of the bedroom.

It just had to be that bratty art student, who’d hauled him home...

Fantastic.

The walls wore the remains of several hideous wallpapers, painted over with patterns that must have been the imp’s work and the floorboards creaked under his feet, but there was a large bank of windows facing out onto the street and there was an easel set up under them and Taekwoon found himself to be curious…

And not like that imp would know that he looked.

He detoured around furniture older than him and skirted the tiled area of the kitchen, approaching the easel. It was a painting, obviously, finished enough that Taekwoon could tell it was going to be a shapely woman with a captivating maze of midnight black locks and steel gray eyes. A table beside the easel had been converted into an art bazaar, holding disorganized spill of paint tubes and palettes and a flower vase holding a bouquet of brushes.

Taekwoon shook his head at the chaos and helped himself to the brat’s kitchen instead, scowling fiercely at the lack of proper coffee.

He caught sight of the clock then, realizing he had consultation in forty minutes and none of his notes, and grabbed his jacket and shoes quickly, locating his keys and hurrying out – though he made note of the guy’s apartment number as he slammed the door shut behind himself and ran upstairs to his own.

They didn’t run into each other much after that, their schedules almost each other’s complete opposite.  Jaehwan - he learned his name form Hakyeon - was just finishing his senior year in painting and had classes and workshops, teaching freshmen and tutoring some others in his free time. Taekwoon was finishing his sixth and final year, having internship and consultations and practices and performances with his band, and he also volunteered at the local children’s hospital whenever he managed a free afternoon.

But a few days after he’d woken in Jaehwan’s bed, Taekwoon left a plate of homemade muffins – though he was admittedly bad at baking – outside his door in silent apology, having to drag his drunk home.

The morning after that Taekwoon opened his door to find the same plate of muffins with a note on top in that familiar childish handwriting.

He bristled quietly, eyebrows drawing down into a thundercloud as he read the note.

Dearest Jung Taekwoon, it read. I understand that you must have been upset at awaking in my bed without my sunny self, but unless you study to be a dentist, please refrain from delivering bricks to my doorstep. Love, Jaehwan

BRAT, read the sticky note that Taekwoon left on Jaehwan’s door on his way to band practice.

And maybe it would have stayed like that, with Taekwoon and Jaehwan as loose acquaintances who occasionally exchanged childish insults while one of them smiled and the other kept a straight face, except that they had another common friend besides Hakyeon, and he was entirely to blame for what came next.

Han Sanghyuk played bass in Taekwoon’s band and, as far as Taekwoon could tell, whatever he was asked to. He lived in his sister’s attic, studied performance and occasionally disappeared on long, wandering journeys to the countryside or Japan… or who knew where.

Taekwoon viewed him in the same way most people would see a wayward puppy. He’d come home when he got hungry enough, and if he didn’t it probably meant someone else had adopted him.

Sanghyuk had just come back from one of these week-long adventures and he and Taekwoon were hanging out in his attic room. They were relaxing, passing an ice cream box back and forth as Taekwoon tried to concentrate on his notes – which was admittedly counter-productive. Hyuk was busy rambling about some girl he met, so Taekwoon didn’t bother to pay attention. He let his mind wander, studying Hyuk’s ever changing clutter of souvenirs, fragments of a hundred different towns and cities.

‘Hyuk.’ he said suddenly, interrupting Hyuk’s monotone description of the Daegu night life. ‘Where did that painting come from?’

Sanghyuk twisted around in his beanbag chair to see what he was looking at.

The painting wasn’t big, depicting a woman with midnight locks standing amidst shrubs of rose of Sharon. She wore a modern looking hanbok and a gust of painted wind curled it along her figure in waves. She was facing away from the viewer, looking up towards the sun, but Taekwoon was sure she had steel gray eyes.

He was also sure he’d seen her somewhere before.

‘A friend of mine painted it.’ Hyuk shrugged, talking around a spoon of ice cream. ‘He is nuts over this muse of his, says it’s the personification of our country or something. She’s practically all he paints.’

Taekwoon frowned, feeling something like inevitability creeping up on him. ‘Senior at the local university? Perpetual bratty smile? No taste in coffee or muffins?’

Sanghyuk blinked at him for a minute, and then grinned wide and bright like the kid Taekwoon often saw him as. ‘Hey, yeah, I didn’t know you knew Jaehwannie-hyung.’

