"Welcome to White Noise, are you looking for anything in particular?"

Jongdae's smile was wide and welcoming, and since the boutique was so tiny, he only had to walk around the counter to basically stand in front of the customer. His metal accessories tinkled as he did so - hopefully they wouldn't get tangled up in his sweater again or Kyungsoo would have his head.

The customer was all too familiar - a young man with high cheekbones, an orderly appearance that spoke of a well paid job... and a flustered expression. At least, Jongdae only ever saw him like this.

"Uhm. I'll just be looking around a bit."

He's not there, is he?

The question was clearly audible, though the faintest echo helped distinguish it from externally spoken words. Jongdae watched the customer discreetly crane his neck to catch a glimpse at the staff room in the back, and suppressed a smile. He'd love to tell the guy that there was no reason to be discouraged and that the object of his fancy was very much present.

"Well then, I hope you'll find something to your liking - call me if you need me."

He got nothing but a distracted look and fleeting smile, but that was alright, and as the customer pretended to look at their clothes very intently, Jongdae returned to his position behind the counter.

Jongdae had a... complicated relationship with people. Just all people in general. Hearing their thoughts was less of a joy and every bit of the pain one would imagine. This frazzled customer was just adorable, though. As of now, he was gingerly touching a shirt made of mixed materials, all black, with a little heart stamped somewhere around the collarbones.

God, this is the gayest thing I've seen in forever.

Jongdae bit his lip to suppress a smile.

And damn it, I'd love to wear it and not look like an idiot.

While Jongdae watched him with subtle amusement, he moved on to a very loosely knitted, cream-colored sweater, not unlike the one Jongdae wore right now.

I wonder whether the designer wears his own clothes...? That would be, like. Illegal. Oh my god.

Adorable. People couldn't hide their true nature from Jongdae, and just stepping out of the blissfully silent boutique and making his way home was exhausting - going out in general, really. Jongdae never left the house without headphones anymore. The mere level of noise and chaotic input gave him a headache. This guy was just innocent and sweet in comparison, and since he felt generous today, Jongdae called for Kyungsoo, feeling great joy at the way the customer froze. Jongdae pretended not to notice as he made some really random and unnecessary suggestions about the ideal article placement and presentation, gesturing around the room, while the head designer listened attentively. Kyungsoo was short, sturdy, usually serious... and a typical fashion designer who designed the most flashy garments but always dressed like a crow in his everyday life - today, too, he wore simple black jeans and an equally black shirt with tiny stubs of yarn spread from his hair to his shoes. The customer was lucky, though, because today Kyungsoo wore his test run of a shirt where a certain heart had been meticulously cut out and treated.

Jongdae gladly took Kyungsoo's confused reaction ("We rearranged it to not look like that, remember?"), because the string of frantic 'Oh my God, he does wear it, take me now. Except you're not into topping. The other way around works just fine, too-' was kind of worth it.

Sadly, not everyone was as simple and forward as their favourite customer slash lurker KIm Junmyeon. The harsh reality was that people didn't care much for those around them and were often more egoistic than they let on. And there were no exceptions. You might sit at the table with your dear mother, telling her about your life, and she might smile but still secretly think you're a lost cause. People betrayed you in their thoughts all the time, and Jongdae had gotten used to it, ever since he first started hearing thoughts during his tender years of puberty. While Jongdae's time as a teenager hadn't been very dramatic, that sure took a turn back then.

All this had happened years ago, though. Nowadays, Jongdae was calm, in every sense of the word. He'd come to terms with what he heard and how his view on humanity had changed. Gone were the dark times of antisocial him being full of avid dislike for humanity as a whole. Now he wore a carefree smile as he stepped inside the back of the store on a Monday morning. The telltale staccato of the sewing machine in the corner told him that Yixing was already busy adjusting pieces according to customer's wishes. Kyungsoo occupied the industrial machine, too, but it sure wasn't him, for he was bent over a table (in the least attractive way possible), squinting down at the lines he'd just drawn. Jongdae didn't waste a second thought on the designer, however, because the new pattern maker was present, too, fiddling with a pattern on the other half of the table. Kim Minseok.

