Grey Prince Oppa
Smultronstället
"For that fresh, clean feeling—"
"Only available as long as supplies la—"
"That's got to hurt—"
Yongguk flipped through the television boredly, rolling his eyes at all of the cheesy ads and brain cell eating shows that were currently playing. He'd been at this for the last few minutes and had already gone through all three hundred and sixty channels twice. It wasn't necessarily that there wasn't anything on - just nothing he was interested in enough to stop and watch. It also didn't help that he wasn't in the mood for television, but certain outside forces had prevented him from playing online like he really desired so there was nothing he could do about that.
DING DONG!
"Answer the door!" Came his father's shout from upstairs.
Yongguk rolled his eyes but pushed himself off of the couch, letting his feet guide him over to the door. Upon opening it, he was met with a familiar face, a painfully familiar one at that. "What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed, trying in vain to hide his surprise as his eyes focused on one Choi Junhong.
Before the equally shocked boy could respond, however, his father answered, "I hired him because he's responsible enough to watch over a child."
Yongguk gritted his teeth, hands at his sides, but he said nothing and moved from in front of the door, eyes on the other teen all the while.
To say Junhong was surprised that Yongguk—the one who tortured him relentlessly without even knowing it—answered the door was an understatement; he was downright stunned. He peeped around Yongguk to give a slight smile at the other's father, who motioned for him to come on in. Junhong obliged as soon as Yongguk stepped to the side for him.
"I'm sorry I'm so early - my father had something he had to do, so I figured I'd go ahead and come on over," He smiled politely, bowing to Yongguk's father.
"It's just fine - my date will be here soon, I'm hope you're alright babysitting here, her neighborhood is bad and we wouldn't want you to be over there in that mess," Yongguk's father smiled.
"It's fine - I've got some activities to do with the child," Junhong smiled, setting his bag to the side of the sofa.
"That's great. She's a good kid if only a little hyper," Yongguk's father chuckled softly. His eyes widened with realization, "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Yongshik." He spoke kindly though the tone dropped somewhat when he introduced Yongguk. "This is my son, Yongguk. You two seem to recognize one another so I suppose I can assume you go to school together, right?"
"Yeah, dad," Yongguk confirmed, a 'duh' tone to his voice.
Yongshik gave his son a slight glare before smiling apologetically at Junhong. "Don't mind him - he's angry because I've grounded him. He won't bother you very much though, right son?" He questioned, annoyance etching into his features when Yongguk grumbled a 'whatever' and walked upstairs.
"Junhong-ah..." Yongshik murmured when his son was out of earshot, "You wouldn't... happen to know Yongguk very well, would you?"
Junhong watched the exchange, chewing on his bottom lip. 'So he has this kind of relationship with his dad...' He thought, his attention drawn back to Yongshik.
"Do I—no, I don't, not really," Junhong nodded, frowning, "Why do you ask, sir?" He tilted his head curiously.
Yongshik opened his mouth to respond only to close it, a small smile appearing on his lips instead. "No reason, really. Just... you seem like a good kid and... well, it's probably better if you don't get to know him." He nodded, patting the teen on his shoulder gently.
The conversation officially ended as a car horn beeped outside to signal the arrival of Yongshik's date so the man gave Junhong a small smile, "Come on and I'll introduce you to them real quick, okay?"
Junhong followed behind Yongshik, frowning the entire time. What kind of a parent discourages others from being friends with their own children? Even with as little as he and his father do together, his dad had never discouraged anyone from being friends with him. It was mind-boggling, but better left to think on another time.
"This is Mina and her daughter Jinah," Yongshik introduced the lovely lady and her little daughter who took an instant liking to Junhong as she began calling him 'grey prince' due to his hair color. After introductions were over, Yongshik left his cell phone number and then they were off.
"Let's go inside, Jinah," Junhong smiled sweetly, taking the little girl's hand and leading her inside.
"Grey Prince oppa? We're going to do lots of fun things, right?" Jinah questioned excitedly as she watched Junhong close the front door. When he nodded, her smile brightened, "Can we play hide and seek? O-or tag, oppa?"
"As long as it's outside." Yongguk said as he walked down the stairs, eyes switching between Jinah and Junhong.
"Ah!" Jinah squealed in surprise, running over to Junhong and hiding behind his legs.
Yongguk raised an eyebrow but kept silent, eyes focusing on Junhong. "Do whatever you want but leave me out of it and stay out of my room." He spoke, voice cold.
Junhong sent a glare to Yongguk, "I don't think we asked you to be involved anyways—and why would I go into your room?" He scrunched his nose and stuck out his tongue at the other before taking the little girl's hand and leading her over to the sofa.
"What about we color some first? And then we'll play tag outside, okay?" He smiled kindly at the little girl.
Yongguk watched as the little girl giggled happily and nodded at the suggestion before climbing on the sofa to wait for Junhong. She was adorable, there was no denying that, and if he was completely honest with himself, he would've loved to have been able to babysit. Children were something of a weak spot for him.
Junhong's presence completely offset that though. He didn't like the idea of him being here - especially not after having discovered that the freshman was his Toto.