Taekwoon tried to protest that, no he didn’t, but Hyuk would hear none of it.

‘You should invite him to come see the band!’ he grinned and talked right over Taekwoon’s protests, leaning forward as though to convince him through proximity alone. ‘Come on, hyung I haven’t seen him in ages and he would love it!’

‘No, why would I invite him anywhere… And neither are you.’ he added quickly, seeing the look on Hyuk’s face. And resigned himself in the same breath, knowing it was probably a futile attempt.

A lot of things were, when it came to Sanghyuk.

That proved to be the case then, too.

~*~

One Saturday Jaehwan found himself dragged to a local indie club by Hakyeon and Jin.

Mostly Hakyeon, to be fair. Jaehwan grabbed Jin on the way to the door in a selfish desire not to suffer Hakyeon’s whims alone, listening to Jin’s complaints about leaving a perfectly fine pizza back home, alone and uneaten.

Hakyeon babbled on a mile per hour as they stood in line, and Jin was quick to forget his grudge as he joined him in gossiping about their friends and as Jaehwan laughed along their combined idiocy he had the time to look around.

He felt oddly out of place in his tidy jeans and jumper. Jin was wearing the university hoodie, but Hakyeon and nearly everyone else in line were wearing torn jeans and black, lots and lots of black with abstract logos and patterns and admittedly too much leather.

Jaehwan wondered just what he was doing there exactly as he shoved his hands into his pockets, fingers feeling out the edges of a crumpled note.

Come to the Error Club with Hakyeon-hyung next Saturday, it read in anonymous but vaguely familiar handwriting. You won’t regret it.

Jaehwan looked at the poster hanging beside the door. It was an abstract, charcoal gray with splashes of electric blue and what appeared to be a skeletal lion, with VIXXED printed across the top.

He thought it looked cool, even if a bit out-dated.

Then the doors were opening and Hakyeon grabbed their hands to drag them inside, Jin was not allowed to escape either.

Inside, the club was actually pretty nice, or would have been if it wasn’t packed with rowdy university students. The lights were relatively dimmed, wood and metal paneling on the walls making it seem futuristic as bright blue and red lights illuminated the booths and tables.

Hakyeon dragged them to the vey back, right in front of the stage where a drum set was already assembled along with a keyboard with microphones suspended over them. Two other free-standing mikes were set up at the very front.

Jaehwan could feel the club filling up behind them, the press of bodies and the volume of voices increasing. He exchanged a long glance with Jin, both not too fond of such crowds, and plotted Hakyeon’s demise.  But their silent planning didn’t go far because the band began to file on stage then.

The drummer was a woman. Green streaks made rivers of color through her dark brown hair, her bored expression brightening by the sight of her fans as she freed her fringe from a roller, flicking it back behind her back and successfully hit her band member in the forehead.

Jaehwan wondered briefly if she would let him paint her.

The keyboardist looked about Jaehwan’s age, with a bright, mischievous grin and far too much bleach in his hair. He was wearing a loose shirt, loose enough to show off his bare chest and tattoos as he stood behind his keyboard. He looked awfully familiar, but Jaehwan got distracted from trying to place him by the entrance of the next band member.

The next one to step on stage had a red bass guitar slung across his back and his lazy smile made Jaehwan start in surprise and recognition. Tall and lanky, unmistakable even after years as that familiar mischief just gleamed in his eyes. It had been awhile since they’ve been able to get together, but Jaehwan would recognize Sanghyuk anywhere – and suddenly that handwriting on the note made a lot more sense.

Hyuk met his eyes and grinned at him, swinging his bass around his hips to tune it. He saluted him teasingly, then his eyes flicked sideways and Jaehwan realized he’d missed the entrance of the lead guitarist.

He looked over, eyes sweeping across a white guitar with a constellation sticker slapped on it, and then up into eyes the color of brown that was warm and cool at the same time with metallic hues glinting in it, the color Jaehwan could never get right in paintings. And he felt caught in those eyes, and it took him a good minute and Jin nudging his elbow before Jaehwan noticed those arches of condescending eyebrows above the mesmerizing eyes and realized that he was staring.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to stop. Tearing his eyes away from Taekwoon’s face only made him notice things about his appearance. Black combat boots, earrings that glimmered in the electric blue light, tight black jeans and a leather jacket held together by two straps over a mesh shirt, showing pale sections of chest and stomach.