That person’s thoughts were just... surreal.

Three centimeters too much. Taking away five millimeters here, and five over here... Maybe I can make the waist dart double pointed-

"Good morning everyone!" Jongdae interrupted the firehose stream of calculations that was meshing terribly inside his head. Both pattern makers looked up and while Kyungsoo thought something along the line of Goddammit, now I forgot the stupid number (Kyungsoo swore like a sailor even in his thoughts), Minseok only blinked up at him, elbows still resting on the table.

He looks happy and well-rested.

Jongdae smiled a little wider, but made an effort to keep talking in order not to seem suspicious.

"I was gonna take some coffee orders - you look like you need them!"

Minseok ran a hand through his auburn-colored hair, and Jongdae pretended not to follow the movement.

"That would be amazing, actually. This back part is killing me."

I hope he gets something for himself, too - he probably skipped breakfast again in order to style his hair.

Jongdae resisted the strong temptation to touch his own hair. When he left a couple minutes later, he felt a little fuzzy and grateful that he wasn't the type to blush.

No, not even a little blush. What he did do instead, though, was hit his knee on a table on his way out.

Kim Minseok, 27, had entered their little family around two months ago - he came in with working experience in pattern making, stating that he would prefer a more quiet workplace with a cozy atmosphere. He himself was also soft-spoken, intelligent and mature, and every member of their team enjoyed his presence in their own way. Visually speaking, he was rather short but definitely built. Not that he was showing off, but on a few particularly nasty summer days, Minseok had taken to working in a tank top. Bless those days, Jongdae thought silently, and he berated himself for that right after.

Because if that wasn't bad enough already, his features also screamed beauty and innocence with his wide eyes, monolids and clean skin. And as if that wasn't terribly unfair already... Kim Minseok never had a single impure thought. Sure, he was sometimes a little distracted or even annoyed, but there was not a fibre of selfishness or manipulation in him. He didn't even seem to know the concept of dirty thoughts - for a long time, Jongdae had pondered what the other's uality even was and assumed he might be aual. But no, a subtle little thought during the right time had told Jongdae he was very much gay which was great because Jongdae himself was biual and kind of very attracted to him.

What was not so great was the fact that Minseok seemed magically immune to every little thing Jongdae pulled out of his admittedly small and pitiful bag of tricks when it came to flirting. He couldn't even give himself false hope because Minseok's thoughts made it very clear that he either didn't get what Jongdae wanted or flatout didn't notice any of it. Jongdae had tried everything he could think of. Being overly friendly and interested (which was already enough to show interest in the sad world they lived in and would have gotten him a one night stand elsewhere for sure) went by just as ignored as him dropping hints about his orientation and single status. Even his tightest pants and most flattering dress shirt with sweater paws - sweater paws! - didn't do the trick; the most he could get out of Minseok was a noncommittal friendly compliment he'd say out loud, anyway. Even when he'd started to get all touchy, Minseok remained blissfully ignorant, though he'd never pushed him away. Well, maybe he should be pushing him away because this was starting to get ridiculous.

Jongdae felt the vibrations of the train around him as he drowned in the familiar sounds of a dramatic orchestra telling the story of a small, lost creature in the woods. It was still early, and the train was packed; he should have considered this earlier. But not, Jongdae had spent the previous day at a friend's and had been eager to get home and get an hour or two of sleep on his own blissfully familiar and comfy bed. And this wasn't even the worst thing about this morning, not even close. What made it go from mildly annoying to disastrous was the fact that Minseok sat a couple seats away, shooting him a friendly smile whenever their eyes met. This brought two problems - one, Jongdae looked like right now. And two - Minseok might come over and expect Jongdae to talk to him, and he'd lived in isolation for so long that his brain refused to function while countless voices were too close to his own thoughts for comfort.