'Aish... what am I thinking? He's not mine at all dammit... he's just Toto...' He rolled his eyes at himself, pulling out of his thoughts just in time to hear Jinah ask Junhong if they should ask 'scary oppa' to color with them.
"Coloring's not really my thing." Yongguk answered before the other could, offering the little girl a half-smile. "Color with Grey Prince op-pa," He said, smirking teasingly at Junhong.
Junhong sneered at Yongguk, tossing a broken crayon at him. "At least I'm not the 'scary' one," He grinned triumphantly and returned to coloring with the little girl. "Ah, blue trees? What about silver trunks? Like oppa's hair?" He teased, leaning down and letting her pull his hair lightly.
He'd always loved kids, he wanted to work at a care center when he got a bit older, but baby sitting was definitely a good replacement.
Yongguk picked up the broken crayon and tossed it back at the other teen, hitting him right on the side of his head. Direct hit. "Are you sure you don't need to be babysat as well? You make more messes than the young one." He said dryly, a smirk on his lips as he turned around and headed back upstairs.
"Scary oppa is scary but he's also funny too. You're funny too, Grey Prince oppa," Jinah spoke innocently, smiling brightly as she showed off her newly colored grey tree trunks. "I want to color the bunnies red because of Scary oppa's t-shirt."
Junhong glared at Yongguk as long as he was in his sight and then looked back at the little girl, smiling sweetly. "Red bunnies? Hmmm okay," He nodded his head and grabbed the red, handing it to her before going back to his own page.
His own page was full of the color red and he crumpled it up, throwing it away. He got out another page and began coloring it everything but red.
Jinah put the finishing touches on her picture, all that had remained was coloring in the cute bunnies, and held it up for Junhong to see. "I'm finished, oppa!" She cried out cheerfully, pride flowing off of her in waves. The happy smile faded, however, when she looked at Junhong's picture.
"Oppa! There's no red! You need red." Jinah scolded, ing the red crayon into the teen's vision. "The picture looks weird without red. Color this, this and this red." She ordered, pointing to each of the objects as she spoke.
Junhong sighed and gave a pout, "But, I don't have to have red..." Nonetheless he took the crayon from the stubborn child and began coloring in the objects she pointed out. He supposed that it made the picture look better, but he had a growing distaste for the color.
"Hey, since it's just us now - wanna play hide and seek? We can play in here, just no going up the stairs okay?" He turned to her and smiled brightly.
"Really?" Jinah gasped and hopped off of the sofa, "Yay! Let's go. You hide and I'll seek, okay oppa?" She questioned, already walking over to the wall to hide her eyes so she could count.
"Alright! 1... 2..."
Junhong stood quickly and dashed towards the closet behind the front door, hiding amongst the jackets in it. He bent down and peeked out at the little girl as she finished her counting and began searching around for him.
"I'm going to find you oppa~" Jinah sing-songed as she walked into the kitchen, checking under the table, in the pantry and even under the sink for the teen. She pouted when her search turned up no results but ventured back into the living room to go down the hallway she'd seen off to the side.
"Psst..."
Jinah paused at the odd sound, looking around for the source of it, only to hear it coming from the stairs. Her eyes widened when she saw Yongguk sitting at the top of the stairs. "Scary oppa?"
"He's in the closet," Yongguk answered, pointing over to the closet he'd seen Junhong dart into only minutes ago. He pressed a finger to his lips though, silently telling her not to tell the other boy.
Jinah smiled brightly and nodded before tiptoeing over to the closet. She mentally counted '1,2,3' and opened the door, shouting, "I found you oppa!!!"
Junhong jumped away from the open door and groaned playfully, "Aish, you found me!" He laughed and stepped out of the closet, ruffling her hair gently. "Alright, now you hide and I'll count."
He turned to the wall at the end of the stairs and closed his eyes, beginning to count out loud for her.
Jinah bit her lip as she wandered around in search of a good place to hide, finding none because each one she found would've been too easy for Junhong to find her. As the teen's counting grew closer and closer to finishing, her eyes landed on the stairs that would lead to the second floor. She knew she wasn't supposed to go up there but that was before Yongguk had been so nice to her.
'Scary oppa won't mind.' She told herself, quickly darting up the stairs and into a random room where she hid under the bed. The decision was just in time too as she heard Junhong announce he was coming to search for her.
Junhong looked here and there for Jinah, calling for her. He'd snuck up on different things, hoping she'd been hiding behind them, but nothing. He eyed the stairs warily, hoping she hadn't... but there was nowhere else, he hadn't heard the front door open.
"Aish, oh Jinah..." He groaned, carefully treading up the stairs, glad to hear the shower running. 'Good... at least he's not in the way...' He checked each room as he came to it, finally getting to the room that had it's door slightly ajar. He ventured in and stopped as he looked around the room in awe.
There were posters of hip hop bands all over the walls, there was some graffiti art mixed in amongst them and the computer was to a very familiar sight. On his desktop, Yongguk had one of the free wallpapers from Matoki.
—
Yongguk scrubbed his damp hair with his towel as he exited the bathroom, which was still very hot and steamy from the shower he'd just taken, and made his way back to his room. He paused once he arrived at the entrance to his bedroom, eyes narrowing instantly on the figure wandering around his room that shouldn't have been.