Jaehwan found himself wondering if perhaps Taekwoon had an identical twin, because this surely wasn’t the same surly med student he’s come to known. He seemed younger somehow, with his hair tousled and seemingly more relaxed than he’d ever seen him before.

If he was honest it was quite a nice look on him.

~*~

Taekwoon was staring too, startled to find that brat standing right at the front of the crowd. He kept staring, dumbfounded by his presence until Hyuk poked him in the cheek with his guitar pick.

He shot a glare at him, but the younger just shrugged back with a grin and motioned towards the crowd mockingly. Our audience awaits.

He glanced to his other side – Wonshik looked confused while Hani just raised her eyebrows at him questioningly – then returned to face forward.

He was going to catch Hyuk for that, even if it would leave them short a bassist, because there was clearly no need to invite that imp anywhere and Taekwoon was sure he was not gonna appreciate their type of music anyway.

Taekwoon squared his jaw then, determined to block the brat from his mind.

‘We are VIXXED.’ he called into the mike softy. ‘Get ready to be blown away.’

Over the cheers of the crowd Wonshik hit his first chord so he and Sanghyuk could take their notes from it, and Hani tapped off the opening beat on the edge of her snare.

Following tradition when it was just Hyuk and Wonshik banging away in the blond’s garage, the youngest counted them off in glee.

And then they were off, and once the music began it was easier for Taekwoon to relax and forget the audience, his world narrowing down to the notes, the music a living, wild creature under their hands.

In that dreamlike state did he feel truly alive, and didn’t falter a note when his eyes drifted open to find himself staring right at Jaehwan. He was rather surprised that he was still there actually, and even more surprising was that he looked awed.

Jaehwan was gazing up at the band with a look of soft wonder, as though he couldn’t believe the music coming out of the four of them.

Taekwoon let his lips stretch into a small smirk then, leaned into the mike and began to sing.

These shows never lasted long enough for Taekwoon, but afterwards he gladly stepped off the stage to thank his fans still under the influence of the hum of their music in his blood.

He was just at the bar - thus far managing to avoid Hakyeon and his choking hugs - when he noticed that Jaehwan was still there, chatting animatedly with Hyuk.

Then Jaehwan seemed to lose a round of rock-paper-scissor, and turned towards the bar with a resigned pout. Taekwoon was quick to turn back to his drink while wondering how Hyuk knew the imp...

‘Hey.’ Jaehwan greeted, leaning against the counter next to Taekwoon, and he glanced at him from the corner of his eyes in acknowledgement. ‘You are surprisingly talented, ice-queen.’

Taekwoon rolled his eyes at that, sipping on his drink. ‘You have a surprisingly good taste, imp.’

‘Why, thank you.’ Jaehwan grinned. ‘I like your jacket too.’ he added in a playful tone, but before Taekwoon could think about why he took a liking to that little drop in his tone, loud shouts interrupted them.

‘You were so cool!’

‘I don’t see you buying me that beer, hyung!’

And Hakyeon managed to catch him into that choking hug after all as Hyuk arrived too, to throw a heavy arm around Jaehwan’s shoulders.

‘You cheated, so I planned to leave it to Hakyeon-hyung.’ Jaehwan grinned, reaching up to ruffle Hyuk’s hair.

‘Now that you mention it, sounds like a good idea.’ Hyuk smirked, earning a neck chop from Hakyeon and Taekwoon found their silliness oddly entertaining as they argued back and forth.

‘Hey, hey Wonshik-hyung!’ Hyuk raised his voice above the crowd when he noticed the keyboardist, and waved him over.

‘Is that really Wonshik?’ Jaehwan asked in surprise and the blond seemed just as surprised, then he grinned widely and tackled Jaehwan into a bear hug. ‘I nearly didn’t recognize you!’

‘Like you can talk, hyung!’ Wonshik laughed, and Taekwoon wondered yet again how they knew Jaehwan, but he didn’t want to ask Hakyeon in fear of directing his friend’s very nosy attention at his new found interest in the guy.