When a seat next to him was freed, Jongdae wanted to groan. The train was packed, but of course the lady next to him would get up. He should have just pretended that he had no chance of defending this seat for even two seconds, but Minseok had slipped into the seat before he knew it. Great. What now?

Jongdae nodded politely and indulged himself in the fleeting hope that maybe Minseok would prefer listening to his music, too. Minseok loved music, he really did. It was one of the topics they could bond best over even if it was mostly Minseok talking about R'n'B and hip hop artists Jongdae had never heard of. But if he'd intended to just mind his own business he hardly would have sat next to him, right?

Jongdae's hands instantly flew up to his big headphones, experimentally lifting the one out of Minseok's sight just a little... and was immediately flooded with thoughts - quiet, frantic whispers, hazy pieces of dreams and loud yells-

His hesitation must have shown because a sudden hand on his lower arm made him focus on Minseok, who shrugged with a smile, before he looked down at his phone. Apparently, he was ready to just accept this strange habit of his. Jongdae was still incredibly nervous. He should think of an explanation before Minseok asked for one.

Then a phone screen came into view, and Jongdae realized just how close the other sat. Their sides were pressed together in a way that spoke of very good friendship at least.

Blinking the thought away, Jongdae looked at the screen while the orchestra went wild in his ears, drowning out everything. It showed a couple songs, and while Minseok clearly intended for him to see, he was still busy adding more songs. Oh, a playlist? None of the artists looked familiar, and Jongdae was confused, eyes flitting from Minseok's earnest face back to the screen. After adding a fifth song, the other was apparently done and showed him the phone again. When Jongdae threw him a helpless glance Minseok smiled. Jongdae wished he didn’t have to wear those headphones and could maybe hear whether he had huffed out a little laugh the way he sometimes did when amusement would sneak up on him. With his well-groomed nails, the other tapped on the titles one by one, and Jongdae got it - it was in the titles. Now the list made... sense.

"you" by the carpenters

"really, really" by Winner

"Like that" by T.I.

"Headphones" by Nelly

"Don't cha" by Pussycat Dolls

It was his turn to laugh at the last title, and Minseok's expression gained a bit of playfulness that suited him even better than the tank tops he wore in summer.

You really, really like that headphones, don't cha?

Jongdae could only shrug with a shrewd smile, but Minseok pushed the phone into his hands with an encouraging little nod. Right. He should reply in the same manner.

Minseok's music library was huge, yet it wasn't his own, so it took Jongdae a good while to form a coherent response. Minseok didn't hurry him, but involuntarily sabotaged his efforts when he placed his head on Jongdae's shoulder, dozing away as the other was looking for songs. In the end, he only used three.

"Got This" by Russ

"Small & Significant" by nano / "Little little" by Red Velvet

"People Allergy" by Flower

Minseok nodded thoughtfully as he stared at the screen. Then he nonchalantly wriggled his fingers beneath Jongdae's, who was clasping his own phone on his lap. With a determined tug, he plugged out his headphones, and while they were still numbing the outside noise, soothing, familiar beats were replaced by an ocean of wary ants tumbling over each other. Before he could complain, Minseok looked up at him and his raised voice just barely made it through the thick leather on his ears.

"It's our playlist now."

With this, he plugged the headphones into his additional slot and then the ants were washed away by an organized string of notes - a simple guitar, supported by a bright electronic piano. Nice and steady. And then Minseok's head was back on his shoulder, his barely styled hair tickling his cheek. Jongdae wished for his own heart to be as steady as that piano while he watched the people around him read, chat on their phones or talk to people. It was like all these people lived in a whole different world right now, all kept at a distance by the wall of music that muffled their existence. It's funny, Jongdae thought as he ultimately dared to lean back into the other. We've been closer, but we've never been closer.