"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" He shouted, anger flashing in his gaze as Junhong whirled around. His gaze flicked briefly to what the other teen had been staring at before, eyes widening ever so slightly in realization before he quickly stomped over to his laptop where he shut the lid.
"What are you doing in my room?" Yongguk questioned lowly, almost growling.
Junhong almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the shout, his eyes following Yongguk as he stomped over and closed his laptop. Junhong gulped and looked at Yongguk carefully, his eyes trailing down unconsciously. He wore a wife beater, a black one, and it was clinging to him. He blushed and coughed awkwardly before answering.
"UH... I think Jinah came in here and I just, uh..." He stuttered.
"Oppa, you're awful at hide and seek," The little girl interrupted as she crawled out from under the bed, her hands on her hips unhappily. Junhong chuckled slightly, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of Yongguk's room, not daring to spare a glance back at the other as he made his way down the stairs with Jinah.
Yongguk followed behind the two as they left, closing his door with a rather loud slam. Once done with that, he walked back over to his desk and sat down, opening his laptop. He checked the entire desktop twice in the off-chance he might've left something open that could've told Junhong who he was online; thankfully, the only thing out in the open was his Matoki wallpaper.
"I can just say I liked the scenery," Yongguk assured himself, eyes tracing the gorgeous scenery of the hometown that their guild was located in. The port city was his favorite so it was no wonder why he'd made their base there.
Sighing heavily, he clicked on the icon to bring up Matoki, eyes studying the pictures of Tats, Joko, Dada, Keke and Toto, gaze lingering on the blue-haired avatar. He was still so very frustrated with the other, Junhong had no idea, but he wanted more than anything to get past their fight. He missed how things were before and as much as he hated to admit it, the strain between them was starting to show outwardly too.
Like the fight he'd gotten into Friday because one of his 'friends' had made an offhand comment about Junhong. The idiot didn't realize that was why he'd begun the fight, thankfully enough, but it still didn't prevent the others from thinking Yongguk was trying to be a loner now. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was doing anymore.
"Aish..." Yongguk growled under his breath, closing his laptop once again and flinging himself on his bed. He was tired of all the nonsensical bull.
—
A couple of hours passed with Junhong and Jinah sticking to coloring and playing the other game Junhong had found online to pass the time away. Soon the door opened and in came Mina and Yongshik, back from their date. Yongshik was proud to see Junhong and Jinah had been good; there was no mess in the house. Mina bid them farewell after paying Junhong, taking Jinah with her (but of course the little girl had to hug her 'grey prince oppa').
"Thank you very much for taking care of my date's daughter. We'll probably go out again sometime, if you'd like, I would appreciate you taking care of her again." Yongshik nodded and Junhong smiled, nodding back. "Also... did my son give you any trouble...?" Yongshik asked, his lips turning to a frown now.
Before Junhong even had a chance to answer, there was a voice from the stairs.
"I didn't think you hired him to watch me, dad." Yongguk deadpanned, eyebrow raised as he stared at his father from his place sitting on the stairs.
Yongshik pinned his son with an angry gaze, "If you'd learn to grow up and behave like you're supposed, I wouldn't have to."
Yongguk snorted derisively, muttering under his breath, "Like I haven't heard that before..."
"What did you say?" Yongshik growled, stepping closer to the staircase.
Yongguk shrugged, "Just that you sound like a broken record. You've told me that one too many times to count, dad."
Junhong stood at the door, his gaze shifting between father and son as they bickered, feeling more and more uneasy. He was caught - should he interrupt or just quietly slip out? Given the arguments he'd had with his own father, he felt some kind of sympathy for Yongguk, so he decided to interject.
"Um, I'll be going now, Yongshik-sshi... I'll see you at school, hyung," he waved to Yongguk politely before he slowly left, glad that the two seemed to have stopped fighting - at least long enough for him not to be a witness to anything. He quickly walked home, still shocked that Yongguk lived so close to him.
Yongguk watched as Junhong left, feeling stupid for forgetting that the other was there and had thus been a witness to his and his dad's argument. He was only thankful that it hadn't reached the decibel shattering volume they'd had earlier when he and his father had argued about the fight he'd gotten into and his apparent 'shady' behaviour.
Nonetheless, the last thing he wanted Choi Junhong to know was details regarding his home life.
'I'll have a talk with him...' Yongguk thought, standing up from his place on the stairs.
"Where are you going? We're not done yet - you embarrassed me in front of a guest." Yongshik snapped, voice still tinged with barely concealed anger.
"I'm going to my room and going to bed." Yongguk replied, "Good night, dad." He made it to his room and closed the door but not before a loud thud downstairs - most likely from his father hitting or kicking something. He paid no mind to it though and flopped onto his bed, sleep taking him over quickly.
/////////////
YOU GUISE
I'M SO SO SORRY
THE HOLIDAYS HAVE SCREWED ME OVER
;; I forgot to update this story for TWO WEEKS.
I'll post up this chapter now and post the update that was
supposed to be for today on Wednesday.
Please forgive me ;n;
Comments