So he just hung back and observed the exchange, half listening to Hakyeon’s praises as he noted the gleam of excitement in the imp’s eyes as he gesticulated with his whole body.

Then in the chaos of their chatter, Hani was introduced too and Taekwoon still stayed, despite his dislike for such level of noise...

‘That was amazing!’ Jaehwan exclaimed with an easy grin. ‘The way you blended together without overpowering each other is simply awesome.’

‘Of course, we’ve been playing together for what… Three years now.’ Wonshik chuckled, leaning easily on Jaehwan’s shoulders. ‘We told you that we formed a band, hyung.’

‘Yes, but it involved you two so I didn’t think it was worth coming to see.’ Jaehwan teased lightly and Hani muffled a laugh, looking back and forth between them.

‘How did you three meet?’ she asked, and Taekwoon nearly smiled because it meant he could get an answer without the embarrassment of asking himself.

‘High school.’ Hyuk and Jaehwan answered at the same time, and Taekwoon saw how Wonshik rolled his eyes at the both of them.

‘I still blame you both for getting that long detention…’ Wonshik sighed, but didn’t clarify.

They continued to talk and laugh as Jin joined them too and as they all caught up Taekwoon thought that the sparkle in Jaehwan’s eyes was mildly fascinating.

He downed his drink in one go, and tried to not think more, less he came up with something more disastrous.

Yet, he had to realize along the way how easily Jaehwan fit in…

~*~

It was about three cups of coffee past midnight, a few weeks later.

Jaehwan showed up outside Taekwoon’s door, wearing sweatpants and a paint splattered t-shirt, carrying a pillow and a toothbrush and a look that spelled weariness.

‘My neighbor.’ he explained when Taekwoon opened the door. ‘Will not shut up.’

Taekwoon raised an eyebrow, leaning against the door frame. ‘Loud music?’

Jaehwan thought that he was lucky that Taekwoon seemed actually quite awake, probably working on a research for his thesis, or otherwise he would have already thrown his door shut.

‘I would never call that music.’ Jaehwan said solemnly.

Taekwoon simply stepped aside to let him in.

‘I’m going to spike her tap water with turpentine.’ Jaehwan pouted as he shuffled inside.

‘Don’t poison the whole building.’ Taekwoon cautioned, probably because he lived in it too, then closed the door and moved back towards his desk, letting Jaehwan to look around the apartment in bemusement.

The layout was basically the same as Jaehwan’s downstairs, minus the large window bank. The furniture was slightly younger, but Jaehwan had a fleeting thought that his battered couch was actually the long lost twin of Taekwoon’s own.

Where Jaehwan had an easel and canvases in all sizes and racks of paints, Taekwoon had a large desk where he could spread out several books and shelves crammed to full capacity with medical texts and a (no it isn’t real, don’t be stupid imp) human skull. The whole place smelled like old books and brewing coffee and ink.

Taekwoon was already back at his desk, flipping through a book with far too many complex Latin words for Jaehwan’s liking. And he was tired anyway, so he dropped his pillow onto the couch and wandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth, stealing toothpaste.

Then he flopped on the couch and peered over at Taekwoon’s back.

‘Goodnight, ice queen-hyung.’

Taekwoon twisted to frown back at him, but got up anyway and padded across the room to flip off the overhead light, leaving just the desk lamp shining.

‘Sleep well, brat.’

Jaehwan was just dozing off when a loud bang jerked him awake and he yelped in surprise. ‘What-‘

Taekwoon laughed softly, not bothering to turn around as he pointed at the ceiling. ‘It’s the air compressor on the roof. I think it’s older than me. Go back to sleep.’

Jaehwan pouted that he was more used to the sounds on the lower floors, but settled down again and burrowed deeper into the blanket.

He fell asleep to the sound of Taekwoon’s typing and the calming noise of turning pages.

The next morning Jaehwan woke up by rolling off the couch when his phone buzzed in the pocket of his sweats.

He landed on the floor with a yelp and a thud, and remained laying there as he blinked in disorientation. He finally had the presence to dig his phone out, still needing to spend another minute staring uncomprehendingly at it while his brain finally caught up.

He had a text.

Where the r u?

Jaehwan had to smile, because he only knew one person who would use fully spelled swear words and chatspeak in the same text.