Jongdae was a little anxious but in good spirits overall as they lounged around the airport area, waiting to board a plane to Paris - the sheer enthusiasm radiating off his co-workers certainly added to that. This wasn't really a business trip to write home about in Kyungsoo's opinion; the designer had been sprinkling in worries about not being able to really return anything to the loyal people keeping his brand alive and flourishing. Those weren't exactly positive thoughts, but Jongdae found them sweet, anyway, and his design trainee Chanyeol was fidgeting in his seat in between them, radiating excitement. It distracted the designer well enough.

According to Kyungsoo, it was a pure coincidence that Jongdae was even sitting there with them - there was really no reason to take your main Sales Assistant to the world's most influential fabric exhibit in Paris. He'd never be so heartless as to leave his design trainee behind, and he valued Minseok's opinion on which fabrics suited which patterns, but Jongdae? Well, originally he would have taken Baekhyun, who was their head of marketing... part time. Baekhyun had claimed to be busy. In reality, he had just thought about playing cupid to try and give the others some alone time, though he had definitely not worded it that gracefully in his head. To Jongdae's embarrassment, Baekhyun had talked the designer into taking him along because he was convinced Minseok and Jongdae were purposefully dancing around each other and needed a healthy nudge into the right direction. Jongdae was even more embarrassed when Kyungsoo genuinely believed Baekhyun was busy and readily agreed to taking Jongdae along because even he thought it was about time they got together. Being aware of all the scheming that was going on was as frustrating as usual - if only he could at least try to defend himself, tell them that if anything, this was one-sided pining. Though he wouldn't be so cruel and defend himself by telling Kyungsoo about the schemes raking themselves around the designer himself and his overgrown assistant who shot him openly adoring looks all day.

And Minseok? Minseok was currently smiling at Chanyeol, thinking about how much he looked forward to eating real croissants.

Loud. It was so loud.

People were thinking so much - it was already awful to listen to the unsynchronized calculations of Kyungsoo and Minseok when they worked on patterns, but this room was buzzing with people calculating, considering, judging, and complaining. All that noise echoing off the walls, confined in these halls, all the messy thoughts, confined in his head.

Jongdae was currently suffering through the worst headache of his life though he forced himself to keep smiling as they surveyed another one of many perfectly normal-looking booths. The Premiere Vision was huge, spread out over numerous halls, and consisted mostly of countless, homogenous booths where companies presented their fabrics, hoping to snatch good buyers for the next season. There were so many booths, in fact, that one would need a full three days, lots of caffeine and a determination made of steel to even get a rough grasp of the whole exhibition.

Jongdae felt like dying after five hours. It was just the same procedure, over and over again - they'd enter a booth, look at the fabrics and clothing pieces dangling from the hangers, and at some point the vendor would approach Kyungsoo and have a chat with him, flanked by either Chanyeol or Jongdae (to outweigh Kyungsoo's anti-social aura, as Baekhyun had said) while Minseok kept to himself and took a closer look at the fabrics, taking notes on the corresponding business card so they'd be able to remember the supplier. Jongdae was not surprised that many suppliers were exhausted, annoyed or flat-out terrible people. It was obviously a long and draining day for everyone. And yet nothing and no one could compete with his pulsing headache, he just knew it. Maybe it was getting a bit too obvious, since Kyungsoo stayed back with him before they reached the next booth, which was hosted by a Chile-based company.

"You can go and take a break, you know?" Kyungsoo said, and even without his mind-reading abilities, Jongdae had no idea how people could misinterpret the other as someone cold and distant. Sure, his eyes were dark, but also very warm at all times.

"I get that this is very boring and dragging. Just take a break, get yourself something to drink, and we'll meet up in an hour, in the dining area?"

Jongdae blinked dumbly as he waited for his brain to identify the string that was Kyungsoo's sentence in the messiest ball of wool to ever exist.

"Okay."