He checked the time and groaned. No wonder Sandeul was swearing at him, so much for making class. Luckily not the one he was supposed to teach, but he did have a private lesson in an hour.

He sat up, looking around.

Ah, right, Taekwoon-hyung’s apartment.

There was a dusty sunbeam filtering through the window, gleaming blue off Taekwoon’s dark hair where he was asleep at his desk, cheek pillowed on a diagram of the human cardiovascular system.

Jaehwan sighed and levered himself off the floor, retrieving the blanket from the couch to drape it around Taekwoon’s shoulders. He mumbled, but didn’t wake and Jaehwan had to smile as he brushed his fingers through the dark locks.

He looked peaceful when he was asleep, almost cute when he was not scowling or frowning.

But Jaehwan was sort of used to those already, not often managing to tease a smile out of the aloof queen...

He eyed the last of the coffee warily, then dumped it out and put on a fresh pot for the poor med student before leaving.

Who said that Jaehwan was not kind to his very core?

~*~

When Taekwoon woke up to the smell of coffee, he wondered fuzzily if Jaehwan showing up at his door was all a dream but once in the bathroom he had to stop and stare at the strange toothbrush sharing the cup with his own.

It was weird.

Taekwoon has lived on his own since the moment his father agreed to his wish of standing on his own two feet, away from his sisters’ and mother’s doting. He was really not used to the thought of sharing a bathroom with anyone anymore.

It gave him a sort of fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach, staring at their paired toothbrushes nestled in the same cup beside the sink.

Obviously indigestion.

Taekwoon decided that one-nighters were not good for him after all.

~*~

Jaehwan could walk the way from his apartment to the art building blind, and his feet was moving on autopilot that day. He had to stop for a proper dose of caffeine, that thing he poured out at Taekwoon's was much too appalling to consider drinking, before breezing into the studio much, much later the he should have.

Sandeul looked up from the pot he was working on as he came in.

‘You look horrible.’ he commented casually. ‘Get laid?’

Jaehwan made a face at him, flopping behind his desk at the corner of the studio the senior student aides had to share. Only he had to grimace again as he saw the disaster on the desktop. ‘Who was in here earlier?’

‘Uh.’ Sandeul scratched his chin, ignoring the streak of clay it left. ‘I tutored Taehyung and his silly dancer friends, Hoseok and Jimin I think, tagged along.’ he grinned at Jaehwan’s sigh.

‘Those kids can cause a natural disaster I swear.’ Jaehwan chuckled, moving to clean up as he put away pastel dust covered sketches.

Sandeul chuckled, going back to his pot that would soon go through a miracle and take form… just not yet.

‘You failed to answer my question.’

Jaehwan debated throwing something at him, but decided it was too much effort. ‘No. Spent the night on a friend’s couch.’

‘Your neighbor again?’ Sandeul asked, and Jaehwan nodded observing as Sandeul’s fingers worked the clay. ‘Your friend cute?’

Jaehwan chocked on a mouthful of coffee he just tried to swallow.

‘Must be a good friend, to put up with you for the night.’ Sandeul kept talking over Jaehwan’s spluttering. ‘I know I wouldn’t.’

‘You would too.’ Jaehwan pouted. ‘You’ve before.’

‘Really?’ Sandeul grinned. ‘Must’ve been drunk. Tell Jin not to let me drink anymore.’

Jaehwan’s protest was cut short by a knock on the door.

‘Come in!’ Sandeul called cheerfully, and Jaehwan threw him one last grimace as the door opened.

The guy who poked his head in was in his late teens but looked more mature already, though Jaehwan knew that looks could deceive – the guy was Kim Seokjin’s favorite cousin after all, and that in itself was already bad. Not that he wasn’t a cute kid, but a hyung could only take so much sass.

‘Hyung?’ he asked, seeming a bit uncertain whether he was interrupting something, and Jaehwan just smiled at him.

‘It’s fine Jungkook, come in.’

‘No clingy cousin this time?’ Sandeul asked, snickering as he probably remembered the last time Jin was there.

‘I didn’t think we would make much progress if he was here.’ Jungkook rolled his eyes and Jaehwan agreed with a laugh of his own.

He had a weird sort of protective strike when it came to Jungkook, even going as far as to accuse Jaehwan of flirting with the kid.