He wanted to stay strong and endure it just a little longer but was sane enough to realize his presence would cause more harm than anything the longer he forced himself to listen to specific voices. With one last smile, he turned away to shakily pad down the cheap carpet, away from the groups of people sitting on benches. The noise felt like a low-frequency hum that vibrated and pushed down on his head, and where were his headphones-

Someone grabbed his upper arm, and he flinched around. Before he could register a thing, something was pushed on his head and the noise was instantly dampened, if only a bit.

It was Minseok, shooting him a mildly worried smile. Right. The other two probably suspected that Jongdae was dizzy from the lack of food and drinks, but Minseok assumed he was suffering from anxiety that made it hard to endure the sheer amount of people around him. To be fair, the amount of people did play a big part in his current misery.

When Minseok quickly switched on one of the songs they had put on their playlist on the train weeks ago, Jongdae was tempted to sigh, close his eyes and just deny the world's existence for a while. His head was still pulsing, but this was like blissful balm cooling his sore mind. Minseok smiled and softly tugged him along as he led the way to what Jongdae guessed would be an exit. He looked so encouraging that it hurt Jongdae. Minseok assumed that the music was helping him tune out the world (which, again, wasn't completely wrong), and he even chose a song they had listened to together. He didn't deserve Minseok, no one deserved him. Jongdae thought about that as he stumbled after him, watching the back of his head and the hint of shoulder blades teasing through a thin, woolen sweater. Kim Minseok, who was so unlike everyone else. Who wasn't plagued by selfishness and never tried to manipulate those around him into doing what he wanted. Who was partly aware of his charms, but genuinely humble. Who had never thought a single, dirty thought. No human was like that, it was surreal.

There were hardly any people left in this area and inconspicuous glass doors promised freedom. Jongdae inhaled deeply and tugged the headphones off his head to rest around his neck. The only thing better than music was silence. As expected, there was only one voice he could hear now.

So much for finally getting laid tonight. What a waste of a comfy hotel bed. Well, at least we're holding hands right now, so I guess that's something.

Jongdae let go of Minseok as if he'd been burnt, and the other turned around with a surprised expression that quickly morphed into something else as he saw the headphones innocently sitting around Jongdae's neck. His lips parted as if to say something, but nothing came out. Not even a single thought.

For a handful of seconds, there was absolute silence.
 

"You knew," Jongdae breathed out, voice shaking with disbelief and confusion. What did this mean? Minseok knew, it was clearly written in the paint used to draw this genuine shock onto his usually so relaxed features.

"Let's... at least go outside," Minseok murmured, and Jongdae only followed because he was still busy processing.

Minseok knew, how did he know? There was only one person in the world who knew of Jongdae's ability to read minds, and that was a childhood friend Minseok couldn't possibly know.

So that could only mean one thing-

"You can hear them, too?"

Jongdae's tone was mostly confused, but also accusing. Minseok bit his lip, looking very sheepish.

"Uhm. Kinda?" he asked, obviously assessing whether Jongdae would be pissed or...

...struck by embarrassment. And he was.

He knew. Had known all this time. That meant that he had been very aware of every single time Jongdae had thirsted over the other's body, had internally screamed for him to finally notice him, or thought sinful things in general.

If Minseok was reading his thoughts right now, he'd probably be unable to pick out anything since Jongdae felt like he'd fallen in a deep pot of letter soup.

He shielded his face with one hand, and then closed his eyes, as if that would save anything at this point.

"Oh my god..." he said slowly, voice climbing up way too high, desperate to escape him, obviously. Or maybe that was his soul trying to escape.

It all made so much sense now. How Minseok had been looking for a 'quiet job', how he, too, wore headphones all the time. How he'd never thought anything incriminating around him on purpose.

"Why didn't you just flat out reject me, then?" Jongdae whined because this was just cruel. "Instead of just giving me non-verbal rejections. Really, this- this is so ing embarrassing, I wanna die right now-"

"Reject you? What do- oh," he heard Minseok say, and for the first time, a stray thought went through the other's head, clearly audible to Jongdae.

Oh my god, he thought I rejected him!

"Nooo!" Minseok firmly said, taking a cautious step towards him, Jongdae could see his feet on the ground before him. "No, no, I wasn't trying to reject you. I wanted to look good in front of you, you know? I just didn't wanna come across as an ugly person."

Jongdae finally lowered his hand to shoot the other a defiant look, despite his burning cheeks. Minseok shut up immediately, though his thoughts did not.

, I ed up. .

Jongdae huffed out something akin to laughter, less out of amusement and more because this situation was a little overwhelming. So even the innocent Minseok actually cursed inside his head. He had wanted something - or someone - desperately enough to try and get them by all means possible, and he actually looked forward to getting Jongdae out of his clothes.

And he was actually on the verge of panic right now, with regret dripping from his thoughts.

This was so... overwhelming. Jongdae blinked, and finally he asked the million dollar question.

"Why didn't you just ing confess? You knew I would have been at your feet at one word of yours."

At this, the regret bled from his thoughts and into tangible reality, as Minseok his lips and hesitated.

"I mean. It was kinda cute seeing you trip all over yourself at first- and I wasn't sure whether it was just a fleeting thing, so I wasn't gonna risk anything because meeting another mind-reader never happened to me, but- but I was gonna clear it up, really. Tonight, actually. I'm sorry if you feel humiliated right now, I'm not gonna use this against you."

Jongdae looked at him, dimly realizing that his headache had mostly receded by now. He took another step towards him and with a determined move, slapped both his palms over Minseok's ears - who flinched, but took the gesture as he realized what it was for. Jongdae stared at him without really seeing it as he used the privacy to think.

The guy he had been heads over heels for had played dumb and hard to get for months, and Jongdae had totally fallen for it. And now he was looking at him like someone awaiting a punishment he felt he deserved, but feared nonetheless, which was clear by the still shaken emotions in his eyes.

I'm really sorry. Please let me make it up to you.

Please.

But the reality was that... Jongdae wasn't all that mad.

No - the longer he thought about it, the surer he got. Maybe he would have been mad if Minseok had done this to spite him, to actually actively humiliate him. But Minseok actually liked him, had liked him all this time, and really, how likely was it that another mind-reader would return his feelings? Actually, this was kind of hilarious. He had completely fooled him. A grin twitched over his features, but the tension wouldn't leave Minseok, quite the opposite.

Jongdae lowered his hands and tried his best to voice his thoughts out loud.

"You know," he began slowly, tilting his head a little, "I think just seeing you like this makes us even."

There it was, the shimmer of hope appeared, shyly dancing in the other's eyes.

"You'll forgive me?" he asked carefully, trying to make sure of the least he was hoping for right now. Jongdae didn't even pretend to think.

"It's hard to forgive you for ignoring how fantastic my legs look in ripped jeans, but I'll try."

Minseok actually groaned, and for a second, the conflict was forgotten.

"God, don't remind me," he complained, looking exasperated. "That day was hell, why would you do this to me? That had nothing to do with 'big guns' anymore, that was a tank!"

"Are you calling me fat right now?" Jongdae asked, one palm over his heart, full of mock-offense. The credibility was probably ruined by the grin he just couldn't hold back any longer.

I don't know, can you undress so I can confirm? Minseok thought.

"No, I didn't!" Minseok said, and Jongdae actually chuckled, eyes dropping to the floor as his shoulders shook with repressed laughter. So even the mighty Kim Minseok's thoughts and words didn’t always line up. They definitely had to work on that.

So... can we kiss already or are you still mad? Which would be understandable, I mean. If you just wanted to stay friends, then that would be good, too. This could be a little payback for earlier-

Jongdae placed a hand on the other's neck and dove in to connect their lips. First clumsily, then more slowly. Experimentally. Deeply.

And for a long time, there was perfect stereo silence.