‘Well tell him that you had a chaperon today, I’m sure it will make him happy.’ Sandeul grinned, waving one clay covered hand at him.

Jungkook smiled and Jaehwan just shook his head.

Not that he didn’t like men too - one art student prejudice ticked off the list - but he couldn’t imagine a long-term relationship with them. Not that he didn’t find Jungkook cute or even Taekwoon… it just wasn’t his thing.

Maybe if they were women…

But that line of thinking conjured an image of Taekwoon in a dress, face freezingly cold in righteous anger and all of it was topped with a wig. Perhaps pigtails. Jaehwan snickered, making a mental note to draw that later, just so he would have something to laugh at during the finals.

Jungkook gave him a confused and curious look and with effort Jaehwan schooled his expression and turned his attention back to the tutoring lesson.

The rest of the day passed in peace.

They were all crammed outside on Jaehwan’s fire escape slash balcony, and he was smoking again much to Hakyeon’s dismay. But all three of them had a book open across their knees for appearances’ sake – it was too dark out for them to be doing any reading. Instead, they were watching the smoke from Jaehwan’s cigarettes curl up towards the stars as they discussed attraction.

‘She is so cute!’ Hakyeon sighed, sounding more despairing than anything else. ‘And I’m sure she was flirting with me.’

‘And the problem is…?’ Jaehwan asked, flicking the ash of his cigarette into the darkness of the alley below.

‘She is too badass for him.’ Jin piped up, grinning from Jaehwan’s other side. ‘Would kick his manly pride across the world.’

‘So… problem?’ Jaehwan asked again. ‘It’s not hard to be manlier then Hakyeon-hyung, whatever that means.’ he laughed, accepting the jab of his hyung’s elbow.

‘Actually I’m just scared that she will not like me if she gets to know me better.’ Hakyeon mumbled, and Jaehwan shared a look with Jin. His hyung’s self esteem was always a recurring problem.

‘What’s there not to like?’ Jaehwan smiled. ‘Kind, caring, good with words, tall and y.’

‘Good at studying, dancing, blindfolded dancing… definitely y.’ Jin nodded with a grin of his own.

‘Oh shush you two.’ Hakyeon reprimanded, but he was smiling anyway. ‘What about you?’

‘What about me?’ Jaehwan asked, blowing a smoke ring that fragmented against the iron bars of the fire escape.

‘Well, you seem to be spending an awful lot of time with Taekwoon lately.’ Hakyeon grinned.

Jaehwan nearly inhaled his cigarette. ‘What even? It’s just convenient that we live in the same building.’

Jin rolled his eyes at that. ‘You don’t have to pretend with us, Jaehwan. You are both really busy, yet you make time to run into each other.’

‘I certainly don’t!’ Jaehwan huffed, though he was not really sure who he was trying to convince. ‘He’s surly and prone to being quite the condescending , he cannot bake to save his life and his apartment is full of dust and moldering books. He is an ice queen. If anything, I go out of my way to avoid him.’

Jin just shook his head as Hakyeon continued to look at him with way too knowing eyes.

‘Whatever you say.’

‘Please, hyung.’ Jaehwan pouted. ‘I may spread my affections far, but I have standards.’

~*~

Being thirty minutes late for practice earned him a worried look from Wonshik, a bored raise of a brow from Hani and a flat stare from Hyuk.

They wanted to know where he had been, obviously. This was understandable, since usually Taekwoon was the first one to arrive, tuning his guitar and humming whatever fragment of music was running through his head.

‘I had to stop in to see the imp and lost track of time talking.’ he said absently, concentrating on plugging his guitar into the amp and didn’t realize how that sounded until Hyuk started snickering.

Taekwoon bristled, and the next few minutes were spent in argument about why he and Jaehwan were not friends, let alone anything more. Because he was a sassy brat at his best and he was most definitely not cute, no matter what anyone else said.

It wasn’t until he began to calm down that he noticed not one of them argued back against him…

‘Just shut up.’ he muttered, ducking his head as a blush threatened to overtake his features and Hyuk started laughing again behind his back.

First chapter is out~
I think there are always bad first impressions that end up going well - I know I had a few. We'll see how these two fare ;)

Next chapter will be a short one from a different POV (secret who's tho), hope you will like the format I thought of.

Here have a pretty Jaehwan, just because.